Columbine High yearbook pulled from auction

DENVER (AP) — An auction house has pulled a 1999 Columbine High School yearbook from auction after a former student said it was stolen.

Sarah Bay says she was surprised when bidding reached $700 on an online auction site. She said it isn't for sale. The person who took the yearbook has not been identified.

Bay was a junior at Columbine High School in 1999, during the worst school shooting in American history.

Her yearbook, printed just before the shooting, features smiling photos of the murderers and the 13 people they murdered before killing themselves.

Nate Sanders, who runs the auction site, tells KMGH-TV he had no idea the yearbook was stolen.

Sanders said he bought it on eBay for about $1,700 from the person he thought was the owner.

Former CU football player faces charges

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A former University of Colorado football player has pleaded not guilty to charges of being an accessory to a sexual assault.

Police say Michael O'Connor was having consensual sex with a 22-year-old woman in December when Michael Sipili, another former CU football player, entered the room and raped the woman.

Police said O'Connor tried to cover up the assault and gave conflicting statements to police, according to the Boulder Daily Camera.

Colorado university donations increase

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — The University of Colorado system and Colorado State University are seeing big increases in private support.

The University of Colorado raised more than $210 million in the last fiscal year, its biggest single-year total ever. That's an 11 percent increase.

At CSU, more than $85 million was raised in the fiscal year ending June 30, an increase of 47 percent and the second-highest total ever.

A report by the Giving USA Foundation says gifts to education rose more than 5 percent nationally between 2009 and 2010, according to the Denver Post.

Balloon boy saucer to go on display in Colo. store

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado man who bought the balloon boy saucer says he plans to display it at his sports card store in the Denver suburb of Aurora, then cut it up for souvenirs.

Michael Fruitman says he acquired the inflatable from a California attorney representing Richard and Mayumi Heene (HEE'-nee), who says Fruitman paid $2,502 for it in an auction.

Fruitman says it will go on display Thursday at Mike's Stadium Sportscards.

The silver, UFO-like helium balloon gripped the country's attention in 2009 when the Heenes said their 6-year-old son had floated away in it.

They were charged when it was discovered the boy was never onboard and had to pay $36,000 in restitution.

The Heenes lived in Fort Collins at the time but moved to Florida.

Animals Found In Hot Truck; Woman Arrested In Fort Collins

(Fort Collins, CO) -- A woman is facing felony animal cruelty charges after authorities in Fort Collins found 21 animals suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion in the back of her rental truck. Holiday Ann Christie was reportedly moving from Idaho to Texas when Larimer County sheriff's deputies responded to reports of a dog at large Tuesday afternoon and discovered 15 dogs, two cats and four pygmy goats in the truck. The Larimer County Humane Society is now caring for the animals.

Man Facing Charges For Alleged Theft Of Bronze Sheep Sculptures

(Lakewood, CO) -- A man is facing theft charges in connection with the disappearance of two life-size bronze sheep sculptures from the White Fence Farm. On Tuesday, Lakewood police arrested Moises Rodriguez Fernandez, after he reportedly tried to sell one of the sculptures to a Denver metal recycling service. The sculpture, worth an estimated 15-thousand dollars, was decapitated, and authorities are still looking for the second one.

Salud Opens

Salud Family Health Center building in Fort Morgan officially opened this week. There were speakers to talk about it, there was food, and there were tours of the long-planned center. And there was a group of people protesting the money being spend on the center. They protested those in Congress who cut funding for Salud, but then showed up to yea-rah its opening.

Two Hurt in Washington Co Crash

Colorado State Patrol says two were taken to Colorado Plains Medical Center in Fort Morgan Tuesday after their cars collided at Washington County Roads P and 55. CSP said 60 year old Pete Brautigam of Hillrose and 47 year old Celeste K. Baker of Merino were hospitalized after Baker, heading south on P failed to yield to Brautigam, and her car hit his. Baker was cited on a charge of careless driving causing injury.

South Platte Back in its Banks

The South Platte River is getting back to where it's supposed to be: inside its banks. The flooding that drove it over its banks followed last week's severe storms across the state. Emergency personnel said the river crested at Sterling on Sunday at nine feet, three inches.

Motorcyclist Hospitalized, After Crash

Sterling Police say one man was hurt when an SUV and a motorcycle collided yesterday morning at North Fourth and Walnut Streets. Police said it happened just after 6:30 as the motorcyclist was heading south on North Fourth and a Dodge Durango that was eastbound on Walnut ran the stop sign and hit the bike. The motorcycle driver was taken to Sterling Regional MedCenter, then flown to Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland for treatment. The other driver wasn't hurt, but was cited for failure to yield and careless driving causing bodily injury.

