STATEWIDE

Water content of Colorado’s snowpack raises flood concerns

Forecasters are anywhere from concerned to alarmed about the potential for flooding in Colorado’s high country as the water content of the state’s snowpack reaches very high levels, from 324% of normal in the South Platte drainage basin above Denver to 728% of normal in the San Juan Mountains.

The snow water equivalent of snowpack in the mountains peaked at 20.5 inches on April 15, but was still at about 16.5 inches on May 30, according to the National Weather Service in Boulder.

The SWE of 16.5 inches is more than three times higher than the normal for May 30, which is more typically 4.5 inches.

“I wouldn’t say go out and get ready for a massive flood, but getting prepared is a good idea,” NWS meteorologist Natalie Sullivan said.

DENVER POST

BRECKENRIDGE

Court rules travel companies don’t owe city taxes

The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that online travel companies do not have to pay accommodation and sales taxes in the ski resort town of Breckenridge.

The court’s 3-3 decision affirms the lower court’s ruling against the city.

Breckenridge has been in litigation with 16 travel companies since 2016, claiming they owe unpaid taxes for hotel reservations.

The appeals court ruled last year that the companies don’t owe the taxes because they are not considered “renters” or “lessors” as stipulated in the city’s law.

City finance director Brian Waldes says they are disappointed by the decision, and they’re considering changing the language in the city ordinance.

Changing the tax ordinance would require voter approval through a ballot question.

SUMMIT DAILY NEWS

GLENWOOD SPRINGS

City 7th in nation to run solely on renewable power

Glenwood Springs is set to become the nation’s seventh municipality powered entirely by renewable energy sources.

The mayor of Glenwood Springs and an official from the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska signed an electric supply contract during a public ceremony at the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.

Mayor Jonathan Godes says the contract beginning June 1 will “provide 100 percent renewable energy” without additional rate increases for residents of the city.

The city council in April unanimously approved purchasing electricity through a wholesale power contract with the agency.

The city says in a statement that the switch to 100% wind power will prevent 77,156 tons of carbon dioxide emissions that would have been generated by fossil fuels.

POST INDEPENDENT

COLORADO SPRINGS

Woman dies after fire at senior complex

A woman who was hospitalized after a fire at an 11-story senior living complex in Colorado Springs has died.

Darlyne Justesen, 89, was hospitalized for smoke inhalation following the May 24 blaze at the Regency Tower Apartments. She died May 28.

The fire started in the hall closet between the living space and bedrooms on the 10th floor. Investigators say they could not determine the cause, but there is no evidence or reason to believe the fire started under suspicious circumstances.

Justesen lived on the 10th floor for about a decade and was a regular volunteer at the Cheyenne Mountain Library. Grandson Karl Michael Roe described her as “so awesome. A wonderful, wonderful human.”

THE GAZETTE

AURORA

Man charged in 1995 slaying acquitted

A jury has acquitted a man charged in a fatal stabbing in Aurora more than two decades ago.

Jimmie Crank Jr., 43, was found not guilty of second-degree murder in the death of 25-year-old Michael Nilsson. Crank, who was jailed for nearly two years, has been released.

Nilsson was last seen alive when his brother drove him to a movie theater Sept. 21, 1995. He was found dead in a middle school parking lot in Aurora the following day with four stab wounds to the back.

Crank was arrested on a drug charge in May 2016, and investigators say DNA linked him to a cigarette butt and coins found at the school. But public defender Andrea Kremer argued that “DNA at the scene is not equal to murder.”

AURORA SENTINEL

GOLDEN

No GPS monitor for trucker in deadly Colorado pileup

A trucker accused of causing a fiery pileup that killed four people on a Colorado highway won’t be required to wear a GPS monitor.

A judge denied the prosecution’s request to track 23-year-old Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos, who they say tried to flee the scene of the April 25 crash on Interstate 70 west of Denver. Aguilera-Mederos’ attorney says his client is staying in a hotel and isn’t a flight risk.

Aguilera-Mederos, of Houston, says the brakes on his semitrailer failed before he plowed into vehicles just after the interstate descends from the mountains, setting off a 28-vehicle chain reaction of explosions from ruptured gas tanks.

The truck was going about 85 mph on a stretch where commercial vehicles are limited to 45 mph.

KMGH-TV