AURORA
Driver dies when his pickup runs off road
A 28-year-old Aurora man died early Sunday morning after his pickup ran off the road, hit a tree and careened onto a spillway near 30th Avenue and Wheeling Street.
Aurora police report that two cars were initially involved in the accident, which occurred about 6:45 a.m. The second car, which police say struck a pedestrian guardrail, fled the scene.
According to police, a Toyota pickup driven by Richard Alan Cress struck a curb in a traffic circle, then ran off the road, hit a sign and a tree, and then drove onto the Sand Creek Spillway.
Cress was dead at the scene.
Police say the second car ran off the road, drove over a landscaped area, hit a guardrail and then left the scene.
Police are investigating.
COLORADO SPRINGS
Infant found safe inside stolen van
Police in Colorado Springs canceled an Amber Alert for an 8-month-old girl Sunday after she was found safe in a stolen van in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Fountain.
Colorado Springs police issued the Amber Alert on Sunday morning after receiving a report of a stolen van with two children inside.
Patience Kabwasa-Sewell had gone into Walgreens shortly before 7 a.m. and left the children inside the vehicle.
Police who responded to the scene found the older child within a block of the drug store. About 10 a.m., Fountain police found baby Azeria Kabwasa in the van, which had been parked at a Wal-Mart.
The suspect remains at large.
TELLURIDE
Film-festival couple leaving top positions
Telluride Film Festival co-director Bill Pence and managing director Stella Pence will be stepping down before year’s end, the Board of Governors of the National Film Preserve, the organization that runs the festival, announced Saturday.
Pence is retiring, officials said.
The couple plans to stay on in an advisory capacity, the board statement said.
Along with co-director Tom Luddy, the Pences founded the well-regarded film lovers’ festival that takes place each Labor Day weekend in the midst of the San Juan Mountains.
Gary Meyer, co-founder of the Landmark Theatre Corporation (which was sold in 1996), will join Luddy as co-director.
“We plan to make the transition as smooth as possible,” said Meyer.
A dedicated attendee long before he became actively involved with the festival, Meyer said of the end of an era, “Everyone’s excited but also sad at the same time. The Pences built a haven for people to come.”
The 33rd Telluride Film Festival ends today.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK
Louisville man killed in fall while hiking
A 58-year-old Louisville man fell to his death Sunday afternoon while hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, according to a news release.
The man, whose name was not released pending notification of his family, was hiking near the Loft, between Longs Peak and Mount Meeker, when he fell about 800 feet.
Two park rangers on patrol witnessed the accident and reached the hiker less than a half-hour after he fell.
However, he had sustained massive injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, the release said.
The man’s body was removed by helicopter.
Investigators said the man and a partner had hiked to the summit of Mount Meeker and were making their way down when the accident occurred.
