Downtown tunnel to launch FasTracks project next year
The launch of RTD’s $4.7 billion FasTracks transit expansion is expected to begin next year as the agency starts constructing a 650- foot-long light-rail tunnel from the north side of Union Station under land planned for commercial development, officials said Tuesday.
The tunnel will cost up to $28 million and take a year to build, Regional Transportation District officials said. It will serve the future Gold light-rail line that will link Wheat Ridge and Arvada with Union Station and also allow trains serving the station from the west, southwest and southeast to loop back on their routes.
East West Partners owns the bulk of several square blocks bordered by 17th, 19th and Wewatta streets and the main freight rail line through the Central Platte Valley. It plans to develop the land above the rail tunnel.
The current FasTracks plan for Union Station calls for light-rail passenger platforms to be 34 feet below grade and for diesel- powered commuter train lines – as well as Amtrak and the Ski Train – to use existing surface passenger rail platforms at the station.
DENVER
Suspected vandal’s combat service cited
An Air Force officer accused of vandalizing bumper stickers that support President Bush is a decorated combat veteran and the charges against him should be “viewed in that context,” his attorney said Tuesday.
Lt. Col. Alexis Fecteau, director of operations for reserve forces at the National Security Space Institute in Colorado Springs, faces a charge of criminal mischief.
At a hearing Tuesday, he waived a reading of the charge and declined comment.
“He is a highly decorated colonel in the Air Force, with 500 combat hours in the Gulf War, Kosovo and Bosnia,” his attorney, Patrick Mulligan, said. “Any allegations have to be viewed in that context.”
Police spokesman Sonny Jackson said Fecteau is suspected of blacking out the Bush bumper stickers and then spray-painting an expletive and the president’s name on at least 10 vehicles at Denver International Airport between December and July.
DENVER
3 in mayor’s Cabinet getting hefty raises
Three members of Mayor John Hickenlooper’s Cabinet are getting good-size pay raises. Stephanie O’Malley, director of Excise & Licenses, is getting a 12.5 percent raise to $86,580; human services manager Roxane White is bumped up 10 percent to $110,016; and Al LaCabe, city safety manager, is getting a 4.5 percent increase to $133,776.
The majority of the mayor’s other appointees are getting 2.25 percent raises, the same for city employees who meet or exceed expectations. The salary increases are the first since 2003.
DENVER
3 held, another sought in shooting of 2 girls
A dispute over remarks made about someone’s girlfriend ended with two unsuspecting Denver girls being shot while they slept in their beds Sunday, according to police.
Denver police are looking for 20-year-old Andy Rubio Jr., who they say fired the shots from an SKS assault rifle that hit two girls, ages 7 and 12, as they slept in a home on the 100 block of Osceola Street.
Police have arrested Natalie McFarlane and Terra Ramirez, both 19, in connection with the shooting. Police also have arrested a female juvenile.
According to police, the suspects drove in two cars to shoot at the home of a group who had verbally assaulted them earlier.
Police said stray bullets hit the bedroom of the two girls.
BRECKENRIDGE
Homeland funds to go where risk is highest
The Department of Homeland Security plans to allocate future federal funds to local authorities based on the perceived risk of terrorist attack in each area, Michael Brown, the agency’s undersecretary for emergency preparedness and response, said Tuesday at a conference of Colorado officials.
That may signal fewer federal homeland security dollars for states such as Colorado, and more for others such as New York, where risks are seen as greater and where per-capita payouts so far have been relatively slim, state officials said.
Brown spoke at Gov. Bill Owens’ annual conference for emergency managers.
ORDWAY
Lawsuit filed over July ’04 prison riot
A lawsuit has been filed against Corrections Corporation of America, the nation’s largest private prison operator, by more than 80 inmates injured as a result of a riot at the Crowley County Correctional Facility in July 2004.
The lawsuit claims that CCA’s negligence sparked the riot and that inmates who didn’t join the riot were treated in an inhumane manner.
Steve Owen, CCA spokesman, said CCA will “aggressively defend” the complaint and believes the most appropriate way to respond is through court filings rather than public comment.
FORT CARSON
Two soldiers die in rollover in Iraq
Two Fort Carson soldiers died Sunday in Mosul, Iraq, when their M915A1 tractor pulling a 7,500-gallon tanker accidentally rolled over.
Pfc. Elden D. Arcand, 22, of White Bear Lake, Minn., and Staff Sgt. Brian L. Morris, 38, of Centreville, Mich., died in the accident.
Both soldiers were assigned to the 43rd Area Support Group.
BRIGHTON
Suspect in wounding of deputy arrested
A man suspected of wounding an Adams County sheriff’s deputy in a shootout at an adult video arcade was arrested on charges of attempted first-degree murder, authorities said Tuesday.
David Lawrence Thompson, 35, of Denver was arrested late Monday when he was released from a hospital where he was treated for wounds he suffered in the shootout.
DENVER
Feds to pay builder in bomb-range cleanup
The federal government has agreed to pay a Colorado homebuilder $4.5 million for costs incurred in cleaning up parts of the former Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range, according to an agreement filed Tuesday in federal court.
The agreement stipulates that the government will reimburse Lennar Colorado LLC for the cleanup of military munitions at the former bombing range.
