"VAIL, Colorado — With today marking 1,000 days to go until the world returns to Vail and Beaver Creek for the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, Feb. 3-15, the event's Organizing Committee has provided the Vail Valley community with its charge. The state of Colorado, the United States and the world also have their directive: “Dream it. Live it. Share it.”
“It” refers to the 2015 World Championships, and Vail and Beaver Creek organizers want the world to know that this will be much more than just two weeks of ski racing. These championships will be a many-faceted celebration of not only skiing but an event and a feeling that can and will mean a world of different things on different levels to everyone who is touched by “it”.
While the championships are slightly less than three years away, organizers felt the need to identify a central tagline and theme that will guide much of the planning, preparation and look of the event. The committee wanted a tag that included strong action words that both invited and challenged people to make these championships their own in whatever way they choose.
“If you stop to think about it,” said Ceil Folz, president of the Vail Valley Foundation and the 2015 World Championships organizing committee, “dream, live and share can take on a myriad of different meanings when it comes to the World Championships. A young skier in Nepal can dream about having the chance to race in the championships, just as Lindsey Vonn can dream about winning a medal here.
“At the other end of the spectrum, a child that has never had the opportunity to experience skiing or snowboarding can also have that dream come true through the championships.”
While the members of the organizing committee will obviously live these championships for the coming years leading up to 2015, the international skiing community also will participate in the buildup to the World Championships, watching it grow and evolve in both scope and scale. As for the sharing piece of the equation, that, too, will come in many shapes and forms.
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
May 9, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel/Breaking News "Hickenlooper calls for special session on civil unions"
Charles Ashby:
"DENVER — Gov. John Hickenlooper called state lawmakers into a special session starting as early as Friday in an effort try again on passing a civil unions law for same-sex couples.
The governor, near tears in making the announcement, said the time has come for the state to provide the same legal rights to same-sex couples that married couples have, and he means to help them get it.
“I think it’s an issue about people and their rights,” Hickenlooper said at a well attended press conference, which was attended by numerous supporters of a civil union law. “We can’t control the final resolution, but there is an overwhelming need, not just among Democrats, it’s among independents and Republicans, to have an opportunity to discuss this issue.”
The call for a special session comes on the final day of the 2012 session, a day after GOP leaders in the Colorado House blocked a vote on civil unions even though there was more than enough votes to get it passed....." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"DENVER — Gov. John Hickenlooper called state lawmakers into a special session starting as early as Friday in an effort try again on passing a civil unions law for same-sex couples.
The governor, near tears in making the announcement, said the time has come for the state to provide the same legal rights to same-sex couples that married couples have, and he means to help them get it.
“I think it’s an issue about people and their rights,” Hickenlooper said at a well attended press conference, which was attended by numerous supporters of a civil union law. “We can’t control the final resolution, but there is an overwhelming need, not just among Democrats, it’s among independents and Republicans, to have an opportunity to discuss this issue.”
The call for a special session comes on the final day of the 2012 session, a day after GOP leaders in the Colorado House blocked a vote on civil unions even though there was more than enough votes to get it passed....." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel/Breaking News "Retired prof arrested for alleged sex assault on child"
Dennis Webb:
"Authorities in Chaffee County have arrested an 81-year-old author and retired Cornell University professor now living outside Carbondale for alleged sexual assault on a child.
Detectives from the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office and the 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Salida took Paul Eugene Breer into custody at his Eagle County home Monday after obtaining an arrest warrant.
He faces felony charges including sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust.
Eagle County deputies assisted in the arrest and Breer was being held in lieu of $100,000 bond in the Eagle County jail pending transfer to Chaffee County....."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"Authorities in Chaffee County have arrested an 81-year-old author and retired Cornell University professor now living outside Carbondale for alleged sexual assault on a child.
Detectives from the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office and the 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Salida took Paul Eugene Breer into custody at his Eagle County home Monday after obtaining an arrest warrant.
He faces felony charges including sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust.
Eagle County deputies assisted in the arrest and Breer was being held in lieu of $100,000 bond in the Eagle County jail pending transfer to Chaffee County....."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel "Affidavit: 8 pounds of meth hidden in Jeep’s oil pan"
Paul Shockley:
"A California woman faces possible drug-related charges after a search of her Jeep on Tuesday allegedly turned up 8.8 pounds of packaged methamphetamine hidden under the Jeep’s oil pan, according to an arrest affidavit.
Dayana Gutierrez, 21, of Lynwood, Calif., was stopped by a Mesa County Sheriff’s deputy just before 2 p.m. Tuesday headed east on Interstate 70, near milepost 3. A deputy allegedly observed “glare” from a suspected crack in the windshield of Gutierrez’s Jeep, which had Nebraska license plates, according to the affidavit. The deputy also wrote in the affidavit that a GPS unit was in front of the driver, allegedly obstructing vision.
