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May 2007
Fire closes 12th near Horizon
A fire on Midway Avenue prompted authorities to shut down 12th Street in the area of Horizon Drive on Thursday afternoon.
Flames were coming from the back of a home at 2702 Midway Ave., where a man, woman and two children were home at the time of the blaze.
Because the nearest fire hydrant is on the opposite side of 12th Street from the house, authorities closed the road from the roundabout at Horizon Drive to the area of The Atrium of Grand Valley assisted living center, 3260 N. 12th St.
Fire department spokesman Mike Page said at about 5:40 p.m. that he expected the road to be closed for approximately an hour.
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Judge puts temporary injunction on enforcing Amendment 41
A Denver district judge today upheld a challenge to a voter-passed ethics measure criticized for its effects on government employees.
Judge Christina Habas issued a temporary injunction preventing the state from enforcing Amendment 41, which was approved last November.
The measure placed a $50 limit on what officials at any level of government could receive from lobbyists, groups or individuals.
That limit meant that the children of government employees would be ineligible for scholarships, critics said. Critics said it also limited the rights to free speech and free association and the right to petition government, in violation of the First and Fourteenth amendments.
Issuance of the temporary injunction meant that the judge found a substantial likelihood opponents would prevail at trial, Michele Ames of the First Amendment Council said today.
— Sentinel staff
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Man insists brother isn’t cold-blooded killer
Harry Lyons calls his brother a “loner” and admits he had not talked to Greg Lyons since one of their brothers died 2 1/2 years ago.
But despite the distance between them, he insists his brother was not a cold-blooded murderer.
Mesa County Coroner Dean Havlik ruled the weekend shooting deaths of Greg and Barbara Lyons a homicide-suicide, saying Greg Lyons shot his wife before turning the gun on himself. But investigators probing the deaths told the families of the couple they believe Barbara Lyons shot at her husband first, then died in an ensuing struggle for the gun, Harry Lyons said today.
In addition, Harry Lyons said investigators told the families methamphetamine was found in Barbara Lyons’ bloodstream. Police also found meth and a smoking pipe in her clothing, Harry Lyons said.
“I don’t want it to go down that he was a cold-blooded killer,” Harry Lyons said.
Havlik confirmed today that preliminary drug tests showed meth in Barbara Lyons’ system. Havlik said the husband and wife both had alcohol in their bodies.
Greg Lyons’ blood-alcohol level was 0.172, while Barbara Lyons’ was 0.125, Havlik said. A motorist with a blood-alcohol level at or above 0.08 is considered to be under the influence.
Havlik said Greg and Barbara Lyons each sustained two gunshot wounds to their heads, with one wound being superficial and second being fatal for each of them.
He said Greg Lyons’ superficial wound appeared to have been fired by Barbara Lyons. He added he would have no way of knowing who fired the first three shots but indicated Greg Lyons fired the fourth and final shot when he killed himself.
The Lyons’ bodies were found Saturday at their home at 554 29 1/2 Road after concerned family members called police to check on them.
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GJ police keep extra-close watch for traffic offenses
Grand Junction police are breaking out their clipboards to nail red-light runners.
Officers posted themselves at the intersection of Rimrock Drive and U.S. Highway 6&50 — the main way into the busy Wal-Mart and Lowe’s stores, as well as several eateries — this afternoon.
There, clipboards in hand, they stood on the sidewalk, eagle-eying drivers who ran red lights at one of the city’s busiest intersections.
Overeager bargain hunters who ran red lights also got traffic tickets costing them $75 and four points on their licenses.
“All of the violations we caught involved drivers trying to beat a left-turn arrow before it turned red or drivers failing to come to a complete stop before making a right turn on a red signal,” Sgt. Doug Norcross of the department’s traffic unit, said in a news release.
The effort is actually a couple weeks old, said police spokeswoman Linda Bowman, and resulted in an immediate 34 citations written in six hours over two days.
Enforcement at the Rimrock Marketplace intersection was an “extra, more concerted effort” to have an immediate effect on a heavily trafficked intersection, Bowman said.
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Six arrested in major meth trafficking operation
Mesa and Garfield County authorities arrested six people after an undercover operation into a major methamphetamine trafficking operation that moved the drug from the Roaring Fork Valley to Mesa County, authorities said.
The investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Western Colorado Drug Task Force and the Two Rivers Drug Enforcement Team began last July. It also led to the seizure of approximately 4 pounds of meth, approximately 5 ounces of cocaine and a small amount of crack cocaine.
Along with undercover officers, confidential sources and surveillance helped expose the operation allegedly responsible for transporting high quality, multi-pound quantities of meth with an average purity level of 76 percent.
Meth was sold for $800 an ounce to $12,500 a pound.
More details tonight on GJSentinel.com or in Friday’s issue of The Daily Sentinel.
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New drug treatment facility opens
A crowd of more than 200 people gathered Thursday for the opening of Mesa County’s Summit View Treatment Facility.
The $5 million, three-story drug treatment facility, which has 48 beds, is scheduled to begin accepting patients June 10, officials said. The facility is located at 650 South Avenue.
Read more tonight on GJSentinel.com or in Friday’s edition of The Daily Sentinel.
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TB patient now in Denver
DENVER (AP) — The tuberculosis patient under the first federal quarantine since 1963 is a 31-year-old personal injury attorney who practices law with his father in Atlanta, a federal law enforcement official said today.
The official, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to talk about the case, identified the patient as Andrew Speaker. A medical official in Atlanta also confirmed the name on condition of anonymity.
The man has a rare and dangerous form of tuberculosis that has proved resistant to drugs. He arrived at Denver’s National Jewish Medical and Research Center for treatment Thursday, walking under his own power after flying from Atlanta with his wife and federal marshals, hospital spokesman William Allstetter said.
He looked healthy and tan, and “he said he still felt fine,” Allstetter said. Doctors plan to begin treating the man immediately with two antibiotics, one oral and one intravenous. He also will undergo a basic physical exam, a test to evaluate how infectious he is and a CT scan and lung X-ray, Allstetter said. Doctors hope to also determine where he contracted the disease.
He will be kept in a special unit with two rooms and a ventilation system, Allstetter said.
“He may not leave that room much for several weeks,” Allstetter said.
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Underwear-clad man arrested for allegedly pointing gun
A Grand Junction man wearing only his underwear was arrested this morning after he allegedly pointed a gun at another man, police said.
Jeffrey A. Price, 50, was jailed on suspicion of first-degree burglary, menacing with a deadly weapon, prohibited use of a weapon and criminal mischief, Grand Junction police spokeswoman Linda Bowman said.
Officers were called to an apartment complex at 125 S. 11th St. just before 7:30 a.m. after a man reported Price, wearing only his underwear, was intoxicated and causing a disturbance in the hallway of the complex, Bowman said.
While the man was on the phone with police dispatchers, Price entered the man’s apartment, pointed a gun at him and yelled at him. Price also pushed the apartment building manager and damaged some walls, Bowman said.
Officers contacted Price at his apartment and took him into custody without incident. A loaded handgun was found in his apartment, Bowman said.
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Alleged armed robber shoots self in leg
MONTROSE — A Montrose man apparently shot himself in the leg after robbing a gas station at gunpoint Wednesday night.
Cmdr. Gene Lillard of Montrose Police said Nicholas E. Hendricks, 19, is in Montrose Memorial Hospital and faces pending charges of aggravated robbery, theft and menacing.
Police got the call about the robbery at the Bradley Petroleum gas station in the 1100 block of South Townsend Drive at 11:09 p.m. No one was injured in the robbery.
As officers Thad Stahly and Jason Barrett were on their way to the scene, they were flagged down on South Cascade Street by a citizen who said a gunshot victim was in the street in front of Pomona Elementary School.
“It turns out the victim is also the suspect,” Lillard said. “He was probably running and the gun discharged and shot him in the leg close to the scene.”
Hendricks lost a lot of blood and Lillard said he did not know when he would be released from the hospital.
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GJ apartment vacancy rate at 1.5 percent
The vacancy rate for apartments in Grand Junction sank to 1.5 percent in the first quarter ended March 31, from 3 percent in the first quarter ended March 31, 2006, a state housing survey found today.
At the same time, the median rent for an apartment in Grand Junction rose to $571.86 from $523.89, the Colorado Division of Housing reported.
Of note, the vacancy rate for a Grand Junction apartment stood at 2.7 percent in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, while the median rent was $556.
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