America’s tallest peak to be renamed Denali

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, with President Obama’s approval, signed a “secretarial order” to officially change the name of the tallest mountain in North America from McKinley to Denali.

EPA machinery causes major spill in Colorado

Heavy machinery the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) used to investigate pollutants at the Gold King Mine accidentally released an estimated one million gallons of mining waste into a creek, causing the Animas River north of Silverton, Colorado to turn an opaque orange.

Rural jobs continue to rebound in West, losses in Alaska and Oregon

Several areas across the rural West saw noticeable gains in employment in the year preceding June 2015, but others, such as Alaska, suffered losses in the same period, keeping that state’s jobless rate above the national average.

Advocates sue the city of Tulare for safe water

The Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, a Fresno-based advocacy organization seeks a court order requiring the city of Tulare to supply water to the Matheny Tract community, a 300-home rural subdivision south of the city.

California farmers face water restrictions

California farmers’ surface water allocations were cut drastically this summer due to ongoing drought conditions. Now, farmers with water rights dating back to 1903 face water restrictions; last time farmers faced such restrictions was in 1977, according to the New York Times.