The affidavit alleged Gutierrez said she was coming from a town in Utah, possibly named “Senor,” which she explained is near Moab, where she had been visiting her boyfriend. The deputy was unfamiliar with the town.
A check of records showed Gutierrez crossed the Mexico border around 10:30 p.m. last Friday at the San Yisidro crossing, the affidavit said....." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"A California woman faces possible drug-related charges after a search of her Jeep on Tuesday allegedly turned up 8.8 pounds of packaged methamphetamine hidden under the Jeep’s oil pan, according to an arrest affidavit.
Dayana Gutierrez, 21, of Lynwood, Calif., was stopped by a Mesa County Sheriff’s deputy just before 2 p.m. Tuesday headed east on Interstate 70, near milepost 3. A deputy allegedly observed “glare” from a suspected crack in the windshield of Gutierrez’s Jeep, which had Nebraska license plates, according to the affidavit. The deputy also wrote in the affidavit that a GPS unit was in front of the driver, allegedly obstructing vision.
The affidavit alleged Gutierrez said she was coming from a town in Utah, possibly named “Senor,” which she explained is near Moab, where she had been visiting her boyfriend. The deputy was unfamiliar with the town.
A check of records showed Gutierrez crossed the Mexico border around 10:30 p.m. last Friday at the San Yisidro crossing, the affidavit said....." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Red State "A Terrible, No Good, Awful Night for Barack Obama "
Erick Erickson:
"One initial point to ponder: if the No-H8 campaign tries to fire up in North Carolina as the No-A1 campaign, people will wonder why they are campaigning against steak sauce. Probably won’t happen.
North Carolina did not pass a ban on gay marriage as the media reports. Rather they refused to allow their definition of marriage to be changed. The marriage definition was put into law years ago, but with an onslaught of judicial activists, the voters in North Carolina decided to shut down any further consideration of the issue.
The most fascinating bit of it all is that time and time again gay marriage polls quite well in the United States.
Time and time again, gay marriage proponents go down to defeat at the actual polls. Said one gay marriage proponent on Twitter last night to me, “It will be a happy day when all hate filled Xians are dead.” Xians is “Christians” in Twitter speak. At first I thought it was a Xenu or Thetans reference.
This was a bad night for Barack Obama. Whoever decided to put the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina should be given a lollipop by the GOP for the intense level of comedic schadenfreude we can all now watch. The Democrats will convene in a proudly right to work state whose state Democratic Party is imploding due to a gay sexual harassment scandal, the state itself just voted for marriage by a margin few statewide candidates in North Carolina get, and twenty percent of Democrats voted against Barack Obama in the North Carolina Democratic Primary.
On the bright side, North Carolina is not West Virginia where a felon in federal prison in Texas locked up 40% of the vote in the Democratic Primary against Barack Obama. The Chain Gang looks to be as popular as the Change Gang.
In Indiana, Rickard Mourdock beat Richard Lugar. Lugar is Barack Obama’s favorite Republican Senator. The Washington, DC Gang of 500 — the political reporters who set the tone for political coverage in America — are still crying in their beer as the sun rises that Indiana’s statewide elected Treasurer beat a Republican incumbent who has never been a threat to the liberal agenda the Gang of 500 agrees with...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"One initial point to ponder: if the No-H8 campaign tries to fire up in North Carolina as the No-A1 campaign, people will wonder why they are campaigning against steak sauce. Probably won’t happen.
North Carolina did not pass a ban on gay marriage as the media reports. Rather they refused to allow their definition of marriage to be changed. The marriage definition was put into law years ago, but with an onslaught of judicial activists, the voters in North Carolina decided to shut down any further consideration of the issue.
The most fascinating bit of it all is that time and time again gay marriage polls quite well in the United States.
Time and time again, gay marriage proponents go down to defeat at the actual polls. Said one gay marriage proponent on Twitter last night to me, “It will be a happy day when all hate filled Xians are dead.” Xians is “Christians” in Twitter speak. At first I thought it was a Xenu or Thetans reference.
This was a bad night for Barack Obama. Whoever decided to put the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina should be given a lollipop by the GOP for the intense level of comedic schadenfreude we can all now watch. The Democrats will convene in a proudly right to work state whose state Democratic Party is imploding due to a gay sexual harassment scandal, the state itself just voted for marriage by a margin few statewide candidates in North Carolina get, and twenty percent of Democrats voted against Barack Obama in the North Carolina Democratic Primary.
On the bright side, North Carolina is not West Virginia where a felon in federal prison in Texas locked up 40% of the vote in the Democratic Primary against Barack Obama. The Chain Gang looks to be as popular as the Change Gang.
