Unregistered sex offender charged with assaulting boy
A former city of Aurora employee accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy that he met at a city-run children’s event was charged Monday with several counts, including sexual assault, failure to register as a sex offender and false imprisonment.
Jermaine Vaden, 29, will be in court for a preliminary hearing Sept. 7.
Police say Vaden met the boy at the annual KidSpree on July 16 and sexually assaulted him the next day at Vaden’s home.
Vaden is a registered sexual offender from Oklahoma who spent nine years in prison for assaulting two boys. He hadn’t registered in Aurora, which requires out-of-state, convicted sexual offenders to notify authorities within five days of relocating.
Aurora city officials didn’t do a background check on Vaden, who was hired as a seasonal parks employee. The city has changed its rules to screen every new employee.
GRAND JUNCTION
Plea deal expected in homemade-bomb case
A former air traffic controller accused of planting five homemade bombs outside homes in Grand Junction is expected to enter a plea deal with federal prosecutors.
Robert Burke is scheduled to appear Oct. 13 in federal district court, where details of the plea agreement will be made public, said Justice Department spokesman Jeff Dorschner.
Burke’s public defender, Susan Fisch, declined to comment about the case.
Fisch is working to resolve other cases against Burke that could be filed in Kansas and Tennessee, where Burke is suspected of leaving two crude bombs, according to recent court filings.
“The government has been diligently working with officials in those states in order to reach a global disposition,” Fisch wrote in the filing.
In March, Burke allegedly left bombs outside the homes of co- workers and Federal Aviation Administration officials.
Three devices detonated, while two others were defused by bomb technicians. No injuries or damage were reported.
LAKEWOOD
Remington College closing Lakewood site
The Lakewood campus of Remington College, a for-profit school based in Orlando, Fla., is closing, president and chief executive Jack Forrest said Monday.
The campus will not close until at least January, after its 120 students have left or graduated, Forrest said. “We’re encouraging them to leave if they want to,” he said. “We’re not forcing anybody to leave.”
Enrollment has declined at the Lakewood campus, and the Denver area is the college’s toughest market because such a large percentage of the population is college-educated, Forrest said.
Remington College has 20 campuses throughout the country, including Colorado Springs. In Lakewood, it offers programs in medical assistance and medical insurance and coding.
BOULDER
Boulder, Durango top outdoor-heaven lists
Boulder and Durango were named among the top U.S. “outdoor playgrounds” in the August edition of Outside magazine.
The magazine polled “a slew” of top outdoor athletes to compile its list of 10 best towns and 10 runners-up.
The “Best All-Around” pick is Boulder, a triathlete’s paradise and home to more than 60 Olympians, the magazine said. Burlington, Vt., was the runner-up.
The magazine named Durango the best mountain-biking berg. Moab was runner-up.
Colorado and California were the only states with more than one “dream town” in the top 20.
DENVER
Ritter campaign reports on finances
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter’s campaign reported that it raised $106,021.69 for the two-week period that ended July 26, according to spokesman Evan Dreyer.
To date, Ritter has raised $2.1 million. The campaign has $65,000 cash on hand and has already spent $850,000 to buy television time for ads that will air this fall.
The Ritter campaign plans to file the records related to this filing period with the Colorado secretary of state’s office on Wednesday.
Republican Bob Beauprez’s campaign did not release campaign disclosure data early.
DENVER
High ozone raises risk of violating U.S. rules
The Front Range saw some of the highest levels of ozone for the year last weekend, making it more difficult for the region to stay in compliance with federal clean air rules.
Monitors scattered throughout the Denver area on Saturday registered levels of ozone far above the federal health-based standard of 80 parts per billion.
Those readings include 97 parts per billion in Fort Collins and 94 parts per billion at the former Rocky Flats site and the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden.
The levels recorded last weekend raise the region’s three-year average, which federal environmental regulators use to measure compliance with the Clean Air Act.
“It means we’re still in attainment, but the cushion for next year has been reduced,” said Ken Lloyd, executive director of the Regional Air Quality Council.
Ozone is the prime ingredient in urban smog. High levels of the pollutant can trigger respiratory problems.
THERMOPOLIS, Wyo.
1 killed after driver turns to miss rabbit
One woman died and another woman was in critical condition after a single-vehicle accident in which police say the driver swerved to miss a rabbit.
According to the Wyoming Highway Patrol, Craig R. Risher, 46, of Colorado Springs was westbound on Wyoming 120 about 8:55 a.m. Saturday when he swerved to miss the rabbit.
Risher’s 1998 Toyota went off the right side of the road, and he overcorrected to the left. The vehicle went into a sideways skid across the eastbound lane, then rolled several times down a 60-foot embankment. The vehicle came to a rest in a gulch on its passenger side.
Betty Jo Risher, 41, of Colorado Springs died at the scene.
Another passenger, Junita Pena, 65, of Three Rivers, Texas, was flown to Wyoming Medical Center in Casper, where a hospital spokesman said Monday that she was in critical condition.
Craig Risher was treated at Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital in Thermopolis and released Sunday.
Also treated and released was Rosendo Pena, 71, of Three Rivers.
