S T E A M B O AT
TODAY
THURSDAY MARCH 12, 2015
Steamboat Springs, Colorado
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Vol. 27, No. 61
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SteamboatToday.com
INSIDE: Game of the Week: Sailors boys lacrosse looks to keep program momentum going • page 17
Attorney I’d rather be ... discloses possible homicide motive Matt Stensland STEAMBOAT TODAY
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
Court documents filed Wednesday shed some new light on a possible motive for the slaying of Routt County resident Edward Zimmerman. Steamboat Springs attorney Leslie Goldstein has been appointed to represent Kristen Johnson, who is being held on suspicion of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Johnson’s husband, Lucas Johnson, is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder. On Wednesday, Goldstein filed a motion with the court asking for access to the “crime scene located at Mr. Zimmerman’s home” on Yellow Jacket Drive between Steamboat and Stagecoach. “Specifically, it appears that the prosecution is attempting to lay out a motive for Mr. Zimmerman’s untimely death by asserting that the destruction/or theft of marijuana plants was for financial gain,” Goldstein wrote in the motion. “Discovery states that there was an extensive grow operation conducted in many areas of the home.” Zimmerman was reported missing Feb. 28, and his remains were discovered the following week. The Routt County District Attorney’s Office is expected to See Johnson, page 2
■ INDEX Briefs . . . . . . . . . 10 Classifieds . . . . . 23 Colorado . . . . . . 14 Comics . . . . . . . 22 Crossword . . . . . 22 Deaths . . . . . . . . 11
Happenings . . . . . 6 Lotto . . . . . . . . . . 7 The Record . . . . 13 Sports . . . . . . . . 17 ViewPoints . . . . . 8 Weather . . . . . . . 21
JOHN F. RUSSELL/STAFF
Longtime local Jon Hawes casts his line into the Yampa River on Tuesday afternoon. Warm temperatures have fishermen taking advantage of the mild conditions in the Yampa Valley.
New camping regulations County passes rules allowing campers up to 180 days on private land Tom Ross
Cari Hermacinski cast the dissenting vote Tuesday as the Routt County commissioners passed new regulations governing camping on private property in rural Routt County by a 2-1 margin. The subject of camping has become a bone of contention in the county over the past six months due to complaints about
people some residents say have been “camping” on a permanent basis in a rural neighborhood. The new regulations impose time constraints on private camping (commercial campgrounds are not affected) that were previously missing from the county’s formal definition of the activity, which is commonplace in northwestern Colorado. The old definition read: “The use of temporary living accommodations such as tents, tepees, yurts, and
■ WEATHER
■ SKI REPORT
STEAMBOAT TODAY
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
Chance of rain/snow. High of 47.
Page 21
Midmountain base Summit base Trails open Lifts open Total snow*
58 inches 71 inches 165/165 16/16 217 inches
*Total snow at Steamboat Ski Area since Oct. 1 as measured at midmountain. For up-to-date road conditions, including Rabbit Ears Pass, call 511 or visit www.cotrip.org.
recreation vehicles such as motor homes or trailers.” The county has been hosting public hearings and work sessions since September in an effort to draft more specific regulations, and it’s the vagueness of the word “temporary” that has been the focus. Hermacinski said she would put personal property rights above the need to be more specific. “If we can clarify the word ‘temporary,’ if we leave and have
done that, then we’ve accomplished something,” Hermacinski said. “But the balance is impinging on people’s rights to use their property.” Directing her comments to Planning Director Chad Phillips, she added, “Chad, you’ve just said that in 17 years, nobody has asked, ‘What’s temporary?’ I don’t think that we’re having such a problem with the defiSee Camping, page 3
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