ASPEN PLANE CRASH VIDEOS EXAMINED
Aspen—A chilling, heart-wrenching video of the fatal private jet that crashed at the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport nearly three weeks was released today. The grainy, black and white security video is from five infrared cameras and shows the Canadair CL-600 bouncing once on the runway, going back in the air for a second or two, then crashing and bursting in flames. The video shows the jet crashing nose down and leaning to the right. The right wing of the aircraft was severed in the crash. The co-pilot, Sergio Brabata was killed in the crash while the pilot and a passenger both survived but sustained serious injuries. According to earlier reports from the National Transportation Safety Board, at the time of the crash, wind gusts up to 25 knots were recorded.
WINTER X GAMES TO REMAIN IN ASPEN
ASPEN (AP) – The Winter X Games will stay in Aspen through 2019.
The deal was set to expire after the event this weekend, but ESPN and Aspen Skiing Company announced a five-year extension Wednesday. This will be the 13th straight year Winter X has staged snowboard, ski and snowmobile events in Aspen.
Scott Guglielmino, senior vice president of ESPN programming and X Games, said that other options were explored, much like a few months ago when the decision was reached to relocate Summer X from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas. In the end, Guglielmino said a return to Aspen simply made “a lot of sense.” The winter action sports event will be without one of its premiere athletes as two-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White skipped the competition to rest for Sochi.
TAX RETURN BILL FOR SAME SEX COUPLES PASSES SENATE
DENVER (AP) – A bill that would change the way some same-sex couples in Colorado file their taxes has passed the Senate despite Republican objections that the measure chips away at the state’s constitutional ban on gay marriage. The tax measure passed 18-16 Wednesday, with all Democrats voting for it and all Republicans present voting against it. The bill now heads to the House, where Democrats have a wider majority.
The measure requires partners in a civil union to file their Colorado taxes using the same filing status on their federal tax return. That means that partners who are married in another state and file joint federal returns would also be able to file joint Colorado returns.
SAGE GROUSE PROTECTIONS DISCUSSED BY GOVERNOR HICKENLOOPER, INTERIOR SECRETARY JEWELL
Craig—(AP) – U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell vistedColorado to learn about efforts by ranchers to help conserve sage grouse. She joined Gov. John Hickenlooper yesterday on a tour of the Bord Gulch Ranch northwewt of Craig to see how it is working to protect the bird’s habitat.Hickenlooper is trying to persuade the Bureau of Land Management to change its proposed plan for protecting the birds.Last week, he protested the agency’s proposal to set limits on the amount of land that could be disturbed based on the amount of bird habitat. He said protections should still allow northwestern Colorado’s main economic drivers, including ranching and energy development, to thrive.Jewell and Hickenlooper also met with representatives from the oil and gas industry and others in Denver to talk about efforts to reduce methane emissions.
