Voice of the Rocky Mountain Empire

Sunday, January 18, 2004 · News updates at DenverPost.com 66 $1.00 — May vary outside metro Denver

Tancredo
plan vague, The loss of innocents
critics say A THREE-PART SERIES BY DENVER POST STAFF WRITER DAVID OLINGER

Colorado children are

Proof of citizenship would be dying from neglect and
required for most state services abuse even after social
By Michael Riley and Chris Frates
Denver Post Staff Writers service agencies receive
U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo’s proposed amendment to Tanner Dowler, 2
the state constitution to cut off services to illegal months, was beaten to warnings of trouble.
immigrants would, if passed, ripple through every Col- death in Boulder County
orado county and state agency, and could alter the
way the state doles out everything from vaccinations
in October 2002. Despite Yet a state system created
warnings, the county
to driver’s licenses, legal experts say.
Supporters still have to collect tens of thousands of
failed to locate the
newborn and his parents
to learn from the deaths
signatures in a few months to put the amendment on
until it was too late.
the ballot, then convince voters that eliminating all
non-emergency state services to thousands of illegal The state issued a
often fails to explain
immigrants is good public policy. five-page report critical
But based on similar efforts in other states — a of the county’s child what goes wrong.
ballot initiative in Arizona this year has drawn the welfare agency.
approval of 70 percent of likely voters in recent polls

I
n 41 percent of Colorado’s child
— that will be the easy part. abuse and neglect deaths dur-
The hard part will be working out the amendment’s ing the past decade, social ser-
scope and how to implement it — questions that will vice agencies charged with pro-
largely be answered in the courts, experts say. tecting children had warnings
“Virtually everything the state of Colorado does is — sometimes numerous warn-
going to be affected by this,” said Mark Grueskin, a ings — of problems in the home, a
Denver lawyer who has helped put several prominent Denver Post investigation found.
initiatives on the ballot. Some children died after casework-
“It is going to put a huge burden on government ers were repeatedly told about inju-
employees, and it’s going to have unintended conse- ries or after their supervisors failed
quences the likes of which are almost impossible to to pursue complaints. Others died af-
fathom,” he said. ter hospitals sent them home with
The El Paso County Hu- fractured skulls or police failed to re-
Reached by telephone late Saturday in Arizona, Tan-
credo said the amendment would mandate that all man Services Department port recurrent domestic violence.
county and state agencies require proof of citizenship waited 10 days to check In one case that ended with a mur-
bruises on 1-year-old dered family, an abuse investigator
SEE TANCREDO ON 16A Isaiah Oliva. He drowned thought a girl was making up stories
in a bathtub eight days about her stepfather hitting her and
her brother. The caseworker didn’t
after a hospital sent him know the stepfather had previously

In Iowa, Dems home with a fractured

skull that had been pre-
ceded by other injuries.
been in prison for fracturing the skull
of his 22-month-old stepson and de-
stroying nearly half of his brain.
An examination of state records

wrapping up shows that child welfare agencies

were involved before the deaths of at
least 107 of 258 children who were
victims of suspected abuse or neglect

a feverish fight from 1993 through 2002.

Yet in nearly half of those cases, a
state system created to learn from
child abuse deaths has reported noth-
By Adam Nagourney ing about those prior contacts.
The New York Times In an effort to understand how well
Colorado’s child protection system re-
DES MOINES, Iowa — Democratic presidential
sponds to complaints of abuse or ne-
candidates campaigned furiously across Iowa on Sat- A preschool reported glect, The Post spent eight months re-
urday as they approached the conclusion of a competi-
tive fight that party officials said would set the tone four times that Gianni viewing reports obtained through
for the rest of the nomination battle. Barrera, 4, had open-records requests, researching
What until just last week had seemed like a suspicious marks and court documents and interviewing
two-way contest for first place between Howard Dean caseworkers, state and county offi-
bruises on his body. The An autopsy found that Amanda Gallegos, 19 months, died after an internal hemorrhage, possi-
and Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri has turned into cials and relatives of victims.
boy was killed months bly caused by repeated blows to the body or a fatal squeeze. At least eight times, the Adams The newspaper’s investigation
what Democrats described as a four-way free-for-all later by his mother’s County abuse line received calls about her and her sister, who had nearly died months before.
heading into Monday night’s caucuses. found:
In campaign headquarters across this unseasonably boyfriend. The last time, a caseworker allegedly dismissed bruises along Amanda’s spine. STORY, 21A : Mistakes in child abuse cases can
warm state capital, senior advisers struggled to fig- remain hidden indefinitely. Nearly all
ure who was up and who was down, prompting an counties responsible for handling
ever-changing and dizzying volley of strategic at- Virgil Wagner, 7, drowned Jimmy Wood, age 7 in this child abuse complaints claim that
tacks. last year in an Adams photo, was 14 when he died in records of their involvement are con-
At the center of those calculations was Dean, the fidential, even after a child’s death.
County retention pond while a foster home of an apparent : State record keeping is so unreli-
former governor of Vermont, who in recent days has unsupervised. Before his prescription drug overdose. A
suffered an erosion in his position here and across the able that some children killed by
nation, according to Democratic officials and Dean’s death, social workers had four-sentence state report did abuse and neglect are not included.
advisers. received 20 calls about children not mention how he died or that Also, Colorado officials recently real-
Several Democrats said that the very thing Dean connected to the household he was a foster child. ized that five children initially report-
had long offered as his greatest strength as a candi- where he lived. ed to the federal government as fatal
date — his ability to confront President Bush with a SEE ABUSE ON 20A
strong ideological challenge, fueled by huge numbers
SEE IOWA ON 8A

Low-carb dieters offer businesses a meaty opportunity Rustlers may ride again
By Jennifer Alsever
and Kelly Pate Dwyer
Denver Post Business Writers
said Wendy Aiello, a Denver market-
ing consultant who has spent a decade
working on behalf of local restau-
rants.
lob Ultra).
Books explaining the ins and outs of
the South Beach, Atkins, Protein Pow-
er and Sugar Busters programs that
IN BUSINESS
Appetite for profits:
Companies from
on the Colorado plains
American consumers are worship- restaurants to
ing at the altar of the low-carb econo-
“Every other chain restaurant is de-
veloping a low-carb menu,” she said.
avoid sugars and starches and pro-
mote protein-rich foods, such as beef warehouses to High prices, low risk attract cattle thieves
my, and the nation’s food producers
are right behind them.
Convenience stores are hawking and bacon, are staples on the best-sell- bakeries are looking
low-carb shakes and chocolate bars. By Kirk Mitchell Many ranchers sold off their
Feeding the frenzy of New Year’s er lists. As many as 75 startup busi- for a piece of the Denver Post Staff Writer herds the past few years as the
Even Heinz — the company that nesses promise new low-carb products low-carb pie. And, of
diet resolutions, restaurants are pitch- brought you green and purple ketchup In the vigilante Old West, cattle drought withered prairie pastures,
and services. course, there are and the beef supply dropped. At
ing bunless hamburgers and low-carb — has plans for a low-carb condi- barons paid bounty hunters $500 a
pizzas to the estimated 17 million Sales of low-carb foods are getting rebels fighting the food the same time, the Atkins diet and
ment. head to cull the prairie’s rustler
Americans on formal low-carb diets fatter. Nutrition Business Journal esti- aggressive beef ads raised de-
Big brewing companies are spar- mates sales reached $1.4 billion in trend. Read more about population.
and another 42 million cutting back ring in TV ads for the attention of con- how businesses are Today, lawmen can only sling mand. The mad cow disease scare
2003 and could eventually reach $3 bil- bad cowboys in the pokey — and recently has pushed beef prices
on carbohydrates. sumers who are, indeed, worried that looking for profits on
lion. But is the hype enough to sustain they aren’t having much luck at down, but they are still high.
“It’s the wildest thing I’ve ever seen one beer (Coors Light) has a couple the plate in Section K.
in the restaurant business in years,” more carbs than its competitor (Miche- SEE CARBS ON 18A that. Up to 700 bulls and cows are re-
But with cattle prices spiking re- ported stolen or lost from Colo-
cently, some deputies and ranchers rado prairies and mountain pas-
worry that modern rustlers will be tures each year, said Gary Shoun,
INSIDE tempted to ride the range again
looking for easy prey.
who runs Colorado’s brand inspec-
tion program. And officials esti-
Index ..............2B TRAGIC IRAQ MILESTONE Sheriff’s deputies hoping to mate that one in four Colorado
Crossword .....17F thwart them will warn ranchers to ranchers have had cattle stolen.
An explosion under a U.S. vehicle A LOVE AFFAIR brand all their cattle and be wary Ten times that many are stolen
Golf Preview ..17C
kills three soldiers in Iraq, pushing WITH PARTS EAST of cowboys cruising dusty prairie in Texas alone, and thousands
Horoscope .......2L roads. more are taken all across the coun-
the death toll to 500. 10-11A
Movies .............7F From the wishknot “With the high market prices try every year.
Obituaries 34-35A pendant to the bonsai, (for beef), it’s going to be another “It’s a bigger problem than it
CRASH KILLS TEEN, HURTS 5 target for criminals again,” said was in the older days,” said Larry
Real Estate .....4K timeless Asian style
A 17-year-old boy dies and five Monty Lemley, a commander in Gray, law enforcement director of
Stock Show .....4B Story .......29A is never lost in
others are hurt in a high-speed the Weld County Sheriff’s Office the Texas and Southwestern Cattle
Weather ...........7B Coupon ......6B translation. Learn who has been chasing cattle rus-
wreck. Denver & The West, 1B Raisers Association.
CALL THE DENVER POST what’s hot in Asian tlers for 20 years. “It could be pret- Plastic surgeon Alexander Mc-
decor, cuisine and ty profitable for the cow thief.” Culloch bought 24,000 acres south-
Newsroom: 2B SUPER SCOUTING REPORT fashion, and get Beef prices have been as high east of Colorado Springs 10 years
Home delivery: Peyton Manning’s been nearly the past year as some ranchers ago and hired cowhands to oversee
recipes from some of can recall, said Lemley, whose
303-832-3232 perfect; Philly’s aching for a win. Denver’s best a herd of up to 1,000 cattle.
family also runs a cattle ranch. But most of those years, a very
More numbers There’s plenty of drama in today’s restaurants. A combination of factors has con-
on Page 2K AFC-NFC title matches. Sports, 1C Style, Section L tributed to higher beef prices. SEE RUSTLING ON 16A
 THE DENVER POST

6 20A THE LOSS OF INNOCENTS Sunday, January 18, 2004

Warnings in child abuse cases went unheeded

ABUSE FROM PAGE 1A
abuse victims in 2002 were not dead.
: Many of those identified in state
records as responsible for a child’s death
were not prosecuted. Of those who were,
many were sentenced to probation or
much shorter prison terms than Colorado
typically imposes in adult homicide cases.
: Colorado is one of 22 states with no
law requiring that unexpected child deaths
be investigated. Some experts and state
officials say Colorado could benefit from
such a law.
Christine Ellertson, a lawyer for the
Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center
who died this month after a long illness,
called The Post’s findings alarming and
urged the creation of an independent sys-
tem to investigate and report on all deaths
of abused children previously known to so-
cial services.
“The more we hide these away, the less
we learn about how to stop them the next
time, or about what a crisis this is in Colo-
rado,” Ellertson said late last year.
The innocent victims
Most victims were killed by their own
parents, another relative or their mother’s
boyfriend. Fifteen children died in the
care of babysitters or day care facilities,
and six died in foster care.
A majority were boys. Most were under
2. Half died of physical abuse: They were
beaten, shaken, strangled, stabbed or shot.
Half the deaths were attributed to neglect
— babies left alone in bathtubs, parents
driving drunk, overdoses of cough medi-
cine, gun accidents, careless suffocations.
Among the victims:
Cody Wood, 1. Larimer County’s in-
volvement with Cody began when he was
diagnosed as failing to thrive at age 6
months. It ended when Joshua Carr, the
boyfriend of Cody’s mother, jumped on the
boy in anger and lacerated his liver. Carr
is serving a life sentence in prison.
Three relatives — Cody’s aunt, biologi-
cal father and grandmother — told The
Post they called the county child abuse
agency in vain in the weeks before he was
killed. Four days before he was killed, Pou-
dre Valley Hospital sent Cody home with
two skull fractures and failed to report
the suspicious injuries.
After Cody died, a state fatality report
urged the county to review the case at a
conference with hospital officials. The
county social services director, Ginny Ri-
ley, said she doesn’t know whether such a
conference was held. A hospital spokes-
man said there is no record of a confer-
ence, but the hospital concluded it acted
appropriately.
Gerard Ornelas, 3. Seventeen days be-
fore Gerard died, Littleton police arrested
the man who would kill him.
John Pacheco was charged with abusing
Donaciano Ornelas, his girlfriend’s son
and Gerard’s brother, after a neighbor
complained he punched the little boy in
the stomach. Police notified the Arapahoe
County Human Services Department, but
the agency did not assign a caseworker.
On June 23, 2001, Gerard died after
bleeding internally and vomiting repeated-
ly for a day from a blow to the abdomen.
The county then discovered other reports
concerning both boys, including a skull
fracture on Gerard that had been deemed
accidental. Confidential county records, in-
advertently given to The Post by the state,
acknowledge the abuse report from Little-
ton police should have been assigned to a
caseworker.
In an interview, county officials said the
case did not look urgent because police
had faxed the arrest report six days after
the incident and the children were not visi-
bly bruised. Police reports show, however,
that Gerard’s brother said Pacheco hit
him every day, and his sister said Pacheco
once tried to suffocate her.
Pacheco is serving a 96-year prison sen-
tence for Gerard’s death.
Ashley Brown, 3. In the last weeks of
her life, she was taken to the hospital with
a swollen eye and twice found alone on
busy roads. Neighbor Sara Sharer said in
an interview that she stopped Ashley from
riding her tricycle onto a six-lane road.
She was “about to turn onto an extremely
busy street,” Sharer recalled, and “she
didn’t have any underwear.”
Six days before Ashley was fatally in-
jured, a Mesa County social worker inter-
viewed her stepfather, Michael Hunter,
about leaving children unsupervised. On
Dec. 10, 1998, Ashley suffered a skull frac-
ture that split her head open. She died a
week later. Hunter is serving a 93-year
sentence.
After the deaths of Gerard and Ashley,
state officials reviewed their cases and
spoke with the county agencies involved,
Jane Beveridge of the office of child and family services: ‘I would love it’ if the state had an independent fatality review system.
but never issued written recommenda- ties responded to that report by participat-
tions. Asked why not, a child welfare offi- ing in numerous safety training programs.
cial responded that the state is making a Gov. Bill Owens said he believes Colo-
new commitment to discuss such cases rado already has done much to combat
publicly. child abuse. But “as revenues improve, I
would continue to make prevention of
State review team lacks teeth child abuse a priority of funding,” Owens
told The Post.
In Colorado, child protection programs
are operated by the counties and super- The governor also said he recently di-
rected the Human Services Department
vised by the state, while police investigate
crimes against children. The county-run “to consistently and openly review all cas-
es in which there has been prior involve-
system depends on a mix of federal, state
and county funds. ment by county child welfare agencies.”
Department officials say Colorado’s sys-
In 2002, county agencies received 57,041
tem protects thousands of children from
child abuse referrals and substantiated
abuse and neglect every year. But they
5,847 of them. According to state data, fed-
acknowledge that Colorado, like other
eral and state money for child welfare pro-
grams has increased in recent years, but states, finds that warning signs precede a
frustratingly high percentage of deaths
so have child abuse complaints.
Some county officials say they are strug- from child abuse.
“Forty percent is unacceptable. Even
gling to keep up with those complaints.
Because the state recently changed its one death is unacceptable,” said Marva
formula for allocating money, “our fund- Hammons, the state human services direc-
ing is down,” said Tom Papin, Mesa Coun- tor. But after each death, the fatality re-
ty’s human services director. “The state view process helps the child welfare sys-
makes our job very difficult at the county tem “learn from particular cases so we
level.” can improve,” she said.
In an internal report in 2002, the Colo- Fifteen years ago, the state Human Ser-
rado Department of Human Services ac- vices Department established a fatality re-
knowledged that chronic problems were view system to look for mistakes and en-
courage systemic changes if needed in the
showing up in fatal child abuse cases.
Among them: inadequate communica- county-run agencies. But today, the 12-per-
tion between counties when families with son review team of mostly state and coun-
abuse cases move; county failures to ty social services officials still operates
check for law enforcement records; fail- with no legislative authorization, no bud-
ures to review prior abuse reports; fail- get of its own and little enforcement pow-
ures to interview boyfriends before fatali- er.
ties; and the return of children to parents When the review team does examine a
who weren’t complying with treatment county’s actions prior to a child’s death,
plans. officials interview caseworkers and others
According to the state department, coun- involved. The state may deliver a report
HOW MANY KIDS FALL THROUGH THE CRACKS? Child fatalities reported by Colorado
to the National Child Abuse and
How many children die of abuse not listed as a 2002 death in the Neglect Reporting System.
or neglect in Colorado? There’s no federal report. Nor are six others in
easy answer. For 2002, the state a department database of victims.
30 29
Department of Human Services Some, but not all, likely will be
reported 32 abuse or neglect reported as 2003 deaths.
deaths to the federal government. Determining how many child 24 24
The Denver Post asked for, and abuse deaths were preceded by 20
received, the names of these chil- warning calls to social service
dren. But then department officials agencies is another challenge.
discovered that five of them are not In many cases, a “yes” in a De-
dead. The department also decided partment of Human Services data-
three deaths were improperly classi- base is the only public record of
fied as abuse or neglect cases. prior agency involvement. In nine
cases, fatality review teams cri-
“The 2002 data is problematic,”
tiqued child protection agencies’
said department official Susan
involvement before suspicious ’93 ’94 ’95 ’96 ’97 ’98 ’99 ’00 ’01 ’02
Ludwig, in part because the depart-
deaths, but the department ultimate-
ment is changing computer sys-
ly did not count abuse as the Below are the child-abuse referrals,
tems. She said a coding error has
cause. In still other cases, counties investigations and confirmed cases
been corrected and the reported
reported prior involvement, but the for 2002, the most recent year for
number of 2002 deaths is now 24. which statistics are available.
department decided those contacts
But eight of those 24 actually did not fit its definition.
died in 2001. They’re listed as 2002
After reviewing available records, Referrals
deaths because of a reporting time The Post concluded that child wel-
lag from investigating counties. fare agencies were involved before Investigations
Tanner Dowler, the state’s at least 107 children died of abuse Confirmed cases
most-publicized child abuse victim or neglect from 1993 through 2002.
in 2002, died in October but was — David Olinger Source: Colorado Department
of Human Services
The Denver Post / Glenn Asakawa
to the county, also available to the public,
that outlines any concerns and recommen-
dations for corrective action.
A department rule promises the state
will review “cases where the county was
involved prior to the child’s death,” but it
does not spell out what constitutes a re-
view. If there is no state report, the public
— including grieving relatives outside the
victim’s immediate family — generally
can’t find out how many calls for help pre-
ceded a child’s death or if mistakes were
made in handling the case.
That’s because county social services
records on abused children typically re-
main confidential after a child dies, even
in cases where the county had been
warned the child was in danger.
The Post requested social services files
on deceased children from 24 counties,
and was denied all but one.
Critics say such secrecy strips the sys-
tem of accountability.
“The confidentiality that’s been created
to protect children is now being used
against them,” said Becky McCasland, an
attorney who worked at the Rocky Moun-
tain Children’s Law Center. “When people
do make mistakes, nobody knows.”
When the system fails, children die
Five years ago, Owens and state human
services officials responded to four
well-publicized deaths of children known
to social service agencies by promising to
improve Colorado’s child protection sys-
tem. A key change: expanded investiga-
tions of cases where counties were in-
volved before an abused or neglected child
died.
The review system worked as intended
ABOUT
THE SERIES
TODAY
32 31
Calls to county social
28 service agencies pre-
ceded more than 40
24 percent of deaths from
20 child abuse and ne-
glect in Colorado.
Unlike many states,
Colorado has no law
requiring an investiga-
tion when a child dies
unexpectedly.
MONDAY
In one county, 12
children died in seven
years despite repeated
warnings that they or
their siblings were in
danger.
57,041 TUESDAY
Nobody goes to prison
27,996 in half the cases
5,847
where children died of
suspected abuse or
neglect.
The Denver Pos
after Tanner Dowler’s killing in October
2002.
Tanner, 2 months old, was beaten to
death in Boulder County. Afterward, the
state quickly issued a five-page report crit-
ical of the county’s child abuse agency for
missing chances to save his life. The main
issue was the county’s failure to locate the
newborn and his parents despite warnings
from his grandparents, the report says.
But when 19-month-old Amanda Gal-
legos died in January 2001, there was no
state report, even though Adams County
caseworkers had been called repeatedly to
check her for bruises. An autopsy found
broken ribs that had been healing for
weeks.
Had there been a state review, it might
have noted that Adams County received
eight worried calls from her grandmother
and others before Amanda died. And it
might have disclosed that a county supervi-
sor accused her own agency of altering
the toddler’s case file to cover up its fail-
ure to intervene.
Some state reports on deaths from child
abuse or neglect are less than a page long
and do not explain how the child died or
how often social workers were called for
help beforehand. One ends in midsentence.
“Every one of these deaths should be tak-
en seriously and should be looked at,” said
state Sen. Steve Johnson, the Larimer
County Republican who chairs the legisla-
tive committee overseeing the state Hu-
man Services Department.
Department officials said they did not
issue fatality reports in some cases be-
cause the prior referrals were old or pe-
ripheral, or the county responded appropri-
ately. They also said they are still working
on some reports about children who died
more than a year ago.
The state’s ability to watch over Colo-
rado’s child protection system is limited
by enforcement authority and staff size.
Just 19 state employees, assisted by foster
home inspectors and a small field staff,
supervise child welfare programs in 64
counties that protect 12,000 children on a
typical day.
State human services officials say it is
not easy to also conduct time-consuming
fatality reviews without any extra money
for that purpose.
“I would love it,” said Jane Beveridge,
the department’s manager of child and
family services, if Colorado had an inde-
pendent, legislatively authorized review
board with a budget and better access to
medical and law enforcement records, as
well as social services records.
When state fatality reviews find that
counties have made serious mistakes, the
Human Services Department can make
recommendations, but it has little enforce-
ment power aside from withholding mon-
ey — which it has never done. In some
cases, counties have disputed or ignored
state recommendations.
Colorado’s child fatality reports hold in-
formation “about our weaknesses, and you
get plenty,” but they examine only the role
of social services, Beveridge said. “That’s
unfortunate. A lot of these kids have been
touched by other agencies,” such as
schools, hospitals and police.
A preschool tried to save 4-year-old Gi-
anni Barrera.
School employees called Weld County so-
cial services five times in five months,
mostly to report suspicious marks and
bruises on his body. He was killed two
months later by his mother’s boyfriend,
Dario Rivera. The cause: multiple blows
to his head.
The state fatality review found that
Weld County could not even document
whether it had investigated those child
abuse calls. County social services direc-
tor Judy Griego disputed the state’s criti-
cism. Gianni’s reported injuries were mi-
nor, she wrote, and “a lack of documenta-
tion does not confirm that the investiga-
tions were inadequate.”
Amy Barrera, Gianni’s mother, blames
herself and county caseworkers for failing
to protect her son.
“Even if they were on (me) totally, all
the time, it would have been better than
what happened,” she said.
When Gianni’s preschool teachers called
five times, “I only had one visit from one
man. It wasn’t even a very long visit, and
there was no follow-up,” Amy Barrera
said.
She said an investigator assigned to the
case after Gianni died “said she would
have taken my kids away” when his bruis-
es first were reported.
That comment made her feel horrible,
she said, “but I understand now.”
Denver Post staff writer Nancy Lof-
holm contributed to this report.
David Olinger can be reached at 303-
820-1498 or dolinger@denverpost.com.

