Colorado Springs Directory with Events and Classified Ad Listings

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Next week is National Dog Bite Prevention Week and State Farm, the U.S. Postal Service, the American Veterinary Medical Association and CDCP are launching campaigns to promote dog safety.

State Farms says dog bites cost insurance companies hundreds of millions in claims every year. Last year the insurance company paid more than $109 million on about 3,800 dog bite claims.l In 2010, there were about 3,500 claims and $90 million in payouts. The Insurance Information Institute estimated that nearly $479 million in dog bite claims were paid by all insurance companies in 2011.

About 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs each year and more than half of the victims are children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. About 800,000 people seek medical attention for the bites. Less than half of those people require treatment and about 16 die, the agency said.

After children ages 5 to 9 years old, the agency said that seniors represent the largest group at risk, followed by letter carriers.

Nationally, about 5,600 U.S. Postal Service letter carriers were attacked by dogs last year costing the Postal Service more than a million dollars.

Despite the large number of attacks on letter carriers, the Postal Service decided to focus on children for their campaign because a child is 900 times more likely to be attacked than a letter carrier. The ASPCA predicts half of all children in the United States will be bitten by a dog before 12. The majority of bites will be from the family dog or the dog of a neighbor or friend.

Some tips to teach kids; never stare into a dog's eyes, tease a dog, approach a chained dog, touch an off-leash dog, run or scream if approached by a loose dog, play with a dog while it is eating or touch a dog while it is sleeping. If a loose dog comes close, children should stand very still and be very quiet. Always ask a dog's owner for permission to pet it and let the dog sniff your closed hand before you start touching it.

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - Days after giving birth to twins, a South Carolina mother has been hospitalized for what doctors say is a rare flesh-eating infection.

Friends of Lana Kuykendall said on NBC's "Today" show Thursday that the 36-year-old mother noticed a spot on the back of her left leg after giving birth to twins last week.

Krissy Davison says Kuykendall first thought she had a blood clot. But the infection known as necrotizing fasciitis began to spread and the young mother has undergone four surgeries. Friends and family are caring for her babies.

Meanwhile, a Georgia graduate student is fighting the same type of infection. Doctors say Aimee Copeland lost a leg and could lose all her fingers from the infection that spread days after she suffered a deep cut while zip-lining.

Media reports say singer Donna Summer has died.

63-year-old Summer had battled cancer for several years.

The Grammy-winning singer had numerous hits in both the 1970s and 1980s, including "Last Dance," "She Works Hard for the Money" and "Bad Girls."

Summer won five Grammy Awards and six American Music Awards, and charted three multi-platinum albums.

She is survived by her husband, three daughters, and four grandchildren.

IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - Officials at the University of Denver are trying to determine the amount of damage to an observatory on Mount Evans after a windstorm knocked off a door and left the telescope exposed for the winter.
In January a windstorm tore off the 700-pound door off the Meyer-Womble Observatory, leaving the telescope exposed to the winter elements.

Officials don't even know whether the telescope can be repaired.

The observatory dome was also shredded by powerful winds

The observatory is the highest in the United States at 14,000 feet, and the third-highest in the world.

TODAY:  Highs temps again today will be at least 10-12 degrees warmer than average. Like yesterday we'll have another chance of a few (mostly dry) thundershowers. 20% chance in Teller County...10-20% chance for the Springs and the chance of a few storms even possible today in Pueblo, Canon City, La Junta and Trinidad. Storms today will pop-up a little earlier than yesterday and should migrate from the northwest to the southeast.

TONIGHT: Clearing skies and milder than average low temps.

FRIDAY: Somewhat like summer tomorrow! Temps in the mid 80's in the Springs and lower 90's in Pueblo and on the southeastern plains. The big warm-up will be a product of the gusty winds from the southwest we are expecting during the afternoon. Winds will increasing all day and peak with gusts at 30-35+ mph! The down slope flow is the energy ahead of a storm system headed to Colorado for the weekend. By late tomorrow evening we could see an isolated storm or two over the mountains as that system approaches.

SATURDAY: You'll be happy to know that it will be at least 15 degrees cooler compared to highs on Friday. We'll also see a better chance for a few showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening...especially over the higher elevations and the foothills. Chances at least 30% for Teller County...20-30% for El Paso County and Colorado Springs. If you are headed to the Wild Wild West Fest in Pueblo the chances for showers will only be about 20% and that will occur very late in the day.

SUNDAY: Staying mild with temps very close to the milder highs here on Saturday. We'll see more sunshine and have much lower chances for showers. Most activity that does appear in the afternoon will be limited to areas around Teller & El Paso County....only isolated storms possible away from the mountains and foothills.

