Walsenburg residents and business owners were shocked Thursday to learn that the town’s second largest employer will close in April. The news that private prison operator Corrections Corporation of America will shutter the Huerfano County Correctional Facility sent shock waves across this small town, The Pueblo Chieftain reports.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers had mixed reactions to Thursday’s announcement that Arizona is pulling its inmates out of a private prison in Walsenburg, dragging almost 200 jobs out with them.