Presidential campaigns hit Colorado hard this week

COLORADO SPRINGS — On the eve of the start of early voting at polling places in Colorado, Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan told a crowd of close to 1,000 Sunday that the election could hinge on the state.

"Please remember, Colorado, you can decide," a hoarse-voiced Ryan said, giving a nod to the state's status as one of the few toss-ups in the election. "You have within the palm of your voting hand the ability to shape the future for this country and your kids."

Ryan's remarks, inside an airplane hangar at the Colorado Springs airport, fired the metaphorical starting gun on a four-day presidential-campaign scramble across the state. Between Sunday and Wednesday, members of the GOP or Democratic tickets will hold six campaign events in all four of the state's quadrants.

On Monday, Ryan is scheduled to hit a trifecta of rallies in Pueblo West, Durango and Grand Junction before heading back to the Front Range. On Tuesday, he and GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney will hold a moonlit rally at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, in what could be a capstone to their campaign in Colorado. There are whispers in the campaign about high-profile musical acts appearing alongside the Republican candidates. The campaign expects the event to fill the more than 9,000-seat amphitheater.

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama will have a dramatic photo op of his own, holding a rally in Denver's City Park with the downtown skyline as a backdrop.

The reason for the burst of interest is early voting in Colorado, which is now in full swing. Mail-in ballots started going out to voters last Monday — roughly 70 percent of Colorado's active voters are permanent mail-in voters. Meanwhile, early voting at polling places begins on Monday. All told, the majority of Colorado voters are expected to cast a ballot before Election Day even arrives.

That means, after months of persuading and motivating and rallying, both campaigns are now hoping to begin banking their votes.

Following separate Monday press events promoting early voting, Gov. John Hickenlooper and U.S. Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet will cast their ballots at early voting locations. In a campaign stop in Greeley last week, Vice President Joe Biden also urged voters to cast a ballot early.

Though the Republicans did not make such an implicit push at Sunday's Ryan rally, the urgency of the campaign hung over the crowd.

"We have 15 days," University of Colorado Regent Kyle Hybl told the crowd at the Colorado Springs rally Sunday evening. "In this 15 days is the destiny of our country and what sort of institution we leave to our children and our grandchildren."

Ryan's speech hit on familiar themes to Colorado voters now accustomed to campaign appearances and ads. He said, if elected, he and Romney would reduce the deficit and balance the federal budget. He spoke about strengthening the armed forces, a popular promise in military-rich Colorado Springs. And he talked about boosting domestic energy production.

"This is about more than just jobs," he said. "This is about the kind of country we're going to leave our kids."

And, he made clear where he and Romney believe voters should lay their frustrations with Washington.

"If he can't change Washington," Ryan said of Obama, as the crowd cheered in approval, "then I say we change presidents."

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Searchers find body of missing Leadville fisherman in Turquoise Lake

Searchers have found the body of a man who disappeared while fishing at Turquoise Lake on Saturday, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Anthony Pacheco, 55, of Leadville, left his home at about 8 a.m. with his dog to go fishing on the lake, said Lisa Burke, a Sheriff's spokeswoman. "I understand it was very windy," on the lake.

His family reported him missing at 10:57 p.m. when he didn't return home Saturday. Lake County Search and Rescue personnel were then contacted and were on scene at 1:09 a.m.

Searchers earlier found a capsized flat-bottom boat on the lake.

The dog has been found alive and searchers also found two oars on an island in the lake near Leadville. They haven't confirmed that the oars belong to Pacheco.

Search and rescue units from Lake County and the Summit County Sheriff's office have been involved in the search.

Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671, tmcghee@denverpost.com or twitter.com/dpmcghee

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Aurora police think attempted abduction at bar was isolated incident

  Aurora police released details Sunday night about an attempted abduction outside a bar in the city last week, but cautioned that they believe the incident is isolated and probably unrelated to any other cases.

The incident happened at about 11:20 p.m. in the 1600 block of South Chambers Road.

