Workers at City Market grocery stores voted to keep negotiations going and have rejected a contract that was offered by parent company Kroger. NBC 11 News has reported that according to UFCW Communications Director Laura Chapin City Market workers overwhelmingly rejected the proposed contract. Safeway workers also were expected to vote on a proposed contract offer from their company but the results of that voting will not be available for a few days…..
Source: NBC 11 News (Posted 4:33p by Jim Kapp)
Thursday, June 25, 2009, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter will sign the proclamation recognizing June 22-28, 2009 as Missing Children’s Week in Colorado in the west foyer of the Capitol. The week long event, sponsored by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation in cooperation with the Missing Children Task Force, is designed to promote a heightened awareness to the dangers of missing children in Colorado and to the challenges faced by families with missing children. Last year in Colorado alone, there were 13,933 reports of missing children under the age of 18.
Source: Press Release (Posted 4:35p by Jim Kapp)
Early Sunday morning Garfield County Emergency Communications Center received a cell phone call from 3 hikers who were lost in the Coulter Mesa area north west of Rifle Gap Reservoir. A search of the area was initiated by a team of 7 Search and Rescue members and by late Sunday afternoon the hikers were found and reportedly in good condition….
Source: News Release (Posted 4:17p by Jim Kapp)
Daniel Pratt and his wife Wendy were two HOG ralliers who were enjoying the weekend’s festivities until they were involved in a two vehicle accident on Townsend Sat. afternoon. According to police reports, Guadalupe Hermosillo was coming out of a driveway into traffic on Townsend when she ran into the couple on their Harley. In the report, Hermosillo said she was motioned to enter the roadway by the driver of a white truck and she did not see the motorcycle. Pratt and Ward were thrown onto the hood of Hermosillo’s vehicle, then across it and into the Median. Ward was taken to Montrose Memorial and her husband Daniel Pratt was flown to a Denver hospital with life threatening injuries. The accident is still under investigation…..
Source: Press Release (Posted 3:37p by Jim Kapp)
Plans for a new animal shelter fro Second Chance Humane Society remain in limbo. According to Ouraynews.com officers of that organization say it will be at least 2 or 3 years before construction could begin. According exec. Director, Kelly Goodin, there is still not enough funding for the actual construction of the facility and there is a lack of sufficient cash reserve to cover operating expenses of the facility for at least 2 years once the building is constructed and the facility opens. A lot purchase for a new shelter in the Industrial Park in Ridgway is inadequate. The current location of the animal shelter on Sherman Ave. averages 10 dogs and about 30 cats in shelter…
Source: Ouraynews.com (Posted 3:40p by Jim Kapp)
The Montrose Summerfest is back! Local merchants decided it was up to them to keep the July 4th event in town, and have donated hundreds of items as prizes to contribute to the event. The event will be slightly different than in years past, and even in a different location. Montrose Summerfest will be July 4th from 11-3 at River Landing behind Target next to the river. At 3 o’clock, a helicopter will drop 5000 ping-pong balls, all with a donated prize written on it from a local merchant. The public is encouraged to attend this event to celebrate our nation’s freedom and local merchants.
Source: PSA (Posted 11:42a)
In terms of fundraising, the past twelve months were tremendous for Fort Lewis College. For the second time in the past year, the College was awarded $1 million for its new student union.
The first $1 million dollar contribution came in late 2008 from the Ottens Foundation and is designated for the new Native American Center that will inhabit the new student union.
The latest $1 million contribution is a capital challenge grant awarded to the College-specifically to the student union building-from the Kresge Foundation based in Troy, Michigan. The grant will be awarded if Fort Lewis is able to raise its challenge campaign goal, $566,470, by March 31, 2011. The Foundation funds projects all over the world and in a range of areas, such as the arts, the environment, health, community development and education.
“The Kresge Foundation is proud to support Fort Lewis College, an institution with such an impressive historical commitment to the educational success of Native Americans,” says Caroline Altman Smith, Kresge Program Officer. “This challenge grant is designed to spur additional private investment in Fort Lewis College so that it may continue to be a gateway of opportunity for a diverse student body and to serve as a critical community anchor in southwestern Colorado.”
“We hope this $1 million challenge grant will encourage other donors, including alumni, foundations, corporations and other individuals committed to Native Americans and southwestern Colorado, to support the Fort Lewis College union renovation,” adds Bill Moses, Kresge Program Director for Education.
The Kresge Foundation studies the overall merit of each grant request it receives, but where educational projects are concerned, focuses on four main questions.
1. Does the request create opportunities and access for underserved students?
2. Does the request reflect the institution’s commitment to diversity?
3. Does the request reflect a commitment to environmental sustainability?
4. Does the request make a positive impact on the community it serves?
FLC’s new student union satisfied each of these questions so successfully that the Kresge Foundation awarded the project $1 million, double the $500,000 the College had requested.
