Duluth, Minn. – A Colorado man found himself in a difficult position after falling 30 feet into an abandoned ore-dock chute.
Todd Benson, 30, of Boulder was in Duluth visiting his father along with his brother, Terry.
Police said the brothers went for a walk early Saturday after a night of drinking, climbed a barbed-wire fence and walked to the end of an abandoned ore dock that juts into Lake Superior.
Todd Benson then climbed a ladder overlooking the chute, which was used to funnel iron ore from railroad cars onto ore boats.
Benson lost his balance and fell in, Police Sgt. Jayme Carlson said. Were it not for a trap door that was left closed on the chute, Benson would have fallen all the way into the lake.
Terry Benson, of Madison, Wis., walked to the nearest phone to call for help, and it took 13 firefighters more than an hour to rescue his brother, who emerged from the incident with a cut on his forehead and a bruised rear end.
“It’s lucky he had someone with him, or he likely would have perished,” Carlson said. “No one ever goes out there, and I doubt he could have climbed out. I have never seen anything like this.”
Todd and Terry Benson were cited for trespassing, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and/or a $700 fine.
WESTMINSTER
Teen driver killed in speed-bump wreck
A 17-year-old driver was killed early Sunday in Westminster when she lost control of her car after hitting a speed bump. Westminster Police Department investigators concluded that she was going too fast.
Two teenage passengers were treated at a hospital and released. The names of those involved were not made public.
The accident happened at about 2:30 a.m. on 106th Avenue, just west of Moore Street.
After hitting the speed bump, the Chevy Cavalier veered into a curb and then a fence.
DENVER
Two deaths believed to be murder-suicide
Denver police are investigating an apparent murder-suicide.
Officers responded to gunshots early Saturday morning in the 1300 block of S. Quivas St., where they discovered one male and one female shot to death. One of the victim’s wounds appeared to be self-inflicted, said police spokesman Sonny Jackson.
No names, ages or additional details were available Sunday.
FORT COLLINS
Yates refrains from seeking office in ’06
Former Colorado State University President Al Yates says he won’t be a candidate on the ballot in 2006, despite pressure from friends and supporters.
“I am flattered by the interest,” said Yates, who’s registered as an unaffiliated voter and lives in Fort Collins. “But at the same time, I will continue to look for other ways to express my political interests,” Yates told the Fort Collins Coloradoan.
Yates last year served as co-chairman of a successful statewide ballot effort to increase tobacco taxes to fund health programs.
This year, he campaigned for a pair of budget-reform proposals that would temporarily suspend the revenue limitations of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and authorize $1.7 billion in bonds for transportation and other needs.
His campaigning for political causes was seen by some as raising his political profile in advance of a campaign of his own.
CHEYENNE
Owners retrieve cat after 1,000-mile trip
A young cat is safe and sound after somehow traveling to Downey, Calif., a journey of nearly 1,000 miles.
Toby, a black and white 10- month-old, was still wearing his collar and rabies tag when he showed up at a California apartment building earlier this month.
His owners, Dieter and Marianne Coletti, got a call two days after he disappeared. So the couple got in their van and picked him up.
Marianne Coletti thinks a traveler put the cat in a car or on a train.
CEDAR CITY, UTAH
As water rises, flood barrier may be tested
As floodwaters rise, Utah could be the next proving ground for a San Francisco company’s new device that acts as a rapid-deployment barrier.
The Geocell Systems floodwall snaps together in sections 8 feet long and 4 feet wide and can be from 8 inches to 4 feet high. The inside of each section is divided into a series of cells – resembling those of an ice cube tray – that are filled with sand for strength. The device could make sandbagging obsolete.
Al Arellanes, president of Geocell Systems, said his company is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to test and evaluate it in the field. Utah’s congressional delegation tipped off the corps that Iron County might be a good place to see how the wall stood up.