A woman told police she had parked her car and was walking in the bar when two men pulled up next to her in a small, white sedan and asked for directions.

One of them got out, approached her from behind and tried to put a towel against her mouth, she said. The woman said she fought back, shoved the man down and ran inside the bar.

Both men were described as white or possibly Hispanic, "clean-cut" between 22 and 30 years old. The passenger of the white sedan was described as between 5 feet, 6 inches tall and 5 feet, 9 inches tall.

"Aurora Police have no reason to believe that this case is anyway connected to any other incidents and do believe that this is an isolated event," police said in statement Sunday night.

The Aurora Police Reward Fund is offering a reward of up to $2,000.

Anyone with information can call 303-739-6709 or Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Tips also can be sent by text to: 274637 (CRIMES) with the title DMCS.

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Police get tuft of hair from park near where Jessica Ridgeway found

A Denver TV station reported Sunday night that investigators in the Jessica Ridgeway abduction and murder had received new evidence.

Investigator Trevor Materasso of the Westminster Police Department said that "60 percent" of what Fox 31 reported Sunday night was "erroneous and bad information."

He said someone walking near the park reported finding some items, including a tuft of what appeared to be blonde hair, and called police.

Materasso said there is no indication yet whether the hair are connected to the case. "We don't even know if this is dog hair yet," he said.

"Like everything else, every tip we've gotten, it was taken and we'll take a look at it to see if it's connected," he said.

Jessica was abducted after she left home walking to school Oct. 5. Her remains were found in garbage bags 11 miles away in an open field in Arvada's Pattridge Park five days after her disappearance.

Police have received more than 4,000 tips. They urge anyone with information to call a special tips hotline at 303-658-4336.

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Man fatally wounded in incident involving Larimer County deputy

A man was killed late Friday night after he exchanged shots with a Larimer County deputy, authorities say.

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a news release by Kathy Messick, sheriff's spokeswoman.

The suspect's former girlfriend called 911 at 10:50 p.m. for help after her ex-boyfriend showed up at her home on the 100 block of Guardian Peak Drive in Glacier View, a neighborhood northwest of Fort Collins, Messick said.

She told a dispatcher she believed he had overdosed and needed medical attention.

But while deputies were still driving to the caller's home, the woman called back and said her ex-boyfriend had left her home and was armed with a gun, Messick said.

When the deputies arrived the suspect pointed his gun at them.

One shot was fired by the man and one by a deputy, according to the sheriff's office. How the man died is not clear and will be determined by the Larimer County Coroner's Office, officials said.The suspect and one of the deputies fired their guns.

Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, blogs.denverpost.com/coldcases or twitter.com/kmitchelldp

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Shooting in Colorado Springs leads to highway chase, crash on I-25

A search is ongoing in Douglas County for a driver who crashed a car fleeing from a state trooper and investigators suspect the driver was involved in a Colorado Springs shooting earlier on Saturday.

The incident started at about 7 p.m. when officers in Colorado Springs were called to the Pins and Needles Tattoo parlor, 3737 Drennan Road, on a report of shooting with a man down, according to Colorado Springs Police Department crime blotter.

Officer didn't find a victim, but they did find shell casings and the front bumper of a car that had been reported stolen in Denver.

Witnesses told police that a "rap battle" was taking place at the tattoo shop and a rapper angered people who were at the show.

Tensions flared and shots were fired, the police blotter said. Both the victim and shooter fled the scene.

A trooper spotted the car with the missing bumper on Interstate 25 northbound in the Monument area, said Sgt. Michael Baker, a Colorado State Patrol spokesman.

There were several people in the car, a green Honda, and the trooper began following it. In Douglas County, the trooper activated lights and siren in an attempt to stop the Honda, but the driver tried to speed away.

A short time later the Honda crashed near Tomah Road.

The driver fled on foot, Baker said, leaving four other people behind in the car.

