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Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Swimming joins RMAC as official sport
The Mesa State College women’s swimming & diving team will get to compete for a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title beginning in the 2008-09 school year, the RMAC announced today.
Both men’s and women’s swimming & diving will be an official sport in the conference for the first time since it was discontinued in 1984.
The conference will consist of six women’s teams: the Colorado School of Mines, Mesa State, the University of Nebraska-Kearney, Grand Canyon (Ariz.) University, the University of Incarnate Word and the University of Texas-Permian Basin.
Four men’s teams will make up the RMAC. They are Colorado Mines, Grand Canyon, Incarnate Word and Texas-Permian Basin.
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I-70 motorists get nailed
A portion of Interstate 70 was closed for several hours during the night, from the Utah state line to Mack, for the clean up of nails strewn across the eastbound lanes of the interstate, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
A semi trailer lost a large box of nails and at least three vehicles’ tire fell victim, troopers said.
Travel on the highway was restricted from 10:39 p.m. Tuesday to 4 a.m. today, troopers said.
The Colorado Department of Transportation did the cleanup.
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Energy costs escalate consumer prices
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer prices shot up in June at the fastest pace in 26 years with two-thirds of the surge blamed on soaring energy prices.
The Labor Department reported today that consumer prices jumped 1.1 percent last month, much worse than had been expected. Energy prices rocketed upward by 6.6 percent, reflecting big gains for gasoline, home heating oil and natural gas.
The big rise in prices cut deeply into consumers’ earning power with average weekly wages, after adjusting for inflation, dropping by 0.9 percent in June, the biggest monthly decline since 1984.
The report on retail inflation followed similarly grim news on Tuesday that wholesale prices had shot up by 1.8 percent in June.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress on Tuesday that the Fed was concerned about the threats posed by rising inflation.
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Wyoming elk feedgrounds approved
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Despite criticism from conservation groups that elk feedgrounds spread livestock disease, the U.S. Forest Service has approved Wyoming’s request to extend use of five elk winter feedgrounds in northwest Wyoming for another 20 years.
However, the agency denied or made no decision on the state’s request to expand two other feedgrounds and extend the permit for a third.
The decision is subject to appeal over the next 45 days.
Wyoming operates 22 feedgrounds that provide winter feed to some 16,000 elk. At least six of the state feedgrounds are located on the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Sublette and Teton counties.
Critics of the elk feedgrounds contend the operations promote the spread of diseases by congregating elk in the winter. Proponents say the feedgrounds keep elk away from domestic cattle and prevent massive winter kills due to starvation.
Bridger-Teton Supervisor Kniffy Hamilton signed a decision Tuesday approving the state’s continued use of the Dog Creek, Fall Creek, Fish Creek, Muddy Creek, and Upper Green River feedgrounds.
However, she declined to approve continued use of the Alkali Creek feedground, saying she needed more information.
The state also had asked to increase the size of the Fish Creek and Patrol Cabin feedgrounds because wolves were causing elk to bunch up. Patrol Cabin is on state land now, but the proposed expansion would have extended it onto forest land.
Hamilton rejected the Fish Creek expansion and part of the proposed Patrol Cabin expansion.
“I decided not to permit an increase in authorized area at this time because of the environmental effects to vegetation and wildlife habitat that result from this intensive use,” Hamilton said in a statement.
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Crews battle fire near Army base
FORT CARSON, Colo. (AP) — A 300-acre wildfire burning on Fort Carson grounds is about 50 percent contained.
The blaze is burning in grass and trees on the south part of the Army base. Authorities believe the fire was sparked by a lawn mower.
Fort Carson spokeswoman Brandy Gill says the Army base was notified of the blaze about 10 this morning. She says the fire is burning in grass and trees near the south part of the base. No structures are threatened.
Smoke from the fire briefly closed Colorado 115 this afternoon.
About 60 firefighters from Fort Carson and departments from Colorado Springs and El Paso County are fighting the blaze.
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Summit County wants dam road open
DENVER (AP) — Summit County authorities are demanding that the Denver Water Board immediately open a road along Dillon Reservoir or they will issue an order that could lead to criminal charges.
The Lake Dillon Fire Protection District issued a notice of violation to the water board Tuesday. Denver and Summit County officials met during the day to discuss long-term solutions to the dispute over the road.
