Monday February 11, 2013

A Montrose man is to be sentenced Thursday after being found guilty last month of violating the city's vicious animals ordinance. The dog is a 107 pound American Allaunt who Animal Control officers say attacked and seriously injured a woman who was caring for it while the owner was out of town.  The woman suffered injuries including a bite on the hand that severed an artery.  The Montrose Daily Press says city officials were inundated with emails from people across the country trying to intervene on behalf of the dog after stories appeared on the Internet.

Another double digit increase in the price of gas in Colorado.  GasBuddy.com says the average yesterday was $3.30 a gallon, up 13.3 cents a gallon in the last week, and 47 cents in the last month.

Attorneys for a former Grand Junction man jailed in Garfield County accused in his wife's 1997 murder, have filed a motion to put a gag order on prosecutors and others involved in the prosecution of the case against Marcus Bebb-Jones. The Daily Sentinel says the attorneys claim while running for re-election last fall, former DA Martin Beeson said he was concerned about prosecution if the case were handed over to a new DA. They say that jeopardizes Bebb-Jones' right to a fair trial.

Backers of changing the status of the Colorado National Monument to a National Park have a new committee working harder than ever to make that happen.  The Grand Valley Citizens for a National Park tell the Daily Sentinel 360 businesses have signed on to support the change.  The group's draft resolution calls for legislation permitting and encouraging "at least two major bicycling events on an annual basis" to "better engage the public with the new national park.

All District 51 Schools and the Emerson Building on Ute are stocked with applications for School of Choice.  Parents can fill those out starting today if they want their kids to go to a school outside their neighborhood boundaries.  Superintendent Steve Schultz tells the Daily Sentinel there likely will be some changes to the current transfer policy.  That'll be decided at the School Board meeting on the 19th.

The state legislature is set to start debate on setting limits on how much pot can be smoked before a driver is considered impaired.  The Denver Post says one argument from the British Medical Association shows why marijuana impairment is dangerous...the other is DU and Montana State University researchers that found laws in other state limiting the amount of THC in the blood have had no significant impact on traffic fatalities.

Mesa County's information channel 12 has been suspended amid budget constraints.  The county has been unable to hire a public information officer, that's the person responsible for programming on the station.  The county says it's working on solutions and looking for feedback on the public's desire and need for the programming.

The Home Loan Taste of the Grand Valley is today at Two Rivers Convention Center.  All the Proceeds go to Mesa County United Way.  Donations  are down this year, about $65,000 off the $1.25 million dollar goal.  The Taste is going on from 4:30 to 7:00.