Children’s deaths go unnoticed in reports of state review system

The Denver Post / Brian Brainerd
William Fred Wagner, father of the late
Virgil Wagner, faces drug charges.
By David Olinger
Denver Post Staff Writer
When a Colorado child who is known to
county social service agencies dies, that
death may be excluded from state fatali-
ty reports in two ways.
In some cases, state officials decide
that the county has responded appropri-
ately to abuse complaints and no further
review or report is needed. Other deaths
deemed natural or accidental are exclud-
ed automatically.
In Adams County alone, at least 18 chil-
dren who died since 1995 after child pro-
tection agencies received calls about
their caretakers were not mentioned in
state fatality reviews. An agency employ-
ee concerned about the adequacy of state
investigations provided their names to
The Denver Post.
The state Department of Human Servic-
es responded that it is reviewing one of
those deaths — a death that came after
20 reports concerning children connected
to one household.
That victim was Virgil Wagner, 7, who
had been reunited with a father previous-
ly imprisoned for criminally negligent ho-
micide. Virgil drowned in a pond last
May while unsupervised. His father, Will-
iam Fred Wagner, now faces charges of
running a large methamphetamine lab in
the home where Virgil lived.
State human services officials said
three other deaths were suspicious
enough that Adams County should have
reported them to the state.
The remaining 14 cases were handled
properly and did not need fatality re-
views, according to the state, because the
children died of natural causes or their
deaths raised no issues about prior gov-
ernment involvement.
One of those 14 was Alicia Casias, a
1-month-old shaken to death in 2001, two
years after her sister Alexandria died.
State human services officials said no
fatality report was done on Alicia be-
cause the county had provided appropri-
ate services to her family and there were
no prior child abuse complaints about her.
The county had opened a case when Al-
exandria was 25 days old because her
face was swollen and bruised, according
to a form filed with the state. But a court
closed it against the county’s recommen-
dation, the form says. Alexandria died six
days later “of signs of SIDS (sudden in-
fant death syndrome).”
In several other deaths that the state
did not review, autopsy reports show the
causes as undetermined or as SIDS — a
sometimes mistaken diagnosis in child
abuse cases, according to the American
Academy of Pediatrics.
One of them was the second child death
in the same family. That girl’s death, at-
tributed to SIDS, was preceded by child
abuse reports in Jefferson County. After
her death, a sibling was placed in foster
care, sources said.
Another death in an open child protec-
tion case, that of a 16-month-old boy, was
classified in the autopsy report as “blunt
trauma to the head” but deemed “non-sus-
picious” by the state because he reported-
ly fell off a counter.
Nancy Hammer, a former Adams Coun-
ty child abuse supervisor who reviewed
the autopsy reports for The Post, ques-
tioned the state’s claim that these deaths
did not warrant further review.
“If there have been (child abuse) re-
ports, founded or unfounded, on anyone in
the family, it should be reviewed … as a
learning tool for social services,” she
said.
Jane Beveridge, state manager of child
and family services, said her department
has to decide “what you can do and do
well” with available resources.
 MONDAY

Partly cloudy The Denver

High 45, low 17 Post Online
Complete weather, 8B denverpost.com

January 19, 2004 66 50¢ — May vary outside metro Denver

THE LOSS OF INNOCENTS | Second of three parts

Neglected abuse warnings led to 12 deaths in El Paso

By David Olinger
Denver Post Staff Writer
Police detective Victor LaBrecque found
9-year-old Michelle Moore slumped over
her clarinet, beside the music she was prac-
ticing when she died.
The body of her little brother Charlie, 6,
lay nearby in the living room. Their moth-
er was sprawled facedown in a pool of
blood on the kitchen floor. All three had
been shot twice by the children’s stepfa-
ther, Christopher Colvin, who then reclined
beside Michelle and fired a .45-caliber bul-
let into his right temple as police arrived.
“You don’t forget those faces,” said La-
Brecque, who led the investigation of the
city of Fountain’s deadliest shooting. “It’s
something that’s always burned into your
brain. The innocents — they never had a
chance.”
INSIDE
Foster children: The cases of children who
die while in foster families can remain
hidden from public scrutiny. 14A
The official story always has been that
the child protection system could not have
prevented this tragedy. Five days after the
December 1996 killings, El Paso County
human services director Barbara Drake
was quoted as saying her department had
no active file on the Colvin children until it
responded to a child abuse complaint one
week before they were killed.
A state fatality review quietly delivered
to El Paso officials nine months later tells
a much different story of the county’s in-
volvement.
There had been a series of reports to El
Paso human services about Colvin, includ-
ing one from a therapist saying that Char-
lie said his stepfather made him lick up his
own urine and shoved a dirty diaper in his
face. There had been about 16 police visits
to the Colvins’ mobile home for domestic
violence — and no documented referrals
from police to El Paso human services.
Drake declined to discuss the case with
The Denver Post but said she never intend-
ed to mislead anyone about her depart-
ment’s prior involvement with the Colvins.
“I certainly would have said what I
would have believed to be the truth at the
time,” she said. An El Paso County child protection worker concluded that Michelle Moore, left, was mak-
In Colorado, tragic mistakes in child
ing up stories about her stepfather abusing her and her brother Charlie, right. The case-
abuse cases can remain hidden for years. worker didn’t know that the stepfather, Christopher Colvin, had previously been in prison
From 1995 to 2002, 12 children died in
for child abuse in a different county. In December 1996, Colvin fatally shot Michelle, Char-
SEE ABUSE ON 14A lie and their mother, then killed himself.

Baghdad
blast kills
at least 20
63 hurt, but no U.S. deaths in attack
outside occupation headquarters
By Daniel Williams INSIDE
The Washington Post
Maneuvers: The Pentagon will shift
BAGHDAD, Iraq — A white pick- warplanes to Asia and the Pacific to
up truck loaded with 1,000 pounds offset troops sent to Iraq. 17A
of plastic explosives and several
155mm artillery shells exploded at
the main public gate to U.S. occu-
pation headquarters Sunday morn- ing to make their way inside at the
ing, killing at least 20 bystanders time of the blast. Others had been
and injuring 63 people, U.S. mili- on their way to work elsewhere.
tary officials said. Most of the casualties were Ira-
The suicide bombing, which qis. Two of the dead were foreign-
came at 8 a.m., turned a central ers, officials said, but they had not
Baghdad street into an inferno. been identified by Sunday night.
The Denver Post / Helen H. Richardson
The bomb detonated in the middle
The evolution of new media such as graphic novels and the ease of accessibility through the Internet have helped comic books branch out of rush-hour traffic, turned cars The attack came on the eve of a
to a wider audience than the previously targeted young males. Above, a customer who identified himself only as Steve browses at Mile into bonfires, sent metal flying 200 planned meeting in New York to-
High Comics in Denver. With 8 million comics available at U.S. stores and online, Mile High is the nation’s largest comics retailer. yards and shook buildings 2 miles day between the chief U.S. adminis-
away. trator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, and
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi An-
The explosion took place just out-

Drawing attention
side a large, domed archway into
the Republican Palace, one of de-
posed President Saddam Hussein’s
most grandiose residences. Sol-
diers posted there call it “Assas-
sin’s Gate.”
Some of the victims worked at
Nostalgia and new formats helping comic books expand audience the headquarters and had been try-
nan. Bremer is seeking to enlist
the United Nations in the effort to
forestall demands from leading
Shiite clerics for direct elections.
The United Nations withdrew its
staff from Baghdad after 23 peo-
ple, including U.N. envoy Sergio
SEE IRAQ ON 16A

By Kyle MacMillan
Denver Post Critic-at-Large
Forget the stereotypes. Comic
books and graphic novels aren’t
just for adolescent geeks any-
more.
Today’s buyers are everyday
folks such as John Kent, a 50-
year-old psychologist from Atlan-
ta, or Don Dillmann, a 38-year-old
financial analyst from Denver.
Dillmann, a fan of comic books
since childhood, is excited at the
moment about the “Marvel Mas-
terworks” book collections of re-
printed vintage comics, featuring
such characters as the Avengers,
On MLK Day, area pastors
Fantastic Four and X-Men.
“Those are just like ‘Wow,’ ” he
said. “I can’t wait to get those
hardcover editions and sit and
read those stories again, because
they’re classics.”
At the culmination of the so-
called golden age of comics in the
1950s, an estimated 250 million to
300 million comic books sold annu-
ally, transforming this country’s
popular culture and becoming one
of its most important exports.
Even if unit sales of new comic
books are down to about a third of
that level, they’re still averaging
about $200 million in sales each
year. Combined with classic or
back-issue comics and graphic
novels, total sales may be more
than $700 million a year. Beyond
the financial throw-weight of the
industry, comics have as much or
more impact on American popu-
lar culture than ever.
Because of such factors as the
Internet and recent blockbuster
films devoted to Spider-Man, X-
Men and the Hulk, comics are ap-
pealing to a broader mix of peo-
ple than ever and are even breach-
ing the rarefied walls of art muse-
ums.
The fastest growing segment of
PATS VS. CATS
the comics world is graphic nov-
els, collections of serialized com- IOWA CAUCUSES
ics, current or classic, in book
form, such as “Marvel Master-
works.” According to ICv2, a Madi-
son, Wis.-based website and pub-
lishing company that tracks the
comics industry, U.S. retailers
Tight race makes
campaign a thrill
sold about $100 million worth of
graphic novels in 2002, up from
$75 million in 2001.
Milton Griepp, the company’s
owner, said he expects graphic
WATERLOO, Iowa — campaigning and an
novels to eventually outsell comic On Sunday, Ani DiFranco estimated $9 million
books.
was there for Rep. Den- spent on political adver-
“It will take awhile, but if cur- nis Kucinich in Des tising, the Iowa caucuses
SEE COMICS ON 19A Moines. Joan Jett and could end tonight in a tie.
Janeane Garofalo ap- But for the junkies who
peared with former Gov. live for the rush from
Howard Dean in Iowa this overblown, old-fash-
A SUPER BOWL SET
City. In Waterloo, Sen.
John Kerry had help
from Sen. Edward
Kennedy and a fellow
ioned, quirky quadrennial
political event, it hardly
matters.
It’s been a real blast.

see hope amid frustrations Vietnam vet. Rep. Dick

Denver church leaders cite strides, say much work remains
By George Merritt
Denver Post Staff Writer
Forty years ago, the Rev. Martin Luth-
er King Jr. stood at the pulpit in Den-
ver’s Macedonia Baptist Church and told
the congregation about his vision of
peace.
In a month, the congregation will meet
with police officials in the same church
to discuss concerns stemming from a po-
lice shooting.
“We are still living in the dark ages,”
the Rev. Paul Martin said Sunday.
Martin’s sermon — like others on the
eve of the nation’s only holiday honoring
an African-American — focused on con-
tinued hope in the face of frustration.
But as attempts are made to whittle
away affirmative action, trust between
the black community and the police
Gephardt had members
of 21 labor unions going
door-to-door in the 8-de-
Diane
Carman
More than 600 Iowans
braved the chill Saturday
at the Art Center here to
hear Sen. John Edwards.
gree weather and Chuck
Berry singing backup.
When the handsome
young candidate finally arrived 70
INSIDE And if the latest polls are accu- minutes late, the humor was all at
rate, after all the debates, the the expense of President Bush, and
Remembering: Denver’s Martin Luther speeches, the handshakes, the
King Jr. Day celebration has gone from a endorsements, a year of grueling SEE CARMAN ON 13A
small parade to a month-long event. 3B
INSIDE
erodes and the war in Iraq lingers, Mar-
tin said, he feels “we are living in a sys-
tem that is calcified.” Crossword ....8F Movies ..........5F
GIFT FOR LISTENERS Index ...........2B Obituaries ....6B
Racism, he said, is present more than
40 years after King dreamed of its de- The donation of a $2.75 million Lottery .........2B Weather .......8B
mise. building will boost Colorado Public
Martin told parishioners that his real- Radio’s home and programming. 1C CALL THE DENVER POST
estate agent recently told him that his Newsroom: 2B
house would not sell unless he removed Associated Press / Winslow Townson Home delivery:
pictures of black people from his walls. PASSIONATE DANCERS
New England Patriots Ty Law, right, and Rodney 303-832-3232
Prospective buyers, it seemed, do not A New York troupe brings the
want a home previously owned by a
Harrison celebrate their 24-14 win Sunday over More numbers
Indianapolis. The Patriots will face the Carolina magical sights and sounds of
SEE KING ON 12A Panthers in the Super Bowl on Feb. 1. COVERAGE, 1D flamenco dancing to Denver. 1F on Page 2C

