Colorado’s senators have joined with Minnesota’s senators to make a second request for $100 million to provide security for next year’s national political conventions.
Republican Sen. Wayne Allard and Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar want $50 million dedicated to fund security for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. Another $50 million would go to the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn.
The request is being made to a subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, of which Allard is a member.
An earlier attempt to obtain the money through the emergency supplemental budget failed.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette of Denver has had a similar appropriations request in the House.
Additional local news briefs:
BOULDER
2005 summer took snow toll in Antarctica
Snow melted from an area of Antarctica as large as California during the southern summer of 2005, University of Colorado and NASA researchers reported Tuesday.
The research team scanned Antarctica’s surface with a satellite called QuikScat and discovered vast areas of snow that had melted then refroze into ice in January 2005 – a process similar to melted ice cream refreezing into icy crystals.
That summer, temperatures across parts of the continent were abnormally warm, reaching more than 41 degrees Fahrenheit in one of the areas, reported Konrad Steffen, director of the Boulder-based Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at CU, and his colleagues.
DENVER
1-year delay sought on plateau drilling
U.S. Reps. Mark Udall and John Salazar called for a one-year moratorium on oil and gas exploration on top of the Roan Plateau on Tuesday, saying the federal government needs more time to gather public comment and study alternatives.
The two Democrats asked Congress to delay funds for the Bureau of Land Management to oversee Roan Plateau development and to prevent new projects in the meantime.
Udall said he is not trying to stop development, just delay it long enough to make sure alternatives are reviewed.
BLM spokeswoman Jaime Gardner said public hearings on the plans have already consumed seven years. She said the BLM will follow its current orders from Congress to proceed with development unless it gets a new directive.
Greg Schnacke, executive vice president of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, said the proposed moratorium is a delaying tactic that could drive up the cost of oil and gas.
DENVER
“Bomb” at Mint was a walkie-talkie
Denver police bomb technicians rushed to the U.S. Mint on Tuesday morning when a man passing the building left a walkie-talkie that security guards mistook for bomb.
The unidentified man and a friend were handcuffed and detained while a bomb technician in a protective suit and helmet approached the walkie-talkie.
The bomb technician then withdrew as police tested the device by setting off an explosive “disrupter charge.” The test verified the device was not a bomb.
DENVER
EPA grant to clean up 10th and Osage parcel
The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Denver a $200,000 brownfields grant to help clean up a 2.5-acre parcel near West 10th Avenue and Osage Street.
Located in the La Alma/Lincoln Park neighborhood, the site is contaminated with arsenic from a former railroad operation.
Cleanup of the site will allow Denver to move forward with plans to create a transit-oriented center next to 270 affordable housing units and a light-rail station, EPA officials said.
AURORA
7 treated after rain soaks school carpet
Seven people were treated Tuesday in the wake of flooding at an Aurora elementary school.
Water from a heavy rainstorm leaked overnight into Independence Elementary School at 4700 S. Memphis St., soaking carpeting.
“It just came in underneath a couple of exterior doors. … The water just built up like an aquarium,” said Capt. Mike Ackman, Aurora Fire Department spokesman.
The wet carpet is suspected of causing respiratory problems in several adults and children.
Paramedics were called to the school Tuesday morning to help a person who was having trouble breathing. While there, they heard that parents had been notified to pick up 12 to 15 children who were complaining of the same symptoms.
Cherry Creek School District environmental experts and Tri-County Health Department staffers were investigating to determine when the school could be fully reopened.
JEFFERSON COUNTY
Motorcyclists raise $2,100 for victims
C2cride.org raised $2,100 during Saturday’s motorcycle ride from south Jefferson County to Lakeside Amusement Park.
The money will go to the Columbine Memorial and victims of the Virginia Tech shootings, said ride organizer Dan Patino. The nonprofit group was formed last fall after the shooting at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey.
