Vail Daily

Shopping the manly way ===== Partnership bug ========= Color me old school, but I really do have a hard time shopping on the Web. There are a few things I'm cool with, things I know really well, like products I've used before. I like sites that show dimensions or specifications of things. I like iTunes, because I can sample what I'm buying before I commit. But there are a lot of things I just ... Full Story »

Metro Denver's housing market showed its first year-over-year improvement in 11 months, as the number of homes sold in November surged 23 percent over the same month in 2008, data released Tuesday showed. At least part of the increase was attributed to a rush by buyers to take advantage of the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers, originally set to expire at the end of November ... Full Story »

Vail Mountain Coffee & Tea Company has created a fund-raising program for Red Sandstone Elementary School. For each retail sale made, the coffee company will donate 25 percent of the sale back to the school's PTA. To learn more or to participate, go to www.vailcoffee.com/schools. To participate, log on to the Web site, enter the code "RSES" and start shopping. All ... Full Story »

The Vail Valley's Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa has rolled out a pair of New Year's Eve promotions. The "Ultimate New Year's Eve Package" starts at $910 per night and includes: Accommodations in a spacious studio suite, a $300 credit to Spa Anjali, complimentary valet parking, dinner for two at Restaurant Avondale for late seating on New Year's Eve and breakfast for two each morning of your ... Full Story »

The Vail Valley Partnership has hired Michelle Kobelan as the group's new events coordinator. She replaces Ruthie Carlson, who has accepted a position with the Catskill Place Restaurants group. Kobelan comes to the partnership from the Alter Construction Group, where she had been a project engineer and marketing/communications specialist during the company's work on the renovation project at ... Full Story »

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado - Sunlight Mountain Resort finally had its day, as Monday and Tuesday's big snowstorm dumped 17 inches of snow on the mountain and drew hundreds of skiers and snowboarders for the local resorts first official powder day. "I talked to a couple of people today and asked where they were this weekend," said Sunlight marketing assistant Jennie Spillane. "They said they were ... Full Story »

VAIL - The town of Vail is soliciting proposals from contractors who want to build the West Vail fire station. The town is seeking firms with experience in projects of similar size and complexity. The town's request for qualifications package cam be found at vailgov.com. The station will be built on the former Wendy's restaurant site in West Vail. The station will be approximately 11,500 square ... Full Story »

VAIL, Colorado - Today's Ski and Snowboard Club Vail Nordic Town Series race has been canceled due to inclement weather and cold temperatures. The race series, for skiers of all ages and abilities, will begin Dec. 16. Races will begin at 4 p.m. with a one-kilometer race for lower/elementary school-aged competitors, followed by a two-kilometer race at 4:30 p.m. for middle school-aged competitors ... Full Story »

ARVADA, Colo. - Authorities say they have arrested a seventh-grader accused of taking an unloaded pistol to Arvada Middle School. Arvada police say no one was threatened with the gun, and the 12-year-old boy took it to school to show friends. The student, who was arrested Tuesday, has not been identified. The boy faces a felony charge of unlawful possession of a handgun on school grounds. He ... Full Story »

DENVER - Colorado tops the nation in participation in the Do Not Call Registry. Attorney General John Suthers says that a new report by the Federal Trade Commission shows Colorado has the highest participation rate. More than 3.8 million people in Colorado have registered their phone numbers with the program as of Sept. 30. That's 78,528 registries per 100,000 residents. For the year ending in ... Full Story »

BOULDER, Colo. - A former cast member of the 1980s television show "Family Ties" faces a new assault charge after police in Colorado say he repeatedly hit a friend with a broken wooden stool. Twenty-eight-year-old Brian Bonsall was arrested Saturday and appeared briefly in a Boulder courtroom Wednesday morning. The hearing was originally scheduled for another case, an alleged probation violation ... Full Story »

DENVER - Millions of undocumented people in the U.S. should be given a path to legal status after the country finds a way to stop illegal immigration, business and government leaders said in a report Wednesday. The University of Denver report argues that legalizing as many of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants as possible could strengthen the economy and national security. But it ... Full Story »

WASHINGTON - A House subcommittee approved legislation Wednesday aimed at forcing college football to switch to a playoff system to determine its national champion, over the objections of some lawmakers who said Congress has meatier targets to tackle. The bill, which faces steep odds, would ban the promotion of a postseason NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision game as a national ... Full Story »

WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congress Wednesday that the administration will extend the government's financial bailout program until next fall, saying it's needed to protect against fresh economic shocks. In a letter to House and Senate leaders, Geithner said the extension is "necessary to assist American families and stabilize financial markets." Money from the $700 ... Full Story »

BRECKENRIDGE - Vail Resorts last month withdrew an appeal for Summit County to refund $280,000 in taxes paid over two years on the BreckConnect Gondola. The company had claimed that $6.7 million the town of Breckenridge contributed toward the gondola project, which the county had valued at $15.9 million, to be a subsidy exempt from tax assessment, said Summit County Assessor Beverly Breakstone ... Full Story »

ASPEN, Colorado - If Crested Butte Mountain Resort appeals the U.S. Forest Service's denial of its expansion plan, it will have a heavyweight partner in its corner. Colorado Ski Country USA's board of directors voted at its last meeting to join in any administrative appeal or court challenge mounted by the Crested Butte owners, according to Dave Bellack, chairman of the Ski Country board as well ... Full Story »

VAIL, Colorado - A marketing dispute between Vail Resorts and a state ski industry trade association has dragged into a second winter with no reconciliation in sight. Vail Resorts pulled Vail Mountain, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone out of Colorado Ski Country USA in 2008. There was no specific attempt to get Vail to rejoin for the 2009-10 season, according to Dave Bellack, chairman of ... Full Story »

SAN LUIS - Manuel Sanchez tucks his leathery hands into well-worn pockets and nods toward a cedar tree where, last month, he found his fourth mysteriously slaughtered calf in as many weeks. "I have no idea what could do this. I wish I did," he says. Four calves, all killed overnight. Their innards gone. Tongues sliced out. Udders carefully removed. Facial skin sliced and gone. Eyes cored away ... Full Story »

DENVER - Most wind chill warnings have been lifted across the state, following the coldest morning of the year so far in northern Colorado. The National Weather Service said wind chills reached around minus 50 overnight on Berthoud and Loveland passes. It was minus 7 in Denver just before sunrise on Wednesday but when the wind blew it felt more like minus 32. A wind chill warning still remains ... Full Story »

VAIL VALLEY, Colorado - The Vail Valley's new field house is impressive. It might even be fair to call it futuristic - after all, the dynamo bikes were inspired by the sci-fi television series, "Jericho." Whatever. How it is described in a word doesn't change the fact that Edwards' new recreation facility is full of cool stuff such as upper-body ergometers, climbing walls, turf that seems as ... Full Story »

EAGLE, Colorado - Opponents of Eagle River Station have filed a legal complaint against the town of Eagle. The town broke state campaign laws when it sent out an e-mail promoting a pro-Eagle River Station event, the complaint claims. The town says it didn't violate the law. This is the latest development in a heated battle between groups on both sides of the Eagle River Station debate. Eagle ... Full Story »

VAIL VALLEY, Colorado - Although some mental health professionals have viewed spirituality more as a cause of problems than as a source of solutions, the reality is that many people in Colorado's Vail Valley look to their own spirituality for support and guidance during times of stress and crisis. There are numerous studies documenting that many people turn to religious and spiritual sources for ... Full Story »

DENVER - Federal officials, responding to a complaint by environmentalists, have agreed to review air pollution standards for oil and gas operations to decide if they need to be updated. The proposed settlement of a complaint by WildEarth Guardians and the Colorado-based San Juan Citizens Alliance calls for the Environmental Protection Agency to start the review in January 2011. The settlement ... Full Story »

GRANTS PASS, Ore. - Bills to open more of the backcountry in national forests to fire-prevention thinning projects and to promote woodburning heating systems in public buildings have been introduced in the U.S. House. U.S. Rep. Greg Walden said Tuesday the bill to expand thinning projects faces an uphill battle in the House Committee on Natural Resources, even with bipartisan support. But the ... Full Story »

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - A jury has convicted a Loveland man of first-degree murder in a triple shooting that killed one man and injured two others. Twenty-two-year-old Joshua Douglas Renn was convicted Tuesday of first-degree murder in the death of Clinton M. Hiney and of attempted first-degree murder in the shootings of Patrick Moore and John Lyman. All were shot Jan. 12 at Moore's apartment in ... Full Story »