The word “crisis” ended a Colorado River conference that drew representatives from Southwest U.S. states, tribes and Mexico to Las Vegas last week. A top Interior Department official closed the Colorado River Water Users Association conference calling the next three months critical for agreements to deal with drought and climate change. Federal water managers have now closed public comment in an effort expected to yield a plan by summer to use at least 15% less river water split among seven Western U.S. states, 30 Native American tribes and Mexico. At stake is drinking water for 40 million people, hydroelectric power, and irrigation for farmers who produce most of the nation’s winter vegetables.
A young native mom’s death sparks an investigation.
Abbey Lynn Steele was walking to buy soda one month ago on November 16th, the day of her arrest. Just hours later her heart stopped at the Pennington County Jail in Rapid City. It wasn’t her first time dealing with the law. In May of 2021, Abbey Lynn Steele gave birth to her first child, a baby boy. A urine test showed methamphetamine in his system. Steele, who turned 19 that month, also tested positive for meth. The drug’s detection in the baby’s urine assured that Steele would not keep full custody under South Dakota law. Its presence in her system set in motion a series of events that defined her short life. Instead of receiving a visit from a counselor or a trip to treatment, the young mother was charged with felony ingestion of a controlled substance. Some states criminalize drug ingestion, but South Dakota is the only state in the nation with a law that explicitly allows authorities to press felony charges that could result in prison time.