Dillon Reservoir in Summit County is the primary source of Denver’s water. The water board put up gates because of security concerns.
Summit County says the gates violate fire codes and are a safety hazard.
The Denver Water Board says it’s reviewing the notice.
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State seeks drought relief from Fed
DENVER (AP) — Colorado state officials are asking a federal judge to allow farmers and ranchers hit hard by drought to use land idled under a federal program for livestock grazing.
State Agriculture Commissioner John Stulp said Tuesday that his agency has filed a brief asking U.S. District Judge John Coughenour in Seattle to lift a temporary injunction stopping Conservation Reserve Program land from being opened nationwide for grazing.
The injunction imposed last week temporarily blocks an emergency program by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for hay production and grazing. Coughenour scheduled a full hearing on the plan Thursday in the lawsuit by the National Wildlife Federation and some of its affiliates.
The injunction doesn’t affect six Colorado counties where rangeland was opened through an emergency order by the federal Farm Service Agency. But Stulp said farmers and ranchers across Colorado’s eastern plains are struggling to feed their livestock because of drought and are being prevented from using the Conservation Reserve Program land by the injunction.
“We have had calls from nearly all the counties in eastern Colorado,” Stulp said. The Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers not to plant crops to return fields to native vegetation. The land is important to wildlife.
The conservation groups suing to stop use of the land say the government should have done an environmental review before acting.
Some of the CRP land was opened in Yuma and Phillips counties in northeast Colorado because of flooding in adjoining Nebraska areas. Sites were made available for emergency grazing and hay production in four drought-stricken southeast Colorado counties — Baca, Bent, Kiowa, Prowers.
Stulp said Prowers County, where he farms and ranches, has received less than 20 percent of the typical precipitation at least since the first of the year. He said some people are selling their animals or considering it.
“If this doesn’t work, people intend to sell a lot more livestock in the next couple weeks,” Stulp said. “It’s detrimental to the local economy.”
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U.S. troops retreat from Afghan base
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. and Afghan troops have abandoned a remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan where militants killed nine American soldiers this week, officials said today.
Compounding the military setback, insurgents quickly seized the village of Wanat in Nuristan province after driving out the handful of police left behind to defend government offices, Afghan officials said.
Some 50 officers were headed to the area to try to regain control, said Ghoolam Farouq, a senior provincial police official.
Sunday’s attack by some 200 militants armed with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars was the deadliest for the U.S. military in Afghanistan in three years. Rebels fought their way into the newly established base, wounding another 15 Americans and suffering heavy casualties of their own, before the defenders and warplanes could drive them back.
The assault underlined how Islamic militants appear to be gaining strength nearly eight years after the ouster of the Taliban, and the difficulties facing foreign and Afghan forces trying to defeat them.
NATO said the post, which lies amid precipitous mountains close to the Pakistan border, had been vacated, but insisted that international and Afghan troops will “retain a strong presence in that area with patrolling and other means.”
“We are committed, now more than ever, to establishing a secure environment that will allow even greater opportunities for development and a stronger Afghan governmental influence,” NATO spokesman Capt. Mike Finney said.
Omar Sami, spokesman for the Nuristan provincial governor, said American and Afghan soldiers quit the base on Tuesday afternoon. He said they took the district mayor with them.
Sami said U.S. troops armed local police with more than 20 guns before they left, but that the officers had fled the village and crossed into neighboring Kunar province when 100 militants moved into Wanat.
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Samsung pres. slapped with hefty fines
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court handed a suspended sentence to former Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee today, leaving the country’s iconic business figure free from prison while convicting him for evading taxes.
The Seoul Central District Court found Lee guilty of not paying about 47 billion won ($46 million) in taxes and fined him 110 billion won ($109 million).
But the court did not send Lee to prison, saying he just kept the assets in question after inheriting them under borrowed names from his late father — Samsung’s founder — and that he did not actively seek to evade the taxes.
Prosecutors had demanded a seven-year sentence and 350 billion won ($347 million) in fines against Lee.
“The extent of his crime is not serious enough to sentence him to prison,” Judge Min Byung-hun said. He sentenced Lee to three years in prison and then suspended the sentence for five years, meaning Lee will not go to jail as long as he avoid further legal woes.
