The Daily Sentinel from Grand Junction, Colorado • 1

New beginning More than 750 fans turn out for Mesa States first home wrestling dual since 1991 See page 2B Blending beliefs Africans meld indigenous teachings with Christianity See page 4A WESTERN COLORADOS CHRONICLE OF RECORD SINCE 1893 Copyright 2007 The Daily Sentinel "All rights reserved January 20, 2007 Grand Junction, Colorado Vol 114, No 62 34 pages 60 cents newsstand Boy pleads guilty to having gun at school County, former director clashed on handling of addicts By GARY HARMON The Dally Sentinel One of the pi line sources of friction between the Mesa Coun ty Commission and former Hu man Services Director James Garrett was the treatment of "moth moms, Garretf said Garrett was fired Tuesday after a meeting with Commis land told him soon afiei he arrived on the job was that patents with methamphet evident that Garrett and the commissioner had different views of methamphetamme and how to deal with families affected by the di ug One of the first things Row Families and methamphet amine marked one of the first grounds on which he clashed with Rowland, and one of the last, Garrett said Rowland said it had long been sioner Craig Meis, but he said he had conflicts with both Meis and Commissioner Janet Row land, especially on the issue of how to deal with families and methamphetamme See METH MOMS, page 12A Having A Ball New Starbucks, Chipotle mark retails march ByKYLENE KIANG The Daily Sentinel A 15-yeai old boy pleaded guilty Friday to possession of a weapon on schixil grounds for carrying a loaded revolver to Giand Junction High School last month In a plea agi ecment, three ad ditional misdemeanor chaiges theft, possession of a hand gun by a juvenile and unlawfully carrying a weapon oil schixil i were dropped The boy ill fat ing Mai ch 9 for a class six felony crime and could face up to two years in the Divi sion of Youth Corrections, man datory parole, up to $300 in fines oi community service On Dec 22. the 15 year-old al legedly concealed a 357-caliber Magnum Rossi revolver in a black holster under his shut and his red shorts. The weapon was loaded with six rounds of ammunition and ap- See GUN, page 12A By MIKE WIGGINS The Daily Sentinel The retail boom that has consumed the Highway corridor in recent years is showing no signs of slowing down, with another shopping center coming on line at the corner of the highway and 25 Road Chipotle Mexican Grill, Stai bucks and a yet to-be-determ med business will occupy a 9,800 square foot building under construction at what will be known as Riverside Crossing, according i James Walker, vice president of Gulf Coast Commercial Development The shopping center will sit on roughlv 6 '2 acres at the northeast corner of US 5150 and 25 Road Walker said Gulf Coast is prep til'd to sign a lease with a tlimd tenant but declinid to identify the business All three tenants are expected to open around April 1 he said Denver based Chipotle, which has roughly 550 stores 25 states, announced earlier this year it planned to add 95 to 105 restaurants this year The fast food chain specializes in burritos and tacos The Starbucks coffee shop ill be the second stand alone store in Grand Junction The first opened near 24 and roads last year Walker said Gulf Coast intends to submit plans to the city' next month to build a second, larger buildmg on the 6 5acre site He said simi lnr to the 9.800 square-foot buildmg, the foot facility will house multiple retail oriented businesses Those busmesses should ojx'n by the end of the summer There is room on the site for a third retail building, but Walker said that space ill not lie developeid foi the foreseeable future Already a highly visible area, the intersection of 5.150 and 25 Road ill see more traffic in the coming years tx 'cause of Riverside Parkwav HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PEL0SI says Democrats will bold President Bush accountable for the war. Barbs fly over Iraq GRETEl DAUGHERTYTtie Daily Sentinel Morgan Boyers, 3, of Montrose tosses balls into the air as he plays in the ball pit at KidzPlex on 24 12 Road Morgan traveled to Grand Junction on Friday for a day of fun with his little brother, Logan, his fnend, Zack Oldroyd, 4, and both boys mothers The group had visited Dinosaur Journey in Fruita earlier in the day See MARCH, page 12A By KEN HERMAN Co News Service WASI 1INGTON Despite public promises to work together. the White House and the Democratic leaders of Congress escalated their political war of woi ds over Iraq on Friday House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Calif, said a morning in terview that Democrats would not cut off tundmg foi the wait "but we will hold the president accountable President Bush has to an swei foi his war" Pelosi told ABC Gtxxl Moi mng Amen ca She addl'd, He has dug a hole so deep he can even see the light on this It a tragedy It a stalk blundei She accost'd Bush of mak mg troop divisions based on politics The president know that be-lause the tnxps are in harm's wav that we won cut off the resources That hv he mov ing so quu klv to put them in harm's wav Pelosi said White House spokeswoman i Pei mi' calk'd the com mem poisonous See IRAQ page 124 Commander says U.S.

troops may be reduced by summer By THE NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE TU.LIL AIR RASE Iraq Gen probablv going to bo lute summci George Cases the top American com before ou get to the point hei people mander Iraq said Fi tdav that the ad in Baghdad feel sate then neighlxn ditional troops being ent to aq i nuld hcxxls begin to he withdnwn bv 1 up sununei Also Pndav the niei nan mihtnrv if sixuit'v conditions improve innoum ixl that it had seitxl a susjxh Bighdid i tx'iicv, the pioimtions are l.u See TROOPS page 12A suni'i' i arev said Hiding I think 6 DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT GATES, left, meets with Gen George Casey, right, on Friday in Basra, Iraq Gates had talks with and other allied commanders amid a burgeoning war policy debate at home THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ON THE WEB: GJSent.nel com HOWTO REACH US: Ma number 24 2 5050 To subscribe delivery problems and subscription bihng 242 1919 or (8001 332 5833 Partly cloudy High 31. Low 15 Ljnpee hmas' A Todays Forecast Reader guide 9532 11 01035 II.