Local News – The Durango Herald

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State policy experts discuss Colorado ballot issues

Groups explain this year’s amendment and two propositions

DATE: Oct 20, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Durango opts in to statewide opioid settlement

$400 million will be given to Colorado from ‘big 3’ distributors, drugmaker

DATE: Oct 20, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Two rainbow flags, banner stolen from Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durango

Fellowship plans to host giveaway of flags in response to thefts

DATE: Oct 20, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

After several tough years, tourism returns to Silverton

Fires, heavy snow and pandemic upended economy for three years

DATE: Oct 20, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Durango City Council postpones decision on subdividing school district land

Staff asked to renegotiate property lines to include more trees, sledding hill

DATE: Oct 19, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Sharp increase of sexually transmitted infections reported in La Plata County

Colorado health department issues alert

DATE: Oct 19, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Senior residents of low-income apartments in Durango watch as services decline

Retiree community with multiple vacancies has been without management for more than a year

DATE: Oct 19, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Friends of Durango Public Library announces bookmark design contest winners

Artists’ work will be be available at the library and Friends of the Library Bookstore

DATE: Oct 19, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Photos: Lexus brings commercial shoot to Southwest Colorado

DATE: Oct 19, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Solar project approved south of Cortez

OneEnergy project gains green light for construction; Empire Electric has agreed to buy power

DATE: Oct 19, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Residents question what will happen with trees at Buckley Park

City of Durango says it won’t know fire district’s needs until development plans are submitted

DATE: Oct 19, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

La Plata County voters slow to return ballots during off-year election

Eligible electors can weigh in on three statewide issues, school board candidates

DATE: Oct 18, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Southwest Colorado expected to receive moisture from ‘atmospheric river’ moving in from PacificWeather service says rain needed with dryer-than-normal winter expected

A large amount of moisture from the Pacific Ocean, known as an “atmospheric river,” is headed for Southwest Colorado. “It’s basically this strong plume of moisture that comes off of the Pacific,” said Erin Walter, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction. “It’s like this continuous stream, almost like a jet but in the form of moisture.”Over the weekend the atmospheric river dumped over 5 inches of rain in the San Francisco area, Walter said. Most of the moisture from the storm system will be dropped in California over the Sierra Nevada’s and the Great Basin, with Southwest Colorado getting the last bit of that precipitation on Tuesday. “We aren’t going to see feet of snow like the Sierra Nevada’s, but we are going to see some precipitation,” Walter said. Southwest Colorado has been experiencing warm conditions, which will be a determining factor in how much precipitation falls in the region, Walter said. “We’re seeing snow amounts higher up Tuesday morning, and then as the system moves through, some colder air will move in behind it,” Walter said.

Towns along U.S. Highway 160 should expect around a quarter of an inch of rain Tuesday, with some areas potentially seeing higher, localized, amounts of rainfall around half an inch. “I would expect at least a quarter of an inch for Durango, Cortez and Pagosa Springs,” Walter said. As for snow, Silverton is expected to get about an inch of powder in the city, with around 5 to 8 inches in higher elevations of the San Juan Mountains. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its winter outlook for temperature, precipitation and drought Thursday. NOAA said this will be the second La Niña year in a row. La Niña seasons are caused by cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures in the Tropical Pacific.

“The Southwest will certainly remain a region of concern as we anticipate below-normal precipitation where drought conditions continue in most areas,” said Jon Gottschalck, with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.Southwest Colorado is expected to have 40 to 50% higher temperatures than normal, 33 to 40% lower precipitation than normal, and drought conditions expected to worsen. “Any moisture is definitely welcomed,” Walter said. njohnson@durangoherald.com

Weather service says rain needed with dryer-than-normal winter expected

Freshman and junior riders compete in the Colorado High School Cycling League’s mountain bike state championships

Fort Lewis College volleyball takes on South Dakota School of MinesSkyhawks win the match in five sets

Skyhawks win the match in five sets

Animas High School celebrates construction of new campus

Snow storm moves through the San Juan Mountains on Tuesday

Durango High School takes on Harrison High SchoolDemons win 42-0 to begin league play

Demons win 42-0 to begin league play

Mark Redwine sentenced for the murder of his son

Mark Redwine was sentenced Friday, Oct. 8, 2021, to 48 years in prison after being found guilty ...

Colorado father sentenced to prison for killing 13-year-old son, Dylan RedwineMark Redwine, 60, was found guilty of second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death

Mark Redwine, the Vallecito father who was found guilty this summer of killing his 13-year-old son, Dylan, was sentenced Friday to 48 years in prison.“I have trouble remembering a convicted criminal defendant that has shown such an utter lack of remorse for his criminal behavior,” said 6th Judicial District Court Judge Jeffery Wilson, in handing down the maximum penalty.Redwine, wearing an orange, jail-issued jumpsuit, declined to speak; his attorneys said he plans to appeal.

But in a pre-sentence investigation, which looks into the legal and social background of convicted criminals and gives them a chance to weigh in, Redwine wrote a few terse words while maintaining his innocence. Judge Wilson read those comments into the record Friday.“Innocent of all charges. Miscarriage of justice. Fake conviction. Sham trial,” Redwine wrote. “... I take this circumstance very seriously and want to make clear that I too have lost a child I love more than life itself. I will fight for true justice, not for myself but for Dylan. I have always shown remorse for the things that I am guilty of. Stand against fake justice.”

