4th of July in Brush

Brush leaders are getting set for this year's 4th of july festivities... among those - The Brush Rodeo will be held on July 2nd, 3rd, and 4th starting at 7 pm each evening. One of the highlights of this 3 day intense activity is the parade on the 4th at 10 am. The theme of the parade is “60 Years Now and Then”. The parade usually has over 100 entries and takes about an hour and a half to do. The 4th begins with the Lions pancake breakfast from 6-10 am at Library Park, the quilt show and book sale at the Library from 6-10 am and 11 am–1 pm, the parade at 10, the museum will have an open house from 12-2 pm, an art show in the event center on the 2nd and 3rd from 1:30-7:30pm and on the 4th from 1-7 pm and the final rodeo at 7 pm followed by a fantastic fireworks display. The art show will also be open on July 2nd and 3rd from 1:30-7:30 pm each day and from 1-7 pm on the 4th. Twenty artists will be displaying and there is no charge for the show.

Denver Drug Bust

Authorities say they have dismantled two drug trafficking organizations with ties to Mexico that peddled meth, heroin, crack and other drugs in the Denver area.   Federal authorities announced indictments against 54 people today. Twenty-eight were arrested today. Authorities are still searching for 12 others.  A two-year investigation found links among street level dealers in Colorado and sources in Mexico.  Officers say they seized nearly 20,000 grams of methamphetamine, other drugs, 13 guns and $94,000 in cash.

Local Control Fracking Proposal

Lawmakers and groups with a stake in oil and gas development in Colorado have a draft bill from the governor's office that tries to find a \compromise on local control rules for the booming fracking industry.  Gov. Hickenlooper will order a special legislative session if there is consensus on the proposal aimed at trying to stave off more than 10 potential ballot initiatives in November to limit fracking.   The draft bill gives local governments more control over setbacks for oil and gas development, and they could set moratoriums on drilling.  However, they could not ban fracking outright.

Weld Quake

A geophysicist from the University of Colorado is hoping to settle the question of whether a small earthquake last weekend near Greeley was caused by wastewater injection wells.  The Greeley Tribune reports Anne Sheehan and a team of graduate students have been deploying seismographs to study the 3.4 magnitude quake.  The quake caused no damage.  Weld County has 28 injection wells for oil and gas waste, or "Class II" disposal wells.  State drilling regulators said earlier this week they were skeptical that the wells caused the earthquake.