Mesa Verde wildfire threatens six homes
Cortez – A 320-acre wildfire was burning on federal land near Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado on Friday, threatening six homes.
Three heavy air tankers, two helicopters and one single-engine air tanker were helping about 40 firefighters battling the blaze on the ground, said Keith Wood of the Rocky Mountain Coordination Center.
The fire was burning on federal land on the Montezuma-La Plata county line, Montezuma County Sheriff Gerald Wallace said.
“It jumped up pretty strong last night with the dry lightning around,” he said Friday.
Students at CU, CSU awarded NASA grants
Five students from the University of Colorado at Boulder received NASA-awarded graduate fellowships in Earth-systems science – the most awarded to any university in the nation, CU has announced.
The space agency handed out 65 fellowships to students at 41 universities for 2005-06, according to its website.
Two Colorado State University students also won the awards, worth $24,000 annually, for up to three years of graduate school.
CU’s recipients are Charles Bardeen of the astrophysical and planetary sciences department; Melinda Beaver and Ingrid Ulbrich of chemistry and biochemistry; and Kyuhong Choi and Thomas Jakub of aerospace engineering.
The students will be studying topics as diverse as clouds, climate change and sea-level variation during the past 100 years.
CSU’s recipients are Anita Rapp and Peter Barry.
Senior vice president at CSU is new provost
Fort Collins – Colorado State University senior vice president Anthony Frank on Thursday was named provost, the school’s top academic post.
Frank, who was serving as interim provost, has been with the school in various jobs for more than a decade.
“I feel privileged to help lead the university faculty and students toward even greater success in academic and research achievements,” Frank said in a written statement.
Deer Creek road to be closed till Aug. 8
Deer Creek Canyon Road will be closed beginning Monday to allow storm-sewer construction for a nearby housing development. The closure is expected to continue until Aug. 8.
Alternative bike routes will be available for cyclists who use Deer Creek Canyon Road. Cyclists still may park at Deer Creek Canyon Road and South Wadsworth Boulevard, although they will detour to a bike path that runs through the Chatfield Bluffs subdivision and on to West Ute Avenue.
Additional parking also will be available at the Jefferson Corporate Center parking lot, at West Ute Avenue and South Toller Drive.
Rape suspect kills self in jail, leaves note
Boulder – Sheriff’s officials say a rape suspect who hanged himself in the Boulder County Jail left a suicide note, but they declined to release the contents.
Bradford Wagner was a suspect in at least seven rapes in Boulder, Lakewood and Austin, Texas.
Authorities said he hanged himself with a bed sheet in his cell Wednesday.
Sheriff’s Lt. Phil West said it did not appear Wagner left behind any writings confessing to any of the rapes.
Wagner, 37, of Glenwood Springs was arrested in June 2004 after investigators surreptitiously collected DNA samples from his car, home and bicycle.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigations said tests showed the samples matched DNA gleaned from the Boulder rapes.
SCFD says it cannot pay counties $670,000
The tax district that helps fund Denver-area zoos, museums and other cultural attractions says it cannot pay the $670,000 it owes counties for operating a 2004 election that extended the district’s 0.1 percent sales tax.
Stevan Strain, chairman of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District board, said Thursday he thought the bill would be no more than $200,000.
The tab from the seven counties involved came to more than $700,000. The district has paid about $30,000.
The district tax raises more than $35 million a year, but the law creating the district says only 0.75 percent of the money, or about $263,000 a year, can go toward overhead. Strain said that’s about enough to pay for a four-member staff.
Some of the county officials said they could file suit, but it was unclear whether the district could legally use any of the tax money to pay a court judgment.
“Litigation is not the preferred route,” said Hal Warren, an attorney for Adams County. “We want to work it out.”
Counties in the district are Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson.
Ex-Wyo. lawmaker to fill new judgeship
An attorney and former state legislator has been named to fill a new state judgeship in northeast Wyoming.
Nick Deegan, 54, of Gillette will become the third state district judge for Campbell, Crook and Weston counties. Gov. Dave Freudenthal announced Friday that he had chosen Deegan from a list of three names submitted by a nominating panel.
The Legislature created the seat this year to help Judges John R. Perry and Dan R. Price II with a growing caseload.
“I’m humbled and honored by the appointment,” Deegan, a Democrat, said in a release through the governor’s office. “I look forward to working with Judge Price and Judge Perry in serving the citizens of Crook, Campbell and Weston Counties and the bar of the 6th Judicial District.”
