Burglars hit complex where boiler burst
Two apartments have been broken into and burglarized at a Westminster complex evacuated last week after the boiler exploded.
The units are at Terrace Garden Apartments, in the 7100 block of Hooker Street.
The boiler exploded there Tuesday as the result of natural-gas buildup in the boiler room while two workers were doing repair work.
About seven families were displaced by the blast.
Westminster police spokeswoman Stephanie Topkoff said two apartments were broken into either late Wednesday or early Thursday.
The burglar or burglars stole jewelry from one apartment, and in another took an item Topkoff would not disclose.
Topkoff said police have not made any arrests and do not have any suspects.
Officers will run increased patrols around the building, she said.
BLM land short of wind-power potential
Although Wyoming has lots of raw potential for wind power and the Interior Department wants to speed up approval of wind projects, the location of U.S. Bureau of Land Management land may hinder wind power on public areas.
The BLM administers 18.4 million acres in Wyoming, but estimates that only 3,700 acres hold potential for economically viable wind power, according to a BLM study last year.
“The majority of the wind projects are going on private land,” said Beverly Gorny, spokeswoman for the Wyoming BLM.
Interior Secretary Gale Norton on Thursday announced a new review process to speed up approval of wind projects across the West, with the goal of creating 3,200 megawatts of wind-generated electricity. That’s enough electricity for 1 million homes.
Currently, 22 wind-energy sites producing about 500 megawatts are on BLM land.
“Public lands offer enormous opportunities for environmentally sound renewable energy production,” Norton said. “We expect to see many new wind-energy sites in coming years.”
But Tom Fuller, manager of the Wyoming State Energy Office, also said that only a small percentage of Wyoming’s highest-potential wind generation areas are on BLM land.
“I think you’re going to see most of the wind development in that area north of Casper and Douglas,” Fuller said.
He said the Laramie Mountains, much of which are managed by the U.S. Forest Service, have the state’s largest area of viable wind speed for wind power.
Theft counts dropped against bookkeeper
Prosecutors in Glenwood Springs have dropped charges against a bookkeeper accused of stealing $10,000 from the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
Donna Lynn Matthews, 47, was charged with two counts of theft for allegedly siphoning money from bar receipts and club dues that she was responsible for depositing in the bank.
Deputy District Attorney Scott Turner last week said a prosecution witness gave conflicting accounts of who made bank deposits. He originally said only Matthews did, but then he said other people also made deposits.
“Based on my review of this unexpected testimony, I no longer felt I could prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt,” Turner said. “It was my ethical duty to dismiss the case.”
Chip McCrory, attorney for Matthews, said the Eagles’ accounting methods were flawed.
“Their paper trail was horrible,” he said.
