A man who passed nearly $150,000 worth of bad checks in Aspen is now in custody in Los Angeles, accused of defrauding investors of $12 million or more.

Peter Frommer surrendered to FBI and IRS agents Friday in Los Angeles, the U.S. Attorney’s Office confirmed. He reportedly faces 17 criminal counts recently handed down by a federal grand jury including mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and failing to file federal income tax returns for three years.

Full Story »

Snowmass Village Town Council took a small step recently toward joining other Colorado towns on expressing its stance on the legality of marijuana.

Councilman Reed Lewis, who owns the Daly Bottle Shop and Grain Fine Food liquor/gourmet food store in Snowmass Village, broached the subject of decriminalizing marijuana in the town during last Monday’s council meeting.

Full Story »

On the streets of Ethiopia’s capital city, the blur of a lithe, dreadlocked figure cruising by on roller skis had become unusually common in recent days.

That blur was Robel Teklemariam, Ethiopia’s one-man cross-country ski team, training in the desert sun for the Winter Olympics, where he’ll represent his country for a second time.

Full Story »

Local airport officials are reporting a marked increase in people walking into an area where planes taxi to and from the runway in the section reserved for private jets. They have requested Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorities visit Sardy Field during the busy Presidents’ Day weekend in order to observe this potentially dangerous phenomenon, and brainstorm on how to stop it.

A memorandum from airport director Jim Elwood to the Pitkin County commissioners states they want the federal flight experts “to evaluate and assess instances involving vehicles or pedestrians straying onto the taxiway without authorization.”

Full Story »

The Aspen Skiing Co.’s ban of local crooner Dan Sheridan’s “Big Money” critique has caught the attention of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”

Producers for “The Daily Show” have contacted both Sheridan and SkiCo, expressing interest in last month’s controversy over song lyrics. SkiCo fired Sheridan from his regular gig at Sneaky’s Tavern in Snowmass Village after an unnamed vice president took offense to “Big Money,” which laments how “trophy houses, trophy wives, trophy people leading trophy lives” have spoiled Aspen. After the musician’s firing set off a storm of controversy, SkiCo rehired Sheridan but said he was forbidden from playing “Big Money” on its properties.

Full Story »

A harassment case against Swift Communications is poised to be dismissed after the woman who filed the lawsuit stopped showing up for hearings.

Mary Proctor, a former ad saleswoman for the Glenwood Springs Post Independent, filed a lawsuit against its parent company last year, accusing her former supervisor of subjecting her to religious and sexual discrimination before improperly firing her.

Full Story »

The lawyer for a professional gambler accused of killing his wife and leaving her body in a remote corner of Garfield County is seeking assurances that Marcus Bebb-Jones won’t be executed if he is extradited from England to stand trial here.

“This court is not going to extradite anyone who will face the death penalty. That’s for sure,” said Westminster Magistrates’ Court District Judge Nicholas Evans, according to BBC.com.

Full Story »