1 injured, 1 dead in national park
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK – Rangers say a man rescued from a mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park suffered life-threatening injuries after falling an unknown distance while sliding down snow.
Thirty-one-year-old Nick Creadon of Golden was flown off Gabletop Mountain on Saturday morning after using his cellphone to call for help Friday afternoon. His condition wasn’t known.
Park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson said Creadon fell while glissading down snow in a cirque above Loomis Lake. Rangers and equipment were flown to the lake in between severe thunderstorms Friday.
Despite his injuries, he was able to descend toward the lake, and rangers were able to reach him just after midnight.
The rescue came a day after a climber found a body on Longs Peak’s Keyhole Route. The climber and his group saw the body below The Ledges area about 7 a.m. Friday.
Park rangers reached the body about three hours later and flew it by helicopter to a nearby meadow. Park officials have not released the name, age or hometown of the person or how he died.
President signs affordable-housing bill
FRISCO – New federal legislation will allow the U.S. Forest Service to sell land to Summit County for a planned affordable-housing development.
On Friday, President Barack Obama signed a bill making the 40-acre parcel along Interstate 70 near Frisco and Dillon available to Summit County.
The planned Lake Hill development is aimed at providing homes for people who work in the county, including teachers, police officers and firefighters, but commute from elsewhere.
County commissioner Dan Gibbs said the county still needs to get an appraisal and then buy the land before coming up with a plan for the development. Officials still have to decide whether the units will be rented or owned.
Alkali Fire containment expected by today
CRAIG – Firefighters hope to have a 32-square-mile wildfire in northwestern Colorado fully contained by today.
The Alkali Fire, burning on mostly private land near Maybell, was listed as 75 percent contained Saturday.
The fire killed three cattle and destroyed a cabin, barn and propane tank. The cause is still under investigation.
Firefighters also are moving closer to fully containing a 276-acre wildfire, the Carl’s Hole Fire, about 30 miles west of Meeker. It was started Tuesday night by lightning.
Body found in desert ID’d as missing woman’s
GRAND JUNCTION – The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office says the probe into the disappearance of a 54-year-old woman last week now is a death investigation.
It announced Saturday that the body found in the desert north of Grand Junction on Thursday night is that of Kathleen Lynn Stetzel. Investigators have been searching for her 31-year-old son since her disappearance and say they still want to talk to him about his mother.
West Nile virus found in two Navajo horses
FARMINGTON – The Navajo Nation Veterinary and Livestock Program confirmed Friday that two horses have become infected with the West Nile virus.
Navajo Nation Veterinarian Scott Bender said both horses showed symptoms such as fever, head droop and seizures.
The horses are from Hunter’s Point and St. Michaels in Arizona.
Officials say horses are more susceptible to the virus, which is transmitted by infected mosquitoes.
The virus cannot be transmitted from animals to people or person to person.
People are urged to take precautions to avoid mosquito bites and to vaccinate their horses.
Officials also advise the suspension of outdoor activities at sunrise and sunset, when mosquitoes are most active.
Jamestown nearing full water service
JAMESTOWN – One of the towns hardest hit by last year’s flooding could have water service fully restored by the end of August.
Jamestown, in the foothills northwest of Boulder, lost half of its water-distribution system and all of its underground water-treatment infrastructure in the floods.
Mayor Tara Schoedinger said 40 percent of the town’s 115 homes have had water service restored as of July 7. She said the whole town likely would have running water by some point in August, allowing more people to move back before the start of the school year.
Some residents who have returned have been relying on above-ground water-filtration systems built with donations from the Rotary Club, the Salvation Army and Red Cross.
Woman gets 10 years for fatal bike crash
GRAND JUNCTION – A woman who struck and killed a Jesuit volunteer on a cross-country bicycling trip in western Colorado has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors.
Tonie Rosales, 30, of Palisade learned her punishment Friday after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide in 25-year-old Eunjey Cho’s death. Prosecutors agreed to drop drug-possession and bail-violation charges against her.
The deal had allowed Rosales to be sentenced up to a maximum of 12 years in prison.
The Daily Sentinel reported that Rosales had cocaine and antidepressants in her system when she fell asleep at the wheel and hit Cho on Sept. 18, 2013, on her way to a court hearing in a drunken-driving case. Cho later died at the hospital.
Cho was a volunteer with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest in Washington and was riding to his hometown of Princeton, New Jersey, with another volunteer, John McGuin, to raise money to pay for the work of two future volunteers. Volunteers are encouraged to live simply on about $100 a month, and they set out to raise $2,400.
Rosales refused roadside sobriety tests and fell asleep in the back of a patrol car on her way to get a blood test at a hospital. Chief Deputy District Attorney Mark Hand told Judge Valerie Robison that when she was told that she had killed a man, Rosales cried but then quickly fell asleep again.
County gives out scores of gay-marriage licenses
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – A southern New Mexico county clerk says he has issued nearly 900 marriage licenses to same-sex couples in the last year.
Doña Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellins said Friday his office has given out 896 licenses since August 2013. He said he gave out the most licenses within two months after announcing they would be made available.
A group of state legislators filed a lawsuit against Ellins last year, challenging the issue of licenses.
The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled in December that barring same-sex couples from getting marriage licenses was unconstitutional.
Same-sex marriage is legal in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Bans that have been overturned in some other states continue to make their way through the courts.
Associated Press
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