The city of Greeley will pay $350,000 to a blind woman who was struck by a car when she attempted to cross a street near the University of Northern Colorado campus, according to the Greeley Tribune. The woman, Madrigal Luz, a UNC student, sued the city because the audio signal on a pedestrian crosswalk, which would have warned her when it was safe to cross, wasn’t working properly.
Today’s Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports on a study by the U.S. Geological Survey on reclamation efforts on well pads in the arid West. The study of more than 1,000 pads used in oil and gas drilling found that the land, after being revegetated, held less vegetation than surrounding areas, which can lead to soil erosion and more dust emissions, less vegetation for wildlife and livestock and more infestations of weeds.
Longmont City Council Tuesday night voted 5-2 to oppose a bill at the state Capitol that would make local governments liable for paying oil and gas mineral rights when those government enact bans on oil and gas development, according to the Longmont Times-Call.
A contractor installing a pipeline in Battlement Mesa used improper techniques to handle soil and stormwater issues, but Garfield County plans to work with the contractor rather than turning the matter over to state authorities, according to the Glenwood Springs Post Independent. The contractor, Summit Midstream, is preparing a site on behalf of Ursa Resources for natural gas drilling within the Battlement Mesa residential area.
Tuesday’s windstorms caused a giant cottonwood tree to topple onto a house in Loveland, in a story in today’s Reporter-Herald. A family of four, including a 10-week old baby, escaped injury but damage to the home is estimated at $290,000.
Four to eight inches of much-needed snow is expected to fall in Steamboat Springs in the next two days, Steamboat Today reports. The area has been behind in snowfall for the season. The storm moving into the area could dump up to 20 inches by Monday.
The Pueblo Chieftain reports that about 100 teachers picketed the Tuesday night meeting of the Pueblo City Schools Board of Education. The teachers and paraprofessionals were protesting stalled contract talks with the school district as well as what they say is a lack of respect by the board and school district administrators.
Fanny Starr of Denver, a survivor of the Auschwitz death camps in Nazi Germany, will share her story during Holocaust Awareness Week at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, according to the Fort Collins Coloradoan. Starr, 95, grew up in Lodz, Poland, and along with her family was forced into that city’s ghetto by the Nazis, one of the largest ghettos in German-occupied Europe.
Vail Resorts has purchased the Stowe (VT) Mountain Resort, according to the Vail Daily. The $50 million purchase is Vail Resorts’ first venture into the East Coast skiing market.
Scientists with NASA are nearing the conclusion of a three-week field study of snow conditions in the Silverton and Grand Mesa areas that could help with water management in future years, the Durango Herald reports. This month’s study is part of a five-year effort that will help NASA develop satellites that look at snow conditions.
Boulder Housing Partners will buy a 185-unit apartment complex and use it for low- to middle-income housing, according to the Boulder Daily Camera. The Tantra Lake apartment complex is located at 1000 W. Moorhead Circle in south Boulder.
The city of Broomfield is considering a five-month moratorium on oil drilling that could impact a proposed drilling site near homes in the city. The site, which would house 139 wells on four pads, is owned by Extraction Oil and Gas, which according to The Denver Post promises to minimize truck traffic and use equipment so quiet that oil workers don’t need earplugs. Hundreds of people packed the FirstBank Center in Broomfield Tuesday night, hoping to halt or at least delay the project.
The Colorado Springs Police Department is attempting to tamp down concerns that the city will bring back red-light cameras, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. The police department has seen a 36 percent drop in traffic tickets since the cameras were pulled last year because they didn’t improve traffic safety. Police Chief Pete Carey, who ordered the cameras removed last year, now says the cameras may be needed to help catch traffic violations.
