STATE BANS SOLITARY CONFINEMENT OVER 15 DAYS

Inmates in state prisons can’t be held in solitary confinement for more than 15 days, the state Department of Corrections announced Thursday in the latest effort to overhaul a practice criticized as torture by the agency’s chief.

The changes require that inmates held in solitary confinement get at least four hours per day outside a cell for recreation or group classes.

Colorado officials in 2011 began efforts to cut the number of people held in solitary confinement. Former corrections director Tom Clements also tried to make it easier for people once held there to reenter society and closed a new prison built specifically to house solitaryconfinement prisoners, the still-vacant Colorado State Penitentiary II in Cañon City.

Further changes followed Clements’ death in 2013 after he was shot by Evan Ebel, a former inmate who had spent much of his eight years’ imprisonment in solitary confinement.

State identifies $250 million for I-25 widening from Monument to Castle Rock. The state Department

of Transportation has identified $250 million that, along with local contributions and federal grant money, could pay to broaden the stretch of Interstate 25 from Monument to Castle Rock.

The solution was found in a new state law, previously known as Senate Bill 267, which policymakers expect will generate about $1.8 billion for transportation needs over 20 years.

El Paso County will apply for a grant this fall from the U.S. Department of Transportation that could yield an additional $65 million for the project.

CDOT has estimated that widening the 17-mile stretch from two lanes to three lanes in each direction would cost $290 million to $570 million.

Former teacher at Longmont’s Silver Creek charged with sexual assault in “grooming” case. A

former Longmont teacher accused of “grooming” a student before entering into a sexual relationship with her once she graduated has been charged with sexual assault.

Kelly Wayne Burns, 49, was formally charged with sexual assault on a child in a position of trust with a pattern of abuse at a hearing on Thursday.

The charging document reads that Burns “knowingly subjected” the student to “sexual contact and the victim was less than 18 years of age and the defendant was in a position of trust with respect to the victim.”

Burns could face a lifetime in prison if convicted.

Deputy fatally shoots man after attack.

LAS

A sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a man who attacked the officer when he responded Wednesday night to a report of a backyard fire.

Deputies encountered the man, who was in his mid-40s, outside the home and he began to act suspiciously, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

“The male fled . ... As one of the deputies attempted to subdue the male, the deputy was attacked . ... As a result the male was shot and succumbed to his injuries,” the release said.

The deputy has been placed on leave, a standard practice in officer-involved shootings.