Today's News

A woman bitten by a rattlesnake Wednesday at Mount Falcon Park suffered a severe reaction, according to Indian Hills Fire Chief Don Schoenbein.

Susan Schwartz, 59, was hiking alone on the Devil’s Elbow Trail when she was bit in the leg by a rattlesnake about 11:50 a.m. June 24. She was wearing shorts.

Schoenbein said Schwartz wrapped a constricting band above the bite and walked about 1½ miles to the west parking area along Picutis Road off Parmalee Gulch Road, where she found a park ranger who called 911.

Last week we took a brief look at the white clematis, or Western virgin’s bower. This week we will take a look at a very similar plant known as yellow clematis or Chinese clematis, formerly Clematis orientalis. This is the plant that is on the noxious weed list and which so many people are concerned about.

Six hometown “celebrities” faced the fear of public humiliation and physical impairment to try their luck at riding a mechanical bull on the opening night of the 2009 Evergreen Rodeo on June 19.

Their combined efforts generated about $6,000 for the rodeo association coffers. It was a fitting attempt to warm up the crowd before the evening’s main event, the Evergreen debut of Professional Bull Riders tour.

Scott Benefield, president of the Jeffco school board, is resigning effective June 30.

"I'm resigning for personal reasons," Benefield said in a June 20 interview. "There's things going on in my family, and with the board work, it was the right thing to do. I enjoyed my time working on the school board and feel we've made a lot of progress and done a lot of good things."

Benefield was elected to the school board in 2005, representing the northern parts of the county, including portions of Arvada, Standley Lake and Westminster.