BOULDER - A wildfire burning in the canyons and steep mountainsides near Boulder became one of the most destructive blazes in Colorado history Wednesday as authorities determined it had destroyed at least 135 homes in just three days.
Authorities provided the dire assessment as firefighters encountered a tangle of rattlesnakes, downed power lines and combustible propane tanks and struggled to get an upper hand on the inferno.
The Boulder County sheriff's office said Wednesday that 135 homes have been destroyed - a toll likely to rise as the blaze rages on and...

DENVER - Colorado Deputy Attorney General Monica Marie Marquez has been appointed to the state supreme court.
Gov. Bill Ritter announced the appointment Wednesday of the 41-year-old Marquez to replace Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey, who is retiring after 23 years on the bench.
Marquez' appointment to the seven-member court is effective Nov. 30. She leads the State Services Section of the attorney general's office, which represents nine of Colorado's executive branch agencies in Colorado.
Marquez has represented the state, in both state and federal appellate courts.
She graduated from Grand Junction High School in 1987. She earned...

FORT COLLINS - Authorities are investigating a shooting at Colorado State University.
CSU says a man was shot in the arm early Wednesday morning after being approached by a teen or young man for drugs. The victim isn't a student. He drove to Broomfield after the shooting and reported it to police there.
CSU spokeswoman Dell Rae Moellenberg says the man didn't seek medical care for his injuries.
The university sent alerts to students by text and e-mail letting them know about the shooting and to use extra caution on campus until the suspect is caught. The...

CLEVELAND (AP) - President Barack Obama strongly defended his opposition to extending Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans on Wednesday and delivered a searing attack on Republicans and their House leader for advocating "the same philosophy that led to this mess in the first place."
Obama said the struggling U.S. economy can't afford to spend $700 billion to keep lower tax rates in place for the nation's highest earners despite a call by House Minority Leader John Boehner and other GOP leaders to do just that.
Speaking in the same city...

Anti-tax advocate Douglas Bruce will not be held in contempt of court, but he will have to answer questions about his involvement in placing three tax-cutting initiatives on the November ballot, a judge ruled Tuesday.
David Lane, Bruce's attorney, said it's likely Bruce will fight any attempt to make him testify about his involvement with or support of Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101. Lane said inquiring about those activities would violate Bruce's First Amendment rights.
"Douglas Bruce is not obligated to set forth any of his political beliefs," Lane said...

President Barack Obama today will rule out any compromise that would extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy beyond this year, officials said, adding a populist twist to an election-season economic package that is otherwise designed to entice support from big businesses and their Republican allies.
Obama's opposition to allowing the high-end tax cuts to remain in place for even another year or two would be the signal many congressional Democrats have been awaiting as they prepare for a showdown with Republicans on the issue, and it ends speculation that the White House might be open...