HEADED TO COLORADO?
SIX NEW TAKES ON FAVORITE HOLIDAY COOKIES »food, 1D
State may set standard for fracking-fluid disclosure. »5B
Blagojevich may serve time at U.S. lockup in Jeffco. »denver & the west, 1B
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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2011
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Online photo galleries» View the best images from a news-filled 2011. » denverpost.com/captured
Bank-card cap backfires on small shops New credit- and debit-card fee limits have banks taking a bigger bite out of inexpensive purchases. By David Migoya The Denver Post
It took about five minutes and a dozen customers before a lunch patron handed Su-Lin Hsieh cash for an order. It used to be different. But in a world where plastic is now king, it’s also why small businesses are feeling the pinch. A new federal law intended to reduce costs for businesses that accept debit cards for inexpensive purchases
— coffee shops and convenience stores, among them — is affecting small operations such as Hsieh’s family-owned lunch counter in downtown Denver. Monthly processing costs on credit and debit charges are shooting up rather than down, an unintended consequence of legislation that capped the amount card companies could charge merchants. “If they keep raising the fees, then
we’ll have no choice but to raise our prices,” said Hsieh, whose Chinja business is probably the most popular counter at the food-court space beneath Republic Plaza along the 16th Street Mall. Last month, the business saw interchange fees eat up about 3.8 percent of revenue, Hsieh said. Next month, she said she’s expecting it to top 4 percent — or worse. “But without accepting credit and debit cards, we couldn’t stay in business,” a difficult thought after 17 years in the same location, she said.
NTSB seeks cellphone ban when car’s moving The effort cites increasing accident rates as a reason to bar even hands-free devices.
The National Transportation Safety Board recommended Tuesday that drivers be prohibited from using hand-held and portable electronic devices in automobiles, a ban that would include cellphone usage, even with hands-free devices. Citing increasing accident rates as the motivation, NTSB chairwoman Deborah A.P. Hersman said she realized the recommended ban might be unpopular with the public but added that “no call, no text, no update is worth a human life.” “This is a difficult recommendation, but it’s the right recommendation and it’s time,” she said. The NTSB said the only exceptions to the ban would be using a cellphone in emergency situations or GPS navigation devices.
Card companies are capped at charging 22 cents for each debit- or credit-card transaction; previously, it was an average of about 42 cents. They also used to charge a lower rate for smaller transactions — on average about 5 or 6 cents each — but now the charge is closer to 22 cents.
FEES » 15A
BACK ON A BOARD
DI ST R A CTE D D RIVE RS
By Anthony Cotton The Denver Post
Fee changes
On Dec. 31, 2009, snowboarder Kevin Pearce suffered a traumatic brain injury in an accident during practice that left him in a coma. Now, nearly two years later and after extensive physical therapy at Craig Hospital in Englewood, he is back on a snowboard. Pearce and his friends hit the slopes in Breckenridge on Tuesday. And while the four-time X Games medalist will never ride competitively again, just being back on the board was “the ride of a lifetime.” »1C
R EV IEW O F N EEN A N W O R K
More school fixes on tap Buildings in Craig and Akron are the latest where structural problems have been found. By Eric Gorski and David Olinger The Denver Post
Structural deficiencies have been discovered at two more schools constructed by the Neenan Co., new evidence that inspections of the company’s work are unearthing a pattern of problems at schools built by the company statewide. In Moffat County in northwestern Colorado, a wing of 2-year-old Craig Middle School was closed to students this week after a structural analysis found it failed to meet building codes. The superintendent, Joe Petrone, wrote that he made the decision “to reduce the risk to all students,” even though the engineering firm that conducted the review does “not believe the structure is dangerous.” And on the other side of the state, in Akron, a school under construction with help from a $17 million state grant needs foundation work and other strengthening after a thirdparty review requested by the state. SCHOOLS » 14A
M ED IC A L M A R IJ U A N A
Another case against a doctor tossed in court
PHONE » 15A
By John Ingold The Denver Post
NATION
TIMEOUT CALLED ON $1 COIN OUTPUT More than a billion one-dollar coins are going unused and piling up in bank vaults, so the U.S. Mint will all but halt production of its special presidential dollar coins. »6A
At Breckenridge on Tuesday, professional snowboarder Kevin Pearce returns to the slopes for the first time since suffering a near-death injury while training for the Vancouver Olympics.
For the second time this year, a judge has tossed out a criminal case against a doctor accused of writing bad medical-marijuana recommendations to undercover police officers. Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos Samour dismissed the case against Dr. Manuel Aquino-Villaman following a hearing Friday. Samour said Aquino-Villaman’s actions were lawful under the Colorado Constitution, according to a court summary of the hearing. He also said the charges should be dropped because officials failed to preserve key evidence. Aquino-Villaman had been charged with felony conspiracy to distribute marijuana, in addition to forgery and
Photos by Jack Dempsey, The Associated Press
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