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http://www.gazette.com/articles/teacher_33608___article.html/colorado_springs.html A 73-year-old substitute teacher at Wasson High School was arrested by Colorado Springs police Feb. 15. A 15-year-old boy told police the male teacher offered to pay him $1,000 to allow the teacher to perform oral sex on him, according to an arrest affidavit.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/18 A Florence inmate who allegedly planned to throw hot wax on a congressman visiting a prison was convicted Tuesday of assaulting a guard by throwing the wax on him instead.Chief U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham said the inmate, Jay Vaughan Gregory, made "a strongly implied threat" in his closing arguments in a two-day trial.Nottingham ordered that Gregory's copy of the jurors' names be turned back to court staff "before you have any opportunity to copy" them.A person familiar with the case said Gregory, 51, is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a violent gang that operates in numerous prisons.Another person who attended the trial and had official knowledge of it said Gregory, in his closing argument, said, "We die with swords in our hands and not with chains on our ankles and we will hold each and everyone responsible for the actions that occurred in the courtroom."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386605 A skier died Wednesday at Eldora Mountain Resort. Officials said the 46-year-old man was found at 1:15 p.m. at the bottom of West Ridge, an intermediate trail in the Corona area. He was unresponsive and not breathing.Ski patrollers administered life support, but the skier was pronounced dead after about an hour.It was the first skier death "in quite a number of years" at Eldora Mountain Resort," said Rob Linde, resort spokesman.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/children-sickened-school-evacuated/ Lumberg Elementary School in Edgewater was evacuated Wednesday after several students and staff members complained of headaches and nausea, but the source of the illness remained a mystery, authorities said.Nine students and four teachers were treated at nearby Jefferson High School, then taken to Lutheran Hospital as a precaution shortly after the school was evacuated about 1 p.m., a spokeswoman for Jefferson County Schools said.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/797320509 World War II veterans are dying at a rate of more than 1,200 a day nationally.And many of the 16 million Americans who served in the war never had the opportunity to see the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., which opened to the public on April 29, 2004 between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.All that's going to change for northern Colorado veterans of the war.An Honor Flight Northern Colorado is being put together to fly WWII veterans from Weld and Larimer counties to the memorial -- free of charge -- Sept. 23-24.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_Clifton_Governance.html Residents of Clifton, the most densely populated community in unincorporated Mesa County, may be going to the polls this November to create Colorado’s newest city.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/227729473 Scott Burgess wants to repair the relationship between Minturn and Red Cliff, especially now that employee housing from private ski resort may be built near his town.“We have to change that relationship so that we have a say with what’s happening in our own backyard,” said Burgess, who has lived in Red Cliff for two years.That’s one of several reasons Burgess has decided to run for Red Cliff’s Board of Trustees, on which six seats out of seven will be up for grabs April 1.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/51392811 Their numbers have dwindled, and age has slowed them. Still, on Tuesday, the veteran ski troopers showed no fear on Riva Ridge.One by one, they plunged down the steepest face of this Vail trail, named for the supposedly insurmountable cliff they climbed in Italy’s Apennine Mountains to launch a surprise attack on the Nazis. That was 63 years ago.At the bottom of the ski trail, the men — now in their 80s and 90s — collected on this sunny powder day on Vail Mountain, smiling at each other.A love of skiing is still a common thread for these veterans of the 10th Mountain Division. But their bonds go much deeper.“Friends you make in combat, you never forget,” said John Woodward, 93, who was an officer in the 10th, the regiment of skier-soldiers who, during World War II in 1945, pushed back the Germans in the harsh Italian mountains.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8383225 A leaky value allowed about 300 gallons of untreated stormwater runoff into a 60-inch water pipeline in Aurora today, causing slight taste and odor problems but no known health risks, Aurora Water said.About 3,200 customers were affected in a 2-square-mile bordered by Mississippi and Jewell avenues and Wheeling to Dayton streets.The problem was quickly fixed, the line flushed and water samples sent to to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment as a precautionary measure, said Aurora Water spokeswoman Meghan Hughes.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/feisty-rolo-wins-reprieve/ Rolo lives. That's what a judge decided Wednesday afternoon.Assistant Presiding Judge Mike Graber ruled that the German shepherd, in trouble for biting a neighbor, can return to his owner.Not without conditions, however. Laura Hagan, Rolo's owner, has to continue intense training with the dog and learn how to better control him.A 90-day jail sentence for Hagan, who was found guilty Tuesday of having a dog at large and keeping a dangerous animal, will be suspended if the dog stays out of trouble for a year, Graber ruled.Ten of Hagan's neighbors testified at a sentencing hearing that the dog was aggressive and they had concerns ranging from mild to extreme for their safety and the safety of their children. Hagan was found guilty Tuesday of having an at-large dog and having a dangerous animal.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280366/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Laurie Stolen is proud of the work that goes into preparing and serving an estimated 14,000 nutritious meals weekly, even though her diners don't really have much choice in their dining options.Stolen, inmate services director at the Larimer County Detention Center, oversees the jail's kitchen staff, a mix of employees from contractor Aramark and nearly 50 "trustee" inmates.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/14 The organizer of a campaign to return the public comments to televised City Council work sessions is applauding the Pueblo County Democratic Party for taking a stand on the issue.Tucked in among 25 other resolutions passed Saturday at the Pueblo County Democratic convention was a brief statement that the party believes "City Council meetings should be televised for public access and should include public comment open to all Pueblo County residents."Right now, council televises its regular sessions and work sessions on nights when a regular session is held.Last September, however, council moved its public comment period to the non-televised work sessions and Chris Nicoll's Pueblo Citizens for Open Government has been fighting ever since to get the decision reversed.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_7b_Xcel.html Plagued with a history of power failures along Horizon Drive and around Grand Junction Regional Airport, Xcel Energy is investing more than $1 million to replace underground lines and equipment in an effort to eliminate power troubles in the area.
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http://steamboatpilot.com/news/2008/feb/28/yampa_valley_recycles_selling_reusable_bags/ The numbers associated with the consumption of plastic bags are staggering.According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 380 billion bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year. The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually, at an estimated cost to retailers of $4 billion. The bags are said to take more than 1,000 years to decompose.“These plastic bags — they are just a disaster,” Catherine Carson said.Carson is a member of Yampa Valley Recycles, a group that is launching a reusable shopping bag program in Routt County. The group has purchased 5,000 of the polypropylene bags, which it plans to sell for $1 each.
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/591981407 The Basalt town government’s proposal to boost property taxes to buy a flood-imperiled trailer park for $5 million has failed to attract a champion of the issue.While the election is only about a month away, April 1, no citizens’ committee has emerged to promote the purchase of the Pan and Fork Mobile Home Park. The bonding company the town is working with on the deal eventually will try to build awareness of the proposed purchase.The town government is in a sticky spot on the issue. Colorado law prevents local governments from spending public funds to promote a specific outcome. “The town can’t really do a lot,” Town Manager Bill Efting said. “We can’t spend town money.”
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/920530290 A member of Basalt’s Planning and Zoning Commission decided Wednesday to try out for the big leagues.
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/68450203 Summit County Sheriff John Minor said Tuesday’s sit-down with members of the Denver Water Board “went really well,” as the the agencies discussed communication, safety and security related to the Dillon Dam Road.“Obviously these are issues we will still need to work on as we try to develop this relationship and, like any relationship, it will take time,” said Sheriff John Minor.Denver Water and local law enforcement have recently been subjected to public scrutiny after the Denver Water closed the Dillon Dam Road for nine days in January due to a potential Homeland Security threat.
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http://montrosepress.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/doc47c6312e31b11250416400.txt Residents of a local subdivision are working to reduce crime in a way that focuses on individual homes — the crime-free lifestyles program.Fox Meadows is the first neighborhood in Montrose to begin implementing techniques developed by the International Crime Free Association to reduce the potential for residential crimes such as burglary and vandalism."In the last three to four years, we've started to witness significant increase in crime," resident Ken Holyfield said Wednesday. Holyfield is also a member of the Fox Meadows homeowners association. He's lived in the subdivision for seven years.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_1.htm Shalee Cunningham, who was tentatively chosen a month ago as the next superintendent of Durango schools, has withdrawn her application, the school board announced Wednesday."Shalee has withdrawn her application, and we are going to reopen the search and try to look for some other candidates," said Jeff Schell, a school board member. "Unfortunately, I can't comment on much more than that."
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x2052201974 For tiny Rico, everything is as it was before whispers of mining’s return crept through the floorboards.A deal that would have brought large-scale molybdenum mining to the hills above Rico is dead, some three months after it was supposed to close, according to a press release from Bolero Resources Corp. CEO R. Bruce Duncan.“Bolero’s due diligence investigations could not be satisfactorily addressed to permit the entering into of a definitive agreement,” reads the release, which appeared yesterday morning on a Canadian business and media Web site, CNW Telbec.Some celebrated, happy to nix mining from the local lexicon for the second time.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385957 To an outsider, the scene looks more like summer vacation than a day of learning. But it's all part of the free-form curriculum that defines this type of home schooling — based on the idea that learning is a natural consequence of living.It needn't be boxed into time increments, targeted at certain age groups, limited to traditional school subjects or measured in tests.Generally speaking, most home-schoolers follow a traditional curriculum of math, science and social studies.Much of their education is guided by textbooks and scheduled lesson plans.Flip that whole notion over, and you have unschooling.If unschoolers wake up one morning with an interest in horse training, salamanders or ancient Chinese dynasties, that is what they study. Their sources could be the Internet, museums, farms, library books, movies or professionals in their field of interest.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385956 Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve. But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions."I'm trying to balance your rights and interests as well as the needs of the community," Graber told Laura Hagan. "If you don't do these things, it would be very serious."Hagan received a 90-day jail sentence that is suspended for one year if Rolo stays out of trouble. Rolo and Hagan also must continue a 12- to 16-week training regimen with monthly progress reports.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386602 The loudest jets operating in the U.S. would be banned from landing at Centennial Airport under a proposal submitted by the airport and surrounding communities to the Federal Aviation Administration.The FAA is currently reviewing and taking public comment on Centennial's "noise-compatibility program."Michael Fronapfel, the airport's manager of planning and development, said the first of 12 recommendations is to ban "Stage 1" aircraft entirely, and Recommendation 2 is to ban the slightly quieter "Stage 2" aircraft from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385960 A new master plan for the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood calls for 3.6 million square feet of new development and 1,400 residential units.Combined with some of the existing buildings, the Federal Center will have a total of 6.4 million square feet on the 640-acre site within the next 20 years.The Federal Center property, which houses government offices, including the U.S. Geological Survey, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Mine Safety Health Administration, is owned by the General Services Administration.The GSA sought a master plan for the site to take advantage of the development potential brought about by the FasTracks project, which will bring an RTD light-rail line through the property, and by the relocation of St. Anthony Hospital to the site.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/jeffco-schools-beef-goes-bye-bye/ Lunch for tens of thousands of Jefferson County schoolchildren won't include 400 cases of frozen beef, which is being destroyed starting this morning.Colorado's largest school district bought some of the 143 million pounds of frozen beef being recalled from Chino, Calif.-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.Jeffco warehouse staff will destroy the meat at a Jeffco Schools storage warehouse on Quail Street in Lakewood.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383346 Over and over, parents complain that our schools are not doing an adequate job preparing students. Generations of students learned by sitting in rows at desks, memorizing multiplication tables, and listening intently to a teacher. Why can't students today learn the same way?As Bob Dylan said, "The times, they are a-changing." And we have done a very poor job keeping up with these changing times.For a good majority of today's youths, hours are spent at the computer, sending text messages or talking on cellphones, playing video games or listening to an iPod. Everything is electronic, fast, instantly gratifying, and independently controlled. These activities are in sharp contrast to the way most schools approach education.Our system requires all students to take the same courses, and take the same tests at the same time, regardless of the differing abilities of the students. Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if each student could progress according to his or her individual ability and then be tested accordingly?
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/full-fare-for-bus-rapid-transit/ Regional Transportation District officials are trying to reassure cities along U.S. 36 that the district still fully supports bus-rapid transit following the circulation of a city of Boulder memo questioning that commitment last week.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/racial-feud-trial-leaves-big-legal-bill/ Almost six weeks after 15-year- old Randall Nelson was found not guilty of charges of assault and disorderly conduct stemming from a racially charged incident in February 2007 that left another boy with a broken jaw, legal and financial ramifications remain for the family.In defending his son, now a freshman at Steamboat Springs High School, Brad Nelson learned a tough lesson: Good legal defense doesn't come cheap."If you want the best, you pay for the best," said Brad Nelson, who faces more than $40,000 of legal fees and other expenses related to his son's defense.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/wheat-watching-whole-wheat-price-woes-come-to/ In light of a nationwide surge in the price of wheat, Boulder businesses such as Spruce Confections, Great Harvest Bread and Boulder Beer Co. are re-evaluating what they make, how much they make and how much they charge."It's become a major panic in the brewery business," said Tess McFadden, marketing director for Boulder Beer, 2880 Wilderness Place.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/mystery-donor-leaves-1-million-to-naropa/ Who dunnit?An anonymous donor has left Naropa University $1 million in her will, the Boulder-based institution announced Wednesday.It's the largest such posthumous gift in the school's 34-year history, and comes with some intriguing question marks."Part of the mystery and the power of this gift is we don't know what her precise connection was to the university," said Christopher Dwyer, vice president for institutional advancement.The bequest will be distributed in segments to Naropa through 2011. The first amount has gone into the endowment fund. The president and its board of trustees will determine future placements. No strings are attached to the money.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-dog-on-trial-feb28,1,3839362.story Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Arvada Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve.But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/griego-hearts-broken-by-market/ Iran into an acquaintance last week at the Capitol Hill Whole Foods. Tina, he called, and I turned and there was Tony, smiling, saying I was the first person he had seen since, well . . .He didn't have to finish. I was one of his old customers, and he hadn't seen many since he and his business partner closed their own little grocery store in December.Tony Thompson and Shelley Garrelts owned Simple Foods on the Tennyson strip in North Denver. They took out a $270,000 bank loan, put their homes up as collateral, kicked in another $35,000 each and opened in August 2003. "To rave reviews," Tony reminds me later. He's right.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-lecture-solar-activity-and-climate-change/ The Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado is sponsoring a talk on how solar activity may have affected parts of the "little ice age."The 1600s brought an unusually cold period during the little ice age. Tom Woods will talk about how this historical climate change may have been affected by solar activity.Woods will discuss current understanding based on satellite measurements of variations in the sun, which will establish what extent solar influences play in our climate today.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/state-issues-warning-on-latest-e-mail-scam/ Colorado Attorney General John Suthers on Wednesday warned consumers and businesses about a new e-mail scam related to messages claiming to be from the U.S. Department of Justice.The e-mails concern a supposed consumer complaint filed against the recipient and usually contain an attachment. The attachment is either a blank complaint form or some other document.Suthers advises consumers not to open the attachment because it might contain a computer virus or other malicious software.The Justice Department doesn't send messages to the public via e-mail. Similar hoaxes have recently been conducted in the names of other government entities, the Justice Department said in a statement.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/qwest-reaches-deal-with-jeffco-schools/ Qwest Communications said it has won a 10-year, $16 million contract with the Jefferson County School District to provide high-speed data networking and Internet services.
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http://www.timescall.com/News_Story.asp?id=6862 The Weld County Jail was built to hold 405 inmates. It routinely averages 500.Officials hope a new $17 million wing will alleviate overcrowding at the jail when it’s ready for occupancy in March.“The objective and goal in building the new wing is to bring the numbers back down to capacity,” said Sterling Geesaman, Weld County Sheriff’s Office bureau chief.The four-year project adds 86,000 square feet to the jail and bring its capacity to 779 inmates.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/hunter_33631___article.html/county_seat.html Allison Hunter couldn’t stay out of a campaign fray for long.The 43-year-old Democrat, who in December dropped out of her second bid for the state House District 15 seat, filed paperwork Tuesday that officially kicked off her campaign for the District 2 seat on the El Paso County Commission.“A lot of people are desperate for a voice in the county and I can certainly tell that after even only two days,” Hunter said of the support she has received since informally announcing her candidacy at Saturday’s county Democratic Assembly.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/CSUZONE01/802280368/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 A new system for buying everything from lawn furniture to hazardous chemicals and cars may eventually help Colorado State University save $10 million annually, university officials say.The new system funnels purchases through a central program, helping financial administrators better understand exactly what university departments are buying.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280387/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 The five girls and sixth-grade teacher Mary Laszlo also tracked the energy usage of the elementary school, including water, gas and electricity. Utilities use at Werner produces 105 tons of greenhouse gases each year, the team found."I think it's really shocking," said Anne Bonhoure, a fifth-grader. "We are using a lot of energy."The team began to think of alternative ways to generate energy for the school and presented their findings to District Superintendent Jerry Wilson.They also made a presentation to the school, encouraging students and teachers to turn off lights, computers and other electronic devices when they are not in classrooms."We give awards for classrooms at the end of the day that don't have their computers turned on," said Kate Monahan, a sixth-grader.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_1b_Dist__51_Web_site.html A nonprofit policy research organization with its eye on school districts statewide has put District 51’s Web site on the bottom of the list of the state’s 20 largest districts, because of accessibility of information on open enrollment and other factors.The Independence Institute’s Education Policy Center in Golden evaluated the Web sites of 20 of the state’s largest school districts based on the comprehensiveness and accessibility of open enrollment information, scoring both of those factors in January 2007 and July 2007. The information was released this week in the report titled “Open Enrollment and the Internet: An Evaluation of Colorado School District Web Sites.”District 51 has made improvements since then to its Web site, http://www.mesa.k12.co.us/2003/index.cfm.
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http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2008/feb/28/rail_service_possible/ The cities of Steamboat Springs and Craig have joined a group exploring high-speed, passenger rail service that could include a spur extending from South Routt to Craig.The Hayden Town Board also has voted to join the multi-jurisdictional governmental entity known as the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority. Hayden’s membership will become official once it’s ratified by the authority, which is exploring the possibility of modern rail track along the Interstate 70 and Interstate 25 corridors. The system could continue into Wyoming and potentially tie in to similar rail networks already in the works in Utah and New Mexico. It is anticipated the I-70 stretch would include two major spurs: one to Aspen and another through South Routt, Steamboat and Craig.Routt County already has joined the authority. County Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush said she is glad that all other incorporated municipalities in Routt and Moffat counties have decided to join.
http://aspentimes.com/article/20080227/NEWS/452353441 Basalt will collect a new fee from Holy Cross Energy that could fund projects ranging from the undergrounding of power lines to conserving energy.The town government and Holy Cross are negotiating a new franchise agreement that will increase the amount of the annual fee that Holy Cross pays to provide the town with power.
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x565324813 In 2007, the levels of carbon dioxide burped out by town-owned vehicles, by the generation of lights and computers in town offices, by the operation of the water treatment plant, the ice rink, the Galloping Goose, the campground restrooms and all other public facilities, was roughly 7.2 million pounds.The good news: This represents a 6 percent decrease in the town government’s carbon footprint from 2006, when carbon output was roughly 7.67 million pounds.This is a positive step for Telluride, which cemented its intent to reduce its carbon footprint in recent years by signing onto The Canary Initiative, The US Mayors Climate Protection Initiative and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization — a trio of organizations bent on reversing climate change.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386609 Any woman who got between Shawna Nelson and her married lover felt Nelson's wrath, including murder victim Heather Garraus, according to testimony Wednesday.Nelson is being tried on a charge of first-degree murder after Garraus was shot execution-style in front of her Greeley office on Jan. 23, 2007.Nelson carried on a three-year affair with Greeley police officer Ignacio Garraus.Prosecution witnesses Wednesday told jurors Nelson despised Heather Garraus and saw her as an obstacle to a life with Ignacio and the child they conceived. Many were co-workers of Nelson, who once worked as a Greeley police dispatcher.Former dispatcher Jennifer Morrison said Nelson called Heather Garraus "fat," a "hag" and "disgusting." Nelson also took out her frustration with Garraus by pretending to shoot her at a target range, Morrison said.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280382/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Weld County District Court Judge Roger Klein sent jurors home early Wednesday so defense attorneys and prosecutors could reconcile some issues with exhibits prosecutors plan to present today.Larimer County prosecutor Greg Lammons said the prosecution has four witnesses remaining to testify, and the prosecution should conclude today.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080228/NEWS/574305886 Prosecutors in Shawna Nelson's murder trial on Wednesday introduced evidence indicating that she used her husband's gun to shoot her romantic rival, Heather Garraus.Witnesses spent the remainder of the day describing Nelson's hatred for Garraus and her love for Ignacio Garraus.Alan Hammond of the Aurora police department's Colorado Bureau of Investigations' forensics lab, said two shell casings recovered from the crime scene where Heather Garraus was killed matched Nelson's husband's .40-caliber Glock model 22. Ken Nelson is a former Weld County Sheriff's deputy. Police have accused him of removing the gun from the truck his wife was driving before she was arrested.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387622 The legislative session is nearly half over. And Wednesday was deadline day for the House to ship its bills to the Senate and the Senate to send its measures to the House.In a marathon morning session, the House passed bills requiring cities and rural electric associations to spend more on energy efficiency and companies to provide space for breast-feeding moms.House Bill 1107 from Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, requires cities and REAs to spend 2 percent of their revenues on energy-efficiency programs. The bill passed 59-6, with critics saying it was unfair to some municipalities. Colorado Springs, for example, would have to come up with $14 million in the next few years to meet the requirement.House Bill 1276 from Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, would require businesses to provide space and break time for new mothers to pump breast milk. Six Republican men voted against the measure, some complaining it was another mandate on business.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/citizen-legislator-february-28/ Rep. Bob Gardner served as the El Paso County Republican Party chairman in the mid-1990s and has volunteered on several political campaigns."I don't always win by any means, but I always believe in the candidates I'm working for," he said.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385961 With gold and silver prices hitting new highs, more investors are giving precious metals serious consideration.So too, likely, will be some of the same people who once put investors into inflated dot-com stocks and stuck borrowers with subprime mortgages they couldn't afford."We are finding that there are people who were former mortgage brokers who are getting into this business," said Mark Albarian, chief executive and president of Goldline International Inc., a Santa Monica, Calif.-based precious-metals and coin vendor.Gold futures for April delivery reached an all-time high of $967.70 an ounce Wednesday before closing at $961 after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress more interest-rate cuts could be on the way. Lower rates weaken the value of the U.S. dollar, making gold more attractive.Ken Hallenbeck, executive director of the American Numismatic Association, an industry trade group based in Colorado Springs, said questionable players can jump from hot area to hot area.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/guv-vows-hard-look-land-conservation-program/ Colorado must step up efforts to police an innovative conservation tax-credit program to ensure that questionable deals are stopped and that the public interest is protected, Gov. Bill Ritter said Wednesday."We do not stop programs we have helping us protect land in this state," Ritter told a packed room of open-space officials. "At the same time, we have to assure people there is not fraud and abuse."The program gives lucrative state income tax credits to landowners who agree to prohibit development on their properties using legal tools known as conservation easements. The tax credits then can be sold for cash.Investigations by the Colorado Division of Real Estate and the Department of Revenue are likely to be handed over to the Colorado attorney general and could result in criminal and civil prosecutions by the state, Ritter and other state officials said.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383284 Last week, I spent a couple of days skiing with my parents in Aspen. They are 87 and 91 years old.I always recognize my father on the slopes. He's worn the same ski outfit for 40 years. But, this year, my parents were decked out in new ski outfits, skis and boots. "Guess I'm an optimist," my father mused.My parents first skied at Aspen in 1949 and have skied a week there every year since then, missing only last season when my father had heart surgery. Their first year at Aspen, there were only two pokey chair lifts and a T-bar. Lift tickets were $5, compared to $87 today.When my kids were young, and lift tickets still relatively inexpensive, I taught them to ski during spring vacations in Aspen with my parents, until they preferred learning to jump and ski the trees with a far more adventurous ski school instructor. By then, the famous Colorado snow had already attracted tourists from around the world.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/roll-call-february-28/ "We now have so many women in the legislature there's a line in the bathroom. I love it."Rep. Alice Borodkin, D-Denver
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/solar-mirrors-could-array-near-dia/ Vast swaths of brown, barren land near Denver International Airport could soon become decorated with a dizzying array of mirrors reflecting sunlight.SolarTAC is evaluating sites around the airport to establish a major solar energy research center. A spinoff of the newly established Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, SolarTAC will be launched in the coming months.Colorado's major academic and research institutions spawned the Collaboratory last year to bolster the state's prowess in new energy technologies and transfer those advances to the free market.It is backed by the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Mines and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/the-blank-of-job/ On the subjects of history and literature, American students are dumb and dumber, yet another survey indicates.A survey of 17-year-olds, the results of which were released Tuesday, show alarming rates of ignorance about our cultural benchmarks. Almost 20 percent didn't know whom we fought in World War II. More than 25 percent think Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue sometime after 1752. Half can't identify, on a multiple-choice test, whom Sen. Joseph McCarthy assailed or what the Renaissance was.The telephone survey of 1,200 adolescents was commissioned by a nonprofit, nonpartisan group called Common Core (http://www.commoncore.org). The group's leaders are diverse, and they include a former vice president of the American Federation of Teachers and a former assistant education secretary to the first President Bush.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/process-may-reduce-mercury-emissions/ First-round tests on its chemically treated activated carbon showed promising results, ADA-ES Inc. said Wednesday.Littleton-based ADA-ES intends to sell the product to coal-fired power plants for reducing mercury emissions.The company performed the tests at a power plant burning Western PRB coal. While operating with the activated carbon, the plant was able to reduce mercury emissions by greater than 90 percent at a competitive feed rate.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/into-the-hermit-tyranny-with-music/ Visiting musicians aside, North Korea is still a thoroughgoing Stalinist dictatorship. But nothing official happens by accident in this hermit land, and it does appear that its leadership is tentatively testing the possibility of a little more openness to the outside world.
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http://www.politicswest.com/20835/suthers_robocop Coloradans have registered more than three million phone numbers on the no-call list since the 2001 phone privacy law was enacted. There was an exemption, however, for political and charitable groups. And since then, the automated dialing of pre-recorded phone messages - particularly political messages - has clogged the voicemails of thousands of consumers.Advocates of robocalls say it is protected free speech.Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, whose office oversees the no-call list, backed SB-146 in the state legislature that would have banned so-called robocalls. It was defeated this month in a state Senate committee on a 4-1 bi-partisan vote.The Robocall Privacy Act of 2008 has been proposed in Congress to regulate the practice.We caught up with Suthers recently to find out what comes next in Colorado.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280383/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Trout found in five lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park have both male and female sex organs, says a massive new federal report highlighting the problems that air pollution poses for national parks.The report released by the Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project said detectable levels of contaminants ranging from mercury to two banned insecticides and a flame-retardant chemical treatment were found in eight parks in the western United States, including Rocky.The report said air pollution from coal-burning power plants is a major source of contamination, which can drift in the atmosphere for long distances before being dropped in rain or snow."It's certainly a cautionary lesson that supports that what goes up into our air does come down," said Rocky spokeswoman Kyle Patterson. "Parks are not immune from human activities from hundreds or even thousands of miles away."The report said the pollution could have many different ramifications and that more study is needed."In Rocky Mountain and Glacier national parks, some individual trout were 'intersex,'" the report said. "This condition is commonly associated with exposure to certain contaminants (dieldrin and DDT) that mimic the hormone estrogen.”
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280372/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Farmers will face additional struggles to make sure they have enough water as the state's population continues to grow, the state's agriculture commissioner told Fort Collins Rotary Club members Wednesday.Less water will be available for irrigation as more houses are built, said John Stulp, Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture."As you grow houses you need to water people," he said. "The demand for water is going to get greater."The demand for green energy should help the agriculture business he said, as farmers are increasingly called upon to raise crops that can be used to create biofuels. He compared the price of oil to an "800-pound guerrilla in the corner of the room."He also said the need for green energy will help generate jobs in rural areas, which should encourage young people to remain on farms and in agri-businesses.Also on Wednesday, the club honored Bill Markham and his family with the Master Agriculturist Award.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_community_correction.html Mesa County’s top judge said last week his confidence in the county’s Criminal Justice Services Department has been “significantly eroded” after an investigation revealed some defendants were being held illegally in Mesa County Jail.The county could face a federal investigation, and the district’s judges may refuse to sentence defendants to the community corrections program if the issue continues, 21st Judicial District Chief Judge David Bottger wrote in a letter dated Feb. 20.As of Feb. 15, 10 defendants were in custody illegally and had been held for between six days and more than five months, according to Bottger’s own investigation. All defendants had been sentenced to community corrections and were placed either on day-reporting or nonresidential status as they were awaiting a bed at the facility.Bottger said the defendants were sent back to jail for alleged violations, but they were held without bond and without a judge determining whether the arrest was legitimate.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_5b_election_cost.html A bill pending in the state Legislature that would require primarily paper-ballot elections would, at a minimum, double Mesa County’s 2008 elections budget, elections officials said.The cost of the bill could be the least of the county’s problems, though, and one county commissioner said it might be time to let state officials run the show.“We’ll either have to violate HAVA, federal law or state law,” Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland said. “Our hands are tied. We’ll let Mike Coffman, Ken Gordon decide who wants to run the election in Mesa County.”Secretary of State Mike Coffman is the state’s chief elections official, Gordon is a state senator from Denver who is carrying the bill. Gov. Bill Ritter has called for all-paper-ballot elections in 2008.HAVA is the Help America Vote Act, which requires local officials to offer equipment such as touch-screen machines to voters.Gordon’s bill, introduced with the support of Republican leaders in both houses of the Legislature, calls for voters to be offered paper ballots, but in counties such as Mesa, which have touch-screen voting equipment, voters could ask specifically for that option.Mesa County’s touch screens were certified this week, but the optical-scan equipment needed to count paper ballots is to be tested today and Friday in Denver.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28leadville.html?ref=us For years, the federal Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency have bickered over what to do about the aging tunnel, which stretches 2.1 miles and has become dammed by debris. The debris is holding back more than a billion gallons of water, much of it tainted with toxic levels of cadmium, zinc and manganese.The threat posed by the tunnel is the latest misfortune for the town, which is grappling with the wreckage of more than a century of mining.“Everybody made a lot of money in Leadville,” said Ken Olsen, a county commissioner. “They left years ago, and we’ve had to clean up after them ever since.”In the late 1800s, a gold and silver boom made Leadville one of Colorado’s most colorful places, drawing the likes of the Guggenheims. Legend has it that Doc Holliday fought his final gunfight here.Gold and silver gave way to zinc and lead mining, encouraged by the federal government for the war effort during World War II and the Korean War. Molybdenum, used to fortify steel, was blasted out of the mountains for years at the Climax mine.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/12 The new Statewide Voter Registration System is on-track, but it will require more hands-on help from the state, an independent assessment of the system concluded Wednesday.In an effort to avoid problems with the new system that some state agencies have seen with other computer databases in recent years, the Secretary of State's Office and the Governor's Office of Information Technology plan to add more people to help counties get used to the new system, said Rich Coolidge, Coffman's spokesman."We're happy that the assessment came in, did kind of a nuts-and-bolts review and said, 'The technological side of this, we're confident that it's moving in the right direction,' ” Coolidge said. "What they did say was, 'You need to have more hand-holding with the counties to make sure that they understand how to use the system.' And we're going to provide some more ground support and make the management team more supportive to the counties as they implement this new system."
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/558581416 State Rep. Christine Scanlan is wasting no time on Capitol Hill, as she passed two new bills on Tuesday out of the House Transportation and Energy Committee.The two new bills aim to protect passenger safety on ski lifts and school buses. The first, House Bill 1244, continues the passenger safety tramway board for the next 12 years. The board provides oversight for Colorado’s 374 tramways, most of which are ski lifts.“In just the last two years, there have been more than 25 million ski visits to our resorts, which have accounted for more than 250 million rides on our lifts,” Rep. Scanlan said. “Not once has there been a major lift failure or accident during that time. Obviously, we’re doing something right. Keeping this board going for the next 12 years ensures we keep doing it right.”
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/EDITS/210326461 Are the Lake County Commissioner and State Sen. Tom Wiens grandstanding over the danger poised by a clogged mine tunnel?Leadville Mayor Bud Elliott thinks so.The commissioners on Feb. 13 declared a state of emergency with the clogged tunnel, which may hold as much as 1 billion gallons of water, much of it poisoned because it’s been leaching through mineral-laden rock.The commissioners say the disaster declaration was needed to get the Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency off their collective kiesters to more effectively treat the water now trickling out of the World War II-era tunnel.Wiens, meanwhile, has set up a Web site — The Rocky Mountain News reports the site went live a few days before the commissioners’ vote on Feb. 13 — to get information out about the potential danger.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_5.htm A day after an apparently deranged man barged into the House of Representatives, state lawmakers debated the expense of metal detectors at the Capitol.A number of lawmakers decried the new security measures at "the people's house," which had no metal detectors until last fall, when a tuxedo-clad man was shot by a state trooper outside the governor's office after he displayed a gun and declared himself emperor of Colorado.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/democratic-national-convention-volunteering-is-a/ The group coordinating volunteers for the Democratic National Convention has a message for anyone who thinks blowing up a few balloons will be their ticket to a front row seat at the convention: Not so fast.Overwhelmed by more than 25,000 people interested in volunteering, the Denver 2008 Host Committee this week sent out a note politely stating that the reward for volunteering is not likely to go beyond self-satisfaction."Some people have the impression that a volunteer position is a ticket, or a credential, to the Democratic Convention,"Host committee spokesman Chris Lopez said organizers were not expecting to hear from so many volunteers so many months before the August convention.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387623 A bill mandating that the state conduct a primarily paper-ballot election this year may not be a slam dunk, even though it has the sponsorship of party leaders in both legislative chambers.A handful of legislators said Wednesday that they have serious concerns about the bill, a sign that a battle may be shaping up."I'm just really disappointed that there's the possibility of this going forward," said Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, "and I will put all my effort into killing it in the Senate."The bill, Senate Bill 189, was formally introduced Wednesday. It would require county clerks to offer all voters a paper ballot, although voters could ask to vote on an electronic voting terminal. Voters would also be able to vote early or vote by mail.Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, a Denver Democrat who crafted the bill, said the measure would move the state away from using electronic voting terminals, which came under scrutiny after a lawsuit and the secretary of state's subsequent decertification of many of the machines. It would also likely prevent a future lawsuit over the voting terminals, he said."I think we've hit the right balance here," Gordon said.But several clerks say the bill would drive up election costs and could cause major voting problems.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385328 Wyoming officials issued an unprecedented health alert Wednesday in a rural gas-drilling area for a buildup of ozone — usually a summertime air pollutant in urban areas.The Pinedale area had high ozone readings a week after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency criticized the federal Bureau of Land Management for planning thousands of new gas wells in the area without adequate air-quality protection."This should be a wake-up call for the Bureau of Land Management," said Linda Baker, director of the Upper Green River Valley Coalition. "What's going to happen to our air when we have 4,400 . . . additional wells, as the BLM proposes?"In Colorado, state regulators are targeting gas wells as a major contributor to the Denver metro area's troublesome ozone levels and are considering new restrictions on equipment and operations.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385325 Even though someone left a baby girl outside Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center, apparently intending to qualify under the state's safe-haven law, the infant's death removes any legal protections.The Denver Police Department's homicide unit is investigating, said Detective Sharon Hahn, and prosecutors from the Denver district attorney's office will decide what charges, if any, to file.The Denver coroner's office will determine the cause of death, including whether the baby was dead before she was brought to the hospital, Hahn said.But whether the infant was alive or not when she was left at the hospital at Franklin Street and East 20th Avenue, the statute requires that the child be left "safely." The law also requires the parent to perform any act necessary to protect the health of the child.Someone rang a help button outside the hospital at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday; a security guard immediately went outside and found the baby and brought her inside, Hahn said.The medical staff then pronounced the baby dead, she said.Police are requesting help in identifying the baby's parents.Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said the case will be investigated as a child death.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385327 State backlogs that stretch five months or more have left nearly 10 percent of the child-care welfare staff in Denver with incomplete training.The lag is putting a crunch on an already overburdened system, said Roxane White, Denver's manager of the Department of Human Services.The problem is that until her workers get the full training, the number of cases they can investigate is limited, meaning other workers are overloaded with too many cases, she said in a briefing to City Council members this week.Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said the state is reserving comment until it finishes its review of what caused 13 high-profile child deaths in the state last year."Caseloads, caseworker qualifications and training are currently being reviewed," McDonough said. "We're not going to comment beyond that at this point."In a series of e-mails earlier this month, White raised the training issue along with other concerns with state officials.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385953 A young man who killed four people at a Colorado Springs church and an Arvada missionary training center had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and harbored bitterness for being an outcast, his parents said in their first extended comments.Matthew Murray gave no indication that he was about to explode in violence, though, they said in an interview to be broadcast today and Friday on James Dobson's Focus on the Family radio program.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387621 Lawmakers fretted Wednesday over what would happen if a major dust storm coated the state's voluminous snowpack before the spring runoff."If we had dust layers in there like we've had in previous years, potentially we'd be looking at buying sandbags," said Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus.The comments came during a morning joint Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee meeting, at which a researcher told lawmakers how dust storms that dirty mountain snowpack reduce the snow's reflectivity and cause faster runoff. Earlier melting usually means the water comes too soon to help farmers, said Rep. Rafael Gallegos, D-Antonito. But with seasonal snowpack levels reaching as high as 173 percent of average, a faster runoff could also cause widespread flooding.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387618 A Senate panel backed legislation Wednesday banning state workers from striking, but not before one lawmaker went on a table-slapping tirade about the "silliness" of the business-versus-labor debate."This state is burning down!" shouted Sen. Chris Romer, a Denver Democrat.He challenged business and labor leaders to push a November ballot measure to bail out education or health care instead of fighting over a "modest" order from Gov. Bill Ritter allowing state workers to negotiate with managers.And he asked business leaders to stomp out a potential right-to-work initiative that would prohibit workers from being forced to become union members or pay union dues.
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386601 Denver Post journalists won 15 first-place awards in the annual contest sponsored by The Denver Press Club and Denver Newspaper Guild.Rocky Mountain News reporters, designers and editors won eight first-place awards in the contest that drew more than 200 entries from Colorado journalists.The awards recognize work published in print or online between June 1, 2006, and May 31, 2007. They were judged by representatives of the Los Angeles and Cleveland Press Clubs and the New Mexico Press Women.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385997 Two media giants completed a long-awaited $12 billion agreement Wednesday that sent Liberty Media Corp.'s 16 percent stake in News Corp. back to Rupert Murdoch and gave John Malone control over satellite-television provider DirecTV.Douglas County-based Liberty Media, a holding company with interests in cable programming and Internet commerce, also acquired three regional sports networks as part of the exchange.Under the final terms, Liberty Media exchanged a 16 percent stake in News Corp., worth roughly $11 billion, plus $625 million in cash for a 41 percent interest in DirecTV.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8387295 Liberty Media Corp. chairman John Malone may win control of Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp in a court fight over IAC's breakup plan, a Lehman Bros. analyst said Wednesday."Liberty might get operating control" by forcing Diller out as the caretaker for Liberty's 62 percent voting stake in IAC, wrote Lehman analyst Vijay Jayant in New York, who recommends buying Liberty Interactive tracking stock.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385843 Gov. Bill Ritter on Wednesday said the attorney general's and district attorney's offices may get involved in an investigation into abuses of the state's conservation easement program.The Colorado Division of Real Estate launched an investigation in November, issuing 30 subpoenas to people who were connected to deals involving five ranches and an Arvada land trust, then called Noah Land Conservation. More recently, it subpoenaed the records of The Greenlands Reserve, a Summit County-based land trust.Speaking at the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts conference, Ritter said the next step is to talk to the district attorney and attorney general.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/paper-suspends-karson/ The University of Colorado student author of an opinion column that garnered national attention for saying Asians "hate us all" and should be hated back was suspended from the Campus Press newspaper staff Wednesday."Max Karson's duties with the Campus Press have been suspended pending a restructuring of the opinions section," according to a statement posted on the student paper's Web site Wednesday.Karson ignited a firestorm last week when his piece titled "If it's war the Asians want ... It's war they'll get," infuriated some students and past members of the Campus Press staff who said the piece was inflammatory and a failed attempt at satire.The statement goes on to say that the publication's editors are in the process of organizing an "open, public forum to address diversity sensitivity in our news coverage" and are rewriting their ethics policy.The announcement came the same day university officials said they're close to announcing major changes in the way the paper is operated and overseen.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-student-group-hosts-korean-culture-night/ The University of Colorado's Korean American Student group is hosting a culture night Friday that will include comedy, a kum do sword performance, Korean drumming and other demonstrations.The event, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the University Memorial Center's Glenn Miller Ballroom, is free and open to the public.Comedian Eliot Chang will perform, and there will also be a Korean play and food.
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news1.txt More than 200 students gathered on the south porch of the University Memorial Center as a show of solidarity and distaste against the Feb. 18 publication of an opinion column titled “If it's war Asians want” in CU-Boulder's online newspaper “The Campus Press.”Under clear skies, the diverse gathering of students from many ethnic and cultural backgrounds held colorful signs that read “Revolution,” “Shoulder to Shoulder,” and “Responsible Journalism Now!” while a series of student leaders spoke of their experiences as minorities on campus, and issued calls to fight against racist sentiments by working together with university administration.“It's not just one article,” stated Dr. Detre Godinez, a recent CU grad who endorsed a Biased Incident Hotline that students could call to immediately report instances of racial victimization and marginalization. “It's every day. We experience it every day - it's in our faces every day.”
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news2.txt CU diversity group student leaders have compiled a list of responses they'd like the university to enact, in the wake of last week's Campus Press editorial satirizing Asian stereotypes.The editorial, written by CU senior Max Karson, says “They [Asians] hate us all. And I say it's time we started hating them back.”“If you're not sure if someone is Asian, give them a calculus problem to do in their head,” the editorial says. Karson defends it as obvious satire.The students are asking for the resignation of Campus Press faculty advisor Amy Herdy and editor-in-chief Cassie Hewlings and “an independent investigation into the upper echelons of the journalism school, [to see] whether a systemic culture of racism exists,” said CU junior David Chiu.“We want this to be conducted by a panel of students and faculty who support and represent diversity,” Chiu said, “and not the dean, who'd look into his own department.”They're also asking the administration to revisit a list of student demands made two years ago after an African-American student government tri-executive received a death threat.
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news3.txt There's one downside to massive political participation - massive data entry.Coloradans flooded their Feb. 5 political party caucuses in record numbers, and the raw volume has contributed to the fact that full Democratic Party U.S. Senate preference poll results hadn't been officially released as of Feb. 27.Pat Waak, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party (CDP), said that Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Udall had roughly 87 percent of statewide poll votes as of late Wednesday afternoon, with “uncommitted” at 11 percent and educator Mark Benner at about two percent.Waak said the CDP was still waiting for poll results from Boulder and Jefferson counties as of Wednesday afternoon. For reference, about 120,000 Colorado Democrats attended a caucus, while about 18,000 Boulder County Democrats and 16,000 Jefferson County Democrats caucused on Feb. 5.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/474741178 A bill in the Legislature would limit the interest and fees payday lending businesses can charge residents, though opponents say it will drive out the industry and create a black market for loans the state cannot regulate.The bill -- HB 1310 -- would place a limit of 45 percent annual interest rate on short-term loans businesses provide to residents, and it would limit lenders to assessing only one $60 finance fee per borrower, per year. It also would allow borrowers 30 days to repay the loan instead of the 14 days the industry uses now.Now, businesses can assess annual interest rates of sometimes more than 350 percent on payday loans they give. Most payday loan businesses make borrowers postdate a check to use as collateral for the loan.The bill won approval from the Colorado House Monday by a narrow margin and now goes to the Senate for further consideration.Both Rep. Glen Vaad, R-Mead, and Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, voted against the measure. Vaad said he received more than a dozen emails from Greeley and Longmont payday loaners who said the bill -- if it becomes law -- will drive them out of business.
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http://www.politicswest.com/20851/mark_udall_mourns_william_f_buckley_jr U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colorado, who is running for the state's open U.S. Senate seat, released the following statement Wednesday on the death of conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr.“Any American who reveres our constitution and admires intelligence, wit and integrity in public life will mourn the passing of William F. Buckley Jr. Like many others who grew up the 1960s and 1970s, I appreciated the provocative conversation in Mr. Buckley’s interviews on his television program 'Firing Line' – where he challenged political leaders from across the political spectrum. America’s conservative movement obviously owes a great deal to the intellectual foundation of William F. Buckley’s writing and philosophy, but his contributions to public life were not just ideological. Mr. Buckley was a grand debater, a great thinker and a brilliant personality. He will be missed.”
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280381/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Larimer County prosecutors are wading through a list of more than 1,000 convicts as they consider which cases to review - and who might ultimately go free - in light of advanced DNA testing.District Attorney Larry Abrahamson announced the plan to review cases after a judge freed Timothy Masters from his life sentence on Jan. 22. The judge said new DNA evidence pointed toward a new suspect in the 1987 Peggy Hettrick murder and vacated Masters' conviction after Masters had served nearly nine years in prison.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/2 The Colorado Capitol is a state structure that should be left wide-open to the public, some lawmakers said Wednesday.But considering today's troubled times, and the public's general acceptance of at least basic security measures, metal detectors should continue to be used in the historic structure, other legislators countered.The opposing sides emerged during debate over whether the state should spend an additional $490,000 to beef up security at the Capitol as a result of last summer's fatal shooting of a mentally ill man who threatened Gov. Bill Ritter.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383424 Uncertainty is never a good thing when it comes to holding elections.That's why we were glad to see state lawmakers introduce a bill this week to mandate a primarily paper ballot system this year.It may not be the perfect system, and ultimately it could delay vote counting, but at this moment it seems to be the best way to inject some voter confidence back into the electoral process.Yet, significant issues remain to be resolved before Coloradans can vote. In short, there are some large counties that don't have enough scanners — devices that tally paper ballots — to count votes in a timely fashion.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386606 The Colorado High School Activities Association board reaffirmed Wednesday that it will not jump through hoops to reschedule regional and state basketball finals for a Jewish team that won't play on Saturdays — their Sabbath.Several state lawmakers pressed the association to push back a March 8 regional finals game until after sundown that Saturday so that the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy could compete.The Herzl/RMHA Tigers still have one game to win before securing one of two regional berths.The school's girls team is in the same situation."We made the accommodation for them at the district level," CHSAA Commissioner Bill Reader said. "It's difficult to reschedule at the regional level; it's impossible at the state level."In an afternoon news conference, state Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, called the association's refusal "despicable."The players, Groff said, "should be given the opportunity to win the championship they've worked for."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387620 The House on Wednesday approved funding for metal detectors and additional security at the Capitol despite some lawmakers' objections that it was a waste of money.Criticism of the security measures crossed party lines and came just a day after a man was arrested after he walked onto the House floor uninvited and shouted at lawmakers. The unarmed man, later arrested after a scuffle with state troopers, said he wanted to address lawmakers.Metal detectors and more state troopers were added to the Capitol in September after an incident in July in which a trooper shot and killed an armed, deranged man inside the building.
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http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_8385477 With the Senate headed toward a vote on legislation aimed at reducing home foreclosures, Colorado's two U.S. senators split Wednesday on whether it would help or hurt the economy.Lawmakers will consider a bill that rewrites part of bankruptcy law, allowing judges to cut interest rates on some mortgages. People able to make revised payments could keep their homes.The Senate could take up the bill as soon as today, but President Bush already has threatened to veto the legislation.Sen. Ken Salazar, a Democrat, believes the changes are needed both for those facing foreclosure and a large chunk of homeowners in the state. Republican Wayne Allard said the legislation would increase costs for banks and other lenders and potentially hurt the economy.Allard aides were among those encouraging the Bush administration to threaten a veto of the bill."Interest rates will go up, fees will go up and it will probably be more difficult to get loans for future mortgages for future homeowners," Allard said.Salazar said the pain caused by foreclosures would hurt many in Colorado.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/lawmakers-call-a-foul-on-stance-of-prep/ A group of lawmakers put on a full-court press to salvage a Jewish team's chance at a regional high school basketball championship, but it failed to score.The Colorado High School Activities Association board stood firm Wednesday on its refusal to reschedule the March 8 championship game so the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy wouldn't have to play on the Jewish Sabbath.State Senate leaders called the CHSAA decision inflexible and "despicable."One lawmaker suggested the CHSAA could face a discrimination lawsuit for allowing games on the Saturday Jewish Sabbath, but prohibiting play on the Sunday Christian Sabbath.The religious beliefs of the Jewish team from Denver prevent it from playing on the Jewish Sabbath between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday. March 8 falls on Saturday, and the game is scheduled before sundown.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/unaffiliated-voters-gain-gop/ The number of unaffiliated voters edged closer to surpassing Republicans this month as the most numerous voting block in Colorado, according to voter registration figures released Wednesday by the secretary of state.Republican voters outnumbered unaffiliated voters by only about 10,000 in February. That's down from 12,000 the month before.The latest voter rolls show that 2.9 million Coloradans are registered to vote. The percentage of Republicans was 34.8 percent, compared with 34.4 percent unaffiliated and 30.4 percent Democrats.The percentage of unaffiliated voters has climbed steadily for five years.Overall, the number of Republicans increased by about 2,000 from January to February, while Democrats gained about 5,000 registered voters. There was an increase of about 4,000 unaffiliated voters in that period.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/04-law-fails-to-save-baby/ In the seven years since Colorado passed a "safe haven" law for newborns, 15 babies have been left with hospitals or firefighters - and just as many have turned up dead.The most recent victim was left in a basket outside Presbyterian/ St. Luke's Medical Center Tuesday night by someone who rang the call button and ran.Denver police, with the help of the hospital and the Denver coroner's office, are investigating, hoping to determine the age of the baby, the cause of death and whether she died before or after she was dropped off."It's a lose-lose-lose situation," said Jack Cozzens, president of the board of Colorado Safe Haven for Newborns, a group dedicated to raising awareness about the law that allows a parent to turn in a child without fear of prosecution, about cases such as the one Tuesday. "The baby dies, the mother goes to prison and a couple waiting to adopt a child still don't have one."
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/house-oks-bill-to-aid-military-spouses/ The House approved and sent to the Senate House Bill 1180. It would let military spouses collect unemployment insurance if they are forced to relocate. Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, said those spouses and their employers must pay for unemployment insurance but can't collect it if they are transferred.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/child-services-add-40-caseworkers/ Denver is adding 40 child-welfare caseworkers because calls to its abuse-and-neglect hot line have soared in the past two years, largely because of a jump in calls from Denver Public Schools.The rise in calls from the schools followed the story of 7- year-old Chandler Grafner's being starved to death despite warning calls from his school to social workers.Then a principal was charged with failing to report abuse in an incident among students at a middle school.Now, "The schools are calling in any incident they feel bears investigating," said Carmen Carillo, deputy manager of Denver Human Services.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/debut-near-guvs-sweeping-ed-reform-bill/ Gov. Bill Ritter has been promising sweeping education reform since he began his run for the state's top office in 2006.That kind of change could come about under a bill to be introduced in the Senate as early as next week, with Ritter's blessing.The measure, circulating in draft form among lawmakers and educators, would establish a statewide standard for what constitutes readiness for college or the workforce.High school graduation requirements and curriculum would be revised to reflect the new standards.And tests adminstered under the Colorado Student Assessment Program — a subject of long-running complaint among teachers and some parents — would follow the new curriculum.Testing would extend to 12th grade. It now ends in 10th grade."This is a comprehensive sea change in the way that we approach education policy in this state," said Matt Gianneschi, Ritter's education advisor.The bill permits school districts to scrap traditional course structures if students can meet the readiness standards in a different way."What we're saying is, it's the competencies that matter, and so if you can deliver that in a curriculum that doesn't look anything like what the curriculum in the school district next door to you has, fine," Gianneschi said.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/let-them-play/ Tournament time. It's supposed to be that special occasion when months and years of hard work culminate in the opportunity to compete for a state championship. It's supposed to be that moment when every high school basketball player has at least the chance to realize the dream of winning it all.That's why it's so regrettable that the boys and girls basketball teams from Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy may face the impossible choice between following a tenet of their faith - observance of the Sabbath - and participating in tournament games scheduled between dusk Fridays and dusk Saturdays the next three weekends.The Colorado High School Activities Association has some undeniable practical arguments why it is reluctant to enable Herzl/RMHA's boys and girls to take part in the Class 1A state basketball tournament. Its blueprint for conducting 10 simultaneous tournaments (for boys and girls in five classifications) in the short span of 16 days is a 57-page book that lays out all of the logistical issues - from arenas to schedules to motel availability to assignments for officials, scorers, timekeepers and all of the other people engaged to help operate more than 50 sites involving hundreds of games.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/thorstenson_33603___article.html/air_army.html Flying in slow circles four miles above Baghdad in the back of a four-engine C-130, the Air Force Academy’s Capt. Linda Thorstenson waits for a call.It could be from a convoy under attack, or just someone checking a radio. She’s their security blanket, ensuring that when they pick up their radios, someone will hear them on the other end.“We’re 911 operators at 20,000 feet,” said Thorstenson, who teaches cadets the basics of flying in Colorado Springs and helps coach the academy’s gymnastics team.“We’re there if they need us.”
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http://www.gazette.com/opinion/crack_33629___article.html/party_powder.html After too many years of inattention, Congress may finally be getting ready to correct one of the most harmful mistakes it made in the 1980s during the period of legislative hysteria over the phenomenon of crack cocaine. The House Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee held hearings Tuesday on bills to reform the disparity in sentencing for possession of crack and powder cocaine.Back in the 1980s, when crack cocaine seemed to be decimating neighborhoods and wrecking lives at an alarming rate, many people believed it was more addictive and more dangerous than powder cocaine. That turned out not to be the case, but while it was the conventional wisdom, Congress enacted laws mandating longer sentences for crack possession than for powder cocaine.It takes 5 grams of crack cocaine (two sugar packets) to get a five-year sentence versus 500 grams of powder. Fifty grams of crack triggers a 10-year sentence, but it takes 5,000 grams of powder to trigger a 10-year sentence.That’s a ratio of 100 to 1. And while it was not part of the intention, the disparity has harmed blacks more than any other group. By and large (there are exceptions to every rule) blacks who use cocaine tend to use crack, while white Americans are more inclined to use powder. So blacks have received much longer prison sentences for offenses that, chemically speaking, are identical.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/teacher_33608___article.html/colorado_springs.html A 73-year-old substitute teacher at Wasson High School was arrested by Colorado Springs police Feb. 15. A 15-year-old boy told police the male teacher offered to pay him $1,000 to allow the teacher to perform oral sex on him, according to an arrest affidavit.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/18 A Florence inmate who allegedly planned to throw hot wax on a congressman visiting a prison was convicted Tuesday of assaulting a guard by throwing the wax on him instead.Chief U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham said the inmate, Jay Vaughan Gregory, made "a strongly implied threat" in his closing arguments in a two-day trial.Nottingham ordered that Gregory's copy of the jurors' names be turned back to court staff "before you have any opportunity to copy" them.A person familiar with the case said Gregory, 51, is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a violent gang that operates in numerous prisons.Another person who attended the trial and had official knowledge of it said Gregory, in his closing argument, said, "We die with swords in our hands and not with chains on our ankles and we will hold each and everyone responsible for the actions that occurred in the courtroom."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386605 A skier died Wednesday at Eldora Mountain Resort. Officials said the 46-year-old man was found at 1:15 p.m. at the bottom of West Ridge, an intermediate trail in the Corona area. He was unresponsive and not breathing.Ski patrollers administered life support, but the skier was pronounced dead after about an hour.It was the first skier death "in quite a number of years" at Eldora Mountain Resort," said Rob Linde, resort spokesman.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/children-sickened-school-evacuated/ Lumberg Elementary School in Edgewater was evacuated Wednesday after several students and staff members complained of headaches and nausea, but the source of the illness remained a mystery, authorities said.Nine students and four teachers were treated at nearby Jefferson High School, then taken to Lutheran Hospital as a precaution shortly after the school was evacuated about 1 p.m., a spokeswoman for Jefferson County Schools said.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/797320509 World War II veterans are dying at a rate of more than 1,200 a day nationally.And many of the 16 million Americans who served in the war never had the opportunity to see the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., which opened to the public on April 29, 2004 between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.All that's going to change for northern Colorado veterans of the war.An Honor Flight Northern Colorado is being put together to fly WWII veterans from Weld and Larimer counties to the memorial -- free of charge -- Sept. 23-24.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_Clifton_Governance.html Residents of Clifton, the most densely populated community in unincorporated Mesa County, may be going to the polls this November to create Colorado’s newest city.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/227729473 Scott Burgess wants to repair the relationship between Minturn and Red Cliff, especially now that employee housing from private ski resort may be built near his town.“We have to change that relationship so that we have a say with what’s happening in our own backyard,” said Burgess, who has lived in Red Cliff for two years.That’s one of several reasons Burgess has decided to run for Red Cliff’s Board of Trustees, on which six seats out of seven will be up for grabs April 1.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/51392811 Their numbers have dwindled, and age has slowed them. Still, on Tuesday, the veteran ski troopers showed no fear on Riva Ridge.One by one, they plunged down the steepest face of this Vail trail, named for the supposedly insurmountable cliff they climbed in Italy’s Apennine Mountains to launch a surprise attack on the Nazis. That was 63 years ago.At the bottom of the ski trail, the men — now in their 80s and 90s — collected on this sunny powder day on Vail Mountain, smiling at each other.A love of skiing is still a common thread for these veterans of the 10th Mountain Division. But their bonds go much deeper.“Friends you make in combat, you never forget,” said John Woodward, 93, who was an officer in the 10th, the regiment of skier-soldiers who, during World War II in 1945, pushed back the Germans in the harsh Italian mountains.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8383225 A leaky value allowed about 300 gallons of untreated stormwater runoff into a 60-inch water pipeline in Aurora today, causing slight taste and odor problems but no known health risks, Aurora Water said.About 3,200 customers were affected in a 2-square-mile bordered by Mississippi and Jewell avenues and Wheeling to Dayton streets.The problem was quickly fixed, the line flushed and water samples sent to to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment as a precautionary measure, said Aurora Water spokeswoman Meghan Hughes.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/feisty-rolo-wins-reprieve/ Rolo lives. That's what a judge decided Wednesday afternoon.Assistant Presiding Judge Mike Graber ruled that the German shepherd, in trouble for biting a neighbor, can return to his owner.Not without conditions, however. Laura Hagan, Rolo's owner, has to continue intense training with the dog and learn how to better control him.A 90-day jail sentence for Hagan, who was found guilty Tuesday of having a dog at large and keeping a dangerous animal, will be suspended if the dog stays out of trouble for a year, Graber ruled.Ten of Hagan's neighbors testified at a sentencing hearing that the dog was aggressive and they had concerns ranging from mild to extreme for their safety and the safety of their children. Hagan was found guilty Tuesday of having an at-large dog and having a dangerous animal.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280366/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Laurie Stolen is proud of the work that goes into preparing and serving an estimated 14,000 nutritious meals weekly, even though her diners don't really have much choice in their dining options.Stolen, inmate services director at the Larimer County Detention Center, oversees the jail's kitchen staff, a mix of employees from contractor Aramark and nearly 50 "trustee" inmates.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/14 The organizer of a campaign to return the public comments to televised City Council work sessions is applauding the Pueblo County Democratic Party for taking a stand on the issue.Tucked in among 25 other resolutions passed Saturday at the Pueblo County Democratic convention was a brief statement that the party believes "City Council meetings should be televised for public access and should include public comment open to all Pueblo County residents."Right now, council televises its regular sessions and work sessions on nights when a regular session is held.Last September, however, council moved its public comment period to the non-televised work sessions and Chris Nicoll's Pueblo Citizens for Open Government has been fighting ever since to get the decision reversed.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_7b_Xcel.html Plagued with a history of power failures along Horizon Drive and around Grand Junction Regional Airport, Xcel Energy is investing more than $1 million to replace underground lines and equipment in an effort to eliminate power troubles in the area.
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http://steamboatpilot.com/news/2008/feb/28/yampa_valley_recycles_selling_reusable_bags/ The numbers associated with the consumption of plastic bags are staggering.According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 380 billion bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year. The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually, at an estimated cost to retailers of $4 billion. The bags are said to take more than 1,000 years to decompose.“These plastic bags — they are just a disaster,” Catherine Carson said.Carson is a member of Yampa Valley Recycles, a group that is launching a reusable shopping bag program in Routt County. The group has purchased 5,000 of the polypropylene bags, which it plans to sell for $1 each.
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/591981407 The Basalt town government’s proposal to boost property taxes to buy a flood-imperiled trailer park for $5 million has failed to attract a champion of the issue.While the election is only about a month away, April 1, no citizens’ committee has emerged to promote the purchase of the Pan and Fork Mobile Home Park. The bonding company the town is working with on the deal eventually will try to build awareness of the proposed purchase.The town government is in a sticky spot on the issue. Colorado law prevents local governments from spending public funds to promote a specific outcome. “The town can’t really do a lot,” Town Manager Bill Efting said. “We can’t spend town money.”
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/920530290 A member of Basalt’s Planning and Zoning Commission decided Wednesday to try out for the big leagues.
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/68450203 Summit County Sheriff John Minor said Tuesday’s sit-down with members of the Denver Water Board “went really well,” as the the agencies discussed communication, safety and security related to the Dillon Dam Road.“Obviously these are issues we will still need to work on as we try to develop this relationship and, like any relationship, it will take time,” said Sheriff John Minor.Denver Water and local law enforcement have recently been subjected to public scrutiny after the Denver Water closed the Dillon Dam Road for nine days in January due to a potential Homeland Security threat.
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http://montrosepress.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/doc47c6312e31b11250416400.txt Residents of a local subdivision are working to reduce crime in a way that focuses on individual homes — the crime-free lifestyles program.Fox Meadows is the first neighborhood in Montrose to begin implementing techniques developed by the International Crime Free Association to reduce the potential for residential crimes such as burglary and vandalism."In the last three to four years, we've started to witness significant increase in crime," resident Ken Holyfield said Wednesday. Holyfield is also a member of the Fox Meadows homeowners association. He's lived in the subdivision for seven years.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_1.htm Shalee Cunningham, who was tentatively chosen a month ago as the next superintendent of Durango schools, has withdrawn her application, the school board announced Wednesday."Shalee has withdrawn her application, and we are going to reopen the search and try to look for some other candidates," said Jeff Schell, a school board member. "Unfortunately, I can't comment on much more than that."
