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Thursday, February 14, 2008
CU regents to vote on Benson next week
BOULDER (AP) — University of Colorado faculty in Boulder have voted against supporting Bruce Benson to be the next president of the CU system.
The Boulder Faculty Assembly voted 40-4 today to reject a resolution supporting Benson.
Regents plan to vote Wednesday on Benson’s appointment. A search committee appointed by regents named Benson the sole finalist for the post in late January.
Opponents have voiced concerns over his lack of an advanced degree, his past as a Republican fundraiser, and the oil and gas company founder’s commitment to CU’s climate research.
Benson has said he would focus on fundraising at CU. The school’s funding has dwindled amid state budget woes. He has said his political activities are over.
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Refunds by 2 insurance companies reach $5.7 million
DENVER (AP) — Two insurance companies have refunded about $5.7 million to Colorado customers affected by billing and record keeping errors, state officials said today.
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield has restored nearly $3.2 million to more than 7,200 holders of its health insurance policies, the Department of Regulatory Agencies said.
Hartford Financial Services Group has returned more than $2.5 million to holders of its commercial automobile insurance. Refunds from the company averaged about $540 per policyholder, though some received up to $20,000.
Errors in records and claim processing at Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield apparently occurred after the company adopted a new computerized claims processing system in the summer of 2006, the agency said. The new system failed to correctly track and maintain policyholders’ claim histories.
Hartford Financial Services Group refunded money after finding that nearly 5,000 policyholders were overcharged for years on insurance premiums that incorrectly included no-fault insurance. Colorado’s no-fault law was repealed in July 2003. Hartford Casualty Insurance Company, Hartford Fire Insurance Company, Hartford Insurance Co. of the Midwest, Hartford Underwriters Insurance Company and Twin City Insurance Company were involved in the refunds.
“These errors, while not intentional, harmed consumers and businesses, by imposing costs on consumers where there should not have been costs,” Colorado’s Commissioner of Insurance Marcy Morrison said. “I’m relieved that both companies are taking steps to restore monies owed to their customers and to prevent this from happening again.”
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Lawmakers debate plan to provide money for school construction
DENVER (AP) — The Edison 54 school district east of Colorado Springs is so strapped for cash that when the well stopped working several weeks ago, superintendent David Grosche was forced to ration bottled water.
In Crowley County, school officials put a gutter inside a gymnasium to funnel away water from a leaky roof because they didn’t have money to fix it. And in Holly, school officials got a grant to buy cable wire to lash together the crumbling facade of the local school building.
House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, said that is unacceptable. Today, he introduced a plan that would leverage up to $1 billion in funds from school trust lands — farms, ranches and commercial property that are owned by the state to provide money for public education.
“Every child deserves a safe, healthy place to go to school,” Romanoff said. “It’s tough to learn when the roof is caving in or your desk is falling through the floor.”
Romanoff told the House Education Committee that 88 percent of Colorado schools have reported health or safety problems, but 80 out of the 178 school districts can’t raise enough money to fix them. Romanoff said many aging school buildings need to be replaced.
The committee heard testimony on Thursday and delayed a vote so lawmakers could study it.
Romanoff said hazards that turned up include failing roofs, structural failures, inadequate fire safety, and faulty, dangerous boilers.
Last year, lawmakers approved $349,000 in emergency funding to hire inspectors for public schools after documents obtained by The Associated Press showed that many Colorado public schools never received fire and building inspections.
Grosche said his district didn’t have the $5,000 it costs to fix the well. He said rationing bottled water to students was the only alternative.
“To me, it’s going to be my math textbooks for next year,” he told lawmakers.
The program, dubbed “Building Excellent Schools Today” or the BEST plan, sets up a study of needs, with projects to be picked over the next year.
Treasurer Cary Kennedy said the trust funds will be protected.
“This is legacy legislation,” she said. “Without raising taxes, and with cooperation and consensus, we are finding a way to rebuild and repair schools across Colorado.”
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20-year-old ‘cold case’ may be solved
OURAY — In a story that could be a script for the TV show “Cold Case,” the body of a man found more than 20 years ago in Ouray County may finally be close to being identified, said Ouray County Sheriff Dominic “Junior” Mattivi.
The body, identified only as John Doe, has been stored in the morgue of Montrose Memorial Hospital all this time, but neither Mattivi or Ouray County coroner Gary Miller knew of its existence until notified by the hospital a couple of months ago. Miller has been coroner for 18 years and Mattivi has been with the sheriff’s department since 1992.
After getting a call from the hospital around Christmas, Miller went to the Ouray commissioners on Monday to ask for funds to bury the man. He couldn’t approach them before then, he said, because first he had to retrieve the old file on the case, which wasn’t accessible until last week because of renovations at the county courthouse.
