Hole-in-one at Morgan County REA tournament

For the first time ever, the Morgan County R-E-A tournament had a hole in one!

It happened on Saturday at Quail Dunes Golf Course.

Mike Wales of Fort Morgan rolled in his tee shot on the eighth hole. That meant a trip to Las Vegas.

Wales tells The Fort Morgan Times he has played golf for twenty-four years, and he had never hit a hole in one.

Public improvement plan to tackle health issues

The Northeast Colorado Health Department has released information showing people in this corner of the state do not live as healthy as those in over parts of Colorado.

N-C-H-D continues developing a five-year plan to improve residents' health.

Public health director Tony Cappello says the state's Public Health Act requires county and regional health departments to develop these plans.

N-C-H-D last year conducted an extensive community health assessment. This included collecting information from people through health surveys and meeting with health organizations.

Cappello describes this to the Brush News-Tribune as "the most comprehenvive health evaluation ever conducted."

N-C-H-D has made physical activity, nutrition, healthy weight, oral health, and mental health its key issues going forward with the plan.

Deer Trail to vote on legalizing drone hunts

Deer Trail may legalize drone hunts.

A local man has proposed a law that would allow people to apply for twenty-five-dollar permits to shoot down government drones with twelve-gauge shotgun.

Residents admit they have never seen a drone over the city. However, this could raise money for road repairs or a new community center.

The town board votes on the measure tonight.

Budget affecting DOC supervision

Budget restraints have moved parole officers to place offenders in lower levels of supervision.

The Denver Post reports a D-O-C investigation shows officers in twelve-hundred cases over eleven years having to put parolees on lower levels of supervision because of program caps.

Corrections officials have previously responded to media inquiries by denying budgetary issues had any affect on parole supervision.

Ambulance calls to casinos down since smoking ban

The Denver Post reports a new study shows ambulance calls to Colorado casinos have dropped twenty percent since a smoking ban extended to gambling floors.

Advocates for more bans say officials should take notice when granting exceptions to casinos for bans applying to bars and restaurants.

Space the final frontier

Space the final frontier. Some elementary students will be making that journey into the outer galactic world on the web, thanks to one of 12 telescopes designed for satellite tracking that was installed in Sterling last week as part of the United States Air Force Academy's Falcon Telescope Network research project. Students will be able to access Australia's night sky from a telescope located on the campus of Northeastern Junior College. The Falcon Telescope Network will eventually provide Northeastern students and area K-12 students with the opportunity to explore space, access raw data and do original research that will contribute to space. The USAFA in Colorado Springs would be the hub of operations when the project is fully operational in August 2014.
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Voting pre-registration begins tomorrow

Starting tomorrow, Coloradoans ages sixteen and seventeen can register to vote in future elections.

The new law allows these youngers to start voting when they turn eighteen.

Qualified teenagers can pre-register through the Colorado Secretary of State's website at sos.state.co.us.

Federal ban on exploding targets

Federal authorities have banned exploding targets on twenty-two-million acres of forest and grassland.

The ban applies to Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota.

Officials say the targets have caused sixteen fires in eighteen months and cost thrity-three-million dollars.

Violators face six months in prison and possible five-thousand-dollar fines.

Money is what the RE-1 Valley Board of Education needs help with

Money is what the RE-1 Valley Board of Education needs help with. During a meeting, Monday, the board heard recommendations to find alternative funds to help with the replacement of the HVAC system at Sterling High School, so they won't have to take the money out of reserves. The estimated cost to replace the system is about $800,000. Board members met with Honeywell Construction, who presented an energy review study to help determine energy savings, and what improvements the district can budget for. The findings of the preliminary study will be submitted at a board meeting next month. Members are expected to decide if they want to work with the company, when they meet next month.
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Sterling students are gearing up for back to school, and one local company wants to help

Sterling students are gearing up for back to school, and one local company wants to help. The Edward Jones branch in Sterling, is offering their offices as drop-off locations in support of the School Supplies Donation Drive. Local residents and businesses can drop off much needed school supplies at the branches on, S. Second St. or their office on W. Main St., during regular business hours through August 19th.
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Judge orders $3.7M payment over telemarketing deception

The state attorney general's office says a judge has ordered a man and his magazine telemarketing companies to pay three-point-seven-million dollars in restitution, fines and fees.

Court documents show Raymond B. Jones Jr. and his companies have tricked five-thousand customers into phony contracts for magazine subscriptions.

The attorney general's office has reached a separate settlement with Jones' mother. Cora Jones has agreed to a permanent ban on participating in magazine telemarketing.

Bad weather is to blame for Brush's Young Farmers “Pulling for Kids” event being cancelled

Bad weather is to blame for Brush's Young Farmers “Pulling for Kids” event being cancelled, Saturday (August 3). But have no fear, organizers say the truck and tractor pull has been moved to Saturday, August 31. The CTTPA Sanctioned Event will be held at the Morgan County Fairgrounds. Any pre-sale tickets that were purchased for the August 3 show will be honored on August 31.
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Colorado blows

Colorado blows. That's according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Energy that show the state is among the nation's top when it comes to wind energy development. The 2012 Wind Technologies Market Report found that Colorado installed 496 megawatts of new wind power capacity, which accounted for more than 13 percent of Colorado's in-state energy generation last year, ranking Colorado eighth in the nation. The report warns that wind development should slow in 2013 because of fewer federal tax incentives.
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members will take time out at tonight's meeting to recognize Fort Morgan Police Department's Det. Sgt. Loren Sharp

members will take time out at tonight's meeting to recognize Fort Morgan Police Department's Det. Sgt. Loren Sharp. Sharp is being honored as City Employee for the second quarter of 2013, and is the supervisor of the FMPD's detective division, including the School Resource Officer program. Sharp is the first recipient of the new award, recently instituted to honor city employees who exemplify the four citywide goals, of positive communication, respect, exceptional customer service, and leading by example, and for going above and beyond for the citizens of Fort Morgan. Council members will honor Sharp at the meeting tonight (Tuesday), and at the city's year-end employee celebration.
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