DENVER -The top Democrat in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, has endorsed Denver’s bid for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, the city’s host committee announced Thursday.
Reid was one of four Western senators to endorse Denver’s bid in a letter to Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean.
Democratic Sens. Ken Salazar of Colorado, Max Baucus of Montana and Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico said the West was “the New Frontier for the Democratic Party.”
Denver is competing against New York for the right to host the Democrats when they nominate their next presidential candidate.
MORE LOCAL BRIEFS
JEFFERSON COUNTY
Drive-by killing trial ends with conviction
A 20-year-old man was found guilty of first-degree murder Thursday in the drive-by shooting death of a teenager.
Martin Carlo Betancourt was convicted by a Jefferson County jury for the murder of 14-year- old Ron Vigil in July 2005.
The victim and three other teens were walking along West Harvard Avenue in Lakewood when they exchanged insults with people in a car who had thrown a soda can at Vigil.
The exchange escalated into a shooting that left Vigil dead and one of the other teens wounded.
Betancourt will be sentenced Dec. 8.
DENVER
$600 million in bonds sold for FasTracks
The Regional Transportation District successfully sold $600 million in bonds this week for the agency’s FasTracks transit expansion, officials said Thursday.
It was the first of a number of bond sales that will help fund the $4.7 billion project, which is due for completion in 10 years. FasTracks includes construction of six new rail lines in metro Denver.
The Regional Transportation District expects to issue about $2.5 billion in bonds for FasTracks and receive $989 million from the federal government for the project.
The agency expects to come up with $827 million in “pay-as- you-go cash” from operations for the transit construction and rely on other sources for the balance of FasTracks funding.
DENVER
Ed board delays vote on Douglas licensing
The State Board of Education on Thursday voted to delay a decision on a proposal that would have allowed the Douglas County School District to license its own teachers for hard-to-find positions.
The district is asking the state if it can bypass laws that require teachers to be licensed through the Colorado Department of Education.
Doing so would allow the district to more quickly place people in positions that are hard to fill, such as in special education or Mandarin Chinese.
Board members said they wanted to study the proposal further.
MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK
Entrance fee rising for summer visitors
Mesa Verde National Park announced Thursday it will increase the park entrance fee from $10 to $15 per car for a seven-day visit from June through August.
The increase goes into effect May 27. The entrance fee for motorcyclists and buses will increase from $5 to $8 per person. The annual pass will increase from $20 to $30.
A 1996 federal law allows the National Park Service to keep 80 percent of fees collected at a site to be spent there.
At Mesa Verde, the funds will continue to be used for backlogged maintenance, interpretation and education, and natural and historic site preservation, officials said.