66 14A
Mistakes in abuse cases often remain hidden
ABUSE FROM PAGE 1A
El Paso County alone, despite repeated
warnings that they or their siblings were
in peril, according to state records ob-
tained by The Post through a public-
records request.
The Colvin case reveals another critical
error besides the dismissed child-abuse
complaints. An El Paso child protection
worker who decided Michelle was making
up stories of abuse by her stepfather
lacked important information about
Colvin’s past in Fort Collins.
Colvin had served five years in prison
for beating another stepson so badly that
his brain was damaged and he was para-
lyzed for the rest of his abbreviated life.
Yet Colvin’s Larimer County crime never
was recorded in a statewide child abuse
registry.
“This particular case is a prime tragic
example of a lack of coordination within
the community,” the state report says, and
of the county’s failure “to conduct a thor-
ough investigation into the family.”
Confidentiality shields errors
El Paso and other counties responsible
for child abuse investigations keep all
records of their involvement in fatal cases
confidential after a child’s death.
But the state may issue a fatality report
that examines a suspected death from
child abuse with an eye toward correcting
mistakes by county-run agencies. Such re-
ports detail errors in El Paso — and other
counties — struggling to cope with grow-
ing child abuse caseloads.
In one fatal case, El Paso human servic-
es waited 10 days to check a nurse’s re-
port of bruises on a 1-year-old boy. In an-
other, the county had received 14 reports
in less than three years concerning the
mother of a 9-month-old girl.
The 1-year-old boy was Isaiah Oliva.
He drowned in a bathtub, eight days af-
ter a hospital sent him home with a frac-
tured skull. That was preceded by a long
‘I loved Jimmy. He wanted me to adopt him. They don’t know (how he died), we don’t know, so they blame it on us. They’re trying to cover their butts.’
Lanell Ruiz, on Jimmy Wood, who was in her care when he died of an apparent prescription drug overdose. A state investigator determined Ruiz was neglectful.
Deaths of
foster kids
show flaws
in system
By David Olinger
Denver Post Staff Writer
Fourteen-year-old Jimmy Wood died of
an apparent prescription drug overdose.
He was last heard crying alone in a closed
bedroom.
Mollie Gonzalez, 10, reached into a re-
frigerator in her bedroom and drank a fa-
tal dose of her anti-seizure medicine.
Talitha Brooks died of heatstroke in a
sweltering bedroom just after her first
birthday.
All three were Colorado foster children
placed in government custody to protect
them from harm. Yet the circumstances
of all three deaths remained hidden from
public scrutiny despite internal investiga-
tions that faulted the foster parents and
the agencies supervising them.
When foster children die, the govern-
ment agencies responsible for their wel-
fare “should be held even more account-
able for what happens,” said Sen. Steve
Johnson, the Larimer County Republican
who chairs the committee overseeing Colo-
rado human services programs.
“I wonder sometimes, should the Depart-
ment of Human Services be responsible
for reviewing cases when they also have
the responsibility for overseeing the coun-
ty’s administration of those programs?
You’re not going to want to do a review
that says you were negligent in your over-
sight,” he said.
Department officials say they thorough-
ly investigate the deaths of children in fos-
ter care, even in cases that have not been
publicized.
But “without question, we have a higher
obligation” to disclose information, depart-
ment director Marva Hammons said,
“when a death occurs in county custody
and it’s related to abuse or neglect.”
Hammons said she would “review our
practice of disclosure of deaths” in foster
care, “and revise it if necessary.”
Report’s gaps shock lawmakers
In Jimmy Wood’s case, the final report
of Colorado’s child fatality review team
did not mention that he lived in a foster
home and likely was killed by a controver-
sial drug used to sedate hospital patients.
Two case reviewers from state human
services spoke to Adams County employ-
ees about the child’s death, addressing
“concerns regarding county actions and
services provisions,” the four-sentence re-
port said. “Therefore the state reviewers
decided not to further review or provide a
formal report. Case is filed, as of Septem-
ber 2001.”
State legislators shown a copy of that
report expressed surprise at its brevity
and the absence of information about a
foster child’s death.
“My gosh, you get obituaries longer than
what you get here for a final death re-
port,” said Rep. Debbie Stafford, vice
chairman of the House committee oversee-
ing the Department of Human Services.
THE LOSS OF INNOCENTS
Alex Oliva of Greeley says that the last time he saw his son Isaiah, the boy
didn’t say much, but ‘I knew he was scared.’ He wonders why Isaiah’s
drowning in El Paso County didn’t result in any arrests.
series of other injuries, some of them re-
ported to the county by a doctor, a thera-
pist and others: His teeth were falling out;
he was limping from hip pain; his face,
buttocks, ear, arm and thigh were bruised;
he had broken blood vessels in his eyes;
and he had a broken ankle.
Ashlee Wedor drowned when she was 9
months old in October 1996, after El Paso
County was called repeatedly about chil-
dren in her mother’s care. The calls
ranged from custody disputes to “reports
of neglect, drug use and supervisory is-
sues.”
The state concluded the county missed
“critical opportunities to intervene,” in-
cluding a child neglect accusation two
months before Ashlee died that was not
Judi Moreno, mother of Jimmy Wood, says she gave up Jimmy and her other children reluctantly after losing her home. Jimmy died in a foster home in Adams County.
The Aurora Republican said she fears
that if a child’s death “hasn’t received no-
toriety, perhaps it doesn’t get as much at-
tention” from the fatality review system.
On the day he died, Jimmy had argued
with another child in a foster home that
had previously been cited for leaving chil-
dren “in their rooms with the doors closed
for extended periods of time.”
Jimmy went to his bedroom, saying he
wanted to be alone. His foster mother,
Lanell Ruiz, said she went shopping, re-
turned to look in on Jimmy — and saw his
body had turned purple.
A state investigator determined Ruiz
was neglectful after concluding that she
left chloral hydrate, a powerful sedative,
within his reach and falsified logs of how
much of the drug she gave him.
Ruiz, who is no longer a foster parent,
denied falsifying anything. She said Jim-
my’s psychiatrist prescribed increasing
doses of the drug even though it wasn’t
helping him sleep. To this day, she feels
unfairly blamed for his death.
“I loved Jimmy. He wanted me to adopt
him,” she said. “They don’t know (how he
died), we don’t know, so they blame it on
us. They’re trying to cover their butts.”
Jimmy’s biological parents, Judi
Moreno and Johnny Moon, said they never
received a satisfactory explanation of
their son’s death. That angers Moreno,
who said Jimmy somehow “was poisoned
THE DENVER POST
The Denver Post / Catherine J. Jun
Sandra Colvin and son Charlie Moore in their
home. They were shot to death by Christopher
Colvin in December 1996.
investigated partly because the supervisor
lacked the file.
“Reportedly, the file remained at the
caseworker’s home for a period of 10
months,” a state report said. “The record
was finally returned to the county depart-
ment after the child’s death.”
Also in state reports:
: In February 2002, Pablo Santiago was
showing his children how to use a handgun
when he shot his 13-year-old son, Jeremi-
ah, in the head. Before the fatal accident,
El Paso County fielded five reports of sus-
pected child abuse or neglect concerning
the Santiago family. “There were signifi-
cant risk factors in this case that were not
identified and addressed.”
: In June 2000, Robert Dunn killed his
and overdosed with the chloral hydrate” in
a state-supervised foster home.
“He was a great kid,” Moon said. “He
never got a chance.”
A fatal dose within easy reach
On Nov. 18, 2000, five days after Jimmy
died, Mollie Gonzalez climbed out of bed
in a Jefferson County foster home during
the night and opened the small refrigera-
tor in her room.
“She was found dead early the next
morning” from an overdose of Tegratol,
the state fatality team reported. “Mollie’s
medications (Tegratol, Prozac and chloral
hydrate) were in the refrigerator as were
her roommate’s.”
Mollie, who was developmentally dis-
abled, lived in a home supervised by Syn-
thesis, a state-licensed agency that places
foster children with special needs.
When she died, Jefferson County social
services found no evidence of neglect be-
cause the 10-year-old had not been getting
out of bed at night and her foster parents
did not expect she would.
The state fatality team ultimately dis-
agreed. Its report concluded that “medica-
tion and food were both stored in the same
refrigerator,” that Synthesis and foster
parents Yolanda and Jorge Rojas should
have ensured that “the medications were
inaccessible,” and that Mollie’s foster par-
ents should have been cited for neglect.
Special to The Denver Post
7-year-old daughter, Aaren. After slitting
her throat from ear to ear, he told police
that she was possessed and he had killed
the devil. El Paso County had received
five previous child abuse accusations con-
cerning Dunn. The last, a month before
Aaren died, documented marks on one of
her sisters and found they “were not consis-
tent with the explanations given.” Yet El
Paso County “determined that no abusive
or neglect incident had occurred,” the
state report said.
: In April 1998, 5-month-old Selina Al-
varado died of head injuries. El Paso hu-
man services had been warned about risks
to Selina since the day after she was born.
Despite a family history of domestic vio-
lence and the parents’ noncompliance with
That report was released in response to
a records request more than two years af-
ter Mollie died. Asked about its conclu-
sions, Synthesis director Pam Hoggins
said she had not received it and didn’t
know it existed.
Mollie’s foster parents declined to com-
ment. Hoggins said Mollie “had never
tried to get out of her hospital bed” before.
Her death “was a real tragedy,” she said,
“but not a result of abuse or neglect.”
A foster mother unable to help
Talitha Brooks died in 1998 in a foster
home that police described as intolerably
hot.
A one-page Department of Human Ser-
vices draft report, also obtained through a
public records request, concluded that
Talitha’s foster mother “showed she didn’t
know how to assess illness” as the baby
became sick and died in that heat.
The draft report also questioned why
Denver was placing infants in a Thornton
home where a 75-year-old foster mother
had refused to submit to a health exam
and where its records indicated children
were not stimulated sufficiently.
“Shouldn’t the foster care workers make
more frequent contacts in cases like
these?” it asked.
Denver’s investigation of the case is con-
fidential. But Sue Cobb, a spokeswoman
Monday, January 19, 2004
ABOUT THE SERIES
SUNDAY
Calls to county social service agencies
preceded more than 40 percent of deaths
from child abuse and neglect in Colorado.
Unlike many states, Colorado has no law
requiring an investigation when a child dies
unexpectedly.
TODAY
In one county, 12 children died in seven
years despite repeated warnings that they
or their siblings were in danger.
TUESDAY
Nobody goes to prison in half the cases
where children died of suspected abuse or
neglect.
therapists, “there appears to have been no
clear assessment of whether a (custody)
petition should have been filed.”
Nobody has been convicted of killing
Selina, but her father pleaded guilty to
causing “serious bodily injuries” to her
and was sentenced to probation.
El Paso County officials said confidenti-
ality laws prevent them from discussing
their actions.
But “I don’t recall there was anything in
any of these cases that would have led me
to strongly sanction anyone,” said Lloyd
Malone, the county’s child welfare admin-
istrator.
“It is a tough job,” he said, to divine
which child abuse case may take a fatal
turn. “People are people. They’re not per-
fectly predictable, but we do our best.”
A decade-long history of abuse
Five days before the Colvin murders,
the state fatality report says, county so-
cial workers opened a case on the family
after Charlie told a school counselor his
SEE ABUSE ON 15A
The Denver Post / Glenn Asakawa
for its human services department, said
the agency has improved its support and
supervision of foster parents.
Thornton police learned of Talitha’s
death in a 2:35 a.m. call. “It’s been so hot,
and she was feverish,” foster mother Ethe-
lynn Nelson told them.
In a July heat wave, police found the
1-year-old’s body in a home with a broken
air conditioner and all but one window
closed. An officer measured the tempera-
ture upstairs, where Talitha died, at 92
degrees.
An autopsy concluded she died of dehy-
dration and a collapsed circulatory sys-
tem due to extreme body temperatures.
Pat Long, a Thornton detective, conclud-
ed that “the death of Talitha Brooks is ob-
viously a tragedy that, through hindsight,
we know, could have been avoided.”
Jill-Ellyn Straus, an Adams County pros-
ecutor, decided no charges were warrant-
ed.
But “it was so sad,” she said. Talitha
was entrusted to “a woman who had been
a foster mother forever,” and “they were
still giving her little, little kids, and she
was clearly unable to take care of them.”
Straus said Talitha “died of heat.”
Her foster mother disagreed. “It wasn’t
heatstroke,” Nelson said. Talitha “wasn’t
feeling right, and she stopped eating.”
But after caring for more than 50 foster
children, Nelson took no more. “I quit. I
resigned,” she said. “That ended it.”
Monday, January 19, 2004 THE DENVER POST 6 15A

Police made 16 domestic-violence calls to family home but never told county
ABUSE FROM PAGE 14A
stepdad had kicked him in the head
and spanked him with a ruler after
stuffing a dirty sock in his mouth.
Colvin was jailed for a day for
failing to comply with court orders
from a previous charge of assault-
ing his wife. A judge barred Colvin
from his family’s mobile home in
Fountain.
At the news conference after the
killings, then-acting human servic-
es director Drake answered a ques-
tion many were asking: Why didn’t
her agency do more?
“The only ‘more’ is to remove
children from their mother, who
had never perpetrated any abuse
and who felt in many ways she
could protect them,” she told the
Colorado Springs Gazette.
Drake also said there was no ac-
tive case until the previous week.
The agency did get one call in Sep-
tember 1994 alleging a risk of
child abuse in the household, she
said, but she didn’t know who
called, and the allegation could not
be substantiated.
But the state fatality report, de-
livered to El Paso in late Septem-
ber 1997, detailed a series of child
abuse calls concerning Colvin.
The report traced Colvin’s histo-
ry of child abuse to the 1985 beat-
ing of his stepson in Larimer Coun-
ty. It noted “there was no record”
of this abuse in Colorado’s central
registry, even though it “resulted
in permanent and severe harm to
the victim who eventually died …
from residual complications” of
those injuries.
The report also noted six subse-
quent allegations against Colvin in
El Paso County spanning two
years:
: On Nov. 17, 1992, the county
received a call “alleging domestic
violence toward Mr. Colvin’s sec-
ond wife Cynthia and mistreat-
ment of (name deleted).”
: On Jan. 28, 1994, a report was
made of “a round circular burn” on
3-year-old Charlie’s face and that
Colvin was abusing his third wife,
Sandra. “Case not assigned,” the
state report says.
: On April 8, 1994, a day care
provider reported “numerous sto-
ries of domestic violence toward
Sandra” and Charlie saying, “Dad-
dy hit me in the stomach.” “Case
not assigned,” the state report
says.
: On June 23, 1994, Sandra
Colvin’s therapist reported this
from her client: Christopher Colvin
had bruised Charlie, and Charlie
had told his mother that his stepfa-
ther made him lick up his urine
and had shoved his face into a She recalled a day when she took notes that until Dec. 5, 1996, three specify when police must notify
dirty diaper. “Case not assigned,” Charlie and Michelle swimming days before the murders, “no one child protection agencies about do-
the state report says. and then to Burger King, and how had taken actual steps to clarify
mestic violence incidents wit-
: On Sept. 6, 1994, a school coun- the children reacted when she the criminal and social service his- nessed by children, and policies
selor reported that Michelle said asked what they wanted to eat. tory” of Colvin.
vary among police departments.
her stepfather had slapped her, They told her Colvin “locked them The fatality team also ques-
He also said his department has
punched Charlie in the eye and in a room for hours, and they could tioned why, with 16 domestic vio-
legs and had previously broken her become much more aggressive
only eat and drink what he let lence visits to the Colvin home, po-
mother’s wrist. about protecting children in such
them,” she said. “You don’t do that lice never called the county child
This case was assigned. But the cases. “I would just die if the same
to little children.” protection agency. “The failure of
caseworker concluded Michelle thing happened today,” he said.
The state fatality report says it law enforcement to notify the coun-
“was making up stories and the is impossible to determine whether ty,” their report says, “was ex-
family should examine why she David Olinger can be reached at
“a different case approach” in tremely concerning.”
was doing this. Case was closed as 303-820-1498 or dolinger@denver
1994 could have prevented the kill- Fountain’s new police chief,
unsubstantiated,” the state report ings two years later. However, it John Morse, said Colorado does not post.com.
says.
: On Sept. 27, 1994, the paternal
grandmother of Charlie and
Michelle reported that Colvin had
been abusive to his wife, hit the
children, locked them in their
room and called them “bitch” and
“bastard.” “No documentation to in-
dicate how the allegation was han-
dled,” the state report says.
The child abuse calls mentioned
in the state report may not be a
complete list.
The paternal grandmother, Inge
Moore, told The Post she called El
Paso County’s child abuse line “at
least three times” to warn that
Charlie and Michelle were in dan-
ger.
“They never did anything about
it,” she said.

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KING’S DREAM MARCHES ON A DENVER ‘MARADE’ DRAWS SMALLER CROWD

Bush
boosts
HMOs’
payouts
More Medicare
providers sought
By Robert Pear
The New York Times
WASHINGTON — President
Bush will increase Medicare pay-
ments to health maintenance orga-
nizations and other private health
plans by a record 10.6 percent in
an effort to persuade them to join
the Medicare market and increase
benefits for the elderly, administra-
tion officials say.
Federal officials and members
of Congress said they hope the in-
crease, five times as large as the
typical annual increase in recent
years, will reverse the exodus of
private plans from the Medicare
program. The administration, try-
ing to enhance competition and ef-
ficiency in the Medicare market-
place, wants to triple enrollment
in private plans within three years.
With Medicare payments to
HMOs rising 2 percent annually in
recent years, many insurance exec-
utives decided that they could no
longer do business with the pro-
gram because their Medicare-relat-
ed costs were rising about 10 per-
cent a year.
From 1999 to 2003, health plans
dropped more than 2.4 million
Medicare beneficiaries. Some
pulled out of Medicare entirely,
while others curtailed their partici-
pation by withdrawing from specif-
ic counties.
Leslie Norwalk, acting deputy
administrator of the federal Cen-
ters for Medicare and Medicaid
Services, predicted that as a result
of the increased payments, which
take effect March 1, many private
plans will return to the Medicare
program.
About 4.6 million beneficiaries,
or 11 percent of the 41 million peo-
ple enrolled in Medicare, are now
in HMOs, which have customarily
SEE MEDICARE ON 5A
Students’
Kerry’s
late surge
takes Iowa
Dean’s fading finish reshapes race;
Gephardt reportedly will bow out
By Adam Nagourney
The New York Times
DES MOINES, Iowa — Sen.
John Kerry of Massachusetts
won the Iowa caucuses Monday,
brushing aside the insurgent can-
didacy of Howard Dean with an
appeal that he would be the stron-
gest Democratic candidate to
take on President Bush.
Sen. John Edwards of North
Carolina came in second, cata-
pulting him into the first tier of
contenders. The showings by Ed-
wards and Kerry pushed Dean,
who just a week ago was looking
confidently to an Iowa victory,
into third place.
Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri
appeared headed for fourth place
in his second bid for the presiden-
cy, a devastating showing that THE RESULTS
Democrats said would almost cer-
Sen. John Kerry’s run for the
tainly force him out of the race. Democratic presidential nomina-
Aides to Gephardt said Monday
tion got off to a fast start Monday
night that he would fly home to
with his triumph in the Iowa caucus-
St. Louis on Tuesday, not on to
es. Here are the results with 98
the next test in New Hampshire.
percent of the total.
Looking to New Hampshire,
: John Kerry: 38 percent
Kerry said: “I intend to try (to
: John Edwards: 32 percent
win). I don’t have to, but I intend
: Howard Dean: 18 percent
to try. I especially don’t have to
: Dick Gephardt: 11 percent
now, but I intend to try.”
: Dennis Kucinich: 1 percent
“It feels like the comeback Ker-
ry. I like it,” he said, celebrating
in his hotel suite with family and INSIDE
top staffers. “I’m a fighter. I’m Picking up the pace: The
here to win, not for me, but for Democratic hopefuls face key
America. I intend to take the
hurdles in the next two weeks. 10A
same message to New Hamp-
shire and the rest of the country.”
Dean conceded defeat even as
Iowans were voting in caucuses talked openly about back-to-back
and when less than half the vote victories in New Hampshire and
had been reported. Iowa and wrapping up the nomi-
“I’m delighted to finish in the nation before Valentine’s Day.
top three,” Dean said in an inter- A survey of voters entering the
The Denver Post / Glenn Asakawa
view with Larry King on CNN. caucus sites Monday suggested
“On to New Hampshire.” that what was Dean’s central ap-
Bridget Johnson, 39, of Denver carries a clock with a portrait of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. along The result was a serious set- peal — his opposition to the war
Colfax Avenue while participating in the ‘marade’ honoring the civil rights leader Monday. The back for Dean, who campaigned
combination of march and parade drew a smaller crowd this year, between 3,000 and 4,000, according
to police estimates. In previous years, the event has drawn up to 30,000 participants. COVERAGE, 4A
intensely across this state for
more than a year. His aides had
in Iraq — had done him little
SEE IOWA ON 11A

