Denver City Council names Hancock as new president
The Denver City Council unanimously voted Councilman Michael Hancock as its president Monday.
Hancock, 36, will replace Councilwoman Rosemary Rodriguez, who is stepping down from the post after serving a year-long term. She will remain on the council.
On hand to watch Hancock ascend to the council presidency were his wife, Mary Louise Lee-Hancock, and his two children, Jordan, 10, and Janae, 8.
The council also voted in Councilwoman Jeanne Robb as pro tempore, the post Hancock previously held.
The positions are largely ceremonial.
The council president runs every meeting and assigns members to committees.
The pro tempore stands in when the president is unavailable.
DENVER
Farmers in 59 counties qualify for disaster aid
Farmers in 59 of the state’s 64 counties have qualified for federal disaster relief for losses due to heat, wind, insects, freeze and drought, Gov. Bill Owens announced Monday.
Under the designation, farmers can qualify for low-interest loans of 3.75 percent for losses up to $500,000. Farmers can also postpone tax payments on livestock sold because of the drought.
“For some of them, they view the low-interest loans as one of their last chances to keep the farm,” said Dan Hopkins, Owens’ spokesman.
Forty-five counties applied for and received disaster status, but federal rules also designate contiguous counties as disaster areas.
The five counties not yet designated are Garfield, Jackson, Moffat, Rio Blanco and Routt.
Hopkins said Garfield and Rio Blanco applied for the designation Monday.
DENVER
Man accused of trying to lure girl into car
Denver police said they have arrested a 28-year-old man accused of trying to entice a young girl into his car.
Police said that Marco Contreras- Melindez, also known as Juan Lopez, drove alongside an 11-year-old girl on her bike just after noon Thursday in the 5700 block of West Sumac Avenue in Grant Ranch and tried to get her into his car.
The girl rode away and contacted a neighbor.
DENVER
Common Cause gets new state director
Pete Maysmith, executive director of Colorado Common Cause for the past 5 1/2 years, has been named to a post in the organization’s national operation.
Maysmith is joining the national Common Cause operations, where he will oversee 36 state chapters. His office will remain in Colorado.
Jenny Rose Flanagan, 32, will succeed him as executive director of Colorado Common Cause, effective Aug. 7.
DENVER
Police consultants wrapping up work
A consulting team hired to come up with new crime-fighting strategies in Denver is wrapping up its work and leaving the city with crime on the decline, according to the mayor’s office.
This week, the New Jersey-based Hanover Justice Group will meet with Police Department officials to hammer out recommendations on police deployment.
That report, which will guide the department in budget negotiations over numbers of police officers, is the final piece of the consulting group’s contract.
DENVER
Six win contracts for Manual rebuilding
Six experts received contracts to run the community and leadership process to rebuild Denver’s Manual High School, schools officials said Monday.
All of the contractors were chosen because of their expertise in jobs like project management and community relations, said the Manual High School Advisory Committee.
Manual High was closed by DPS board members in February because of low student achievement and declining enrollment. DPS administrators and board members hope to design a “premier” high school to open in the same building in 2007.
The first community meeting will be at 6 p.m. Aug. 3 at Kimball Hall, 700 E. 24th Ave.
LITTLETON
Man who died riding stolen cycle identified
A man who died after he crashed a stolen motorcycle in Denver was identified Monday as a 21-year-old Littleton resident.
Kevin Keele was riding the motorcycle Sunday morning on southbound Sheridan Boulevard when he ran a red light and struck a Chevrolet Avalanche that was going east on West 52nd Avenue, according to the State Patrol.
John Rosales, 44, of Denver was the driver of the Avalanche, police said. He was not injured in the crash.
Keele was taken to St. Anthony Central Hospital, where he died.
STATEWIDE
Medicare recipients warned about scam
Medicare recipients are getting calls from scammers requesting bank information and offering discounts for a fee, Colorado Division of Insurance officials said Monday.
State officials said it is against Medicare’s policy to ask for personal information or cash payments over the phone.
“Typically the caller gives an official-sounding name, such as National Medical Office or Medicare National Office, and tells the Medicare consumer they will be charged a one-time fee,” said Liz Tredennick, a spokesperson for the Division of Insurance. “This is part of a fraud scheme,” Tredennick said.
BURLINGTON
Abandoned car may be link to Mo. killing
Colorado authorities found an abandoned car Monday they believe was stolen after the wife of an assistant U.S. attorney in Missouri was stabbed to death over the weekend.
The 2001 Chevrolet Impala was found about 5 miles from the Kansas state line, State Patrol spokesman Eric Wynn said.
A search was underway for the occupants, who may be two 16-year-old boys.
Pamela Marquez, 39, was found stabbed to death in the family’s Grain Valley, Mo., home Saturday night. Her husband, Joseph, is an assistant U.S. attorney in the Western District of Missouri. Police were looking for the couple’s teenage son and a friend, and both were believed to be armed, Wynn said.
