Basalt–Authorities are close to identifying the cause of the fire that severely damaged the Seven Castles Apartment complex near Basalt last Friday. The Red Cross has 33 displaced residents temporarily housed in a hotel.
Rifle–Rifle police are looking for suspects in the burglary and vandalism of the thrift store and the museum on East 3rd Street. The culprits caused about 15 hundred dollars in damage.
Hot Sulphur Springs–Two bodies were found in a white van parked near the Colorado River in Grand County. Authorities say the bodies appear to have been there for several days. The two people are said to be from the Denver area.
Reno, NV–Environmental groups and wild horse activists are going to court to fight the government’s plan to castrate hundreds of wild stallions in the western United States.
In other news…
DENVER (AP) – A major winter storm is expected to bring blizzard
conditions to southeastern Colorado.
A blizzard warning is in effect from 11 a.m. Monday through 5
a.m. Tuesday for Las Animas, Crowley and Otero counties.
Between 8 and 16 inches of snow is expected with winds gusting
to around 40 mph.
The National Weather Service advises against traveling in the
area. There’s a chance the weather could shut down Interstate 25
from New Mexico into southern Colorado.
The storm is also expected to hit parts of Texas, Oklahoma and
Kansas.
MULTI-FATAL CRASH-COLORADO
Woman pleads not guilty in crash that killed 5
BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) – The driver charged in a fatal accident
that killed a family of five at an intersection in Thornton has
pleaded not guilty.
Thirty-four-year-old Monica A. Chavez faces charges in the Feb.
17 deaths of 34-year-old Randy Stollsteimer, 31-year-old
Crystaldawn Stollsteimer and their three children, ages 7, 9, and
12. She faces five criminally negligent homicide counts in their
deaths, as well as two charges of child abuse because her children
were in her SUV at the time of the accident.
Prosecutors allege Chavez ignored a doctor’s order not to drive
until she saw a neurologist despite suffering two seizure-like
episodes since 2006. Chavez told investigators she couldn’t afford
treatment.
The Denver Post reports (http://bit.ly/rpwvWM) Chavez left a
court hearing Monday without commenting.
Her trial is scheduled to begin May 7.
FRACKING MORATORIUM
Commerce City to consider fracking moratorium
(Information in the following story is from: The Denver Post,
http://www.denverpost.com)
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) – Commerce City is considering a
six-month ban on the drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing
used by companies to free up more gas.
City spokeswoman Michelle Halstead tells The Denver Post
(http://bit.ly/rQL7Rx ) the hiatus would allow the city to review
its oil and gas land-use standards and policies.
If approved, Commerce City would join Colorado Springs and El
Paso County in temporarily limiting the use of the technique that
has raised concerns over possible groundwater and air
contamination.
Hydraulic fracturing is also known as fracking and involves
pumping water, sand and chemicals into rock formations to free
previously unrecoverable gas.
Residents and council members raised concerns that they weren’t
notified of a fracking operation that began last month near the
city’s border. Companies at the time weren’t required to notify
communities.