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x2052201974 For tiny Rico, everything is as it was before whispers of mining’s return crept through the floorboards.A deal that would have brought large-scale molybdenum mining to the hills above Rico is dead, some three months after it was supposed to close, according to a press release from Bolero Resources Corp. CEO R. Bruce Duncan.“Bolero’s due diligence investigations could not be satisfactorily addressed to permit the entering into of a definitive agreement,” reads the release, which appeared yesterday morning on a Canadian business and media Web site, CNW Telbec.Some celebrated, happy to nix mining from the local lexicon for the second time.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385957 To an outsider, the scene looks more like summer vacation than a day of learning. But it's all part of the free-form curriculum that defines this type of home schooling — based on the idea that learning is a natural consequence of living.It needn't be boxed into time increments, targeted at certain age groups, limited to traditional school subjects or measured in tests.Generally speaking, most home-schoolers follow a traditional curriculum of math, science and social studies.Much of their education is guided by textbooks and scheduled lesson plans.Flip that whole notion over, and you have unschooling.If unschoolers wake up one morning with an interest in horse training, salamanders or ancient Chinese dynasties, that is what they study. Their sources could be the Internet, museums, farms, library books, movies or professionals in their field of interest.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385956 Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve. But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions."I'm trying to balance your rights and interests as well as the needs of the community," Graber told Laura Hagan. "If you don't do these things, it would be very serious."Hagan received a 90-day jail sentence that is suspended for one year if Rolo stays out of trouble. Rolo and Hagan also must continue a 12- to 16-week training regimen with monthly progress reports.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386602 The loudest jets operating in the U.S. would be banned from landing at Centennial Airport under a proposal submitted by the airport and surrounding communities to the Federal Aviation Administration.The FAA is currently reviewing and taking public comment on Centennial's "noise-compatibility program."Michael Fronapfel, the airport's manager of planning and development, said the first of 12 recommendations is to ban "Stage 1" aircraft entirely, and Recommendation 2 is to ban the slightly quieter "Stage 2" aircraft from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385960 A new master plan for the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood calls for 3.6 million square feet of new development and 1,400 residential units.Combined with some of the existing buildings, the Federal Center will have a total of 6.4 million square feet on the 640-acre site within the next 20 years.The Federal Center property, which houses government offices, including the U.S. Geological Survey, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Mine Safety Health Administration, is owned by the General Services Administration.The GSA sought a master plan for the site to take advantage of the development potential brought about by the FasTracks project, which will bring an RTD light-rail line through the property, and by the relocation of St. Anthony Hospital to the site.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/jeffco-schools-beef-goes-bye-bye/ Lunch for tens of thousands of Jefferson County schoolchildren won't include 400 cases of frozen beef, which is being destroyed starting this morning.Colorado's largest school district bought some of the 143 million pounds of frozen beef being recalled from Chino, Calif.-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.Jeffco warehouse staff will destroy the meat at a Jeffco Schools storage warehouse on Quail Street in Lakewood.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383346 Over and over, parents complain that our schools are not doing an adequate job preparing students. Generations of students learned by sitting in rows at desks, memorizing multiplication tables, and listening intently to a teacher. Why can't students today learn the same way?As Bob Dylan said, "The times, they are a-changing." And we have done a very poor job keeping up with these changing times.For a good majority of today's youths, hours are spent at the computer, sending text messages or talking on cellphones, playing video games or listening to an iPod. Everything is electronic, fast, instantly gratifying, and independently controlled. These activities are in sharp contrast to the way most schools approach education.Our system requires all students to take the same courses, and take the same tests at the same time, regardless of the differing abilities of the students. Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if each student could progress according to his or her individual ability and then be tested accordingly?
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/full-fare-for-bus-rapid-transit/ Regional Transportation District officials are trying to reassure cities along U.S. 36 that the district still fully supports bus-rapid transit following the circulation of a city of Boulder memo questioning that commitment last week.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/racial-feud-trial-leaves-big-legal-bill/ Almost six weeks after 15-year- old Randall Nelson was found not guilty of charges of assault and disorderly conduct stemming from a racially charged incident in February 2007 that left another boy with a broken jaw, legal and financial ramifications remain for the family.In defending his son, now a freshman at Steamboat Springs High School, Brad Nelson learned a tough lesson: Good legal defense doesn't come cheap."If you want the best, you pay for the best," said Brad Nelson, who faces more than $40,000 of legal fees and other expenses related to his son's defense.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/wheat-watching-whole-wheat-price-woes-come-to/ In light of a nationwide surge in the price of wheat, Boulder businesses such as Spruce Confections, Great Harvest Bread and Boulder Beer Co. are re-evaluating what they make, how much they make and how much they charge."It's become a major panic in the brewery business," said Tess McFadden, marketing director for Boulder Beer, 2880 Wilderness Place.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/mystery-donor-leaves-1-million-to-naropa/ Who dunnit?An anonymous donor has left Naropa University $1 million in her will, the Boulder-based institution announced Wednesday.It's the largest such posthumous gift in the school's 34-year history, and comes with some intriguing question marks."Part of the mystery and the power of this gift is we don't know what her precise connection was to the university," said Christopher Dwyer, vice president for institutional advancement.The bequest will be distributed in segments to Naropa through 2011. The first amount has gone into the endowment fund. The president and its board of trustees will determine future placements. No strings are attached to the money.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-dog-on-trial-feb28,1,3839362.story Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Arvada Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve.But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/griego-hearts-broken-by-market/ Iran into an acquaintance last week at the Capitol Hill Whole Foods. Tina, he called, and I turned and there was Tony, smiling, saying I was the first person he had seen since, well . . .He didn't have to finish. I was one of his old customers, and he hadn't seen many since he and his business partner closed their own little grocery store in December.Tony Thompson and Shelley Garrelts owned Simple Foods on the Tennyson strip in North Denver. They took out a $270,000 bank loan, put their homes up as collateral, kicked in another $35,000 each and opened in August 2003. "To rave reviews," Tony reminds me later. He's right.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-lecture-solar-activity-and-climate-change/ The Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado is sponsoring a talk on how solar activity may have affected parts of the "little ice age."The 1600s brought an unusually cold period during the little ice age. Tom Woods will talk about how this historical climate change may have been affected by solar activity.Woods will discuss current understanding based on satellite measurements of variations in the sun, which will establish what extent solar influences play in our climate today.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/state-issues-warning-on-latest-e-mail-scam/ Colorado Attorney General John Suthers on Wednesday warned consumers and businesses about a new e-mail scam related to messages claiming to be from the U.S. Department of Justice.The e-mails concern a supposed consumer complaint filed against the recipient and usually contain an attachment. The attachment is either a blank complaint form or some other document.Suthers advises consumers not to open the attachment because it might contain a computer virus or other malicious software.The Justice Department doesn't send messages to the public via e-mail. Similar hoaxes have recently been conducted in the names of other government entities, the Justice Department said in a statement.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/qwest-reaches-deal-with-jeffco-schools/ Qwest Communications said it has won a 10-year, $16 million contract with the Jefferson County School District to provide high-speed data networking and Internet services.
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http://www.timescall.com/News_Story.asp?id=6862 The Weld County Jail was built to hold 405 inmates. It routinely averages 500.Officials hope a new $17 million wing will alleviate overcrowding at the jail when it’s ready for occupancy in March.“The objective and goal in building the new wing is to bring the numbers back down to capacity,” said Sterling Geesaman, Weld County Sheriff’s Office bureau chief.The four-year project adds 86,000 square feet to the jail and bring its capacity to 779 inmates.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/hunter_33631___article.html/county_seat.html Allison Hunter couldn’t stay out of a campaign fray for long.The 43-year-old Democrat, who in December dropped out of her second bid for the state House District 15 seat, filed paperwork Tuesday that officially kicked off her campaign for the District 2 seat on the El Paso County Commission.“A lot of people are desperate for a voice in the county and I can certainly tell that after even only two days,” Hunter said of the support she has received since informally announcing her candidacy at Saturday’s county Democratic Assembly.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/CSUZONE01/802280368/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 A new system for buying everything from lawn furniture to hazardous chemicals and cars may eventually help Colorado State University save $10 million annually, university officials say.The new system funnels purchases through a central program, helping financial administrators better understand exactly what university departments are buying.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280387/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 The five girls and sixth-grade teacher Mary Laszlo also tracked the energy usage of the elementary school, including water, gas and electricity. Utilities use at Werner produces 105 tons of greenhouse gases each year, the team found."I think it's really shocking," said Anne Bonhoure, a fifth-grader. "We are using a lot of energy."The team began to think of alternative ways to generate energy for the school and presented their findings to District Superintendent Jerry Wilson.They also made a presentation to the school, encouraging students and teachers to turn off lights, computers and other electronic devices when they are not in classrooms."We give awards for classrooms at the end of the day that don't have their computers turned on," said Kate Monahan, a sixth-grader.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_1b_Dist__51_Web_site.html A nonprofit policy research organization with its eye on school districts statewide has put District 51’s Web site on the bottom of the list of the state’s 20 largest districts, because of accessibility of information on open enrollment and other factors.The Independence Institute’s Education Policy Center in Golden evaluated the Web sites of 20 of the state’s largest school districts based on the comprehensiveness and accessibility of open enrollment information, scoring both of those factors in January 2007 and July 2007. The information was released this week in the report titled “Open Enrollment and the Internet: An Evaluation of Colorado School District Web Sites.”District 51 has made improvements since then to its Web site, http://www.mesa.k12.co.us/2003/index.cfm.
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http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2008/feb/28/rail_service_possible/ The cities of Steamboat Springs and Craig have joined a group exploring high-speed, passenger rail service that could include a spur extending from South Routt to Craig.The Hayden Town Board also has voted to join the multi-jurisdictional governmental entity known as the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority. Hayden’s membership will become official once it’s ratified by the authority, which is exploring the possibility of modern rail track along the Interstate 70 and Interstate 25 corridors. The system could continue into Wyoming and potentially tie in to similar rail networks already in the works in Utah and New Mexico. It is anticipated the I-70 stretch would include two major spurs: one to Aspen and another through South Routt, Steamboat and Craig.Routt County already has joined the authority. County Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush said she is glad that all other incorporated municipalities in Routt and Moffat counties have decided to join.
http://aspentimes.com/article/20080227/NEWS/452353441 Basalt will collect a new fee from Holy Cross Energy that could fund projects ranging from the undergrounding of power lines to conserving energy.The town government and Holy Cross are negotiating a new franchise agreement that will increase the amount of the annual fee that Holy Cross pays to provide the town with power.
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x565324813 In 2007, the levels of carbon dioxide burped out by town-owned vehicles, by the generation of lights and computers in town offices, by the operation of the water treatment plant, the ice rink, the Galloping Goose, the campground restrooms and all other public facilities, was roughly 7.2 million pounds.The good news: This represents a 6 percent decrease in the town government’s carbon footprint from 2006, when carbon output was roughly 7.67 million pounds.This is a positive step for Telluride, which cemented its intent to reduce its carbon footprint in recent years by signing onto The Canary Initiative, The US Mayors Climate Protection Initiative and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization — a trio of organizations bent on reversing climate change.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386609 Any woman who got between Shawna Nelson and her married lover felt Nelson's wrath, including murder victim Heather Garraus, according to testimony Wednesday.Nelson is being tried on a charge of first-degree murder after Garraus was shot execution-style in front of her Greeley office on Jan. 23, 2007.Nelson carried on a three-year affair with Greeley police officer Ignacio Garraus.Prosecution witnesses Wednesday told jurors Nelson despised Heather Garraus and saw her as an obstacle to a life with Ignacio and the child they conceived. Many were co-workers of Nelson, who once worked as a Greeley police dispatcher.Former dispatcher Jennifer Morrison said Nelson called Heather Garraus "fat," a "hag" and "disgusting." Nelson also took out her frustration with Garraus by pretending to shoot her at a target range, Morrison said.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280382/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Weld County District Court Judge Roger Klein sent jurors home early Wednesday so defense attorneys and prosecutors could reconcile some issues with exhibits prosecutors plan to present today.Larimer County prosecutor Greg Lammons said the prosecution has four witnesses remaining to testify, and the prosecution should conclude today.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080228/NEWS/574305886 Prosecutors in Shawna Nelson's murder trial on Wednesday introduced evidence indicating that she used her husband's gun to shoot her romantic rival, Heather Garraus.Witnesses spent the remainder of the day describing Nelson's hatred for Garraus and her love for Ignacio Garraus.Alan Hammond of the Aurora police department's Colorado Bureau of Investigations' forensics lab, said two shell casings recovered from the crime scene where Heather Garraus was killed matched Nelson's husband's .40-caliber Glock model 22. Ken Nelson is a former Weld County Sheriff's deputy. Police have accused him of removing the gun from the truck his wife was driving before she was arrested.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387622 The legislative session is nearly half over. And Wednesday was deadline day for the House to ship its bills to the Senate and the Senate to send its measures to the House.In a marathon morning session, the House passed bills requiring cities and rural electric associations to spend more on energy efficiency and companies to provide space for breast-feeding moms.House Bill 1107 from Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, requires cities and REAs to spend 2 percent of their revenues on energy-efficiency programs. The bill passed 59-6, with critics saying it was unfair to some municipalities. Colorado Springs, for example, would have to come up with $14 million in the next few years to meet the requirement.House Bill 1276 from Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, would require businesses to provide space and break time for new mothers to pump breast milk. Six Republican men voted against the measure, some complaining it was another mandate on business.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/citizen-legislator-february-28/ Rep. Bob Gardner served as the El Paso County Republican Party chairman in the mid-1990s and has volunteered on several political campaigns."I don't always win by any means, but I always believe in the candidates I'm working for," he said.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385961 With gold and silver prices hitting new highs, more investors are giving precious metals serious consideration.So too, likely, will be some of the same people who once put investors into inflated dot-com stocks and stuck borrowers with subprime mortgages they couldn't afford."We are finding that there are people who were former mortgage brokers who are getting into this business," said Mark Albarian, chief executive and president of Goldline International Inc., a Santa Monica, Calif.-based precious-metals and coin vendor.Gold futures for April delivery reached an all-time high of $967.70 an ounce Wednesday before closing at $961 after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress more interest-rate cuts could be on the way. Lower rates weaken the value of the U.S. dollar, making gold more attractive.Ken Hallenbeck, executive director of the American Numismatic Association, an industry trade group based in Colorado Springs, said questionable players can jump from hot area to hot area.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/guv-vows-hard-look-land-conservation-program/ Colorado must step up efforts to police an innovative conservation tax-credit program to ensure that questionable deals are stopped and that the public interest is protected, Gov. Bill Ritter said Wednesday."We do not stop programs we have helping us protect land in this state," Ritter told a packed room of open-space officials. "At the same time, we have to assure people there is not fraud and abuse."The program gives lucrative state income tax credits to landowners who agree to prohibit development on their properties using legal tools known as conservation easements. The tax credits then can be sold for cash.Investigations by the Colorado Division of Real Estate and the Department of Revenue are likely to be handed over to the Colorado attorney general and could result in criminal and civil prosecutions by the state, Ritter and other state officials said.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383284 Last week, I spent a couple of days skiing with my parents in Aspen. They are 87 and 91 years old.I always recognize my father on the slopes. He's worn the same ski outfit for 40 years. But, this year, my parents were decked out in new ski outfits, skis and boots. "Guess I'm an optimist," my father mused.My parents first skied at Aspen in 1949 and have skied a week there every year since then, missing only last season when my father had heart surgery. Their first year at Aspen, there were only two pokey chair lifts and a T-bar. Lift tickets were $5, compared to $87 today.When my kids were young, and lift tickets still relatively inexpensive, I taught them to ski during spring vacations in Aspen with my parents, until they preferred learning to jump and ski the trees with a far more adventurous ski school instructor. By then, the famous Colorado snow had already attracted tourists from around the world.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/roll-call-february-28/ "We now have so many women in the legislature there's a line in the bathroom. I love it."Rep. Alice Borodkin, D-Denver
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/solar-mirrors-could-array-near-dia/ Vast swaths of brown, barren land near Denver International Airport could soon become decorated with a dizzying array of mirrors reflecting sunlight.SolarTAC is evaluating sites around the airport to establish a major solar energy research center. A spinoff of the newly established Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, SolarTAC will be launched in the coming months.Colorado's major academic and research institutions spawned the Collaboratory last year to bolster the state's prowess in new energy technologies and transfer those advances to the free market.It is backed by the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Mines and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/the-blank-of-job/ On the subjects of history and literature, American students are dumb and dumber, yet another survey indicates.A survey of 17-year-olds, the results of which were released Tuesday, show alarming rates of ignorance about our cultural benchmarks. Almost 20 percent didn't know whom we fought in World War II. More than 25 percent think Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue sometime after 1752. Half can't identify, on a multiple-choice test, whom Sen. Joseph McCarthy assailed or what the Renaissance was.The telephone survey of 1,200 adolescents was commissioned by a nonprofit, nonpartisan group called Common Core (http://www.commoncore.org). The group's leaders are diverse, and they include a former vice president of the American Federation of Teachers and a former assistant education secretary to the first President Bush.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/process-may-reduce-mercury-emissions/ First-round tests on its chemically treated activated carbon showed promising results, ADA-ES Inc. said Wednesday.Littleton-based ADA-ES intends to sell the product to coal-fired power plants for reducing mercury emissions.The company performed the tests at a power plant burning Western PRB coal. While operating with the activated carbon, the plant was able to reduce mercury emissions by greater than 90 percent at a competitive feed rate.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/into-the-hermit-tyranny-with-music/ Visiting musicians aside, North Korea is still a thoroughgoing Stalinist dictatorship. But nothing official happens by accident in this hermit land, and it does appear that its leadership is tentatively testing the possibility of a little more openness to the outside world.
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http://www.politicswest.com/20835/suthers_robocop Coloradans have registered more than three million phone numbers on the no-call list since the 2001 phone privacy law was enacted. There was an exemption, however, for political and charitable groups. And since then, the automated dialing of pre-recorded phone messages - particularly political messages - has clogged the voicemails of thousands of consumers.Advocates of robocalls say it is protected free speech.Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, whose office oversees the no-call list, backed SB-146 in the state legislature that would have banned so-called robocalls. It was defeated this month in a state Senate committee on a 4-1 bi-partisan vote.The Robocall Privacy Act of 2008 has been proposed in Congress to regulate the practice.We caught up with Suthers recently to find out what comes next in Colorado.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280383/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Trout found in five lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park have both male and female sex organs, says a massive new federal report highlighting the problems that air pollution poses for national parks.The report released by the Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project said detectable levels of contaminants ranging from mercury to two banned insecticides and a flame-retardant chemical treatment were found in eight parks in the western United States, including Rocky.The report said air pollution from coal-burning power plants is a major source of contamination, which can drift in the atmosphere for long distances before being dropped in rain or snow."It's certainly a cautionary lesson that supports that what goes up into our air does come down," said Rocky spokeswoman Kyle Patterson. "Parks are not immune from human activities from hundreds or even thousands of miles away."The report said the pollution could have many different ramifications and that more study is needed."In Rocky Mountain and Glacier national parks, some individual trout were 'intersex,'" the report said. "This condition is commonly associated with exposure to certain contaminants (dieldrin and DDT) that mimic the hormone estrogen.”
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280372/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Farmers will face additional struggles to make sure they have enough water as the state's population continues to grow, the state's agriculture commissioner told Fort Collins Rotary Club members Wednesday.Less water will be available for irrigation as more houses are built, said John Stulp, Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture."As you grow houses you need to water people," he said. "The demand for water is going to get greater."The demand for green energy should help the agriculture business he said, as farmers are increasingly called upon to raise crops that can be used to create biofuels. He compared the price of oil to an "800-pound guerrilla in the corner of the room."He also said the need for green energy will help generate jobs in rural areas, which should encourage young people to remain on farms and in agri-businesses.Also on Wednesday, the club honored Bill Markham and his family with the Master Agriculturist Award.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_community_correction.html Mesa County’s top judge said last week his confidence in the county’s Criminal Justice Services Department has been “significantly eroded” after an investigation revealed some defendants were being held illegally in Mesa County Jail.The county could face a federal investigation, and the district’s judges may refuse to sentence defendants to the community corrections program if the issue continues, 21st Judicial District Chief Judge David Bottger wrote in a letter dated Feb. 20.As of Feb. 15, 10 defendants were in custody illegally and had been held for between six days and more than five months, according to Bottger’s own investigation. All defendants had been sentenced to community corrections and were placed either on day-reporting or nonresidential status as they were awaiting a bed at the facility.Bottger said the defendants were sent back to jail for alleged violations, but they were held without bond and without a judge determining whether the arrest was legitimate.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_5b_election_cost.html A bill pending in the state Legislature that would require primarily paper-ballot elections would, at a minimum, double Mesa County’s 2008 elections budget, elections officials said.The cost of the bill could be the least of the county’s problems, though, and one county commissioner said it might be time to let state officials run the show.“We’ll either have to violate HAVA, federal law or state law,” Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland said. “Our hands are tied. We’ll let Mike Coffman, Ken Gordon decide who wants to run the election in Mesa County.”Secretary of State Mike Coffman is the state’s chief elections official, Gordon is a state senator from Denver who is carrying the bill. Gov. Bill Ritter has called for all-paper-ballot elections in 2008.HAVA is the Help America Vote Act, which requires local officials to offer equipment such as touch-screen machines to voters.Gordon’s bill, introduced with the support of Republican leaders in both houses of the Legislature, calls for voters to be offered paper ballots, but in counties such as Mesa, which have touch-screen voting equipment, voters could ask specifically for that option.Mesa County’s touch screens were certified this week, but the optical-scan equipment needed to count paper ballots is to be tested today and Friday in Denver.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28leadville.html?ref=us For years, the federal Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency have bickered over what to do about the aging tunnel, which stretches 2.1 miles and has become dammed by debris. The debris is holding back more than a billion gallons of water, much of it tainted with toxic levels of cadmium, zinc and manganese.The threat posed by the tunnel is the latest misfortune for the town, which is grappling with the wreckage of more than a century of mining.“Everybody made a lot of money in Leadville,” said Ken Olsen, a county commissioner. “They left years ago, and we’ve had to clean up after them ever since.”In the late 1800s, a gold and silver boom made Leadville one of Colorado’s most colorful places, drawing the likes of the Guggenheims. Legend has it that Doc Holliday fought his final gunfight here.Gold and silver gave way to zinc and lead mining, encouraged by the federal government for the war effort during World War II and the Korean War. Molybdenum, used to fortify steel, was blasted out of the mountains for years at the Climax mine.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/12 The new Statewide Voter Registration System is on-track, but it will require more hands-on help from the state, an independent assessment of the system concluded Wednesday.In an effort to avoid problems with the new system that some state agencies have seen with other computer databases in recent years, the Secretary of State's Office and the Governor's Office of Information Technology plan to add more people to help counties get used to the new system, said Rich Coolidge, Coffman's spokesman."We're happy that the assessment came in, did kind of a nuts-and-bolts review and said, 'The technological side of this, we're confident that it's moving in the right direction,' ” Coolidge said. "What they did say was, 'You need to have more hand-holding with the counties to make sure that they understand how to use the system.' And we're going to provide some more ground support and make the management team more supportive to the counties as they implement this new system."
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/558581416 State Rep. Christine Scanlan is wasting no time on Capitol Hill, as she passed two new bills on Tuesday out of the House Transportation and Energy Committee.The two new bills aim to protect passenger safety on ski lifts and school buses. The first, House Bill 1244, continues the passenger safety tramway board for the next 12 years. The board provides oversight for Colorado’s 374 tramways, most of which are ski lifts.“In just the last two years, there have been more than 25 million ski visits to our resorts, which have accounted for more than 250 million rides on our lifts,” Rep. Scanlan said. “Not once has there been a major lift failure or accident during that time. Obviously, we’re doing something right. Keeping this board going for the next 12 years ensures we keep doing it right.”
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/EDITS/210326461 Are the Lake County Commissioner and State Sen. Tom Wiens grandstanding over the danger poised by a clogged mine tunnel?Leadville Mayor Bud Elliott thinks so.The commissioners on Feb. 13 declared a state of emergency with the clogged tunnel, which may hold as much as 1 billion gallons of water, much of it poisoned because it’s been leaching through mineral-laden rock.The commissioners say the disaster declaration was needed to get the Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency off their collective kiesters to more effectively treat the water now trickling out of the World War II-era tunnel.Wiens, meanwhile, has set up a Web site — The Rocky Mountain News reports the site went live a few days before the commissioners’ vote on Feb. 13 — to get information out about the potential danger.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_5.htm A day after an apparently deranged man barged into the House of Representatives, state lawmakers debated the expense of metal detectors at the Capitol.A number of lawmakers decried the new security measures at "the people's house," which had no metal detectors until last fall, when a tuxedo-clad man was shot by a state trooper outside the governor's office after he displayed a gun and declared himself emperor of Colorado.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/democratic-national-convention-volunteering-is-a/ The group coordinating volunteers for the Democratic National Convention has a message for anyone who thinks blowing up a few balloons will be their ticket to a front row seat at the convention: Not so fast.Overwhelmed by more than 25,000 people interested in volunteering, the Denver 2008 Host Committee this week sent out a note politely stating that the reward for volunteering is not likely to go beyond self-satisfaction."Some people have the impression that a volunteer position is a ticket, or a credential, to the Democratic Convention,"Host committee spokesman Chris Lopez said organizers were not expecting to hear from so many volunteers so many months before the August convention.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387623 A bill mandating that the state conduct a primarily paper-ballot election this year may not be a slam dunk, even though it has the sponsorship of party leaders in both legislative chambers.A handful of legislators said Wednesday that they have serious concerns about the bill, a sign that a battle may be shaping up."I'm just really disappointed that there's the possibility of this going forward," said Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, "and I will put all my effort into killing it in the Senate."The bill, Senate Bill 189, was formally introduced Wednesday. It would require county clerks to offer all voters a paper ballot, although voters could ask to vote on an electronic voting terminal. Voters would also be able to vote early or vote by mail.Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, a Denver Democrat who crafted the bill, said the measure would move the state away from using electronic voting terminals, which came under scrutiny after a lawsuit and the secretary of state's subsequent decertification of many of the machines. It would also likely prevent a future lawsuit over the voting terminals, he said."I think we've hit the right balance here," Gordon said.But several clerks say the bill would drive up election costs and could cause major voting problems.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385328 Wyoming officials issued an unprecedented health alert Wednesday in a rural gas-drilling area for a buildup of ozone — usually a summertime air pollutant in urban areas.The Pinedale area had high ozone readings a week after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency criticized the federal Bureau of Land Management for planning thousands of new gas wells in the area without adequate air-quality protection."This should be a wake-up call for the Bureau of Land Management," said Linda Baker, director of the Upper Green River Valley Coalition. "What's going to happen to our air when we have 4,400 . . . additional wells, as the BLM proposes?"In Colorado, state regulators are targeting gas wells as a major contributor to the Denver metro area's troublesome ozone levels and are considering new restrictions on equipment and operations.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385325 Even though someone left a baby girl outside Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center, apparently intending to qualify under the state's safe-haven law, the infant's death removes any legal protections.The Denver Police Department's homicide unit is investigating, said Detective Sharon Hahn, and prosecutors from the Denver district attorney's office will decide what charges, if any, to file.The Denver coroner's office will determine the cause of death, including whether the baby was dead before she was brought to the hospital, Hahn said.But whether the infant was alive or not when she was left at the hospital at Franklin Street and East 20th Avenue, the statute requires that the child be left "safely." The law also requires the parent to perform any act necessary to protect the health of the child.Someone rang a help button outside the hospital at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday; a security guard immediately went outside and found the baby and brought her inside, Hahn said.The medical staff then pronounced the baby dead, she said.Police are requesting help in identifying the baby's parents.Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said the case will be investigated as a child death.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385327 State backlogs that stretch five months or more have left nearly 10 percent of the child-care welfare staff in Denver with incomplete training.The lag is putting a crunch on an already overburdened system, said Roxane White, Denver's manager of the Department of Human Services.The problem is that until her workers get the full training, the number of cases they can investigate is limited, meaning other workers are overloaded with too many cases, she said in a briefing to City Council members this week.Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said the state is reserving comment until it finishes its review of what caused 13 high-profile child deaths in the state last year."Caseloads, caseworker qualifications and training are currently being reviewed," McDonough said. "We're not going to comment beyond that at this point."In a series of e-mails earlier this month, White raised the training issue along with other concerns with state officials.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385953 A young man who killed four people at a Colorado Springs church and an Arvada missionary training center had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and harbored bitterness for being an outcast, his parents said in their first extended comments.Matthew Murray gave no indication that he was about to explode in violence, though, they said in an interview to be broadcast today and Friday on James Dobson's Focus on the Family radio program.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387621 Lawmakers fretted Wednesday over what would happen if a major dust storm coated the state's voluminous snowpack before the spring runoff."If we had dust layers in there like we've had in previous years, potentially we'd be looking at buying sandbags," said Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus.The comments came during a morning joint Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee meeting, at which a researcher told lawmakers how dust storms that dirty mountain snowpack reduce the snow's reflectivity and cause faster runoff. Earlier melting usually means the water comes too soon to help farmers, said Rep. Rafael Gallegos, D-Antonito. But with seasonal snowpack levels reaching as high as 173 percent of average, a faster runoff could also cause widespread flooding.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387618 A Senate panel backed legislation Wednesday banning state workers from striking, but not before one lawmaker went on a table-slapping tirade about the "silliness" of the business-versus-labor debate."This state is burning down!" shouted Sen. Chris Romer, a Denver Democrat.He challenged business and labor leaders to push a November ballot measure to bail out education or health care instead of fighting over a "modest" order from Gov. Bill Ritter allowing state workers to negotiate with managers.And he asked business leaders to stomp out a potential right-to-work initiative that would prohibit workers from being forced to become union members or pay union dues.
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386601 Denver Post journalists won 15 first-place awards in the annual contest sponsored by The Denver Press Club and Denver Newspaper Guild.Rocky Mountain News reporters, designers and editors won eight first-place awards in the contest that drew more than 200 entries from Colorado journalists.The awards recognize work published in print or online between June 1, 2006, and May 31, 2007. They were judged by representatives of the Los Angeles and Cleveland Press Clubs and the New Mexico Press Women.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385997 Two media giants completed a long-awaited $12 billion agreement Wednesday that sent Liberty Media Corp.'s 16 percent stake in News Corp. back to Rupert Murdoch and gave John Malone control over satellite-television provider DirecTV.Douglas County-based Liberty Media, a holding company with interests in cable programming and Internet commerce, also acquired three regional sports networks as part of the exchange.Under the final terms, Liberty Media exchanged a 16 percent stake in News Corp., worth roughly $11 billion, plus $625 million in cash for a 41 percent interest in DirecTV.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8387295 Liberty Media Corp. chairman John Malone may win control of Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp in a court fight over IAC's breakup plan, a Lehman Bros. analyst said Wednesday."Liberty might get operating control" by forcing Diller out as the caretaker for Liberty's 62 percent voting stake in IAC, wrote Lehman analyst Vijay Jayant in New York, who recommends buying Liberty Interactive tracking stock.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385843 Gov. Bill Ritter on Wednesday said the attorney general's and district attorney's offices may get involved in an investigation into abuses of the state's conservation easement program.The Colorado Division of Real Estate launched an investigation in November, issuing 30 subpoenas to people who were connected to deals involving five ranches and an Arvada land trust, then called Noah Land Conservation. More recently, it subpoenaed the records of The Greenlands Reserve, a Summit County-based land trust.Speaking at the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts conference, Ritter said the next step is to talk to the district attorney and attorney general.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/paper-suspends-karson/ The University of Colorado student author of an opinion column that garnered national attention for saying Asians "hate us all" and should be hated back was suspended from the Campus Press newspaper staff Wednesday."Max Karson's duties with the Campus Press have been suspended pending a restructuring of the opinions section," according to a statement posted on the student paper's Web site Wednesday.Karson ignited a firestorm last week when his piece titled "If it's war the Asians want ... It's war they'll get," infuriated some students and past members of the Campus Press staff who said the piece was inflammatory and a failed attempt at satire.The statement goes on to say that the publication's editors are in the process of organizing an "open, public forum to address diversity sensitivity in our news coverage" and are rewriting their ethics policy.The announcement came the same day university officials said they're close to announcing major changes in the way the paper is operated and overseen.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-student-group-hosts-korean-culture-night/ The University of Colorado's Korean American Student group is hosting a culture night Friday that will include comedy, a kum do sword performance, Korean drumming and other demonstrations.The event, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the University Memorial Center's Glenn Miller Ballroom, is free and open to the public.Comedian Eliot Chang will perform, and there will also be a Korean play and food.
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news1.txt More than 200 students gathered on the south porch of the University Memorial Center as a show of solidarity and distaste against the Feb. 18 publication of an opinion column titled “If it's war Asians want” in CU-Boulder's online newspaper “The Campus Press.”Under clear skies, the diverse gathering of students from many ethnic and cultural backgrounds held colorful signs that read “Revolution,” “Shoulder to Shoulder,” and “Responsible Journalism Now!” while a series of student leaders spoke of their experiences as minorities on campus, and issued calls to fight against racist sentiments by working together with university administration.“It's not just one article,” stated Dr. Detre Godinez, a recent CU grad who endorsed a Biased Incident Hotline that students could call to immediately report instances of racial victimization and marginalization. “It's every day. We experience it every day - it's in our faces every day.”
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news2.txt CU diversity group student leaders have compiled a list of responses they'd like the university to enact, in the wake of last week's Campus Press editorial satirizing Asian stereotypes.The editorial, written by CU senior Max Karson, says “They [Asians] hate us all. And I say it's time we started hating them back.”“If you're not sure if someone is Asian, give them a calculus problem to do in their head,” the editorial says. Karson defends it as obvious satire.The students are asking for the resignation of Campus Press faculty advisor Amy Herdy and editor-in-chief Cassie Hewlings and “an independent investigation into the upper echelons of the journalism school, [to see] whether a systemic culture of racism exists,” said CU junior David Chiu.“We want this to be conducted by a panel of students and faculty who support and represent diversity,” Chiu said, “and not the dean, who'd look into his own department.”They're also asking the administration to revisit a list of student demands made two years ago after an African-American student government tri-executive received a death threat.
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news3.txt There's one downside to massive political participation - massive data entry.Coloradans flooded their Feb. 5 political party caucuses in record numbers, and the raw volume has contributed to the fact that full Democratic Party U.S. Senate preference poll results hadn't been officially released as of Feb. 27.Pat Waak, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party (CDP), said that Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Udall had roughly 87 percent of statewide poll votes as of late Wednesday afternoon, with “uncommitted” at 11 percent and educator Mark Benner at about two percent.Waak said the CDP was still waiting for poll results from Boulder and Jefferson counties as of Wednesday afternoon. For reference, about 120,000 Colorado Democrats attended a caucus, while about 18,000 Boulder County Democrats and 16,000 Jefferson County Democrats caucused on Feb. 5.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/474741178 A bill in the Legislature would limit the interest and fees payday lending businesses can charge residents, though opponents say it will drive out the industry and create a black market for loans the state cannot regulate.The bill -- HB 1310 -- would place a limit of 45 percent annual interest rate on short-term loans businesses provide to residents, and it would limit lenders to assessing only one $60 finance fee per borrower, per year. It also would allow borrowers 30 days to repay the loan instead of the 14 days the industry uses now.Now, businesses can assess annual interest rates of sometimes more than 350 percent on payday loans they give. Most payday loan businesses make borrowers postdate a check to use as collateral for the loan.The bill won approval from the Colorado House Monday by a narrow margin and now goes to the Senate for further consideration.Both Rep. Glen Vaad, R-Mead, and Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, voted against the measure. Vaad said he received more than a dozen emails from Greeley and Longmont payday loaners who said the bill -- if it becomes law -- will drive them out of business.
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http://www.politicswest.com/20851/mark_udall_mourns_william_f_buckley_jr U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colorado, who is running for the state's open U.S. Senate seat, released the following statement Wednesday on the death of conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr.“Any American who reveres our constitution and admires intelligence, wit and integrity in public life will mourn the passing of William F. Buckley Jr. Like many others who grew up the 1960s and 1970s, I appreciated the provocative conversation in Mr. Buckley’s interviews on his television program 'Firing Line' – where he challenged political leaders from across the political spectrum. America’s conservative movement obviously owes a great deal to the intellectual foundation of William F. Buckley’s writing and philosophy, but his contributions to public life were not just ideological. Mr. Buckley was a grand debater, a great thinker and a brilliant personality. He will be missed.”
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280381/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Larimer County prosecutors are wading through a list of more than 1,000 convicts as they consider which cases to review - and who might ultimately go free - in light of advanced DNA testing.District Attorney Larry Abrahamson announced the plan to review cases after a judge freed Timothy Masters from his life sentence on Jan. 22. The judge said new DNA evidence pointed toward a new suspect in the 1987 Peggy Hettrick murder and vacated Masters' conviction after Masters had served nearly nine years in prison.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/2 The Colorado Capitol is a state structure that should be left wide-open to the public, some lawmakers said Wednesday.But considering today's troubled times, and the public's general acceptance of at least basic security measures, metal detectors should continue to be used in the historic structure, other legislators countered.The opposing sides emerged during debate over whether the state should spend an additional $490,000 to beef up security at the Capitol as a result of last summer's fatal shooting of a mentally ill man who threatened Gov. Bill Ritter.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383424 Uncertainty is never a good thing when it comes to holding elections.That's why we were glad to see state lawmakers introduce a bill this week to mandate a primarily paper ballot system this year.It may not be the perfect system, and ultimately it could delay vote counting, but at this moment it seems to be the best way to inject some voter confidence back into the electoral process.Yet, significant issues remain to be resolved before Coloradans can vote. In short, there are some large counties that don't have enough scanners — devices that tally paper ballots — to count votes in a timely fashion.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386606 The Colorado High School Activities Association board reaffirmed Wednesday that it will not jump through hoops to reschedule regional and state basketball finals for a Jewish team that won't play on Saturdays — their Sabbath.Several state lawmakers pressed the association to push back a March 8 regional finals game until after sundown that Saturday so that the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy could compete.The Herzl/RMHA Tigers still have one game to win before securing one of two regional berths.The school's girls team is in the same situation."We made the accommodation for them at the district level," CHSAA Commissioner Bill Reader said. "It's difficult to reschedule at the regional level; it's impossible at the state level."In an afternoon news conference, state Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, called the association's refusal "despicable."The players, Groff said, "should be given the opportunity to win the championship they've worked for."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387620 The House on Wednesday approved funding for metal detectors and additional security at the Capitol despite some lawmakers' objections that it was a waste of money.Criticism of the security measures crossed party lines and came just a day after a man was arrested after he walked onto the House floor uninvited and shouted at lawmakers. The unarmed man, later arrested after a scuffle with state troopers, said he wanted to address lawmakers.Metal detectors and more state troopers were added to the Capitol in September after an incident in July in which a trooper shot and killed an armed, deranged man inside the building.
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http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_8385477 With the Senate headed toward a vote on legislation aimed at reducing home foreclosures, Colorado's two U.S. senators split Wednesday on whether it would help or hurt the economy.Lawmakers will consider a bill that rewrites part of bankruptcy law, allowing judges to cut interest rates on some mortgages. People able to make revised payments could keep their homes.The Senate could take up the bill as soon as today, but President Bush already has threatened to veto the legislation.Sen. Ken Salazar, a Democrat, believes the changes are needed both for those facing foreclosure and a large chunk of homeowners in the state. Republican Wayne Allard said the legislation would increase costs for banks and other lenders and potentially hurt the economy.Allard aides were among those encouraging the Bush administration to threaten a veto of the bill."Interest rates will go up, fees will go up and it will probably be more difficult to get loans for future mortgages for future homeowners," Allard said.Salazar said the pain caused by foreclosures would hurt many in Colorado.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/lawmakers-call-a-foul-on-stance-of-prep/ A group of lawmakers put on a full-court press to salvage a Jewish team's chance at a regional high school basketball championship, but it failed to score.The Colorado High School Activities Association board stood firm Wednesday on its refusal to reschedule the March 8 championship game so the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy wouldn't have to play on the Jewish Sabbath.State Senate leaders called the CHSAA decision inflexible and "despicable."One lawmaker suggested the CHSAA could face a discrimination lawsuit for allowing games on the Saturday Jewish Sabbath, but prohibiting play on the Sunday Christian Sabbath.The religious beliefs of the Jewish team from Denver prevent it from playing on the Jewish Sabbath between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday. March 8 falls on Saturday, and the game is scheduled before sundown.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/unaffiliated-voters-gain-gop/ The number of unaffiliated voters edged closer to surpassing Republicans this month as the most numerous voting block in Colorado, according to voter registration figures released Wednesday by the secretary of state.Republican voters outnumbered unaffiliated voters by only about 10,000 in February. That's down from 12,000 the month before.The latest voter rolls show that 2.9 million Coloradans are registered to vote. The percentage of Republicans was 34.8 percent, compared with 34.4 percent unaffiliated and 30.4 percent Democrats.The percentage of unaffiliated voters has climbed steadily for five years.Overall, the number of Republicans increased by about 2,000 from January to February, while Democrats gained about 5,000 registered voters. There was an increase of about 4,000 unaffiliated voters in that period.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/04-law-fails-to-save-baby/ In the seven years since Colorado passed a "safe haven" law for newborns, 15 babies have been left with hospitals or firefighters - and just as many have turned up dead.The most recent victim was left in a basket outside Presbyterian/ St. Luke's Medical Center Tuesday night by someone who rang the call button and ran.Denver police, with the help of the hospital and the Denver coroner's office, are investigating, hoping to determine the age of the baby, the cause of death and whether she died before or after she was dropped off."It's a lose-lose-lose situation," said Jack Cozzens, president of the board of Colorado Safe Haven for Newborns, a group dedicated to raising awareness about the law that allows a parent to turn in a child without fear of prosecution, about cases such as the one Tuesday. "The baby dies, the mother goes to prison and a couple waiting to adopt a child still don't have one."
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/house-oks-bill-to-aid-military-spouses/ The House approved and sent to the Senate House Bill 1180. It would let military spouses collect unemployment insurance if they are forced to relocate. Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, said those spouses and their employers must pay for unemployment insurance but can't collect it if they are transferred.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/child-services-add-40-caseworkers/ Denver is adding 40 child-welfare caseworkers because calls to its abuse-and-neglect hot line have soared in the past two years, largely because of a jump in calls from Denver Public Schools.The rise in calls from the schools followed the story of 7- year-old Chandler Grafner's being starved to death despite warning calls from his school to social workers.Then a principal was charged with failing to report abuse in an incident among students at a middle school.Now, "The schools are calling in any incident they feel bears investigating," said Carmen Carillo, deputy manager of Denver Human Services.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/debut-near-guvs-sweeping-ed-reform-bill/ Gov. Bill Ritter has been promising sweeping education reform since he began his run for the state's top office in 2006.That kind of change could come about under a bill to be introduced in the Senate as early as next week, with Ritter's blessing.The measure, circulating in draft form among lawmakers and educators, would establish a statewide standard for what constitutes readiness for college or the workforce.High school graduation requirements and curriculum would be revised to reflect the new standards.And tests adminstered under the Colorado Student Assessment Program — a subject of long-running complaint among teachers and some parents — would follow the new curriculum.Testing would extend to 12th grade. It now ends in 10th grade."This is a comprehensive sea change in the way that we approach education policy in this state," said Matt Gianneschi, Ritter's education advisor.The bill permits school districts to scrap traditional course structures if students can meet the readiness standards in a different way."What we're saying is, it's the competencies that matter, and so if you can deliver that in a curriculum that doesn't look anything like what the curriculum in the school district next door to you has, fine," Gianneschi said.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/let-them-play/ Tournament time. It's supposed to be that special occasion when months and years of hard work culminate in the opportunity to compete for a state championship. It's supposed to be that moment when every high school basketball player has at least the chance to realize the dream of winning it all.That's why it's so regrettable that the boys and girls basketball teams from Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy may face the impossible choice between following a tenet of their faith - observance of the Sabbath - and participating in tournament games scheduled between dusk Fridays and dusk Saturdays the next three weekends.The Colorado High School Activities Association has some undeniable practical arguments why it is reluctant to enable Herzl/RMHA's boys and girls to take part in the Class 1A state basketball tournament. Its blueprint for conducting 10 simultaneous tournaments (for boys and girls in five classifications) in the short span of 16 days is a 57-page book that lays out all of the logistical issues - from arenas to schedules to motel availability to assignments for officials, scorers, timekeepers and all of the other people engaged to help operate more than 50 sites involving hundreds of games.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/thorstenson_33603___article.html/air_army.html Flying in slow circles four miles above Baghdad in the back of a four-engine C-130, the Air Force Academy’s Capt. Linda Thorstenson waits for a call.It could be from a convoy under attack, or just someone checking a radio. She’s their security blanket, ensuring that when they pick up their radios, someone will hear them on the other end.“We’re 911 operators at 20,000 feet,” said Thorstenson, who teaches cadets the basics of flying in Colorado Springs and helps coach the academy’s gymnastics team.“We’re there if they need us.”
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http://www.gazette.com/opinion/crack_33629___article.html/party_powder.html After too many years of inattention, Congress may finally be getting ready to correct one of the most harmful mistakes it made in the 1980s during the period of legislative hysteria over the phenomenon of crack cocaine. The House Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee held hearings Tuesday on bills to reform the disparity in sentencing for possession of crack and powder cocaine.Back in the 1980s, when crack cocaine seemed to be decimating neighborhoods and wrecking lives at an alarming rate, many people believed it was more addictive and more dangerous than powder cocaine. That turned out not to be the case, but while it was the conventional wisdom, Congress enacted laws mandating longer sentences for crack possession than for powder cocaine.It takes 5 grams of crack cocaine (two sugar packets) to get a five-year sentence versus 500 grams of powder. Fifty grams of crack triggers a 10-year sentence, but it takes 5,000 grams of powder to trigger a 10-year sentence.That’s a ratio of 100 to 1. And while it was not part of the intention, the disparity has harmed blacks more than any other group. By and large (there are exceptions to every rule) blacks who use cocaine tend to use crack, while white Americans are more inclined to use powder. So blacks have received much longer prison sentences for offenses that, chemically speaking, are identical.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/teacher_33608___article.html/colorado_springs.html A 73-year-old substitute teacher at Wasson High School was arrested by Colorado Springs police Feb. 15. A 15-year-old boy told police the male teacher offered to pay him $1,000 to allow the teacher to perform oral sex on him, according to an arrest affidavit.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/18 A Florence inmate who allegedly planned to throw hot wax on a congressman visiting a prison was convicted Tuesday of assaulting a guard by throwing the wax on him instead.Chief U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham said the inmate, Jay Vaughan Gregory, made "a strongly implied threat" in his closing arguments in a two-day trial.Nottingham ordered that Gregory's copy of the jurors' names be turned back to court staff "before you have any opportunity to copy" them.A person familiar with the case said Gregory, 51, is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a violent gang that operates in numerous prisons.Another person who attended the trial and had official knowledge of it said Gregory, in his closing argument, said, "We die with swords in our hands and not with chains on our ankles and we will hold each and everyone responsible for the actions that occurred in the courtroom."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386605 A skier died Wednesday at Eldora Mountain Resort. Officials said the 46-year-old man was found at 1:15 p.m. at the bottom of West Ridge, an intermediate trail in the Corona area. He was unresponsive and not breathing.Ski patrollers administered life support, but the skier was pronounced dead after about an hour.It was the first skier death "in quite a number of years" at Eldora Mountain Resort," said Rob Linde, resort spokesman.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/children-sickened-school-evacuated/ Lumberg Elementary School in Edgewater was evacuated Wednesday after several students and staff members complained of headaches and nausea, but the source of the illness remained a mystery, authorities said.Nine students and four teachers were treated at nearby Jefferson High School, then taken to Lutheran Hospital as a precaution shortly after the school was evacuated about 1 p.m., a spokeswoman for Jefferson County Schools said.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/797320509 World War II veterans are dying at a rate of more than 1,200 a day nationally.And many of the 16 million Americans who served in the war never had the opportunity to see the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., which opened to the public on April 29, 2004 between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.All that's going to change for northern Colorado veterans of the war.An Honor Flight Northern Colorado is being put together to fly WWII veterans from Weld and Larimer counties to the memorial -- free of charge -- Sept. 23-24.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_Clifton_Governance.html Residents of Clifton, the most densely populated community in unincorporated Mesa County, may be going to the polls this November to create Colorado’s newest city.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/227729473 Scott Burgess wants to repair the relationship between Minturn and Red Cliff, especially now that employee housing from private ski resort may be built near his town.“We have to change that relationship so that we have a say with what’s happening in our own backyard,” said Burgess, who has lived in Red Cliff for two years.That’s one of several reasons Burgess has decided to run for Red Cliff’s Board of Trustees, on which six seats out of seven will be up for grabs April 1.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/51392811 Their numbers have dwindled, and age has slowed them. Still, on Tuesday, the veteran ski troopers showed no fear on Riva Ridge.One by one, they plunged down the steepest face of this Vail trail, named for the supposedly insurmountable cliff they climbed in Italy’s Apennine Mountains to launch a surprise attack on the Nazis. That was 63 years ago.At the bottom of the ski trail, the men — now in their 80s and 90s — collected on this sunny powder day on Vail Mountain, smiling at each other.A love of skiing is still a common thread for these veterans of the 10th Mountain Division. But their bonds go much deeper.“Friends you make in combat, you never forget,” said John Woodward, 93, who was an officer in the 10th, the regiment of skier-soldiers who, during World War II in 1945, pushed back the Germans in the harsh Italian mountains.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8383225 A leaky value allowed about 300 gallons of untreated stormwater runoff into a 60-inch water pipeline in Aurora today, causing slight taste and odor problems but no known health risks, Aurora Water said.About 3,200 customers were affected in a 2-square-mile bordered by Mississippi and Jewell avenues and Wheeling to Dayton streets.The problem was quickly fixed, the line flushed and water samples sent to to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment as a precautionary measure, said Aurora Water spokeswoman Meghan Hughes.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/feisty-rolo-wins-reprieve/ Rolo lives. That's what a judge decided Wednesday afternoon.Assistant Presiding Judge Mike Graber ruled that the German shepherd, in trouble for biting a neighbor, can return to his owner.Not without conditions, however. Laura Hagan, Rolo's owner, has to continue intense training with the dog and learn how to better control him.A 90-day jail sentence for Hagan, who was found guilty Tuesday of having a dog at large and keeping a dangerous animal, will be suspended if the dog stays out of trouble for a year, Graber ruled.Ten of Hagan's neighbors testified at a sentencing hearing that the dog was aggressive and they had concerns ranging from mild to extreme for their safety and the safety of their children. Hagan was found guilty Tuesday of having an at-large dog and having a dangerous animal.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280366/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Laurie Stolen is proud of the work that goes into preparing and serving an estimated 14,000 nutritious meals weekly, even though her diners don't really have much choice in their dining options.Stolen, inmate services director at the Larimer County Detention Center, oversees the jail's kitchen staff, a mix of employees from contractor Aramark and nearly 50 "trustee" inmates.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/14 The organizer of a campaign to return the public comments to televised City Council work sessions is applauding the Pueblo County Democratic Party for taking a stand on the issue.Tucked in among 25 other resolutions passed Saturday at the Pueblo County Democratic convention was a brief statement that the party believes "City Council meetings should be televised for public access and should include public comment open to all Pueblo County residents."Right now, council televises its regular sessions and work sessions on nights when a regular session is held.Last September, however, council moved its public comment period to the non-televised work sessions and Chris Nicoll's Pueblo Citizens for Open Government has been fighting ever since to get the decision reversed.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_7b_Xcel.html Plagued with a history of power failures along Horizon Drive and around Grand Junction Regional Airport, Xcel Energy is investing more than $1 million to replace underground lines and equipment in an effort to eliminate power troubles in the area.
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http://steamboatpilot.com/news/2008/feb/28/yampa_valley_recycles_selling_reusable_bags/ The numbers associated with the consumption of plastic bags are staggering.According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 380 billion bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year. The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually, at an estimated cost to retailers of $4 billion. The bags are said to take more than 1,000 years to decompose.“These plastic bags — they are just a disaster,” Catherine Carson said.Carson is a member of Yampa Valley Recycles, a group that is launching a reusable shopping bag program in Routt County. The group has purchased 5,000 of the polypropylene bags, which it plans to sell for $1 each.
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/591981407 The Basalt town government’s proposal to boost property taxes to buy a flood-imperiled trailer park for $5 million has failed to attract a champion of the issue.While the election is only about a month away, April 1, no citizens’ committee has emerged to promote the purchase of the Pan and Fork Mobile Home Park. The bonding company the town is working with on the deal eventually will try to build awareness of the proposed purchase.The town government is in a sticky spot on the issue. Colorado law prevents local governments from spending public funds to promote a specific outcome. “The town can’t really do a lot,” Town Manager Bill Efting said. “We can’t spend town money.”
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/920530290 A member of Basalt’s Planning and Zoning Commission decided Wednesday to try out for the big leagues.
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/68450203 Summit County Sheriff John Minor said Tuesday’s sit-down with members of the Denver Water Board “went really well,” as the the agencies discussed communication, safety and security related to the Dillon Dam Road.“Obviously these are issues we will still need to work on as we try to develop this relationship and, like any relationship, it will take time,” said Sheriff John Minor.Denver Water and local law enforcement have recently been subjected to public scrutiny after the Denver Water closed the Dillon Dam Road for nine days in January due to a potential Homeland Security threat.
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http://montrosepress.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/doc47c6312e31b11250416400.txt Residents of a local subdivision are working to reduce crime in a way that focuses on individual homes — the crime-free lifestyles program.Fox Meadows is the first neighborhood in Montrose to begin implementing techniques developed by the International Crime Free Association to reduce the potential for residential crimes such as burglary and vandalism."In the last three to four years, we've started to witness significant increase in crime," resident Ken Holyfield said Wednesday. Holyfield is also a member of the Fox Meadows homeowners association. He's lived in the subdivision for seven years.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_1.htm Shalee Cunningham, who was tentatively chosen a month ago as the next superintendent of Durango schools, has withdrawn her application, the school board announced Wednesday."Shalee has withdrawn her application, and we are going to reopen the search and try to look for some other candidates," said Jeff Schell, a school board member. "Unfortunately, I can't comment on much more than that."
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x2052201974 For tiny Rico, everything is as it was before whispers of mining’s return crept through the floorboards.A deal that would have brought large-scale molybdenum mining to the hills above Rico is dead, some three months after it was supposed to close, according to a press release from Bolero Resources Corp. CEO R. Bruce Duncan.“Bolero’s due diligence investigations could not be satisfactorily addressed to permit the entering into of a definitive agreement,” reads the release, which appeared yesterday morning on a Canadian business and media Web site, CNW Telbec.Some celebrated, happy to nix mining from the local lexicon for the second time.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385957 To an outsider, the scene looks more like summer vacation than a day of learning. But it's all part of the free-form curriculum that defines this type of home schooling — based on the idea that learning is a natural consequence of living.It needn't be boxed into time increments, targeted at certain age groups, limited to traditional school subjects or measured in tests.Generally speaking, most home-schoolers follow a traditional curriculum of math, science and social studies.Much of their education is guided by textbooks and scheduled lesson plans.Flip that whole notion over, and you have unschooling.If unschoolers wake up one morning with an interest in horse training, salamanders or ancient Chinese dynasties, that is what they study. Their sources could be the Internet, museums, farms, library books, movies or professionals in their field of interest.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385956 Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve. But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions."I'm trying to balance your rights and interests as well as the needs of the community," Graber told Laura Hagan. "If you don't do these things, it would be very serious."Hagan received a 90-day jail sentence that is suspended for one year if Rolo stays out of trouble. Rolo and Hagan also must continue a 12- to 16-week training regimen with monthly progress reports.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386602 The loudest jets operating in the U.S. would be banned from landing at Centennial Airport under a proposal submitted by the airport and surrounding communities to the Federal Aviation Administration.The FAA is currently reviewing and taking public comment on Centennial's "noise-compatibility program."Michael Fronapfel, the airport's manager of planning and development, said the first of 12 recommendations is to ban "Stage 1" aircraft entirely, and Recommendation 2 is to ban the slightly quieter "Stage 2" aircraft from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385960 A new master plan for the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood calls for 3.6 million square feet of new development and 1,400 residential units.Combined with some of the existing buildings, the Federal Center will have a total of 6.4 million square feet on the 640-acre site within the next 20 years.The Federal Center property, which houses government offices, including the U.S. Geological Survey, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Mine Safety Health Administration, is owned by the General Services Administration.The GSA sought a master plan for the site to take advantage of the development potential brought about by the FasTracks project, which will bring an RTD light-rail line through the property, and by the relocation of St. Anthony Hospital to the site.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/jeffco-schools-beef-goes-bye-bye/ Lunch for tens of thousands of Jefferson County schoolchildren won't include 400 cases of frozen beef, which is being destroyed starting this morning.Colorado's largest school district bought some of the 143 million pounds of frozen beef being recalled from Chino, Calif.-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.Jeffco warehouse staff will destroy the meat at a Jeffco Schools storage warehouse on Quail Street in Lakewood.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383346 Over and over, parents complain that our schools are not doing an adequate job preparing students. Generations of students learned by sitting in rows at desks, memorizing multiplication tables, and listening intently to a teacher. Why can't students today learn the same way?As Bob Dylan said, "The times, they are a-changing." And we have done a very poor job keeping up with these changing times.For a good majority of today's youths, hours are spent at the computer, sending text messages or talking on cellphones, playing video games or listening to an iPod. Everything is electronic, fast, instantly gratifying, and independently controlled. These activities are in sharp contrast to the way most schools approach education.Our system requires all students to take the same courses, and take the same tests at the same time, regardless of the differing abilities of the students. Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if each student could progress according to his or her individual ability and then be tested accordingly?
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/full-fare-for-bus-rapid-transit/ Regional Transportation District officials are trying to reassure cities along U.S. 36 that the district still fully supports bus-rapid transit following the circulation of a city of Boulder memo questioning that commitment last week.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/racial-feud-trial-leaves-big-legal-bill/ Almost six weeks after 15-year- old Randall Nelson was found not guilty of charges of assault and disorderly conduct stemming from a racially charged incident in February 2007 that left another boy with a broken jaw, legal and financial ramifications remain for the family.In defending his son, now a freshman at Steamboat Springs High School, Brad Nelson learned a tough lesson: Good legal defense doesn't come cheap."If you want the best, you pay for the best," said Brad Nelson, who faces more than $40,000 of legal fees and other expenses related to his son's defense.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/wheat-watching-whole-wheat-price-woes-come-to/ In light of a nationwide surge in the price of wheat, Boulder businesses such as Spruce Confections, Great Harvest Bread and Boulder Beer Co. are re-evaluating what they make, how much they make and how much they charge."It's become a major panic in the brewery business," said Tess McFadden, marketing director for Boulder Beer, 2880 Wilderness Place.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/mystery-donor-leaves-1-million-to-naropa/ Who dunnit?An anonymous donor has left Naropa University $1 million in her will, the Boulder-based institution announced Wednesday.It's the largest such posthumous gift in the school's 34-year history, and comes with some intriguing question marks."Part of the mystery and the power of this gift is we don't know what her precise connection was to the university," said Christopher Dwyer, vice president for institutional advancement.The bequest will be distributed in segments to Naropa through 2011. The first amount has gone into the endowment fund. The president and its board of trustees will determine future placements. No strings are attached to the money.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-dog-on-trial-feb28,1,3839362.story Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Arvada Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve.But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/griego-hearts-broken-by-market/ Iran into an acquaintance last week at the Capitol Hill Whole Foods. Tina, he called, and I turned and there was Tony, smiling, saying I was the first person he had seen since, well . . .He didn't have to finish. I was one of his old customers, and he hadn't seen many since he and his business partner closed their own little grocery store in December.Tony Thompson and Shelley Garrelts owned Simple Foods on the Tennyson strip in North Denver. They took out a $270,000 bank loan, put their homes up as collateral, kicked in another $35,000 each and opened in August 2003. "To rave reviews," Tony reminds me later. He's right.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-lecture-solar-activity-and-climate-change/ The Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado is sponsoring a talk on how solar activity may have affected parts of the "little ice age."The 1600s brought an unusually cold period during the little ice age. Tom Woods will talk about how this historical climate change may have been affected by solar activity.Woods will discuss current understanding based on satellite measurements of variations in the sun, which will establish what extent solar influences play in our climate today.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/state-issues-warning-on-latest-e-mail-scam/ Colorado Attorney General John Suthers on Wednesday warned consumers and businesses about a new e-mail scam related to messages claiming to be from the U.S. Department of Justice.The e-mails concern a supposed consumer complaint filed against the recipient and usually contain an attachment. The attachment is either a blank complaint form or some other document.Suthers advises consumers not to open the attachment because it might contain a computer virus or other malicious software.The Justice Department doesn't send messages to the public via e-mail. Similar hoaxes have recently been conducted in the names of other government entities, the Justice Department said in a statement.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/qwest-reaches-deal-with-jeffco-schools/ Qwest Communications said it has won a 10-year, $16 million contract with the Jefferson County School District to provide high-speed data networking and Internet services.
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http://www.timescall.com/News_Story.asp?id=6862 The Weld County Jail was built to hold 405 inmates. It routinely averages 500.Officials hope a new $17 million wing will alleviate overcrowding at the jail when it’s ready for occupancy in March.“The objective and goal in building the new wing is to bring the numbers back down to capacity,” said Sterling Geesaman, Weld County Sheriff’s Office bureau chief.The four-year project adds 86,000 square feet to the jail and bring its capacity to 779 inmates.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/hunter_33631___article.html/county_seat.html Allison Hunter couldn’t stay out of a campaign fray for long.The 43-year-old Democrat, who in December dropped out of her second bid for the state House District 15 seat, filed paperwork Tuesday that officially kicked off her campaign for the District 2 seat on the El Paso County Commission.“A lot of people are desperate for a voice in the county and I can certainly tell that after even only two days,” Hunter said of the support she has received since informally announcing her candidacy at Saturday’s county Democratic Assembly.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/CSUZONE01/802280368/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 A new system for buying everything from lawn furniture to hazardous chemicals and cars may eventually help Colorado State University save $10 million annually, university officials say.The new system funnels purchases through a central program, helping financial administrators better understand exactly what university departments are buying.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280387/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 The five girls and sixth-grade teacher Mary Laszlo also tracked the energy usage of the elementary school, including water, gas and electricity. Utilities use at Werner produces 105 tons of greenhouse gases each year, the team found."I think it's really shocking," said Anne Bonhoure, a fifth-grader. "We are using a lot of energy."The team began to think of alternative ways to generate energy for the school and presented their findings to District Superintendent Jerry Wilson.They also made a presentation to the school, encouraging students and teachers to turn off lights, computers and other electronic devices when they are not in classrooms."We give awards for classrooms at the end of the day that don't have their computers turned on," said Kate Monahan, a sixth-grader.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_1b_Dist__51_Web_site.html A nonprofit policy research organization with its eye on school districts statewide has put District 51’s Web site on the bottom of the list of the state’s 20 largest districts, because of accessibility of information on open enrollment and other factors.The Independence Institute’s Education Policy Center in Golden evaluated the Web sites of 20 of the state’s largest school districts based on the comprehensiveness and accessibility of open enrollment information, scoring both of those factors in January 2007 and July 2007. The information was released this week in the report titled “Open Enrollment and the Internet: An Evaluation of Colorado School District Web Sites.”District 51 has made improvements since then to its Web site, http://www.mesa.k12.co.us/2003/index.cfm.
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http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2008/feb/28/rail_service_possible/ The cities of Steamboat Springs and Craig have joined a group exploring high-speed, passenger rail service that could include a spur extending from South Routt to Craig.The Hayden Town Board also has voted to join the multi-jurisdictional governmental entity known as the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority. Hayden’s membership will become official once it’s ratified by the authority, which is exploring the possibility of modern rail track along the Interstate 70 and Interstate 25 corridors. The system could continue into Wyoming and potentially tie in to similar rail networks already in the works in Utah and New Mexico. It is anticipated the I-70 stretch would include two major spurs: one to Aspen and another through South Routt, Steamboat and Craig.Routt County already has joined the authority. County Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush said she is glad that all other incorporated municipalities in Routt and Moffat counties have decided to join.
http://aspentimes.com/article/20080227/NEWS/452353441 Basalt will collect a new fee from Holy Cross Energy that could fund projects ranging from the undergrounding of power lines to conserving energy.The town government and Holy Cross are negotiating a new franchise agreement that will increase the amount of the annual fee that Holy Cross pays to provide the town with power.
