1 of 2 domestic-partnership initiatives pulled from ballot
One of two proposals that would allow same-sex couples to register as domestic partners was withdrawn from the November ballot Tuesday because backers said the other proposal would accomplish the same goal.
Coloradans for Fairness pulled Amendment 45, which would have changed the state constitution to give registered domestic partners some of the same rights as married couples.
Still on the ballot is Referendum I, which would put domestic partnerships into state law, rather than into the constitution. It was placed on the ballot by the legislature.
Coloradans for Fairness gathered signatures to place their proposal on the ballot partly to counter another measure that would have barred any government in Colorado from recognizing any relationship similar to marriage.
Backers of the anti-domestic-partnership proposal failed to gather enough signatures to win a spot on the ballot.
COLORADO SPRINGS
Fort Carson division will guide training
In a ceremony Tuesday, Fort Carson activated a division that will manage training for more than 195,000 Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers who live west of the Mississippi River.
The division’s mission isn’t to do the actual training – the soldiers who live west of the Mississippi will continue to train at other installations – but Fort Carson will provide upper-level management to ensure soldiers are properly trained for battle in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“They will provide policy, training standards and make sure they have the funds, the resources, everything they need to execute training,” said Lt. Col. Rich Steele, spokesman for the First U.S. Army, to which the division reports.
“They will be the keepers of the standards to make sure that an infantry battalion that is trained at one place is trained the same way, meets the same standards, as soldiers trained at another installation,” Steele said.
During Tuesday’s ceremony, the Army deactivated the 7th Infantry Division, which arrived at Fort Carson on June 4, 1999. The 7th Division fought in World War I, World War II, Korea and Operation Just Cause in Panama.
DENVER
Passenger charged after plane diverted
A Utah passenger who reportedly created a disturbance when flight attendants cut off his liquor has been charged with interfering with a flight crew.
United Airlines Flight 535 from Chicago to Salt Lake City on Friday was diverted to Denver after the incident.
Federal charges against James Ray Bobo, 43, were filed in Colorado. The arrest warrant alleges that Bobo admitted throwing a can of tonic water toward two flight attendants after they refused to serve him more alcohol.
Bobo drank two gin and tonics on the plane before being cut off and told Federal Bureau of Investigation agents that he had consumed four gin and tonics at an airport bar before his flight.
Bobo may suffer from a bipolar disorder, court documents state.
DENVER
Groups urge state to protect forest land
A coalition of outdoors groups is asking Gov. Bill Owens and a state task force to seek interim protection for 4.1 million acres of national forest while the state decides how the land should be managed.
The seven groups also asked Owens and the panel in a letter released Tuesday to reconsider preliminary recommendations to remove a coal mine in a designated roadless area and allow temporary roads for logging and other work to prevent wildfires and to stop the spread of tree-killing bugs.
The Colorado Roadless Areas Review Task Force is tentatively scheduled to meet the second week in September to complete its report, due to Owens by Sept. 13. The task force has recommended banning new roads on most of the land scattered across Colorado.
DENVER
Sex offender plans to move to Denver
A twice-convicted child-sex offender is preparing to move to Denver, police said Tuesday.
Julian Revolie, 27, will be released by the Colorado Department of Corrections on Thursday, according to a Denver Police Department news release.
Revolie was convicted in Colorado of sex assault on a child by a person in a position of trust in 2004 and sex assault on a child in 2005, according to the release.
Revolie is tentatively set to move in with his father in southwest Denver in the Harvey Park area. He will be required by police to register as a sexually violent predator.
Denver police plan to host a community notification meeting in the near future.
EL PASO, TEXAS
U.S. keeps custody of suspect in slayings
A man accused of having a role in the killings of at least eight women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, has not been charged with a crime in that country and will remain in the United States until he is deported or an arrest warrant is issued, a U.S. immigration official said Tuesday.
Edgar Alvarez Cruz, a Mexican construction worker, was arrested in Denver last week on an unrelated immigration charge and brought to El Paso in anticipation of being turned over to Mexican authorities.
But until an arrest warrant is issued or an immigration judge orders Cruz to leave the country he will remain in U.S. custody, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa said.
Cruz is scheduled to appear at a deportation hearing next month.
DENVER
Federal judge delays surgeon’s sentencing
A federal judge Tuesday granted a delay in the sentencing of a surgeon who pleaded guilty to illegally buying an assault rifle while out on bond on drug charges.
Dr. Phillip Mallory now says he was unfairly targeted by police for racial reasons.
Mallory, 54, who faced a possible prison sentence of up to 10 years and a fine of $250,000, told Judge Wiley Daniel that “if I accept a felony, the chances of my practicing anyplace in the United States is virtually nil.”
Mallory faced state charges stemming from allegations that he traded prescription drugs for sex with strippers. He was out on bail for those charges when, according to prosecutors, he tried to buy an assault rifle.
He pleaded guilty in exchange for some charges being dropped.
Daniel told Mallory that, when he returns to court Sept. 5, he must say whether he wants to withdraw his guilty plea and face trial.
