Time magazine calls Allard one of five worst senators
Republican Sen. Wayne Allard of Colorado is one of the five worst senators in Congress, according to this week’s issue of Time magazine, which also chose the 10 best senators.
“In a Senate full of ambitious members, Colorado Republican Wayne Allard is so bland that his critics have dubbed him ‘Dullard,”‘ according to the article, which criticizes him for “almost never” playing a major role in legislation.
Allard’s chief of staff, Sean Conway, decried the assessment as “more like a popularity poll.”
Time said it based the rankings on interviews with academics, political scientists and current and former senators.
The magazine wrote that Allard, in his 10th year in the Senate, has already been eclipsed in terms of legislative output by Colorado’s junior Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar, who was elected in 2004.
Conway, however, credited Allard with getting an increase in transportation funding for the state last year, working on a number of Colorado-specific projects and passing a bill signed by President Bush that helps first-time homebuyers get down payments.
“The U.S. Senate is composed of two types of individuals: workhorses and show horses,” Conway said. “Sen. Allard is proud to be a workhorse who is more interested in getting things done for Colorado than getting attention from the national media.”
DENVER
Driver in SUV-train collision improving
Christopher Cruz, the 15-year- old survivor of a sport utility vehicle collision with a train in southeastern Colorado, was upgraded Sunday to serious condition from critical, said a spokeswoman for Denver Health Medical Center.
Six people, several of them related to Cruz, died in the Thursday collision. All of them were from south Texas. Cruz, from Donna, Texas, was driving at the time of the accident, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
A family friend told 9News the family is trying to get Cruz transferred to a hospital in McAllen, Texas, where he can be near his grandparents and other family. The family will accept an offer from Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway to pay funeral expenses, the friend said.
LONGMONT
Messing with traffic lights leads to ticket
A man who said he bought a device that let him change traffic lights has received a $50 ticket on suspicion of interfering with a traffic signal.
Jason Niccum of Longmont told the Daily Times-Call that the device, which he bought on eBay for $100, helped him cut his time driving to work. Niccum was cited March 29 after police said they found him using a strobe-like device to change traffic signals.
The device, called an Opticon, is similar to what firefighters use to change lights when they respond to emergencies. It emits an infrared pulse that receivers on the traffic lights pick up.
Niccum was cited after city traffic engineers who noticed repeated traffic-light disruptions on certain intersections spotted a white Ford pickup passing by whenever the lights were disrupted.
Traffic engineers plan to update the city’s system to block unauthorized signal changes.
MORA, N.M.
Calm conditions help crews battle wildfire
Crews battling a wildfire burning in northern New Mexico took advantage of calmer winds Sunday.
The Ojo Feliz fire was 50 percent contained. About 550 firefighters were battling the blaze Sunday, which was estimated at 16,400 acres. Crews were able to utilize air tankers Sunday – a change from Saturday, when winds gusted up to 45 mph.
An unoccupied adobe structure and four outbuildings were destroyed in the fire, which began Wednesday 11 miles north of Mora. As of Sunday, the cost of fighting the fire was estimated at $1.93 million.
ALBUQUERQUE
Ex-state treasurer’s kickback trial to start
Defense lawyers and prosecutors begin today to select jurors who will decide whether former state treasurer Robert Vigil is guilty of extortion and other federal crimes in an alleged kickback scheme involving the investment of public money.
Vigil has pleaded not guilty to 28 counts of racketeering, extortion, racketeering conspiracy and money laundering. Convictions on any of the charges carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
Prosecutors contend that Vigil demanded kickbacks from investment advisers in return for the treasurer’s office giving them business. The treasurer is responsible for investing and safeguarding more than $4 billion in public money.
The trial is expected to last six weeks.
