City Gives Humane Society $18K for budget

With the economy going to the dogs, the
Fort Morgan Humane Society could not talk the city into upping its funding for 2011. The society will get to use the animal shelter rent free, and the city will pay the society more than 18 thousand dollars cash for its part of the work the shelter does to keep the animals and the people safe.

Morgan Co Budget Cuts Deep

Morgan County's 2011 budget is more than two million dollars less than that of 2010. Commissioners approved the budget at this week's meeting. It totals more than 28 million dollars. Commissioners said all departments will be living with cuts and the general fund is down by just over a million dollars. The cuts will affect all departments' operating expenses.

Putting Up a Really Big Sign

How do you get people to come to downtown Sterling? Put up a really big sign. The actual suggestion from the CSU/DOLA student project was a sign of a monumental scale -- 20 to 30 feet -- made of mudstone and place where nobody would miss it. That was just one of the suggestions that city council heard at this week's meeting. Other suggestions included improving the area near the river bridges, like plantings, new pedestrian railings and the big sign. That, students in the project said, would make the highway look like a boulevard.

Cold Case Murder Goes to Weld County Jury

A cold case murder from 1977 is now in the hands of a Weld County jury. Marcello Maldonado-Perez is accused of raping and killing 22-year-old Mary Pierce, who was kidnapped from her job as a 7-Eleven clerk. Her naked body was dumped in a cornfield. The jury began deliberating the 33-year-old murder case at the Justice Center in Greeley Wednesday afternoon after closing arguments in the morning.

Maldonado-Perez listened as prosecutors used their closing arguments to remind jurors that DNA tests show the accused murderer’s blood on Pierce’s 7-Eleven work shirt and that DNA from semen on her body also matched Maldonado-Perez.

Maldonado-Perez was just 19 years old at the time. His defense attorney closed by recounting Maldonado-Perez’s testimony Tuesday — that two men kidnapped him along with the eventual murder victim and forced him — at gunpoint — to rape Pierce before he eventually escaped, thereby explaining the blood and the semen.

Groundwater Threatening Sterling Residents

It’s been a bone dry start to winter on Colorado’s Eastern Plains, but some Sterling homeowners are having to bail out their basements. The flooded homes are on the northwest corner of town. The problem is rising groundwater. Since 2003 the ground water has risen five feet and about 20 homes have been damaged.
The water creeps in under the floors, rotting the walls and breeds mold. Several residents told the city council recently that if things didn't improve, they'd have to move.

Mail Thieves Getting Some Help

Denver-area mail carriers are delivering a warning. They say local mail thieves are using rat traps slathered with sticky substances to swipe mail from boxes in some neighborhoods. They are also brazenly stealing mail from boxes sitting in front of some U.S. Post Offices. Agents say most boxes are equipped with anti-theft devices so while they warn the public, they say outside mail boxes are still safe to use.

In Remote Eagle County, Search On For Missing Plane

A search for a missing twin-engine plane continues this morning in Eagle County. The Beech 60 was on final approach to Eagle County Regional yesterday in late afternoon when it vanished from radar. Over 40 people from seven different agencies were on hand yesterday to aid in the search. The plane is registered to a Texas man but local officials have no idea who was onboard.

Chemical Manufacturer Cited In Death Of Videographer

A Corona-based chemical manufacturer is facing over 90-thousand dollars in fines for allegedly creating hazardous working conditions that led to the death of a Colorado man. Lucas Oil Production Studios has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for incidents on June 25th outside Lakewood, Colorado. The production company was setting up a film shoot when a 57-year-old videographer, Stuart Keene, fell to his death from a scissor lift. Federal officials say the guardrails on the lift had been removed, and that the company didn't train employees on how to operate all-terrain scissor-lifts.

"Birther" Soldier From Greeley Convicted At Fort Meade, Maryland

An Army doctor from Greeley, who professes so-called "birther" beliefs has been convicted of failing to report for duty. A military jury at Fort Meade, Maryland, convicted Lieutenant Colonel Terrence Lakin. Lakin intentionally missed a flight to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, ahead of his planned deployment to Afghanistan. He claimed he's not convinced President Obama, the commander-in-chief, was born in the U.S. Birthers claim that technically makes Obama unqualified to issue military orders. The Army physician Tuesday pled guilty to a charge of failing to obey orders. The trial wrapped up Wednesday with his conviction on the additional charge. Lakin faces up to three-and-a-half-years in a military prison.