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October 28, 2009 Note: The following text is a quote: Eleven Members/Associates of Ummah Charged with Federal Violations One Subject Fatally Shot During Arrest United States Attorney Terrence Berg, Eastern District of Michigan, Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent in Charge (SAC), Federal Bureau of Investigation, (FBI), Detroit, Michigan, and Police Chief Warren Evans, Detroit Police Department (DPD), Detroit, Michigan announced a federal complaint was unsealed today charging Luqman Ameen Abdullah, a.k.a.Christopher Thomas, and 10 others with conspiracy to commit several federal crimes, including theft from interstate shipments, mail fraud to obtain the proceeds of arson, illegal possession and sale of...

Pope Benedict XVI / Fr. Fernando Isern Miami, Fla., Oct 15, 2009 / 10:32 am (CNA).- This morning the Vatican announced that Fr. Fernando Isern from the Archdiocese of Miami has been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to head the Diocese of Pueblo in southern Colorado. Bishop-elect Isern, 51, was born in Havana, Cuba and raised in southern Florida. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Miami in 1993 and has since worked at both pastoral and educational posts.His appointment as the fourth Bishop of Pueblo, succeeding Bishop Arthur Tafoya, will be officially announced to the faithful in Miami...

VAIL VALLEY, Colorado — Matthew Volk said he was working at Edwards Liquors Thursday when the night took a strange turn. “Next thing I know, I see this guy come in and he's got a gun in my face,” he said. The man with the gun shouted at Volk to give him money from the register. That's when Volk noticed the gun looked fake. “I realized right away it was not a real gun because of the barrel shape,” the 42-year-old Army veteran said. “I was not as scared as if it had been a real gun.” Volk said he...

To passers-by, the event at Lake Loveland on Wednesday looked like any other friendly picnic. Casseroles were served on disposable plates, and the local wasp population was abuzz in anticipation of finding a soda can left unattended for too long. But a closer inspection of the 10 or so participants showed it was more than just a dinner — it was an opportunity to send a message. Several local gun owners used the picnic at South Shore Scenic Park to show solidarity with a man who was approached last year by police because he was openly carrying a firearm. Six...

KEYSTONE — Summit County may soon have a new batch of licensed concealed weapon holders, after Sunday's well-attended firearms class at the Keystone Fire Station. Carrying a concealed weapon requires completion of the class, as well as two hours of training on a shooting range, said instructor Phil McFall, explaining that students also take a 50-question exam at the end of the session. After completing the course, people can apply with the Sheriff's Office for a permit. Colorado law authorizes citizens 18 years and older to carry concealed weapons as long as they don't have any felonies on their record....

NO Bama Care Rally Grand Junction 2009 08 15 "We gathered in Grand Junction Colorado, peacefully exercising our First Amendment Rights, to protest the President's and the Democrat controlled Congress attempt to gut and ruin our Health Care System. There were thousands in attendance to protest in the morning. In all fairness, the Democrats bused in a bunch of folks from Utah (who were in Montana the day before) to support the changes. There were about equal numbers for and against outside of Central High School, about a quarter mile from where the President lectured in his Town Hall (this...

Rep. Markey’s scheduled public meetings on federal health care reform: 08/18 Congress on Your Corner Ft Collins 9am – 12pm 08/19 Congress on Your Corner Greeley 11am – 1pm 08/20 Congress on Your Corner Longmont 3pm – 5pm 08/21 Seniors Day Event Greeley 1pm – 3pm 08/22 Congress on Your Corner Ft Lupton 10:00am – 12:00pm 08/24 Tele-Town Hall Meeting District-wide 7:30pm – 8:30pm 08/26 Congress on Your Corner Ft Collins 10:30am – 12pm 08/28 Congress on Your Corner Ft Morgan 9am – 10:30am 09/01 Congress on Your Corner Johnstown 8:30am – 10am 09/02 Congress on Your Corner Windsor 1pm...

