Steven K. Paulson

Crews with saws to carve up frozen cows in Colo.

DENVER (AP) — Three rangers and three ranchers headed up a mountain near Aspen on Thursday to carve up cattle found frozen in a cabin before the carcasses thaw and contaminate a popular hot springs nearby.

Bill Kight of the U.S. Forest Service said the group planned to cut up the remains and scatter them over a wide area in an effort to draw bears and mountain lions away.

“It would be like predators having a buffet,” Kight said.

The cabin is located less than 100 feet from the Conundrum Hot Springs, a popular camping area and a nine-mile hike from the Aspen area in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness area.

Air Force Academy cadets snowshoeing in late March found the dead cattle in and around the cabin. Rangers believe the cows wandered into the structure during a snowstorm but couldn’t get out.

Forest Service officials were trying to figure how to get rid of the dead animals before they defrost and decompose. They explored burning or blowing up the cabin with explosives but decided to cut up the carcasses instead.

The animals came from a herd of 29 cows that went missing last fall from the nearby Gunnison National Forest where the rancher had a permit. An aerial search failed to turn up any sign of the animals.

Kight declined to identify the rancher, saying the owner did all he could to round up the animals. Kight said no one knows what happened to the other cows.

Michael Carroll, a spokesman for the Wilderness Society in Colorado, said environmentalists would prefer removing the cattle and burning down the building because it’s located in a wilderness area, but Kight said that would require an environmental assessment that could be too expensive.

“We just don’t have the funds to do it right now,” he said.

Kight said hikers are being warned to stay off the hiking trail for the next month to ensure their safety and avoid predators. He said warning signs will also be posted on the cabin so people are aware of possible contamination.

Carjacked tyke knocks on woman’s door at 2 a.m.

DENVER (AP) — A 3-year-old is back with his parents after he knocked on a stranger’s door in the middle of the night following the hijacking of his father’s car at a Colorado Springs, Colo., convenience store with him in the back seat.

“Help me, I’m cold,” the toddler told Traci Gilbert, who answered the door.

She said she heard her doorbell ring about 2:15 a.m. Sunday and got up to check. Gilbert looked through the peephole and didn’t see anyone, so she opened her door. Outside, she found the 3-year-old covered in snow and sleet, wearing nighttime diapers and a thin jacket.

“He wasn’t crying. He never shed a single tear the whole time. That boy is a hero to me,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert said Monday she is still amazed that the toddler made it up 14 slick steps to her front door on the second floor of a duplex, carrying a plastic bag that held a container of soy milk, a Sippy cup, two diapers, wipes and pajama bottoms.

She believes the car thief picked her home because it was near the store where the car was stolen. The temperature was in the 30s and the weather was alternating between sleet and snow.

“He didn’t even wait until the child was safe inside,” Gilbert said, her voice shaking with anger.

The father, Anthony Pettiford, said Monday he was headed home from a family gathering when he stopped to buy some gum. He was chatting with friends next to his car when someone jumped in the driver’s seat and took off. Pettiford chased the car down the street while his friends chased the vehicle for about 10 blocks before losing it. The friends said the car thief must have turned back to drop the boy off three blocks from the store, then left the child to fend for himself.

Pettiford said he believes his son, whose name has not been released, was trying to return to the convenience store to find him when he showed up on the woman’s doorstep.

“He knew what to do. He’s a champ,” Pettiford said.

Gilbert, a 53-year-old nurse at Memorial Hospital, said at first she was afraid that the boy’s father had put him out in the cold because of a domestic argument or he had run away from home, but when she asked, the boy told her his parents were “happy.”

Gilbert’s adult son took the boy in his car to find his father. Gilbert’s son waved down an officer searching for the boy and he was reunited with his father.

Barbara Miller, spokeswoman for the Colorado Springs Police Department, said Monday it is unlikely Pettiford will face charges because he was standing next to his vehicle when the child was abducted. The suspect and the car, a white 1995 Chrysler New Yorker, are still missing.

___

Information from: The Gazette, http://www.gazette.com

Continue Reading Close

At least 2 dead in 2 small plane crashes in Colo.

LONGMONT, Colo. (AP) — A pilot whose plane crashed — possibly after a midair collision with another aircraft — was conscious when people ripped off the door of her Cessna 180 to pull her to safety, but authorities said two people in the other plane were killed.

The crashes of the single-engine planes north of Denver Friday — reported about five minutes and six miles apart — are being investigated as a possible midair collision, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mike Fergus said.

The two people who died appeared to be males and were believed to be an instructor pilot and a student in a Cessna 172 that crashed about a half mile from a Walmart southeast of Longmont.

“The tail end is literally in the nose of the plane,” said Dustin Nelson, an oilfield services company who rushed to the scene after hearing the crash.

The survivor crashed within sight of the Vance Brand Airport runway in Longmont after clipping four overhead power lines. She was treated at a hospital and released, police said. The clipped lines caused 132 customers to temporarily lose power.

“It actually probably saved her because those lines reduced the impact into the ground,” Longmont police Cmdr. Tim Lewis said. “The pilot did an excellent job of clearing the roadway and avoiding people who were picnicking and watching airport operations.”