South Korean judges have repeatedly shown leniency in high-profile corporate cases, refusing to send tycoons to prison for fears of the effects it would have on the country’s economy.
“I’m sorry for causing trouble to the people,” Lee said after the verdict, appearing relieved.
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Changing of the guard in Iraq
BAGHDAD (AP) — Coalition forces have handed the Iraqi government control of a province south of Baghdad, reflecting security improvements across the country.
U.S. and Polish forces operated in the mostly Shiite province of Qadisiyah, the tenth of 18 provinces to revert to Iraqi authority. The handover comes as Iraqi officials pressure the United States to agree to a specific timeline to withdraw American forces.
Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the American commander in the provincial capital of Diwaniyah, was at the handover ceremony today. He said Qadisiyah has made big security gains in the past year, and that local and provincial governments are working well.
Qadisiyah had been the scene of fighting among Shiite factions, and U.S. and Iraqi troops launched a big operation there last year. The handover was delayed from last month.
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N.Y. woman gets prison for adoption fraud
NEW YORK (AP) — A woman who lied to adopt 11 disabled children whom authorities say she abused while she raked in more than $1 million in subsidies was sentenced Tuesday to nearly 11 years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman said Judith Leekin engaged in “a heartless, dangerous money-driven scheme” when she used fake names and lies about the children to defraud social service agencies in New York City and New York state.
Leekin, 63, has been accused of treating the children like prisoners, subjecting them to beatings and handcuffs while they stayed in a locked room without food, depriving them of medical and dental care and not sending them to school. Authorities said the children were so physically and emotionally abused they can never recover.
Leekin looked down and repeatedly dabbed her eyes and nose with tissue as Berman ordered her to serve 10 years and 10 months, nearly three years above the maximum penalty she had agreed to in a plea deal with prosecutors.
The judge also ordered Leekin to forfeit $1.68 million to benefit the children.
“This fraud turns the philosophy of adoption and the need to provide long-term care to children — so important to our social services system … it turns that system on its head,” he said.
Before Leekin was sentenced, she sobbed and apologized for committing wire and mail fraud and promised to surrender all her assets. She pleaded guilty in May.
“I love my children,” she said, “and I miss them.”
The children, now ages 16 to 28, suffer from a variety of severe mental and physical disabilities, including autism and Down syndrome. Leekin began adopting them in 1988, when she lived in New York City. A decade later, she moved to Port St. Lucie, Fla. Florida authorities have charged her with aggravated child abuse and aggravated abuse of disabled adults, and she could face as much as 120 years in prison if she is convicted of those and other charges.
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Fed chair faces another day before Congress
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies for a second day before Congress amid a backdrop of fading confidence in the U.S. economy.
The Fed chief appears before the House Financial Services Committee on today — one day after delivering a sober assessment of the country’s economic problems to lawmakers on the Senate side.
Caught between risky cross currents of plodding growth and rising inflation, Fed policymakers are facing “significant challenges” as they try to find a way to right the economy, Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.
The Fed can’t afford to lower rates again to shore things up because it will aggravate inflation. On the other hand, boosting rates to fend off higher prices would deal a setback to the fragile economy and the already crippled housing market.
Against that background, most economists predict Bernanke and his colleagues will leave rates alone when it meets next on Aug. 5.
It’s difficult to chart a course when uncertainty abounds, Bernanke said.
Over the rest of this year, the economy will grow “appreciably below its trend rate” mostly because of continued weakness in housing markets, high energy prices and tight credit conditions.
At the same time, inflation has remained high and “seems likely to move temporarily higher in the near term,” Bernanke warned lawmakers.
Consumer prices are expected to climb higher in June, while industrial production probably will be flat — fresh signs of the twin problems plaguing the country. Those economic reports will be released today.
On Tuesday, the Labor Department reported wholesale prices, driven by skyrocketing gas and food costs, rose 9.2 percent in the 12 months ending June — the fastest in a quarter-century.
“The economy continues to face numerous difficulties, including ongoing strains in financial markets, declining housing prices, a softening labor market and rising prices of oil, food and other commodities,” Bernanke said Tuesday.
Righting wobbly financial markets is another important consideration to getting the economy back on track, he said.
“In general, healthy economic growth depends on well-functioning financial markets,” Bernanke said. “Consequently, helping the financial markets to return to more normal functioning will continue to be a top priority,” he said.
