Lawmaker calls on CU chief to keep his office in Boulder
State House Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder, is asking University of Colorado interim president Hank Brown not to move his office to Denver.
Regents plan to consider this week a proposal backed by Brown to move 44 of 347 CU system employees to a Denver office. Brown would maintain offices in Denver and Boulder, said Regent Michael Carrigan, who is introducing the proposal.
If regents authorize the move, Carrigan expects it would happen by the end of 2006. He wants the university to find space near the Capitol.
“These are the 44 people that make sense,” Carrigan said. “I don’t foresee any further moves.”
Seventeen of the 44 people live in Boulder.
Madden said in a recent letter to Brown that she can understand having a Denver satellite office but that the “public face of the president’s office” should stay in Boulder.
“Your presence in Boulder as president has put a noticeable damper on the outright hostility toward (CU-Boulder) that I deal with during the legislative session,” she said. “If you are seen as retreating from the Boulder campus, I fear it will play into the hands of those who do not value higher education and it will once again be open season on” CU-Boulder.
BRECKENRIDGE
N. America’s highest ski lift officially opens
The highest ski lift in North America officially opened Monday, introducing newcomers to a longtime locals’ secret of high- alpine bowl skiing at Breckenridge ski resort.
The Imperial Express SuperChair, which tops out at 12,840 feet, had been open for short periods last week but attracted a crowd for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and first tracks in fresh powder Monday.
“It was soft, soft snow,” said resort spokeswoman Nicky DeFord. “We’ve gotten 3 feet of snow in the past week.”
Built with a particularly rugged design to withstand avalanches and Breckenridge’s notorious wind, the new lift is expected to operate at least 90 days this season, depending on snow conditions and visibility.
ARVADA
Emily’s List backs Peggy Lamm in race
Peggy Lamm, who is running for the Democratic nomination for the 7th Congressional District, announced Monday that she has the endorsement of Emily’s List, a grassroots fundraising group that backs Democratic female candidates who support abortion rights.
“It’s a good sign,” Lamm said.
As of mid-October, Lamm, a former state representative, had raised $182,011 for her campaign. Her competitors, former state Sen. Ed Perlmutter and Jefferson County Democrat Herb Rubenstein, have raised $316,935 and $7,249, respectively.
Emily’s List taps a network of more than 100,000 Americans to fund “viable women candidates.”
DENVER
Group gets grant to help homebuyers
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Monday awarded a Denver housing organization $75,835 for a program that offers free financial counseling and assistance to minority and low-income residents looking to become homeowners.
“This program provides essential information for first-time homebuyers and dispels myths about what it takes to buy a home,” said Helen Taylor, housing counselor at Northeast Denver Housing Center, the organization awarded the grant.
ALAMOSA
Adams State names interim president
Adams State College named an interim president Monday to replace Richard Wueste, who was fired in October.
David Svaldi, who has worked at Adams State for almost 20 years as a communications professor, provost and vice president for academic affairs, was chosen by trustees.
Wueste sued the trustees last week, claiming the hearing procedure for his termination was a “mockery and a sham.”
LOVELAND
40-year term for solicitation of murder
A 48-year-old Loveland man was given a 40-year-prison sentence Monday for his role in trying to arrange the death of a woman who accused him of sexual assault.
Daniel Park, 48, was sentenced to 40 years on the charge of solicitation to commit murder and 10 more years on a burglary charge.
Park in July offered his cellmate at the Larimer County Detention Center a motorcycle if he would lure the woman to an empty house and shoot her in the back of the head, according to police.
COLORADO SPRINGS
Sierra Club sues over raw sewage discharge
The Sierra Club on Monday sued Colorado Springs Utilities and the city of Colorado Springs over raw sewage discharges into Fountain Creek.
The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court, asks for an order requiring the city to stop the discharges and to expedite upgrades to the sewer system.
“This is a public health crisis that must be fixed now,” said Ross Vincent, Sierra Club senior policy analyst in Pueblo.
Steve Berry, a spokesman for Colorado Springs Utilities, said the utility has launched several initiatives to reduce spills.
