Song playsIntro by hostWelcome to High Country - politics in the American West. My name is Sean Diller; regular listeners might know me from Heartland Pod’s Talking Politics, every Monday.Go to heartlandpod.com for information on all our political podcasts, and a link to support our work on Patreon. Sign up as an Official PODhead for just $5 per month to access all our premium podcast segments and political writing. To join the conversation on Twitter, find us at THE Heartland POD. Alright! Let’s get into it: NEVADA CURRENT:Tribes in six states awarded $73MM in new high-speed internet grants.Three Nevada tribes will receive $11.6 million for high-speed internet, in the latest round of “internet for all” grants, federal officials announced Wednesday.The funding will directly connect more than 800 homes on tribal lands in Nevada to high-speed internet, improving access to education, jobs, and healthcare on tribal lands.Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said“The Biden administration is committed to fostering meaningful partnerships with Tribal Nations, which have been vital to our goal of connecting everyone in America, with affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet service,” So far, about $1.6 billion has been awarded to 121 tribal nations with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that passed last year. Those funds have connected more than 3,100 unserved Native American households that previously had no connectivity to high-speed Internet, as well as businesses and community institutions.These awards are part of a series of commitments the Biden administration announced Wednesday to strengthen nation-to-nation engagement between the federal government and Tribal Nations.The Walker River Paiute Tribe in Mineral County will receive more than $6 million to install fiber internet directly to more than 400 households, 22 community institutions, and 10 tribal businesses. The Duckwater Shoshone Tribe in Nye County is set to receive more than $3 million to install fiber internet to nearly 80 homes and 11 tribal institutions. The Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe in Churchill County will be awarded nearly $2 million to directly connect more than 300 households.Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who has pushed for more broadband funding on tribal lands, praised the announcement Wednesday.“Throughout my time in the Senate, I’ve worked to make sure Tribes in Nevada have access to critical broadband,” she said. “I made sure these funds would get to Tribes in Nevada in a timely and efficient fashion, and I’m committed to helping Nevadans in every community access the critical educational, business, health care, and cultural resources that the internet provides.”Additionally, the national Affordable Connectivity Program - ACP - provides a discount of $30 per month toward Internet service for eligible households, and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying tribal lands. You’re eligible for the benefit If you currently receive SNAP benefits, are on Medicaid, or earn less than 200% of the federal poverty line. That’s about $27K for a single person household, or $55K for a family of four.To Apply, visit AffordableConnectivity.govCOLORADO SUN: Colorado Democrats ready to move on gun safety laws.A host of changes to Colorado’s gun laws, from a ban on assault weapons to tweaks to the existing red flag law, are already being considered by Democrats at the state Capitol in response to the shooting last month at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs. “Pretty much everything is on the table,” according to Senate President Steve Fenberg, a Boulder Democrat. “The question now is: What is the highest priority?”Democrats will return to the Colorado Capitol in early January with expanded majorities in both the House and Senate, and facing pressure to act after the state’s latest mass shooting. Five people were killed and more than a dozen others wounded in a Nov. 19 attack on Club Q, allegedly carried out by a 22-year-old shooter armed with