Salon owner faces shoplifting charges
The owner of a Cherry Creek hair salon is facing charges of shoplifting after police say she tried to walk off with a $975 blouse without paying.
Phoebe Miller, owner of Phoebe Hair Apparent, 2609 E. Third Ave., was arrested on Aug. 17 at the Neiman Marcus store in Cherry Creek Shopping Center. According to an arrest document, a loss-prevention employee at the department store saw Miller take a TSE cardigan blouse – valued at $975 – from a display and place it in a Neiman Marcus bag. Miller then left the store without paying, according to the document. Neiman Marcus security contacted and detained her until police arrived.
Reached at her Cherry Hills Village home Tuesday, Miller declined to comment.
She is charged with a misdemeanor count of theft under $1,000.
Sex-assault charges against cleric tossed
Jefferson County prosecutors have dropped sexual-assault charges against a minister.
Prosecutors concluded they didn’t have enough evidence to proceed with a trial, spokeswoman Pam Russell said Monday.
A teenage girl and her older brother told Lakewood police last year that they were assaulted by Stephen Heese in the early 1990s at the home day care of Heese’s wife.
Heese, pastor of The Church in South Denver, denied the accusations.
Mental-health patient flees for third time
A state-hospital patient who was found not guilty by reason of insanity on a first-degree assault charge fled from the facility Tuesday morning for the third time, officials said.
Allen Gary Martinez, 42, of Westminster was listed on escape status at 9:25 a.m., said Eunice Wolther, spokeswoman for the Colorado Mental Health Institute of Pueblo.
Martinez had earned the right to go off hospital grounds but did not return to the hospital, Wolther said.
Emergency chief takes post Oct. 1
Gov. Bill Ritter appointed a new emergency-management director Tuesday to replace his previous pick, whose job offer was withdrawn after questions arose about his background.
The new head of the state Division of Emergency Management is Hans Kallam, who since 2001 has been director of operations for the adjutant general of the Colorado National Guard.
Kallam starts the job Oct. 1.
Ritter rescinded a job offer in July to Chris Olson.
The decision was announced after The Denver Post questioned Ritter’s staff about a police report from a domestic-violence call to Olson’s home and management problems while he worked for the city of Englewood.
Russia appoints honorary consul
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the appointment of an honorary consul general in Colorado – the first for Russia in this state.
Deborah Palmieri, who for 14 years ran the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce from Denver, serves in this post to support Russian citizens in Colorado and to promote exchange between the United States and Russia.
Offices are in downtown Denver and in Aspen.
Vote could raise residents’ water bill
The Denver Water board is set to vote today on a proposal to raise 2008 revenues for the state’s largest water utility by 9 percent, or $9.2 million.
The revenue-increase plan would raise the average annual Denver residential bill, currently $280.12, by $13.32.
The suburban customer’s bill would rise an average of $21.44. The current average suburban bill is $476.87.
There is also a proposal to lower or leave unchanged the rates for customers who use less than 3,000 gallons of water a month. The average customer uses about 10,400 gallons a month.
If the proposed adjustments are approved, they would take effect Jan. 1.
Driver goes off cliff, dials for rescue
A man called for help on his cellphone Tuesday after plunging 200 feet from a cliff into the Colorado River, officials said.
His truck landed upside down in the water, about a half-mile from Corn Lake in Mesa County, said Norma Mestas, spokeswoman for the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office.
It took rescue workers an hour to reach him. He was taken by boat to Corn Lake and then by ambulance to a hospital, Mestas said.
The Colorado State Patrol identified the driver as Chad Reiner, 28, of Grand Junction.
He was driving on a dirt road in a field when he went over the edge of the cliff, Mestas said.
Investigators with the State Patrol cited “excessive speed” and said Reiner was not wearing a seat belt.
