Brush Schools May Have to Cut More

The Brush Board of Education found out last week that it now needs to cut as much as another quarter of a million dollars from the budget. Board members said they didn't have that information at the last meeting, but the cuts are because there needs to be a total of a million dollars in cuts because of cuts from the Board of Cooperative Educational Services and Title funds. School officials say they may have to look again at cutting some full time employees.

Private attorneys appointed in police slaying

A judge has appointed private attorneys to represent a Colorado fugitive who faces the death penalty in the slaying of a Chattanooga police officer.

Jesse Mathews entered no plea at his Friday arraignment, where attorneys Lee Davis and Bryan Hoss were appointed to represent him.

Mathews is charged in the April 2 shooting death of police Sgt. Tim Chapin during a robbery.

Judge Barry Steelman set an Aug. 16 hearing and Davis said there will be a change of venue motion.

Hamilton County public defenders had represented Mathews since his arrest but the judge replaced them due to staffing issues in that office and their claims after previous death penalty cases "that they committed short-comings." The public defenders left without comment and did not return a telephone message.

CO gov. signs budget cuts into law

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has signed into law a state budget for next year that trims spending and will likely force teacher layoffs and the closure of some schools and state parks.

The spending plan for the fiscal year beginning this summer was signed on Friday and is the biggest accomplishment of the Legislature this year. The budget includes deep cuts to education, health care and other government services in order to balance the books as required by law.

The budget cuts $250 million in K-12 education, cuts other state agencies across the board, from prisons to colleges, and again takes drilling and mining taxes from local governments to balance the books.

State: Heavy snowpack means avalanche danger

State officials are warming that a deep snowpack and warming temperatures could combine to unleash large and dangerous avalanches.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center says record snowpack in parts of the northern and central mountains could produce avalanches in areas that haven't seen any in decades.

The Center said that an unusually large avalanche on April 30 destroyed a high voltage tower and century-old trees in Summit County's Peru Creek drainage area near Montezuma.

Officials are urging the public and field workers to be prepared for very large avalanches, as well as mudslides and debris flows.

3 companies fined by EPA for bad gas

Western Convenience Stores Inc. and two other companies have been fined $2.5 million for allegedly illegally mixing and distributing more than a million gallons of bad gasoline.

Environmental Protection Agency officials in court documents filed last week say Western Convenience, Offen Petroleum Inc. and Houston-based Rocky Mountain Pipeline System LLC mixed certified gasoline with ethanol and a gasoline byproduct from natural gas production. The Denver Post reports that federal officials say the mix caused vehicles that filled up at some retail stations in Colorado and Nebraska to spew as much as 10 tons of excess pollutants into the air.

EPA regulations prohibit refining and selling gas exceeding sulfur, benzene and volatility standards.

In a statement, Western Convenience says none of the alleged violations were intentional.

Redistricting Debate Likely To Take Up Much Of Session's End

State legislators are expecting a battle over new congressional boundaries will take up most of their time in the last days of this legislative session. The session has to end by midnight Wednesday. Republican House Speaker Frank McNulty tells the "Denver Post" House Republicans will pitch the redistricting bill for debate today but Democratic Senate Majority Leader John Morse says he's unsure as to when he'll bring up the Democrats' version. It's expected both proposals will pass in one chamber but die in the other.

NJC Students Visit SFC

This will keep you on the straight and narrow: take a tour of the Sterling Correctional Facility. That's what several students at Northeastern Junior College did last week. Warden Kevin Milyard invited the students to see where some of the toughest criminals are housed. Milyard talked to students about the fact that prisoners have no privacy, something that free people enjoy. He also talked about the comforts of home, for a prisoner are considerably less than what students enjoy on the campus. The invitation was in return for Milyard's being invited to speak at NJC.

Crone: Red Flag Warning Today

There is a RED FLAG WARNING for Morgan County for today. Sheriff Jim Crone says it will last from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. The sheriff' says NO open burning is allowed.

Skydiver Killed During Dive on Saturday

An experienced skydiver was killed on Saturday during a died at the Fort Morgan Airport. The Morgan County Sheriff's office says the call came in around 3:45 p.m. and when deputies and first responders arrived, they found 27 year old Brady Kane of Erie. They tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Witnesses said he was trying a "swooping" dive when he apparently dove too low and hit the ground. They told officials that there didn't appear to be any equipment malfunction. Divers with Kane said he was experienced, having done some five thousand dives.

Responding was the Morgan County Sheriff Department, Fort Morgan Fire Department, Morgan County Ambulance Service, and the Morgan County Coroner Office. Investigation is continuing by the Morgan County Coroner Office and the Morgan County Sheriff Department.