Government Blames Carbs For Americans' Extra Bulk
The government says Americans -- especially women -- are getting fatter. And federal health researchers say carbohydrates are the biggest culprit.

A report Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that obesity rates increased from 14.5 percent in 1971 to 30.9 percent in 2000. Full Story
02.06.04 @ 10:42 AM MST [link]

Golden Retriever Saves Hikers From Mountain Lion
LYONS, Colo. -- A trusty golden retriever named Stanley is being hailed a hero after saving his owner and her friend from a mountain lion.

The two women were hiking with their dogs off Highway 7 in Lyons last week when a mountain lion approached. They had noticed tracks in the area but they thought the tracks were old until Betsy Burton spotted an animal out of the corner of her eye. Full Story
02.05.04 @ 09:49 AM MST [link]

Thin air kills 31-year-old
MOUNT CRESTED BUTTE ­ A 31-year-old man from Lake Dallas, Texas, died of the effects of thin air while visiting Mount Crested Butte.

The man, Paul Parmeley, suffered pulmonary and cerebral edemas, or filling of the lungs and brain with fluid.

Thin air was a factor in about half the natural deaths in Gunnison County last year, the county coroner says. Full Story
02.04.04 @ 09:20 AM MST [link]

Salvage Logging Blocked In Wildfire Burn Area
DURANGO, Colo. -- A federal judge blocked a logging project on land burned by the devastating Missionary Ridge wildfire after a conservation group said the Forest Service failed to do a wildlife count as required by law.

A timber industry official said the decision effectively kills the plan because the fire-killed aspen, spruce, fir and ponderosa pine would be valueless by the time the objections are resolved.

Colorado Wild, a nonprofit conservation group in Durango, filed a lawsuit in December saying the Forest Service had not properly accounted for population trends in key wildlife species, including the Abert's squirrel, the American marten and four types of birds. Full Story
02.04.04 @ 09:15 AM MST [link]

Misspelled items for sale on eBay often overlooked
When Holly Marshall wanted to sell a pair of dangling earrings, a popular style these days, she listed them on eBay once, and got no takers. She tried a second time, and still no interest.

Was it the price? The fuzzy picture? Maybe it was the description: a beautiful pair of chandaleer earrings.

Such is the eBay underworld of misspellers, where the clueless -- and sometimes just careless -- sell labtop computers, throwing knifes, Art Deko vases, camras, comferters and saphires.

They do get bidders, but rarely very many. Often the buyers are those who troll for spelling slip-ups, buying items on the cheap and selling them all over again on eBay, but with the right spelling and for the right price. Full Story
02.03.04 @ 09:34 AM MST [link]

Out of the office in Jeffco
GOLDEN - Jefferson County's two longest-serving commissioners each missed more than 50 working days during 2003, county records indicate.

A check of commissioners' appointment calendars and the electronically recorded times they entered and exited the county's secure parking garage shows they often don't put in 40-hour weeks at the office, and all average less than six hours a day when they are in the office.

(A rehash of the Canyon Courier's earlier story that Pinecam linked to, but interesting nonetheless) Full Story
02.03.04 @ 06:08 AM MST [link]

Feds 'Outraged' by Halftime Show Mishap
NEW YORK (AP) -- The chief federal regulator of broadcasting said Monday he is outraged by the Super Bowl halftime show which wound up with singer Justin Timberlake tearing off part of Janet Jackson's costume, exposing her breast.

Timberlake blamed a "wardrobe malfunction," but Federal Communications Commission chief Michael Powell called it "a classless, crass and deplorable stunt." Full story
02.02.04 @ 09:56 AM MST [link]