The engine separated from her plane on impact. One wing was crumpled and the tail was bent.

A few public works employees and passers-by hurried to help as her plane leaked fuel, Lewis said. “Get me out, get me out, get me out, help me out,” Lewis said the woman told rescuers.

She complained of back injuries but was able to tell a fire lieutenant at the scene how to turn off the fuel pump, Lewis said.

The plane was registered to a Beverly Cameron, of Erie. A patient with that name was listed in good condition at Longmont United Hospital Friday afternoon.

Near the Walmart, Tom Ruddick was on a ladder painting oilfield equipment when he saw two planes that appeared to be about 300 yards apart and heading toward each other.

Nelson, who was working with Ruddick, was in his truck and heard what sounded like two backfires in the sky.

“It was a pop and about two seconds later, it was another pop,” he said. Then he heard the engine rev up. “I seen that plane just nosedive straight to the ground just behind that house,” Nelson said.

Ruddick had looked away from the planes but said he heard and felt what he believes was the shock wave from one plane crashing into the ground.

“It almost knocked me off my ladder,” Ruddick said.

The other plane looked like it was having difficulty flying and even appeared to be “hovering,” he said.

“It looked like he had no engine, like he was trying to pull up but he couldn’t,” he said.

Nelson, 25, of Longmont, said there was nothing he and his co-workers could do once they got to the crash scene. “Everything was crumpled into each other,” he said.

Kim R. Johnson, who was in a parking lot off County Road 1, said the Cessna 172 appeared to have damage to one wing. He said it crashed with a thud.

“I was expecting an explosion, and it was just a big thud,” he said.

He said the other plane banked, circled the crash site then headed west.

About six miles away, Don Poncelow had just landed at the Longmont airport after a training flight with an instructor pilot when he saw a plane coming in low.

“I looked up and I could tell she was having trouble. She wasn’t out of control, but she wasn’t in control, either,” Poncelow said. “Something was just not right. She was having trouble keeping her wings level.”

He said that after the plane clipped the power lines, it skidded across a road and crashed into a fence.

Carissa Muilenburg of Mile High Skydiving Center at the airport said one of their planes was landing around the time of the crash after ferrying skydivers to a drop.

She said the skydiving pilot reported there was a mayday call because of the incoming plane and he had to quickly get off the runway after landing.

______

AP writers P. Solomon Banda, Dan Elliott and Rema Rahman contributed to this report from Denver.

Continue Reading Close

Police: Woman Attacked Clyfford Still Painting

This undated photo released by the Clyfford Still Museum shows a painting before it was allegedly damaged by Carmen Tisch, 36, on Dec. 29, 2011. Tisch is accused of damaging the painting, valued at between $30 million and $40 million. Prosecutors say restoring the painting will cost an estimated $10,000. Tisch was in jail with bond set at $20,000. (AP Photo/Clyfford Still Museum)(Credit: AP)

DENVER (AP) — Investigators are trying to determine why a woman caused $10,000 worth of damage to a large expressionist painting at the Clyfford Still Museum by punching and scratching it, then removing her pants and sliding down the artwork.

Carmen Tisch, 36, faces charges of criminal mischief in the Dec. 29 attack on the painting, said district attorney spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough.

The painting, referred to as 1957-J-No. 2, is valued at more than $30 million. The large montage of black, white and burnt orange swaths with a sliver of yellow is from Still’s middle period.

Museum officials said they believe security is adequate for the facility and that they regularly evaluate security to protect the collection and visitors. Museum spokeswoman Regan Petersen said in a statement that its guards “acted swiftly and appropriately; the police were summoned immediately and the offender was taken into custody.”

Denver acquired the collection in stiff competition by promising to build a facility for the paintings and sculptures. Still, who died in 1980, specified in his will that his estate had to go to an American city willing to establish a permanent museum for his work. He was one of the first abstract expressionist artists following World War II.

The museum has raised $32 million in private donations for its building, endowment and operations, Petersen said. The city of Denver also contributed about $99 million from an auction of four Still works.

Visitors touring the gallery Thursday said they were horrified by the attack. Rachel Gelbman and Christine Shaw, of Denver, said they had seen the painting at the Denver Art Museum and noticed it was missing, replaced by a similar painting from the 1956-1958 era.

To them, it wasn’t the same.

“What would possess someone to do that?” Gelbman said as security guards roamed the building.

In 2010, a Montana woman was accused of taking a crowbar to a Loveland art museum display that critics denounced as obscene. Critics said it showed Jesus Christ engaged in a sex act; The artist, Stanford University professor Enrique Chagoya, said the work represented what he saw as corruption in religious institutions. Kathleen Folden was accused of damaging the print.

Tisch remained held on $20,000 bond. Court records did not indicate if she had an attorney, and no phone listing was available.

At the museum, on the wall near where Still’s painting once stood, Still summed up his philosophy of art: “I never wanted color to be color, texture to be texture, images to become images. I wanted them all to fuse into a living spirit.”

