Bear euthanized, two cubs caught, relocated

BOULDER – A bear first spotted in Boulder in August has been captured and euthanized after it was found roaming in a homeowner’s backyard.

The bear, along with her two cubs, had previously been tagged by state wildlife officials. Wildlife responders were dispatched to the home Thursday where the bears were found near the back of the property.

The mother bear, at least 10 years old and weighing about 150 pounds, was sent to a facility to be euthanized. The cubs were driven more than three hours away from Boulder on Friday and released into the wild very close to the Colorado-Wyoming border.

Two teachers accused of tying up young child

ALBUQUERQUE – Two Albuquerque Public Schools staff members are on leave following accusations they tied a kindergartner up with rope to get him to sit down.

Special education teacher and an educational assistant who work at Navajo Elementary School are on paid administrative leave while APS investigates the alleged incident.

Nicole Johnson says the education assistant used a rope Monday when her son, Terrance, would not sit for a timeout. Terrance is a special needs student. Johnson says another education assistant took a picture of the incident and reported it.

APS Superintendent Raquel Reedy says the behavior, if found to be true, is completely unacceptable. She says the district may take further action.

Five child prostitution arrests, Mesa County

GRAND JUNCTION – Five men have been arrested in Mesa County in an investigation targeting Internet solicitation of child prostitution.

District Attorney Pete Hautzinger tells the Grand Junction Sentinel that the investigation is still going on.

Federal authorities in Denver have announced plans for a news conference next week concerning Colorado’s efforts in a nationwide operation against commercial child sex trafficking.

Service dog beaten to death and skinned

BOULDER – Boulder police are investigating after a woman’s service dog was found beaten to death and skinned in a park shortly after it went missing from her front yard.

Betsy Imig tells The Daily Camera she let her white Maltese named Dr. PB out the morning of Sept. 26, and the dog ran away when she turned her back for a moment. Animal control officers found the 10-pound dog dead a few hours later.

A necropsy revealed the dog died from blunt-force trauma to the abdomen, and about 60 percent of its body was skinned. Animal control supervisor Janeé Boswell says the necropsy determined that the skinning was done by a human and not another animal, and the dog was not hit by a car.

Only gay bar left in Santa Fe closes

SANTA FE – Santa Fe’s only gay bar has closed.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that the Blue Rooster, the city’s last gay bar, shut its doors Friday.

Owner Doug Nava says not enough people were hitting downtown Santa Fe at night to help keep the Blue Rooster open.

Nava and his former partner opened the bar a year ago to fill a void left by the closing of the city’s only other gay bar. The bar was named one of the 200 best gay bars in the world by otutraveler.com.

Associated Press