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Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Lawmakers tentatively OK $17.6 billion Colorado budget
DENVER (AP) — Lawmakers tentatively approved a $17.6 billion state budget today after Democrats blocked an attempt to force the state to return $118 million being collected from taxpayers from a freeze on mill levies for homeowners.
Republicans claimed it represents a tax increase that should go to the voters. Democrats said homeowners in 38 school districts this year would still see a tax cut.
Republicans also tried to block the state from adding some of the 1,334 new state employees in the next fiscal year beginning July 1, warning those employees may have to be laid off if the economy turns sour.
Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, said the budget will hurt families “at a time when we are headed into a recession.”
“We believe the budget growth is putting the squeeze on Colorado families,” she said. “We cannot in good conscience force Coloradans to foot the bill for increased government bureaucracy.”
House members drafted 77 amendments to the budget, but only four were approved. They include transferring $1.5 million from gambling impact funds for community college courses on renewable energy, spending $200,000 in general funds for family and youth drug courts in rural areas and paying for a portion of 21 new oil and gas drilling inspectors using the severance tax trust fund.
They also voted to strip the Department of Public Health and Environment of funding for the Office of Health Disparities, which provides help to minorities including education about cancer and heart disease. Lawmakers claimed they were misled by the department into thinking the program would be funded by private grants when the department knew the funding was expiring.
Adam Eichberg, lobbyist for the department, said state budget officials never asked about the funding and rejected suggestions that lawmakers were misled.
Democrats said the property tax freeze did not increase taxes and predicted the state will win a court challenge. They said the 1,334 new employees are needed, including 267 for corrections and 221 for the judiciary, because lawmakers voted to get tough on crime.
Other new positions are contract workers being hired as full-time state employees because state personnel rules require contract workers to take a break every six months, disrupting state government.
Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, chairman of the Joint Budget Committee, said the panel had to make tough choices.
“Do you want more criminals on the street, or safe communities for our kids? Do you want sick kids who become sick adults, or healthy kids who grow up to be strong, productive members of the community?” he asked his colleagues.
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Drug expulsions up across the school district
The number of expulsions for drugs or prescription drug violations in District 51 has increased by 72 percent from approximately the same time last year, according to a report issued at the school board meeting today.
“One of the issues that does appear to be a problem for a few — and I do reiterate, a few — of our children is in the area of bringing prescription drugs to school,” Superintendent Tim Mills said. “I think this is a trend not only here, but also nationally.”
The expulsion report shows violations for “drugs or controlled substances” is up to 31 from last year’s count of 18. The category of drug and controlled substance violations accounted for more than half of total expulsions reported so far. The number of expulsions for the year is up to 60, slightly less than the same time last year when the count stood at 63.
Most of the drug violations occur in the high schools, where incidents have more than doubled. By this time last year in the high schools, there were just nine reported expulsions for drugs; that number has jumped to 22 already this year. Middle school violations rose from eight to nine, but decreased in elementary schools, from one violation to zero.
There was no specific breakdown of whether incidents involved controlled drugs versus prescription drugs in the findings. However, several board members voiced concerns that many parents seem unaware of the problem. The superintendent called for more coverage of the issue in the school newsletters and by other means of communication with parents.
Board member Harry Butler said parents need to know not to leave old pills within reach of their students.
“It seems like it would be good to get parents’ attention,” added board member Ron Rowley.
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Plan to divert funding from Mesa State project fails
A Boulder County lawmaker’s plans to divert $18.4 million in state funds from Mesa State College’s Saunders Field House project to other state building projects died tonight on a voice vote.
Rep. Paul Weissmann, D-Boulder, saw his amendment, aimed at diverting the funds into underwriting “life and safety” building maintenance, fail after a series of state lawmakers lambasted his efforts.
“I’m particularly protective of projects in rural areas,” said Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West. “We have a lot of students served by a school such as Mesa State. I don’t want to have a project with a big hole in the ground.”
Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, said if the state withholds funds from the Mesa State project, its costs will soar.
“We all know that price is going to go up,” King said. “It is not going to be cheaper to do this in 24 months.”
Weissmann said he offered his amendment in an attempt to fund the Mesa State project through a legislative initiative announced earlier this week to borrow $150 million to fund a series of higher education projects, including a science building expansion for the Auraria Higher Education Center in Denver
“Let me first make it very clear I am not trying to eliminate the Saunders Field House at Mesa State College,” Weissmann said. “I support that project.”
He argued if the state does not pay for its building maintenance costs with capital construction funds, such as those dollars earmarked for Mesa State, that money in future years will come from other important state programs.
Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, however, said it is unclear if the state could borrow money to pay for the Saunders Field House.
“Mesa County has raised almost half of the money for this project themselves and we’re considering saying never mind,” Buescher said. “That … is just patently unfair.”
A second amendment aimed at diverting the Saunders Field House funds to a Front Range college was withdrawn from consideration.
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UPDATE: One dead in De Beque area rollover
One person has died as a result of a one-car rollover accident along I-70 near De Beque.
The Colorado State Patrol reported that six people were passengers in the SUV that rolled multiple times. One injured person has been transported by CareFlight, and four others have been transported to area hospitals by ambulance.
The accident is reported to have happened at mile marker 62, near the De Beque cutoff. Speed or alcohol have not been determined as factors in the crash, as the investigation is ongoing.
Read the full story in tomorrow’s edition of the Daily Sentinel.
— Sentinel staff
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Lawmakers push I-70 toll plan over objections of mountain towns
DENVER (AP) — Two Front Range lawmakers are pushing ahead with plans to charge a toll on a congested stretch of Interstate 70 west of Denver to pay for more lanes, despite objections from some mountain communities along the route.
Sens. Chris Romer, a Denver Democrat, and Andy McElhany, a Colorado Springs Republican, have proposed separate plans that get their first hearings at the Capitol on Thursday.
They said today the state doesn’t have enough money to take care of its current highways, let alone add more lanes to I-70.
But lawmakers and others from mountain counties say a toll could create even bigger traffic jams and might keep tourists away, hurting the their recreation-dependent economies.
They also say Romer and McElhany are ignoring the efforts of 35 counties from the Denver city limits to the Utah border that have been working with environmental groups, the ski industry and truckers to examine possible solutions.
Romer said a “market-based” fee system is the best way to manage traffic flow. He wants to charge a toll for anyone traveling in a car with fewer than three occupants; trucks would pay a higher toll than cars.
He has also proposed reversing traffic in some lanes during peak travel times.
Romer acknowledged his plan has little public support but said something must be done about I-70 traffic.
“I didn’t create this angst,” Romer said.
McElhany, the Senate minority leader, wants to charge a $5 toll for travel between Floyd Hill on the outskirts of the metro area to the Eisenhower Tunnel, roughly 35 miles. The money would be used to widen the highway.
People who live in Summit, Clear Creek and Gilpin counties, which I-70 runs through, would be exempt from the toll.
“If we agree that now is the time to get something done, we can work out the details,” he said.
Rep. Christine Scanlan and Sen. Dan Gibbs, Democrats who represent portions of the counties involved, oppose the toll plans.
Scanlan said any I-70 solution must take a broad view about the effects on businesses and residents of mountain towns.
“This is the Main Street for our mountain communities. It is not just a thoroughfare to move those destination folks,” she said.
Clear Creek County Commissioner Harry Dale said discussions about a toll should wait for the results of a study on the feasibility of adding rail service to I-70. The study, paid for by the Colorado Department of Transportation and local governments, is examining everything from high-speed rail to magnetically levitated trains. It’s expected to be done by the end of next year.
Dale said careless and aggressive drivers combined with bad weather are the main problems on I-70, and widening the road could allow people to drive even faster.
Romer said moving ahead with either toll plan now would not prevent other solutions from being enacted later.
A $25 million study done under Gov. Bill Owens, who left office in January 2007, focused mainly on widening I-70 after concluding that mass transit would be too expensive.
Some mountain communities objected. Russell George, appointed to head CDOT by Owens’ successor, Bill Ritter, backed off that plan and agreed to work with people who live along I-70.
Florine Raitano, director of the I-70 Coalition representing 35 counties along the thoroughfare, said lawmakers should wait for the group’s recommendations, which are due by the end of May.
“If it had been easy, we would have solved it by now,” she said.
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Traffic stop yields 8 pounds of meth
Alonso Verdugo-Moreno
A California man was arrested Tuesday when officers with the Western Colorado Drug Task Force found almost eight pounds of methamphetamine in a hidden compartment in the truck he was driving, according to the task force.
Alonso Verdugo-Moreno, 45, was pulled over by police for driving over the speed limit on Interstate 70 near the Utah border. According to his arrest affidavit, he told officers he was driving from California to Denver to inquire about a job. Verdugo-Moreno agreed to a vehicle search and a K-9 team identified the odor of illegal drugs.
Six cylindrical packages wrapped in cellophane were found behind a metal panel bolted behind the rear seat of the truck and tested positive for the presence of meth, according to the affidavit.
Verdugo-Moreno, was booked into the Mesa County Detention Facility on $150,000 bond. He was arrested on suspicion of two felony offenses and for speeding.
