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Vail science school aims to be greenest STATE, A2
Gunfire, bombs reported in Jamaica slum WORLD, A6
Be in the know about area activities LOCAL, A10
Five named to NASCAR Hall of Fame SPORTS, B1
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Today’s quick ’cast
Isolated thunderstorms. FULL FORECAST, PAGE B7
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No. 144
M O N DAY, M AY 2 4 , 2 0 1 0
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L O N G M O N T, C O L O R A D O
‘A change’: City sales tax revenue up By Rachel Carter Longmont Times-Call
LONGMONT — The last time the city’s sales tax revenue went up was in August. Of 2008. At least, that was until March’s numbers came in. Sales tax revenue for March increased 4.1 per-
cent over the same month last year. “That’s surprising,” city finance director Jim Golden said. “It’s definitely a change from what we’ve been seeing.” A change from what the city has been seeing for nearly two years: falling or flat sales tax revenue.
Use tax revenue also rose 8.2 percent over March 2009; that follows a slight increase in use tax revenue in February. “It was the second strong month for use tax; that’s one thing that stands out,” Golden said. All told, March’s tax revenue rose 4.1 percent from the same month last year. The city collect-
ed about $150,000 more in sales and use tax revenue in March than last year: $3.72 million, up from $3.57 million in March 2009. “We’re hoping that this is an indication that we’ve plateaued,” Golden said. However, year to date, revenue is still slightly down from the first quarter of last year (which al-
ready had dropped drastically from 2008). Total sales and use tax through March decreased 0.5 percent from the first quarter of 2009. “(But) our overall outcome after three months is pretty close to being on target for what we budgeted for revenue,” Golden said. Please see TAX on A9
Salazar: BP has missed deadline
PROGRAM TURNS TECH-SAVVY STUDENTS INTO TEACHERS
By Ashley Powers and Richard Fausset Los Angeles Times
NEW ORLEANS — The unified public-private response to the Gulf of Mexico oil leak showed more signs of strain Sunday as members of the Obama administration bashed BP’s progress even as they MORE ON acknowledged they SPILL: Palin have to rely on the oil giant’s equipment and suggests Obama’s oil ties expertise to plug its are hindering blown-out well. cleanup A9 In one of the harshest government condemnations of the petroleum giant to date, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said BP had blown “deadline after deadline,” and had not “fulfilled the mission it was supposed to fulfill.” “I am angry and I am frustrated that BP has been unable to stop this oil from leaking and to stop the pollution from spreading,” Salazar said at a Houston news conference. “We are 33
Morgan Varon/Times-Call
Meng Koh, 16, and other students with Skyline’s STEM program get trained by Rachel Campbell, the customer service manager at RidgeviewTel in Longmont, on May 17 for the For the Students, By the Students program, a grassroots movement toward bringing students into a digitally connected future. “I’m not really a computer guy yet,” said Koh, a junior at Skyline High School.
CROSSING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
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Please see BP on A9
Bikes in Colorado National Monument worry officials The Associated Press
For The Students, By The Students hopes to expand its program to other schools in an attempt to help students access the Internet to aid in learning and advancing skills necessary for the “real world.”
By Magdalena Wegrzyn Longmont Times-Call
ONGMONT — Patrick Coniway grew up with technology. The Skyline High School junior designed his first website when he was 12 years old. At 16, he writes his own software programs and runs a site to share his work. News Link Now he’s part of a team Find out more that will help other stuabout this topic dents navigate new techby visiting: nology. www.ftsbts.org. For the Students, By the Students — or FTSBTS — is a new pro-
COLORADO NATIONAL MONUMENT — The exhilaration of racing downhill amid red rocks is drawing a burst of bicyclists to Colorado National Monument, but officials say the landmark’s roads weren’t designed for the traffic that comes with the thrill-seekers. Bicyclists to the western Colorado landmark were up 31 percent from 2008 to 2009, when there were 13,347 bicycle visits. This year could see more than 16,000 visits, beginning with next month, when some 2,000 participants of Ride the Rockies will head up and over the monument, starting at its east side.
Please see DIVIDE on A9
Please see BIKES on A9
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