HANDS OFF HEALTH CARE RALLY SPONSORED BY WSCA AND AFP SATURDAY; AUGUST 15, 2009 10 AM TO 11:30 AM LINCOLN PARK, 12TH STREET AND GUNNISION AVE, GJ MUSIC, SPEAKERS, A CHANCE TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD BRING A LAWN CHAIR, WATER AND YOUR SIGNS THE THEME IS HANDS OFF HEALTH CARE NO OBSCENE OR DISTASTEFUL LANGUAGE PLEASE BE THERE!!! THIS IS A CHANCE TO LET THE NATIONAL PRESS KNOW WE DON'T WANT OBAMA CARE For those who wish to gather near Central High School (I 70 Business and Warrior Way, GJ) to protest the visit of Obama, the town hall...

BOULDER, Colo. — It took three rounds from a shotgun, five bullets from a handgun and two shots from a rifle to kill the 120-pound black bear that broke into a Boulder County home early Monday morning. The bear break-in was the fifth time in a week hungry bears have gotten into Boulder County residences, all while the residents were home. That has wildlife officials urging area residents to take precautions and bear proof their homes. Brenda Fischer's barking dog woke her at about 2 a.m. Monday morning. When she went upstairs to investigate, she found a bear in the...

The history of Colorado is rich in the tradition of private property and gun rights to protect life and property. The fundamental right to keep and bear arm for the purpose of protecting life and property was reinvigorated in 2003 by the State’s General Assembly. Now, a new tactic is being used by Adams County officials to eviscerate those fundamental rights in a criminal prosecution of a small farmer who clearly was within the grand tradition of the State.   The Colorado Constitution was formed 100 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. That additional time was...

When a gunman went on a spree at New Life Church back in December of 2007, security guard Jeanne Assam stepped in and took down the shooter before he could take any more church members' lives. Assam has only spoken a few times in public about what happened that day. Thursday night she told her story to members of the Pikes Peak Firearms Coalition. She says a lot of what happened that day hasn't been told. She says she actually wasn’t even supposed to be working on that Sunday as a security guard at New Life. She planned to take...

AURORA — The owner of a check-cashing and cigarette store shot and killed an armed robber in his store early Monday afternoon, according to eyewitnesses and a vague police account. Aurora police said they received a 911 call shortly after 1 p.m. about a gunman who attempted to rob the check-cashing store on the northwest corner of Clinton Street and East Colfax Avenue. After investigating, police said a "possible suspect" had been shot by a person in the store. The wounded person was driven by an unknown person to a Denver-area hospital where he died of a single gunshot wound,...

Firearms play a large roll in Teller County. More than twice as many county citizens own firearms than the state average. “I think a lot more than 50 percent of county residents have at least one firearm in their homes,” Teller County Sheriff Kevin Dougherty said. “That’s a huge underestimation, it’s probably closer to 75 percent.” The state average for household firearm ownership is about 34 percent, according to a 2001 survey conducted by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System based in North Carolina. Firearm ownership figures often are inaccurate because they rely on self-reporting and many gun owners will...

A man shot a bear to death after it broke into his home in Colorado Springs. The bear broke in through the back door of a home on Columbia court around 8 p.m. Friday night. Colorado Springs police say the homeowner loaded his gun, after a roommate yelled that the bear had broken in. The bear roared at the homeowner several times, and went to a part of the house where it couldn't get out. The man shot the bear 4 times, and it died. Division of Wildlife investigated, and say the homeowner was justified in the shooting.

Vatican City, Jun 2, 2009 / 10:48 am (CNA).- The Vatican announced this morning that the Pope has accepted the resignation of 77-year-old Cardinal James Francis Stafford, the former Archbishop of Denver, from his post as the Penitentiary Major. He will be replaced by Archbishop Fortunato Baldelli, the current apostolic nuncio to France. As head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, Cardinal Stafford has dealt with matters related to sin, mercy and forgiveness. The Penitentiary is one of the three tribunals within the Holy See, and according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, is divided into two sections. The first section deals with the...

