David O. Williams is an award-winning freelance reporter based in the Vail Valley of Colorado, writing on health care, immigration, politics, the environment, energy, public lands, outdoor recreation and sports. His work has appeared in 5280 Magazine, American Way Magazine (American Airlines), the Anchorage Daily News (Alaska), Aspen Daily News, the Aspen Times, Beaver Creek Magazine, the Chicago Tribune, the Colorado Independent, Colorado Politics formerly the Colorado Statesman), Colorado Public News, the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Colorado Independent (formerly Colorado Confidential), the Colorado Springs Independent, the Colorado Statesman (now Colorado Politics), the Daily Trail (Vail), the Denver Daily News, the Denver Post, the Durango Herald, the Eagle Valley Enterprise, the Eastside Journal (Bellevue, Washington), ESPN.com, the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent, the Greeley Tribune, the Huffington Post, the King County Journal (Seattle, Washington), KUNC.org (northern Colorado), LA Weekly, the London Daily Mirror, the Montgomery Journal (Maryland), The New York Times, the Parent’s Handbook, Peaks Magazine (now Epic Life), People Magazine, Powder Magazine, the Pueblo Chieftain, PT Magazine, Rocky Mountain Golf Magazine, the Rocky Mountain News, Atlantic Media's RouteFifty.com (formerly Government Executive State and Local), SKI Magazine, Ski Area Management, SKIING Magazine, the Summit Daily News, United Hemispheres (United Airlines), Vail/Beaver Creek Magazine, Vail en Español, Vail Valley Magazine, the Vail Daily, the Vail Trail and Westword (Denver). Williams is also the founder, publisher and editor of RealVail.com and RockyMountainPost.com.
Expanded mountain passenger rail could happen faster than Front Range, Colorado lawmaker says
Amtrak’s California Zephyr in Grand Junction (Chase Woodruff/Colorado Newsline photo). The flurry of funding bills for passenger rail passed during the recently-completed 2024 Colorado legislative session — dubbed the “year of…
Rocky Mountain Post joins Colorado Newsline, more than 30 other news outlets in seeking voter input
For nearly two years now I’ve worked with the Colorado Newsline, an award-winning, non-profit news and opinion website based on Colorado’s Front Range that allows full reposting of its excellent articles on…
Colorado creates new rail safety office to study critical issues in wake of deadly derailments
Colorado lawmakers May 8, the final day of the state legislative session, created an Office of Rail Safety within the Public Utilities Commission to study and implement state rail regulations…
Colorado poised to become first state to replace federal protections for critical wetlands
Homestake Creek in Eagle County, Colorado (David O. Williams photo). For Colorado state Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, “protecting and securing our water future is the most important issue and biggest…
SCOTUS left 60% of Colorado wetlands, streams at risk; Colorado is stepping in with protections
Wetlands near Homestake Creek in Colorado (John Fielder photo). Outrage over the Trump-packed U.S. Supreme Court rolling back federal reproductive rights has in some ways overshadowed the now 6-3 conservative…
Union Pacific wastewater spill near Moffat Tunnel puts spotlight on state rail safety legislation
The Moffat Tunnel East Portal in Winter Park (Colorado Newsline photo by Chase Woodruff). As Colorado lawmakers this month prepare to do something that Congress has been incapable of for more than…
Sprawling Colorado congressional district grapples with immigration, border issues
The race for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes most of the state’s mountainous Western Slope, looks dramatically different with last week’s sudden exit of U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, but one thing remains…
Utah’s Powder Mountain passes on fully private skiing model, pursues public-private hybrid
Powder Mountain, Utah. VAIL, Colo. — If every single Powder Mountain season-pass-holder (there are only 3,000 of them) showed up to ski on the same day, and the ski area 20 miles…
Grocery finance expert lauds union jobs, price investment promised by Kroger in proposed Albertsons deal
In Colorado’s Western Slope mountain towns, where the cost of living is often as sky-high as the two-mile-high altitude, residents frequently have to work multiple jobs to be able to…
Colorado lawmaker Boebert still silent on Utah oil trains as her political opponents line up to oppose controversial rail project
A Union Pacific oil train near Grand Junction and the Colorado River with the Grand Mesa in the background (David O. Williams photo). Candidates from both major political parties looking…
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