site solicits
allegations Witnesses recant in 1980s molestation case
By John Johnson a close-shaven head, finally forcement hounded and threat- Stoll wiped away tears. close in an unusual hearing to de-

of CU bias Los Angeles Times

College Republicans say
faculty liberally slanted
By Dave Curtin
Denver Post Higher Education Writer
Conservative students at the Uni-
versity of Colorado at Boulder can
now document alleged discrimina-
tion by left-leaning faculty on a
website started by a student Re-
publican leader.
“Classes are starting, which
means … we might be welcomed
with an onslaught of indoctrina-
tion,” wrote Brad Jones, chairman
of the College Republicans, in an
e-mail introducing the site, which
debuted last week. “If your biology
professor chooses to talk about
how (Howard) Dean is the best
Democratic candidate instead of
explaining how cell reproduction
works, we need to hear about it.”
Jones and the CU College Repub-
licans are affiliated with Students
for Academic Freedom, a national
organization started by California
conservative activist David Horow-
itz, who is pushing a Colorado ef-
fort to protect students from ha-
rassment or discrimination based
on their political beliefs.
State Senate President John An-
drews, R-Centennial, called for all
state universities to submit their
anti-discrimination policies in No-
vember. Last month he held an in-
formal legislative hearing to listen
to student complaints. And last
week, 14 conservative lawmakers
introduced a resolution calling for
the defense of students’ First
Amendment rights, including ex-
pression “based solely on view-
point.”
SEE BIAS ON 13A
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Chris-
topher Diuri’s temper was smol-
dering as he sat on the witness
stand, enduring a prosecutor’s
withering cross-examination.
The 27-year-old mechanic’s
memory was challenged. His mo-
tives for coming forward as a wit-
ness were questioned. Even a past
run-in with the law — a drunk-
en-driving arrest — was brought
out.
Diuri, a plain-spoken man with
INSIDE
BEYOND ‘AXIS OF EVIL’
Two years after President Bush
first used the term “axis of evil,”
aides say tonight’s State of the
Union address will urge countries
to follow recent examples of
cooperation. 2A
A SKIER’S ULTIMATUM
Olympic skier and CU football
player Jeremy Bloom wants the
NCAA to approve his skiing
endorsements — or ban him
from playing college football. 1D
ACTIVISTS, AVERAGE FOLK
Not every animal-rights activist
strips down for the cause, as
PETA member Lisa Franzetta,
right, did in 2001. Many activists
say they’re just normal people. 1F
CALL THE DENVER POST
Newsroom: 2B
Home delivery:
303-832-3232
More numbers on
Page 2C
snapped. “This case tore my
whole family apart when I was a
kid,” he spat at Deputy District
Attorney Lisa Green. “And it’s
still doing it now.”
Diuri’s experience was repeated
again and again last week as four
former witnesses in one of the na-
tion’s biggest child-molestation
cases from the 1980s took the
stand to say they were never mo-
lested as children.
They only said they were, they
now confessed, because law en-
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ened them.
The witnesses wanted to set the
record straight, they said, because
their false testimony had sent
four innocent people to prison, in-
cluding John Stoll, who is still
there 19 years later.
In wrenching testimony, one of
the former alleged abuse victims,
a burly sign-painter named Ed-
ward Sampley, tearfully ad-
dressed the bald, 60-year-old in-
mate in jailhouse brown. “I’m sor-
ry,” Sampley said, as both he and
THE LOSS OF INNOCENTS |
Only half get prison in child deaths
Abuse, neglect sometimes difficult to prove; sentencing runs gamut
By David Olinger
Denver Post Staff Writer
When children die of suspected
abuse or neglect in Colorado, the
odds are even that nobody will go
to prison as a result of the death.
The reasons are complicated.
In many cases, a suspected par-
ent or other children are the only
witnesses. Sometimes investiga-
tors can’t tell whether a drowning
or suffocation was accidental, ne-
glectful or intentional. When the
circumstances are in doubt, police
or prosecutors may decide that
criminal charges would only com-
pound a parent’s grief.
A Denver Post study of more
than 200 child abuse or neglect
deaths in the last decade found
that about a third of those cases
were not prosecuted.
The deaths of at least 38 other
children were followed by prose-
cutions that ended either with no
A touching scene of reconcilia-
tion? Hardly. If these young men,
all in their mid-20s, thought Kern
County authorities would wel-
come their heartfelt confessions,
they were mistaken. Green ham-
mered away at them, questioning
whether they might be planning to
file suit against the county and
raising the prospect that they had
formed some sort of conspiracy to
free the very man who molested
them.
As the first week drew to a
Third of three parts
ONLINE
Three-part series: To see the entire
series of The Loss of Innocents, an
in-depth look at child abuse and
the social system in Colorado, go
to www.DenverPost.com.
state prison sentence or a jury ac-
quittal. The killers of seven others
were judged insane.
Some child-killers were severe-
ly punished. A few were sen-
tenced to more than 90 years in a
state prison. Others received
much shorter sentences despite
testimony that the child died a
brutal death.
Augustine Valerio, for instance,
got three years in prison after ac-
knowledging in a plea bargain
that he negligently caused the
death of his girlfriend’s son,
22-month-old Emilio Romero.
termine whether Stoll should get
a new trial or win his freedom,
the prosecutor’s strategy became
clear: Make the witnesses look
like liars, opportunists and social
outcasts. The court battle shows
that even two decades later, the
child molestation investigation re-
fuses to go away.
The prosecutor’s tactics, mean-
while, are enraging Stoll’s attor-
neys.
SEE RECANT ON 6A
Emilio died in 1996 from head
injuries a doctor likened to those
from a high-speed car wreck. His
brain and the retinas in both eyes
were bleeding. His face, arm,
chest and thighs and a bone in his
back were all bruised.
“Three years? It surprises me
greatly,” said Dr. Deirdre Arn-
holz, the Children’s Hospital physi-
cian who described Emilio’s inju-
ries in an Otero County court-
room.
“It was clear that he died of
abuse,” she said. A severe head in-
jury “with massive swelling of the
brain” killed him, and “he had
bruises distributed over much of
his body.”
Valerio, who was paroled after
20 months, declined to be inter-
viewed.
The Post’s study involved child
deaths from 1993 through 2002 in
SEE ABUSE ON 12A
 THE DENVER POST

66 12A THE LOSS OF INNOCENTS Tuesday, January 20, 2004

Suspicious deaths often bring no imprisonment

A RANGE OF PUNISHMENTS, INCLUDING NONE ABUSE FROM PAGE 1A ABOUT THE SERIES prison cell.
which abuse or neglect was a suspected SUNDAY But “you second-guess all these cases,”
When a child dies from abuse or neglect, the person believed to be responsible may get a long
factor and Colorado Department of Hu- Calls to county social service agencies said Karen Pearson, a child abuse prosecu-
prison sentence — or may not be prosecuted. Many factors, such as a lack of witnesses or
man Services records listed a suspected preceded more than 40 percent of deaths tor in Arapahoe County. “They’re horrible.
questions about a defendant’s state of mind, can account for the range of outcomes.
perpetrator. District attorneys’ offices, the from child abuse and neglect in Colorado. Putting the parents of a dead child
state court administrator’s office and two Unlike many states, Colorado has no law through a trial is horrible.”
Department of Corrections officials requiring an investigation when a child dies In at least six cases, Colorado parents
helped search for results of prosecuted cas- unexpectedly. accused of fatally beating, shaking, stran-
es. gling or smothering children were sen-
In at least 71 deaths, mostly cases in- MONDAY tenced to probation.
volving parental neglect, The Post found In one county, 12 children died in seven In 1998, Raymond Morris pushed the
no record of a completed criminal prosecu- years despite repeated warnings that they face of his crying month-old son, Roberto,
tion. In nine other cases, defendants were or their siblings were in danger. into a blanket. He told police that he had
acquitted. The killers of 10 other children said, “Come on, you little s---,” as he did
committed suicide. TODAY so, but that he held his son face-down for
In prosecuted cases, adults responsible Nobody goes to prison in half the cases only about two seconds. Roberto died that
Raymond Morris Javier Sandoval Tammy Dube Mark Carrico for the deaths of 29 children received sen- where children died of suspected abuse or day in what the coroner classified as a
Probation, later re- Four years, deferred, Two years in the Sixteen years in the tences other than prison, such as probation neglect. homicide, probably “due to smothering.”
voked, in death of Ro- in death of Adam death of her new- death of Patrick or community corrections. The deaths of Arapahoe County District Judge Gerald
berto Morris, 1 month. Sandoval, 3 months. born baby girl. Lane, 5 months. 26 other children brought sentences of 10 Rafferty sentenced Morris to probation,
years or less. Forty deaths brought sen- stunning investigators who believed Rober-
tences of 11 to 30 years; 26 brought sen- Miles Madorin, staff attorney for the to’s death was not accidental. After Mor-
tences exceeding 30 years. Colorado District Attorneys’ Council, said ris tested positive for marijuana weeks lat-
he believes state law appropriately per- er, Rafferty revoked his probation and
‘Great disparities’ in sentences mits a wide range of sentences because gave him eight years in prison.
circumstances vary greatly in fatal child In a 2000 case, Rafferty gave Javier
By comparison, the average sentence abuse and neglect cases. Sandoval a deferred sentence, plus 24
for second-degree murder in Colorado last But he agreed that much depends on months’ probation, in the death of his in-
year was 41 years in prison. “the mental-state analysis” of the defen-
Corrections records also show that some fant son, Adam. Sandoval told police he
dant, who is often the only witness. “The had held Adam in the air, with his thumbs
adults convicted of seriously injuring chil- distinction between acting recklessly and
dren serve longer prison terms than others near the 3-month-old boy’s neck, while
acting negligently is huge, if you look at pleading, “Adam, please stop crying;
Augustine Valerio Wan Jan Im Johnnie Cooper Clark Brady who kill a child. the penalties,” he said.
Dozens of defendants in nonfatal child please don’t cry.” He said he then returned
Three years in the Twenty years in the Four years in the Thirty years in the Adams County District Attorney Bob Adam to his crib — and discovered 10 min-
death of Emilio death of Annabel death of Joniyah death of Justeen abuse cases were sentenced to at least 10 Grant said statistical comparisons of pris-
years, some to 20 years or more. One Den- utes later that his son wasn’t breathing.
Romero, 22 months. Park, 3. Cooper, 6 months. Younger, 15 months. on sentences in child abuse cases are not Sandoval pleaded no contest to reduced
ver man got 46 years for repeatedly beat- meaningful because the defendant’s crimi-
ing two girls with a belt. charges that included child abuse resulting
nal history, age and remorse, as well as in serious bodily injury. Thomas Nelless-
Prosecutors and defense lawyers say a the nature of the crime itself, all factor
host of factors — a lack of witnesses, ques- en, Sandoval’s lawyer, said mistakes by an
into sentencing decisions. ambulance service, which failed to get oxy-
tions about the defendant’s state of mind But he also said he has seen “some great
and history of abuse, the relatives who gen to Adam’s brain, left questions about
disparities” among sentencing judges, who caused his death. “That’s why we got
speak for the victim or defendant at sen- where one might call a child’s death “a
tencing — help account for the divergent the deal we got,” he said.
horrendously aggravating case” and anoth- Robert Chappell, chief of the special vic-
sentences in fatal child abuse cases. er might conclude, “You know, kids get on
They also say the difference between a tims unit in the Arapahoe district attor-
your nerves sometimes.” ney’s office, said his office was unhappy
long prison term and probation can hang Child abuse cases are particularly diffi-
on a single word: whether the defendant with the probation sentence in the Morris
cult to prosecute because jurors don’t case.
William Giles Sarah Vasquez Maurita Sublett Michael Hunter acted “recklessly” or “negligently.”
want to believe there are parents who kill Adam Sandoval’s death “was originally
Thirty-two years in Five years in the Fifty years in the Ninety-three years in Under state law, an adult who knowing-
their children, Grant said, and often, “you ruled a SIDS (sudden infant death syn-
the death of Cheryl death of her new- death of Rashad the death of Ashley ly or recklessly causes a child’s death fac-
have child witnesses who are the only wit- drome),” he said, so “right out of the box
Lynn Chapel, 2. born child. Sublett, 23 months. Brown, 3. es 16 to 48 years in prison, and possibly
nesses to murderous acts.” it’s a tough case.”
longer if other acts of abuse preceded the
death. A perpetrator who acted with crimi- Probation for neglect Chappell said there are cases where “ba-
nal negligence may get anywhere from sically good people can end up reaching
probation to 16 years. Probation sentences for child deaths some sort of flash point. At that instant,
And “there’s hardly any difference” be- have come mostly in neglect cases. they lose track of what they’re doing. Bad
tween recklessness and negligence, said The list of those not sent to prison in- things happen. Does that mean the person
Craig Truman, a noted Denver defense cludes parents and other caretakers who is a vicious killer? Probably not. Should
lawyer. “The distinction is more in the let children drown in bathtubs or suffocate they be held accountable? Yeah.
heart of the prosecutor or judge than in in fires, gave fatal overdoses of medicine “Figuring out what that accountability
the words.” or forsook medical care for religious rea- should be is difficult. It’s especially diffi-
Colorado law defines criminal negli- sons. cult when it’s a parent and a child.”
gence as “a gross deviation” from a reason- Prosecutors say they sometimes decide
Allen Spencer John Pacheco Reginald Carson Joshua Carr able standard of care. “Recklessly” means that while parents should be held responsi- Denver Post staff writers Kirk Mitchell,
Ninety-six years in Ninety-six years in Ninety-six years in Life in prison in the consciously disregarding “a substantial ble for a child’s death, it would be wrong Nancy Lofholm and Erin Emery contribut-
the death of Robert the death of Gerard the death of newborn death of Cody and unjustifiable risk.” to compound their grief with years in a ed to this report.
Ward Spencer, 8. Ornelas, 3. Domunique Catlin. Wood, 1.

State fails to include some children in its accounting of fatal abuse cases
By David Olinger
Denver Post Staff Writer
The killing of Justeen Younger went un-
noticed by the state agency that tracks
and reports fatal child abuse cases.
At 15 months, Justeen had learned to
climb on a kitchen chair when she was
hungry and stand by the refrigerator when
she was thirsty. Everything she loved, she
called “Elmo.”
But she was helpless in the hands of her
mother’s 40-year-old boyfriend, who shook
her angrily as she cried and vomited on
him, then pushed her face into a sofa and
held her there 10 to 15 minutes until she
stopped breathing.
Clark Brady, the man who killed Just-
een, is serving 30 years in prison for that
crime. Yet the state Department of Hu-
man Services, which keeps a database of
child abuse cases and reports fatalities an-
nually to the federal government, does not
list Justeen as a victim.
Nor is her 1997 death a single oversight.
The Denver Post found that at least 10
other children are not in state child fatali-
ty records even In Colorado and other states, “there are missed information reported by counties. a child who died of abuse. Susan Ludwig, a
though their killers clearly some gaps” in reporting child In other cases, department officials human services official, said Delta County
were sentenced to pris- abuse deaths, said Jane Beveridge, state have made questionable decisions to ex- decided not to list abuse as the cause, and
on or a mental institu- manager of child and family services. clude children from their list of fatal the state did not overrule the county.
tion or face charges “We have, I think, one of the better” sys- abuse victims. In a murder trial, Kayanna’s alleged kill-
for killing a child. tems, she said. “Is it perfect? No.” Kayanna Pierce, for one, had skull frac- er was acquitted. The question in the trial
Leslie Vilar, Just- The missing victims include Armando tures, a lacerated liver and bruises on was who had killed Kayanna, not whether
een’s mother, said she Villalobos, a 3-year-old deliberately many parts of her body when she died at she was fatally abused.
does not understand drowned in a bathtub after a cocktail of 14 months. The pathologist who conducted Justeen Younger’s abuse death was one
how Colorado could medicines failed to kill him. His mother the autopsy said whoever killed her would that state officials acknowledge missing
have overlooked her was sentenced to 48 years in prison. have had to swing her by her feet and despite information reported by the coun-
daughter’s death. She Justeen: Her The Department of Human Services also crash her head into a stationary object to ty.
wants her included killing was not overlooked the death of Cheryl Lynn Chap- cause such trauma. The last time she saw her daughter, Le-
among the victims. listed as a child el, 2, who was beaten to death by her moth- Kayanna’s death followed four reports slie Vilar noticed a bruise on her left
“She was mur- abuse fatality. er’s boyfriend, William Giles. Other miss- in five months of suspicious injuries on her cheek, the thin rope from the autopsy
dered,” Vilar said. ing cases include two newborns killed by body, including serious burns on her feet, sewn across her chest, the nail torn away
“That’s child abuse.” their mothers, two children suffocated by face and one hand, and bruises on her leg from a finger on her right hand, “which
In recent years, Colorado has had one of a depressed mother, and a boy who died and “all over her head,” according to a made me think that she had put up quite a
the nation’s highest reported child abuse after his mother stopped treating his diabe- state child fatality review. fight,” she said.
death rates. Department of Human Servic- tes. Her case became one of four that She dressed her daughter’s body in a
es officials attribute that ranking partly to Asked to explain the gaps, human servic- prompted the Department of Human Ser- white satin gown.
inferior reporting by other states. But they es officials concluded that in most cases, vices to overhaul its child protection sys- “I closed my eyes and imagined her run-
acknowledge that Colorado also misses fa- law enforcement agencies did not report tem in 1999. In a landmark report, the ning through a field of flowers into the
tal cases sometimes, a fact that under- the death to a county child protection agen- department criticized two counties for fail- arms of Jesus,” she said. “Time went by so
scores the unreliability of child abuse cy, or the county did not relay that infor- ing to protect her. quickly. There just wasn’t enough time to
death statistics. mation to the state. In two cases, the state Yet Colorado does not count Kayanna as spend with her.”