In Indiana, Rickard Mourdock beat Richard Lugar. Lugar is Barack Obama’s favorite Republican Senator. The Washington, DC Gang of 500 — the political reporters who set the tone for political coverage in America — are still crying in their beer as the sun rises that Indiana’s statewide elected Treasurer beat a Republican incumbent who has never been a threat to the liberal agenda the Gang of 500 agrees with...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Town Hall "Truth Is Major Obstacle to Obama's Re-election"
David Limbaugh:
"President Obama formally kicked off his re-election campaign in Richmond, Va., and Columbus, Ohio, Saturday, and his theme was certainly not, shall we say, "it's morning again in America" -- President Ronald Reagan's optimistic re-election slogan in 1984.
Obama's central message was more like: "Hey, I realize things look bad, and I'm not going to pretend you want four more years of this. But just think how much worse it would have been without me and how much worse it's going to get if you get rid of me."
Interestingly, mainstream media journalists Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake were certain enough that Obama wasn't sufficiently forthcoming in his speech that they co-wrote a piece for The Washington Post "parsing" it. Without a whiff of disapproval, they said, "This being politics, Obama said less than what he meant. But, that's where we come in." The two then set out Obama's "most quotable lines" and followed each with their "translation of the message he was trying to send."
The writers are obviously sympathetic to Obama's agenda and, as fellow liberals, share his end-justifies-the-means sleight of hand -- whatever it takes to keep this federal juggernaut barreling along. Let's look at just a few of the quotes they highlighted.
Obama said: "I don't care how many ways you try to explain it: Corporations aren't people. People are people." The writers said Obama was responding to Mitt Romney's earlier remark that "corporations are people," and they said Obama intended to send this message: "Romney is the business candidate. I am the people's candidate."
Well, Romney is right. Most corporations (excepting holding companies and the like) are owned and operated by people. But Obama must depersonalize them because it makes his attacks on business seem less personal, which brings us to another point. Obama has denied he is anti-business, but everything about him screams otherwise, and even many of his liberal defenders, from these two writers to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to Fareed Zakaria, have been hard-pressed to deny that he either is anti-business or sends unmistakable signals that he is....." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"President Obama formally kicked off his re-election campaign in Richmond, Va., and Columbus, Ohio, Saturday, and his theme was certainly not, shall we say, "it's morning again in America" -- President Ronald Reagan's optimistic re-election slogan in 1984.
Obama's central message was more like: "Hey, I realize things look bad, and I'm not going to pretend you want four more years of this. But just think how much worse it would have been without me and how much worse it's going to get if you get rid of me."
Interestingly, mainstream media journalists Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake were certain enough that Obama wasn't sufficiently forthcoming in his speech that they co-wrote a piece for The Washington Post "parsing" it. Without a whiff of disapproval, they said, "This being politics, Obama said less than what he meant. But, that's where we come in." The two then set out Obama's "most quotable lines" and followed each with their "translation of the message he was trying to send."
The writers are obviously sympathetic to Obama's agenda and, as fellow liberals, share his end-justifies-the-means sleight of hand -- whatever it takes to keep this federal juggernaut barreling along. Let's look at just a few of the quotes they highlighted.
Obama said: "I don't care how many ways you try to explain it: Corporations aren't people. People are people." The writers said Obama was responding to Mitt Romney's earlier remark that "corporations are people," and they said Obama intended to send this message: "Romney is the business candidate. I am the people's candidate."
Well, Romney is right. Most corporations (excepting holding companies and the like) are owned and operated by people. But Obama must depersonalize them because it makes his attacks on business seem less personal, which brings us to another point. Obama has denied he is anti-business, but everything about him screams otherwise, and even many of his liberal defenders, from these two writers to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to Fareed Zakaria, have been hard-pressed to deny that he either is anti-business or sends unmistakable signals that he is....." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Legal Insurrection "Tuesday: one of the busiest election days of 2012"
Anne Sorock:
"Ballotpedia, the “interactive almanac of state politics,” has an excellent run-down of Tuesday’s elections across the country.
While we’ve already reported to you on what’s at stake in Wisconsin and Mourdock’s challenge to Lugar, there are other key elections in Indiana, North Carolina, and West Virginia to note.
According to Ballotpedia:
"Ballotpedia, the “interactive almanac of state politics,” has an excellent run-down of Tuesday’s elections across the country.
While we’ve already reported to you on what’s at stake in Wisconsin and Mourdock’s challenge to Lugar, there are other key elections in Indiana, North Carolina, and West Virginia to note.
According to Ballotpedia:
- There is a same-sex marriage amendment in North Carolina and “ten state executive offices up for election this year…more statewide races than any other state. Of the 20 primary races, 13 are contested and only one – the Republican primary for attorney general - has no candidates.”
