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• Two Nebraska workers jailed for abusing disabled residents

  August 22, 2012 4:47 PM

  Two former workers at a Nebraska center for developmentally disabled adults are going to prison for abusing residents. A judge today sentenced Cameron Barnes, of Fairbury, to 2 to 4 years on two felony counts of abuse of a vulnerable adult, to be served consecutively. Matthew Johnson, of Beatrice, was... more »

• Colorado paid nearly $60 million to departing workers

  October 9, 2011 5:55 PM

  GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) - State statistics show Colorado paid nearly $60 million to departing workers for unused leave and sick time over the past three years and could owe $367 million more to current employees. The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reported Sunday the figures came from its analysis of... more »

• 2 Colo. highway workers injured in Greeley

  August 12, 2011 5:37 PM

  GREELEY, Colo. (AP) - Two Colorado highway workers have been injured after the second crash involving road crews in a week. The latest accident happened Friday morning in Greeley as highway crews were setting up a lane closure for a bridge inspection. Transportation department spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said two... more »

• Verizon workers strike

  August 8, 2011 8:26 AM

  A union official says thousands of striking workers are joining picket lines and rallies at Verizon work locations from Massachusetts to Virginia. A Communications Workers of America spokesman Robert Master says about 75 workers showed up at Verizon's headquarters in Manhattan on Monday morning. He says picket lines... more »

• Health Institute employees to rally for more help

  December 17, 2010 2:01 PM

  Democratic State House Representatives Sal Pace and Angela Giron will rally with employees at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo tomorrow to push for more employees at the facility. A report was recently critical of staffing levels at the hospital. The audit was done after several patients died... more »

• Unemployed find old jobs now require more skills

  October 11, 2010 8:17 AM

  The jobs crisis has brought an unwelcome discovery for many unemployed Americans: Job openings in their old fields exist. Yet they no longer qualify for them. During the recession, companies became more productive by doing more with fewer workers. Some asked staffers to take on a broader array of... more »

• Van smuggling illegal aliens stopped in Pueblo County

  October 8, 2010 2:17 PM

  A van carrying ten people, all illegal aliens, was stopped just south of Pueblo Tuesday afternoon. All were taken into custody. Two men, Santos Miranda-Mendoza and Walter Zuniga-Sosa, admitted that they were paid to smuggle the others from Houston to Los Angeles, according to an arrest affidavit. They've each... more »

• Stores already hiring temp workers for holidays

  October 6, 2010 9:05 AM

  Kohl's is increasing its holiday hiring this season by 21 percent, another major retailer to boost its employee count this winter. The department store chain says it expects to hire more than 40,000 people this season, up from 33,000 last year. It plans to hire an average of... more »

• Ohio church day care worker jailed for drugging kids

  September 15, 2010 12:25 PM

  A former day care worker at an Ohio church has been sentenced to six months in jail for slipping a dietary supplement into children's candy to get them to sleep. Cincinnati resident Donna Scott was convicted of three counts of child endangering. Prosecutors say she and a co-worker... more »

• Hwy 24 roadwork underway

  September 13, 2010 9:04 AM

  Rock slides closed Highway 24 west of Colorado Springs twice at the end of summer. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is tackling the problem with rock mitigation operations on Ute Pass this week. The work began Monday morning. It should take two weeks. This week westbound Hwy 24... more »

• Oil platform catches fire in Gulf; workers OK

  September 3, 2010 9:02 AM

  A company official says the incident aboard a Mariner Energy oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico is considered a fire, not an explosion. The Coast Guard says there was no leak, and no one was killed. The Coast Guard initially reported that an oil sheen a mile... more »

• Feds to release report on Colorado fire that killed 5

  August 25, 2010 8:13 AM

  The U.S. Chemical Safety Board will release a 15-minute safety video and its final report of its investigation into a tunnel fire that killed five workers at a hydroelectric plant in Colorado. The independent federal agency investigates serious chemical accidents and makes safety recommendations. In a trailer for the... more »

• Colorado reaches agreement on worker's comp

  August 24, 2010 8:25 AM

  The Colorado Division of Insurance has canceled a hearing with the state chartered worker's compensation company after reaching a settlement on rates. The Colorado Division of Insurance said Monday that Pinnacol Assurance has reached a tentative agreement on the state's four key concerns about rates. Pinnacol's board of directors... more »