The highway was shut down by the crash for a short time and the Douglas County Sheriff's Office made emergency calls to nearby residents warning them of the driver who fled.

Officers from several departments were searching for the suspect Saturday night.

The four people in the car, a 28-year-old woman from New Mexico, two 20-year-old men and a 17-year-old boy, were not injured in the crash. They're were held and questioned by investigators about the Colorado Springs shooting and the incident on the highway.

Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822, knicholson@denverpost.com or twitter.com/kierannicholson

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Thousand of zombies, mutants overtake downtown Denver

At noon Saturday, the first ravaged corpses began to roll into Skyline Park along Arapahoe Street.

By 2 p.m., thousands of scarred and bloodied "walking dead" had made downtown Denver their stronghold, marking the seventh annual Zombie Crawl along the 16th Street Mall.

To the left, an elderly gentleman's eye hung from its socket. To the right, an ax-wielding 5-year-old sought fresh blood. Zombified Big Bird and even a ferret-toting mutant marched through back alleys and business districts as the afternoon plague grew.

Though some of the most vile costumes could repulse the strongest of stomachs, everyone who trolled around the area agreed on one thing — the festive atmosphere that brought more than 10,000 undead

together was something special.

"I love to see everyone's creativity," said Danny Newman, founder of the Denver Zombie Crawl. "The costumes that come out here blow my mind every year."

The tradition began in 2006 as a way to celebrate Newman's birthday after he attended a similar event in San Francisco. It has since become one of the nation's premier gathering spots for zombie enthusiasts.

Newman said past years have set world records for the most people dressed as mutants in one place. Though no record keepers were around this year, he expected numbers to approach the 15,000 mark by the end of the day.

"I really always looked at this as a cool Denver tradition," Newman said, blood dripping from his neck as bones protruded. "You can be a dead anything. Whatever your normal Halloween costume was going to be, just throw some blood on it."

Amid the growing chaos, everyone donned disturbing garb and happily posed for photographs celebrating the subculture. Area artists were available to help bloody-up participants. Many didn't need any help, since they had planned for days — even weeks — to make their costumes perfect.

In addition to the crawl that overtook the mall, an adventure

race — the Organ Trail — sent lamebrains rushing in search of clues and completing challenges. The block party also featured a canned food drive for the Food Bank of the Rockies and the Bonfils Blood Drive.

"I think it's cool that no matter who you are or what you're doing, everyone's here to have fun," said Jessica Paulsen. She and her boyfriend, Chris Wunder, took on the role of undead newlyweds.

While Wunder's ravaged and freshly charred suit came from a thrift store earlier in the day, Paulsen's lavish and flowing dress was a remnant from a canceled wedding and a past relationship. After towing the dress behind a Jeep on an off-roading excursion, she added a few dashes of blood. By the time all was said and done, the couple defined what could only be described as a truly apocalyptic wedding.

"You get really into it," she said of the cultlike genre that has gripped the country in recent years with dark TV shows and disturbing films.

For some enthusiasts, it was a family affair of the strangest sort, involving kids as young as 2 years old and even some zombified babies in strollers.

For others such as David Anved, it was a chance to pay tribute to an upcoming end-of-the-world video-game release. From behind blood-dripping claws that extended three feet in front of him, he said it was such an amazing chance to pool together zombie-lovers and curious onlookers.

"Everybody gets together and finds something they love and can express themselves having fun with," he said between snapping photos with curious — even concerned — onlookers. "I'm having a lot of fun."

Jason Pohl: 303-954-1729, jpohl@denverpost.com or twitter.com/pohl_jason

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No. 11 USC, Matt Barkley blast Colorado 50-6

The Denver Post's sports reporters contribute analysis, notes and minutiae on this blog focussing on CU athletics.

LOS ANGELES — In a season in which Colorado's pass defense hasn't been able to stop a stiff breeze, the Buffaloes came to Southern California on Saturday afternoon and faced a hurricane. Following a script that could have been written in Hollywood and was as predictable as a bad sitcom, USC quarterback Matt Barkley and the 11th-ranked Trojans blew away the Buffaloes 50-6.