Elaine Hall, Dylan’s mother, said she she is pleased with Friday’s outcome. “It’s justice as far as justice can go,“ she said. “... There will never be enough time for taking Dylan’s life, but at least he hopefully won’t get out. Hopefully he’ll die in prison.”Redwine, 60, was facing 16 to 48 years in prison after a 12-person jury found him guilty July 16 of second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death.Prosecutors asked the court to sentence Redwine to the full 48 years, citing several aggravating circumstances, including that Redwine killed his own son, misled law enforcement and has shown no remorse.“He stands before you refusing to accept responsibility, showing no remorse, reflecting that same cold-hearted murderer’s heart that killed Dylan Redwine,” said District Attorney Christian Champagne. “Your honor, that’s the ultimate aggravating factor that you should consider. And that alone will justify imposition of the maximum sentence in this case – 48 years for both counts.”

In addressing Redwine, Wilson said the evidence against him is “overwhelming.” “First of all, you killed your son, a 13-year-old boy. At 13, he’s still a little boy,” Wilson said. “As the father, it’s your obligation to protect your son, keep him from harm. Instead of that, you inflicted enough injury on him to kill him in your living room.“After the passion of whatever caused you to act the way you did subsided, you didn’t think about Dylan. You thought about yourself, you sanitized the crime scene, you hid Dylan’s body and you went so far as to remove his head from the rest of his body.”Wilson said Redwine’s efforts to conceal Dylan’s body and lie about what happened caused suffering for Dylan’s family and the entire community. His actions deprived Dylan the opportunity to grow up, fall in love, get married and have children, the judge said.In handing down the maximum penalty, Wilson said Redwine takes “absolutely no responsibly” for what he did to Dylan and needs to be removed from society for “a long period of time.”

Public defense lawyer John Moran made several legal arguments, some that will likely show up in a future appeal. He also asked that certain statements and findings be stricken from the pre-sentence investigation. “Mr. Redwine loved Dylan with all his heart,” Moran said. “The depth of grief Dylan’s loved ones have experienced may never leave a high-water mark. ... Mr. Redwine is eager for fair and impartial review by a higher court. He is appealing and wishes to make no further record here.”The sentencing hearing caps a nearly nine-year homicide investigation that began in November 2012, when Dylan disappeared while on a court-ordered visit to see his father.Prosecutors surmised that Redwine flew into a fit of rage and murdered his son after the boy confronted him about compromising photos. Defense lawyers said Dylan was alive the morning of Nov. 19, 2012 – the day he went missing. His father ran errands in town, and when he returned he found the boy missing – a bowl of cereal on the table and the television turned to Nickelodeon.They suggested a stranger may have harmed Dylan, or that wildlife attacked him while he was out walking.Text messages sent by Dylan to friends and family indicate the boy didn’t want to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with his father. Their relationship had soured in recent months, especially after Dylan found photos of his father wearing women’s lingerie while eating what appeared to be feces from a diaper, according to testimony presented during the five-week trial.

Dylan’s disappearance set off a massive search in the rugged mountains north of Redwine’s home in Southwest Colorado. In the months that followed, community members and law enforcement organized multiple searches, combing the woods for clues.Law enforcement executed several search warrants on Redwine’s home. Forensic testing found traces of Dylan’s blood in his father’s living room, and a cadaver dog detected the recent presence of a corpse in the living room and in the bed of Redwine’s pickup truck.It wasn’t until June 2013 when the first partial remains of Dylan’s body were found about 8 miles up Middle Mountain Road, only a few miles northeast of Redwine’s home, as the crow flies.In November 2015, a pair of hikers found Dylan’s skull about 1½ miles farther up the road. Forensic experts testified the skull had what appeared to be knife markings, and wildlife experts said no animal inhabiting this area would have transported a skull that far from the other remains.

As the case wore on, it gained national and international attention, including segments on “Nancy Grace,” and “Investigation Discovery.” Elaine, Cory and Mark appeared on a two-part episode of the “Dr. Phil” show, which ended with Redwine refusing to take a lie detector test. (At least five television news channels were in town for Friday’s sentencing hearing.)Law enforcement received numerous “tips” from psychics who claimed to know where Dylan’s remains could be found, and as a matter of due diligence, law enforcement had to follow up on many of them.The case was largely based on circumstantial evidence. As such, prosecutors decided to convene a grand jury to decide whether there was enough evidence to issue an indictment.The La Plata County grand jury issued its indictment in July 2017, and Redwine, a truck driver, was arrested two days later in Bellingham, Washington.

The judicial process was fraught with delays, especially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused at least three significant delays. Prior to that, one of Redwine’s attorney’s faced his own legal challenges and was taken off the case, which caused delays. No charges were ever filed against the attorney, and he rejoined the case But after a five-week trial, which included dozens of witnesses, hundreds of pieces of evidence and volumes of discovery, jurors found Redwine guilty on both counts outlined in the indictment.shane@durangoherald.com

Mark Redwine, 60, was found guilty of second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death

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