HALF OF COLORADO STILL IN A DROUGHT
Undated— State officials say about half of Colorado remains in some level of drought. The Department of Natural Resources said Monday that more than 15 percent of the state is in a severe to exceptional drought. The hardest-hit area is in southeastern Colorado, while less extreme drought conditions are spread across the southern and eastern parts of the state. About a quarter of the state is classified as abnormally dry and 10 percent is in a moderate drought. Conditions vary widely, with the South Platte River in northeastern Colorado forecast to run 150 percent or higher of average because of heavy mountain snow last winter. Rivers in the southwest are predicted to be below 50 percent of average. Statewide, June precipitation has been 33 percent of average.
JURY MAY DECIDE AVALANCHE DEATH LAWSUIT AGAINST VAIL RESORTS
VAIL A judge has denied Vail Resorts’ request to toss a lawsuit filed by the parents of a teenager who died in an avalanche while skiing in January 2012. District Judge Chris Melonakis’ decision means the wrongful death lawsuit involving 13-year-old Taft Conlin will likely be decided by a jury. Conlin died in an avalanche on upper Prima Cornice on the front side of Vail Mountain. His parents sued, saying the company didn’t close the run, despite the avalanche danger. They say Vail violated the Colorado Ski Safety Act when it closed the top gate to Prima Cornice but not the lower gate. Vail attorneys say Conlin sidestepped up into an area between the two gates and he “knew or reasonably should have known that the slope uphill from the gate was closed.”
STRANDED WOMAN WHO LOST LEGS IN ROLLOVER, TO BEGIN REHAB
DENVER (AP) – A woman who was stranded in her car for about a week after crashing off a Colorado highway is expected to go home soon to continue her recovery. Kristin Hopkins is being fitted for prosthetic legs in Denver after both of her feet were amputated following the crash northwest of Fairplay. She’s expected to leave a rehab center in about a week to live at her parents’ home. Hopkins’ feet were crushed when she crashed her car and landed upside down off U.S. Highway 285. The single mother, who didn’t have any food or water, was discovered May 4 after passersby happened to notice some glare from below the road.
