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February 18, 2015 VOLU M E 5 4 | I S S UE 7 | 7 5 ¢
PikesPeakCourier.net T E L L E R C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
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Turley receives deferred sentence By Pat Hill
phill@coloradocommunitymedia.com Former Woodland Park Mayor Dave Turley received a four-year deferred sentence in an open-court hearing Feb. 9. Turley pleaded guilty to criminal intent to commit sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust. According to Lee Richards, public relations for the 4th Judicial District, the victim and his family agreed to accept the plea. Along with the deferred sentence, Turley must submit to a requirement of Sex Of-
fender Intensive Supervised Probation and undergo a sex-offender evaluation. Turley was arrested May 23 by the Woodland Park Police Department and charged with sexual assault on a minor by a person in a position of trust. By pleading guilty to the charge of criminal intent to commit sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust, Turley has reduced the felony from a Class IV to a Class V. “I think this is a good resolution,” said Police Chief Bob Larson. “I think it would be a difficult trial.” The four-year deferred sentence is not unusual for a first-time sex offender when
there has been no force or violence, Larson said. “It’s not unusual, especially if the defendant has no previous record,” he said. Turley was asked by Judge Theresa Cisneros during the hearing if he understood what he was agreeing to and he replied in the affirmative, Larson said. In agreeing to the plea bargain, Turley was not admitting guilt but rather intent, Larson said. The prosecutor for the 4th Judicial District was Matthew James. A day after the hearing, Turley registered as a sex offender. “That was part of the deal, too,” Larson said. The agreement is a three-step process
that includes frequent visits to the probation officer, mental-health evaluations and polygraphs, Larson said. “The victim and his grandmother were advised of the plea and agreed,” Larson said. Turley will receive formal sentencing at 1:30 May 11 in the 4th Judicial District Court in Cripple Creek. Woodland Park city manager David Buttery declined to comment on the plea bargain.
TCRAS goes wild for whiskers By Pat Hill
phill@colorado communitymedia.com In the nonprofit world, money is the key to continuing the mission of serving others. At Teller County Regional Animal Shelter, maintaining the health and vigor of dogs and cats means providing routine procedures as well as
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medical care. “Our second largest line item is medical care,” said Mary Steinbeiser, the organization’s executive director. With an annual budget of $350,000, TCRAS is stretched, particularly, as the shelter takes in animals from Teller, Park and El Paso counties. At intake, every animal is spayed and neutered for an upfront cost of $120, followed by vaccinations, some offered at low cost, for every animal. “That all takes money and that’s why Julie (Nelson) is here,” Steinbeiser said. Nelson is part of the TCRAS board’s strategic plan for expanding existing services and adding more. Fundraising and event coordinator, Nelson is also charged with writing grants. First up for Nelson is gathering sponsorships for the 7th annual TCRAS benefit, “Wild Whiskers” a dinner and auction March 28 at Shining Mountain Golf Club. Experienced fundraiser, Nelson coaches athletes competing in Special Olympics Colorado.
By Kaithlyn Pratt
“We just had had Downhill for Dough, raised $4,100 - that’s our biggest amount yet,” Nelson said. “Now I’m here working for these awesome animals” Nelson is pounding the pavement these days, getting acquainted and thrusting the organization in Divide into the limelight. “We’re a little bit removed, so I’d like to make our presence more well-known,” Steinbeiser said. “The more people realize that we have amazing animals here, the more animals we can help and programs we can run. Eventually, we’d like to be a resource center for our community.” To that end, the staff plans to expand the TNR (trap/neuter/return) program for feral cats. “We’re just trying to keep the population down,” Steinbeiser said. Steinbeiser emphasizes that keeping the animal population down means taking protective measures. “Accidents happen when you don’t spay and neuter,” Steinbeiser said. “It’s better to bring those (accident) puppies to us and let us adopt them out; we are the experts in this.”
