State’s two-year colleges trail average in retention
Retention rates at two-year colleges in Colorado have slipped from 15th to 31st place nationally since 1990, according to a study released Monday from the Bell Policy Center.
The state’s two-year-college retention rates dropped nearly 9 percentage points from 1990 to 2002, falling below the national average in 1995, the report says. Forty-three states were included in the study.
In 1990, 58.5 percent of students stayed in school at two-year colleges, but only 49.7 percent were retained in 2002, the last year included in the report.
The national average was 54.8 percent in 2002, the report says.
The 2002 Colorado data are an improvement from 1999, when the retention rate for two-year state colleges was 42.2 percent.
CENTENNIAL
Council delays vote on sex-business area
The Centennial City Council late Monday opted to hold off on a decision for an ordinance that would set aside land where sexually oriented businesses could operate.
The council, during a special session, was considering alternatives for locating adult businesses far from their initial selection, a roughly 10-square-block area near Interstate 25 and south of Arapahoe Road along the Greenwood Village border.
The council will vote on the ordinance at a Sept. 7 session. There will not be a public- comment session.
DENVER
“Mr. Magoo Bandit” pleads guilty to heists
A serial bank robber nicknamed the Mr. Magoo Bandit by authorities for the thick eyeglasses he usually wore pleaded guilty Monday to robbing six banks and agreed to pay restitution to them and to 17 other banks he is believed to have robbed.
Tyler Timothy Hamilton, 43, of Littleton was arrested in March in Summit County. A federal grand jury indicted him on six bank-robbery counts in April.
Under his plea agreement, Hamilton will pay restitution of $12,168 to banks in Denver, Centennial, Golden, Greenwood Village, Parker and unincorporated Jefferson County. He also agreed to pay $34,509 in restitution for 17 other bank robberies in the Denver area, Boulder and Castle Rock for which he was not charged, said Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Colorado.
Dorschner said Hamilton faces up to 20 years in prison.
DENVER
Police officer charged in touching incident
A Denver police officer was charged Monday with touching an airport employee in a sexually inappropriate way.
The Denver district attorney has accused 37-year-old Rodney Clark of touching the woman against her will July 16.
Authorities say Clark was off duty but in uniform at the time of the incident.
Clark was ordered to appear in Denver County Court on Sept. 15. He faces 18 months in jail and a maximum $5,000 fine if convicted of the charge.
DENVER
McElhany to lead Senate Republicans
State Sen. Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, on Monday was elected leader of the Senate Republicans. McElhany, 65, is a retired real estate broker who was first elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1994. He was elected to the Senate in 2000. McElhany will replace Sen. Norma Anderson, R-Lakewood, who stepped into the role of minority leader in June when Mark Hillman resigned to become the interim state treasurer.
FORT COLLINS
High-speed crash claims second life
A second person has died from injuries suffered in a high-speed crash that ripped a car in half.
Adam E. Heath, 20, of Granite City, Ill., died Sunday at Poudre Valley Hospital, a Larimer County deputy coroner said Monday.
Heath’s passenger, identified as Cameron B. Haston, 19, of Lenexa, Kan., died at the scene of Saturday night’s accident.
Heath and Haston were students at Wyoming Tech in Laramie.
Authorities said they believe alcohol was a factor in the crash.
DENVER
Shots injure two girls sleeping at home
Two girls were wounded by a high-powered rifle as they slept in their home Sunday night, police said.
The girls, ages 7 and 12, were taken to Denver Health Medical Center, where they were treated and sent home.
A motive for the shooting is unknown, but shots were fired into three homes, including the house at Osceola Street near First Avenue where the girls live.
The shooting occurred about 10:50 p.m.
A red Pontiac Grand Am and a white four-door sedan, possibly a Dodge Lancer or Mercury Cougar, were seen leaving the area after the shooting. The Grand Am has been found.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867). Callers can remain anonymous and earn up to $2,000.
RANGELY
Creek cleaned after 12,000-gallon spill
State and local crews cleaned up about 12,000 gallons of crude oil that spilled into a creek when a tanker truck crashed near Doug las Pass, authorities said Monday.
Colorado State Patrol Trooper Eric Wynn said hazardous material crews finished the cleanup early Monday after the accident, which closed Colorado 139 for more than five hours Sunday. They were able to prevent the oil, which spilled into Douglas Creek, from flowing into the White River.
The truck driver, whose name wasn’t released, was injured and flown to Denver Health Medical Center. He was listed in serious condition Monday.
FORT COLLINS
Genetically modified wheat travels easily
Genetically modified wheat pollen can drift to other plants more easily than scientists believed, passing genes to wheat plants in neighboring fields and even weeds, according to a new study.
Colorado State University crop scientist Pat Byrne found that some wheat strains shared genes with plants as far as 200 feet away. He also detected wheat genes in nearby weeds called jointed goatgrass.
Those opposed to genetically engineered crops have worried that modified genes can end up in weeds, creating superweeds that are resistant to herbicides or drought.
Although genetically engineered wheat is not yet on the market, Byrne said his study suggests that even today’s growers need to separate their fields by 150 feet or more, to maintain the genetic integrity of their crops.
