News from neighbors
Board considers rail quiet zones
STERLING JOURNAL-ADVOCATE, Nov. 7 — Sterling resident Jim McNay met briefly with the Logan County Commissioners Tuesday morning to ask them for assistance in getting railroad crossing “quiet zones” established for the five railroad crossings along the BNSF line that goes through Sterling.
McNay had previously met with Sterling City Council in August and was told that only one of the five crossings — the one at the sugar beet dump at South Front and Factory streets — is in the city’s jurisdiction. The main crossing, at Chestnut Street, is actually under the Colorado Department of Transportation’s jurisdiction because it involves a state highway. McNay said the rest aren’t in the city, but are in the county.
The three crossings in the county’s jurisdiction are at Chambers Drive off of U.S. 6 south of Sterling, at Iris Drive at the intersection of South Third Avenue and U.S. 6, and at the former beef packing plant at the northeast edge of Sterling on U.S. 138.
The full article is available in our e-Edition. Click here to subscribe.
Small businesses brace for Colorado’s new online sales tax rules some say could put them out of business
THE DENVER POST, Nov. 3 — The holiday shopping season is nigh and Colorado’s online retailers have much to do. It’s time to double-check inventory, alert mailing list subscribers about deals and discount offers, and make sure they are prepared to collect and pay sales taxes for each of the state’s more than 340 taxing jurisdictions.
That’s right. Starting Dec. 1, the Colorado Department of Revenue will require all retailers who ship goods to a buyer in Colorado to assess, collect and remit sales taxes based on the buyer’s address, not where the business is located or the taxing jurisdictions the buyer and seller share in common. The rules are the same if the retailer is Amazon trucking a book into the state or an independent screen-printing business mailing a T-shirt from Aurora to Pagosa Springs.
And some business owners are worried that the looming wave of red tape could be so burdensome that it will put them out of business.
The full article is available in our e-Edition. Click here to subscribe.
4 staff injured in assault Tuesday
STERLING JOURNAL-ADVOCATE, Nov. 8 — Four correctional officers were assault Tuesday at the Sterling Correctional Facility, the Colorado Department of Corrections announced.
According to the release from department spokesman Mark Fairbairn, “multiple” offenders — an exact number was not released — were involved in the incident in the prison dining hall. The department has not identified any of the inmates involved.
According to the original release, the injured officers were given emergency treatment by on-duty medical personnel, then transported by ambulance and other correctional staff to the hospital. An update Wednesday said the wounded staff suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
The full article is available in our e-Edition. Click here to subscribe.