A sorry set of circumstances has led to allowing guns in our national parks and wildlife refuges, and our country is the poorer for it. Senate Republicans cynically hijacked the credit card reform legislation that Democrats had championed and attached a rider that would allow holders of concealed-carry permits to tote their firearms within national parks in states that allow such permits. The new law effectively opens all but three of our nation's 391 parks to guns, according to the Los Angeles Times. House Democrats could have killed the rider, but they didn't. Though senators had to vote on the...

Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck announced today that he’s now an official candidate for the Colorado U.S. Senate seat up for election next year. “For too long, Washington has forgotten the values of the rest of the country. I believe the strength of America is the work ethic, innovation and persistence of the American worker,” Buck, a Republican, said in a statement. Buck, who said he’d filed his candidacy papers today, is one of several Republicans who have been openly considering runs for the Senate post now filled by Denver Democrat Michael Bennet. Gov. Bill Ritter appointed Bennet to...

Woman had previous firearms charges The Denver police officer charged with three counts of attempted murder for allegedly firing her gun at three law officers in South Dakota remained on the Police Department force despite an earlier history of improper use of a firearm. Kachina McAlexander, 31, was arrested Tuesday for allegedly firing her gun several times at officers at a motel near Custer, S.D. That state's attorney general, Larry Long, said the officers were checking on her and found her with a gun in her hand. Two Custer County deputies and a Highway Patrol officer were not hurt. McAlexander...

You want to buy a firearm at a gun show? You need a background check. It's that simple. But a legislative bill would waive that requirement for people who already have permits to carry concealed weapons. The reasoning is that they've been vetted once in a thorough process, and that ought to be enough. We disagree. Concealed-carry permits are good for five years, and a lot can happen in five years. A fresh background check should be done whenever someone purchases a gun at a gun show. Furthermore, a background check isn't that onerous. Lance Clem, spokesman for the Colorado...

March 3, 2009 Note: The following text is a quote: http://denver.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/2009/powderthreat030309.htm ARAPAHOE COUNTY INMATE SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON FOR MAILING THREATENING LETTER WITH WHITE POWDER DENVER - Marc Harold Ramsey, age 40, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Wiley Y. Daniel to serve 30 months in federal prison for mailing a threatening communication. Following his term of incarceration, Chief Judge Daniel ordered Ramsey to serve an additional 3 years of supervised release. Ramsey must also pay a $100 special assessment, which goes to a general victims of crime fund. Ramsey, who is in custody, was remanded. Marc...

FAIRPLAY — A 45-year-old Texas businessman who engineered the slaughter of 32 bison in South Park last winter was sentenced today to 10 days in the Park County jail for cruelty to animals. Park County District Court Judge Stephen Groome said he would have given Jeffrey Hawn a longer jail term if he could, but he was bound by a plea agreement between Hawn's lawyer and the district attorney's office. Groome said that the manner in which the animals were killed — sometimes riddled with as many as eight bullets — left him appalled. "What I find really disturbing is...

There are few things more unappealing than the orgy of self-adulation one witnesses during a celebrity awards show. Yes, the Oscar nominations are here, and America simply can't afford to stand idly by anymore. Not after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had the audacity to misleadingly claim that Brad Pitt had not only engaged in acting this past year, but that he was among the finest to practice the craft. Absurdity of such scope is one of the reasons the Oscars continue to lose viewers and hemorrhage influence. Sometimes it seems the academy has a desire to...

A Summit County Sheriff's deputy accidentally shot herself in the leg during routine target practice last night, authorities say. The deputy, whose name has not been released, was taken at 5:20 p.m. to St. Anthony Summit Medical Center for treatment with a minor injury and is resting comfortably, according to a news release by the sheriff's department.

Longer duration for yellow signals in Denver, Colorado brings 90 percent reduction in violations. Increasing the duration of the yellow signals has had a greater safety impact than the use of red light cameras in Denver, Colorado. These facts emerged from a Rocky Mountain News investigation that also discovered that city officials and police made no effort whatsoever to track the performance of their public safety program beyond counting the 11,200 tickets worth $840,000 that had been issued between June and November. Redflex Traffic Systems, the Australian company that operates the automated ticketing machines at four intersections in return for...

