Injured soldier’s event seeks inquiry of return to combat
A Boston attorney followed through with his plans Friday, asking the Army to convene a court of inquiry to investigate the practice of ordering medically unfit soldiers back to duty.
Attorney Louis Drum held a news conference Friday in Watertown, N.Y., where Spec. Bryan Currie of Charleston, S.C., said the Army must be held accountable for sending injured soldiers back to combat.
Currie, who was injured in Afghanistan by a blast from a roadside bomb, recovered from his physical injuries but suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder severe enough that an Army doctor wrote “cannot deploy” in his physical profile. But he was ordered back to combat anyway.
“The doctor made his opinions and once my chain of command realized they needed one more guy they contacted him and he changed his opinion,” Currie told New York’s News 10 Now television during the news conference.
Currie, who went absent without leave from Fort Polk, La., but decided against turning himself in at Fort Drum, N.Y., on Friday as planned, was joined in making the request for an investigation by soldiers from Fort Hood, Texas, and Colorado’s Fort Carson.
There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon on the request.
Former pastor of defunct church must pay back $1.4 million
COLORADO SPRINGS — The former pastor of a defunct Colorado Springs church has been ordered to pay back $1.4 million after being convicted of securities fraud.
Douglas Alan Scott, 48, also was given 15 years’ probation Friday in El Paso District Court.
As pastor of the River of Life Church, Scott had helped recruit investors for XL Capital Partners.
Judge J. Patrick Kelly said that as a pastor, Scott was supposed to be fishing for souls, not wallets.
Twin Buttes developer now plans to cluster 595 residences
DURANGO — A developer who planned to build 595 residences, including many large homes, says he has changed his plans to fit with the fast-growing city’s mood.
The Durango Herald said Eric Flora will cluster the 595 units in the 597 acres in the Twin Buttes area. They will be designed with environmental sustainability in mind, and will be connected by trails.
City Council member Scott Graham announced his candidacy last year near the entrance to Twin Buttes to show his concern about the proposed project. Graham had advocated keeping the area open space, but says he will keep an open mind.
Flora’s plan will need the city to annex the area to provide services. The issue is expected to come before the council later this year.
Denver Post staff and wire reports
