Breaking: Colorado still weird

The Democratic National Committee put off until January deciding between Denver and New York for the 2008 convention. Despite earlier pessimism, this pestiferous ol' buboesburg may still be in the running.

News: Crime plunges in Denver; Post: Violent crime rises nationwide.

Allowing cougar hunting in Boulder County: will it make them (cougars) stop eating people?

Nice picture of snow in this weather story.

Just what we need: another Colorful Colorado pervert for Rita Cosby: Parker teacher arrested. Guess what for:

An Elizabeth High School teacher accused of having sex with a 17-year-old student during a football trip last month had brought along her two children and their babysitter, all of whom were in the motel room where the alleged incident took place, according to an arrest affidavit.

I blame schools of education.

Finally, to get rid of the sleazy taste, a semi-heroic dog story:

A prominent Colorado adventure athlete can thank her dog and a Utah search-and-rescue team for saving her life after she fell and injured herself while running and spent two nights in subfreezing weather near last week.

Danelle Ballengee, 35, of Dillon, will have surgery today at Denver Health Medical Center to repair a broken pelvis suffered while running with her dog near the Amasa Back Trail south of Moab last Wednesday.

She also is recovering from severe frostbite on her feet, internal bleeding and numerous cuts and bruises.

The two-time adventure racing world champion and elite triathlete, trail runner and mountain biker slipped on a patch of ice on Hurrah Pass and tumbled off three successive rock faces of 10 to 20 feet each.

Bet she didn't shout "Hurrah!" as she went over the edge. Sorry. Ultra athletes are "the other" to me, and I tend to dehumanize them.

A Grand County (Utah) Search and Rescue team on all-terrain vehicles found Ballengee at about 3:30 p.m. Friday after her dog, Taz, a 3-year-old German shepherd-golden retriever mix, led rescuers on a five-mile journey to the accident site.

After the fall, Ballengee crawled about a quarter-mile on her hands and knees to try to find help. During the night, she did sit-ups and kept her upper body moving to keep warm. She drank snowmelt from a puddle when the water in her hydration pack ran out and ate two packets of raspberry energy gel she had carried on the run.

Sit-ups? Raspberry energy gel? The Drunkablog would have killed a cougar, 'et it raw, and done crunches after supper. What about the faithful Taz?

Moab police found Ballengee's pickup truck at the Amasa Back trailhead at 12:30 p.m. Friday. As search-and-rescue personnel arrived, a dog matching the description of Taz was seen running around the trailhead.

"We were going to try to identify the dog, but the dog basically didn't want to be caught and instead turned around and headed back toward the trail," said Curt Brewer, chief deputy with the Grand County Sheriff's Office.

"When that happened, the search crew decided to follow the dog. And the dog took our rescue personnel right to her. I think we would have eventually found her, because we were in the right location, but the dog saved us some time," he said.

Oh, you'd have found her with or without "the dog," would you have, Curt old sock? Why you ungrateful, credit-thieving cur(t). Sic 'im, Taz!

Update: At least Ballengee was luckier than double Darwin-award-dodger Aron Ralston.

Update II: Bonus heroic dog story!

Update III: No leg discussions! Or any other part of her body! Thanks!

Update IV: They called me Johnny Cougar.