National parks’ air quality eroding, new data show
Air quality continues to worsen in Colorado’s three national parks, according to data from the National Park Service.
Rocky Mountain, Mesa Verde and Great Sand Dunes national parks have seen increases in either ozone or acid precipitation between 1995 and 2004, the data show.
Environmental groups say more needs to be done to protect air quality in national parks, which is expected to be pristine under the Clean Air Act.
“The federal government’s own monitors show that America’s Crown Jewels like Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain and Grand Canyon national parks are at risk from worsening air pollution,” said Environmental Defense Boulder-based senior attorney Vickie Patton.
MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK
First lady will help mark centennial
First lady Laura Bush will help Mesa Verde celebrate its 100th anniversary.
Bush is scheduled to visit today and give a speech marking the centennial of the Four Corners park, famed for its ancient cliff dwellings perched on ledges. The speech is slated at Long House, the park’s second-largest ruin.
The park’s architecture dates to the 12th century. The cliff dwellings were built by a group of people whom archaeologists refer to as Ancestral Puebloans. They lived in the area from about A.D. 400 to A.D. 1300.
The park’s modern history dates to 1888, when two men looking for lost cattle came upon the 150-room Cliff Palace.
Mesa Verde National Park was established in 1906. A four-day party – free to the public – with birthday cake, music, Indian dances, a traders’ festival, crafts and other events is set for June 29 through July 2.
DENVER
Council curbs hours of drive-throughs
The Denver City Council on Monday approved new regulations that restrict the hours of operations of drive-through restaurants located 85 feet or less from residential areas.
Under the new zoning law, approved 12-0 with Councilman Doug Linkhart absent, those restaurants can operate from 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5:30 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. The regulations also require new landscaping and lighting standards.
DENVER
2 arrested in death at apartment complex
Denver police have arrested two men suspected of being involved in a death Sunday morning at 55 S. Alcott St., authorities reported.
Investigators detained Anthony Soto, 18, and Jonathan Hall, 19, when they found the unnamed male victim dead outside an apartment complex and determined the death was a homicide.
The cause of death and identity of the victim are still under investigation.
GOLDEN
Felony summons is pursued for cop
The Jefferson County district attorney’s office has asked a court to issue a felony summons to an Aurora police officer.
Patrolwoman Rebecca Brewster has been charged with one count of attempting to influence a public servant. She is accused of misleading a Colorado Department of Revenue hearing officer at the Lakewood office in an attempt to reduce the length of a suspension for excessive points on her license.
DA spokeswoman Pam Russell said Monday that she had no further information or documentation on the case.
ALBUQUERQUE
Mistrial declared in ex-treasurer’s case
The corruption trial of former New Mexico Treasurer Robert Vigil abruptly ended Monday in a mistrial after jurors said they were at an impasse on all charges.
Vigil, who sat silent at the defense table through most of the five-week trial, jubilantly hugged his attorney, Sam Bregman, then silently embraced several members of his family.
Prosecutor Jonathon Gerson said he would retry the case as soon as reasonably possible.
Vigil is charged with 24 counts of racketeering, extortion and conspiracy stemming from an alleged scheme that involved steering business to investment advisers in exchange for kickbacks.
PUEBLO
Corrections worker accused of sex assault
A state corrections employee who works with sexual predators has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault on two teenage girls.
Leroy Miller, 39, was arrested Thursday on warrants for sexual assault on a child in a position of trust and sexual assault on an at- risk child.
Miller denied the allegations in an arrest affidavit.
He is accused of inappropriately touching the victims and soliciting oral sex from one victim, a special education student, according to the affidavit. He also allegedly paid the at-risk victim to dance for him, giving $20 for good performances and $1 for bad.
LAS CRUCES, N.M.
Border-crossing fatality investigated
Doña Ana County sheriff’s deputies and the Border Patrol are looking into the death of a Mexican woman whose body was found in the desert north of Las Cruces.
Beeatriz Sanchez Nicholas, 27, of Ciudad Juárez, was found dead Saturday. Her husband led the Border Patrol to her body.
The husband said they were traveling with a group led by two guides who left them behind when the woman showed signs of heat exhaustion. The husband said he found a cattle tank and tried to revive his wife Friday night, then set out for help the next morning.
Sheriff’s investigators said they believe the guides were amateur smugglers operating in desolate areas to avoid a Border Patrol checkpoint south of Hatch.
Sheriff Todd Garrison said it was the second death of a woman from Mexico in that area in the past three years.
