Colorado

CINCINNATI - The Rev. Chris Beard is a theological conservative, make no mistake about it. He believes the Bible is the word of God. He believes the Holy Spirit speaks to him directly. He believes, as an article of faith, that abortion and same-sex marriage are wrong. Still, when a group of religious leaders in Ohio held two days of meetings in Cincinnati recently to talk about economic and racial justice, issues usually associated with the political left, there was Beard, a fourth-generation Pentecostal preacher with a disarming smile, a shaved head and a set of convictions that knock holes in the stereotypes about white evangelical Protestants.

AURORA, Colo. - On May 2, D'Avonte Meadows, a 6-year-old with an infectious grin and rambunctious streak, was suspended for three days from Sable Elementary in suburban Denver for crooning "[I'm] Sexy and I Know It" to a girl in lunch line. The school declared it sexual harassment and told his parents that, because D'Avonte sang the same song to the same girl before, he is a repeat offender. The news media pounced. And Stephanie Meadows, D'Avonte's 29-year-old mother, gave her bewildered son, a special needs student, a crash course in birds, bees and sexual boundaries.

For more than 20 years, a retired judge and his lawyer wife trespassed on a vacant lot next door to their home. They planted a garden there and stacked their firewood. They say they held parties there and walked the land so often they wore a path in the grass. Last year, Richard McLean and Edith Stevens claimed the land as their own under Colorado's adverse possession law, once known as squatters' rights.

To prepare to face Jamie Moyer on Friday night, Dodgers outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. could watch videos of his past at-bats against the Colorado Rockies left-hander. Or he could talk to his father, Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn Sr., who also faced him. Rookie Scott Van Slyke could also solicit advice from his father, former All-Star Andy Van Slyke. Shortstop Dee Gordon's father, former pitcher Tom Gordon, was Moyer's teammate. And Manager Don Mattingly, playing for the New York Yankees, hit a home run against Moyer - 19 years ago. "I think Jamie pitched against my grandfather," jokedJerry Hairston Jr., a third-generation major leaguer.

Every time it rains here, Kris Holstrom knowingly breaks the law. Holstrom's violation is the fancifully painted 55-gallon buckets underneath the gutters of her farmhouse on a mesa 15 miles from the resort town of Telluride. The barrels catch rain and snowmelt, which Holstrom uses to irrigate the small vegetable garden she and her husband maintain. But according to the state of Colorado, the rain that falls on Holstrom's property is not hers to keep.

Colorado fire officials discovered a second fatality Tuesday while fighting a blaze in the mountains southwest of Denver. The body of Sam Lamar Lucas, 77, was found inside a burned home Tuesday, according to a statement by Jefferson County Coroner John M. Graham. The body of Lucas' wife, Linda M. Lucas, 76, was found outside the home Monday evening. It is not yet clear whether or how their deaths were related to the fire. They are being investigated by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, an inquiry that could take weeks, according to the coroner's statement.

Donna Munson, 74, considered the black bears that swarmed across her land in southwestern Colorado to be her pets. She fed them dog food and scraps -- poking the food through a metal fence she'd built around her porch -- attracting so many bruins that neighbors sometimes counted as many as 14 on her property at a time. On Friday, one of them killed and ate Munson, slashing her head through the fence and dragging her body underneath it to consume her. "She was dead-set on continuing to feed the bears, and unfortunately, she paid the ultimate price," said Ouray County Sheriff's Investigator Joel Burk, who had to shoot a bear that tried to approach Munson's remains as he interviewed witnesses at the scene.

Colorado cold-case investigators have linked a convicted murderer who died in prison in 1996 to four more slayings -- and say he may have been responsible for a score of others as well. Vincent Groves, 57, known for playing on a championship Colorado basketball team in the 1970s, strangled most of his victims, Denver Dist. Atty. Mitch Morrissey told The Times. “In my 30 years experience, he is the worst home-grown serial murderer,” Morrissey said, noting that Ted Bundy , believed to be responsible for several Colorado slayings, was more prolific overall.

AT COLORADO When: 6 PDT. Where: Pepsi Center. On the air: TV: FS West; Radio: 1150. Records: Kings 42-24-5, Avalanche 40-25-7. Record vs. Avalanche: 2-0-0. Update: This ends a home-and-home series between the teams, which the Kings opened with a 4-3 overtime victory Monday at Staples Center. In that game, the Kings extended their penalty killing streak to 29. Coach Terry Murray said he plans to start goaltender Jonathan Quick in this game — Quick's 65th appearance this season — and again at St. Louis on Thursday, another snub for backup Erik Ersberg.