Gun sales reached record levels in Colorado in 2008, a spike many attributed to fears that Barack Obama's election will mean tougher firearms laws. Background checks to clear buyers exceeded 200,000 for the first time in history. More than a quarter occurred after the Nov. 4 election. At the Crossroads of the West-Gun Show of the Rockies on Sunday at an Aurora hotel, gun dealers and Second Amendment advocates alike said there is a direct relation between the election results and firearms sales. Jimmy West of the Firearms Coalition of Colorado, a gun-rights group, said business has been noticeably more...

ASPEN — A man who left bomb threats and homemade bombs around Aspen on New Year's Eve shot and killed himself in his car a few hours after his threats cleared much of the resort town, Aspen Police said. Assistant Aspen Police Chief Bill Linn said James Chester Blanning, 72, walked into two Aspen banks Wednesday afternoon and left packages wrapped in holiday paper along with notes saying the boxes contained bombs. The notes threatened "mass death" and demanded $60,000 cash, along with criticisms of President George Bush, Linn said.

Authorities say an investigation revealed the man was trying to forcibly enter the house through the back door when he was confronted and shot at least once by a resident of the home. Colorado's so-called "Make My Day" law passed in 1985 allows people to use deadly force in self-defense in their homes.

The news of a family’s death from carbon monoxide poisoning over Thanksgiving weekend may have saved the lives of a family ... A family of eight bought the last three CO detectors from a store in Frisco and installed them Sunday night. Monday morning, the family was awoken when the detectors activated... When firefighters arrived, they found the levels of CO were about 350 parts per million -- twice the toxic limit.

The narrative of this historic presidential election has come down to which candidate will close the deal and win the trust of Pennsylvania voters. From the outside looking in, Pennsylvania has become a metaphor for all that is wrong with our country when it comes to race -- especially those of its Democrats who are soft on or wary of Barack Obama. Yet on the inside, Pennsylvania is far from its broad-brush portrayal as racist. It is not the color of the candidate; it is the culture he represents. Say what you will, Obama's "spread the wealth" tongue-slip hit home...

Barack Obama is jumping on John McCain's statement that he shares a "common philosophy" with President Bush as evidence that his Republican rival is out of touch. Speaking to an enormous crowd that filled a Denver park, Barack Obama said McCain finally gave us a little "straight talk." He was referring to McCain's comment during a televised interview Sunday that "of course" he and Bush share the philosophy of the Republican Party. The Democratic presidential contender said that philosophy amounts to giving more to millionaires and billionaires in hope that it trickles down. Obama and McCain are competing intensely for...

J. Reid Meloy helped to convict an innocent man of murder, so naturally the forensic psychologist hopes to shift the blame to others for his error. This week we learned how he would perform this stunt thanks to a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of Timothy Masters, a Fort Collins man who spent a decade in prison before being freed earlier this year. Make no mistake: This column is not an assessment of the lawsuit's thesis that certain police and prosecutors engaged in a "conspiracy to ensure that Tim Masters was arrested, tried, and convicted for the murder of Ms....

The 'how-to' plan to criminalize Christianity 'Homosexuals know they must silence the church and that's what's behind this' A growing movement that experts believe could end up in the criminalization of Christianity in the United States is being exposed in a new documentary being prepared for airing on October 26, officials at Coral Ridge Ministries have announced. "Hate Crime Laws" is a half-hour exposé that shows how Christians in America, Canada, Australia, and Sweden have been arrested and prosecuted for expressing opinions that are rooted in the Bible regarding homosexual conduct, Islam or other topics about which Scriptures express clear...

Denver, Oct 9, 2008 / 01:01 pm (CNA).- Archbishop of Denver Charles J. Chaput and Denver’s Auxiliary Bishop James D. Conley have issued a statement insisting that Catholic teaching holds that human life is sacred from the moment of fertilization, calling claims insisting otherwise, reportedly made by the governor of Colorado, “bad theology and bad public policy.” Governor Bill Ritter, who is Catholic, on Tuesday commented on the Colorado ballot measure Amendment 48, which would define personhood as beginning at conception. He reportedly said: “My understanding is that there are things about calling a fertilized egg a person that do...

