14 sent to hospital after grain bin blaze
Ten firefighters and four civilians were taken to a hospital after being exposed to phosphine gas during a grain bin blaze, authorities said.
None was in serious condition.
The Sterling firefighters were providing assistance to the Merino Fire Department in putting out a fire in the bin at 6337 County Road 29 shortly after 4 p.m. Saturday. While fighting the blaze, crews discovered a placard showing the presence of the gas. The 14 people were taken to the Sterling Regional Medical Center for exposure to phosphine, which is used for the fumigation of insect pests in stored grains.
CSU sees slight drop in fall enrollment
Colorado State University saw a 1.7 percent decrease in students this year compared with last year, school officials said Friday.
The school had a 2005 total enrollment of 24,947, compared with last year’s 25,382, according to a news release. School officials say the drop is likely due to a record graduating class in May, but they are still analyzing data.
This year, the school’s minority student population increased by 71 students, to a new high of 2,950, or 12 percent of the student body.
Widening on U.S. 85 set to begin in Oct.
The Colorado Department of Transportation will begin widening a stretch of U.S. 85 in Doug las County next month, putting a kink in the scenic alternative to Interstate 25.
The work will include repaving and widening to four lanes 1 mile of the highway south of Louviers, as well as utility work north of the Titan Parkway interchange.
The work, part of an overall $5.8 million project, is expected to take a year.
The widening would accommodate north Douglas County’s growth and lessen the traffic on I-25. The state has not yet funded or set a timetable for the remaining 9 miles.
CDOT will hold a public meeting on the work Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the West Douglas County Fire Department at 4037 W. Platte Ave. in Sedalia.
Colorado ski rep joins roadless advisers
A Colorado ski-industry representative was among 13 people named Friday to a national committee advising the Bush administration on proposed new roadless areas.
Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johans named Geraldine Link, director of public policy for the National Ski Areas Association, based in Lakewood, to the Roadless Area Conservation national advisory committee, which will make recommendations based on proposals from state governors.
Also on the committee are Darin Bird, deputy director for the Utah Department of Natural Resources; Idaho County Commissioner Robert Cope; Adena Cook of the Blue-Ribbon Coalition, representing participants in motorized recreation; Jeff Eisenberg of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association; James Riley of the Intermountain Forest Association; Gregory Schaefer of the National Mining Association; Denny Scott, representing organized labor organizations; Paul Hansen of the Izaak Walton League; Dale Harris of the Montana Wilderness Association; Todd Schulke of the New Mexico Center for Biological Diversity; Howard Vaughan of Wild Law; and Chris Wood of Trout Unlimited.
Wheat Ridge man gets prison in tax scheme
A Wheat Ridge accountant was sentenced to 18 months in prison for preparing false tax returns as part of a massive tax-evasion scheme, officials said Friday.
Lynden Bridges was sentenced for his role in Anderson’s Ark & Associates, an anti-tax organization that helped members file bogus tax deductions totaling $120 million from 1997 to 2001. Bridges pleaded guilty in May.
Tara LaGrand, of Naples, Fla., was sentenced to 24 months in prison, officials said Friday. Six other Anderson’s Ark accountants, including James and Pamela Moran of Montrose, were convicted by a federal jury in Seattle in December and sentenced to prison terms of seven to 20 years.
The U.S. Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service said Bridges and LaGrand each prepared tax returns that helped Anderson’s Ark members evade between $2.5 million and $5 million in taxes.
Rare ferrets thought to be thriving in Colo.
Wildlife biologists believe that black-footed ferrets released into the wilds of Colorado are thriving – and breeding – as the state tries to build a self-sustaining population of the mammal considered to be the rarest in North America.
About 170 ferrets have been released in Colorado, mostly on Bureau of Land Management land. Recent population counts in northwestern Colorado have convinced state biologists that the animals are reproducing.
“Seeing so many is very encouraging,” said Pam Schnurr, a Colorado Division of Wildlife biologist. “And the fact that we saw so many means that there are a lot more out there.”
One captured female was lactating, meaning she gave birth earlier this summer.
Black-footed ferrets were thought to be extinct until a dog dropped a dead ferret on a rancher’s doorstep in northwestern Wyoming in 1981 and a small group was found in a prairie dog colony.
