CO Energy Company Fined

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado energy company has agreed to pay more than $2 million in fines for air quality violations.

Suncor Energy (USA) will pay for violations at its Commerce City refinery after state inspectors discovered violations of state and federal requirements during an inspection nearly two years ago.

The health department says the main violations involved benzene waste.

Part of the money will be used for environmental projects to protect public health and the environment.

The Suncor refinery near Denver has also been was blamed for oil seeping into nearby Sand Creek late last year. Benzene levels in Sand Creek on Dec. 22 were 134 times higher than the national drinking water standard.

CO Sen Udall Targets Cell Phone Thieves

DENVER (AP) — U.S. Sen. Mark Udall is asking the Federal Communications Commission to crack down on cell phone service providers who reactivate stolen cell phones.

Udall says the thefts are becoming increasingly violent and the industry has the power to stop it.

He says the crackdown needs to be coordinated by the government and the industry in order to work. He says his goal is to make stolen cell phones worthless.

Industry association spokesman Jot Carpenter said Monday the industry takes the issue seriously and is doing what it can to work with the government on a solution.

Conifer Fire-Latest

CONIFER, Colo. (AP) — Residents displaced by a Colorado wildfire are returning as crews had nearly surrounded the blaze that scorched 6 square miles and damaged or destroyed more than two dozen homes.

Jefferson County sheriff's spokeswoman Jacki Kelley says about 100 residents began returning Monday, a week after the fire erupted.

Kelley says authorities made the decision because of the containment level, the number of ground crews and a weather forecast for rain or snow. About 500 firefighters are at the blaze.

At its peak, the blaze forced evacuations of 900 homes. The fire apparently was sparked by a controlled burn that sprang to life in strong winds.

The bodies of a couple and a set of human remains that could belong to a missing woman were discovered amid the debris.

Local Teen Reported Missing

A local teen is missing. Fort Morgan City Clerk John Brennan says police suspect the girl is a runaway, but detectives are in the early stages of their investigation...






TAG: Brennan says Chadwick was last seen Tuesday, March 27. She was reported missing the next day. Anyone with information on Chadwick's whereabouts should contact Lieutenant Daren Sagel with Fort Morgan PD at 970-542-3933.

Fire Chaplain Placed On Leave

KSIR-Sterling Fire Dept Chaplain Placed On Leave - ST


Sterling Fire Deparment's Volunteer Chaplain, Jared Sonnenberg, has been placed on leave. The move follows a dispute between Sterling Fire Chief Kurt Vogel and the Pastor of First Christian Church of Sterling. Sonnenberg works with the Pastor of The church, but was not involved in the dispute. He says he will still be available to firefighters needing spiritual guidance while the differences between the chief and the pastor are ironed out.

Car Into Building...Again

ksir-040212- Car into Building....Again - FM


For the second time in less than a month, a car crashed into the front entry of the Acorn Conoco gas station in Brush last Friday. The food store portion had to be closed to customers, but they were still able to access the cashiers for gas and lottery ticket purchases. No one suffered any serious injuries. In mid march another car crashed in the rear of the buiding.

Local Man Killed In Motorcycle Accident

The Colorado Highway Patrol is investigating an accident Sunday that claimed the life of a Fort Morgan man. Darrell Moody has the details...






Troopers say 55-year-old John Miner was driving his Harley Davidson motorcycle northbound on Colorado 52 Sunday around 4:00 p.m. when he suddenly lost control and left the roadway about 8 miles north of Fort Morgan. According to the accident report the motorcycle exited the roadway on the left side and immediately overturned, ejecting Miner from the bike. The motorcycle came to rest in the barrow ditch on the west side of the road facing southwest. Miner was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators say drugs or alcohol do not appear to have played a factor in the crash.