SLUSH, ICE AND SPEED CREATE HAVOC ON LOCAL ROADS
Glenwood Springs–Excessive speed on icy roads caused one deadly accident yesterday and triggered a pile up in Glenwood Canyon last night. According to reports from the Colorado State Patrol, an Arvada man was killed in a rollover crash on Highway 131 near Wolcott. High speed also caused the driver of a tractor-trailer to lose control last night in Glenwood Canyon on eastbound I-70. The truck jacknifed, blocked both lanes and caused nine other vehicles to spin out and crash. No one was injured in the pile up but I-70 was closed in both directions until about 11pm.
X GAMES SNOWMOBILER CRITICAL
GRAND JUNCTION (AP) – Snowmobiler Caleb Moore remains in critical condition after a dramatic crash at the Winter X Games in Aspen. A publicist for the family reissued a statement Tuesday thanking fans, friends and family for their support and asked for continued prayers. The 25-year-old was performing a flip Thursday when he clipped the top of a jump and went over the handlebars. The snowmobile rolled over him, but he walked off the course with help and went to a hospital with a concussion. While there, he developed bleeding around his heart and was flown to Grand Junction for surgery Friday. His family said Sunday that Moore then had a secondary complication involving his brain. They didn’t provide details. Moore’s younger brother, Colten, also crashed in the competition and suffered a separated pelvis.
STATE ENERGY OFFICE GETS UNFAVORABLE AUDIT
DENVER (AP) – Colorado’s embattled energy development office is plagued by misspending, sloppy accounting and high turnover. That’s according to a blistering state audit released Today. The audit blasts the Colorado Energy Office for not keeping track of travel expenses and contracts and for not following up to make sure projects were completes. The audit says that the agency can’t demonstrate that $252 million spent over the past six years was spent cost-effectively. Much of it was federal stimulus money.
The energy office was created in 1977 to promote energy conservation. The office took on new significance under former Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter, who focused on renewable energy development. Last year the office added traditional sources of energy to the office, including oil and gas and coal.
SLURRY BOMBERS SORELY NEEDED FOR FIRE SEASON
DENVER (AP) – Colorado U.S. Senator Mark Udall is asking the U.S. Forest Service to speed up buying new firefighting aircraft. Udall says the planes are urgently needed before the start of the 2013 wildfire season. He says the planes have been delayed by contracting issues. Udall is also asking the military to speed up the transfer of up to seven surplus cargo planes to the Forest Service for firefighting duty.
