Western Colorado

---

Twelve-year-old thrilled to get tickets

Rachel Gallagher worked too hard this past political season to watch slip away her dream of witnessing her candidate, President-elect Barack Obama, take the nation’s helm at the inauguration ceremony Tuesday in Washington, D.C. So when ...

---

Groups sue over oil shale plans

Environmental groups Friday filed two lawsuits challenging the federal government’s push toward possible commercial oil shale development. They announced their legal action late Friday afternoon, just hours after the Bureau of Land ...

---

Clifton residents note rise in gang activity

Since moving in June into their $800-a-month apartment just south of E Road on 32 Road, Jason and Lori repeatedly have been awakened late nights by gunshots, junkies yelling at their dealers and police chasing criminals. “They are ...

---

Tow-truck driver sees oddities, heartbreaks at accident scenes

For almost 30 years Larry Walker drove a big rig across the western United States. Two years ago, he changed careers. Instead of an 18-wheeler, he now drives a tow truck and has pulled twisted metal from some of the most horrific accidents ...

---

New coal mine may produce soon

A new coal mine north of Grand Junction could be as close as four years from full production, if it clears environmental and market hurdles. The Bureau of Land Management has opened a 60-day comment period on the Red Cliff Mine, which is to ...

---

Man sentenced to probation in teen sex sting

A Colorado Springs man who drove to Grand Junction in an attempt to meet and have sex with a 14-year-old girl in a local park was sentenced Friday to 10 years to life on probation. Instead of meeting the girl, Metzler was met and arrested by ...

---

Find on Roan could help oil shale work

To vandals, they were just rocks and rubble. To geologists, the drilling core samples and well cuttings that until recently were stored at the old Anvil Points mine west of Rifle might contain clues to help open the door to commercial ...

---

Brady Trucking wins round in riverfront flap

A petition that would have overturned industrial zoning along the Colorado River in south downtown failed after Grand Junction City Clerk Stephanie Tuin disqualified some signatures. Her ruling left petitioners short of the minimum number ...

---

Explosion blasts roof off home; renter OK

A Grand Junction man suffered only minor injuries in a propane explosion inside his home Friday afternoon. An official with the Clifton Fire Protection District said the man is “very lucky” to be alive. Darwin Easter had minor ...

---

GJ MAN HELPS TO PLAN MILITARY INAUGURATION PARTY

Last week in Washington, D.C., Naval Reserve officer and Grand Junction local Lt. Marshall Metli got a surprise visit from his soon-to-be new boss — President-elect Barack Obama. “I was really impressed by how personable he was. ...

---

---