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TexasTowelie's JournalInstagram post tips off Utah police after teens allegedly broke into school construction site ...
Instagram post tips off Utah police after teens allegedly broke into school construction site and did $10,000 in damageAn Instagram post reported to police Thursday night drew officers to the construction site of the new Provo High School, where they found $10,000 worth of damage.
Three male freshmen allegedly went to the construction site just before 7 p.m., said Provo police Lt. Brian Taylor, where they ”made use” of some of the heavy equipment at the site, including a scissor lift.
The teens severed an empty gas line, Taylor said, with the lift. They also set off some smoke bombs, he said.
The teens publicized their conduct on the photo-based social media site, Taylor said. Someone who saw the post notified police, and officers investigated.
In all, police say, the teens did about $10,000 worth of damage to equipment — including the scissor lift and a hoist — as well as to parts of the building.
Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/news/2017/11/11/instagram-post-tips-off-utah-police-after-teens-allegedly-broke-into-school-construction-site-and-did-10000-in-damage/
Utah's Pando aspen grove is the most massive living thing known on Earth. It may die soon.
Fishlake National Forest • The leaves of the Pando aspen grove glow in the low sunshine of an October afternoon. The straight, vertical trunks repeat into the distance like a house of mirrors, and under a backlit canopy of foliage, Pando feels at once infinite and enclosed.
For 106 acres on the southwest bank of Fish Lake in Sevier County, a single root system unites this forest. Pando is the biggest aspen “clone” ever identified, the single most massive living organism known on Earth. Though little known in Utah, Pando has gained fame as a tourist destination and as a symbol of sustainability and interconnectedness. It is being researched, photographed, talked about. It has inspired poetry, sermons, even comedy sketches.
Scientists say it could be on the brink of collapse.
“It’s dying from within,” says Paul Rogers, an ecology professor at Utah State University and director of the Western Aspen Alliance. “We’re sort of in an emergency situation in terms of the next five to 10 years.”
Rogers and local land managers know the reason for Pando’s struggle: Animals are eating it faster than it can regenerate. They also say there are ways to save Pando quickly — a welcome distinction from other aspen clones in the Mountain West, which have declined under drought and high temperatures.
Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/news/2017/11/11/utahs-pando-aspen-grove-is-the-most-massive-living-thing-known-on-earth-it-may-die-soon/
Book excerpt: Rachel Jeffs, daughter of a polygamist and prophet, gets news that scatters her family
Book excerpt: Rachel Jeffs, daughter of a polygamist and prophet, gets news that scatters her family from Utah to TexasEditor’s note • On Tuesday, HarperCollins Publishers will release a memoir from Rachel Jeffs titled “Breaking Free: How I Escaped Polygamy, the FLDS Cult and My Father, Warren Jeffs.”
In the book, Rachel Jeffs alleges her father, Warren Jeffs — who today is the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and is serving a sentence of life plus 20 years in Texas for crimes related to sexually assaulting two girls he married as spiritual wives — molested her as a child.
At the time of the following excerpt, Rachel Jeffs is the 19-year-old third wife of the man to whom her father assigned her, Richard Allred. Rachel Jeffs has just given birth to her first child and the plural family is living in the FLDS community on the Utah-Arizona line, called Short Creek. Rachel Jeffs changed her sister wives’ names to protect their privacy.
In April 2003, I went up to Father’s house to find Rich. All the family members I encountered looked at me with sad expressions. What’s the big deal? I wondered.
“Rachel, you need to go talk to Father,” one of his wives said.
I walked down to Father’s room and knocked on the door. “Come in,” he said....
Father sat there for a moment before he said, “It looks like your mother has breast cancer. A doctor has confirmed it.”
I bolted from Father’s room and ran up to Mother’s room, where I found her lying in bed. Barbie was only 2 months old, and I had spent most of my time recently with her, so I hadn’t seen how ill my mother had become. I was only 19, and my mother 38. (She had a 2-year-old baby herself.)
Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/news/polygamy/2017/11/12/book-excerpt-rachel-jeffs-daughter-of-a-polygamist-and-prophet-gets-news-that-scatters-her-family-from-utah-to-texas/
"This is completely inhumane": Longmont prairie dog colony exterminated
A sign posted at the edge of a vacant lot in east Longmont indicated to passersby that a colony of prairie dogs, which have been the source of tension between the property owner and prairie dog activists, were exterminated en masse sometime Friday morning.
“They had an opportunity to move them,” said Jeremy Gregory. “This is completely inhumane.”
Gregory said he is executive director of Tindakan, a nonprofit support organization for “eco-social justice issues,” and he came to the scene to document the extermination.
“My objective was to witness and document what they were doing and disseminate the information,” he said. “(That way) people are aware of the immorality of this profits over life mindset.”
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/2017/11/10/longmont-prairie-dog-colony-exterminated/
Four former employees say Denver oil tycoon groped, harassed or sexually assaulted them
A Denver oil tycoon fighting his family for control of his fortune is fending off allegations he repeatedly groped, harassed or sexually assaulted four former female employees.
Three women, one the former personal assistant to 85-year-old Jack Grynberg, allege in the Douglas County case that in 2015 and 2016 they were groped and harassed — one alleging she was forced to have sex with him multiple times — in return for keeping their jobs at Grynberg Petroleum Co. in Denver. Ultimately, they say, they were fired for refusing him.
All three also have named two Grynberg company officers as defendants, saying they did nothing to prevent the encounters — one of the officers allegedly told one of the women to keep quiet for fear they’d all lose their jobs — and advised them “never to be alone” with Grynberg.