- In West Virginia, all but one incumbent is unchallenged: “Five incumbents are seeking re-election and only one, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, faces a primary challenger - Arne Moltis. The state’s current agriculture commissioner, Gus Douglass, is retiring after serving 48 years in office. Five Democrats and one Republican are vying for his seat.”
- They also explain why, in Indiana, you won’t see Mitch Daniels on any ballot – he’s term-limited out of seeking another term for governor. ...." (Read more? Click title)
SandBoxBlogs: Washington Post "France’s Hollande aims anti-austerity message directly at Germany"
Edward Cody:
"PARIS — Francois Hollande said he wanted to make Berlin his first stop as president of France, but he warned that the Franco-German partnership was going to have to change and that Europe’s key word from now on was “growth.”
But while Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would welcome Hollande “with open arms” in the German capital, she made clear that she would not accept his plan to renegotiate the European Union’s controversial austerity treaty or pump E.U. funds into the continent’s stagnant economies....." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"PARIS — Francois Hollande said he wanted to make Berlin his first stop as president of France, but he warned that the Franco-German partnership was going to have to change and that Europe’s key word from now on was “growth.”
But while Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would welcome Hollande “with open arms” in the German capital, she made clear that she would not accept his plan to renegotiate the European Union’s controversial austerity treaty or pump E.U. funds into the continent’s stagnant economies....." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: KKCO 11 News "State trooper gets back pay; now on paid leave"
(See related stories here and here)
Comment ability remains blocked on Trooper Lawyer's news articles.
Brian Schlonsky:
"GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO)-- Colorado State Trooper Ivan “Gene” Lawyer has been reinstated with the state patrol, and now he'll also be paid for the last two years.
KKCO 11 News was the first to break this story, CSP telling us that as soon as the last of the charges were dropped against Lawyer, he was placed on administrative leave with pay.
The last two years, Lawyer was on unpaid administrative leave, and now, he's also getting reimbursed for that time....." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Comment ability remains blocked on Trooper Lawyer's news articles.
Brian Schlonsky:
"GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO)-- Colorado State Trooper Ivan “Gene” Lawyer has been reinstated with the state patrol, and now he'll also be paid for the last two years.
KKCO 11 News was the first to break this story, CSP telling us that as soon as the last of the charges were dropped against Lawyer, he was placed on administrative leave with pay.
The last two years, Lawyer was on unpaid administrative leave, and now, he's also getting reimbursed for that time....." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "News in brief"
Disclaimer: "Now that DA Beeson has thrown his hat in the ring for district attorney in the 9th, please take note that there will be no special treatment given to any news press surrounding his race. His articles, if they are SandBox worthy or chosen in the daily agg run-up; will be put up just like anyone else in a political race. What SandBox Commentators will continue to do, is heavily moderate his articles. (We are the only news media that provides the courtesy of moderating commentary from the general public on 9th Judicial District and Mr. Beeson's articles. All 9th Judicial news articles are DA Beeson's articles )"
Aspen Daily News:
"Laurie Reno, 30, who was also accused of faking the doctor’s name in an attempt to get a prescription drug from Carl’s Pharmacy, quietly pleaded guilty to a felony count of uttering a false or forged order.
Judge Gail Nichols of Pitkin County District Court approved the sentence, which involves one year of unsupervised probation so Reno can go to an inpatient treatment program in California. After a year in the program, she must then contact the Pitkin County probation office for another year of probation that will be supervised.
Reno’s attorney, public defender Tina Fang, said her client pleaded guilty even though there were “factual issues that warranted her having the prescription.”
The case was also “ripe with suppression issues,” Fang said, because Reno, when she was arrested April 4, invoked her right to an attorney and Aspen police officers continued to question her.
“This seems to another case of the Aspen Police Department not understanding 4th and 6th Amendment procedures,” the attorney said. She added that the supposed factual and suppression issues likely factored into the decision by Chief Deputy District Attorney Arnold Mordkin to offer the plea agreement.
But Mordkin said that was not the case...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Aspen Daily News:
"Laurie Reno, 30, who was also accused of faking the doctor’s name in an attempt to get a prescription drug from Carl’s Pharmacy, quietly pleaded guilty to a felony count of uttering a false or forged order.
Judge Gail Nichols of Pitkin County District Court approved the sentence, which involves one year of unsupervised probation so Reno can go to an inpatient treatment program in California. After a year in the program, she must then contact the Pitkin County probation office for another year of probation that will be supervised.
Reno’s attorney, public defender Tina Fang, said her client pleaded guilty even though there were “factual issues that warranted her having the prescription.”
The case was also “ripe with suppression issues,” Fang said, because Reno, when she was arrested April 4, invoked her right to an attorney and Aspen police officers continued to question her.
“This seems to another case of the Aspen Police Department not understanding 4th and 6th Amendment procedures,” the attorney said. She added that the supposed factual and suppression issues likely factored into the decision by Chief Deputy District Attorney Arnold Mordkin to offer the plea agreement.
