Remembering the Big Thompson Canyon Flooding of 1976

A generation ago: Big Thompson Canyon Flooding of 1976
Wikipedia article

Excerpt:

On July 31, 1976, during the celebration of Colorado's centennial, the Big Thompson Canyon was the site of a devastating flash flood that swept down the steep and narrow canyon, claiming the lives of 143 people, 5 of whom were never found. This flood was triggered by a nearly stationary thunderstorm near the upper section of the canyon that dumped 300 millimeters (12 inches) of rain in less than 4 hours (more than 3/4 of the average annual rainfall for the area). Little rain fell over the lower section of the canyon, where many of the victims were. Around 9 p.m., a wall of water more than 6 meters (20 ft) high raced down the canyon at about 6 m/s (14 mph), destroying 400 cars, 418 houses and 52 businesses and washing out most of U.S. Route 34.[5] This flood was more than 4 times as strong as any in the 112-year record available in 1976, with a discharge of 1,000 cubic meters per second (35,000 ft³/s).

Comment: We've driven down that canyon

John cHickenlooper: Colorado's "chicken governor" and the Chuck-E-Cheese killer

1993 article

Colorado governor blasted for death-penalty reprieve in Chuck E. Cheese murders

Excerpt:

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is under fire for his decision to block the execution of man convicted of massacring four people at a Chuck E. Cheese in Aurora, Colo., two decades ago.

The Democrat has vowed not to sign a death warrant for Nathan Dunlap as long as he's in office, even though he declined to back an outright repeal of capital punishment two months ago.

Hickenlooper's decision on Dunlap — a day before lawyers for Aurora movie-theater massacre suspect James Holmes were due in court to challenge the death-penalty statute — infuriated some victims' relatives and law-enforcement officials.

"He should die," former Aurora Police Officer Dan Jones, who was the first to arrive at Chuck E. Cheese the night of Dec. 14, 1993, told NBC station KUSA.

"What he did was horrific. And now 20 years later...the governor passes the buck."

Bob Crowell, whose 19-year-old daughter Sylvia was one of those killed, called Hickenlooper a "chicken governor."

"We've waited an awful long time," Crowell said after a heated conference call with the governor on Wednesday. "It's a little like carrying a knife in my back. Today, that night was severely twisted." 

Colorado has had the death penalty since 1977, although only one person has been put to death since then and there are just three on Death Row.

Comment: It's time for justice for the slain!

Wells Fargo tops in Colorado Market Share

U.S. Bank ranks third in Colorado deposits, passing JPMorgan Chase

 Excerpt:

In the back-and-forth battle for depositors in Colorado, U.S. Bank overtook JPMorgan Chase for third-best on a list perennially topped by Wells Fargo Bank, according to a federal survey. Though Wells' market share slipped to just under 25 percent, it still held the lion's share of deposits in the state — $24.7 billion as of June 30 — more than double the amounts held by FirstBank branches, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. analysis released last week shows. Coloradans continued to head toward banks, increasing deposits by about four percent from last year and 16 percent from 2009. The real battle is for third place, between U.S. Bank and Chase. No bank below them holds more than a 3.6 percent share. U.S. Bank overtook Chase, registering a 9.7 percent market share in Colorado — 12.5 in Denver alone — a significant uptick from the 8.6 percent it held last year.

Comment: Kathee started at the former United Bank of Colorado (acquired by Norwest). I started at Norwest. We moved to Minnesota in 1996.

Boulder: Cougars in the carport

Colorado cougars routinely traverse urban areas, study finds

Excerpt:

Tracking data also detail AF69's move that week from foothills north of Boulder Canyon to a neighborhood where she killed a young buck, which she cached under a conifer tree near a house, covering it with landscaping mulch and pine needles.

"The interesting thing is that she's living in these neighborhoods but she is rarely seen," Alldredge said. "By and large, this cat is making a living in the urban-exurban environment. She's killing deer. She's doing the best she can in this area where she was born and raised. Part of the city is her home range."

