Colorado
Proposed amendment for 2018 would cap new residential permits at 1 percent in major Colo. metros
DENVER – It’s quite the long shot, but one of the first constitutional amendments that will try to get on the 2018 ballot aims to limit residential growth in Colorado’s highest-populated counties.
Filed by a Golden man and a woman from Wheat Ridge, the so-called “Proposition 4” will aim to limit new residential building permits in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld counties to 1 percent of the current number of existing units in both 2019 and 2020.
The proposition would also require 30 percent of new developments be affordable housing or affordable senior housing.
If approved, residents of each county or city would have to vote to overturn or modify the caps starting in 2021.
The proposal stems from a flood of new Colorado residents and new housing being built in the Denver and Colorado Springs metro areas in recent years.
But the proposition has a steep uphill climb if it is ever to make it to the ballot.
After Colorado voters passed Amendment 71 in the 2016 General Election, the ballot proposal will have to get around 100,000 ballot signatures – of which 2 percent will have to come from each Senate district in the state. That could prove difficult as the proposed amendment would not affect a large number of those districts in rural or less-densely-populated areas of the state.
The proposition would also have to pass with at least 55 percent of the vote – another requirement for constitutional amendments passed via Amendment 71.
Golden already has a growth limit cap, which was met this year in August. Boulder has a 1 percent growth cap as well, but it is not limited on a year-by-year basis.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Steamboat Springs man arrested on sexual assault, child prostitution charges; more victims sought
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. – A 60-year-old man faces sexual assault on a child and child prostitution charges, among others, after he allegedly assaulted at least four underage victims.
Miguel Angel Diaz-Martinez is being held on a $1 million bond at the Routt County Detention Center after his arrest Wednesday.
Steamboat Springs police say they started investigating illegal drug activity at Diaz-Martinez’s home in July, which eventually led them to find he was “pimping” juveniles and sexually assaulting them.
He faces aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault on a child, patronizing a prostituted child, inducement of child prostitution and contributing to the delinquency of a minor charges.
The police department says its detectives believe there are more victims in addition to the four that have already come forward.
But Steamboat Springs Police Commander Annette Dopplick said she was “proud” of the victims who have already come forward, noting that many young victims of sexual abuse can feel shamed they were manipulated.
The department wants anyone who may have been a victim of Diaz-Martinez’s or has any other knowledge of his possible criminal activity to call them at 970-879-1144.
A 24-hour crisis hotline is also operated by Advocates Building Peaceful Communities; it can be reached at 970-879-8888.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
‘Gonzo’-brand pot coming; writer’s retreat and museum planned for Hunter S. Thompson’s ‘Owl Farm’
PITKIN COUNTY, Colo. – Hunter S. Thompson’s famed Owl Farm could be transformed into a museum and haven for writers, and Dr. Gonzo might have his own brand of cannabis if his widow, Anita, sees her plans come true.
Anita Thompson gave a rare interview to the Aspen Times, which was published Sunday, in which she unveiled some of the plans for Owl Farm, which she took over this summer in a deal with her late husband’s trust.
The 42-acre property outside of Aspen had been in the possession of the Gonzo Trust, a group of lawyers and other trustees of Thompson’s, since his suicide in 2005.
But Anita bought it in June in exchange for giving up her rights to future earnings from Hunter’s book sales. She will keep the rights the “Gonzo” logo and rights to Thompson’s likeness, according to The Times.
Anita told The Times she has saved six marijuana strains the late author enjoyed smoking and is working with a Colorado company to grow the strains and sell them under the “Gonzo” brand.
“If I put Hunter’s name on somebody else’s strain I can never go back and say, ‘No, this is the authentic one,’” she told The Times, adding she was “looking forward to being a drug lord,” with a chuckle.
Anita says she plans to use proceeds from the marijuana sales to renovate Owl Farm and turn it into a museum and place for writers following Thompson’s ethos to hone their craft.
Anita says she might take applications for the writer’s retreat, but may also only allow people to come by invitation. Visitors would likely have to make an appointment.
She said the museum may not end up being at Owl Farm, but rather somewhere in Woody Creek or Aspen.
A final plan, according to The Times, could be to preserve the forest around the property, where the “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and “Rum Diary” author’s ashes were scattered after they were shot out of a cannon – Thompson’s final grand exit in a life full of them.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
President Obama, Fox News hosts in war of words over Obama’s Rolling Stone comments on network
DENVER – President Barack Obama and Fox News personalities are in a war of words after the president criticized the 24-hour network for its role in the election in a recent interview with Rolling Stone.
The magazine asked Obama in the interview, released Monday, if he still thought the U.S. was “a progressive country.”
