Shelters prohibit registered sex offenders access even in sub-zero temperatures. Lawmakers nationally fail to resolve this issue.. We urge folks to contact your local lawmakers and shelters, and ask them to resolve this issue before another freezes to death.12-8-2009 Colorado:
Up to 3 more inches of snow is expected to fall on the Pikes Peak region by Tuesday morning, continuing a fierce and bitterly cold winter storm that blew into the area over the weekend.
Colorado Springs crews struggled to keep up with plowing the roads and didn't expect to reach residential areas anytime soon. Dozens of people showed up at homeless shelters, fleeing the below-freezing temperatures. Exposure to the cold is a possible cause of death for two men whose bodies were found this morning in separate locations in Colorado Springs. Police are investigating. Forecasters for the National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for much of the Front Range including the Pikes Peak region from 6 p.m. tonight through 5 p.m. Tuesday. The storm could strengthen again Tuesday morning, and forecasters predict winds of 20 to 40 mph.
Through Tuesday evening, the weather service predicts 3.7 inches of snow in Colorado Springs, 7 inches in Woodland Park and 7.9 inches in Monument.
Travel conditions will remain hazardous. Icy, snow-packed roads made a skating rink out of many of roads around Colorado Springs today and have put the Colorado Springs police department on accident-alert status. Anyone involved in a crash that doesn't involve injuries, drugs or alcohol should report the crash to the police department within 72 hours. Reports can be filed online.
Traffic cameras throughout Colorado Springs showed streets partially covered with ice and snow, but vehicles were moving despite the tretcherous conditions. The Colorado Department of Transportation reported slushy and wet conditions on U.S. Highway 24 between Colorado Springs and Limon, and on state Highway 94 between Colorado Springs and Punkin Center. Interstate 25 was reported slushy and wet from Pueblo to Castle Rock, but the transportation department said it was dry from Castle Rock north to Fort Collins.
Trained observers for the National Weather Service reported 5 inches of snow on the ground in southwest Colorado Springs this morning, 3 inches in Black Forest and 3.5 inches northeast of Colorado Springs.
The first major snowstorm of the season was a taste of what winter could be like when services are curtailed because of budget cuts: longer waits for plows to hit main roads and residential streets that won’t be touched at all.
Funding for the city Streets Division has been cut, meaning there will be 15 fewer drivers by the end of this month.
“We are doing everything we can with the resources we have available but it will be very difficult to offer that same level of sevice if I'm short 15 plow drivers," said Allen Peterson, a support snow operations manager.
He said the department had to borrow drivers today from the Pikes Peak Highway, traffic engineering department and the Park and Rec department to drive the city’s plows.
With a hiring freeze in place for at least the next year, and the park and rec department also losing employees at the beginning of the year, there will be less and less people available to drive the plows as the winter goes on.
“People are going to have to find some patience because we won’t be able to clear arterial streets in a timely manner,” Peterson said.
The cutbacks mean the city will only be plowing residential roads with at least 6 inches of snow, and even then it’s dependent on how passable main roads are. Peterson said that residential streets won’t see a snow plow today.
“We can’t move into residential areas until the arterial and collectors are as safe as they can be,” he said.
The problem with this storm is that the snow is falling continually. As soon as city plows clear a street and sand it, they often have to return again soon because snow has covered up the sand. With the temperatures remaining frigid until late in the week, he doesn’t anticipate any big change in conditions until the snow starts melting.
“We tend to put more sand on top of sand to keep everything passable and safe,” he said.
On roads maintained by the county, Highway Superintendent Pete Cozzolino said plows should be able to reach residential streets today. He said there are 32 trucks currently plowing county-maintained roads with many centered around the worst-hit areas - near Security and Fountain and west of the city, where a foot of snow is reported on Old Stage Road. There are also several trucks up north, near Monument and Black Forest.
The frigid temperatures and icy roads also put several school districts and businesses on two-hour delays this morning. Temperatures are expected to top out at 16 degrees today and remain in the 20s through Wednesday.
At the New Hope Shelter for the homeless, center director Gene Morris said there were about 56 additional people staying at the shelter because of the cold. Whenever the temperature below freezing, the center opens up around the clock, he said. However, the center will turn away people who are sex offenders, are drunk or appear to be on drugs.
“We’ll offer to take them over to detox,” he said. “If not, it’s up to them where they go.” ..Source.. MARIA ST.LOUIS-SANCHEZ, SPECIAL TO THE CHIEFTAIN
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