But Mordkin said that was not the case...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Pivotal evidence hearing on Monday in bomb-threat case"
Disclaimer: "Now that DA Beeson has thrown his hat in the ring for district attorney in the 9th, please take note that there will be no special treatment given to any news press surrounding his race. His articles, if they are SandBox worthy or chosen in the daily agg run-up; will be put up just like anyone else in a political race. What SandBox Commentators will continue to do, is heavily moderate his articles. (We are the only news media that provides the courtesy of moderating commentary from the general public on 9th Judicial District and Mr. Beeson's articles. All 9th Judicial news articles are DA Beeson's articles.)
Chad Abraham:
"The judge presiding over a man’s felony case involving an alleged bomb threat concerning a Belly Up concert urged the attorneys for both sides on Tuesday to come to an agreement on pretrial evidence issues.
Otherwise, public defender Tina Fang, representing Asa Robinson, 30, of Glenwood Springs, may call Aspen prosecutor Arnold Mordkin to testify about record-keeping matters in a motion-to-dismiss hearing set for Monday.
Custodians of evidence in the Aspen Police Department and the Aspen office of the 9th Judicial District Attorney may also be called to the stand. Judge Gail Nichols of Pitkin County District Court said that, in order for her to rule on the motion, she needs to rely on statements that are only made under oath unless Fang and Mordkin can agree on matters involving certain evidence.....
....Fang’s motion says the district attorney’s office didn’t turn over a copy of the interview until March 22, which the defense attorney says is another example of miscues involving pretrial evidence, or discovery, committed by the Aspen prosecutor’s office.
Nichols last summer sanctioned Mordkin for similar missteps in five cases, ordering that he could not use key evidence in a motor-vehicle theft case. Mordkin soon after filed to have the case dismissed, saying he could not expect a successful prosecution without that evidence.
But he and District Attorney Martin Beeson have appealed Nichols’ ruling to the Colorado Court of Appeals, where it is pending, and defended the Aspen office’s handling of discovery. Nichols’ ruling cites a handful of cases in which prosecutorial discovery errors were made out of the nearly 2,700 that the Aspen office handled between 2008 and 2011, meaning the vast majority of cases were handled correctly, the appeal says. Mordkin has also said in court motions that his office and evidence custodians of the local law enforcement agencies have rectified the issues that led to the mistakes.
But for the latest alleged infraction, Nichols “should make it clear that the blame rests with [Mordkin] and his office — alone,” Fang wrote. Dismissing Robinson’s case is the only way the court can be assured that its authority to enforce procedural rules will be respected, the motion says......"
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "PitCo ups budget for fighting court cases"
Andrew Travers:
"Pitkin County will have an extra $200,000 in the budget this year for litigation, in case simmering matters related to oil and gas drilling flare up, or other legal challenges arise, commissioners agreed at a meeting Tuesday.
The public money comes in addition to $75,845 in already-approved litigation funds for 2012.
In 2011, the county far outspent its legal budget fighting criminal and civil charges against government officials accused of wrongdoing in the poisoning deaths, by carbon monoxide, of a family of four. The cases related to the deaths of the Lofgren family of Denver were dropped last year. Prosecutors had accused local building inspectors of negligence for failing to catch glitches in the snowmelt system of a luxury home the family was renting in 2008.
The county and city of Aspen spent a total of nearly $260,000 last year on lawyers and court costs in those cases.
County attorney John Ely told the commissioners Tuesday that he had reduced the litigation budget in recent years. It had been between $200,000 and $300,000 in years past......"
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"Pitkin County will have an extra $200,000 in the budget this year for litigation, in case simmering matters related to oil and gas drilling flare up, or other legal challenges arise, commissioners agreed at a meeting Tuesday.
The public money comes in addition to $75,845 in already-approved litigation funds for 2012.
In 2011, the county far outspent its legal budget fighting criminal and civil charges against government officials accused of wrongdoing in the poisoning deaths, by carbon monoxide, of a family of four. The cases related to the deaths of the Lofgren family of Denver were dropped last year. Prosecutors had accused local building inspectors of negligence for failing to catch glitches in the snowmelt system of a luxury home the family was renting in 2008.
The county and city of Aspen spent a total of nearly $260,000 last year on lawyers and court costs in those cases.
County attorney John Ely told the commissioners Tuesday that he had reduced the litigation budget in recent years. It had been between $200,000 and $300,000 in years past......"
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Vail Daily "Friday night felonies"
Once again our K-9 heroes come through! Good boy, 'Tucker' !! Thanks so much for your service.
Look what Tucker found (Click title to read the story):
"Tucker performed what is called a “positive alert,” indicating he'd found some drugs. He scratches the area where the drugs are when he finds them.
