LOVELAND
Officer charged with
weapons violation
A 10-year-veteran of the Loveland Police Department has been cited for a misdemeanor weapons violation and placed on administrative leave, it was announced Thursday.
Officer Mark McDaniel, a school resource officer at Mountain View High School and Conrad Ball Middle School, is accused of being in possession of a weapon while under the influence of alcohol, said Linda Jensen, spokeswoman for the Larimer County district attorney.
McDaniel was issued a summons for prohibited use of a weapon, she said. He will appear in court sometime in the middle of next month, she said.
The officer was put on paid administrative leave Sept. 7 and the case was referred to the Larimer County district attorney, according to a statement from the Police Department.
WASHINGTON
Tancredo seeks to
debate N.M. governor
U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Littleton, has challenged the Democratic governor of New Mexico to a debate over illegal immigration policy following an exchange of heated letters between the two challenging each other’s record on the issue.
“It appears that the two of us agree on one point: The federal government has both abdicated its responsibility to provide meaningful border security and failed to make any progress in preventing the flood of illegal aliens pouring into our nation,” Tancredo wrote Thursday in a letter to Gov. Bill Richardson. “That, however, is where our agreement ends.”
Tancredo on Tuesday had accused Richardson of using emergency funds intended for law enforcement along the border with Mexico to instead monitor a controversial volunteer border patrol group, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps.
Richardson replied by accusing Tancredo of distorting the truth “in a desperate attempt to grab another headline” and divert attention from federal inaction on immigration.
Tancredo challenged Richardson to a debate as soon as their schedules permit.
COLORADO
Report: Billions lost
over school dropouts
Colorado loses more than $3.4 billion yearly in earning potential because students drop out of high school, a Colorado Children’s Campaign report released Thursday shows.
The report – titled “The High Cost of Not Graduating” and commissioned by the Donnell-Kay Foundation, a private education-policy reform group – says the average annual salary for a high school dropout is $7,200 less than the average yearly salary for someone who graduates from high school.
More than 477,000 people who are 18 or older in Colorado do not have a high school diploma.
DENVER
Teachers union wants
parental involvement
Denver teachers union leaders and community advocates announced a campaign Thursday to get more parents into schools for parent-teacher conferences.
Principals, especially those in middle and high schools, often struggle with low turnout for the meetings, which are usually held in October.
“Many times, it’s about work,” said Kim Ursetta of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association. “Both parents are working and their lives are full. … But it’s very important that they show up.”
Ursetta and members from the Metro Organizations for People kicked off the campaign at a press briefing at Mitchell School.
North High School principal Darlene LeDoux said she’s trying hard to get parents into her school this October. LeDoux is offering times at night and during the day for working parents.
DENVER
TV ad on budget fix a
“lie,” lawmaker says
A new television ad urging seniors to back a proposed budget fix on the November ballot so lawmakers can restore a property tax exemption that was cut because of budget shortfalls is misleading, opponents of the measure said Thursday.
“It’s an out-and-out lie,” said House Minority Leader Joe Stengel, a Republican from Littleton who opposes the measure.
The ad, which began airing on Wednesday, said lawmakers were forced to suspend the senior property tax exemption for three years, beginning in 2003, because the state did not have enough money.
The ad says seniors are backing the budget fix because “it allows restoration of the Senior Homestead Tax exemption.”
Katy Atkinson, spokeswoman for “Vote Yes on C & D,” the proponents for the measure, acknowledged that there are no guarantees the exemption will be restored.
“We can say there is an opportunity to bring it back, but without Referendum C, we can guarantee it won’t come back,” she said.
BOULDER
Bears force closure
of McClintock trail
A bear and her two cubs have prompted Boulder Open Space and Mountain Park rangers to temporarily close the Upper McClintock Trail near the Chautauqua Ranger Cottage.
Parks spokeswoman Julie Johnson said rangers spotted the bears Thursday morning and closed the trail as a precaution. Johnson said the trail could open by the weekend.