A “break” in the case occurred when a man in Colona called Mattivi after noticing an obituary in Thursday’s edition of The Daily Sentinel. The obituary of Billy Russell McFadden of Grand Junction who died Feb. 9, mentioned that he had a son, Russell Anthony McFadden, who disappeared 20 years ago.
Mattivi contacted Michael McFadden of Grand Junction, Russell McFadden’s brother, who agreed to supply DNA to see if there is a match with that of John Doe.
“He was positive and very hopeful,” Mattivi said. “They’d like closure also, and after 20 years they deserve it. When we called him and told him he was very excited.”
There may be good reason for the McFadden family to hope, he said.
Russell McFadden was reported missing in July of 1987. The body of John Doe was found in November of the same year, but it had apparently been there for quite some time, Mattivi said.
“We got information we could as far as the age of his brother that went missing and it’s close to what we estimate for the body, between 40 and 50 years old,” he said.
The body was found on the Golden Crystal mining claim, said Miller, about a half-mile south of Ouray. The man had apparently been camping out, he said.
“All they could tell was that he was a middle-aged Caucasian and he’d been out in the open,” Miller said. “There was no identification in the camp or on his body, and they did what they were supposed to do, took it to the morgue. I guess they were thinking some additional evidence would come in over a period of time.”
Read more in Friday’s edition of The Daily Sentinel.
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Advocacy groups file severance tax ballot measures
A group of environmental, sportsmen and clean energy groups filed four ballot measures today to raise the state’s severance tax rate.
Joe Neuhof, Western Slope field director for the Colorado Environmental Coalition, said his organization and others agreed to file their ballot questions to get more money for local governments affected by energy development and to the invest in clean energy technology.
The ballot measures each either eliminate a property tax credit for energy companies, which currently allows them to subtract the majority of their property tax burdens from the severance taxes they owe the state, or they raise the state’s effective severance tax rate.
“We don’t feel like it’s set in stone,” Neuhof said, “but whatever version we move forward, there will be an increase in the severance tax.”
The four ballot proposals would devote the state’s severance tax receipts to local governments, water projects, land conservation and renewable energy projects.
Energy industry advocates, however, said they plan to oppose any ballot measure aimed at increasing taxes on the industry.
Stan Dempsey, president of the Colorado Petroleum Association, said he is unsure why Coloradans, particularly on the Western Slope, would want to “harm an industry that is a strong economic driver” for the state.
“I think that when our companies look at the economics associated with projects, we look at both the tax environment and the regulatory environment,” Dempsey said, “and by raising the severance tax, we are … creating less incentive for our members to operate in Colorado.”
Dempsey said it might make more sense for groups interested in funding renewable energy projects or other programs to look at other taxes to fund those endeavors.
“Why pick on one particular industry?” Dempsey said.
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Water build up in mine drainage tunnel threatens Leadville
LEADVILLE (AP) — Water in a mine drainage tunnel is building pressure and could blow out, leaving officials worrying that it could cause catastrophic damage to the historic mining town of Leadville and contaminate the Arkansas River.
State, federal and county officials will have a conference call at 11 a.m. Thursday to determine how to deal with the millions of gallons of water in the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel. Ground seepage from increased snow levels is adding more pressure on the blockage, said Polly White of the Colorado Division of Emergency Management.
The tunnel is believed to have become blocked years ago by a partial collapse.
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House explosion may have been caused by propane leak
OAK CREEK (AP) — A man killed in an apparent propane gas explosion and fire at his home was a shuttle driver for a program serving senior citizens.
The body of Dennis Eugene Harris, 64, was found in the crawl space underneath his house after the explosion Wednesday, Oak Creek Fire Protection District Chief Chuck Wisecup said.
Crews reportedly heard him calling for help but did not find anyone in the wreckage until the afternoon, the Steamboat Springs Pilot and Today reported.
A preliminary finding was that Harris died of smoke inhalation, Routt County Coroner Rob Ryg said. An autopsy was expected this weekend, he said.
Harris lived alone with his dog, Buddy, who escaped the explosion.
The blast blew out some walls of the home, and the roof collapsed, Wisecup said. It also shattered windows and skylights at nearby homes.
A propane leak was believed to be the source of the explosion, but the official cause remained under investigation, Wisecup said.
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Education Department OKs waiver request
The Colorado Department of Education today approved a proposal to approve waivers that will give the green light on the Mesa Valley Vision Home Community Program Contract School.
“The board here did approve the waiver request by Mesa (District) 51 today,” said Mark Stevens, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Education.
The waiver opens up the possibility of creating the ‘school’ that would give home schoolers more of a network with teachers, set curriculum, instructor employment policies, and a home school director. They would not attend a school in a physical building all day, however.