• PERA solvency review due today

  August 16, 2010 9:13 AM

  Colorado lawmakers are getting an update on the health of the state employee retirement plan. The legislature cut benefits this year to keep the plan from going broke. Under the new law retirees got no cost of living increase this year instead of the normal 3.5 percent increase. ... more »

• Report: Xcel, contractor ignored worker safety

  August 12, 2010 10:25 AM

  A draft report on a tunnel fire that killed five workers at a Colorado hydroelectric plant accuses Xcel Energy and contractor RPI Coating of ignoring worker safety. It says that a lack of planning for hazardous work and inadequate contractor selection were among problems that contributed to the accident.... more »

• Water well blows out in Canon City

  August 4, 2010 12:50 PM

  Workers drilling a new water well just north of Canon City hit high-pressure water, causing a blow-out. The well is spewing water at a rate of 1,600-2,000 gallons per minute. The water and drilling mud is flowing into Fourmile Creek, causing discoloration and silt in the stream. Water... more »

• Accused child killer in court today

  August 4, 2010 9:47 AM

  Monique Lynch, accused stuffing a little girl's lifeless body into the crawl space of a Monument home, will face a judge in Colorado Springs for the first time today. Lynch waived her right to a video advisement last week. Today, she's expected to be formally charged with child abuse... more »

• Boulder lands new wind company

  July 27, 2010 9:53 AM

  A German-based renewable energy company is moving its U.S. wind-energy headquarters from Cleveland to Boulder in September. The company, juwi, already has its U.S. solar headquarters in Boulder. The move of its wind-energy headquarters is expected to bring 20 jobs to Boulder. Company officials say that the location... more »

• Buck regrets slam against tea party birthers

  July 26, 2010 10:02 AM

  Republican Senate candidate Ken Buck is apologizing for his remarks about tea party members who question President Obama's birth certificate. Outside a campaign stop in Crowley in June, Buck used a vulgarity in referring to so-called birthers. In an audio tape, Buck says he wants someone to tell those... more »

• Ship buried in 18th century unearthed in NYC

  July 15, 2010 8:51 AM

  Workers excavating at the World Trade Center site have unearthed the 32-foot-long hull of a ship likely buried in the 18th century. Archeologists say the vessel probably was used along with other debris to fill in land to extend lower Manhattan into the Hudson River. Archeologists Molly McDonald and... more »

• Vestas looking to hire 182 workers in Pueblo

  July 13, 2010 3:42 PM

  Vestas is looking to hire 182 more workers in Pueblo. This information was announced Tuesday, during a media tour at the wind turbine manufacturing plant, located south of Pueblo. The company is looking for people who are who are skilled in plasma cutting, welding and painting according to Tony Knopp... more »

• Vestas looking to hire more workers for Pueblo plant

  July 13, 2010 12:05 PM

  Here's what I'm working on today. Pueblo's wind turbine factory, Vestas is looking to hire more workers. Right now, Vestas employees 283 workers in Pueblo. According to an article on the company's website there are plans to hire additional workers, who are skilled in plasma cutting, welding and painting. Vestas... more »

• Calif. court sides with Schwarzenegger on pay

  July 2, 2010 3:39 PM

  A California appellate court has sided with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in his move to pay state workers minimum wage. The governor made the move late Thursday involving 200,000 state workers to send a signal to California lawmakers in the impasse over closing California's $19 billion budget deficit. The Legislature's deadline... more »

• Artists suggest high-tech sheep wagons for immigrant workers

  July 1, 2010 7:29 PM

  DENVER (AP) - A group of Colorado artists is suggesting ranchers spruce up their sheep wagons for immigrant workers by designing the moveable 19th century-style homes with solar panels, showers and portable gardens. The designs proposed by Yuma-based nonprofit M12 will be featured in an exhibit for Denver's monthlong... more »

• Pueblo City Council to vote on Black Hills plant

  June 14, 2010 2:26 PM

  Tonight-June 14, city council is expected to vote on a deal that could bring a $450 million power complex to Pueblo. Last month the project almost came to a halt--but now it appears a compromise has been made. Black Hills Energy has selected Pueblo as its preferred site to build... more »

• Gulf Sheriff asks feds to look for illegal clean-up employees

  June 9, 2010 1:54 PM

  A sheriff in suburban New Orleans has asked federal authorities to investigate reports that illegal immigrants are working on the Gulf oil spill cleanup effort. St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack A. Stephens says in a news release that his department asked Immigration and Customs Enforcement weeks ago to look... more »

