AFA URGED TO CANCEL TALK BY CHICK-FIL-A EXEC
A group that advocates for religious liberty in the military says the U.S. Air Force Academy should cancel a planned speech by a Chick-fil-A executive.
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation said Wednesday the company has a history of supporting anti-gay causes and that Rodney Bullard, a Chickfil-A vice president and academy graduate, shouldn’t speak at the school’s upcoming leadership conference.
Bullard said the company and its charitable foundation don’t fund anti-gay programs. He says Chickfil-A’s foundation funds programs to help children in poverty, including groups that work with LGBQT youth.
Chick-fil-A has faced accusations that it is antigay since 2012 when its president, Dan Cathy, publicly opposed gay marriage. The company has said Cathy’s statements are his personal views.
Girl hit by pickup identified.
A 12-year-old Aurora girl who was struck and killed by a driver while walking to school after she stepped in front of a pickup has been identified.
The Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office identified the child on Wednesday as Jenna Solomon.
Solomon was crossing East Iliff Avenue near South Vaughn Way at 8:20 a.m. Feb. 5 when she stepped off of a median and was struck by a pickup truck, according to a news release by Sgt. Chris Carleton, Aurora police spokesman.
The pickup driver and other witnesses immediately stopped to render aid and call 911. The girl was taken to a hospital with critical injuries. She died on Friday, Carleton said.
An autopsy on Monday confirmed that Solomon died of injuries sustained in the pickup-pedestrian crash.
Investigators determined that the girl did not cross Iliff at the signaled intersections. She was halfway across Iliff and stepped off the median and into traffic when she was struck by the westbound pickup, Carleton said.
There is no evidence of speed or other factors on the part of the pickup driver involved contributing to the cause of this crash, he said.
Bus drivers in Grand Junction favor a strike.
Bus drivers in Grand Junction on Tuesday voted unanimously in favor of authorizing a strike.
The drivers, who make $11.25 an hour after their first year on the job and top out at $13.65 after five years, are among the lowest paid bus drivers in the country, according to an Amalgamated Transit Union news release.
The ATU represents the Grand Valley Transit drivers who have been in negotiations with Transdev, a French-based private contractor which operates the GVT, since the fall. The driver’s contract with GVT expired on Dec. 31.
Bus drivers at nearby Roaring Forks Transit Authority start at more than $20 per hour, according to the release.
Adams 14 looks to other school district for help.
The troubled Adams 14 school district is looking to its neighbor for help.
On Tuesday night, the Adams 14 school board selected Mapleton Public Schools to take over management of the district. The board’s decision will now go to the State Board of Education for approval.
In November, state education officials forced Adams 14 to accept an outside takeover to try to fix the district’s performance issues.
The district and its high school have for eight straight years received the two lowest ratings in Colorado’s school accountability system, which measures test results, academic growth, graduation and dropout rates, among other things.
The Adams 14 board has spent weeks reviewing applications from multiple external management organizations. But it selected the adjacent Mapleton district Tuesday.
There are 13 schools and about 7,500 students that attend Adams 14.
Teacher arrested on suspcion of sex assault.
A former Douglas County school teacher has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault of a child by a person in position of trust.
John Lucas Adkins, 27, of Lone Tree, was taken into custody Wednesday morning by Lone Tree police, according to a news release.
Adkins, who taught at Aspen View Academy, 2131 Low Meadow Blvd., in Castle Rock, is accused of touching a student inappropriately while she was in his class, according to Castle Rock police.
The academy, a charter school, serves Pre-K through Middle School students.
Adkins was being held at the Douglas County jail Wednesday pending a Thursday morning court appearance.
An investigation is ongoing. — Denver Post staff and
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