A software CEO from Texas accused of allowing the killing of his neighbor's bison in South Park last winter is due in court. Forty-four-year-old Jeffrey Scott Hawn of Austin has been charged with 32 counts of animal cruelty, one count of theft of more than $20,000 and a one count of criminal mischief. Prosecutors allege that he "tortured, needlessly mutilated or needlessly killed" the bison, who belonged to another rancher.

Possible settlement in South Park bison slaughter FAIRPLAY — The software chief executive accused in the killing of 32 of his neighbor's bison is considering a plea agreement. Jeff Hawn appeared at the Park County courthouse Monday with his attorney, Pam Mackey, to enter a plea. Minutes before the hearing was to begin, an assistant district attorney asked Mackey to step outside, and when they returned for the hearing, Mackey said Hawn needed 30 days to consider a plea agreement that had been offered. The judge approved the delay. Neither side would discuss the details of what had been offered...

McCain: 48% Obama: 45% Of course, the "Let's let the Democrats define everything and not respond to them, let's keep McCain invisible, Let's take a gimmicky, high-risk gamble" strategy was not fully incorporated in the poll. Maybe the faceless, no-name GOP minority with no clear leader and nobody that any Americans would recognize in a lineup can still save us. You know, by giving recognized Democrats nuclear ammunition to blame the GOP for the hold-up ("A Capital Gains tax cut must be included!") Sorry, Venting. When will this finally be over, so that we can pretend it never happened? Oh...

The Denver Police Department's bomb squad responded to reports of a suspicious package at an intersection near downtown at 2:30 p.m. today. Authorities said the suspicious package was reportedly at East 14th Avenue and Ogden Street in Capitol Hill. Police have closed Ogden from East 14th Avenue to East Colfax Avenue. The street remains closed while police continue to investigate.

DENVER (CBS4) ― It has the makings of international intrigue. Less than two weeks before the Democratic National Convention a man has been found dead in a Denver hotel room with a container of what authorities initially suspect to be the deadly poison cyanide. Adding to the intrigue is that the dead man, Saleman Abdirahman Dirie, 29, appears to be from outside the U.S. No passport was found on Dirie, who is believed to have entered the country from Canada. A large container of a white powdery substance was found in the man's room on the fourth floor of The...

Sen. John McCain / Archbishop Charles Chaput Denver, Jul 30, 2008 / 12:16 pm (CNA).- Senator John McCain is paying his second visit to Colorado in less than a week and on this trip he is taking time to meet privately with Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver. After arriving in Denver on Tuesday, Sen. McCain spoke at a 6:25 p.m. fundraiser at the Cherry Hills Village home of investor Charlie Gallagher. At 9:30 on Wednesday morning, John McCain and his wife Cindy met with Denver’s Archbishop Charles Chaput. The archbishop described the meeting as private and told CNA...

Colorado Springs, May 23, 2008 / 05:01 am (CNA).- A physics professor has persuaded an Oxford laboratory to revisit the question of the age of the Shroud of Turin, the reputed burial shroud of Jesus Christ.  The professor argues that carbon monoxide contaminating the shroud could have distorted its radiocarbon dating results by more than 1,000 years.In 1988 and 1989 scientists at three laboratories drew on the results of radiocarbon dating to conclude that the shroud was a medieval forgery.  They dated its creation to between 1260 and 1390 AD.The Denver Post reports that John Jackson, a physics lecturer...

HURON, Calif. - Weary of waiting for Congress to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws, the United Farm Workers hopes to recruit Mexican laborers to pick crops on U.S. farms. The union’s efforts to import temporary workers under an existing government program follows similar moves by lawmakers in Arizona and Colorado, who are also trying to create new pathways to bring in foreign field hands without approval from Washington. This month, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez signed an agreement with the governor of the Mexican state of Michoacan to help recruit local residents to apply for temporary jobs on U.S. farms, all...

