COLORADO

Owens signs bill limiting police confiscation

Gov. Bill Owens on Friday signed a bill that will cut back on law enforcement agencies' ability to take ownership of property belonging to suspected criminals.

House Bill 1404, sponsored by Rep. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, and Sen. Bill Thiebaut, D-Pueblo, was proposed to curb a process Mitchell called unfair.

Previously, law enforcement agencies could take ownership of suspected criminals' property through civil forfeiture, and the agencies could benefit from proceeds of the sale of the property.

Under the new law, which takes effect July 1, a criminal conviction would be required in most cases before property could be taken through forfeiture, and prosecutors would have to meet a higher standard of proof to confiscate property.

Proceeds from the property will no longer go to the agency that seized the property. Instead, they would be distributed to innocent co-owners, victims, drug and alcohol treatment programs and others.

Anything left after that would go to law-enforcement programs.

Ice core documents major historic events

In a long ice core pulled from a Wyoming glacier, researchers from Denver and Boulder see signatures of the California Gold Rush, huge volcanic eruptions and the accelerated industrial activity of World War II.

Twenty times more mercury settled down onto the planet's surface after industrialization than before, according to a new study by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey.

Paul Schuster and his colleagues measured levels of the toxic metal in an ice core as deep as two football fields are long, representing 270 years. They found deposits associated with the eruptions of Krakatau in 1883 and Tambora in 1815, as well as heavy deposits from the Gold Rush — miners used mercury to process gold — and industrial production associated with the war.

The new results appear in this month's issue of Environmental Science and Technology.

DENVER

State under drought disaster designation

Colorado's 64 counties have been designated federal disaster areas because of the ongoing drought in what farmers are calling the worst dryness in half a century.

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman on Thursday added 58 counties to Kit Carson, Phillips, Clear Creek, Denver, Gilpin and San Juan counties, which were on previous lists.

The designation makes farmers eligible for low-interest loans as long as they meet eligibility requirements. Loans will depend on extent of losses, security and the ability to repay the loans.

"It's just bone dry. This year is going to be shot for both livestock and crops," said Ray Christensen, executive vice president of the Colorado Farm Bureau.

Man arrested on suspicion of sex assault

A man who briefly served as an Episcopal priest nearly 40 years ago has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault on a child.

Donald Shissler, 69, was arrested this week and was being held on $50,000 bail at the Denver Jail.

"We do not know how many children he might be involved with," police spokeswoman Virginia Lopez said Friday. "But we definitely know it was not an isolated incident. This was not a one-time situation."

Lopez said police seized hundreds of pornographic pictures and videos from Shissler's house.

Camera Staff Writer Katy Human and wire services contributed to this report.

June 1, 2002

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