Western Colorado

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Downtown greets Legends series monuments

With a tug and a spin, former Daily Sentinel publisher Walter Walker was unveiled to applause Friday from nearly 200 locals gathered downtown. The sculpture, perched atop a spinning pedestal, is the first of five Legends of the Grand Valley ...

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February hearing set on question of retrial for Blagg

Michael Blagg, a Grand Junction man convicted of shooting and killing his wife, Jennifer, is getting another chance at having a new trial. A hearing has been set for Feb. 17 on whether Blagg can have a retrial in the 2001 slaying. That ...

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Residents of Loma want to keep town lean

Residents living in the far west end of the Grand Valley approved increasing the size of the Lower Valley Fire Protection District by one-third, but a recent survey of Loma residents indicates that’s about all they want expanded. The ...

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ACCUSED OF KILLING HUBBY, WIFE APPEARS IN COURT

Whitewater woman Miriam Helmick was advised Friday on murder charges for allegedly killing her husband, Alan Helmick. Alan Helmick, 62, died from a gunshot wound to the head in his Whitewater home June 10. Miriam Helmick, 51, who appeared ...

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Electric bills expected to fall

Typical Colorado residents likely will pay about 13 percent less for electricity during the first quarter of 2009. Xcel Energy filed its quarterly rate proposal Friday with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, and it requested lowering ...

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SECOND-LARGEST GAS PRODUCER TO RUN HALF AS MANY RIGS LOCALLY

EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) next year plans to operate fewer than half as many drilling rigs as it has averaged for this year in western Colorado, and it will slash its capital spending in the region by nearly $200 million. The cutback is ...

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St. Mary’s honored for heart, pneumonia care

St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical Center has received a national award recognizing the value and efficiency of its services. The Leapfrog Group announced Thursday that St. Mary’s was one of 13 hospitals in the nation to receive its ...

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Overall Dist. 51 mill levy to drop

The School District 51 Board of Education on Thursday certified the mill levy rates that will be used for 2009 property tax collection. The board acted four days before a state deadline. The board set the levy for its general fund at 28.9 ...

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Accused kidnapper of girl has hearing postponed

A plea hearing was postponed Thursday for a Grand Junction man accused of attempting to kidnap a 9-year-old girl by placing her in the trunk of his car and driving away. Michael Byerrum, 40, is expected to enter a plea in his case during a ...

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Man who was subject of raid now selling his firearms

The “Infamous Bill Martin” will auction off more than 150 of the guns the Mesa County SWAT team and federal investigators seized more than a year ago, according to a flier from United Auctioneers. Martin said with law enforcement ...

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