June 4, 2002
Fireworks concern Owens

DENVER — Gov. Bill Owens said Monday that fireworks are a bad idea for the Fourth of July because of a statewide drought, but he is reluctant to tell cities and counties how to address the problem.

State confirms hantavirus case

DENVER — A 64-year-old Gunnison County man has been diagnosed with the state's first confirmed case of hantavirus this year.

Owens signs anti-crime measures

DENVER — Gov. Bill Owens signed 13 anti-crime and anti-terror measures Monday, including a bill expanding the powers of the new Office of Preparedness, Security and Fire Safety to fight terrorism.

Found hiker describes ordeal in wilderness

SARATOGA, Wyo. — Norma Super didn't know anyone in Wyoming before she set foot on a two-day backpacking trip with her 10-year-old daughter on May 25.

Wildfires force evacuations

CANON CITY — Firefighters on Monday battled to save homes from a wildfire that has already destroyed 83 houses, while a forest fire in the southern part of the state veered toward three communities.

EPA promotes snowmobile changes, holds on to debate

EPA promotes snowmobile changes, holds on to debate

Colorado scene

About 1,500 representatives of government agencies in two countries will participate in a terrorism exercise today that will stretch from Colorado Springs to Canada.

June 3, 2002
Deputies evacuate homes near fire

Wildfires forced the evacuations of homes near Canon City and Trinidad on Sunday and burned at least six structures.

Man dies in mountain accident

RED CLIFF — A Chicago man was killed when his car went off a curve on a snaky section of U.S. 24, plunging 500 feet down a cliff.

Obituary writers resurrecting a moribund form

LAS VEGAS, N.M. — They gathered over the weekend at an historic hotel said to be graced by a ghost or three, to discuss the public's fascination with real-life stories that begin with death and work backward.

Southwest Colo. rated driest in the nation

DURANGO — Weather statistics show Colorado experienced its driest six-month period in more than a century from November through April and the damage is widespread.

CWD testing continues in San Luis Valley

DEL NORTE — Wildlife officers will test deer and elk in the San Luis Valley through the rest of the year for chronic wasting disease.

Colorado's snowpack nearly gone

DENVER — A day after the entire state was declared a disaster area because of drought, the snowpack in several parts of Colorado registered zero.

Pressure mounts in Oregon

JOHN DAY, Ore. — Residents of this eastern Oregon ranch and timber region are a self-reliant lot. Hard winters and a depressed economy have forged hardscrabble attitudes toward outsiders and "the government."

June 2, 2002
Dems, GOP pick fall ballots

DENVER — November's Democratic ticket will have a definite Boulder County flavor, with Boulder's Rollie Heath running for governor and Louisville Sen. Terry Phillips running for state treasurer.

Investigators link several wildfires to one arsonist

Investigators link several wildfires to one arsonist

Cattle seizure sparks protests

PALOMINO VALLEY, Nev. — American Indians and state's rights activists protesting the government seizure of cattle retreated from a federal corral Saturday to plot new strategy against the U.S. actions one Indian leader called "an act of war."

Hikers found after 5 days

ENCAMPMENT, Wyo. — A Colorado woman and her daughter missing for five days in the Rocky Mountains along the Colorado-Wyoming border were found Saturday hungry but in otherwise good condition.

El Paso County fires out; lightning sparks more

Several large grassland fires sparked by lightning from a fast-moving storm burned in northeastern Colorado on Saturday.

Drought cost $100 million to Colorado wheat crop

COLORADO SPRINGS — Drought has wiped out half the state's wheat crop with losses estimated at half a million acres and $100 million, a magnitude not seen in the state since 1969.

Lines holding at southern Ariz. wildfire

TUCSON, Ariz. — Fire crews were optimistic they were gaining the upper hand Saturday against a 23,300-acre wildfire in southern Arizona.

Study: Snowmobiles stress wildlife

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Snowmobiles cause enough stress on wolves and elk in Yellowstone and other national parks that it may harm their reproductive and immune systems, a Montana State University study has found.

Owens asks Republicans to help take back the Senate

COLORADO SPRINGS — Gov. Bill Owens urged Republicans to help send him back to office and take back the state Senate, saying he needs it to carry out his agenda.

June 1, 2002
Xcel requests rate increase for electricity

Next winter's electricity bills could rise like summer temperatures after Xcel Energy requested a rate increase Friday.

Owens cuts $46 million from budget

DENVER — Gov. Bill Owens took an ax to the Legislature's $13.8 billion budget Friday, cutting $46 million in programs and ordering state agencies to cut an additional 4 percent — $140 million — from next year's spending.

