RTD officials say Mayor John Hickenlooper plans to name Denver businesswoman and community leader Juanita Chacon to a vacant seat on the Regional Transportation District board of directors.
The seat opened up when board member Lori Fox recently resigned as director of Transit District C, citing job and family responsibilities.
District C includes western portions of Denver as well as parts of Jefferson County.
Chacon, a resident of northwest Denver, is a Re/Max Alliance real estate agent with a long history of involvement in nonprofits and community organizations.
Chacon was treasurer of Hickenlooper’s campaign for mayor and served on the mayor’s task force that helped select a new manager of public safety.
She also co-founded the Latina Chamber, a group designed to promote business development and community involvement for Hispanic women in the Denver area.
Chacon said she has been asked by mayoral aides to meet with members of the Denver City Council’s transit planning committee when they gather Tuesday.
“I’m very excited,” Chacon said about taking the transit position. “You’re designing the future of the area.”
DENVER
Hickenlooper picks acting chief of staff
Mayor John Hickenlooper said Tuesday that City Attorney Cole Finegan will serve as his acting chief of staff, effective July 11.
Current top aide Michael Bennet is leaving to become the new Denver Public Schools superintendent. Finegan, a former partner at Brownstein Hyatt and Farber and chief legal counsel for Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, will also remain as the city’s top attorney.
LAKEWOOD
Chase leads to dents, bumps and an arrest
A short police chase in Lakewood on Tuesday night ended with some dented cars and some “bumps and bruises,” said police spokesman Steve Davis.
The car that initiated the chase fled from a traffic stop, Davis said.
The suspect’s name wasn’t released Tuesday night.
“We tried to make a traffic stop at West 18th Avenue and Pierce Street shortly after 9 o’clock,” Davis said. “As the agent approached, the car took off.”
The chase ended near West 20th Avenue and Routt Street in Wheat Ridge a short time later when the fleeing car hit another car. The suspect jumped out and ran.
He was later captured in the 1900 block of Taft Street, Davis said.
DENVER
DNC chairman Dean slates July fundraiser
Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean will be in Denver next week to raise money for his party.
The former Vermont governor and 2004 presidential hopeful is scheduled to appear at a fundraiser at Denver’s Oxford Hotel at 6 p.m. July 14.
The event is open to the “paying public,” a party spokesman said – part of Dean’s “effort to go out and listen to the country, and rebuild the party from the grass roots.”
DENVER
Red Rocks by remote? Broadcast plan on tap
Red Rocks fans might be able to experience the outdoor concerts without leaving home if the City Council approves the plan that moved through a committee Tuesday.
The city of Denver and marketing company Octagon are working on a project to broadcast select concerts on cable television and radio stations across the country.
The plan would have the first two of four concerts filmed this summer and condensed into one-hour programs. Those would be scheduled to air in prime time in November.
The series would help brand the amphitheater as a major concert venue and tourist destination, said Jack Finlaw, director of Denver’s Division of Theatres and Arenas. In addition, the city would receive a cash payment of approximately $75,000 next year and would share in the net profits, he said.
The proposal will move to the Denver City Council meeting next week.
DENVER
City weighs increases in recreational fees
Denver recreationists may have to pay more to play next year. The Denver City Council is considering proposals to raise fees for such things as golfing, camping at Chief Hosa, picnic permits and use of sports fields.
City staff presenting the various fee hikes Tuesday said the increase in revenue is necessary to maintain current services.
Camping at Chief Hosa Campground would cost $2 more each night for RVs and $1 more for tent campers. Day-use fees would increase from $5 to $5.25.
Golfers can expect a $3 increase for 18 holes and $1 for nine holes on city greens.
Sports-field fees for players and teams would be eliminated in favor of daily use fees.
Other increases would affect festivals, runs, walks and other events in the city’s gardens and pavilions. Events with up to 350 people will cost $230 instead of the present $210, and those with more than 25,000 participants will increase to $3,465 from $3,150 each day.
The public amenities committee heard the proposals Tuesday. The committee will hear other recreation fee proposals next Tuesday and the proposals will most likely come before the full council Aug. 1.
LOCHBUIE
Calif. couple swore to fight police to death
A California couple involved in a weekend gun battle with police had told people they were on the run and would not be taken alive, according to a court document released Tuesday.
That revelation comes near the end of the three-page affidavit in support of a warrantless arrest of Nicholas Vovos, whose wife was killed in the Sunday morning shootout in Lochbuie.
Vovos, 22, is being held in the Weld County jail on suspicion of attempted murder of a peace officer and vehicular eluding after a chase that spanned 22 miles, hit speeds of 120 mph and ended in the shootout at a gas station.
California authorities suspect Vovos and his wife, Deborah Miller Vovos, 39, were involved in the disappearance of a 62-year-old woman in Orange County.
The affidavit gives a detailed summary of the events leading up to Sunday morning’s chase. Authorities in Orange County had called the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office and said that Vovos and his wife were possibly at the Stubs Gas and Oil company in Wiggins.
There, Wiggins Police Chief Leroy Dilka spotted a blue Honda Accord that officials later determined belonged to the missing woman, Carolyn Avdeef.
With other officers, Dilka gave chase when the vehicle sped away. At one point, according to the affidavit, Vovos leaned out the driver’s side window of the Honda and fired a shotgun at a pursuing sheriff’s deputy.
