Posts tagged business
Boulder Police investigating attempted robbery at Ace Cash Express
Sep 6th
Police artist sketch of robbery suspect
Still on the Loose!
Police are searching for a male suspect who tried to rob a clerk at the Ace Cash Express at 3350 Arapahoe Ave. a little after 10:00 a.m. today.
The suspect approached the clerk and began a transaction. The female clerk was working behind protective glass and as she reached for his money through the small opening in the glass, the suspect grabbed her fingers and held on to her, demanding the cash she had been counting for him.
The suspect was bending the victim’s fingers back toward the glass during this conversation. She could not free herself from his grip, but he let go suddenly when he saw an unidentified male walk past the windows outside of the business. The suspect then ran away on foot, westbound on Arapahoe Ave.
A sketch of the suspect is attached. The suspect is described as:
· White male in his early 40s
· Curly, light-brown hair that was combed back, curly below the jaw line and in back
· 5’5”
· Medium build
· Wearing green shorts; shorts had either paint or drywall mud or bleach on them
· Dull white T-shirt
Police conducted a search of nearby businesses and a sweep of the bike path, but were unable to locate the suspect.
Paramedics checked the victim’s hand at the scene and it does not appear that she was seriously injured.
Anyone with information about this attempted robbery or who may recognize the suspect is asked to contact Detective Heather Frey at 303-441-3369. Those who have information but wish to remain anonymous may contact the Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or 1-800-444-3776. Tips can also be submitted through the Crime Stoppers website at www.crimeshurt.com. Those submitting tips through Crime Stoppers that lead to the arrest and filing of charges on a suspect(s) may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000 from Crime Stoppers.
— CITY–
Boulder Police chief Mark Beckner asks media vampires to “would you Please!”
Aug 24th
In the late 1990s then police chief Tom Koby tried to reel the news media in over their frenzy feed coverage of the JonBennet murder. It back fired. Mark Beckner is all to aware of that episode and is cautious to repeat the tenor of that kind of reprimand. We did many Jann Scott Live TV shows about the news media rape of Boulder during that time.
One recommendation we have to Chief Beckner is for the Boulder PD to put up Media information on their website. The following is Mark Beckners’ letter to the media:
Dear members of the media:
As you know, we are a mid-size agency in a college town with lots of activity that tends to draw media attention. Unfortunately, we only have one PIO. While we take our media relationships, opportunities and responsibilities seriously, it is not reasonable to ask or expect one person to be on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We have established some guidelines in the past with previous PIO’s and identified procedures the media should follow in getting updates or information after hours. Over time, and as turnover has occurred, these procedures have not been utilized. Although not new, I’d like to remind everyone of what these procedures are.
- · Our PIO is generally available (303-441-3370) and happy to help you with all your inquiries during normal working hours (M-F, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm, with the exception of holidays and vacation). If you would like an update on a major case, we request that you call toward the end of the normal work day (M-F, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm) to obtain the latest information, rather than waiting until the evening hours to call. If not immediately available during business hours, our PIO will get back to you as soon as possible.
- · If you have routine questions or want some information on something that has happened or is happening after hours, the proper procedure is to call our dispatch center at 303-441-3333. Dispatch will field your request and forward it to an on-duty supervisor who will get back to you as soon as he/she can. Calling our PIO after hours is not helpful, as she is unlikely to have immediate access to the information.
- · We recommend that weekend reporters look ahead for stories they may wish to cover on the weekends and conduct any necessary interviews in advance. Unless something new develops or assistance is requested by an incident commander, our PIO will not be available for standup interviews to help media organizations catch up on stories that occurred during the work week.
- · Should we have a major event or major crime develop after hours that we know will attract a lot of immediate media attention, or there is a public safety need to get the information out quickly, the incident commander will contact our PIO to assist with providing you with information in a timely manner. This may occur in the form of a press release and phone interviews or the PIO responding to the scene. If the PIO is not available, someone will be assigned to act as a PIO for the particular incident, usually a Sergeant or Commander
- · If you need a copy of a closed or cleared report, you may contact our Records and Information Services unit (RIS) at 303-441-3300. This number may be called at any time of day as RIS is typically available 24 hours a day (except some holidays). RIS is the only unit that can release reports. Calling the PIO for a copy of a report can actually take more time, as she has to relay the request to RIS for processing. The RIS staff will be able to tell you if the report is available to the public. Reports on open investigations are generally not available to the public. Our PIO can answer questions about individual cases or provide general information, but is not expected to read case reports to
reporters over the phone.
Please know that it is unlikely that an after-hours on-duty supervisor will be able to give you updates on cases being investigated by detectives or those that occurred on a previous shift. For these situations, it is best to check in with the PIO during regular hours. If something new should happen in one of these types of cases after hours and immediate release of this information is necessary, the detective commander will contact the PIO and ask her to alert you
We are committed to be as informative as possible and we greatly appreciate the opportunity to work with you on communicating important public safety information. These procedures are intended to help meet your needs while recognizing the staffing limitations of our department.
Please let me know if you have any questions about these procedures. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
Mark R. Beckner
Chief of Police
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder council moves ahead on municipalization questions; final vote scheduled for Aug. 16
Aug 3rd
City Council took a significant vote last night on the question of how residents and businesses will get their electricity in the future. Council refined, and then unanimously approved, ballot language that will ask voters on Nov. 1 to give the city authority to create a local electric utility.
One final vote on this issue is scheduled for Aug. 16, but council has indicated this can go on the consent agenda, so no significant changes are anticipated.
The approved ballot language includes several provisions that place limitations on the authority to issue bonds and chart out clear citizen involvement and representation on an advisory board to guide future decisions. These include:
A provision that rates cannot exceed those offered by the current provider, Xcel Energy, on the date that the city purchases the system from Xcel;
Guiding principles for the municipal utility, once established, that make rate parity and the city’s commitment to lowering greenhouse gas emissions key factors in future ratemaking and operations decisions;
A commitment to a nine-member advisory board, appointed by City Council, with staggered five-year terms; the board can include up to four non-residents (to allow for involvement of business owners and employees of businesses that pay electric bills within city limits), and council will seek broad, but not rigidly defined, representation of customer classes; and lastly,
A guarantee that the city will cover taxes that would have been paid to the Boulder Valley School District as well as a mechanism to allow for the payment of similar taxes to other governmental entities.
Each of these issues is covered in the ballot language and accompanying ordinance for the first of two measures voters will be asked to consider.
The second, related question will ask voters to approve an increase in the Utility Occupation Tax that Xcel currently collects from customers. This increase is necessary to fund legal and engineering costs the city will incur while working to determine a final price to purchase Xcel’s system. The tax, which would raise up to $1.9 million a year, would last either until Dec. 13, 2017, or until the city makes a decision about whether or not to proceed with buying the system, whichever occurs first. The idea of the tax is to provide the funding for the period before the city could actually launch a utility without having to move forward on issuing bonds. This period is expected to last three to six years.
“This is an exciting time for Boulder, and it was very satisfying to see council come to some important conclusions last night,” said Mayor Susan Osborne. “The language that we expect to go before voters includes carefully thought out opportunities and limitations that address both the city’s economic and environmental objectives. Although there are still some differences of opinion on council, we are unanimous that it is time to ask voters to play their part in charting out our future.”
More details, including specific ballot language and staff memos to council, are available at http://www.boulderenergyfuture.com. A complete broadcast of the council meeting is available for viewing under http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/channel8 under the Council Archives menu item.