“I was so shocked I could hardly believe what I was hearing when the program officer called immediately after their board meeting to tell us that not only our grant was awarded, but also that the amount had been doubled to $1,000,000,” recalls Angie Rochat, director of the FLC Office of Sponsored Research and Federal Relations. “She said that the project was supported because of the College’s commitment to diversity, its LEED certification, and the innovation of the media center and its potential impact on the community.”
The new building will be bigger and better in every way than the existing College Union Building (CUB). More than half of the assignable space will go to student services, including the Native American Center and El Centro de Muchos Colores, the College’s Hispano resource center.
Diversity in its student body has always been important to Fort Lewis College. Since its days as an Indian boarding school, the College has offered Native Americans a tuition-free education. Consequently, 20 percent of the student body is Native American and FLC ranks #1 among bachelor-degree granting institutions in the awarding of bachelor degrees to Native American students. The College also has a significant Hispanic student population.
“This is Kresge’s first grant ever to Fort Lewis and we are delighted to support an institution that has been so deeply committed to educating Native Americans for more than a century,” says Mr. Moses. “It has the proud and enviable distinction of awarding more BAs to Native American students than any other college, and plays a significant role in supporting Native American culture, both in Colorado and nationally.”
The new student union addition is being built to a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standard. The LEED system was created by the U.S. Green Building Council to measure how “green” a building is. Since President Bartel signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment in 2007, the College has been working to find environmentally-friendly ways to conduct its business.
The existing College Union Building has always been a favorite place for community groups to hold their meetings, dinners, celebrations, etc. During a typical school year month, more than half of the groups using the CUB will be off-campus groups from all over the Four Corners region. Nearly all of the groups using the CUB during the summer are off-campus. The new student union will enhance this relationship with better facilities.
The new student union will also house a media center that will bring together not only College organizations (KDUR, the Independent, and the Intertribal News), but also community groups (Rocky Mountain PBS and Durango Community Access Television).
Construction on the new Fort Lewis College student union has already begun. A 38,000 sq. foot addition will be completed in 2010 and connect to a totally renovated College Union Building. The renovations will proceed in several phases and be finished in 2011.
(Photos courtesy of Fort Lewis College)
Source: Press Release (Posted 11:25a)
Tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods can disrupt normal methods of communication. That is when Amateur Radio comes to the rescue. Across the nation, thousands of Ham Radio operators will be showing off their emergency capabilities during “Field Day”, June 27 and 28, 2009. Everyone is invited to visit the Montrose Amateur Radio Club (MARC) as club members operate from Sunset Mesa under simulated emergency conditions.
Field Day is a nationwide event that involves ham radio operators across the United States. More that 30,000 hams are expected to participate. Using only emergency power supplies, ham operators will construct radio stations in parks, shopping malls, schools and back yards around the country. Their slogan, “When all else fails…”is more than just words to hams as they prove they can send messages in many forms without the use of phone systems, internet or any other infrastructure that is frequently compromised during a disaster.
According to Lew French, President of MARC, “We will start setting up equipment at 8:00 AM Saturday and will begin operating at noon. Saturday afternoon would be a good time to visit us and see how we are able to provide radio communications while completely off of the power grid. Operations will continue for twenty four hours, until noon on Sunday.”
Hams frequently are called upon to provide emergency communications during times of disaster. Most recently this has occurred during the ongoing mid-west floods. “Whether it is Morse code, voice, or the most recently developed digital methods, ham radio can get the message through when all else fails. This has been proven time and time again”, said French.
To visit the local hams in action drive west on West Main Street, turn left onto Chipeta Drive, and then left again up to Sunset Mesa. “We will be operating from the top of the mesa north of the athletic fields. Just look for the antennas”, said French. “The communications networks that hams can quickly create have saved many lives when other systems failed or were overloaded. Come see ham radio’s capabilities and learn how to get your own ham radio license before the next disaster strikes” he added.
There are more than 600,000 Amateur Radio operators in the US and more than 2.5 million around the world. Hams assist the Department of Homeland Security, the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, FEMA and thousands of state and local agencies, all for free. To learn more about Amateur Radio, go to www.emergency-radio.org, or www.montrosearc.org.