Partly cloudy
High 38, low 18
Complete weather, 8B
January 21, 2004
The Denver Post / Kathryn Scott Osler
Kate Taylor’s adopted daughter recently
contracted a severe case of chickenpox.
She didn’t vaccinate her after being told
the girl had already suffered the virus.
Colo. last
in giving
kids shots
Data: Whooping-cough
rate triple U.S. average
By Karen Augé
Denver Post Staff Writer
After years of hovering near the cellar,
Colorado last year ranked dead last in the
nation for vaccinating children against dis-
eases such as whooping cough, measles,
diphtheria and polio.
Now, a team of researchers at Chil-
dren’s Hospital has uncovered some hard
data on the consequences: Colorado’s rate
of whooping cough — a sometimes deadly
disease preventable by vaccination — is
just shy of three times the national rate
and has been climbing for years.
In 2002, state hospital bills for treating
children who got sick with whooping
cough, measles and other diseases that
could have been prevented with vaccines
totaled $13.6 million. Of that, $5 million
was for the treatment of children whose
parents lacked private insurance — mean-
ing the state picked up about half that tab
and federal taxpayers much of the rest.
“We’ve got a serious problem in Colo-
rado,” said Dr. James Todd, Children’s
Hospital’s chief epidemiologist. “There is
a correlation between low vaccine rates
and actual disease.”
A 2003 survey by the Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention found that
62.7 percent of Colorado children get the
full round of recommended childhood vac-
cines. Nationally, 75 percent of children
between 19 months and 35 months have
had the recommended round of vaccina-
tions.
That bottom-rung ranking launched
Todd and his colleagues, with an endow-
ment from the Children’s Hospital Founda-
tion, to examine the consequences of the
state’s poor performance.
“It’s not OK. We shouldn’t be that low,”
SEE VACCINES ON 7A
Lawmaker
to create panel
on child abuse
By David Olinger
Denver Post Staff Writer
An influential state legislator plans to
create an informal commission to discuss
ways of improving Colorado’s child protec-
tion system.
Rep. Debbie Stafford, vice chairwoman
of the House committee overseeing social
service programs, said Tuesday that she
will bring together police, child-welfare
workers and others involved in protecting
children for a round of open meetings at
the Capitol.
Responding to a three-part series in The
Denver Post this week on child abuse fatal-
ities, the Aurora Republican said she
wants to discuss possible legislative chang-
es, child protection resources, training pro-
grams, and coordination between law en-
forcement and social service agencies.
She said she also will seek ways to make
sure social service agencies adequately
document and respond to child abuse com-
plaints.
“We all know our resources are limited.
But you still have to do what you can,”
Stafford said, on behalf of “our most vul-
nerable citizens who don’t have the power
to talk.”
Stafford said she would offer more de-
tails at a news conference Thursday at the
SEE ABUSE ON 9A
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WEDNESDAY
ECONOMY
Job training, permanent tax cuts
proposed in State of the Union
‘Nation on a mission’
In his State of the Union speech, President Bush cited the success of anti-terror efforts. ‘America … is a nation
called to great responsibilities, and we are rising to meet them,’ he said. At rear is Vice President Dick Cheney.
Response: Democrats say the White House is ‘disconnected.’ 10A
In Sports: President calls on professional athletes to end steroid use. 8D
‘We just want a place to sleep and to secure our things.’
The Denver Post / Helen H. Richardson
Dwight Henson explains a proposal Tuesday for Denver to set up
a tent city to shelter as many as 200 homeless year-round.
KING OF THE MOUNTAIN
Colorado’s Buddy Werner etched
his name in skiing lore with a
1959 win on the Hahnenkamm
in Austria — winning hearts
along the way. 1D
IRAQ
War, Hussein’s ouster boost
world security, president says
Associated Press / Kevin Lamarque
On the Web: Go to www.denverpost.com for the complete text
of the president’s State of the Union address. See 10A for key excerpts from the speech.
Mark, a Denver homeless man
Homeless pitch idea of tent city
to shelter up to 200 in Denver
By Mike McPhee
Denver Post Staff Writer
A group of homeless men and women Tuesday
proposed a permanent tent city in Denver that
could sleep up to 200 people.
More than 50 homeless people crowded into a
meeting room Tuesday afternoon at the city’s De-
partment of Human Services to explain their plan
and ask for approval.
The group is proposing four sites in the Denver
area as possible places to set up tents for the
homeless.
Roxane White, manager of the department, and
Debbie Ortega, former city councilwoman and
SUPERSIZED GIFT
The estate of McDonald’s
heiress Joan Kroc will
give $1.5 billion to the
Salvation Army, a record
charitable donation. 2A
The Denver
Post Online
denverpost.com
66 50¢ — May vary outside metro Denver
TERROR
Despite the post-9/11 lull,
danger of attacks on U.S. cited
By Dana Milbank and Mike Allen
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — President Bush on Tuesday night
devoted the final State of the Union address of his
term to a vigorous and sometimes combative defense
of his actions as president, calling the United States a
“nation on a mission” that has made the right deci-
sions to invade Iraq and cut taxes.
In a speech that his aides said previewed the major
themes Bush will use on the campaign trail, Bush
largely skipped listing new legislative initiatives com-
monly offered in State of the Union addresses.
Instead, he cited objections that Democratic critics
have had to his policies on Iraq, taxes, education and
health care — and offered pointed rebuttals.
“We have faced serious challenges together — and
now we face a choice,” the president said in the House
chamber. “We can go forward with confidence and
resolve — or we can turn back to the dangerous illu-
sion that terrorists are not plotting and outlaw re-
gimes are no threat to us. We can press on with eco-
nomic growth, and reforms in education and Medi-
care — or we can turn back to the old policies and old
divisions.”
The president did have some specific requests for
Congress, urging renewal of the Patriot Act to expand
police powers against suspected terrorists, passage of
a new immigration law and making permanent previ-
ously passed tax cuts that are set to expire.
He also suggested a range of minor initiatives on
subjects that included aiding community colleges and
discouraging steroid use among athletes.
And he hinted that he would support a constitution-
al amendment banning gay marriage; although Bush
did not directly back the highly contentious proposal,
a senior Republican official said Bush was laying the
groundwork to endorse the amendment.
Mostly, however, Bush’s speech was a look back at
his achievements over the past three years.
In foreign affairs, he spoke with pride of the demise
of Saddam Hussein, saying, “The once all-powerful
ruler of Iraq was found in a hole, and now sits in a
SEE BUSH ON 10A
ANALYSIS
Bush touts success
against terrorism
By Glenn Kessler and Robin Wright
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — President Bush acknowledged
Tuesday night that “the work of building a new Iraq is
hard” but sought to use his election-year State of the
Union address to portray the war in Iraq as part of a
success story that has put dictators and rogue states
around the world on notice.
The president placed an array of issues — from
North Korea’s nuclear ambitions to Libya’s de-
cade-long effort to win the lifting of U.S. sanctions —
under the rubric of “the offense against terror.” For
instance, the president claimed credit for Libya’s deci-
sion to strike a deal to give up its weapons programs,
suggesting that Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy
was frightened by the example of what happened to
former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Much of Bush’s language was also designed to shift
the focus away from the uncertain and messy effort
to re-create Iraqi sovereignty and away from the
fruitless search for Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass
destruction. The success of his presidency depends in
large part on whether the campaign in Iraq is a suc-
cess — and whether it is seen as a success by the
American people.
A year ago, Bush all but declared war against Iraq
SEE SPEECH ON 10A
now executive director of the Mayor’s Commis-
sion on Homelessness, told the group that it had a
viable plan and that the city would begin process-
ing its request. But they added that other propos-
als are being considered as well.
The group, which has been working on the plan
since May, presented a 39-page proposal com-
piled by University of Colorado at Denver politi-
cal science professor Tony Robinson and graduate
student Dallas Malerbi, who got involved through
his school work.
The proposal had very few specifics, such as
the amount of land needed, costs, and dependence
SEE HOMELESS ON 8A
WIDENING THE LOAD
Colorado still has the nation’s lowest
obesity rate in this era of a fattened
populace. But maybe we’re hitting the
chips and dip too much to celebrate
— that figure is on the rise. 1F
Wednesday, January 21, 2004 THE DENVER POST 66 9A

Lawmaker plans panel to improve child protection

ABUSE FROM PAGE 1A
Capitol. But basically, “I’m going to
put together a very small commission
to really look at where our weaknesses
are,” she said.
Stafford, a domestic violence counse-
lor, has a long-standing interest in
child protection issues. She said she de-
cided to spearhead an immediate dis-
Stafford: Denver cussion after reading The Post’s se-
ries, which ran Sunday through Tues-
Post series ‘lit day.
my fire,’ state “You lit my fire,” she said of the sto-
legislator said. ries.
ON THE WEB
Go to www.denverpost.com to read
The Post’s three-part series “The Loss
of Innocents,” a look at child abuse and
Colorado’s system to deal with it.
The Post reported that county social
service agencies in Colorado had warn-
ings of problems in the home in 41 per-
cent of fatal child abuse and neglect
cases in the last decade.
The newspaper detailed cases where
child protection agencies heard and
dismissed numerous abuse complaints
before children were killed.
It also reported that a voluntary
state fatality review system handles
these cases inconsistently, that foster
care deaths may go undisclosed and
that the state misses some fatal abuse
cases entirely.
Stafford said she is particularly con-
cerned about the system’s responsive-
ness to child abuse calls.
“I think the average citizen may
make one report,” she said, and if that
seems to get no response, “they may
throw their hands up in the air” and
give up.
The child protection system should
assure that citizens “know how to fol-
low up if they really have concerns,”
Stafford said.
Colorado Department of Human Ser-
vices officials said they view child pro-
tection as the responsibility of many
— schools, hospitals, police, citizens —
not just the county agencies that inves-
tigate complaints.
“Child abuse is a community issue,”
department director Marva Hammons
said in a written statement. “It is al-
ways a good process to have legisla-
tors, practitioners and other interested
parties come together to discuss ways
we can improve what we all do and
how we do it, with the goal of prevent-
ing child abuse fatalities.”
Dan Hopkins, spokesman for Gov.
Bill Owens, said the governor also wel-
comes an open discussion of Colo-
rado’s child protection system.
“Clearly this is an issue that the gov-
ernor has always been concerned
about,” Hopkins said. While Owens is
not aware of the particulars of
Stafford’s plan, he said, “anything that
could be done to shed more light on
the situation will be useful.”

Triple
hit-run
stuns N.Y.
By Corey Kilgannon
and Mike Wilson
The New York Times
NEW YORK — The police re-
port Sunday was grim enough: An
18-year-old Queens woman cross-
ing the street was hit twice by
speeding vehicles and killed. Nei-
ther of the vehicles stopped.
In their grief, the woman’s rela-
tives said publicly that there was
only one way it could have hap-
pened — she had been murdered,
deliberately run over by the same
homicidal driver twice.
Tuesday, the police discounted
that theory but in so doing re-
vealed an even more startling se-
ries of events — the woman, Na-
talie Guzman, was hit not twice
but three times by separate cars,
each speeding away after striking
her, the drivers either unaware of
what they had done or unwilling to
stop and help.
Could it possibly be true that
three drivers unknowingly struck a
human being on an otherwise emp-
ty early-morning street and then
drove away?
“A three-way hit-and-run,” said
Jose Jiminez, 44, a lumber sales-
man who works on Roosevelt Ave-
nue in the largely Hispanic neigh-
borhood. “Is that possible, even in
New York?” He shook his head as
he contemplated it. “I don’t think
so,” he said. “I mean, New Yorkers
are cold, but we’re not that cold.”
The police do not believe that
any of the vehicles deliberately
struck Guzman.
Their finding that three vehicles
ran over the woman stems from
an interview with a witness who
was found during a canvass of the
area Monday.
The police felt confident enough
in this one witness account to publi-
cize the new version of events.
The first car, a black four-door
sedan, hit Guzman as she crossed
Roosevelt Avenue at 5:30 a.m. Sun-
day to buy a bag of potato chips
across the street from the pool hall
where she had spent the evening,
according to the police.
The witness told police the car
could have been a livery cab. Guz-
man, the mother of a 15-month-old
girl, managed to get up off the
pavement one to two minutes after
being hit but was then struck by
the second car, a white four-door
sedan, police said.
The witness said both cars were
traveling about 60 to 70 mph down
Roosevelt Avenue.
About four minutes after the sec-
ond impact, a group of Guzman’s
friends found her and tried to com-
fort her as she lay crumpled on the
frozen roadbed. At this point, they
believed that she had been hit
once. She was alive and breathing,
they told police.
But then a black sport utility ve-
hicle came racing toward them —
at 80 mph, the witness estimated
— and struck the woman as her
friends dived for safety. She was
killed instantly, the police said.
Guzman’s face was so disfigured
that city officials suggested her
mother send a relative to identify
the body. “I’m not going to be able
to recognize my own daughter,”
Miriam Toribio said Tuesday at
her home in Corona.

Ariz. bill targets peak

named after fallen GI
By The Associated Press
PHOENIX — Tribal leaders
urged legislators Tuesday to stand
by a decision that renamed a Phoe-
nix mountain after Lori Piestewa,
a Hopi who was the first service-
woman killed in combat in Iraq.
“If the Legislature rolls back the
Piestewa Peak name, there will be
a polarization of the state and trib-
al relationship such as has not
been seen since territorial days,”
Hopi Chairman Wayne Taylor Jr.
said.
Rep. Phil Hanson, a Republican,
is leading a drive to restore the
original name, Squaw Peak, which
was changed at the urging of Dem-
ocratic Gov. Janet Napolitano.
A state panel last year renamed
Squaw Peak after Piestewa, a resi-
dent of Tuba City who was fatally
wounded when her Army unit was
ambushed in Iraq in March.
A bill would have legislative
leaders, rather than the governor,
appoint a majority of the panel’s
members.
Friday, January 23, 2004
DENVER & THE WEST www.denverpost.com/news 66 THE DENVER POST / Section B