Obama responded by saying Democrats had trouble this election getting working-class white voters who cast ballots for him to do the same for Hillary Clinton. Many of the votes went to Donald Trump.
“I think that part of it has to do with our inability, our failure, to reach those voters effectively,” Obama told Rolling Stone. “Part of it is Fox News in every bar and restaurant in big chunks of the country, but part of it is also Democrats not working at a grassroots level, being in there, showing up, making arguments.”
“We spend a lot of time focused on international policy and national policy and less time being on the ground,” Obama continued.
Fox News is the top-rated cable network and is extremely popular with conservatives, though the median age of its demographic is 68, according to Quartz.
Fox News personalities have lashed back at Obama’s statements since they were released. Politico has documented some of their statements.
Howard Kurtz said Obama was “scapegoating” the network; Eric Bolling pointed out that Democrats rarely come on the network, and Megyn Kelly said Obama “just wants to lament that the middle of the country is watching” Fox News.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Colorado Springs police: Two murders in last week likely connected; 1 suspect remains at large
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Homicide investigators say two separate murders that happened days apart over the last week were likely perpetrated by the same two men, one of whom remains at large.
Colorado Springs police say Richard Spanks, 25, and Haywood Miller Jr., 24, are the primary suspects in both the Nov. 29 double homicide that happened on Mosswood Lane and the Nov. 26 Carmel Drive murder that left one person dead and another wounded.
Miller is already in custody on first-degree murder charges for the Mosswood Lane murder, but Spanks has yet to be arrested.
Marcus Williams, 21, was killed in the Carmel Drive incident after he was shot at the Royal Lani apartment complex. Another man in his mid-40s was wounded in the shooting.
Police say they are also looking for a red 2010 Kia Forte registered to Spanks and possibly connected to the murders. The car has Colorado plate QNC-845 and VIN KNAFU4A26A5053180.
Spanks should be considered armed and dangerous and has a long criminal history in Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma, police say.
They have yet to say why they believe the two murders are connected.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Body camera video released from Denver officer-involved shooting of teen in stolen vehicle
DENVER – The Denver District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday released body camera video from the officer who was cleared last week in the August shooting of a 17-year-old armed car theft suspect.
District Attorney Mitch Morrissey found DPD Corporal Jeffrey Heinis should not face charges in the Aug. 16 shooting of the 17-year-old, who is referred to in the shooting review only by his initials, “LAJ.”
LAJ was driving a car he allegedly stole at gunpoint days earlier down Federal Boulevard the day he was shot. Three other people were in the car, according to Morrissey’s report. When a DPD officer pulled up behind the car, it turned and pulled into a credit union parking lot near 12th Avenue and Federal Boulevard.
Corporal Heinis was called for backup and drove to the credit union. Morrissey’s review says one of the people in the vehicle went into the credit union before Heinis arrived.
But once Heinis got there, the remaining three teens, including LAJ, got out of the car and tried to hop a fence into an alley. LAJ was carrying a gun at the time, though he never pointed it at Heinis.
“So I thought, okay, he’s bringing it for a reason,” Heinis described to investigators reviewing his shooting. “He’s not just wanting to hang on to it. There’s no reason for him to get out of the car with that gun.”
Heinis said he was concerned LAJ would get away and worried that people at several busy businesses and a bus stop nearby would be at-risk of being hurt by LAJ, according to Morrissey’s report.
“I decided to fire shots at him to stop him from doing that. I considered him a very imminent threat to everybody in the area, including myself,” Heinis told investigators.
About 14 seconds had elapsed from when Heinis arrived to the scene and when he started shooting.
LAJ was again trying to jump over the fence when Heinis fired 12 shots, hitting LAJ once near the ankle, breaking a bone.
Two of the other teens were arrested on outstanding warrants. One of them pleaded guilty to possession of a handgun by a juvenile, as two guns aside from the one LAJ was holding when he was shot were found in the stolen vehicle.
A state revised statute allows officers to use “physical force” on someone who might escape, and “physical deadly force” on someone who may escape “by use of a deadly weapon” or may use a weapon to “endanger human life or to inflict serious bodily injury to another unless apprehended without delay.”
Morrissey’s review of Heinis’ shooting determined “there was no other option available for Corporal Heinis to successfully prevent LAJ’s escape and to arrest him.”
“The only other option was for Heinis to use no physical force, to let LAJ escape, and to hope he would be apprehended later without having cause harm to anyone,” Morrissey wrote, saying that criminal charges for the officer would not be “ethically supportable under criminal law standards.”
“LAJ” was hospitalized and was charged days later with felony menacing, possession of a weapon by a previous offender and felony vehicle theft.
