The Daily Sentinel from Grand Junction, Colorado • 2

2A The Daily Sentinel Sunday, November 2, 2014 Local PACs contribute generously to GOP candidates SI Konola and Webb $1,550 apiece, while bestowing Kennedy with twice that amount. The sole unaffiliated candidate in the valley, James Fletcher, who's in a three-way race for HD54, has raised nearly as much as Webb, almost $11,000. Though Fletcher has put about $2,500 of his own money into the race, the rest has come from individuals in the region. The race that continues to attract a lot of donations, however, is for Senate District 5, which includes Delta County. In that race, Democrat Kerry Donovan continues to outpace Republican Don Suppes, collecting nearly $150,000 compared to Suppes' $107,000.

Both have received substantial aid from their respective local and state parties, with Donovan receiving about $20,000 and Suppes getting slightly more, $22,000. That race is one of half a dozen legislative contests that could determine which party controls the Colorado Senate, which the Democrats currently control 18-17. In the race for House District 61, which includes the eastern half of Delta County, Rep. Millie Hamner, D-Frisco, dominates her Republican opponent in fundraising, pulling in more than $81,000 to GOP rival Debra Irvine's $26,000. There are two Libertarians also vying for state offices, Kyle Davis for HD54 and Lee Mulcahy for SD5.

Of the two, only Mulcahy has raised any money, $2,750. By CHARLES ASHBY Charles.Ashbygjsentinel.com The three Grand Valley Republican candidates running for various seats in the Colorado Legislature have discovered just how much money political action committees have to offer. The three Rep. Ray Scott, Yeulin Willett and Dan Thur-low have received thousands of dollars from various PACs, from bankers to builders to oil and gas companies. Scott, who's running to replace Sen.

Steve King for Senate District 7, has raised a total of $45,000, about $7,300 of which has come from political action committees, including from the insurance and energy industries. Willett, who's hoping to replace Rep. Jared Wright in House District 54, has done even better, raising more than $51,000 so far in the campaign, more than $6,000 of which has come from PACs. Thurlow, who's vying to replace Scott in House District 55, has collected nearly $38,000, pulling in $3,700 in PAC money, the least of the three. The bulk of the money that their Democratic counterparts Claudette Konola, Brad Webb and Christopher Kennedy have raised is almost entirely from individuals in Mesa County.

Konola, who's running against Scott for the Colorado Senate, has raised just under $20,000, including a $150 contribution from her 85-year-old mother, Rose. REP. RAY SCOn YEULIN WILLETT DANTHURLOW Republican Republican Republican candidate for candidate for candidate for Senate District 7 House District 54 House District 55 But not everyone in the Konola clan is on board with her campaign. Like he did for King when she ran for the seat four years ago, Konola's brother, Kurt, donated money to her opponent. He gave Scott $25.

Unlike Konola's family, Webb's has been unified in their donations for the Orchard Mesa vintner. He's received about $2,500 from family, including himself. The Democratic Party has been the largest single donor for the three Democrats, giving Spiess donates $500 to Lewis' sheriff campaign ByPAULSHOCKLEY Paul.Shockleygjsentinel.com to the Mesa County Sheriff's Office. The agency has built a national reputation for use of unmanned aerial systems. Ryan Lewis of The Lewis Agency, a Grand Junction marketing and public rela- tions firm, gave $1,000 to Matt Lewis' campaign in October.

There's no relation to the candidate. Lewis' campaign has reported $16,506 in contribu PATAR0TIN Unaffiliated candidate for Mesa County Sheriff tions since July 20. Unaffiliated sheriff candidate Pat Arotin reported $1,970 between Oct. 10 and Oct. 26, including $50 from Moffat County Sheriff Tim Jantz, according to state records.

Among other law enforcement contributors, Arotin received $100 from former Palisade Police Chief Carroll Quarles. Arotin received $1,000 from John and Diane Cox of Palisade during the Oct. 10 to Oct. 26 reporting period. Arotin's campaign has reported the candidate's wife, Julie, as the largest individual donor with $8,800.

The campaign reported $15,755 in contributions since July 20. Unaffiliated candidate James Lange reported no contributions for the reporting period of Oct. 10 to Oct. 26. Two candidates for Mesa County sheriff received more than $5,000 in campaign contributions during two weeks in October, including a check from the county's top law enforcement official.

Cam paign finance reports filed Friday with the Colorado Secretary of State show that Mesa County Sheriff Rebecca Spiess gave $500 to the MATT LEWIS Republican candidate for Mesa County Sheriff campaign of Republican sheriff candidate Matt Lewis, which happened the same week Spiess publicly endorsed the GOP candidate. Undersheriff Rusty Callow gave $200, while Grand Junction Police Department Cmdr. Tim Grimsby contributed $100 to Lewis' campaign, according to state records. Those records show 13 individuals employed by, or retired from, Mesa County law enforcement or the Mesa County District Attorney's Office contributed to Lewis' campaign during the reporting period July 20 to Oct. 9.

Among other notable contributions to the GOP candidate: $250 from Chris Miser, owner of Aurora-based Falcon UAV. Miser's firm in 2011 sold a fixed-wing drone MONDAY High 49, Low 28 TUESDAY High 54, Low 30 DeltaMontrose High 54, Low 42, partly cloudy Rifle High 51, Low 34, rainy Glenwood Springs High 51, Low 29, rainy Grand Mesa High 31, Low 24, rainy Southeastern Utah High 59, Low 36, rainy Denver area High 70, Low 47, partly cloudy Partly Cloudy 0 Dia De Los Muertos Participants celebrated Dia De Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, on Saturday afternoon at Martin Mortuary, 550 North Ave. The event included an art walk, activities for kids, altar blessing and Latino folk dancing by the New Generation Dancers. Donations from the event will benefit St. Joseph's Catholic Church.

