Less than compassionate
22-year-old David Wheat Jr. died earlier this month when Fort Collins cops shot him 11 times. In Westword, Michael Roberts unpacks the disturbing theme shared by this incident and the recent killing of a CU Boulder student who was shot by police while naked, wielding a knife and tripping on LSD. They’re calling it “suicide by cop.”
Forbidden love
An arrest affidavit shows that Colorado Springs homicide detective Paul Patton had sex with the victim in an ongoing kidnapping case then lied about it to investigators. The Gazette‘s Kassondra Cloos reports he also shared sensitive information about other cases he was working on with the woman.
Not in her classroom
Fremont RE-2 school district settled with a Jewish teacher who sued in May because the district endorsed religion by letting a local church run activities at Fremont High School. Neither party accepted fault, Yesenia Robles reports in The Denver Post, but the district has agreed to make many concessions.
Something in the water
Around 130 activists packed a Denver Water Board meeting Wednesday to insist adding adding fluoride to water is bad for brains and bones — especially for kids. State health officials countered that most Coloradans drink water with fluoride and have experienced fewer cavities and a decline in dental diseases. Via The Denver Post.
One last well
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Encana Oil and Gas and Erie was all but finalized last week, but now the company has applied for a new well in town. “It’s not really a renegotiation, but an alteration,” said Mayor Tina Harris about the delay. Via The Daily Camera.
High altitude tragedy
The father and son thought to have died of a lightning strike near the Maroon Bells in Aspen earlier this month actually died of carbon monoxide poisoning, toxicology results from Monday show. A camp stove burning in their tent is to blame. Via The Aurora Sentinel.
Huh?
After a recent review, the Department of Veterans Affairs called a 2014 internal investigation into “blind scheduling” at the Fort Collins VA clinic that found eight patients died while waiting for appointments “unsupported” and “not reasonable.” Even though the VA acknowledged wrongdoing at the time, the report says “these serious shortcomings have no negative impact on patient care.” Via The Coloradoan.
“Dodged a Bullet” by John Spade, Creative Commons, via Flickr.