Latinos need
ties, not tiffs,
Child abuse ‘off the charts’
Official blames economy, budget cuts, meth
with blacks By David Olinger
Denver Post Staff Writer
enced “a serious increase,” Spahn’s office reported.
Spahn attributed the jump to Colorado’s economic
In a previous job, I lived and breathed Child abuse cases are rising dramatically in Colorado problems, state budget cuts for mental health and other
numbers. courts, according to the agency that provides guardians social programs, and the abuse of methamphetamine.
I’d study spreadsheets full of digits about for the children. “People have lost their jobs, they don’t have insur-
an array of topics — longer commute times, “It’s off the charts. It’s unbelievable,” said Theresa ance and it’s much harder to get treatment for mental
the shrinking size of families, the rise in mort- Spahn, executive director of the state Office of the illness,” she said. “When families are in crisis and they
gage payments — and tease out where it’s Child’s Representative. can’t get services, they do things like abuse their chil-
happening, where it’s not, and to whom. “We’re just concerned about the kids,” she said Thurs- dren.”
Hidden in the dizzying matrix of 1’s and 5’s day. “I think people need to know, in their neighbor- And the rise in methamphetamine use puts “kids in
and 9’s were the stories of our lives. hood, child abuse is going up.” the most unbelievable environments,” she said.
But few numbers stirred as much emotion Spahn’s office, which assigns attorneys to represent “They’re living in horrible homes.”
as this: Which group is larger, African-Ameri- the child’s interest in court, found that guardian ap- The guardian office’s warning emerged as a state
cans or Latinos? pointments for new child abuse cases jumped 54 per- legislator held a news conference to announce a new
The Denver Post / Lyn Alweis
After the 2000 census cent in Jefferson and Boulder counties from the last commission to explore why many children die despite
came out, many news State Rep. Debbie Stafford, R-Aurora, discusses her half of 2002 to the last half of 2003. Adams County prior calls to Colorado child protection agencies.
outlets made the pro- plans Thursday for a commission on improving appointments were up 42 percent. Rep. Debbie Stafford, vice chairwoman of the House
nouncement: “Latinos Colorado’s child-protection system. To the left is Dr. Child abuse cases grew by one-third overall in Den-
have surpassed blacks as Andrew Sirotnak of the Kempe Children’s Center. ver-area courts, and many rural counties also experi- SEE ABUSE ON 6B
the largest minority
group.”
Then came the squab-
bling, even among jour-
nalists who were cover- ‘If she’d had a flu shot, maybe it would have made a difference.’
ing the story.
On one electronic gath-
ering spot for reporters Dennis Cover, who with his wife, Vira, is forming a foundation after their daughter, Terese, died from flu complications
Cindy covering demographic
Rodríguez trends, some of the most
heated exchanges came
from blacks and Latinos.
Some African-Ameri-
can journalists argued that blacks were a
larger group, but because biracial blacks
were put in a separate “two or more races”
category, it diluted the black count.
Others said that “black Latinos” should be
counted as black because Latino is an ethnici-
ty, not a race.
Latino journalists responded by saying that
Latinos don’t follow a black-white paradigm.
Theirs, they say, is an ethnic and cultural
identity, so you can’t split them into white
and black. They said Latinos are mestizo
anyway, the embodiment of multiculturalism.
The exchanges were interesting. I chimed
in quite a bit myself.
In hindsight, it was pretty superficial, con-
sidering the inevitability of the changing
demographics.
Instead, we should’ve been paying more
attention to why we reacted so strongly, al-
most intrinsically, to the data.
We debated it for two years, as the U.S.
Census Bureau released subsequent data.
With every new report, there were more
headlines with verbs that implied competi-
tion: surpass, overtake, eclipse.
Then finally, in January 2003, the Census
Bureau said it was official. Even if you were
using a Ginsu knife to slice the numbers,
Latinos remained the larger group.
That landmark event, though years in the
making, brought out a mix of reactions. Anxi-
ety, concern, jubilation, excitement.
For many Latinos, becoming the largest
minority group was construed as being No. 1
— whatever that meant.
Numbers don’t automatically translate into
political power, improvements in the dropout
rate or better jobs.
Yet in a capitalistic nation that feeds on
competitiveness, the higher numbers implied
that improvement in our social status was
just around the corner.
For some African-Americans, the shift in The Denver Post / Brian Brainerd
status — placing them in the “No. 2 minority
group” category — sparked concern that Vira and Dennis Cover of Aurora, whose daughter, Terese, died of complications from the flu in December, are planning ways to raise money for research
they’d lose political ground and other gains and to ensure all Colorado children receive flu shots. The Elizabeth Terese Cover Foundation ‘is a healing way to deal with this,’ Vira Cover said.
they fought so hard to get.
So many questions arose.
Will universities with black studies depart-
ments shrink to make room for Latino stud-
ies? Will there be fewer affirmative action
slots for African-Americans?
Will the courting of the Latino vote result
Flu victim inspires mission of hope
in less attention to their concerns? Will issues
such as immigration trump civil rights? Parents of tot channel grief into project supporting research, vaccinations
In the midst of all this wondering, some of By Karen Augé She doesn’t want any other parents And they know this season’s flu vac- mendation.
us will be trying to figure out why, in the Denver Post Staff Writer to know that kind of piercing quiet. cine didn’t protect against the deadly This year is the first time flu vac-
most diverse society in the world, it comes
down to this: black vs. brown. Dennis Cover used to tease his wife The Aurora couple are forming the Fujian strain that probably killed Ter- cines have been included in the federal-
It’s partly because we’ve been working on a about taking so many pictures of their Elizabeth Terese Cover Foundation for ese and the other children in Colorado. ly funded Vaccines for Children pro-
black-white axis, in which we’ve been condi- little girl, Terese. Influenza Research and Vaccination. But they can’t help thinking that “if gram, which gives free shots to chil-
tioned to react to the majority group. “Now I’m glad she did,” Cover said The goal, Cover said, is to help fund flu she’d had a flu shot, maybe it would dren whose parents have no health in-
Some of us will say that some sinister force Wednesday. and flu-vaccine research and make sure have made a difference,” Dennis Cover surance.
is trying to “divide and conquer” us. When On Dec. 1, weeks before her 2nd every Colorado child gets a flu shot, re- said. That program gave out 58,260 flu
we’re done pondering that, many of us rush birthday, Terese died of the flu. gardless of whether their parents can Until this year, few doctors would shots in Colorado this year, according
back to our own group. Terese’s smile is ever-present in pay for it. In fact, Cover wants flu vac- have suggested a flu shot for a child as to the state health department. Most
We need to get out of that mind-set, and those photos, whether she is stomping cines for children to be mandatory. young as Terese. children younger than 2 and older kids
force ourselves to build relationships with in her mother’s shoes or smearing the The Covers, who have health insur- In 2003, the American Academy of with conditions that make flu especial-
each other. That’s not to say we don’t need to only birthday cake she ever tasted. ance, didn’t create the foundation out Pediatrics began “encouraging” flu ly dangerous qualify for the program,
work with all of society, but with all the ten- But pictures don’t give out hugs; they of a feeling that Terese died because vaccines for children between ages 6 said Dr. Paul Melinkovich, associate di-
sion that came with this recent shifting, 1 and don’t giggle or say “Mama.” she couldn’t get a flu shot. In fact, she months and 23 months. The academy
2 have some serious talking to do. “It’s so quiet now,” Vira Cover said. was scheduled to get one Dec. 22. has since strengthened that to a recom- SEE FOUNDATION ON 6B
On the national front, black and Latino
organizations have been working together for
decades.
Yet when it comes down to local organiz-
ing, there’s often an invisible wall. It exists in
nearly every city, including Denver. Revenue official faces inquiry Gift cards wouldn’t
Though the Martin Luther King Jr. “ma-
rade” on Monday was not an all-black event,
the number of Latinos — as well as whites, Possible interference in criminal probe is among the topics lose value under bill
Native Americans and Asians — was scant. By Julia C. Martinez
And this was an event to celebrate a man Denver Post Capitol Bureau
who, with dignity, galvanized a nation to end By Trent Seibert cials investigated. He faces ques- who triggered the investigation.
American apartheid. He opened doors for Denver Post Staff Writer tions today about his “improper “He clearly wouldn’t have the au- Fees and expiration dates are eating away at con-
marginalized African-Americans, but we communication with a vendor” thority to grant such immunity.” sumer gift cards, and many citizens are surprised to
The chief of the state Depart- while vendors were bidding on a
Latinos were right behind them, hanging on ment of Revenue has summoned a Now, though, the issue of Turn- find that out when they use them.
to their coattails. state contract, as well as manage- er’s alleged promise has found its That is prompting a state lawmaker to introduce a
senior department official to face ment issues concerning his over-
That’s not to say we haven’t had our own questions today over whether he in- way into court, and threatens a bill, expected today in the Colorado legislature, that
leaders, or to say that we didn’t contribute to sight over gaming and lottery, state criminal case. would prohibit department stores, grocery chains, cof-
terfered in a criminal probe or records show.
the struggle. But just like a Basquiat has to abused state property. One of Turner’s employees, fee shops and other retailers from diminishing the val-
acknowledge the brilliance of a Picasso, who Among the questions Revenue Steve Barber, former chief investi- ue of gift cards and gift certificates.
came before him, Latinos need to support — George Turner, a Revenue De- Executive Director M. Michael The measure would ban stores from selling certifi-
partment employee for nearly gator of the division’s Cripple
actively — the heroes of the civil rights move- Cooke said she will ask today is Creek office, resigned in May 2003 cates and cards with expiration dates or inactivity fees
ment. three decades, is one of the most whether Turner promised gaming — also called “dormancy fees” — which lower the val-
powerful officials in the depart- during an investigation into wheth-
We need to be there, supporting the cause. officials apparently caught up in a er he was selling souvenir chips ue of the card each month that the card is not used
After all, his dream is our sueño. ment and for years had vast au- casino-chip scheme that no crimi-
thority over the state’s lottery and from the casinos he regulated. Two after a specified time.
nal charges would be filed against other employees resigned around If the law is approved here, Colorado would join
Cindy Rodríguez’s column appears Mon- casino industry. them if they quietly resigned. the same time. Michigan, Iowa, New York, Connecticut, California and
days and Fridays. Contact her at crodriguez Turner has been on paid adminis- “It’s still unclear whether such a
@denverpost.com. trative leave since Jan. 6 while offi- promise was made,” said Cooke, SEE TURNER ON 10B SEE GIFTS ON 6B
6B 66
Gift cards
wouldn’t
lose value
under bill
GIFTS FROM PAGE 1B
a growing list of states that last
year outlawed such fees and expi-
ration dates in response to rising
consumer complaints.
The Colorado attorney general’s
office said the fees pose a growing
problem, with more consumers
complaining they are being cheat-
ed.
King Soopers spokesman Trail
Daugherty said the largest grocery
chain in Colorado dropped its dor-
mancy fees in April because of cus-
tomer complaints and legislation
passed in other states.
When told that the back of the
King Soopers gift cards still say a
$2 monthly dormancy fee applies
to cards not used after 12 months,
Daugherty said the grocer is sell-
ing outdated gift cards it bought in
2000. When told that a customer
service clerk explained Wednesday
that the dormancy fees were still
in effect, he said the clerk had giv-
en out wrong information.
“We’ll have to correct that,”
Daugherty said. “We will accept
any of our gift cards at the price
they were purchased at. If custom-
ers have problems, they should
talk to a store manager.”
Safeway spokesman Jeff Stroh
said his chain also no longer has
fees attached to its gift cards de-
spite a sign in the store that sug-
gests otherwise. “If you purchased
a gift card for $1, 20 years from
now you will still have $1 on it,”
Stroh said.
Though many gift cards disclose
the fees in small print on the backs
of the cards, many consumers
don’t see it, said Sen. Paula Sandov-
al, the bill’s author. Sandoval said
she knows of many consumers, in-
cluding herself, whose gift cards or
certificates became useless.
“People don’t realize the cards
expire or have dormancy fees.
They don’t look at the small print
on the backs of the card,” said San-
doval, a Denver Democrat who is
sponsoring the measure with Rep.
Mark Cloer, a Colorado Springs Re-
publican.
Under the bill, some gift cards
and gift certificates would be ex-
empt from the prohibition as long
as they have an expiration date
printed in large capital letters on
the front of the card or are sold
below face value at the time of pur-
chase.
Garth Lucero, deputy attorney
general for consumer protection,
said the Colorado attorney gener-
al’s office has seen a sharp in-
crease in consumer inquiries and
complaints in the past year about
the expiration dates and fees at-
tached to the cards.
“Consumers are questioning
whether they are legal,” said Luce-
ro. “I think consumers feel it’s a
fairness issue.”
Lucero said the volume of gift
cards and certificates being mar-
keted by retailers has grown sub-
stantially in the last year or so.
“It’s a case of whether it is prop-
er for businesses to charge more
than the value of the card, especial-
ly when they are prepaid and al-
ready fully funded and the mer-
chant already has the full value of
the card or certificate,” he said.
Terri Sampson, shopping at a
large grocery chain one recent
evening, said she became so angry
with another grocery store over its
dormancy fees that she stopped
shopping there.
Sampson said a $50 gift card giv-
en to her by her mother when she
moved to Denver two years ago
was eaten away by fees she did not
know existed. She said she pleaded
with store officials to reinstate the
value, but they referred her to the
grocer’s parent company, which
did not respond to her calls or let-
ters.
“My mother is on a fixed in-
come, and she bought the card
with her hard-earned money,”
Sampson said. “I had no idea the
card had the dormancy fees. …
One day, I remembered it and
pulled it out and handed it to the
cashier, and she said there was
nothing on it. I didn’t have the
heart to tell my mom.”
Parents of young flu victim urge research, inoculations
FOUNDATION FROM PAGE 1B
rector of community health servic-
es for Denver Health.
“The bigger problem is actually
having places where they can go”
to get the shots, he said. The pro-
gram does not cover the cost of
administering the shots. Conse-
quently, in many Colorado coun-
ties, clinics that provide Vaccines
for Children shots are scarce.
This fiscal year, the legislature
eliminated the state’s contribution
to the program. Gov. Bill Owens
directed $400,000 in federal relief
money to the state’s vaccine pro-
gram, and a group of advocates
Thursday asked the legislature for
$500,000 more.
The Covers aren’t wealthy —
Dennis Cover works for AFLAC in-
surance; Vira is a former ballet
LIFE STORIES
Johnny Neill kept Denver swinging
Johnny Neill’s eponymous orchestra played at venues such as
Denver’s Top of the Park ballroom at the Park Lane Hotel and at
the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park.
Denver mechanic, 70, overcame hurdles
By Claire Martin
Denver Post Staff Writer
Jack Elton Bowman, an automo-
bile mechanic whose life some-
times seemed to be dictated by a
wheel of misfortune, died Jan. 6
of pneumonia. He was 70.
Bowman was born at home in
Flint, Mich., on Christmas Day
1933. As a child, he had mixed
feelings about sharing his birth-
day with the holiday.
He felt special sharing the same
day that Christians celebrate as
Christ’s birthday, but he also
wished that his birthday and
Christmas gifts weren’t almost al-
ways combined. Even after Bow-
man was an adult, his mother sent
him one card that commemorated
his birthday and Christmas.
Child abuse cases up;
panel to seek solutions
ABUSE FROM PAGE 1B
committee overseeing Colorado
social services, said the panel
would hold open meetings to re-
view how counties respond to
child abuse complaints and
whether legislation is needed to
improve the system.
Many people already have of-
fered to volunteer, the Aurora Re-
publican said.
Stafford created what she
called an informal commission in
response to a three-part series in
The Denver Post this week on
child abuse fatalities.
The Post reported that child
protection agencies had been
called for help before 41 percent
of child abuse and neglect deaths
in the last decade, and that in
many cases, a state review sys-
tem had not reported and cri-
tiqued that prior involvement.
Stafford was accompanied at
the news conference by Dr. An-
drew Sirotnak, a pediatrician at
the Kempe Children’s Center, and
Donald Cassata, social services
director in Adams County.
Nobody can prevent every
child abuse death, but “we can
make a difference. We can pre-
HOW TO HELP
Contributions to the Elizabeth
Terese Cover Foundation can be
made to Key Bank, Mr. Clay Thomp-
son, 4090 S. Parker Road, Aurora,
CO 80014; 303-617-2976.
dancer who became a stay-at-
home mom when Terese was born,
and they are raising Dennis Cov-
er’s 12-year-old twin sons.
They have hired a lawyer to
draw up the paperwork to make
everything legal, and they have
lots of ideas. Vira Cover wants to
host a fundraising dinner and si-
lent auction in October — just in
time for the next flu-vaccine sea-
son.
When Terese’s fever went to 101
on Thanksgiving Day, her mom
THE DENVER POST
Special to The Denver Post
Bowman was 8 years old when
he fell and hit his head on a side-
walk, opening a gash above his
eyebrow. Doctors stitched up the
cut and sent him home. Six
months later, he began having
grand mal seizures, almost cer-
tainly a consequence of a brain in-
jury sustained during that acci-
dent.
Thereafter, seizures became
part of his life. He learned to
sense when a seizure was immi-
nent, and tried to find somewhere
to sit it out.
In the intervals, he learned to
fix foreign and domestic cars, and
he worked at various Denver gas
and service stations. He was work-
ing for a Colfax Avenue Shell sta-
tion when a young woman brought
in her car for repairs.
vent child abuse fatalities from
happening in a majority of cas-
es,” Sirotnak said. “I’m looking
forward to doing whatever I can
to help.”
Cassata called removing chil-
dren from a home for suspected
abuse a difficult, complex and
emotional decision. But “the coun-
ties are very supportive,” he add-
ed, of any efforts “for us to con-
tinually try to improve what
we’re doing.”
He also confirmed the guardian
office’s report.
“We’re seeing significant in-
creases in terms of referrals this
year and significant numbers of
meth children,” Cassata said.
“We’re also finding these are
more difficult cases to deal
with.”
Meanwhile, a Colorado Senate
committee approved a bill Thurs-
day that would prohibit taking
newborn babies from their par-
ents without a court order unless
investigators find an emergency
related to mental illness or drug
abuse.
Listen to David Olinger on
“The State of Colorado” at 8 a.m.
today on KNRC-AM 1150.
called the doctor.
The Covers were told not to
bring Terese in unless her fever hit
105. It never did. In fact, her fever
broke the next day, Vira Cover
said.
Terese had a cough, and over the
weekend her parents worried she
wasn’t drinking enough and might
be getting dehydrated.
By Monday, the child seemed bet-
ter.
“I was really relieved,” Vira Cov-
er said.
Then about noon, Vira and Ter-
ese were sitting on the couch when
Terese “made a gurgling sound,”
Vira Cover said.
“I looked over, and liquid was
coming out her nose and mouth,
and her eyes rolled back in her
head,” Cover said.
She grabbed Terese, but Cover
Lawrence Welk director had music in his blood
By Claire Martin
Denver Post Staff Writer
Johnny Neill, who spent three
years as musical director of the
Lawrence Welk Orchestra before
forming his own eponymous orches-
tra that performed steadily from
the 1940s to the 1960s at Denver’s
Top of the Park ballroom at the
Park Lane Hotel and other venues,
has died of complications from
heart disease. He was 89.
Neill was the third of four boys
born to Rolla Watt Neill and
Blanche Beatrice Bickam Neill, a
musically inclined couple who cus-
tomarily played music in the fami-
ly parlor after dinner. Johnny
Neill began playing music before
he learned to read words.
At age 4, he could play “America
the Beautiful” on his brother’s cor-
net. At age 7, he learned to play
the violin on a makeshift instru-
ment fashioned from a cigar box.
By the time he was in eighth
grade, he was first violin with the
high school orchestra. He won dis-
trict band and orchestra contests
as a high school freshman and
sophomore, and played music for
the school proms.
When he was a junior in high
school, Neill joined Johnny Dunn’s
Hollywood Revue, based in Albu-
querque, and toured with the com-
pany in Oklahoma and Texas. A
few years later, when Neill was
22, Lawrence Welk hired him to ar-
range music and play piano, and
shortly afterward promoted Neill
to music director.
Neill traveled with the
Bowman looked at the car.
Though he believed in resurrect-
ing and maintaining old cars — at
the time, he drove a 1961 Buick
LeSabre that once was a police
car — he thought it wasn’t worth
fixing. He got the young woman’s
telephone number from the man-
ager so he could call her with the
news.
The call resulted in a date at a
Capitol Hill White Spot restaurant
and, eventually, marriage. They
had no children — “only the
four-legged kind,” June Bowman
said, a series of dachshunds, all
named Snoopy Von Bowman.
When she married Jack Bow-
man, she took on the formidable
task of being his medical advo-
cate, and was floored at the resis-
tance she encountered from doc-
Children at risk
The economic downturn and budget
cuts in social services are two reasons
cited for the increasing number of child
abuse cases in most metro counties.
The chart reflects the number of new
cases in which an attorney was
appointed to represent the best
interests of a child.
July - Dec. 2002
July - Dec. 2003
County
Adams
Denver
Jefferson
Arapahoe
Boulder
Source: State Office of the
Child's Representative
The Denver Post
couldn’t get the phone to work, so
she ran outside, screaming for
help. A neighbor called 911, and
paramedics worked on Terese for
several minutes, but the little girl
was dead.
The Covers say the coroner told
them that pneumonia — a fre-
quent complication of the flu —
filled Terese’s lungs with fluid.
State health department offi-
cials told them they had sent tissue
from Terese’s lungs to the Centers
for Disease Control and Preven-
tion for more detailed testing. The
Covers support that — it’s more
research, more answers that they
hope might help some doctor some-
day save a child’s life.
Contributing to that effort is im-
portant, they said.
“The foundation is a healing way
to deal with this,” Vira Cover said.
Friday, January 23, 2004
Lawrence Welk Orchestra through-
out the Midwest and on the East
After the war, Neill set up his
own orchestra. From the late
Coast from 1937 to 1940. During a 1940s to the mid-1960s, Johnny
Neill’s orchestra, and the trios and
rehearsal in Fairmont, Neb., Welk
asked Neill to make the show’s quartets that replaced it when big-
theme song sound snazzier. Neill, band music went out of style, pro-
thinking of an upcoming boxing vided music at the popular Top of
match he wanted to hear on the the Park Ballroom at Denver’s
radio, swiftly came up with an ef- Park Lane Hotel. Photographs of
fervescent arrangement of “You’re Neill’s orchestra hang in the Park
My Home Sweet Home,” the lan- Lane condominiums that replaced
guid original theme song. the hotel, which was demolished in
Welk loved it, and promptly 1966.
started using the new arrangement The orchestra also performed in
Colorado at the Brown Palace, the
to close the orchestra’s broadcasts.
Listeners responded with enthusias- Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado
Springs, the Stanley Hotel in Estes
tic fan mail. Welk began using the
updated arrangement to open the Park, the Rainbow Ballroom, the
Trocadero Ballroom, the Denver
show, and staged a name-that-tune
contest for the new melody. Country Club, Tivoli Gardens, the
Lagoon Nightclub and Sky Chef, a
One woman wrote that the song
made her think of bubbles in wine. once-trendy restaurant at the old
Stapleton Airport.
She won, and joined in a cham- “He met Judy Garland and Ella
pagne toast when “Bubbles In the Fitzgerald in the context of his
Wine” made its official debut in the work; he was pretty big-time for
William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh. those days,” said his son, Johnny
The song inspired a 1939 Para- Neill Jr., a professional musician
mount short movie, “Bubbles In the who plays mandolin and fiddle in
Wine,” and Welk continued to use it the Denver Center Theatre’s “Al-
when his show shifted to TV. most Heaven.”
During World War II, Neill But after Neill left the
served as an Army sergeant in the Lawrence Welk orchestra, he nev-
12th Armored Division — a unit er played “Bubbles in the Wine”
nicknamed The Hellcat Division. again. The song belongs to the
He orchestrated a 32-piece band Welk heirs.
that backed his “Hellcat Holiday,” Survivors include his wife, Lois
a show with more than 100 soldiers Mills of Denton, Texas; sons John
and six civilian women in the cast. K. Neill Jr. of Denver and Forrest
The show traveled throughout mili- Neill of San Antonio; daughter Ju-
tary camps. During his service in dith Louise Crawford of Indianapo-
Germany, Neill won the Bronze lis; and four grandchildren. At his
Star for retrieving pilfered film request, there were no services.
supplies from behind enemy lines. Neill donated his body to science.
tors. Finally, she persuaded her
husband to be tested at an epilep-
sy clinic, where he was diagnosed
with the nervous system disorder.
“But we still had trouble with
doctors after that,” she said.
“He went through life without
ever getting the right medicine, or
being able to get assistance to
work full time. He had bad luck
all his life. But he was a good
man, and he was fair. He would
do the job right and not charge
extra.”
The body was cremated. His
wife chose an urn with a drawing
of an old-fashioned toolbox and
the inscription, “An Honest Me-
Special to The Denver Post
chanic.”
Private services will be held at Jack Elton Bowman, who suf-
the Bowman home. He is survived fered seizures, had bad luck and
by his wife. a good heart, said his wife, June.
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6B 66 THE DENVER POST Sunday, February 1, 2004

