DENVER – A 41-year-old man has been charged with the alleged sexual assault of a child at a private day care home operated by a relative.
The charges allege that Gene Garcia, who lived in the home in the 200 block of Zenobia Street, assaulted a 6-year-old boy, according to the district attorney’s office.
Garcia is charged with sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust and sexual assault on a child, the office said.
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MONTROSE
Ebersol, family sue over fatal plane crash
NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol; his wife, actress Susan Saint James; and his son Charles have sued the company that arranged a flight that crashed in November 2004, killing the couple’s other son, Edward, 14.
The family claimed in a Dec. 4 Connecticut state court complaint that Key Air Inc. arranged a flight with pilots unqualified to fly the private jet in the freezing conditions that caused the crash in Montrose.
The flight was taking the Ebersols from Los Angeles to Oxford, Conn. After the plane stopped in Montrose to drop off Saint James, ice on the wings of the Bombardier Inc. Challenger CL-600 caused it to crash on takeoff, federal investigators found. Dick and Charles Ebersol survived. The pilot and a flight attendant died with Edward.
Company officials were not available for comment.
DENVER
Colorado ACCESS hires chief executive
Colorado ACCESS, a health plan for low-income people, has named Dr. Marshall Thomas as its chief executive.
Thomas, a psychiatrist and associate professor at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, has been chief medical officer of Colorado ACCESS.
He replaces Don Hall, who departed in October.
Colorado ACCESS had been the last private Medicaid HMO in the state until it pulled out of the program last spring. Officials of the nonprofit said they could no longer afford to participate in the program because state reimbursement rates were so low.
Colorado ACCESS still contracts with the state to provide coverage for families enrolled in the Child Health Plan Plus program and for behavioral health care provided through Medicaid.
DENVER
Coleman to quit over lobbying restriction
State Rep. Fran Coleman, D-Denver, said that she will resign her seat effective at noon today to avoid becoming snagged by a new constitutional prohibition against lobbying immediately after leaving office.
In November, voters approved Amendment 41, which – in addition to banning gifts – requires a two-year cooling-off period for departing legislators before they can be lobbyists.
Coleman, who serves on several boards, said she feared the amendment would not allow her to advocate for those groups.
She also worried the same situation would apply if she landed a job in higher education administration, a track she is pursuing.
“I may be muzzled for two years,” said Coleman, who must step down because of term limits. The amendment will take effect after the governor issues a proclamation declaring the election results.
