CU used foundation to avoid spending rules, audit finds
The University of Colorado provided money to the CU Foundation to pay university employees’ expenses without being strictly controlled by state spending rules, The Boulder Daily Camera reported Sunday.
The newspaper said a state audit of the CU Foundation to be made public Tuesday will review the spending loophole. The audit also is expected to criticize inadequate documentation of spending by foundation staff, including the Alumni Association.
Former CU president Betsy Hoffman called for the audit in the wake of allegations of the use of sex and alcohol in football recruiting and questionable athletic expenditures.
The university spent $600,000 to $800,000 from a “university advancement” expense account at the foundation. Some of the money was used to reimburse Hoffman’s expenses, including thousands of dollars in pheasant-hunting trips, expensive dinners with donors and her husband’s travel. CU interim president Hank Brown closed the advancement account this fall.
AURORA
Boy in pit-bull attack continues to improve
The 10-year-old boy attacked by pit-bull dogs in the backyard of his Aurora home last week continues to improve at Children’s Hospital.
Gregg Jones, who suffered severe bite wounds to his head, throat and body, was upgraded Sunday from critical to serious and stable condition, said a source close to the family.
“He does understand people. He does recognize people,” the source said, adding that he believes Gregg would even be able to talk if not for the gauze and bandages in and around his mouth.
Neighbors heard Gregg’s screams Wednesday afternoon and came to his aid, beating the three pit bulls back with a baseball bat and tree branches.
Police shot one of the dogs in the home’s front yard after it escaped. That dog was later euthanized. The two other dogs are in quarantine in the city’s animal shelter.
Police and the animal control division are investigating the case.
ENGLEWOOD
Driver of crushed car in critical condition
The driver who was crushed by a semi that fell from an Interstate 25 overpass remained in critical condition Sunday at Swedish Medical Center.
Sidney Levine, 78, of Greenwood Village was injured when a tractor-trailer fell from the overpass on East Belleview Avenue on Saturday morning. The driver of the truck, Antonio Rodriguez, 50, was treated and sent home.
The cause of the accident remains under investigation, according to Greenwood Village police.
CLEAR CREEK CANYON
Alcohol may be factor in crash that injured 6
Alcohol may have been a factor in an accident in Clear Creek Canyon that injured six people on Saturday night, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
Six people were treated for moderate and serious injuries after the 6 p.m. crash on U.S. 6. Investigators said the driver of an eastbound vehicle traveled into the westbound side of the highway and crashed into two cars.
Two other eastbound vehicles then crashed into all three cars. The highway was shut down for five hours.
AURORA
Gas-explosion victim in serious condition
A real-estate employee who was burned after a natural-gas explosion in Aurora remained in serious condition Sunday at University of Colorado Hospital.
Juan Quintanilla, 42, suffered first- and second-degree burns to his face, neck, hands and torso when he lit the gas furnace at a home at 690 S. Oswego St.
The home is up for sale, and Quintanilla told neighbors he had gone to light the furnace when it exploded just before 9 a.m. Saturday.
The explosion blew window frames and sections of the home 30 feet into the street. It split the front door in half and crumbled brick walls.
SAN JUAN COUNTY
Motorist fatally shot during police pursuit
A sheriff’s deputy shot and killed the driver of a car that had led him and a state trooper on a vehicle chase Sunday afternoon, said Maj. Barry Bratt of the Colorado State Patrol.
There was a report that the car was stolen, but Bratt couldn’t confirm that.
Details of the incident were sketchy Sunday night, but the pursuit started just after 4 p.m. and ended on U.S. 550 near the top of Coal Bank Pass, on the Durango side.
Bratt said the Colorado Bureau of Investigation will be investigating the shooting.