Hart won’t challenge Campbell for Senate

Time running out for Democrats to recruit big-name candidate, but several newcomers already in race
By Mike Soraghan
Denver Post Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — For the people run-
ning Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell’s elec-
tion campaign, it’s getting rather funny.
“Another day, another Democrat out of
the race,” quipped Campbell spokeswom-
an Cinamon Watson on Friday night after
former Sen. Gary Hart finally made it offi-
cial that he won’t run for the Senate.
Hart, who represented Colorado in the
Senate from 1975 to 1987, opted out of this
year’s race by saying he thought he could
make his best contribution by writing and
speaking on national issues.
It was the second time Hart had ruled
out a run for the seat, and in his announce-
ment’s wake, former Denver Mayor Well-
ington Webb’s name came up for the sec-
ond time, although even those recruiting
him signaled little hope he would enter the
race.
Before that, Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo.,
toyed for months with the idea of challeng-
ing Campbell, before
opting out right around
Christmas.
It’s all getting less
and less amusing by
the day for Democratic
leaders who have no
big-name candidate to
take on Campbell at a
time in the election cy-
cle when most serious
Hart: Opts out challengers would be
of Senate race; shifting into high gear.
will write and And they could use a
challenger. Democrats
speak instead.
need to gain two seats
to have the majority in
the Senate. But they’re starting out losing
five Democratic senators to retirement in
the South, their weakest region.
Colorado Democratic Party chairman
Chris Gates says Campbell’s support in the
polls is thin and his enthusiasm for the job
waning. But those inducements haven’t at-
tracted a candidate with political firepow-
er.
“The central fact in any race is the
strength of the incumbent, and Sen. Camp-
bell has looked pretty daunting,” said Tom
Strickland, the last Democrat to try to
break the GOP’s hold on Colorado’s Senate
delegation in 2002.
Strickland’s fate might be what’s scar-
ing off many of the potential challengers.
Strickland started campaigning more
than a year before Election Day, raising
$5.2 million, and in the days before the
election was favored to win. On Election
Day, he lost by 5 percentage points. And
Strickland says Campbell looks more
daunting now than Sen. Wayne Allard did
then.
“The experience of 2002 is a factor,”
says Strickland, who has given advice to
some of the prospective contenders. He
also suggested Campbell may receive a
“coattail” boost from a popular president.
“It’s going to be a presidential election
year. President Bush’s numbers appear to
be fairly strong in Colorado,” he said.
And the $5.2 million Strickland raised
becomes almost a minimum now for a se-
rious contender.
“That’s an unfortunate part of our politi-
cal system,” said Strickland, now in pri-
vate law practice. “It’s a huge part of
what you have to devote your time to.”
It may be a big part of why Hart didn’t
run. When he announced last year he
wouldn’t run for president, Hart cited fund-
raising demands as a major consideration.
Whoever might get in the race now
starts six months later than Strickland,
who had laid groundwork for months be-
fore his official announcement.
That’s one reason why Mike Miles, the
leader among the small pack of political
unknowns who are already running, says
he’s not worried about anyone else getting
in. He has raised about $140,000, com-
pared with Campbell’s $1.8 million, but he
has been beating the bushes since the fall
of 2001. He announced Friday that he has
nearly 1,000 people signed up to attend the
Democratic caucuses in April.
“I think anyone who thinks about getting
into the race underestimates the grass-
roots support we’ve built,” said Miles, a
Colorado Springs educator.
But there are others. Gates says that
state Sen. Dan Grossman, D-Denver, will
take another look at the race now that
Hart is out. And University of Colorado
Regent Jim Martin is still said to be look-
ing at the race.
There have been grumblings that state
and national party officials should stop re-
cruiting the party’s old guard when there’s
already a primary between Miles, Larry
Johnson of Boulder and Denver lawyer
Brad Freedberg.
But Gates says it’s his job to build inter-
est in the race.
“Because I’m looking for other people to
get in this race doesn’t mean I don’t think
Mike Miles can’t beat Campbell,” Gates
said. “I think the vast majority of people
in this party understand my role.”

Child-protection panel
hears of reform needs
ABUSE FROM PAGE 1B
Child welfare officials and repre-
sentatives of nonprofit agencies
suggested that financial support
may matter more than legislative
changes.
“As I drive around Denver, I
can’t believe that some money
can’t be pulled from the road sys-
tem to care for the kids,” said Lois
Romaine of Lutheran Family Ser-
vices.
Linda Zschoche, Jefferson Coun-
ty’s child welfare manager, sug-
gested a state analysis of work-
loads for child protection workers.
“Our staff is probably spending
50 to 60 percent of its time on ac-
countability,” meeting federal,
state and county requirements
they refer to as “feeding the ma-
chine,” she said.
At the same time, growing child-
abuse caseloads may require them
to take 20 to 25 cases involving 50
to 75 children. By now, they are
“too busy to attend a session on
burnout,” Zschoche said.
Child advocates, legal guardians
and court and county officials say
Colorado abuse and neglect cases
are growing in complexity as well
as sheer numbers.
They cite three main factors be-
hind the increase:
: A prolonged economic down-
turn has caused additional stress-
es, such as unemployment and lost
savings for many families, some of
whom ultimately take it out on
their children.
: Those economic woes extend-
ed to state government, which cut
services at a time of increased
needs.
: The growing use of metham-
phetamine in Colorado has left
many children neglected by their
parents or directly exposed to the
drug, drug dealing and weapons.
People throughout the child-pro-
tection system say the increase is
challenging their ability to help
the children involved in hundreds
of new Colorado cases each month.
A neglected child’s case can get
neglected by the system when
“caseloads are up but the level of
staffing is the same or declining,”
said John Thirkell, a veteran assis-
tant county attorney in Jefferson
County.
“Whether you’re a social worker
or an attorney or a guardian or a
judge, if you have an hour a week
to pay attention to a case, it’s bet-
ter than half an hour,” he said.
Colorado CASA (Court Appointed
Special Advocates), which provides
volunteer advocates for abused
and neglected children, has found
“a steady increase statewide” in re-
quests for help, “and we see it in
urban and rural counties,” said ex-
ecutive director Barbara Mattison.
She said she sees joblessness and
meth use as two major factors.
About 85 percent of the children
her agency serves come from fami-
lies receiving some form of public
assistance, “which is very indica-
tive to us that the stresses of pover-
Child-abuse cases rise
Statistics from state courts show sharp
increases in child-abuse and neglect
cases filed in most large counties in
Colorado.
County 2003* 2004* Change
Adams 232 304 31.0%
Arapahoe 159 155 -2.5%
Boulder 58 99 70.7%
Broomfield 15 10 -33.3%
Denver 218 247 13.3%
Douglas 7 10 42.9%
El Paso 250 311 24.4%
Jefferson 190 255 34.2%
Larimer 85 82 -3.5%
Mesa 58 63 8.6%
Pueblo 170 154 -9.4%
Weld 84 112 33.3%
Statewide 1,852 2,116 14.3%
*Statistics from the first half of each fiscal year.
Source: Office of State Court Administrator
The Denver Post
ty play an important role,” she
said. “These aren’t happy times for
people when they don’t have jobs.”
The Office of the Child’s Repre-
sentative, which provides guard-
ians to abused and neglected chil-
dren, recently reported a dramatic
case increase in the Denver area.
The court administrator’s office
records reviewed by The Post
count “dependency and neglect” pe-
titions, which usually concern alle-
gations of child abuse or neglect
but may also concern runaways,
out-of-control teens or families The Denver Post / Andy Cross
needing help with a mentally ill Brandon Heidemann, left, and Mike Tucci, both of Buena Vista, tear around the snow-covered Valley Dirt Riders track Saturday in Berthoud
child.
as they practice for the upcoming amateur racing season. Between 2 and 4 inches of snow were expected overnight Saturday in the
Court administrator’s office Denver area. More snow and chilly temperatures are forecast for today, with warmer weather expected by Tuesday.
records indicate the case increase
is less severe statewide but still
growing quickly.
“It is a significant increase. It’s
certainly something to be con-
cerned about,” said Daniel Gallagh-
er, its policy analyst for juvenile
Area to see up to 7 inches of snow
cases. By Diedtra Henderson day. ceived only flurries. moisture from the east, wrapping
Denver Post Staff Writer “It’s moving in; it’s just maybe Colorado in a chilly blanket of
“These cases take a lot of time, This weekend’s “let it snow” pre-
a little slower than anticipated,” white.
a lot of resources. They’re really Chilly temperatures and cloudy diction came a little slow for the
National Weather Service meteo-
second only to first-degree murder skies were expected to bring metro area, as the heavy snowfall Temperatures are expected to
called for in winter-weather advi- rologist Jim Kalina said.
cases, in terms of the time it on-again, off-again snow through gradually increase through Tues-
takes,” he said. the predawn hours today, with ac- sories arrived later than expect- The snow resulted from a low- day.
ed. pressure system in the upper at-
State court records show that in cumulations as deep as 7 inches in
the past six months, El Paso Coun- some parts of the metro area. By mid-afternoon Saturday, mosphere, combined with a low-
pressure system near the ground
ty filed the most cases, followed That comes after 2 to 4 inches snow amounts were growing in Diedtra Henderson can be con-
by Adams, Jefferson and Denver of expected snowfall in the Den- some parts of northern Colorado, over eastern Colorado. tacted at dhenderson@denverpost.
counties. ver metro area by midnight Satur- while the Denver area had re- That surface low brought in com or 303-820-1910.
Debra Campeau, managing attor-
ney for the El Paso guardian of-
fice, counts the war in Iraq as an
added factor in the Colorado
Springs area.
“Certainly this community has
3 firms seek bankruptcy ruling for dollmaker
been hit hard by the deployment By Kris Hudson look like the children receiving On Thursday, three companies forms customers it has ceased op-
for the war,” she said. That not Denver Post Business Writer them. — Inline Media Inc. of Denver, erations and will try to fulfill
only created stresses for families Lifelike’s My Twinn was the tar- Gruner & Jahr USA Publishing of their orders. It had sold its dolls
missing one or both parents, but Three companies have filed a New York and Early Light Indus- for $79 to $140 each. Company of-
get of more than 700 complaints
the soldiers’ absence has “very petition seeking to declare the be- trial Co. Ltd. of Denver — filed a
to the Colorado attorney general’s ficials could not be reached for
much a ripple effect through the leaguered maker of My Twinn bankruptcy petition in U.S. Bank-
office last year, alleging the com- comment late Friday.
whole economy.” dolls bankrupt. ruptcy Court in Denver claiming
pany failed to deliver dolls that
She said budget cuts for services Greenwood Village-based Life- customers had paid for or deliv- Lifelike owes them a combined “We know we have disappointed
such as public health nurses for like Co. opted in December to shut- ered the wrong dolls. A Chinese $2.17 million and has failed to some of our customers; that is
new families haven’t helped. ter its My Twinn operations, cit- company handled shipments of pay. Denver bankruptcy law firm very painful for us,” reads a state-
“A lot of these programs have ing high costs and limited resourc- My Twinn’s dolls from Shanghai Jessop & Co. is representing the ment on the My Twinn website.
been cut. All of those things have es. It assembled and sold dolls to — an arrangement My Twinn companies. “… To you we express our sincer-
contributed,” she said. meet customers’ orders, often to blames for much of its trouble. My Twinn’s website now in- est and deepest apologies.”

New questions arise amid Revenue official’s unexpected retirement

LOTTERY FROM PAGE 1B
whether he was selling chips from
the casinos he regulated. Two oth-
er employees resigned around the
same time.
Less than three months later, a
Jefferson County grand jury
charged Barber with one felony
count of embezzlement of public
property and five misdemeanor
counts of official misconduct.
Last week, Barber’s attorney
filed a motion to dismiss all of
those charges against his client,
saying that Barber was told more
than once by gaming officials, as
well as those in the Colorado Bu-
reau of Investigation, that if Bar-
ber left, “the investigation against
him … would stop, and no criminal
charges would be filed.”
The motion is scheduled to be
heard in court Feb. 9.
“We don’t know what the final
outcome of this will be, but it
could be very unfortunate for our
side — the guys in the white hats,”
Jefferson County district attor-
ney’s spokeswoman Pam Russell
said.
A detail that may come out in
court is an e-mail written by the
state Gaming Division’s former
chief of investigations, Houston
“Huck” Henderson, one of the offi-
cials who resigned along with Bar-
ber. The e-mail, sent May 12 to
both Turner and Kitts, references
an “agreement” to retire.
No details are given about that
agreement in the e-mail, and Hen-
derson did not return a call seek-
ing comment Saturday.
Cooke has said she had no idea
what the agreement refers to, but
noted it could mean any number of
commonplace resignation-related
items, such as an agreements over
unused vacation pay or retirement
benefits.
The casino-chip case made head-
lines last year when Barber, Hen-
derson and gaming field opera-
tions supervisor Phil Wargo re-
signed.
As chief investigator, Barber
was in charge of approving designs
for casino chips. A grand jury in-
vestigation found that Barber re-
jected a design in October 2000.
Barber then took the rejected
$25 chip, a rare gem in the collect-
ing world because of its rejected
status, and sold it for $300 to a
collector, investigators said.
Additional counts of misconduct
include allegations that Barber
sold 99 casino chips on the Internet
auction house eBay, along with oth-
er items. From 1999 through 2003,
Barber listed 3,000 items on eBay
and sold 1,714 items, earning
$96,700.
But Cooke’s inquiries of Turner
on the criminal case were only a
piece of her investigation.
Turner also faced questions
about his “improper communica-
tion with a vendor” while vendors
were bidding on a state contract,
as well as management issues con-
cerning his oversight over gaming
and lottery, records show.
Cooke declined to comment on
those concerns, saying only that
they, too, were left largely unan-
swered.
Turner’s departure is just the lat-
est result of Cooke’s investigations
into a vast state department she
took over last year.
Lottery director Mark Zamarri-
pa abruptly quit in November, just
hours before he was to meet with
Cooke to talk about expenses he in-
curred on a trip to New Orleans.
In Cooke’s view, it was impossible
to tell what the state was to pay
Zamarripa for and what was pro-
vided by the national lottery orga-
nization sponsoring his trip.
A criminal investigation into the
lottery launched soon after Zamar-
ripa’s departure continues.
Trent Seibert can be reached at
tseibert@denverpost.com or
303-820-1310.
2B 66
METRO BRIEFS
Couple charged in
use of overpayment
A former Denver sheriff’s dep-
uty and her husband were
charged Wednesday with sever-
al felonies for allegedly cashing
in on a $66,000 paycheck mis-
take.
Helena De-
Herrera, 40,
and her hus-
band, David
DeHerrera,
30,
been
have
charged with
theft, embez-
zlement of
public prop-
erty, conspir-
acy to com-
mit theft and
conspiracy
to commit
embezzle-
ment of pub-
lic property,
according to
the Denver
district attor-
ney’s office.
DeHerreras:
The charg-
Allegedly cashed es allege
$66,378 check. that Helena
It was supposed DeHerrera
to be $663.78. received a “I think it could be the single
gross pay-
ment of
$66,378 instead of $663.78 from
the department in December
2000.
Helena and David DeHerrera
— he currently works for the
Sheriff’s Office — kept the over-
payment and spent it, prosecu-
tors said.
Suspect identified
in shooting death
Officials Wednesday released
the name of a man suspected of
fatally shooting Lisa Clark, a
Navy veteran and mother.
The Jefferson County Sher-
iff’s Office has issued a warrant
for 41-year-old Everett Horton.
Investigators said Horton was
arguing with another person
Sunday in a Golden trailer
home when he pulled a gun and
it discharged.
Clark, 24, who had a 4-year-
old daughter, was not involved
in the argument but was hit by
the shot.
The Sheriff’s Office describes
Horton as white, 6 feet tall and
160 pounds, with blond hair and
blue eyes.
Lone Tree to create
a police department
Lone Tree will soon have its
own police department.
In a unanimous vote Tuesday
night, the Lone Tree City Coun-
cil decided to create its own de-
partment. The Douglas County
Sheriff’s Office had previously
policed Lone Tree, but decided
last December to end its con-
tract.
El Pomar helps fund
art museum addition
The Colorado Springs-based
El Pomar Foundation has donat-
ed $3.25 million toward the $28
million in private funds that the
Denver Art Museum is raising
for its $90.5 million addition,
which is under construction and
expected to open in 2006.
Taxpayers approved a $62.5
million bond issue in November
1999 to pay for the basic cost of
the building.
VA official weighs
overhaul of agency
U.S. Secretary of Veterans Af-
fairs Anthony Principi told a
crowd of about 150 people
Wednesday that he wants to im-
prove services to veterans and
is considering a proposed over-
haul of the Department of Veter-
ans Affairs.
Principi spoke at a town hall
meeting at the University of Col-
orado’s Fitzsimons campus in
Aurora. In about 30 days, Princi-
pi may decide the fate of those
proposed changes, which were
submitted by an independent
commission.
Since its creation last year,
the commission researched the
future health needs of veterans
and studied ways that Veterans
Affairs could more effectively
help them.
One of its suggestions is to
move the Denver VA Medical
Center to Fitzsimons, said Paul
Sherbo, a VA public affairs rep-
resentative in Denver.
CORRECTIONS
The Denver Post will correct all errors occurring in its news columns. If you
find a problem with a story — an error of fact or a point requiring clarification —
please call the city desk, 303-820-1201.
IN BUSINESS
Eckerd stores to close:
Construction of a building that was
to house an Eckerd drugstore in Fort
Collins, right, has been halted, and
nine other stores across Colorado
are expected to close because of the
sale of the drugstore chain. The
Colorado stores did not fit the
business strategies of either of the
chain’s buyers, according to
spokeswoman Christi Byd Smith. 1C
TASTE OF VAIL A FRYING DOWN THE SLOPE
Suicidal GI spoke to dispatcher
Soldier shot self seconds after saying everything was ‘OK’
By Erin Emery
Denver Post Southern Colorado Bureau
A Fort Carson soldier who com-
mitted suicide three weeks after
he returned home from Iraq shot
himself less than 90 seconds after
he ended a telephone call with a
911 dispatcher.
William Howell, 36, a chief war-
rant officer who spent roughly 10
months in Iraq, told a dispatcher
March 14 that everything was
“OK by me” only a minute and a
half before he took his own life.
Howell’s death has raised ques-
tions about whether troops return-
ing from Iraq are receiving suffi-
cient care for combat-related
stress.
The 911 tape shows that Laura
Howell, William Howell’s wife,
called 911 at 9:27 p.m. March 14
and said: “My husband just hit
me, and he’s going downstairs to
get his gun.”
The dispatcher advised her to
go with her children to a safe
THE DENVER POST
LEGISLATURE 2004
Child advocates
seek state office
to protect kids
Ombudsman would monitor system
By David Olinger
Denver Post Staff Writer
Child advocates urged Colorado
legislators Wednesday to create a
new state office dedicated to pro-
tecting abused and neglected chil-
dren.
The new Office of the Child’s
Ombudsman would be empowered
to investigate complaints alleging
that child-abuse cases have been
handled improperly by county
agencies. It also would report to
legislators and the governor on
ways to strengthen Colorado’s ex-
isting child protection system.
most effective child welfare re-
form in the last decade,” Rocky
Mountain Children’s Law Center
executive director Shari Shink told
a House committee hearing.
“Children are dying, and nobody
knows why,” she said. Colorado has
a “very complicated system” for
handling child-abuse allegations,
and “there needs to be somebody
that looks at that system.”
Peg Long, executive director of
the Colorado Association of Fami-
ly and Children’s Agencies, also en-
dorsed creating an independent
watchdog agency to monitor the
child protection system.
“The public’s trust in our system
has been eroded dramatically,” she
said. “I see this bill as one way to
restore that.”
The bill drew questions or criti-
cism from several witnesses, in-
cluding the Colorado District Attor-
neys’ Council.
Peter Weir, the council’s execu-
STATUS REPORT
Illegal immigrants targeted:
Colorado state troopers and other
peace officers would become
deputized immigration officers who
would help round up people who are
Mike Hannigan, above, of Blues in Colorado illegally, under a bill that
Restaurant carves his way down the passed the Senate State Affairs
slalom course at the Black Forest Committee late Wednesday on a 4-2
Race Arena during the Taste of Vail
vote. Several witnesses testified that
Food and Wine Festival, which began
Wednesday with a ski race among
the measure, SB 210, is
unconstitutional and would prompt
chefs. Area restaurants’ finest
donned their working garb and took lawsuits against the state. Attorney
to the mountain for a morning of fun Jeff Joseph, whose firm represents
before the week of cooking ahead. At foreign nationals, said that stopping
left, Geordy Ogden of Saddle Ridge
Restaurant has a toque and a smile
people because they are
as he and Gene Kalespi of Ludwig’s dark-featured or do not speak
Restaurant ride up a lift. The festival English amounts to racial profiling.
runs through Sunday. But the bill’s author Sen. John
Andrews, R-Centennial, said there
Helen H. Richardson
are 12 million illegal immigrants in
The Denver Post
the United States, and that roughly a
quarter of them are in Colorado.
“They’re breaking the law to be here.
They’re dodging the law to stay
here,” said Andrews. He also said
they contribute to various problems
of public safety and homeland
security. The measure now moves
place. Then, the line was discon- Howell: “I don’t know.” to the Senate floor.
nected. Dispatch called back, and Dispatch: “OK, is everything
William Howell answered. OK there?” School finance bill gets initial OK:
Howell: “Hello. Hello.” Howell: “I think it’s fine.” The Senate gave preliminary
Dispatch: “Yeah, who am I Dispatch: “OK, do you know approval Wednesday to the annual
speaking with?” why she called?” school finance bill (House Bill
Howell: “Who’s calling?” Howell: “I have no idea.”
Dispatch: “This is Mike with the Dispatch: “OK, who else is at 1397), which funds kindergarten
Sheriff’s Office.” home with you? Is it just you and through 12th-grade public schools
Howell: “Yes, sir.” your wife at home?” in fiscal 2004-05 starting July 1.
Dispatch: “Your wife just called Howell: “Yeah, the best thing
Sen. Norma Anderson, R-Lakewood,
and said you guys were having would be to talk to my wife.”
some problems there?” Dispatch: “OK, can you go the bill’s Senate sponsor, warded off
attempts to tack on floor
Howell: “Well, that’s fine.” ahead and put her on the line?”
Dispatch: “Can you tell me Howell: “Hold on.” amendments, and the bill won
what’s going on?” The phone line disconnected.
approval in short order. This year’s
Howell: “Well, I don’t know. While the two had been talking,
She’s the one that called; you Monument police were speeding bill is $4.4 billion. Apart from that
should talk to her.” to the home. Laura Howell was figure, the Department of Education
Dispatch: “OK, can I talk to outside when they arrived. gets money for the Colorado
her?” When William Howell went out
Student Assessment Program and
Howell: “I don’t know where the front door, he saw the officers
administrative costs, bringing the
she is.” and fired a single shot from a
Dispatch: “OK, is everything .357-caliber revolver at himself. total appropriation for the state
OK there?” The shot was fired at 9:33 p.m., 1 Education Department to $5.1
Howell: “It’s OK by me.” minute and 28 seconds after the
billion.
Dispatch: “Well, what’s going call with the dispatcher was dis-
on?” connected.
DIRECTORY INDEX
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Outside metro area ....... 800-336-7678 the Business section. Television ................................ 9F
Thursday, April 8, 2004
tive director, said prosecutors are
concerned about the potential ef-
fects of ombudsman investigations
on criminal cases.
He said he would not want to see
the new office “compromise the in-
tegrity of a criminal investigation”
nor provide “a sword for the attor-
neys for the defendants” in child-
abuse cases.
The House committee did not
vote on the bill after the hearing.
Its sponsor, Rep. Debbie Stafford,
expects to amend it before a sched-
uled vote next week.
She said she is still negotiating a
key aspect with the governor’s of-
fice — where in state government
to place an independent agency
that may probe complaints con-
cerning county child welfare agen-
cies, the state Department of Hu-
man Services and other child pro-
tection programs.
Her legislation followed a Den-
ver Post series that reported child
welfare agencies were involved be-
fore 41 percent of fatal child abuse
and neglect cases in Colorado dur-
ing the last decade. The newspaper
also found that in many cases, Col-
orado’s child fatality review sys-
tem reported little or nothing of
that prior involvement.
Stafford’s bill initially proposed
a new child fatality review sys-
tem. But after police, prosecutors
and social services officials ques-
tioned how it would affect their
work, she eliminated child death
reviews from the proposed ombuds-
man office.
She said she hopes to revisit Colo-
rado’s fatality review system next
year.
College-diversity resolution dies: A
resolution aimed at protecting
religious and political speech on
college campuses was killed by a
House committee Wednesday. The
measure by Rep. David Schultheis,
R-Colorado Springs, failed on a 6-5
vote after the House Education
Committee passed one amendment
and defeated several others. The
resolution, in its original form,
condemned mandatory “diversity”
training in college, but that provision
was amended out of the measure by
the committee. The resolution was
an effort by conservatives to send a
message to public institutions after
an “Academic Bill of Rights” bill was
killed by its sponsor. Rep. Shawn
Mitchell, R-Broomfield, said his bill
became unnecessary after the heads
of several public universities vowed
to ensure their schools have policies
to protect political diversity on
campus.
Bill lets Denver keep pit bull ban:
Lawmakers have approved a bill that
will allow Denver to keep its
15-year-old ban on pit bulls within
the city limits. The legislation
approved Tuesday by a committee
now heads to the full Senate. The
bill also makes it easier for dog-bite
victims to sue to recover damages.
Current rules assume owners don’t
know a dog is dangerous until it
bites its first victim. The measure
(House Bill 1279) by Sen. Mark
Hillman, R-Burlington, says a dog
owner is responsible for damages.
The provision that drew much of the
attention during the committee
hearing would bar cities from
banning specific breeds of dogs.
Carolynne White, staff attorney with
the Colorado Municipal League, said
the organization is neutral on the bill
itself but believes breed-specific
laws should be left to local
governments.
LOTTERY NUMBERS
Lotto
Wednesday’s winning numbers:
1 7 10 21 25 34
Est. annuitized value: $1.5 million
Cash 5
Wednesday’s winning numbers:
11 20 21 23 24
Powerball
Saturday’s winning numbers:
2 7 16 35 37 — 10
Powerplay multiplier: 5
Est. annuitized value: $47.8 million
THE DENVER POST ONLINE
For up-to-the-minute news both local and
worldwide, go to www.denverpost.com.
6C The Denver Post gg Sunday, August 15, 2004
DENVER & THE WEST

