A boy who was 15 when he shot and killed another teenager was sentenced to 40 years in prison Thursday for the murder.
Justin Box, who is now 17, was convicted as an adult of second-degree murder in April. In July 2005, Box shot and killed 19-year-old Robert Lee after an argument outside a nightclub near Hamilton and Galena Streets in southeast Denver.
Lee was a freshman at Kansas State University trying to walk on for the school’s football team as a defensive end. He was home during a break.
AURORA
3-year-old girl’s death ruled a homicide
Coroner’s officials have ruled the death of a 3-year-old girl who police said had been beaten and stabbed as a homicide, police said Thursday.
The death in April originally was ruled a suspicious death pending further investigation.
The girl’s mother, Susie Ida Quartey, was due in court today.
Police said prosecutors indicated they would pursue charges of child abuse resulting in death.
Quartey’s attorney, Thomas Miller, has said Quartey did not beat her daughter, Jolyn. Police said Quartey told investigators she was carrying her daughter in a sling when the child fell onto rocks in their yard.
ADAMS COUNTY
Prostitution sting nets 26 arrests
Twenty-six people were arrested in a prostitution sting coordinated by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, according to a statement released Thursday.
During operation “no love,” 26 attempted to solicit deputies dressed as prostitutes. One man was arrested on charges of unlawful sexual contact.
The undercover deputies spent about nine hours over two days in the area of Federal Boulevard.
In addition to the 17 deputies, the North Metro Task Force, the Thornton Police Department and concerned members of the community participated in the operation.
The office was responding to indications that prostitution was increasing in the area, and more arrests may follow, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Candi Baker said.
“This will not be an isolated operation,” she said.
ARVADA
Flats wildlife transfer sooner than expected
Rocky Flats, the former site of a nuclear weapons plant, will be transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Foundation earlier than expected.
The Environmental Protection Agency certified the site’s cleanup, which was finished early and under budget.
Property will be transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Foundation within several weeks, said Terry Anderson, program director for federal facilities at the EPA.
But it may be quite some time before the area is made public and the agency turns the land into a wildlife refuge.
“We don’t see it happening in the near future,” said Steve Berendzen, who will be refuge manager for the site.
The optimistic outlook sees it happening in a couple of years, he said.
The plant, which opened in 1951, was a work site for building plutonium triggers for nuclear warheads. Thousands of employees developed life-threatening illnesses after being exposed to radioactive material.
ARVADA, DENVER
ommuter trains urged on Gold Line
Transit planners are recommending that RTD use commuter trains for FasTracks’ Gold Line to Arvada and Wheat Ridge from Union Station instead of streetcars, an alternative that also has been studied.
On Thursday, officials said streetcars should be eliminated because they will be much slower than commuter rail and only attract about half the ridership of trains.
Regional Transportation District directors are expected to vote next month on the rail technology for the Gold Line. If, as expected, they select commuter rail, they must decide whether to use diesel or electric trains for the Gold Line.
Planners will hold meetings June 26 in Arvada and the following evening in Denver to get public reaction to the commuter rail recommendation. For meeting details, go to
COLORADO SPRINGS
State Dems eye World Arena for convention
The Colorado Democratic Party is eyeing the World Arena in Colorado Springs as the site for its 2008 state convention and assembly.
Party chair Pat Waak said choosing the historically Republican El Paso County as the place for the convention was part of the Democrats’ strategy to be competitive in every part of the state.
The party’s executive committee will make the final decision in July.
COLORADO SPRINGS
TB tests for those in contact with student
Health departments in Pueblo and Colorado Springs will offer tuberculosis tests next week to anyone who had prolonged contact or took classes with a young woman who died of the disease June 8.
Skin tests will be done at the first clinics on June 19 in both El Paso and Pueblo counties.
On June 21, those who got the tests can return for the results.
Health officials say only those who had “close, prolonged and/ or repeated contact” with Kalpana Dangol or who attended classes with her during the spring 2007 semester at Colorado State University at Pueblo should get tested.
For more information and locations of the clinics, call El Paso County Health Department, 719- 578-3199, or Pueblo City-County Health Department, 719- 583-9901.
LEGISLATURE
Meetings will discuss constitution revision
House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, is holding a series of town hall meetings on reforming the Colorado Constitution.
The legislature debated a ballot proposal this year that would have asked voters to make it harder to amend the constitution. The legislation died because lawmakers wanted more time to talk to voters about the issue.
Romanoff and other lawmakers will be in Colorado Springs on June 25, Denver on June 26 and Westminster on June 27.
GREELEY
Girl, 3, falls from second-story window
A 3-year-old Greeley girl accidentally fell from a second-story window Thursday afternoon, authorities said.
She was taken to North Colorado Medical Center. The child’s condition is unknown, but she was conscious and breathing when she was taken to NCMC, said Dale Lyman, a Union Colony Fire Rescue Authority spokesman.
The child had apparently been put in a second-floor room for a nap. She fell when she leaned against the insect screen of the window, Lyman said.
