Court rejects plan to pipe water from Western Slope
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by supporters of a plan to pipe billions of gallons of Western Slope water to the thirsty Front Range, apparently killing the project.
“This was the final nail in the coffin,” said John McClow, general counsel for the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, which opposed the project from the beginning.
Natural Energy Resources Co. wanted to build a reservoir near Crested Butte to store up to 1.2 million acre-feet from the headwaters of the Gunnison River to be piped to fast-growing Arapahoe County on Denver’s east side.
But in a 6-0 ruling with one justice abstaining, the Supreme Court upheld an August 2005 decision by Montrose-based Water Judge Steven Patrick, who canceled the company’s 20-year-old conditional water right after determining there wasn’t enough water available in the system for the company to carry out its plans.
Dave Miller, the head of Natural Energy Resources, did not immediately return a call.
DENVER
Progress reported in helping homeless
Denver exceeded its targets in providing housing units and shelter beds and helping families find jobs, according to the city’s first-year report in a 10-year plan to end homelessness.
In the report to be released today to a Denver City Council committee on neighborhoods, city housing and welfare officials detail how Denver’s “Road Home” topped its goals by at least 20 percent in several areas.
Best among them is a 75 percent success rate in the number of working families to come from a mentoring program designed to help people find work, said Roxane White, director of Denver’s Department of Human Services.
“That’s one program I’m jumping up and down about,” White said.
BOULDER
Missing Marine fails to report to base
A Marine suspected of staging his disappearance to avoid duty had not reported for duty as scheduled Monday, and investigators said they are pursuing several leads in their search.
Lance Cpl. Lance Hering, 21, was reported missing by a friend who said Hering was hurt in a hiking accident Aug. 29, but sheriff’s deputies said the friend, Steve Powers, changed his story to say the disappearance was faked.
Hering was scheduled to report to Camp Pendleton, Calif., on Monday after a leave. He had not shown up at the base by the afternoon, said a spokesman, 1st Lt. Esteban Vickers.
Hering’s family said he was not due back from his leave until next week, a local television station reported late Monday.
DENVER
Lightning precautions urged at stadiums
Stadium managers should plan better for lightning strikes, two science policy experts warn in a new report.
Although the risk of lightning striking within a stadium is relatively low, the potential for disaster is serious enough to warrant greater attention, two University of Colorado researchers reported in September’s Bulletin of the American Meteorology Society.
Lightning delayed for about an hour a University of Michigan football game Sunday, and strikes in the vicinity of other stadiums have disrupted college football games at least seven times in the past six years, reported Joel Gratz and Erik Noble, both with CU’s Center for Science and Technology Policy Research. Nevertheless, some stadium managers do little or nothing to minimize danger to crowds, they said.
FORT COLLINS
Ex-Mexican president to speak at CSU
A former president of Mexico will speak at Colorado State University on Sept. 28.
Ernesto Zedillo, president of Mexico from 1994 to 2000, will speak about globalization and emerging markets, particularly in Central and South America.
Zedillo now is director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization.
Admission is free, but tickets are required. Tickets are available through the Campus Box Office, 970-491-4TIX or csutix.com.
COMMERCE CITY
UPS center evacuated after grenade found
A grenade found Monday at the UPS distribution center that forced the evacuation of hundreds of employees was not active, police said.
Officers were called to UPS at 5020 Ivy St. after an employee found the grenade on a conveyor belt. Police were investigating how and why the device was found there.
Between 300 and 500 employees were evacuated from the building for 90 minutes while the Adams County sheriff’s bomb squad arrived to check the device.
While the bomb squad was on its way, police discovered the grenade posed no threat.
BOULDER
County agrees to deal with Tasered driver
Boulder County leaders have agreed to a $90,000 settlement with a driver who suffered seizures before and after sheriff’s deputies used Tasers on him.
Sheriff’s officials also revised policies for using the stun guns as part of the settlement.
The deal Thursday with Christopher Nielsen of Longmont prevents Nielsen from suing the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, but Nielsen was considering a lawsuit against Longmont police, who also fired a Taser at him during the incident, said his attorney, Andrew Gibbs.
Nielsen was ticketed on suspicion of driving with a suspended license and obstructing a police officer, but the charges were later dropped, according to court records.
DENVER
Improvement district on Colfax approved
The Denver City Council on Monday approved a business improvement district along West Colfax Avenue.
The West Colfax Business Improvement District is the first such district in the city in 15 years, council members said.
Under the plan, commercial property along the Colfax corridor between Federal and Sheridan Boulevards would be assessed 8 cents per square foot to fund services in the district.
DENVER
Suspect held after standoff with cops
A suicidal man fired shots as police and SWAT units responded to his west Denver home Monday night, police said, but he surrendered without harming anyone.
It was not determined whether the man fired on officers as they approached the home in the 1000 block of South Irving Street about 8 p.m., but he was taken into custody and was expected to undergo a mental-health evaluation, Detective Virginia Quinones said.
The standoff lasted about an hour, with police sectioning off several blocks in the neighborhood before negotiators were able to talk the man into surrendering, Quinones said.
Police did not identify the man, and charges are pending until further investigation, she said.
