A Denver cross country coach who was credited with reviving a struggling cross country program is now missing after his arrest last week for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl. Oscar Ponce, 34, was an academic All-American runner at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He was a member of the 1998 CU cross country team that was the subject of the book Running with the Buffaloes. Police arrested and charged Ponce on Tuesday. He was released on $50,000 bond on Wednesday, after which police ... Read More
The National Park Service announced on Thursday that it will ban the sale of plastic bottles in the Grand Canyon, reversing a 2010 decision made under pressure from Coca Cola. Vending machines and hotels at the park will stop carrying bottled water next year, and other national parks could soon follow suit. In November, the New York Times reported that plans to ban the bottles were reversed at the last minute after NPS head Jon Jarvis met with executives from Coca Cola. The company which sells... Read More
An Italian manufacturer is collecting data for an air bag system that could help protect ski racers in high-speed crashes. The company, Dainese, has installed chips to track speed, acceleration, angular rotation, and other data in the back protectors of World Cup racers including Aksel Lund Svindal and Erik Guay, who will wear them in a race at Saslong this weekend. While Dainese already manufactures a version of the airbag for motorcycle racing, they say developing a similar system for skiers... Read More
Plans for the contentious Keystone XL pipeline, which were put on hold by President Obama in November, may have gained a second chance this week from Republican lawmakers in Nebraska and Washington, D.C. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted in favor of a payroll-tax bill, which is widely supported by Democrats, that included a provision to accelerate a decision on the pipeline. The move followed statements last week from Nebraska Republicans supporting Keystone XL under a revised rou... Read More
The number of cows in Texas, the United State's largest cattle producer, has decreased by 600,000 since January 1. The Texas AgriLife Extension Service attributes the fall to this year’s drought, the worst in Texas history, and says it is the largest drop in cattle numbers on record in any state. The decline represents 12 percent in an original population of 5 million and is a function of increased slaughter and the export of cattle to states with more grass. The U.S. Department of Agric... Read More
