- Motorcycle fatalities set a record in the state of Colorado in 2015, and that has prompted the start of a new safety campaign.
- Obama administration pushing for a compromise to guide public-lands management in eastern Utah rather than jumping in to proclaim a national monument.
Motorcycle fatalities set a record in the state of Colorado in 2015, and that has prompted the start of a new safety campaign. The Colorado Department of Transportation says 106 motorcyclists died in 2015 vs. 94 the previous year. Ninety-four percent of the victims in 2015 were men. Most of the fatalities occurred on the Front Range and none in Montezuma or Dolores counties; however, there were two in La Plata, one in Montrose, and seven in Mesa County. Motorcyclists accounted for about 19 percent of total traffic fatalities, up from 9.8 percent in 2002.
The Obama administration is pushing for a compromise to guide public-lands management in eastern Utah rather than jumping in to proclaim a national monument. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the administration met recently with the state’s legislators and urged them to work to ensure broad support for the grassroots Public Lands Initiative. The initiative was intended to produce a bill that would bring certainty to public-lands management, but an inter-tribal coalition pulled out of talks, saying their input was not taken seriously. That coalition has called for Obama to create a tribally-managed 1.9-million-acre Bears Ears National Monument in San Juan County.
