Economy/Finance

The University of Phoenix campus in Washington, D.C. The American Independent.

In California, a for-profit college battles for tax dollars

Last year, the country’s largest for-profit college cut a “deal” to save its access to California student aid. But can the University of Phoenix’s lobbyists save it from this year’s budget cuts?
| 06.13.12 | 2:00 pm | View Article

The nation’s largest for-profit college is aggressively lobbying against a proposal in California that would disqualify it and other proprietary schools from a key state financial aid program. More…

This gas well, which is 360 feet north of Trail Ridge Middle School in Longmont, led to the contamination of area ground water. (Photo via LongmontROAR.org)

Residents of Longmont, Colo., seek fracking ban

Troy Hooper | 06.06.12 | 2:16 pm | The Colorado Independent | View Article

Editor’s note: This is the third installment in an ongoing Colorado Independent series on hydraulic fracturing near schools. Read the first part here and the second part here. More…
LONGMONT, COLO. — As she kept a watchful eye on her playful toddler, Lindsay Gahn pulled out a state-issued map of

erie-frack-360

Coloradans protest fracking near schools

Troy Hooper | 06.05.12 | 10:48 am | The Colorado Independent | View Article

ERIE, COLO. — With black whiskers painted across her cheeks, 6-year-old Olivia Cusimano roared into the plastic megaphone as if hers were the voice of the blue knotted-up balloon tiger she clutched beneath her left arm. More…

ErieFracking

In Colorado, fracking near schools

Troy Hooper | 06.04.12 | 2:59 pm | The Colorado Independent | View Article

ERIE, COLO. — Flaggers in bright yellow vests stopped traffic on the parkway in Erie, Colo., Wednesday as a convoy of semi-trailer trucks rumbled toward Red Hawk Elementary hauling sound barriers to muffle a gas extraction project that is vexing many residents in this once peaceful family neighborhood. More…

Image: ©iStockphoto.com/CraigRJD

How the private detention industry courted Crete

| 05.16.12 | 10:32 am | View Article

UPDATE: On Monday, June 11, Crete officials voted unanimously to end the town’s negotiations with the Corrections Corporation of America. More…
The fight over a proposed privately run federal immigration detention center in Illinois is raising thorny questions about the benefits and drawbacks of these facilities.

Image: ©iStockphoto.com/aristotoo

Private water industry defends ALEC membership

| 05.03.12 | 12:03 pm | View Article

An influential trade association representing companies that provide water services to one in four Americans says it will continue its membership with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative group that has worked with the energy industry to create loophole-filled water protections and opposes federal oversight of fracking. More…

SaveSnowAspen

Aspen chamber divorces U.S. Chamber of Commerce over climate change dispute

Troy Hooper | 04.27.12 | 2:52 pm | The Colorado Independent | View Article
Aspen’s chamber of commerce isn’t the first to sever ties with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over political differences. The chamber in Homer, Alaska, made national headlines when it canceled its membership.
More…
Rising sea levels at Sewells Point in Norfolk since 1927. Source: NOAA. (Click to enlarge.)

As sea levels rise, report faults Va.’s climate preparedness

| 04.16.12 | 10:48 am | View Article
Virginia needs to do more to protect itself against possible global warming impacts, a climate change preparedness report released last week found. More…