Friday September 7, 2012

Colroado's status as an important "swing state" continues...President Obama planning another stop here next week.  Obama's campaign says the President will be in Las Vegas next Wednesday and plans to attend a grassroots event in the Denver area on Thursday.

Montrose's second death from West Nile virus last month has been identified as 45 year old Alan Blanchard.  Blanchard's mother tells the Montrose Daily Press her son became ill after surgery early in the month, and doctors weren't sure why.  West Nile was confirmed after Blanchard was transferred to a hospital in Denver where he died.  Blanchard's mother wants people to know the signs and symptoms so they can prevent severe complications that can occur with West Nile.

The fight between the Board of Montrose County Commissioners and the Montrose Memorial Hospital Board will be before a judge again next month.  The County says the hospital board acted improperly when it leased the hospital to a non-profit corporation in 2010, effectively selling public assets. According to The Montrose Daily Press the hospital's trustees maintain they did nothing improper.

Two men are in jail in Mesa County after nearly 6-pounds of suspected meth was found in a traffic stop on I-70 Wednesday.  The Daily Sentinel says the pair was arrested the deputy who pulled over their car said there was a strong citrus odor inside the car and the driver gave consent to search.  The suspected drugs were found hidden under the backset of the car.

The Roaring Fork Regional Planning Commission has turned down a proposal for a so-called agri-tourism venture above El Jebel. A couple wants to open a business including 8-guest rooms near their house on 47-acres in the Missouri Heights subidivision.  The Aspen Times says opposition to the plan was overwhelming.  The farm owners can still go before the Eagle County Commissioners without approval from the Planning Commission.

Residents outside the Grand River Mosquito Control District are getting the chance in November to expand the boundaries so they're protected.  The proposal is on the November ballot and would nearly double the size of the district.  The Daily Sentinel says mosquitos have a 16 mile range so the district's boundaries may do little by killing only larvae, not the actual pests. An information meeting is set at West Middle School September 18th.

A couple accused in what the Mesa County Department of Human Services calls the county's largest welfare fraud case ever, may be tried together.  The couple who now live in Aurora are accused of stealing more than $53,000 from an adoption subsidy program between 2003 and 2009.  The wife was a senior case manager with the county's child welfare division when the fraud occurred.  The Daily Sentinel says two trials are scheduled now, but the DA's office is working to force one trial.

A Grand Junction woman has died in a crash north of Baggs, Wyoming. 51 year old Lajuanna Castle was killed Tuesday when her car slammed into a tractor trailer that was being towed on Highway 789.

The annual Club 20 Fall meeting is tomorrow in Grand Junction, featuring debates between candidates for state and federal offices.  The debates are being held at the CMU campus.  Information is available on the Club 20 website.