Continue Reading Close

Police: Woman Damages Valuable Painting In Denver

This undated photo released by the Clyfford Still Museum shows a painting before it was allegedly damaged by Carmen Tisch, 36, on Dec. 29, 2011. Tisch is accused of damaging the painting, valued at between $30 million and $40 million. Prosecutors say restoring the painting will cost an estimated $10,000. Tisch was in jail with bond set at $20,000. (AP Photo/Clyfford Still Museum)(Credit: AP)

DENVER (AP) — Investigators are trying to determine why a woman caused $10,000 worth of damage to a large expressionist painting at the Clyfford Still Museum by punching and scratching it, then removing her pants and sliding down the artwork.

Carmen Tisch, 36, faces charges of criminal mischief in the Dec. 29 attack on the painting, said district attorney spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough.

The painting, referred to as 1957-J-No. 2, is valued at more than $30 million. The large montage of black, white and burnt orange swaths with a sliver of yellow is from Still’s middle period.

Museum officials said they believe security is adequate for the facility and that they regularly evaluate security to protect the collection and visitors. Museum spokeswoman Regan Petersen said in a statement that its guards “acted swiftly and appropriately; the police were summoned immediately and the offender was taken into custody.”

Denver acquired the collection in stiff competition by promising to build a facility for the paintings and sculptures. Still, who died in 1980, specified in his will that his estate had to go to an American city willing to establish a permanent museum for his work. He was one of the first abstract expressionist artists following World War II.

The museum has raised $32 million in private donations for its building, endowment and operations, Petersen said. The city of Denver also contributed about $99 million from an auction of four Still works.

Visitors touring the gallery Thursday said they were horrified by the attack. Rachel Gelbman and Christine Shaw, of Denver, said they had seen the painting at the Denver Art Museum and noticed it was missing, replaced by a similar painting from the 1956-1958 era.

To them, it wasn’t the same.

“What would possess someone to do that?” Gelbman said as security guards roamed the building.

In 2010, a Montana woman was accused of taking a crowbar to a Loveland art museum display that critics denounced as obscene. Critics said it showed Jesus Christ engaged in a sex act; The artist, Stanford University professor Enrique Chagoya, said the work represented what he saw as corruption in religious institutions. Kathleen Folden was accused of damaging the print.

Tisch remained held on $20,000 bond. Court records did not indicate if she had an attorney, and no phone listing was available.

At the museum, on the wall near where Still’s painting once stood, Still summed up his philosophy of art: “I never wanted color to be color, texture to be texture, images to become images. I wanted them all to fuse into a living spirit.”

Continue Reading Close

Police: Woman Damages Valuable Painting In Denver

This undated photo released by the Clyfford Still Museum shows a painting before it was allegedly damaged by Carmen Tisch, 36, on Dec. 29, 2011. Tisch is accused of damaging the painting, valued at between $30 million and $40 million. Prosecutors say restoring the painting will cost an estimated $10,000. Tisch was in jail with bond set at $20,000. (AP Photo/Clyfford Still Museum)(Credit: AP)

DENVER (AP) — Investigators are trying to determine why a woman caused $10,000 worth of damage to a large expressionist painting at the Clyfford Still Museum by punching and scratching it, then removing her pants and sliding down the artwork.

Carmen Tisch, 36, faces charges of criminal mischief in the Dec. 29 attack on the painting, said district attorney spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough.

The painting, referred to as 1957-J-No. 2, is valued at more than $30 million. The large montage of black, white and burnt orange swaths with a sliver of yellow is from Still’s middle period.

Museum officials said they believe security is adequate for the facility and that they regularly evaluate security to protect the collection and visitors. Museum spokeswoman Regan Petersen said in a statement that its guards “acted swiftly and appropriately; the police were summoned immediately and the offender was taken into custody.”

Denver acquired the collection in stiff competition by promising to build a facility for the paintings and sculptures. Still, who died in 1980, specified in his will that his estate had to go to an American city willing to establish a permanent museum for his work. He was one of the first abstract expressionist artists following World War II.

The museum has raised $32 million in private donations for its building, endowment and operations, Petersen said. The city of Denver also contributed about $99 million from an auction of four Still works.

Visitors touring the gallery Thursday said they were horrified by the attack. Rachel Gelbman and Christine Shaw, of Denver, said they had seen the painting at the Denver Art Museum and noticed it was missing, replaced by a similar painting from the 1956-1958 era.

To them, it wasn’t the same.

“What would possess someone to do that?” Gelbman said as security guards roamed the building.

In 2010, a Montana woman was accused of taking a crowbar to a Loveland art museum display that critics denounced as obscene. Critics said it showed Jesus Christ engaged in a sex act; The artist, Stanford University professor Enrique Chagoya, said the work represented what he saw as corruption in religious institutions. Kathleen Folden was accused of damaging the print.

Tisch remained held on $20,000 bond. Court records did not indicate if she had an attorney, and no phone listing was available.

At the museum, on the wall near where Still’s painting once stood, Still summed up his philosophy of art: “I never wanted color to be color, texture to be texture, images to become images. I wanted them all to fuse into a living spirit.”

Continue Reading Close

Page 1 of 2 in Steven K. Paulson

www.salon.com/writer/steven_k_paulson/index.html