The Colorado State Patrol and local police dealt with about 15 wrecks, ranging from fender benders to rollovers, along Interstate 70 near the Continental Divide on Sunday.
As of early Christmas Eve, none had resulted in serious injuries, but the crashes created lengthy backups for holiday travelers, according to the State Patrol.
Around 11 a.m., an eastbound pickup collided with a tow truck near Georgetown and rolled over.
The crash stopped traffic for nearly two hours as tow trucks and troopers tried to reach the wreck, authorities said.
No one was injured.
ASPEN
Victim not in closed ski area, friend says
A man who said he was skiing with a friend who died in an avalanche at the Snowmass ski resort has denied they were on a closed run.
Justin Owensby said he and Nicholas Blake Davidson were to the left of the closed area when an avalanche engulfed Davidson, the Aspen Times reported on its website.
Davidson, 25, of New Castle was buried for about a half-hour before the ski patrol and others were able to dig him out, the Pitkin County coroner said.
Kristin Rust, a spokeswoman for Snowmass owner Aspen Skiing Co., said the men were on a closed expert run.
Owensby said he and Davidson saw the “closed” sign and turned to another area nearby.
Aspen Skiing Co. spokesman Jeff Hanle said the incident was still under investigation.
JACKSON, WYO.
Ranchers oppose feds’ plan for wolves
The Wyoming Stock Growers Association says the federal government’s proposal to designate a permanent area in northwestern Wyoming where the state could manage wolves as trophy game animals is unacceptable.
Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the association, said that designating the wolves as protected game animals, as opposed to predators that could be shot on sight, in the area from Cody to Meeteetse is a “deal breaker.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently proposed establishing a permanent area for the trophy management area for wolves in northwestern Wyoming in a compromise intended to end the standoff with the state over wolf management.
The dispute between Wyoming and federal officials has prevented removal of wolves from Endangered Species Act protections in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
Gov. Dave Freudenthal met last week with federal officials. He said after the meeting that the federal proposal has marked “great progress from where we were” but said the state would continue pressing its lawsuit over wolf management.
Wyoming this fall sued the federal government for rejecting its wolf management plan. Rather than setting aside a permanent area in which wolves would be managed as trophy animals, the state’s plan calls for allowing the state game department to allow hunting as the state deems necessary to control the wolf population.
Magagna said the federal proposal would have a major impact on ranchers.
CHEYENNE
Bill would allow new tax levy for colleges
Some legislators want the state to look at the fairness of the current funding system for the state’s community colleges.
Rep. Pete Illoway, R-Cheyenne, says seven of the state’s 23 counties that have community colleges now carry most of the burden.
Illoway is sponsoring a bill in the legislative session that begins next month that would create community college districts with legal authority to impose up to a 4-mill levy on property taxes around the state.
“It’s time that we took a look at how to fund these community colleges,” Illoway said.
Under the state’s current system, only the seven counties with a community college assess the 4-mill levy on their residents.
Residents of other counties pay property taxes to the state’s general fund, and a small portion of that money goes to the community colleges.
Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, is co-sponsoring the bill. Case said it’s a logical step toward creating a comprehensive statewide community college system that receives greater state assistance.
Case, an economist, said it’s time for the state to recognize the growing importance of community colleges.
“I do think the colleges are a statewide resource, not a local (one),” Case said. “Colleges have a tax base in their own counties, but really, they are resources outside their own counties.”
Both Case and Illoway said they anticipate resistance to the bill from counties that don’t currently pay the additional tax, including three of the state’s wealthiest counties: Campbell, Sublette and Teton.
