COLORADO SPRINGS – The second victim in the Castle West apartment fire has been identified as 32-year-old Clemente Perez Salgado of Colorado Springs.
Salgado’s body was found on the north end of the 135-unit apartment building, authorities said.
Salgado and Joe Santoyo, 52, of Arizona, both died of smoke inhalation in the fire that started Jan. 16.
Two cousins, Gene Johnson, 36, and Derrick Johnson, 23, have been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and arson, police said.
PARKER
Students grieve for
meningitis victim
Students at Legacy Point Elementary School in Parker were grieving Tuesday over the death of a second-grade student, who died unexpectedly over the weekend after showing symptoms of viral meningitis.
Douglas County School District officials said school and district crisis-team members responded to the school Monday and will be available to support students, staff and families.
Late Monday afternoon, the Tri-County Health Department determined that “all evidence shows the student had symptoms of viral meningitis.”
Health officials say viral meningitis is rarely fatal to people with normal immune systems.
The illness is caused by an inflammation of the tissues that cover the brain and spinal cord. Most infected people will either have no symptoms or develop only a cold-like illness.
Tri-County Health Department officials say they don’t expect a cluster of cases because it is very rare for the common viruses that cause meningitis to create serious illness.
However, Dr. Richard Vogt, Tri-County executive director, said that any child who develops symptoms of viral meningitis should get immediate medical attention.
Parents should watch for symptoms such as fever, stiff neck, severe headache, vomiting and sensitivity to light.
GOLDEN
Troopers save couple
who drove into creek
An elderly couple accidentally drove down an embankment and into the icy waters of Clear Creek on Tuesday morning, requiring Colorado State Patrol troopers to rescue them.
Erwin Trussel, 86, and his wife, Melitta Trussel, 90, were headed from Denver to the casinos in Black Hawk and Central City when he lost control of his car, police said.
Their 1994 Oldsmobile left the roadway of U.S. 6 and plunged about 100 feet down the embankment into the river.
State troopers waded out to the car and cut their seat belts with a knife, pulling the couple out.
Both victims were suffering from the cold, troopers said. They were taken to St. Anthony Central Hospital where they are expected to recover from exposure.
COLORADO SPRINGS
Teacher arrested in
alleged sexual assault
A 43-year-old Palmer High School art teacher has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a 16-year-old student, authorities said.
Matthew Prichard was arrested Monday on suspicion of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust, police said.
Colorado Springs School District 11 officials called police earlier this month after allegations were made that Prichard had sexual contact with a 16-year-old girl in early 2006, police said.
Prichard has taught at Palmer High for five years and previously taught at Sand Creek and Falcon high schools.
CHEYENNE
University of Wyo.
wins data-center bid
The University of Wyoming likely will start building a $60 million supercomputing data center in Cheyenne later this year, after reaching an agreement with the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder on Tuesday.
The University of Wyoming beat out the University of Colorado at Boulder in a bid to house some of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. Those computers will be used to study issues from hurricane forecasts and climate predictions to space storms that can harm satellites.
NCAR selected the Wyoming bid partly because cheaper land, construction costs and electricity mean more money for computing power, said University Corporation for Atmospheric Research president Richard Anthes. UCAR operates NCAR.
The partnership is contingent on approval from NCAR’s primary sponsor – the National Science Foundation – and the Wyoming legislature, NCAR said. The new center could open as soon as 2010.
DENVER
AG gets budget boost
for new office car
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers won a mid-year $798 boost to his budget to get a new office car.
Last September, Suthers was driving his state-issued 2000 Ford Taurus on a Sunday morning when the radiator cracked, and he was stranded for several hours in South Park. Suthers had to rely on family members to retrieve him.
“The attorney general is now understandably reluctant to use the vehicle,” according to the emergency-funding request approved Tuesday by the Joint Budget committee.
With the $798, the state will pay the lease acquisition fee. The lease expense for the next six fiscal years will be $3,192 per year. Suthers plans to use the new car exclusively for official travel. He said he will not use it for commuting to work.
