The Home Front: 22-year-old from Colorado was ‘killed in action Monday while serving in Afghanistan’

“A Berthoud High School graduate was killed in action Monday while serving in Afghanistan, weeks before his unit’s deployment in the country was scheduled to end,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “The U.S. Department of Defense announced Tuesday that Spc. Gabriel D. Conde, 22, died of small arms fire in the Tagab District while supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, according to a release from the department. The incident is still under investigation. Conde was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, U.S. Army Alaska, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. Conde, who ran track when he attended Berthoud High, enlisted out of Loveland in August 2015. He deployed into Afghanistan in September 2017.”

“Officials in Gilcrest once contemplated suing the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District to recoup the money the town spent repairing damage from high groundwater many here blame on Central’s water management,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “The revelation came Tuesday night during a Gilcrest Town Board meeting at which retired water engineering consultant Bob Longenbaugh presented his recommendations on the high water levels that have plagued Gilcrest and LaSalle for more than a decade.”

“History clings to this downtown Grand Junction neighborhood. Some homes stand out with their stucco Spanish Colonial Revival style, while others sport the hearty Craftsman style,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “There’s an example of the more unique International style in a home with curved windows. In the 1920s and ’30s, this area south of Lincoln Park was home to some of the city’s wealthy merchants who created elaborate homes. Many of the homes’ extraordinary details still remain nearly a century later. A four-block section south of Lincoln Park already is recognized as a local historic district. Another five blocks containing 58 additional homes could be added to the district during tonight’s Grand Junction City Council meeting. Members of the city’s Historic Preservation Board voted unanimously to recommend approval of historic status for the extended Lincoln Park area, and council members will decide whether to uphold that recommendation.”

“Longmont City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday night to declare the city’s support of a pair of proposed state laws that would impose stricter requirements on oil and gas operations,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “Both bills, sponsored by state Lafayette Democratic Rep. Mike Foote, gained Colorado House approval earlier Tuesday and will be carried in the Senate by state Louisville Democrat Matt Jones, both of whose eastern Boulder County legislative districts extend into Longmont.”

“State lawmakers won’t be fighting over the right of public school teachers to strike after all. State Sen. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, has withdrawn his proposed bill to jail and fire any public school teachers who go on strike,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “Gardner told a Denver newspaper there isn’t sufficient time in this year’s legislative session for the long debate that was likely over Senate Bill 264. The bill would have required school districts to seek a court injunction against any public school teachers threatening to strike and required the district to fire that teacher if they did.”

“Last week, Silt’s newly elected Board of Trustees decided not to retain longtime Town Administrator Pamela Woods, in an indication the board wanted to take the town in a new direction. Since that time, questions and concerns have been raised as to why the town made the change and about the procedure the board went through to do it, with little reasoning given,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “Woods was also placed on paid administrative leave from her dual position as town treasurer, a move that also has raised questions. Town Clerk Sheila McIntyre is acting administrator in the meantime until an interim administrator can be found.”

“Search efforts have intensified, and a reward is now being offered for help to find Steamboat Springs resident Matthew Shelters,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “On Tuesday, members of the Steamboat Springs Fire Rescue swift-water team found no signs of the 38-year-old after searching the Yampa River from Rotary Park to Milner. ‘The Steamboat Springs Police Department continues to work closely with the family of Mr. Shelters,’ Commander Annette Dopplick wrote in an email. “Our entire team has been tenaciously following-up on all possibilities.'”

“BP American Production Co. says a leak at one of its pipelines released wastewater from oil and gas operations into an intermittent stream near Bayfield. In a filing with the state, BP reported it found a pipeline leaking ‘produced water’ on April 19 that made its way to Dry Creek, an intermittent drainage that ultimately flows into the Pine River,” reports The Durango Herald. “Produced water is a term that refers to the wastewater byproduct of oil and gas production, which can contain high concentrations of hydrocarbons and carry negative environmental impacts. BP, however, did not know how much produced water had spilled into Dry Creek or how long the leak had been occurring before it was discovered, according to a report the company filed April 20 with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.”

“Much of the upper Eagle River Valley’s water supply comes from stream flows. Those flows are driven by snowpack,” reports Vail Daily. “And we’re coming off a snow-short season. At the Vail Town Council’s afternoon meeting on Tuesday, May 1, representatives from the Eagle River Water & Sanitation District provided an update about current snowpack, as well as the progress of a water-efficiency plan for the district. As you’d expect, the snowpack on Vail Mountain is far below “normal” levels, based on a 30-year median. The most recent data shows that snowpack is still far below that level, but spring storms finally boosted Vail’s snowpack above the record-low snow year of 2011-12. Better yet, while snowpack on Vail Mountain had melted away at this point in 2012, there’s still snow on the hillsides right now.”

“The family of a Wellington man killed in a January oil rig explosion in Oklahoma is suing the energy companies involved in the operation, claiming they have sustained more than $10,000 in damages,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “Cody Risk, 26, was one of five people killed in the Jan. 22 explosion, deemed one of the deadliest oil and gas industry accidents since the explosion on BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 that killed 11 people. And now, Risk’s children “don’t have their dad; they don’t have barely anything left,” said Charles Levi Brite, who is the legal guardian of Risk’s children.”

“The Boulder City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to advance a ban on the sale and possession of assault weapons, bump stocks and high-capacity magazines in the city,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “In recent weeks, the terms and scope of the council’s proposed ban have been hotly debated, including at a multi-hour public hearing before the council April 5, during a street protest on Broadway and through hundreds of emails to the council from citizens. What the council voted for on Tuesday is not final. In order to be adopted as law, it will need to be voted on again at a third reading that will likely take place in the next few weeks. It will become effective as soon as it’s adopted. At that point, according to rules the council has agreed on, citizens who own bump stocks will have to get rid of them within 30 days of adoption. They’d have to get rid of magazines with the capacity to hold 10 or more rounds by Dec. 31.”

“From instructing hundreds of students at her acclaimed dance studio to tap dancing, hula-hooping and twirling batons on ‘America’s Got Talent,’ Anita McCoy has led quite the dancing career, and it’s unbelievable that she’s been doing it now for 60 years,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “Anita McCoy Dance Studio will put on its 43rd Revue at 6:30 p.m. May 12 at Cañon City High School, 1313 College Ave. The Revue entitled “Diamond Jubilee” is in celebration of McCoy’s 60 years teaching dance.”

“U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn’s name must be added to the Republican June primary ballot, and Secretary of State Wayne Williams can’t enforce a state law requiring candidates’ petition circulators to be Colorado residents, U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer ruled Tuesday,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “The ruling means Lamborn, a Colorado Springs Republican serving his sixth term in Congress, likely will face primary voters in June, though some legal obstacles could arise. The Colorado Supreme Court had removed Lamborn from the ballot last week, ruling that he employed out-of-state circulators to gather some of the signatures on his nominating petition, contrary to state law.”

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