Best stories of the year

I worked at the Glenwood Springs (Colo.) Post Independent for a year. Here are my favorite stories from my time there:

State wildlife area targeted for gas drilling
Jan. 18, 2008

Wildlife area gas leases contested in New Castle
Feb. 15, 2008

Berry Petroleum allegedly responsible for spills
March 15, 2008

Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission releases draft of gas rules
April 1, 2008

Homeless in Glenwood Springs
April 13, 2008

EPA finds Garden Gulch water up to standards
April 24, 2008

55,000 acres on the Roan up for lease
June 10, 2008

Legislators to Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: Take it slow
June 11, 2008

Packed house in Grand Junction talks gas rules
June 11, 2008

Agreement reached for wildlife area drilling outside New Castle
June 13, 2008

Roan leasing faces challenges
June 30, 2008

Gas companies cited for waste discharge northwest of Parachute
June 30, 2008

More waste water releases under investigation by Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
July 1, 2008

Groups dig in for Roan fight
July 12, 2008

Motorcycle accident changed everything for Glenwood man
Aug. 7, 2008

Roan: Going once … Sold!
Aug. 15, 2008

Udall talks energy during visit
Aug. 24, 2008

BLM finalizes oil shale leasing plan
Sept. 5, 2008

Garfield County commissioner hopefuls have differing views on impact fees
Sept. 14, 2008

Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission rules may be a model for other states
Sept. 15, 2008

Roan Plateau protests dismissed, leases issued
Sept. 30, 2008

Drilling company exec donates $20K to support GOP Garfield County commissioner candidates
Oct. 27, 2008

Garfield County races see about $46K of outside money
Oct. 27, 2008

Obama talks energy issues
Oct. 27, 2008

Sen. Salazar says BLM may see significant changes under Obama
Nov. 6, 2008

Wildlife area south of New Castle may see more gas wells
Nov. 7, 2008

Lease lacks guard against surface disturbance
Nov. 14, 2008

Oil shale decisions could affect Garfield County
Nov. 18, 2008

Environmental groups threaten to file suit over oil shale decisions
Nov. 25, 2008

Legislators consider revision of oil and gas rules OK’d this week
Dec. 12, 2008

Oil shale: Groups looking to Obama administration for help in 2009
Dec. 14, 2008

Gas industry, state environmental groups support Salazar
Dec. 17, 2008

Lawsuit filed to force hearing
Dec. 21, 2008

Waste pit problems could lead to fines
Dec. 26, 2008

Looking for new opportunities

The problems affecting newspapers nationwide cascaded down to me. Now I am looking for new opportunities. If anyone has any ideas, give me a shout: philliptyates@yahoo.com.

I just want to say thanks to everyone that worked with me at the Glenwood Springs Post Independent. It was a ball. I’ll miss y’all.

Barack Obama interview

I had a brief interview with President-elect Barack Obama nine days before the Nov. 4 election. Here is an edited MP3 of the short chat. The article I produced from this interview is available here.

State investigations

I wrote two stories last week about the state investigating three releases northwest of Parachute. Both stories got picked up by the Associated Press. Another interesting story from last Monday was about the Roan Plateau. Check them out.

More waste water releases under investigation by Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission

Gas companies cited for waste discharge northwest of Parachute

Roan leasing faces challenge

More stories

Instead of just archiving some of my better stories, I thought I would post links to them on the main page of this blog. Here are some of my recent articles that I am pretty happy with. The Piceance Basin — which is one of the major gas plays in the United States now and encompasses almost all of Garfield County — has me completely busy. And it’s been a ball. Here are some recent headlines:

Appeals court green-lights pipeline on Bull Mountain

Garfield County study finds no ‘health crisis’

Roan leasing prompts lawsuit

Agreement reached for wildlife area drilling outside New Castle

Packed house in Grand Junction talks gas rules

Legislators to Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: Take it slow

55,000 acres on the Roan up for lease

New stories

I have just updated this blog with more stories I have produced at the Glenwood Springs (Colo.) Post Independent. Check out the Glenwood Springs stories link above to read them.

Feature on the Glenwood Springs’ homeless population

In April, I wrote a long feature story about three members of Glenwood Springs’ homeless community. That story was supplemented by a news story about the makeup of the area’s homeless populations. It was incredible to learn about the lives of three people who live in tents on the side of the hill, but who are still content with their station in life. It was a great experience.

Homeless in Glenwood Springs: Lives interconnected outside the mainstream

Most of Glenwood’s homeless are not jobless

Moving to new digs

I got a pretty good deal for a place in downtown Glenwood Springs. It’s a much better situation compared to where I currently live. So family and friends out there, come and visit me! I got room.

Update to the blog

It’s only been about a month and half since I moved to Glenwood Springs, Colo. But in that short time, I have decided that I love this place. It’s wonderful, beautiful and interesting. I am covering the county and energy beat for the Glenwood Springs Post Independent. 

It’s been a gas so far.  There’s so many interesting things to write about.

Anyway, I have revamped this blog to reflect what I have done recently and some of the stories I have written in Glenwood. Check out the stories on the Glenwood Springs stories link above. I’ve got some other pages to work on, but those will be up soon.

Thanks for taking a look at this blog.

Phillip Yates