Army chief: No plan to expand Colorado training site

The Army has halted its contentious plan to expand a southeast Colorado training site for at least five years, Army Secretary John McHugh told the state's U.S. senators in a letter made public Tuesday.

The assurance included in a letter dated Monday to Democratic Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet is the highest-level pledge to date that the Army has paused its 5-year campaign to expand the 370-square-mile Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site. The site is about 120 miles south of Fort Carson, whose soldiers train there.

In January, Brig. Gen. James Doty, Fort Carson's acting commander, told the Pueblo Chieftain that the plan was off the table because of looming budget cuts and because the Army had decided that future large-scale, live-fire exercises would take place only at one post in California and one in Louisiana.

McHugh's letter, released by both senators, didn't discuss why the Army had dropped the expansion plan but said Pinon Canyon remains "critical" to train Fort Carson troops.

At one time, the Army proposed enlarging the site to more than 1,000 square miles but later reduced that to about 525 square miles. Army leaders said they needed more land to accommodate more troops and new weapons and tactics.

Farmers and ranchers near the site said taking even the lesser amount of land out of agricultural production could undercut the area's economy.

Lon Robertson, a southeast Colorado rancher and president of the Pinon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition, said McHugh's letter didn't go far enough.

"It doesn't do anything to give us any sense of assurance that we're not going to have them breathing down our necks after five years," he said.

Robertson said the Defense Department should withdraw a waiver it granted the Army in about 2006 to pursue acquisition of land around Pinon Canyon despite a military-wide prohibition on buying more acreage.

With the waiver, "it's like they have the approval to go ahead any time they have the money," Robertson said.

Army spokesman Dave Foster said he couldn't immediately answer whether the waiver was still in force or whether it could be withdrawn.

Loopy: Reapply For Your Jobs

Colorado's governor is asking senior managers in state government to reapply for their jobs. Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper has told 96 people in the state's "senior executive service" to reapply for their jobs, and he'll decide who stays by midsummer. The Denver Post first reported the move today.

Man presumably shot by Mexican thugs still missing

The widow of a man presumably gunned down on a lake on the Texas-Mexico border wants federal officials to do more to find her husband's body and bring closure to her and his family.

Tiffany Hartley says the body of her husband, David, remains missing and nothing's been done since Mexican officials called off the search on Falcon Lake Oct. 14. Hartley says her husband was shot to death Sept. 30 by Mexican pirates chasing them on speedboats as they returned on Jet Skis from a trip to photograph a historic Mexican church.

Hartley will attend a rally at noon Wednesday at the west steps of the state Capitol to call attention to her case.

Colorado ag officials ask brewers to try millet

Colorado agriculture officials are turning to brewers to see if they can help boost sales of millet.

Colorado produced a little more than 60 percent of all millet in the U.S. last year.

The cereal grain is only a $50 million crop for the United States, while wheat is worth several billion dollars each year. But Timothy Larsen of the state agriculture department says it represents an area where rural Colorado businesses can grow.

Millet is often used as birdseed, but Colorado agriculture officials have been promoting its gluten-free qualities and working with Colorado State University to develop recipes for it.

They've also asked Colorado Malting Co. in Alamosa to malt it for beer companies to try as a substitute for barley or wheat.

Colo. gov. touring forest to learn about wildfires

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is in the mountains to learn about suppressing wildfires.

Hickenlooper planned to visit forests around Dillon in Summit County Wednesday to learn about efforts to clear dead wood in forests damages heavily by bark beetles.

The governor has other events planned in the mountains. After his wildfire tour, Hickenlooper heads to the Buena Vista Correctional Facility. Then he planned a town hall-style meeting in Breckenridge and a trip to Avon to address the Vail Valley Rotary Club.

Hickenlooper scheduled visits Thursday to Glenwood Springs and Minturn.

Colorado Scientist Honored

A researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden is being honored for his work in solar energy.

Arthur Nozik will receive the award from the American Chemical Society's Northeastern Section at Harvard University April 14. He and his colleagues have identified processes in solar cells that could increase solar conversion efficiency by using more of the sun's energy to produce electricity or fuel.

Nozik is also a professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Federal energy officials say Nozik and fellow researchers at the university have reported a breakthrough that could lead to a 35 percent increase in the light-harvesting yield in solar cells and fuels.

Nozik is receiving the Gustavus John Esselen Award for Chemistry in the Public Interest.

Ayres Elementary Helps Japan

Students all across the US are finding ways to help Japan, and Sterling will not be left out. Students at Ayers Elementary are part of Kids in Colorado Care which teaches students that they're part of a world community and can help in other parts of the world from right here at home. Students at Ayres are following a Japanese belief that if a thousand paper cranes are folded, wishes come true. So they folded and they hope to raise a thousand dollars to help Japan. The thousand cranes will sell for a dollar each, and all the money will go to the Red Cross for Japan Relief.

CU Study To Help U.S. Soldiers

A study by the University of Colorado's Altitude Research Center could help soldiers overseas. Researchers are trying to find a simple test that can be used on soldiers to check their aptitude for dealing with high-altitude conditions, such as those experienced in combat situations in Afghanistan. They'd like to find out which soldiers are more vulnerable to symptoms like headaches, nausea and fatigue. A four-million-dollar grant from the Defense Department will pay for the study.

State Workers, Agencies Anxiously Await Budget Cut Proposals

Colorado workers and agencies are anxiously waiting to see how much cash their departments will lose in the coming year's budget. It's unknown when the Joint Budget Committee will show its budget to the state Senate after it missed a deadline to do so last week. JBC member Senator Kent Lambert, a Colorado Springs Republican, told the "Gazette" the state is moving as fast as it can. He says the state has an "historic" budget issue with over a one-billion-dollar shortfall and conflicting budget predictions.