Iraqi immigrant is arrested after letter from Tancredo
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took an Iraqi immigrant into custody Tuesday after U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo highlighted the man’s extensive arrest record and previous release from ICE.
Tancredo sent a letter Monday to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff demanding to know why the man, Gvan Alkadi, had not been deported.
ICE responded Tuesday with a statement saying the agency had to release Alkadi after his country of origin would not issue travel documents for him, based on a Supreme Court ruling that requires ICE to release immigrants after six months when the country of origin does not repatriate.
Alkadi was released on May 16 under an order of supervision. He was taken into custody Tuesday for violating the conditions of release.
According to ICE, Alkadi entered the U.S. in 1996 as a refugee with legal status. While he was arrested nearly 70 times, ICE found the majority of the charges were dropped or not presented for prosecution. In 2002 when Alkadi was convicted of assault ICE began deportation proceedings. In the fall of 2005 the Board of Immigration Appeals ruled that Alkadi be deported.
After a review in May, “ICE determined that Mr. Alkadi’s removal to Iraq could not occur in the reasonably foreseeable future and that Mr. Alkadi met the criteria for release under the relevant regulation,” the statement said.
COLORADO
Grads log on for sheepskin ceremony
Graduates of one of Colorado’s online universities are “graduating” in cyberspace, too.
Jones International University is webcasting its sixth online commencement from a futuristic, virtual arena.
The “cyberdome,” created by graphic designers, digital editors and Internet programmers, “echoes the convenience” of the school, organizers said.
Education reformer Milton Goldberg, an adviser to the university, is the featured speaker at graduation. Students across the world can log on to the ceremony at graduation.jonesinternational.edu.
JIU, founded in 1993, in 1999 became the first completely online institution in the country to receive accreditation.
THORNTON
Watering restrictions to begin Saturday
Starting Saturday, Thornton residents may water a maximum of three times a week.
The restriction seeks to reduce overall water use by 30 percent for the remainder of the lawn-watering season.
Residents can water up to three days per week based on the following schedule:
Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday: watering for even-numbered single-family and duplex addresses.
Monday, Wednesday, Saturday: watering for odd-numbered single-family and duplex addresses.
Sunday, Tuesday, Friday: watering for multifamily, HOA nonresidential and others.
For more information, call Heather Lammers at 303-538- 7238.
MORRISON
Water-plant limits spur summer curbs
Outdoor watering will be restricted beginning Saturday because the water-treatment plant is operating at peak capacity.
Town officials said there is substantial water storage in the reservoir and they don’t anticipate a water shortage this summer. Consumption has increased because of the lack of rain.
Watering will be limited to 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays for odd-numbered addresses and the same hours on Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays for even-numbered addresses.
An initial warning will be issued for violations, with fines for repeat offenders.
COLORADO
Clinics to give away “morning after” pill
To protest Gov. Bill Owens’ veto blocking pharmacists from prescribing a so-called “morning after” contraceptive, Planned Parenthood plans to give the drug away Friday free to any woman who asks at clinics across the state.
“Every woman should have it in their medicine cabinets, in case of birth-control failure, or worse, sexual assault,” Vicki Cowart, president of Planned Parenthood of the Rockies, said in a statement.
Opponents of emergency contraception say the drug might prevent a fertilized egg from being implanted in a woman’s uterus, which they believe would be tantamount to an abortion. Under Colorado law, pregnancy begins once a fertilized egg has been implanted. The drug has no effect on a fertilized egg that has been implanted.
When he vetoed the measure in April, Owens said spreading prescription power beyond doctors and specialized nurses “strays radically from the accepted norms of medicine.” Owens spokesman Dan Hopkins said the governor has also stressed that Plan B is already available through doctors and Planned Parenthood.
Owens last year vetoed a law requiring hospitals to tell sexual-assault victims about the availability of emergency contraception.
He said that measure would have crossed the line by forcing church-backed institutions to violate their own ethics guidelines and provide emergency contraceptives.
CHEYENNE
Officer wounds man waving an air pistol
A man brandishing what turned out to be an air pistol was shot and wounded by a Cheyenne police officer Tuesday.
Edward Hoffman, 37, of Cheyenne suffered a non-life-threatening wound to the abdomen and was taken to the United Medical Center-West for treatment, according to a news release from Police Chief Robert Fecht.
Officer Dave Padilla, a 17-year veteran of the Cheyenne Police Department, shot Hoffman after responding to reports from citizens of a man with a gun in south Cheyenne, Fecht said.
CHEYENNE
Wyo. child deaths increase, report finds
A national report on child well-being showed a significant increase in the number of child deaths in Wyoming.
Using data from 2003, the annual Kids Count report showed Wyoming with 37 deaths for every 100,000 children between the ages of 1 and 14, up from 27 deaths per 100,000 in 2000. Infant and teen deaths are counted separately.
“We’re doing better than many states overall,” said Marc Homer, the Kids Count coordinator with the nonprofit Wyoming Children’s Action Alliance.
However, he said, some other states “have been much more proactive to assuring the well- being of children.”
Marilyn Patton, with the Wyoming Department of Family Services, said the state’s growing methamphetamine problem may be a contributor to the higher rate of deaths.