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Carbondale cops make cocaine bust
CARBONDALE — Police have arrested two men on felony drug distribution charges in Carbondale.
Ramon Alonso Escando-Baca, 32, and Eduardo Lopez Garcia, 31, were arrested after authorities got word of a possible drug deal in Carbondale.
Last Friday, Two Rivers Drug Enforcement Team (TRIDENT) officers saw two vehicles parked next to each other in the Family Dollar parking lot after hours. Officers knew one of the vehicles as having been involved in dealing in cocaine, the multijurisdictional TRIDENT agency said in a news release Wednesday.
When the driver of one of the vehicles got into the back seat of the second, officers made the two arrests. Authorities said just under a half ounce of cocaine, packaged for distribution, was recovered.
Each of the men remained in Garfield County Jail Wednesday in lieu of $15,000 bond, on charges of possessing and intending to distribute cocaine.
The Garfield County Sheriff’s Office and Glenwood Springs police assisted in the arrest.
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Udall fundraiser set for April 4
Senate candidate Congressman Mark Udall, D-Colo., will host a fundraiser April 4 at the home of state Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction.
According to an announcement mailed out this week, Udall and Buescher will be joined by former state Rep. Paul Brown, D-Whitewater, Colorado Transportation Commissioner Doug Aden and a group of other prominent local Democrats.
The next morning, Udall is scheduled to speak at the spring meeting of Club 20, a Western Slope advocacy group, at the Two Rivers Conventions Center.
— Sentinel staff
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Lage denied bond reduction
A Grand Junction man whose murder charges were dropped last week will likely stay in jail as a judge today denied a reduction to a $500,000 bond.
Logan Lage, 24, who has been in custody of the Mesa County Jail since early November, is accused of an alleged head-on crash which prosecutors say resulted in the death of a pregnant woman’s baby.
Mesa County District Court Judge Richard Gurley dismissed murder charges last week against Lage for circumstances surrounding the Nov. 6 crash on Colorado Highway 65. Lage allegedly was eluding police when his vehicle slammed into a vehicle driven by Shea Lehnen, who was 8 1/2 months pregnant, according to Lage’s arrest affidavit. Lehnen was rushed to the hospital and gave birth by Cesarean section to baby Lileigh Lehnen, who died hours later.
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Front Range lawmakers aim to derail Mesa State project
A Boulder County lawmaker will attempt to divert the $18.4 million local lawmakers secured for Mesa State College’s Saunders Field House project into other statewide building projects.
A Long Bill amendment submitted by Rep. Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville, would transfer the Saunders Field House funds into the maintenance of existing state buildings.
Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, said he will fight to abolish Weissmann’s amendment to the Long Bill if it survives the House debate.
Penry said the importance of Mesa State in helping assuage the region’s nursing shortage should help him make the argument that the state should prioritize the college over other projects.
Rep. Joel Judd, D-Denver, also has floated his own plan to divert Mesa State’s $18.4 million into a science building addition for the Auraria Higher Education Center in Denver.
Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, pledged to vigorously oppose Judd’s amendment.
“We will just remain fiscally prudent and not start a project before we have funds to complete it,” King said. “Mesa State will never talk about taxpayers money saying, ‘We’ve got $35 million, and we’re going to spend it,’ like the executive vice president of the Auraria campus did.
“It is that type rhetoric that causes taxpayers to question the common sense of government.”
Both the Weissmann and Judd amendments could come up for debate today or Thursday on the House floor.
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Recently arrested juveniles suspected of attempted robbery
The three juveniles arrested today in connection with recently lifted lockdowns at Central High School and Grand Mesa Middle School are suspected of attempting to rob a pedestrian, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Heather Benjamin, spokeswoman for the agency, said the pedestrian was walking westbound on E 1/2 Road near Central High School when the children accosted him with two airsoft pistols and a knife.
The Sheriff’s Department has declined to release the suspects’ names.
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UPDATE: School lockdown lifted after teens involved in threat arrested
Authorities have lifted a lockdown on Central High School and Grand Mesa Middle School after a group of teenagers were apparently involved this morning in a threat involving two airsoft pistols and a knife.
Mesa County sheriff’s deputies arrested two juveniles shortly after the incident happened. After setting up a perimeter in the area and bringing out a dog, deputies arrested a third juvenile around 11:45 a.m.
Central, 3130 E 1/2 Road, and Grand Mesa, 585 31 1/2 Road, were locked down for about 45 minutes.
Check back with GJSentinel.com later in the day or look for Thursday’s edition of the Sentinel for more information.
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