Wednesday April 25, 2012

BRIDGE FOR ADOPTION
C-DOT has a bridge it wants to sell you, actually, it's giving the bridge away.  The National Register-listed Dotsero Bridge on Highway 6 over the Colorado River, built in 1935, is up for adoption. C-DOT's replacing the bridge because it doesn't meet current standards, but the agency says it would be suitable for pedestrian or recreational trail use.  The only catch is whoever gets it will have to pay to have it moved.

TEACHER CLEARED
A Montrose Schools employee has been cleared of sex abuse charges after the District Attorney's Office said there was not enough evidence for a conviction.  Darci Largent was accused of abusing a 4-year old girl at the Riverbottom Early Childhood Development Center last fall.  The Montrose Daily Press says the case was dismissed yeserday after deputy DA Wiley Christopher refused to put the little girl on the stand during a competency hearing.  The judge in the case is still deciding whether the charges could be filed again later, and whether blood samples taken from Largent should be destroyed.

GJ HIGHS
The official high in Grand Junction yesterday, 89 degrees, a full 21 degrees above average.  The National Weather Service says the mercury is on its way back to normal now with a high about 10 degrees cooler today, 72 degrees tomorrow and a below normal 66 on Friday.

DELTA SUPER SEARCH
The search continues for a new superintendent at the Delta County School District 50-J.  The former super stepped down in January on the request of the school board.  The Daily Sentinel says 3 candidates for the job were interviewed last week but the top candidate declined the job.  Now the board says it'll wait to repost the job and instead is considering a new Assistant Superintendent job to fill the position.

16 YEAR OLD HAS GUN
A 16 year old boy has been arrested on suspicion of having a handgun and drug paraphernalia near Grand Junction High School.  The Daily Sentinel says  police questioned two boys last Thursday, finding one with two active warrants and the other with the gun that had been reported stolen several days earlier.

LOVELAND CLOSES
Another Colorado ski resort is rolling up its mat early.  Loveland says it'll close this Sunday because of warm temperatures and a lack of snow.  The resort had planned to stay open another week.

LNFF COMMISSION
Republicans in the state house say they want to create a commission to compensate victims of the Lower North Fork Fire.  Three people died and the 23 homes burned had a value of more than $11 million.  The lawmakers say the state should pay. The fire was started from embers from a controlled burn.  The state has a liability of only $600,000 total in civil suits.  According to the Denver Post, Colorado Springs Senate Minority Leader Bill Cadman said the state does not have mmoral impunity and creating a commission would assure people amends will be made.

OBAMA IN BOULDER
President Obama continues his campaign to keep student loan interest rates at their current level.  He spoke in Boulder last night, telling students he and his wife finished paying off their college debt just 8-years ago.  The President says without congressional action, interest rates on the loans will double to 6.8%, costing students nearly $1,000 a year.  Obama is set to speak at the University of Iowa this morning.