RF WATERSHED BOLSTERED BY ADDITIONAL SNOW
Glenwood Springs—Snowpack in the Roaring Fork Watershed is now a robust 114 percent of normal. According to the latest report from the Roaring Fork Conservancy, the snow water equivalent increased over the last week across the valley by two full inches. The increase was twice that amount at Schofield Pass. The conservancy plans to hold an informational meeting on how snow water equivalencies are measured at a McClure Pass Snow to Flow presentation February 20th.
RAFTA TO PLAY IMPORTANT ROLE DURING GRAND AVENUE BRIDGE INSTALLATION
Glenwood Springs—It could be 90 days of “Carmageddon” or it could be an exciting challenge coping with the traffic detours in and out of Glenwood Springs when the new Grand Avenue Bridge is installed in the fall of 2017. One major player during that critical phase of the 120 million dollar project will be public transportation, specifically the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority. RAFTA Director Dan Blankenship went before the Glenwood Springs City Council last night to present the traffic congestion plan. Blankenship says they plan to expand the Hogback Route further west to Parachute and add routes that will start around 4:30 every weekday morning. Once into West Glenwood, he says people will have the option of avoiding the headaches downtown by using a shuttle service. Blankenship says RAFTA is in the process of buying six new, larger capacity compressed natural gas buses to the fleet to meet the growing passenger demand.
GJ MAN CONVICTED OF KILLING INFANT SON
GRAND JUNCTION (AP) – A Grand Junction man who once worked as a parenting mentor, has been convicted of killing his infant son. 38-year-old Dartanin Mitchell was found guilty of child abuse resulting in death and child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury, both felonies.He’ll be sentenced May 16. Mitchell is already serving a 39-year prison sentence for unrelated convictions. Prosecutors say Mitchell was alone with his son Lucius on May 27, 2011 when Grand Junction emergency responders got a call about an unconscious child that was not breathing. Doctors who testified during the trial said Lucius suffered over two dozen fractures at various stages of healing at the time of his death..
STATE RIGHT-TO-DIE BILL ON LIFE SUPPORT
DENVER (AP) – A Democrat-led state House committee approved a Colorado right-to-die bill that would provide a legal option for the terminally ill to end their lives.The House Judiciary Committee passed the bill on a 6-5 party-line vote late Thursday after hearing 10 hours of testimony. The legislation now goes to the full House for consideration, but faces an uphill battle if it reaches the Republican-controlled Senate. A committee there rejected the bill on a party-line vote on Wednesday.Opponents argued the bill would facilitate doctor-assisted suicide, especially with wrong terminal diagnoses, and they insisted existing hospice and palliative care for the dying is sufficient. Their arguments helped defeat a similar proposal last year.The bill requires that a mentally competent patient have a six-month prognosis and get two doctors to sign off after three requests for life-ending medication. It calls for safe storage of lethal drugs and recognizes that a patient can change his or her mind.
