Monday August 6, 2012

OBAMA IN GJ
Before President Obama stops in Grand Junction Wednesday, he'll be making what his campaign calls "events" in Denver. The president is scheduled to speak in Grand Junction at 5:30 at Grand Junction High School.

HUNTERS REMAINS FOUND
Remains of a hunter missing since last October have been found in Delta County.  75 year old Terry Baughn of Ohio had been hunting in the Leroux Creek area northwest of Hotchkiss when he became separated from his party.  The Delta County Sheriff's office says the remains were found yesterday by a rancher near Doughty Mountain, a heavily wooded area about a mile and a half from where Baughn was reported missing.

WOLF FIRE UPDATE
A 6,100 acre wildfire burning south of Elk Springs in Moffat County is now considered 40% contained. The Wolf Fire was started on BLM land by lightning Friday. Officials are keeping a close eye on some oil and gas facilities about 3 miles south of the fire. Nearly 200 personnel are working the fire in steep canyon areas.

OBAMA IN GJ
President Obama is coming to Grand Junction Wednesday and tickets for the event are available starting this morning at 9:00 at Obama for America offices in Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs and Montrose. The President will speak at 5:30 at Grand Junction High School with the doors opening at 2:30. Tickets will be required to get in.

NEW BOOK ON JONBENT RAMSEY
Telluride's Town Marshall has some pretty interesting insight into the murder of JonBenet Ramsey in 1996. James Kohler was hired as a lead investigator in the case in 2004, but says many of the leads he developed were never looked into by the DA.  In an interview in yesterday's Montrose Daily Press,  Kohler says he found things not released to the public before, and allows readers to form their own opinions of what happened. The book is called "Foreign Faction: Who Really Kidnapped JonBenet?" and is available at bookstores in Telluride and on Amazon.

COLORADO GAS PRICES
It wasn't too long ago the price of gas in Colorado was climbing every week, but for the past several weeks, it's been dropping...down another 3-cents a gallon in the past week.  ColoradoGasPrices.com says the average now is $3.45 compared with the national average of $3.60, up nearly 10 cents/gal in the past week.

LOUISVILLE COMPANY GETS NASA GRANT
Sierra Nevada Space Systems of Louisville has gotten a $212 million grant from NASA, part of the agency's "Commercial Crew Program" to develop commercial spaceflight services.  Senator Mark Udall says the competitive grant award showcases the high caliber of the state's human resources.  He says Sierra Nevada's "Dream Chaser Program" is working toward a manned orbital demonstration flight, revitalizing the country's exploration of space.

D-51 BUS ROUTES
When school starts in District 51 two weeks from today, there will be some changes, like the number of bus routes. Families are being notified by mail this week so they can make plans for the changes.  The district says it'll save about $16,000 by cutting the number of routes, buses, drivers and fuel.

FBI INCIDENT IN FRUITA
Mesa County authorities shut down a two mile stretch of Highway 6&50 last night at the request of the FBI.  Reverse 9-1-1 calls were sent to residents in the area between 14 and 15 Roads around 8:30.  The FBI tells The Daily Sentinel an individual was detained on suspicion of making threats against the oil and gas industry in western Colorado.

CU LOBBYISTS
CU lobbyists are making hundreds of thousands of dollars seeking out grant money for the school, AND hundreds of thousands more working for other sometimes competing organizations.  The Denver Post says 9 people work on a government relations team for the University securing grant money for operations and research.  Apparently those salaries pay off, with C-U receiving 683 million budget dollars from the feds, compared to a proposed $55 million from the state.

WALDO CYN FIRE INVESTIGATION
Experts are continuing their search for the cause of the Waldo Canyon Fire, the most financially devastating in Colorado history.  The ATF and FBI are working with officials from El Paso county with the cause of the fire still listed as "under investigation."