16 school districts seeking $274 million for projects
Sixteen Colorado school districts will be asking voters this November to approve a total of $274 million in bonds for construction projects, according to the Colorado Association of School Executives.
The request is the lowest sought by districts since 1991, when districts asked for $68 million statewide.
The Thompson R-2J district will make the largest request – $89 million – according to CASE. The district serves Loveland and northern Colorado.
The only metro-area district seeking a bond is Brighton 27J, which is asking for $68 million.
Last year’s requests topped $1 billion, the largest amount in state history.
Districts also are seeking $66 million in mill-levy overrides to cover operating costs associated with growth.
Phil Fox, deputy executive director of CASE, said he believes districts are focusing on Referendums C and D, which ask voters to allow the state to keep $3.7 billion that would otherwise be refunded to them under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and allow the state to borrow $2.1 billion for various projects.
PUEBLO
Diocese faces another lawsuit citing abuse
Another lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pueblo was announced Wednesday accusing a former Catholic high school teacher of sexually assaulting a student in the 1960s.
The suit by Tom Monroe, 52, of Pueblo listed allegations against William Mueller, a former band director at the now-closed Roncalli High School. Mueller was not named as a defendant, said Jeffrey Herman, the plaintiff’s attorney.
The suit said Mueller told Monroe, then a sophomore, during private tutoring sessions in the school band room that Monroe would play trombone better in the nude. The suit alleges Mueller masturbated and fondled Monroe on about five occasions.
Three men have now announced lawsuits in Pueblo with allegations against Mueller.
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
Charge dropped against AFA grad
An indecent-assault charge has been dropped against an Air Force Academy graduate accused of assaulting female classmates at the school, according to officials at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio.
A separate rape charge is still pending against 1st Lt. Joseph Harding, but it is in legal limbo, shelved by an Air Force judge because a civilian mental-health counselor for the accuser, Jessica Brakey, has refused to release records of their sessions.
Brakey’s lawyer, Wendy Murphy of Boston, said the request by the other alleged victim that her case be dropped should not determine whether prosecutors proceed.
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
Extradition plea nixed for former Coloradan
An Argentine federal judge on Wednesday rejected an extradition request for a 41-year-old American, Kurt Sonnenfeld, sought by Denver authorities on murder charges.
Federal Judge Daniel Rafecas questioned the refiling of murder charges last year by Denver prosecutors in a case dating to the death of Sonnenfeld’s then- wife in 2002. He has since remarried and had been living in Argentina.
Sonnenfeld, a videographer who documented recovery efforts at the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was arrested in 2002 after his wife Nancy died of a gunshot wound to her head on New Year’s Day.
Prosecutors dropped the charges six months later. In September 2004, the Denver district attorney announced murder charges against Sonnenfeld had been refiled on the basis of new evidence.
AURORA
Pit bulls that attacked will be put down
Four pit bulls involved in two attacks in Aurora this month will be put down, a municipal court judge ruled Wednesday.
The dogs’ owner, Antoinette Rivers, failed to appear on the court date, and a bench warrant was issued for her arrest.
The dogs attacked Jose Simental, 36, on Sept. 11 at a duplex at 1922 Dallas St. in northeast Aurora. On Sept. 12, one of the dogs bit landlord Brady Meeks, 29, as he tried to collect rent.
DENVER
Teachers union gives candidate $20,000
The Denver Classroom Teachers Association gave at-large school board candidate Jill Conrad $20,000 on Wednesday.
The union, which endorsed candidates Monday, gave Conrad the money at a fundraiser at the Uptown Tavern.
Conrad, a consultant and doctoral student, is running against three others – Brad Buchanan, Andy Karsian and Dave Lewis – for the school board seat.