National fundraisers to aid Beauprez

GROUP ESCAPES LIMITS
Big donors are vital to the
committee, which is focusing on
22 Republican candidates in
competitive congressional races.
By Chris Frates
Denver Post Staff Writer
A new national Republican fundrais-
ing committee has raised almost $1.5
million with big donations from elite
contributors who have close ties to the
Bush administration.
The money will help bankroll 22 Re-
publican candidates in competitive
congressional races throughout the
country, including Rep. Bob Beauprez,
who is running for re-election in Colo-
rado’s 7th Congressional District.
With the ban on unlimited contribu-
tions to national political parties, or
soft money, new this election cycle,
collecting big money is even more im-
portant, said Steven Weiss, spokesman
for a nonprofit that tracks money in
politics.
Contributions to the 2004 Joint Can-
didate Committee, ranging from sever-
al thousand dollars to the $37,500 feder-
al limit, have drawn scrutiny from cam-
paign watchdog groups.
Pete Maysmith of Colorado Com-
mon Cause said that while the state
constitutional campaign contribution
limits passed twice by voters don’t ap-
ply to federal candidates, Coloradans
have made it clear they want big mon-
ey out of politics.
“I think a healthier politics would
have a broad base of smaller donors,
which the parties tout as having,” he
said. “But they still set up these com-
mittees … that are the sole dominion of
the super-wealthy.”
Ten of the 61 donors to the commit-
tee have raised at least $300,000 each
for the GOP, making them “Super Rang-
ers,” which is how the party recogniz-
es its big-time fundraisers.
“It shows how important those able
to raise large amounts are to political
parties and to candidates,” said Weiss
of the Washington-based Center for
Responsive Politics. “And it’s an illus-
tration of how vital fundraisers have
become, especially under the soft mon-
ey ban.”
Beauprez, who won his seat by 121
votes two years ago, said support from
outside the district is critical to reach
his goal of $2.6 million.
“I guess it would be theoretically pos-
sible to raise that much inside a con-
gressional district, but practically, it’s
impossible,” he said. “Last time, if it
weren’t for these kind of efforts, I
would not have been able to be compet-
itive.”
Beauprez is facing Jefferson County
District Attorney Dave Thomas in No-
vember.
Those helping to keep Beauprez and
other vulnerable Republicans competi-
tive are some of the world’s richest peo-
ple and biggest party donors.
Colorado’s bigwigs include oilmen
Bruce Benson and Jack Overstreet,
homebuilder Larry Mizel and J.D. Ed-
wards co-founder C. Edward Mc-
Vaney.
Donors as well as watchdogs say do-
nating to the committee allows sup-
porters to give, knowing that the mon-
ey will be used effectively because it’s
doled out by the pros.
President Bush’s re-election cam-
paign worked with the candidates’ cam-
paigns to set up the committee, a se-
nior campaign official said.
Democrats do not have a similar com-
mittee to raise money for House and
Senate candidates, a Democratic Con-
gressional Campaign Committee
spokeswoman said.
Overstreet, a millionaire, said he had
already given $34,000 to his favorite
candidates and didn’t know who else
to support.
When Overstreet heard about the
committee, he contributed $3,500,
reaching the maximum allowed indi-
vidual donation of $37,500 to all federal
candidates in an election cycle.
“You have to do this because you be-
lieve in the cause and in the candidates
and hope for the best,” he said. “If you
do it because you think you’re going to
get something out of it, you’re crazy,
because you’re not, and that’s the
wrong reason anyway. It’s like church.
This is sort of my church.”
But Weiss said big donors are look-
ing for something — “access.”
“It could be a meeting with lawmak-
ers. It could be an invitation to exclu-
sive events with lawmakers. It could
be consultations on issues and legisla-
tion in particular,” he said.
Both Overstreet and Benson said
campaign finance rules are ineffective
and the committee is just another way
to legally raise money.
“It’s … all these silly laws we got to
follow, and they don’t make a damn bit
of difference; they just made it harder
to stick it all through,” Benson said.
“Campaign finance is kind of a
farce,” Benson said. “It just really
hasn’t solved anything; it just redirect-
ed the way things get done.”
Staff writer Karen E. Crummy
contributed to this report.
Staff writer Chris Frates can be
reached at cfrates@denverpost.com or
303-820-1633.

FUN MARKS THE SPOT AT FEST
the third annual Community Fun Fest at the City of Axum Park, at Martin Luther Boulevard and Cherry Street in Denver,
while 23-month-old Anastasia Cuerden naps with her dad, Randy. The Northeast Park Hill Coalition hosted the event.
Bills to target
child deaths,
foster care
Rep. Debbie Stafford’s proposals
will be aimed at protecting kids
By David Olinger
Denver Post Staff Writer
Colorado legislators will
consider a pair of proposals
next year to reform the state
child-protection system.
One would create commit-
tees of state and county ex-
perts to review all child fatali-
ties in Colorado and recom-
mend ways to prevent avoid-
able deaths.
The other would change Col-
orado’s foster-care system by
encouraging counties to keep
biological parents involved
with children removed from
their homes and communicat-
ing with the foster parents.
Both bills will be offered by
Kathryn Scott Osler The Denver Post
Rep. Debbie Stafford, R-Auro-
Daryl Russell, 13, right, uses body crayons Saturday to write “Hi” on his arm at ra, who convened a commis-
sion of officials and child advo-
cates hoping to improve child-
protection programs.
She did so in response to a
Denver Post series that report-
ed that calls to child-protec-
State Rep.
Debbie
Stafford
hopes to
spearhead
“a very
major
reform.”
teams.
Its draft version calls for a
37-member Colorado child-fa-
tality task force with medical,
law enforcement, social servic-
es and mental health experts,
as well as legislators and citi-
zens.
Its tasks would include a
study “of the incidences and
causes of child deaths in Colo-
rado,” with particular atten-
tion to child-abuse deaths.
The new child-protection
team would assess “all commu-
nity and private and public
agency involvement” before a
child’s death. It would also ex-
amine selected cases of chil-

Grand jury hears from CU’s Tharp
After the athletic director
testifies on football
recruiting, the prosecutor
says of the state probe,
“The end is in sight.”
By Howard Pankratz
and Dave Curtin
Denver Post Staff Writers
University of Colorado athlet-
ic director Dick Tharp ap-
peared Friday before the state
grand jury probing football re-
cruiting practices at the univer-
sity.
The grand jury is looking into
allegations that sex and alcohol
were used to lure high school re-
cruits into the football program.
Prosecutor Cynthia Honssing-
er told reporters after Friday’s
session that “the end is in
sight.” The panel is scheduled
to meet again Thursday.
Tharp has come under criti-
cism for his handling of the ath-
letic department and for the
fact that he is partial owner of
Liquor Mart, a large retailer
near the campus that is fre-
quented by students.
In June, Tharp said he was
stepping down from the store’s
board of directors but would re-
tain his ownership.
An eight-person investigative
commission empaneled by the
CU Board of Regents was high-
ly critical of Tharp in a report is-
sued in May.
The report said Tharp “evad-
ed and ignored repeated direc-
tives to implement policy
changes and failed to place ap-
propriate boundaries around
the football coach. (He) es-
poused a philosophy of ‘plausi-
ble deniability’ when faced with
accusations of misconduct by
student-athletes and employ-
ees; isolated himself from his
staff and has not given his full at-
tention to his responsibilities.”
Also on Friday, the grand jury
heard from financial fraud ex-
aminer Daniel Predovich of
Highlands Ranch and CU-Boul-
der’s chief financial officer, Ric
Porreca, indicating it could be
following a money trail. Both de-
clined to comment as they exit-
ed the jury room.
The CU Foundation, the pri-
vate fundraising arm of the uni-
versity, confirmed last week it
has become a part of the grand-
jury investigation but said it is
not the target.
The regent-appointed investi-
gative commission had encour-
aged the state to look into
where former CU recruiting
aide Nathan Maxcey might
have gotten $2,000 he allegedly
CU athletic director Dick Tharp, left, and his lawyer, Chuck
Brega, leave the Denver City and County Building, where
Tharp testified Friday before a state grand jury.
spent on prostitutes.
The grand jury has already
heard from Maxcey, who has
been accused of paying the mon-
ey to arrange sex for young men
at the Omni Hotel in Broom-
field, where Maxcey took CU re-
cruits after picking them up at
the airport.
Maxcey worked for David
Hansburg, director of CU foot-
ball operations. Hansburg has
also appeared before the grand
jury, along with head football
John Prieto The Denver Post
coach Gary Barnett.
The grand jury has also heard
from various detectives, includ-
ing CU Detective Brannon
Winn. Winn investigated allega-
tions that Lisa Simpson was
raped at a party attended by CU
football players and recruits.
Simpson has filed a civil suit
against the university.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz
can be reached at 303-820-1939
or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
tion agencies preceded 41 per-
cent of child-abuse and ne-
glect deaths in Colorado.
At a news conference Fri-
day, Stafford said she has been
“absolutely bombarded by
frustrated families” with com-
plaints about child-abuse cas-
es.
She said she hopes “to bring
a very major reform to our
child-protection system in
Colorado.”
Stafford did not revive her
previous legislative proposal
to create a state ombudsman’s
office to investigate com-
plaints concerning child-pro-
tection agencies. That bill
died in committee this year.
But she said she hopes to
keep that concept alive by cre-
ating “customer care” offices
in the county agencies that re-
spond to child-abuse calls.
Colorado already has child-
protection teams in some
counties, and a state commit-
tee has investigated and re-
ported on some child-abuse
deaths that followed repeated
warnings to social service
agencies.
But there is no state require-
ment to investigate child
deaths, and practices vary
from county to county.
Stafford’s bill to investigate
all child deaths is based on a
North Carolina model, which
establishes county and state
child-fatality prevention
dren currently served by
child-protection programs.
Similar teams would be set up
in each county to review child
deaths and provide informa-
tion to the state team.
The overall goal is “a great-
er involvement from the com-
munity” in a campaign to re-
duce deaths of children,
Stafford said.
The foster-care proposal,
which has not yet been draft-
ed, would legislate a “family
to family” model from the An-
nie E. Casey Foundation.
That model encourages
“team decision-making” that
brings birth parents, foster
parents and caseworkers to-
gether in meetings to discuss
the needs of children in the
system.
Stafford traveled to Cleve-
land to study one family-to-
family program. In Colorado,
Denver and El Paso County
have begun similar pilot pro-
grams.
Roxane White, Denver’s hu-
man-services director, said
that in 85 percent of its cases,
birth parents are now in-
volved in decisions concern-
ing their children. She said the
program seems to help re-
unite families.
“We’ve been able to reduce
our out-of-home placements
30 percent in the last year by
having families at the table,”
she said.

FasTracks backers take foes to court over finance disclosure

By Jeffrey Leib
Denver Post Staff Writer
An administrative law judge will de-
termine whether a group opposed to
the Regional Transportation District’s
FasTracks tax increase for transit has
violated campaign finance disclosure
rules.
Judge Donald E. Walsh on Friday
heard testimony from FasTracks Yes,
a group in favor of the tax hike. The
group claimed the opposing organiza-
tion, Taxpayers Against Congestion,
has set up a website and printed thou-
sands of fliers critical of FasTracks yet
has not reported any contributions or
expenditures to the Colorado secre-
tary of state.
FasTracks is RTD’s $4.7 billion tran-
sit expansion plan. To pay for it, voters
in metro Denver will be asked on the
Nov. 2 ballot to approve a hike in RT-
D’s sales tax to 1 percent from the cur-
rent 0.6 percent.
At Friday’s hearing, Dennis Polhill,
treasurer of Taxpayers Against Con-
gestion, said volunteers have pro-
duced printed material for the anti-Fas-
Tracks campaign and that no one has
billed his group for its work.
But Maria Garcia Berry, the political
consultant who heads FasTracks Yes,
said even volunteer work must be ac-
counted for in financial filings as an
“in-kind” contribution. Berry brought
the complaint against Taxpayers
Against Congestion.
Polhill said he is waiting to be billed
for the establishment of his group’s
website and that the organization will
correct past filings if it erred in not re-
porting volunteer contributions cor-
rectly.
FasTracks Yes has collected about
$1.8 million for its campaign in favor of
the tax increase. Polhill said his group
has collected $3,000 to date for the op-
position and recently spent $600 on a
mass mailing aimed at raising more
money.
Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached
at jleib@denverpost.com or 303-820-
1645.