Pace Bates, right, walks off the stage for the second time this week Saturday after receiving his degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Colorado through a partnership with Colorado Mesa University.

Central High School seniors walk between the school’s initials and into the school’s old gym Thursday during graduation practice, just as they will during the actual ceremony Monday at Stocker Stadium.

Members of three local bellydance troupes perform a flash “shimmy” mob between PETCO and Michael’s Arts and Crafts, 2464 Highway 6 & 50, to celebrate World Belly Dance Day and raise funds for Latimer House Saturday.

Sarah Shrader, No. 955, of Grand Junction wears a T-shirt with with a heart on the front that says Destry Sage, the name of a friend’s 4-year-old who died of heart failure, as she waits Saturday for the Grand Valley Marathon to begin in downtown Palisade.

The Max Wagner Quartet from Estes Park play on the main stage on the opning day of the 2012 Downtown Grand Junction Art & Jazz Festival.Music starts again on Saturday at noon.Walt Smth & Friends close the fesitval on Sunday at 2pm.Grand Junction fav Hazel Miller closed Friday nights show.

Holding a wrench painted in the colors of the American flag, John Davis of Grand Junction stands by the motor home he has been driving during his campaign tour. Davis has been traveling since January 2011, aiming to visit 2,000 of the nation’s 3,141 counties in 42 states as he campaigns for the presidency of the United States.

Danny Martinez of Cedaredge High School tries to clear the bar set at 6 feet, 8 inches during the 3A high jump competition at the Class 2A-4A Western Slope League track meet Friday at Stocker Stadium..

Members of the Frank Bregar Orchestra get ready to practice.

Mary Katharine Hamm, who writes for the Weekly Standard and The Daily Caller, speaks to a rally sponsored by Americans for Prosperity at the old courthouse Thursday evening. Speakers encouraged a attendees to urge government to stay out of the way of energy development, especially in western Colorado.

A blue bird sets in a dead tree at the top of Douglas Pass along Colorado State Route 139. The bird spent about fifteen minutes cleaning under its wings.

Elementary education major Kelly Husky, second from left, signs to receive her cap and gown for graduation from University Center bookstore employee Beth McBride, right, while biology major Vanessa Stone, left, waits for Husky after picking up her own graduation attire and business marketing senior Joe Schmidtbauer stands in line for his on Thursday.

Kristie Parkinson stopped at the Miche Bags vendor during The Daily Sentinel’s annual Head To Toe Women’s Expo at Two Rivers Convention Center Thursday afternoon.

Soprano Teressa Winslow sings an aria from Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Peasant Cantata” as baritone James Werner waits to perform a recitative during Wednesday’s final performance of A Little Noon Music’s season at First United Methodist Church.

Jerry and Denise Beard enjoy the view from the Lincoln Park Tower Hospitality Level during at the first party for the facility. Anode Systems Company rented the room for a customer appreciation open house on the Wednesday evening

Grand Junction mayor Bill Pitts cuts the ribbon Wednesday for the Lincoln Park Tower.

Krissi Prohaska, an Ariel Clinical Services volunteer, wash a car outside Homeward Bound Wednesday morning.

A homeless man holds a sign “Please Help Hungry” on his knees at the Eastbound offramp at I-70 and Horizon Drive. He said he was on his knees because he was begging and praying

Early season angler Jarrett Welch of Fruit readies his tackle and rods while wife Lisa Welch photographs the wildlife at Sunset Lake on Grand Mesa. Colorado Parks and Wildlife hasn’t yet started stocking the higher lakes but that should change as backcountry access opens.

A nest of four baby owls check out the photographer near 25 Road in north Grand Junction as the mother sat in a near by tree.

District 51 middle and high school students from the Whitewater area watch first responders take a man out of his car after he ran into the back and ended up underneath the bus on U.S. Highway 50 Tuesday afternoon. The man was taken to the hospital. No students were hurt.

Don Hoisington eyes an axle of wheels that will be placed beneath the Bunting Avenue house next door to his home while Bill Bailey of Bailey House Movers carries a block at the other end of the structure as the contractor slides the freed house toward the street. The next day Bailey loaded the house onto a semi trailer and hauled to its new lot in the 1900 block of Grand Avenue.

The Mesa Hotline School is taking place this week at the instruction facility, 3210 E Road. For the next two weeks, the school will teach electrical workers safety and industry standards.

Colorado Mesa University criminal justice student Nathan Cutts catches up with a study group on his phone during the spring semester finals week. He has four finals he will take this week.

CMU student Chris Rowley.

Three-year-old Jayden Fowler from Grand Junction gets her face painted by Nariah Prinster with Creative Avenues during the Earth Day celebration on Main Street Sunday afternoon.

A couple rolls their luggage into the terminal at Grand Junction Regional Airport as they catch an afternoon flight out of Grand Junction.

Photos by DEAN HUMPHREY/The Daily Sentinel—Students are caught in motion walking between classes Thursday in Houston Hall. Enrollment at Colorado’s colleges and universities is on the rise, up about 20 percent from 2007.

Colorado Mesa University students walk to classes Thursday outside Houston Hall.