Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American country and folk singer, songwriter, and actor. He was one of the most popular acoustic artists of the 1970s and one of the bestselling artists in that decade. AllMusic has called Denver "among the most beloved entertainers of his era".
Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. was born on December 31, 1943, in Roswell, New Mexico, to Erma Louise (née Swope; 1922–2010) and Captain Henry John "Dutch" Deutschendorf Sr. (1920–1982), a United States Army Air Forces pilot stationed at Roswell Army Airfield. Captain Deutschendorf Sr. was a decorated pilot who set a number of air speed records in a Convair B-58 Hustler in 1961.
"Rocky Mountain High" is a song written by John Denver and Mike Taylor and is one of the two official state songs of Colorado. Recorded by Denver in 1972, it is the title track of the 1972 album Rocky Mountain High and rose to No. 9 on the US Hot 100 in 1973. Denver told concert audiences in the mid-1970s that the song took him an unusually long nine months to write. On April 10, 2017, the record was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales exceeding 500,000 digital downloads.
H.R.1 - One Big Beautiful Bill Act:
In recent days, Senate Republicans have released the text for a mega bill, dubbed the “One Beautiful Bill Act,” that is being rushed to President Donald Trump’s desk. In addition to making drastic cuts to Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and clean energy, the bill includes unprecedented language that would require selling off millions of acres of public lands to help pay for tax cuts for billionaires.
Notably, the House of Representatives rejected a public lands sell-off proposal in their version of this bill after it provoked strong and notable opposition from Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) and other Republican officials. But bill text released by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on June 11—as well as amended bill text first published by Politico’s E&E Daily on June 17—contains sell-off language that’s substantially more expansive.
Zero public input—and minimal public notice—is required for the sale of Public Lands of 258,673,128 acres.
The bill requires some consultation with local government, governors, and Tribes but no opportunity for public input. Currently, identifying public lands for potential disposal involves a transparent, public process, but those requirements would be erased by the bill. While lands directly identified for sale by land management agencies are supposed to be publicized, nominations by private interests are not covered by that requirement. Agencies are not even required by the bill to disclose when public lands have actually been sold or to whom; instead, the public may only find out when they show up and see “no trespassing” signs.
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