This was a sitcom at its worst. But Colorado (1-6, 1-3 Pac-12) didn't think it was very funny. Then again, the Buffs were mere props as they committed six turnovers and Barkley launched himself into the school and conference record books, if not back in the Heisman race.

He hit an amazing 19-of-20 passes for 298 yards and six touchdowns to

give him 102 for his career, breaking Matt Leinart's record of 99. The six also tied Barkley's school record for a single game — set last year in USC's 42-17 win in Boulder.

Don't be surprised to soon see a stuffed buffalo in Barkley's living room. In two games against Colorado, he is 44-of-59 for 616 yards and 12 touchdowns. On Saturday, he threw three touchdown passes in his first eight plays. His lone incompletion for the day was dropped.

He wasn't that accurate in warm -ups.

Then again, this is a recurring theme with Colorado this year. One game into the second half of the season, one common thread is found through this year.

"Definitely blown assignments, guys not doing their job," said junior safety Parker Orms, who indicated some are studying more than others. "We talked about not letting them beat us deep, to keep them in front of us, and that's what we let happen."

This game had all the trappings of the disaster that it became. CU came in 118th nationally in pass-efficiency defense, and a sellout Coliseum crowd came to christen Barkley as the new king of Trojans QBs.

Colorado welcomed back senior safety Ray Polk, out since the opener against Colorado State with a high ankle sprain.

In this game, he was just another speed bump. Receivers for USC (6-1, 4-1) were more wide open than some of the 83,274 fans left in empty sections of stands in the fourth quarter.

"Pretty rusty," Polk said. "I wasn't myself."

Symbolizing the Pompeii-level rebuilding job second-year coach Jon Embree has, covering Barkley's top target for the day, All-America receiver Robert Woods, was freshman Kenneth Crawley. A year ago, Crawley was blanketing tiny receivers in for his Washington, D.C., public school.

Barkley victimized him on the two touchdown passes that pushed Woods past Dwayne Jarrett for the school's all-time reception record. Woods went on to eight receptions for 132 yards and a school-record four TD catches. Marqise Lee added 103 more receiving yards.

Yet through all the blown assignments and video tributes to Barkley and Woods, the pass defense wasn't what stuck in Embree's ever-deepening craw the most.

"Turnovers," Embree said. "We talk about getting first downs and protecting the football. And we didn't do that. That was the disappointing thing. We've got to protect the ball."

Colorado's offense, only reasonably better than the defense at 103rd in the country, gained 351 yards but shot itself in the foot in the red zone. Jordan Webb threw an interception in the end zone when he tried to throw it away on the first possession, freshman tailback Christian Powell fumbled at the Buffs' 17 on the next one and Webb threw two more interceptions in USC territory, one when Tony Burnett stole the pass from the hands of freshman receiver Nelson Spruce.

Make that shot themselves in the foot, the hand, the lower intestine.

"We're not playing good enough," said Embree who said the staff will discuss Sunday whether to keep Webb at quarterback. "It's not just his position. At other positions, we're not making plays also."

While the junior may not be the answer in Embree's rebuilding plans, he's a much less of a problem than Colorado's horrific pass defense. With USC backup Max Wittek throwing a TD pass in the fourth quarter, the Buffaloes have given up 27 touchdown passes and intercepted three.

And believe it or not, it's only getting worse. Up next Saturday is a visit to second-ranked Oregon. But Colorado can finally make some history of its own. A loss would clinch the Buffaloes a school-record seven consecutive losing seasons.

John Henderson: 303-954-1299, jhenderson@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/johnhendersondp

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Gessler lone statewide official to tap fund for partisan use

State law says they can use the funds for official business as they "see fit," and Colorado's five statewide elected officials spend money from their offices' discretionary accounts on meals, office supplies, parking, salaries, employee retirement parties and occasional travel to nonpartisan events — among other things.