With the waiver, the school district could receive up to $1.3 million if student population figures and state funding are comparable to last year.
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Snow and cold weather lead to traffic, power problems
DENVER (AP) — Four inches of snow coupled with below-freezing temperatures caused ice that shorted power lines and sparked a half-dozen pole fires, leaving hundreds of Denver metro residents without power.
Roads were also coated with ice today, slowing rush hour traffic to a crawl.
Xcel Energy spokeswoman Ethnie Groves said about 7,500 people were without power at the height of the outages. About 2,900 customers were still in the dark by midmorning.
Xcel officials said ice on power lines can cause outages when it melts off, snapping them and causing a phenomenon called “galloping” that can cause loose connections. Magnesium chloride that’s used to melt ice on roads also builds up in transformers, which can lead to pole fires.
Meanwhile, about 50 miles southwest of Denver, Park County was still under a state of emergency as officials worried the new snow could undo the progress made on clearing dozens of miles of roads of ice that trapped about a 100 residents in their homes. Earlier in the week, high winds pushed snow into drifts 24 feet high.
North-West Fire Protection District Chief Mike Roll, said the state and surrounding counties used heavy equipment to clear about 150 miles of roadway. About 3 inches of snow fell overnight today, which were whipped into snowdrifts.
Roll said the new snow may have undone some of their work.
Rescue teams had delivered essential items such as food, medicine and other supplies to about 45 residents.
Nearly 2 feet of snow could fall on Saguache County east of the Continental Divide and the eastern San Jan Mountains by today.
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Senators chop down bill to set aside mill levy freeze revenues
State senators killed a proposal today aimed at barring Colorado from spending any revenues generated by Gov. Bill Ritter’s controversial mill levy freeze until the conclusion of Mesa County’s lawsuit challenging the measure’s constitutionality.
On a party-line vote, Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee killed Senate Bill 137, which could have force the start to hold in reserve the more than $131 million it is expected to collect next year under the governor’s tax plan.
The money would only get released to the state or returned to taxpayers once the class-action lawsuit, which includes the Mesa County Commission as a plaintiff, is resolved.
The panel’s chairwoman, Sen. Paula Sandoval, D-Denver, said she voted to kill the bill because the state will find “other means to repay” the taxpayers if the state loses the lawsuit.
The county voted to sued the state late last year, challenging whether the governor’s property tax, education-funding plan complies with the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, which requires that voters approve of all tax increases.
Ritter’s plan prevents school district property tax rates from falling when they otherwise would. Without the mill levy freeze, school district property tax rates would float down as property values increased.
The committee’s decision, however, came over the objections of the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Scott Renfroe, R-Greeley, who called on the state to prepare for a possible loss in court.
“We spend what we get and that’s what we’ve done here,” Renfroe said. “And we need to look at the long-range fiscal impact … to say, ‘No, we need some fiscal restraint.’”
Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute, which organized and filed the legal challenge to the governor’s education-funding proposal, said the case should come to trial in early May.
“By the end of this fiscal year, this case could be decided,” Caldara said.
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UPDATE: Frontier to start service in GJ
Frontier Airlines, the Denver-based discount carrier, said this morning it plans to start passenger service at Grand Junction Regional Airport on May 15.
The airline plans to service the route via its subsidiary Lynx Aviation using its new fleet of Bombardier Q400 aircraft, the company said.
In addition to the Grand Junction route, Frontier said that it also plans to offer non-stop service to three other destinations via Lynx Aviation.
Service to Colorado Springs Municipal Airport is scheduled to start April 15.
Service to Aspen/Pitkin County Airport and Durango-La Plata County Airport is set to begin May 15.
For more information read Friday’s edition of The Daily Sentinel.
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Expect more mud than snow today
Grand Valley residents who got up early this morning in anticipation of a snowy drive to work can sneak back under the covers for a few more winks.
Overnight the Grand Junction area got a smattering of rainfall, but no snow.
“I don’t think even Utah got anything heavy,” said Jerry Smith, a forecaster for the National Weather Service in Grand Junction.
He said there is still a 50 percent chance of some scattered snow showers, but added that residents probably have a better chance of encountering some mud — as temperatures are anticipated to be above 40 degrees today — than fresh snow fall.
Currently, as of 7:15 a.m., the San Juan Mountain Range, with peaks in excess of 14,000 feet, is receiving some snow as the storm moves northwest, through Delta and Montrose, Simth said.
In other areas of the state Snowmass is reporting about 7 inches of new snow and Purgatory also 7 inches, Smith said.
Winds hitting speeds of 75 mph did sweep through Utah overnight and strong winds, in the neighborhood of 30 to 40 mph, are still forecast for the Grand Junction area, according to the National Weather Service.
— Le Roy Standish
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