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 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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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 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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