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~,,_.
<br />4,~ .
<br />~` may; ~ ,.1999
<br />-- - ~ . .
<br />-~
<br />~t~t:.-,
<br />Boys-ranci~
<br />finances
<br />'~ ' od-
<br />... - :~
<br />~~~
<br />News Staf/Wnter
<br />State filesreveala'litany of
<br />questionable financial deal-
<br />ings by the director of the
<br />Rocky Mountain Boys
<br />Ranch.
<br />Frank Patton diverted tax
<br />money that was supposed to
<br />help the troubled teens at his
<br />357-acre ranch near Flo-
<br />rence into his persona], for-
<br />profit business, according to
<br />board minutes, contracts and
<br />other ranch records found in:
<br />the state's files.
<br />Colorado officials yanked
<br />Patton's group home license
<br />last month and shut down
<br />the ranch.
<br />Some of the 16 Ceens liv-
<br />ing there had been sexually
<br />assaulted by their r60ch-
<br />mates, authoritie3 said.
<br />There had been numerous
<br />- fights, and two near riots.
<br />None of the incidents had
<br />been reported to the state.
<br />Patton, 52, a psychologist,
<br />has not returned repeated
<br />phone calls for comment
<br />since the state closed the
<br />• ranch June ll.'
<br />He has not appealed the
<br />state's closure order.
<br />Parton operated Rocky
<br />Mountain Boys Ranch as a
<br />nonprofit charity, funded by
<br />taxpayers and donations.
<br />The ranch --- which took
<br />in violent, mentally ill boys
<br />and young sex offenders -
<br />was paid $40,000 a year for
<br />each boy, a total of $,720,000 a
<br />year for 18 residents..
<br />But the state files show
<br />that Patton:
<br />~ Paid taxes on his pri-
<br />vate, for-profit business,
<br />Rocky Mountain Manage-
<br />ment Co., with tax dollars
<br />meant for the youths,
<br />according to a report from an
<br />internal auditor that was
<br />recorded inboard minutes.
<br />^ Chazged the boys ranch
<br />$72,000 a year in rent for the
<br />ranch buildings and 100
<br />acres, also according to the
<br />board minutes.
<br />The Fremont County
<br />y~assessor values that part of
<br />atton's property at
<br />' z2s,ooo.
<br />1Gharged the ranch
<br />$I2 OOtl~ear to rent egnigg,,-
<br />ment, money that w irlb~lis
<br />~t~pg~~~pwdlrtg to con-
<br />tracts.
<br />But one-time staff accoun-
<br />tant Sotero Rodrigae2 4old
<br />the Denver Rocky MotxNath
<br />News that the equipment -
<br />a vehicle, old computers ahd
<br />furniture picked up a[ gazage
<br />sales -was worth faz less.
<br />^ Chazged rent on donat-
<br />ed equipme~, again money
<br />.: that went .to his for-profit
<br />_~ Tuesday, July 6, 1999
<br />` , ,~ ~
<br />~heat`roasl
<br />E1St
<br />NYC hits record 100 degret
<br />ballpark's turf registers 15~
<br />8r Roger Patterson
<br />-- Associated f3rss
<br />+s.• A wave of record heat and sticky, hum
<br />enveloped the eastern .third of the n
<br />Monday, wilting people who had to be
<br />side and shifting air conditioners into
<br />_ tricity-sucking overdrive.
<br />The air "feels like a wazm, wet bla
<br />w said Amanda Finley, 22, in Charlotte, N.
<br />"We're taking numerous showers,'
<br />Iris Robinson of Newazk, N.J., whe
<br />temperature hit a record 102 degre
<br />.r, early afternoon. "I didn't really get any
<br />last night. All you could do was just la
<br />and don't talk."
<br />The National Weather Service poste
<br />advisories from the Mississippi Valley
<br />way to the East Coast, wazning that the
<br />~„ bination of humidity and high tempera,
<br />would create heat indexes of up to 11l
<br />more.
<br />,~ It was still the middle of the morning {
<br />the heat index hit 93 at High Point, N.C
<br />Ken Green was stayingg off the golf co
<br />"lt's too hot for'thB'tIt ~l~y. I ivou
<br />out there," said Green, pro shop attend
<br />the Oak Hollow Park Golf Course.
<br />Baseball players didn't have that o
<br />When the Reds and Astzos started pl
<br />just after noon in Cincinnati, the air to
<br />"" tore was $9 and climbing - and a that
<br />eter stuck in the artificial turf at Ci
<br />Field registered 154 degrees.
<br />Temperature records started falling
<br />- minutes after noon, with Portland,
<br />reaching 94. New York City tollowed
<br />record 100 by midafternoon and Philade
<br />- tied its record at 100.
<br />Just west ~ of Washington, D.C., a
<br />~- index of 115 was forecast in West Virgi
<br />Eastern Panhandle.
<br />Easterners got a little sympathy in'
<br />Southwest, where the summer sun pu
<br />-~ desert temperatures above 100 daily.
<br />"It may be 115 degrees here, but it's n
<br />tolerable because of the lower humidity,';
<br />~~- mar New Yorker Andrew Deschapelles
<br />in Phoenix, where the forecast high was
<br />"Ninety-five degrees in the summer in ]
<br />York is the most miserable thing on Eartl
<br />~= Cuba opens $~~
<br />Castro wants damages. forte
<br />suffering going back to'59
<br />..
<br />0y Anita Snow ,~'
<br />AssoCiOt(d,Prrss .~ = '
<br />~ tMVAt1A took the United
<br />I States to court on onaay, seekingdam-
<br />~:= ages it s2ys Cubans have suffered in a
<br />U.S.-bacJted dirty wu stretching over '
<br />i four decades. ~
<br />The hearings opened Monday morn-
<br />ing at the Palace of the Revolution -the
<br />seat of Cuba's communist government
<br />I~ rather than.in a,regular coati;gOrg„
<br />;;,;1,~demonsltdtiP~lltical unPoAt?ncz .
<br />'1I~'thak-~Festdent i e astro is placing,gn,,
<br />the gaiprocess. ~ .lyi..ye4~
<br />_ will sh_o}',;; Jke ~t
<br />._ °n~V__"'_y~~
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