Audit shows sex offenders issued state trade licenses
A state audit has revealed that 270 people issued professional licenses are registered sex offenders – more than 80 percent of whom do plumbing or electrical work that requires access to homes and building.
About 5 percent of those sex offenders are in a health-care profession providing services to vulnerable people, the audit by the Colorado Division of Registrations found.
The division relies on applicants to self-report their criminal histories, which is not sufficient to protect the public, auditors said.
More than 2,000 active licensees had felony convictions, and nearly 5,000 had misdemeanor convictions.
In response, the division said it will begin criminal background checks on licensees June 30 and will begin tracking sex offenders with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation in December 2006 to determine if licenses need to be denied, restricted or revoked.
DENVER
Panel to study decline in arrests, tickets
Jeanne Faatz, chairwoman of the City Council’s public safety committee, has convened a task force to examine the declining number of arrests and the drop in traffic tickets issued by police.
The task force plans to meet on Sept. 8 and 22 to analyze the situation.
Task force members include Public Safety Manager Al LaCabe; Police Chief Gerry Whitman; two members of the police union; a representative of the district attorney’s office; Earl Peterson, director of the civil service commission; former City Councilwoman Kathy Reynolds; and two volunteer police officers.
BOULDER
Ousted educator filing grievance against CU
A former environmental studies professor is filing a grievance against the University of Colorado, claiming administrators eliminated her courses in retaliation for her research.
Adrienne Anderson wants the university’s privilege and tenure committee to investigate whether CU ignored regents’ rules when her contract was not renewed in February.
Anderson, who also has filed a federal request for whistle- blower protection, said she plans to submit her grievance Friday.
She alleges CU did not renew her contract because of her research into “illegal environmental acts” by corporations that donate money to the university.
CU says Anderson’s contract was terminated because faculty voted to direct limited resources to other classes.
DENVER
11 named to oversee vets’ nursing homes
Veterans advocates, industry representatives and relatives of veterans are among those named Monday to oversee veterans nursing homes – including the troubled State Veterans Nursing Home in Aurora.
The State and Veterans Nursing Home Commission was created by the state legislature in May. Gov. Bill Owens announced his choices to fill the commission’s 11 spots Monday.
The veterans home in Aurora, which was to be operated by the state human services department, opened to residents in October 2002. Less than a year later, widespread problems began surfacing at the home, built to house up to 180 residents, and operations were $5.4 million over budget.
There are also veterans nursing homes in Homelake, Florence, Trinidad and Rifle.
ALAMOSA
Adams State provost named interim leader
Adams State College provost David Svaldi will head the college while president Richard Wueste is on administrative leave and college trustees move to terminate his employment.
Wueste was put on leave June 27 after the board said he made unapproved expenditures and lost the support of his staff.
A hearing on terminating Wueste’s employment is scheduled for Oct. 6 and 7.
Svaldi joined the faculty at Adams State in 1986 as an associate professor of communications. He became provost in late 2002.
CENTENNIAL
2 pit bulls seized after killing neighbor’s dog
Two pit bulls attacked and killed a neighbor’s poodle in Centennial on Sunday, according to a police report.
According to the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, a woman was in her fenced backyard with her poodle in the 4800 block of South Gibraltar Lane. She heard her neighbor’s dogs barking, and when she looked for her dog she noticed it was missing.
She saw her neighbor’s two pit pulls attacking her poodle. She suffered bites to her left and right forearm when she attempted to rescue her dog from the pit bulls. Police did not identify the poodle’s owner. The owner of the pit pulls, Debbie Smith, 52, did not answer phone calls made by The Denver Post.
Police do not know how the dogs escaped their 6-foot high chain link kennel.
Animal control took possession of the two pit bulls.
BOULDER
CU expert says ozone won’t get much worse
The Earth’s ozone layer is still sickly, but it’s not likely to get much worse, according to a researcher with the University of Colorado and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder.
From 1996 to 2002, the decline in Earth’s ozone, triggered by industrial chemicals emitted into the atmosphere, slowed and even reversed in a few places, according to Betsy Weatherhead.
It may still be decades until ozone levels have recovered to their pre-1970s level, Weatherhead reported. Her work is published in the current issue of Journal of Geophysical Research.
COMMERCE CITY
Cops ID man killed in dispute with woman
William D. Giles, 27, was identified Monday as the person who was shot to death during an argument in the 6500 block of East 61st Place, Commerce City police said.
Elma Garcia, 45, was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder, domestic violence and unrelated warrants, police said.
Officers found Giles in the basement of the residence about 4 p.m. Sunday. He died at Denver Health Medical Center.
WESTMINSTER
Public asked for tips on woman’s attacker
Westminster police are asking the public’s help in finding a sexual offender who assaulted a woman last week.
The woman was getting into her car after work when she was assaulted about 1 a.m. Thursday.
The incident occurred in the parking lot of a 24-hour business, but police declined to name the business to protect the victim’s identity.
The attacker was driving a black truck and was described as in his 50s and 6-feet tall. He has salt and pepper hair that is collar-length and feathered.
The attacker was wearing a gray T-shirt, jeans and athletic shoes at the time of the incident, police said.
