Weekend Update: Top Stories from the Week that Was

From man camps to affirmative action and the ever-silent Senate candidate Bob Schaffer, Colorado Confidential is on the story.A profile of Ward Connerly by Cara DeGette finds that money is behind his abolition of state equality laws in Ward Connerly’s Anti-Affirmative Action Machine.

Immigrant labor was a hot topic at the statehouse this week.

Kate Bernuth reports that Immigrant Rights Groups Rally Opposition to Farmworker Bill. Later in the week, there was no decision after after a four plus-hour hearing on a proposal for Colorado to process H-2A visas to speed worker permits for temporary agricultural workers in No Vote on Farmworker Bill as Testimony Goes Long.

Prisons are big business. Erin Rosa finds that Colorado Ranks Sixth for Corrections Spending while facilities report serious problems in staffing and saftey. In Union Blames Lack of Staffing Funds for Federal Prison Budget Crunch, the Bureau of Prison may cut 4,000 federal correctional officer positions to stem a budget shortfall, a story broken by Colorado Confidential at Internal Memo: Federal Prisons Facing Budget Crisis.

Another big business is the oil and gas sector that dominates both the economy and quality of life of the Western Slope.

Temporary living quarters — better known as “man camps” —  are now under fire from local property owners for skirting zoning laws in Landowners Question Special Treatment for Housing Oil and Gas Workers.

Taxes are a dirty word on both the political left and right. J.C. O’Connell reports that a group of Aurora entrepreneurs turned conventional wisdom on its head in Businesses Tax Themselves to Revitalize Aurora Strip.

U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer has been eerily quiet on political issues of importance in this election cycle. But he had plenty to say in 2000 as he was leaving Congress after a self-imposed term limit. Cara DeGette introduces us to the former congressman in Still No Word Today, But Here Is Bob Schaffer’s Stance Of Yesteryear.

Read all the stories produced by Colorado Confidential this week here.