Combat medic killed in Iraq explosion
A soldier assigned to Fort Carson was killed in Iraq, military officials said Thursday.
Spec. Jeffrey A. Williams, 20, of Warrenville, Ill., died Monday in Tall Afar, where an explosive device detonated near his combat patrol, the Defense Department said.
Williams, who his mother said was a combat medic, was assigned to the Support Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, based at Fort Carson.
Williams, the oldest of four boys, enlisted in the Army just days after his 2003 graduation from a high school in Wheaton, Ill., said his mother, Sandra Smith of Mansfield, Texas.
“He was a leader; he wasn’t a follower,” said Smith, whose family moved to Texas after her son joined the Army. “The boys are really having a hard time. Every last one of the kids is having a hard time because they really looked up to Jeffrey.”
Construction alters light-rail routes
RTD light-rail service between the Evans and 10th/Osage stations will be replaced by bus service from 12:01 a.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday to accommodate construction on the Interstate 25/Broadway viaduct.
The Regional Transportation District will provide frequent bus service to shuttle passengers to and from the Evans, I-25/Broadway, Alameda and 10th/Osage stations.
Light-rail service will operate normally from the Littleton/ Mineral station to the Evans station and from the 10th/Osage station to downtown.
RTD will also accommodate Rockies fans beginning at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Shuttle buses will take fans directly from the Evans light-rail station to Coors Field in time for the 6 p.m. game and will return to the Evans station when the game is over.
For route and schedule information, call RTD at 303-299- 6000. Call 303-299-6089 for the speech- and hearing-impaired. RTD’s website is www.RTD-Denver.com.
Early Americans may have changed climate
Forest and grassland fires set by ancient Americans may have affected the atmosphere hundreds of years before the Industrial Revolution, according to a new climate analysis.
Anthropologists know people around the world lit fires to flush game and create good habitat for animals they hunted, but they have debated whether the burning was extensive enough to change ecosystems.
“Given that there weren’t that many human beings around … we were kind of surprised there was an impact,” said Jim White, a climate researcher at the University of Colorado and one of the authors of the new study, published today in Science magazine.
From bubbles of air trapped in Antarctic ice cores, his team extracted methane, a greenhouse gas generated by fires, wetlands and fossil-fuel burning. Using sophisticated chemistry, they separated the three types of methane from each other.
Fires were increasingly frequent from about A.D. 1 to 1000, they found, then dropped somewhat during the damp and chilly centuries of 1100 to 1500, and dropped precipitously after 1500. That last drop corresponds to the time when American Indians were decimated by diseases introduced by Europeans, the researchers reported.
Mines budget chief takes post at CU
The vice president for budget and finance from the Colorado School of Mines was selected Thursday to take the same job at the University of Colorado.
CU regents unanimously approved Robert G. Moore to take the university’s top budget job, replacing John Bliss, who had retired in 2003 but took the job on an interim basis when his successor resigned this year.
Moore will be paid $225,000 a year.
“American Idol” tryouts this weekend
Wristbands and tickets will be handed out for “American Idol 5” tryouts at 6 a.m. Saturday at Gate 10 at Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver. Auditions will begin Sunday morning.
Candidates must have two forms of ID as proof of age. Those under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Entrantsmust be between 16 and 28 years old as of Aug. 15.
After receiving a wristband and ticket, candidates may leave or spend the night in the stadium. No one under the age of 13 may spend the night in the stadium or in line. For full details, applications and information, go to idolonfox.com.
Ex-Peña aide joins Hickenlooper team
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper on Thursday announced he is appointing as chief operating officer a woman who worked in the mayoral administration of Federico Peña in the 1980s.
Katherine Archuleta, executive director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation in Albuquerque, will join Hickenlooper’s executive team Oct. 11.
She will focus on internal management and operations issues, including the coordination of city departments and agencies.
Archuleta worked for eight years as an educator and administrator for Denver Public Schools. She joined Peña’s mayoral administration in 1983. During her eight years with the city, she worked as Peña’s administrative assistant, deputy chief of staff and administrative Cabinet officer.
Archuleta in 1993 joined Peña in Washington, where he was head of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Her salary will be $110,000.
