State issues its first waivers related to immigration law
It took a day, but Colorado state officials on Wednesday issued the first waivers to a pair of individuals who lacked the necessary identification papers to qualify for public-assistance benefits.
The two people were among three who applied for waivers from the Colorado Department of Revenue, spokeswoman Diane Reimer said. The third had enough documentation to obtain an identification card from the state.
The state’s anti-illegal-immigration law, which kicked in Tuesday, requires applicants for public benefits to prove they are in the country legally. Only certain pieces of identification are allowed, such as a Colorado driver’s license or a certified birth certificate.
Special rules were approved for people without identification but legally entitled to get benefits, such as the homeless or homebound elderly, to obtain a waiver to be listed in a special state-run database.
PUEBLO
Newspaper barred from identifying teen
A state judge in Pueblo prohibited the Pueblo Chieftain from publishing the name and photo of a 17-year-old accused of first-degree murder, despite the fact that his name appeared that morning in the paper, the Chieftain reported Wednesday.
Judge Ruth Ann Polidori barred the publication of the boy’s name Tuesday, but she kept the boy’s court hearings open to the public.
The boy is accused of firing a .45-caliber bullet into the head of his best friend’s mother early Saturday morning, allegedly after she confronted him for having the gun and challenged him to use it.
Chieftain managing editor Steve Henson said the paper routinely publishes the names of juveniles charged with murder.
CENTENNIAL
Armed driver sought in road-rage incident
Authorities in Arapahoe County were searching for a man who fired what may have been a pellet gun in a road-rage altercation Tuesday afternoon in Centennial.
The gunman was described as a white male, possibly in his teens with spiked hair, driving a blue Dodge sedan. The shooter drove alongside another motorist and pointed a black handgun at the victim near Smoky Hill Road, police said.
A pellet or a BB struck the rear window of the victim’s car, authorities said.
COLORADO
Summit County lifts open-fire ban
Officials in Summit County on Wednesday lifted the ban on open fires, joining several other agencies in allowing fires after three weeks of regular rainfall.
The mountain county joins Routt County and the White River; Arapaho/Roosevelt; Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison; and the Pike/San Isabel national forests in lifting fire restrictions this week.
Fire restrictions in unincorporated Jefferson County also will be lifted at 8 a.m. today. Limits on open flames were imposed May 1.
JEFFERSON COUNTY
Thief abandons car with kids inside
A thief made off with a Cadillac Escalade that two 7-year-old boys were in on Wednesday at a convenience store in Jefferson County. But she abandoned the vehicle and ran off before authorities arrived, Jefferson County sheriff’s spokeswoman Jacki Kelley said.
A woman traveling in the Escalade with her son and nephew left the vehicle parked with the engine running and door unlocked as she purchased a drink from a 7-Eleven at Coal Mine Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard, Kelley said.
A young woman hopped into the Cadillac, drove around the store and into an adjacent parking lot before she circled and then stopped.
The suspect ran from the vehicle, and the two boys inside ran back to the store, Kelley said. The kids were shaken up but not harmed.
The suspect has not been apprehended.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Salazar questions forest-plan holdup
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colorado, said Wednesday that he remains “suspicious” of a holdup on the new management plan for the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison national forests.
Salazar made the comment after questioning Agriculture Department Undersecretary Mark Rey about an 11th-hour delay of the plan, which had already been printed and was to be released nearly two weeks ago. The new release date is Nov. 15.
Rey, who serves as the political overseer of the U.S. Forest Service, said the delay was necessary. He said the draft plan that will guide management of the forests for the next 15 years needs a survey of low-sulphur coal in the forests and needs to comply with new forest-management rules adopted last year.
The delay had led Salazar and some conservation groups to question whether the energy industry had asked for last-minute changes.
ARVADA
Police eye ex-teacher for other sex contact
Police are investigating whether an Arvada resident who was a former teacher at an area music school may have had sexual contact with any Colorado children.
Brock Jon Purviance, 30, was indicted in April by a federal grand jury in Anchorage, Alaska, for allegedly traveling from Colorado to Alaska in August 2004 to have sex with a girl who was then 15.
The indictment states that Purviance met the girl in an online chat room, contacted her on the computer and by telephone, and then traveled to Alaska.
Purviance, who was arrested in Arvada on May 22, is in custody in Alaska pending his trial, which is scheduled for Sept. 6. He faces up to 30 years in prison.
Purviance was a guitar teacher at the Denver School of Music, 5275 Marshall St. in Arvada.
EL PASO COUNTY
Man arrested for role in party for minors
Colorado State Patrol officers arrested a 63-year-old man for his involvement in an underage party in which one of the attendees left the event and was involved in a fatal crash, according to an arrest affidavit.
Pavel O. Sturm was arrested Wednesday afternoon at his home on a warrant for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, said State Patrol spokesman Gilbert Mares.
A 16-year-old boy, who was at the party, was involved in an accident shortly before 2 a.m. Jan. 15 that killed Steven A. Mitchell and injured his wife, Lisa, the affidavit said.
