Planning work underway to upgrade Rubey Park is not intended to lead to a significantly expanded or relocated site, according to city officials.

Instead, the work aims to come up with a plan to rehabilitate the aging facility, improving bus parking, concrete walkways and waiting areas.

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Young people in Aspen have a problem showing up, at least when it comes to the recent city election.

Overall turnout among registered voters in the municipal May 7 election, when the mayoral field was winnowed to two and a pair of new City Council members were elected, was 36.6 percent, or 50 percent among active voters.

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A fiery traffic accident in Glenwood Canyon early Wednesday killed one person, closed Interstate 70 in both directions for hours and sent scores of drivers up the Roaring Fork Valley to the Independence Pass closure gate, which they found was surprisingly still blocking the highway.

Deputy George Kremer of the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office responded to the gate and said he found a traffic jam. Even semi-trucks were trying to use the pass to get around Glenwood Canyon — even though vehicles longer than 35 feet are prohibited even when the pass is open. The road is expected to open today at 2 p.m.

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A doctor who recently tested the blood of several Carbondale residents for a range of toxic compounds associated with oil and gas drilling said his results could be the start of a baseline data set used to measure future effects of drilling in the Thompson Divide.

Dr. John Hughes of Aspen Integrative Health tested the blood of 10 Carbondale residents for a range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with gas drilling, including benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene. He found low levels of xylene in some subjects, but found no VOCs in concentrations above federal health thresholds.

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An Aspen woman faces a felony charge for allegedly using the credit card numbers of other people, including a customer at the retail store where she worked, to buy clothes and a tanning session.

Catherine Anne Turner-Wells, 49, was arrested at her home Tuesday on a charge of unauthorized use of a financial transaction device.

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A redevelopment project that would see a three-story glass building go up on the Hyman Avenue Mall was approved unanimously this week by the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission, and will have its date with City Council this summer.

The project, at 420 E. Hyman Ave., would replace the current building holding the Zocalito restaurant and Annette’s Mountain Bake Shop. It was one of a half-dozen projects seeking three-story approvals that came in last spring, after City Council in late February 2012 introduced but failed to pass an emergency ordinance that would have lowered building heights. A similar downzoning proposal, which lowered allowed heights from 42 to 28 feet, was passed a few weeks later, but didn’t become effective until early May.

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A planned overhaul of the Rio Grande parking garage’s roof will end a decades-long practice of law enforcement vehicles blocking a fire lane — a violation of city code that would land the average citizen a $100 ticket and possibly a tow.

After more than a year of analysis and debate, Aspen City Council last month signed off on a $4 million project to overhaul Galena Plaza, which sits on top of the Rio Grande parking garage and serves as its roof.

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A four-day trial is set next month for the Parachute man accused of breaking into the home of a Basalt woman and robbing her along with an armed accomplice who was charged last month.

Michael Charles Hawkins, 25, in January pleaded not guilty to five felonies: robbery of an at-risk adult; aggravated robbery; burglary; theft of $20,000 or more; and menacing with a real or simulated weapon.

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A Basalt man accused of robbing a woman of her purse and other items as she walked home from a restaurant last year pleaded not guilty on Monday to felony charges.

A four-day trial in November was set for Erick Gomez, 18, who is charged with robbery and theft. The alleged victim’s husband attended the brief proceeding.

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