The Premiere News Source for Leadville, Colorado & Beyond!
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Welcome to The Herald Democrat - Online! The Premiere News Source for Leadville, Colorado & Beyond! July 24, 2003 Edition • Front Page • Salazar: Put sex offenders’ names on the Internet by Jenn Wiant Herald Staff Writer Attorney General Ken Salazar would like to change Colorado law so that a single state registry listing registered sex offenders in all areas of the state would be available to the public via Internet. Salazar believes that every Colorado citizen should have free access to this information through the Internet or the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Current law says anyone can access the list of sex offenders registered within their local law enforcement’s jurisdiction and of neighboring jurisdictions without question upon proof of residency. Citizens who do not reside in a local jurisdiction or a Advertise YOUR neighboring jurisdiction can only obtain another jurisdiction’s Business HERE! registered sex offender list by demonstrating a “need to know.” According to District Attorney Mark Hurlbert, anyone who has been convicted of a sex offense, whether it is a misdemeanor or a felony, must register with the local law enforcement agency upon moving to a new area. Even those convicted of indecent exposure, such as urinating on the side of the road, must register, said Hurlbert. If a sex offender does not register, Hurlbert said the punishment is a Class 1 misdemeanor if the sex offense was a misdemeanor, and a Class 6 felony if the offense was a felony. Sheriff Ed Holte said registration is enforced with the help of http://www.leadvilleherald.com/ (1 of 6) [7/25/2003 9:43:21 AM] Welcome to The Herald Democrat - Online! The Premiere News Source for Leadville, Colorado & Beyond! CBI, which compare the list of prosecutions with the county’s list of registered sex offenders and notifies the county if someone is not registered who should be. Police Chief Jim Zoller said the same procedure applies to the city police department. Zoller said he supports the proposal from the perspective that it makes his job as a police officer easier. He said Salazar’s proposal would eliminate the police department’s task of having to decide who qualifies as someone with a “need to know.” He added that since the information is already available from several sources (local law enforcement agencies, CBI), having one source for public access makes sense. Zoller believes that all police records, with very few exceptions, are public information. Zoller added that he normally receives less than a dozen requests for the list of registered sex offenders in the City of Leadville each year. Holte said he supports Salazar, but did not wish to comment publicly on his proposal. Holte did say that he is making a form to be signed by those who request a copy of the county’s list, which says that they will not post the list or harass those on the list. Hurlbert also refused to comment, saying he has not read Salazar’s proposal. The lists of registered sex offenders in the City of Leadville and Lake County are available to interested citizens at City Hall and the county courthouse, respectively. As of July 15, each list named eight sex offenders, including one female. The offenders ranged in age from 18 to 56. Holte said he does not believe citizens are allowed to know the specific crimes committed by each sex offender unless the offender has numerous convictions and is deemed a sexual predator. Zoller confirmed Holte’s statement. Zoller said sex offenders must register with the local law enforcement agency within 10 days of moving to a new community and again every quarter after that. Griffin trial is set by Marcia Martinek Herald Editor Trial will begin Dec. 8 in Leadville’s district court for Matt Griffin, former technology coordinator for the Lake County School District, who is charged with five felonies, including embezzlement and theft, in connection with his work for the school district. http://www.leadvilleherald.com/ (2 of 6) [7/25/2003 9:43:22 AM] Welcome to The Herald Democrat - Online! The Premiere News Source for Leadville, Colorado & Beyond! Griffin appeared in district court in Leadville Monday with his attorney Todd Parson, entering a plea of not guilty to the charges. Parson’s motion for a change of venue in the case was turned down by District Court Judge David R. Lass. The attorney argued that because all jury members for the trial could potentially be taxpayers in the school district, they could also be considered victims of the alleged crimes. “It’s not a traditional case,” Parson argued. He said that changes of venue mostly stem from extensive pre-trial publicity; however, this was not the case with Griffin. Parson said the trial could be held in the judicial district, just in another county. Deputy