Carbondale—When he gets of the hospital, he’ll go straight to jail for first degree murder. 46 year old Arturo Portillo of Carbondale is suspected of stabbing his wife to death February 16th before rear-ending an empty cattle truck on Highway 133 near Roaring Fork High School. Portillo suffered serious injuries that morning and while being flown from Valley View Hospital to Saint Mary’s in Grand Junction, he reportedly confessed to killing his wife to one of the crew members. Carbondale police eventually found the body of 30 year old Maria Carminda Portillo-Amaya in an apartment. Autopsy results indicate she had been stabbed multiple times. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation says Portillo will be arrested and charged with her murder when he’s released from the hospital.
Aspen—It was like being killed in his own backyard. That’s what friends of John Martin Gancsos are saying about the longtime Aspen man everyone called “Marty.” He died in an avalanche Monday afternoon while skiing in an out of bounds area of Aspen Mountain. Friends say Marty had been skiing in the backcountry for 40 years and that he was well aware of the risks and always took proper avalanche preparedness equipment with him. Gancsos was 64. His was the third avalanche death in Colorado this winter.
DENVER (AP) – Funding to support a program granting immigrant drivers a license regardless of their legal status moved out of the Colorado House, but its faces an uncertain future in the Senate. The $166,000 comes at the request of the state Department of Revenue, which says the money is necessary to keep up with higher-than-expected demand for the licenses. It could be weeks or months before the matter is settled.
DENVER (AP) – Red-light camera enforcement is back before Colorado lawmakers today and the question of banning them is as divisive as ever. Traffic cameras for red-light and speeding enforcement are unpopular with drivers, and lawmakers from both parties have tried banning them. But previous bans have failed because of stiff opposition from local communities that use the cameras. A bill to do away with the cameras is before a committee today.
