Sheriffs’ Deputies win Case
LEADVILLE – Nine current and former Lake County sheriff’s deputies won a pay-dispute lawsuit brought against the county totalling $33,030.
The suit claimed the defendants – the sheriff’s office – the county clerk and the county commissioners, violated federal law by failing to pay wages due and violated the deputies’ constitutional right to due process, according to The Leadville Herald-Democrat. The period in dispute was from October 2007 to November 2010. Deputies claimed they were not paid per hour but as salaried employees and that they were not compensated for extra hours worked. The suit was filed under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
Ballot Lawsuit Dismissed
DENVER – A lawsuit filed by a voters’ advocacy group against six Colorado counties and the Colorado secretary of state were tossed out of court by a U.S. District judge.
Based in Aspen, Citizen Center filed the suit claiming ballots from the counties’ general election ballots contained traceable elements that could be used to identify voters. Chaffee was one of the counties named in the lawsuit. On Aug. 20, Secretary of State Scott Gessler issued an emergency order requiring the removable of any traceable elements, including barcodes, from ballots.
U.S. District Judge Christine Arguello claimed no federal right to a secret ballot existed and dismissed the case on grounds of jurisdiction.
Dam Application Withdrawn
In late August, Colorado Springs Utilities filed a motion to withdraw an application for water storage and diversion rights for the proposed Elephant Rock Reservoir on the Arkansas River near Granite and the Mt. Princeton Dam and Diversion near Buena Vista, according to The Mountain Mail.
The utility originally filed applications for the rights in 1990. Opponents of the proposal were concerned about depletion of the upper Arkansas River which would negatively affect fishing and rafting activities downstream. The city utility determined that using the Pueblo Reservoir for storage combined with the Southern Delivery System was a viable alternative to building the dams. Approximately 100 people gathered at the Salida SteamPlant on Sept. 6 to celebrate the demise of the proposals.
Drilling Begins near White Pine
GUNNISON – Exploratory drilling for new mineral resources has begun near White Pine in eastern Gunnison County on the western side of Monarch Pass. Burnstone Ventures, a Canadian firm, owns mining claims in the area and was granted a permit to conduct the exploration by the Gunnison County Panning Commission. Burnstone is seeking molybdenum and copper deposits about two miles northeast of the town of White Pine according to The Gunnison Country Times.
Shorts
• The Gunnison River reached the lowest non-winter mean daily flow in 85 years of collected data by United States Geological Survey readings on Sept. 17. Readings from the gauge located north of Whitewater Park averaged around 102 cubic feet per second, according to The Gunnison Times.
• Patrick Murphy of Salida was appointed by Gov. John Hickenlooper as a district court judge in the 11th Judicial District on Sept. 12.
• A listing determination to place the Gunnison Sage Grouse on the Endangered Species List was delayed until Dec. 30 by a U.S. District Court judge in order to modify a settlement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and an environmental group, WildEarth Guardians.
• A $2.2 million expansion project at Monarch Mountain base lodge is expected to be completed by Nov. 9.
• The San Isabel Land Protection Trust has acquired a conservation easement that will help protect the 409-acre San Isabel Scout Ranch, located near Lake San Isabel in the Wet Mountains.
“Notable Quotes”
“We just need to regulate this, take it off the street corners, put it behind a counter, ask for ID (and) tax the heck out of it.” – Brian Vicente, a coauthor of Amendment 64, to regulate marijuana the same as alcohol, during a Club 20 debate in Grand Junction. – The Gunnison Country Times, Sept. 13, 2012.
“When you’re a kid, you want to sneak out and play at night. I guess we’re just kids still wanting to go out to play at night.” – Josh Tostado of Alma, winner of the 125-mile Vapor Trail Mountain Bike Ride which starts at 10 p.m. in downtown Salida and gains more than 20,000 feet of cumulative gain throughout the ride. – The Mountain Mail, Sept. 11, 2012.