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x565324813 In 2007, the levels of carbon dioxide burped out by town-owned vehicles, by the generation of lights and computers in town offices, by the operation of the water treatment plant, the ice rink, the Galloping Goose, the campground restrooms and all other public facilities, was roughly 7.2 million pounds.The good news: This represents a 6 percent decrease in the town government’s carbon footprint from 2006, when carbon output was roughly 7.67 million pounds.This is a positive step for Telluride, which cemented its intent to reduce its carbon footprint in recent years by signing onto The Canary Initiative, The US Mayors Climate Protection Initiative and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization — a trio of organizations bent on reversing climate change.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386609 Any woman who got between Shawna Nelson and her married lover felt Nelson's wrath, including murder victim Heather Garraus, according to testimony Wednesday.Nelson is being tried on a charge of first-degree murder after Garraus was shot execution-style in front of her Greeley office on Jan. 23, 2007.Nelson carried on a three-year affair with Greeley police officer Ignacio Garraus.Prosecution witnesses Wednesday told jurors Nelson despised Heather Garraus and saw her as an obstacle to a life with Ignacio and the child they conceived. Many were co-workers of Nelson, who once worked as a Greeley police dispatcher.Former dispatcher Jennifer Morrison said Nelson called Heather Garraus "fat," a "hag" and "disgusting." Nelson also took out her frustration with Garraus by pretending to shoot her at a target range, Morrison said.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280382/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Weld County District Court Judge Roger Klein sent jurors home early Wednesday so defense attorneys and prosecutors could reconcile some issues with exhibits prosecutors plan to present today.Larimer County prosecutor Greg Lammons said the prosecution has four witnesses remaining to testify, and the prosecution should conclude today.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080228/NEWS/574305886 Prosecutors in Shawna Nelson's murder trial on Wednesday introduced evidence indicating that she used her husband's gun to shoot her romantic rival, Heather Garraus.Witnesses spent the remainder of the day describing Nelson's hatred for Garraus and her love for Ignacio Garraus.Alan Hammond of the Aurora police department's Colorado Bureau of Investigations' forensics lab, said two shell casings recovered from the crime scene where Heather Garraus was killed matched Nelson's husband's .40-caliber Glock model 22. Ken Nelson is a former Weld County Sheriff's deputy. Police have accused him of removing the gun from the truck his wife was driving before she was arrested.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387622 The legislative session is nearly half over. And Wednesday was deadline day for the House to ship its bills to the Senate and the Senate to send its measures to the House.In a marathon morning session, the House passed bills requiring cities and rural electric associations to spend more on energy efficiency and companies to provide space for breast-feeding moms.House Bill 1107 from Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, requires cities and REAs to spend 2 percent of their revenues on energy-efficiency programs. The bill passed 59-6, with critics saying it was unfair to some municipalities. Colorado Springs, for example, would have to come up with $14 million in the next few years to meet the requirement.House Bill 1276 from Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, would require businesses to provide space and break time for new mothers to pump breast milk. Six Republican men voted against the measure, some complaining it was another mandate on business.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/citizen-legislator-february-28/ Rep. Bob Gardner served as the El Paso County Republican Party chairman in the mid-1990s and has volunteered on several political campaigns."I don't always win by any means, but I always believe in the candidates I'm working for," he said.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385961 With gold and silver prices hitting new highs, more investors are giving precious metals serious consideration.So too, likely, will be some of the same people who once put investors into inflated dot-com stocks and stuck borrowers with subprime mortgages they couldn't afford."We are finding that there are people who were former mortgage brokers who are getting into this business," said Mark Albarian, chief executive and president of Goldline International Inc., a Santa Monica, Calif.-based precious-metals and coin vendor.Gold futures for April delivery reached an all-time high of $967.70 an ounce Wednesday before closing at $961 after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress more interest-rate cuts could be on the way. Lower rates weaken the value of the U.S. dollar, making gold more attractive.Ken Hallenbeck, executive director of the American Numismatic Association, an industry trade group based in Colorado Springs, said questionable players can jump from hot area to hot area.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/guv-vows-hard-look-land-conservation-program/ Colorado must step up efforts to police an innovative conservation tax-credit program to ensure that questionable deals are stopped and that the public interest is protected, Gov. Bill Ritter said Wednesday."We do not stop programs we have helping us protect land in this state," Ritter told a packed room of open-space officials. "At the same time, we have to assure people there is not fraud and abuse."The program gives lucrative state income tax credits to landowners who agree to prohibit development on their properties using legal tools known as conservation easements. The tax credits then can be sold for cash.Investigations by the Colorado Division of Real Estate and the Department of Revenue are likely to be handed over to the Colorado attorney general and could result in criminal and civil prosecutions by the state, Ritter and other state officials said.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383284 Last week, I spent a couple of days skiing with my parents in Aspen. They are 87 and 91 years old.I always recognize my father on the slopes. He's worn the same ski outfit for 40 years. But, this year, my parents were decked out in new ski outfits, skis and boots. "Guess I'm an optimist," my father mused.My parents first skied at Aspen in 1949 and have skied a week there every year since then, missing only last season when my father had heart surgery. Their first year at Aspen, there were only two pokey chair lifts and a T-bar. Lift tickets were $5, compared to $87 today.When my kids were young, and lift tickets still relatively inexpensive, I taught them to ski during spring vacations in Aspen with my parents, until they preferred learning to jump and ski the trees with a far more adventurous ski school instructor. By then, the famous Colorado snow had already attracted tourists from around the world.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/roll-call-february-28/ "We now have so many women in the legislature there's a line in the bathroom. I love it."Rep. Alice Borodkin, D-Denver
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/solar-mirrors-could-array-near-dia/ Vast swaths of brown, barren land near Denver International Airport could soon become decorated with a dizzying array of mirrors reflecting sunlight.SolarTAC is evaluating sites around the airport to establish a major solar energy research center. A spinoff of the newly established Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, SolarTAC will be launched in the coming months.Colorado's major academic and research institutions spawned the Collaboratory last year to bolster the state's prowess in new energy technologies and transfer those advances to the free market.It is backed by the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Mines and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/the-blank-of-job/ On the subjects of history and literature, American students are dumb and dumber, yet another survey indicates.A survey of 17-year-olds, the results of which were released Tuesday, show alarming rates of ignorance about our cultural benchmarks. Almost 20 percent didn't know whom we fought in World War II. More than 25 percent think Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue sometime after 1752. Half can't identify, on a multiple-choice test, whom Sen. Joseph McCarthy assailed or what the Renaissance was.The telephone survey of 1,200 adolescents was commissioned by a nonprofit, nonpartisan group called Common Core (http://www.commoncore.org). The group's leaders are diverse, and they include a former vice president of the American Federation of Teachers and a former assistant education secretary to the first President Bush.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/process-may-reduce-mercury-emissions/ First-round tests on its chemically treated activated carbon showed promising results, ADA-ES Inc. said Wednesday.Littleton-based ADA-ES intends to sell the product to coal-fired power plants for reducing mercury emissions.The company performed the tests at a power plant burning Western PRB coal. While operating with the activated carbon, the plant was able to reduce mercury emissions by greater than 90 percent at a competitive feed rate.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/into-the-hermit-tyranny-with-music/ Visiting musicians aside, North Korea is still a thoroughgoing Stalinist dictatorship. But nothing official happens by accident in this hermit land, and it does appear that its leadership is tentatively testing the possibility of a little more openness to the outside world.
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http://www.politicswest.com/20835/suthers_robocop Coloradans have registered more than three million phone numbers on the no-call list since the 2001 phone privacy law was enacted. There was an exemption, however, for political and charitable groups. And since then, the automated dialing of pre-recorded phone messages - particularly political messages - has clogged the voicemails of thousands of consumers.Advocates of robocalls say it is protected free speech.Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, whose office oversees the no-call list, backed SB-146 in the state legislature that would have banned so-called robocalls. It was defeated this month in a state Senate committee on a 4-1 bi-partisan vote.The Robocall Privacy Act of 2008 has been proposed in Congress to regulate the practice.We caught up with Suthers recently to find out what comes next in Colorado.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280383/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Trout found in five lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park have both male and female sex organs, says a massive new federal report highlighting the problems that air pollution poses for national parks.The report released by the Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project said detectable levels of contaminants ranging from mercury to two banned insecticides and a flame-retardant chemical treatment were found in eight parks in the western United States, including Rocky.The report said air pollution from coal-burning power plants is a major source of contamination, which can drift in the atmosphere for long distances before being dropped in rain or snow."It's certainly a cautionary lesson that supports that what goes up into our air does come down," said Rocky spokeswoman Kyle Patterson. "Parks are not immune from human activities from hundreds or even thousands of miles away."The report said the pollution could have many different ramifications and that more study is needed."In Rocky Mountain and Glacier national parks, some individual trout were 'intersex,'" the report said. "This condition is commonly associated with exposure to certain contaminants (dieldrin and DDT) that mimic the hormone estrogen.”
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280372/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Farmers will face additional struggles to make sure they have enough water as the state's population continues to grow, the state's agriculture commissioner told Fort Collins Rotary Club members Wednesday.Less water will be available for irrigation as more houses are built, said John Stulp, Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture."As you grow houses you need to water people," he said. "The demand for water is going to get greater."The demand for green energy should help the agriculture business he said, as farmers are increasingly called upon to raise crops that can be used to create biofuels. He compared the price of oil to an "800-pound guerrilla in the corner of the room."He also said the need for green energy will help generate jobs in rural areas, which should encourage young people to remain on farms and in agri-businesses.Also on Wednesday, the club honored Bill Markham and his family with the Master Agriculturist Award.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_community_correction.html Mesa County’s top judge said last week his confidence in the county’s Criminal Justice Services Department has been “significantly eroded” after an investigation revealed some defendants were being held illegally in Mesa County Jail.The county could face a federal investigation, and the district’s judges may refuse to sentence defendants to the community corrections program if the issue continues, 21st Judicial District Chief Judge David Bottger wrote in a letter dated Feb. 20.As of Feb. 15, 10 defendants were in custody illegally and had been held for between six days and more than five months, according to Bottger’s own investigation. All defendants had been sentenced to community corrections and were placed either on day-reporting or nonresidential status as they were awaiting a bed at the facility.Bottger said the defendants were sent back to jail for alleged violations, but they were held without bond and without a judge determining whether the arrest was legitimate.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_5b_election_cost.html A bill pending in the state Legislature that would require primarily paper-ballot elections would, at a minimum, double Mesa County’s 2008 elections budget, elections officials said.The cost of the bill could be the least of the county’s problems, though, and one county commissioner said it might be time to let state officials run the show.“We’ll either have to violate HAVA, federal law or state law,” Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland said. “Our hands are tied. We’ll let Mike Coffman, Ken Gordon decide who wants to run the election in Mesa County.”Secretary of State Mike Coffman is the state’s chief elections official, Gordon is a state senator from Denver who is carrying the bill. Gov. Bill Ritter has called for all-paper-ballot elections in 2008.HAVA is the Help America Vote Act, which requires local officials to offer equipment such as touch-screen machines to voters.Gordon’s bill, introduced with the support of Republican leaders in both houses of the Legislature, calls for voters to be offered paper ballots, but in counties such as Mesa, which have touch-screen voting equipment, voters could ask specifically for that option.Mesa County’s touch screens were certified this week, but the optical-scan equipment needed to count paper ballots is to be tested today and Friday in Denver.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28leadville.html?ref=us For years, the federal Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency have bickered over what to do about the aging tunnel, which stretches 2.1 miles and has become dammed by debris. The debris is holding back more than a billion gallons of water, much of it tainted with toxic levels of cadmium, zinc and manganese.The threat posed by the tunnel is the latest misfortune for the town, which is grappling with the wreckage of more than a century of mining.“Everybody made a lot of money in Leadville,” said Ken Olsen, a county commissioner. “They left years ago, and we’ve had to clean up after them ever since.”In the late 1800s, a gold and silver boom made Leadville one of Colorado’s most colorful places, drawing the likes of the Guggenheims. Legend has it that Doc Holliday fought his final gunfight here.Gold and silver gave way to zinc and lead mining, encouraged by the federal government for the war effort during World War II and the Korean War. Molybdenum, used to fortify steel, was blasted out of the mountains for years at the Climax mine.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/12 The new Statewide Voter Registration System is on-track, but it will require more hands-on help from the state, an independent assessment of the system concluded Wednesday.In an effort to avoid problems with the new system that some state agencies have seen with other computer databases in recent years, the Secretary of State's Office and the Governor's Office of Information Technology plan to add more people to help counties get used to the new system, said Rich Coolidge, Coffman's spokesman."We're happy that the assessment came in, did kind of a nuts-and-bolts review and said, 'The technological side of this, we're confident that it's moving in the right direction,' ” Coolidge said. "What they did say was, 'You need to have more hand-holding with the counties to make sure that they understand how to use the system.' And we're going to provide some more ground support and make the management team more supportive to the counties as they implement this new system."
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/558581416 State Rep. Christine Scanlan is wasting no time on Capitol Hill, as she passed two new bills on Tuesday out of the House Transportation and Energy Committee.The two new bills aim to protect passenger safety on ski lifts and school buses. The first, House Bill 1244, continues the passenger safety tramway board for the next 12 years. The board provides oversight for Colorado’s 374 tramways, most of which are ski lifts.“In just the last two years, there have been more than 25 million ski visits to our resorts, which have accounted for more than 250 million rides on our lifts,” Rep. Scanlan said. “Not once has there been a major lift failure or accident during that time. Obviously, we’re doing something right. Keeping this board going for the next 12 years ensures we keep doing it right.”
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/EDITS/210326461 Are the Lake County Commissioner and State Sen. Tom Wiens grandstanding over the danger poised by a clogged mine tunnel?Leadville Mayor Bud Elliott thinks so.The commissioners on Feb. 13 declared a state of emergency with the clogged tunnel, which may hold as much as 1 billion gallons of water, much of it poisoned because it’s been leaching through mineral-laden rock.The commissioners say the disaster declaration was needed to get the Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency off their collective kiesters to more effectively treat the water now trickling out of the World War II-era tunnel.Wiens, meanwhile, has set up a Web site — The Rocky Mountain News reports the site went live a few days before the commissioners’ vote on Feb. 13 — to get information out about the potential danger.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_5.htm A day after an apparently deranged man barged into the House of Representatives, state lawmakers debated the expense of metal detectors at the Capitol.A number of lawmakers decried the new security measures at "the people's house," which had no metal detectors until last fall, when a tuxedo-clad man was shot by a state trooper outside the governor's office after he displayed a gun and declared himself emperor of Colorado.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/democratic-national-convention-volunteering-is-a/ The group coordinating volunteers for the Democratic National Convention has a message for anyone who thinks blowing up a few balloons will be their ticket to a front row seat at the convention: Not so fast.Overwhelmed by more than 25,000 people interested in volunteering, the Denver 2008 Host Committee this week sent out a note politely stating that the reward for volunteering is not likely to go beyond self-satisfaction."Some people have the impression that a volunteer position is a ticket, or a credential, to the Democratic Convention,"Host committee spokesman Chris Lopez said organizers were not expecting to hear from so many volunteers so many months before the August convention.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387623 A bill mandating that the state conduct a primarily paper-ballot election this year may not be a slam dunk, even though it has the sponsorship of party leaders in both legislative chambers.A handful of legislators said Wednesday that they have serious concerns about the bill, a sign that a battle may be shaping up."I'm just really disappointed that there's the possibility of this going forward," said Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, "and I will put all my effort into killing it in the Senate."The bill, Senate Bill 189, was formally introduced Wednesday. It would require county clerks to offer all voters a paper ballot, although voters could ask to vote on an electronic voting terminal. Voters would also be able to vote early or vote by mail.Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, a Denver Democrat who crafted the bill, said the measure would move the state away from using electronic voting terminals, which came under scrutiny after a lawsuit and the secretary of state's subsequent decertification of many of the machines. It would also likely prevent a future lawsuit over the voting terminals, he said."I think we've hit the right balance here," Gordon said.But several clerks say the bill would drive up election costs and could cause major voting problems.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385328 Wyoming officials issued an unprecedented health alert Wednesday in a rural gas-drilling area for a buildup of ozone — usually a summertime air pollutant in urban areas.The Pinedale area had high ozone readings a week after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency criticized the federal Bureau of Land Management for planning thousands of new gas wells in the area without adequate air-quality protection."This should be a wake-up call for the Bureau of Land Management," said Linda Baker, director of the Upper Green River Valley Coalition. "What's going to happen to our air when we have 4,400 . . . additional wells, as the BLM proposes?"In Colorado, state regulators are targeting gas wells as a major contributor to the Denver metro area's troublesome ozone levels and are considering new restrictions on equipment and operations.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385325 Even though someone left a baby girl outside Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center, apparently intending to qualify under the state's safe-haven law, the infant's death removes any legal protections.The Denver Police Department's homicide unit is investigating, said Detective Sharon Hahn, and prosecutors from the Denver district attorney's office will decide what charges, if any, to file.The Denver coroner's office will determine the cause of death, including whether the baby was dead before she was brought to the hospital, Hahn said.But whether the infant was alive or not when she was left at the hospital at Franklin Street and East 20th Avenue, the statute requires that the child be left "safely." The law also requires the parent to perform any act necessary to protect the health of the child.Someone rang a help button outside the hospital at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday; a security guard immediately went outside and found the baby and brought her inside, Hahn said.The medical staff then pronounced the baby dead, she said.Police are requesting help in identifying the baby's parents.Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said the case will be investigated as a child death.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385327 State backlogs that stretch five months or more have left nearly 10 percent of the child-care welfare staff in Denver with incomplete training.The lag is putting a crunch on an already overburdened system, said Roxane White, Denver's manager of the Department of Human Services.The problem is that until her workers get the full training, the number of cases they can investigate is limited, meaning other workers are overloaded with too many cases, she said in a briefing to City Council members this week.Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said the state is reserving comment until it finishes its review of what caused 13 high-profile child deaths in the state last year."Caseloads, caseworker qualifications and training are currently being reviewed," McDonough said. "We're not going to comment beyond that at this point."In a series of e-mails earlier this month, White raised the training issue along with other concerns with state officials.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385953 A young man who killed four people at a Colorado Springs church and an Arvada missionary training center had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and harbored bitterness for being an outcast, his parents said in their first extended comments.Matthew Murray gave no indication that he was about to explode in violence, though, they said in an interview to be broadcast today and Friday on James Dobson's Focus on the Family radio program.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387621 Lawmakers fretted Wednesday over what would happen if a major dust storm coated the state's voluminous snowpack before the spring runoff."If we had dust layers in there like we've had in previous years, potentially we'd be looking at buying sandbags," said Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus.The comments came during a morning joint Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee meeting, at which a researcher told lawmakers how dust storms that dirty mountain snowpack reduce the snow's reflectivity and cause faster runoff. Earlier melting usually means the water comes too soon to help farmers, said Rep. Rafael Gallegos, D-Antonito. But with seasonal snowpack levels reaching as high as 173 percent of average, a faster runoff could also cause widespread flooding.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387618 A Senate panel backed legislation Wednesday banning state workers from striking, but not before one lawmaker went on a table-slapping tirade about the "silliness" of the business-versus-labor debate."This state is burning down!" shouted Sen. Chris Romer, a Denver Democrat.He challenged business and labor leaders to push a November ballot measure to bail out education or health care instead of fighting over a "modest" order from Gov. Bill Ritter allowing state workers to negotiate with managers.And he asked business leaders to stomp out a potential right-to-work initiative that would prohibit workers from being forced to become union members or pay union dues.
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386601 Denver Post journalists won 15 first-place awards in the annual contest sponsored by The Denver Press Club and Denver Newspaper Guild.Rocky Mountain News reporters, designers and editors won eight first-place awards in the contest that drew more than 200 entries from Colorado journalists.The awards recognize work published in print or online between June 1, 2006, and May 31, 2007. They were judged by representatives of the Los Angeles and Cleveland Press Clubs and the New Mexico Press Women.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385997 Two media giants completed a long-awaited $12 billion agreement Wednesday that sent Liberty Media Corp.'s 16 percent stake in News Corp. back to Rupert Murdoch and gave John Malone control over satellite-television provider DirecTV.Douglas County-based Liberty Media, a holding company with interests in cable programming and Internet commerce, also acquired three regional sports networks as part of the exchange.Under the final terms, Liberty Media exchanged a 16 percent stake in News Corp., worth roughly $11 billion, plus $625 million in cash for a 41 percent interest in DirecTV.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8387295 Liberty Media Corp. chairman John Malone may win control of Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp in a court fight over IAC's breakup plan, a Lehman Bros. analyst said Wednesday."Liberty might get operating control" by forcing Diller out as the caretaker for Liberty's 62 percent voting stake in IAC, wrote Lehman analyst Vijay Jayant in New York, who recommends buying Liberty Interactive tracking stock.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385843 Gov. Bill Ritter on Wednesday said the attorney general's and district attorney's offices may get involved in an investigation into abuses of the state's conservation easement program.The Colorado Division of Real Estate launched an investigation in November, issuing 30 subpoenas to people who were connected to deals involving five ranches and an Arvada land trust, then called Noah Land Conservation. More recently, it subpoenaed the records of The Greenlands Reserve, a Summit County-based land trust.Speaking at the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts conference, Ritter said the next step is to talk to the district attorney and attorney general.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/paper-suspends-karson/ The University of Colorado student author of an opinion column that garnered national attention for saying Asians "hate us all" and should be hated back was suspended from the Campus Press newspaper staff Wednesday."Max Karson's duties with the Campus Press have been suspended pending a restructuring of the opinions section," according to a statement posted on the student paper's Web site Wednesday.Karson ignited a firestorm last week when his piece titled "If it's war the Asians want ... It's war they'll get," infuriated some students and past members of the Campus Press staff who said the piece was inflammatory and a failed attempt at satire.The statement goes on to say that the publication's editors are in the process of organizing an "open, public forum to address diversity sensitivity in our news coverage" and are rewriting their ethics policy.The announcement came the same day university officials said they're close to announcing major changes in the way the paper is operated and overseen.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-student-group-hosts-korean-culture-night/ The University of Colorado's Korean American Student group is hosting a culture night Friday that will include comedy, a kum do sword performance, Korean drumming and other demonstrations.The event, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the University Memorial Center's Glenn Miller Ballroom, is free and open to the public.Comedian Eliot Chang will perform, and there will also be a Korean play and food.
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news1.txt More than 200 students gathered on the south porch of the University Memorial Center as a show of solidarity and distaste against the Feb. 18 publication of an opinion column titled “If it's war Asians want” in CU-Boulder's online newspaper “The Campus Press.”Under clear skies, the diverse gathering of students from many ethnic and cultural backgrounds held colorful signs that read “Revolution,” “Shoulder to Shoulder,” and “Responsible Journalism Now!” while a series of student leaders spoke of their experiences as minorities on campus, and issued calls to fight against racist sentiments by working together with university administration.“It's not just one article,” stated Dr. Detre Godinez, a recent CU grad who endorsed a Biased Incident Hotline that students could call to immediately report instances of racial victimization and marginalization. “It's every day. We experience it every day - it's in our faces every day.”
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news2.txt CU diversity group student leaders have compiled a list of responses they'd like the university to enact, in the wake of last week's Campus Press editorial satirizing Asian stereotypes.The editorial, written by CU senior Max Karson, says “They [Asians] hate us all. And I say it's time we started hating them back.”“If you're not sure if someone is Asian, give them a calculus problem to do in their head,” the editorial says. Karson defends it as obvious satire.The students are asking for the resignation of Campus Press faculty advisor Amy Herdy and editor-in-chief Cassie Hewlings and “an independent investigation into the upper echelons of the journalism school, [to see] whether a systemic culture of racism exists,” said CU junior David Chiu.“We want this to be conducted by a panel of students and faculty who support and represent diversity,” Chiu said, “and not the dean, who'd look into his own department.”They're also asking the administration to revisit a list of student demands made two years ago after an African-American student government tri-executive received a death threat.
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news3.txt There's one downside to massive political participation - massive data entry.Coloradans flooded their Feb. 5 political party caucuses in record numbers, and the raw volume has contributed to the fact that full Democratic Party U.S. Senate preference poll results hadn't been officially released as of Feb. 27.Pat Waak, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party (CDP), said that Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Udall had roughly 87 percent of statewide poll votes as of late Wednesday afternoon, with “uncommitted” at 11 percent and educator Mark Benner at about two percent.Waak said the CDP was still waiting for poll results from Boulder and Jefferson counties as of Wednesday afternoon. For reference, about 120,000 Colorado Democrats attended a caucus, while about 18,000 Boulder County Democrats and 16,000 Jefferson County Democrats caucused on Feb. 5.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/474741178 A bill in the Legislature would limit the interest and fees payday lending businesses can charge residents, though opponents say it will drive out the industry and create a black market for loans the state cannot regulate.The bill -- HB 1310 -- would place a limit of 45 percent annual interest rate on short-term loans businesses provide to residents, and it would limit lenders to assessing only one $60 finance fee per borrower, per year. It also would allow borrowers 30 days to repay the loan instead of the 14 days the industry uses now.Now, businesses can assess annual interest rates of sometimes more than 350 percent on payday loans they give. Most payday loan businesses make borrowers postdate a check to use as collateral for the loan.The bill won approval from the Colorado House Monday by a narrow margin and now goes to the Senate for further consideration.Both Rep. Glen Vaad, R-Mead, and Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, voted against the measure. Vaad said he received more than a dozen emails from Greeley and Longmont payday loaners who said the bill -- if it becomes law -- will drive them out of business.
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http://www.politicswest.com/20851/mark_udall_mourns_william_f_buckley_jr U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colorado, who is running for the state's open U.S. Senate seat, released the following statement Wednesday on the death of conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr.“Any American who reveres our constitution and admires intelligence, wit and integrity in public life will mourn the passing of William F. Buckley Jr. Like many others who grew up the 1960s and 1970s, I appreciated the provocative conversation in Mr. Buckley’s interviews on his television program 'Firing Line' – where he challenged political leaders from across the political spectrum. America’s conservative movement obviously owes a great deal to the intellectual foundation of William F. Buckley’s writing and philosophy, but his contributions to public life were not just ideological. Mr. Buckley was a grand debater, a great thinker and a brilliant personality. He will be missed.”
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280381/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Larimer County prosecutors are wading through a list of more than 1,000 convicts as they consider which cases to review - and who might ultimately go free - in light of advanced DNA testing.District Attorney Larry Abrahamson announced the plan to review cases after a judge freed Timothy Masters from his life sentence on Jan. 22. The judge said new DNA evidence pointed toward a new suspect in the 1987 Peggy Hettrick murder and vacated Masters' conviction after Masters had served nearly nine years in prison.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/2 The Colorado Capitol is a state structure that should be left wide-open to the public, some lawmakers said Wednesday.But considering today's troubled times, and the public's general acceptance of at least basic security measures, metal detectors should continue to be used in the historic structure, other legislators countered.The opposing sides emerged during debate over whether the state should spend an additional $490,000 to beef up security at the Capitol as a result of last summer's fatal shooting of a mentally ill man who threatened Gov. Bill Ritter.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383424 Uncertainty is never a good thing when it comes to holding elections.That's why we were glad to see state lawmakers introduce a bill this week to mandate a primarily paper ballot system this year.It may not be the perfect system, and ultimately it could delay vote counting, but at this moment it seems to be the best way to inject some voter confidence back into the electoral process.Yet, significant issues remain to be resolved before Coloradans can vote. In short, there are some large counties that don't have enough scanners — devices that tally paper ballots — to count votes in a timely fashion.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386606 The Colorado High School Activities Association board reaffirmed Wednesday that it will not jump through hoops to reschedule regional and state basketball finals for a Jewish team that won't play on Saturdays — their Sabbath.Several state lawmakers pressed the association to push back a March 8 regional finals game until after sundown that Saturday so that the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy could compete.The Herzl/RMHA Tigers still have one game to win before securing one of two regional berths.The school's girls team is in the same situation."We made the accommodation for them at the district level," CHSAA Commissioner Bill Reader said. "It's difficult to reschedule at the regional level; it's impossible at the state level."In an afternoon news conference, state Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, called the association's refusal "despicable."The players, Groff said, "should be given the opportunity to win the championship they've worked for."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387620 The House on Wednesday approved funding for metal detectors and additional security at the Capitol despite some lawmakers' objections that it was a waste of money.Criticism of the security measures crossed party lines and came just a day after a man was arrested after he walked onto the House floor uninvited and shouted at lawmakers. The unarmed man, later arrested after a scuffle with state troopers, said he wanted to address lawmakers.Metal detectors and more state troopers were added to the Capitol in September after an incident in July in which a trooper shot and killed an armed, deranged man inside the building.
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http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_8385477 With the Senate headed toward a vote on legislation aimed at reducing home foreclosures, Colorado's two U.S. senators split Wednesday on whether it would help or hurt the economy.Lawmakers will consider a bill that rewrites part of bankruptcy law, allowing judges to cut interest rates on some mortgages. People able to make revised payments could keep their homes.The Senate could take up the bill as soon as today, but President Bush already has threatened to veto the legislation.Sen. Ken Salazar, a Democrat, believes the changes are needed both for those facing foreclosure and a large chunk of homeowners in the state. Republican Wayne Allard said the legislation would increase costs for banks and other lenders and potentially hurt the economy.Allard aides were among those encouraging the Bush administration to threaten a veto of the bill."Interest rates will go up, fees will go up and it will probably be more difficult to get loans for future mortgages for future homeowners," Allard said.Salazar said the pain caused by foreclosures would hurt many in Colorado.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/lawmakers-call-a-foul-on-stance-of-prep/ A group of lawmakers put on a full-court press to salvage a Jewish team's chance at a regional high school basketball championship, but it failed to score.The Colorado High School Activities Association board stood firm Wednesday on its refusal to reschedule the March 8 championship game so the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy wouldn't have to play on the Jewish Sabbath.State Senate leaders called the CHSAA decision inflexible and "despicable."One lawmaker suggested the CHSAA could face a discrimination lawsuit for allowing games on the Saturday Jewish Sabbath, but prohibiting play on the Sunday Christian Sabbath.The religious beliefs of the Jewish team from Denver prevent it from playing on the Jewish Sabbath between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday. March 8 falls on Saturday, and the game is scheduled before sundown.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/unaffiliated-voters-gain-gop/ The number of unaffiliated voters edged closer to surpassing Republicans this month as the most numerous voting block in Colorado, according to voter registration figures released Wednesday by the secretary of state.Republican voters outnumbered unaffiliated voters by only about 10,000 in February. That's down from 12,000 the month before.The latest voter rolls show that 2.9 million Coloradans are registered to vote. The percentage of Republicans was 34.8 percent, compared with 34.4 percent unaffiliated and 30.4 percent Democrats.The percentage of unaffiliated voters has climbed steadily for five years.Overall, the number of Republicans increased by about 2,000 from January to February, while Democrats gained about 5,000 registered voters. There was an increase of about 4,000 unaffiliated voters in that period.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/04-law-fails-to-save-baby/ In the seven years since Colorado passed a "safe haven" law for newborns, 15 babies have been left with hospitals or firefighters - and just as many have turned up dead.The most recent victim was left in a basket outside Presbyterian/ St. Luke's Medical Center Tuesday night by someone who rang the call button and ran.Denver police, with the help of the hospital and the Denver coroner's office, are investigating, hoping to determine the age of the baby, the cause of death and whether she died before or after she was dropped off."It's a lose-lose-lose situation," said Jack Cozzens, president of the board of Colorado Safe Haven for Newborns, a group dedicated to raising awareness about the law that allows a parent to turn in a child without fear of prosecution, about cases such as the one Tuesday. "The baby dies, the mother goes to prison and a couple waiting to adopt a child still don't have one."
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/house-oks-bill-to-aid-military-spouses/ The House approved and sent to the Senate House Bill 1180. It would let military spouses collect unemployment insurance if they are forced to relocate. Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, said those spouses and their employers must pay for unemployment insurance but can't collect it if they are transferred.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/child-services-add-40-caseworkers/ Denver is adding 40 child-welfare caseworkers because calls to its abuse-and-neglect hot line have soared in the past two years, largely because of a jump in calls from Denver Public Schools.The rise in calls from the schools followed the story of 7- year-old Chandler Grafner's being starved to death despite warning calls from his school to social workers.Then a principal was charged with failing to report abuse in an incident among students at a middle school.Now, "The schools are calling in any incident they feel bears investigating," said Carmen Carillo, deputy manager of Denver Human Services.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/debut-near-guvs-sweeping-ed-reform-bill/ Gov. Bill Ritter has been promising sweeping education reform since he began his run for the state's top office in 2006.That kind of change could come about under a bill to be introduced in the Senate as early as next week, with Ritter's blessing.The measure, circulating in draft form among lawmakers and educators, would establish a statewide standard for what constitutes readiness for college or the workforce.High school graduation requirements and curriculum would be revised to reflect the new standards.And tests adminstered under the Colorado Student Assessment Program — a subject of long-running complaint among teachers and some parents — would follow the new curriculum.Testing would extend to 12th grade. It now ends in 10th grade."This is a comprehensive sea change in the way that we approach education policy in this state," said Matt Gianneschi, Ritter's education advisor.The bill permits school districts to scrap traditional course structures if students can meet the readiness standards in a different way."What we're saying is, it's the competencies that matter, and so if you can deliver that in a curriculum that doesn't look anything like what the curriculum in the school district next door to you has, fine," Gianneschi said.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/let-them-play/ Tournament time. It's supposed to be that special occasion when months and years of hard work culminate in the opportunity to compete for a state championship. It's supposed to be that moment when every high school basketball player has at least the chance to realize the dream of winning it all.That's why it's so regrettable that the boys and girls basketball teams from Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy may face the impossible choice between following a tenet of their faith - observance of the Sabbath - and participating in tournament games scheduled between dusk Fridays and dusk Saturdays the next three weekends.The Colorado High School Activities Association has some undeniable practical arguments why it is reluctant to enable Herzl/RMHA's boys and girls to take part in the Class 1A state basketball tournament. Its blueprint for conducting 10 simultaneous tournaments (for boys and girls in five classifications) in the short span of 16 days is a 57-page book that lays out all of the logistical issues - from arenas to schedules to motel availability to assignments for officials, scorers, timekeepers and all of the other people engaged to help operate more than 50 sites involving hundreds of games.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/thorstenson_33603___article.html/air_army.html Flying in slow circles four miles above Baghdad in the back of a four-engine C-130, the Air Force Academy’s Capt. Linda Thorstenson waits for a call.It could be from a convoy under attack, or just someone checking a radio. She’s their security blanket, ensuring that when they pick up their radios, someone will hear them on the other end.“We’re 911 operators at 20,000 feet,” said Thorstenson, who teaches cadets the basics of flying in Colorado Springs and helps coach the academy’s gymnastics team.“We’re there if they need us.”
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http://www.gazette.com/opinion/crack_33629___article.html/party_powder.html After too many years of inattention, Congress may finally be getting ready to correct one of the most harmful mistakes it made in the 1980s during the period of legislative hysteria over the phenomenon of crack cocaine. The House Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee held hearings Tuesday on bills to reform the disparity in sentencing for possession of crack and powder cocaine.Back in the 1980s, when crack cocaine seemed to be decimating neighborhoods and wrecking lives at an alarming rate, many people believed it was more addictive and more dangerous than powder cocaine. That turned out not to be the case, but while it was the conventional wisdom, Congress enacted laws mandating longer sentences for crack possession than for powder cocaine.It takes 5 grams of crack cocaine (two sugar packets) to get a five-year sentence versus 500 grams of powder. Fifty grams of crack triggers a 10-year sentence, but it takes 5,000 grams of powder to trigger a 10-year sentence.That’s a ratio of 100 to 1. And while it was not part of the intention, the disparity has harmed blacks more than any other group. By and large (there are exceptions to every rule) blacks who use cocaine tend to use crack, while white Americans are more inclined to use powder. So blacks have received much longer prison sentences for offenses that, chemically speaking, are identical.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/teacher_33608___article.html/colorado_springs.html A 73-year-old substitute teacher at Wasson High School was arrested by Colorado Springs police Feb. 15. A 15-year-old boy told police the male teacher offered to pay him $1,000 to allow the teacher to perform oral sex on him, according to an arrest affidavit.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/18 A Florence inmate who allegedly planned to throw hot wax on a congressman visiting a prison was convicted Tuesday of assaulting a guard by throwing the wax on him instead.Chief U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham said the inmate, Jay Vaughan Gregory, made "a strongly implied threat" in his closing arguments in a two-day trial.Nottingham ordered that Gregory's copy of the jurors' names be turned back to court staff "before you have any opportunity to copy" them.A person familiar with the case said Gregory, 51, is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a violent gang that operates in numerous prisons.Another person who attended the trial and had official knowledge of it said Gregory, in his closing argument, said, "We die with swords in our hands and not with chains on our ankles and we will hold each and everyone responsible for the actions that occurred in the courtroom."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386605 A skier died Wednesday at Eldora Mountain Resort. Officials said the 46-year-old man was found at 1:15 p.m. at the bottom of West Ridge, an intermediate trail in the Corona area. He was unresponsive and not breathing.Ski patrollers administered life support, but the skier was pronounced dead after about an hour.It was the first skier death "in quite a number of years" at Eldora Mountain Resort," said Rob Linde, resort spokesman.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/children-sickened-school-evacuated/ Lumberg Elementary School in Edgewater was evacuated Wednesday after several students and staff members complained of headaches and nausea, but the source of the illness remained a mystery, authorities said.Nine students and four teachers were treated at nearby Jefferson High School, then taken to Lutheran Hospital as a precaution shortly after the school was evacuated about 1 p.m., a spokeswoman for Jefferson County Schools said.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/797320509 World War II veterans are dying at a rate of more than 1,200 a day nationally.And many of the 16 million Americans who served in the war never had the opportunity to see the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., which opened to the public on April 29, 2004 between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.All that's going to change for northern Colorado veterans of the war.An Honor Flight Northern Colorado is being put together to fly WWII veterans from Weld and Larimer counties to the memorial -- free of charge -- Sept. 23-24.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_Clifton_Governance.html Residents of Clifton, the most densely populated community in unincorporated Mesa County, may be going to the polls this November to create Colorado’s newest city.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/227729473 Scott Burgess wants to repair the relationship between Minturn and Red Cliff, especially now that employee housing from private ski resort may be built near his town.“We have to change that relationship so that we have a say with what’s happening in our own backyard,” said Burgess, who has lived in Red Cliff for two years.That’s one of several reasons Burgess has decided to run for Red Cliff’s Board of Trustees, on which six seats out of seven will be up for grabs April 1.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/51392811 Their numbers have dwindled, and age has slowed them. Still, on Tuesday, the veteran ski troopers showed no fear on Riva Ridge.One by one, they plunged down the steepest face of this Vail trail, named for the supposedly insurmountable cliff they climbed in Italy’s Apennine Mountains to launch a surprise attack on the Nazis. That was 63 years ago.At the bottom of the ski trail, the men — now in their 80s and 90s — collected on this sunny powder day on Vail Mountain, smiling at each other.A love of skiing is still a common thread for these veterans of the 10th Mountain Division. But their bonds go much deeper.“Friends you make in combat, you never forget,” said John Woodward, 93, who was an officer in the 10th, the regiment of skier-soldiers who, during World War II in 1945, pushed back the Germans in the harsh Italian mountains.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8383225 A leaky value allowed about 300 gallons of untreated stormwater runoff into a 60-inch water pipeline in Aurora today, causing slight taste and odor problems but no known health risks, Aurora Water said.About 3,200 customers were affected in a 2-square-mile bordered by Mississippi and Jewell avenues and Wheeling to Dayton streets.The problem was quickly fixed, the line flushed and water samples sent to to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment as a precautionary measure, said Aurora Water spokeswoman Meghan Hughes.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/feisty-rolo-wins-reprieve/ Rolo lives. That's what a judge decided Wednesday afternoon.Assistant Presiding Judge Mike Graber ruled that the German shepherd, in trouble for biting a neighbor, can return to his owner.Not without conditions, however. Laura Hagan, Rolo's owner, has to continue intense training with the dog and learn how to better control him.A 90-day jail sentence for Hagan, who was found guilty Tuesday of having a dog at large and keeping a dangerous animal, will be suspended if the dog stays out of trouble for a year, Graber ruled.Ten of Hagan's neighbors testified at a sentencing hearing that the dog was aggressive and they had concerns ranging from mild to extreme for their safety and the safety of their children. Hagan was found guilty Tuesday of having an at-large dog and having a dangerous animal.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280366/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Laurie Stolen is proud of the work that goes into preparing and serving an estimated 14,000 nutritious meals weekly, even though her diners don't really have much choice in their dining options.Stolen, inmate services director at the Larimer County Detention Center, oversees the jail's kitchen staff, a mix of employees from contractor Aramark and nearly 50 "trustee" inmates.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/14 The organizer of a campaign to return the public comments to televised City Council work sessions is applauding the Pueblo County Democratic Party for taking a stand on the issue.Tucked in among 25 other resolutions passed Saturday at the Pueblo County Democratic convention was a brief statement that the party believes "City Council meetings should be televised for public access and should include public comment open to all Pueblo County residents."Right now, council televises its regular sessions and work sessions on nights when a regular session is held.Last September, however, council moved its public comment period to the non-televised work sessions and Chris Nicoll's Pueblo Citizens for Open Government has been fighting ever since to get the decision reversed.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_7b_Xcel.html Plagued with a history of power failures along Horizon Drive and around Grand Junction Regional Airport, Xcel Energy is investing more than $1 million to replace underground lines and equipment in an effort to eliminate power troubles in the area.
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http://steamboatpilot.com/news/2008/feb/28/yampa_valley_recycles_selling_reusable_bags/ The numbers associated with the consumption of plastic bags are staggering.According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 380 billion bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year. The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually, at an estimated cost to retailers of $4 billion. The bags are said to take more than 1,000 years to decompose.“These plastic bags — they are just a disaster,” Catherine Carson said.Carson is a member of Yampa Valley Recycles, a group that is launching a reusable shopping bag program in Routt County. The group has purchased 5,000 of the polypropylene bags, which it plans to sell for $1 each.
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/591981407 The Basalt town government’s proposal to boost property taxes to buy a flood-imperiled trailer park for $5 million has failed to attract a champion of the issue.While the election is only about a month away, April 1, no citizens’ committee has emerged to promote the purchase of the Pan and Fork Mobile Home Park. The bonding company the town is working with on the deal eventually will try to build awareness of the proposed purchase.The town government is in a sticky spot on the issue. Colorado law prevents local governments from spending public funds to promote a specific outcome. “The town can’t really do a lot,” Town Manager Bill Efting said. “We can’t spend town money.”
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/920530290 A member of Basalt’s Planning and Zoning Commission decided Wednesday to try out for the big leagues.
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/68450203 Summit County Sheriff John Minor said Tuesday’s sit-down with members of the Denver Water Board “went really well,” as the the agencies discussed communication, safety and security related to the Dillon Dam Road.“Obviously these are issues we will still need to work on as we try to develop this relationship and, like any relationship, it will take time,” said Sheriff John Minor.Denver Water and local law enforcement have recently been subjected to public scrutiny after the Denver Water closed the Dillon Dam Road for nine days in January due to a potential Homeland Security threat.
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http://montrosepress.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/doc47c6312e31b11250416400.txt Residents of a local subdivision are working to reduce crime in a way that focuses on individual homes — the crime-free lifestyles program.Fox Meadows is the first neighborhood in Montrose to begin implementing techniques developed by the International Crime Free Association to reduce the potential for residential crimes such as burglary and vandalism."In the last three to four years, we've started to witness significant increase in crime," resident Ken Holyfield said Wednesday. Holyfield is also a member of the Fox Meadows homeowners association. He's lived in the subdivision for seven years.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_1.htm Shalee Cunningham, who was tentatively chosen a month ago as the next superintendent of Durango schools, has withdrawn her application, the school board announced Wednesday."Shalee has withdrawn her application, and we are going to reopen the search and try to look for some other candidates," said Jeff Schell, a school board member. "Unfortunately, I can't comment on much more than that."
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x2052201974 For tiny Rico, everything is as it was before whispers of mining’s return crept through the floorboards.A deal that would have brought large-scale molybdenum mining to the hills above Rico is dead, some three months after it was supposed to close, according to a press release from Bolero Resources Corp. CEO R. Bruce Duncan.“Bolero’s due diligence investigations could not be satisfactorily addressed to permit the entering into of a definitive agreement,” reads the release, which appeared yesterday morning on a Canadian business and media Web site, CNW Telbec.Some celebrated, happy to nix mining from the local lexicon for the second time.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385957 To an outsider, the scene looks more like summer vacation than a day of learning. But it's all part of the free-form curriculum that defines this type of home schooling — based on the idea that learning is a natural consequence of living.It needn't be boxed into time increments, targeted at certain age groups, limited to traditional school subjects or measured in tests.Generally speaking, most home-schoolers follow a traditional curriculum of math, science and social studies.Much of their education is guided by textbooks and scheduled lesson plans.Flip that whole notion over, and you have unschooling.If unschoolers wake up one morning with an interest in horse training, salamanders or ancient Chinese dynasties, that is what they study. Their sources could be the Internet, museums, farms, library books, movies or professionals in their field of interest.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385956 Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve. But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions."I'm trying to balance your rights and interests as well as the needs of the community," Graber told Laura Hagan. "If you don't do these things, it would be very serious."Hagan received a 90-day jail sentence that is suspended for one year if Rolo stays out of trouble. Rolo and Hagan also must continue a 12- to 16-week training regimen with monthly progress reports.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386602 The loudest jets operating in the U.S. would be banned from landing at Centennial Airport under a proposal submitted by the airport and surrounding communities to the Federal Aviation Administration.The FAA is currently reviewing and taking public comment on Centennial's "noise-compatibility program."Michael Fronapfel, the airport's manager of planning and development, said the first of 12 recommendations is to ban "Stage 1" aircraft entirely, and Recommendation 2 is to ban the slightly quieter "Stage 2" aircraft from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385960 A new master plan for the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood calls for 3.6 million square feet of new development and 1,400 residential units.Combined with some of the existing buildings, the Federal Center will have a total of 6.4 million square feet on the 640-acre site within the next 20 years.The Federal Center property, which houses government offices, including the U.S. Geological Survey, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Mine Safety Health Administration, is owned by the General Services Administration.The GSA sought a master plan for the site to take advantage of the development potential brought about by the FasTracks project, which will bring an RTD light-rail line through the property, and by the relocation of St. Anthony Hospital to the site.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/jeffco-schools-beef-goes-bye-bye/ Lunch for tens of thousands of Jefferson County schoolchildren won't include 400 cases of frozen beef, which is being destroyed starting this morning.Colorado's largest school district bought some of the 143 million pounds of frozen beef being recalled from Chino, Calif.-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.Jeffco warehouse staff will destroy the meat at a Jeffco Schools storage warehouse on Quail Street in Lakewood.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383346 Over and over, parents complain that our schools are not doing an adequate job preparing students. Generations of students learned by sitting in rows at desks, memorizing multiplication tables, and listening intently to a teacher. Why can't students today learn the same way?As Bob Dylan said, "The times, they are a-changing." And we have done a very poor job keeping up with these changing times.For a good majority of today's youths, hours are spent at the computer, sending text messages or talking on cellphones, playing video games or listening to an iPod. Everything is electronic, fast, instantly gratifying, and independently controlled. These activities are in sharp contrast to the way most schools approach education.Our system requires all students to take the same courses, and take the same tests at the same time, regardless of the differing abilities of the students. Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if each student could progress according to his or her individual ability and then be tested accordingly?
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/full-fare-for-bus-rapid-transit/ Regional Transportation District officials are trying to reassure cities along U.S. 36 that the district still fully supports bus-rapid transit following the circulation of a city of Boulder memo questioning that commitment last week.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/racial-feud-trial-leaves-big-legal-bill/ Almost six weeks after 15-year- old Randall Nelson was found not guilty of charges of assault and disorderly conduct stemming from a racially charged incident in February 2007 that left another boy with a broken jaw, legal and financial ramifications remain for the family.In defending his son, now a freshman at Steamboat Springs High School, Brad Nelson learned a tough lesson: Good legal defense doesn't come cheap."If you want the best, you pay for the best," said Brad Nelson, who faces more than $40,000 of legal fees and other expenses related to his son's defense.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/wheat-watching-whole-wheat-price-woes-come-to/ In light of a nationwide surge in the price of wheat, Boulder businesses such as Spruce Confections, Great Harvest Bread and Boulder Beer Co. are re-evaluating what they make, how much they make and how much they charge."It's become a major panic in the brewery business," said Tess McFadden, marketing director for Boulder Beer, 2880 Wilderness Place.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/mystery-donor-leaves-1-million-to-naropa/ Who dunnit?An anonymous donor has left Naropa University $1 million in her will, the Boulder-based institution announced Wednesday.It's the largest such posthumous gift in the school's 34-year history, and comes with some intriguing question marks."Part of the mystery and the power of this gift is we don't know what her precise connection was to the university," said Christopher Dwyer, vice president for institutional advancement.The bequest will be distributed in segments to Naropa through 2011. The first amount has gone into the endowment fund. The president and its board of trustees will determine future placements. No strings are attached to the money.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-dog-on-trial-feb28,1,3839362.story Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Arvada Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve.But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/griego-hearts-broken-by-market/ Iran into an acquaintance last week at the Capitol Hill Whole Foods. Tina, he called, and I turned and there was Tony, smiling, saying I was the first person he had seen since, well . . .He didn't have to finish. I was one of his old customers, and he hadn't seen many since he and his business partner closed their own little grocery store in December.Tony Thompson and Shelley Garrelts owned Simple Foods on the Tennyson strip in North Denver. They took out a $270,000 bank loan, put their homes up as collateral, kicked in another $35,000 each and opened in August 2003. "To rave reviews," Tony reminds me later. He's right.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-lecture-solar-activity-and-climate-change/ The Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado is sponsoring a talk on how solar activity may have affected parts of the "little ice age."The 1600s brought an unusually cold period during the little ice age. Tom Woods will talk about how this historical climate change may have been affected by solar activity.Woods will discuss current understanding based on satellite measurements of variations in the sun, which will establish what extent solar influences play in our climate today.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/state-issues-warning-on-latest-e-mail-scam/ Colorado Attorney General John Suthers on Wednesday warned consumers and businesses about a new e-mail scam related to messages claiming to be from the U.S. Department of Justice.The e-mails concern a supposed consumer complaint filed against the recipient and usually contain an attachment. The attachment is either a blank complaint form or some other document.Suthers advises consumers not to open the attachment because it might contain a computer virus or other malicious software.The Justice Department doesn't send messages to the public via e-mail. Similar hoaxes have recently been conducted in the names of other government entities, the Justice Department said in a statement.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/qwest-reaches-deal-with-jeffco-schools/ Qwest Communications said it has won a 10-year, $16 million contract with the Jefferson County School District to provide high-speed data networking and Internet services.
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http://www.timescall.com/News_Story.asp?id=6862 The Weld County Jail was built to hold 405 inmates. It routinely averages 500.Officials hope a new $17 million wing will alleviate overcrowding at the jail when it’s ready for occupancy in March.“The objective and goal in building the new wing is to bring the numbers back down to capacity,” said Sterling Geesaman, Weld County Sheriff’s Office bureau chief.The four-year project adds 86,000 square feet to the jail and bring its capacity to 779 inmates.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/hunter_33631___article.html/county_seat.html Allison Hunter couldn’t stay out of a campaign fray for long.The 43-year-old Democrat, who in December dropped out of her second bid for the state House District 15 seat, filed paperwork Tuesday that officially kicked off her campaign for the District 2 seat on the El Paso County Commission.“A lot of people are desperate for a voice in the county and I can certainly tell that after even only two days,” Hunter said of the support she has received since informally announcing her candidacy at Saturday’s county Democratic Assembly.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/CSUZONE01/802280368/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 A new system for buying everything from lawn furniture to hazardous chemicals and cars may eventually help Colorado State University save $10 million annually, university officials say.The new system funnels purchases through a central program, helping financial administrators better understand exactly what university departments are buying.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280387/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 The five girls and sixth-grade teacher Mary Laszlo also tracked the energy usage of the elementary school, including water, gas and electricity. Utilities use at Werner produces 105 tons of greenhouse gases each year, the team found."I think it's really shocking," said Anne Bonhoure, a fifth-grader. "We are using a lot of energy."The team began to think of alternative ways to generate energy for the school and presented their findings to District Superintendent Jerry Wilson.They also made a presentation to the school, encouraging students and teachers to turn off lights, computers and other electronic devices when they are not in classrooms."We give awards for classrooms at the end of the day that don't have their computers turned on," said Kate Monahan, a sixth-grader.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_1b_Dist__51_Web_site.html A nonprofit policy research organization with its eye on school districts statewide has put District 51’s Web site on the bottom of the list of the state’s 20 largest districts, because of accessibility of information on open enrollment and other factors.The Independence Institute’s Education Policy Center in Golden evaluated the Web sites of 20 of the state’s largest school districts based on the comprehensiveness and accessibility of open enrollment information, scoring both of those factors in January 2007 and July 2007. The information was released this week in the report titled “Open Enrollment and the Internet: An Evaluation of Colorado School District Web Sites.”District 51 has made improvements since then to its Web site, http://www.mesa.k12.co.us/2003/index.cfm.
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http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2008/feb/28/rail_service_possible/ The cities of Steamboat Springs and Craig have joined a group exploring high-speed, passenger rail service that could include a spur extending from South Routt to Craig.The Hayden Town Board also has voted to join the multi-jurisdictional governmental entity known as the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority. Hayden’s membership will become official once it’s ratified by the authority, which is exploring the possibility of modern rail track along the Interstate 70 and Interstate 25 corridors. The system could continue into Wyoming and potentially tie in to similar rail networks already in the works in Utah and New Mexico. It is anticipated the I-70 stretch would include two major spurs: one to Aspen and another through South Routt, Steamboat and Craig.Routt County already has joined the authority. County Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush said she is glad that all other incorporated municipalities in Routt and Moffat counties have decided to join.
http://aspentimes.com/article/20080227/NEWS/452353441 Basalt will collect a new fee from Holy Cross Energy that could fund projects ranging from the undergrounding of power lines to conserving energy.The town government and Holy Cross are negotiating a new franchise agreement that will increase the amount of the annual fee that Holy Cross pays to provide the town with power.
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x565324813 In 2007, the levels of carbon dioxide burped out by town-owned vehicles, by the generation of lights and computers in town offices, by the operation of the water treatment plant, the ice rink, the Galloping Goose, the campground restrooms and all other public facilities, was roughly 7.2 million pounds.The good news: This represents a 6 percent decrease in the town government’s carbon footprint from 2006, when carbon output was roughly 7.67 million pounds.This is a positive step for Telluride, which cemented its intent to reduce its carbon footprint in recent years by signing onto The Canary Initiative, The US Mayors Climate Protection Initiative and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization — a trio of organizations bent on reversing climate change.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386609 Any woman who got between Shawna Nelson and her married lover felt Nelson's wrath, including murder victim Heather Garraus, according to testimony Wednesday.Nelson is being tried on a charge of first-degree murder after Garraus was shot execution-style in front of her Greeley office on Jan. 23, 2007.Nelson carried on a three-year affair with Greeley police officer Ignacio Garraus.Prosecution witnesses Wednesday told jurors Nelson despised Heather Garraus and saw her as an obstacle to a life with Ignacio and the child they conceived. Many were co-workers of Nelson, who once worked as a Greeley police dispatcher.Former dispatcher Jennifer Morrison said Nelson called Heather Garraus "fat," a "hag" and "disgusting." Nelson also took out her frustration with Garraus by pretending to shoot her at a target range, Morrison said.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280382/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Weld County District Court Judge Roger Klein sent jurors home early Wednesday so defense attorneys and prosecutors could reconcile some issues with exhibits prosecutors plan to present today.Larimer County prosecutor Greg Lammons said the prosecution has four witnesses remaining to testify, and the prosecution should conclude today.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080228/NEWS/574305886 Prosecutors in Shawna Nelson's murder trial on Wednesday introduced evidence indicating that she used her husband's gun to shoot her romantic rival, Heather Garraus.Witnesses spent the remainder of the day describing Nelson's hatred for Garraus and her love for Ignacio Garraus.Alan Hammond of the Aurora police department's Colorado Bureau of Investigations' forensics lab, said two shell casings recovered from the crime scene where Heather Garraus was killed matched Nelson's husband's .40-caliber Glock model 22. Ken Nelson is a former Weld County Sheriff's deputy. Police have accused him of removing the gun from the truck his wife was driving before she was arrested.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387622 The legislative session is nearly half over. And Wednesday was deadline day for the House to ship its bills to the Senate and the Senate to send its measures to the House.In a marathon morning session, the House passed bills requiring cities and rural electric associations to spend more on energy efficiency and companies to provide space for breast-feeding moms.House Bill 1107 from Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, requires cities and REAs to spend 2 percent of their revenues on energy-efficiency programs. The bill passed 59-6, with critics saying it was unfair to some municipalities. Colorado Springs, for example, would have to come up with $14 million in the next few years to meet the requirement.House Bill 1276 from Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, would require businesses to provide space and break time for new mothers to pump breast milk. Six Republican men voted against the measure, some complaining it was another mandate on business.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/citizen-legislator-february-28/ Rep. Bob Gardner served as the El Paso County Republican Party chairman in the mid-1990s and has volunteered on several political campaigns."I don't always win by any means, but I always believe in the candidates I'm working for," he said.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385961 With gold and silver prices hitting new highs, more investors are giving precious metals serious consideration.So too, likely, will be some of the same people who once put investors into inflated dot-com stocks and stuck borrowers with subprime mortgages they couldn't afford."We are finding that there are people who were former mortgage brokers who are getting into this business," said Mark Albarian, chief executive and president of Goldline International Inc., a Santa Monica, Calif.-based precious-metals and coin vendor.Gold futures for April delivery reached an all-time high of $967.70 an ounce Wednesday before closing at $961 after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress more interest-rate cuts could be on the way. Lower rates weaken the value of the U.S. dollar, making gold more attractive.Ken Hallenbeck, executive director of the American Numismatic Association, an industry trade group based in Colorado Springs, said questionable players can jump from hot area to hot area.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/guv-vows-hard-look-land-conservation-program/ Colorado must step up efforts to police an innovative conservation tax-credit program to ensure that questionable deals are stopped and that the public interest is protected, Gov. Bill Ritter said Wednesday."We do not stop programs we have helping us protect land in this state," Ritter told a packed room of open-space officials. "At the same time, we have to assure people there is not fraud and abuse."The program gives lucrative state income tax credits to landowners who agree to prohibit development on their properties using legal tools known as conservation easements. The tax credits then can be sold for cash.Investigations by the Colorado Division of Real Estate and the Department of Revenue are likely to be handed over to the Colorado attorney general and could result in criminal and civil prosecutions by the state, Ritter and other state officials said.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383284 Last week, I spent a couple of days skiing with my parents in Aspen. They are 87 and 91 years old.I always recognize my father on the slopes. He's worn the same ski outfit for 40 years. But, this year, my parents were decked out in new ski outfits, skis and boots. "Guess I'm an optimist," my father mused.My parents first skied at Aspen in 1949 and have skied a week there every year since then, missing only last season when my father had heart surgery. Their first year at Aspen, there were only two pokey chair lifts and a T-bar. Lift tickets were $5, compared to $87 today.When my kids were young, and lift tickets still relatively inexpensive, I taught them to ski during spring vacations in Aspen with my parents, until they preferred learning to jump and ski the trees with a far more adventurous ski school instructor. By then, the famous Colorado snow had already attracted tourists from around the world.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/roll-call-february-28/ "We now have so many women in the legislature there's a line in the bathroom. I love it."Rep. Alice Borodkin, D-Denver
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/solar-mirrors-could-array-near-dia/ Vast swaths of brown, barren land near Denver International Airport could soon become decorated with a dizzying array of mirrors reflecting sunlight.SolarTAC is evaluating sites around the airport to establish a major solar energy research center. A spinoff of the newly established Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, SolarTAC will be launched in the coming months.Colorado's major academic and research institutions spawned the Collaboratory last year to bolster the state's prowess in new energy technologies and transfer those advances to the free market.It is backed by the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Mines and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/the-blank-of-job/ On the subjects of history and literature, American students are dumb and dumber, yet another survey indicates.A survey of 17-year-olds, the results of which were released Tuesday, show alarming rates of ignorance about our cultural benchmarks. Almost 20 percent didn't know whom we fought in World War II. More than 25 percent think Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue sometime after 1752. Half can't identify, on a multiple-choice test, whom Sen. Joseph McCarthy assailed or what the Renaissance was.The telephone survey of 1,200 adolescents was commissioned by a nonprofit, nonpartisan group called Common Core (http://www.commoncore.org). The group's leaders are diverse, and they include a former vice president of the American Federation of Teachers and a former assistant education secretary to the first President Bush.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/process-may-reduce-mercury-emissions/ First-round tests on its chemically treated activated carbon showed promising results, ADA-ES Inc. said Wednesday.Littleton-based ADA-ES intends to sell the product to coal-fired power plants for reducing mercury emissions.The company performed the tests at a power plant burning Western PRB coal. While operating with the activated carbon, the plant was able to reduce mercury emissions by greater than 90 percent at a competitive feed rate.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/into-the-hermit-tyranny-with-music/ Visiting musicians aside, North Korea is still a thoroughgoing Stalinist dictatorship. But nothing official happens by accident in this hermit land, and it does appear that its leadership is tentatively testing the possibility of a little more openness to the outside world.
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http://www.politicswest.com/20835/suthers_robocop Coloradans have registered more than three million phone numbers on the no-call list since the 2001 phone privacy law was enacted. There was an exemption, however, for political and charitable groups. And since then, the automated dialing of pre-recorded phone messages - particularly political messages - has clogged the voicemails of thousands of consumers.Advocates of robocalls say it is protected free speech.Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, whose office oversees the no-call list, backed SB-146 in the state legislature that would have banned so-called robocalls. It was defeated this month in a state Senate committee on a 4-1 bi-partisan vote.The Robocall Privacy Act of 2008 has been proposed in Congress to regulate the practice.We caught up with Suthers recently to find out what comes next in Colorado.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280383/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Trout found in five lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park have both male and female sex organs, says a massive new federal report highlighting the problems that air pollution poses for national parks.The report released by the Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project said detectable levels of contaminants ranging from mercury to two banned insecticides and a flame-retardant chemical treatment were found in eight parks in the western United States, including Rocky.The report said air pollution from coal-burning power plants is a major source of contamination, which can drift in the atmosphere for long distances before being dropped in rain or snow."It's certainly a cautionary lesson that supports that what goes up into our air does come down," said Rocky spokeswoman Kyle Patterson. "Parks are not immune from human activities from hundreds or even thousands of miles away."The report said the pollution could have many different ramifications and that more study is needed."In Rocky Mountain and Glacier national parks, some individual trout were 'intersex,'" the report said. "This condition is commonly associated with exposure to certain contaminants (dieldrin and DDT) that mimic the hormone estrogen.”
