Local News

A ditch that carries water to irrigate two Foothills Parks & Recreation District properties was damaged by snow runoff this spring, and a repair bill may be looming.

A 70-foot section of the Bergen ditch system that supplies water to The Meadows Golf Club and Easton Regional Park failed at the beginning of May. The heavy snow at the beginning of the month, coupled with the usual water flow, caused part of the ditch to be washed out, said Ron Hopp, Foothills executive director.

The cost to repair the system is still unknown.

After starting at the bottom rung and working his way up in the Jeffco Sheriff’s Office over the past 29 years, Jeff Shrader believes he’s ready to lead.

Even though the election to select a new sheriff isn’t until November 2014, Shrader and another Republican, John Berry, already have announced bids. Sheriff Ted Mink is term-limited; he was appointed to the post by the county commissioners in 2003 and was elected in 2006 and 2010.

A 55-year-old man wielding a BB gun and threatening to commit suicide died in Conifer on Sunday morning after Jeffco sheriff’s deputies used a Taser on him.

The death occurred in the 30400 block of Sunset Trail just before 8 a.m., according to Jeffco Sheriff’s spokesperson Mark Techmeyer. The man’s name has not yet been released.

The Jeffco Sheriff’s Office seized 18 horses from a Morrison property May 21.

“The horses have illnesses and physical issues,” said Christine Padilla, an animal control officer with the Sheriff’s Office. “(Most of the horses) were kept in a dirt lot, and there was no grass for them to graze on.”

Padilla also said there is a 75-foot drop on the property that isn’t fenced off.

“The majority of the horses were in poor condition and underweight,” Padilla said.