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.
New federal climate report highlights brutal economic, social impacts of carbon pollution
A dire new report called the National Climate Assessment, produced by 13 Trump administration agencies and released on Black Friday, provides a stark warning about the economic and environmental threats…
USOC narrows down list of Winter Olympic contenders to Denver, Salt Lake City
U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) officials were in Denver last week meeting with Denver Olympic exploratory committee members about the possibility of Colorado hosting the Winter Games in 2030 or beyond.…
Colorado acts on Hickenlooper’s order to adopt California low emission vehicle standard
As expected, Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission on Friday approved new low emission vehicle (LEV) standards for new light-duty and medium-duty motor vehicles sold in Colorado beginning in the 2022…
Colorado leaders call on Congress to protect Mueller Russia investigation
President Donald Trump over the weekend defended his controversial pick to head up the Justice Department on an interim basis in the wake of the forced resignation of former Attorney…
Colorado elects nation’s first openly gay governor and state’s first black congressman
Colorado, dubbed “The Hate State” 26 years ago with the passage of the discriminatory, anti-gay-rights Amendment 2, on Tuesday night became the first state in the nation to elect an…
Congress allows critical Land and Water Conservation Fund to lapse
The Republican-controlled Congress last month allowed the nearly 55-year-old Land and Water Conservation Fund that’s pumped more than $260 million into Colorado outdoor projects to expire despite bipartisan support for…
Kavanaugh Supreme Court pick hits home in Colorado as Bennet, Brauchler, Weiser weigh in
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat, announced on Tuesday that he will vote against the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. Here’s the letter he sent…
Iconic Purina plant celebrates sense of place, pride in north Denver community
There’s a palpable sense of pride when talking to Nestlé Purina engineering manager Tom Rotunno about the north Denver factory where he’s worked for the past two decades – the iconic…
Gun debate shaping race for Colorado attorney general
A story I wrote for Wednesday’s Vail Daily on the open Colorado attorney general’s race in the Nov. 6 general election drew some statewide notice, with the left-leaning website Colorado Pols highlighting the in-depth…
Defensible space around mountain towns seen as key to winning wildfire war
I asked Democratic Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet on Tuesday about a tweet from President Donald Trump earlier this week blaming the magnitude of the ongoing California wildfires on that state’s…
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