Toasty temps prevent A-Basin from opening
Warm weather is preventing Arapahoe Basin ski area from opening today as planned, officials announced Thursday.
“The decision to open the ski area is on a day-to-day basis. We hope to open as soon as possible,” said Alan Henceroth, the ski area’s chief operating officer.
Crews on the mountain need “one more good night of snowmaking,” spokeswoman Leigh Hierholzer said, but temperatures forecast for Thursday night were not going to be cold enough.
She did say that the cafeteria and bar would be open today for those who don’t learn of the delay and that the ski area still could open as soon as this weekend.
Loveland Ski Area, on the other side of Loveland Pass, is the only ski area open in the state.
Theft suspect drank fatal dose of cyanide
A Kremmling man under suspicion of bicycle theft killed himself by drinking a fatal dose of cyanide, the Grand County coroner ruled this week.
William Edward Campbell, 55, was being questioned by Grand County sheriff’s deputies Oct. 4 when he excused himself to get a drink, only to return and tell the officers that he had just taken the poison. He collapsed moments later and died at the Kremmling hospital.
Coroner Dave Schoenfeld said that Campbell may have had access to potassium cyanide through his work at the Henderson Mill but that he gave no indication to family members that he was suicidal.
Authorities, who had been alerted to Campbell through his license plate after a failed theft attempt, found a number of stolen bicycle frames in his home.
Still, Schoenfeld said, authorities were surprised he would have killed himself after being caught for a relatively minor crime.
“I don’t understand that at all,” the coroner said.
Forest Service seeks input on new trails
The U.S. Forest Service is taking public comment on a proposal by Durango Mountain Resort to develop new trails, parking and rest areas on public lands east of U.S. 550 that would accommodate Nordic skiers, sleigh rides and hikers. It is an effort to compensate for loss of trails to development on private property, Forest Service officials said.
Written comments must include names and addresses and be received no later than Nov. 21 by Richard Speegle at the San Juan Public Lands Center, 15 Burnett Court, Durango, CO 81301. They may also be sent via e-mail to richard_speegle@blm.gov or faxed to 970-375-2973.
The proposal is part of the resort’s master plan, which includes new and upgraded lifts, runs, snowmobile staging area and snowmaking, as well as construction of a new lodge and expansion of two restaurants. Public comment for these developments was taken last year.
For more information, call Speegle at 970-375-3310.
Groups up reward for date-rape-drug clues
A reward for information in the case of the University of Colorado women who tested positive for a date-rape drug has reached $15,000 after several CU groups pledged a combined $10,000.
The additional money was pledged by the parents’ fund, intercollegiate athletics, housing and dining services, the chancellor’s office and others.
Nine CU women were sent to the hospital with symptoms related to intoxication Sept. 24. About seven of those women have been linked to two fraternity parties in the University Hill neighborhood. Two of those seven women tested positive for gamma hydroxybutyrate, or GHB.
Other test results are pending.
Greenland snow leads to warming worries
Snow is accumulating in the high-elevation interior of Greenland at a rate of more than 2 inches a year, according to a study published in the journal Science today.
The trend is consistent with models of global warming, reported the research team, which included Martin Miles with the Environmental Systems Analysis Research Center in Boulder.
While snow has been accumulating in the interior of the continent, snow and ice are melting from Greenland’s lower elevations. Below 5,000 feet elevation, the melt is an inch or 2 a year, the study reported.
The authors say that scientists need more information about the dynamics of ice and snow in Greenland, because if the entire continent thawed, the global sea level would rise by 23 feet.
Grand jury indicts 11 in cocaine trafficking
A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted 11 people from the Grand Junction area on cocaine trafficking charges, the U.S. attorney for Colorado said.
Five were already in custody on immigration charges, four were arrested Thursday without incident and two others are considered fugitives, officials said.
The indictments are the result of a year-long investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration Western Colorado Drug Task Force that netted about 2.5 kilograms of cocaine and $50,000.
Authorities said the drug trafficking organization, led by Salvado Vera-Figueroa, transported large quantities of cocaine from Mexico to Grand Junction, where it was distributed locally and shipped on to other states.
The defendants face a variety of drug-distribution charges, including conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute.
The charges carry a penalty of between five and 40 years in federal prison and/or a $2 million fine.
They are scheduled to make their initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Denver today.
