Hart takes CU-Denver post teaching in graduate school
Gary Hart, a former Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. senator from Colorado, has accepted a faculty position at the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado at Denver.
Danielle Zieg, a spokeswoman for CU, confirmed that Hart has accepted the Wirth Chair in Environmental and Community Development Policy at the school.
In an interview published Sunday in The New York Times Magazine, Hart said that he has accepted an endowed professorship at the university but that it was to be announced Jan. 15.
Hart, who lives in Kittredge, will join former CU president Betsy Hoffman, who accepted a position at the graduate school last year.
Hart was elected to the Senate in 1974 and served two terms. He ran for president in 1984 but lost the nomination to Walter Mondale. He decided not to seek re-election to the Senate in 1986 and started a campaign for the 1988 presidential nomination, but his candidacy was derailed by allegations of an extramarital affair.
Hart was co-chairman of the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century, which predicted in early 2001 that there would be a terrorist attack such as those of Sept. 11, 2001.
The Wirth Chair, established in 1993, is named after former U.S. Sen. and Undersecretary of State Timothy E. Wirth.
CENTENNIAL
Fire forces evacuation of apartment complex
A three-alarm fire in a 24-unit apartment building at 6730 S. Glencoe St. in Centennial forced all the residents into the cold Sunday night and left them looking for a place to stay overnight.
Division Chief Doug Ireland of Littleton Fire Rescue said two residents were treated at the scene for minor smoke inhalation.
Eight units in the Sterling Pointe Apartments suffered fire damage, Ireland said. All of the other units suffered smoke or water damage to the extent that no one was allowed back in Sunday night.
The fire was first reported on a 911 call just before 5 p.m. as a fire in a multiple-unit apartment building, he said.
Ireland said 70 firefighters from Littleton and South Metro Fire Rescue had the fire under control at 6:16 p.m.
ARVADA
Wind-fueled blaze destroys house
High winds fueled a fire that destroyed a home in Arvada early Sunday.
The 1,200-square-foot home at West 52nd Avenue and Balsam Street caught fire about 1:15 a.m.
The house was being remodeled at the time and was unoccupied, Arvada fire officials said.
About 15 firefighters put the blaze out, but they had difficulty because the winds pushed the fire 100 yards across a field and threatened another house.
No one was injured in the fire.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
VAIL
Proposal would ban smoking on lifts
Eagle County commissioners were expected to vote Tuesday on a proposal that would ban smoking not just at indoor spots but also on ski lifts and lift lines.
If approved, it would apply in unincorporated Eagle County, which includes all lifts at Beaver Creek Mountain and several at Vail Mountain.
Other Vail lifts are within the town of Vail and would not be covered.
County Commissioner Arn Menconi, who supports the proposed ban, said he wants to prevent secondhand smoke and set a good example for young people.
PUEBLO
State says Army must get permit for depot
The state health department has ruled that the Army must get a permit to destroy mustard gas stored at the Pueblo Chemical Depot, The Pueblo Chieftain reported Saturday.
The newspaper reported the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said a permit is required because the weapons are hazardous waste and are still deadly weapons. The department also said the Army must come up with a detailed management plan.
The Army has said since the 1970s that it was going to destroy the 2,611 tons of mustard agent, or 780,000 rounds. The fact that they could still be used as weapons was the basis of the state ruling.
But in June the Army froze funding and the destruction program stalled. The target year for destruction is 2012.
The state and depot officials have been talking since last summer on how to manage the mustard agent until it is destroyed.
Gary W. Baughman, division director of the Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division, issued a compliance order to the Army last week, charging that the depot has violated the Colorado Hazardous Waste Act and other regulations and will have to obtain a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act permit for continued storage of the weapons.
