STATE LINES: COLO., LA., MONT., TEXAS AND WIS

COLORADO: More than 2,000 fish and frogs died last week

when an organic material was discharged into the Cache la Poudre River. Investigators on Thursday said they were still investigating the cause of the fish kill (Coleman Cornelius, Denver Post).

LOUISIANA: The New Orleans City Council unanimously

approved regulations on Thursday governing the removal of lead-based paint. Under the rules, which take effect when Mayor Marc Morial signs the ordinance, homeowners and contractors would have to notify neighbors prior to removal work, and during removal, the contractor or homeowner would have to erect “containment barriers” similar to those used during home fumigation (Frank Donze, New Orleans Times Picayune).

MONTANA: In a letter last week, Friends of the Missouri Breaks urged Interior Secretary Gale Norton to heed the “overwhelming” support for the Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument. “By a margin of greater than two-to-one, citizens of our state support the existing monument and the values it protects,” the letter said (Billings Gazette).

TEXAS: Two conservative groups led an attack last week on proposed science textbooks for Texas schools, objecting to the books’ handling of topics such as global warming, acid rain and endangered species. Peggy Venable of Texas Citizens for a Sound Economy said some of the books try to “frighten” students about global warming (Terrence Stutz, Dallas Morning News).

WISCONSIN: The citizens group Save Our Unique Lands asked a state appeals court last week to order the Public Service Commission to stop a new 240-mile transmission line that regulators say will help take the pressure off existing transmission lines (Jenny Price, AP/St. Paul Pioneer-Press). — MB