BLACK FRIDAY/COLORADO
Business was brisk but quiet around Colorado as shoppers headed out to take advantage of Black Friday deals
An exception was a Walmart in Lakewood, where more than 100 protesters marched outside the store in support of the workers. Some held signs accusing the retailing giant of corporate greed and underpaying its workers.
A union-backed group called OUR Walmart was staging demonstrations and walkouts at hundreds of stores on Black Friday. The Lakewood Walmart parking lot was half-empty by mid-morning, but shoppers were going in and out of the Walmart without incident. Shopping was brisk in other areas. Long lines developed overnight outside Target, Best Buy and Toys “R” Us stores in Denver.
DURANGO (AP) – Volunteers in southwestern Colorado spent part of their Thanksgiving searching for a 13-year-old boy who went missing while visiting his father. Sixty people looked for Dylan Redwine around Vallecito Reservoir and Forest Lakes on Thursday. They also passed out fliers and knocked on doors seeking clues about his whereabouts. A Vallecito resident saw Dylan walking along a road there with another boy on Monday afternoon. Both had backpacks. Authorities suspect Dylan may have run away but La Plata County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Dan Bender said they haven’t ruled out the possibility that he was abducted. Dylan lives with his mother in Colorado Springs but a judge issued his father visitation rights for Thanksgiving.
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS (AP) – Local retailers in Steamboat Springs know they can’t compete for after-Thanksgiving shoppers without a little something extra. That’s where chocolate comes in. Locally owned shops in the mountain resort are handing out chocolate to shoppers Saturday to lure them away from big-box retailers and the mall. The chocolate bribes are being handed out for a second year on what American Express has started calling “Small Business Saturday.” 34 businesses have chocolate tastings The idea was sparked by a similar promotion in Wolf Creek. Some downtown businesses will have specials to go along with the sweet treats. One Steamboat Springs shop plans to give away chocolate turtles – and offer 20 percent off turtlenecks.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – Huge hunks of beef greeted an estimated 2,500 diners at a large international military base in the Afghan capital, Kabul, this Thanksgiving.
Among them was Army Maj. Rodney Gehrett of Colorado Springs, Colo., who said he was surprised that the war was barely mentioned during the last U.S. presidential election. Gehrett says he hopes that changes when people “realize that we still have troops here and they are fighting every day.” Army Sgt. Adam Draughn of Denver says some people back home have the impression that the Afghan people don’t want American troops in their country. He says the troops are “actually are loved” in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama pulled 10,000 troops out of Afghanistan in 2011 and 23,000 more this year, leaving about 66,000 American service members still deployed in the country. Nearly all international combat troops are to withdraw by the end of 2014.
