CU prof’s stress research may offer depression help
Some people bounce back quickly from devastating events while others never seem to recover, and a new University of Colorado study suggests that resilience may emerge from a part of their brains called the ventral medial prefrontal cortex. Researchers have long known that people – and laboratory animals – experience less stress when difficult events can be controlled than when the events are uncontrollable, said psychology professor Steven Maier. He discovered a region of the brain that’s involved in assessing whether events are controllable or not. If they’re controllable, the ventral medial prefrontal cortex sends messages to other areas, preventing an intense stress response.
Maier presented his results during the American Psychological Association’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., last week. The work could eventually help doctors treat depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, he said.
COLORADO
Groups claim C & D foes breaking laws
Two groups accused a conservative think tank Wednesday of circumventing campaign-finance laws by not identifying the donors of nearly $400,000 for radio ads that lampoon a proposal to loosen the state’s tax and spending restrictions.
Colorado Common Cause and the League of Women Voters of Colorado said the Independence Institute spent an estimated $390,000 for the radio ads.
“What we’d really like to see is them tell us who their donors are,” Common Cause executive director Pete Maysmith said. “The issue isn’t that they’re running a radio campaign against (Referendums) C and D; the issue is that it’s being done in secret.”
Voters will decide in November on Referendums C and D, which would ease the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, a constitutional amendment.
Jon Caldara, head of the Independence Institute and chairman of “Vote No; It’s Your Dough,” was out of town and could not immediately be reached for comment.
METRO AREA
T-REX work to close S. University Blvd.
T-REX contractors will close all lanes of South University Boulevard between East Iowa and East Asbury avenues at 10 p.m. Friday and they will remain closed until 5:30 a.m. Monday, officials said.
Iowa is on the north side of Interstate 25, and Asbury is on the south. The intersection of University and East Buchtel Boulevard also will be closed over the weekend, as will all the related ramps to and from I-25, T-REX officials said.
When University reopens Monday, it will do so with only one lane in each direction. The narrowing will last for about 10 months for reconstruction of the I-25/University interchange.
Motorists will be directed to use South Colorado Boulevard and South Franklin Street to cross I-25.
LAKEWOOD
Suspect in attempted homicide surrenders
Joe Tony Sanchez, 26, surrendered Wednesday evening to Lakewood police, who wanted him on suspicion of attempted homicide and stalking in a domestic case, said police spokeswoman Stacie Oulton.
She said Sanchez surrendered without incident about 6 p.m.
Investigators believe Sanchez went to an apartment building where he knew his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend would be early Saturday morning. They think he attempted to kill them by lighting several Molotov cocktails in and near the building.
Building residents were alerted by fire alarms and called authorities. None of the homemade bombs exploded.
DENVER
Suspect in shooting of two girls arrested
A man wanted in connection with the shooting of two young girls early this week turned himself in at Denver police headquarters Wednesday night, said police spokesman Sonny Jackson.
Andy Rubio Jr., 20, walked into the police building with his attorney about 7:30 p.m. and was immediately arrested, Jackson said.
Two women already arrested in the shooting were advised Wednesday they could face a charge of “criminally attempted murder with extreme indifference,” 9News reported. A female juvenile also has been arrested.
According to police, the suspects drove in two cars to shoot at the home of a group who had verbally assaulted them earlier.
Two sisters, one 12 and one 7, in another house were struck by stray bullets.
DENVER
Penalty against mine owner overturned
A federal appeals court on Wednesday overturned a $94,000 penalty against the owner of an inactive gold mine in Teller County and sent the case back to the trial court. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled that a federal court magistrate erred when she ruled in favor of the Sierra Club and the Mineral Policy Center on summary judgment.
The groups had contended that El Paso Gold Mines violated the federal Clean Water Act by discharging zinc and manganese into Cripple Creek. The appeals court ruled that the Sierra Club and Mineral Policy Center had not proved that the mine was discharging pollutants into a navigable water.
BOULDER
Global-warming study finds ancient die-off
Intense global warming 251 million years ago triggered the greatest mass extinction in the planet’s history, according to a new analysis by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. At the end of the Permian Era, more than 90 percent of all marine species and about 70 percent of all terrestrial species became extinct. NCAR researchers, led by Jeffrey Kiehl, ran a computer climate model to get some insight into what was going on then.
They knew that levels of carbon dioxide – a greenhouse gas – and temperatures were much higher. The model showed that the warmth would have penetrated more deeply into the oceans than many thought, down to 10,000 feet. That thick layer of warm water would have led to stagnant oceans with little oxygen, and eventually none. Most marine life would have died, Kiehl and his colleagues report in the September issue of Geology.