Source: Press Release (Posted 10:41a)
Durango Police Officers arrested two males allegedly responsible for a string of thefts from vehicles on June 17, 2009. Clifford C. Lewis, 27, and Colton Toliver, 26, were arrested on June 18, 2009 after Toliver tried to sell a blackberry cell phone back to its owner. The owner contacted police who took Toliver into custody without incident when he showed up for the meeting. A search of Toliver’s apartment led to the recovery of property stolen from several vehicles that were parked in the 600 block of Main Avenue, College Drive and East 3rd Avenue as well as the 600 block of East 8th Avenue. Lewis was arrested at the apartment and credit cards reported stolen to the La Plata County Sheriff’s office were recovered in his wallet. They had been used at several locations in Durango.
Source: Press Release (Posted 10:18a)
Over the past two months Ouary County EMS paramedics Kim Mitchell and Norm Rooker completed several Hazardous Materials Incident response training programs at the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP), located in Anniston, Alabama. Kim became the 6th member of OC EMS to complete the OSHA Hazardous Materials Technician course and Norm completed a Haz Mat Technician refresher course that included a final exercise working with real Sarin and VX nerve agents.
OC EMS, is a combination, paid & volunteer, EMS provider that does far more than just provide a ride to the hospital. The service is comprised of 4 full time Advanced Life Support, ALS, providers, EMT-Intermediates and paramedics, who both provide care at the ALS level, administration of the service as well as oversee the training and supervision of the volunteers. The volunteer corps currently consists of 67 volunteer drivers, rural first responders, EMT basics, ALS providers, vehicle extrication specialists and Hazardous Materials Response specialists as well as providing the medical training and support for the Ouray Mountain Rescue Team.
OC EMS provides an Operations level Hazardous Materials Response Team. Operations means that the actions are primarily defensive. Rescuing and decontaminating exposed victims/patients before handing them over to the ambulance crew for further evaluation and possible transport to the hospital. Additionally, the team provides initial product identification and defensive containment of the product until Technician level Haz Mat responders arrive.
The closest Technician level teams are the Colorado State Patrol two trooper/specialist Haz Mat units out of Cortez and Grand Junction and the Durango and Grand Junction Fire Department teams. The OC EMS operations level Haz Mat team needs to be capable of “holding the fort” for a minimum of 4 hours until, if needed, these additional resources can arrive on scene and take over. At which point OC EMS will go into a support mode providing decontamination services and medical monitoring of the technicians.
Historically Ouray County averages a Haz Mat incident once every year to 18 months. So how does the service balance this rather costly service within the department’s overall budget while still meeting the day to day needs of standard EMS operations? By taking full advantage of the low to no cost training opportunities provided every other year by the Western Slope Hazardous Materials Association. Last September OC EMS sent three members out to a 3 day training program in liquid truck trailer response and mitigation for just the cost of the fuel to drive the members there and back.
Additionally, OC EMS takes advantage of grant opportunities. In 2007 and again in 2008, OC EMS was the recipient of FEMA CEDAP, Commercial Equipment Distribution Assistance Program grants that provided both chemical and radiological detection and monitoring equipment and the training to operate and maintain them.
However, the main source of high quality, no cost training has been the Department of Homeland Security’s Weapons of Mass Destruction training programs. These programs include not only the actual trainng but transportation, food, lodging, tuition and materials. Everything but a souvenir T-shirt.
One of those providers is the Center for Domestic Preparedness located at the former Fort McClellan, the US Army’s Chemical Warfare training facility. When the post was closed down, FEMA stepped in and maintained the training dormitories, classrooms and HOT facility.
The CDP offers over 20 different chemical agent training response and management programs for multiple disciplines including law enforcement, fire suppression, EMS, public health, emergency managers and public works. On the law enforcement side of the house, just imagine crime scene investigation and evidence gathering while wearing three sets of gloves while breathing bottled air and fully encapsulated in a plastic suit.
OC EMS has taken full advantage of these programs, sending 6 members for the Haz Mat Technician course with a seventh member to go this winter. Additionally we have sent three members to the TERT, Training in Emergency Response to Terrorism, two for the EMS for WMD, prehospital recognition, protective measures and treatment for patients exposed to chemical, biological and radioactive agents, as well as several other courses.
A number of these training programs conclude with an all day series of training evolutions at the HOT facility where responders work through scenarios in sampling, patient movement, decontamination and WMD event crime scene documentation while working with real Sarin and VX nerve agents.
On successful completion of the scenarios at the CDP’s HOT facility, graduates are awarded the coveted COBRA pin. COBRA, like just about everything with the Federal Government is an acronym which stands for Chemical, Ordinance (explosives) Biological and RAdiological.
Five members of OC EMS have earned the COBRA pin and Norm Rooker becomes the first member to earn the COBRA star pin for two or more successful course completions at the HOT facility.
Other DHS WMD courses that OC EMS members have attended or will be attending include the Explosives WMD program run by New Mexico Tech in Soccorro, NM and a radiological response course held at the nuclear test facility outside of Las Vegas, NV. All at no expense to the county/EMS budget.
