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Democratic United States Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado has reintroduced legislation to protect the Dolores River. Along with Colorado’s other senator, John Hickenlooper, Bennet reintroduced the Dolores River National Conservation Area and Special Management Area Act, a bill aimed at protecting 68,000 acres of land in southwest Colorado. And lawmakers want to streamline how the state oversees safety in Colorado’s public schools.

An informational meeting was held on Friday in Upper Fruitland, New Mexico, on the federal benefits available to retired Navajo miners who have black lung disease. Some of the miners suspect they have black lung from their time working at coal mines like the Navajo Mine in San Juan County. Alex Osif, who is Navajo, Hopi, Pima, and a former miner and black lung benefits counselor, says that miners have been mistreated by coal companies for decades. And several bills dealing with substance use are on the agenda at the state Capitol this week.

Canyonlands Healthcare in Page, Arizona says that they’re finding more and more patients who have health issues related to working in coal mines throughout the Navajo Nation and surrounding areas. Michelle Carter, a nurse who leads the black lung clinic program at Canyonlands, says that based on miners they’ve screened in the last year, around 12% have the potential to have black lung disease. And state lawmakers are moving forward with a bipartisan bill that would boost funding for special education.

The average length of a growing season in the United States is getting longer, a survey of young farmers finds that 93% have never used a USDA program, beef production is decreasing in 2023, changes to livestock grazing on public lands could be on the way, and Congress acts to ban Chinese ownership of U.S. farm ground.

Last week, the Colorado Department of Agriculture hosted a virtual town hall on new water regulations from the Food and Drug Administration. The meeting covered new harvest and post-harvest water requirements for farmers across the state, including those in southwest Colorado. And several politically-charged bills are headed to Governor Jared Polis’ desk. Two of them are Democrat-sponsored gun-control measures.

A new Colorado bill could make it easier for farmers to repair their own tractors and other equipment, an explosion and fire at a Texas dairy farm resulted in what may be the largest single-incident livestock death toll in the U.S., and the Secretary of Agriculture Agriculture warns meatpackers and other companies that they need to take steps to ensure that illegal child labor isn't being used in their operations.

This Thursday, the Navajo Nation Special Diabetes Program and Kayenta Unified School District are teaming up to host a Navajo Food Summit at Monument Valley High School in Kayenta, Arizona. Former President of the Navajo Nation Jonathan Nez will kick the summit off with a keynote address on Thursday morning. And a bill to expand substance abuse treatment in Colorado schools has been approved by both the state House and Senate.

A pulmonologist at Miners’ Colfax Medical Center in New Mexico says there’s a statewide shortage of health professionals who are involved in the care of coal miners, especially those who have black lung disease. According to Dr. Akshay Sood, the Miners’ Colfax Medical Center Endowed Chair at the University of New Mexico, he is the state’s only Department of Labor 413(b) physician. That means he’s the only one authorized to evaluate whether or not coal miners in New Mexico are disabled enough by black lung disease to pass those findings on to a claims examiner, so they have a chance to get compensation.

On Thursday morning, students walked out of Montezuma-Cortez High School in protest of the recent changes to administrators and staff. The principal of Montezuma-Cortez, Emily Moreland, was placed on administrative leave following a meeting with Superintendent Tom Burris on Tuesday afternoon. Another administrator, Assistant Principal Lauren White, who was also in the meeting, quit. It’s still unclear as to exactly why Moreland was put on administrative leave. But three current teachers at Montezuma-Cortez – who spoke with KSJD under the condition of anonymity in case of reprisals – say that the swift departure of Moreland and White ultimately occurred because of a larger pattern of disrespect and bullying from Burris.

New USDA grant funding is available for meat and poultry producers, Southwest Colorado Meat and Livestock Day scheduled on May 11th, the shifting landscape of farm sizes and subsidies, and solar "farms" innovate to better serve rural communities.