A dog's nose is 1,000 times more sensitive than a human's, and Comroe has trained Tucker to recognize the odors of six different drugs: marijuana, mushrooms, XTC, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.
Police say Fruth was hauling the Tucker trifecta.
Fruth was hauling about 13 pounds of high-grade marijuana, 6 ounces of black tar heroine, a bunch of pills, paraphernalia, vacuum-sealing machines and recloseable plastic bags, police say.
It appears it was grown in a hydroponics operation — no seeds or stems and very high potency, said Avon police chief Bob Ticer.
The ditch weed grown outside in most places is worth about $500 a pound. This marijuana is worth about $3,000 a pound; $300-$600 an ounce if you break it down that way, Ticer said.
The marijuana seized on Friday is estimated with a street value between $20,000 and $30,000. The heroin is worth between $6,000 and $10,000.
It comes into the U.S. either through Mexico or a West Coast seaport and is trucked along Interstate 70 to major cities on the East Coast or Midwest.
Drug traffickers use America's east/west interstate highways as a major part of their distribution system. The further east drugs go the more they're worth, Ticer said.
The drugs go east, the money comes back west to drug cartels, then the cycle begins again.
“The money goes right back to the cartels to fund organized crime and terrorist organizations,” Ticer said. “When people think of marijuana, or medical marijuana, they don't think of cartels, but the cartels certainly do think of them....” (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Look what Tucker found (Click title to read the story):
Photo Credit:
"Avon Police Lt. Greg Daly, right, Eagle County Sheriff's Office Deputy Tim Comroe, left, and his German shepherd, Tucker, talk about their big drug bust Tuesday morning at the Avon Police Department. Police say they found the drugs in a truck they pulled over on Interstate 70 near Wolcott."
"Avon Police Lt. Greg Daly, right, Eagle County Sheriff's Office Deputy Tim Comroe, left, and his German shepherd, Tucker, talk about their big drug bust Tuesday morning at the Avon Police Department. Police say they found the drugs in a truck they pulled over on Interstate 70 near Wolcott."
Photo Credit: Justin McCarty | Special to the Daily
Randy Wyrick:"Tucker performed what is called a “positive alert,” indicating he'd found some drugs. He scratches the area where the drugs are when he finds them.
A dog's nose is 1,000 times more sensitive than a human's, and Comroe has trained Tucker to recognize the odors of six different drugs: marijuana, mushrooms, XTC, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.
Police say Fruth was hauling the Tucker trifecta.
Fruth was hauling about 13 pounds of high-grade marijuana, 6 ounces of black tar heroine, a bunch of pills, paraphernalia, vacuum-sealing machines and recloseable plastic bags, police say.
It appears it was grown in a hydroponics operation — no seeds or stems and very high potency, said Avon police chief Bob Ticer.
The ditch weed grown outside in most places is worth about $500 a pound. This marijuana is worth about $3,000 a pound; $300-$600 an ounce if you break it down that way, Ticer said.
The marijuana seized on Friday is estimated with a street value between $20,000 and $30,000. The heroin is worth between $6,000 and $10,000.
It comes into the U.S. either through Mexico or a West Coast seaport and is trucked along Interstate 70 to major cities on the East Coast or Midwest.
Drug traffickers use America's east/west interstate highways as a major part of their distribution system. The further east drugs go the more they're worth, Ticer said.
The drugs go east, the money comes back west to drug cartels, then the cycle begins again.
“The money goes right back to the cartels to fund organized crime and terrorist organizations,” Ticer said. “When people think of marijuana, or medical marijuana, they don't think of cartels, but the cartels certainly do think of them....” (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times "No jail sought for Aspen cocaine defendant"
The only member of the Aspen drug trafficking ring busted by the DEA last year that SandBox would like to say thanks to is Jack Fellner. This sentence sounds like justice would be served rather than only technical law. We hope the judge agrees.
Rick Carroll:
"DENVER — An Aspen man arrested last year as part of a federal drug sweep is looking at no prison time.
According to a motion filed Monday in the U.S. District Court of Denver, federal prosecutors are requesting that Jack Fellner spend no time behind bars and be sentenced to three years of supervised release and nine months of home detention. The motion notes Fellner's cooperation with authorities as part of the probe.
“Mr. Fellner was interviewed by law enforcement officers assigned to this investigation, and he provided truthful information as to his involvement with this offense and the involvement of others,” the motion says. “(Fellner's) information was significant and helpful to the government's ongoing investigations of criminal activities in the District of Colorado and elsewhere.”
Fellner's sentencing hearing is set May 21 in Denver.
In February, Fellner, 62, pleaded guilty to knowingly and intentionally distributing and possessing cocaine...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Rick Carroll:
"DENVER — An Aspen man arrested last year as part of a federal drug sweep is looking at no prison time.