Word has it that radical peace (?) groups are planning to create monumental tumult during the August Democrat National Convention in Denver. The goal is a media-frenzied series of public disturbances similar to the disorder which occurred in the 1968 Chicago Democrat Convention. However, the current plan is more extreme. They plan to throw bags of urine and blood on cops at the DNC protests. Pretty disgusting, eh? Under the name ReCreate 68 and led by Ward Churchill supporter, Glenn Spagnuolo, the group wants to choreograph the actions of various anti-American, anti-capitalist and socialist throngs such as Code Pink, Food...

Gov. Bill Ritter paid more than $200,000 in campaign expenses out of his inaugural account in violation of campaign-finance laws, his office announced today as March disclosures come due. Ritter has put up his home as collateral on a $200,000 loan to repay the misspent funds...

Police: Mother A Crip, Father A Westside Baller COMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- A couple fighting about which gang their 4-year-old toddler should join caused a public disturbance that resulted in the father's arrest, Commerce City police said Thursday. On Saturday, Joseph Manzanares stormed into the Hollywood Video store where his girlfriend worked, threatened to kill her and knocked over several video displays and even a computer, Commerce City police Sgt. Joe Sandoval said. After he ran out of the store, police were called and the 19-year-old was arrested at his home. His girlfriend told police that they had been arguing...

Federal officials are worried that a plan to remove water from a Leadville mine, relieving pressure so humans and wildlife aren't endangered, will be delayed because a Lake County commissioner wants $20,000 to let them put a pipe across his property. The Environmental Protection Agency says it will work with county commissioner Ken Olsen on the matter, but will not pay him anything. "We're responsible to taxpayers," said Sonya Pennock, spokeswoman for the EPA, which is building a well and pipeline to help solve the problem. "I can't imagine what would happen to the funding we have for environmental cleanup...

It was conservative commentator Ann Coulter who once said that Democrats had finally found, in the global warming scare, a claim that skeptics would have to wait for 100 years to disprove. It was a good line and pointed up the difficulty of disputing a projected rise in ocean levels that had not yet occurred. Still, as it turns out, Coulter was wrong. The alarms about global warming — or climate change, as it is now often labeled — are under increasing attack and it is hard to imagine that the dispute will take a century to resolve. This is,...

Slim wallets and an end to U.S. slaughterhouses flood rescue centers with horses and few options for dealing with them. A dying horse is a physics problem, and 1,000 pounds of emotional debate over what we should do with the iconic Western companion at the end of its useful life. "The bottom line is there are more horses than there are people with properties who can adequately care for them," said Keith Roehr, a veterinarian with the state of Colorado. Overbreeding has saturated the horse market, driving down values, while feed-grain prices have tripled. At the same time, changing ethical...

Woman, 89, uses ax to break into home Wed Feb 13, 1:28 AM ET DURANGO, Colo. - An 89-year-old woman used an ax to break into her own home after she locked herself out on a patio hemmed in by deep snow. "I had to bang the glass four times with the ax before it broke," said Geraldine "Gerry" Palmer, who turns 90 this weekend. Palmer said a sliding glass door locked behind her Saturday after she went outside to rearrange some things that had gotten wet on the patio. Snow sliding off the patio roof had formed a pile...

Denver and Mountain View police apologized to members of the Hells Angels and settled a federal lawsuit over a 2005 traffic stop with a $14,000 payment to the bikers, their attorney said Thursday. The apologies signed by Denver Manager of Safety Al LaCabe and Mountain View Police Chief Eric Gomez mark the second time Denver police have had to say "sorry" to the Hells Angels.

The presidential campaign has reached the point where the list of obnoxious features far outweighs the appealing. In fact, the sheer size and magnitude of what is aggravating is enough to discourage attention. Television news channels continue to rely on what amounts to mind reading as one pundit, adviser or strategist after another attempts to divine the future even as they must overlook their prior mistakes and miscalculations. It is as though the need to know what will be happening and who will win and who will lose is so urgent there is simply no time to discuss what has...