May’s steamy weather pulls plug on Colorado snowpack
Warm weather in May caused Colorado’s snowpack to melt faster than normal, aggravating dry conditions across the state, according to a new snow survey.
Statewide snowpack was 26 percent of average on June 1, according to a Natural Resources Conservation Service survey. On May 1, the snowpack average was 65 percent of average.
“With snowmelt tracking anywhere from two to four weeks earlier than normal, we’ve already seen peak flows pass on a number of the state’s rivers,” said Allen Green, state conservationist.
Reservoir storage across most of the state is in good condition right now, Green said, and is significantly higher than last year in many basins.
PARKER COUNTY
Man who had body in van appears in court
A Denver resident who kept the body of a strangled man in his van for a week before turning himself in to Park County authorities was advised in court Monday that he is under investigation for first-degree murder and first-degree assault.
Robert Pastore, 31, mulled whether to kill himself as he camped on a mountain pass between Georgetown and Grant before he turned himself in to Park County sheriff’s deputies Friday, authorities said.
The body in his van was identified as Raymond Swiggs, but little information was available on Swiggs and his association with Pastore, Park County deputy district attorney Sean Paris said.
According to deputies, Pastore told them that he killed the man and the body was still in his van in the sheriff’s parking lot.
AURORA
Mom still critical after crash that killed son
A woman driving with eight children in her car when she crashed into a light pole in Aurora on Friday remained in critical condition Monday, family members said.
Kawanza Rhone, 26, exited northbound Interstate 225 at East Colfax Avenue and struck the pole, police said. Her 5-year- old son, Xavier, was killed. Seven other children in the car were injured.
The 1996 Buick Regal is built to hold five people. No one was wearing a seat belt, police said.
Kawanza Rhone’s grandmother, Vina Harrison, said her granddaughter is a responsible woman. “She is a good-hearted child, a church worker,” Harrison said.
Of the seven injured children, one was sent home from the hospital. The remaining six were recovering at Children’s Hospital and are expected to survive, 9News reported.
DENVER
Girl improving after prom-night accident
The East High School graduate who lost her leg in a limousine accident on prom night is improving and being moved from Denver Health Medical Center to another hospital, according to her family’s Web log.
Molly Bloom, 17, remained in serious condition Monday but was being transferred to Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Hospital in Denver. Bloom’s parents spoke to her about the amputation of her leg, and the news and trauma have left her depressed and in tears, according to the blog.
The family is accepting donations to the Molly Bloom Recovery Fund, care of Colorado State Bank and Trust, 1600 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202.
JEFFERSON COUNTY
Welding torch blamed for Chatfield High fire
A fire broke out at Chatfield High School in Jefferson County about noon Monday, causing minor damage to the school’s mechanical room, authorities said.
The fire started while a construction worker was using a welding torch, said West Metro Fire spokeswoman Cindy Matthews. The flame came in contact with insulation.
The school is undergoing construction during the summer to expand the number of classrooms. No one was injured.
BOULDER
CU panel discusses Churchill’s fate
The University of Colorado’s Standing Committee on Research Misconduct met Monday to discuss the fate of ethnic-studies professor Ward Churchill, CU spokesman Barrie Hartman said.
The committee, which meets privately, is expected to recommend to administrators within the next two weeks whether CU should fire, suspend or sanction the professor. An ad hoc committee of five scholars found that Churchill plagiarized, fabricated and falsified material.
Provost Susan Avery and arts and sciences dean Todd Gleeson will receive the standing committee’s recommendation, then make their own to interim chancellor Phil DiStefano, who will likely announce his decision in mid-June.
BLACK HAWK
Head-on collision kills 1, injures several
A head-on crash killed one person, injured several others and closed the main road to the Colorado gambling mecca of Black Hawk on Monday afternoon.
The two vehicles – one containing five or six people and the other with two occupants – collided 2.5 miles north of U.S. 6 on Colorado 119 about 2:40 p.m.
Two people were airlifted by helicopter to St. Anthony Central Hospital, where one was pronounced dead. The others were taken to St. Anthony with unknown injuries, said Colorado State Patrol Trooper Eric Wynn.