High Plains Education Center Opens August 1

Colorado Day is Monday, August 1. That's also the day that the new High Plains Education Center at The Overland Trail Museum in Sterling opens. The museum stays open longer that day, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and will have free admission. They started building the education center last September, after nearly a year of making plans for it. It has more than five thousand square feet of space, and was paid for with a donation from Frank and Gloria Walsh.

Free Birth Control Could Be on the Way

Free birth control could become a reality. A new recommendation would offer all FDA approved contraception at no cost to women.
The proposal could soon be added to a list of services insurers must fully cover under President Obama’s health care law.

A report from the non-partisan Institute of Medicine, women would not have to pay deductibles or co-pays for contraceptives, sterilizations or reproductive education. Right now under most health care plans, birth control is only partially covered.

First West Nile Case Reported This Year

Colorado is reporting its first case of West Nile virus this year, after a 47-year-old Longmont woman tested positive for the virus in early July. She developed a severe headache, body aches and extreme fatigue. The woman was not hospitalized and her conditions have since improved. West Nile virus is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes and it can be fatal. Recent heavy rains and pools of stagnating water along the Front Range would normally increase th mosquitoes, but local health departments say they're not sure why the mosquito count is down this summer.

Lawmakers plan climb to help repair Capitol dome

DENVER (AP) — Colorado lawmakers are trying to raise public awareness on the need to repair the crumbling Colorado Capitol dome.

State Democratic Rep. Cherylin Peniston toured the dome Wednesday to see how water and a freeze-thaw cycle is quickly destroying what she calls a Colorado icon.

The cast-iron enclosure of the dome has deteriorated so badly that a 10-pound chunk of cast iron fell off in 2007. Public tours of the dome have ceased since then.

Several state lawmakers are hiking Mt. Democrat and Mt. Lincoln next week to highlight fundraising needs for ongoing repairs.

Repair costs are estimated to be $17 million. Officials are trying to raise $12 million to bridge the costs and are asking people to make donations through text messages.

GOP upset about political flier sent by CO school

DENVER (AP) — Two Republican lawmakers say they're worried about back-to-school fliers Brighton parents received that promote a Democrat's proposed ballot initiative to raise Colorado's income and sales taxes to help fund schools.

Sen. Nancy Spence and Rep. Tom Massey sent a letter Wednesday to the state education commissioner asking him to remind district administrators that schools are barred from sending political fliers to parents. Spence and Massey say the flier was distributed by the principal at Brighton's Prairie View High School.

Democratic Sen. Rollie Heath is working on getting signatures to put a tax proposal on the November ballot. Democratic Senate spokesman Eddie Stern says he doesn't know whether such a flier was sent.

But he says Democrats agree that administrators should be aware they shouldn't send political literature to students' parents.

Colo. Borders arson suspect in federal custody

DENVER (AP) — A Denver man accused of breaking into a suburban Borders bookstore and placing three homemade bombs has appeared in federal court .

Thirty-year-old David Lawless was in court in Denver Wednesday to hear the charges against him. He's facing two counts of arson and one count of using a destructive device during a crime of violence.

His arraignment and bond hearing are scheduled July 27.

Lawless was arrested in Clear Creek County on charges of drunken driving and resisting arrest shortly after the alleged attack June 25. He is now in federal custody.

Authorities haven't given any motive for the attack.

ID released on man who died after scuffle at zoo

DENVER (AP) — Autopsy results are pending on a man who died after an altercation with police and security guards at the Denver Zoo.

The Denver medical examiner has identified the man as 29-year-old Alonzo Ashley of Denver. An autopsy was performed Wednesday.

Police say he began to convulse and stopped breathing after he was arrested Monday. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Police say officers were called to the zoo because Ashley threatened his girlfriend and attacked a security guard. They say he bit an officer and a security guard during the scuffle.

Police say officers pressed a Taser against Ashley's skin, but didn't shoot the electrical barbs at him. They say officers found drugs on him.

The Denver Post reports that Ashley's girlfriend disputes some of the officers' statements.

Frontier Grounds Flights Due To Storm Damage

(Denver, CO) -- Frontier Airlines has grounded nine flights today, a day after it canceled about 20 flights to and from Denver because of hail damage to several of its planes. Hail at DIA damaged 18 of the Denver-based airline's fleet last week. Passengers should check frontierairlines.com to see which flights are canceled.

Soldiers Return To Fort Carson

(Fort Carson, CO) -- Dozens of soldiers from the 62nd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company are back with their friends and family members. The 40 soldiers came back to Fort Carson after spending a year doing more than 800 emergency missions in Afghanistan. Officials say for their work, five Purple Hearts were given and 17 Bronze Stars, as well as other military decorations.