BROOMFIELD
Scientists study latest carbon dioxide data
Levels of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide continue to rise in the atmosphere because of human activities, and the consequences go beyond global warming, scientists said Monday at an international gathering at the Omni Interlocken Hotel.
The oceans are already acidifying, putting coral reefs at risk, ecosystems are changing and weather patterns are shifting, said James Mahoney, director of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, and Ken Caldeira, a climate change scientist at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.
The scientists attending the Seventh International Carbon Dioxide Conference, held every four years and for the first time in the United States, planned to spend the next several days discussing the intimate details of carbon dioxide science.
Presentations will focus on how changes in land use affect carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, the precise role of oceans in the carbon balance and observing systems for monitoring change in carbon dioxide levels.
BOULDER
Craft lands in Florida before flight to Pluto
A spacecraft destined for Pluto and designed partly in Boulder arrived Saturday in Florida, where engineers will finish preparations for its eight-year journey to the icy outer planet.
NASA’s New Horizons mission will be the first to visit the planet, and it will launch as soon as January, the agency announced Monday. New Horizons will map the geology and temperature of Pluto and its moon, Charon, probe Pluto’s atmosphere and study other objects in the icy region of Pluto, which are thought to have changed little since the solar system’s birth.
Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder leads the New Horizons science and mission team, which designed all science instruments on board.
The spacecraft was assembled at the Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland and will be operated from there.
AURORA
Body in burning car was that of a man
Authorities have confirmed that the body found Sunday in the trunk of a burning car in Aurora was a man, but his identity still isn’t known, according to a statement from police officer Marcus Dudley.
The cause of death also remains undetermined pending toxicology results, Dudley said.
Detectives sought a search warrant so they could conduct a more detailed search of the vehicle, he said.
The burning car was spotted at 5:19 a.m. just off the roadway on South Aurora Parkway about a mile north of East Smoky Hill Road by an off-duty Aurora officer on his way to work.
After extinguishing the blaze, firefighters found the body in the trunk of the car, Dudley said.
PIKE NATIONAL FOREST
Bridge repair work
to close popular road
A bridge repair project will force the U.S. Forest Service to close a popular road in the Pike National Forest southwest of Denver for up to 30 days.
The closure will affect Matukat Road, FS 211, which is often used by those traveling between the Deckers-Cheesman area to Lake George.
During the closure, contractors will replace the superstructure of a bridge over Goose Creek.
Matukat Road will be open from either direction to the construction project but not to through traffic.
For more information, contact J. R. Kirkaldie of the South Platte Ranger District at 303-275-5622.
DENVER
State council honors Brents prosecutor
Stephanie Villafuerte, the Denver prosecutor who led the prosecution of serial rapist Brent J. Brents this year, has been named “Prosecutor of the Year” by the Colorado District Attorneys Council.
Villafuerte was given the honor in recognition of her prosecution of perpetrators of physical and sexual violence against children as well as her work in the Brents case.
Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said that during the Brents investigation, Villafuerte juggled her caseload as chief deputy of the DA’s Family Violence Unit and the prosecution of the Brents case.
This created five months of “grueling hours and sleep deprivation,” Morrissey said.
Villafuerte joined the Denver DA’s office in 1991.
She became an assistant U.S. attorney in 1998 and then returned to the district attorney’s office in January 2001.
DENVER
2 men killed in car; survivor stays silent
Two men were shot to death Sunday while in a car at the intersection of East 10th Avenue and Grant Street, police said.
The shooting occurred at 2:22 a.m.
Qutice McGaughy, 26, and Michael Hope, 24, died at local hospitals, said police spokeswoman Virginia Lopez.
The men were in a Dodge Neon at the time of the shootings, but police are not sure if someone shot at them from a car or if someone walked up and killed them.
Lopez said a motive for the shooting is a mystery.
A third man found inside the car was not hurt, but he refused to cooperate with the police investigation, Lopez said.
