AFA to honor ’61 graduate who died in Vietnam War
Air Force Academy – Members of the Class of 1961 will return to the Air Force Academy this week to bury a classmate killed 39 years ago during the Vietnam War.
“We all know Burke Morgan; he was a class act and an outstanding guy,” said retired Col. Hector Negroni. “He was a tragic loss.”
Morgan was a navigator aboard a Douglas A-26 invader shot down over Laos during the secret campaign there on Aug. 21, 1967. He and the pilot, Maj. John Kerr, were listed as missing. A search for the bomber was unsuccessful.
The remains of the Manitou Springs native were recovered in Laos last year. The fate of Kerr’s remains is unknown.
The burial Thursday will come amid the Class of 1961 reunion at the academy, Negroni said. “There will be a lot of catharsis,” Negroni said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see the entire class cry.”
BRIGHTON
Tires on 48 vehicles punctured by vandals
Vandals punctured tires on 48 vehicles in the Crown Homes and Platte River Ranch subdivisions in Brighton early Saturday morning, police say.
Beginning at 7 a.m., the Brighton Police Department was flooded with phone calls from unhappy car owners, said officer Francisco Alba, Brighton police spokesman.
Most of the vehicles were parked on the roadway or in the driveways of private homes when the vandalism occurred. Most of the damage happened within a half-mile of the intersection of Miller Avenue and Jessup Street.
MANCOS
Rally in the Rockies organizer arrested
Troubles have multiplied for the organizer of the canceled Rally in the Rockies, Dan Bradshaw, who was arrested Friday evening near Mancos on a New Mexico warrant for embezzlement.
The Montezuma County Sheriff’s Department made the arrest after the Colorado Bureau of Investigation notified Sheriff Gerald Wallace of the active warrant. Bradshaw’s plan to host tens of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts at Echo Basin Ranch over Labor Day weekend withered after a district court judge issued an injunction Monday to stop the rally because it lacked a county permit.
LITTLETON
Teen charged as adult in his sister’s death
The teenage brother of a girl found dead in the burned garage of their family’s Littleton home was charged Friday as an adult with felony arson and manslaughter.
Bail for James Meyer Jr., 15, was set Friday at $500,000.
Meyer’s 13-year-old sister, Jessica, was found dead June 7 in the burned garage of her home.
An initial autopsy conducted June 12 found Jessica’s death to be “consistent with a fire-related death,” according to Arapahoe County Coroner Dr. Michael Dobersen. Results of toxicology tests done after the autopsy have been sealed at the request of the coroner’s office.
DENVER
Sentencing delayed in smuggling of workers
The sentencing of a Hudson couple accused by federal prosecutors of illegally transporting farmworkers into the country from Mexico and collecting “smuggling fees” from their pay has been postponed.
U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham delayed sentencing indefinitely Friday to allow time for materials needed by the defense to be translated into Spanish, U.S. attorney’s office spokesman Jeff Dorschner said.
Moises and Maria Rodriguez pleaded guilty in May to illegally smuggling and harboring scores of immigrant workers who were kept at dilapidated barracks. The immigrants were told they were obligated to repay as much as $1,300 in smuggling fees.
Federal investigators said the case is one of several around the country involving smuggled foreign workers laboring under financial duress.
DENVER
Mayor to interview three court nominees
Mayor John Hickenlooper will review three nominees for a Denver county court judge position after receiving a list of applicants from the Judicial Nomination Commission.
The commission forwarded the names of Clarisse Gonzales, Kerry Steven Hada and Kerri Lombardi to Hickenlooper, who will interview the nominees in the coming week and announce his selection by Sept. 15.
The appointment will fill the vacancy created when Judge Kathleen Bowers leaves the bench in January.
The commission is composed of three lawyers and four nonlawyers appointed by the mayor.
DENVER
Institute awarded early-reading grant
The Early Childhood Resources Institute at The Clayton Foundation was awarded a $3.6 million grant Friday by U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings.
The three-year Early Reading First grant is designed for developing language and pre-reading skills of preschool children.
This is the second multi-million dollar grant for the nonprofit Clayton Foundation at 3801 Martin Luther King Blvd.
In January 2003, the foundation received $3 million from the government for three years but without additional funding slated for this year, according to Barbara Sharp, a controller at The Clayton Foundation.
The Early Childhood Resources Institute will collaborate with four other agencies in the city and it will assist teachers in developing literacy programs for their classrooms.
