Owens signs limits on eminent domain
Gov. Bill Owens signed a measure Friday that would limit the power of private companies to use eminent domain to condemn property by requiring them to get the blessing of state and local governments along their routes.
Sen. Tom Wiens, R-Castle Rock, called it a triumph for personal property rights in Colorado.
“We cannot use 19th century laws to fix 21st century transportation problems, and Senate Bill 78 updates state law without shutting all the doors to finding transportation solutions,” Wiens said.
“Senate Bill 78 makes it clear that one private company cannot condemn the property of a Colorado citizen to build a private toll road simply for its own profit,” he said.
Opponents of a proposed toll road on the Eastern Plains said the measure falls short because a companion measure that would set standards for toll roads and bar railroads is stalled in a House committee.
“It was a hollow victory because he (the developer) can still go ahead and build his road. We need both bills,” said Robert Thomasson of the High Plains Coalition for Responsible Transportation Policy, which opposes the toll road.
The measure signed Friday eliminates the ability of private companies to use eminent domain to condemn land, while allowing developers to form a partnership with the state to allow private investment to build roads, as long as the plans go through the Department of Transportation, become part of a statewide plan, and be subject to the same regulations governing state road building.
Skiing grandmother meets goal for SIDS
A 74-year-old Silverthorne woman raising money to find a cure for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome completed her quest of skiing 75,000 vertical feet in a single day.
Freda Langell Nieters actually skied more than 78,000 feet at Keystone on Wednesday and raised $8,000 for research into SIDS, which claimed the life of her grandson in 2005.
Contributions still are being accepted online at firstcandle.org.
Troopers seize caches of cocaine, marijuana
Colorado State Patrol troopers on Thursday made two significant drug seizures during unrelated traffic stops.
About 6:55 a.m., on Interstate 25 at mile marker 81, a K-9 officer stopped a 2004 Chevy van for a traffic violation.
The trooper’s dog caught the scent of drugs hidden in the vehicle and the trooper found 13 pounds of cocaine with a street value estimated at $130,000.
Two men from Arizona, Raul Lopes-Hernandez, 27, and Luis Oscar Sals-Guerrero, 32, were arrested and booked into Pueblo County’s jail on felony charges of possession, manufacturing and distribution of narcotics.
In the second incident, about 11:30 p.m, a state trooper stopped a 1991 GMC van at Interstate 76 and Weld County Road 37, near Lochbuie.
The dog alerted the trooper to 225 pounds of marijuana with a street value estimated at $225,000.
Two Ohio men were arrested. Gerald Pfaff, 35, and Daryl Millhoan, 38, were booked into Adams County’s jail on felony charges of possession, manufacturing and distribution of narcotics.
Art museum’s upper floors to be closed
Because of preparations for this fall’s opening of the Denver Art Museum’s $90.5 million addition, the upper floors of its existing building will close Monday until the debut of the expansion.
Today from noon to 5 p.m. is the last opportunity to visit those floors and tour the museum’s permanent collection. To mark the occasion, admission is free.
The first floor and lower educational level, including the Fun Family Center, will remain open during the transition. On display will be two small exhibitions, including “Building Outside the Box: Creating the New Denver Art Museum.”
For more information, call 720-865-5000 or visit denverartmusem.org.
Gold Camp Road, tunnel to get repairs
The U.S. Forest Service will repair an 8.5-mile stretch of Gold Camp Road and fix a historic tunnel damaged by a fire as money becomes available.
The final decision issued Friday calls for repairing Tunnel No. 3 for one-way traffic and bringing the dirt road up to safe standards.
The decision had been put on hold pending approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that any improvements would not harm the habitat of the Mexican spotted owl.
Court-martial set in off-post slaying
The Army on Friday ordered a court-martial for 22-year-old Spec. Timothy Parker, accused of killing a fellow soldier at an off-base parking lot.
Parker, who serves with the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, is charged with murder and assault in last year’s death of Spec. Piotr Szczypka, 21.
The victim, an Iraq war veteran and member of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, died during a fight Nov. 11 outside an apartment complex near Fort Carson.
Parker had been charged in civilian court with second-degree murder and first-degree assault, but those charges were dropped when the case was transferred to military court.
During a preliminary hearing, at least one witness said he saw Parker strike the other soldier with a fireplace poker.
A defense attorney said another soldier who was with Parker that night may have punched Szczypka.