But a review of discretionary-account spending shows that Secretary of State Scott Gessler, a Republican who attended the Republican National Convention and a GOP lawyers meeting on the same Florida trip, is the only current statewide official who has used his office's fund for party-related events. He's also the only public official who has given himself an end-of-year payout from the fund to reimburse expenses without any receipts.

The review of current state elected officials who have such accounts also included a review of the discretionary spending of former Secretary of State Bernie Buescher, Gessler's predecessor.

Colorado Ethics Watch, a liberal group that has criticized Gessler, on Monday asked District Attorney Mitch Morrissey to look into whether Gessler broke laws against embezzlement of public funds and filing false statements by taking the Florida trip in late August using $1,452 from his discretionary fund.

Additionally, Ethics Watch has asked Morrissey to examine a separate $1,400 payout Gessler gave himself from his discretionary fund in July 2011, a sum that depleted what was left in the office account at the end of the 2010-11 fiscal year.

A spokesman for Gessler said the payout was for "day-to-day" expenses incurred by the secretary of state for which he had no receipts, but Ethics Watch questions whether it was a self-awarded bonus. Two Democratic state senators have called for an audit of Gessler's spending.

Ethics Watch also has filed a complaint with the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission, which can fine public officials who run afoul of ethics laws. Morrissey's office and the Ethics Commission are reviewing the complaints.

Gessler has said the Florida trip was justifiable because he attended the Republican National Lawyers Association conference Aug. 24-25 and learned the latest trends affecting election law prior to going to the Republican National Convention. He pointed to continuing-legal-education credit gained at the GOP lawyers conference.

"This is the only way for me to find out what the hot issues are in election law," he said, adding that his discretionary- fund spending shouldn't be singled out.

"You have to look at what people have done historically in this office," Gessler said. "You have to also look at what other state officials are doing."

But it appears no one else is doing what Gessler did.

Records of discretionary-account spending by Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat; Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia, a Democrat; Treasurer Walker Stapleton, a Republican; and Attorney General John Suthers, a Republican, showed no similar spending on political-party-related events — or for undocumented expenses — over the past two years, the period in which all but Suthers took office. Rec-ords for Gessler's predecessor in office also do not show spending on party-related events or for personal payouts without documentation.

Under Colorado law, each statewide elected official has a discretionary fund. The governor is appropriated $20,000 per year, while all the other officials have funds of $5,000 per year. The law says the money is to be spent "in pursuance of official business as each elected official sees fit."

Meanwhile, Colorado state rules on budgeting limit the expenditure of public funds to "official state business purposes only." And when Gessler sought reimbursement for his trip, he signed a letter affirming that his supporting documents were for "expenses incurred in pursuance of state business."

"The discretionary fund really is, as its name suggests, at the discretion of the state official," said state Sen. Pat Steadman of Denver, a member of the legislature's Joint Budget Committee and one of the Democrats calling for the audit. "But we expect him to use it only for official state business."

According to the Republican National Lawyers Association's website, the group "builds the Republican Party goals and ideals through a nationwide network of supportive lawyers who understand and directly support Republican policy, agendas and candidates."

One expert on government ethics said there was no way the purpose of Gessler's trip could be called anything but partisan. It's not necessary for the secretary of state to be a lawyer, so the benefit of any continuing- legal-education credit is not to the public, said Judy Nadler, senior fellow in government ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, Calif.

Even if the secretary of state were required to be an attorney, she said, there are nonpartisan groups and events he could have attended for continuing- legal-education credit.

"From the public's perspective, it (the trip) appears to be an opportunity to rub elbows with, strategize with and network with other members of your party," Nadler said. "That comes down to looking very political and not very related to the public good."

It also doesn't help that the documents Gessler submitted for reimbursement from the discretionary fund refer to the "RNLA/RNC" trip, she said.

