Council votes in Rosenthal as city’s 1st police monitor
The Denver City Council on Monday voted unanimously to confirm Mayor John Hickenlooper’s hiring of Richard Rosenthal as the city’s first police monitor.
Hickenlooper selected Rosenthal from nearly 200 applicants for the job, of which 75 met the minimum specifications. Rosenthal served as police monitor in Portland, Ore., since 2002 and as a Los Angeles County prosecutor for 16 years before that.
As Denver’s monitor, Rosenthal will track and critique internal police investigations. He will be paid $110,000 annually.
“I am confident we have a candidate that is qualified and competent,” Councilman Rick Garcia said before the 13-0 vote.
Also on Monday, the council approved plans for a six-month pilot project to allow tastings of liquor and malt beverages at licensed liquor stores and drugstores in the city.
Wet spring increases risk for hantavirus
Conditions in Colorado suggest this may be a bad year for hantavirus, which can cause severe respiratory disease, health officials said Monday.
The second moist spring in a row, following several years of drought, has led to a population explosion of deer mice – a situation similar to 1993, when four Coloradans died of the rare disease.
Good moisture means more plant food for deer mice, which carry hantavirus and spread it in their urine and feces. People are often infected by breathing contaminated dust; human cases tend to happen in the springtime, state epidemiologist John Pape said.
He said that he doesn’t consider conditions in Colorado dire but that rural residents should take care to keep mice out of homes and outbuildings, and work carefully where there might be mice urine and feces present. A La Plata County man was hospitalized with the disease in mid-March.
For more precautions, go to www.cdphe.state.co.us.
Workers hurt in blast during chemical mix
An explosion that occurred during the mixing of two chemicals at a Grand Junction manufacturing company sent three people to the hospital Monday morning. Ten more were treated at the scene.
The explosion at CAPCO Inc. happened shortly before 9 a.m. during the mixing of chemicals used in flares that are dropped from airplanes to counteract missiles. CAPCO makes the initiating devices for the flares under a contract with the federal government.
Mike Page, a spokesman for the Grand Junction Fire Department, said most of the injuries were minor and none were believed to be life-threatening. He said the fact that CAPCO employees work behind shields in separate stations prevented more serious injuries.
The explosion caused a small fire, which was quickly extinguished. Damage to the building was estimated at about $3,000.
Ute Mountain placed under fed protection
Ute Mountain on the New Mexico-Colorado border is now permanently protected under an effort by a national conservation group and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
The Trust for Public Land and the BLM said Monday that they successfully wrapped up nearly three decades of efforts to protect the 14,344-acre property when the Trust for Public Land conveyed the final 6,420 acres, valued at $2.7 million, to the BLM.
In 2003, the nonprofit group had purchased 7,924 acres of the mountain and conveyed it to the BLM.
The area within the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River corridor will be managed by the BLM to protect its open space, wildlife habitat and value for recreation.
The BLM is to hold hearings, perhaps starting this year, to develop a management plan, then open up Ute Mountain to the public.
Burglary suspect caught after crash
A man suspected of breaking into an Aurora home and tying up two people inside led police on a miles-long car chase through northeast Denver on Monday before crashing into another vehicle.
Aurora police were called about 11:50 a.m. to a home in the 1600 block of South Richfield Street. A man had entered through a back door, threatened two residents with a knife and tied them up, said Aurora police spokeswoman Kathleen Walsh.
Police believe the man may have been involved in a hit- and-run accident at South Buckley Road and East Mexico Avenue shortly before entering the home a few blocks away.
The suspect took car keys from the home and fled in a white Buick, Walsh said. Denver police spotted the Buick in Montbello. The suspect led police east on Interstate 70 to Havana Street, where he exited. The suspect “grazed” another car at East 45th Avenue, police spokesman Sonny Jackson said. The crash stopped the Buick, and police took the suspect into custody.
The suspect and a female passenger in the car that was hit were transported to the hospital with minor injuries, Jackson said.
The suspect could face charges of first-degree burglary in Aurora and other charges in Denver.
Executive director named for state Dems
Political activist Sherry Jackson has been named the executive director of the Colorado Democratic Party.
Jackson – former Denver clerk and recorder, special- projects director under Mayor John Hickenlooper, and administrative director of the 2004 Salazar for Colorado campaign – will take over May 9.
“We were very fortunate to have so many qualified applicants for this position,” said Pat Waak, chairwoman of the state Democrats. “It was very clear to me that Sherry Jackson is right for this job. Ms. Jackson brings experience, dedication and strong leadership to the Colorado Democratic Party.”
Decision delayed on air-quality rules
After more than two hours of testimony, the state’s top lawmakers Monday delayed a decision on legislation adopting new air-quality rules.
Senate President Joan Fitz- Gerald, D-Jefferson County, asked the Legislative Council to wait until officials gathered more data about what rules to adopt.
If the state doesn’t offer an alternative, the rules proposed by the Bush administration will take effect at the end of the year, Fitz-Gerald said.
The administration’s proposed rules are facing a challenge in federal court. A decision isn’t likely before May 11, the final day of the state legislative session.
Fitz-Gerald said officials will work on the rules this week.
