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.
Dormant Colorado rail line could see revival as ambitious Amtrak plan moves forward
Last week, Amtrak issued a statement and a map detailing its plans for new routes as part of the Biden administration’s American Jobs Plan, including a new Front Range passenger rail route from Cheyenne to…
Colorado weighs data privacy bill as feds drag feet on regulating tech industry
Colorado this legislative session may be joining a handful of states trying to fill a federal void in regulating personal data privacy and security, but most experts agree the state-level…
Feds reject request for streamlined approval of lease deal on UP’s Tennessee Pass rail line
The U.S. Surface Transportation Board — the federal agency that oversees railroads — has rejected a request by newly formed Colorado, Midland & Pacific Railroad for expedited approval of its…
Opinion: Revived rail line through Colorado ski country could bolster rivers, battle climate change
In doing some research for my appearance on Forrest Whitman’s On The Rail’s podcast on KHEN 106.9 FM radio in Salida, Colorado, I realized that I first started seriously writing about passenger…
Analysis: Local jurisdictions have some limited leverage as rail companies do battle
Where the hell is Sage, Colorado? And why would a railroad company be considering starting a commuter passenger rail service there and running trains along the long-dormant Tennessee Pass Line…
Warren Miller film SKI BUM explores family, fatherhood, loss and skiing away from pain
I sometimes feel like the Forrest Gump of the ski world, and it started with meeting legendary ski filmmaker Warren Miller when I first moved to Vail in the early…
Feds delay decision on Union Pacific bid to revive part of Tennessee Pass rail line
The U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Friday issued a continuance in the closely watched case of Colorado, Midland & Pacific Railway’s bid for an exemption that would seal a…
Colorado railroad wars heat up over Tennessee Pass Line along three rivers
Warren Zevon sang it best: “Send lawyers, guns and money,” he bellowed in his hit song of the same title. He might have thrown in “public affairs consultants and politicians”…
Colorado Pacific Railroad challenges Union Pacific over its ‘monopoly stranglehold’
Colorado Pacific Railroad on Saturday announced it will challenge a deal between Union Pacific and Rio Grande Pacific to possibly rehabilitate the Tennessee Pass Line and offer passenger and freight…
Colorado congressional race offers two very different ways to deal with deadly COVID-19 pandemic
The congressional campaign for Lauren Boebert, a Rifle restaurant owner who last spring violated COVID-19 public health orders, is refusing to answer basic questions about President Donald Trump contracting the…
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