Girl, 3, dies after being hit by car in Commerce City
A 3-year-old girl was hit by a car about 8:11 p.m. Saturday in Commerce City’s Eagle Creek subdivision near 96th Avenue and Colorado 2. She died about 40 minutes later.
Paramedics started CPR on the girl and a medevac helicopter was called, but she was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:50 p.m., said Commerce City police Sgt. Joe Sandoval.
Late Saturday night, police were still trying to determine how the girl had been struck and who was driving the vehicle that hit her, Sandoval said.
Two cars belonging to the girl’s family were being investigated for possible involvement in the accident, he added.
FORT CARSON
GI missing for months charged with AWOL
Spec. David Howerton, 22, the son of the founder of a group that supports military families, has been charged with going AWOL from Fort Carson.
Howerton faces a special court-martial either before a military judge or a military panel. If convicted, he faces up to 12 months of confinement, two- thirds’ forfeiture of all pay and allowances, reduction in rank to private and a bad-conduct discharge, according to Dee McNutt, Fort Carson spokeswoman.
Howerton was arrested in Grand Junction in March, seven months after Fort Carson placed him on “desertion status.”
Howerton’s mother, Phyllis Derby, founded Homefront Heroes, a nonprofit group that supports military families while their spouses are serving.
“It’s between my son and his command; it’s between them, so it has nothing to do with Homefront Heroes,” Derby said Friday.
DENVER
Fla. official selected as new city librarian
Shirley Amore has been named by the Denver Public Library Commission as Denver’s new city librarian.
Amore, an executive director of community services for Sarasota County, Fla., was selected over three other candidates from a nationwide search launched by the DPL board in January after library director Rick Ashton announced his retirement.
“Denver has a wonderful library system and a national reputation for customer service and renovations,” Amore said. “I’m happy to be joining the team.”
Amore is the ninth person to oversee the city’s library system since the library’s opening in 1889. She is the first woman to hold the job.
Before being selected Friday, Amore and the other finalists participated in extensive interviews and toured the Central library and a variety of branches before meeting with Mayor John Hickenlooper and City Council members.
Amore will join the central library in June.
COLORADO
Holtzman seeks new campaign manager
Just two weeks shy of a state assembly showdown with his Republican rival, gubernatorial candidate Marc Holtzman is looking for a new campaign manager.
Dick Leggitt resigned from the job Friday, a week after admitting in court that he lied to a Denver Post reporter about poll numbers.
“In the past two weeks it has become very apparent that I have allowed myself to become a distraction to your campaign for governor,” Leg gitt wrote in a letter released by the campaign.
What the upheaval will mean for Holtzman’s campaign is unclear. On May 20, Holtzman and Beauprez will be competing for delegate support at the state assembly.
“To keep Leggitt on was clearly a liability,” said John Straayer, a political science professor at Colorado State University.
“But to be without a campaign manager is clearly a liability.”
Apart from a statement accepting Leggitt’s resignation, Holtzman did not comment on the shuffle in his staff. Newly minted campaign spokesman Jesse Mallory said Holtzman was not taking calls.
Mallory said the campaign plans to find a new manager soon.
LONGMONT
Man shot in chest; suspect calls 911
A Longmont man was in critical condition Saturday after being shot in the chest, but was expected to survive.
Witnesses identified Justin Kaisie Senterfit, 20, as the man who entered Kenneth Harold Fowler’s apartment at about 10 p.m. Friday. Senterfit pulled a revolver, pointed it at Fowler and shot him in the chest, police said.
Senterfit called 911 to report the shooting. He was still at the apartment when Boulder County Sheriff’s deputies and Longmont police arrived a few minutes later and found Fowler, 18, bleeding on a couch.
Senterfit was in Boulder County jail after being charged with first-degree assault, felony menacing and carrying a concealed weapon. Bond was set at $250,000.
EVERGREEN
Driver hurt, wife dies in I-70 Jeep rollover
A Saturday morning Jeep rollover on Interstate 70 at the Evergreen Parkway westbound exit left one person dead and another in critical condition at St. Anthony Central Hospital.
The accident happened just before 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
Two people, 59-year-old Johnny Eldridge and his wife, Sheila, 58, were in a 1995 Jeep traveling west on I-70 when the vehicle experienced mechanical problems affecting the steering mechanism, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
The Jeep ran off the right side of the road and rolled, ejecting Sheila Eldridge, who was not wearing a seat belt, the State Patrol said. She died at the scene, and her husband, the driver, was airlifted to the hospital.
DENVER
Dex, sales workers have tentative pact
Denver Yellow Pages company Dex said Friday it had reached a tentative three-year contract agreement with 530 of its sales workers who belong to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1269.
Dex was bought recently by Cary, N.C.-based R.H. Donnelley in a deal worth $9.5 billion.
Workers represented by the union in Arizona, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming must vote to ratify the contract, said Jerry Brown, a Dex spokesman.
DENVER
Xanterra gains park concessions contract
Xanterra Parks & Resorts announced Friday it has been awarded a 10-year contract to manage the Trail Ridge Restaurant and Gift Shop in Rocky Mountain National Park.
The National Park Service contract goes into effective Jan. 1.
Denver-based Xanterra operates concessions in national and state parks around the country, including Yellowstone National Park and Grand Canyon National Park.
