SMALL BIZ SATURDAY EVENT
Glenwood Springs—If you don’t want to fight the huge, Black Friday crowds and battle for parking, you can start your Christmas shopping tomorrow on “Small Business Saturday.” The Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association and chambers of commerce across the country take part in it every year. It was launched five years ago by American Express as a way to encourage folks to shop locally and support small business owners. The Glenwood chamber will kick off the event tomorrow morning at 9 at the CMC/Chamber offices at 8th and Grand Avenue with free doughnuts and coffee from co-sponsor “Sweet Coloradough.” There will also be drawings from 25 American Express credit cards worth 25 dollars each.
IN OTHER NEWS…
FORT CARSON (AP) – Nearly all members of Fort Carson’s 4th Brigade Combat Team are back home from Afghanistan. On Thursday, 195 soldiers returned to the post in time for Thanksgiving dinner and another 250 are due to arrive Friday night.The brigade has been in southern Afghanistan since March, working with Afghan National Security Forces. A few members of the 4th Brigade Combat Team will remain behind in Afghanistan to wrap up operations.Fort Carson spokeswoman Daneta Johnson says this is the first time in a while that there hasn’t been a large unit from the post deployed during the holidays. There are about 1,000 Fort Carson troops from smaller unit deployed overseas, including 160 who went to West Africa earlier this month to help with the Ebola crisis.
GRAND JUNCTION (AP) – Over three years after they were indicted, two western Colorado doctors accused of overprescribing painkillers that led to the deaths of four people could be moving closer to trial. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the complexity of the case against Eric Peper and Sam Jahani will require two trials. One trial will focus on the drug allegations and patient deaths and the other will deal mainly with money laundering and health care fraud allegations. U.S. District Judge Christine Arguello didn’t set a date for the trials but signaled she is becoming impatient with both federal prosecutors and the doctors’ lawyers. The doctors formerly operated clinics in Delta, Montrose and Grand Junction. They have both pleaded not guilty.
DENVER (AP) – The city of Fort Collins says up to $24 million worth of road improvements will be needed if Colorado State University proceeds with a plan to build an on-campus stadium. The Coloradoan reports that the estimate from the city is intended to be a starting point for negotiations with the university. CSU President Tony Frank is expected to make a recommendation Dec. 5 on whether to build a stadium.
LAKEWOOD (AP) – The U.S. Forest Service will open five Christmas tree cutting areas along the Front Range next month. Areas on the Pike, Arapaho and Roosevelt national forests will be open for cutting between Dec. 6 and Dec. 14. A $10 permit per tree is required before entering a tree cutting area, with a limit of five permits per person.
