Monday February 4, 2013

The Mesa County Coroner's Office has released the name of a man killed in a motorcycle crash on Orchard Mesa.  49 year old David Smithey was the driver of a motorcycle that collided with an SUV on Highway 50 near City Market Saturday morning.

Grand Junction Fire investigators are combing what's left of a house on the Redlands that burned to the ground Saturday night.  The fire at 300 South Redlands Road was reported just before 6:30, crews got there 7 minutes later and the house was completely involved.  So far no word on the cause.

The real estate market in Montrose is looking up. According to the Montrose Daily Press, a local research firm says sales in 2012 were up 35% compared with the year before.  The news is good, especially for sellers because there isn't much competition with fewer properties on the market.

The first two gun bills in the legislature have been shot down and Grand Junction State Senator Steve King says it's only the beginning.  King says he's expecting a plethora of gun legislation, including many he says are aimed at restricting 2nd Amendment rights.

Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler is shutting the door permanently on using bar codes or serial numbers on ballots, said to allow for tracing votes to the person who cast them. A temporary rule expired December 18th, and Gessler says he wants to make it permanent.  Anyone who wants to know more about, or weigh-in on New Rule 10.8 can do that by e-mail at the Secretary of State website.

Colorado avalanche forecasters say the backcountry remains under "considerable" avalanche danger, after a 23 year old Durango man was killed in an avalanche.  He and two others had skied outside the Silverton Ski Mountain boundaries Saturday when the slide hit.  The Colorado Avalanche Information Center says the current snowpack across the state is in a delicate state of balance.