The U.S. Capitol Police failed to stop anti-war protesters from spray painting parts of the Capitol Saturday because officers did not see the vandals in a large crowd, according to a new statement from U.S. Capitol Police Chief Phillip Morse.

Morse had been under fire earlier in the week about the failure of his department to stop the vandalism, which left multi-colored markings on the sidewalk in front of the Capitol and on parts of government buildings. >> MORE

An iceberg melts in Greenland near the arctic circle in 2005. AP

By Anne C. Mulkern in Washington - Congress turned the spotlight on global warming Tuesday for the first time in six years, promising to pass legislation to address climate change by year’s end.

Democrats signaled a plan to act aggressively on climate change, holding hearings in both the House and Senate.

In their opening salvo, Democrats leading a House hearing invited witnesses who accused the Bush administration of rewriting research reports and intimidating federal scientists. >> MORE

By Kelly Yamanouchi — U.S. airline pilots will be able to fly until age 65 instead of being required to retire at 60, under a proposal the Federal Aviation Administration plans to make this year.

Under the proposal, confirmed Tuesday by the FAA, one pilot of a plane could be up to age 65 if the co-pilot is under 60. That follows the International Civil Aviation Organization’s standard, effective in November. >> MORE

By Christa Marshall - A day after expressing disgust with anti-war protesters who spray-painted parts of the Capitol, Sen. Wayne Allard said he was satisfied that the police acted in good faith when they failed to stop the vandalism or make arrests.

Yesterday, Allard sent a letter to U.S. Capitol Police Chief Phillip Morse requesting a meeting after rumors circulated that the police were under orders to avoid confrontation with the protesters. However, after meeting with Morse Tuesday, Allard said he believed the rumors were false. >> MORE

By Christa Marshall - Saying he was “disgusted,” Sen. Wayne Allard sent a letter to the U.S. Capitol police yesterday demanding to know why they did not stop anti-war protesters from defacing the U.S. Capitol with spray paint. >> MORE

By Anne C. Mulkern — The Florida city Rep. Tom Tancredo compared to a Third World country gets the last laugh - for now.

Pulitzer Prize-winning satirist Dave Barry savaged the Littleton Republican in a front-page column Sunday in The Miami Herald. With the Super Bowl a week away, Barry paid homage to Miami and made Tancredo his foil.

“The truth is that Miami is a terrific place, despite the criticisms you may have heard from ignorant yokel blowhards who shall remain nameless, such as U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo,” Barry wrote. >> MORE

Thomas Wilkes, 3, has hemophilia Nathan Wilkes

By Christa Marshall –Nathan Wilkes’s three-year-old son, Thomas, depends on his father’s health insurance to prevent him from bleeding to death internally.

Thomas has hemophilia, a genetic disorder that prevents his blood from clotting after an injury, but that is not his only obstacle these days.

Thomas will lose his health insurance next month because he’s about to run through a new $1 million lifetime cap on coverage at the insurance plan provided by his father’s technology company, Denver-based Virtela Communications. >> MORE

By George Merritt – An executive committee has been appointed to oversee preparations for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, leaving some members of the original organizing group unsure of their role in planning for the event.

Katherine Archuleta, senior adviser for policy and initiatives to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, confirmed Monday that the city’s highest Democratic elected officials have been named to an “executive committee” for the convention.

The new group is made up of the mayor, U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, Gov. Bill Ritter, U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, City Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth - the president of Denver’s host committee - and fund-raiser Steve Farber, who was a co-chairman of the host committee. >> MORE

By Kim McGuire — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced plans Monday to end federal protection for the northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf, an icon of the West.

The agency plans to take the wolf off the endangered species list in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, ending more than three decades of federal protection. >> MORE

Vice President Dick Cheney has said all options are on the table when it comes to Iran AP

President Bush warned Iran Monday to stop meddling in military operations in Iraq, emphasizing that the United States would “respond firmly” to any provocation.

In an interview with National Public Radio, the president did not elaborate whether plans for air strikes were in development, but he repeated his frustration with reports that Tehran has been supplying weapons and military advisors to anti-American forces in Iraq.

“It makes common sense for the commander-in-chief to say to our troops and the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government that we will help you defend yourself from people that want to sow discord and harm,” the president said to NPR’s Juan Williams. “And so we will do what it takes to protect our troops.” >> MORE

Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents stand guard at Greeley’s Swift & Co. meat processing plant AP

By Chuck Plunkett and Anne C. Mulkern — Long before the federal raids at its meatpacking plants last month, Swift & Co. knew some of its workers had secured their jobs using stolen identities they had bought on the street.

Investigators from the Weld County district attorney’s office had called and visited the plant, asking to talk to five workers suspected of identity theft.

Law enforcement uncovered the fraud after the Internal Revenue Service surprised people outside Colorado demanding back taxes for income earned at Swift.
>> MORE

By Steve Raabe — Raising fuel taxes may be a more effective way to curb gasoline consumption than President Bush’s recent call to increase use of alternative fuels, some analysts say.

It’s a controversial strategy, deemed by most politicians as suicidal to support.

Yet a handful of economists and corporate executives from the right and left are becoming increasingly vocal in advocating higher energy taxes. >> MORE

Last week, on the day President Bush delivered his State of the Union address, Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee, seeking confirmation as the new U.S. commander in Iraq.

His testimony was not reassuring, not in a war where tough, candid answers have been hard to come by.

It’s not that Petraeus didn’t pass the Senate’s oral exam. He was well received, and by the end of the hearing, it was clear that he would be approved - and he was the next day, without a dissenting vote. >> MORE

By Karen E. Crummy — Colorado Democrats are considering moving up the state’s caucuses to the first week of February 2008 in an effort to be politically relevant in the next presidential election.

If Colorado moves its caucuses from the third week in March to Feb. 5, however, it would join more than a dozen other states that have either already moved their caucuses or primaries up to the same date, or are thinking about it. As a result, some political observers say, Colorado probably becomes insignificant. >> MORE

By Christa Marshall - It was reminiscent of President Clinton’s “I’m still relevant” comment after the Newt Gingrich-led takeover of Congress in 1994.

Facing a barrage of criticism in Congress about his Iraq policy, President Bush announced today that he is the “decision maker” in guiding the war.

“One of the things I’ve found in Congress is that most people recognize that failure would be a disaster for the United States,” the president said after meeting with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and military leaders. “And in that I’m the decision maker.” >> MORE