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280372/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Farmers will face additional struggles to make sure they have enough water as the state's population continues to grow, the state's agriculture commissioner told Fort Collins Rotary Club members Wednesday.Less water will be available for irrigation as more houses are built, said John Stulp, Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture."As you grow houses you need to water people," he said. "The demand for water is going to get greater."The demand for green energy should help the agriculture business he said, as farmers are increasingly called upon to raise crops that can be used to create biofuels. He compared the price of oil to an "800-pound guerrilla in the corner of the room."He also said the need for green energy will help generate jobs in rural areas, which should encourage young people to remain on farms and in agri-businesses.Also on Wednesday, the club honored Bill Markham and his family with the Master Agriculturist Award.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_community_correction.html Mesa County’s top judge said last week his confidence in the county’s Criminal Justice Services Department has been “significantly eroded” after an investigation revealed some defendants were being held illegally in Mesa County Jail.The county could face a federal investigation, and the district’s judges may refuse to sentence defendants to the community corrections program if the issue continues, 21st Judicial District Chief Judge David Bottger wrote in a letter dated Feb. 20.As of Feb. 15, 10 defendants were in custody illegally and had been held for between six days and more than five months, according to Bottger’s own investigation. All defendants had been sentenced to community corrections and were placed either on day-reporting or nonresidential status as they were awaiting a bed at the facility.Bottger said the defendants were sent back to jail for alleged violations, but they were held without bond and without a judge determining whether the arrest was legitimate.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_5b_election_cost.html A bill pending in the state Legislature that would require primarily paper-ballot elections would, at a minimum, double Mesa County’s 2008 elections budget, elections officials said.The cost of the bill could be the least of the county’s problems, though, and one county commissioner said it might be time to let state officials run the show.“We’ll either have to violate HAVA, federal law or state law,” Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland said. “Our hands are tied. We’ll let Mike Coffman, Ken Gordon decide who wants to run the election in Mesa County.”Secretary of State Mike Coffman is the state’s chief elections official, Gordon is a state senator from Denver who is carrying the bill. Gov. Bill Ritter has called for all-paper-ballot elections in 2008.HAVA is the Help America Vote Act, which requires local officials to offer equipment such as touch-screen machines to voters.Gordon’s bill, introduced with the support of Republican leaders in both houses of the Legislature, calls for voters to be offered paper ballots, but in counties such as Mesa, which have touch-screen voting equipment, voters could ask specifically for that option.Mesa County’s touch screens were certified this week, but the optical-scan equipment needed to count paper ballots is to be tested today and Friday in Denver.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28leadville.html?ref=us For years, the federal Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency have bickered over what to do about the aging tunnel, which stretches 2.1 miles and has become dammed by debris. The debris is holding back more than a billion gallons of water, much of it tainted with toxic levels of cadmium, zinc and manganese.The threat posed by the tunnel is the latest misfortune for the town, which is grappling with the wreckage of more than a century of mining.“Everybody made a lot of money in Leadville,” said Ken Olsen, a county commissioner. “They left years ago, and we’ve had to clean up after them ever since.”In the late 1800s, a gold and silver boom made Leadville one of Colorado’s most colorful places, drawing the likes of the Guggenheims. Legend has it that Doc Holliday fought his final gunfight here.Gold and silver gave way to zinc and lead mining, encouraged by the federal government for the war effort during World War II and the Korean War. Molybdenum, used to fortify steel, was blasted out of the mountains for years at the Climax mine.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/12 The new Statewide Voter Registration System is on-track, but it will require more hands-on help from the state, an independent assessment of the system concluded Wednesday.In an effort to avoid problems with the new system that some state agencies have seen with other computer databases in recent years, the Secretary of State's Office and the Governor's Office of Information Technology plan to add more people to help counties get used to the new system, said Rich Coolidge, Coffman's spokesman."We're happy that the assessment came in, did kind of a nuts-and-bolts review and said, 'The technological side of this, we're confident that it's moving in the right direction,' ” Coolidge said. "What they did say was, 'You need to have more hand-holding with the counties to make sure that they understand how to use the system.' And we're going to provide some more ground support and make the management team more supportive to the counties as they implement this new system."
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/558581416 State Rep. Christine Scanlan is wasting no time on Capitol Hill, as she passed two new bills on Tuesday out of the House Transportation and Energy Committee.The two new bills aim to protect passenger safety on ski lifts and school buses. The first, House Bill 1244, continues the passenger safety tramway board for the next 12 years. The board provides oversight for Colorado’s 374 tramways, most of which are ski lifts.“In just the last two years, there have been more than 25 million ski visits to our resorts, which have accounted for more than 250 million rides on our lifts,” Rep. Scanlan said. “Not once has there been a major lift failure or accident during that time. Obviously, we’re doing something right. Keeping this board going for the next 12 years ensures we keep doing it right.”
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/EDITS/210326461 Are the Lake County Commissioner and State Sen. Tom Wiens grandstanding over the danger poised by a clogged mine tunnel?Leadville Mayor Bud Elliott thinks so.The commissioners on Feb. 13 declared a state of emergency with the clogged tunnel, which may hold as much as 1 billion gallons of water, much of it poisoned because it’s been leaching through mineral-laden rock.The commissioners say the disaster declaration was needed to get the Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency off their collective kiesters to more effectively treat the water now trickling out of the World War II-era tunnel.Wiens, meanwhile, has set up a Web site — The Rocky Mountain News reports the site went live a few days before the commissioners’ vote on Feb. 13 — to get information out about the potential danger.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_5.htm A day after an apparently deranged man barged into the House of Representatives, state lawmakers debated the expense of metal detectors at the Capitol.A number of lawmakers decried the new security measures at "the people's house," which had no metal detectors until last fall, when a tuxedo-clad man was shot by a state trooper outside the governor's office after he displayed a gun and declared himself emperor of Colorado.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/democratic-national-convention-volunteering-is-a/ The group coordinating volunteers for the Democratic National Convention has a message for anyone who thinks blowing up a few balloons will be their ticket to a front row seat at the convention: Not so fast.Overwhelmed by more than 25,000 people interested in volunteering, the Denver 2008 Host Committee this week sent out a note politely stating that the reward for volunteering is not likely to go beyond self-satisfaction."Some people have the impression that a volunteer position is a ticket, or a credential, to the Democratic Convention,"Host committee spokesman Chris Lopez said organizers were not expecting to hear from so many volunteers so many months before the August convention.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387623 A bill mandating that the state conduct a primarily paper-ballot election this year may not be a slam dunk, even though it has the sponsorship of party leaders in both legislative chambers.A handful of legislators said Wednesday that they have serious concerns about the bill, a sign that a battle may be shaping up."I'm just really disappointed that there's the possibility of this going forward," said Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, "and I will put all my effort into killing it in the Senate."The bill, Senate Bill 189, was formally introduced Wednesday. It would require county clerks to offer all voters a paper ballot, although voters could ask to vote on an electronic voting terminal. Voters would also be able to vote early or vote by mail.Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, a Denver Democrat who crafted the bill, said the measure would move the state away from using electronic voting terminals, which came under scrutiny after a lawsuit and the secretary of state's subsequent decertification of many of the machines. It would also likely prevent a future lawsuit over the voting terminals, he said."I think we've hit the right balance here," Gordon said.But several clerks say the bill would drive up election costs and could cause major voting problems.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385328 Wyoming officials issued an unprecedented health alert Wednesday in a rural gas-drilling area for a buildup of ozone — usually a summertime air pollutant in urban areas.The Pinedale area had high ozone readings a week after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency criticized the federal Bureau of Land Management for planning thousands of new gas wells in the area without adequate air-quality protection."This should be a wake-up call for the Bureau of Land Management," said Linda Baker, director of the Upper Green River Valley Coalition. "What's going to happen to our air when we have 4,400 . . . additional wells, as the BLM proposes?"In Colorado, state regulators are targeting gas wells as a major contributor to the Denver metro area's troublesome ozone levels and are considering new restrictions on equipment and operations.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385325 Even though someone left a baby girl outside Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center, apparently intending to qualify under the state's safe-haven law, the infant's death removes any legal protections.The Denver Police Department's homicide unit is investigating, said Detective Sharon Hahn, and prosecutors from the Denver district attorney's office will decide what charges, if any, to file.The Denver coroner's office will determine the cause of death, including whether the baby was dead before she was brought to the hospital, Hahn said.But whether the infant was alive or not when she was left at the hospital at Franklin Street and East 20th Avenue, the statute requires that the child be left "safely." The law also requires the parent to perform any act necessary to protect the health of the child.Someone rang a help button outside the hospital at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday; a security guard immediately went outside and found the baby and brought her inside, Hahn said.The medical staff then pronounced the baby dead, she said.Police are requesting help in identifying the baby's parents.Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said the case will be investigated as a child death.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385327 State backlogs that stretch five months or more have left nearly 10 percent of the child-care welfare staff in Denver with incomplete training.The lag is putting a crunch on an already overburdened system, said Roxane White, Denver's manager of the Department of Human Services.The problem is that until her workers get the full training, the number of cases they can investigate is limited, meaning other workers are overloaded with too many cases, she said in a briefing to City Council members this week.Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said the state is reserving comment until it finishes its review of what caused 13 high-profile child deaths in the state last year."Caseloads, caseworker qualifications and training are currently being reviewed," McDonough said. "We're not going to comment beyond that at this point."In a series of e-mails earlier this month, White raised the training issue along with other concerns with state officials.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385953 A young man who killed four people at a Colorado Springs church and an Arvada missionary training center had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and harbored bitterness for being an outcast, his parents said in their first extended comments.Matthew Murray gave no indication that he was about to explode in violence, though, they said in an interview to be broadcast today and Friday on James Dobson's Focus on the Family radio program.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387621 Lawmakers fretted Wednesday over what would happen if a major dust storm coated the state's voluminous snowpack before the spring runoff."If we had dust layers in there like we've had in previous years, potentially we'd be looking at buying sandbags," said Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus.The comments came during a morning joint Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee meeting, at which a researcher told lawmakers how dust storms that dirty mountain snowpack reduce the snow's reflectivity and cause faster runoff. Earlier melting usually means the water comes too soon to help farmers, said Rep. Rafael Gallegos, D-Antonito. But with seasonal snowpack levels reaching as high as 173 percent of average, a faster runoff could also cause widespread flooding.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387618 A Senate panel backed legislation Wednesday banning state workers from striking, but not before one lawmaker went on a table-slapping tirade about the "silliness" of the business-versus-labor debate."This state is burning down!" shouted Sen. Chris Romer, a Denver Democrat.He challenged business and labor leaders to push a November ballot measure to bail out education or health care instead of fighting over a "modest" order from Gov. Bill Ritter allowing state workers to negotiate with managers.And he asked business leaders to stomp out a potential right-to-work initiative that would prohibit workers from being forced to become union members or pay union dues.
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386601 Denver Post journalists won 15 first-place awards in the annual contest sponsored by The Denver Press Club and Denver Newspaper Guild.Rocky Mountain News reporters, designers and editors won eight first-place awards in the contest that drew more than 200 entries from Colorado journalists.The awards recognize work published in print or online between June 1, 2006, and May 31, 2007. They were judged by representatives of the Los Angeles and Cleveland Press Clubs and the New Mexico Press Women.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385997 Two media giants completed a long-awaited $12 billion agreement Wednesday that sent Liberty Media Corp.'s 16 percent stake in News Corp. back to Rupert Murdoch and gave John Malone control over satellite-television provider DirecTV.Douglas County-based Liberty Media, a holding company with interests in cable programming and Internet commerce, also acquired three regional sports networks as part of the exchange.Under the final terms, Liberty Media exchanged a 16 percent stake in News Corp., worth roughly $11 billion, plus $625 million in cash for a 41 percent interest in DirecTV.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8387295 Liberty Media Corp. chairman John Malone may win control of Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp in a court fight over IAC's breakup plan, a Lehman Bros. analyst said Wednesday."Liberty might get operating control" by forcing Diller out as the caretaker for Liberty's 62 percent voting stake in IAC, wrote Lehman analyst Vijay Jayant in New York, who recommends buying Liberty Interactive tracking stock.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385843 Gov. Bill Ritter on Wednesday said the attorney general's and district attorney's offices may get involved in an investigation into abuses of the state's conservation easement program.The Colorado Division of Real Estate launched an investigation in November, issuing 30 subpoenas to people who were connected to deals involving five ranches and an Arvada land trust, then called Noah Land Conservation. More recently, it subpoenaed the records of The Greenlands Reserve, a Summit County-based land trust.Speaking at the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts conference, Ritter said the next step is to talk to the district attorney and attorney general.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/paper-suspends-karson/ The University of Colorado student author of an opinion column that garnered national attention for saying Asians "hate us all" and should be hated back was suspended from the Campus Press newspaper staff Wednesday."Max Karson's duties with the Campus Press have been suspended pending a restructuring of the opinions section," according to a statement posted on the student paper's Web site Wednesday.Karson ignited a firestorm last week when his piece titled "If it's war the Asians want ... It's war they'll get," infuriated some students and past members of the Campus Press staff who said the piece was inflammatory and a failed attempt at satire.The statement goes on to say that the publication's editors are in the process of organizing an "open, public forum to address diversity sensitivity in our news coverage" and are rewriting their ethics policy.The announcement came the same day university officials said they're close to announcing major changes in the way the paper is operated and overseen.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-student-group-hosts-korean-culture-night/ The University of Colorado's Korean American Student group is hosting a culture night Friday that will include comedy, a kum do sword performance, Korean drumming and other demonstrations.The event, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the University Memorial Center's Glenn Miller Ballroom, is free and open to the public.Comedian Eliot Chang will perform, and there will also be a Korean play and food.
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news1.txt More than 200 students gathered on the south porch of the University Memorial Center as a show of solidarity and distaste against the Feb. 18 publication of an opinion column titled “If it's war Asians want” in CU-Boulder's online newspaper “The Campus Press.”Under clear skies, the diverse gathering of students from many ethnic and cultural backgrounds held colorful signs that read “Revolution,” “Shoulder to Shoulder,” and “Responsible Journalism Now!” while a series of student leaders spoke of their experiences as minorities on campus, and issued calls to fight against racist sentiments by working together with university administration.“It's not just one article,” stated Dr. Detre Godinez, a recent CU grad who endorsed a Biased Incident Hotline that students could call to immediately report instances of racial victimization and marginalization. “It's every day. We experience it every day - it's in our faces every day.”
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news2.txt CU diversity group student leaders have compiled a list of responses they'd like the university to enact, in the wake of last week's Campus Press editorial satirizing Asian stereotypes.The editorial, written by CU senior Max Karson, says “They [Asians] hate us all. And I say it's time we started hating them back.”“If you're not sure if someone is Asian, give them a calculus problem to do in their head,” the editorial says. Karson defends it as obvious satire.The students are asking for the resignation of Campus Press faculty advisor Amy Herdy and editor-in-chief Cassie Hewlings and “an independent investigation into the upper echelons of the journalism school, [to see] whether a systemic culture of racism exists,” said CU junior David Chiu.“We want this to be conducted by a panel of students and faculty who support and represent diversity,” Chiu said, “and not the dean, who'd look into his own department.”They're also asking the administration to revisit a list of student demands made two years ago after an African-American student government tri-executive received a death threat.
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news3.txt There's one downside to massive political participation - massive data entry.Coloradans flooded their Feb. 5 political party caucuses in record numbers, and the raw volume has contributed to the fact that full Democratic Party U.S. Senate preference poll results hadn't been officially released as of Feb. 27.Pat Waak, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party (CDP), said that Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Udall had roughly 87 percent of statewide poll votes as of late Wednesday afternoon, with “uncommitted” at 11 percent and educator Mark Benner at about two percent.Waak said the CDP was still waiting for poll results from Boulder and Jefferson counties as of Wednesday afternoon. For reference, about 120,000 Colorado Democrats attended a caucus, while about 18,000 Boulder County Democrats and 16,000 Jefferson County Democrats caucused on Feb. 5.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/474741178 A bill in the Legislature would limit the interest and fees payday lending businesses can charge residents, though opponents say it will drive out the industry and create a black market for loans the state cannot regulate.The bill -- HB 1310 -- would place a limit of 45 percent annual interest rate on short-term loans businesses provide to residents, and it would limit lenders to assessing only one $60 finance fee per borrower, per year. It also would allow borrowers 30 days to repay the loan instead of the 14 days the industry uses now.Now, businesses can assess annual interest rates of sometimes more than 350 percent on payday loans they give. Most payday loan businesses make borrowers postdate a check to use as collateral for the loan.The bill won approval from the Colorado House Monday by a narrow margin and now goes to the Senate for further consideration.Both Rep. Glen Vaad, R-Mead, and Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, voted against the measure. Vaad said he received more than a dozen emails from Greeley and Longmont payday loaners who said the bill -- if it becomes law -- will drive them out of business.
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http://www.politicswest.com/20851/mark_udall_mourns_william_f_buckley_jr U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colorado, who is running for the state's open U.S. Senate seat, released the following statement Wednesday on the death of conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr.“Any American who reveres our constitution and admires intelligence, wit and integrity in public life will mourn the passing of William F. Buckley Jr. Like many others who grew up the 1960s and 1970s, I appreciated the provocative conversation in Mr. Buckley’s interviews on his television program 'Firing Line' – where he challenged political leaders from across the political spectrum. America’s conservative movement obviously owes a great deal to the intellectual foundation of William F. Buckley’s writing and philosophy, but his contributions to public life were not just ideological. Mr. Buckley was a grand debater, a great thinker and a brilliant personality. He will be missed.”
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280381/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Larimer County prosecutors are wading through a list of more than 1,000 convicts as they consider which cases to review - and who might ultimately go free - in light of advanced DNA testing.District Attorney Larry Abrahamson announced the plan to review cases after a judge freed Timothy Masters from his life sentence on Jan. 22. The judge said new DNA evidence pointed toward a new suspect in the 1987 Peggy Hettrick murder and vacated Masters' conviction after Masters had served nearly nine years in prison.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/2 The Colorado Capitol is a state structure that should be left wide-open to the public, some lawmakers said Wednesday.But considering today's troubled times, and the public's general acceptance of at least basic security measures, metal detectors should continue to be used in the historic structure, other legislators countered.The opposing sides emerged during debate over whether the state should spend an additional $490,000 to beef up security at the Capitol as a result of last summer's fatal shooting of a mentally ill man who threatened Gov. Bill Ritter.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383424 Uncertainty is never a good thing when it comes to holding elections.That's why we were glad to see state lawmakers introduce a bill this week to mandate a primarily paper ballot system this year.It may not be the perfect system, and ultimately it could delay vote counting, but at this moment it seems to be the best way to inject some voter confidence back into the electoral process.Yet, significant issues remain to be resolved before Coloradans can vote. In short, there are some large counties that don't have enough scanners — devices that tally paper ballots — to count votes in a timely fashion.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386606 The Colorado High School Activities Association board reaffirmed Wednesday that it will not jump through hoops to reschedule regional and state basketball finals for a Jewish team that won't play on Saturdays — their Sabbath.Several state lawmakers pressed the association to push back a March 8 regional finals game until after sundown that Saturday so that the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy could compete.The Herzl/RMHA Tigers still have one game to win before securing one of two regional berths.The school's girls team is in the same situation."We made the accommodation for them at the district level," CHSAA Commissioner Bill Reader said. "It's difficult to reschedule at the regional level; it's impossible at the state level."In an afternoon news conference, state Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, called the association's refusal "despicable."The players, Groff said, "should be given the opportunity to win the championship they've worked for."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387620 The House on Wednesday approved funding for metal detectors and additional security at the Capitol despite some lawmakers' objections that it was a waste of money.Criticism of the security measures crossed party lines and came just a day after a man was arrested after he walked onto the House floor uninvited and shouted at lawmakers. The unarmed man, later arrested after a scuffle with state troopers, said he wanted to address lawmakers.Metal detectors and more state troopers were added to the Capitol in September after an incident in July in which a trooper shot and killed an armed, deranged man inside the building.
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http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_8385477 With the Senate headed toward a vote on legislation aimed at reducing home foreclosures, Colorado's two U.S. senators split Wednesday on whether it would help or hurt the economy.Lawmakers will consider a bill that rewrites part of bankruptcy law, allowing judges to cut interest rates on some mortgages. People able to make revised payments could keep their homes.The Senate could take up the bill as soon as today, but President Bush already has threatened to veto the legislation.Sen. Ken Salazar, a Democrat, believes the changes are needed both for those facing foreclosure and a large chunk of homeowners in the state. Republican Wayne Allard said the legislation would increase costs for banks and other lenders and potentially hurt the economy.Allard aides were among those encouraging the Bush administration to threaten a veto of the bill."Interest rates will go up, fees will go up and it will probably be more difficult to get loans for future mortgages for future homeowners," Allard said.Salazar said the pain caused by foreclosures would hurt many in Colorado.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/lawmakers-call-a-foul-on-stance-of-prep/ A group of lawmakers put on a full-court press to salvage a Jewish team's chance at a regional high school basketball championship, but it failed to score.The Colorado High School Activities Association board stood firm Wednesday on its refusal to reschedule the March 8 championship game so the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy wouldn't have to play on the Jewish Sabbath.State Senate leaders called the CHSAA decision inflexible and "despicable."One lawmaker suggested the CHSAA could face a discrimination lawsuit for allowing games on the Saturday Jewish Sabbath, but prohibiting play on the Sunday Christian Sabbath.The religious beliefs of the Jewish team from Denver prevent it from playing on the Jewish Sabbath between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday. March 8 falls on Saturday, and the game is scheduled before sundown.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/unaffiliated-voters-gain-gop/ The number of unaffiliated voters edged closer to surpassing Republicans this month as the most numerous voting block in Colorado, according to voter registration figures released Wednesday by the secretary of state.Republican voters outnumbered unaffiliated voters by only about 10,000 in February. That's down from 12,000 the month before.The latest voter rolls show that 2.9 million Coloradans are registered to vote. The percentage of Republicans was 34.8 percent, compared with 34.4 percent unaffiliated and 30.4 percent Democrats.The percentage of unaffiliated voters has climbed steadily for five years.Overall, the number of Republicans increased by about 2,000 from January to February, while Democrats gained about 5,000 registered voters. There was an increase of about 4,000 unaffiliated voters in that period.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/04-law-fails-to-save-baby/ In the seven years since Colorado passed a "safe haven" law for newborns, 15 babies have been left with hospitals or firefighters - and just as many have turned up dead.The most recent victim was left in a basket outside Presbyterian/ St. Luke's Medical Center Tuesday night by someone who rang the call button and ran.Denver police, with the help of the hospital and the Denver coroner's office, are investigating, hoping to determine the age of the baby, the cause of death and whether she died before or after she was dropped off."It's a lose-lose-lose situation," said Jack Cozzens, president of the board of Colorado Safe Haven for Newborns, a group dedicated to raising awareness about the law that allows a parent to turn in a child without fear of prosecution, about cases such as the one Tuesday. "The baby dies, the mother goes to prison and a couple waiting to adopt a child still don't have one."
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/house-oks-bill-to-aid-military-spouses/ The House approved and sent to the Senate House Bill 1180. It would let military spouses collect unemployment insurance if they are forced to relocate. Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, said those spouses and their employers must pay for unemployment insurance but can't collect it if they are transferred.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/child-services-add-40-caseworkers/ Denver is adding 40 child-welfare caseworkers because calls to its abuse-and-neglect hot line have soared in the past two years, largely because of a jump in calls from Denver Public Schools.The rise in calls from the schools followed the story of 7- year-old Chandler Grafner's being starved to death despite warning calls from his school to social workers.Then a principal was charged with failing to report abuse in an incident among students at a middle school.Now, "The schools are calling in any incident they feel bears investigating," said Carmen Carillo, deputy manager of Denver Human Services.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/debut-near-guvs-sweeping-ed-reform-bill/ Gov. Bill Ritter has been promising sweeping education reform since he began his run for the state's top office in 2006.That kind of change could come about under a bill to be introduced in the Senate as early as next week, with Ritter's blessing.The measure, circulating in draft form among lawmakers and educators, would establish a statewide standard for what constitutes readiness for college or the workforce.High school graduation requirements and curriculum would be revised to reflect the new standards.And tests adminstered under the Colorado Student Assessment Program — a subject of long-running complaint among teachers and some parents — would follow the new curriculum.Testing would extend to 12th grade. It now ends in 10th grade."This is a comprehensive sea change in the way that we approach education policy in this state," said Matt Gianneschi, Ritter's education advisor.The bill permits school districts to scrap traditional course structures if students can meet the readiness standards in a different way."What we're saying is, it's the competencies that matter, and so if you can deliver that in a curriculum that doesn't look anything like what the curriculum in the school district next door to you has, fine," Gianneschi said.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/let-them-play/ Tournament time. It's supposed to be that special occasion when months and years of hard work culminate in the opportunity to compete for a state championship. It's supposed to be that moment when every high school basketball player has at least the chance to realize the dream of winning it all.That's why it's so regrettable that the boys and girls basketball teams from Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy may face the impossible choice between following a tenet of their faith - observance of the Sabbath - and participating in tournament games scheduled between dusk Fridays and dusk Saturdays the next three weekends.The Colorado High School Activities Association has some undeniable practical arguments why it is reluctant to enable Herzl/RMHA's boys and girls to take part in the Class 1A state basketball tournament. Its blueprint for conducting 10 simultaneous tournaments (for boys and girls in five classifications) in the short span of 16 days is a 57-page book that lays out all of the logistical issues - from arenas to schedules to motel availability to assignments for officials, scorers, timekeepers and all of the other people engaged to help operate more than 50 sites involving hundreds of games.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/thorstenson_33603___article.html/air_army.html Flying in slow circles four miles above Baghdad in the back of a four-engine C-130, the Air Force Academy’s Capt. Linda Thorstenson waits for a call.It could be from a convoy under attack, or just someone checking a radio. She’s their security blanket, ensuring that when they pick up their radios, someone will hear them on the other end.“We’re 911 operators at 20,000 feet,” said Thorstenson, who teaches cadets the basics of flying in Colorado Springs and helps coach the academy’s gymnastics team.“We’re there if they need us.”
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http://www.gazette.com/opinion/crack_33629___article.html/party_powder.html After too many years of inattention, Congress may finally be getting ready to correct one of the most harmful mistakes it made in the 1980s during the period of legislative hysteria over the phenomenon of crack cocaine. The House Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee held hearings Tuesday on bills to reform the disparity in sentencing for possession of crack and powder cocaine.Back in the 1980s, when crack cocaine seemed to be decimating neighborhoods and wrecking lives at an alarming rate, many people believed it was more addictive and more dangerous than powder cocaine. That turned out not to be the case, but while it was the conventional wisdom, Congress enacted laws mandating longer sentences for crack possession than for powder cocaine.It takes 5 grams of crack cocaine (two sugar packets) to get a five-year sentence versus 500 grams of powder. Fifty grams of crack triggers a 10-year sentence, but it takes 5,000 grams of powder to trigger a 10-year sentence.That’s a ratio of 100 to 1. And while it was not part of the intention, the disparity has harmed blacks more than any other group. By and large (there are exceptions to every rule) blacks who use cocaine tend to use crack, while white Americans are more inclined to use powder. So blacks have received much longer prison sentences for offenses that, chemically speaking, are identical.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/teacher_33608___article.html/colorado_springs.html A 73-year-old substitute teacher at Wasson High School was arrested by Colorado Springs police Feb. 15. A 15-year-old boy told police the male teacher offered to pay him $1,000 to allow the teacher to perform oral sex on him, according to an arrest affidavit.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/18 A Florence inmate who allegedly planned to throw hot wax on a congressman visiting a prison was convicted Tuesday of assaulting a guard by throwing the wax on him instead.Chief U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham said the inmate, Jay Vaughan Gregory, made "a strongly implied threat" in his closing arguments in a two-day trial.Nottingham ordered that Gregory's copy of the jurors' names be turned back to court staff "before you have any opportunity to copy" them.A person familiar with the case said Gregory, 51, is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a violent gang that operates in numerous prisons.Another person who attended the trial and had official knowledge of it said Gregory, in his closing argument, said, "We die with swords in our hands and not with chains on our ankles and we will hold each and everyone responsible for the actions that occurred in the courtroom."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386605 A skier died Wednesday at Eldora Mountain Resort. Officials said the 46-year-old man was found at 1:15 p.m. at the bottom of West Ridge, an intermediate trail in the Corona area. He was unresponsive and not breathing.Ski patrollers administered life support, but the skier was pronounced dead after about an hour.It was the first skier death "in quite a number of years" at Eldora Mountain Resort," said Rob Linde, resort spokesman.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/children-sickened-school-evacuated/ Lumberg Elementary School in Edgewater was evacuated Wednesday after several students and staff members complained of headaches and nausea, but the source of the illness remained a mystery, authorities said.Nine students and four teachers were treated at nearby Jefferson High School, then taken to Lutheran Hospital as a precaution shortly after the school was evacuated about 1 p.m., a spokeswoman for Jefferson County Schools said.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/797320509 World War II veterans are dying at a rate of more than 1,200 a day nationally.And many of the 16 million Americans who served in the war never had the opportunity to see the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., which opened to the public on April 29, 2004 between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.All that's going to change for northern Colorado veterans of the war.An Honor Flight Northern Colorado is being put together to fly WWII veterans from Weld and Larimer counties to the memorial -- free of charge -- Sept. 23-24.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_Clifton_Governance.html Residents of Clifton, the most densely populated community in unincorporated Mesa County, may be going to the polls this November to create Colorado’s newest city.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/227729473 Scott Burgess wants to repair the relationship between Minturn and Red Cliff, especially now that employee housing from private ski resort may be built near his town.“We have to change that relationship so that we have a say with what’s happening in our own backyard,” said Burgess, who has lived in Red Cliff for two years.That’s one of several reasons Burgess has decided to run for Red Cliff’s Board of Trustees, on which six seats out of seven will be up for grabs April 1.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/51392811 Their numbers have dwindled, and age has slowed them. Still, on Tuesday, the veteran ski troopers showed no fear on Riva Ridge.One by one, they plunged down the steepest face of this Vail trail, named for the supposedly insurmountable cliff they climbed in Italy’s Apennine Mountains to launch a surprise attack on the Nazis. That was 63 years ago.At the bottom of the ski trail, the men — now in their 80s and 90s — collected on this sunny powder day on Vail Mountain, smiling at each other.A love of skiing is still a common thread for these veterans of the 10th Mountain Division. But their bonds go much deeper.“Friends you make in combat, you never forget,” said John Woodward, 93, who was an officer in the 10th, the regiment of skier-soldiers who, during World War II in 1945, pushed back the Germans in the harsh Italian mountains.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8383225 A leaky value allowed about 300 gallons of untreated stormwater runoff into a 60-inch water pipeline in Aurora today, causing slight taste and odor problems but no known health risks, Aurora Water said.About 3,200 customers were affected in a 2-square-mile bordered by Mississippi and Jewell avenues and Wheeling to Dayton streets.The problem was quickly fixed, the line flushed and water samples sent to to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment as a precautionary measure, said Aurora Water spokeswoman Meghan Hughes.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/feisty-rolo-wins-reprieve/ Rolo lives. That's what a judge decided Wednesday afternoon.Assistant Presiding Judge Mike Graber ruled that the German shepherd, in trouble for biting a neighbor, can return to his owner.Not without conditions, however. Laura Hagan, Rolo's owner, has to continue intense training with the dog and learn how to better control him.A 90-day jail sentence for Hagan, who was found guilty Tuesday of having a dog at large and keeping a dangerous animal, will be suspended if the dog stays out of trouble for a year, Graber ruled.Ten of Hagan's neighbors testified at a sentencing hearing that the dog was aggressive and they had concerns ranging from mild to extreme for their safety and the safety of their children. Hagan was found guilty Tuesday of having an at-large dog and having a dangerous animal.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280366/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Laurie Stolen is proud of the work that goes into preparing and serving an estimated 14,000 nutritious meals weekly, even though her diners don't really have much choice in their dining options.Stolen, inmate services director at the Larimer County Detention Center, oversees the jail's kitchen staff, a mix of employees from contractor Aramark and nearly 50 "trustee" inmates.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/14 The organizer of a campaign to return the public comments to televised City Council work sessions is applauding the Pueblo County Democratic Party for taking a stand on the issue.Tucked in among 25 other resolutions passed Saturday at the Pueblo County Democratic convention was a brief statement that the party believes "City Council meetings should be televised for public access and should include public comment open to all Pueblo County residents."Right now, council televises its regular sessions and work sessions on nights when a regular session is held.Last September, however, council moved its public comment period to the non-televised work sessions and Chris Nicoll's Pueblo Citizens for Open Government has been fighting ever since to get the decision reversed.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_7b_Xcel.html Plagued with a history of power failures along Horizon Drive and around Grand Junction Regional Airport, Xcel Energy is investing more than $1 million to replace underground lines and equipment in an effort to eliminate power troubles in the area.
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http://steamboatpilot.com/news/2008/feb/28/yampa_valley_recycles_selling_reusable_bags/ The numbers associated with the consumption of plastic bags are staggering.According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 380 billion bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year. The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually, at an estimated cost to retailers of $4 billion. The bags are said to take more than 1,000 years to decompose.“These plastic bags — they are just a disaster,” Catherine Carson said.Carson is a member of Yampa Valley Recycles, a group that is launching a reusable shopping bag program in Routt County. The group has purchased 5,000 of the polypropylene bags, which it plans to sell for $1 each.
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/591981407 The Basalt town government’s proposal to boost property taxes to buy a flood-imperiled trailer park for $5 million has failed to attract a champion of the issue.While the election is only about a month away, April 1, no citizens’ committee has emerged to promote the purchase of the Pan and Fork Mobile Home Park. The bonding company the town is working with on the deal eventually will try to build awareness of the proposed purchase.The town government is in a sticky spot on the issue. Colorado law prevents local governments from spending public funds to promote a specific outcome. “The town can’t really do a lot,” Town Manager Bill Efting said. “We can’t spend town money.”
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/920530290 A member of Basalt’s Planning and Zoning Commission decided Wednesday to try out for the big leagues.
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/68450203 Summit County Sheriff John Minor said Tuesday’s sit-down with members of the Denver Water Board “went really well,” as the the agencies discussed communication, safety and security related to the Dillon Dam Road.“Obviously these are issues we will still need to work on as we try to develop this relationship and, like any relationship, it will take time,” said Sheriff John Minor.Denver Water and local law enforcement have recently been subjected to public scrutiny after the Denver Water closed the Dillon Dam Road for nine days in January due to a potential Homeland Security threat.
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http://montrosepress.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/doc47c6312e31b11250416400.txt Residents of a local subdivision are working to reduce crime in a way that focuses on individual homes — the crime-free lifestyles program.Fox Meadows is the first neighborhood in Montrose to begin implementing techniques developed by the International Crime Free Association to reduce the potential for residential crimes such as burglary and vandalism."In the last three to four years, we've started to witness significant increase in crime," resident Ken Holyfield said Wednesday. Holyfield is also a member of the Fox Meadows homeowners association. He's lived in the subdivision for seven years.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_1.htm Shalee Cunningham, who was tentatively chosen a month ago as the next superintendent of Durango schools, has withdrawn her application, the school board announced Wednesday."Shalee has withdrawn her application, and we are going to reopen the search and try to look for some other candidates," said Jeff Schell, a school board member. "Unfortunately, I can't comment on much more than that."
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x2052201974 For tiny Rico, everything is as it was before whispers of mining’s return crept through the floorboards.A deal that would have brought large-scale molybdenum mining to the hills above Rico is dead, some three months after it was supposed to close, according to a press release from Bolero Resources Corp. CEO R. Bruce Duncan.“Bolero’s due diligence investigations could not be satisfactorily addressed to permit the entering into of a definitive agreement,” reads the release, which appeared yesterday morning on a Canadian business and media Web site, CNW Telbec.Some celebrated, happy to nix mining from the local lexicon for the second time.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385957 To an outsider, the scene looks more like summer vacation than a day of learning. But it's all part of the free-form curriculum that defines this type of home schooling — based on the idea that learning is a natural consequence of living.It needn't be boxed into time increments, targeted at certain age groups, limited to traditional school subjects or measured in tests.Generally speaking, most home-schoolers follow a traditional curriculum of math, science and social studies.Much of their education is guided by textbooks and scheduled lesson plans.Flip that whole notion over, and you have unschooling.If unschoolers wake up one morning with an interest in horse training, salamanders or ancient Chinese dynasties, that is what they study. Their sources could be the Internet, museums, farms, library books, movies or professionals in their field of interest.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385956 Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve. But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions."I'm trying to balance your rights and interests as well as the needs of the community," Graber told Laura Hagan. "If you don't do these things, it would be very serious."Hagan received a 90-day jail sentence that is suspended for one year if Rolo stays out of trouble. Rolo and Hagan also must continue a 12- to 16-week training regimen with monthly progress reports.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386602 The loudest jets operating in the U.S. would be banned from landing at Centennial Airport under a proposal submitted by the airport and surrounding communities to the Federal Aviation Administration.The FAA is currently reviewing and taking public comment on Centennial's "noise-compatibility program."Michael Fronapfel, the airport's manager of planning and development, said the first of 12 recommendations is to ban "Stage 1" aircraft entirely, and Recommendation 2 is to ban the slightly quieter "Stage 2" aircraft from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385960 A new master plan for the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood calls for 3.6 million square feet of new development and 1,400 residential units.Combined with some of the existing buildings, the Federal Center will have a total of 6.4 million square feet on the 640-acre site within the next 20 years.The Federal Center property, which houses government offices, including the U.S. Geological Survey, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Mine Safety Health Administration, is owned by the General Services Administration.The GSA sought a master plan for the site to take advantage of the development potential brought about by the FasTracks project, which will bring an RTD light-rail line through the property, and by the relocation of St. Anthony Hospital to the site.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/jeffco-schools-beef-goes-bye-bye/ Lunch for tens of thousands of Jefferson County schoolchildren won't include 400 cases of frozen beef, which is being destroyed starting this morning.Colorado's largest school district bought some of the 143 million pounds of frozen beef being recalled from Chino, Calif.-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.Jeffco warehouse staff will destroy the meat at a Jeffco Schools storage warehouse on Quail Street in Lakewood.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383346 Over and over, parents complain that our schools are not doing an adequate job preparing students. Generations of students learned by sitting in rows at desks, memorizing multiplication tables, and listening intently to a teacher. Why can't students today learn the same way?As Bob Dylan said, "The times, they are a-changing." And we have done a very poor job keeping up with these changing times.For a good majority of today's youths, hours are spent at the computer, sending text messages or talking on cellphones, playing video games or listening to an iPod. Everything is electronic, fast, instantly gratifying, and independently controlled. These activities are in sharp contrast to the way most schools approach education.Our system requires all students to take the same courses, and take the same tests at the same time, regardless of the differing abilities of the students. Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if each student could progress according to his or her individual ability and then be tested accordingly?
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/full-fare-for-bus-rapid-transit/ Regional Transportation District officials are trying to reassure cities along U.S. 36 that the district still fully supports bus-rapid transit following the circulation of a city of Boulder memo questioning that commitment last week.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/racial-feud-trial-leaves-big-legal-bill/ Almost six weeks after 15-year- old Randall Nelson was found not guilty of charges of assault and disorderly conduct stemming from a racially charged incident in February 2007 that left another boy with a broken jaw, legal and financial ramifications remain for the family.In defending his son, now a freshman at Steamboat Springs High School, Brad Nelson learned a tough lesson: Good legal defense doesn't come cheap."If you want the best, you pay for the best," said Brad Nelson, who faces more than $40,000 of legal fees and other expenses related to his son's defense.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/wheat-watching-whole-wheat-price-woes-come-to/ In light of a nationwide surge in the price of wheat, Boulder businesses such as Spruce Confections, Great Harvest Bread and Boulder Beer Co. are re-evaluating what they make, how much they make and how much they charge."It's become a major panic in the brewery business," said Tess McFadden, marketing director for Boulder Beer, 2880 Wilderness Place.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/mystery-donor-leaves-1-million-to-naropa/ Who dunnit?An anonymous donor has left Naropa University $1 million in her will, the Boulder-based institution announced Wednesday.It's the largest such posthumous gift in the school's 34-year history, and comes with some intriguing question marks."Part of the mystery and the power of this gift is we don't know what her precise connection was to the university," said Christopher Dwyer, vice president for institutional advancement.The bequest will be distributed in segments to Naropa through 2011. The first amount has gone into the endowment fund. The president and its board of trustees will determine future placements. No strings are attached to the money.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-dog-on-trial-feb28,1,3839362.story Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Arvada Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve.But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/griego-hearts-broken-by-market/ Iran into an acquaintance last week at the Capitol Hill Whole Foods. Tina, he called, and I turned and there was Tony, smiling, saying I was the first person he had seen since, well . . .He didn't have to finish. I was one of his old customers, and he hadn't seen many since he and his business partner closed their own little grocery store in December.Tony Thompson and Shelley Garrelts owned Simple Foods on the Tennyson strip in North Denver. They took out a $270,000 bank loan, put their homes up as collateral, kicked in another $35,000 each and opened in August 2003. "To rave reviews," Tony reminds me later. He's right.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-lecture-solar-activity-and-climate-change/ The Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado is sponsoring a talk on how solar activity may have affected parts of the "little ice age."The 1600s brought an unusually cold period during the little ice age. Tom Woods will talk about how this historical climate change may have been affected by solar activity.Woods will discuss current understanding based on satellite measurements of variations in the sun, which will establish what extent solar influences play in our climate today.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/state-issues-warning-on-latest-e-mail-scam/ Colorado Attorney General John Suthers on Wednesday warned consumers and businesses about a new e-mail scam related to messages claiming to be from the U.S. Department of Justice.The e-mails concern a supposed consumer complaint filed against the recipient and usually contain an attachment. The attachment is either a blank complaint form or some other document.Suthers advises consumers not to open the attachment because it might contain a computer virus or other malicious software.The Justice Department doesn't send messages to the public via e-mail. Similar hoaxes have recently been conducted in the names of other government entities, the Justice Department said in a statement.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/qwest-reaches-deal-with-jeffco-schools/ Qwest Communications said it has won a 10-year, $16 million contract with the Jefferson County School District to provide high-speed data networking and Internet services.
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http://www.timescall.com/News_Story.asp?id=6862 The Weld County Jail was built to hold 405 inmates. It routinely averages 500.Officials hope a new $17 million wing will alleviate overcrowding at the jail when it’s ready for occupancy in March.“The objective and goal in building the new wing is to bring the numbers back down to capacity,” said Sterling Geesaman, Weld County Sheriff’s Office bureau chief.The four-year project adds 86,000 square feet to the jail and bring its capacity to 779 inmates.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/hunter_33631___article.html/county_seat.html Allison Hunter couldn’t stay out of a campaign fray for long.The 43-year-old Democrat, who in December dropped out of her second bid for the state House District 15 seat, filed paperwork Tuesday that officially kicked off her campaign for the District 2 seat on the El Paso County Commission.“A lot of people are desperate for a voice in the county and I can certainly tell that after even only two days,” Hunter said of the support she has received since informally announcing her candidacy at Saturday’s county Democratic Assembly.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/CSUZONE01/802280368/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 A new system for buying everything from lawn furniture to hazardous chemicals and cars may eventually help Colorado State University save $10 million annually, university officials say.The new system funnels purchases through a central program, helping financial administrators better understand exactly what university departments are buying.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280387/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 The five girls and sixth-grade teacher Mary Laszlo also tracked the energy usage of the elementary school, including water, gas and electricity. Utilities use at Werner produces 105 tons of greenhouse gases each year, the team found."I think it's really shocking," said Anne Bonhoure, a fifth-grader. "We are using a lot of energy."The team began to think of alternative ways to generate energy for the school and presented their findings to District Superintendent Jerry Wilson.They also made a presentation to the school, encouraging students and teachers to turn off lights, computers and other electronic devices when they are not in classrooms."We give awards for classrooms at the end of the day that don't have their computers turned on," said Kate Monahan, a sixth-grader.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_1b_Dist__51_Web_site.html A nonprofit policy research organization with its eye on school districts statewide has put District 51’s Web site on the bottom of the list of the state’s 20 largest districts, because of accessibility of information on open enrollment and other factors.The Independence Institute’s Education Policy Center in Golden evaluated the Web sites of 20 of the state’s largest school districts based on the comprehensiveness and accessibility of open enrollment information, scoring both of those factors in January 2007 and July 2007. The information was released this week in the report titled “Open Enrollment and the Internet: An Evaluation of Colorado School District Web Sites.”District 51 has made improvements since then to its Web site, http://www.mesa.k12.co.us/2003/index.cfm.
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http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2008/feb/28/rail_service_possible/ The cities of Steamboat Springs and Craig have joined a group exploring high-speed, passenger rail service that could include a spur extending from South Routt to Craig.The Hayden Town Board also has voted to join the multi-jurisdictional governmental entity known as the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority. Hayden’s membership will become official once it’s ratified by the authority, which is exploring the possibility of modern rail track along the Interstate 70 and Interstate 25 corridors. The system could continue into Wyoming and potentially tie in to similar rail networks already in the works in Utah and New Mexico. It is anticipated the I-70 stretch would include two major spurs: one to Aspen and another through South Routt, Steamboat and Craig.Routt County already has joined the authority. County Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush said she is glad that all other incorporated municipalities in Routt and Moffat counties have decided to join.
http://aspentimes.com/article/20080227/NEWS/452353441 Basalt will collect a new fee from Holy Cross Energy that could fund projects ranging from the undergrounding of power lines to conserving energy.The town government and Holy Cross are negotiating a new franchise agreement that will increase the amount of the annual fee that Holy Cross pays to provide the town with power.
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x565324813 In 2007, the levels of carbon dioxide burped out by town-owned vehicles, by the generation of lights and computers in town offices, by the operation of the water treatment plant, the ice rink, the Galloping Goose, the campground restrooms and all other public facilities, was roughly 7.2 million pounds.The good news: This represents a 6 percent decrease in the town government’s carbon footprint from 2006, when carbon output was roughly 7.67 million pounds.This is a positive step for Telluride, which cemented its intent to reduce its carbon footprint in recent years by signing onto The Canary Initiative, The US Mayors Climate Protection Initiative and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization — a trio of organizations bent on reversing climate change.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386609 Any woman who got between Shawna Nelson and her married lover felt Nelson's wrath, including murder victim Heather Garraus, according to testimony Wednesday.Nelson is being tried on a charge of first-degree murder after Garraus was shot execution-style in front of her Greeley office on Jan. 23, 2007.Nelson carried on a three-year affair with Greeley police officer Ignacio Garraus.Prosecution witnesses Wednesday told jurors Nelson despised Heather Garraus and saw her as an obstacle to a life with Ignacio and the child they conceived. Many were co-workers of Nelson, who once worked as a Greeley police dispatcher.Former dispatcher Jennifer Morrison said Nelson called Heather Garraus "fat," a "hag" and "disgusting." Nelson also took out her frustration with Garraus by pretending to shoot her at a target range, Morrison said.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280382/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Weld County District Court Judge Roger Klein sent jurors home early Wednesday so defense attorneys and prosecutors could reconcile some issues with exhibits prosecutors plan to present today.Larimer County prosecutor Greg Lammons said the prosecution has four witnesses remaining to testify, and the prosecution should conclude today.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080228/NEWS/574305886 Prosecutors in Shawna Nelson's murder trial on Wednesday introduced evidence indicating that she used her husband's gun to shoot her romantic rival, Heather Garraus.Witnesses spent the remainder of the day describing Nelson's hatred for Garraus and her love for Ignacio Garraus.Alan Hammond of the Aurora police department's Colorado Bureau of Investigations' forensics lab, said two shell casings recovered from the crime scene where Heather Garraus was killed matched Nelson's husband's .40-caliber Glock model 22. Ken Nelson is a former Weld County Sheriff's deputy. Police have accused him of removing the gun from the truck his wife was driving before she was arrested.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387622 The legislative session is nearly half over. And Wednesday was deadline day for the House to ship its bills to the Senate and the Senate to send its measures to the House.In a marathon morning session, the House passed bills requiring cities and rural electric associations to spend more on energy efficiency and companies to provide space for breast-feeding moms.House Bill 1107 from Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, requires cities and REAs to spend 2 percent of their revenues on energy-efficiency programs. The bill passed 59-6, with critics saying it was unfair to some municipalities. Colorado Springs, for example, would have to come up with $14 million in the next few years to meet the requirement.House Bill 1276 from Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, would require businesses to provide space and break time for new mothers to pump breast milk. Six Republican men voted against the measure, some complaining it was another mandate on business.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/citizen-legislator-february-28/ Rep. Bob Gardner served as the El Paso County Republican Party chairman in the mid-1990s and has volunteered on several political campaigns."I don't always win by any means, but I always believe in the candidates I'm working for," he said.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385961 With gold and silver prices hitting new highs, more investors are giving precious metals serious consideration.So too, likely, will be some of the same people who once put investors into inflated dot-com stocks and stuck borrowers with subprime mortgages they couldn't afford."We are finding that there are people who were former mortgage brokers who are getting into this business," said Mark Albarian, chief executive and president of Goldline International Inc., a Santa Monica, Calif.-based precious-metals and coin vendor.Gold futures for April delivery reached an all-time high of $967.70 an ounce Wednesday before closing at $961 after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress more interest-rate cuts could be on the way. Lower rates weaken the value of the U.S. dollar, making gold more attractive.Ken Hallenbeck, executive director of the American Numismatic Association, an industry trade group based in Colorado Springs, said questionable players can jump from hot area to hot area.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/guv-vows-hard-look-land-conservation-program/ Colorado must step up efforts to police an innovative conservation tax-credit program to ensure that questionable deals are stopped and that the public interest is protected, Gov. Bill Ritter said Wednesday."We do not stop programs we have helping us protect land in this state," Ritter told a packed room of open-space officials. "At the same time, we have to assure people there is not fraud and abuse."The program gives lucrative state income tax credits to landowners who agree to prohibit development on their properties using legal tools known as conservation easements. The tax credits then can be sold for cash.Investigations by the Colorado Division of Real Estate and the Department of Revenue are likely to be handed over to the Colorado attorney general and could result in criminal and civil prosecutions by the state, Ritter and other state officials said.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383284 Last week, I spent a couple of days skiing with my parents in Aspen. They are 87 and 91 years old.I always recognize my father on the slopes. He's worn the same ski outfit for 40 years. But, this year, my parents were decked out in new ski outfits, skis and boots. "Guess I'm an optimist," my father mused.My parents first skied at Aspen in 1949 and have skied a week there every year since then, missing only last season when my father had heart surgery. Their first year at Aspen, there were only two pokey chair lifts and a T-bar. Lift tickets were $5, compared to $87 today.When my kids were young, and lift tickets still relatively inexpensive, I taught them to ski during spring vacations in Aspen with my parents, until they preferred learning to jump and ski the trees with a far more adventurous ski school instructor. By then, the famous Colorado snow had already attracted tourists from around the world.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/roll-call-february-28/ "We now have so many women in the legislature there's a line in the bathroom. I love it."Rep. Alice Borodkin, D-Denver
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/solar-mirrors-could-array-near-dia/ Vast swaths of brown, barren land near Denver International Airport could soon become decorated with a dizzying array of mirrors reflecting sunlight.SolarTAC is evaluating sites around the airport to establish a major solar energy research center. A spinoff of the newly established Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, SolarTAC will be launched in the coming months.Colorado's major academic and research institutions spawned the Collaboratory last year to bolster the state's prowess in new energy technologies and transfer those advances to the free market.It is backed by the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Mines and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/the-blank-of-job/ On the subjects of history and literature, American students are dumb and dumber, yet another survey indicates.A survey of 17-year-olds, the results of which were released Tuesday, show alarming rates of ignorance about our cultural benchmarks. Almost 20 percent didn't know whom we fought in World War II. More than 25 percent think Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue sometime after 1752. Half can't identify, on a multiple-choice test, whom Sen. Joseph McCarthy assailed or what the Renaissance was.The telephone survey of 1,200 adolescents was commissioned by a nonprofit, nonpartisan group called Common Core (http://www.commoncore.org). The group's leaders are diverse, and they include a former vice president of the American Federation of Teachers and a former assistant education secretary to the first President Bush.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/process-may-reduce-mercury-emissions/ First-round tests on its chemically treated activated carbon showed promising results, ADA-ES Inc. said Wednesday.Littleton-based ADA-ES intends to sell the product to coal-fired power plants for reducing mercury emissions.The company performed the tests at a power plant burning Western PRB coal. While operating with the activated carbon, the plant was able to reduce mercury emissions by greater than 90 percent at a competitive feed rate.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/into-the-hermit-tyranny-with-music/ Visiting musicians aside, North Korea is still a thoroughgoing Stalinist dictatorship. But nothing official happens by accident in this hermit land, and it does appear that its leadership is tentatively testing the possibility of a little more openness to the outside world.
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http://www.politicswest.com/20835/suthers_robocop Coloradans have registered more than three million phone numbers on the no-call list since the 2001 phone privacy law was enacted. There was an exemption, however, for political and charitable groups. And since then, the automated dialing of pre-recorded phone messages - particularly political messages - has clogged the voicemails of thousands of consumers.Advocates of robocalls say it is protected free speech.Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, whose office oversees the no-call list, backed SB-146 in the state legislature that would have banned so-called robocalls. It was defeated this month in a state Senate committee on a 4-1 bi-partisan vote.The Robocall Privacy Act of 2008 has been proposed in Congress to regulate the practice.We caught up with Suthers recently to find out what comes next in Colorado.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280383/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Trout found in five lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park have both male and female sex organs, says a massive new federal report highlighting the problems that air pollution poses for national parks.The report released by the Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project said detectable levels of contaminants ranging from mercury to two banned insecticides and a flame-retardant chemical treatment were found in eight parks in the western United States, including Rocky.The report said air pollution from coal-burning power plants is a major source of contamination, which can drift in the atmosphere for long distances before being dropped in rain or snow."It's certainly a cautionary lesson that supports that what goes up into our air does come down," said Rocky spokeswoman Kyle Patterson. "Parks are not immune from human activities from hundreds or even thousands of miles away."The report said the pollution could have many different ramifications and that more study is needed."In Rocky Mountain and Glacier national parks, some individual trout were 'intersex,'" the report said. "This condition is commonly associated with exposure to certain contaminants (dieldrin and DDT) that mimic the hormone estrogen.”
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280372/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Farmers will face additional struggles to make sure they have enough water as the state's population continues to grow, the state's agriculture commissioner told Fort Collins Rotary Club members Wednesday.Less water will be available for irrigation as more houses are built, said John Stulp, Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture."As you grow houses you need to water people," he said. "The demand for water is going to get greater."The demand for green energy should help the agriculture business he said, as farmers are increasingly called upon to raise crops that can be used to create biofuels. He compared the price of oil to an "800-pound guerrilla in the corner of the room."He also said the need for green energy will help generate jobs in rural areas, which should encourage young people to remain on farms and in agri-businesses.Also on Wednesday, the club honored Bill Markham and his family with the Master Agriculturist Award.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_community_correction.html Mesa County’s top judge said last week his confidence in the county’s Criminal Justice Services Department has been “significantly eroded” after an investigation revealed some defendants were being held illegally in Mesa County Jail.The county could face a federal investigation, and the district’s judges may refuse to sentence defendants to the community corrections program if the issue continues, 21st Judicial District Chief Judge David Bottger wrote in a letter dated Feb. 20.As of Feb. 15, 10 defendants were in custody illegally and had been held for between six days and more than five months, according to Bottger’s own investigation. All defendants had been sentenced to community corrections and were placed either on day-reporting or nonresidential status as they were awaiting a bed at the facility.Bottger said the defendants were sent back to jail for alleged violations, but they were held without bond and without a judge determining whether the arrest was legitimate.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_5b_election_cost.html A bill pending in the state Legislature that would require primarily paper-ballot elections would, at a minimum, double Mesa County’s 2008 elections budget, elections officials said.The cost of the bill could be the least of the county’s problems, though, and one county commissioner said it might be time to let state officials run the show.“We’ll either have to violate HAVA, federal law or state law,” Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland said. “Our hands are tied. We’ll let Mike Coffman, Ken Gordon decide who wants to run the election in Mesa County.”Secretary of State Mike Coffman is the state’s chief elections official, Gordon is a state senator from Denver who is carrying the bill. Gov. Bill Ritter has called for all-paper-ballot elections in 2008.HAVA is the Help America Vote Act, which requires local officials to offer equipment such as touch-screen machines to voters.Gordon’s bill, introduced with the support of Republican leaders in both houses of the Legislature, calls for voters to be offered paper ballots, but in counties such as Mesa, which have touch-screen voting equipment, voters could ask specifically for that option.Mesa County’s touch screens were certified this week, but the optical-scan equipment needed to count paper ballots is to be tested today and Friday in Denver.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28leadville.html?ref=us For years, the federal Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency have bickered over what to do about the aging tunnel, which stretches 2.1 miles and has become dammed by debris. The debris is holding back more than a billion gallons of water, much of it tainted with toxic levels of cadmium, zinc and manganese.The threat posed by the tunnel is the latest misfortune for the town, which is grappling with the wreckage of more than a century of mining.“Everybody made a lot of money in Leadville,” said Ken Olsen, a county commissioner. “They left years ago, and we’ve had to clean up after them ever since.”In the late 1800s, a gold and silver boom made Leadville one of Colorado’s most colorful places, drawing the likes of the Guggenheims. Legend has it that Doc Holliday fought his final gunfight here.Gold and silver gave way to zinc and lead mining, encouraged by the federal government for the war effort during World War II and the Korean War. Molybdenum, used to fortify steel, was blasted out of the mountains for years at the Climax mine.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/12 The new Statewide Voter Registration System is on-track, but it will require more hands-on help from the state, an independent assessment of the system concluded Wednesday.In an effort to avoid problems with the new system that some state agencies have seen with other computer databases in recent years, the Secretary of State's Office and the Governor's Office of Information Technology plan to add more people to help counties get used to the new system, said Rich Coolidge, Coffman's spokesman."We're happy that the assessment came in, did kind of a nuts-and-bolts review and said, 'The technological side of this, we're confident that it's moving in the right direction,' ” Coolidge said. "What they did say was, 'You need to have more hand-holding with the counties to make sure that they understand how to use the system.' And we're going to provide some more ground support and make the management team more supportive to the counties as they implement this new system."
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/558581416 State Rep. Christine Scanlan is wasting no time on Capitol Hill, as she passed two new bills on Tuesday out of the House Transportation and Energy Committee.The two new bills aim to protect passenger safety on ski lifts and school buses. The first, House Bill 1244, continues the passenger safety tramway board for the next 12 years. The board provides oversight for Colorado’s 374 tramways, most of which are ski lifts.“In just the last two years, there have been more than 25 million ski visits to our resorts, which have accounted for more than 250 million rides on our lifts,” Rep. Scanlan said. “Not once has there been a major lift failure or accident during that time. Obviously, we’re doing something right. Keeping this board going for the next 12 years ensures we keep doing it right.”
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/EDITS/210326461 Are the Lake County Commissioner and State Sen. Tom Wiens grandstanding over the danger poised by a clogged mine tunnel?Leadville Mayor Bud Elliott thinks so.The commissioners on Feb. 13 declared a state of emergency with the clogged tunnel, which may hold as much as 1 billion gallons of water, much of it poisoned because it’s been leaching through mineral-laden rock.The commissioners say the disaster declaration was needed to get the Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency off their collective kiesters to more effectively treat the water now trickling out of the World War II-era tunnel.Wiens, meanwhile, has set up a Web site — The Rocky Mountain News reports the site went live a few days before the commissioners’ vote on Feb. 13 — to get information out about the potential danger.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_5.htm A day after an apparently deranged man barged into the House of Representatives, state lawmakers debated the expense of metal detectors at the Capitol.A number of lawmakers decried the new security measures at "the people's house," which had no metal detectors until last fall, when a tuxedo-clad man was shot by a state trooper outside the governor's office after he displayed a gun and declared himself emperor of Colorado.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/democratic-national-convention-volunteering-is-a/ The group coordinating volunteers for the Democratic National Convention has a message for anyone who thinks blowing up a few balloons will be their ticket to a front row seat at the convention: Not so fast.Overwhelmed by more than 25,000 people interested in volunteering, the Denver 2008 Host Committee this week sent out a note politely stating that the reward for volunteering is not likely to go beyond self-satisfaction."Some people have the impression that a volunteer position is a ticket, or a credential, to the Democratic Convention,"Host committee spokesman Chris Lopez said organizers were not expecting to hear from so many volunteers so many months before the August convention.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387623 A bill mandating that the state conduct a primarily paper-ballot election this year may not be a slam dunk, even though it has the sponsorship of party leaders in both legislative chambers.A handful of legislators said Wednesday that they have serious concerns about the bill, a sign that a battle may be shaping up."I'm just really disappointed that there's the possibility of this going forward," said Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, "and I will put all my effort into killing it in the Senate."The bill, Senate Bill 189, was formally introduced Wednesday. It would require county clerks to offer all voters a paper ballot, although voters could ask to vote on an electronic voting terminal. Voters would also be able to vote early or vote by mail.Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, a Denver Democrat who crafted the bill, said the measure would move the state away from using electronic voting terminals, which came under scrutiny after a lawsuit and the secretary of state's subsequent decertification of many of the machines. It would also likely prevent a future lawsuit over the voting terminals, he said."I think we've hit the right balance here," Gordon said.But several clerks say the bill would drive up election costs and could cause major voting problems.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385328 Wyoming officials issued an unprecedented health alert Wednesday in a rural gas-drilling area for a buildup of ozone — usually a summertime air pollutant in urban areas.The Pinedale area had high ozone readings a week after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency criticized the federal Bureau of Land Management for planning thousands of new gas wells in the area without adequate air-quality protection."This should be a wake-up call for the Bureau of Land Management," said Linda Baker, director of the Upper Green River Valley Coalition. "What's going to happen to our air when we have 4,400 . . . additional wells, as the BLM proposes?"In Colorado, state regulators are targeting gas wells as a major contributor to the Denver metro area's troublesome ozone levels and are considering new restrictions on equipment and operations.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385325 Even though someone left a baby girl outside Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center, apparently intending to qualify under the state's safe-haven law, the infant's death removes any legal protections.The Denver Police Department's homicide unit is investigating, said Detective Sharon Hahn, and prosecutors from the Denver district attorney's office will decide what charges, if any, to file.The Denver coroner's office will determine the cause of death, including whether the baby was dead before she was brought to the hospital, Hahn said.But whether the infant was alive or not when she was left at the hospital at Franklin Street and East 20th Avenue, the statute requires that the child be left "safely." The law also requires the parent to perform any act necessary to protect the health of the child.Someone rang a help button outside the hospital at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday; a security guard immediately went outside and found the baby and brought her inside, Hahn said.The medical staff then pronounced the baby dead, she said.Police are requesting help in identifying the baby's parents.Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said the case will be investigated as a child death.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385327 State backlogs that stretch five months or more have left nearly 10 percent of the child-care welfare staff in Denver with incomplete training.The lag is putting a crunch on an already overburdened system, said Roxane White, Denver's manager of the Department of Human Services.The problem is that until her workers get the full training, the number of cases they can investigate is limited, meaning other workers are overloaded with too many cases, she said in a briefing to City Council members this week.Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said the state is reserving comment until it finishes its review of what caused 13 high-profile child deaths in the state last year."Caseloads, caseworker qualifications and training are currently being reviewed," McDonough said. "We're not going to comment beyond that at this point."In a series of e-mails earlier this month, White raised the training issue along with other concerns with state officials.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385953 A young man who killed four people at a Colorado Springs church and an Arvada missionary training center had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and harbored bitterness for being an outcast, his parents said in their first extended comments.Matthew Murray gave no indication that he was about to explode in violence, though, they said in an interview to be broadcast today and Friday on James Dobson's Focus on the Family radio program.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387621 Lawmakers fretted Wednesday over what would happen if a major dust storm coated the state's voluminous snowpack before the spring runoff."If we had dust layers in there like we've had in previous years, potentially we'd be looking at buying sandbags," said Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus.The comments came during a morning joint Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee meeting, at which a researcher told lawmakers how dust storms that dirty mountain snowpack reduce the snow's reflectivity and cause faster runoff. Earlier melting usually means the water comes too soon to help farmers, said Rep. Rafael Gallegos, D-Antonito. But with seasonal snowpack levels reaching as high as 173 percent of average, a faster runoff could also cause widespread flooding.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387618 A Senate panel backed legislation Wednesday banning state workers from striking, but not before one lawmaker went on a table-slapping tirade about the "silliness" of the business-versus-labor debate."This state is burning down!" shouted Sen. Chris Romer, a Denver Democrat.He challenged business and labor leaders to push a November ballot measure to bail out education or health care instead of fighting over a "modest" order from Gov. Bill Ritter allowing state workers to negotiate with managers.And he asked business leaders to stomp out a potential right-to-work initiative that would prohibit workers from being forced to become union members or pay union dues.
