DENVER

Members fight to re-open small Catholic church

Members of a small Denver Catholic church built by Hispanic families are fighting to re-open their parish over a year after it was closed by the archbishop.

A group of about 50 people gathered outside the locked Our Lady of Visitation Church for a Christmas Eve vigil as a way to keep their community alive and draw attention to their fight with the church hierarchy.

The church is in an unincorporated area just north of Denver where the families of many church members settled a century ago after moving from rural areas of Colorado and New Mexico to find work.

Archbishop Samuel Aquila ordered that the last Mass be held there in April 2017. The archdiocese later offered to hold monthly masses at the church but that offer was rejected.

Church members appealed to the Vatican and, in September, the Congregation of the Clergy upheld Aquila’s decision to merge the church with a larger parish, Holy Trinity.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

GUNNISON COUNTY

Drought reveals a long-submerged Colorado town

As a devastating drought dragged on this summer, Blue Mesa Reservoir dropped to this century’s lowest levels, and the underwater town of Iola has re-emerged, enthralling Western Slope dwellers who didn’t know of its sunken existence.

Iola existed before the dam’s construction starting in 1962. Now, old foundations, semblances of fence lines and corroded remains of farm life have returned to daylight.

Bob Robbins, 69, was a member of one of the ranching families whose homes were  submerged by the dark depths of Colorado’s largest body of water.

At times when the water is low enough to see what they lost, the memories come flowing back.

“If people ask me, I will come out here and talk to ’em about it,” says Robbins, as he has done for reporters this season. “But no, I don’t just come out here and sit. It’s just … yeah … it’s very painful.”

THE GAZETTE, COLORADO SPRINGS

ASPEN

3 men steal $800,000 in jewelry at luxury hotel

Authorities say three men stole about $800,000 worth of diamond-encased jewelry from a display case in the lobby of The Little Nell hotel in Aspen.

Police say one of the men involved in the theft Friday used a screwdriver to pop open the locked case and put a necklace and at least one ring and a set of earrings into a backpack.

The items belonged to Piranesi, a New York City-based business that has an outlet in Aspen.

Piranesi employee Veronica Sumner says Piranesi has had the display case in the hotel’s lobby for marketing purposes for more than 20 years.

Aspen police Officer Kirk Wheatley says “a whole team is working on it. It’s pretty big.”

ASPEN DAILY NEWS

KEYSTONE

Another skier dies after found unconscious at Keystone

Another skier has died after being found unconscious on a ski run at Colorado’s Keystone Resort.

The Summit County Sheriff’s Office says there’s no indication that the 66-year-old man found the afternoon of Christmas Day had been involved in a collision. He was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead.

His death comes three days after a 55-year-old skier died after being found unconscious and not breathing at the bottom of a ski run at the resort. He didn’t appear to have been involved in a collision either.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

COMMERCE CITY

8 horses die in barn fire

Eight horses died in a barn fire in northeast suburban Denver.

The fire was reported just before 12:30 p.m. Dec. 22 in Commerce City.

Officials with the South Adams County Fire Department say the barn was a complete loss.

No one was injured and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

FORT COLLINS

Woman in Rudolph mask robs business

Police say a woman wearing a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer mask robbed a business in Fort Collins a week before Christmas.

Police posted surveillance video of the the suspect on their Facebook page, along with a parody of the famous Rudolph song.

It ends with, “Rudolph the Red Nosed Criminal, we need your help with her I.D.”

The robbery occurred Dec. 18. Police didn’t identify the business or say what was taken.

FORT COLLINS COLORADOAN