The growing body of research on how AF69 and other cougars survive as Colorado's human population expands includes a case where a cougar cached a deer carcass in a suburban carport under a Chevy Blazer.

Comment: For Bikebubba - former Boulder resident! (See map w the article)

Wells Fargo: Signage change in Colorado for Wachovia

Hey, Colorado, welcome aboard the stagecoach!

Excerpt:

It's official: Most Wachovia customers in Colorado are now Wells Fargo customers, following the weekend's state-wide conversion! (Those who aren't yet, don't worry — you'll convert at a later time. We're being very deliberate in order to provide you with best customer experience possible.)

Comment: with before and after at the Boulder location.

Wells Fargo Wachovia Colorado conversion

We’re ready: a Colorado reminder

Excerpt:

This weekend Wells Fargo and Wachovia are combining banking operations in Colorado — 19 Wachovia stores in Colorado will convert and re-open as Wells Fargo stores on Monday morning!

Comment: The first state of many! Kathee worked all weekend (and is still working)

Tiff taught me that

Slain Colo. missionary mourned in Minn

Excerpts:

"She always told me, 'Dad, you think you can control things, but you can't. The Lord controls things,'" her father, Tom Johnson, told mourners. "I'd like to ask all of you to—instead of saying 'I love you' on the telephone to your children—to look them in the eye and say 'I love you'—because Tiff taught me that."


Johnson was born in nearby Hibbing and graduated from Hibbing High School and Normandale Community College in Bloomington, near Minneapolis.


One of Johnson's goals had been to help needy children in developing countries. John Mark, a missionary leader at Cedar Valley Church in Bloomington, called her a "beautiful and extraordinary lady."


"She was the type of person who would do anything you asked her to do," Mark said. "If you don't have love for Tiffany, something is wrong with your heart."


The Rev. Dave Oler of First Assembly of God Church in Hibbing officiated at the funeral.


"Jesus took Tiffany's life and blessed it and transformed it, and spread it out to the entire world," said Oler. "This world needs more Tiffany Johnsons—more people that would let God love them."


Comment: My thoughts and prayers are with the families touched by the church shootings in Colorado. Not mentioned in this article: The Work family lost 2 young daughters in the Colorado Springs' killings.

More from the Star Tribune: Praise for Chisholm woman killed by gunman in Colorado

Grandmother, Betty Holmquist of Little Canada, said Johnson gave her life to Jesus at an evangelistic event at the Target Center. “It was powerful,” she said. “They weren’t cheering for the Timberwolves, they were cheering for Jesus. We were sitting in the balcony, and when they were done speaking, we asked her if she wanted to go down to the floor. She said, 'I’ll go with you if you go with me.’ ”

God raised up a defender!

Image By David Zalubowski, Associated Press

Diatribe foretold horror

Excerpt:

"You christians brought this on yourselves," Murray writes in his 452-word harangue. "I'm coming for EVERYONE soon and I WILL be armed to the @#%$ teeth and I WILL shoot to kill.

Security Guard: 'God Guided Me And Protected Me'

Excerpt:

Assam said she was ending three days of fasting on Sunday when fate put her in the path of the gunman.

"I was praying to God that he direct me" in what to do in life, Assam said. "God made me strong."


Comment: We had a brief discussion at the home front last night about self-defense. I believe that it is Biblical to defend oneself. I see this in Luke 22:36, "Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one". What do you think?

Minneapolis connection (from the Star Tribune today):

Ex-Minneapolis cop hailed as hero in Colorado shootings


The guard -- former Minneapolis police officer Jeanne Assam -- said Monday that she prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide her, and that her hands never shook.

"It seemed like it was me, the gunman and God," she said.

New Life Pastor Brady Boyd called Assam, who is normally his personal security guard, a "hero" whose actions averted further bloodshed.