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386601 Denver Post journalists won 15 first-place awards in the annual contest sponsored by The Denver Press Club and Denver Newspaper Guild.Rocky Mountain News reporters, designers and editors won eight first-place awards in the contest that drew more than 200 entries from Colorado journalists.The awards recognize work published in print or online between June 1, 2006, and May 31, 2007. They were judged by representatives of the Los Angeles and Cleveland Press Clubs and the New Mexico Press Women.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385997 Two media giants completed a long-awaited $12 billion agreement Wednesday that sent Liberty Media Corp.'s 16 percent stake in News Corp. back to Rupert Murdoch and gave John Malone control over satellite-television provider DirecTV.Douglas County-based Liberty Media, a holding company with interests in cable programming and Internet commerce, also acquired three regional sports networks as part of the exchange.Under the final terms, Liberty Media exchanged a 16 percent stake in News Corp., worth roughly $11 billion, plus $625 million in cash for a 41 percent interest in DirecTV.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8387295 Liberty Media Corp. chairman John Malone may win control of Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp in a court fight over IAC's breakup plan, a Lehman Bros. analyst said Wednesday."Liberty might get operating control" by forcing Diller out as the caretaker for Liberty's 62 percent voting stake in IAC, wrote Lehman analyst Vijay Jayant in New York, who recommends buying Liberty Interactive tracking stock.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385843 Gov. Bill Ritter on Wednesday said the attorney general's and district attorney's offices may get involved in an investigation into abuses of the state's conservation easement program.The Colorado Division of Real Estate launched an investigation in November, issuing 30 subpoenas to people who were connected to deals involving five ranches and an Arvada land trust, then called Noah Land Conservation. More recently, it subpoenaed the records of The Greenlands Reserve, a Summit County-based land trust.Speaking at the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts conference, Ritter said the next step is to talk to the district attorney and attorney general.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/paper-suspends-karson/ The University of Colorado student author of an opinion column that garnered national attention for saying Asians "hate us all" and should be hated back was suspended from the Campus Press newspaper staff Wednesday."Max Karson's duties with the Campus Press have been suspended pending a restructuring of the opinions section," according to a statement posted on the student paper's Web site Wednesday.Karson ignited a firestorm last week when his piece titled "If it's war the Asians want ... It's war they'll get," infuriated some students and past members of the Campus Press staff who said the piece was inflammatory and a failed attempt at satire.The statement goes on to say that the publication's editors are in the process of organizing an "open, public forum to address diversity sensitivity in our news coverage" and are rewriting their ethics policy.The announcement came the same day university officials said they're close to announcing major changes in the way the paper is operated and overseen.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-student-group-hosts-korean-culture-night/ The University of Colorado's Korean American Student group is hosting a culture night Friday that will include comedy, a kum do sword performance, Korean drumming and other demonstrations.The event, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the University Memorial Center's Glenn Miller Ballroom, is free and open to the public.Comedian Eliot Chang will perform, and there will also be a Korean play and food.
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news1.txt More than 200 students gathered on the south porch of the University Memorial Center as a show of solidarity and distaste against the Feb. 18 publication of an opinion column titled “If it's war Asians want” in CU-Boulder's online newspaper “The Campus Press.”Under clear skies, the diverse gathering of students from many ethnic and cultural backgrounds held colorful signs that read “Revolution,” “Shoulder to Shoulder,” and “Responsible Journalism Now!” while a series of student leaders spoke of their experiences as minorities on campus, and issued calls to fight against racist sentiments by working together with university administration.“It's not just one article,” stated Dr. Detre Godinez, a recent CU grad who endorsed a Biased Incident Hotline that students could call to immediately report instances of racial victimization and marginalization. “It's every day. We experience it every day - it's in our faces every day.”
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news2.txt CU diversity group student leaders have compiled a list of responses they'd like the university to enact, in the wake of last week's Campus Press editorial satirizing Asian stereotypes.The editorial, written by CU senior Max Karson, says “They [Asians] hate us all. And I say it's time we started hating them back.”“If you're not sure if someone is Asian, give them a calculus problem to do in their head,” the editorial says. Karson defends it as obvious satire.The students are asking for the resignation of Campus Press faculty advisor Amy Herdy and editor-in-chief Cassie Hewlings and “an independent investigation into the upper echelons of the journalism school, [to see] whether a systemic culture of racism exists,” said CU junior David Chiu.“We want this to be conducted by a panel of students and faculty who support and represent diversity,” Chiu said, “and not the dean, who'd look into his own department.”They're also asking the administration to revisit a list of student demands made two years ago after an African-American student government tri-executive received a death threat.
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news3.txt There's one downside to massive political participation - massive data entry.Coloradans flooded their Feb. 5 political party caucuses in record numbers, and the raw volume has contributed to the fact that full Democratic Party U.S. Senate preference poll results hadn't been officially released as of Feb. 27.Pat Waak, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party (CDP), said that Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Udall had roughly 87 percent of statewide poll votes as of late Wednesday afternoon, with “uncommitted” at 11 percent and educator Mark Benner at about two percent.Waak said the CDP was still waiting for poll results from Boulder and Jefferson counties as of Wednesday afternoon. For reference, about 120,000 Colorado Democrats attended a caucus, while about 18,000 Boulder County Democrats and 16,000 Jefferson County Democrats caucused on Feb. 5.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/474741178 A bill in the Legislature would limit the interest and fees payday lending businesses can charge residents, though opponents say it will drive out the industry and create a black market for loans the state cannot regulate.The bill -- HB 1310 -- would place a limit of 45 percent annual interest rate on short-term loans businesses provide to residents, and it would limit lenders to assessing only one $60 finance fee per borrower, per year. It also would allow borrowers 30 days to repay the loan instead of the 14 days the industry uses now.Now, businesses can assess annual interest rates of sometimes more than 350 percent on payday loans they give. Most payday loan businesses make borrowers postdate a check to use as collateral for the loan.The bill won approval from the Colorado House Monday by a narrow margin and now goes to the Senate for further consideration.Both Rep. Glen Vaad, R-Mead, and Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, voted against the measure. Vaad said he received more than a dozen emails from Greeley and Longmont payday loaners who said the bill -- if it becomes law -- will drive them out of business.
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http://www.politicswest.com/20851/mark_udall_mourns_william_f_buckley_jr U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colorado, who is running for the state's open U.S. Senate seat, released the following statement Wednesday on the death of conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr.“Any American who reveres our constitution and admires intelligence, wit and integrity in public life will mourn the passing of William F. Buckley Jr. Like many others who grew up the 1960s and 1970s, I appreciated the provocative conversation in Mr. Buckley’s interviews on his television program 'Firing Line' – where he challenged political leaders from across the political spectrum. America’s conservative movement obviously owes a great deal to the intellectual foundation of William F. Buckley’s writing and philosophy, but his contributions to public life were not just ideological. Mr. Buckley was a grand debater, a great thinker and a brilliant personality. He will be missed.”
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280381/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Larimer County prosecutors are wading through a list of more than 1,000 convicts as they consider which cases to review - and who might ultimately go free - in light of advanced DNA testing.District Attorney Larry Abrahamson announced the plan to review cases after a judge freed Timothy Masters from his life sentence on Jan. 22. The judge said new DNA evidence pointed toward a new suspect in the 1987 Peggy Hettrick murder and vacated Masters' conviction after Masters had served nearly nine years in prison.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/2 The Colorado Capitol is a state structure that should be left wide-open to the public, some lawmakers said Wednesday.But considering today's troubled times, and the public's general acceptance of at least basic security measures, metal detectors should continue to be used in the historic structure, other legislators countered.The opposing sides emerged during debate over whether the state should spend an additional $490,000 to beef up security at the Capitol as a result of last summer's fatal shooting of a mentally ill man who threatened Gov. Bill Ritter.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383424 Uncertainty is never a good thing when it comes to holding elections.That's why we were glad to see state lawmakers introduce a bill this week to mandate a primarily paper ballot system this year.It may not be the perfect system, and ultimately it could delay vote counting, but at this moment it seems to be the best way to inject some voter confidence back into the electoral process.Yet, significant issues remain to be resolved before Coloradans can vote. In short, there are some large counties that don't have enough scanners — devices that tally paper ballots — to count votes in a timely fashion.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386606 The Colorado High School Activities Association board reaffirmed Wednesday that it will not jump through hoops to reschedule regional and state basketball finals for a Jewish team that won't play on Saturdays — their Sabbath.Several state lawmakers pressed the association to push back a March 8 regional finals game until after sundown that Saturday so that the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy could compete.The Herzl/RMHA Tigers still have one game to win before securing one of two regional berths.The school's girls team is in the same situation."We made the accommodation for them at the district level," CHSAA Commissioner Bill Reader said. "It's difficult to reschedule at the regional level; it's impossible at the state level."In an afternoon news conference, state Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, called the association's refusal "despicable."The players, Groff said, "should be given the opportunity to win the championship they've worked for."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387620 The House on Wednesday approved funding for metal detectors and additional security at the Capitol despite some lawmakers' objections that it was a waste of money.Criticism of the security measures crossed party lines and came just a day after a man was arrested after he walked onto the House floor uninvited and shouted at lawmakers. The unarmed man, later arrested after a scuffle with state troopers, said he wanted to address lawmakers.Metal detectors and more state troopers were added to the Capitol in September after an incident in July in which a trooper shot and killed an armed, deranged man inside the building.
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http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_8385477 With the Senate headed toward a vote on legislation aimed at reducing home foreclosures, Colorado's two U.S. senators split Wednesday on whether it would help or hurt the economy.Lawmakers will consider a bill that rewrites part of bankruptcy law, allowing judges to cut interest rates on some mortgages. People able to make revised payments could keep their homes.The Senate could take up the bill as soon as today, but President Bush already has threatened to veto the legislation.Sen. Ken Salazar, a Democrat, believes the changes are needed both for those facing foreclosure and a large chunk of homeowners in the state. Republican Wayne Allard said the legislation would increase costs for banks and other lenders and potentially hurt the economy.Allard aides were among those encouraging the Bush administration to threaten a veto of the bill."Interest rates will go up, fees will go up and it will probably be more difficult to get loans for future mortgages for future homeowners," Allard said.Salazar said the pain caused by foreclosures would hurt many in Colorado.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/lawmakers-call-a-foul-on-stance-of-prep/ A group of lawmakers put on a full-court press to salvage a Jewish team's chance at a regional high school basketball championship, but it failed to score.The Colorado High School Activities Association board stood firm Wednesday on its refusal to reschedule the March 8 championship game so the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy wouldn't have to play on the Jewish Sabbath.State Senate leaders called the CHSAA decision inflexible and "despicable."One lawmaker suggested the CHSAA could face a discrimination lawsuit for allowing games on the Saturday Jewish Sabbath, but prohibiting play on the Sunday Christian Sabbath.The religious beliefs of the Jewish team from Denver prevent it from playing on the Jewish Sabbath between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday. March 8 falls on Saturday, and the game is scheduled before sundown.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/unaffiliated-voters-gain-gop/ The number of unaffiliated voters edged closer to surpassing Republicans this month as the most numerous voting block in Colorado, according to voter registration figures released Wednesday by the secretary of state.Republican voters outnumbered unaffiliated voters by only about 10,000 in February. That's down from 12,000 the month before.The latest voter rolls show that 2.9 million Coloradans are registered to vote. The percentage of Republicans was 34.8 percent, compared with 34.4 percent unaffiliated and 30.4 percent Democrats.The percentage of unaffiliated voters has climbed steadily for five years.Overall, the number of Republicans increased by about 2,000 from January to February, while Democrats gained about 5,000 registered voters. There was an increase of about 4,000 unaffiliated voters in that period.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/04-law-fails-to-save-baby/ In the seven years since Colorado passed a "safe haven" law for newborns, 15 babies have been left with hospitals or firefighters - and just as many have turned up dead.The most recent victim was left in a basket outside Presbyterian/ St. Luke's Medical Center Tuesday night by someone who rang the call button and ran.Denver police, with the help of the hospital and the Denver coroner's office, are investigating, hoping to determine the age of the baby, the cause of death and whether she died before or after she was dropped off."It's a lose-lose-lose situation," said Jack Cozzens, president of the board of Colorado Safe Haven for Newborns, a group dedicated to raising awareness about the law that allows a parent to turn in a child without fear of prosecution, about cases such as the one Tuesday. "The baby dies, the mother goes to prison and a couple waiting to adopt a child still don't have one."
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/house-oks-bill-to-aid-military-spouses/ The House approved and sent to the Senate House Bill 1180. It would let military spouses collect unemployment insurance if they are forced to relocate. Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, said those spouses and their employers must pay for unemployment insurance but can't collect it if they are transferred.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/child-services-add-40-caseworkers/ Denver is adding 40 child-welfare caseworkers because calls to its abuse-and-neglect hot line have soared in the past two years, largely because of a jump in calls from Denver Public Schools.The rise in calls from the schools followed the story of 7- year-old Chandler Grafner's being starved to death despite warning calls from his school to social workers.Then a principal was charged with failing to report abuse in an incident among students at a middle school.Now, "The schools are calling in any incident they feel bears investigating," said Carmen Carillo, deputy manager of Denver Human Services.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/debut-near-guvs-sweeping-ed-reform-bill/ Gov. Bill Ritter has been promising sweeping education reform since he began his run for the state's top office in 2006.That kind of change could come about under a bill to be introduced in the Senate as early as next week, with Ritter's blessing.The measure, circulating in draft form among lawmakers and educators, would establish a statewide standard for what constitutes readiness for college or the workforce.High school graduation requirements and curriculum would be revised to reflect the new standards.And tests adminstered under the Colorado Student Assessment Program — a subject of long-running complaint among teachers and some parents — would follow the new curriculum.Testing would extend to 12th grade. It now ends in 10th grade."This is a comprehensive sea change in the way that we approach education policy in this state," said Matt Gianneschi, Ritter's education advisor.The bill permits school districts to scrap traditional course structures if students can meet the readiness standards in a different way."What we're saying is, it's the competencies that matter, and so if you can deliver that in a curriculum that doesn't look anything like what the curriculum in the school district next door to you has, fine," Gianneschi said.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/let-them-play/ Tournament time. It's supposed to be that special occasion when months and years of hard work culminate in the opportunity to compete for a state championship. It's supposed to be that moment when every high school basketball player has at least the chance to realize the dream of winning it all.That's why it's so regrettable that the boys and girls basketball teams from Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy may face the impossible choice between following a tenet of their faith - observance of the Sabbath - and participating in tournament games scheduled between dusk Fridays and dusk Saturdays the next three weekends.The Colorado High School Activities Association has some undeniable practical arguments why it is reluctant to enable Herzl/RMHA's boys and girls to take part in the Class 1A state basketball tournament. Its blueprint for conducting 10 simultaneous tournaments (for boys and girls in five classifications) in the short span of 16 days is a 57-page book that lays out all of the logistical issues - from arenas to schedules to motel availability to assignments for officials, scorers, timekeepers and all of the other people engaged to help operate more than 50 sites involving hundreds of games.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/thorstenson_33603___article.html/air_army.html Flying in slow circles four miles above Baghdad in the back of a four-engine C-130, the Air Force Academy’s Capt. Linda Thorstenson waits for a call.It could be from a convoy under attack, or just someone checking a radio. She’s their security blanket, ensuring that when they pick up their radios, someone will hear them on the other end.“We’re 911 operators at 20,000 feet,” said Thorstenson, who teaches cadets the basics of flying in Colorado Springs and helps coach the academy’s gymnastics team.“We’re there if they need us.”
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http://www.gazette.com/opinion/crack_33629___article.html/party_powder.html After too many years of inattention, Congress may finally be getting ready to correct one of the most harmful mistakes it made in the 1980s during the period of legislative hysteria over the phenomenon of crack cocaine. The House Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee held hearings Tuesday on bills to reform the disparity in sentencing for possession of crack and powder cocaine.Back in the 1980s, when crack cocaine seemed to be decimating neighborhoods and wrecking lives at an alarming rate, many people believed it was more addictive and more dangerous than powder cocaine. That turned out not to be the case, but while it was the conventional wisdom, Congress enacted laws mandating longer sentences for crack possession than for powder cocaine.It takes 5 grams of crack cocaine (two sugar packets) to get a five-year sentence versus 500 grams of powder. Fifty grams of crack triggers a 10-year sentence, but it takes 5,000 grams of powder to trigger a 10-year sentence.That’s a ratio of 100 to 1. And while it was not part of the intention, the disparity has harmed blacks more than any other group. By and large (there are exceptions to every rule) blacks who use cocaine tend to use crack, while white Americans are more inclined to use powder. So blacks have received much longer prison sentences for offenses that, chemically speaking, are identical.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/teacher_33608___article.html/colorado_springs.html A 73-year-old substitute teacher at Wasson High School was arrested by Colorado Springs police Feb. 15. A 15-year-old boy told police the male teacher offered to pay him $1,000 to allow the teacher to perform oral sex on him, according to an arrest affidavit.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/18 A Florence inmate who allegedly planned to throw hot wax on a congressman visiting a prison was convicted Tuesday of assaulting a guard by throwing the wax on him instead.Chief U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham said the inmate, Jay Vaughan Gregory, made "a strongly implied threat" in his closing arguments in a two-day trial.Nottingham ordered that Gregory's copy of the jurors' names be turned back to court staff "before you have any opportunity to copy" them.A person familiar with the case said Gregory, 51, is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a violent gang that operates in numerous prisons.Another person who attended the trial and had official knowledge of it said Gregory, in his closing argument, said, "We die with swords in our hands and not with chains on our ankles and we will hold each and everyone responsible for the actions that occurred in the courtroom."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386605 A skier died Wednesday at Eldora Mountain Resort. Officials said the 46-year-old man was found at 1:15 p.m. at the bottom of West Ridge, an intermediate trail in the Corona area. He was unresponsive and not breathing.Ski patrollers administered life support, but the skier was pronounced dead after about an hour.It was the first skier death "in quite a number of years" at Eldora Mountain Resort," said Rob Linde, resort spokesman.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/children-sickened-school-evacuated/ Lumberg Elementary School in Edgewater was evacuated Wednesday after several students and staff members complained of headaches and nausea, but the source of the illness remained a mystery, authorities said.Nine students and four teachers were treated at nearby Jefferson High School, then taken to Lutheran Hospital as a precaution shortly after the school was evacuated about 1 p.m., a spokeswoman for Jefferson County Schools said.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/797320509 World War II veterans are dying at a rate of more than 1,200 a day nationally.And many of the 16 million Americans who served in the war never had the opportunity to see the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., which opened to the public on April 29, 2004 between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.All that's going to change for northern Colorado veterans of the war.An Honor Flight Northern Colorado is being put together to fly WWII veterans from Weld and Larimer counties to the memorial -- free of charge -- Sept. 23-24.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_Clifton_Governance.html Residents of Clifton, the most densely populated community in unincorporated Mesa County, may be going to the polls this November to create Colorado’s newest city.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/227729473 Scott Burgess wants to repair the relationship between Minturn and Red Cliff, especially now that employee housing from private ski resort may be built near his town.“We have to change that relationship so that we have a say with what’s happening in our own backyard,” said Burgess, who has lived in Red Cliff for two years.That’s one of several reasons Burgess has decided to run for Red Cliff’s Board of Trustees, on which six seats out of seven will be up for grabs April 1.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/51392811 Their numbers have dwindled, and age has slowed them. Still, on Tuesday, the veteran ski troopers showed no fear on Riva Ridge.One by one, they plunged down the steepest face of this Vail trail, named for the supposedly insurmountable cliff they climbed in Italy’s Apennine Mountains to launch a surprise attack on the Nazis. That was 63 years ago.At the bottom of the ski trail, the men — now in their 80s and 90s — collected on this sunny powder day on Vail Mountain, smiling at each other.A love of skiing is still a common thread for these veterans of the 10th Mountain Division. But their bonds go much deeper.“Friends you make in combat, you never forget,” said John Woodward, 93, who was an officer in the 10th, the regiment of skier-soldiers who, during World War II in 1945, pushed back the Germans in the harsh Italian mountains.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8383225 A leaky value allowed about 300 gallons of untreated stormwater runoff into a 60-inch water pipeline in Aurora today, causing slight taste and odor problems but no known health risks, Aurora Water said.About 3,200 customers were affected in a 2-square-mile bordered by Mississippi and Jewell avenues and Wheeling to Dayton streets.The problem was quickly fixed, the line flushed and water samples sent to to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment as a precautionary measure, said Aurora Water spokeswoman Meghan Hughes.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/feisty-rolo-wins-reprieve/ Rolo lives. That's what a judge decided Wednesday afternoon.Assistant Presiding Judge Mike Graber ruled that the German shepherd, in trouble for biting a neighbor, can return to his owner.Not without conditions, however. Laura Hagan, Rolo's owner, has to continue intense training with the dog and learn how to better control him.A 90-day jail sentence for Hagan, who was found guilty Tuesday of having a dog at large and keeping a dangerous animal, will be suspended if the dog stays out of trouble for a year, Graber ruled.Ten of Hagan's neighbors testified at a sentencing hearing that the dog was aggressive and they had concerns ranging from mild to extreme for their safety and the safety of their children. Hagan was found guilty Tuesday of having an at-large dog and having a dangerous animal.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280366/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Laurie Stolen is proud of the work that goes into preparing and serving an estimated 14,000 nutritious meals weekly, even though her diners don't really have much choice in their dining options.Stolen, inmate services director at the Larimer County Detention Center, oversees the jail's kitchen staff, a mix of employees from contractor Aramark and nearly 50 "trustee" inmates.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/14 The organizer of a campaign to return the public comments to televised City Council work sessions is applauding the Pueblo County Democratic Party for taking a stand on the issue.Tucked in among 25 other resolutions passed Saturday at the Pueblo County Democratic convention was a brief statement that the party believes "City Council meetings should be televised for public access and should include public comment open to all Pueblo County residents."Right now, council televises its regular sessions and work sessions on nights when a regular session is held.Last September, however, council moved its public comment period to the non-televised work sessions and Chris Nicoll's Pueblo Citizens for Open Government has been fighting ever since to get the decision reversed.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_7b_Xcel.html Plagued with a history of power failures along Horizon Drive and around Grand Junction Regional Airport, Xcel Energy is investing more than $1 million to replace underground lines and equipment in an effort to eliminate power troubles in the area.
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http://steamboatpilot.com/news/2008/feb/28/yampa_valley_recycles_selling_reusable_bags/ The numbers associated with the consumption of plastic bags are staggering.According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 380 billion bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year. The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually, at an estimated cost to retailers of $4 billion. The bags are said to take more than 1,000 years to decompose.“These plastic bags — they are just a disaster,” Catherine Carson said.Carson is a member of Yampa Valley Recycles, a group that is launching a reusable shopping bag program in Routt County. The group has purchased 5,000 of the polypropylene bags, which it plans to sell for $1 each.
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/591981407 The Basalt town government’s proposal to boost property taxes to buy a flood-imperiled trailer park for $5 million has failed to attract a champion of the issue.While the election is only about a month away, April 1, no citizens’ committee has emerged to promote the purchase of the Pan and Fork Mobile Home Park. The bonding company the town is working with on the deal eventually will try to build awareness of the proposed purchase.The town government is in a sticky spot on the issue. Colorado law prevents local governments from spending public funds to promote a specific outcome. “The town can’t really do a lot,” Town Manager Bill Efting said. “We can’t spend town money.”
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/920530290 A member of Basalt’s Planning and Zoning Commission decided Wednesday to try out for the big leagues.
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/68450203 Summit County Sheriff John Minor said Tuesday’s sit-down with members of the Denver Water Board “went really well,” as the the agencies discussed communication, safety and security related to the Dillon Dam Road.“Obviously these are issues we will still need to work on as we try to develop this relationship and, like any relationship, it will take time,” said Sheriff John Minor.Denver Water and local law enforcement have recently been subjected to public scrutiny after the Denver Water closed the Dillon Dam Road for nine days in January due to a potential Homeland Security threat.
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http://montrosepress.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/doc47c6312e31b11250416400.txt Residents of a local subdivision are working to reduce crime in a way that focuses on individual homes — the crime-free lifestyles program.Fox Meadows is the first neighborhood in Montrose to begin implementing techniques developed by the International Crime Free Association to reduce the potential for residential crimes such as burglary and vandalism."In the last three to four years, we've started to witness significant increase in crime," resident Ken Holyfield said Wednesday. Holyfield is also a member of the Fox Meadows homeowners association. He's lived in the subdivision for seven years.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_1.htm Shalee Cunningham, who was tentatively chosen a month ago as the next superintendent of Durango schools, has withdrawn her application, the school board announced Wednesday."Shalee has withdrawn her application, and we are going to reopen the search and try to look for some other candidates," said Jeff Schell, a school board member. "Unfortunately, I can't comment on much more than that."
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x2052201974 For tiny Rico, everything is as it was before whispers of mining’s return crept through the floorboards.A deal that would have brought large-scale molybdenum mining to the hills above Rico is dead, some three months after it was supposed to close, according to a press release from Bolero Resources Corp. CEO R. Bruce Duncan.“Bolero’s due diligence investigations could not be satisfactorily addressed to permit the entering into of a definitive agreement,” reads the release, which appeared yesterday morning on a Canadian business and media Web site, CNW Telbec.Some celebrated, happy to nix mining from the local lexicon for the second time.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385957 To an outsider, the scene looks more like summer vacation than a day of learning. But it's all part of the free-form curriculum that defines this type of home schooling — based on the idea that learning is a natural consequence of living.It needn't be boxed into time increments, targeted at certain age groups, limited to traditional school subjects or measured in tests.Generally speaking, most home-schoolers follow a traditional curriculum of math, science and social studies.Much of their education is guided by textbooks and scheduled lesson plans.Flip that whole notion over, and you have unschooling.If unschoolers wake up one morning with an interest in horse training, salamanders or ancient Chinese dynasties, that is what they study. Their sources could be the Internet, museums, farms, library books, movies or professionals in their field of interest.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385956 Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve. But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions."I'm trying to balance your rights and interests as well as the needs of the community," Graber told Laura Hagan. "If you don't do these things, it would be very serious."Hagan received a 90-day jail sentence that is suspended for one year if Rolo stays out of trouble. Rolo and Hagan also must continue a 12- to 16-week training regimen with monthly progress reports.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386602 The loudest jets operating in the U.S. would be banned from landing at Centennial Airport under a proposal submitted by the airport and surrounding communities to the Federal Aviation Administration.The FAA is currently reviewing and taking public comment on Centennial's "noise-compatibility program."Michael Fronapfel, the airport's manager of planning and development, said the first of 12 recommendations is to ban "Stage 1" aircraft entirely, and Recommendation 2 is to ban the slightly quieter "Stage 2" aircraft from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385960 A new master plan for the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood calls for 3.6 million square feet of new development and 1,400 residential units.Combined with some of the existing buildings, the Federal Center will have a total of 6.4 million square feet on the 640-acre site within the next 20 years.The Federal Center property, which houses government offices, including the U.S. Geological Survey, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Mine Safety Health Administration, is owned by the General Services Administration.The GSA sought a master plan for the site to take advantage of the development potential brought about by the FasTracks project, which will bring an RTD light-rail line through the property, and by the relocation of St. Anthony Hospital to the site.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/jeffco-schools-beef-goes-bye-bye/ Lunch for tens of thousands of Jefferson County schoolchildren won't include 400 cases of frozen beef, which is being destroyed starting this morning.Colorado's largest school district bought some of the 143 million pounds of frozen beef being recalled from Chino, Calif.-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.Jeffco warehouse staff will destroy the meat at a Jeffco Schools storage warehouse on Quail Street in Lakewood.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383346 Over and over, parents complain that our schools are not doing an adequate job preparing students. Generations of students learned by sitting in rows at desks, memorizing multiplication tables, and listening intently to a teacher. Why can't students today learn the same way?As Bob Dylan said, "The times, they are a-changing." And we have done a very poor job keeping up with these changing times.For a good majority of today's youths, hours are spent at the computer, sending text messages or talking on cellphones, playing video games or listening to an iPod. Everything is electronic, fast, instantly gratifying, and independently controlled. These activities are in sharp contrast to the way most schools approach education.Our system requires all students to take the same courses, and take the same tests at the same time, regardless of the differing abilities of the students. Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if each student could progress according to his or her individual ability and then be tested accordingly?
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/full-fare-for-bus-rapid-transit/ Regional Transportation District officials are trying to reassure cities along U.S. 36 that the district still fully supports bus-rapid transit following the circulation of a city of Boulder memo questioning that commitment last week.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/racial-feud-trial-leaves-big-legal-bill/ Almost six weeks after 15-year- old Randall Nelson was found not guilty of charges of assault and disorderly conduct stemming from a racially charged incident in February 2007 that left another boy with a broken jaw, legal and financial ramifications remain for the family.In defending his son, now a freshman at Steamboat Springs High School, Brad Nelson learned a tough lesson: Good legal defense doesn't come cheap."If you want the best, you pay for the best," said Brad Nelson, who faces more than $40,000 of legal fees and other expenses related to his son's defense.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/wheat-watching-whole-wheat-price-woes-come-to/ In light of a nationwide surge in the price of wheat, Boulder businesses such as Spruce Confections, Great Harvest Bread and Boulder Beer Co. are re-evaluating what they make, how much they make and how much they charge."It's become a major panic in the brewery business," said Tess McFadden, marketing director for Boulder Beer, 2880 Wilderness Place.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/mystery-donor-leaves-1-million-to-naropa/ Who dunnit?An anonymous donor has left Naropa University $1 million in her will, the Boulder-based institution announced Wednesday.It's the largest such posthumous gift in the school's 34-year history, and comes with some intriguing question marks."Part of the mystery and the power of this gift is we don't know what her precise connection was to the university," said Christopher Dwyer, vice president for institutional advancement.The bequest will be distributed in segments to Naropa through 2011. The first amount has gone into the endowment fund. The president and its board of trustees will determine future placements. No strings are attached to the money.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-dog-on-trial-feb28,1,3839362.story Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Arvada Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve.But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/griego-hearts-broken-by-market/ Iran into an acquaintance last week at the Capitol Hill Whole Foods. Tina, he called, and I turned and there was Tony, smiling, saying I was the first person he had seen since, well . . .He didn't have to finish. I was one of his old customers, and he hadn't seen many since he and his business partner closed their own little grocery store in December.Tony Thompson and Shelley Garrelts owned Simple Foods on the Tennyson strip in North Denver. They took out a $270,000 bank loan, put their homes up as collateral, kicked in another $35,000 each and opened in August 2003. "To rave reviews," Tony reminds me later. He's right.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-lecture-solar-activity-and-climate-change/ The Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado is sponsoring a talk on how solar activity may have affected parts of the "little ice age."The 1600s brought an unusually cold period during the little ice age. Tom Woods will talk about how this historical climate change may have been affected by solar activity.Woods will discuss current understanding based on satellite measurements of variations in the sun, which will establish what extent solar influences play in our climate today.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/state-issues-warning-on-latest-e-mail-scam/ Colorado Attorney General John Suthers on Wednesday warned consumers and businesses about a new e-mail scam related to messages claiming to be from the U.S. Department of Justice.The e-mails concern a supposed consumer complaint filed against the recipient and usually contain an attachment. The attachment is either a blank complaint form or some other document.Suthers advises consumers not to open the attachment because it might contain a computer virus or other malicious software.The Justice Department doesn't send messages to the public via e-mail. Similar hoaxes have recently been conducted in the names of other government entities, the Justice Department said in a statement.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/qwest-reaches-deal-with-jeffco-schools/ Qwest Communications said it has won a 10-year, $16 million contract with the Jefferson County School District to provide high-speed data networking and Internet services.
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http://www.timescall.com/News_Story.asp?id=6862 The Weld County Jail was built to hold 405 inmates. It routinely averages 500.Officials hope a new $17 million wing will alleviate overcrowding at the jail when it’s ready for occupancy in March.“The objective and goal in building the new wing is to bring the numbers back down to capacity,” said Sterling Geesaman, Weld County Sheriff’s Office bureau chief.The four-year project adds 86,000 square feet to the jail and bring its capacity to 779 inmates.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/hunter_33631___article.html/county_seat.html Allison Hunter couldn’t stay out of a campaign fray for long.The 43-year-old Democrat, who in December dropped out of her second bid for the state House District 15 seat, filed paperwork Tuesday that officially kicked off her campaign for the District 2 seat on the El Paso County Commission.“A lot of people are desperate for a voice in the county and I can certainly tell that after even only two days,” Hunter said of the support she has received since informally announcing her candidacy at Saturday’s county Democratic Assembly.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/CSUZONE01/802280368/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 A new system for buying everything from lawn furniture to hazardous chemicals and cars may eventually help Colorado State University save $10 million annually, university officials say.The new system funnels purchases through a central program, helping financial administrators better understand exactly what university departments are buying.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280387/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 The five girls and sixth-grade teacher Mary Laszlo also tracked the energy usage of the elementary school, including water, gas and electricity. Utilities use at Werner produces 105 tons of greenhouse gases each year, the team found."I think it's really shocking," said Anne Bonhoure, a fifth-grader. "We are using a lot of energy."The team began to think of alternative ways to generate energy for the school and presented their findings to District Superintendent Jerry Wilson.They also made a presentation to the school, encouraging students and teachers to turn off lights, computers and other electronic devices when they are not in classrooms."We give awards for classrooms at the end of the day that don't have their computers turned on," said Kate Monahan, a sixth-grader.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_1b_Dist__51_Web_site.html A nonprofit policy research organization with its eye on school districts statewide has put District 51’s Web site on the bottom of the list of the state’s 20 largest districts, because of accessibility of information on open enrollment and other factors.The Independence Institute’s Education Policy Center in Golden evaluated the Web sites of 20 of the state’s largest school districts based on the comprehensiveness and accessibility of open enrollment information, scoring both of those factors in January 2007 and July 2007. The information was released this week in the report titled “Open Enrollment and the Internet: An Evaluation of Colorado School District Web Sites.”District 51 has made improvements since then to its Web site, http://www.mesa.k12.co.us/2003/index.cfm.
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http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2008/feb/28/rail_service_possible/ The cities of Steamboat Springs and Craig have joined a group exploring high-speed, passenger rail service that could include a spur extending from South Routt to Craig.The Hayden Town Board also has voted to join the multi-jurisdictional governmental entity known as the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority. Hayden’s membership will become official once it’s ratified by the authority, which is exploring the possibility of modern rail track along the Interstate 70 and Interstate 25 corridors. The system could continue into Wyoming and potentially tie in to similar rail networks already in the works in Utah and New Mexico. It is anticipated the I-70 stretch would include two major spurs: one to Aspen and another through South Routt, Steamboat and Craig.Routt County already has joined the authority. County Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush said she is glad that all other incorporated municipalities in Routt and Moffat counties have decided to join.
http://aspentimes.com/article/20080227/NEWS/452353441 Basalt will collect a new fee from Holy Cross Energy that could fund projects ranging from the undergrounding of power lines to conserving energy.The town government and Holy Cross are negotiating a new franchise agreement that will increase the amount of the annual fee that Holy Cross pays to provide the town with power.
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x565324813 In 2007, the levels of carbon dioxide burped out by town-owned vehicles, by the generation of lights and computers in town offices, by the operation of the water treatment plant, the ice rink, the Galloping Goose, the campground restrooms and all other public facilities, was roughly 7.2 million pounds.The good news: This represents a 6 percent decrease in the town government’s carbon footprint from 2006, when carbon output was roughly 7.67 million pounds.This is a positive step for Telluride, which cemented its intent to reduce its carbon footprint in recent years by signing onto The Canary Initiative, The US Mayors Climate Protection Initiative and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization — a trio of organizations bent on reversing climate change.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386609 Any woman who got between Shawna Nelson and her married lover felt Nelson's wrath, including murder victim Heather Garraus, according to testimony Wednesday.Nelson is being tried on a charge of first-degree murder after Garraus was shot execution-style in front of her Greeley office on Jan. 23, 2007.Nelson carried on a three-year affair with Greeley police officer Ignacio Garraus.Prosecution witnesses Wednesday told jurors Nelson despised Heather Garraus and saw her as an obstacle to a life with Ignacio and the child they conceived. Many were co-workers of Nelson, who once worked as a Greeley police dispatcher.Former dispatcher Jennifer Morrison said Nelson called Heather Garraus "fat," a "hag" and "disgusting." Nelson also took out her frustration with Garraus by pretending to shoot her at a target range, Morrison said.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280382/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Weld County District Court Judge Roger Klein sent jurors home early Wednesday so defense attorneys and prosecutors could reconcile some issues with exhibits prosecutors plan to present today.Larimer County prosecutor Greg Lammons said the prosecution has four witnesses remaining to testify, and the prosecution should conclude today.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080228/NEWS/574305886 Prosecutors in Shawna Nelson's murder trial on Wednesday introduced evidence indicating that she used her husband's gun to shoot her romantic rival, Heather Garraus.Witnesses spent the remainder of the day describing Nelson's hatred for Garraus and her love for Ignacio Garraus.Alan Hammond of the Aurora police department's Colorado Bureau of Investigations' forensics lab, said two shell casings recovered from the crime scene where Heather Garraus was killed matched Nelson's husband's .40-caliber Glock model 22. Ken Nelson is a former Weld County Sheriff's deputy. Police have accused him of removing the gun from the truck his wife was driving before she was arrested.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387622 The legislative session is nearly half over. And Wednesday was deadline day for the House to ship its bills to the Senate and the Senate to send its measures to the House.In a marathon morning session, the House passed bills requiring cities and rural electric associations to spend more on energy efficiency and companies to provide space for breast-feeding moms.House Bill 1107 from Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, requires cities and REAs to spend 2 percent of their revenues on energy-efficiency programs. The bill passed 59-6, with critics saying it was unfair to some municipalities. Colorado Springs, for example, would have to come up with $14 million in the next few years to meet the requirement.House Bill 1276 from Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, would require businesses to provide space and break time for new mothers to pump breast milk. Six Republican men voted against the measure, some complaining it was another mandate on business.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/citizen-legislator-february-28/ Rep. Bob Gardner served as the El Paso County Republican Party chairman in the mid-1990s and has volunteered on several political campaigns."I don't always win by any means, but I always believe in the candidates I'm working for," he said.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385961 With gold and silver prices hitting new highs, more investors are giving precious metals serious consideration.So too, likely, will be some of the same people who once put investors into inflated dot-com stocks and stuck borrowers with subprime mortgages they couldn't afford."We are finding that there are people who were former mortgage brokers who are getting into this business," said Mark Albarian, chief executive and president of Goldline International Inc., a Santa Monica, Calif.-based precious-metals and coin vendor.Gold futures for April delivery reached an all-time high of $967.70 an ounce Wednesday before closing at $961 after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress more interest-rate cuts could be on the way. Lower rates weaken the value of the U.S. dollar, making gold more attractive.Ken Hallenbeck, executive director of the American Numismatic Association, an industry trade group based in Colorado Springs, said questionable players can jump from hot area to hot area.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/guv-vows-hard-look-land-conservation-program/ Colorado must step up efforts to police an innovative conservation tax-credit program to ensure that questionable deals are stopped and that the public interest is protected, Gov. Bill Ritter said Wednesday."We do not stop programs we have helping us protect land in this state," Ritter told a packed room of open-space officials. "At the same time, we have to assure people there is not fraud and abuse."The program gives lucrative state income tax credits to landowners who agree to prohibit development on their properties using legal tools known as conservation easements. The tax credits then can be sold for cash.Investigations by the Colorado Division of Real Estate and the Department of Revenue are likely to be handed over to the Colorado attorney general and could result in criminal and civil prosecutions by the state, Ritter and other state officials said.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383284 Last week, I spent a couple of days skiing with my parents in Aspen. They are 87 and 91 years old.I always recognize my father on the slopes. He's worn the same ski outfit for 40 years. But, this year, my parents were decked out in new ski outfits, skis and boots. "Guess I'm an optimist," my father mused.My parents first skied at Aspen in 1949 and have skied a week there every year since then, missing only last season when my father had heart surgery. Their first year at Aspen, there were only two pokey chair lifts and a T-bar. Lift tickets were $5, compared to $87 today.When my kids were young, and lift tickets still relatively inexpensive, I taught them to ski during spring vacations in Aspen with my parents, until they preferred learning to jump and ski the trees with a far more adventurous ski school instructor. By then, the famous Colorado snow had already attracted tourists from around the world.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/roll-call-february-28/ "We now have so many women in the legislature there's a line in the bathroom. I love it."Rep. Alice Borodkin, D-Denver
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/solar-mirrors-could-array-near-dia/ Vast swaths of brown, barren land near Denver International Airport could soon become decorated with a dizzying array of mirrors reflecting sunlight.SolarTAC is evaluating sites around the airport to establish a major solar energy research center. A spinoff of the newly established Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, SolarTAC will be launched in the coming months.Colorado's major academic and research institutions spawned the Collaboratory last year to bolster the state's prowess in new energy technologies and transfer those advances to the free market.It is backed by the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Mines and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/the-blank-of-job/ On the subjects of history and literature, American students are dumb and dumber, yet another survey indicates.A survey of 17-year-olds, the results of which were released Tuesday, show alarming rates of ignorance about our cultural benchmarks. Almost 20 percent didn't know whom we fought in World War II. More than 25 percent think Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue sometime after 1752. Half can't identify, on a multiple-choice test, whom Sen. Joseph McCarthy assailed or what the Renaissance was.The telephone survey of 1,200 adolescents was commissioned by a nonprofit, nonpartisan group called Common Core (http://www.commoncore.org). The group's leaders are diverse, and they include a former vice president of the American Federation of Teachers and a former assistant education secretary to the first President Bush.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/process-may-reduce-mercury-emissions/ First-round tests on its chemically treated activated carbon showed promising results, ADA-ES Inc. said Wednesday.Littleton-based ADA-ES intends to sell the product to coal-fired power plants for reducing mercury emissions.The company performed the tests at a power plant burning Western PRB coal. While operating with the activated carbon, the plant was able to reduce mercury emissions by greater than 90 percent at a competitive feed rate.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/into-the-hermit-tyranny-with-music/ Visiting musicians aside, North Korea is still a thoroughgoing Stalinist dictatorship. But nothing official happens by accident in this hermit land, and it does appear that its leadership is tentatively testing the possibility of a little more openness to the outside world.
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http://www.politicswest.com/20835/suthers_robocop Coloradans have registered more than three million phone numbers on the no-call list since the 2001 phone privacy law was enacted. There was an exemption, however, for political and charitable groups. And since then, the automated dialing of pre-recorded phone messages - particularly political messages - has clogged the voicemails of thousands of consumers.Advocates of robocalls say it is protected free speech.Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, whose office oversees the no-call list, backed SB-146 in the state legislature that would have banned so-called robocalls. It was defeated this month in a state Senate committee on a 4-1 bi-partisan vote.The Robocall Privacy Act of 2008 has been proposed in Congress to regulate the practice.We caught up with Suthers recently to find out what comes next in Colorado.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280383/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Trout found in five lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park have both male and female sex organs, says a massive new federal report highlighting the problems that air pollution poses for national parks.The report released by the Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project said detectable levels of contaminants ranging from mercury to two banned insecticides and a flame-retardant chemical treatment were found in eight parks in the western United States, including Rocky.The report said air pollution from coal-burning power plants is a major source of contamination, which can drift in the atmosphere for long distances before being dropped in rain or snow."It's certainly a cautionary lesson that supports that what goes up into our air does come down," said Rocky spokeswoman Kyle Patterson. "Parks are not immune from human activities from hundreds or even thousands of miles away."The report said the pollution could have many different ramifications and that more study is needed."In Rocky Mountain and Glacier national parks, some individual trout were 'intersex,'" the report said. "This condition is commonly associated with exposure to certain contaminants (dieldrin and DDT) that mimic the hormone estrogen.”
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280372/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Farmers will face additional struggles to make sure they have enough water as the state's population continues to grow, the state's agriculture commissioner told Fort Collins Rotary Club members Wednesday.Less water will be available for irrigation as more houses are built, said John Stulp, Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture."As you grow houses you need to water people," he said. "The demand for water is going to get greater."The demand for green energy should help the agriculture business he said, as farmers are increasingly called upon to raise crops that can be used to create biofuels. He compared the price of oil to an "800-pound guerrilla in the corner of the room."He also said the need for green energy will help generate jobs in rural areas, which should encourage young people to remain on farms and in agri-businesses.Also on Wednesday, the club honored Bill Markham and his family with the Master Agriculturist Award.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_community_correction.html Mesa County’s top judge said last week his confidence in the county’s Criminal Justice Services Department has been “significantly eroded” after an investigation revealed some defendants were being held illegally in Mesa County Jail.The county could face a federal investigation, and the district’s judges may refuse to sentence defendants to the community corrections program if the issue continues, 21st Judicial District Chief Judge David Bottger wrote in a letter dated Feb. 20.As of Feb. 15, 10 defendants were in custody illegally and had been held for between six days and more than five months, according to Bottger’s own investigation. All defendants had been sentenced to community corrections and were placed either on day-reporting or nonresidential status as they were awaiting a bed at the facility.Bottger said the defendants were sent back to jail for alleged violations, but they were held without bond and without a judge determining whether the arrest was legitimate.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_5b_election_cost.html A bill pending in the state Legislature that would require primarily paper-ballot elections would, at a minimum, double Mesa County’s 2008 elections budget, elections officials said.The cost of the bill could be the least of the county’s problems, though, and one county commissioner said it might be time to let state officials run the show.“We’ll either have to violate HAVA, federal law or state law,” Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland said. “Our hands are tied. We’ll let Mike Coffman, Ken Gordon decide who wants to run the election in Mesa County.”Secretary of State Mike Coffman is the state’s chief elections official, Gordon is a state senator from Denver who is carrying the bill. Gov. Bill Ritter has called for all-paper-ballot elections in 2008.HAVA is the Help America Vote Act, which requires local officials to offer equipment such as touch-screen machines to voters.Gordon’s bill, introduced with the support of Republican leaders in both houses of the Legislature, calls for voters to be offered paper ballots, but in counties such as Mesa, which have touch-screen voting equipment, voters could ask specifically for that option.Mesa County’s touch screens were certified this week, but the optical-scan equipment needed to count paper ballots is to be tested today and Friday in Denver.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28leadville.html?ref=us For years, the federal Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency have bickered over what to do about the aging tunnel, which stretches 2.1 miles and has become dammed by debris. The debris is holding back more than a billion gallons of water, much of it tainted with toxic levels of cadmium, zinc and manganese.The threat posed by the tunnel is the latest misfortune for the town, which is grappling with the wreckage of more than a century of mining.“Everybody made a lot of money in Leadville,” said Ken Olsen, a county commissioner. “They left years ago, and we’ve had to clean up after them ever since.”In the late 1800s, a gold and silver boom made Leadville one of Colorado’s most colorful places, drawing the likes of the Guggenheims. Legend has it that Doc Holliday fought his final gunfight here.Gold and silver gave way to zinc and lead mining, encouraged by the federal government for the war effort during World War II and the Korean War. Molybdenum, used to fortify steel, was blasted out of the mountains for years at the Climax mine.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/12 The new Statewide Voter Registration System is on-track, but it will require more hands-on help from the state, an independent assessment of the system concluded Wednesday.In an effort to avoid problems with the new system that some state agencies have seen with other computer databases in recent years, the Secretary of State's Office and the Governor's Office of Information Technology plan to add more people to help counties get used to the new system, said Rich Coolidge, Coffman's spokesman."We're happy that the assessment came in, did kind of a nuts-and-bolts review and said, 'The technological side of this, we're confident that it's moving in the right direction,' ” Coolidge said. "What they did say was, 'You need to have more hand-holding with the counties to make sure that they understand how to use the system.' And we're going to provide some more ground support and make the management team more supportive to the counties as they implement this new system."
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/558581416 State Rep. Christine Scanlan is wasting no time on Capitol Hill, as she passed two new bills on Tuesday out of the House Transportation and Energy Committee.The two new bills aim to protect passenger safety on ski lifts and school buses. The first, House Bill 1244, continues the passenger safety tramway board for the next 12 years. The board provides oversight for Colorado’s 374 tramways, most of which are ski lifts.“In just the last two years, there have been more than 25 million ski visits to our resorts, which have accounted for more than 250 million rides on our lifts,” Rep. Scanlan said. “Not once has there been a major lift failure or accident during that time. Obviously, we’re doing something right. Keeping this board going for the next 12 years ensures we keep doing it right.”
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/EDITS/210326461 Are the Lake County Commissioner and State Sen. Tom Wiens grandstanding over the danger poised by a clogged mine tunnel?Leadville Mayor Bud Elliott thinks so.The commissioners on Feb. 13 declared a state of emergency with the clogged tunnel, which may hold as much as 1 billion gallons of water, much of it poisoned because it’s been leaching through mineral-laden rock.The commissioners say the disaster declaration was needed to get the Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency off their collective kiesters to more effectively treat the water now trickling out of the World War II-era tunnel.Wiens, meanwhile, has set up a Web site — The Rocky Mountain News reports the site went live a few days before the commissioners’ vote on Feb. 13 — to get information out about the potential danger.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_5.htm A day after an apparently deranged man barged into the House of Representatives, state lawmakers debated the expense of metal detectors at the Capitol.A number of lawmakers decried the new security measures at "the people's house," which had no metal detectors until last fall, when a tuxedo-clad man was shot by a state trooper outside the governor's office after he displayed a gun and declared himself emperor of Colorado.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/democratic-national-convention-volunteering-is-a/ The group coordinating volunteers for the Democratic National Convention has a message for anyone who thinks blowing up a few balloons will be their ticket to a front row seat at the convention: Not so fast.Overwhelmed by more than 25,000 people interested in volunteering, the Denver 2008 Host Committee this week sent out a note politely stating that the reward for volunteering is not likely to go beyond self-satisfaction."Some people have the impression that a volunteer position is a ticket, or a credential, to the Democratic Convention,"Host committee spokesman Chris Lopez said organizers were not expecting to hear from so many volunteers so many months before the August convention.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387623 A bill mandating that the state conduct a primarily paper-ballot election this year may not be a slam dunk, even though it has the sponsorship of party leaders in both legislative chambers.A handful of legislators said Wednesday that they have serious concerns about the bill, a sign that a battle may be shaping up."I'm just really disappointed that there's the possibility of this going forward," said Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, "and I will put all my effort into killing it in the Senate."The bill, Senate Bill 189, was formally introduced Wednesday. It would require county clerks to offer all voters a paper ballot, although voters could ask to vote on an electronic voting terminal. Voters would also be able to vote early or vote by mail.Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, a Denver Democrat who crafted the bill, said the measure would move the state away from using electronic voting terminals, which came under scrutiny after a lawsuit and the secretary of state's subsequent decertification of many of the machines. It would also likely prevent a future lawsuit over the voting terminals, he said."I think we've hit the right balance here," Gordon said.But several clerks say the bill would drive up election costs and could cause major voting problems.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385328 Wyoming officials issued an unprecedented health alert Wednesday in a rural gas-drilling area for a buildup of ozone — usually a summertime air pollutant in urban areas.The Pinedale area had high ozone readings a week after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency criticized the federal Bureau of Land Management for planning thousands of new gas wells in the area without adequate air-quality protection."This should be a wake-up call for the Bureau of Land Management," said Linda Baker, director of the Upper Green River Valley Coalition. "What's going to happen to our air when we have 4,400 . . . additional wells, as the BLM proposes?"In Colorado, state regulators are targeting gas wells as a major contributor to the Denver metro area's troublesome ozone levels and are considering new restrictions on equipment and operations.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385325 Even though someone left a baby girl outside Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center, apparently intending to qualify under the state's safe-haven law, the infant's death removes any legal protections.The Denver Police Department's homicide unit is investigating, said Detective Sharon Hahn, and prosecutors from the Denver district attorney's office will decide what charges, if any, to file.The Denver coroner's office will determine the cause of death, including whether the baby was dead before she was brought to the hospital, Hahn said.But whether the infant was alive or not when she was left at the hospital at Franklin Street and East 20th Avenue, the statute requires that the child be left "safely." The law also requires the parent to perform any act necessary to protect the health of the child.Someone rang a help button outside the hospital at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday; a security guard immediately went outside and found the baby and brought her inside, Hahn said.The medical staff then pronounced the baby dead, she said.Police are requesting help in identifying the baby's parents.Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said the case will be investigated as a child death.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385327 State backlogs that stretch five months or more have left nearly 10 percent of the child-care welfare staff in Denver with incomplete training.The lag is putting a crunch on an already overburdened system, said Roxane White, Denver's manager of the Department of Human Services.The problem is that until her workers get the full training, the number of cases they can investigate is limited, meaning other workers are overloaded with too many cases, she said in a briefing to City Council members this week.Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said the state is reserving comment until it finishes its review of what caused 13 high-profile child deaths in the state last year."Caseloads, caseworker qualifications and training are currently being reviewed," McDonough said. "We're not going to comment beyond that at this point."In a series of e-mails earlier this month, White raised the training issue along with other concerns with state officials.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385953 A young man who killed four people at a Colorado Springs church and an Arvada missionary training center had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and harbored bitterness for being an outcast, his parents said in their first extended comments.Matthew Murray gave no indication that he was about to explode in violence, though, they said in an interview to be broadcast today and Friday on James Dobson's Focus on the Family radio program.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387621 Lawmakers fretted Wednesday over what would happen if a major dust storm coated the state's voluminous snowpack before the spring runoff."If we had dust layers in there like we've had in previous years, potentially we'd be looking at buying sandbags," said Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus.The comments came during a morning joint Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee meeting, at which a researcher told lawmakers how dust storms that dirty mountain snowpack reduce the snow's reflectivity and cause faster runoff. Earlier melting usually means the water comes too soon to help farmers, said Rep. Rafael Gallegos, D-Antonito. But with seasonal snowpack levels reaching as high as 173 percent of average, a faster runoff could also cause widespread flooding.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387618 A Senate panel backed legislation Wednesday banning state workers from striking, but not before one lawmaker went on a table-slapping tirade about the "silliness" of the business-versus-labor debate."This state is burning down!" shouted Sen. Chris Romer, a Denver Democrat.He challenged business and labor leaders to push a November ballot measure to bail out education or health care instead of fighting over a "modest" order from Gov. Bill Ritter allowing state workers to negotiate with managers.And he asked business leaders to stomp out a potential right-to-work initiative that would prohibit workers from being forced to become union members or pay union dues.
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386601 Denver Post journalists won 15 first-place awards in the annual contest sponsored by The Denver Press Club and Denver Newspaper Guild.Rocky Mountain News reporters, designers and editors won eight first-place awards in the contest that drew more than 200 entries from Colorado journalists.The awards recognize work published in print or online between June 1, 2006, and May 31, 2007. They were judged by representatives of the Los Angeles and Cleveland Press Clubs and the New Mexico Press Women.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385997 Two media giants completed a long-awaited $12 billion agreement Wednesday that sent Liberty Media Corp.'s 16 percent stake in News Corp. back to Rupert Murdoch and gave John Malone control over satellite-television provider DirecTV.Douglas County-based Liberty Media, a holding company with interests in cable programming and Internet commerce, also acquired three regional sports networks as part of the exchange.Under the final terms, Liberty Media exchanged a 16 percent stake in News Corp., worth roughly $11 billion, plus $625 million in cash for a 41 percent interest in DirecTV.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8387295 Liberty Media Corp. chairman John Malone may win control of Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp in a court fight over IAC's breakup plan, a Lehman Bros. analyst said Wednesday."Liberty might get operating control" by forcing Diller out as the caretaker for Liberty's 62 percent voting stake in IAC, wrote Lehman analyst Vijay Jayant in New York, who recommends buying Liberty Interactive tracking stock.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385843 Gov. Bill Ritter on Wednesday said the attorney general's and district attorney's offices may get involved in an investigation into abuses of the state's conservation easement program.The Colorado Division of Real Estate launched an investigation in November, issuing 30 subpoenas to people who were connected to deals involving five ranches and an Arvada land trust, then called Noah Land Conservation. More recently, it subpoenaed the records of The Greenlands Reserve, a Summit County-based land trust.Speaking at the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts conference, Ritter said the next step is to talk to the district attorney and attorney general.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/paper-suspends-karson/ The University of Colorado student author of an opinion column that garnered national attention for saying Asians "hate us all" and should be hated back was suspended from the Campus Press newspaper staff Wednesday."Max Karson's duties with the Campus Press have been suspended pending a restructuring of the opinions section," according to a statement posted on the student paper's Web site Wednesday.Karson ignited a firestorm last week when his piece titled "If it's war the Asians want ... It's war they'll get," infuriated some students and past members of the Campus Press staff who said the piece was inflammatory and a failed attempt at satire.The statement goes on to say that the publication's editors are in the process of organizing an "open, public forum to address diversity sensitivity in our news coverage" and are rewriting their ethics policy.The announcement came the same day university officials said they're close to announcing major changes in the way the paper is operated and overseen.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-student-group-hosts-korean-culture-night/ The University of Colorado's Korean American Student group is hosting a culture night Friday that will include comedy, a kum do sword performance, Korean drumming and other demonstrations.The event, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the University Memorial Center's Glenn Miller Ballroom, is free and open to the public.Comedian Eliot Chang will perform, and there will also be a Korean play and food.
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news1.txt More than 200 students gathered on the south porch of the University Memorial Center as a show of solidarity and distaste against the Feb. 18 publication of an opinion column titled “If it's war Asians want” in CU-Boulder's online newspaper “The Campus Press.”Under clear skies, the diverse gathering of students from many ethnic and cultural backgrounds held colorful signs that read “Revolution,” “Shoulder to Shoulder,” and “Responsible Journalism Now!” while a series of student leaders spoke of their experiences as minorities on campus, and issued calls to fight against racist sentiments by working together with university administration.“It's not just one article,” stated Dr. Detre Godinez, a recent CU grad who endorsed a Biased Incident Hotline that students could call to immediately report instances of racial victimization and marginalization. “It's every day. We experience it every day - it's in our faces every day.”
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news2.txt CU diversity group student leaders have compiled a list of responses they'd like the university to enact, in the wake of last week's Campus Press editorial satirizing Asian stereotypes.The editorial, written by CU senior Max Karson, says “They [Asians] hate us all. And I say it's time we started hating them back.”“If you're not sure if someone is Asian, give them a calculus problem to do in their head,” the editorial says. Karson defends it as obvious satire.The students are asking for the resignation of Campus Press faculty advisor Amy Herdy and editor-in-chief Cassie Hewlings and “an independent investigation into the upper echelons of the journalism school, [to see] whether a systemic culture of racism exists,” said CU junior David Chiu.“We want this to be conducted by a panel of students and faculty who support and represent diversity,” Chiu said, “and not the dean, who'd look into his own department.”They're also asking the administration to revisit a list of student demands made two years ago after an African-American student government tri-executive received a death threat.
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news3.txt There's one downside to massive political participation - massive data entry.Coloradans flooded their Feb. 5 political party caucuses in record numbers, and the raw volume has contributed to the fact that full Democratic Party U.S. Senate preference poll results hadn't been officially released as of Feb. 27.Pat Waak, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party (CDP), said that Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Udall had roughly 87 percent of statewide poll votes as of late Wednesday afternoon, with “uncommitted” at 11 percent and educator Mark Benner at about two percent.Waak said the CDP was still waiting for poll results from Boulder and Jefferson counties as of Wednesday afternoon. For reference, about 120,000 Colorado Democrats attended a caucus, while about 18,000 Boulder County Democrats and 16,000 Jefferson County Democrats caucused on Feb. 5.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/474741178 A bill in the Legislature would limit the interest and fees payday lending businesses can charge residents, though opponents say it will drive out the industry and create a black market for loans the state cannot regulate.The bill -- HB 1310 -- would place a limit of 45 percent annual interest rate on short-term loans businesses provide to residents, and it would limit lenders to assessing only one $60 finance fee per borrower, per year. It also would allow borrowers 30 days to repay the loan instead of the 14 days the industry uses now.Now, businesses can assess annual interest rates of sometimes more than 350 percent on payday loans they give. Most payday loan businesses make borrowers postdate a check to use as collateral for the loan.The bill won approval from the Colorado House Monday by a narrow margin and now goes to the Senate for further consideration.Both Rep. Glen Vaad, R-Mead, and Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, voted against the measure. Vaad said he received more than a dozen emails from Greeley and Longmont payday loaners who said the bill -- if it becomes law -- will drive them out of business.
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http://www.politicswest.com/20851/mark_udall_mourns_william_f_buckley_jr U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colorado, who is running for the state's open U.S. Senate seat, released the following statement Wednesday on the death of conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr.“Any American who reveres our constitution and admires intelligence, wit and integrity in public life will mourn the passing of William F. Buckley Jr. Like many others who grew up the 1960s and 1970s, I appreciated the provocative conversation in Mr. Buckley’s interviews on his television program 'Firing Line' – where he challenged political leaders from across the political spectrum. America’s conservative movement obviously owes a great deal to the intellectual foundation of William F. Buckley’s writing and philosophy, but his contributions to public life were not just ideological. Mr. Buckley was a grand debater, a great thinker and a brilliant personality. He will be missed.”