Source: Press Release (Posted 10:03a)
The National Association for Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) recently announced the results of the 2008-09 Learfield Sports Directors Cup Competition for the NCAA Division II. Western State College placed 12th out of nearly 300 eligible colleges and universities for the 2008-09 year of competition. Four others in the RMAC placed in the top 50-Adams State College (8th), Metro State College (13th), Nebraska-Kearney (28th), and Mesa State College (50th).
Western State College is one of only two NCAA Division II institutions to place in the top 25 in each of the past 14 years that the Director’s Cup has been awarded and has one of the highest national average finishes including the best in the RMAC. Previous finishes include three “top 5″, six “top 10″, nine “top 12″ and fourteen “top 25″ honors.
WSC Athletic Director Greg Waggoner acknowledged, “We continue to be proud of the efforts of our student-athletes and coaches as WSC continues to be recognized nationally as a premier intercollegiate athletic program. We are also proud of many other dimensions of our athletic program that bring these competitive accomplishments into full context, such as our high graduate rates, high rates of community engagement and service, and the overall development of our Champion Leaders of Tomorrow.”
Source: Press Release (Posted 10:00a)
The body discovered in the Canyon Creek area approximately 5 miles west of Glenwood Springs in Garfield County has been identified. 38-year-old Janine Johler was identified through fingerprints. The Post Independent says Johler, a disabled woman, filed three requests for restraining orders against 51-year-old Thomas Burns in the past several years. However, the article confirms that Burns was in jail May 1st, the last known day of Johler’s whereabouts. He’s been in the Araphahoe County Jail since January 18th. If anyone has information in regards to this crime, please contact the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office at (970) 945-0453 or Garfield County Crime Stoppers at (970) 945-0101.
(Photo Courtesy of Garfield County Sheriff’s Office)
Source: Press Release
Source: Post Independent contributed to this story (Updated Post 6:59a)
Durango Police need the public’s help in locating a man who stabbed someone on Main Avenue Friday night. The two men, who didn’t know each other, had a brief conversation before the suspect produced a butterfly knife and stabbed Ryan Digaetano in the left side of his chest. Digaetano was transported to Mercy Medical Center where he was treated and released. The suspect is described as an Asian or dark-skinned Hispanic male, dark hair, stocky build, 5′6″-5′10″, wearing a distinctive black leather jacket and black jeans. He is believed to have piercings in his eyebrows and lip. Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call 970-375-4730.
Source: Press Release (Posted 6:59a)
Utah Investigators believe the two Colorado residents who were found dead in their tent may have died from carbon monoxide poisoning. ABC 4 News out of Utah says victims, 28-year-old Steven Dowdy of Clifton, and 10-year-old Darian Thomlinson of Grand Junction were attending a paintball tournament when they fell asleep with a propane heater on inside their tent. Authorities say you should never put a heater directly in your tent and if possible, try to find other ways to stay warm.
Source: ABC 4 News (Posted 6:59a)
Several items of importance will grace tomorrow’s Telluride Town Council agenda. The Daily Planet says Telluride officials want to crack down on carbon use and find ways to create more renewable energy. The town has already committed to cut emissions by 20% over 2005 levels by 2020. The proposed Renewable Energy Mitigation Program will implement fees for things such as heated driveways, garages, and pools depending on how much carbon each generates per year. Also being discussed tomorrow is a possible sales tax to even out the town’s budget, as well as a consideration on signing off on the conservation easement on the Valley Floor.
Source: Daily Planet (Posted 7:00a)
The Colorado Boy brewery will soon be serving food and wine as Ridgway Town Council approved a change in the liquor license. Ouraynews.com says that the brewpub can also apply for a permit to allow alcohol on their sidewalk area. Town Council approved the liquor license change last week.
Source: Ouraynews.com (Posted 5:46a)
An Adams County 5-year-old is OK after being in a car that was stolen. According to KJCT, police say a drunken 28-year-old transient woman stole a Ford Focus Sunday morning from a condo complex in unincorporated Adams County. Apparently the keys to the Focus were in the car. The woman told police she returned the car when she noticed the child. The accused kidnapper has not been named but faces kidnapping, theft, and DUI charges.
Source: KJCT/AP (Posted 5:46a)
Construction on phase three of Canyon View Marketplace will continue even though REI backed out at the last minute. In a report by the Daily Sentinel, REI was to cover 27,000 square feet of the 75,000 square foot plaza on Market Street in Grand Junction. The city was about to issue REI a planning clearance for the project when they backed out. Four commercial buildings are set to be constructed during the third phase of the shopping center.
Source: Daily Sentinel (Posted 5:47a)
