More than 75-thousand people will pack into INVESCO Field at Mile High Stadium tonight to listen to Barack Obama give his acceptance speech. The event will force the closure of more than five miles of Interstate 25 - so organizers of the Democratic National Convention are urging those who are ATTENDING - to leave the car behind. KUNC’s Sarah Hughes has more.
The Army opens a public comment period on a report detailing plans for expanding the Pinon Canyon training site, and a report from KUNC on the BLM’s Roan Plateau lease auction. Plus, more plans for the Democratic National Convention.
Election results, studying the possibility of high-speed rail in Colorado, and more.
The Governor’s transportation panel reconvened on Tuesday to come up with specific recommendations to fix the state’s ailing roads and bridges. The legislature failed to adopt the panel’s earlier recommendations but members hope next year will be different. Bente Birkeland reports from Denver.
Governor Bill Ritter has finished his second legislative session since getting elected to office. Some Republicans say he’s hit a sophomore slump, failing to provide leadership on key issues such as transportation. Bente Birkeland reports from Denver.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s department is asking for help locating a woman missing for nearly a month. Late last month the sheriff’s office was asked to check on the welfare of 51-year-old Audrey Blake of 2345 Piros Drive in unincorporated El Paso County.
Blake was last seen was at the Greyhound Bus Station where she was dropped off by Yellow Cab on November 27th. Her bus ticket said she was going to Miami, Florida and was due to return December 11th. She has had no contact with any friends or family since November 27th.
Family and friends say Blake’s lack of contact with family is unusual, and that she normally returns on the date she’ll be home.
Audrey Ellen Blake is described as a white female, 51 years of age, with short white hair, hazel eyes, 5′9″ tall, weighing approximately 200 pounds. A photo is available at KRCC.org.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information about Blake’s whereabouts to Detective Charles Kull at 719-520-7190.
Environmental groups released a new report urging the state to adopt a clean cars program modeled after California’s, but the Governor has said that may not happen. Bente Birkeland reports from Denver
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DIA Forecasts 2nd Busiest Travel Weekend Ever
Front Range Airport May Start Taking Passenger Jets
Beaver Creek Delays Opening For Lack of Snow
Feds: Denver Violating Ozone Limits
State Unemployment Rate Drops
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From fleet-footed hillbillies to fat Elvi, there was a plethora of the paranormal in Manitou Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007.
And that’s the way they like it.
ALAMOSA, Colo. (AP) _ The pilot of a medical plane that slammed into a southern Colorado mountainside had a clean record in 22 years of flying, according to his employer.
Eagle Air Med Incorporated says 46-year-old pilot Ric Miller of Wenatchee, Washington, died in the crash along with 25-year-old flight nurse Ronnie Helton, of Birmingham, Alabama, and 32-year-old flight paramedic Dana Dedman, of Chinle (CHIN-lee), Arizona.
The wreckage was found Friday. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
The crew left Chinle late Thursday in the twin-engine plane to pick up a patient in Alamosa but never arrived.
Eagle Air Med says Miller had made no distress calls to the company’s communications center.
It says this was the company’s first fatal accident.
Eagle Air Med says Miller held helicopter and fixed wing pilot certificates and was airline transport pilot rated, with more than 12,000 hours of logged flight time, including 2,400 hours with the U.S. Marine Corps reserve.
Eagle Air Med says it’s possible some air medical services could resume as early as today.
a Beechcraft King Air C 90 like the one that crashed near Alamosa, photo courtesy University of St. Francis
Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera presided over the long-awaited opening of the Bijou Street bridge Monday morning. Bijou Street is the central access point to downtown, and for nine months now, drivers exiting off of Interstate 25 or trying to get to or from the city’s west side have had to go elsewhere. Opening the new bridge is a major milestone in the multi-year COSMIX roadbuilding project that is primarily re-building I-25 through Colorado Springs.
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If you found yourself stuck in traffic on I-25 Tuesday morning, it may come as some consolation that the road construction company responsible for the delay has been fined about $9,000 an hour for the mishap.
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Governor Bill Ritter has issued a disaster emergency order letting more trucks haul wheat because there aren’t enough commercial transports to handle this year’s bumper crop. The order, issued today, allows vehicles with farm license plates to enter commercial service hauling wheat to elevators, railroad sidings or markets. Colorado law says farmers can only use vehicles with farm license plates for hauling their own crops, for farming purposes or for personal transportation. Ritter’s order expands that to include commercial hauling for 45 days. Ritter said that without the order, millions of dollars worth of wheat could be damaged or lost while sitting on the ground awaiting transport. State officials said Colorado’s 87-million-bushel wheat harvest is the largest in nearly 10 years, and double last year’s. Good snow cover protected the crop and provided the moisture it needed. But many truck and rail carriers that once hauled wheat have gone out of business because of the drought, low wheat prices and high fuel prices, officials said.
Lawmakers say Colorado’s outdated computer system for registering cars and issuing driver’s licenses is reaching a breaking point. So far the state’s efforts to modernize the system have failed, despite spending millions of dollars trying to fix the problem. Bente Birkeland reports from Denver.
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Colorado officials have determined that roughly three percent of nearly 3,800 bridges across the state should be replaced, but there’s not enough money to do it.
Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Stacey Stegman says the bridges are NOT considered unsafe, but are getting to the point“where we’re pretty much holding them together.”
She says the state will closely watch the investigation into the deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis, but doesn’t plan any changes in its safety and inspection program.
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