Local News

About 100 homeowners in the Upper Bear Creek neighborhood plan to lobby CenturyLink for Internet upgrades, now that money from a state telephone fund can be used to pay for broadband infrastructure.

About $50 million is reimbursed to Colorado phone carriers annually from a statewide High Cost Fund. The money is collected through a 2.6 percent surcharge on land-line and cell-phone bills to pay for telephone infrastructure, mostly in rural areas. State legislators recently passed a bill that will make the money available for broadband infrastructure upgrades as well.

The Jeffco school board announced Saturday that Daniel McMinimee is the lone finalist for Jeffco’s superintendent position.

McMinimee is the assistant superintendent of secondary education for Douglas County Schools. 

The board voted 3-2 in favor of making McMinimee its only finalist, with board members Ken Witt, Julie Williams and John Newkirk voting yes. Board members Lesley Dahlkemper and Jill Fellman voted no. 

Firefighters doused a small grass fire caused by a downed power line Thursday night near Idledale.

According to reports, the power line fell from about 250 feet up a ridge to within 100 feet of the road at 11:30 a.m. Friday. The 10-foot-by-10-foot fire was pretty easily contained because of the wet weather, said Evergreen Fire Chief Mike Weege.

But firefighters from the Foothills Fire Protection District had to climb a power pole to cut the line, after the power was turned off. It took until 1:30 p.m. to resolve the issue, Weege said.

Purses, wallets and other items were taken from seven locked vehicles that were broken into in Evergreen on May 2, said Jeffco sheriff's spokeswoman Jacki Kelley.

The thefts from vehicles occurred between 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. in areas between Bergen Park and Evergreen Lake, Kelley said. Incidents took place at Dedisse and Stagecoach parks, as well as other locations.

"The victims left property in plain view," Kelley said. "People need to put property in the trunk of the car."