He pleaded guilty to the felony menacing charge on Nov. 21 and was sentenced to between one and two years in the Division of Youth Corrections. He has since turned 18, but this is his sixth sentence for being a juvenile delinquent.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Jefferson County woman who drowned developmentally-disabled grandson sentenced to 20 years
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. – The woman who drowned her developmentally-disabled grandson in a motel bathtub last year was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday.
Onesia Najera will also have to serve at least 5 years of parole once her sentence is completed on child abuse resulting in death charges.
Najera ran a bath for her 10-year-old grandson last May, then left the room. When she came back, the boy had drowned in the tub.
The boy had cerebral palsy, and his special education teacher told police the boy “appeared very emaciated and malnourished” about a month before his death.
Najera and a neighbor allegedly tried to resuscitate the boy, but were not successful.
Najera also allegedly worked as a prostitute and abused several of the boy’s siblings, according to her arrest affidavit.
The boy’s paternal grandfather tried to adopt the boy in 2007 after Najera was accused of neglecting the boy, but he says Human Services allowed the boy to return to her custody.
His grandfather said the boy couldn’t feed himself, walk or talk.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office says new information brought forth in Beverly England cold case
CHAFFEE COUNTY, Colo. – A person has come forward with new information relating to the cold case murder of Beverly England, who disappeared in 1980 but whose remains weren’t identified until last year.
Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze Office told Denver7 Tuesday that the new information “leads us to believe there are more people that have information in regards to the investigation” of England’s death.
Though the 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office has said a grand jury will not be convened to determine if charges should be filed in the case, Sheriff Spezze says the case remains active.
England, from Salida, was 32 years old when she disappeared in June 1980 when she never returned home from running errands.
She had reportedly been seen with another woman before she disappeared.
Her remains were recovered near Mount Shavano in 1992, but could not be identified until last year. The sheriff’s office said when her remains were identified that it appears foul play was involved in her death.
The sheriff’s office and Salida Police Department are asking anyone with any knowledge relating to the case to call them at one of the following numbers:
Chaffee County Crime Stoppers 719-539-5299
Det. Rob Martellaro 719-530-2617
Sgt. Andy Rohrich 719-539-5729
More information on the case from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation can be found here.
———
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Or, keep up-to-date by following Denver7 on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Colorado Dept. of Agriculture certifies 3 hemp seed varieties for cultivation
DENVER – A Kentucky-based hemp seed grower is the first company to have its seeds approved and officially certified by the Colorado Department of Agriculture.
Lexington, Kentucky-based Schiavi Seeds LLC had three separate seed varieties certified as CDA Approved Certified Seeds under the new program, which aims to promote hemp agriculture in the state.
CDA has worked with CSGA and Colorado State University over the past several months to breed plants that produce seeds under the 0.3 percent THC content threshold to qualify as hemp and not psychoactive marijuana.
Varying seed types were grown and tested in trials in different parts of the state in order to find ideal conditions for hemp cultivation.
Colorado law requires industrial hemp seeds to contain less than 0.3 percent THC. Three trial seeds from Schiavi Seeds – Eletta Campana, Fibranova and Helena – passed trial tests and were accepted by the state Seed Growers Association’s review board.
CDA says seeds submitted by Fort Collins-based New West Genetics have also passed the THC trial, but still have to be accepted by the review board before they can also be labeled as a CDA Approved Certified Seed.
Congress approved hemp production in 2014, but a state certification like Colorado’s is necessary to raise the crop.
Colorado farmers will be able to start buying and growing the seeds next year.
———
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Or, keep up-to-date by following Denver7 on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Greeley man sentenced to 248 years in prison after conviction on human trafficking, other charges
GREELEY, Colo. – A Greeley man convicted in August of more than 30 counts related to the human trafficking and pimping of underage children was sentenced to 248 years in prison Wednesday.
Paul Burman, 33, received the maximum sentence possible for his conviction on 32 counts, including human trafficking, pandering of a child, child prostitution, and other charges relating to human trafficking.
The Weld County District Attorney’s Office says Burman acted as a “pimp” for several people, which included teenagers and adults. His youngest human trafficking victim was 15.
During his 13-day trial, Burman would drug his victims and put them up in hotels to meet with Johns. But he would take all the money the prostitutes made in a night, and sometimes beat or sexually assault them if they didn’t make enough money for his liking.
“Paul Burman took advantage of the vulnerable, but we sent a message to him and all the others who engage in this vile behavior: Your days of making money by sexually exploiting women are numbered,” Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke said in a news release announcing Burman’s sentence.
Burman was originally arrested by law enforcement and the FBI in December 2014.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.