FRIDAY NEWS, JUNE 17TH

Glenwood Springs–The final public forum and open house on Colorado’s roadless rule was held yesterday at the Glenwood Springs Community Center. Officials with the U.S. Forest Service say the current version is both flexible and contemporary by adding more roadless areas to the inventory while maintaining access for outdoor recreation and other activities.

Glenwood Springs–The Glenwood Springs City Council voted to raise electricity rates by three percent next year. The vote was unanimous.

Rifle–The new Mountain Family Health Center clinic in Rifle will open to the public on Monday. The clinic will serve residents in Western Garfield County and surrounding areas. The groundbreaking took place last fall.

Grand Junction–People are being warned to stay away from the banks of the Colorado River because of high flows. Releases from Granby Reservoir are increasing and will cause water levels to rise on the Western Slope.

In other news…

DENVER (AP) – Forty years after President Richard Nixon declared
a “war on drugs,” more than 100 people are expected in Denver
today to join national protests against the effort to eliminate
drug use. The Drug Policy Alliance of Colorado and the Colorado
Criminal Justice Reform Coalition will argue that the “war” has
wasted money and put people behind bars unnecessarily.

DENVER (AP) – Gov. John Hickenlooper is seeking federal drought
aid for Baca, Crowley and Otero counties in southeastern Colorado,
where grain crops and forage for livestock have been destroyed. The
designation would also help ranchers who can’t find pasture for
their cattle by allowing them to sell all or part of their herd
without having to pay capital gains taxes for five years.

DENVER (AP) – A Colorado Division of Housing report says there
still aren’t enough affordable rental units in the state. The
division considers rent to be affordable if it is less than 30
percent of a household’s monthly income. Officials estimate 142,000
households spend at least half their incomes on housing. That
represents almost one-fourth of Colorado renter households.

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) – The security detachment at the
Air Force Academy is holding a memorial service for one working dog
and a retirement ceremony for another. Today’s service will honor
Aghbar (AG’-bar), a German shepherd euthanized in May for medical
reasons. A Belgian malinois (MAL’-in-wah) named Odys (OH’-dis) is
being retired from active duty for medical reasons after working as
an explosives-detection dog since 2003.

%d bloggers like this: