Kit Carson schools vying to leave behind No Child act
Voters in Kit Carson have agreed to pay more in taxes to make up for federal aid they’ll lose when the district pulls out of the No Child Left Behind program.
By just seven votes Nov. 1, residents agreed to pay a total of $25,000 more in property taxes each year for five years. The tax increase was billed as the first step toward opting out of President Bush’s landmark education law, and the school board in the small Cheyenne County town is set to vote today to actually do that.
Schools Superintendent Gerald Keefe said the vote wasn’t just about the money.
“We made the issue a No Child Left Behind issue. To me, it’s much more powerful if you have a community willing to dig into its pockets and say they’re willing to get away from the clutches of the federal government rather than just having a school board do it,” said Keefe, who lobbied for a new state law this year making it easier for Colorado schools to opt out.
The district has 100 students and has been steadily losing children, and funding, over the past 10 years.
Across the country, school districts in at least three states – Illinois, Connecticut and Vermont – have forgone federal aid rather than risk sanctions for not having all students show progress in math and reading by 2014. The law also requires districts to track the progress of students within subgroups, including minorities and students who speak little English.
In Colorado, the small district of Strasburg on the plains east of Denver has never accepted funding under No Child Left Behind, and this year, the much larger Academy 20 district in Colorado Springs said it would give up about $421,000 in federal funding.
WELD COUNTY
Johnstown motorist dies in U.S. 85 wreck
A 60-year-old Johnstown man died in a single-car rollover accident on U.S. 85 just north of Pierce about 10:20 a.m. Sunday, Sgt. Jeff Goodwin of the Colorado State Patrol reported.
Witnesses told investigators they saw a northbound gray 1988 Nissan Pathfinder drift off the right side of the highway, Goodwin said in a release. The driver overcorrected and came back onto the highway before skidding off the right side again.
The sport utility vehicle rolled, and the driver, who wasn’t wearing a seat belt, was partially ejected, Goodwin said.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. His name wasn’t released pending notification of family. Alcohol is not suspected, Goodwin said.
FRESNO, Calif.
Judge tosses suit over Colo. climber’s death
A federal judge threw out a $10 million wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the family of a Colorado rock climber killed in a 1999 slide in California’s Yosemite Valley, short- circuiting a legal battle that some climbers feared could threaten a mecca of the sport.
In a largely technical decision, the U.S. district judge in Fresno, Calif., ruled last week that Yosemite National Park officials were acting within their discretionary duties when they didn’t post warnings at the base of Glacier Point, site of the rock slide that killed 21-year-old Peter Terbush. Since 1860, 44 percent of the rock-fall injuries in Yosemite Valley have been at the cliff.
Terbush, a student at Western State College in Gunnison, was on the ground anchoring a climbing partner’s belay rope when a granite slab broke loose. He held tight to the rope, helping save his friend’s life, but a fragment struck Terbush in the head, killing him instantly.
His family sued after learning of a geologist’s theory that a leaking bathroom-water system atop Glacier Point caused the slide. They argued that the park negligently created the rock-fall danger then failed to warn visitors.
COMMERCE CITY
Denver man struck by train after accident
A 48-year-old Denver man was hit by an Amtrak train Saturday night in Commerce City.
Police said Juan Reyes- Tremillo was driving southbound in the 6500 block of Colorado 2 when his truck hit a light pole. The vehicle then began traveling on the Burlington Northern railroad tracks. Reyes-Tremillo got out of his truck and was hit by a northbound train, police said.
He was taken to Denver Health Medical Center. His condition was unknown Sunday.
GEORGETOWN
Truck rollover shuts part of I-70
Westbound Interstate 70 was closed at the Eisenhower Tunnel for several hours Sunday after a tractor-trailer rolled, spilling 50 to 100 gallons of diesel and seriously injuring the driver.
The trucker, whose name was not released, lost control and was ejected from the cab about 6:45 p.m., the State Patrol said. Westbound traffic was detoured over Loveland Pass on U.S. 6.
