.22 Trouble
Seven students at Ortega Middle School in Alamosa were suspended for bringing guns and ammo to school. Two .22 handguns and numerous bullets were found by the school staff. Law enforcement leaped on the little delinquents, and public opinion of the handling of the situation is good, although there are those who want the kids expelled. Three of them face felony charges.
AC 1, DOJ 0
Alamosa County did not violate federal law by holding at-large elections for commissioners, said the federal district court. The U.S. Dept. of Justice filed suit in 2001 alleging that the practice prevented Hispanic candidates from being elected. The judge found that, with one exception, in every primary election since 1978, an Hispanic candidate seeking the Democratic nomination won it.
Swift Work
Dean and Pattie Swift were named Conservation Farmers of the Year by the Colorado Association of Conservation Districts. The couple and their two children operate a flower seed company near Jaroso. In addition, they preserve wet lands, riverbanks, and soil on their farm.
Davis Goin' Down
Joe Davis, former Eastside Energy president, was convicted of felony forgery. Davis falsified bank documents to rent office space and buy a tractor. Eastside, which was supposed to be a biomass energy plant, is kaput.
Housey Fall Down
The Hunt House, also known as the Ball Mansion, will be demolished. The former senior center was the home of territorial governor Alexander Cameron Hunt and is the last remnant of Alamosa's founding in 1878. Now it will be a parking lot.
After serving as territorial governor in 1867, Hunt went on to head the land-development subsidiary of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, which laid out new towns along the tracks. Hunt, who was partial to Spanish names, christened some of those towns, among them Alamosa (Cottonwoods), Salida (Exit or Gateway), and Durango (for Durango, Mexico).
Scam Scraped
A routine customer service survey uncovered an embezzlement scheme in a local insurance agency. An employee had been filing fake towing claims and keeping the money. The fake claims were discovered when the home office sent out questionnaires about recent service.
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