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• SEQUESTRATION: Cuts loom, prison workers concerned about safety Play Video

  February 25, 2013 8:51 PM

  The March 1st deadline is approaching quickly. If Congress doesn't act, sequestration goes into effect; it's a series of budget slashing and tax increases. Federal agencies across the board are watching closely, and worried about their budgets. "We've been wondering, how are they going to cut the staff lower... more »

• Both sides speak out about new non-cigarette licenses for businesses

  November 27, 2012 6:40 PM

  After a public hearing last night and a vote buy City Council, non-cigarette tobacco sales in Pueblo now have to be through licensed businesses. It includes any smokeless tobacco, hookah, and e-cigarettes. Those for it, like the Pueblo City-County Health Department, tell us it's because a recent survey... more »

• Two men sentenced in Fast and Furious gun case

  November 26, 2012 8:20 PM

  PHOENIX (AP) - Two men have been sentenced to several years behind bars for their roles in a gun smuggling ring that was part of the U.S. government's Operation Fast and Furious. The U.S. Justice Department says Jacob Anthony Montelongo was sentenced Monday in Phoenix to nearly 3 1/2 years... more »

• Colorado uses tobacco taxes on smoking bans

  August 27, 2012 8:18 PM

  DENVER (AP) - State auditors questioned whether the Colorado Department of Health and Environment should be awarding money from tobacco taxes to support local policy initiatives barring smoking in public. A report Monday showed the department awarded $5.2 million to 140 grantees in 2010 and 2011 to help pass initiatives... more »

• Medical professionals liken soda companies to Big Tobacco

  July 24, 2012 8:32 PM

  Medical professionals who favor a proposed ban on large-sized sugary drinks likened soda companies to Big Tobacco at a public hearing Tuesday, saying the plan would protect the public, while opponents accused the New York City of playing Big Brother and wondered what tasty but unhealthy foods might be targeted... more »

• Parents' rights bill passes with a twist

  April 5, 2012 10:01 PM

  A new bill requiring schools to get parental consent before giving surveys to kids is now on the governor's desk waiting to be signed into law, but the end product is far from the original proposal. Bill supporters wanted written consent before asking kids about things like tobacco and... more »

• No easy solution for child tobacco use

  March 8, 2012 8:40 AM

  RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - More work needs to be done to keep young Americans from using tobacco, including creating smoking bans and increasing taxes on tobacco products, the U.S. Surgeon General's office said in a report released Thursday. Almost one in five high school-aged teens smokes, down from earlier decades,... more »

• Air Force Academy investigating illegal drug use by cadets

  January 12, 2012 3:02 PM

  The Air Force Academy is investigating approximately 15 cadets for violating a General Order prohibiting the use of intoxicating substances-other than alcohol, caffeine, tobacco or lawfully-used prescribed medications. "The abuse of these products by military members, cadets or cadet candidates contradicts the nature of the profession of arms, threatens... more »

• Teen drug abuse study has ups and downs

  December 15, 2011 12:18 AM

  Teen habits towards alcohol, tobacco, and drugs are taking dramatic changes. "We are seeing significant decrease in alcohol drinking behaviors since 1996 when it was very high," says Dr. Nora Volkow of the National Institute of Health. The annual study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse shows... more »

• Food prices up

  August 17, 2011 8:47 AM

  WASHINGTON (AP) - Companies paid more in July for raw materials and wholesale goods. Food, tobacco and pickup truck costs drove the increase. The Labor Department says the Producer Price Index, which measures price changes before they reach the consumer, rose 0.2 percent last month. That follows a 0.4... more »

• Tobacco embraces candy-like products

  August 5, 2011 8:52 PM

  Tobacco embraces candy-like products Tobacco companies are looking for new ways to deliver a nicotine fix without the smoke by making strips, sticks, and dissolvable tabs. All products come in a variety of flavors from cinnamon to mint. These products are packaged in boxes looking like breath mints and... more »

• Care packages to troops being confiscated

  August 10, 2010 8:51 AM

  If you send care packages to a loved on who's deployed in Afghanistan, leave out the tobacco. A new law meant to stop smuggling by mail has inadvertently also halted care packages that include cigarettes and other tobacco products for American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Prevent... more »

• Tobacco loophole in child health law costs $250M

  June 2, 2010 9:04 AM

  Public health officials say a tobacco tax loophole in President Barack Obama's children's health insurance program is costing the U.S. Treasury more than $250 million a year. The loophole allows companies to avoid huge tax increases on rolling tobacco by labeling it as pipe tobacco. The marketing twist lets... more »

• Tobacco companies cutting contracts with US farmers

  May 19, 2010 8:20 AM

  Cigarette makers are cutting contracts with tobacco farmers as smoking continues to decline in the U.S. University of Kentucky economist Will Snell says his state, the nation's top producer of burley tobacco, could lose a fourth of its contracts this year. Many contracts also have been lost in North... more »

• Pueblo man arrested in alleged plot to "cripple" boy

  May 10, 2010 8:59 AM

  Pueblo police have arrested a man accused of trying to hire someone to cut his ex-girlfriend's face and hurt her nephew. John Richard Lucero, 22, of Pueblo was arrested Friday on a warrant for attempted first-degree assault. Police Sgt. Eric Bravo says Lucero is accused of offering an undercover... more »

• Pueblo club marches on street to fight tobacco

  May 7, 2010 6:54 PM

  Members of the Boys and Girls Club of Pueblo County took to the streets Friday afternoon, to take a stand against tobacco. About 100 club members held a march from downtown Pueblo to Mineral Palace Park. They carried anti-tobacco signs and banners. more »

• Scientists look to tobacco as a potential biofuel

  March 29, 2010 10:23 AM

  Some researchers say an age-old cash crop long the focus of public health debate could be used to help solve the nation's energy crisis, by genetically modifying the tobacco leaf for use as a biofuel. The golden leaf is the latest in a series of possible biofuels like switchgrass... more »

• Dentists alarmed by increase in oral cancer in young people

  February 7, 2010 11:19 AM

  Some dentists are sounding the alarm about oral cancer and young people. The number of cases is way up and the problem isn't tobacco. One of the most common places for oral cancer is, is on the side of the tongue. And that cancer can be due to HPV.... more »

• Dentists alarmed by increase in oral cancer in young people

  February 7, 2010 11:10 AM

  Some dentists are sounding the alarm about oral cancer and young people. The number of cases is way up and the problem isn't tobacco. One of the most common places for oral cancer is, is on the side of the tongue. And that cancer can be due to HPV.... more »

• Free quit smoking help offered

  December 28, 2009 3:53 PM

  The first of the year is the time many take to improve their lives, start new habits and break old ones. Thousands in Colorado are expected to take a no-tobacco vow as a 2010 resolution. The Colorado QuitLine is staffed and operating at 1-800-QUIT-NOW. The QuitLine is operated by... more »

• Tobacco execs quickly find tax loophole

  November 17, 2009 12:47 PM

  Tobacco companies are avoiding hundreds of millions of dollars a year in taxes by exploiting a loophole in President Barack Obama's child health law. And they're doing it with a simple marketing twist. Obama and Congress increased taxes on tobacco products earlier this year to pay for expanded children's... more »