Marx Picks Marine Colonel Running Mate

Republican gubernatorial candidate Victor Marx named retired Marine colonel George Markert as his running mate Friday, the state’s deadline for the pick.

Markert, a Broomfield resident who moved to Colorado about three years ago, ran for U.S. Senate this year but did not make the primary ballot. Marx, a Marine veteran himself, announced the choice on Denver talk station 710 KNUS.

“It’s an opportunity to step up and lead,” Markert said. Marx said he wanted a governor and lieutenant governor who both have a backbone.

Marx and Markert face Attorney General Phil Weiser and Jefferson County Commissioner Lesley Dahlkemper, whom Weiser tapped July 22. Weiser beat U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet in the June primary.

Heat Advisories Cover Most of Colorado

Heat advisories take effect at noon today across the Denver metro area, the eastern plains, southern Colorado and the Grand Valley, with highs forecast in the triple digits.

Along the Front Range the advisory runs through 9 p.m. Monday. Denver’s Monday forecast approaches the daily record of 100 degrees set in 1878, with overnight lows only in the upper 60s and low 70s.

In the Grand Valley, forecasters expect 101 to 105 degrees Sunday and Monday in Grand Junction, Fruita, Clifton, and Palisade. The advisory there lifts at 9 a.m. Monday.

The Pueblo weather office issued two separate advisories for Eastern Fremont, El Paso and Pueblo counties, covering noon to 8 p.m. today and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday.

Relief arrives Tuesday, when Front Range highs drop into the 80s with afternoon storm chances.

New Images in 1983 Boulder Murder

The FBI and Boulder police released new age-progression sketches Thursday of Thayne Alan Smika, charged with killing his roommate in a Boulder condo 43 years ago.

Sid Wells, 22, a University of Colorado journalism senior in Navy ROTC, was found shot in the head at the Spanish Towers condos east of campus on Aug. 1, 1983.

Smika, then 24, was taken into custody but released without charges. His abandoned car turned up in Beverly Hills, California, in October 1986 with a stolen license plate.

He hasn’t been seen since, and a Boulder County judge issued a first-degree murder warrant in December 2010. Federal prosecutors charged Smika with unlawful flight days later; he would be 67 today.

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➤ Loma: A preliminary federal report says a helicopter sent to pull five firefighters out of the June 27 burnover near the Colorado-Utah line couldn’t land because smoke had cut visibility to almost nothing. Four crew members died after deploying emergency shelters. (See Report)

➤ Custer County: A bat found near Valley View Road tested positive for rabies, health officials said Thursday. The Custer County Public Health Agency asked residents to steer clear of wild and stray animals and to report any bat acting strangely. (More)

➤ Statewide: Backers of Initiative 195 have until Monday to turn in about 125,000 signatures to put a graduated income tax on the November ballot, replacing Colorado’s 4.4% flat rate with six brackets. A competing conservative measure would cap the rate at 4.4%. (See Details)

➤ Dolores County: The Cross Canyon Fire broke out near the Colorado-Utah line Friday afternoon and burned more than 150 acres by evening, prompting officials to evacuate two homes and warn neighbors near Squaw Canyon to be ready. Airtankers and BLM crews responded. (More)

➤ Sterling Ranch: John Adams Academy Douglas County, a K-8 charter school opening this month, will be the first Colorado school to install drones that can spray pepper gel at an active shooter. The system runs about $200,000 over four years; some parents and a former school safety director object. (See Details)

➤ Statewide: Parks and Wildlife asked anglers to fish mornings only after late afternoon readings on the Colorado, Rio Grande, and Arkansas rivers topped 70 degrees, the point where released trout struggle to recover. Voluntary closures already cover more than 400 miles of river. (More)

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➤ The Colorado Rockies are reportedly asking for a package headlined by a top 10 prospect in MLB to move on from star catcher Hunter Goodman. A trade is considered unlikely ahead of the Aug. 3 deadline. (More)

➤ Denver Broncos running back J.K. Dobbins called head coach Sean Payton his favorite coach he’s ever played for in a recent interview. (More)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: MLB | WNBA | Golf | Soccer

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➤ A 13-year-old in Fountain pitched the city council on building an outdoor tornado siren system, mapping the zones he says need coverage. Southern Colorado has no regional siren network, and Nicholas Lines argued phone alerts miss people working outdoors and anyone asleep. (Read Story)

➤ A World Trade Center steel beam stopped Saturday at Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum in Denver, part of a 10,500-mile tour of more than 35 cities. The 16,900-pound beam, pulled from the South Tower, returns to Ground Zero on Sept. 11 for the attacks’ 25th anniversary. (See Details)

➤ Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire shared the bill at Ball Arena on Friday night. Westword’s photographer captured the crowd. (See Photos)

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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes, straight from the heart of the country. Clicking the link will take you directly to these stories:

➤ The U.S. and Israel are reportedly preparing to bombard Iran’s energy infrastructure this weekend, though no final order has been given. (Hear More)

➤ Police arrested a man who stole a running car in Atlanta with a 2-year-old in the back seat while her mother made a delivery. (Listen Now)

➤  Savannah Guthrie on Saturday pleaded again for answers after Arizona officials released the ransom notes sent following her mother’s disappearance six months ago. (Podcast Available)

This short video explains Colorado’s troubled path to statehood, which it achieved 150 years ago on Aug. 1.

How do you feel about bats?

1. Love them
2. Hate them
3. Indifferent (unless they have rabies)

Yesterday’s Results:

What is most iconic of Colorado?

1. Rocky Mountain National Park: 18%
2. Red Rocks Amphitheatre: 15%
3. Fourteeners: 12%
4. Garden of the Gods: 11%
5. “Welcome to Colorful Colorado”: 11%
6. Maroon Bells: 10%
7. Ski destinations: 9%
8. Other: 8%
9. Blucifer: 6%

Which Western Slope town is known as Colorado’s peach capital?

Show me the answer