Glenwood Springs–17 years ago today, 14 smokejumpers from the Prineville, Oregon hotshots lost their lives in the Storm King Fire between Glenwood Springs and New Castle. The Storm King Memorial in Two Rivers Park will be see a steady stream of folks paying their respects today and tonight.
Glenwood Springs–After two days of hearings and hours of public testimony, the Garfield County Board of Commissioners approved a Land Use Change Permit for a nearly 66 acre gravel mining operation. The Lafarge pit is two miles northeast of Carbondale.
Rifle–Someone illegally dumped over three tons of waste from a marijuana growing operation into Estes Gulch near Rifle. The Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Land Management are both investigating.
DENVER (AP) – A state title board is expected to decide today
whether a question on 2012 ballots about legalizing marijuana
should compare pot to alcohol. A marijuana activist challenging
proposed language for the measure says it’s a flawed description
because there’s no limit on how much alcohol people can buy, but
the ballot proposals suggest a marijuana possession limit.
DENVER (AP) – Federal officials are proposing to open a national
wildlife refuge in north-central Colorado to more hunting. The U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service says it’s proposing expanding hunting
opportunities on 10 wildlife refuges across the country. One of
those is the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge near Walden, where
elk hunting would be allowed for the first time. The wildlife found
there include waterfowl, moose, deer, elk, coyotes, pronghorns,
muskrats and beavers.
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) – An Air Force Academy graduate
has recorded 3,000 hours of flying time in the F-16 fighter jet, a
milestone reached by only about 200 pilots. The Air Force says Lt.
Col. Robert D. Whitehouse hit the milestone on June 23 while
deployed in Iraq. Whitehouse enrolled at the academy in 1985 and
later served on active duty for 11 years. He’s now an Air Reserve
technician and serves as deputy commander of the 56th Operations
Group at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz.