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280381/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Larimer County prosecutors are wading through a list of more than 1,000 convicts as they consider which cases to review - and who might ultimately go free - in light of advanced DNA testing.District Attorney Larry Abrahamson announced the plan to review cases after a judge freed Timothy Masters from his life sentence on Jan. 22. The judge said new DNA evidence pointed toward a new suspect in the 1987 Peggy Hettrick murder and vacated Masters' conviction after Masters had served nearly nine years in prison.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/2 The Colorado Capitol is a state structure that should be left wide-open to the public, some lawmakers said Wednesday.But considering today's troubled times, and the public's general acceptance of at least basic security measures, metal detectors should continue to be used in the historic structure, other legislators countered.The opposing sides emerged during debate over whether the state should spend an additional $490,000 to beef up security at the Capitol as a result of last summer's fatal shooting of a mentally ill man who threatened Gov. Bill Ritter.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383424 Uncertainty is never a good thing when it comes to holding elections.That's why we were glad to see state lawmakers introduce a bill this week to mandate a primarily paper ballot system this year.It may not be the perfect system, and ultimately it could delay vote counting, but at this moment it seems to be the best way to inject some voter confidence back into the electoral process.Yet, significant issues remain to be resolved before Coloradans can vote. In short, there are some large counties that don't have enough scanners — devices that tally paper ballots — to count votes in a timely fashion.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386606 The Colorado High School Activities Association board reaffirmed Wednesday that it will not jump through hoops to reschedule regional and state basketball finals for a Jewish team that won't play on Saturdays — their Sabbath.Several state lawmakers pressed the association to push back a March 8 regional finals game until after sundown that Saturday so that the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy could compete.The Herzl/RMHA Tigers still have one game to win before securing one of two regional berths.The school's girls team is in the same situation."We made the accommodation for them at the district level," CHSAA Commissioner Bill Reader said. "It's difficult to reschedule at the regional level; it's impossible at the state level."In an afternoon news conference, state Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, called the association's refusal "despicable."The players, Groff said, "should be given the opportunity to win the championship they've worked for."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387620 The House on Wednesday approved funding for metal detectors and additional security at the Capitol despite some lawmakers' objections that it was a waste of money.Criticism of the security measures crossed party lines and came just a day after a man was arrested after he walked onto the House floor uninvited and shouted at lawmakers. The unarmed man, later arrested after a scuffle with state troopers, said he wanted to address lawmakers.Metal detectors and more state troopers were added to the Capitol in September after an incident in July in which a trooper shot and killed an armed, deranged man inside the building.
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http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_8385477 With the Senate headed toward a vote on legislation aimed at reducing home foreclosures, Colorado's two U.S. senators split Wednesday on whether it would help or hurt the economy.Lawmakers will consider a bill that rewrites part of bankruptcy law, allowing judges to cut interest rates on some mortgages. People able to make revised payments could keep their homes.The Senate could take up the bill as soon as today, but President Bush already has threatened to veto the legislation.Sen. Ken Salazar, a Democrat, believes the changes are needed both for those facing foreclosure and a large chunk of homeowners in the state. Republican Wayne Allard said the legislation would increase costs for banks and other lenders and potentially hurt the economy.Allard aides were among those encouraging the Bush administration to threaten a veto of the bill."Interest rates will go up, fees will go up and it will probably be more difficult to get loans for future mortgages for future homeowners," Allard said.Salazar said the pain caused by foreclosures would hurt many in Colorado.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/lawmakers-call-a-foul-on-stance-of-prep/ A group of lawmakers put on a full-court press to salvage a Jewish team's chance at a regional high school basketball championship, but it failed to score.The Colorado High School Activities Association board stood firm Wednesday on its refusal to reschedule the March 8 championship game so the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy wouldn't have to play on the Jewish Sabbath.State Senate leaders called the CHSAA decision inflexible and "despicable."One lawmaker suggested the CHSAA could face a discrimination lawsuit for allowing games on the Saturday Jewish Sabbath, but prohibiting play on the Sunday Christian Sabbath.The religious beliefs of the Jewish team from Denver prevent it from playing on the Jewish Sabbath between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday. March 8 falls on Saturday, and the game is scheduled before sundown.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/unaffiliated-voters-gain-gop/ The number of unaffiliated voters edged closer to surpassing Republicans this month as the most numerous voting block in Colorado, according to voter registration figures released Wednesday by the secretary of state.Republican voters outnumbered unaffiliated voters by only about 10,000 in February. That's down from 12,000 the month before.The latest voter rolls show that 2.9 million Coloradans are registered to vote. The percentage of Republicans was 34.8 percent, compared with 34.4 percent unaffiliated and 30.4 percent Democrats.The percentage of unaffiliated voters has climbed steadily for five years.Overall, the number of Republicans increased by about 2,000 from January to February, while Democrats gained about 5,000 registered voters. There was an increase of about 4,000 unaffiliated voters in that period.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/04-law-fails-to-save-baby/ In the seven years since Colorado passed a "safe haven" law for newborns, 15 babies have been left with hospitals or firefighters - and just as many have turned up dead.The most recent victim was left in a basket outside Presbyterian/ St. Luke's Medical Center Tuesday night by someone who rang the call button and ran.Denver police, with the help of the hospital and the Denver coroner's office, are investigating, hoping to determine the age of the baby, the cause of death and whether she died before or after she was dropped off."It's a lose-lose-lose situation," said Jack Cozzens, president of the board of Colorado Safe Haven for Newborns, a group dedicated to raising awareness about the law that allows a parent to turn in a child without fear of prosecution, about cases such as the one Tuesday. "The baby dies, the mother goes to prison and a couple waiting to adopt a child still don't have one."
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/house-oks-bill-to-aid-military-spouses/ The House approved and sent to the Senate House Bill 1180. It would let military spouses collect unemployment insurance if they are forced to relocate. Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, said those spouses and their employers must pay for unemployment insurance but can't collect it if they are transferred.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/child-services-add-40-caseworkers/ Denver is adding 40 child-welfare caseworkers because calls to its abuse-and-neglect hot line have soared in the past two years, largely because of a jump in calls from Denver Public Schools.The rise in calls from the schools followed the story of 7- year-old Chandler Grafner's being starved to death despite warning calls from his school to social workers.Then a principal was charged with failing to report abuse in an incident among students at a middle school.Now, "The schools are calling in any incident they feel bears investigating," said Carmen Carillo, deputy manager of Denver Human Services.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/debut-near-guvs-sweeping-ed-reform-bill/ Gov. Bill Ritter has been promising sweeping education reform since he began his run for the state's top office in 2006.That kind of change could come about under a bill to be introduced in the Senate as early as next week, with Ritter's blessing.The measure, circulating in draft form among lawmakers and educators, would establish a statewide standard for what constitutes readiness for college or the workforce.High school graduation requirements and curriculum would be revised to reflect the new standards.And tests adminstered under the Colorado Student Assessment Program — a subject of long-running complaint among teachers and some parents — would follow the new curriculum.Testing would extend to 12th grade. It now ends in 10th grade."This is a comprehensive sea change in the way that we approach education policy in this state," said Matt Gianneschi, Ritter's education advisor.The bill permits school districts to scrap traditional course structures if students can meet the readiness standards in a different way."What we're saying is, it's the competencies that matter, and so if you can deliver that in a curriculum that doesn't look anything like what the curriculum in the school district next door to you has, fine," Gianneschi said.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/let-them-play/ Tournament time. It's supposed to be that special occasion when months and years of hard work culminate in the opportunity to compete for a state championship. It's supposed to be that moment when every high school basketball player has at least the chance to realize the dream of winning it all.That's why it's so regrettable that the boys and girls basketball teams from Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy may face the impossible choice between following a tenet of their faith - observance of the Sabbath - and participating in tournament games scheduled between dusk Fridays and dusk Saturdays the next three weekends.The Colorado High School Activities Association has some undeniable practical arguments why it is reluctant to enable Herzl/RMHA's boys and girls to take part in the Class 1A state basketball tournament. Its blueprint for conducting 10 simultaneous tournaments (for boys and girls in five classifications) in the short span of 16 days is a 57-page book that lays out all of the logistical issues - from arenas to schedules to motel availability to assignments for officials, scorers, timekeepers and all of the other people engaged to help operate more than 50 sites involving hundreds of games.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/thorstenson_33603___article.html/air_army.html Flying in slow circles four miles above Baghdad in the back of a four-engine C-130, the Air Force Academy’s Capt. Linda Thorstenson waits for a call.It could be from a convoy under attack, or just someone checking a radio. She’s their security blanket, ensuring that when they pick up their radios, someone will hear them on the other end.“We’re 911 operators at 20,000 feet,” said Thorstenson, who teaches cadets the basics of flying in Colorado Springs and helps coach the academy’s gymnastics team.“We’re there if they need us.”
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http://www.gazette.com/opinion/crack_33629___article.html/party_powder.html After too many years of inattention, Congress may finally be getting ready to correct one of the most harmful mistakes it made in the 1980s during the period of legislative hysteria over the phenomenon of crack cocaine. The House Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee held hearings Tuesday on bills to reform the disparity in sentencing for possession of crack and powder cocaine.Back in the 1980s, when crack cocaine seemed to be decimating neighborhoods and wrecking lives at an alarming rate, many people believed it was more addictive and more dangerous than powder cocaine. That turned out not to be the case, but while it was the conventional wisdom, Congress enacted laws mandating longer sentences for crack possession than for powder cocaine.It takes 5 grams of crack cocaine (two sugar packets) to get a five-year sentence versus 500 grams of powder. Fifty grams of crack triggers a 10-year sentence, but it takes 5,000 grams of powder to trigger a 10-year sentence.That’s a ratio of 100 to 1. And while it was not part of the intention, the disparity has harmed blacks more than any other group. By and large (there are exceptions to every rule) blacks who use cocaine tend to use crack, while white Americans are more inclined to use powder. So blacks have received much longer prison sentences for offenses that, chemically speaking, are identical.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/teacher_33608___article.html/colorado_springs.html A 73-year-old substitute teacher at Wasson High School was arrested by Colorado Springs police Feb. 15. A 15-year-old boy told police the male teacher offered to pay him $1,000 to allow the teacher to perform oral sex on him, according to an arrest affidavit.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/18 A Florence inmate who allegedly planned to throw hot wax on a congressman visiting a prison was convicted Tuesday of assaulting a guard by throwing the wax on him instead.Chief U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham said the inmate, Jay Vaughan Gregory, made "a strongly implied threat" in his closing arguments in a two-day trial.Nottingham ordered that Gregory's copy of the jurors' names be turned back to court staff "before you have any opportunity to copy" them.A person familiar with the case said Gregory, 51, is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a violent gang that operates in numerous prisons.Another person who attended the trial and had official knowledge of it said Gregory, in his closing argument, said, "We die with swords in our hands and not with chains on our ankles and we will hold each and everyone responsible for the actions that occurred in the courtroom."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386605 A skier died Wednesday at Eldora Mountain Resort. Officials said the 46-year-old man was found at 1:15 p.m. at the bottom of West Ridge, an intermediate trail in the Corona area. He was unresponsive and not breathing.Ski patrollers administered life support, but the skier was pronounced dead after about an hour.It was the first skier death "in quite a number of years" at Eldora Mountain Resort," said Rob Linde, resort spokesman.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/children-sickened-school-evacuated/ Lumberg Elementary School in Edgewater was evacuated Wednesday after several students and staff members complained of headaches and nausea, but the source of the illness remained a mystery, authorities said.Nine students and four teachers were treated at nearby Jefferson High School, then taken to Lutheran Hospital as a precaution shortly after the school was evacuated about 1 p.m., a spokeswoman for Jefferson County Schools said.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/797320509 World War II veterans are dying at a rate of more than 1,200 a day nationally.And many of the 16 million Americans who served in the war never had the opportunity to see the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., which opened to the public on April 29, 2004 between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.All that's going to change for northern Colorado veterans of the war.An Honor Flight Northern Colorado is being put together to fly WWII veterans from Weld and Larimer counties to the memorial -- free of charge -- Sept. 23-24.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_Clifton_Governance.html Residents of Clifton, the most densely populated community in unincorporated Mesa County, may be going to the polls this November to create Colorado’s newest city.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/227729473 Scott Burgess wants to repair the relationship between Minturn and Red Cliff, especially now that employee housing from private ski resort may be built near his town.“We have to change that relationship so that we have a say with what’s happening in our own backyard,” said Burgess, who has lived in Red Cliff for two years.That’s one of several reasons Burgess has decided to run for Red Cliff’s Board of Trustees, on which six seats out of seven will be up for grabs April 1.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/51392811 Their numbers have dwindled, and age has slowed them. Still, on Tuesday, the veteran ski troopers showed no fear on Riva Ridge.One by one, they plunged down the steepest face of this Vail trail, named for the supposedly insurmountable cliff they climbed in Italy’s Apennine Mountains to launch a surprise attack on the Nazis. That was 63 years ago.At the bottom of the ski trail, the men — now in their 80s and 90s — collected on this sunny powder day on Vail Mountain, smiling at each other.A love of skiing is still a common thread for these veterans of the 10th Mountain Division. But their bonds go much deeper.“Friends you make in combat, you never forget,” said John Woodward, 93, who was an officer in the 10th, the regiment of skier-soldiers who, during World War II in 1945, pushed back the Germans in the harsh Italian mountains.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8383225 A leaky value allowed about 300 gallons of untreated stormwater runoff into a 60-inch water pipeline in Aurora today, causing slight taste and odor problems but no known health risks, Aurora Water said.About 3,200 customers were affected in a 2-square-mile bordered by Mississippi and Jewell avenues and Wheeling to Dayton streets.The problem was quickly fixed, the line flushed and water samples sent to to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment as a precautionary measure, said Aurora Water spokeswoman Meghan Hughes.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/feisty-rolo-wins-reprieve/ Rolo lives. That's what a judge decided Wednesday afternoon.Assistant Presiding Judge Mike Graber ruled that the German shepherd, in trouble for biting a neighbor, can return to his owner.Not without conditions, however. Laura Hagan, Rolo's owner, has to continue intense training with the dog and learn how to better control him.A 90-day jail sentence for Hagan, who was found guilty Tuesday of having a dog at large and keeping a dangerous animal, will be suspended if the dog stays out of trouble for a year, Graber ruled.Ten of Hagan's neighbors testified at a sentencing hearing that the dog was aggressive and they had concerns ranging from mild to extreme for their safety and the safety of their children. Hagan was found guilty Tuesday of having an at-large dog and having a dangerous animal.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280366/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Laurie Stolen is proud of the work that goes into preparing and serving an estimated 14,000 nutritious meals weekly, even though her diners don't really have much choice in their dining options.Stolen, inmate services director at the Larimer County Detention Center, oversees the jail's kitchen staff, a mix of employees from contractor Aramark and nearly 50 "trustee" inmates.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/14 The organizer of a campaign to return the public comments to televised City Council work sessions is applauding the Pueblo County Democratic Party for taking a stand on the issue.Tucked in among 25 other resolutions passed Saturday at the Pueblo County Democratic convention was a brief statement that the party believes "City Council meetings should be televised for public access and should include public comment open to all Pueblo County residents."Right now, council televises its regular sessions and work sessions on nights when a regular session is held.Last September, however, council moved its public comment period to the non-televised work sessions and Chris Nicoll's Pueblo Citizens for Open Government has been fighting ever since to get the decision reversed.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_7b_Xcel.html Plagued with a history of power failures along Horizon Drive and around Grand Junction Regional Airport, Xcel Energy is investing more than $1 million to replace underground lines and equipment in an effort to eliminate power troubles in the area.
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http://steamboatpilot.com/news/2008/feb/28/yampa_valley_recycles_selling_reusable_bags/ The numbers associated with the consumption of plastic bags are staggering.According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 380 billion bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year. The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually, at an estimated cost to retailers of $4 billion. The bags are said to take more than 1,000 years to decompose.“These plastic bags — they are just a disaster,” Catherine Carson said.Carson is a member of Yampa Valley Recycles, a group that is launching a reusable shopping bag program in Routt County. The group has purchased 5,000 of the polypropylene bags, which it plans to sell for $1 each.
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/591981407 The Basalt town government’s proposal to boost property taxes to buy a flood-imperiled trailer park for $5 million has failed to attract a champion of the issue.While the election is only about a month away, April 1, no citizens’ committee has emerged to promote the purchase of the Pan and Fork Mobile Home Park. The bonding company the town is working with on the deal eventually will try to build awareness of the proposed purchase.The town government is in a sticky spot on the issue. Colorado law prevents local governments from spending public funds to promote a specific outcome. “The town can’t really do a lot,” Town Manager Bill Efting said. “We can’t spend town money.”
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/920530290 A member of Basalt’s Planning and Zoning Commission decided Wednesday to try out for the big leagues.
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/68450203 Summit County Sheriff John Minor said Tuesday’s sit-down with members of the Denver Water Board “went really well,” as the the agencies discussed communication, safety and security related to the Dillon Dam Road.“Obviously these are issues we will still need to work on as we try to develop this relationship and, like any relationship, it will take time,” said Sheriff John Minor.Denver Water and local law enforcement have recently been subjected to public scrutiny after the Denver Water closed the Dillon Dam Road for nine days in January due to a potential Homeland Security threat.
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http://montrosepress.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/doc47c6312e31b11250416400.txt Residents of a local subdivision are working to reduce crime in a way that focuses on individual homes — the crime-free lifestyles program.Fox Meadows is the first neighborhood in Montrose to begin implementing techniques developed by the International Crime Free Association to reduce the potential for residential crimes such as burglary and vandalism."In the last three to four years, we've started to witness significant increase in crime," resident Ken Holyfield said Wednesday. Holyfield is also a member of the Fox Meadows homeowners association. He's lived in the subdivision for seven years.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_1.htm Shalee Cunningham, who was tentatively chosen a month ago as the next superintendent of Durango schools, has withdrawn her application, the school board announced Wednesday."Shalee has withdrawn her application, and we are going to reopen the search and try to look for some other candidates," said Jeff Schell, a school board member. "Unfortunately, I can't comment on much more than that."
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x2052201974 For tiny Rico, everything is as it was before whispers of mining’s return crept through the floorboards.A deal that would have brought large-scale molybdenum mining to the hills above Rico is dead, some three months after it was supposed to close, according to a press release from Bolero Resources Corp. CEO R. Bruce Duncan.“Bolero’s due diligence investigations could not be satisfactorily addressed to permit the entering into of a definitive agreement,” reads the release, which appeared yesterday morning on a Canadian business and media Web site, CNW Telbec.Some celebrated, happy to nix mining from the local lexicon for the second time.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385957 To an outsider, the scene looks more like summer vacation than a day of learning. But it's all part of the free-form curriculum that defines this type of home schooling — based on the idea that learning is a natural consequence of living.It needn't be boxed into time increments, targeted at certain age groups, limited to traditional school subjects or measured in tests.Generally speaking, most home-schoolers follow a traditional curriculum of math, science and social studies.Much of their education is guided by textbooks and scheduled lesson plans.Flip that whole notion over, and you have unschooling.If unschoolers wake up one morning with an interest in horse training, salamanders or ancient Chinese dynasties, that is what they study. Their sources could be the Internet, museums, farms, library books, movies or professionals in their field of interest.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385956 Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve. But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions."I'm trying to balance your rights and interests as well as the needs of the community," Graber told Laura Hagan. "If you don't do these things, it would be very serious."Hagan received a 90-day jail sentence that is suspended for one year if Rolo stays out of trouble. Rolo and Hagan also must continue a 12- to 16-week training regimen with monthly progress reports.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386602 The loudest jets operating in the U.S. would be banned from landing at Centennial Airport under a proposal submitted by the airport and surrounding communities to the Federal Aviation Administration.The FAA is currently reviewing and taking public comment on Centennial's "noise-compatibility program."Michael Fronapfel, the airport's manager of planning and development, said the first of 12 recommendations is to ban "Stage 1" aircraft entirely, and Recommendation 2 is to ban the slightly quieter "Stage 2" aircraft from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385960 A new master plan for the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood calls for 3.6 million square feet of new development and 1,400 residential units.Combined with some of the existing buildings, the Federal Center will have a total of 6.4 million square feet on the 640-acre site within the next 20 years.The Federal Center property, which houses government offices, including the U.S. Geological Survey, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Mine Safety Health Administration, is owned by the General Services Administration.The GSA sought a master plan for the site to take advantage of the development potential brought about by the FasTracks project, which will bring an RTD light-rail line through the property, and by the relocation of St. Anthony Hospital to the site.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/jeffco-schools-beef-goes-bye-bye/ Lunch for tens of thousands of Jefferson County schoolchildren won't include 400 cases of frozen beef, which is being destroyed starting this morning.Colorado's largest school district bought some of the 143 million pounds of frozen beef being recalled from Chino, Calif.-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.Jeffco warehouse staff will destroy the meat at a Jeffco Schools storage warehouse on Quail Street in Lakewood.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383346 Over and over, parents complain that our schools are not doing an adequate job preparing students. Generations of students learned by sitting in rows at desks, memorizing multiplication tables, and listening intently to a teacher. Why can't students today learn the same way?As Bob Dylan said, "The times, they are a-changing." And we have done a very poor job keeping up with these changing times.For a good majority of today's youths, hours are spent at the computer, sending text messages or talking on cellphones, playing video games or listening to an iPod. Everything is electronic, fast, instantly gratifying, and independently controlled. These activities are in sharp contrast to the way most schools approach education.Our system requires all students to take the same courses, and take the same tests at the same time, regardless of the differing abilities of the students. Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if each student could progress according to his or her individual ability and then be tested accordingly?
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/full-fare-for-bus-rapid-transit/ Regional Transportation District officials are trying to reassure cities along U.S. 36 that the district still fully supports bus-rapid transit following the circulation of a city of Boulder memo questioning that commitment last week.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/racial-feud-trial-leaves-big-legal-bill/ Almost six weeks after 15-year- old Randall Nelson was found not guilty of charges of assault and disorderly conduct stemming from a racially charged incident in February 2007 that left another boy with a broken jaw, legal and financial ramifications remain for the family.In defending his son, now a freshman at Steamboat Springs High School, Brad Nelson learned a tough lesson: Good legal defense doesn't come cheap."If you want the best, you pay for the best," said Brad Nelson, who faces more than $40,000 of legal fees and other expenses related to his son's defense.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/wheat-watching-whole-wheat-price-woes-come-to/ In light of a nationwide surge in the price of wheat, Boulder businesses such as Spruce Confections, Great Harvest Bread and Boulder Beer Co. are re-evaluating what they make, how much they make and how much they charge."It's become a major panic in the brewery business," said Tess McFadden, marketing director for Boulder Beer, 2880 Wilderness Place.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/mystery-donor-leaves-1-million-to-naropa/ Who dunnit?An anonymous donor has left Naropa University $1 million in her will, the Boulder-based institution announced Wednesday.It's the largest such posthumous gift in the school's 34-year history, and comes with some intriguing question marks."Part of the mystery and the power of this gift is we don't know what her precise connection was to the university," said Christopher Dwyer, vice president for institutional advancement.The bequest will be distributed in segments to Naropa through 2011. The first amount has gone into the endowment fund. The president and its board of trustees will determine future placements. No strings are attached to the money.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-dog-on-trial-feb28,1,3839362.story Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Arvada Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve.But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/griego-hearts-broken-by-market/ Iran into an acquaintance last week at the Capitol Hill Whole Foods. Tina, he called, and I turned and there was Tony, smiling, saying I was the first person he had seen since, well . . .He didn't have to finish. I was one of his old customers, and he hadn't seen many since he and his business partner closed their own little grocery store in December.Tony Thompson and Shelley Garrelts owned Simple Foods on the Tennyson strip in North Denver. They took out a $270,000 bank loan, put their homes up as collateral, kicked in another $35,000 each and opened in August 2003. "To rave reviews," Tony reminds me later. He's right.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-lecture-solar-activity-and-climate-change/ The Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado is sponsoring a talk on how solar activity may have affected parts of the "little ice age."The 1600s brought an unusually cold period during the little ice age. Tom Woods will talk about how this historical climate change may have been affected by solar activity.Woods will discuss current understanding based on satellite measurements of variations in the sun, which will establish what extent solar influences play in our climate today.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/state-issues-warning-on-latest-e-mail-scam/ Colorado Attorney General John Suthers on Wednesday warned consumers and businesses about a new e-mail scam related to messages claiming to be from the U.S. Department of Justice.The e-mails concern a supposed consumer complaint filed against the recipient and usually contain an attachment. The attachment is either a blank complaint form or some other document.Suthers advises consumers not to open the attachment because it might contain a computer virus or other malicious software.The Justice Department doesn't send messages to the public via e-mail. Similar hoaxes have recently been conducted in the names of other government entities, the Justice Department said in a statement.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/qwest-reaches-deal-with-jeffco-schools/ Qwest Communications said it has won a 10-year, $16 million contract with the Jefferson County School District to provide high-speed data networking and Internet services.
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http://www.timescall.com/News_Story.asp?id=6862 The Weld County Jail was built to hold 405 inmates. It routinely averages 500.Officials hope a new $17 million wing will alleviate overcrowding at the jail when it’s ready for occupancy in March.“The objective and goal in building the new wing is to bring the numbers back down to capacity,” said Sterling Geesaman, Weld County Sheriff’s Office bureau chief.The four-year project adds 86,000 square feet to the jail and bring its capacity to 779 inmates.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/hunter_33631___article.html/county_seat.html Allison Hunter couldn’t stay out of a campaign fray for long.The 43-year-old Democrat, who in December dropped out of her second bid for the state House District 15 seat, filed paperwork Tuesday that officially kicked off her campaign for the District 2 seat on the El Paso County Commission.“A lot of people are desperate for a voice in the county and I can certainly tell that after even only two days,” Hunter said of the support she has received since informally announcing her candidacy at Saturday’s county Democratic Assembly.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/CSUZONE01/802280368/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 A new system for buying everything from lawn furniture to hazardous chemicals and cars may eventually help Colorado State University save $10 million annually, university officials say.The new system funnels purchases through a central program, helping financial administrators better understand exactly what university departments are buying.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280387/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 The five girls and sixth-grade teacher Mary Laszlo also tracked the energy usage of the elementary school, including water, gas and electricity. Utilities use at Werner produces 105 tons of greenhouse gases each year, the team found."I think it's really shocking," said Anne Bonhoure, a fifth-grader. "We are using a lot of energy."The team began to think of alternative ways to generate energy for the school and presented their findings to District Superintendent Jerry Wilson.They also made a presentation to the school, encouraging students and teachers to turn off lights, computers and other electronic devices when they are not in classrooms."We give awards for classrooms at the end of the day that don't have their computers turned on," said Kate Monahan, a sixth-grader.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_1b_Dist__51_Web_site.html A nonprofit policy research organization with its eye on school districts statewide has put District 51’s Web site on the bottom of the list of the state’s 20 largest districts, because of accessibility of information on open enrollment and other factors.The Independence Institute’s Education Policy Center in Golden evaluated the Web sites of 20 of the state’s largest school districts based on the comprehensiveness and accessibility of open enrollment information, scoring both of those factors in January 2007 and July 2007. The information was released this week in the report titled “Open Enrollment and the Internet: An Evaluation of Colorado School District Web Sites.”District 51 has made improvements since then to its Web site, http://www.mesa.k12.co.us/2003/index.cfm.
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http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2008/feb/28/rail_service_possible/ The cities of Steamboat Springs and Craig have joined a group exploring high-speed, passenger rail service that could include a spur extending from South Routt to Craig.The Hayden Town Board also has voted to join the multi-jurisdictional governmental entity known as the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority. Hayden’s membership will become official once it’s ratified by the authority, which is exploring the possibility of modern rail track along the Interstate 70 and Interstate 25 corridors. The system could continue into Wyoming and potentially tie in to similar rail networks already in the works in Utah and New Mexico. It is anticipated the I-70 stretch would include two major spurs: one to Aspen and another through South Routt, Steamboat and Craig.Routt County already has joined the authority. County Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush said she is glad that all other incorporated municipalities in Routt and Moffat counties have decided to join.
http://aspentimes.com/article/20080227/NEWS/452353441 Basalt will collect a new fee from Holy Cross Energy that could fund projects ranging from the undergrounding of power lines to conserving energy.The town government and Holy Cross are negotiating a new franchise agreement that will increase the amount of the annual fee that Holy Cross pays to provide the town with power.
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x565324813 In 2007, the levels of carbon dioxide burped out by town-owned vehicles, by the generation of lights and computers in town offices, by the operation of the water treatment plant, the ice rink, the Galloping Goose, the campground restrooms and all other public facilities, was roughly 7.2 million pounds.The good news: This represents a 6 percent decrease in the town government’s carbon footprint from 2006, when carbon output was roughly 7.67 million pounds.This is a positive step for Telluride, which cemented its intent to reduce its carbon footprint in recent years by signing onto The Canary Initiative, The US Mayors Climate Protection Initiative and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization — a trio of organizations bent on reversing climate change.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386609 Any woman who got between Shawna Nelson and her married lover felt Nelson's wrath, including murder victim Heather Garraus, according to testimony Wednesday.Nelson is being tried on a charge of first-degree murder after Garraus was shot execution-style in front of her Greeley office on Jan. 23, 2007.Nelson carried on a three-year affair with Greeley police officer Ignacio Garraus.Prosecution witnesses Wednesday told jurors Nelson despised Heather Garraus and saw her as an obstacle to a life with Ignacio and the child they conceived. Many were co-workers of Nelson, who once worked as a Greeley police dispatcher.Former dispatcher Jennifer Morrison said Nelson called Heather Garraus "fat," a "hag" and "disgusting." Nelson also took out her frustration with Garraus by pretending to shoot her at a target range, Morrison said.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280382/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Weld County District Court Judge Roger Klein sent jurors home early Wednesday so defense attorneys and prosecutors could reconcile some issues with exhibits prosecutors plan to present today.Larimer County prosecutor Greg Lammons said the prosecution has four witnesses remaining to testify, and the prosecution should conclude today.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080228/NEWS/574305886 Prosecutors in Shawna Nelson's murder trial on Wednesday introduced evidence indicating that she used her husband's gun to shoot her romantic rival, Heather Garraus.Witnesses spent the remainder of the day describing Nelson's hatred for Garraus and her love for Ignacio Garraus.Alan Hammond of the Aurora police department's Colorado Bureau of Investigations' forensics lab, said two shell casings recovered from the crime scene where Heather Garraus was killed matched Nelson's husband's .40-caliber Glock model 22. Ken Nelson is a former Weld County Sheriff's deputy. Police have accused him of removing the gun from the truck his wife was driving before she was arrested.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387622 The legislative session is nearly half over. And Wednesday was deadline day for the House to ship its bills to the Senate and the Senate to send its measures to the House.In a marathon morning session, the House passed bills requiring cities and rural electric associations to spend more on energy efficiency and companies to provide space for breast-feeding moms.House Bill 1107 from Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, requires cities and REAs to spend 2 percent of their revenues on energy-efficiency programs. The bill passed 59-6, with critics saying it was unfair to some municipalities. Colorado Springs, for example, would have to come up with $14 million in the next few years to meet the requirement.House Bill 1276 from Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, would require businesses to provide space and break time for new mothers to pump breast milk. Six Republican men voted against the measure, some complaining it was another mandate on business.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/citizen-legislator-february-28/ Rep. Bob Gardner served as the El Paso County Republican Party chairman in the mid-1990s and has volunteered on several political campaigns."I don't always win by any means, but I always believe in the candidates I'm working for," he said.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385961 With gold and silver prices hitting new highs, more investors are giving precious metals serious consideration.So too, likely, will be some of the same people who once put investors into inflated dot-com stocks and stuck borrowers with subprime mortgages they couldn't afford."We are finding that there are people who were former mortgage brokers who are getting into this business," said Mark Albarian, chief executive and president of Goldline International Inc., a Santa Monica, Calif.-based precious-metals and coin vendor.Gold futures for April delivery reached an all-time high of $967.70 an ounce Wednesday before closing at $961 after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress more interest-rate cuts could be on the way. Lower rates weaken the value of the U.S. dollar, making gold more attractive.Ken Hallenbeck, executive director of the American Numismatic Association, an industry trade group based in Colorado Springs, said questionable players can jump from hot area to hot area.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/guv-vows-hard-look-land-conservation-program/ Colorado must step up efforts to police an innovative conservation tax-credit program to ensure that questionable deals are stopped and that the public interest is protected, Gov. Bill Ritter said Wednesday."We do not stop programs we have helping us protect land in this state," Ritter told a packed room of open-space officials. "At the same time, we have to assure people there is not fraud and abuse."The program gives lucrative state income tax credits to landowners who agree to prohibit development on their properties using legal tools known as conservation easements. The tax credits then can be sold for cash.Investigations by the Colorado Division of Real Estate and the Department of Revenue are likely to be handed over to the Colorado attorney general and could result in criminal and civil prosecutions by the state, Ritter and other state officials said.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383284 Last week, I spent a couple of days skiing with my parents in Aspen. They are 87 and 91 years old.I always recognize my father on the slopes. He's worn the same ski outfit for 40 years. But, this year, my parents were decked out in new ski outfits, skis and boots. "Guess I'm an optimist," my father mused.My parents first skied at Aspen in 1949 and have skied a week there every year since then, missing only last season when my father had heart surgery. Their first year at Aspen, there were only two pokey chair lifts and a T-bar. Lift tickets were $5, compared to $87 today.When my kids were young, and lift tickets still relatively inexpensive, I taught them to ski during spring vacations in Aspen with my parents, until they preferred learning to jump and ski the trees with a far more adventurous ski school instructor. By then, the famous Colorado snow had already attracted tourists from around the world.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/roll-call-february-28/ "We now have so many women in the legislature there's a line in the bathroom. I love it."Rep. Alice Borodkin, D-Denver
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/solar-mirrors-could-array-near-dia/ Vast swaths of brown, barren land near Denver International Airport could soon become decorated with a dizzying array of mirrors reflecting sunlight.SolarTAC is evaluating sites around the airport to establish a major solar energy research center. A spinoff of the newly established Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, SolarTAC will be launched in the coming months.Colorado's major academic and research institutions spawned the Collaboratory last year to bolster the state's prowess in new energy technologies and transfer those advances to the free market.It is backed by the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Mines and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/the-blank-of-job/ On the subjects of history and literature, American students are dumb and dumber, yet another survey indicates.A survey of 17-year-olds, the results of which were released Tuesday, show alarming rates of ignorance about our cultural benchmarks. Almost 20 percent didn't know whom we fought in World War II. More than 25 percent think Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue sometime after 1752. Half can't identify, on a multiple-choice test, whom Sen. Joseph McCarthy assailed or what the Renaissance was.The telephone survey of 1,200 adolescents was commissioned by a nonprofit, nonpartisan group called Common Core (http://www.commoncore.org). The group's leaders are diverse, and they include a former vice president of the American Federation of Teachers and a former assistant education secretary to the first President Bush.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/process-may-reduce-mercury-emissions/ First-round tests on its chemically treated activated carbon showed promising results, ADA-ES Inc. said Wednesday.Littleton-based ADA-ES intends to sell the product to coal-fired power plants for reducing mercury emissions.The company performed the tests at a power plant burning Western PRB coal. While operating with the activated carbon, the plant was able to reduce mercury emissions by greater than 90 percent at a competitive feed rate.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/into-the-hermit-tyranny-with-music/ Visiting musicians aside, North Korea is still a thoroughgoing Stalinist dictatorship. But nothing official happens by accident in this hermit land, and it does appear that its leadership is tentatively testing the possibility of a little more openness to the outside world.
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http://www.politicswest.com/20835/suthers_robocop Coloradans have registered more than three million phone numbers on the no-call list since the 2001 phone privacy law was enacted. There was an exemption, however, for political and charitable groups. And since then, the automated dialing of pre-recorded phone messages - particularly political messages - has clogged the voicemails of thousands of consumers.Advocates of robocalls say it is protected free speech.Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, whose office oversees the no-call list, backed SB-146 in the state legislature that would have banned so-called robocalls. It was defeated this month in a state Senate committee on a 4-1 bi-partisan vote.The Robocall Privacy Act of 2008 has been proposed in Congress to regulate the practice.We caught up with Suthers recently to find out what comes next in Colorado.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280383/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Trout found in five lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park have both male and female sex organs, says a massive new federal report highlighting the problems that air pollution poses for national parks.The report released by the Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project said detectable levels of contaminants ranging from mercury to two banned insecticides and a flame-retardant chemical treatment were found in eight parks in the western United States, including Rocky.The report said air pollution from coal-burning power plants is a major source of contamination, which can drift in the atmosphere for long distances before being dropped in rain or snow."It's certainly a cautionary lesson that supports that what goes up into our air does come down," said Rocky spokeswoman Kyle Patterson. "Parks are not immune from human activities from hundreds or even thousands of miles away."The report said the pollution could have many different ramifications and that more study is needed."In Rocky Mountain and Glacier national parks, some individual trout were 'intersex,'" the report said. "This condition is commonly associated with exposure to certain contaminants (dieldrin and DDT) that mimic the hormone estrogen.”
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280372/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Farmers will face additional struggles to make sure they have enough water as the state's population continues to grow, the state's agriculture commissioner told Fort Collins Rotary Club members Wednesday.Less water will be available for irrigation as more houses are built, said John Stulp, Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture."As you grow houses you need to water people," he said. "The demand for water is going to get greater."The demand for green energy should help the agriculture business he said, as farmers are increasingly called upon to raise crops that can be used to create biofuels. He compared the price of oil to an "800-pound guerrilla in the corner of the room."He also said the need for green energy will help generate jobs in rural areas, which should encourage young people to remain on farms and in agri-businesses.Also on Wednesday, the club honored Bill Markham and his family with the Master Agriculturist Award.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_community_correction.html Mesa County’s top judge said last week his confidence in the county’s Criminal Justice Services Department has been “significantly eroded” after an investigation revealed some defendants were being held illegally in Mesa County Jail.The county could face a federal investigation, and the district’s judges may refuse to sentence defendants to the community corrections program if the issue continues, 21st Judicial District Chief Judge David Bottger wrote in a letter dated Feb. 20.As of Feb. 15, 10 defendants were in custody illegally and had been held for between six days and more than five months, according to Bottger’s own investigation. All defendants had been sentenced to community corrections and were placed either on day-reporting or nonresidential status as they were awaiting a bed at the facility.Bottger said the defendants were sent back to jail for alleged violations, but they were held without bond and without a judge determining whether the arrest was legitimate.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_5b_election_cost.html A bill pending in the state Legislature that would require primarily paper-ballot elections would, at a minimum, double Mesa County’s 2008 elections budget, elections officials said.The cost of the bill could be the least of the county’s problems, though, and one county commissioner said it might be time to let state officials run the show.“We’ll either have to violate HAVA, federal law or state law,” Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland said. “Our hands are tied. We’ll let Mike Coffman, Ken Gordon decide who wants to run the election in Mesa County.”Secretary of State Mike Coffman is the state’s chief elections official, Gordon is a state senator from Denver who is carrying the bill. Gov. Bill Ritter has called for all-paper-ballot elections in 2008.HAVA is the Help America Vote Act, which requires local officials to offer equipment such as touch-screen machines to voters.Gordon’s bill, introduced with the support of Republican leaders in both houses of the Legislature, calls for voters to be offered paper ballots, but in counties such as Mesa, which have touch-screen voting equipment, voters could ask specifically for that option.Mesa County’s touch screens were certified this week, but the optical-scan equipment needed to count paper ballots is to be tested today and Friday in Denver.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28leadville.html?ref=us For years, the federal Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency have bickered over what to do about the aging tunnel, which stretches 2.1 miles and has become dammed by debris. The debris is holding back more than a billion gallons of water, much of it tainted with toxic levels of cadmium, zinc and manganese.The threat posed by the tunnel is the latest misfortune for the town, which is grappling with the wreckage of more than a century of mining.“Everybody made a lot of money in Leadville,” said Ken Olsen, a county commissioner. “They left years ago, and we’ve had to clean up after them ever since.”In the late 1800s, a gold and silver boom made Leadville one of Colorado’s most colorful places, drawing the likes of the Guggenheims. Legend has it that Doc Holliday fought his final gunfight here.Gold and silver gave way to zinc and lead mining, encouraged by the federal government for the war effort during World War II and the Korean War. Molybdenum, used to fortify steel, was blasted out of the mountains for years at the Climax mine.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/12 The new Statewide Voter Registration System is on-track, but it will require more hands-on help from the state, an independent assessment of the system concluded Wednesday.In an effort to avoid problems with the new system that some state agencies have seen with other computer databases in recent years, the Secretary of State's Office and the Governor's Office of Information Technology plan to add more people to help counties get used to the new system, said Rich Coolidge, Coffman's spokesman."We're happy that the assessment came in, did kind of a nuts-and-bolts review and said, 'The technological side of this, we're confident that it's moving in the right direction,' ” Coolidge said. "What they did say was, 'You need to have more hand-holding with the counties to make sure that they understand how to use the system.' And we're going to provide some more ground support and make the management team more supportive to the counties as they implement this new system."
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/558581416 State Rep. Christine Scanlan is wasting no time on Capitol Hill, as she passed two new bills on Tuesday out of the House Transportation and Energy Committee.The two new bills aim to protect passenger safety on ski lifts and school buses. The first, House Bill 1244, continues the passenger safety tramway board for the next 12 years. The board provides oversight for Colorado’s 374 tramways, most of which are ski lifts.“In just the last two years, there have been more than 25 million ski visits to our resorts, which have accounted for more than 250 million rides on our lifts,” Rep. Scanlan said. “Not once has there been a major lift failure or accident during that time. Obviously, we’re doing something right. Keeping this board going for the next 12 years ensures we keep doing it right.”
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/EDITS/210326461 Are the Lake County Commissioner and State Sen. Tom Wiens grandstanding over the danger poised by a clogged mine tunnel?Leadville Mayor Bud Elliott thinks so.The commissioners on Feb. 13 declared a state of emergency with the clogged tunnel, which may hold as much as 1 billion gallons of water, much of it poisoned because it’s been leaching through mineral-laden rock.The commissioners say the disaster declaration was needed to get the Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency off their collective kiesters to more effectively treat the water now trickling out of the World War II-era tunnel.Wiens, meanwhile, has set up a Web site — The Rocky Mountain News reports the site went live a few days before the commissioners’ vote on Feb. 13 — to get information out about the potential danger.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_5.htm A day after an apparently deranged man barged into the House of Representatives, state lawmakers debated the expense of metal detectors at the Capitol.A number of lawmakers decried the new security measures at "the people's house," which had no metal detectors until last fall, when a tuxedo-clad man was shot by a state trooper outside the governor's office after he displayed a gun and declared himself emperor of Colorado.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/democratic-national-convention-volunteering-is-a/ The group coordinating volunteers for the Democratic National Convention has a message for anyone who thinks blowing up a few balloons will be their ticket to a front row seat at the convention: Not so fast.Overwhelmed by more than 25,000 people interested in volunteering, the Denver 2008 Host Committee this week sent out a note politely stating that the reward for volunteering is not likely to go beyond self-satisfaction."Some people have the impression that a volunteer position is a ticket, or a credential, to the Democratic Convention,"Host committee spokesman Chris Lopez said organizers were not expecting to hear from so many volunteers so many months before the August convention.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387623 A bill mandating that the state conduct a primarily paper-ballot election this year may not be a slam dunk, even though it has the sponsorship of party leaders in both legislative chambers.A handful of legislators said Wednesday that they have serious concerns about the bill, a sign that a battle may be shaping up."I'm just really disappointed that there's the possibility of this going forward," said Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, "and I will put all my effort into killing it in the Senate."The bill, Senate Bill 189, was formally introduced Wednesday. It would require county clerks to offer all voters a paper ballot, although voters could ask to vote on an electronic voting terminal. Voters would also be able to vote early or vote by mail.Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, a Denver Democrat who crafted the bill, said the measure would move the state away from using electronic voting terminals, which came under scrutiny after a lawsuit and the secretary of state's subsequent decertification of many of the machines. It would also likely prevent a future lawsuit over the voting terminals, he said."I think we've hit the right balance here," Gordon said.But several clerks say the bill would drive up election costs and could cause major voting problems.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385328 Wyoming officials issued an unprecedented health alert Wednesday in a rural gas-drilling area for a buildup of ozone — usually a summertime air pollutant in urban areas.The Pinedale area had high ozone readings a week after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency criticized the federal Bureau of Land Management for planning thousands of new gas wells in the area without adequate air-quality protection."This should be a wake-up call for the Bureau of Land Management," said Linda Baker, director of the Upper Green River Valley Coalition. "What's going to happen to our air when we have 4,400 . . . additional wells, as the BLM proposes?"In Colorado, state regulators are targeting gas wells as a major contributor to the Denver metro area's troublesome ozone levels and are considering new restrictions on equipment and operations.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385325 Even though someone left a baby girl outside Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center, apparently intending to qualify under the state's safe-haven law, the infant's death removes any legal protections.The Denver Police Department's homicide unit is investigating, said Detective Sharon Hahn, and prosecutors from the Denver district attorney's office will decide what charges, if any, to file.The Denver coroner's office will determine the cause of death, including whether the baby was dead before she was brought to the hospital, Hahn said.But whether the infant was alive or not when she was left at the hospital at Franklin Street and East 20th Avenue, the statute requires that the child be left "safely." The law also requires the parent to perform any act necessary to protect the health of the child.Someone rang a help button outside the hospital at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday; a security guard immediately went outside and found the baby and brought her inside, Hahn said.The medical staff then pronounced the baby dead, she said.Police are requesting help in identifying the baby's parents.Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said the case will be investigated as a child death.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385327 State backlogs that stretch five months or more have left nearly 10 percent of the child-care welfare staff in Denver with incomplete training.The lag is putting a crunch on an already overburdened system, said Roxane White, Denver's manager of the Department of Human Services.The problem is that until her workers get the full training, the number of cases they can investigate is limited, meaning other workers are overloaded with too many cases, she said in a briefing to City Council members this week.Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said the state is reserving comment until it finishes its review of what caused 13 high-profile child deaths in the state last year."Caseloads, caseworker qualifications and training are currently being reviewed," McDonough said. "We're not going to comment beyond that at this point."In a series of e-mails earlier this month, White raised the training issue along with other concerns with state officials.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385953 A young man who killed four people at a Colorado Springs church and an Arvada missionary training center had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and harbored bitterness for being an outcast, his parents said in their first extended comments.Matthew Murray gave no indication that he was about to explode in violence, though, they said in an interview to be broadcast today and Friday on James Dobson's Focus on the Family radio program.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387621 Lawmakers fretted Wednesday over what would happen if a major dust storm coated the state's voluminous snowpack before the spring runoff."If we had dust layers in there like we've had in previous years, potentially we'd be looking at buying sandbags," said Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus.The comments came during a morning joint Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee meeting, at which a researcher told lawmakers how dust storms that dirty mountain snowpack reduce the snow's reflectivity and cause faster runoff. Earlier melting usually means the water comes too soon to help farmers, said Rep. Rafael Gallegos, D-Antonito. But with seasonal snowpack levels reaching as high as 173 percent of average, a faster runoff could also cause widespread flooding.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387618 A Senate panel backed legislation Wednesday banning state workers from striking, but not before one lawmaker went on a table-slapping tirade about the "silliness" of the business-versus-labor debate."This state is burning down!" shouted Sen. Chris Romer, a Denver Democrat.He challenged business and labor leaders to push a November ballot measure to bail out education or health care instead of fighting over a "modest" order from Gov. Bill Ritter allowing state workers to negotiate with managers.And he asked business leaders to stomp out a potential right-to-work initiative that would prohibit workers from being forced to become union members or pay union dues.
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386601 Denver Post journalists won 15 first-place awards in the annual contest sponsored by The Denver Press Club and Denver Newspaper Guild.Rocky Mountain News reporters, designers and editors won eight first-place awards in the contest that drew more than 200 entries from Colorado journalists.The awards recognize work published in print or online between June 1, 2006, and May 31, 2007. They were judged by representatives of the Los Angeles and Cleveland Press Clubs and the New Mexico Press Women.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385997 Two media giants completed a long-awaited $12 billion agreement Wednesday that sent Liberty Media Corp.'s 16 percent stake in News Corp. back to Rupert Murdoch and gave John Malone control over satellite-television provider DirecTV.Douglas County-based Liberty Media, a holding company with interests in cable programming and Internet commerce, also acquired three regional sports networks as part of the exchange.Under the final terms, Liberty Media exchanged a 16 percent stake in News Corp., worth roughly $11 billion, plus $625 million in cash for a 41 percent interest in DirecTV.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8387295 Liberty Media Corp. chairman John Malone may win control of Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp in a court fight over IAC's breakup plan, a Lehman Bros. analyst said Wednesday."Liberty might get operating control" by forcing Diller out as the caretaker for Liberty's 62 percent voting stake in IAC, wrote Lehman analyst Vijay Jayant in New York, who recommends buying Liberty Interactive tracking stock.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385843 Gov. Bill Ritter on Wednesday said the attorney general's and district attorney's offices may get involved in an investigation into abuses of the state's conservation easement program.The Colorado Division of Real Estate launched an investigation in November, issuing 30 subpoenas to people who were connected to deals involving five ranches and an Arvada land trust, then called Noah Land Conservation. More recently, it subpoenaed the records of The Greenlands Reserve, a Summit County-based land trust.Speaking at the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts conference, Ritter said the next step is to talk to the district attorney and attorney general.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/paper-suspends-karson/ The University of Colorado student author of an opinion column that garnered national attention for saying Asians "hate us all" and should be hated back was suspended from the Campus Press newspaper staff Wednesday."Max Karson's duties with the Campus Press have been suspended pending a restructuring of the opinions section," according to a statement posted on the student paper's Web site Wednesday.Karson ignited a firestorm last week when his piece titled "If it's war the Asians want ... It's war they'll get," infuriated some students and past members of the Campus Press staff who said the piece was inflammatory and a failed attempt at satire.The statement goes on to say that the publication's editors are in the process of organizing an "open, public forum to address diversity sensitivity in our news coverage" and are rewriting their ethics policy.The announcement came the same day university officials said they're close to announcing major changes in the way the paper is operated and overseen.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-student-group-hosts-korean-culture-night/ The University of Colorado's Korean American Student group is hosting a culture night Friday that will include comedy, a kum do sword performance, Korean drumming and other demonstrations.The event, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the University Memorial Center's Glenn Miller Ballroom, is free and open to the public.Comedian Eliot Chang will perform, and there will also be a Korean play and food.
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news1.txt More than 200 students gathered on the south porch of the University Memorial Center as a show of solidarity and distaste against the Feb. 18 publication of an opinion column titled “If it's war Asians want” in CU-Boulder's online newspaper “The Campus Press.”Under clear skies, the diverse gathering of students from many ethnic and cultural backgrounds held colorful signs that read “Revolution,” “Shoulder to Shoulder,” and “Responsible Journalism Now!” while a series of student leaders spoke of their experiences as minorities on campus, and issued calls to fight against racist sentiments by working together with university administration.“It's not just one article,” stated Dr. Detre Godinez, a recent CU grad who endorsed a Biased Incident Hotline that students could call to immediately report instances of racial victimization and marginalization. “It's every day. We experience it every day - it's in our faces every day.”
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news2.txt CU diversity group student leaders have compiled a list of responses they'd like the university to enact, in the wake of last week's Campus Press editorial satirizing Asian stereotypes.The editorial, written by CU senior Max Karson, says “They [Asians] hate us all. And I say it's time we started hating them back.”“If you're not sure if someone is Asian, give them a calculus problem to do in their head,” the editorial says. Karson defends it as obvious satire.The students are asking for the resignation of Campus Press faculty advisor Amy Herdy and editor-in-chief Cassie Hewlings and “an independent investigation into the upper echelons of the journalism school, [to see] whether a systemic culture of racism exists,” said CU junior David Chiu.“We want this to be conducted by a panel of students and faculty who support and represent diversity,” Chiu said, “and not the dean, who'd look into his own department.”They're also asking the administration to revisit a list of student demands made two years ago after an African-American student government tri-executive received a death threat.
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news3.txt There's one downside to massive political participation - massive data entry.Coloradans flooded their Feb. 5 political party caucuses in record numbers, and the raw volume has contributed to the fact that full Democratic Party U.S. Senate preference poll results hadn't been officially released as of Feb. 27.Pat Waak, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party (CDP), said that Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Udall had roughly 87 percent of statewide poll votes as of late Wednesday afternoon, with “uncommitted” at 11 percent and educator Mark Benner at about two percent.Waak said the CDP was still waiting for poll results from Boulder and Jefferson counties as of Wednesday afternoon. For reference, about 120,000 Colorado Democrats attended a caucus, while about 18,000 Boulder County Democrats and 16,000 Jefferson County Democrats caucused on Feb. 5.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/474741178 A bill in the Legislature would limit the interest and fees payday lending businesses can charge residents, though opponents say it will drive out the industry and create a black market for loans the state cannot regulate.The bill -- HB 1310 -- would place a limit of 45 percent annual interest rate on short-term loans businesses provide to residents, and it would limit lenders to assessing only one $60 finance fee per borrower, per year. It also would allow borrowers 30 days to repay the loan instead of the 14 days the industry uses now.Now, businesses can assess annual interest rates of sometimes more than 350 percent on payday loans they give. Most payday loan businesses make borrowers postdate a check to use as collateral for the loan.The bill won approval from the Colorado House Monday by a narrow margin and now goes to the Senate for further consideration.Both Rep. Glen Vaad, R-Mead, and Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, voted against the measure. Vaad said he received more than a dozen emails from Greeley and Longmont payday loaners who said the bill -- if it becomes law -- will drive them out of business.
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http://www.politicswest.com/20851/mark_udall_mourns_william_f_buckley_jr U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colorado, who is running for the state's open U.S. Senate seat, released the following statement Wednesday on the death of conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr.“Any American who reveres our constitution and admires intelligence, wit and integrity in public life will mourn the passing of William F. Buckley Jr. Like many others who grew up the 1960s and 1970s, I appreciated the provocative conversation in Mr. Buckley’s interviews on his television program 'Firing Line' – where he challenged political leaders from across the political spectrum. America’s conservative movement obviously owes a great deal to the intellectual foundation of William F. Buckley’s writing and philosophy, but his contributions to public life were not just ideological. Mr. Buckley was a grand debater, a great thinker and a brilliant personality. He will be missed.”
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280381/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Larimer County prosecutors are wading through a list of more than 1,000 convicts as they consider which cases to review - and who might ultimately go free - in light of advanced DNA testing.District Attorney Larry Abrahamson announced the plan to review cases after a judge freed Timothy Masters from his life sentence on Jan. 22. The judge said new DNA evidence pointed toward a new suspect in the 1987 Peggy Hettrick murder and vacated Masters' conviction after Masters had served nearly nine years in prison.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/2 The Colorado Capitol is a state structure that should be left wide-open to the public, some lawmakers said Wednesday.But considering today's troubled times, and the public's general acceptance of at least basic security measures, metal detectors should continue to be used in the historic structure, other legislators countered.The opposing sides emerged during debate over whether the state should spend an additional $490,000 to beef up security at the Capitol as a result of last summer's fatal shooting of a mentally ill man who threatened Gov. Bill Ritter.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383424 Uncertainty is never a good thing when it comes to holding elections.That's why we were glad to see state lawmakers introduce a bill this week to mandate a primarily paper ballot system this year.It may not be the perfect system, and ultimately it could delay vote counting, but at this moment it seems to be the best way to inject some voter confidence back into the electoral process.Yet, significant issues remain to be resolved before Coloradans can vote. In short, there are some large counties that don't have enough scanners — devices that tally paper ballots — to count votes in a timely fashion.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386606 The Colorado High School Activities Association board reaffirmed Wednesday that it will not jump through hoops to reschedule regional and state basketball finals for a Jewish team that won't play on Saturdays — their Sabbath.Several state lawmakers pressed the association to push back a March 8 regional finals game until after sundown that Saturday so that the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy could compete.The Herzl/RMHA Tigers still have one game to win before securing one of two regional berths.The school's girls team is in the same situation."We made the accommodation for them at the district level," CHSAA Commissioner Bill Reader said. "It's difficult to reschedule at the regional level; it's impossible at the state level."In an afternoon news conference, state Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, called the association's refusal "despicable."The players, Groff said, "should be given the opportunity to win the championship they've worked for."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387620 The House on Wednesday approved funding for metal detectors and additional security at the Capitol despite some lawmakers' objections that it was a waste of money.Criticism of the security measures crossed party lines and came just a day after a man was arrested after he walked onto the House floor uninvited and shouted at lawmakers. The unarmed man, later arrested after a scuffle with state troopers, said he wanted to address lawmakers.Metal detectors and more state troopers were added to the Capitol in September after an incident in July in which a trooper shot and killed an armed, deranged man inside the building.
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http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_8385477 With the Senate headed toward a vote on legislation aimed at reducing home foreclosures, Colorado's two U.S. senators split Wednesday on whether it would help or hurt the economy.Lawmakers will consider a bill that rewrites part of bankruptcy law, allowing judges to cut interest rates on some mortgages. People able to make revised payments could keep their homes.The Senate could take up the bill as soon as today, but President Bush already has threatened to veto the legislation.Sen. Ken Salazar, a Democrat, believes the changes are needed both for those facing foreclosure and a large chunk of homeowners in the state. Republican Wayne Allard said the legislation would increase costs for banks and other lenders and potentially hurt the economy.Allard aides were among those encouraging the Bush administration to threaten a veto of the bill."Interest rates will go up, fees will go up and it will probably be more difficult to get loans for future mortgages for future homeowners," Allard said.Salazar said the pain caused by foreclosures would hurt many in Colorado.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/lawmakers-call-a-foul-on-stance-of-prep/ A group of lawmakers put on a full-court press to salvage a Jewish team's chance at a regional high school basketball championship, but it failed to score.The Colorado High School Activities Association board stood firm Wednesday on its refusal to reschedule the March 8 championship game so the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy wouldn't have to play on the Jewish Sabbath.State Senate leaders called the CHSAA decision inflexible and "despicable."One lawmaker suggested the CHSAA could face a discrimination lawsuit for allowing games on the Saturday Jewish Sabbath, but prohibiting play on the Sunday Christian Sabbath.The religious beliefs of the Jewish team from Denver prevent it from playing on the Jewish Sabbath between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday. March 8 falls on Saturday, and the game is scheduled before sundown.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/unaffiliated-voters-gain-gop/ The number of unaffiliated voters edged closer to surpassing Republicans this month as the most numerous voting block in Colorado, according to voter registration figures released Wednesday by the secretary of state.Republican voters outnumbered unaffiliated voters by only about 10,000 in February. That's down from 12,000 the month before.The latest voter rolls show that 2.9 million Coloradans are registered to vote. The percentage of Republicans was 34.8 percent, compared with 34.4 percent unaffiliated and 30.4 percent Democrats.The percentage of unaffiliated voters has climbed steadily for five years.Overall, the number of Republicans increased by about 2,000 from January to February, while Democrats gained about 5,000 registered voters. There was an increase of about 4,000 unaffiliated voters in that period.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/04-law-fails-to-save-baby/ In the seven years since Colorado passed a "safe haven" law for newborns, 15 babies have been left with hospitals or firefighters - and just as many have turned up dead.The most recent victim was left in a basket outside Presbyterian/ St. Luke's Medical Center Tuesday night by someone who rang the call button and ran.Denver police, with the help of the hospital and the Denver coroner's office, are investigating, hoping to determine the age of the baby, the cause of death and whether she died before or after she was dropped off."It's a lose-lose-lose situation," said Jack Cozzens, president of the board of Colorado Safe Haven for Newborns, a group dedicated to raising awareness about the law that allows a parent to turn in a child without fear of prosecution, about cases such as the one Tuesday. "The baby dies, the mother goes to prison and a couple waiting to adopt a child still don't have one."
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/house-oks-bill-to-aid-military-spouses/ The House approved and sent to the Senate House Bill 1180. It would let military spouses collect unemployment insurance if they are forced to relocate. Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, said those spouses and their employers must pay for unemployment insurance but can't collect it if they are transferred.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/child-services-add-40-caseworkers/ Denver is adding 40 child-welfare caseworkers because calls to its abuse-and-neglect hot line have soared in the past two years, largely because of a jump in calls from Denver Public Schools.The rise in calls from the schools followed the story of 7- year-old Chandler Grafner's being starved to death despite warning calls from his school to social workers.Then a principal was charged with failing to report abuse in an incident among students at a middle school.Now, "The schools are calling in any incident they feel bears investigating," said Carmen Carillo, deputy manager of Denver Human Services.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/debut-near-guvs-sweeping-ed-reform-bill/ Gov. Bill Ritter has been promising sweeping education reform since he began his run for the state's top office in 2006.That kind of change could come about under a bill to be introduced in the Senate as early as next week, with Ritter's blessing.The measure, circulating in draft form among lawmakers and educators, would establish a statewide standard for what constitutes readiness for college or the workforce.High school graduation requirements and curriculum would be revised to reflect the new standards.And tests adminstered under the Colorado Student Assessment Program — a subject of long-running complaint among teachers and some parents — would follow the new curriculum.Testing would extend to 12th grade. It now ends in 10th grade."This is a comprehensive sea change in the way that we approach education policy in this state," said Matt Gianneschi, Ritter's education advisor.The bill permits school districts to scrap traditional course structures if students can meet the readiness standards in a different way."What we're saying is, it's the competencies that matter, and so if you can deliver that in a curriculum that doesn't look anything like what the curriculum in the school district next door to you has, fine," Gianneschi said.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/let-them-play/ Tournament time. It's supposed to be that special occasion when months and years of hard work culminate in the opportunity to compete for a state championship. It's supposed to be that moment when every high school basketball player has at least the chance to realize the dream of winning it all.That's why it's so regrettable that the boys and girls basketball teams from Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy may face the impossible choice between following a tenet of their faith - observance of the Sabbath - and participating in tournament games scheduled between dusk Fridays and dusk Saturdays the next three weekends.The Colorado High School Activities Association has some undeniable practical arguments why it is reluctant to enable Herzl/RMHA's boys and girls to take part in the Class 1A state basketball tournament. Its blueprint for conducting 10 simultaneous tournaments (for boys and girls in five classifications) in the short span of 16 days is a 57-page book that lays out all of the logistical issues - from arenas to schedules to motel availability to assignments for officials, scorers, timekeepers and all of the other people engaged to help operate more than 50 sites involving hundreds of games.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/thorstenson_33603___article.html/air_army.html Flying in slow circles four miles above Baghdad in the back of a four-engine C-130, the Air Force Academy’s Capt. Linda Thorstenson waits for a call.It could be from a convoy under attack, or just someone checking a radio. She’s their security blanket, ensuring that when they pick up their radios, someone will hear them on the other end.“We’re 911 operators at 20,000 feet,” said Thorstenson, who teaches cadets the basics of flying in Colorado Springs and helps coach the academy’s gymnastics team.“We’re there if they need us.”
