Doctors’ group wants cheerleading classified as a sport due to dangers

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012, 10:58pm

The American Association of Pediatrics wants cheerleading to be considered a sport.

The group says two-thirds of all serious injuries to high school girl athletes are from cheerleading. Denver pediatrician Dr. Steve Perry sees a lot of cheerleading injuries and agrees with the AAP.

“They’re more strains or sprains, a lot of time in their legs, but we’ve seen a lot of kids with concussions,” Perry said.

At High Country Cheer in Littleton, they make sure to take a lot of precautions.

“We have a high coach to athlete ratio,” said owner Krista Schley. “When they’re stunting we have a coach on each stunt to prevent them from falling when they’re learning. The athletes train really hard. What they’re doing is just as physical, it’s dangerous, and it takes a lot of concentration.”

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Police, Crime Stoppers want donations for reward to find Jessica Ridgeway’s killer

Submitted by KDVR Web Staff

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012, 6:24pm

WESTMINSTER, Colo. — Police and Metro Denver Crime Stoppers want donations to establish a financial reward to find the killer of Jessica Ridgeway.

The amount of the reward won’t be known until donations are received.

The Westminster Police Department says it has received requests from people and businesses all over the U.S. wanting to know if they can donate to a reward fund.

Contributions can be made at any Wells Fargo bank. The Jessica Ridgeway Benefit Donation Reward Account number is 9957483077.

You can wire money to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. 420 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94104 (routing number: 121000248 account number: 9957483077) Beneficiary: Crime Stoppers Program, Inc.

You can also send a check: Crime Stoppers c/o Justice for Jessica, PO Box 40965, Denver, CO 80204 Memo line: Jessica Ridgeway Reward.

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Teenager escapes alleged kidnapper in Jefferson County

Submitted by KDVR Web Staff

Wednesday, October 17th, 2012, 3:43pm

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating an attempted abduction outside a Littleton middle school Monday night.

What’s unusual about this case is the victim is a high school student.

What’s scary is the suspect didn’t back off when the teenager tried running away. The 14-year-old boy was walking home from a friend’s house in the 8200 block of W. Toller Ave. when he noticed a dark-blue or black car following him near Falcon Bluffs Middle School at 8449 S. Garrison St.

“The car stopped and the man said, ‘Come here. Come here.’ It scared the boy. The boy started running,” says Mark Techmeyer, spokesperson for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

But the threat didn’t end there in the school’s parking lot.

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Community remembers Jessica Ridgeway at memorial service

Submitted by KDVR Web Staff

Monday, October 15th, 2012, 4:25pm

ARVADA, Colo. — A memorial service is planned Tuesday night to remember 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway.

The service at Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada is open to the public. It begins at 7 p.m.

Watch live streaming coverage by clicking here.

The church at W. 62nd Ave. and Ward Rd. was chosen because it can hold 3,600 people.

Associate Pastor John Malito talked about what the church hopes comes out of the memorial for Jessica’s family. “That we’re sorry. That we ask the Lord to comfort them in this difficult time, that we just want to be there to talk with them, to be of any of assistance, mostly to listen.”

People who attend the service are asked to wear purple… Jessica’s favorite color.

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Second Public CNG Station to Open in Weld County on Thursday

Submitted by Jennifer Finch, Information Specialist, Weld County Office of County Commissioners

Monday, October 15th, 2012, 3:45pm

Second Public CNG Station to Open in Weld County on Thursday

A new public Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fueling station is scheduled to open on Thursday, October 18, in Greeley. The SkyBlu CNG fueling station opening celebration begins at 2:00 p.m. at their new fueling site located in the Agfinity station, 1607 2nd Avenue (16th Street and Highway 85 Bypass).

The Greeley SkyBlu station is the second public CNG station to open in Weld County this year. On June 29, SkyBlu opened the first Weld County public CNG station in Firestone near the Highway 119 and I-25 intersection.

“We are excited about the Greeley CNG fueling station,” said Weld County Commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer, who formed the Weld County Natural Gas Coalition – a group of government and industry officials working to create an alternative fuel corridor between Colorado and Wyoming. “The more CNG stations that are open to the public, the better.

Weld County Commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer, seen here speaking at the Weld County Fleet Event held last June prior to the first public CNG station opening in Weld County, will speak at the October 18th opening in Greeley.

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Softball-sized eyeball washes ashore Florida beach

Submitted by KDVR Web Staff

Saturday, October 13th, 2012, 6:09pm

(CNN) — When Gino Covacci walks on the beach, he always keeps his eyes peeled for shells, fish and whatever else washes up.

But it’s not every day that he comes across something that seemingly looks right back at him — as happened this week.

Covacci’s discovery: a blue-tinged softball-size eyeball. Even scientists don’t know quite where it came from, beyond the sands of Pompano Beach.

“I find many different things,” he said of his daily walks by the sea, “but not something like this.”

On Wednesday, Covacci said, he was walking along the southeastern Florida beach with a friend visiting from Greece when he spotted something protruding from the sand.

He picked it up, cleaned it off, turned it around and realized he was staring into a giant eyeball.

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Endeavour rolls through L.A. streets on last trip home

Submitted by KDVR Web Staff

Saturday, October 13th, 2012, 2:55pm

Los Angeles (CNN) — Move over, Oscars. Take a seat, Disney. And forget the televised car chase.

The space shuttle Endeavour is conquering a new frontier — the entertainment capital of the world — and it’s getting royal parade treatment.

Like a king carried in a chariot, the Endeavour is lumbering through the streets of Los Angeles on its way to retirement in a local museum.

Earthlings are taking their first close-up view of the shuttle’s heft and girth as it saunters 12 miles over two days at 2 mph (most humans walk 3 mph), with several rests.

That slow movement has allowed a festival of gawkers to line the streets and express awe as the hulking orbiter barely clears utility poles and trees.

Its five-story-high tail passes the corner glass suites of office buildings, and the vehicle has attracted thousands of admirers during stops outside unlikely destinations such as Bed Bath & Beyond.

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