“The man who accidentally fired his gun during a youth baseball game in Steamboat Springs on June 15 is a Wyoming police officer,” reports Steamboat Today. “Markum King, a 37-year-old officer with the Cheyenne Police Department, has been charged with disorderly conduct, a class 2 misdemeanor, and reckless endangerment, a class 3 misdemeanor. ‘No comment at this time while the case is pending,’ said King’s Steamboat attorney Sean Brown.”
“Between the costly infrastructure to treat, store and deliver water to the district’s tap holders and the rising costs of water itself, Jim Miller had his work cut out for him over the past five decades on the Board of Directors for the Central Weld County Water District,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “Miller, 80, retired from the district in May after serving as president since 1980. The board of directors will recognize him later this month with a private celebration. Miller said his interest in the district began when he built a home near a feedlot operation he owned in the district. The district formed in 1965, with five board members who all had agricultural backgrounds like Miller. He later was appointed to the board in 1970.”
“Most attendees of a county-hosted meeting to discuss a proposed ballot measure that could open the door to potential funding sources for local projects without raising taxes shared a single question,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.
“Requests by Broomfield officials to move Extraction Oil & Gas, Inc.’s proposed Livingston Pad out of Broomfield County and onto nearby Boulder County open space so far have been met with rejection,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “The motive, according to Broomfield officials, is to move the pad — which would have 19 wells in its first phase, and another 15 in its second phase — farther away from Broomfield homes. In Broomfield, the Livingston Pad wells would be west of Lowell Boulevard near the Northwest Parkway. The hoped-for location is farther to the west, just over the Boulder County line on land owned by Boulder County north of Ruth Roberts Park.”
“The city of Glenwood Springs recently spent thousands of taxpayer dollars to learn about the taxpayers themselves — particularly how registered voters feel about a number of pressing, local issues that may or may not appear on the ballot this November or next spring,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “According to Glenwood Springs’ Chief Operating Officer Steve Boyd, the poll cost $16,000 and was funded from non-departmental expenses in the general fund. FrederickPolls, located in Arlington, Virginia — 1,610.61 miles from the steps of Glenwood Springs City Hall — was contracted to conduct the survey.”
“Mosquitoes in Fort Collins, Berthoud and Weld County are carrying West Nile virus. The most recent round of trap-testing found mosquitoes infested with the rare but potentially lethal virus for the first time this season, according to a city of Fort Collins press release,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “Fort Collins hasn’t made plans to spray for mosquitoes because the city’s vector index, a figure that conveys residents’ risk of contracting West Nile virus, is much lower than city protocol for spraying. The current vector index is 0.004 citywide; city policy mandates a vector index of 0.75 in any of the city’s four zones.”
“City Council President Chris Nicoll said at a work session Monday night that recent Pueblo County memos provided by Commissioner Garrison Ortiz at his request show large amounts of voter-approved 1A funds being proposed to fund the YES baseball project,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “He said the memo has raised serious questions regarding the county’s real plan to use voter-approved funds for project. Nicoll and the rest of the council intend to have Commissioners Sal Pace and Terry Hart back to a council work session so they can talk about the concerns they have with the project and get answers from the two commissioners that support it.”
“Questions about grant availability, future development plans and even whether a sidewalk on the southwest side of the intersection of 43rd Street and Wilson Avenue in Loveland is currently a priority led members of the City Council to not make a decision Tuesday on how to proceed,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “Councilors received an informational presentation from city staff concerning the logistics of constructing a sidewalk in the area where an allegedly drunk driver killed a local middle schooler last month while he was walking along Wilson Avenue at night. No public comment period was offered due to the absence of a vote.”
“Around the country, parent-teacher groups help schools pay for extras. It may be time for a similar group to help the local U.S. Forest Service pay for essentials,” reports Vail Daily. “At the Vail Town Council’s afternoon meeting on Tuesday, July 17, council members heard a presentation — and an early request for money — from Eagle Holy Cross District Ranger Aaron Mayville. The presentation laid out the challenges of managing the 704,000-acre district, which runs from the top of Vail Pass to the Flat Tops Wilderness Area and into Glenwood Canyon. The list of challenges starts with funding.”
“Floods and mudslides that emergency workers feared since rains started to hit the 416 Fire burn scar arrived Tuesday afternoon, with significant debris flows across U.S. Highway 550, railroad tracks and East Animas Road (County Road 250), north of Durango,” reports The Durango Herald. “The flooding was first reported around 5:15 p.m. as a strong rainstorm pelted the area. Though rain tapered off around 6 p.m., debris flows caused issues late into Tuesday evening. U.S. Highway 550 was closed near the East Animas Road intersection, which included the bridge at the base of Shalona Hill, where the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad passes underneath. The highway partially reopened to pilot-guided traffic about 8:45 p.m.”
“Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers says he supports the City Council’s quest for more transparency in settling high-dollar lawsuits, with two caveats,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “Suthers said he couldn’t support public discussions of specific dollar amounts by the council before settlements above $100,000 are finalized, and the council must not debate the individual cases in public. The council asked City Attorney Wynetta Massey how best to change its practices after The Gazette reported that it had — in closed sessions — paid out about $5.4 million in lawsuit settlements since 2013. The settlements were for cases including claims of racial and gender discrimination.”
“The five Douglas County deputies who attempted to take a mentally ill man into custody on New Year’s Eve knew he had threatened law enforcement in the past and had access to rifles, but they made the right decision to enter his apartment rather than try to wait him out, Sheriff Tony Spurlock said,” reports The Denver Post. “On Tuesday, Spurlock talked openly about the New Year’s Eve shooting that left Deputy Zackari Parrish dead and four others wounded after two reports on the incident were released this week. The reports from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office provide details about shooter Matthew Riehl’s mental state, his stockpile of firearms and deputies’ decision-making. The DA’s report also clears 11 law enforcement officers of any criminal wrongdoing for killing Riehl.”