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A.L. defeats N.L. in 15
NEW YORK (AP) — J.D. Drew wondered whether he’d be pitching soon. Clint Hurdle sounded out David Wright about his mound prowess.
It was the 15th inning of the final All-Star game at Yankee Stadium, and the bullpens were empty. As goodbyes go, this was a long, long one.
“It was just crazy how it seemed like it lasted forever,” Texas second baseman Ian Kinsler said. “It was the last year for Yankee Stadium, the last All-Star game, and it’s kind of fitting that it seemed like it lasted forever.”
Not quite.
Justin Morneau slid home just in time on Michael Young’s sacrifice fly in the 15th inning, giving the American League a 4-3 victory that extended its unbeaten streak to 12.
In a game that began at dusk Tuesday and ended at 1:37 a.m. this morning, the grand old ballpark was half-empty when Young stopped a 4-hour, 50-minute marathon on the 453rd pitch. Given the ticket prices — $525-$725 in the lower deck, $150 in the bleachers — fans deserved something extra. They got it.
Many of the 49 Hall of Famers honored during pregame pageantry likely were in bed by the final out. For Boston’s Terry Francona, the AL manager, this took on the stress of a game that counts in the standings.
“I told Jim Leyland, ‘I’ll quit cursing, I’ll quit chewing,’” he said, referring to the Detroit manager who was part of his coaching staff. “I lied.”
The NL was given a pregame pep talk by Hall of Famer Ernie Banks, whose motto is: “Let’s play two!” And they nearly did, matching the NL’s 2-1 win at Anaheim in 1967 for the longest All-Star game.
Winner Scott Kazmir and loser Brad Lidge were the last available pitchers. Some started to worry this would replicate 2002’s 7-7, 12-inning tie in Milwaukee, which caused the commissioner’s office to expand the rosters.
Drew has reminded Francona that he could pitch in an emergency.
“Just give me a holler out here,” the Red Sox right fielder remembered saying. “After it started to come to fruition, I was a little bit nervous.”
Hurdle sought out Wright, the New York Mets third baseman who was a late addition to the roster as an injury replacement.
“I told David, ‘You were the last pick, I went and got you. Have you ever pitched in an All-Star game?” Hurdle said. “I was doing Chinese arithmetic from the sixth inning on. I felt like I was in algebra class. It got wild.”
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Tough times for Chicago P.D.
CHICAGO (AP) — Just months into his job, the outsider brought in to shake up Chicago’s police department is on the hot seat over an increase in homicides and other violent crimes and a decrease in gun seizures, arrests and even traffic stops.
In a sometimes tense hearing on Tuesday, City Council members grilled Superintendent Jody Weis about moves such as bringing in a slew of commanders within weeks of taking over, with at least one alderman suggesting Weis put commanders in positions they weren’t prepared for.
The hearing marked the most visible signal yet of the intense pressure that Weis is under. It has only mounted since early this month when gunfire left one person dead and others injured near the Taste of Chicago — a huge festival held in the same park in which thousands would gather if the city hosts the 2016 Olympic Games.
It also was the most public display of concerns about Weis’ performance since Mayor Richard Daley hired him with a mandate to repair the department’s image tarnished by a string of incidents — including an off-duty officer whose alleged beating of a female bartender was videotaped and shown around the world.
Since he took over in February, Weis has rankled both aldermen and members of his department with moves such as replacing 21 of 25 district commanders, talk of getting officers into better shape and his decision to move some of them into the streets and out from behind desks they’d been sitting at for years.
He further angered some within the rank-and-file when he asked federal officials to investigate an officer who’d already pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery and was serving a two-year suspension.
On Tuesday, the alderman who in May told of hearing about officers who didn’t pull their weapons as quickly as they should for fear of being disciplined by the new administration came armed with statistics.
Alderman Isaac Carothers said that even as violent crimes rose — homicides, for example, are up 13 percent — police took some 500 fewer guns off the street this year compared to the same period last year. And he told Weis that the number of gang interventions was down.
“Are you aware that arrests are down and police appear to be doing less?” he asked Weis, sounding like a prosecutor instead of the head of a city council committee. Weis acknowledged those figures.
“I do find that very troubling,” he said.
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