A fourth woman, employed by Grynberg about four decades ago, has come forward with similar allegations but is not a plaintiff in the lawsuit. She has filed an affidavit in the case about her experiences.
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/2017/11/12/former-grynberg-employees-allege-sexual-harassment/
Colorado election results indicate a progressive monsoon is on the way
When voters in Greeley, Colorado Springs and Mesa County all break school-funding dry spells that have lasted longer than a decade, it’s a sign that a progressive monsoon is coming.
We don’t think we’re reading too much into Colorado election results Tuesday night when we predict rainy days ahead for Republicans in this bellwether state.
Not only did voters in traditionally conservative communities support tax increases to support their local schools where similar measures have failed in previous years, but Douglas County voters rejected a slate of school board candidates that would have continued education policies, like vouchers for private schools, that are traditionally supported by conservatives.
To be clear, we don’t necessarily relish the fact that a more liberal agenda is winning the day.
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/2017/11/09/colorado-election-results-indicate-a-progressive-monsoon-is-on-the-way/
Jail overcrowding keeps El Paso County from hosting lucrative ICE detainees
El Paso County officials are discussing a move to reduce the jail population that could free up a few hundred beds at a time – potentially making room for paying customers.
Discussions about jail overcrowding at recent Board of County Commissioners meetings have touched on a little-known pitfall of having too many local inmates: lost revenue from once-lucrative detention contracts between the Sheriff’s Office and agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
From 2008 to 2015, ICE paid the county more than $11 million to house detainees – a windfall that has all but dwindled amid record-setting jail populations.
The county took in about $7,000 through August of this year, compared to a one-year high of nearly $2.7 million in 2009, Sheriff’s Office records show.
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/2017/11/12/jail-overcrowding-keeps-el-paso-county-from-hosting-lucrative-ice-detainees/
Veteran who lost both legs completes 31 marathons in 31 days, runners trailing his every step
WASHINGTON – Marine Corps veteran Rob Jones wanted to change the narrative of the broken-down, wounded veteran struggling to transition to civilian life. So for the past 31 days, he kept running.
He ran to prove a point and to inspire. Jones, who had both legs amputated after being wounded by a land mine while serving in Afghanistan, ran the distance of 31 marathons over 31 days in 31 different cities.
On Saturday afternoon, with his back aching and legs sore, the 32-year-old Jones finished his month of marathons near the steps leading up to Lincoln Memorial on a frigid Veterans Day. The crowd of several dozen supporters showered him with cheers. Jones smiled and took a few moments to let the accomplishment soak in.
“I decided I would create this story of a veteran that was wounded and thrived from it,” Jones said minutes after finishing. “I think I accomplished that mission.”
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/2017/11/12/veteran-who-lost-both-legs-completes-31-marathons-in-31-days/
Unrivaled support: While Colorado cities and universities examine ways to partner, CMU only one
Unrivaled support: While Colorado cities and universities examine ways to partner, CMU only one that directly receives city taxpayer dollarsThe city of Grand Junction’s recent head nod to provide up to $500,000 to Colorado Mesa University next year for scholarship money for local students did more than reaffirm a commitment of taxpayer money to the growing institution that dates back 15 years.
More broadly, it cemented a partnership unlike any between a municipality and a public university in Colorado.
While cities and towns around the state have forged pacts with their universities that allow them to share infrastructure or split costs — as Grand Junction and CMU have — the notion of a city writing a check drawn on the taxpayers’ account to help pay for young people’s education is a novel concept outside the Grand Valley.
The Daily Sentinel polled 10 other Colorado cities about the degree to which they support — financially or otherwise — the colleges and universities. None use public dollars for scholarship money or otherwise directly financially back their respective institutions.
Read more: http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/unrivaled-support--while-colorado-cities-and-unive/
Colorado Dem House speaker strips Dem of chairmanship after harassment allegations, urges him to ...
Colorado Dem House speaker strips Dem of chairmanship after harassment allegations, urges him to resignA national cascade of sexual assault allegations against public figures and fallout from them has reached the Colorado statehouse— and with very different results when it comes to partisan wagon circling.
Today, Democratic House Speaker Crisanta Duran stripped Thornton Democratic Rep. Steve Lebsock from his chairmanship of a local government committee and indicated he should “do the right thing” and resign following a bombshell report by KUNC that cited nine legislators, staffers and lobbyists alleging Lebsock harassed women. Lebsock is also running a statewide race for state treasurer.
From KUNC’s report:
Rep. Faith Winter said Lebsock tried to get her to leave a bar with him in 2016. Both were attending a party to celebrate the end of the legislative session. Lawmakers, lobbyists, staff, the governor and members of the media attended the event a few blocks from the Capitol Building. Winter alleges that Lebsock suggested sexual acts the two could do to make each other happy because it was the end of the legislative session and they deserved to be happy.
Winter is also a Democrat.
“While my formal role in investigating complaints established under Joint Rule 38 prohibits me from making initial judgments about the facts, these numerous allegations would represent a major breach of decorum, and I would expect that Rep. Lebsock would consider the impact of his actions on his colleagues and the public confidence in our institution, and do the right thing and resign,” said Speaker Duran in a statement. “There is no place for those types of actions at the legislature.” A spokesman for Duran said she wouldn’t comment to The Denver Post about why she elevated Lebsock to a committee chairmanship when she knew of allegations against him since 2016.
Read more: http://www.coloradoindependent.com/167572/colorado-steve-lebsock-allegations-democrat
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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Current location: Bryan, Texas
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