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Week in review

Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado

GLENWOOD SPRINGS ” The American Civil Liberties Union’s lawsuit alleging prisoner abuse at the Garfield County Jail can go forward on behalf of all current and future inmates instead of only the four original plaintiffs.

U.S. District Court Judge Wiley Y. Daniel issued a a 42-page opinion on Thursday certifying class action status on five of the lawsuit’s six claims for relief.

“It does mean the practices we’re challenging are sufficiently widespread,” Mark Silverstein, legal director for the ACLU of Colorado, said in a phone interview.



He said the judge’s opinion doesn’t determine whether the practices the ACLU is challenging are legal or illegal, only that they apply to a large number of prisoners.

GLENWOOD SPRINGS ” At Thursday’s City Council meeting, City councilors expressed strong support for improvements to the downtown area and for pursuing the funding for them.



The city has a few tricks up its sleeve aimed at revitalizing downtown. There’s the plan to redevelop Seventh Street. A preliminary plan calls for more lighting to be added on Seventh Street between Colorado Avenue and Blake Avenue, similar to lights on Larimer Square in Denver. The wing street at Seventh Street and Grand Avenue would remain open, but would be designed so that it could be shut down easily in the future.

GLENWOOD SPRINGS ” A woman filed a lawsuit claiming it’s the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park’s fault she rammed someone on the company’s alpine coaster and got hurt in 2006.

But the owners say the woman disregarded crucial safety instructions and has only herself to blame for the collision.

“Defendants knew, or reasonably should have known, of the dangerous condition that existed on their facilities but failed to warn or otherwise take precautions to protect the plaintiff,” the complaint states.

PARACHUTE ” Marathon Oil Co. on Tuesday identified itself as one of two companies involved in four large storage pit spills from November to February.

Marathon said it was responsible for one 30,000-barrel water release from a water pit; however, the leak near Garden Gulch did not contain industrial drilling mud, as was initially reported by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

GLENWOOD SPRINGS ” Nick Massaro came to the Roaring Fork Valley 58 years ago as a teacher at Basalt High School. In the history of instructors in the valley, Massaro’s name is one that epitomizes the meaning of teacher.

As a teacher, principal, coach, assistant superintendent and superintendent for the Roaring Fork School District for 33 years, Massaro has given the community one of its greatest gifts, the gift of education.

To honor his career in the valley, Massaro’s four sons, all graduates of Glenwood Springs High School, created the Nick Massaro Education Scholarship established through the Roaring Fork Education Foundation. The scholarship is available for GSHS seniors who intend to pursue a career in education.

GLENWOOD SPRINGS ” Students attend Colorado Mountain College for multiple reasons. Affordability is a popular one.

Beginning this summer semester students will be paying slightly more for their education as the CMC board of trustees voted to increase tuition fees for the next school year.

Despite the increase in tuition, CMC tuition will still be relatively affordable when compared to the rest of the state’s universities and colleges. Overall, the increase will be 3.5 percent, which equals about $2 per credit hour for in-district students.

PARACHUTE ” Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission records reveal that Berry Petroleum Co. allegedly failed to tell the state of two releases of fluids from a reserve pit on private lands of the Roan Plateau. The company also reportedly did not alert the landowner about the releases, according to the agency’s records.

A COGCC “Notice of Alleged Violation” (NOAV) said that Berry notified the agency about a release of an unknown volume of drilling fluids from a reserve pit on Jan. 22.

GLENWOOD SPRINGS ” Samuel Lincoln’s sentence hearing for nearly stabbing a man to death with a bayonet and robbing him and his family in 2004 was delayed Friday.

Thursday night, a jury convicted Lincoln, 26, of second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, aggravated robbery, first-degree burglary, theft and menacing. But his attorney, Kathy Goudy, filed a motion for acquittal or for a new trial just before a 1 p.m. sentence hearing.

Sharon Coelho testified at trial that she planned the crime with Lincoln, Lawrence Doty, and a man named “AJ” after they all used methamphetamine at the Budget Host motel. The stabbing victim, who suffered a punctured lung and spent two weeks in the hospital, had paid for the room to help Coelho out. Coelho said she saw the men leave her room with guns and knives and come back with blood on their clothes.


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