The Home Front: ‘That’s what you do’ a Colorado man said when asked if he drowned his neighbor’s cat

“Mesa County Animal Services is investigating the disappearance of more than one cat in an Orchard Mesa neighborhood after a resident reported that her neighbor trapped her pet and drowned it,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “Lisa DeShazer, the owner of the deceased cat, shared her story on social media, warning others living in the Chipeta Pines neighborhood to keep their cats indoors. Reached by The Daily Sentinel on Thursday, she declined to comment and said she is waiting for criminal charges to be filed in the case. Her account on social media explains she had two cats missing — Miss Kitty and Little Mister — and she believed Little Mister was in her neighbor’s yard, held in an animal trap, because she could hear him meowing and trying to escape on Tuesday. DeShazer said she tried to contact the neighbor, Ed Haynes, several times but he did not answer the door. When he did, and she told him she believed her cat was trapped in his backyard, he reportedly told her that he drowned the cat.” When the newspaper reporter asked the man if he drowned the cat after trapping it in his yard, the man said, “That’s what you do.”

“As wages stagnate and rents soar, more than 37,000 evictions were filed statewide in either county or district court last year, according to data compiled by the Colorado Judicial Branch and analyzed by the Coloradoan,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “Those records exclude Denver County court, which is administered aside from state courts and saw more than 8,000 evictions.”

“Construction has stopped suddenly on an apartment complex east of Longmont after a change in contractors and revisions to the foundation plans, reports The Longmont Times-Call. “Work on Springs at Sandstone Ranch, a 240-unit development, has ceased for the time being. A visit to the site, near Highway 119 and County Line Road, showed three partially-constructed buildings. The walls on one were lilting precariously, and weeds had grown up around the foundation. Workers at a nearby project couldn’t recall how long the site had been dormant. A security guard at the property declined to answer questions.”

“Not turning a deaf ear to complaints of loud vehicles and obnoxious drivers, Greeley police issued 57 citations for noisy vehicles in 12 hours,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “This is a problem that’s been going on for a long time and it appears it’s getting worse,” Greeley Police Chief Jerry Garner said Thursday. As a part of an increased focus on noisy vehicles and drivers, late and swing-shift officers worked Wednesday night and Thursday morning enforcing ordinances governing noisy vehicles, defective mufflers and altered exhaust systems, Greeley police spokesman Sgt. Joe Tymkowych said in an email. The high number of tickets written gives a good idea of just how many illegally noisy vehicles and drivers Greeley has, Garner said.”

“To date, Pueblo Crime Stoppers has paid citizens whose information and tips have led to the arrest of wanted Safe Streets suspects over $2,000,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “Crime Stoppers has paid community members a total of $2,260 in cash in relation to arrests made in the Safe Streets program, according to Jeff Shay, a police detective who serves as Crime Stoppers coordinator. The Pueblo Police Department has highlighted 135 Safe Streets suspects since the program’s inception in April 2016, and 116 of those suspects have been arrested.”

“With Colorado high schools allowed to start football practice Aug. 14, the excitement for a new season also brings some anxiety about the decline in the number of officials available for game assignments, stretching from Paonia to Rangely to Grand Junction,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “The problem matches a nationwide trend linked in significant part to verbal abuse of officials. According to Steve Cable, the former Glenwood Springs athletic director and a member of the Three Rivers Football Officials Association for the past 30 years, it’s been tough the last few years to find enough qualified officials for not just varsity football games on Friday nights, but junior varsity, middle school and youth football games throughout the week.”

“A 69-year-old man who splits time between Steamboat Springs and Texas was cycling Thursday and was pronounced dead after being discovered by fellow riders in a ditch,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “The incident marks the second death involving a cyclist in the Steamboat area in the past two weeks, but it is unclear if a medical issue contributed to the most recent. The name of the man who died Thursday was not immediately being released, and Routt County Undersheriff Ray Birch said he did not know where the man spent his time in Texas.”

“A Larimer County Sheriff’s Office deputy has been cleared for his role in the fatal officer-involved shooting on June 30 between Loveland and Fort Collins,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “In an eight-page ruling released Thursday by District Attorney Cliff Riedel, the details of the June 30 incident near Carpenter Road and Timberline Road were described as well as the previous encounters law enforcement officers had made with the victim, 23-year-old Chet Knuppel. According to the report, Knuppel died from a single gunshot fired by Deputy Derek Signorelli of the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, using an AR-15 rifle at a distance of about 25 yards.”

“Construction at the Betasso Water Treatment Plant this spring prompted Boulder’s Public Works Department to add chlorine earlier than normal during the disinfection process, leading to elevated levels of a potentially cancer-causing by-product in the city’s water supply in late May and early June,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “City officials disclosed the problem Thursday, saying the exposure was minor and did not constitute an emergency. Residents are not being asked to do anything about their water. “The issue was identified and addressed,” said Jeff Arthur, director of public works for Boulder. Tom Settle, water treatment manager at the plant, said Betasso has been under heavy construction since last fall, and, as such, workers at the facility have had to take various components off line and tweak the water purification process.”

“A wanted fugitive quickly was apprehended Wednesday night after K9 Officer Duke jumped into the Arkansas River to catch him,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “According to a news release from the Cañon City Police Department, officers, deputies, detectives and troopers with CCPD, Florence Police Department and the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office were working on an active narcotics investigation in the 300 block of Royal Gorge Boulevard when they came in contact with a known violent offender.”

“The natural gas industry in La Plata County has reason to hope for a recovery with prices rising and plenty of approved drilling permits,” reports The Durango Herald. “The slowdown in the industry is at least partially responsible for a slowdown in Durango’s economy earlier this year, said Roger Zalneraitis, executive director of the La Plata County Economic Development Alliance. In January and February, the economy slowed more than expected with job openings, tourism indicators and permits for new construction falling.”

“Red light cameras watched Colorado Springs’ intersections for less than a year before then-Mayor Steve Bach pulled the plug on the program,” reports The Durango Herald. “But with recent changes to the technology, police say the devices might deserve another shot. Mayor John Suthers recently gave Police Chief Pete Carey the green light to see if reintroducing the cameras might help the department curb traffic violations and address staffing shortages at the same time.”

“Wait times for medical appointments at veterans facilities in eastern Colorado and the Denver area are among the worst in the nation, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs data show,” reports The Denver Post. “Front Range veterans have seen little improvement in the three years since a national scandal erupted over the problem. The average wait for a primary care appointment at just the Denver VA Medical Center has grown to more than 18 days as of July 1 — three times higher than those at the main VA facility in Phoenix, where the problem was first exposed in 2014, and nearly four times the national average.”