"There could have been a great loss of life ... and she probably saved over 100 lives," he said.

Assam, a church member, said she took cover as Murray opened fire at New Life, a 14,000-member evangelical megachurch, about 1 p.m. Sunday, while hundreds of worshipers were leaving. She said she leaped up and identified herself, and when Murray did not respond, fired.

Assam, who moved to Colorado in 2000 after being fired from the Minneapolis police department in the late 1990s, said she had been on the third day of a three-day fast, praying to God to provide direction for her life. "I knew I was given the assignment to end this," she said. "I give the credit to God."

Though the shooter had more firepower -- Assam had a handgun, while Murray wielded a high-powered rifle -- God kept her safe, she said.

Before she went to church, Assam read on the Internet about the shootings earlier at the Youth With a Mission Center in the Denver suburb of Arvada. There, two people were killed, including Tiffany Johnson of Chisholm, Minn. Two, including Charles Blanch, 22, of Burnsville, were wounded.

She prayed for the safety of her own church family. Hours later, she confronted Murray.

Cool heroism

Vietnam vet among Springs wounded

Excerpts:

A Vietnam veteran is among the survivors, hit by gunfire at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Larry Bourbannais, 59, was eating a hamburger in the cafeteria on the church campus when he heard gunfire, said his daughter, Sherry Smith. Bourbannais headed in the direction of the shots as frightened people ran past him looking to escape to safety. "Where's the shooter, where's the shooter," my dad kept yelling, Smith said.

....

Bourbannais came upon the gunman near an entry way in a building and yelled at him to draw his attention, Smith said. That's when the shooter pointed a handgun at Bourbannais and fired, she said. Bourbannais had ducked behind a hollow, decorative pillar and was hit in the arm by the bullet and fragments of the pillar.

At about that moment, a woman with a drawn handgun turned a corner and walked toward the gunman and yelled "Surrender," Smith said. When the gunman pointed his weapon at the woman, she fired at him and kept walking toward him as she continued firing, Smith said.

"My dad said it was the bravest thing he had ever seen," Smith said.

The woman fired off about 10 to 12 shots as she kept walking toward the shooter.

Comment: The Pastor of New Life Church claims that this heroism "probably saved over 100 lives"!

Updated with more below:

Guard's hands "didn't even shake" as she shot gunman

Excerpts:


The guard who saved untold lives at New Life Church gives credit to God for giving her cover, and boosting her firepower as she shot a heavily-armed gunman.

"I give credit to God. I say that very humbly," said Jeanne Assam. "God was with me, the whole time I was behind cover. Based on the firepower he had, compared to mine."

"It seemed like it was me, the gunman and God," Assam said.
....
"I heard shots fired, there was chaos," she said. "There was a lot of people in the church. People were running away from shots fired.

"I saw him coming through the doors, and I took cover, and I waited for him to get closer...I identified myself, engaged him, and took him down."

She spoke unemotionally, but the first words she said were in tribute to the victims.

"I just want you to know it's an honor to be here and I want to extend my sympathy to the families of the victims and of the gunman. And I mean that very sincerely," she said.

"I just prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide me my hands weren't even shaking."

Comment: The shooter had multiple weapons and 1,000 rounds of ammunition: Details on the shooter

Really want to 'get away' ... REALLY GET AWAY

Colorado has 'most remote' area in U.S.

Then here's the place: Hinsdale County, Colorado

Excerpt from the Denver Post article:

The southwest Colorado county, the U.S. Geological Survey says, has more wild and roadless land per capita than anywhere else in the contiguous U.S.

Kings County, N.Y. - better known as Brooklyn - has the least roadless land per capita.

Hinsdale also is one of the few places a person can wander more than 10 miles from a road, according to the study in today's edition of the journal Science.

Google Map: Hinsdale County, CO

Comment: I would prefer to live there than Brooklyn! Large image of above map (Denver metro: 1937 vs. 1997)