Friday August 17, 2012

GJPD RECORDS MOVE
If you have business with the Grand Jucntion Police Department Records Unit, you'll have to wait until tomorrow.  The office is moving into the new building across the street.  They expect to be up and running by tomorrow.

C-DOT I-70 TRAFFIC
C-DOT continues looking at high speed transit through the mountain corridor along I-70 with a request for information from technology providers.  Nothing's been decided, and everything's on the table.  C-DOT's Division of Transit and Rail says a possible Advanced Guidway System through the mountains is bringing significant national and international attention to Colorado.  A $1.8 million feasibility study is underway and expected to be completed by fall of next year.

UNIQUE RECIPE CONTEST
September is National Preparedness Month, and Colorado has joined a multi-state, Red Cross "Emergency Kit Cook-off" campaign.  Chefs and residents are challenged with creating recipes using ingredients that might be found in a 72-hour emergency kit. Public voting on recipes starts today on the Red Cross website.

ILLEGAL VOTER SOLUTION
Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler says his office has found a gaping hole in voter roll integrity and is asking non-citizens to voluntarily withdraw their voter registration or verify they've become naturalized citizens.  Letters have been sent to almost 4,000 suspected non-citizen residents who at one time presented proof of non-citizenship. Gessler says the action is a tempered approach to enforcing the law and ensuring legal votes aren't cancelled out by illegal voters.

DENVER CHAMBER KUDOS
Grand Junction State Senator Steve King has received the highest score from the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce's rankings for business-friendly legislation.  King says the legislature took some steps toward removing roadblocks preventing businesses from expanding. He says he's committed to removing even more burdens placed on the economy and small businesses by the government.

MONTROSE DRUG USE
Drugs are a big problem in Montrose, bigger than ever according to police chief Tom Chinn.  Last year there were 196 drug arrests, so far this year only 67.  Chinn tells the Montrose Daily Press the biggest issue right now is not meth or other illegal drugs, but alcohol. He says you can't have a discussion about drugs and not include alcohol.

CORAM CHALLENGE
District 58 State Representative Don Coram could see a challenge for his seat from his son, if Democrats in Montrose get their way.  Coram cast the swing vote in a committee during the last legislative session against creating civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.  His son is gay.  The Daily Sentinel says Coram's Demoratic challenger has pulled out the race and moved to another district so dems are looking for a replacement, with Coram's son Dee at the top of their list. He hasn't said if he'd consider a run in the mostly-republican district.

SEX ASSAULT SENTENCE
A Grand Junction man who pled guilty to sexually assaulting a 14 year old girl after posing as a tutor has been sentenced to 12-years to life in prison.  28 year old Adam Clayton Ross recieved the maximum sentence allowed under a plea agreement and will spend at LEAST 12 years behind bars.  The Daily Sentinel says Ross had posed as a tutor endorsed by School District 51.

WELL EXPLOSION DEATH ID
A man killed in a natural gas well explosion near Ft. Lupton has been identified as 60 year old Brian Wallace of Evanston, Wyoming.  He died Wednesday when pressurized gas was released from the well.  Ecana says it was the first fatality on any of approximately 1,100 Encana operations in northeastern Colorado, and according to the Denver Post, only the second time since the company started in 2002 that a staff member sustained a lost workday injury.