• Natural gas line blast in Texas investigated

  June 8, 2010 8:16 AM

  Authorities are investigating a natural gas explosion in rural north Texas that killed one utility worker. Officials are trying to find out how a utility crew hit a large natural gas line Monday afternoon, sending a massive fireball into he area. Johnson County's emergency management coordinator, Jack Snow,... more »

• NASA shuttle workers get $15M grant to find jobs

  June 2, 2010 10:44 AM

  NASA workers facing the end of the space shuttle era are getting $15 million from the federal government to help them find new jobs. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis announced the emergency grant Wednesday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. She said the grant will assist about 3,200 workers... more »

• News First 5 investigates mail tampering in Pueblo

  May 28, 2010 7:39 PM

  The U.S. Post Office in Pueblo says its been working extra hard to restore the public's confidence since something bad happened. A couple of months ago, you may remember three workers were caught stealing money and gifts cards from the mail. Another employee is under investigation. It's raised the question,... more »

• Justice Dept. confirms criminal probe of mine explosion

  May 14, 2010 5:21 PM

  The Justice Department is investigating whether there was "willful criminal activity" by the company that operates the West Virginia mine where 29 workers died in an accident last month. The U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of West Virginia says in a letter that investigators are looking into the... more »

• Nuclear industry poised to hire thousands

  April 30, 2010 8:43 AM

  The Southern Co. believes it can break ground on the country's first nuclear plant in 30 years, but it will need a new generation of workers to run it. Plans for building a wave of nuclear reactors would create a need for 12,000 to 21,000 new workers. Those positions... more »

• Cesar Chavez event planned

  March 26, 2010 5:09 PM

  Two organizations will host a Cesar Chavez Rally and March next week at the Pueblo County Courthouse. Sponsored by the League of United Latin American Citizens and the American G.I. Forum, the rally will begin at noon on March 31. A proclamationi from the Pueblo City Council and the... more »

• Senate poised to approve jobs bill

  March 17, 2010 8:32 AM

  The Senate is taking up a temporary tax break for companies that hire unemployed workers. The legislation contains about $18 billion in tax breaks and a $20 billion infusion of cash into highway and transit programs. It would exempt businesses hiring the unemployed from the 6.2 percent Social Security... more »

• Pueblo postal workers prosecuted for mail theft

  March 9, 2010 1:27 PM

  Three postal workers in Pueblo who were caught stealing money from mail are being punished. According to the USPS Office of Inspector General the employees have been prosecuted. The Inspector General says on December 21, 2009 Nathan Valdez pled guilty to mail theft by an employee. Valdez is scheduled to... more »

• City of Pueblo faces hardships in 2010

  March 5, 2010 5:13 PM

  The City of Pueblo is dealing with money woes, that could impact services. January's sales tax revenues fell -1.1% from the same time a year ago. "Housing starts are down, commercial construction is down, that's the lion's share of that use tax money that comes in," said Jerry Pacheco, City... more »

• U.S. workers caught in vicious cycle

  March 4, 2010 2:58 PM

  Glenda Green is working harder for less money. When business fell off at Heinnies Backbarn Restaurant in Elkhart, Ind., after the recession hit, her employer had to cut her hours as a full-time bartender. For over a year, she's been getting by on a few shifts a week, helping... more »

• Democrats push business tax credit for rehired workers

  February 17, 2010 9:39 AM

  Democratic lawmakers want to give a tax break to businesses who rehire workers they laid off last year, a move which could speed up the return of some 10,000 people to work. Republican lawmakers, normally friendly to tax cuts to create jobs, are so far dismissing it as a "fig... more »

• Mammoth tusk discovered by road crew

  February 16, 2010 11:03 AM

  Construction crews working along I-5 near Ridgefield, Washington dug up a piece of prehistory, a tusk that likely dates back 10,000 to 15,000 years. Washington State Department of Transportation project inspector Brad Clark was overseeing work on the new Ridgefield interchange when he spotted it. "The auger came up... more »

• Colorado company creating 1,300 jobs--in another state

  February 4, 2010 9:33 AM

  South Carolina officials say a Colorado company will build a $68 million plant to make electric buses. The plant could have as many as 1,300 workers. State Sen. David Thomas said Wednesday he hopes the Proterra LLC plant will lead to suppliers and related industries coming to South Carolina.... more »