Red chile sauce (mojo colorado) Total time: 10 minutes Servings: Makes a scant half cup of sauce 3 tablespoons pimentón or paprika 1 fresh red chile, seeded and chopped, or cayenne to taste 3 cloves garlic 3 tablespoons olive oil 3 tablespoons wine vinegar 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup water Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth....

DENVER — The Colorado Rockies started the 2011 season the way the Dodgers have started this one. "So much for 17-8, right?" Rockies Manager Jim Tracy said Tuesday. The 2011 Rockies, who won 17 of their first 25 games, finished the season with a losing record and in fourth place in the National League West. Over their last 139 games, they were 56-83. "I remember that," Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said. "See, that's what I'm saying. Nobody is going to remember a good start.

DENVER — Behind the desk in the manager's office, Don Mattingly mockingly pumped his fist. The Dodgers won the first game in the Guggenheim era. But it was messy, as the Dodgers nearly blew a seven-run lead against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night. When embattled closer Javy Guerra struck out Carlos Gonzalez to secure the 7-6 win, there was a man on third base. Told his new bosses would probably have trouble sleeping that night if they watched the game, Mattingly laughed and said, "That's what they get. " This was a stereotypically wild night at Coors Field, which started with the first-place Dodgers (17-7)

Developers in the Mojave Desert last month were so keen on going forward with their project that they didn't consult with Native Americans about the ancient objects that might lie underground or conduct the required archaeological work in a thorough way. This has happened before: It happened most recently in downtown Los Angeles last year at the site of one of the area's oldest burial grounds. Now it's happening again 200 miles east, in the desert. But there's a key difference between the two. In the case of La Plaza de Cultura y Artes, the new cultural center honoring Mexican and Mexican American history in L.A., there was little legitimate reason to rush the job once remains from a 19th century cemetery were discovered.

The Feb. 27 letter from the chairman of the Colorado River Indian Tribes was pleading and tough. It asked President Obama to slow the federal government's "frantic pursuit" of massive solar energy projects in the Mojave Desert because of possible damage to Native American cultural resources. The Obama administration didn't respond. But four days after Chairman Eldred Enas sent the letter, the Indians say they found an answer, delivered by spirits of the desert. Howling winds uncovered a human tooth and a handful of burned bone fragments the size of quarters on a sand dune in the shadow of new solar power transmission towers.

When: 6 p.m. Where: Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colo. On the air: TV: KDOC, KWHY; Radio: 1150, 1330. Records: Galaxy 2-3, Colorado 3-3. Update: David Junior Lopes' debut on the Galaxy backline last week went well, and with two goals late in the second half, the defending MLS champs were able to escape with a 3-1 win over the Portland Timbers. Now they head to Colorado looking not only for their first road win but for the confidence and swagger they've been missing all season.

When Sam Lamar Lucas and his wife, Linda, saw smoke below their Colorado home, he called 911. “We live up in the foothills and we just got home and looks like there's a fire right at the foot of Cathedral Spires," Lucas said in a 911 tape from March 26 that was released by the Jefferson County Sheriff's office Tuesday. The dispatcher interrupted him. “That is a controlled burn. The [Colorado State] Forest Service is out there on scene with that. " Lucas was bewildered.

CANON CITY, Colo. — Sometimes if you build it, they don't come. When construction was first planned in 2003 for a $184-million high-security facility within the Colorado prison complex in Canon City, the number of inmates being locked up in the state was increasing at what officials considered an alarming rate. But something happened between the first shovelful of dirt in 2007 and the final paintbrush stroke in 2010: The Colorado prison population started decreasing, first a little and then a lot. So much, in fact, that officials announced in March that the new facility — open just 18 months and two-thirds empty — would close next year.

It appears Cleveland Indians pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez is still bitter about his trade from the Colorado Rockies last summer. Playing against his former club for the first time Sunday in an exhibition game, Jimenez drilled Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki in the first inning to reignite a bitter feud between the All-Star pitcher and the club that once labeled him as its top pitching prospect. The incident caused both benches to empty onto the field as Jimenez and Tulowitzki jawed back and forth while being separated by the home plate umpire and teammates.