Polar Express set to roll in, bringing icy temperatures
An arctic blast of frigid air is expected to push temperatures into the single digits at night for the next few days, with highs unlikely to get out of the 20s on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The high in the metropolitan area today is predicted to be in the mid-30s, but the arctic front moving through Tuesday will keep highs in the low-to-middle 20s. The next above-freezing temperature at Denver International Airport is likely to be sometime Thursday, when a high of 34 is forecast.
Light snowfall also is expected in the area through this period, with greater accumulations accompanied by windy conditions in the high country bringing areas of blowing snow, the National Weather Service forecasts.
DENVER
Adams State sued for president’s dismissal
The Adams State College Board of Trustees “shamefully deprived” Richard Wueste of basic due process when he was fired as president of the school in October, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court.
Wueste claims the board willfully breached his employment contract and that the hearing procedure for his termination was a “mockery and a sham,” the suit states.
College spokeswoman Julie Waechter said Adams State officials hadn’t seen the lawsuit Friday and couldn’t comment.
Wueste, who was placed on paid administrative leave in late June, was fired in October. The trustees cited failure to provide leadership, to effectively manage staff and to handle the school’s finances soundly as the grounds for dismissal.
SALT LAKE CITY
4 skiers trapped by avalanche, escape
Four skiers who ventured into an out-of-bounds area between The Canyons and Park City Ski Resort are lucky to be alive after they were trapped in an avalanche Saturday, according to Summit County Search and Rescue crews.
Three men and a woman, all Utah residents ages 44 to 59, were skiing in an area called “No Name Bowl” when an avalanche let loose. It was the first time this ski season that rescue crews were called out on an avalanche.
Heavy snowfall and blowing wind made the avalanche danger Saturday afternoon extremely high, said Summit County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Dorman.
At 12:44 p.m., the sheriff’s office received a call from the group saying that they had been caught in an avalanche. The skiers, who were well equipped for the backcountry, were able to dig themselves out with shovels but were unable to continue skiing down the mountain because they lost most of their equipment, Dorman said.
JACKSON, Wyo.
Groups target sales of oil, gas drilling rights
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management plans Tuesday to auction off the oil and gas rights on a 1,280-acre parcel in the foothills of the Wyoming Range.
Environmentalists say the lease will likely jump-start other suspended leases in the area.
Some leases on federal land in the area west of Merna were suspended in recent years because developers needed access to more land for gas drilling to be economically feasible, according to Peter Aengst, of the Bozeman, Mont.-based Wilderness Society.
Aengst said developers were involved in persuading Bridger-Teton National Forest officials to release acreage for possible leasing.
The BLM handles oil and gas leasing on national forest land.
“It’s the dark secret on the Bridger-Teton,” he said. “This new leasing by the Bridger-Teton in the Wyoming Range is not only about expanding the existing area controlled for oil and gas, but it’s also potentially the key to unlock the door to allow more drilling on existing leases.”
He said the result would be harm to wildlife, air and water in pristine areas.
John Lockridge of Denver-based Mountain Petroleum Corp. said he has an interest in several thousand acres of leases west of the forthcoming leases. He also said it is not financially prudent to drill wells next to unleased federal acreage.
