Friday November 30, 2012

The family of a man shot and killed by a state trooper in 2010 have reached a settlement with the state.  Jason Kemp was killed after a minor traffic accident.  Two troopers followed him to his apartment and shot him after he refused to come out. Both troopers have since been fired. According to the Daily Sentinel, the deal must be submitted to the state for approval.  Terms haven't been released.

A Grand Junction man has pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault on a child, and now could face life in prison.  51 yea rold Mark Bustamante had been a volunteer mentor in the Mesa County Partners program when he was arrested last summer.  The Daily Sentinel says a plea agreement calls for Bustamante to be sentenced to anything from probation to a maximum 24-years to life in state prison.

Colorado State University has some extra money to research plants for bioenergy crops.  The rising cost of petroleum is generating increasing demand for biofuels.  Some estimate the global market for biofuels trade could reach $520 billion.  A team of professors at CSU have received a $2 million grant to study re-engineering plants for biofuels.  The CSU team was chosen from 4,000 applications.

The State Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety is looking to close inactive coal mine openings in Montrose County.  The Montrose Daily Press says the agency has closed inactive mines in the region in the past, but at least one new report has been made, leading officials to suspect others.  Federal funding for the program is expected in 2014.

Investigators in southwest Colorado are not letting up in the search for a missing 13 year old Dylan Redwine has been missing for nearly two weeks... investigators saying he's not a runaway and focusing their search yesterday on his father's home in Vallecito.  As many as 50 officers from agencies including the FBI are actively involved in the search.

Governor Hickenlooper is looking to get a plan in place if Congress doesn't do something to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.  According to the Denver Post, Colorado stands to lose $2.1 Billion in revenue and federal funds affecting everything from defense contractors to local governments and more next year.  Hickenlooper says he has leaders from state agencies planning for the fallout if $109 billion is cut from the federal military and domestic spending budget.