The U.S. Senate over the weekend approved naming the Vail post office after former President Ford, who had a second home in the resort community.
“I cannot think of a more appropriate honor than to have Vail’s post office bear the name of Gerald R. Ford Jr.,” said U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, the Loveland Republican who introduced the legislation in the Senate on behalf of himself and Democratic U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar. The measure was initially sponsored in the House by U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, an Eldorado Springs Democrat.
Ford and his family have maintained homes in Vail and Beaver Creek since 1968. Ford, who died Dec. 26, hosted a local golf tournament and was a famously loyal Vail skier.
President Bush must sign the legislation before it becomes law.
Also Sunday, the Vail and Beaver Creek ski areas said they would each rename a trail in honor of Ford.
Vail Mountain was naming the lower part of the Giant Steps trail “38” in honor of Ford, the country’s 38th president. The trail overlooks Ford’s former home.
Beaver Creek, meanwhile, was renaming its Pitchfork trail, which winds past Ford’s former home, as “President Ford’s.”
NORTHGLENN
Fatal rollover shuts I-25 for three hours
A Northglenn man was killed Sunday afternoon in a rollover accident that shut down southbound Interstate 25 for three hours.
Police found the man, John Dwayne Rivera, 43, pinned under his Chevrolet TrailBlazer on I-25 north of the 104th Avenue exit.
Witnesses told police he had been speeding and weaving in and out of traffic when he lost control of the vehicle, crossed three lanes and hit a west-side barrier. The sport utility vehicle rolled and he was ejected, police said.
Investigators are unsure if alcohol or drugs played a role in the crash. Rivera was the father of a 7-year-old girl.
Witnesses are asked to contact police at 303-450-8893.
BOULDER
Parking meters yield to kiosks; fee rises
Boulder officials are set to replace old-style parking meters with new electronic kiosks that take coins, bills and credit cards.
Backers say the system will be easier for visitors in the notoriously hard-to-park-in city, while detractors say the kiosks will drive business out of downtown and send more money to city coffers at the expense of shoppers.
Installing the kiosks, which issue receipts that motorists place on the dashboards after parking, will cost the city up to $2 million.
Boulder also is raising the price of parking, from $1 an hour to $1.25 an hour.
COMMERCE CITY
Power failure halts some work at refinery
A Sunday morning power failure at the 90,000-barrel-a-day Suncor oil refinery in Commerce City knocked part of the facility out of commission and slashed production capacity, the company reported Sunday.
The Canadian company said power was interrupted at the facility about 9 a.m. Sunday and forced a complete shutdown of the site’s west plant.
The east side of the facility remained operational. But the company reported that with parts of the refinery off-line, production would be reduced.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment was notified of the disruption, and Suncor is investigating the cause.
The company’s website says the refinery supplies about 35 percent of Colorado’s gasoline and diesel fuel and is a major supplier of jet fuel at Denver International Airport and the largest supplier of paving-grade asphalt in the state.
DELTA
Jury: Telluride owes $50 million for land
Jurors dealt a hefty blow to the town of Telluride’s land-preservation efforts Friday, ruling a 570-acre parcel on the valley floor that the town is claiming through eminent domain is worth $50 million.
The six-member jury agreed with the land owner, San Miguel Valley Corp., and found the land was worth twice the town’s estimate. The parcel in question is along the south side of Colorado 145 on the road into Telluride. It’s one of the last large, undeveloped tracts in the area.
Residents in 2002 built enough community support for preserving the land, and voters approved a measure to condemn it and claim it through eminent domain. The town still had to pay the owners a fair price for the land, however.
After officials and land owners failed to reach an agreement, the matter went to court. The trial was moved out of Telluride at the request of San Miguel Valley Corp. The town, so far, has raised about $27 million for the land. It has 90 days to come up with the rest of the $50 million, plus $4 million for the developer’s legal fees.
