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DENVER - Colorado health officials said Wednesday two people are recovering from West Nile virus, the first cases of the disease reported in the state this season.
The victims were a 50-year-old Weld County woman and a 17-year-old boy from Fort Collins. Their names were not released.
The woman developed a fever from the virus on May 24 but was never hospitalized. The boy became ill on June 5 and was hospitalized briefly, said Lori Maldonado, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Health and Environment.
Colorado had 288 human cases of West Nile last year, including three deaths. In 2003, Colorado had 2,947 human cases and 63 deaths, the highest totals in the nation.
About 20 percent of people infected with the virus become ill; about 1 percent develop serious neurological disease, such as inflammation of the brain or polio-like paralysis.
One killed in plane crash near Marble
MARBLE - One person was killed when a single-engine plane crashed on a Gunnison County road in western Colorado while trying to land on a remote grass airstrip Wednesday, sheriff's officials said.
Pilot John P. Kramer, 77, was identified as the lone person on board. In a statement, sheriff's officials said Kramer overshot the runway, applied power and stalled before crashing on Gunnison County Road 3 around 1:35 p.m.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigator was heading to the scene.
The fixed-wing, single-engine Taylorcraft BC12-D was registered to Kramer, of Washington, Mich., Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mike Fergus said.
Marble is about 120 miles southwest of Denver.
Gay rights groups hope new law
will help track hate crimes
DENVER - A new Colorado law that extends hate-crime protection to gays and lesbians starting Friday probably won't make much difference on major offenses, but it could result in better tracking and enforcement in general for crimes committed against homosexuals, an advocate said.
"This law is meant to deal with crimes that do not necessarily rise to the level where law enforcement would pursue them," said Michael Brewer, public policy director for the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Community Center of Colorado. "It also is an incentive to report crimes against gay people which are underreported."
The law adds gays, lesbians and disabled people to the list of groups included in Colorado's existing hate crimes law, which makes it illegal to commit an offense against someone based on their race, religion, ancestry or national origin.
A hate crime is a misdemeanor if committed by an individual and a felony if committed by a group. The statute can result in harsher penalties, because judges can impose longer sentences for crimes that are based on bias.
Brewer said the new law will not have much effect on major crimes, such as the slaying of gay teenager Fred C. Martinez near Cortez in 2001, because it would not have significantly increased the punishment.
Brewer said judges already tend to impose harsh sentences for more serious crimes. Shaun Murphy, convicted in Martinez's death, received a 40-year sentence. The state Court of Appeals upheld the punishment.
House Minority Leader Joe Stengel, R-Littleton, said the new law sets a dangerous precedent, allowing tougher penalties if an attacker thought the victim were gay.
"What do I tell my constituents when their son is murdered and didn't happen to be gay and the person who murdered him doesn't happen to be gay? I don't think this will stop anyone from attacking gays," he said.
The victims were a 50-year-old Weld County woman and a 17-year-old boy from Fort Collins. Their names were not released.
The woman developed a fever from the virus on May 24 but was never hospitalized. The boy became ill on June 5 and was hospitalized briefly, said Lori Maldonado, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Health and Environment.
Colorado had 288 human cases of West Nile last year, including three deaths. In 2003, Colorado had 2,947 human cases and 63 deaths, the highest totals in the nation.
About 20 percent of people infected with the virus become ill; about 1 percent develop serious neurological disease, such as inflammation of the brain or polio-like paralysis.
One killed in plane crash near Marble
MARBLE - One person was killed when a single-engine plane crashed on a Gunnison County road in western Colorado while trying to land on a remote grass airstrip Wednesday, sheriff's officials said.
Pilot John P. Kramer, 77, was identified as the lone person on board. In a statement, sheriff's officials said Kramer overshot the runway, applied power and stalled before crashing on Gunnison County Road 3 around 1:35 p.m.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigator was heading to the scene.
The fixed-wing, single-engine Taylorcraft BC12-D was registered to Kramer, of Washington, Mich., Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mike Fergus said.
Marble is about 120 miles southwest of Denver.
Gay rights groups hope new law
will help track hate crimes
DENVER - A new Colorado law that extends hate-crime protection to gays and lesbians starting Friday probably won't make much difference on major offenses, but it could result in better tracking and enforcement in general for crimes committed against homosexuals, an advocate said.
"This law is meant to deal with crimes that do not necessarily rise to the level where law enforcement would pursue them," said Michael Brewer, public policy director for the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Community Center of Colorado. "It also is an incentive to report crimes against gay people which are underreported."
The law adds gays, lesbians and disabled people to the list of groups included in Colorado's existing hate crimes law, which makes it illegal to commit an offense against someone based on their race, religion, ancestry or national origin.
A hate crime is a misdemeanor if committed by an individual and a felony if committed by a group. The statute can result in harsher penalties, because judges can impose longer sentences for crimes that are based on bias.
Brewer said the new law will not have much effect on major crimes, such as the slaying of gay teenager Fred C. Martinez near Cortez in 2001, because it would not have significantly increased the punishment.
Brewer said judges already tend to impose harsh sentences for more serious crimes. Shaun Murphy, convicted in Martinez's death, received a 40-year sentence. The state Court of Appeals upheld the punishment.
House Minority Leader Joe Stengel, R-Littleton, said the new law sets a dangerous precedent, allowing tougher penalties if an attacker thought the victim were gay.
"What do I tell my constituents when their son is murdered and didn't happen to be gay and the person who murdered him doesn't happen to be gay? I don't think this will stop anyone from attacking gays," he said.
