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Many may be excluded in new autism definition. »4A
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Students’ sore wallets — and backs — may find a break in textbooks for the iPad. » 11B
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Online today: How young is too young to learn to ski? Join in on the discussion. »milehighmamas.com
Review: Sentence disappoints victims Neenan school at risk “
“I didn’t take into account the disparity of power. … Am I a pig? Yes.” Myrl Serra, former 7th Judicial District attorney
After a structural engineering firm’s warning, the San Luis Valley building will be evacuated with 25mph winds. By Eric Gorski The Denver Post
Myrl Serra, center, reacts to a judge’s ruling during his sentencing hearing in his sexualabuse case Thursday in Montrose, while his attor neys, Peter Albani, left, and M. Colin Bresee, listen. Pool photo by Nate Wick, Montrose Daily Press
Former 7th District Attorney Myrl Serra gets 4 years of probation and 60 days in county jail instead of spending several years in prison.
CAM PA I G N 2012
A San Luis Valley school, already plagued with other structural issues, has crafted an evac uation plan after an outside engineer ques tioned the building’s ability to withstand winds common to the area. Students will not be allowed in Sargent Ju niorHigh School near Monte Vista if winds ex ceed 25 mph before repairs are completed in the next week as scheduled, officials said. An independent review by Greenwood Vil lagebased structural engineers Jirsa Hedrick found inadequate connections between the roof and walls in the gym and auditorium — endan gering the entire building. “It’s frustrating,” said Philip Compton, the Sar gent superintendent. “… There is a sense right now of, ‘Did we really get what you paid for?’ ” The Neenan Co., which designed and built the school, has agreed to pay for the repairs and car ry them out using the outside firm’s designs. Escalating problems at Sargent are the latest blow to Fort Collinsbased Neenan, which has been under scrutiny after similar reviews found
By Nancy Lofholm The Denver Post
Newt Gingrich, with wife Callista on Thursday in South Carolina, has the momentum among the GOP field, recent polls show. Joe Raedle, Getty Images
Gingrich denies exwife’s claim; Romney loses Iowa, endorsement By David Espo The Associated Press
north charleston, s.c.» The race for the Republican presidential nomination is veering toward South Carolina surreal. Mitt Romney was stripped of his Iowa caucus victory Thursday, then was stung by Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s withdrawal and endorsement of Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker
SCHOOL » 10A
montrose» One victim sat in the back of the Montrose courtroom and sobbed when a judge handed former 7th Ju dicial District Attorney Myrl Serra a sentence of four years’ probation for what she had just testified was a threeyear run of sexual abuse that caused her “pain and sickness that I have no words to express.” The probation, along with two months in the county jail, hewed to the wishes of defense attorneys and of Serra’s family and friends in the packed courtroom. It left others frustrated that Serra, who used his top prosecutor’s office as his sexual playground, received far less than the 15 years in prison he faced. Special prosecutor Robert Shapiro, who had asked for eight years in prison, put the best face on it following the sentenc ing. Serra’s sexoffender probation will be “rigorous, invasive and inyourface,” he said. “He will be watched like a hawk.” Defense attorney Colin Bresee said the sentence was ap propriate because Serra was treated like any other defen dant in a misdemeanor sexoffense case. “Myrl didn’t ask for and he didn’t receive any special SERRA » 13A
who was stunningly accused in turn by an exwife of seeking an open marriage so he could keep his mistress. “Newt’s not perfect, but who among us is?” asked Perry, abruptly quitting the race shortly before an evening de bate and less than 48 hours before the polls open in Saturday’s firstinthe South primary. His decision to end a oncepromis
LOGAN RESPONDS Fired Mullen High football coach Dave Logan says he isn’t accused of wrongdoing: “I had heard, but I did not know, that my name was not on the violation.’’ »6C
GOP » 8A
Cantaloupefarm owner fined for unclean motel Eric Jensen rented unsanitary rooms to migrants, federal authorities say. By Jennifer Brown The Denver Post
The owner of a Colorado cantaloupe farm linked to a listeria outbreak that caused 30 deaths is now in trouble with another federal agency, this time for allegedly housing migrant workers in a dirty and neglected motel. Eric Jensen, owner of Jensen Farms near Holly, was fined $4,250 by the U.S. Department of Labor after federal authorities found he rented unsani tary rooms to migrant workers. The rooms were overcrowded and had no beds and no windows that opened, the department said Thursday. Jensen owns the Gateway Motel, which is not open to the public, and rented rooms to migrant workers for about $25 a week. None of the work JENSEN » 12A
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