Julie Nelson, left, fundraising coordinator at Teller County Regional Animal Shelter, and Mary Steinbeiser, TCRAS executive director, hope someone comes along to adopt the 10-week old puppy, a Doberman/American bull dog mix. Photo by Pat Hill Life happens at the shelter. Last week, for instance, a 12-year-old cattle-dog mix found a home with a woman who just dropped in. Undaunted by the dog’s age-related afflictions, the woman said she had five other senior-citizen dogs, Steinbeiser said. Requirement or not, the new
fundraiser has two dogs, a cat and a horse. “I love animals, already have my eyes on a border collie here,” Nelson said. The Wild Whiskers benefit is from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The silent auction begins at 4:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 each or two for $50. For information, call 686-7707.
Caring for lost pets
Contributing writer Buddy is a sweet tempered, five year old Border collie and Alaskan husky mix. He was brought to Teller County Regional Animal Shelter (TCRAS) after his owner was no longer able to care for him. On average 800 pets, like Buddy, find their way into the animal shelter in Divide each year. TCRAS holds the county contract for animal control, so any strays found in the area are usually brought to the shelter. Each of the animals are spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and micro chipped before being sent to new homes. For anyone looking for a new pet, TCRAS is a good place to look. “We make sure that the animals are healthy, and we always disclose what we know,” said Mary Steinbeiser, the shelter manager. TCRAS also works to get lost animals back to their families. There are resources available online for reporting both lost and found animals. Lost and found animals can be posted to the TCRAS Facebook page, and a report can be called in to be listed on the website. Ani-
mals that are brought in as strays are always held at the shelter for 5 days before being put up for adoption to give owners a chance to claim them. The shelter always takes in strays, and they can usually take in owner release animals, but sometimes they simply lack the space to accept all of the animals brought in. When they are tight for space they do try to give pet owners other resources. “We try to work with people to help them keep their animals,” said Mary Steinbeiser. The Pet Food Pantry for Teller County provides assistance to those who are having a hard time keeping their animals due to economic hardship. The Pet Food Pantry is also a private non-profit organization run on donations. It provides pet food to those in need, and in some cases will help with emergency medical care. In the future TCRAS will call itself a “limited intake” shelter rather than “no kill” in order to allow for better communication and more animal transfer with other shelters. The change in verbage will not change anything that
TCRAS does. What it hopefully will do is allow them to take in animals from other shelters that are tight on space. Right now 14% of the animals that come in are transferred from other shelters, and the shelter hopes cooperation will allow for more transfers in the future. “If we are full, we won’t take a transfer. Our own community comes first and I alway allow space for that.” “We want to open doors and work hand in hand with other animal shelters and humane societies. It means we can save more animals,” said Steinbeiser. Most of the animals that come into the shelter are there for about a month before finding a new home. For some animals, it takes a little bit more work to find them the right home. Pit bulls tend to be the hardest animals to adopt out, and in a couple of cases have even had to stay at the shelter for up to a year before finding a home. The shelter had one particular pit bull come in with a lot of energy, and some behavioral issues. A little while in to his stay, the volunteers figured out that he was deaf. Soon after they were able to train him
using a kind of sign language. This took care of many of the behavioral issues, and he was placed into a new home. While many of the stray dogs that are brought in get re-claimed by their owners, cat owners rarely think to check the shelter when a cat goes missing, assuming that it has run away or been eaten. As a result there tend to be a lot of cats in need of homes, though the adoption rate has increased in recent years. “Cats are overlooked a lot,” said Steinbeiser. ”People tend to move away and leave them behind.” TCRAS is a private, non-profit shelter which gets funding from fundraising and donations. Adoption fees go to pay the vaccinations, microchips, and spaying or neutering. Medical costs are the shelter’s second highest cost. Some of the animals come in with bad injuries that need to be addressed. These injuries can be costly, but getting the word out tends to go a long way in getting help from donors.