According to a motion filed Monday in the U.S. District Court of Denver, federal prosecutors are requesting that Jack Fellner spend no time behind bars and be sentenced to three years of supervised release and nine months of home detention. The motion notes Fellner's cooperation with authorities as part of the probe.
“Mr. Fellner was interviewed by law enforcement officers assigned to this investigation, and he provided truthful information as to his involvement with this offense and the involvement of others,” the motion says. “(Fellner's) information was significant and helpful to the government's ongoing investigations of criminal activities in the District of Colorado and elsewhere.”
Fellner's sentencing hearing is set May 21 in Denver.
In February, Fellner, 62, pleaded guilty to knowingly and intentionally distributing and possessing cocaine...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Customs and Border Protection "CBIG, CCSF Law Enforcement Authorities Seize 154 kilos of Cocaine off the North Coast of Puerto Rico; Two Aliens Arrested"
"San Juan, Puerto Rico – Caribbean Border Interagency Group (CBIG) law enforcement authorities, working in support of the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF), arrested 2 smugglers, seizing a boat and a drug shipment of approximately 154 kilos (339.5 pounds) of cocaine during a maritime interdiction early Friday evening off the northern coast of Dorado, Puerto Rico.
The estimated street value is over $3.7 million.
Near midnight Thursday evening, a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) marine patrol aircraft detected a suspicious22’ single-engine “yola” type vessel traveling east without navigational lights about 10 nautical miles north off the coast of Dorado, Puerto Rico.
The CBP marine patrol aircraft contacted Puerto Rico Police Department Joint Forces of Rapid Action (FURA, for its Spanish Acronym) marine units, patrolling with a CBP Border Patrol agent onboard, to interdict the suspect vessel.
Upon noticing their detection and a FURA Police unit starting pursuit, the individuals on the suspect vessel started to throw bales to the water, landing in a beach within the municipalityof Dorado.
CBP Border Patrol Agents and FURA Police agents searched the Dorado beach and arrested 2 individuals, who claimed to be citizens of the Dominican Republic.
A FURA Police marine unit recovered 6 bales containing an undetermined number of bricks of suspected narcotics. A field test proved positive for cocaine.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents took custody of the narcotics for further investigation.
The two aliens will be charged with violation of Title 8 United States Code, Section 1326 for re- entering after being previously removed.
This is the second incident near the coast of Dorado in a 30 day period where Federal and State authorities prevent a smuggling event. On the evening hours of Thursday April 12, CBIG law enforcement arrested six Dominican smugglers and seized 322 pounds of cocaine and 19 pounds of heroin off the northern coast of Dorado, Puerto Rico.
Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF) is an initiative of the United States Attorney’s Office created to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations operating in the Caribbean. CCSF is a part of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) that investigates South American-based drug trafficking organizations responsible for the movement of multi-kilogram quantities of narcotics utilizing the Caribbean as a transshipment point for further distribution to the United States. The initiative is composed by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, ICE HSI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Coast Guard and PRPD’s FURA.
CBIG was formally created to unify efforts of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the United States Attorney ‘ s Office, District of Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid action (FURA) in their common goal of securing Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands against illegal maritime traffic and gaining control of our nation’s Caribbean borders.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws."
SandBoxBlogs: Canon City Daily Record "City Interim Administrator Doug Dotson: Cañon City Police Department investigation ongoing "
Carie Canterbury:
"The Cañon City Council heard an update from City Interim Administrator Doug Dotson on Monday night regarding the ongoing investigation regarding performance of management and personnel issues within the Cañon City Police Department.
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"The Cañon City Council heard an update from City Interim Administrator Doug Dotson on Monday night regarding the ongoing investigation regarding performance of management and personnel issues within the Cañon City Police Department.
"We going to try to push forward on that as fast as we possibly can," he said. "Certainly, it's going to take several weeks to do that and maybe a little bit longer."
Police Chief Duane McNeill was placed on paid administrative leave April 10 pending an investigation into several statements made during a management audit of the department. Several citizens spoke out in favor of the chief during the April 16 council meeting.
"We are trying to look into ways to improve some cost-effectiveness in similar operations, and we are also looking at trying to move forward a short-term plan for moving the department forward," Dotson said.
He anticipates a presentation to the council and the community during a future meeting....."
(Read more? Click title)
SandBoxBlogs: Pueblo Chieftain "Double agent hands al-Qaida its 3rd failed bombing"
Here's to the spooks of the CIA. God bless my America. Great job! Well done.
(almost feels like Doolittle's Tokyo Raiders....only using underwear technology instead of air/sea moxy...)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
(almost feels like Doolittle's Tokyo Raiders....only using underwear technology instead of air/sea moxy...)
