THE NEWS

TODAY

THURSdayOctober 21, 2010

deal of the dayMary Ellen’s Tea Party

69% OFF — ONLY $39 for a Victorian Tea Party for 5 ($125 Value). Buy today only at gazette.com/deal oftheday.

politicsPoll indicates big Republican victory

The GOP is leading Democrats on almost all measures in the poll. People likely to vote in November’s election say the GOP would do a better job than Dems on handling the economy and running the government. A8

healthClaims about fish oil don’t pan out

DHA, a component of fish oil that’s common in prena-tal vitamins and formula, doesn’t prevent postpar-tum depression or enhance babies’ brain development, a study found. A12

localHospitals’ quality rated in report

A health care-rating organization analyzed 5,000 U.S. hospitals for their mortality rates on 17 procedures, and complica-tion rates for nine others. Hospitals received star grades for each procedure. See how Penrose-St. Fran-cis and Memorial fared. A3

businessCounty to sweeten home program

The economic develop-ment department plans to converts $25 million in taxable mortgage bonds to tax-exempt status. That means lower mortgage interest rates for new participants in a program for local low- and middle-income people. B10

scienceSmudge may be a galaxy far, far away

Astronomers think they’ve found a galaxy from 13.1 billion years ago, which would be the oldest thing they’ve seen. A smudge of light in a space-telescope photo is believed to be the galaxy. A14

Stone Age diet more than meat

Stone Age people gnawed on more than woolly mam-moths, studies find. They also ate grain. A14

sportsSoccer player has paid far too much

Elizabeth Lambert grabbed the ponytail of an opponent and pulled her to the grass. Gender played a role in the huge fallout from this incident, David Ramsey says. B1

Daily

Vol. 139 • No. 212Copyright © 2010Freedom ColoradoInformation, Inc.

advICe > b6 bUSIneSS > b10 naTIOn & wORld > a# ObITUaRIeS > a12 OpInIOn > a13 Tv > b6 COmICS > b7-8

weather, a11

High 66 • Low 40Increasing cloudiness and a chance of late-day showers.

mexican drug ring BrOKen aFTer SPringS inVeSTigaTiOn

crime

Federal drug officials on Wednesday said they have dismantled a major Mexican smuggling operation that shipped large quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine

and heroin through Colora-do Springs.

The 22-month investigation netted 29 arrests and the sei-zures of 30 pounds of meth-amphetamine, 13 pounds of cocaine, 3.75 pounds of her-oin and $1.4 million in cash,

Drug Enforcement Adminis-tration officials said during a news conference at the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

“This has a huge impact on our community,” said Kevin Merrill, acting Special Agent

in Charge of the DEA’s Rocky Mountain regional office.

The investigation was part of a multistate set of drug cases dubbed “Operation De-liverance” that was first dis-closed in June. But authori-ties held off on discussing the Colorado Springs cases, some of which resulted in

arrests as recently as last month.

“Deliverance,” which re-sulted in 2,278 arrests na-tionwide, was initiated by investigative leads devel-oped in Colorado Springs, Merrill said.

by john c. ensslinjohn.ensslin@gazette.com—

—

see drugs • Page 2

$1.4 million seized; large amounts of meth, cocaine, heroin shipped through city

Tim Reidy cast his fishing line into Quail Lake during a warm Wednesday afternoon in Colorado Springs. He got a bite moments later but no fish,

and Reidy was OK with that. He said he tries to make it out to the lake as often as he can — sometimes three times a week.

BRYAN OLLER, THE GAZETTE

Hooked on fishing outdoors

75 cents ❘ Informing the Pikes Peak region since 1872 ❘ gazette.com

in out there >

let the feet fly unfetteredA trend toward minimal footwear has motivated runners to bare their soles to get healthier.

ORIG

INA

LTW

EAK

TWEA

KTW

EAK

nonprofit in spotlightdouglas bruce

Douglas Bruce says a char-ity he founded sent mail to people in 2008 urging them to vote against a pair of bal-lot measures.

In 2009, the anti-tax activ-ist certified, on a federal tax form, that Active Citizens Together does not lobby voters. Then he signed the form.

This election season, the same charity is at the center of an unrelated campaign-finance dispute. This one involves a formal complaint

that alleges Active Citizens Together has not filed re-ports documenting its sup-port of three statewide bal-lot measures that would cut taxes and stop state bor-rowing.

Bruce, a lawyer who cham-pioned Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights, on Wednesday confirmed the 2008 expen-diture by Active Citizens To-gether, a mass mailing that asked thousands of people to vote against Referendum O and Amendment 59.

On April 11, 2009, Bruce signed IRS form 990 for the charity, declaring it hadn’t

Bruce told IRS charity didn’t lobby after it did

—

see bruce • Page 2

by tom roedertom.roeder@gazette.com—

in short• A nonprofit group formed by Douglas Bruce spent much of its funds in 2008 on advertising that asked voters to oppose two ballot measures• Bruce told the IRS in 2009 that the group does not engage in lobbying• State campaign-finance regulators are examining similar spending by the nonprofit in 2010

status quo is off the tablememorial health system

The status quo is not an option for Memorial Health System, the commission weighing the city-owned

hospital’s future decided Wednesday.

After the most conten-tious discussion of its nine months of research and deliberation, the citizens’ commission voted 6-3 to remove the status quo and modest tweaks to the cur-

rent structure from the op-tions it’s considering.

“I think we are stepping up to our responsibilities as a commission,” said commission member Dave Munger. “We have had sufficient, more than suf-ficient, discussion of these

options.”The commission plans to

meet Nov. 10 to come to a final decision on what it should recommend to the City Council. Any change in the hospital’s ownership

by andrew winekeawineke@gazette.com—

—

see memorial • Page 2

Any change would have to be approved by voters

Dobson lashes outat obaMa, health Plan

James Dobson pulled no punches in his latest news-letter for Family Talk, the ministry he launched last May in Colorado Springs.

With elections near, Dob-son lashed out against Presi-dent Barack Obama, Mus-lims, the federal health care package, abortion activism, gays in the military and his view that America is becom-ing a socialist country.

Dobson writes of “death panels,” the “global warming myth,” and quotes Winston Churchill on Islam, which the British statesman called “a militant and proselytizing faith” of which “no stronger retrograde force exists in the world.”

Dobson concludes by en-couraging people to vote in November elections and

by mark barnamark.barna@gazette.com—

religion

Family Talk letter rallies voters, seeks donations

—

see dobson • Page 4

‘don’t ask’ temporarily reinstated

WASHINGTON • Acting on a request from the Obama administration, a federal ap-peals court Wednesday in San Francisco lifted a judge’s order that had halted en-forcement of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays, leaving the much-disputed law in legal limbo.

The three-judge panel said it was setting aside the judge’s order “temporarily”

david g. savageChicago Tribune—

gays in military

—

See mIlITAry • PAGe 7

Hearin Aids

gFree

HearingTest!

Look for our larger, more informative ad in

Wednesday’s newspaper!

Better Hearing through Better Technology!A+

Rating!

3715 Parkmoor Village Dr.

Lowest Price in ColoradoGuaranteed!

www.hear-tech.com

(719) 380-0777Serving

You for 18Years!