Buffie Mcfadyen

A coalition of conservation groups warily eyeing a possible resurgence of Colorado uranium mining in the wake of a national push for more nuclear energy rallied support for a bipartisan uranium cleanup bill at the Capitol Thursday.

Tom Mullen of Eagle-Vail could see 20 years of hard work in the retail liquor business evaporate if the state legislature passes a law allowing full-strength beer to be sold in supermarkets and convenience stores.

Backers of the legislation — H.B. 1192 — sponsored by Sen. Jennifer Veiga, D-Denver, and Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo, argue it’s time to roll back the Prohibition-era holdover mandating that only weaker, 3.2-percent-alcohol beer be sold in such stores.

But Mullen, who owns and operates West Vail Liquor Mart, argues the 1,650 independent liquor retailers in Colorado will be devastated by out-of-state corporations controlling the market.

While civil libertarians and former CIA agents cheered news President Barack Obama plans to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, some Colorado politicians are crying foul at the prospect detainees could be shipped to the federal Supermax prison in Florence.

While Colorado has begun construction on a new 320-bed super maximum security prison, public officials are still wondering how it will be staffed adequately under a sluggish economy and a statewide hiring freeze.

The federal government needs to be more transparent in providing local communities with information about the violent incidents that occur in Colorado prisons. That’s the message from public officials reacting to recent news that a prison in the state has been on lockdown status since August, just months after a violent yard riot in April left two inmates dead.

State corrections officials intend to keep a close eye on the privately-run North Fork Correctional Facility in Oklahoma, where outsourced inmates from Colorado are currently serving time.

The federal Supermax prison in Florence Colorado is getting more media attention than ever before, but will it be enough to prompt a congressional hearing of facility’s staffing levels?

If an appropriations bill for the Department of Justice is passed as is, federal corrections employees will have a little more job security.

A House resolution set to distribute funds for 2008 would bar privatization of work performed by Bureau of Prisons (BOP) employees, meaning that existing correctional officer positions could not be replaced by employees [...]

Private prison contracts sure aren’t what they used to be. Or maybe they never were all that ethical to begin with.

Either way, Rep. Buffie McFadyen isn’t amused

At a press conference yesterday, the Pueblo Democrat called on the Department of Corrections (DOC) to rescind a state contract obtained through less than scrupulous methods.

Nolin Renfrow, a former Department Of Corrections (DOC) official and subject of a state audit is under scrutiny for helping a private corrections business obtain a 14 million-per-year contract for a proposed prison in Ault, Colorado.

It has also been discovered, that while serving as a director of prisons, Renfrow took part in breaking up a [...]