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http://www.gazette.com/opinion/crack_33629___article.html/party_powder.html After too many years of inattention, Congress may finally be getting ready to correct one of the most harmful mistakes it made in the 1980s during the period of legislative hysteria over the phenomenon of crack cocaine. The House Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee held hearings Tuesday on bills to reform the disparity in sentencing for possession of crack and powder cocaine.Back in the 1980s, when crack cocaine seemed to be decimating neighborhoods and wrecking lives at an alarming rate, many people believed it was more addictive and more dangerous than powder cocaine. That turned out not to be the case, but while it was the conventional wisdom, Congress enacted laws mandating longer sentences for crack possession than for powder cocaine.It takes 5 grams of crack cocaine (two sugar packets) to get a five-year sentence versus 500 grams of powder. Fifty grams of crack triggers a 10-year sentence, but it takes 5,000 grams of powder to trigger a 10-year sentence.That’s a ratio of 100 to 1. And while it was not part of the intention, the disparity has harmed blacks more than any other group. By and large (there are exceptions to every rule) blacks who use cocaine tend to use crack, while white Americans are more inclined to use powder. So blacks have received much longer prison sentences for offenses that, chemically speaking, are identical.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/teacher_33608___article.html/colorado_springs.html A 73-year-old substitute teacher at Wasson High School was arrested by Colorado Springs police Feb. 15. A 15-year-old boy told police the male teacher offered to pay him $1,000 to allow the teacher to perform oral sex on him, according to an arrest affidavit.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/18 A Florence inmate who allegedly planned to throw hot wax on a congressman visiting a prison was convicted Tuesday of assaulting a guard by throwing the wax on him instead.Chief U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham said the inmate, Jay Vaughan Gregory, made "a strongly implied threat" in his closing arguments in a two-day trial.Nottingham ordered that Gregory's copy of the jurors' names be turned back to court staff "before you have any opportunity to copy" them.A person familiar with the case said Gregory, 51, is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a violent gang that operates in numerous prisons.Another person who attended the trial and had official knowledge of it said Gregory, in his closing argument, said, "We die with swords in our hands and not with chains on our ankles and we will hold each and everyone responsible for the actions that occurred in the courtroom."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386605 A skier died Wednesday at Eldora Mountain Resort. Officials said the 46-year-old man was found at 1:15 p.m. at the bottom of West Ridge, an intermediate trail in the Corona area. He was unresponsive and not breathing.Ski patrollers administered life support, but the skier was pronounced dead after about an hour.It was the first skier death "in quite a number of years" at Eldora Mountain Resort," said Rob Linde, resort spokesman.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/children-sickened-school-evacuated/ Lumberg Elementary School in Edgewater was evacuated Wednesday after several students and staff members complained of headaches and nausea, but the source of the illness remained a mystery, authorities said.Nine students and four teachers were treated at nearby Jefferson High School, then taken to Lutheran Hospital as a precaution shortly after the school was evacuated about 1 p.m., a spokeswoman for Jefferson County Schools said.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/797320509 World War II veterans are dying at a rate of more than 1,200 a day nationally.And many of the 16 million Americans who served in the war never had the opportunity to see the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., which opened to the public on April 29, 2004 between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.All that's going to change for northern Colorado veterans of the war.An Honor Flight Northern Colorado is being put together to fly WWII veterans from Weld and Larimer counties to the memorial -- free of charge -- Sept. 23-24.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_Clifton_Governance.html Residents of Clifton, the most densely populated community in unincorporated Mesa County, may be going to the polls this November to create Colorado’s newest city.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/227729473 Scott Burgess wants to repair the relationship between Minturn and Red Cliff, especially now that employee housing from private ski resort may be built near his town.“We have to change that relationship so that we have a say with what’s happening in our own backyard,” said Burgess, who has lived in Red Cliff for two years.That’s one of several reasons Burgess has decided to run for Red Cliff’s Board of Trustees, on which six seats out of seven will be up for grabs April 1.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/51392811 Their numbers have dwindled, and age has slowed them. Still, on Tuesday, the veteran ski troopers showed no fear on Riva Ridge.One by one, they plunged down the steepest face of this Vail trail, named for the supposedly insurmountable cliff they climbed in Italy’s Apennine Mountains to launch a surprise attack on the Nazis. That was 63 years ago.At the bottom of the ski trail, the men — now in their 80s and 90s — collected on this sunny powder day on Vail Mountain, smiling at each other.A love of skiing is still a common thread for these veterans of the 10th Mountain Division. But their bonds go much deeper.“Friends you make in combat, you never forget,” said John Woodward, 93, who was an officer in the 10th, the regiment of skier-soldiers who, during World War II in 1945, pushed back the Germans in the harsh Italian mountains.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8383225 A leaky value allowed about 300 gallons of untreated stormwater runoff into a 60-inch water pipeline in Aurora today, causing slight taste and odor problems but no known health risks, Aurora Water said.About 3,200 customers were affected in a 2-square-mile bordered by Mississippi and Jewell avenues and Wheeling to Dayton streets.The problem was quickly fixed, the line flushed and water samples sent to to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment as a precautionary measure, said Aurora Water spokeswoman Meghan Hughes.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/feisty-rolo-wins-reprieve/ Rolo lives. That's what a judge decided Wednesday afternoon.Assistant Presiding Judge Mike Graber ruled that the German shepherd, in trouble for biting a neighbor, can return to his owner.Not without conditions, however. Laura Hagan, Rolo's owner, has to continue intense training with the dog and learn how to better control him.A 90-day jail sentence for Hagan, who was found guilty Tuesday of having a dog at large and keeping a dangerous animal, will be suspended if the dog stays out of trouble for a year, Graber ruled.Ten of Hagan's neighbors testified at a sentencing hearing that the dog was aggressive and they had concerns ranging from mild to extreme for their safety and the safety of their children. Hagan was found guilty Tuesday of having an at-large dog and having a dangerous animal.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280366/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Laurie Stolen is proud of the work that goes into preparing and serving an estimated 14,000 nutritious meals weekly, even though her diners don't really have much choice in their dining options.Stolen, inmate services director at the Larimer County Detention Center, oversees the jail's kitchen staff, a mix of employees from contractor Aramark and nearly 50 "trustee" inmates.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/14 The organizer of a campaign to return the public comments to televised City Council work sessions is applauding the Pueblo County Democratic Party for taking a stand on the issue.Tucked in among 25 other resolutions passed Saturday at the Pueblo County Democratic convention was a brief statement that the party believes "City Council meetings should be televised for public access and should include public comment open to all Pueblo County residents."Right now, council televises its regular sessions and work sessions on nights when a regular session is held.Last September, however, council moved its public comment period to the non-televised work sessions and Chris Nicoll's Pueblo Citizens for Open Government has been fighting ever since to get the decision reversed.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_7b_Xcel.html Plagued with a history of power failures along Horizon Drive and around Grand Junction Regional Airport, Xcel Energy is investing more than $1 million to replace underground lines and equipment in an effort to eliminate power troubles in the area.
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http://steamboatpilot.com/news/2008/feb/28/yampa_valley_recycles_selling_reusable_bags/ The numbers associated with the consumption of plastic bags are staggering.According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 380 billion bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year. The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually, at an estimated cost to retailers of $4 billion. The bags are said to take more than 1,000 years to decompose.“These plastic bags — they are just a disaster,” Catherine Carson said.Carson is a member of Yampa Valley Recycles, a group that is launching a reusable shopping bag program in Routt County. The group has purchased 5,000 of the polypropylene bags, which it plans to sell for $1 each.
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/591981407 The Basalt town government’s proposal to boost property taxes to buy a flood-imperiled trailer park for $5 million has failed to attract a champion of the issue.While the election is only about a month away, April 1, no citizens’ committee has emerged to promote the purchase of the Pan and Fork Mobile Home Park. The bonding company the town is working with on the deal eventually will try to build awareness of the proposed purchase.The town government is in a sticky spot on the issue. Colorado law prevents local governments from spending public funds to promote a specific outcome. “The town can’t really do a lot,” Town Manager Bill Efting said. “We can’t spend town money.”
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/920530290 A member of Basalt’s Planning and Zoning Commission decided Wednesday to try out for the big leagues.
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/68450203 Summit County Sheriff John Minor said Tuesday’s sit-down with members of the Denver Water Board “went really well,” as the the agencies discussed communication, safety and security related to the Dillon Dam Road.“Obviously these are issues we will still need to work on as we try to develop this relationship and, like any relationship, it will take time,” said Sheriff John Minor.Denver Water and local law enforcement have recently been subjected to public scrutiny after the Denver Water closed the Dillon Dam Road for nine days in January due to a potential Homeland Security threat.
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http://montrosepress.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/doc47c6312e31b11250416400.txt Residents of a local subdivision are working to reduce crime in a way that focuses on individual homes — the crime-free lifestyles program.Fox Meadows is the first neighborhood in Montrose to begin implementing techniques developed by the International Crime Free Association to reduce the potential for residential crimes such as burglary and vandalism."In the last three to four years, we've started to witness significant increase in crime," resident Ken Holyfield said Wednesday. Holyfield is also a member of the Fox Meadows homeowners association. He's lived in the subdivision for seven years.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_1.htm Shalee Cunningham, who was tentatively chosen a month ago as the next superintendent of Durango schools, has withdrawn her application, the school board announced Wednesday."Shalee has withdrawn her application, and we are going to reopen the search and try to look for some other candidates," said Jeff Schell, a school board member. "Unfortunately, I can't comment on much more than that."
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x2052201974 For tiny Rico, everything is as it was before whispers of mining’s return crept through the floorboards.A deal that would have brought large-scale molybdenum mining to the hills above Rico is dead, some three months after it was supposed to close, according to a press release from Bolero Resources Corp. CEO R. Bruce Duncan.“Bolero’s due diligence investigations could not be satisfactorily addressed to permit the entering into of a definitive agreement,” reads the release, which appeared yesterday morning on a Canadian business and media Web site, CNW Telbec.Some celebrated, happy to nix mining from the local lexicon for the second time.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385957 To an outsider, the scene looks more like summer vacation than a day of learning. But it's all part of the free-form curriculum that defines this type of home schooling — based on the idea that learning is a natural consequence of living.It needn't be boxed into time increments, targeted at certain age groups, limited to traditional school subjects or measured in tests.Generally speaking, most home-schoolers follow a traditional curriculum of math, science and social studies.Much of their education is guided by textbooks and scheduled lesson plans.Flip that whole notion over, and you have unschooling.If unschoolers wake up one morning with an interest in horse training, salamanders or ancient Chinese dynasties, that is what they study. Their sources could be the Internet, museums, farms, library books, movies or professionals in their field of interest.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385956 Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve. But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions."I'm trying to balance your rights and interests as well as the needs of the community," Graber told Laura Hagan. "If you don't do these things, it would be very serious."Hagan received a 90-day jail sentence that is suspended for one year if Rolo stays out of trouble. Rolo and Hagan also must continue a 12- to 16-week training regimen with monthly progress reports.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386602 The loudest jets operating in the U.S. would be banned from landing at Centennial Airport under a proposal submitted by the airport and surrounding communities to the Federal Aviation Administration.The FAA is currently reviewing and taking public comment on Centennial's "noise-compatibility program."Michael Fronapfel, the airport's manager of planning and development, said the first of 12 recommendations is to ban "Stage 1" aircraft entirely, and Recommendation 2 is to ban the slightly quieter "Stage 2" aircraft from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385960 A new master plan for the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood calls for 3.6 million square feet of new development and 1,400 residential units.Combined with some of the existing buildings, the Federal Center will have a total of 6.4 million square feet on the 640-acre site within the next 20 years.The Federal Center property, which houses government offices, including the U.S. Geological Survey, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Mine Safety Health Administration, is owned by the General Services Administration.The GSA sought a master plan for the site to take advantage of the development potential brought about by the FasTracks project, which will bring an RTD light-rail line through the property, and by the relocation of St. Anthony Hospital to the site.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/jeffco-schools-beef-goes-bye-bye/ Lunch for tens of thousands of Jefferson County schoolchildren won't include 400 cases of frozen beef, which is being destroyed starting this morning.Colorado's largest school district bought some of the 143 million pounds of frozen beef being recalled from Chino, Calif.-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.Jeffco warehouse staff will destroy the meat at a Jeffco Schools storage warehouse on Quail Street in Lakewood.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383346 Over and over, parents complain that our schools are not doing an adequate job preparing students. Generations of students learned by sitting in rows at desks, memorizing multiplication tables, and listening intently to a teacher. Why can't students today learn the same way?As Bob Dylan said, "The times, they are a-changing." And we have done a very poor job keeping up with these changing times.For a good majority of today's youths, hours are spent at the computer, sending text messages or talking on cellphones, playing video games or listening to an iPod. Everything is electronic, fast, instantly gratifying, and independently controlled. These activities are in sharp contrast to the way most schools approach education.Our system requires all students to take the same courses, and take the same tests at the same time, regardless of the differing abilities of the students. Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if each student could progress according to his or her individual ability and then be tested accordingly?
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/full-fare-for-bus-rapid-transit/ Regional Transportation District officials are trying to reassure cities along U.S. 36 that the district still fully supports bus-rapid transit following the circulation of a city of Boulder memo questioning that commitment last week.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/racial-feud-trial-leaves-big-legal-bill/ Almost six weeks after 15-year- old Randall Nelson was found not guilty of charges of assault and disorderly conduct stemming from a racially charged incident in February 2007 that left another boy with a broken jaw, legal and financial ramifications remain for the family.In defending his son, now a freshman at Steamboat Springs High School, Brad Nelson learned a tough lesson: Good legal defense doesn't come cheap."If you want the best, you pay for the best," said Brad Nelson, who faces more than $40,000 of legal fees and other expenses related to his son's defense.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/wheat-watching-whole-wheat-price-woes-come-to/ In light of a nationwide surge in the price of wheat, Boulder businesses such as Spruce Confections, Great Harvest Bread and Boulder Beer Co. are re-evaluating what they make, how much they make and how much they charge."It's become a major panic in the brewery business," said Tess McFadden, marketing director for Boulder Beer, 2880 Wilderness Place.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/mystery-donor-leaves-1-million-to-naropa/ Who dunnit?An anonymous donor has left Naropa University $1 million in her will, the Boulder-based institution announced Wednesday.It's the largest such posthumous gift in the school's 34-year history, and comes with some intriguing question marks."Part of the mystery and the power of this gift is we don't know what her precise connection was to the university," said Christopher Dwyer, vice president for institutional advancement.The bequest will be distributed in segments to Naropa through 2011. The first amount has gone into the endowment fund. The president and its board of trustees will determine future placements. No strings are attached to the money.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-dog-on-trial-feb28,1,3839362.story Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Arvada Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve.But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/griego-hearts-broken-by-market/ Iran into an acquaintance last week at the Capitol Hill Whole Foods. Tina, he called, and I turned and there was Tony, smiling, saying I was the first person he had seen since, well . . .He didn't have to finish. I was one of his old customers, and he hadn't seen many since he and his business partner closed their own little grocery store in December.Tony Thompson and Shelley Garrelts owned Simple Foods on the Tennyson strip in North Denver. They took out a $270,000 bank loan, put their homes up as collateral, kicked in another $35,000 each and opened in August 2003. "To rave reviews," Tony reminds me later. He's right.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-lecture-solar-activity-and-climate-change/ The Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado is sponsoring a talk on how solar activity may have affected parts of the "little ice age."The 1600s brought an unusually cold period during the little ice age. Tom Woods will talk about how this historical climate change may have been affected by solar activity.Woods will discuss current understanding based on satellite measurements of variations in the sun, which will establish what extent solar influences play in our climate today.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/state-issues-warning-on-latest-e-mail-scam/ Colorado Attorney General John Suthers on Wednesday warned consumers and businesses about a new e-mail scam related to messages claiming to be from the U.S. Department of Justice.The e-mails concern a supposed consumer complaint filed against the recipient and usually contain an attachment. The attachment is either a blank complaint form or some other document.Suthers advises consumers not to open the attachment because it might contain a computer virus or other malicious software.The Justice Department doesn't send messages to the public via e-mail. Similar hoaxes have recently been conducted in the names of other government entities, the Justice Department said in a statement.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/qwest-reaches-deal-with-jeffco-schools/ Qwest Communications said it has won a 10-year, $16 million contract with the Jefferson County School District to provide high-speed data networking and Internet services.
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http://www.timescall.com/News_Story.asp?id=6862 The Weld County Jail was built to hold 405 inmates. It routinely averages 500.Officials hope a new $17 million wing will alleviate overcrowding at the jail when it’s ready for occupancy in March.“The objective and goal in building the new wing is to bring the numbers back down to capacity,” said Sterling Geesaman, Weld County Sheriff’s Office bureau chief.The four-year project adds 86,000 square feet to the jail and bring its capacity to 779 inmates.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/hunter_33631___article.html/county_seat.html Allison Hunter couldn’t stay out of a campaign fray for long.The 43-year-old Democrat, who in December dropped out of her second bid for the state House District 15 seat, filed paperwork Tuesday that officially kicked off her campaign for the District 2 seat on the El Paso County Commission.“A lot of people are desperate for a voice in the county and I can certainly tell that after even only two days,” Hunter said of the support she has received since informally announcing her candidacy at Saturday’s county Democratic Assembly.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/CSUZONE01/802280368/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 A new system for buying everything from lawn furniture to hazardous chemicals and cars may eventually help Colorado State University save $10 million annually, university officials say.The new system funnels purchases through a central program, helping financial administrators better understand exactly what university departments are buying.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280387/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 The five girls and sixth-grade teacher Mary Laszlo also tracked the energy usage of the elementary school, including water, gas and electricity. Utilities use at Werner produces 105 tons of greenhouse gases each year, the team found."I think it's really shocking," said Anne Bonhoure, a fifth-grader. "We are using a lot of energy."The team began to think of alternative ways to generate energy for the school and presented their findings to District Superintendent Jerry Wilson.They also made a presentation to the school, encouraging students and teachers to turn off lights, computers and other electronic devices when they are not in classrooms."We give awards for classrooms at the end of the day that don't have their computers turned on," said Kate Monahan, a sixth-grader.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_1b_Dist__51_Web_site.html A nonprofit policy research organization with its eye on school districts statewide has put District 51’s Web site on the bottom of the list of the state’s 20 largest districts, because of accessibility of information on open enrollment and other factors.The Independence Institute’s Education Policy Center in Golden evaluated the Web sites of 20 of the state’s largest school districts based on the comprehensiveness and accessibility of open enrollment information, scoring both of those factors in January 2007 and July 2007. The information was released this week in the report titled “Open Enrollment and the Internet: An Evaluation of Colorado School District Web Sites.”District 51 has made improvements since then to its Web site, http://www.mesa.k12.co.us/2003/index.cfm.
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http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2008/feb/28/rail_service_possible/ The cities of Steamboat Springs and Craig have joined a group exploring high-speed, passenger rail service that could include a spur extending from South Routt to Craig.The Hayden Town Board also has voted to join the multi-jurisdictional governmental entity known as the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority. Hayden’s membership will become official once it’s ratified by the authority, which is exploring the possibility of modern rail track along the Interstate 70 and Interstate 25 corridors. The system could continue into Wyoming and potentially tie in to similar rail networks already in the works in Utah and New Mexico. It is anticipated the I-70 stretch would include two major spurs: one to Aspen and another through South Routt, Steamboat and Craig.Routt County already has joined the authority. County Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush said she is glad that all other incorporated municipalities in Routt and Moffat counties have decided to join.
http://aspentimes.com/article/20080227/NEWS/452353441 Basalt will collect a new fee from Holy Cross Energy that could fund projects ranging from the undergrounding of power lines to conserving energy.The town government and Holy Cross are negotiating a new franchise agreement that will increase the amount of the annual fee that Holy Cross pays to provide the town with power.
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x565324813 In 2007, the levels of carbon dioxide burped out by town-owned vehicles, by the generation of lights and computers in town offices, by the operation of the water treatment plant, the ice rink, the Galloping Goose, the campground restrooms and all other public facilities, was roughly 7.2 million pounds.The good news: This represents a 6 percent decrease in the town government’s carbon footprint from 2006, when carbon output was roughly 7.67 million pounds.This is a positive step for Telluride, which cemented its intent to reduce its carbon footprint in recent years by signing onto The Canary Initiative, The US Mayors Climate Protection Initiative and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization — a trio of organizations bent on reversing climate change.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386609 Any woman who got between Shawna Nelson and her married lover felt Nelson's wrath, including murder victim Heather Garraus, according to testimony Wednesday.Nelson is being tried on a charge of first-degree murder after Garraus was shot execution-style in front of her Greeley office on Jan. 23, 2007.Nelson carried on a three-year affair with Greeley police officer Ignacio Garraus.Prosecution witnesses Wednesday told jurors Nelson despised Heather Garraus and saw her as an obstacle to a life with Ignacio and the child they conceived. Many were co-workers of Nelson, who once worked as a Greeley police dispatcher.Former dispatcher Jennifer Morrison said Nelson called Heather Garraus "fat," a "hag" and "disgusting." Nelson also took out her frustration with Garraus by pretending to shoot her at a target range, Morrison said.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280382/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Weld County District Court Judge Roger Klein sent jurors home early Wednesday so defense attorneys and prosecutors could reconcile some issues with exhibits prosecutors plan to present today.Larimer County prosecutor Greg Lammons said the prosecution has four witnesses remaining to testify, and the prosecution should conclude today.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080228/NEWS/574305886 Prosecutors in Shawna Nelson's murder trial on Wednesday introduced evidence indicating that she used her husband's gun to shoot her romantic rival, Heather Garraus.Witnesses spent the remainder of the day describing Nelson's hatred for Garraus and her love for Ignacio Garraus.Alan Hammond of the Aurora police department's Colorado Bureau of Investigations' forensics lab, said two shell casings recovered from the crime scene where Heather Garraus was killed matched Nelson's husband's .40-caliber Glock model 22. Ken Nelson is a former Weld County Sheriff's deputy. Police have accused him of removing the gun from the truck his wife was driving before she was arrested.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387622 The legislative session is nearly half over. And Wednesday was deadline day for the House to ship its bills to the Senate and the Senate to send its measures to the House.In a marathon morning session, the House passed bills requiring cities and rural electric associations to spend more on energy efficiency and companies to provide space for breast-feeding moms.House Bill 1107 from Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, requires cities and REAs to spend 2 percent of their revenues on energy-efficiency programs. The bill passed 59-6, with critics saying it was unfair to some municipalities. Colorado Springs, for example, would have to come up with $14 million in the next few years to meet the requirement.House Bill 1276 from Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, would require businesses to provide space and break time for new mothers to pump breast milk. Six Republican men voted against the measure, some complaining it was another mandate on business.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/citizen-legislator-february-28/ Rep. Bob Gardner served as the El Paso County Republican Party chairman in the mid-1990s and has volunteered on several political campaigns."I don't always win by any means, but I always believe in the candidates I'm working for," he said.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385961 With gold and silver prices hitting new highs, more investors are giving precious metals serious consideration.So too, likely, will be some of the same people who once put investors into inflated dot-com stocks and stuck borrowers with subprime mortgages they couldn't afford."We are finding that there are people who were former mortgage brokers who are getting into this business," said Mark Albarian, chief executive and president of Goldline International Inc., a Santa Monica, Calif.-based precious-metals and coin vendor.Gold futures for April delivery reached an all-time high of $967.70 an ounce Wednesday before closing at $961 after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress more interest-rate cuts could be on the way. Lower rates weaken the value of the U.S. dollar, making gold more attractive.Ken Hallenbeck, executive director of the American Numismatic Association, an industry trade group based in Colorado Springs, said questionable players can jump from hot area to hot area.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/guv-vows-hard-look-land-conservation-program/ Colorado must step up efforts to police an innovative conservation tax-credit program to ensure that questionable deals are stopped and that the public interest is protected, Gov. Bill Ritter said Wednesday."We do not stop programs we have helping us protect land in this state," Ritter told a packed room of open-space officials. "At the same time, we have to assure people there is not fraud and abuse."The program gives lucrative state income tax credits to landowners who agree to prohibit development on their properties using legal tools known as conservation easements. The tax credits then can be sold for cash.Investigations by the Colorado Division of Real Estate and the Department of Revenue are likely to be handed over to the Colorado attorney general and could result in criminal and civil prosecutions by the state, Ritter and other state officials said.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383284 Last week, I spent a couple of days skiing with my parents in Aspen. They are 87 and 91 years old.I always recognize my father on the slopes. He's worn the same ski outfit for 40 years. But, this year, my parents were decked out in new ski outfits, skis and boots. "Guess I'm an optimist," my father mused.My parents first skied at Aspen in 1949 and have skied a week there every year since then, missing only last season when my father had heart surgery. Their first year at Aspen, there were only two pokey chair lifts and a T-bar. Lift tickets were $5, compared to $87 today.When my kids were young, and lift tickets still relatively inexpensive, I taught them to ski during spring vacations in Aspen with my parents, until they preferred learning to jump and ski the trees with a far more adventurous ski school instructor. By then, the famous Colorado snow had already attracted tourists from around the world.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/roll-call-february-28/ "We now have so many women in the legislature there's a line in the bathroom. I love it."Rep. Alice Borodkin, D-Denver
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/solar-mirrors-could-array-near-dia/ Vast swaths of brown, barren land near Denver International Airport could soon become decorated with a dizzying array of mirrors reflecting sunlight.SolarTAC is evaluating sites around the airport to establish a major solar energy research center. A spinoff of the newly established Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, SolarTAC will be launched in the coming months.Colorado's major academic and research institutions spawned the Collaboratory last year to bolster the state's prowess in new energy technologies and transfer those advances to the free market.It is backed by the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Mines and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/the-blank-of-job/ On the subjects of history and literature, American students are dumb and dumber, yet another survey indicates.A survey of 17-year-olds, the results of which were released Tuesday, show alarming rates of ignorance about our cultural benchmarks. Almost 20 percent didn't know whom we fought in World War II. More than 25 percent think Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue sometime after 1752. Half can't identify, on a multiple-choice test, whom Sen. Joseph McCarthy assailed or what the Renaissance was.The telephone survey of 1,200 adolescents was commissioned by a nonprofit, nonpartisan group called Common Core (http://www.commoncore.org). The group's leaders are diverse, and they include a former vice president of the American Federation of Teachers and a former assistant education secretary to the first President Bush.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/process-may-reduce-mercury-emissions/ First-round tests on its chemically treated activated carbon showed promising results, ADA-ES Inc. said Wednesday.Littleton-based ADA-ES intends to sell the product to coal-fired power plants for reducing mercury emissions.The company performed the tests at a power plant burning Western PRB coal. While operating with the activated carbon, the plant was able to reduce mercury emissions by greater than 90 percent at a competitive feed rate.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/into-the-hermit-tyranny-with-music/ Visiting musicians aside, North Korea is still a thoroughgoing Stalinist dictatorship. But nothing official happens by accident in this hermit land, and it does appear that its leadership is tentatively testing the possibility of a little more openness to the outside world.
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http://www.politicswest.com/20835/suthers_robocop Coloradans have registered more than three million phone numbers on the no-call list since the 2001 phone privacy law was enacted. There was an exemption, however, for political and charitable groups. And since then, the automated dialing of pre-recorded phone messages - particularly political messages - has clogged the voicemails of thousands of consumers.Advocates of robocalls say it is protected free speech.Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, whose office oversees the no-call list, backed SB-146 in the state legislature that would have banned so-called robocalls. It was defeated this month in a state Senate committee on a 4-1 bi-partisan vote.The Robocall Privacy Act of 2008 has been proposed in Congress to regulate the practice.We caught up with Suthers recently to find out what comes next in Colorado.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280383/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Trout found in five lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park have both male and female sex organs, says a massive new federal report highlighting the problems that air pollution poses for national parks.The report released by the Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project said detectable levels of contaminants ranging from mercury to two banned insecticides and a flame-retardant chemical treatment were found in eight parks in the western United States, including Rocky.The report said air pollution from coal-burning power plants is a major source of contamination, which can drift in the atmosphere for long distances before being dropped in rain or snow."It's certainly a cautionary lesson that supports that what goes up into our air does come down," said Rocky spokeswoman Kyle Patterson. "Parks are not immune from human activities from hundreds or even thousands of miles away."The report said the pollution could have many different ramifications and that more study is needed."In Rocky Mountain and Glacier national parks, some individual trout were 'intersex,'" the report said. "This condition is commonly associated with exposure to certain contaminants (dieldrin and DDT) that mimic the hormone estrogen.”
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280372/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Farmers will face additional struggles to make sure they have enough water as the state's population continues to grow, the state's agriculture commissioner told Fort Collins Rotary Club members Wednesday.Less water will be available for irrigation as more houses are built, said John Stulp, Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture."As you grow houses you need to water people," he said. "The demand for water is going to get greater."The demand for green energy should help the agriculture business he said, as farmers are increasingly called upon to raise crops that can be used to create biofuels. He compared the price of oil to an "800-pound guerrilla in the corner of the room."He also said the need for green energy will help generate jobs in rural areas, which should encourage young people to remain on farms and in agri-businesses.Also on Wednesday, the club honored Bill Markham and his family with the Master Agriculturist Award.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_community_correction.html Mesa County’s top judge said last week his confidence in the county’s Criminal Justice Services Department has been “significantly eroded” after an investigation revealed some defendants were being held illegally in Mesa County Jail.The county could face a federal investigation, and the district’s judges may refuse to sentence defendants to the community corrections program if the issue continues, 21st Judicial District Chief Judge David Bottger wrote in a letter dated Feb. 20.As of Feb. 15, 10 defendants were in custody illegally and had been held for between six days and more than five months, according to Bottger’s own investigation. All defendants had been sentenced to community corrections and were placed either on day-reporting or nonresidential status as they were awaiting a bed at the facility.Bottger said the defendants were sent back to jail for alleged violations, but they were held without bond and without a judge determining whether the arrest was legitimate.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_5b_election_cost.html A bill pending in the state Legislature that would require primarily paper-ballot elections would, at a minimum, double Mesa County’s 2008 elections budget, elections officials said.The cost of the bill could be the least of the county’s problems, though, and one county commissioner said it might be time to let state officials run the show.“We’ll either have to violate HAVA, federal law or state law,” Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland said. “Our hands are tied. We’ll let Mike Coffman, Ken Gordon decide who wants to run the election in Mesa County.”Secretary of State Mike Coffman is the state’s chief elections official, Gordon is a state senator from Denver who is carrying the bill. Gov. Bill Ritter has called for all-paper-ballot elections in 2008.HAVA is the Help America Vote Act, which requires local officials to offer equipment such as touch-screen machines to voters.Gordon’s bill, introduced with the support of Republican leaders in both houses of the Legislature, calls for voters to be offered paper ballots, but in counties such as Mesa, which have touch-screen voting equipment, voters could ask specifically for that option.Mesa County’s touch screens were certified this week, but the optical-scan equipment needed to count paper ballots is to be tested today and Friday in Denver.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28leadville.html?ref=us For years, the federal Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency have bickered over what to do about the aging tunnel, which stretches 2.1 miles and has become dammed by debris. The debris is holding back more than a billion gallons of water, much of it tainted with toxic levels of cadmium, zinc and manganese.The threat posed by the tunnel is the latest misfortune for the town, which is grappling with the wreckage of more than a century of mining.“Everybody made a lot of money in Leadville,” said Ken Olsen, a county commissioner. “They left years ago, and we’ve had to clean up after them ever since.”In the late 1800s, a gold and silver boom made Leadville one of Colorado’s most colorful places, drawing the likes of the Guggenheims. Legend has it that Doc Holliday fought his final gunfight here.Gold and silver gave way to zinc and lead mining, encouraged by the federal government for the war effort during World War II and the Korean War. Molybdenum, used to fortify steel, was blasted out of the mountains for years at the Climax mine.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/12 The new Statewide Voter Registration System is on-track, but it will require more hands-on help from the state, an independent assessment of the system concluded Wednesday.In an effort to avoid problems with the new system that some state agencies have seen with other computer databases in recent years, the Secretary of State's Office and the Governor's Office of Information Technology plan to add more people to help counties get used to the new system, said Rich Coolidge, Coffman's spokesman."We're happy that the assessment came in, did kind of a nuts-and-bolts review and said, 'The technological side of this, we're confident that it's moving in the right direction,' ” Coolidge said. "What they did say was, 'You need to have more hand-holding with the counties to make sure that they understand how to use the system.' And we're going to provide some more ground support and make the management team more supportive to the counties as they implement this new system."
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/558581416 State Rep. Christine Scanlan is wasting no time on Capitol Hill, as she passed two new bills on Tuesday out of the House Transportation and Energy Committee.The two new bills aim to protect passenger safety on ski lifts and school buses. The first, House Bill 1244, continues the passenger safety tramway board for the next 12 years. The board provides oversight for Colorado’s 374 tramways, most of which are ski lifts.“In just the last two years, there have been more than 25 million ski visits to our resorts, which have accounted for more than 250 million rides on our lifts,” Rep. Scanlan said. “Not once has there been a major lift failure or accident during that time. Obviously, we’re doing something right. Keeping this board going for the next 12 years ensures we keep doing it right.”
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/EDITS/210326461 Are the Lake County Commissioner and State Sen. Tom Wiens grandstanding over the danger poised by a clogged mine tunnel?Leadville Mayor Bud Elliott thinks so.The commissioners on Feb. 13 declared a state of emergency with the clogged tunnel, which may hold as much as 1 billion gallons of water, much of it poisoned because it’s been leaching through mineral-laden rock.The commissioners say the disaster declaration was needed to get the Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency off their collective kiesters to more effectively treat the water now trickling out of the World War II-era tunnel.Wiens, meanwhile, has set up a Web site — The Rocky Mountain News reports the site went live a few days before the commissioners’ vote on Feb. 13 — to get information out about the potential danger.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_5.htm A day after an apparently deranged man barged into the House of Representatives, state lawmakers debated the expense of metal detectors at the Capitol.A number of lawmakers decried the new security measures at "the people's house," which had no metal detectors until last fall, when a tuxedo-clad man was shot by a state trooper outside the governor's office after he displayed a gun and declared himself emperor of Colorado.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/democratic-national-convention-volunteering-is-a/ The group coordinating volunteers for the Democratic National Convention has a message for anyone who thinks blowing up a few balloons will be their ticket to a front row seat at the convention: Not so fast.Overwhelmed by more than 25,000 people interested in volunteering, the Denver 2008 Host Committee this week sent out a note politely stating that the reward for volunteering is not likely to go beyond self-satisfaction."Some people have the impression that a volunteer position is a ticket, or a credential, to the Democratic Convention,"Host committee spokesman Chris Lopez said organizers were not expecting to hear from so many volunteers so many months before the August convention.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387623 A bill mandating that the state conduct a primarily paper-ballot election this year may not be a slam dunk, even though it has the sponsorship of party leaders in both legislative chambers.A handful of legislators said Wednesday that they have serious concerns about the bill, a sign that a battle may be shaping up."I'm just really disappointed that there's the possibility of this going forward," said Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, "and I will put all my effort into killing it in the Senate."The bill, Senate Bill 189, was formally introduced Wednesday. It would require county clerks to offer all voters a paper ballot, although voters could ask to vote on an electronic voting terminal. Voters would also be able to vote early or vote by mail.Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, a Denver Democrat who crafted the bill, said the measure would move the state away from using electronic voting terminals, which came under scrutiny after a lawsuit and the secretary of state's subsequent decertification of many of the machines. It would also likely prevent a future lawsuit over the voting terminals, he said."I think we've hit the right balance here," Gordon said.But several clerks say the bill would drive up election costs and could cause major voting problems.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385328 Wyoming officials issued an unprecedented health alert Wednesday in a rural gas-drilling area for a buildup of ozone — usually a summertime air pollutant in urban areas.The Pinedale area had high ozone readings a week after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency criticized the federal Bureau of Land Management for planning thousands of new gas wells in the area without adequate air-quality protection."This should be a wake-up call for the Bureau of Land Management," said Linda Baker, director of the Upper Green River Valley Coalition. "What's going to happen to our air when we have 4,400 . . . additional wells, as the BLM proposes?"In Colorado, state regulators are targeting gas wells as a major contributor to the Denver metro area's troublesome ozone levels and are considering new restrictions on equipment and operations.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385325 Even though someone left a baby girl outside Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center, apparently intending to qualify under the state's safe-haven law, the infant's death removes any legal protections.The Denver Police Department's homicide unit is investigating, said Detective Sharon Hahn, and prosecutors from the Denver district attorney's office will decide what charges, if any, to file.The Denver coroner's office will determine the cause of death, including whether the baby was dead before she was brought to the hospital, Hahn said.But whether the infant was alive or not when she was left at the hospital at Franklin Street and East 20th Avenue, the statute requires that the child be left "safely." The law also requires the parent to perform any act necessary to protect the health of the child.Someone rang a help button outside the hospital at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday; a security guard immediately went outside and found the baby and brought her inside, Hahn said.The medical staff then pronounced the baby dead, she said.Police are requesting help in identifying the baby's parents.Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said the case will be investigated as a child death.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385327 State backlogs that stretch five months or more have left nearly 10 percent of the child-care welfare staff in Denver with incomplete training.The lag is putting a crunch on an already overburdened system, said Roxane White, Denver's manager of the Department of Human Services.The problem is that until her workers get the full training, the number of cases they can investigate is limited, meaning other workers are overloaded with too many cases, she said in a briefing to City Council members this week.Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said the state is reserving comment until it finishes its review of what caused 13 high-profile child deaths in the state last year."Caseloads, caseworker qualifications and training are currently being reviewed," McDonough said. "We're not going to comment beyond that at this point."In a series of e-mails earlier this month, White raised the training issue along with other concerns with state officials.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385953 A young man who killed four people at a Colorado Springs church and an Arvada missionary training center had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and harbored bitterness for being an outcast, his parents said in their first extended comments.Matthew Murray gave no indication that he was about to explode in violence, though, they said in an interview to be broadcast today and Friday on James Dobson's Focus on the Family radio program.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387621 Lawmakers fretted Wednesday over what would happen if a major dust storm coated the state's voluminous snowpack before the spring runoff."If we had dust layers in there like we've had in previous years, potentially we'd be looking at buying sandbags," said Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus.The comments came during a morning joint Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee meeting, at which a researcher told lawmakers how dust storms that dirty mountain snowpack reduce the snow's reflectivity and cause faster runoff. Earlier melting usually means the water comes too soon to help farmers, said Rep. Rafael Gallegos, D-Antonito. But with seasonal snowpack levels reaching as high as 173 percent of average, a faster runoff could also cause widespread flooding.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387618 A Senate panel backed legislation Wednesday banning state workers from striking, but not before one lawmaker went on a table-slapping tirade about the "silliness" of the business-versus-labor debate."This state is burning down!" shouted Sen. Chris Romer, a Denver Democrat.He challenged business and labor leaders to push a November ballot measure to bail out education or health care instead of fighting over a "modest" order from Gov. Bill Ritter allowing state workers to negotiate with managers.And he asked business leaders to stomp out a potential right-to-work initiative that would prohibit workers from being forced to become union members or pay union dues.
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386601 Denver Post journalists won 15 first-place awards in the annual contest sponsored by The Denver Press Club and Denver Newspaper Guild.Rocky Mountain News reporters, designers and editors won eight first-place awards in the contest that drew more than 200 entries from Colorado journalists.The awards recognize work published in print or online between June 1, 2006, and May 31, 2007. They were judged by representatives of the Los Angeles and Cleveland Press Clubs and the New Mexico Press Women.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385997 Two media giants completed a long-awaited $12 billion agreement Wednesday that sent Liberty Media Corp.'s 16 percent stake in News Corp. back to Rupert Murdoch and gave John Malone control over satellite-television provider DirecTV.Douglas County-based Liberty Media, a holding company with interests in cable programming and Internet commerce, also acquired three regional sports networks as part of the exchange.Under the final terms, Liberty Media exchanged a 16 percent stake in News Corp., worth roughly $11 billion, plus $625 million in cash for a 41 percent interest in DirecTV.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8387295 Liberty Media Corp. chairman John Malone may win control of Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp in a court fight over IAC's breakup plan, a Lehman Bros. analyst said Wednesday."Liberty might get operating control" by forcing Diller out as the caretaker for Liberty's 62 percent voting stake in IAC, wrote Lehman analyst Vijay Jayant in New York, who recommends buying Liberty Interactive tracking stock.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385843 Gov. Bill Ritter on Wednesday said the attorney general's and district attorney's offices may get involved in an investigation into abuses of the state's conservation easement program.The Colorado Division of Real Estate launched an investigation in November, issuing 30 subpoenas to people who were connected to deals involving five ranches and an Arvada land trust, then called Noah Land Conservation. More recently, it subpoenaed the records of The Greenlands Reserve, a Summit County-based land trust.Speaking at the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts conference, Ritter said the next step is to talk to the district attorney and attorney general.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/paper-suspends-karson/ The University of Colorado student author of an opinion column that garnered national attention for saying Asians "hate us all" and should be hated back was suspended from the Campus Press newspaper staff Wednesday."Max Karson's duties with the Campus Press have been suspended pending a restructuring of the opinions section," according to a statement posted on the student paper's Web site Wednesday.Karson ignited a firestorm last week when his piece titled "If it's war the Asians want ... It's war they'll get," infuriated some students and past members of the Campus Press staff who said the piece was inflammatory and a failed attempt at satire.The statement goes on to say that the publication's editors are in the process of organizing an "open, public forum to address diversity sensitivity in our news coverage" and are rewriting their ethics policy.The announcement came the same day university officials said they're close to announcing major changes in the way the paper is operated and overseen.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-student-group-hosts-korean-culture-night/ The University of Colorado's Korean American Student group is hosting a culture night Friday that will include comedy, a kum do sword performance, Korean drumming and other demonstrations.The event, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the University Memorial Center's Glenn Miller Ballroom, is free and open to the public.Comedian Eliot Chang will perform, and there will also be a Korean play and food.
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news1.txt More than 200 students gathered on the south porch of the University Memorial Center as a show of solidarity and distaste against the Feb. 18 publication of an opinion column titled “If it's war Asians want” in CU-Boulder's online newspaper “The Campus Press.”Under clear skies, the diverse gathering of students from many ethnic and cultural backgrounds held colorful signs that read “Revolution,” “Shoulder to Shoulder,” and “Responsible Journalism Now!” while a series of student leaders spoke of their experiences as minorities on campus, and issued calls to fight against racist sentiments by working together with university administration.“It's not just one article,” stated Dr. Detre Godinez, a recent CU grad who endorsed a Biased Incident Hotline that students could call to immediately report instances of racial victimization and marginalization. “It's every day. We experience it every day - it's in our faces every day.”
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news2.txt CU diversity group student leaders have compiled a list of responses they'd like the university to enact, in the wake of last week's Campus Press editorial satirizing Asian stereotypes.The editorial, written by CU senior Max Karson, says “They [Asians] hate us all. And I say it's time we started hating them back.”“If you're not sure if someone is Asian, give them a calculus problem to do in their head,” the editorial says. Karson defends it as obvious satire.The students are asking for the resignation of Campus Press faculty advisor Amy Herdy and editor-in-chief Cassie Hewlings and “an independent investigation into the upper echelons of the journalism school, [to see] whether a systemic culture of racism exists,” said CU junior David Chiu.“We want this to be conducted by a panel of students and faculty who support and represent diversity,” Chiu said, “and not the dean, who'd look into his own department.”They're also asking the administration to revisit a list of student demands made two years ago after an African-American student government tri-executive received a death threat.
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news3.txt There's one downside to massive political participation - massive data entry.Coloradans flooded their Feb. 5 political party caucuses in record numbers, and the raw volume has contributed to the fact that full Democratic Party U.S. Senate preference poll results hadn't been officially released as of Feb. 27.Pat Waak, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party (CDP), said that Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Udall had roughly 87 percent of statewide poll votes as of late Wednesday afternoon, with “uncommitted” at 11 percent and educator Mark Benner at about two percent.Waak said the CDP was still waiting for poll results from Boulder and Jefferson counties as of Wednesday afternoon. For reference, about 120,000 Colorado Democrats attended a caucus, while about 18,000 Boulder County Democrats and 16,000 Jefferson County Democrats caucused on Feb. 5.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/474741178 A bill in the Legislature would limit the interest and fees payday lending businesses can charge residents, though opponents say it will drive out the industry and create a black market for loans the state cannot regulate.The bill -- HB 1310 -- would place a limit of 45 percent annual interest rate on short-term loans businesses provide to residents, and it would limit lenders to assessing only one $60 finance fee per borrower, per year. It also would allow borrowers 30 days to repay the loan instead of the 14 days the industry uses now.Now, businesses can assess annual interest rates of sometimes more than 350 percent on payday loans they give. Most payday loan businesses make borrowers postdate a check to use as collateral for the loan.The bill won approval from the Colorado House Monday by a narrow margin and now goes to the Senate for further consideration.Both Rep. Glen Vaad, R-Mead, and Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, voted against the measure. Vaad said he received more than a dozen emails from Greeley and Longmont payday loaners who said the bill -- if it becomes law -- will drive them out of business.
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http://www.politicswest.com/20851/mark_udall_mourns_william_f_buckley_jr U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colorado, who is running for the state's open U.S. Senate seat, released the following statement Wednesday on the death of conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr.“Any American who reveres our constitution and admires intelligence, wit and integrity in public life will mourn the passing of William F. Buckley Jr. Like many others who grew up the 1960s and 1970s, I appreciated the provocative conversation in Mr. Buckley’s interviews on his television program 'Firing Line' – where he challenged political leaders from across the political spectrum. America’s conservative movement obviously owes a great deal to the intellectual foundation of William F. Buckley’s writing and philosophy, but his contributions to public life were not just ideological. Mr. Buckley was a grand debater, a great thinker and a brilliant personality. He will be missed.”
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280381/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Larimer County prosecutors are wading through a list of more than 1,000 convicts as they consider which cases to review - and who might ultimately go free - in light of advanced DNA testing.District Attorney Larry Abrahamson announced the plan to review cases after a judge freed Timothy Masters from his life sentence on Jan. 22. The judge said new DNA evidence pointed toward a new suspect in the 1987 Peggy Hettrick murder and vacated Masters' conviction after Masters had served nearly nine years in prison.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/2 The Colorado Capitol is a state structure that should be left wide-open to the public, some lawmakers said Wednesday.But considering today's troubled times, and the public's general acceptance of at least basic security measures, metal detectors should continue to be used in the historic structure, other legislators countered.The opposing sides emerged during debate over whether the state should spend an additional $490,000 to beef up security at the Capitol as a result of last summer's fatal shooting of a mentally ill man who threatened Gov. Bill Ritter.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383424 Uncertainty is never a good thing when it comes to holding elections.That's why we were glad to see state lawmakers introduce a bill this week to mandate a primarily paper ballot system this year.It may not be the perfect system, and ultimately it could delay vote counting, but at this moment it seems to be the best way to inject some voter confidence back into the electoral process.Yet, significant issues remain to be resolved before Coloradans can vote. In short, there are some large counties that don't have enough scanners — devices that tally paper ballots — to count votes in a timely fashion.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386606 The Colorado High School Activities Association board reaffirmed Wednesday that it will not jump through hoops to reschedule regional and state basketball finals for a Jewish team that won't play on Saturdays — their Sabbath.Several state lawmakers pressed the association to push back a March 8 regional finals game until after sundown that Saturday so that the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy could compete.The Herzl/RMHA Tigers still have one game to win before securing one of two regional berths.The school's girls team is in the same situation."We made the accommodation for them at the district level," CHSAA Commissioner Bill Reader said. "It's difficult to reschedule at the regional level; it's impossible at the state level."In an afternoon news conference, state Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, called the association's refusal "despicable."The players, Groff said, "should be given the opportunity to win the championship they've worked for."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387620 The House on Wednesday approved funding for metal detectors and additional security at the Capitol despite some lawmakers' objections that it was a waste of money.Criticism of the security measures crossed party lines and came just a day after a man was arrested after he walked onto the House floor uninvited and shouted at lawmakers. The unarmed man, later arrested after a scuffle with state troopers, said he wanted to address lawmakers.Metal detectors and more state troopers were added to the Capitol in September after an incident in July in which a trooper shot and killed an armed, deranged man inside the building.
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http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_8385477 With the Senate headed toward a vote on legislation aimed at reducing home foreclosures, Colorado's two U.S. senators split Wednesday on whether it would help or hurt the economy.Lawmakers will consider a bill that rewrites part of bankruptcy law, allowing judges to cut interest rates on some mortgages. People able to make revised payments could keep their homes.The Senate could take up the bill as soon as today, but President Bush already has threatened to veto the legislation.Sen. Ken Salazar, a Democrat, believes the changes are needed both for those facing foreclosure and a large chunk of homeowners in the state. Republican Wayne Allard said the legislation would increase costs for banks and other lenders and potentially hurt the economy.Allard aides were among those encouraging the Bush administration to threaten a veto of the bill."Interest rates will go up, fees will go up and it will probably be more difficult to get loans for future mortgages for future homeowners," Allard said.Salazar said the pain caused by foreclosures would hurt many in Colorado.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/lawmakers-call-a-foul-on-stance-of-prep/ A group of lawmakers put on a full-court press to salvage a Jewish team's chance at a regional high school basketball championship, but it failed to score.The Colorado High School Activities Association board stood firm Wednesday on its refusal to reschedule the March 8 championship game so the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy wouldn't have to play on the Jewish Sabbath.State Senate leaders called the CHSAA decision inflexible and "despicable."One lawmaker suggested the CHSAA could face a discrimination lawsuit for allowing games on the Saturday Jewish Sabbath, but prohibiting play on the Sunday Christian Sabbath.The religious beliefs of the Jewish team from Denver prevent it from playing on the Jewish Sabbath between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday. March 8 falls on Saturday, and the game is scheduled before sundown.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/unaffiliated-voters-gain-gop/ The number of unaffiliated voters edged closer to surpassing Republicans this month as the most numerous voting block in Colorado, according to voter registration figures released Wednesday by the secretary of state.Republican voters outnumbered unaffiliated voters by only about 10,000 in February. That's down from 12,000 the month before.The latest voter rolls show that 2.9 million Coloradans are registered to vote. The percentage of Republicans was 34.8 percent, compared with 34.4 percent unaffiliated and 30.4 percent Democrats.The percentage of unaffiliated voters has climbed steadily for five years.Overall, the number of Republicans increased by about 2,000 from January to February, while Democrats gained about 5,000 registered voters. There was an increase of about 4,000 unaffiliated voters in that period.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/04-law-fails-to-save-baby/ In the seven years since Colorado passed a "safe haven" law for newborns, 15 babies have been left with hospitals or firefighters - and just as many have turned up dead.The most recent victim was left in a basket outside Presbyterian/ St. Luke's Medical Center Tuesday night by someone who rang the call button and ran.Denver police, with the help of the hospital and the Denver coroner's office, are investigating, hoping to determine the age of the baby, the cause of death and whether she died before or after she was dropped off."It's a lose-lose-lose situation," said Jack Cozzens, president of the board of Colorado Safe Haven for Newborns, a group dedicated to raising awareness about the law that allows a parent to turn in a child without fear of prosecution, about cases such as the one Tuesday. "The baby dies, the mother goes to prison and a couple waiting to adopt a child still don't have one."
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/house-oks-bill-to-aid-military-spouses/ The House approved and sent to the Senate House Bill 1180. It would let military spouses collect unemployment insurance if they are forced to relocate. Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, said those spouses and their employers must pay for unemployment insurance but can't collect it if they are transferred.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/child-services-add-40-caseworkers/ Denver is adding 40 child-welfare caseworkers because calls to its abuse-and-neglect hot line have soared in the past two years, largely because of a jump in calls from Denver Public Schools.The rise in calls from the schools followed the story of 7- year-old Chandler Grafner's being starved to death despite warning calls from his school to social workers.Then a principal was charged with failing to report abuse in an incident among students at a middle school.Now, "The schools are calling in any incident they feel bears investigating," said Carmen Carillo, deputy manager of Denver Human Services.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/debut-near-guvs-sweeping-ed-reform-bill/ Gov. Bill Ritter has been promising sweeping education reform since he began his run for the state's top office in 2006.That kind of change could come about under a bill to be introduced in the Senate as early as next week, with Ritter's blessing.The measure, circulating in draft form among lawmakers and educators, would establish a statewide standard for what constitutes readiness for college or the workforce.High school graduation requirements and curriculum would be revised to reflect the new standards.And tests adminstered under the Colorado Student Assessment Program — a subject of long-running complaint among teachers and some parents — would follow the new curriculum.Testing would extend to 12th grade. It now ends in 10th grade."This is a comprehensive sea change in the way that we approach education policy in this state," said Matt Gianneschi, Ritter's education advisor.The bill permits school districts to scrap traditional course structures if students can meet the readiness standards in a different way."What we're saying is, it's the competencies that matter, and so if you can deliver that in a curriculum that doesn't look anything like what the curriculum in the school district next door to you has, fine," Gianneschi said.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/let-them-play/ Tournament time. It's supposed to be that special occasion when months and years of hard work culminate in the opportunity to compete for a state championship. It's supposed to be that moment when every high school basketball player has at least the chance to realize the dream of winning it all.That's why it's so regrettable that the boys and girls basketball teams from Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy may face the impossible choice between following a tenet of their faith - observance of the Sabbath - and participating in tournament games scheduled between dusk Fridays and dusk Saturdays the next three weekends.The Colorado High School Activities Association has some undeniable practical arguments why it is reluctant to enable Herzl/RMHA's boys and girls to take part in the Class 1A state basketball tournament. Its blueprint for conducting 10 simultaneous tournaments (for boys and girls in five classifications) in the short span of 16 days is a 57-page book that lays out all of the logistical issues - from arenas to schedules to motel availability to assignments for officials, scorers, timekeepers and all of the other people engaged to help operate more than 50 sites involving hundreds of games.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/thorstenson_33603___article.html/air_army.html Flying in slow circles four miles above Baghdad in the back of a four-engine C-130, the Air Force Academy’s Capt. Linda Thorstenson waits for a call.It could be from a convoy under attack, or just someone checking a radio. She’s their security blanket, ensuring that when they pick up their radios, someone will hear them on the other end.“We’re 911 operators at 20,000 feet,” said Thorstenson, who teaches cadets the basics of flying in Colorado Springs and helps coach the academy’s gymnastics team.“We’re there if they need us.”
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http://www.gazette.com/opinion/crack_33629___article.html/party_powder.html After too many years of inattention, Congress may finally be getting ready to correct one of the most harmful mistakes it made in the 1980s during the period of legislative hysteria over the phenomenon of crack cocaine. The House Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee held hearings Tuesday on bills to reform the disparity in sentencing for possession of crack and powder cocaine.Back in the 1980s, when crack cocaine seemed to be decimating neighborhoods and wrecking lives at an alarming rate, many people believed it was more addictive and more dangerous than powder cocaine. That turned out not to be the case, but while it was the conventional wisdom, Congress enacted laws mandating longer sentences for crack possession than for powder cocaine.It takes 5 grams of crack cocaine (two sugar packets) to get a five-year sentence versus 500 grams of powder. Fifty grams of crack triggers a 10-year sentence, but it takes 5,000 grams of powder to trigger a 10-year sentence.That’s a ratio of 100 to 1. And while it was not part of the intention, the disparity has harmed blacks more than any other group. By and large (there are exceptions to every rule) blacks who use cocaine tend to use crack, while white Americans are more inclined to use powder. So blacks have received much longer prison sentences for offenses that, chemically speaking, are identical.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/teacher_33608___article.html/colorado_springs.html A 73-year-old substitute teacher at Wasson High School was arrested by Colorado Springs police Feb. 15. A 15-year-old boy told police the male teacher offered to pay him $1,000 to allow the teacher to perform oral sex on him, according to an arrest affidavit.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/18 A Florence inmate who allegedly planned to throw hot wax on a congressman visiting a prison was convicted Tuesday of assaulting a guard by throwing the wax on him instead.Chief U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham said the inmate, Jay Vaughan Gregory, made "a strongly implied threat" in his closing arguments in a two-day trial.Nottingham ordered that Gregory's copy of the jurors' names be turned back to court staff "before you have any opportunity to copy" them.A person familiar with the case said Gregory, 51, is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a violent gang that operates in numerous prisons.Another person who attended the trial and had official knowledge of it said Gregory, in his closing argument, said, "We die with swords in our hands and not with chains on our ankles and we will hold each and everyone responsible for the actions that occurred in the courtroom."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386605 A skier died Wednesday at Eldora Mountain Resort. Officials said the 46-year-old man was found at 1:15 p.m. at the bottom of West Ridge, an intermediate trail in the Corona area. He was unresponsive and not breathing.Ski patrollers administered life support, but the skier was pronounced dead after about an hour.It was the first skier death "in quite a number of years" at Eldora Mountain Resort," said Rob Linde, resort spokesman.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/children-sickened-school-evacuated/ Lumberg Elementary School in Edgewater was evacuated Wednesday after several students and staff members complained of headaches and nausea, but the source of the illness remained a mystery, authorities said.Nine students and four teachers were treated at nearby Jefferson High School, then taken to Lutheran Hospital as a precaution shortly after the school was evacuated about 1 p.m., a spokeswoman for Jefferson County Schools said.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/797320509 World War II veterans are dying at a rate of more than 1,200 a day nationally.And many of the 16 million Americans who served in the war never had the opportunity to see the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., which opened to the public on April 29, 2004 between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.All that's going to change for northern Colorado veterans of the war.An Honor Flight Northern Colorado is being put together to fly WWII veterans from Weld and Larimer counties to the memorial -- free of charge -- Sept. 23-24.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_Clifton_Governance.html Residents of Clifton, the most densely populated community in unincorporated Mesa County, may be going to the polls this November to create Colorado’s newest city.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/227729473 Scott Burgess wants to repair the relationship between Minturn and Red Cliff, especially now that employee housing from private ski resort may be built near his town.“We have to change that relationship so that we have a say with what’s happening in our own backyard,” said Burgess, who has lived in Red Cliff for two years.That’s one of several reasons Burgess has decided to run for Red Cliff’s Board of Trustees, on which six seats out of seven will be up for grabs April 1.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/51392811 Their numbers have dwindled, and age has slowed them. Still, on Tuesday, the veteran ski troopers showed no fear on Riva Ridge.One by one, they plunged down the steepest face of this Vail trail, named for the supposedly insurmountable cliff they climbed in Italy’s Apennine Mountains to launch a surprise attack on the Nazis. That was 63 years ago.At the bottom of the ski trail, the men — now in their 80s and 90s — collected on this sunny powder day on Vail Mountain, smiling at each other.A love of skiing is still a common thread for these veterans of the 10th Mountain Division. But their bonds go much deeper.“Friends you make in combat, you never forget,” said John Woodward, 93, who was an officer in the 10th, the regiment of skier-soldiers who, during World War II in 1945, pushed back the Germans in the harsh Italian mountains.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8383225 A leaky value allowed about 300 gallons of untreated stormwater runoff into a 60-inch water pipeline in Aurora today, causing slight taste and odor problems but no known health risks, Aurora Water said.About 3,200 customers were affected in a 2-square-mile bordered by Mississippi and Jewell avenues and Wheeling to Dayton streets.The problem was quickly fixed, the line flushed and water samples sent to to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment as a precautionary measure, said Aurora Water spokeswoman Meghan Hughes.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/feisty-rolo-wins-reprieve/ Rolo lives. That's what a judge decided Wednesday afternoon.Assistant Presiding Judge Mike Graber ruled that the German shepherd, in trouble for biting a neighbor, can return to his owner.Not without conditions, however. Laura Hagan, Rolo's owner, has to continue intense training with the dog and learn how to better control him.A 90-day jail sentence for Hagan, who was found guilty Tuesday of having a dog at large and keeping a dangerous animal, will be suspended if the dog stays out of trouble for a year, Graber ruled.Ten of Hagan's neighbors testified at a sentencing hearing that the dog was aggressive and they had concerns ranging from mild to extreme for their safety and the safety of their children. Hagan was found guilty Tuesday of having an at-large dog and having a dangerous animal.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280366/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Laurie Stolen is proud of the work that goes into preparing and serving an estimated 14,000 nutritious meals weekly, even though her diners don't really have much choice in their dining options.Stolen, inmate services director at the Larimer County Detention Center, oversees the jail's kitchen staff, a mix of employees from contractor Aramark and nearly 50 "trustee" inmates.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/14 The organizer of a campaign to return the public comments to televised City Council work sessions is applauding the Pueblo County Democratic Party for taking a stand on the issue.Tucked in among 25 other resolutions passed Saturday at the Pueblo County Democratic convention was a brief statement that the party believes "City Council meetings should be televised for public access and should include public comment open to all Pueblo County residents."Right now, council televises its regular sessions and work sessions on nights when a regular session is held.Last September, however, council moved its public comment period to the non-televised work sessions and Chris Nicoll's Pueblo Citizens for Open Government has been fighting ever since to get the decision reversed.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_7b_Xcel.html Plagued with a history of power failures along Horizon Drive and around Grand Junction Regional Airport, Xcel Energy is investing more than $1 million to replace underground lines and equipment in an effort to eliminate power troubles in the area.
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http://steamboatpilot.com/news/2008/feb/28/yampa_valley_recycles_selling_reusable_bags/ The numbers associated with the consumption of plastic bags are staggering.According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 380 billion bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year. The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually, at an estimated cost to retailers of $4 billion. The bags are said to take more than 1,000 years to decompose.“These plastic bags — they are just a disaster,” Catherine Carson said.Carson is a member of Yampa Valley Recycles, a group that is launching a reusable shopping bag program in Routt County. The group has purchased 5,000 of the polypropylene bags, which it plans to sell for $1 each.
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/591981407 The Basalt town government’s proposal to boost property taxes to buy a flood-imperiled trailer park for $5 million has failed to attract a champion of the issue.While the election is only about a month away, April 1, no citizens’ committee has emerged to promote the purchase of the Pan and Fork Mobile Home Park. The bonding company the town is working with on the deal eventually will try to build awareness of the proposed purchase.The town government is in a sticky spot on the issue. Colorado law prevents local governments from spending public funds to promote a specific outcome. “The town can’t really do a lot,” Town Manager Bill Efting said. “We can’t spend town money.”
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/920530290 A member of Basalt’s Planning and Zoning Commission decided Wednesday to try out for the big leagues.
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/68450203 Summit County Sheriff John Minor said Tuesday’s sit-down with members of the Denver Water Board “went really well,” as the the agencies discussed communication, safety and security related to the Dillon Dam Road.“Obviously these are issues we will still need to work on as we try to develop this relationship and, like any relationship, it will take time,” said Sheriff John Minor.Denver Water and local law enforcement have recently been subjected to public scrutiny after the Denver Water closed the Dillon Dam Road for nine days in January due to a potential Homeland Security threat.
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http://montrosepress.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/doc47c6312e31b11250416400.txt Residents of a local subdivision are working to reduce crime in a way that focuses on individual homes — the crime-free lifestyles program.Fox Meadows is the first neighborhood in Montrose to begin implementing techniques developed by the International Crime Free Association to reduce the potential for residential crimes such as burglary and vandalism."In the last three to four years, we've started to witness significant increase in crime," resident Ken Holyfield said Wednesday. Holyfield is also a member of the Fox Meadows homeowners association. He's lived in the subdivision for seven years.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_1.htm Shalee Cunningham, who was tentatively chosen a month ago as the next superintendent of Durango schools, has withdrawn her application, the school board announced Wednesday."Shalee has withdrawn her application, and we are going to reopen the search and try to look for some other candidates," said Jeff Schell, a school board member. "Unfortunately, I can't comment on much more than that."