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY: High pressure returns with mostly dry skies and warmer temps! Monday will be warmer than Sunday....Tuesday warmer than Monday and then a little bit of a cool-down expected for Wednesday.

DENVER (AP) - Republican congressman Mike Coffman is apologizing after telling campaign contributors that President Barack Obama is not an American.

Coffman made the remarks Saturday at a fundraiser at the Elbert County Fairgrounds.

The Colorado congressman said he doesn't know if Obama was born in the United States, but he said in his heart, Obama is not an American.

Coffman issued a statement Wednesday apologizing, saying he misspoke and has confidence in Obama's citizenship, but he does not believe Obama shares his belief in American principles.

There was no immediate response from the Obama campaign.

One man is under arrest after breaking into a house and kidnapping his two children.

Springs Police say they got a kidnapping call at around 2:40 Thursday morning on the 700 block of Alexander Road.

They say a man, the children's father, broke into his ex-wife's residence and took his two children. The grandmother was babysitting at the time.

Officers were able to locate him and the children an hour later at an apartment on the 1100 block of Westmoreland.

The kids, a five year old and a two year old, were not injured.

The suspect, Warren Davis, 25, is in custody and facing multiple charges including 2nd Degree Burglary, Child Abuse, and Harrassment.

A car rams into the side of a pawn shop in a late-night burglarly.

Colorado Springs Police say at around 11 PM last night, a stolen car rammed into the Acme Pawn at 3955 North Academy.

Police say burglars left the scene with stolen property, but they were later able to recover the vehicle and arrest four suspects involved.

The investigation is still ongoing.

CHICAGO (AP) - An antibiotic widely used for bronchitis and other common infections seems to increase chances for sudden deadly heart problems, a rare but surprising risk found in a 14-year study.

Zithromax, or azithromycin, is more expensive than other antibiotics, but it's popular because it often can be taken for fewer days. But the results suggest doctors should prescribe other options for people already prone to heart problems, the researchers and other experts said.

Vanderbilt University researchers analyzed health records and data on millions of prescriptions for several antibiotics given to about 540,000 Tennessee Medicaid patients from 1992 to 2006. There were 29 heart-related deaths among those who took Zithromax during five days of treatment. Their risk of death while taking the drug was more than double that of patients on another antibiotic, amoxicillin, or those who took none.

To compare risks, the researchers calculated that the number of deaths per 1 million courses of antibiotics would be about 85 among Zithromax patients versus 32 among amoxicillin patients and 30 among those on no antibiotics. The highest risks were in Zithromax patients with existing heart problems.

Patients in each group started out with comparable risks for heart trouble, the researchers said.

The results suggest there would be 47 extra heart-related deaths per 1 million courses of treatment with Zithromax, compared with amoxicillin. A usual treatment course for Zithromax is about five days, versus about 10 days for amoxicillin and other antibiotics. Zithromax is at least twice as expensive as generic amoxicillin; online prescription drug sellers charge a few dollars per pill for Zithromax.

"People need to recognize that the overall risk is low," said Dr. Harlan Krumholz, a Yale University health outcomes specialist who was not involved in the study. More research is needed to confirm the findings, but still, he said patients with heart disease "should probably be steered away" from Zithromax for now.

The study appears in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute helped pay for the research.

Zithromax, marketed by Pfizer Inc., has been available in the United States for two decades. It's often used to treat bronchitis, sinus infections and pneumonia. Wayne Ray, a Vanderbilt professor of medicine, decided to study the drug's risks because of evidence linking it with potential heart rhythm problems. Also, antibiotics in the same class as Zithromax have been linked with sudden cardiac death.

Zithromax is among top-selling antibiotics. U.S. sales last year totaled $464 million, according to IMS Health, a health care information and services company.

Pfizer issued a statement saying it would thoroughly review the study. "Patient safety is of the utmost importance to Pfizer and we continuously monitor the safety and efficacy of our products to ensure that the benefits and risks are accurately described," the company said.

Patients studied were age 50 on average and not hospitalized. Most had common ailments, including sinus infections and bronchitis. Those on Zithromax were about as healthy as those on other antibiotics, making it unlikely that an underlying condition might explain the increased death risk.

Medicaid patients generally have more disability and lower incomes than other patients, so whether the same results would be found in the general population is uncertain, Ray said.

Dr. Bruce Psaty, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington, said doctors and patients need to know about the potential risks. He said the results also raise concerns about long-term use of Zithromax, which other research suggests could benefit people with severe lung disease. Additional research is needed to determine if that kind of use could be dangerous, he said.

As the dollar strengthens and the price of oil continues to drop, precious metals prices are also falling.

The May gold contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed today at $1536.20 an ounce -- down $20.60.

The current silver contract on the "NYMEX" closed at $27.17 an ounce -- down 88 cents.

This continues the trend that started at the end of April.