Colo. gets federal aid to fight deer, elk disease

WASHINGTON — Wisconsin and Colorado will receive $6 million in federal aid to combat a fatal brain disease in deer and elk and other plant and animal threats.

Cattle transfer may be disrupted

RENO, Nev. — American Indian and states' rights activists say they may attempt to disrupt the transfer of livestock confiscated from a northern Nevada tribe and sold at auction Friday by the Bureau of Land Management.

Lightning causes several fires

COLORADO SPRINGS — Lightning from a fast-moving storm sparked at least five wildfires in southeastern El Paso County on Friday afternoon, threatening some structures and prompting evacuations.

S.C. gov. to judge: Wait for hearing

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A federal judge shouldn't prevent South Carolina from blocking weapons-grade plutonium shipments from Colorado to the Savannah River Site until after a June 13 hearing, lawyers for Gov. Jim Hodges say.

Search for missing mom, girl narrowed

ENCAMPMENT, Wyo. — Searchers on Friday narrowed the hunt for a missing pair of hikers to a 16-square-mile area of the rugged Sierra Madre after visiting with a man who had encountered the pair five days earlier.

Denver water use jumps in May

DENVER — Water use jumped 20 percent in May as other Front Range cities imposed mandatory water restrictions to deal with the worst drought in decades.

Budget vetoes

Education: About $2 million for teacher development grants, a program Owens recommended in 2000.

State digest

Gov. Bill Owens on Friday signed a bill that will cut back on law enforcement agencies' ability to take ownership of property belonging to suspected criminals.

XCEL RATE HISTORY

Following are recent rate changes approved for Xcel Energy Co. The dates are the effective dates of the changes:

May 31, 2002
Conservationists challenge plan to hinder beetle spread

Conservationists challenge plan to hinder beetle spread

Officials: Fire set on purpose

CASCADE — A wildfire on private and National Forest land was about 30 percent contained Thursday, and officials said they think it was intentionally set.

Airman pleads guilty to Philadelphia killing, rapes

PHILADELPHIA — An Air Force airman pleaded guilty Thursday in a string of rapes and a killing that terrorized a downtown Philadelphia neighborhood, tearfully saying he would try to make amends by helping investigators learn more about sexual predators.

Colo. Springs student is golden at spelling bee

WASHINGTON — Pratyush Buddiga, a Colorado seventh-grader who was inspired by an earlier champion, correctly spelled "prospicience," on Thursday to win the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee.

Owens commits $15B to roads

DENVER — Gov. Bill Owens signed two bills Thursday to provide $15 billion for transportation over the next 20 years, including new toll highways and public-private partnerships.

Judge halts grazing near park

BILLINGS, Mont. — A federal judge on Thursday ordered a halt to livestock grazing on a stretch of land on Yellowstone National Park's western border until the U.S. Forest Service studies how the activity affects bison that leave the park.

Colorado scene

Searchers are looking for a Colorado woman and her daughter who did not return from a hike in the Medicine Bow National Forest.

May 30, 2002
S.C. residents want compensation

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A group of residents who live near the Savannah River Site filed a motion Wednesday to intervene in a federal lawsuit and to require the Department of Energy to pay them if plutonium is brought into South Carolina from Colorado.

USC to get a new name

PUEBLO — The University of Southern Colorado will get a new name to go with its changing mission under legislation signed into law by Gov. Bill Owens on campus Wednesday.

Runaway train car kills railroad worker

SEDALIA — A runaway train car struck and killed a railroad employee and coasted at high speeds for 32 miles until it was stopped in Denver on Wednesday.

May 29, 2002
Nev., Utah politicians oppose waste plan

SALT LAKE CITY — Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, a self-described betting man, said Tuesday he doesn't like the odds for transporting nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

Court rules judgments of paternity final

DENVER — A father has no right to challenge a paternity judgment, even if a DNA test can prove he is not the father, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

Man died after standing up on ride, authorities say

DENVER — A man fell to his death after standing up on an attraction at Six Flags Elitch Gardens amusement park, authorities said.

Ranchers battle wildlife for hay

TRINIDAD — The hunt is on for hay on the parched plains of southeastern Colorado.

Rumsfeld speaks at Air Force Academy graduation

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told 929 cadets at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs Wednesday they are fighting a different enemy than the United States faced in Kosovo and Bosnia when the cadets entered the academy.

Colorado scene

A cattle rancher was not criminally negligent in the deaths of three people whose car struck one of his cows that had wandered onto Interstate 25, the Colorado State Patrol said.