EILEEN SULLIVAN, MATT APUZZO and ADAM GOLDMAN:
"WASHINGTON (AP) — Over the past three years, al-Qaida bomb makers in Yemen have developed three fiendishly clever devices in hopes of attacking airplanes in the skies above the United States.
First, there was the underwear bomb that fizzled over Detroit on Christmas 2009. Next, terrorists hid bombs inside printer cartridges and got them on board cargo planes in 2010, only to watch authorities find and defuse them in the nick of time.
Then last month, officials say, al-Qaida completed a sophisticated new, nonmetallic underwear bomb — and unwittingly handed it over to the CIA.
The would-be suicide bomber, the man al-Qaida entrusted with its latest device, actually was a double agent working with the CIA and Saudi intelligence agencies, officials said Tuesday. Instead of sneaking onto a plane in his underwear, he delivered it to the U.S. government and handed al-Qaida its latest setback.
The extraordinary intelligence operation was confirmed by U.S. and Yemeni officials who were briefed on the plot but spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it....."
(Read more? Click title. If you know a CIA spy, hug one today!)
SandBoxBlogs: Pueblo Chieftain "Civil unions bill dies in House"
House Speaker Frank McNulty (R) should be ashamed of himself. What a huge disappointment this is to many Colorado conservatives.
NO to same sex marriage.
YES to the business arrangement/contractual arrangement of civil unions.
Governor Hickenlooper most certainly should haul them all back in for a special session. Enough is enough.
Patrick Malone:
"DENVER — Civil unions in Colorado died on the calendar Tuesday along with more than 30 other bills before a crowded House gallery that booed House Speaker Frank McNulty as he exited after the announcement.
Theatrical political maneuvering sealed the fate of SB2 to create civil unions. It needed to pass by midnight and did not.
“It is unfortunate that there will be items that do not receive consideration by the House tonight because of this impasse,” said McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch. He acknowledged that his caucus stopped action on the House floor that led to the bill’s demise.
“Senate Bill 2 is not going to make it through the (House) chamber,” said bill sponsor Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver.
The possibility still exists that Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who has expressed support for civil unions, could call for a special session...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
NO to same sex marriage.
YES to the business arrangement/contractual arrangement of civil unions.
Governor Hickenlooper most certainly should haul them all back in for a special session. Enough is enough.
Patrick Malone:
"DENVER — Civil unions in Colorado died on the calendar Tuesday along with more than 30 other bills before a crowded House gallery that booed House Speaker Frank McNulty as he exited after the announcement.
Theatrical political maneuvering sealed the fate of SB2 to create civil unions. It needed to pass by midnight and did not.
“It is unfortunate that there will be items that do not receive consideration by the House tonight because of this impasse,” said McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch. He acknowledged that his caucus stopped action on the House floor that led to the bill’s demise.
“Senate Bill 2 is not going to make it through the (House) chamber,” said bill sponsor Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver.
The possibility still exists that Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who has expressed support for civil unions, could call for a special session...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Times Union "Letter: Hydrofracking success stories"
John Krohn, Washington D.C.:
"In "Fracking hazardous to New Yorkers' health" (April 24). Sandra Steingraber makes some extreme claims about hydraulic fracturing.
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"In "Fracking hazardous to New Yorkers' health" (April 24). Sandra Steingraber makes some extreme claims about hydraulic fracturing.
The author declares hydraulic fracturing will ruin our air for pregnant mothers, children and innocent grandparents without citing a single source.
On the same day Ms. Steingraber made these claims, the American Lung Association released a report on our nation's air quality. The study found North Dakota's air quality among the nation's best. The state is home to more than 6,500 oil and natural gas wells developed and fractured in just the past few years.
Ms. Steingraber also referenced a Colorado School of Public Health study that used flawed assumptions and committed gross errors in reaching its findings. One example: The study relied on samples taken a mile from a major interstate. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes that automobiles are one of the largest sources of harmful emissions such as benzene. As a result, the study was criticized by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and scuttled by the Garfield County Board of Commissioners.
Contrary to Ms. Steingraber's claims, a recent Bloomberg article noted greenhouse-gas emissions are expected to decline through the end of the decade thanks to natural gas use in power generation. This is helping achieve the goals of recent ill-fated cap-and-trade legislation. This is an environmental success story, not the horror story Steingraber is hoping to promote..." (Read more? Click title)
SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Morning photo: Random bits?"
All credit Bob Berwyn (click title):
"SUMMIT COUNTY — Today’s photo essay features some funky in-between weather and few random shots squeezed off during dog-walking sessions, highlighting my efforts to find interesting photos in the everyday spots that I visit on a regular basis...."
"SUMMIT COUNTY — Today’s photo essay features some funky in-between weather and few random shots squeezed off during dog-walking sessions, highlighting my efforts to find interesting photos in the everyday spots that I visit on a regular basis...."
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