Local Briefs CLIMBER SAVED IN RESCUE IN BAD WEATHER

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK» Two hikers on Pagoda Mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park helped save the life of a fallen 34-year-old climber, providing first aid and updates to federal rescuers before a Colorado National Guard helicopter swooped in for an aerial evacuation in bad weather.

The hikers found the climber Saturday morning. They used a locator device and mobile phone to reach the RMNP Search and Rescue Team and specify where he was lying. The climber, from Berthoud, had fallen about 15 feet in difficult terrain on the mountain and had serious injuries, according to a bulletin from park service officials.

Park rescuers called for help from the Colorado National Guard. Three hours later, a helicopter reached the area, lowering a litter and a medic. National Guard crew members used a winch-operated cable to hoist the climber and medic back into the helicopter.

They flew the man to a tundra site in the Wild Basin area, where a Flight for Life helicopter could land. Crew members transferred the man to the helicopter ambulance, which then carried him to St. Anthony Hospital, park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson said.

Bad weather complicated the air rescue, Patterson said.

The help the hikers gave “was critical to the patient’s survival,” she said.

No information on the hikers was available.

Hiker dies after falling from Capitol Peak.

A climber died Sunday after falling from the east side of “knife edge” ridge on Capitol Peak, a fourteener, authorities said.

A hiker who witnessed the fall reported it to the sheriff’s office, and a deputy and volunteers with Mountain Rescue Aspen responded.

A Flight for Life Helicopter from Summit County flew rescue workers to the area, where they were able to determine that the climber did not survive.

Recovery of the body will be postponed until the weather clears, Pitkin County Deputy Michael Buglione said.

The hiker’s identity will not be released until family is notified.

Woman dies in jail; sheriff’s department investigating.

COUNTY» A WELD woman imprisoned in the Weld County jail was found dead in her cell early Sunday.

A Weld County Sheriff’s “critical incident response” team is investigating, according to a statement from Sheriff Steve Reams.

The coroner’s office notified the woman’s family, but authorities declined to identify the woman. No other information was given.

“This is a very unfortunate incident,” Reams said.

Medical marijuana dispensary owner sues county over denial of license renewal.

The owner of a recently shuttered medical marijuana center is suing El Paso County commissioners after they put one of four dispensaries in unincorporated areas out of business.

Shane Zacher’s attorneys filed a complaint last month asking a judge to review the board’s 3-2 vote May 30 to deny a license renewal for his dispensary, New Horizons. Zacher’s lawyers argue that the board abused its power, its judgment on several “minor” violations that were corrected.

“It was like getting shut down for a parking ticket,” said Zacher, who opened New Horizons in 2010. “I don’t think that’s right.”

Last year, inspectors

Sfrom Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division found that New Horizons’ plant inventory was inaccurate, the center exceeded its allowed plant count by five and many of its plants were labeled improperly. Another inspecbasing tion in May found more violations, including an outdated access log and vegetation room record and a glitch in the security system preventing cameras from monitoring the sales area.