Lawyer: Karr plans to fight Calif. charges of child porn
Santa Rosa, Calif. – The man who confessed to murdering JonBenét Ramsey only to be exonerated plans to fight the 5-year-old misdemeanor child pornography charges he faces in California, his defense lawyer said Thursday.
Appearing in a Sonoma County courtroom for the first time since he fled the state in 2001 and then resurfaced as a suspect in the unsolved JonBenét slaying, John Mark Karr, 41, did not enter a new plea in the outstanding child porn case during his scheduled arraignment.
His attorney, Robert Amparan, said Karr stood by the not guilty pleas he entered when he was arrested in April 2001 after police found images of children on his computer. Judge Cerena Wong set a trial date of Oct. 2.
Since he was returned to California from Colorado on Monday, Karr has been held without bail at the Sonoma County jail. Amparan said he would seek to have bail set and argue for Karr’s release during a hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
Karr, a former schoolteacher, was arrested in Thailand on Aug. 16 after he made phone calls and wrote e-mails in which he claimed to have killed 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenét in her Boulder home in December 1996.
But DNA tests failed to connect Karr to the case, and investigators had no evidence he was even in Boulder at the time of the slaying.
DENVER
Radioactive waste OK at dump, board rules
A regional board overseeing low-level radioactive waste disposal decided Wednesday to allow an Adams County dump to accept naturally occurring radioactive materials sometimes found in drinking-water sludge.
The Rocky Mountain Low Level Radioactive Waste Board also ruled that utilities wanting to dispose of their waste at other permitted facilities can continue to do so.
The decision removes the last regulatory hurdle preventing the disposal of waste at the facility near Last Chance. The facility is owned by Clean Harbors Environmental Services Inc.
Last year, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment granted the company a radioactive materials license.
GENESEE
Bus swerves to avoid dead elk; five injured
Five bus passengers suffered minor to moderate injuries late Wednesday when a bus rolled after swerving to miss a dead bull elk lying on Interstate 70, officials said.
The elk had been struck five minutes earlier by a Dodge pickup, said Gilbert Mares, Colorado State Patrol spokesman.
The bus was westbound on I-70 about 2 miles west of Genesee when driver Stephen Robertson, 31, of Longmont saw the elk.
He swerved onto the right shoulder of the highway to miss the elk, hitting the embankment, and the bus rolled over on its left side, Mares said.
The injured passengers were taken by ambulance to St. Anthony Central Hospital in Denver, he said. None of the victims suffered life-threatening injuries.
Robertson, who was not injured, will probably not be cited, Mares said.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK
Vehicle fire injures 2 on Trail Ridge Road
A sport utility vehicle caught on fire in Estes Park on Thursday, injuring a Colorado couple.
The driver, a 65-year-old man from Berthoud, and his wife, 61, were traveling on Trail Ridge Road at noon when their Jeep and trailer caught fire.
The man had serious burns, while his wife sustained minor burns.
A passer-by transported the two to Estes Park Medical Center.
The man was flown from the Estes Park Medical Center to the burn unit at North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley.
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
JEFFERSON COUNTY
Foothills rec district to seek tax increase
The Foothills Park and Recreation District announced plans Thursday to ask voters in November for a 1.5-mill increase.
The proposed $1.2 million in additional annual revenues would be spent on rising maintenance costs and a capital-improvement program for existing facilities.
If approved, the increase would add $1 per month in taxes for every $100,000 in home value.
The Foothills district serves an area south of West Hampden Avenue between C-470, South Sheridan Boulevard and the Hogback.
DENVER
Coalition wants hike in renewable energy
A coalition of agriculture, labor and environmental groups on Thursday called on political candidates to endorse a state energy plan.
The coalition’s plan calls for Colorado to double its use of renewable energy, such as wind and solar power. Specifically, the plan says the state should increase its renewable-energy standard to 20 percent by 2015.
It also states that Colorado should create incentives for utility companies to reduce electricity and natural-gas use by 10 percent by 2015.
Speaking on behalf of the plan were representatives from the Colorado Corn Growers Association, Environment Colorado and the Colorado AFL-CIO.
WELD COUNTY
Loveland man dies in crash with semi
A car crash in Weld County on Thursday has left a Loveland man dead.
Albert F. Childers, 70, was driving on Weld County Road 74 when his Chevrolet truck failed to stop and collided with a semi traveling on Colorado 257, police said in a news release.
Childers was ejected from his vehicle and died at the scene.
The Colorado State Patrol is investigating.