D.A. Arly Miner objected. “Does no one here rent property?” she questioned. Lass, in denying the motion, said he was not convinced that the court could not find an impartial jury. Charges in the case stem from allegations that Griffin, while an employee of the school district between August 2000 and June 2002, ordered computer equipment in the capacity of his job and kept it, and that he claimed to attend computer classes, was reimbursed for them, but never actually attended them. Parson asked the court to order that more specific identifying information for the computer equipment cited in the case be provided. Lass ordered this be done within 14 days. Parson also moved that the court order the school district to provide additional information regarding management of reports, contracts, etc., within the school’s computer department. He said he had subpoenaed personnel records, assuming that they would contain information on vacation and times that Griffin was absent from the county, but this information was not provided. Lass suggested that this information be specifically subpoenaed. Miner suggested that this information also could be obtained by having the defendant sign a release. She contended that the defense was going overboard in seeking information that had no relevance to the case. “How contracts are set up, how the department was run – these have everything to do with the case,” Parson said. Lass ruled that the information sought could have relevance to the case, but he said that the district attorney should have a chance to pre-review it with the school district and make a formal request to withhold the information if there is a good reason. Goodwin sentenced by Jenn Wiant http://www.leadvilleherald.com/ (3 of 6) [7/25/2003 9:43:22 AM] Welcome to The Herald Democrat - Online! The Premiere News Source for Leadville, Colorado & Beyond! Herald Staff Writer If former county employee Nadine Goodwin does not violate the conditions of her deferred sentence probation, her guilty plea for embezzlement will be withdrawn and the charges erased from her record after four years. Judge David Lass granted Goodwin a four year deferred sentence for the felony embezzlement charge and one year probation for the theft misdemeanor. The theft charge will not be removed from Goodwin’s record. Goodwin must also serve 24 hours of community service per year for four years, write an apology letter to the community, pay $632.58 to Lake County for restitution, and make two charitable donations of $100 each to The Center and Full Circle for a total of $2,425.08 in restitution, court costs, fees and contributions. Goodwin was formerly an accounting clerk for Lake County. She has no prior criminal history. For more news, - click on the"Front Page" link - here, or on the left sidebar above... http://www.leadvilleherald.com/ (4 of 6) [7/25/2003 9:43:22 AM] More Top Stories from The Herald Democrat - Online! The Premiere News Source for Leadvilee, Colorado & Beyond! July 24, 2003 Edition More Top Stories NRMI focuses on project-based learning Advertise YOUR Business Contributed photo HERE! Chris Hofer of NRMI (left) collects data used to determine flow, which in turn is used to calculate metals loading on the South Fork of Lake Creek. Bob Wood and David Bird of the Colorado Geological Survey record the data and perform titration analysis of acidity, alkalinity and dissolved oxygen in the creek. The purpose of the tests is to check the accuracy of maps made by NASA’s new hyperspectral remote sensing mechanism. http://www.leadvilleherald.com/topstories/topstories.html (1 of 6) [7/25/2003 9:43:31 AM] More Top Stories from The Herald Democrat - Online! The Premiere News Source for Leadvilee, Colorado & Beyond! by Jenn Wiant Herald Staff Writer Karmen King opened the Natural Resource Manage-ment Institute (NRMI) open house, Thursday, July 10, with this quote from a Harry Potter book: “This is school, Mr. Potter. It has nothing to do with the real world.” On the contrary, King explained, school has everything to do with the real world for CMC students. CMC Timberline Campus students have opportunities to do interesting and important field work that not only gives them the opportunity to actively learn, but gives them experience in the fields they will enter after college, explained Dean Gary Smith. “These young people who are doing this will not just remember this tomorrow for a test, but years into the future,” he added. NRMI is a business associated with CMC that not only provides these opportunities for Natural Resource Management students, but pays them for their experiences. Smith said NRMI is “quite possibly one of the most innovative and unique projects in this entire country.” He added that “project- based learning is revitalizing learning around the country.” NRMI began in 1998 as the brainchild of CMC professor and aquatic toxicologist Karmen King.