SUNRISE: New Fort Carson center provides crucial training
A new Fort Carson training center will have its grand opening Wednesday afternoon.
The ribbon cutting for the new Training Support Center is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. The center will be home to more than 500 training devices to help soldiers become certified in several crucial skills including how to provide First Aid in combat and how to spot land mines and improvised explosive devices.
Construction on the facility started in June 2010 and the building was completed in December. The center was built in line with the post's new initiative to be energy independent. Read more about that initiative.
Santorum wins in Colorado, Missouri and Minnesota
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Rick Santorum is looking to capitalize on a string of stunning victories that snapped his four-state losing streak and raised new questions about front-runner Mitt Romney's clout with conservatives.
Romney shrugged off his poor showing, but his losses Tuesday in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado laid bare his stubborn weakness just when it looked as if his party was beginning to embrace him. Bringing up the rear of the Santorum surge: Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker who mostly skipped the contests and finished at or near the back of the pack in all three states.
Santorum cast the results as a victory for a purer form of conservatism than Romney has offered, heard more clearly by voters across the nation's midsection without a deafening TV air war that the former Massachusetts governor has dominated.
Read the Gazette's caucus coverage
Dragging death trial continues
A trial of a woman accused of dragging a tow-truck driver to death will resume Wednesday afternoon. The trial of Detra Farries is scheduled to resume at 1:20 p.m. Wednesday.
Farries is accused of killing Allen Lew Rose on Feb. 23 when he tried to tow her vehicle. Police say Rose became entangled in the tow line and was dragged to death.
Gazette reporter Lance Benzel is covering the trial and tweeting updates live @lancebenzel.
Read Tuesday's coverage of the trial.
TODAY'S WEATHER
Expect a cool day with a slight chance of snow Wednesday in Colorado Springs. The National Weather Service predicts a high of 43 degrees Wednesday and a 20 percent chance of snow before 8 a.m. Temperatures are expected to stay in the 40s for most of the week.
BEST OF THE SITES
- outtherecolorado.com: 4 CO ski towns called "best in the world"
- coloradosprings.com: Colorado Springs Philharmonic brings bold Reformation
- pikespeakparent.com: Phineas and Ferb roll into town
- springsmilitarylife.com: Win a $50 gift card to Mona Lisa's
- csfreshink.com: Missile Mountain roller derby
- gazettepreps.com: Top podium possibilities among area swimmers
AROUND COLORADO
Boulder extends moratorium on pot dispensaries
BOULDER (AP) — No new marijuana dispensaries will be allowed in Boulder until at least November while the city reviews laws and policies on the sale of the drug over cost concerns.
City Attorney Tom Carr says it cost the city about $135,000 for nearly 2,000 hours of work on medical marijuana issues over the past few years. He says fees from dispensaries may not be covering the city's expenses.
According to the Boulder Daily Camera (http://bit.ly/Ac9qpy ), the Boulder City Council decided Tuesday it will extend a moratorium imposed last month and the city won't accept applications for medical marijuana business licenses until Nov. 9.
Vestas warns on profits, chairman resigns
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The chairman of Vestas Wind Systems A/S, the world's biggest maker of wind turbines in terms of revenue, will step down after the company said Wednesday that its 2011 profits were substantially below target.
Bent Erik Carlsen said in a live television interview that investors wanted change, forcing him and Deputy Chairman Torsten Erik Rasmussen to decline a re-election bid at next month's shareholder meeting.
The pair have been criticized for poor financials and a loss of market share to Chinese competitors. Last month, the company announced it would lay off 2,335 people.
CFO Henrik Noerremark resigned Tuesday after the company twice slashed its 2012 forecasts. In a statement, the company said another board member, Freddy Frandsen, would also forego re-election, though no reason was given for his departure.
The company has invested more than $1 billion in four facilities in Colorado. Its U.S. operations are headquartered in Portland, Oregon.
Service set Saturday for La Plata County deputy
DURANGO (AP) — A memorial service is planned Saturday for a La Plata County sheriff's deputy who died while snowmobiling on his day off.
Burial services for 57-year-old Hollis Holland were held Monday in Silverton, but his family and colleagues plan to celebrate his life at a memorial service at Fort Lewis College on Saturday.
Holland's body was found the night of Feb. 1 after he failed to return as planned from snowmobiling that day. Sheriff's officials say he died of coronary artery disease.
He is survived by his wife, two adult sons and two grandchildren.
Sales tax holiday considered in Colorado
DENVER (AP) — Clothing and school supplies would be tax-free during an annual Colorado "sales tax holiday" under consideration in the Colorado House.
The bill would make Colorado the 17th state to waive sales taxes on back-to-school items for a short period each year. Colorado's proposal would set the holiday for the first weekend in August.
The holiday would result in nearly $6 million worth of sales tax savings to consumers each year. That's according to an analysis prepared for the Legislature. The analysis also said that the state Department of Revenue would have to hire additional staff to process sales tax refund claims and to answer questions about the holiday.
Two Democratic House members suggested the holiday.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
On Feb. 8, 1862 Union troops scored a big win over the Confederacy in the Civil War. Union General Ambrose Burnside’s troops captured Roanoke Island in one of the first major victories for the Union troops. That win eventually helped the Union threaten the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va.
HAPPENINGS
-- Briargate book club, “A Changed Man” by Francine Prose, 10 a.m., Briargate Branch Library, 9475 Briar Village Point, free.
-- “Ancestry - Library Edition Basics,” 10:30 a.m.-noon, Penrose Library, 20 N. Cascade Ave., free.
-- “Music at Midday,”:, 12:15 p.m., Colorado College, Packard Hall, 5 W. Cache La Poudre St., free.
-- Penrose teen writing group, 3:30-5 p.m., Penrose Library, 20 N. Cascade Ave., free.
-- “Lady and the Tramp” movie, 6:30 p.m., Fountain Library Branch, 230 S. Main St., Fountain, free.
-- “2012 Cornerstone Keynote Lecture” with Jaron Lanier, 7 p.m., Colorado College, Richard F. Celeste Theatre, Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center, 825 N. Cascade Ave., free.
-- Blues Jamm, with 99%, 7 p.m., SouthSide Johnny’s, 528 S. Tejon St.
-- “Second Annual Hanifen Center Diocesan Forum” — “What St. Benedict Taught the Dark Ages...His and Ours,” 7:15 p.m., St. Mary’s Cathedral, 22 W. Kiowa St.
-- Karaoke with Party Marty, 9 p.m., Johnny’s Navajo Hogan, 2817 N. Nevada Ave.