Here's what's in store today High 51, Low 45 Rainy CHRISTOPHER TOMLINSONThe Daily Sentinel 2 Sunny Pt. Cloudy Cloudy Fronts Pressure iuiu warm oiauuiiary iuw niyn Weather Underground AP 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s 100s 110s Flurries Snow Ice National forecast Forecast highs for Sunday, Nov. -10s -0s 0s 10s 20s 30s 40s 1 1 i 'i Showers St. Petersburg Salt Lake City San Antonio San Diego San Francisco Rain T-storms Clr Snow Cldy .25 PCIdy Clr 67 66 72 58 70 49 70 63 65 55 City High Low Pre. Otlk.

Albuquerque 69 52 .01 Cldy Anchorage 35 27 Cldy Atlanta 47 38 .01 Clr Baltimore 52 46 .11 Clr Birmingham 53 35 Clr Bismarck 51 31 PCIdy Boise 50 39 .37 PCIdy Boston 48 43 .57 Snow Charlotte, N.C. 53 40 .77 Clr Cheyenne 66 32 Cldy Chicago 43 34 .01 PCIdy Cincinnati 42 34 .05 Clr Cleveland 41 40 .76 Cldy Columbia, S.C. 53 34 .74 Clr Dallas-Fort Worth 62 37 Cldy Des Moines 48 23 PCIdy Detroit 43 33 .07 PCIdy Flagstaff 57 49 .03 Snow Honolulu 88 77 .04 Cldy Houston 65 47 Clr Indianapolis 43 30 .04 Clr Jacksonville 57 43 Clr Kansas City 50 28 Clr Las Vegas 68 58 PCIdy Los Angeles 67 56 .43 Clr Miami Beach 78 61 Clr Milwaukee 42 35 PCIdy Minneapolis-St. Paul 42 23 PCIdy Nashville 50 37 Clr New Orleans 61 47 Clr New York City 47 45 .34 Clr Oklahoma City 61 35 Clr Omaha 52 28 Clr Orlando 64 53 Clr Philadelphia 49 45 .92 Clr Phoenix 83 69 Cldy Pittsburgh 44 40 .10 Cldy Portland.Ore. 54 44 .11 Cldy Reno 53 40 .28 PCIdy Richmond 51 41 .05 Clr Sacramento 67 52 .12 Clr St.

Louis 50 31 PCIdy Sunset today 5:12 p.m. Sunrise Monday 6:44 a.m. UV index: 2 (low) Full moon Last qtr. New moon First qtr. nnnn Nov.

6 Nov. 14 Nov. 22 Nov. 29 Temperature High Low 75 (record) at 2:27 p.m. 53 at 7:27 a.m.

59 34 72 in 2008 17 in 1979 Average high Average low Record high Record low High this date last year Low this date last year Precipitation For the period ending at 5 p.m. 55 31 trace Total this month trace Average month to date 0.03 in. Total for year 10.51 in. Average year to date 8.13 in. Relative humidity High Low 64 at 8 a.m.

19 at 2 p.m. Lake Powell 3,606 ft. Blue Mesa Reservoir 7,491 ft. Colorado River at Cameo 2,670 efs WEDNESDAY High 59, Low 35 THURSDAY High 63, Low 38 Fort Collins 69 I 39 Greeley 46 I 35 Denver- VV 70 I 47 Grand Junction Colorado Springs 51 I 45 66 I 43 Pueblo 73 I 44 Montrose 54 I 42 2014 Wundergroung.cotr WW Rain Weather Underground AP It's 0K to burn today. Mesa County Health Dept.

67 40 Rain 52 47 Rain 64 60 .03 Clr 86 67 PCIdy 54 50 Clr City High Low Pre Snow Greeley airport 63 27 0.00 Akron 65 25 0.00 Gunnison 64 28 Alamosa 66 36 0.01 0 Hayden 68 37 Aspen 65 36 0.00 La Junta 79 34 0.00 Burlington 72 33 0.00 Lamar 79 36 0.00 Centennial arpt 71 36 0.00 Leadville 54 25 0.00 Colorado Springs 71 35 0.00 0 Limon 72 21 0.00 Cortez 71 55 Meeker 68 37 0.01 Craig 71 27 0.00 Montrose 75 27 0.00 Denver intl arpt 72 33 0.00 Pueblo 75 33 0.00 0 Durango 62 45 0.10 Rifle 74 27 Eagle 70 34 Springfield 69 37 0.00 Ft Collins arpt 63 30 0.00 Telluride 56 42 Grand Junction 75 53 TO Trinidad 76 50 0.00 Get instant weather M-MsmgT-Trace Santa Fe Seattle Tampa Tucson Washington, D.C. Road conditions 877-315-7623 Air quality advisory Mesa County 248-6990 MontroseDelta counties 874-2172 Current Grand Junction conditions 243-0914 then press 1 Five-day forecast 243-0914 then press 2 Time local temperature 242-2550 Gunnison River in Grand Junction 1,530 efs Gunnison River below Gunnison tunnel 439 efs information at GJSentinel.com.