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x2052201974 For tiny Rico, everything is as it was before whispers of mining’s return crept through the floorboards.A deal that would have brought large-scale molybdenum mining to the hills above Rico is dead, some three months after it was supposed to close, according to a press release from Bolero Resources Corp. CEO R. Bruce Duncan.“Bolero’s due diligence investigations could not be satisfactorily addressed to permit the entering into of a definitive agreement,” reads the release, which appeared yesterday morning on a Canadian business and media Web site, CNW Telbec.Some celebrated, happy to nix mining from the local lexicon for the second time.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385957 To an outsider, the scene looks more like summer vacation than a day of learning. But it's all part of the free-form curriculum that defines this type of home schooling — based on the idea that learning is a natural consequence of living.It needn't be boxed into time increments, targeted at certain age groups, limited to traditional school subjects or measured in tests.Generally speaking, most home-schoolers follow a traditional curriculum of math, science and social studies.Much of their education is guided by textbooks and scheduled lesson plans.Flip that whole notion over, and you have unschooling.If unschoolers wake up one morning with an interest in horse training, salamanders or ancient Chinese dynasties, that is what they study. Their sources could be the Internet, museums, farms, library books, movies or professionals in their field of interest.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385956 Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve. But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions."I'm trying to balance your rights and interests as well as the needs of the community," Graber told Laura Hagan. "If you don't do these things, it would be very serious."Hagan received a 90-day jail sentence that is suspended for one year if Rolo stays out of trouble. Rolo and Hagan also must continue a 12- to 16-week training regimen with monthly progress reports.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386602 The loudest jets operating in the U.S. would be banned from landing at Centennial Airport under a proposal submitted by the airport and surrounding communities to the Federal Aviation Administration.The FAA is currently reviewing and taking public comment on Centennial's "noise-compatibility program."Michael Fronapfel, the airport's manager of planning and development, said the first of 12 recommendations is to ban "Stage 1" aircraft entirely, and Recommendation 2 is to ban the slightly quieter "Stage 2" aircraft from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385960 A new master plan for the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood calls for 3.6 million square feet of new development and 1,400 residential units.Combined with some of the existing buildings, the Federal Center will have a total of 6.4 million square feet on the 640-acre site within the next 20 years.The Federal Center property, which houses government offices, including the U.S. Geological Survey, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Mine Safety Health Administration, is owned by the General Services Administration.The GSA sought a master plan for the site to take advantage of the development potential brought about by the FasTracks project, which will bring an RTD light-rail line through the property, and by the relocation of St. Anthony Hospital to the site.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/jeffco-schools-beef-goes-bye-bye/ Lunch for tens of thousands of Jefferson County schoolchildren won't include 400 cases of frozen beef, which is being destroyed starting this morning.Colorado's largest school district bought some of the 143 million pounds of frozen beef being recalled from Chino, Calif.-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.Jeffco warehouse staff will destroy the meat at a Jeffco Schools storage warehouse on Quail Street in Lakewood.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383346 Over and over, parents complain that our schools are not doing an adequate job preparing students. Generations of students learned by sitting in rows at desks, memorizing multiplication tables, and listening intently to a teacher. Why can't students today learn the same way?As Bob Dylan said, "The times, they are a-changing." And we have done a very poor job keeping up with these changing times.For a good majority of today's youths, hours are spent at the computer, sending text messages or talking on cellphones, playing video games or listening to an iPod. Everything is electronic, fast, instantly gratifying, and independently controlled. These activities are in sharp contrast to the way most schools approach education.Our system requires all students to take the same courses, and take the same tests at the same time, regardless of the differing abilities of the students. Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if each student could progress according to his or her individual ability and then be tested accordingly?
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/full-fare-for-bus-rapid-transit/ Regional Transportation District officials are trying to reassure cities along U.S. 36 that the district still fully supports bus-rapid transit following the circulation of a city of Boulder memo questioning that commitment last week.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/racial-feud-trial-leaves-big-legal-bill/ Almost six weeks after 15-year- old Randall Nelson was found not guilty of charges of assault and disorderly conduct stemming from a racially charged incident in February 2007 that left another boy with a broken jaw, legal and financial ramifications remain for the family.In defending his son, now a freshman at Steamboat Springs High School, Brad Nelson learned a tough lesson: Good legal defense doesn't come cheap."If you want the best, you pay for the best," said Brad Nelson, who faces more than $40,000 of legal fees and other expenses related to his son's defense.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/wheat-watching-whole-wheat-price-woes-come-to/ In light of a nationwide surge in the price of wheat, Boulder businesses such as Spruce Confections, Great Harvest Bread and Boulder Beer Co. are re-evaluating what they make, how much they make and how much they charge."It's become a major panic in the brewery business," said Tess McFadden, marketing director for Boulder Beer, 2880 Wilderness Place.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/mystery-donor-leaves-1-million-to-naropa/ Who dunnit?An anonymous donor has left Naropa University $1 million in her will, the Boulder-based institution announced Wednesday.It's the largest such posthumous gift in the school's 34-year history, and comes with some intriguing question marks."Part of the mystery and the power of this gift is we don't know what her precise connection was to the university," said Christopher Dwyer, vice president for institutional advancement.The bequest will be distributed in segments to Naropa through 2011. The first amount has gone into the endowment fund. The president and its board of trustees will determine future placements. No strings are attached to the money.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-dog-on-trial-feb28,1,3839362.story Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Arvada Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve.But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/griego-hearts-broken-by-market/ Iran into an acquaintance last week at the Capitol Hill Whole Foods. Tina, he called, and I turned and there was Tony, smiling, saying I was the first person he had seen since, well . . .He didn't have to finish. I was one of his old customers, and he hadn't seen many since he and his business partner closed their own little grocery store in December.Tony Thompson and Shelley Garrelts owned Simple Foods on the Tennyson strip in North Denver. They took out a $270,000 bank loan, put their homes up as collateral, kicked in another $35,000 each and opened in August 2003. "To rave reviews," Tony reminds me later. He's right.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-lecture-solar-activity-and-climate-change/ The Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado is sponsoring a talk on how solar activity may have affected parts of the "little ice age."The 1600s brought an unusually cold period during the little ice age. Tom Woods will talk about how this historical climate change may have been affected by solar activity.Woods will discuss current understanding based on satellite measurements of variations in the sun, which will establish what extent solar influences play in our climate today.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/state-issues-warning-on-latest-e-mail-scam/ Colorado Attorney General John Suthers on Wednesday warned consumers and businesses about a new e-mail scam related to messages claiming to be from the U.S. Department of Justice.The e-mails concern a supposed consumer complaint filed against the recipient and usually contain an attachment. The attachment is either a blank complaint form or some other document.Suthers advises consumers not to open the attachment because it might contain a computer virus or other malicious software.The Justice Department doesn't send messages to the public via e-mail. Similar hoaxes have recently been conducted in the names of other government entities, the Justice Department said in a statement.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/qwest-reaches-deal-with-jeffco-schools/ Qwest Communications said it has won a 10-year, $16 million contract with the Jefferson County School District to provide high-speed data networking and Internet services.
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http://www.timescall.com/News_Story.asp?id=6862 The Weld County Jail was built to hold 405 inmates. It routinely averages 500.Officials hope a new $17 million wing will alleviate overcrowding at the jail when it’s ready for occupancy in March.“The objective and goal in building the new wing is to bring the numbers back down to capacity,” said Sterling Geesaman, Weld County Sheriff’s Office bureau chief.The four-year project adds 86,000 square feet to the jail and bring its capacity to 779 inmates.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/hunter_33631___article.html/county_seat.html Allison Hunter couldn’t stay out of a campaign fray for long.The 43-year-old Democrat, who in December dropped out of her second bid for the state House District 15 seat, filed paperwork Tuesday that officially kicked off her campaign for the District 2 seat on the El Paso County Commission.“A lot of people are desperate for a voice in the county and I can certainly tell that after even only two days,” Hunter said of the support she has received since informally announcing her candidacy at Saturday’s county Democratic Assembly.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/CSUZONE01/802280368/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 A new system for buying everything from lawn furniture to hazardous chemicals and cars may eventually help Colorado State University save $10 million annually, university officials say.The new system funnels purchases through a central program, helping financial administrators better understand exactly what university departments are buying.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280387/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 The five girls and sixth-grade teacher Mary Laszlo also tracked the energy usage of the elementary school, including water, gas and electricity. Utilities use at Werner produces 105 tons of greenhouse gases each year, the team found."I think it's really shocking," said Anne Bonhoure, a fifth-grader. "We are using a lot of energy."The team began to think of alternative ways to generate energy for the school and presented their findings to District Superintendent Jerry Wilson.They also made a presentation to the school, encouraging students and teachers to turn off lights, computers and other electronic devices when they are not in classrooms."We give awards for classrooms at the end of the day that don't have their computers turned on," said Kate Monahan, a sixth-grader.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_1b_Dist__51_Web_site.html A nonprofit policy research organization with its eye on school districts statewide has put District 51’s Web site on the bottom of the list of the state’s 20 largest districts, because of accessibility of information on open enrollment and other factors.The Independence Institute’s Education Policy Center in Golden evaluated the Web sites of 20 of the state’s largest school districts based on the comprehensiveness and accessibility of open enrollment information, scoring both of those factors in January 2007 and July 2007. The information was released this week in the report titled “Open Enrollment and the Internet: An Evaluation of Colorado School District Web Sites.”District 51 has made improvements since then to its Web site, http://www.mesa.k12.co.us/2003/index.cfm.
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http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2008/feb/28/rail_service_possible/ The cities of Steamboat Springs and Craig have joined a group exploring high-speed, passenger rail service that could include a spur extending from South Routt to Craig.The Hayden Town Board also has voted to join the multi-jurisdictional governmental entity known as the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority. Hayden’s membership will become official once it’s ratified by the authority, which is exploring the possibility of modern rail track along the Interstate 70 and Interstate 25 corridors. The system could continue into Wyoming and potentially tie in to similar rail networks already in the works in Utah and New Mexico. It is anticipated the I-70 stretch would include two major spurs: one to Aspen and another through South Routt, Steamboat and Craig.Routt County already has joined the authority. County Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush said she is glad that all other incorporated municipalities in Routt and Moffat counties have decided to join.
http://aspentimes.com/article/20080227/NEWS/452353441 Basalt will collect a new fee from Holy Cross Energy that could fund projects ranging from the undergrounding of power lines to conserving energy.The town government and Holy Cross are negotiating a new franchise agreement that will increase the amount of the annual fee that Holy Cross pays to provide the town with power.
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x565324813 In 2007, the levels of carbon dioxide burped out by town-owned vehicles, by the generation of lights and computers in town offices, by the operation of the water treatment plant, the ice rink, the Galloping Goose, the campground restrooms and all other public facilities, was roughly 7.2 million pounds.The good news: This represents a 6 percent decrease in the town government’s carbon footprint from 2006, when carbon output was roughly 7.67 million pounds.This is a positive step for Telluride, which cemented its intent to reduce its carbon footprint in recent years by signing onto The Canary Initiative, The US Mayors Climate Protection Initiative and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization — a trio of organizations bent on reversing climate change.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386609 Any woman who got between Shawna Nelson and her married lover felt Nelson's wrath, including murder victim Heather Garraus, according to testimony Wednesday.Nelson is being tried on a charge of first-degree murder after Garraus was shot execution-style in front of her Greeley office on Jan. 23, 2007.Nelson carried on a three-year affair with Greeley police officer Ignacio Garraus.Prosecution witnesses Wednesday told jurors Nelson despised Heather Garraus and saw her as an obstacle to a life with Ignacio and the child they conceived. Many were co-workers of Nelson, who once worked as a Greeley police dispatcher.Former dispatcher Jennifer Morrison said Nelson called Heather Garraus "fat," a "hag" and "disgusting." Nelson also took out her frustration with Garraus by pretending to shoot her at a target range, Morrison said.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280382/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Weld County District Court Judge Roger Klein sent jurors home early Wednesday so defense attorneys and prosecutors could reconcile some issues with exhibits prosecutors plan to present today.Larimer County prosecutor Greg Lammons said the prosecution has four witnesses remaining to testify, and the prosecution should conclude today.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080228/NEWS/574305886 Prosecutors in Shawna Nelson's murder trial on Wednesday introduced evidence indicating that she used her husband's gun to shoot her romantic rival, Heather Garraus.Witnesses spent the remainder of the day describing Nelson's hatred for Garraus and her love for Ignacio Garraus.Alan Hammond of the Aurora police department's Colorado Bureau of Investigations' forensics lab, said two shell casings recovered from the crime scene where Heather Garraus was killed matched Nelson's husband's .40-caliber Glock model 22. Ken Nelson is a former Weld County Sheriff's deputy. Police have accused him of removing the gun from the truck his wife was driving before she was arrested.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387622 The legislative session is nearly half over. And Wednesday was deadline day for the House to ship its bills to the Senate and the Senate to send its measures to the House.In a marathon morning session, the House passed bills requiring cities and rural electric associations to spend more on energy efficiency and companies to provide space for breast-feeding moms.House Bill 1107 from Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, requires cities and REAs to spend 2 percent of their revenues on energy-efficiency programs. The bill passed 59-6, with critics saying it was unfair to some municipalities. Colorado Springs, for example, would have to come up with $14 million in the next few years to meet the requirement.House Bill 1276 from Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, would require businesses to provide space and break time for new mothers to pump breast milk. Six Republican men voted against the measure, some complaining it was another mandate on business.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/citizen-legislator-february-28/ Rep. Bob Gardner served as the El Paso County Republican Party chairman in the mid-1990s and has volunteered on several political campaigns."I don't always win by any means, but I always believe in the candidates I'm working for," he said.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385961 With gold and silver prices hitting new highs, more investors are giving precious metals serious consideration.So too, likely, will be some of the same people who once put investors into inflated dot-com stocks and stuck borrowers with subprime mortgages they couldn't afford."We are finding that there are people who were former mortgage brokers who are getting into this business," said Mark Albarian, chief executive and president of Goldline International Inc., a Santa Monica, Calif.-based precious-metals and coin vendor.Gold futures for April delivery reached an all-time high of $967.70 an ounce Wednesday before closing at $961 after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress more interest-rate cuts could be on the way. Lower rates weaken the value of the U.S. dollar, making gold more attractive.Ken Hallenbeck, executive director of the American Numismatic Association, an industry trade group based in Colorado Springs, said questionable players can jump from hot area to hot area.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/guv-vows-hard-look-land-conservation-program/ Colorado must step up efforts to police an innovative conservation tax-credit program to ensure that questionable deals are stopped and that the public interest is protected, Gov. Bill Ritter said Wednesday."We do not stop programs we have helping us protect land in this state," Ritter told a packed room of open-space officials. "At the same time, we have to assure people there is not fraud and abuse."The program gives lucrative state income tax credits to landowners who agree to prohibit development on their properties using legal tools known as conservation easements. The tax credits then can be sold for cash.Investigations by the Colorado Division of Real Estate and the Department of Revenue are likely to be handed over to the Colorado attorney general and could result in criminal and civil prosecutions by the state, Ritter and other state officials said.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383284 Last week, I spent a couple of days skiing with my parents in Aspen. They are 87 and 91 years old.I always recognize my father on the slopes. He's worn the same ski outfit for 40 years. But, this year, my parents were decked out in new ski outfits, skis and boots. "Guess I'm an optimist," my father mused.My parents first skied at Aspen in 1949 and have skied a week there every year since then, missing only last season when my father had heart surgery. Their first year at Aspen, there were only two pokey chair lifts and a T-bar. Lift tickets were $5, compared to $87 today.When my kids were young, and lift tickets still relatively inexpensive, I taught them to ski during spring vacations in Aspen with my parents, until they preferred learning to jump and ski the trees with a far more adventurous ski school instructor. By then, the famous Colorado snow had already attracted tourists from around the world.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/roll-call-february-28/ "We now have so many women in the legislature there's a line in the bathroom. I love it."Rep. Alice Borodkin, D-Denver
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/solar-mirrors-could-array-near-dia/ Vast swaths of brown, barren land near Denver International Airport could soon become decorated with a dizzying array of mirrors reflecting sunlight.SolarTAC is evaluating sites around the airport to establish a major solar energy research center. A spinoff of the newly established Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, SolarTAC will be launched in the coming months.Colorado's major academic and research institutions spawned the Collaboratory last year to bolster the state's prowess in new energy technologies and transfer those advances to the free market.It is backed by the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Mines and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/the-blank-of-job/ On the subjects of history and literature, American students are dumb and dumber, yet another survey indicates.A survey of 17-year-olds, the results of which were released Tuesday, show alarming rates of ignorance about our cultural benchmarks. Almost 20 percent didn't know whom we fought in World War II. More than 25 percent think Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue sometime after 1752. Half can't identify, on a multiple-choice test, whom Sen. Joseph McCarthy assailed or what the Renaissance was.The telephone survey of 1,200 adolescents was commissioned by a nonprofit, nonpartisan group called Common Core (http://www.commoncore.org). The group's leaders are diverse, and they include a former vice president of the American Federation of Teachers and a former assistant education secretary to the first President Bush.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/process-may-reduce-mercury-emissions/ First-round tests on its chemically treated activated carbon showed promising results, ADA-ES Inc. said Wednesday.Littleton-based ADA-ES intends to sell the product to coal-fired power plants for reducing mercury emissions.The company performed the tests at a power plant burning Western PRB coal. While operating with the activated carbon, the plant was able to reduce mercury emissions by greater than 90 percent at a competitive feed rate.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/into-the-hermit-tyranny-with-music/ Visiting musicians aside, North Korea is still a thoroughgoing Stalinist dictatorship. But nothing official happens by accident in this hermit land, and it does appear that its leadership is tentatively testing the possibility of a little more openness to the outside world.
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http://www.politicswest.com/20835/suthers_robocop Coloradans have registered more than three million phone numbers on the no-call list since the 2001 phone privacy law was enacted. There was an exemption, however, for political and charitable groups. And since then, the automated dialing of pre-recorded phone messages - particularly political messages - has clogged the voicemails of thousands of consumers.Advocates of robocalls say it is protected free speech.Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, whose office oversees the no-call list, backed SB-146 in the state legislature that would have banned so-called robocalls. It was defeated this month in a state Senate committee on a 4-1 bi-partisan vote.The Robocall Privacy Act of 2008 has been proposed in Congress to regulate the practice.We caught up with Suthers recently to find out what comes next in Colorado.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280383/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Trout found in five lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park have both male and female sex organs, says a massive new federal report highlighting the problems that air pollution poses for national parks.The report released by the Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project said detectable levels of contaminants ranging from mercury to two banned insecticides and a flame-retardant chemical treatment were found in eight parks in the western United States, including Rocky.The report said air pollution from coal-burning power plants is a major source of contamination, which can drift in the atmosphere for long distances before being dropped in rain or snow."It's certainly a cautionary lesson that supports that what goes up into our air does come down," said Rocky spokeswoman Kyle Patterson. "Parks are not immune from human activities from hundreds or even thousands of miles away."The report said the pollution could have many different ramifications and that more study is needed."In Rocky Mountain and Glacier national parks, some individual trout were 'intersex,'" the report said. "This condition is commonly associated with exposure to certain contaminants (dieldrin and DDT) that mimic the hormone estrogen.”
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280372/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Farmers will face additional struggles to make sure they have enough water as the state's population continues to grow, the state's agriculture commissioner told Fort Collins Rotary Club members Wednesday.Less water will be available for irrigation as more houses are built, said John Stulp, Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture."As you grow houses you need to water people," he said. "The demand for water is going to get greater."The demand for green energy should help the agriculture business he said, as farmers are increasingly called upon to raise crops that can be used to create biofuels. He compared the price of oil to an "800-pound guerrilla in the corner of the room."He also said the need for green energy will help generate jobs in rural areas, which should encourage young people to remain on farms and in agri-businesses.Also on Wednesday, the club honored Bill Markham and his family with the Master Agriculturist Award.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_community_correction.html Mesa County’s top judge said last week his confidence in the county’s Criminal Justice Services Department has been “significantly eroded” after an investigation revealed some defendants were being held illegally in Mesa County Jail.The county could face a federal investigation, and the district’s judges may refuse to sentence defendants to the community corrections program if the issue continues, 21st Judicial District Chief Judge David Bottger wrote in a letter dated Feb. 20.As of Feb. 15, 10 defendants were in custody illegally and had been held for between six days and more than five months, according to Bottger’s own investigation. All defendants had been sentenced to community corrections and were placed either on day-reporting or nonresidential status as they were awaiting a bed at the facility.Bottger said the defendants were sent back to jail for alleged violations, but they were held without bond and without a judge determining whether the arrest was legitimate.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_5b_election_cost.html A bill pending in the state Legislature that would require primarily paper-ballot elections would, at a minimum, double Mesa County’s 2008 elections budget, elections officials said.The cost of the bill could be the least of the county’s problems, though, and one county commissioner said it might be time to let state officials run the show.“We’ll either have to violate HAVA, federal law or state law,” Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland said. “Our hands are tied. We’ll let Mike Coffman, Ken Gordon decide who wants to run the election in Mesa County.”Secretary of State Mike Coffman is the state’s chief elections official, Gordon is a state senator from Denver who is carrying the bill. Gov. Bill Ritter has called for all-paper-ballot elections in 2008.HAVA is the Help America Vote Act, which requires local officials to offer equipment such as touch-screen machines to voters.Gordon’s bill, introduced with the support of Republican leaders in both houses of the Legislature, calls for voters to be offered paper ballots, but in counties such as Mesa, which have touch-screen voting equipment, voters could ask specifically for that option.Mesa County’s touch screens were certified this week, but the optical-scan equipment needed to count paper ballots is to be tested today and Friday in Denver.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28leadville.html?ref=us For years, the federal Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency have bickered over what to do about the aging tunnel, which stretches 2.1 miles and has become dammed by debris. The debris is holding back more than a billion gallons of water, much of it tainted with toxic levels of cadmium, zinc and manganese.The threat posed by the tunnel is the latest misfortune for the town, which is grappling with the wreckage of more than a century of mining.“Everybody made a lot of money in Leadville,” said Ken Olsen, a county commissioner. “They left years ago, and we’ve had to clean up after them ever since.”In the late 1800s, a gold and silver boom made Leadville one of Colorado’s most colorful places, drawing the likes of the Guggenheims. Legend has it that Doc Holliday fought his final gunfight here.Gold and silver gave way to zinc and lead mining, encouraged by the federal government for the war effort during World War II and the Korean War. Molybdenum, used to fortify steel, was blasted out of the mountains for years at the Climax mine.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/12 The new Statewide Voter Registration System is on-track, but it will require more hands-on help from the state, an independent assessment of the system concluded Wednesday.In an effort to avoid problems with the new system that some state agencies have seen with other computer databases in recent years, the Secretary of State's Office and the Governor's Office of Information Technology plan to add more people to help counties get used to the new system, said Rich Coolidge, Coffman's spokesman."We're happy that the assessment came in, did kind of a nuts-and-bolts review and said, 'The technological side of this, we're confident that it's moving in the right direction,' ” Coolidge said. "What they did say was, 'You need to have more hand-holding with the counties to make sure that they understand how to use the system.' And we're going to provide some more ground support and make the management team more supportive to the counties as they implement this new system."
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/558581416 State Rep. Christine Scanlan is wasting no time on Capitol Hill, as she passed two new bills on Tuesday out of the House Transportation and Energy Committee.The two new bills aim to protect passenger safety on ski lifts and school buses. The first, House Bill 1244, continues the passenger safety tramway board for the next 12 years. The board provides oversight for Colorado’s 374 tramways, most of which are ski lifts.“In just the last two years, there have been more than 25 million ski visits to our resorts, which have accounted for more than 250 million rides on our lifts,” Rep. Scanlan said. “Not once has there been a major lift failure or accident during that time. Obviously, we’re doing something right. Keeping this board going for the next 12 years ensures we keep doing it right.”
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/EDITS/210326461 Are the Lake County Commissioner and State Sen. Tom Wiens grandstanding over the danger poised by a clogged mine tunnel?Leadville Mayor Bud Elliott thinks so.The commissioners on Feb. 13 declared a state of emergency with the clogged tunnel, which may hold as much as 1 billion gallons of water, much of it poisoned because it’s been leaching through mineral-laden rock.The commissioners say the disaster declaration was needed to get the Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency off their collective kiesters to more effectively treat the water now trickling out of the World War II-era tunnel.Wiens, meanwhile, has set up a Web site — The Rocky Mountain News reports the site went live a few days before the commissioners’ vote on Feb. 13 — to get information out about the potential danger.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_5.htm A day after an apparently deranged man barged into the House of Representatives, state lawmakers debated the expense of metal detectors at the Capitol.A number of lawmakers decried the new security measures at "the people's house," which had no metal detectors until last fall, when a tuxedo-clad man was shot by a state trooper outside the governor's office after he displayed a gun and declared himself emperor of Colorado.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/democratic-national-convention-volunteering-is-a/ The group coordinating volunteers for the Democratic National Convention has a message for anyone who thinks blowing up a few balloons will be their ticket to a front row seat at the convention: Not so fast.Overwhelmed by more than 25,000 people interested in volunteering, the Denver 2008 Host Committee this week sent out a note politely stating that the reward for volunteering is not likely to go beyond self-satisfaction."Some people have the impression that a volunteer position is a ticket, or a credential, to the Democratic Convention,"Host committee spokesman Chris Lopez said organizers were not expecting to hear from so many volunteers so many months before the August convention.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387623 A bill mandating that the state conduct a primarily paper-ballot election this year may not be a slam dunk, even though it has the sponsorship of party leaders in both legislative chambers.A handful of legislators said Wednesday that they have serious concerns about the bill, a sign that a battle may be shaping up."I'm just really disappointed that there's the possibility of this going forward," said Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, "and I will put all my effort into killing it in the Senate."The bill, Senate Bill 189, was formally introduced Wednesday. It would require county clerks to offer all voters a paper ballot, although voters could ask to vote on an electronic voting terminal. Voters would also be able to vote early or vote by mail.Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, a Denver Democrat who crafted the bill, said the measure would move the state away from using electronic voting terminals, which came under scrutiny after a lawsuit and the secretary of state's subsequent decertification of many of the machines. It would also likely prevent a future lawsuit over the voting terminals, he said."I think we've hit the right balance here," Gordon said.But several clerks say the bill would drive up election costs and could cause major voting problems.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385328 Wyoming officials issued an unprecedented health alert Wednesday in a rural gas-drilling area for a buildup of ozone — usually a summertime air pollutant in urban areas.The Pinedale area had high ozone readings a week after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency criticized the federal Bureau of Land Management for planning thousands of new gas wells in the area without adequate air-quality protection."This should be a wake-up call for the Bureau of Land Management," said Linda Baker, director of the Upper Green River Valley Coalition. "What's going to happen to our air when we have 4,400 . . . additional wells, as the BLM proposes?"In Colorado, state regulators are targeting gas wells as a major contributor to the Denver metro area's troublesome ozone levels and are considering new restrictions on equipment and operations.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385325 Even though someone left a baby girl outside Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center, apparently intending to qualify under the state's safe-haven law, the infant's death removes any legal protections.The Denver Police Department's homicide unit is investigating, said Detective Sharon Hahn, and prosecutors from the Denver district attorney's office will decide what charges, if any, to file.The Denver coroner's office will determine the cause of death, including whether the baby was dead before she was brought to the hospital, Hahn said.But whether the infant was alive or not when she was left at the hospital at Franklin Street and East 20th Avenue, the statute requires that the child be left "safely." The law also requires the parent to perform any act necessary to protect the health of the child.Someone rang a help button outside the hospital at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday; a security guard immediately went outside and found the baby and brought her inside, Hahn said.The medical staff then pronounced the baby dead, she said.Police are requesting help in identifying the baby's parents.Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said the case will be investigated as a child death.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385327 State backlogs that stretch five months or more have left nearly 10 percent of the child-care welfare staff in Denver with incomplete training.The lag is putting a crunch on an already overburdened system, said Roxane White, Denver's manager of the Department of Human Services.The problem is that until her workers get the full training, the number of cases they can investigate is limited, meaning other workers are overloaded with too many cases, she said in a briefing to City Council members this week.Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said the state is reserving comment until it finishes its review of what caused 13 high-profile child deaths in the state last year."Caseloads, caseworker qualifications and training are currently being reviewed," McDonough said. "We're not going to comment beyond that at this point."In a series of e-mails earlier this month, White raised the training issue along with other concerns with state officials.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385953 A young man who killed four people at a Colorado Springs church and an Arvada missionary training center had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and harbored bitterness for being an outcast, his parents said in their first extended comments.Matthew Murray gave no indication that he was about to explode in violence, though, they said in an interview to be broadcast today and Friday on James Dobson's Focus on the Family radio program.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387621 Lawmakers fretted Wednesday over what would happen if a major dust storm coated the state's voluminous snowpack before the spring runoff."If we had dust layers in there like we've had in previous years, potentially we'd be looking at buying sandbags," said Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus.The comments came during a morning joint Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee meeting, at which a researcher told lawmakers how dust storms that dirty mountain snowpack reduce the snow's reflectivity and cause faster runoff. Earlier melting usually means the water comes too soon to help farmers, said Rep. Rafael Gallegos, D-Antonito. But with seasonal snowpack levels reaching as high as 173 percent of average, a faster runoff could also cause widespread flooding.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387618 A Senate panel backed legislation Wednesday banning state workers from striking, but not before one lawmaker went on a table-slapping tirade about the "silliness" of the business-versus-labor debate."This state is burning down!" shouted Sen. Chris Romer, a Denver Democrat.He challenged business and labor leaders to push a November ballot measure to bail out education or health care instead of fighting over a "modest" order from Gov. Bill Ritter allowing state workers to negotiate with managers.And he asked business leaders to stomp out a potential right-to-work initiative that would prohibit workers from being forced to become union members or pay union dues.
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386601 Denver Post journalists won 15 first-place awards in the annual contest sponsored by The Denver Press Club and Denver Newspaper Guild.Rocky Mountain News reporters, designers and editors won eight first-place awards in the contest that drew more than 200 entries from Colorado journalists.The awards recognize work published in print or online between June 1, 2006, and May 31, 2007. They were judged by representatives of the Los Angeles and Cleveland Press Clubs and the New Mexico Press Women.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385997 Two media giants completed a long-awaited $12 billion agreement Wednesday that sent Liberty Media Corp.'s 16 percent stake in News Corp. back to Rupert Murdoch and gave John Malone control over satellite-television provider DirecTV.Douglas County-based Liberty Media, a holding company with interests in cable programming and Internet commerce, also acquired three regional sports networks as part of the exchange.Under the final terms, Liberty Media exchanged a 16 percent stake in News Corp., worth roughly $11 billion, plus $625 million in cash for a 41 percent interest in DirecTV.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8387295 Liberty Media Corp. chairman John Malone may win control of Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp in a court fight over IAC's breakup plan, a Lehman Bros. analyst said Wednesday."Liberty might get operating control" by forcing Diller out as the caretaker for Liberty's 62 percent voting stake in IAC, wrote Lehman analyst Vijay Jayant in New York, who recommends buying Liberty Interactive tracking stock.
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385843 Gov. Bill Ritter on Wednesday said the attorney general's and district attorney's offices may get involved in an investigation into abuses of the state's conservation easement program.The Colorado Division of Real Estate launched an investigation in November, issuing 30 subpoenas to people who were connected to deals involving five ranches and an Arvada land trust, then called Noah Land Conservation. More recently, it subpoenaed the records of The Greenlands Reserve, a Summit County-based land trust.Speaking at the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts conference, Ritter said the next step is to talk to the district attorney and attorney general.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/paper-suspends-karson/ The University of Colorado student author of an opinion column that garnered national attention for saying Asians "hate us all" and should be hated back was suspended from the Campus Press newspaper staff Wednesday."Max Karson's duties with the Campus Press have been suspended pending a restructuring of the opinions section," according to a statement posted on the student paper's Web site Wednesday.Karson ignited a firestorm last week when his piece titled "If it's war the Asians want ... It's war they'll get," infuriated some students and past members of the Campus Press staff who said the piece was inflammatory and a failed attempt at satire.The statement goes on to say that the publication's editors are in the process of organizing an "open, public forum to address diversity sensitivity in our news coverage" and are rewriting their ethics policy.The announcement came the same day university officials said they're close to announcing major changes in the way the paper is operated and overseen.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-student-group-hosts-korean-culture-night/ The University of Colorado's Korean American Student group is hosting a culture night Friday that will include comedy, a kum do sword performance, Korean drumming and other demonstrations.The event, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the University Memorial Center's Glenn Miller Ballroom, is free and open to the public.Comedian Eliot Chang will perform, and there will also be a Korean play and food.
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news1.txt More than 200 students gathered on the south porch of the University Memorial Center as a show of solidarity and distaste against the Feb. 18 publication of an opinion column titled “If it's war Asians want” in CU-Boulder's online newspaper “The Campus Press.”Under clear skies, the diverse gathering of students from many ethnic and cultural backgrounds held colorful signs that read “Revolution,” “Shoulder to Shoulder,” and “Responsible Journalism Now!” while a series of student leaders spoke of their experiences as minorities on campus, and issued calls to fight against racist sentiments by working together with university administration.“It's not just one article,” stated Dr. Detre Godinez, a recent CU grad who endorsed a Biased Incident Hotline that students could call to immediately report instances of racial victimization and marginalization. “It's every day. We experience it every day - it's in our faces every day.”
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news2.txt CU diversity group student leaders have compiled a list of responses they'd like the university to enact, in the wake of last week's Campus Press editorial satirizing Asian stereotypes.The editorial, written by CU senior Max Karson, says “They [Asians] hate us all. And I say it's time we started hating them back.”“If you're not sure if someone is Asian, give them a calculus problem to do in their head,” the editorial says. Karson defends it as obvious satire.The students are asking for the resignation of Campus Press faculty advisor Amy Herdy and editor-in-chief Cassie Hewlings and “an independent investigation into the upper echelons of the journalism school, [to see] whether a systemic culture of racism exists,” said CU junior David Chiu.“We want this to be conducted by a panel of students and faculty who support and represent diversity,” Chiu said, “and not the dean, who'd look into his own department.”They're also asking the administration to revisit a list of student demands made two years ago after an African-American student government tri-executive received a death threat.
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http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news3.txt There's one downside to massive political participation - massive data entry.Coloradans flooded their Feb. 5 political party caucuses in record numbers, and the raw volume has contributed to the fact that full Democratic Party U.S. Senate preference poll results hadn't been officially released as of Feb. 27.Pat Waak, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party (CDP), said that Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Udall had roughly 87 percent of statewide poll votes as of late Wednesday afternoon, with “uncommitted” at 11 percent and educator Mark Benner at about two percent.Waak said the CDP was still waiting for poll results from Boulder and Jefferson counties as of Wednesday afternoon. For reference, about 120,000 Colorado Democrats attended a caucus, while about 18,000 Boulder County Democrats and 16,000 Jefferson County Democrats caucused on Feb. 5.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/474741178 A bill in the Legislature would limit the interest and fees payday lending businesses can charge residents, though opponents say it will drive out the industry and create a black market for loans the state cannot regulate.The bill -- HB 1310 -- would place a limit of 45 percent annual interest rate on short-term loans businesses provide to residents, and it would limit lenders to assessing only one $60 finance fee per borrower, per year. It also would allow borrowers 30 days to repay the loan instead of the 14 days the industry uses now.Now, businesses can assess annual interest rates of sometimes more than 350 percent on payday loans they give. Most payday loan businesses make borrowers postdate a check to use as collateral for the loan.The bill won approval from the Colorado House Monday by a narrow margin and now goes to the Senate for further consideration.Both Rep. Glen Vaad, R-Mead, and Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, voted against the measure. Vaad said he received more than a dozen emails from Greeley and Longmont payday loaners who said the bill -- if it becomes law -- will drive them out of business.
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http://www.politicswest.com/20851/mark_udall_mourns_william_f_buckley_jr U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colorado, who is running for the state's open U.S. Senate seat, released the following statement Wednesday on the death of conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr.“Any American who reveres our constitution and admires intelligence, wit and integrity in public life will mourn the passing of William F. Buckley Jr. Like many others who grew up the 1960s and 1970s, I appreciated the provocative conversation in Mr. Buckley’s interviews on his television program 'Firing Line' – where he challenged political leaders from across the political spectrum. America’s conservative movement obviously owes a great deal to the intellectual foundation of William F. Buckley’s writing and philosophy, but his contributions to public life were not just ideological. Mr. Buckley was a grand debater, a great thinker and a brilliant personality. He will be missed.”
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280381/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Larimer County prosecutors are wading through a list of more than 1,000 convicts as they consider which cases to review - and who might ultimately go free - in light of advanced DNA testing.District Attorney Larry Abrahamson announced the plan to review cases after a judge freed Timothy Masters from his life sentence on Jan. 22. The judge said new DNA evidence pointed toward a new suspect in the 1987 Peggy Hettrick murder and vacated Masters' conviction after Masters had served nearly nine years in prison.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/2 The Colorado Capitol is a state structure that should be left wide-open to the public, some lawmakers said Wednesday.But considering today's troubled times, and the public's general acceptance of at least basic security measures, metal detectors should continue to be used in the historic structure, other legislators countered.The opposing sides emerged during debate over whether the state should spend an additional $490,000 to beef up security at the Capitol as a result of last summer's fatal shooting of a mentally ill man who threatened Gov. Bill Ritter.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383424 Uncertainty is never a good thing when it comes to holding elections.That's why we were glad to see state lawmakers introduce a bill this week to mandate a primarily paper ballot system this year.It may not be the perfect system, and ultimately it could delay vote counting, but at this moment it seems to be the best way to inject some voter confidence back into the electoral process.Yet, significant issues remain to be resolved before Coloradans can vote. In short, there are some large counties that don't have enough scanners — devices that tally paper ballots — to count votes in a timely fashion.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386606 The Colorado High School Activities Association board reaffirmed Wednesday that it will not jump through hoops to reschedule regional and state basketball finals for a Jewish team that won't play on Saturdays — their Sabbath.Several state lawmakers pressed the association to push back a March 8 regional finals game until after sundown that Saturday so that the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy could compete.The Herzl/RMHA Tigers still have one game to win before securing one of two regional berths.The school's girls team is in the same situation."We made the accommodation for them at the district level," CHSAA Commissioner Bill Reader said. "It's difficult to reschedule at the regional level; it's impossible at the state level."In an afternoon news conference, state Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, called the association's refusal "despicable."The players, Groff said, "should be given the opportunity to win the championship they've worked for."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8387620 The House on Wednesday approved funding for metal detectors and additional security at the Capitol despite some lawmakers' objections that it was a waste of money.Criticism of the security measures crossed party lines and came just a day after a man was arrested after he walked onto the House floor uninvited and shouted at lawmakers. The unarmed man, later arrested after a scuffle with state troopers, said he wanted to address lawmakers.Metal detectors and more state troopers were added to the Capitol in September after an incident in July in which a trooper shot and killed an armed, deranged man inside the building.
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http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_8385477 With the Senate headed toward a vote on legislation aimed at reducing home foreclosures, Colorado's two U.S. senators split Wednesday on whether it would help or hurt the economy.Lawmakers will consider a bill that rewrites part of bankruptcy law, allowing judges to cut interest rates on some mortgages. People able to make revised payments could keep their homes.The Senate could take up the bill as soon as today, but President Bush already has threatened to veto the legislation.Sen. Ken Salazar, a Democrat, believes the changes are needed both for those facing foreclosure and a large chunk of homeowners in the state. Republican Wayne Allard said the legislation would increase costs for banks and other lenders and potentially hurt the economy.Allard aides were among those encouraging the Bush administration to threaten a veto of the bill."Interest rates will go up, fees will go up and it will probably be more difficult to get loans for future mortgages for future homeowners," Allard said.Salazar said the pain caused by foreclosures would hurt many in Colorado.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/lawmakers-call-a-foul-on-stance-of-prep/ A group of lawmakers put on a full-court press to salvage a Jewish team's chance at a regional high school basketball championship, but it failed to score.The Colorado High School Activities Association board stood firm Wednesday on its refusal to reschedule the March 8 championship game so the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy wouldn't have to play on the Jewish Sabbath.State Senate leaders called the CHSAA decision inflexible and "despicable."One lawmaker suggested the CHSAA could face a discrimination lawsuit for allowing games on the Saturday Jewish Sabbath, but prohibiting play on the Sunday Christian Sabbath.The religious beliefs of the Jewish team from Denver prevent it from playing on the Jewish Sabbath between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday. March 8 falls on Saturday, and the game is scheduled before sundown.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/unaffiliated-voters-gain-gop/ The number of unaffiliated voters edged closer to surpassing Republicans this month as the most numerous voting block in Colorado, according to voter registration figures released Wednesday by the secretary of state.Republican voters outnumbered unaffiliated voters by only about 10,000 in February. That's down from 12,000 the month before.The latest voter rolls show that 2.9 million Coloradans are registered to vote. The percentage of Republicans was 34.8 percent, compared with 34.4 percent unaffiliated and 30.4 percent Democrats.The percentage of unaffiliated voters has climbed steadily for five years.Overall, the number of Republicans increased by about 2,000 from January to February, while Democrats gained about 5,000 registered voters. There was an increase of about 4,000 unaffiliated voters in that period.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/04-law-fails-to-save-baby/ In the seven years since Colorado passed a "safe haven" law for newborns, 15 babies have been left with hospitals or firefighters - and just as many have turned up dead.The most recent victim was left in a basket outside Presbyterian/ St. Luke's Medical Center Tuesday night by someone who rang the call button and ran.Denver police, with the help of the hospital and the Denver coroner's office, are investigating, hoping to determine the age of the baby, the cause of death and whether she died before or after she was dropped off."It's a lose-lose-lose situation," said Jack Cozzens, president of the board of Colorado Safe Haven for Newborns, a group dedicated to raising awareness about the law that allows a parent to turn in a child without fear of prosecution, about cases such as the one Tuesday. "The baby dies, the mother goes to prison and a couple waiting to adopt a child still don't have one."
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/house-oks-bill-to-aid-military-spouses/ The House approved and sent to the Senate House Bill 1180. It would let military spouses collect unemployment insurance if they are forced to relocate. Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, said those spouses and their employers must pay for unemployment insurance but can't collect it if they are transferred.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/child-services-add-40-caseworkers/ Denver is adding 40 child-welfare caseworkers because calls to its abuse-and-neglect hot line have soared in the past two years, largely because of a jump in calls from Denver Public Schools.The rise in calls from the schools followed the story of 7- year-old Chandler Grafner's being starved to death despite warning calls from his school to social workers.Then a principal was charged with failing to report abuse in an incident among students at a middle school.Now, "The schools are calling in any incident they feel bears investigating," said Carmen Carillo, deputy manager of Denver Human Services.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/debut-near-guvs-sweeping-ed-reform-bill/ Gov. Bill Ritter has been promising sweeping education reform since he began his run for the state's top office in 2006.That kind of change could come about under a bill to be introduced in the Senate as early as next week, with Ritter's blessing.The measure, circulating in draft form among lawmakers and educators, would establish a statewide standard for what constitutes readiness for college or the workforce.High school graduation requirements and curriculum would be revised to reflect the new standards.And tests adminstered under the Colorado Student Assessment Program — a subject of long-running complaint among teachers and some parents — would follow the new curriculum.Testing would extend to 12th grade. It now ends in 10th grade."This is a comprehensive sea change in the way that we approach education policy in this state," said Matt Gianneschi, Ritter's education advisor.The bill permits school districts to scrap traditional course structures if students can meet the readiness standards in a different way."What we're saying is, it's the competencies that matter, and so if you can deliver that in a curriculum that doesn't look anything like what the curriculum in the school district next door to you has, fine," Gianneschi said.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/let-them-play/ Tournament time. It's supposed to be that special occasion when months and years of hard work culminate in the opportunity to compete for a state championship. It's supposed to be that moment when every high school basketball player has at least the chance to realize the dream of winning it all.That's why it's so regrettable that the boys and girls basketball teams from Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy may face the impossible choice between following a tenet of their faith - observance of the Sabbath - and participating in tournament games scheduled between dusk Fridays and dusk Saturdays the next three weekends.The Colorado High School Activities Association has some undeniable practical arguments why it is reluctant to enable Herzl/RMHA's boys and girls to take part in the Class 1A state basketball tournament. Its blueprint for conducting 10 simultaneous tournaments (for boys and girls in five classifications) in the short span of 16 days is a 57-page book that lays out all of the logistical issues - from arenas to schedules to motel availability to assignments for officials, scorers, timekeepers and all of the other people engaged to help operate more than 50 sites involving hundreds of games.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/thorstenson_33603___article.html/air_army.html Flying in slow circles four miles above Baghdad in the back of a four-engine C-130, the Air Force Academy’s Capt. Linda Thorstenson waits for a call.It could be from a convoy under attack, or just someone checking a radio. She’s their security blanket, ensuring that when they pick up their radios, someone will hear them on the other end.“We’re 911 operators at 20,000 feet,” said Thorstenson, who teaches cadets the basics of flying in Colorado Springs and helps coach the academy’s gymnastics team.“We’re there if they need us.”
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http://www.gazette.com/opinion/crack_33629___article.html/party_powder.html After too many years of inattention, Congress may finally be getting ready to correct one of the most harmful mistakes it made in the 1980s during the period of legislative hysteria over the phenomenon of crack cocaine. The House Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee held hearings Tuesday on bills to reform the disparity in sentencing for possession of crack and powder cocaine.Back in the 1980s, when crack cocaine seemed to be decimating neighborhoods and wrecking lives at an alarming rate, many people believed it was more addictive and more dangerous than powder cocaine. That turned out not to be the case, but while it was the conventional wisdom, Congress enacted laws mandating longer sentences for crack possession than for powder cocaine.It takes 5 grams of crack cocaine (two sugar packets) to get a five-year sentence versus 500 grams of powder. Fifty grams of crack triggers a 10-year sentence, but it takes 5,000 grams of powder to trigger a 10-year sentence.That’s a ratio of 100 to 1. And while it was not part of the intention, the disparity has harmed blacks more than any other group. By and large (there are exceptions to every rule) blacks who use cocaine tend to use crack, while white Americans are more inclined to use powder. So blacks have received much longer prison sentences for offenses that, chemically speaking, are identical.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/teacher_33608___article.html/colorado_springs.html A 73-year-old substitute teacher at Wasson High School was arrested by Colorado Springs police Feb. 15. A 15-year-old boy told police the male teacher offered to pay him $1,000 to allow the teacher to perform oral sex on him, according to an arrest affidavit.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/18 A Florence inmate who allegedly planned to throw hot wax on a congressman visiting a prison was convicted Tuesday of assaulting a guard by throwing the wax on him instead.Chief U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham said the inmate, Jay Vaughan Gregory, made "a strongly implied threat" in his closing arguments in a two-day trial.Nottingham ordered that Gregory's copy of the jurors' names be turned back to court staff "before you have any opportunity to copy" them.A person familiar with the case said Gregory, 51, is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a violent gang that operates in numerous prisons.Another person who attended the trial and had official knowledge of it said Gregory, in his closing argument, said, "We die with swords in our hands and not with chains on our ankles and we will hold each and everyone responsible for the actions that occurred in the courtroom."
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386605 A skier died Wednesday at Eldora Mountain Resort. Officials said the 46-year-old man was found at 1:15 p.m. at the bottom of West Ridge, an intermediate trail in the Corona area. He was unresponsive and not breathing.Ski patrollers administered life support, but the skier was pronounced dead after about an hour.It was the first skier death "in quite a number of years" at Eldora Mountain Resort," said Rob Linde, resort spokesman.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/27/children-sickened-school-evacuated/ Lumberg Elementary School in Edgewater was evacuated Wednesday after several students and staff members complained of headaches and nausea, but the source of the illness remained a mystery, authorities said.Nine students and four teachers were treated at nearby Jefferson High School, then taken to Lutheran Hospital as a precaution shortly after the school was evacuated about 1 p.m., a spokeswoman for Jefferson County Schools said.
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http://greeleytribune.com/article/20080227/NEWS/797320509 World War II veterans are dying at a rate of more than 1,200 a day nationally.And many of the 16 million Americans who served in the war never had the opportunity to see the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., which opened to the public on April 29, 2004 between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.All that's going to change for northern Colorado veterans of the war.An Honor Flight Northern Colorado is being put together to fly WWII veterans from Weld and Larimer counties to the memorial -- free of charge -- Sept. 23-24.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/28/022808_1a_Clifton_Governance.html Residents of Clifton, the most densely populated community in unincorporated Mesa County, may be going to the polls this November to create Colorado’s newest city.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/227729473 Scott Burgess wants to repair the relationship between Minturn and Red Cliff, especially now that employee housing from private ski resort may be built near his town.“We have to change that relationship so that we have a say with what’s happening in our own backyard,” said Burgess, who has lived in Red Cliff for two years.That’s one of several reasons Burgess has decided to run for Red Cliff’s Board of Trustees, on which six seats out of seven will be up for grabs April 1.
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http://vaildaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/51392811 Their numbers have dwindled, and age has slowed them. Still, on Tuesday, the veteran ski troopers showed no fear on Riva Ridge.One by one, they plunged down the steepest face of this Vail trail, named for the supposedly insurmountable cliff they climbed in Italy’s Apennine Mountains to launch a surprise attack on the Nazis. That was 63 years ago.At the bottom of the ski trail, the men — now in their 80s and 90s — collected on this sunny powder day on Vail Mountain, smiling at each other.A love of skiing is still a common thread for these veterans of the 10th Mountain Division. But their bonds go much deeper.“Friends you make in combat, you never forget,” said John Woodward, 93, who was an officer in the 10th, the regiment of skier-soldiers who, during World War II in 1945, pushed back the Germans in the harsh Italian mountains.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8383225 A leaky value allowed about 300 gallons of untreated stormwater runoff into a 60-inch water pipeline in Aurora today, causing slight taste and odor problems but no known health risks, Aurora Water said.About 3,200 customers were affected in a 2-square-mile bordered by Mississippi and Jewell avenues and Wheeling to Dayton streets.The problem was quickly fixed, the line flushed and water samples sent to to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment as a precautionary measure, said Aurora Water spokeswoman Meghan Hughes.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/feisty-rolo-wins-reprieve/ Rolo lives. That's what a judge decided Wednesday afternoon.Assistant Presiding Judge Mike Graber ruled that the German shepherd, in trouble for biting a neighbor, can return to his owner.Not without conditions, however. Laura Hagan, Rolo's owner, has to continue intense training with the dog and learn how to better control him.A 90-day jail sentence for Hagan, who was found guilty Tuesday of having a dog at large and keeping a dangerous animal, will be suspended if the dog stays out of trouble for a year, Graber ruled.Ten of Hagan's neighbors testified at a sentencing hearing that the dog was aggressive and they had concerns ranging from mild to extreme for their safety and the safety of their children. Hagan was found guilty Tuesday of having an at-large dog and having a dangerous animal.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280366/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Laurie Stolen is proud of the work that goes into preparing and serving an estimated 14,000 nutritious meals weekly, even though her diners don't really have much choice in their dining options.Stolen, inmate services director at the Larimer County Detention Center, oversees the jail's kitchen staff, a mix of employees from contractor Aramark and nearly 50 "trustee" inmates.
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http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1204213176/14 The organizer of a campaign to return the public comments to televised City Council work sessions is applauding the Pueblo County Democratic Party for taking a stand on the issue.Tucked in among 25 other resolutions passed Saturday at the Pueblo County Democratic convention was a brief statement that the party believes "City Council meetings should be televised for public access and should include public comment open to all Pueblo County residents."Right now, council televises its regular sessions and work sessions on nights when a regular session is held.Last September, however, council moved its public comment period to the non-televised work sessions and Chris Nicoll's Pueblo Citizens for Open Government has been fighting ever since to get the decision reversed.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_7b_Xcel.html Plagued with a history of power failures along Horizon Drive and around Grand Junction Regional Airport, Xcel Energy is investing more than $1 million to replace underground lines and equipment in an effort to eliminate power troubles in the area.
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http://steamboatpilot.com/news/2008/feb/28/yampa_valley_recycles_selling_reusable_bags/ The numbers associated with the consumption of plastic bags are staggering.According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 380 billion bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year. The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually, at an estimated cost to retailers of $4 billion. The bags are said to take more than 1,000 years to decompose.“These plastic bags — they are just a disaster,” Catherine Carson said.Carson is a member of Yampa Valley Recycles, a group that is launching a reusable shopping bag program in Routt County. The group has purchased 5,000 of the polypropylene bags, which it plans to sell for $1 each.
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/591981407 The Basalt town government’s proposal to boost property taxes to buy a flood-imperiled trailer park for $5 million has failed to attract a champion of the issue.While the election is only about a month away, April 1, no citizens’ committee has emerged to promote the purchase of the Pan and Fork Mobile Home Park. The bonding company the town is working with on the deal eventually will try to build awareness of the proposed purchase.The town government is in a sticky spot on the issue. Colorado law prevents local governments from spending public funds to promote a specific outcome. “The town can’t really do a lot,” Town Manager Bill Efting said. “We can’t spend town money.”
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http://aspentimes.com/article/20080228/NEWS/920530290 A member of Basalt’s Planning and Zoning Commission decided Wednesday to try out for the big leagues.
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http://summitdaily.com/article/20080227/NEWS/68450203 Summit County Sheriff John Minor said Tuesday’s sit-down with members of the Denver Water Board “went really well,” as the the agencies discussed communication, safety and security related to the Dillon Dam Road.“Obviously these are issues we will still need to work on as we try to develop this relationship and, like any relationship, it will take time,” said Sheriff John Minor.Denver Water and local law enforcement have recently been subjected to public scrutiny after the Denver Water closed the Dillon Dam Road for nine days in January due to a potential Homeland Security threat.
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http://montrosepress.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/doc47c6312e31b11250416400.txt Residents of a local subdivision are working to reduce crime in a way that focuses on individual homes — the crime-free lifestyles program.Fox Meadows is the first neighborhood in Montrose to begin implementing techniques developed by the International Crime Free Association to reduce the potential for residential crimes such as burglary and vandalism."In the last three to four years, we've started to witness significant increase in crime," resident Ken Holyfield said Wednesday. Holyfield is also a member of the Fox Meadows homeowners association. He's lived in the subdivision for seven years.
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http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article;_path=/news/08/news080228_1.htm Shalee Cunningham, who was tentatively chosen a month ago as the next superintendent of Durango schools, has withdrawn her application, the school board announced Wednesday."Shalee has withdrawn her application, and we are going to reopen the search and try to look for some other candidates," said Jeff Schell, a school board member. "Unfortunately, I can't comment on much more than that."
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http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x2052201974 For tiny Rico, everything is as it was before whispers of mining’s return crept through the floorboards.A deal that would have brought large-scale molybdenum mining to the hills above Rico is dead, some three months after it was supposed to close, according to a press release from Bolero Resources Corp. CEO R. Bruce Duncan.“Bolero’s due diligence investigations could not be satisfactorily addressed to permit the entering into of a definitive agreement,” reads the release, which appeared yesterday morning on a Canadian business and media Web site, CNW Telbec.Some celebrated, happy to nix mining from the local lexicon for the second time.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385957 To an outsider, the scene looks more like summer vacation than a day of learning. But it's all part of the free-form curriculum that defines this type of home schooling — based on the idea that learning is a natural consequence of living.It needn't be boxed into time increments, targeted at certain age groups, limited to traditional school subjects or measured in tests.Generally speaking, most home-schoolers follow a traditional curriculum of math, science and social studies.Much of their education is guided by textbooks and scheduled lesson plans.Flip that whole notion over, and you have unschooling.If unschoolers wake up one morning with an interest in horse training, salamanders or ancient Chinese dynasties, that is what they study. Their sources could be the Internet, museums, farms, library books, movies or professionals in their field of interest.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8385956 Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve. But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions."I'm trying to balance your rights and interests as well as the needs of the community," Graber told Laura Hagan. "If you don't do these things, it would be very serious."Hagan received a 90-day jail sentence that is suspended for one year if Rolo stays out of trouble. Rolo and Hagan also must continue a 12- to 16-week training regimen with monthly progress reports.
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http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8386602 The loudest jets operating in the U.S. would be banned from landing at Centennial Airport under a proposal submitted by the airport and surrounding communities to the Federal Aviation Administration.The FAA is currently reviewing and taking public comment on Centennial's "noise-compatibility program."Michael Fronapfel, the airport's manager of planning and development, said the first of 12 recommendations is to ban "Stage 1" aircraft entirely, and Recommendation 2 is to ban the slightly quieter "Stage 2" aircraft from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_8385960 A new master plan for the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood calls for 3.6 million square feet of new development and 1,400 residential units.Combined with some of the existing buildings, the Federal Center will have a total of 6.4 million square feet on the 640-acre site within the next 20 years.The Federal Center property, which houses government offices, including the U.S. Geological Survey, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Mine Safety Health Administration, is owned by the General Services Administration.The GSA sought a master plan for the site to take advantage of the development potential brought about by the FasTracks project, which will bring an RTD light-rail line through the property, and by the relocation of St. Anthony Hospital to the site.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/jeffco-schools-beef-goes-bye-bye/ Lunch for tens of thousands of Jefferson County schoolchildren won't include 400 cases of frozen beef, which is being destroyed starting this morning.Colorado's largest school district bought some of the 143 million pounds of frozen beef being recalled from Chino, Calif.-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.Jeffco warehouse staff will destroy the meat at a Jeffco Schools storage warehouse on Quail Street in Lakewood.
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_8383346 Over and over, parents complain that our schools are not doing an adequate job preparing students. Generations of students learned by sitting in rows at desks, memorizing multiplication tables, and listening intently to a teacher. Why can't students today learn the same way?As Bob Dylan said, "The times, they are a-changing." And we have done a very poor job keeping up with these changing times.For a good majority of today's youths, hours are spent at the computer, sending text messages or talking on cellphones, playing video games or listening to an iPod. Everything is electronic, fast, instantly gratifying, and independently controlled. These activities are in sharp contrast to the way most schools approach education.Our system requires all students to take the same courses, and take the same tests at the same time, regardless of the differing abilities of the students. Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if each student could progress according to his or her individual ability and then be tested accordingly?
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/full-fare-for-bus-rapid-transit/ Regional Transportation District officials are trying to reassure cities along U.S. 36 that the district still fully supports bus-rapid transit following the circulation of a city of Boulder memo questioning that commitment last week.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/racial-feud-trial-leaves-big-legal-bill/ Almost six weeks after 15-year- old Randall Nelson was found not guilty of charges of assault and disorderly conduct stemming from a racially charged incident in February 2007 that left another boy with a broken jaw, legal and financial ramifications remain for the family.In defending his son, now a freshman at Steamboat Springs High School, Brad Nelson learned a tough lesson: Good legal defense doesn't come cheap."If you want the best, you pay for the best," said Brad Nelson, who faces more than $40,000 of legal fees and other expenses related to his son's defense.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/wheat-watching-whole-wheat-price-woes-come-to/ In light of a nationwide surge in the price of wheat, Boulder businesses such as Spruce Confections, Great Harvest Bread and Boulder Beer Co. are re-evaluating what they make, how much they make and how much they charge."It's become a major panic in the brewery business," said Tess McFadden, marketing director for Boulder Beer, 2880 Wilderness Place.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/mystery-donor-leaves-1-million-to-naropa/ Who dunnit?An anonymous donor has left Naropa University $1 million in her will, the Boulder-based institution announced Wednesday.It's the largest such posthumous gift in the school's 34-year history, and comes with some intriguing question marks."Part of the mystery and the power of this gift is we don't know what her precise connection was to the university," said Christopher Dwyer, vice president for institutional advancement.The bequest will be distributed in segments to Naropa through 2011. The first amount has gone into the endowment fund. The president and its board of trustees will determine future placements. No strings are attached to the money.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-dog-on-trial-feb28,1,3839362.story Rolo the dog, who got loose last summer and bit or scratched a neighbor as she held her toddler, has dodged a death sentence for the second time.In what dog owners hailed as a victory, Arvada Municipal Judge Mike Graber on Wednesday gave the 5-year-old German shepherd a reprieve.But Graber sternly cautioned Rolo's owner that she must comply with a list of sanctions.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/griego-hearts-broken-by-market/ Iran into an acquaintance last week at the Capitol Hill Whole Foods. Tina, he called, and I turned and there was Tony, smiling, saying I was the first person he had seen since, well . . .He didn't have to finish. I was one of his old customers, and he hadn't seen many since he and his business partner closed their own little grocery store in December.Tony Thompson and Shelley Garrelts owned Simple Foods on the Tennyson strip in North Denver. They took out a $270,000 bank loan, put their homes up as collateral, kicked in another $35,000 each and opened in August 2003. "To rave reviews," Tony reminds me later. He's right.
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http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-lecture-solar-activity-and-climate-change/ The Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado is sponsoring a talk on how solar activity may have affected parts of the "little ice age."The 1600s brought an unusually cold period during the little ice age. Tom Woods will talk about how this historical climate change may have been affected by solar activity.Woods will discuss current understanding based on satellite measurements of variations in the sun, which will establish what extent solar influences play in our climate today.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/state-issues-warning-on-latest-e-mail-scam/ Colorado Attorney General John Suthers on Wednesday warned consumers and businesses about a new e-mail scam related to messages claiming to be from the U.S. Department of Justice.The e-mails concern a supposed consumer complaint filed against the recipient and usually contain an attachment. The attachment is either a blank complaint form or some other document.Suthers advises consumers not to open the attachment because it might contain a computer virus or other malicious software.The Justice Department doesn't send messages to the public via e-mail. Similar hoaxes have recently been conducted in the names of other government entities, the Justice Department said in a statement.
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/qwest-reaches-deal-with-jeffco-schools/ Qwest Communications said it has won a 10-year, $16 million contract with the Jefferson County School District to provide high-speed data networking and Internet services.
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http://www.timescall.com/News_Story.asp?id=6862 The Weld County Jail was built to hold 405 inmates. It routinely averages 500.Officials hope a new $17 million wing will alleviate overcrowding at the jail when it’s ready for occupancy in March.“The objective and goal in building the new wing is to bring the numbers back down to capacity,” said Sterling Geesaman, Weld County Sheriff’s Office bureau chief.The four-year project adds 86,000 square feet to the jail and bring its capacity to 779 inmates.
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http://www.gazette.com/articles/hunter_33631___article.html/county_seat.html Allison Hunter couldn’t stay out of a campaign fray for long.The 43-year-old Democrat, who in December dropped out of her second bid for the state House District 15 seat, filed paperwork Tuesday that officially kicked off her campaign for the District 2 seat on the El Paso County Commission.“A lot of people are desperate for a voice in the county and I can certainly tell that after even only two days,” Hunter said of the support she has received since informally announcing her candidacy at Saturday’s county Democratic Assembly.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/CSUZONE01/802280368/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 A new system for buying everything from lawn furniture to hazardous chemicals and cars may eventually help Colorado State University save $10 million annually, university officials say.The new system funnels purchases through a central program, helping financial administrators better understand exactly what university departments are buying.
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http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS01/802280387/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 The five girls and sixth-grade teacher Mary Laszlo also tracked the energy usage of the elementary school, including water, gas and electricity. Utilities use at Werner produces 105 tons of greenhouse gases each year, the team found."I think it's really shocking," said Anne Bonhoure, a fifth-grader. "We are using a lot of energy."The team began to think of alternative ways to generate energy for the school and presented their findings to District Superintendent Jerry Wilson.They also made a presentation to the school, encouraging students and teachers to turn off lights, computers and other electronic devices when they are not in classrooms."We give awards for classrooms at the end of the day that don't have their computers turned on," said Kate Monahan, a sixth-grader.
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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/27/022808_1b_Dist__51_Web_site.html A nonprofit policy research organization with its eye on school districts statewide has put District 51’s Web site on the bottom of the list of the state’s 20 largest districts, because of accessibility of information on open enrollment and other factors.The Independence Institute’s Education Policy Center in Golden evaluated the Web sites of 20 of the state’s largest school districts based on the comprehensiveness and accessibility of open enrollment information, scoring both of those factors in January 2007 and July 2007. The information was released this week in the report titled “Open Enrollment and the Internet: An Evaluation of Colorado School District Web Sites.”District 51 has made improvements since then to its Web site, http://www.mesa.k12.co.us/2003/index.cfm.
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http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2008/feb/28/rail_service_possible/ The cities of Steamboat Springs and Craig have joined a group exploring high-speed, passenger rail service that could include a spur extending from South Routt to Craig.The Hayden Town Board also has voted to join the multi-jurisdictional governmental entity known as