"The public perception could very easily be that his goal was to go to the RNC," Nadler said

The spending of previous Secretary of State Buescher, a Democrat who lost to Gessler in 2010, ranged from $828 in expenses for himself and six employees to attend a summer conference of Colorado's county clerks in 2009 to $1,052 spent on a county clerks association conference in the winter of 2010 to cover Buescher and four other employees. Some expenses were for printing costs or other items purchased by the office, such as $103 to buy award plaques from the National Association of Secretaries of State.

Buescher spent $150 on an entrance fee for an annual golf tournament to benefit law-student scholarships at the University of Colorado and the University of Denver.

There were also a variety of expenses for office parties and functions, such as $56.15 on a party for a retiring employee in 2008.

Buescher's expenses also included many meals with staff, lawmakers, lobbyists and attorneys.

Buescher, who now works as a deputy attorney general for Suthers, whose office defends Gessler, has declined to comment on secretary-of-state matters.

Buescher's expenses were similar to those of other current officeholders, who also appear to not have used their discretionary accounts for any party-affiliated functions.

Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626, thoover@denverpost.com or twitter.com/timhoover

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Germany's dasHaus brings back lessons in energy efficiency

On a dirt lot north of downtown Denver, Germany has erected dasHaus — an uber-tight unit demonstrating technology for creation of homes that save energy and money.

This is the house's final stop on a 25-city tour that shows off inch-thick vacuum panels for super-insulated walls, triple-pane windows that don't leak, ventilators that recover heat from stale air. The idea is to help Americans who spend $80 billion a year on home heating and cooling, which is a major source of carbon emissions.

But dasHaus is bittersweet because some of the tricks perfected in Germany were hatched in Colorado.

German diplomats unveiling the exhibit — open and free at 25th and Lawrence streets until Tuesday — told how a professor visited Colorado and learned from the likes of Amory Lovins at an experimental home in Snowmass before launching the "passive house" movement back in Germany.

Today, government-backed manufacturing of building materials and expansion of solar and wind power is propelling Germany's economy.

"Here is the future in front of you," Consul General Bernd Fischer said as 40 or so energy-efficiency aficionados gathered this week. "It is a future of getting rid of fossil energy to heat homes."

Americans interested in modifying their homes to save energy may buy German products, he said. "German companies are at the top of the technology chain."

But Scott Morrissey, manager of the residential building program in the Colorado Energy Office, said builders and renovators can find Colorado-sourced products for business and home applications. "Within most markets in the United States, there's a great deal of efficiency that can be obtained on a cost-effective basis without needing to go to the true top-of-the line in energy efficiency products."

Colorado leaders have been promoting the state's leadership in the research and development of energy technology at universities and government labs. State officials recently provided a $1.3 million loan to Denver-based Ravenbrick, helping the company raise $5 million to begin production of super efficient windows.

Denver residents keen to construct energy-saving homes — about 15 are being built around Denver — say they often need technology and materials made elsewhere, which forces up costs.

Triple-pane windows, for example, are "one of the most expensive components," costing tens of thousands of dollars on some projects, said Lance Wright, vice president of the U.S. Passive House Alliance, which advocates construction that requires fewer solar panels due to superior insulation and air-tight design.

Wright built a house near the University of Denver for which annual energy bills are $300, he said. That's less than many residents will pay in a single month during winter.

"It's not just cheaper to operate," Wright said, "it is comfortable. It has good air quality. It is durable."

The dasHaus exhibit sits on a vacant lot where Denver-based international development entrepreneurs experiment with innovative structures and urban farmers grow food.

At the exhibit opening, Denver's chief sustainability officer, Jerry Tinianow, said he'd recently been in Germany and admired the prevalence of trains, abundant wind farms, and towns where most homes had solar panels.

Denver ranks "among the greenest cities" and is "one of the most-advanced cities in renewable energy," Tinianow said.

"Yet when I stand in dasHaus," he said, "I am jealous."

Bruce Finley: 303-954-1700, twitter.com/finleybruce or bfinley@denverpost.com

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