Voting-machine glitch leads to 10-county recount order
Ten Colorado counties were ordered on Wednesday to conduct manual recounts of elections held earlier this month because of problems with vote-counting machines. The move could change the results in some local elections, but is unlikely to overturn the outcome of Referendums C and D, said Dana Williams, spokeswoman for Secretary of State Gigi Dennis. Officials in two counties using the Optech III-P Eagle machine found inconsistencies on a total of three votes, prompting Dennis to order Bent, Chaffee, Clear Creek, Custer, Elbert, Fremont, Huerfano, Park, Pueblo and Sedgwick counties to recount their ballots. “We are confident that the counts will be very close to the machine counts,” Williams said. County clerks face a Friday deadline for submitting their certified election results.
DENVER
U.S. grand jury indicts sect leader’s brother
The brother of a fugitive polygamist sect leader was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on a charge that he concealed a wanted person.
Seth Jeffs, 32, of Hilldale, Utah, is accused of helping his brother, Warren Jeffs, avoid arrest. The indictment formalizes a criminal charge filed against Seth Jeffs on Oct. 31.
Warren Jeffs is the “prophet” of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which broke away from mainstream Mormonism in 1890. Authorities have been searching for Warren Jeffs, accused of sex with a minor, since June.
Seth Jeffs was pulled over last month by Pueblo County sheriff’s deputies, who found his sport utility vehicle full of letters addressed to Warren Jeffs, tax records of the fugitive, $142,000 in cash and prepaid credit cards and cellphones.
Seth Jeffs, free on a $25,000 property bond, is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Denver today for arraignment on the indictment.
BOULDER
CU regent’s wife to run for spouse’s seat
The wife of a University of Colorado regent announced her candidacy Wednesday for the at-large seat now held by her husband.
Juli Steinhauer wants the office held by Pete Steinhauer, whose second six-year term expires in January 2007. He is barred by term limits from running again.
Juli Steinhauer, a Republican, has been volunteering for years in cultural and academic proj ects at CU-Boulder, including as co-chairwoman of the university’s Conference on World Affairs for the last 10 years. She attended CU’s music school and has performed the national anthem at events across the state.
GOLDEN
Benefit set for staff of fire-damaged eatery
A benefit for employees of the Old Capitol Grill, which closed after a Nov. 3 fire damaged its historic building, will be held from 2 p.m. to midnight Friday at the Ace-Hi Tavern, 1216 Washington Ave., in Golden.
Live music is planned, and prizes and gift certificates have been donated by local businesses. Raffle tickets are on sale for $5 at Ace-Hi Tavern, Buffalo Rose Music and Event Center, Blue Canyon Bar and Grill, and Del’s Tonsorial.
NORTHGLENN
Man held, accused of sex with friends’ son
Police have arrested a man who they allege sexually assaulted a young boy, the son of friends.
Sabin Kirk Ham, 41, is being held in the Adams County jail on suspicion of sexual assault on a child. Northglenn police said Ham, who lives in Thornton, would meet the 11-year-old boy at a Federal Heights skate park at West 86th Avenue and Zuni Street, and then take him to area motels and hotels where they would go swimming. After that, police say, Ham allegedly assaulted the boy.
DENVER
Phony cop searches boy in West Denver
A 12-year-old boy was stopped in West Denver on Wednesday and searched by a man claiming to be a Denver officer, said police spokesman Sonny Jackson.
The man was described by the boy as being black, which differs from other recent police impersonators in the area. The boy told police he was approached by a tall, muscular man in his early 30s with spiked hair, a mole under his right eye and a scar under his left cheek. He was cleanshaven and wearing a blue suit with a partially covered badge about 4:20 p.m. near West Fifth Avenue and Xavier Street.
The man searched the boy, then took his hair gel and left in a white car that didn’t have a police emblem, Jackson said.
WASHINGTON
Senate OKs bill to let widow live in park
A measure to allow an 83- year-old widow to keep her summer home within Rocky Mountain National Park was approved Wednesday by the U.S. Senate.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., is the result of a compromise negotiated by Salazar and Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo. It allows Betty Dick to stay on 8 acres of her 23-acre homesite in the park for the rest of her life.
Dick’s 25-year lease on the site expired in July, and she rejected an earlier offer that would have raised her rent.
The House will now take up the Salazar legislation. A similar measure by Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., was approved earlier.
CHEYENNE
Wellington to get medical clinic
United Medical Center is planning to open a medical clinic in Wellington next spring, a hospital official said.
“We would like to see the people in Wellington start thinking of us for their health care, and the way to establish that relationship on a long-term basis is with primary care,” United Medical Center chief executive Charlie Harms said Tuesday.
Wellington is the largest, closest and fastest-growing community close to Cheyenne that is underserved by doctors, Harms said. Wellington is about 30 miles south of Cheyenne.
