Bad cop
Decorated ten-year veteran of the Loveland police force Robert Croner, 35, was arrested Friday and left in the clink cooling his heels for the weekend on third-degree assault and child-abuse charges. In Colorado, the third-degree charge is the lowest assault charge. It means he could have either knowingly caused injury or recklessly caused pain or suffering using a deadly weapon. The local judge sealed the charges on Friday, due to likely interest in the case. Croner could get two years in jail on the assault charge alone. If it was domestic abuse, a conviction automatically would carry a greater sentence. For now, the identity of the victim remains unreported. Via The Coloradoan.
Big tab
El Paso County Board of County Commissioners has paid the first two of what may be a string of settlements related to former Sheriff Terry Maketa, who won himself a load of accusations including sexual harassment, discrimination, creating a hostile work environment and so on. Via The Gazette.
Interior struggle
A federal judge ruled that the U.S. Department of Interior broke the law when it failed to take into account the health costs of two new Colorado coal-mining operations, reports Alan Prendergast in Westword.
Deconstruct this
And now he’s packing his bags: Philosophy Prof. David Barnett took $290,000 to walk away from CU Boulder, reports The Daily Camera. The university was seeking to fire Barnett, but the case the university was making — that he had improperly retaliated against a female student who filed sexual assault charges against a fellow student — was crumbly. CU President Bruce Benson reportedly wanted to be sure to cut university ties to Barnett, so he directed the university to reach a settlement agreement. Barnett wanted out of CU, too. Female students in the philosophy department, many of them likely eyeing the door for years, may look at the news as, at best, mixed.
Gas check
Boulder City Council members are weighing a proposal to require businesses to report their greenhouse emissions. The city’s commercial-industrial sector produces 41 percent of its greenhouse pollution. The plan is part of the city’s larger program to reduce greenhouse emissions 80 percent by 2050. Via The Daily Camera.
Pine binge
The sawfly wasp has been feasting on Ponderosa pine, writes Bruce Finley of The Denver Post. “Factors include drought, pesticide disruption of ecosystems, wildfire and changing temperatures.” Oh…and global travel, too.
Union win
A district court blocked Jefferson County Public Schools’ attempt to put in place a new payment plan that would raise salaries for newcomers without spreading the wealth to current teachers, who have taken pay cuts to keep the district afloat. “To offer thousands of dollars more to new teachers while neglecting to honor your promises to your current teaching staff is inexcusable,” said John Ford, president of the Jefferson County Education Association to The Denver Post.
Photo credit: Brickset, Creative Commons, Flickr.
