By Julie Dunn - Aspen Skiing Co. has joined a coalition of 16 states, several cities, two power companies and more than a dozen environmental groups in petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to force the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. >> MORE

Eldon VanDerWege of Denver was among those attending Sen. Wayne Allard’s hearing Wednesday. He holds a photo of his daughter, grandson and son-in-law, who has been denied a visa, keeping the family separated. Post / Helen H. Richardson

By Elizabeth Aguilera in Aurora - U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard asked local officials for hard dollar amounts spent on illegal immigrants at a hearing Wednesday while immigrant advocates protested outside, calling the meeting “political posturing” and “unbalanced.”

“This system is a tragedy, and people are suffering,” said Lisa Duran, executive director of Rights for All People. “The people who are putting on these political dog and pony shows are not trying to solve the problem.” >> MORE

By Anne C. Mulkern in Washington — U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar asked President Bush on Wednesday to fire Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld following Rumsfeld’s suggestion that questioning the Iraq war endangers American security.

Salazar joined a chorus of Democrats repudiating Rumsfeld, who made the comments Tuesday in a speech to the American Legion in Salt Lake City. >> MORE

Gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez. Post / Brian Brainerd

By Mark P. Couch — Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez apologized Wednesday for saying black women get abortions at an “appalling” rate.

“I’ve seen numbers as high as 70 percent - maybe even more - in the African-American community that I think is just appalling,” the congressman said in an interview broadcast Monday on public radio’s “Colorado Matters” program.

The comment sparked a fury among black religious and political leaders that was fanned after grassroots liberal groups called attention to the statement. >> MORE

Leslie Weise of SaveTheInternet.com holds her 7-month-old son, Jamison, as she talks Wednesday about the group’s opposition to deals giving certain companies special status on the Net. Post / Jerry Cleveland

By Andy Vuong

A group of small businesses and nonprofits in Colorado joined the heated debate over “network neutrality” Wednesday, calling for Congress to enact laws to regulate the Internet.

The group presented petitions with 16,749 signatures to Sen. Ken Salazar urging the Colorado Democrat to support legislation that would require Internet access providers such as Qwest and Comcast to treat all Internet traffic on their networks equally. >> MORE

By Jeffrey Leib - Federal officials have dramatically changed air-traffic control policies that contributed to the death of an air cargo pilot who crashed near Centennial Airport a year ago.

A National Transportation Safety Board report on the Aug. 4, 2005, crash of a Mitsubishi MU-2 turboprop said a controller in the Centennial tower was getting a visual alert on his screen that the pilot was flying too low, but there was no audible alarm until only seconds before the crash. >> MORE

By Elizabeth Aguilera - During the past five years, Alli La Madrid has been laid off three times, been homeless for two years and survived two car accidents.

Most of the time, she works at or near minimum wage, and the layoffs and tough breaks have put her in a deep hole. >> MORE

7th CD candidates Ed Perlmutter and Rick O’Donnell AP

By Christopher N. Osher - Democrat Ed Perlmutter’s congressional campaign blasted as “bizarre” and “dangerous” on Tuesday his opponent’s 2004 suggestion that boys forgo their last semester of high school for national service, including the option of securing the Mexican border. >> MORE

Michael De Kort says faulty Lockheed work is a security risk on Coast Guard boats. Post

By Will Shanley - Michael De Kort says faulty Lockheed work is a security risk.

Michael De Kort says his former employer, Lockheed Martin, disregarded serious security flaws when the company upgraded a fleet of patrol boats for the Coast Guard. >> MORE

U.S. Rep Bob Beauprez AP

By Chris Frates - The secretary of state is playing partisan politics by refusing to investigate an alleged campaign-finance violation against Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez, a government watchdog group said Tuesday. >> MORE

By Erin Emery in Colorado Springs - Efforts by Republican insiders to persuade Rep. Joel Hefley to run as a write-in candidate in November for the 5th Congressional District seat he has held for 20 years have failed. >> MORE

Site of the proposed Wolf Creek Village in the heart of the Wolf Creek Ski Area, near South Fork, in April, 2005. AP

By Electa Draper in Durango - The developers behind the proposed Village at Wolf Creek have unsuccessfully petitioned Secretary of Agriculture Michael Johanns to review and reverse a recent Forest Service decision requiring two access roads to their high-mountain site next to Wolf Creek Ski Area, according to an agency official. >> MORE

Rep. Marilyn Musgrave will chair an immigration hearing in Greeley Friday.

By Anne C. Mulkern in Washington - A U.S. House committee comes to Greeley on Friday to examine how immigration legislation before Congress would affect college tuition.

It will be the second congressional hearing in Colorado this week focusing on an aspect of immigration. >> MORE

Lionel Basken survived Katrina - barely. Blinded 11 years ago, he now leads a choir at a Baptist church in Aurora Post

By Robert Sanchez - The screams came mostly from scared young women and hungry children.

He couldn’t see their faces, but they haunted his dreams. They still do.

As Lionel Basken slept on a concrete floor inside the New Orleans convention center in the days after Hurricane Katrina struck, he imagined that the voices were from children he knew. The thought chilled him to the bone. >> MORE

By Mark P. Couch - Colorado’s leading gubernatorial candidates sparred over budgets and taxes in back-to-back debates Monday in Westminster and Loveland.

Democrat Bill Ritter continued to pound his theme that Referendum C - the budget-loosening measure approved by voters last year - was essential for investing in schools and roads. >> MORE