Greeley fire investigators, working with the federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents, are looking back at old reports of ag fires to determine if they also may have been set by an arsonist.
Last weekend, three fires were set in rural Greeley, near 83rd Avenue and the U.S. 34 bypass. Although firefighters stopped the brush fires before they caused any property damage, they said the fires were intentionally set.
A few days before those fires, the Platte Valley Fire District in Kersey announced that a fire that destroyed a vacant home and some outbuildings south of Kersey was also intentionally set. They found three areas where someone started the fires near the intersection of Weld County roads 49 and 40.
Greeley fire spokesman Dale Lyman said Thursday investigators are looking at reports of recent field fires in the Greeley area to determine if they could have been set intentionally. “We’re looking to see if there was pattern of suspicious fires,” Lyman said.

North Colorado Medical Center’s Summit View Medical Commons is hosting an open house from 2-4 p.m. Sunday.
The facility, at 20th Street and 71st Avenue in Greeley, includes urgent care, laboratory services, breast center, medical imaging, anticoagulation clinic and pharmacy, according to a prepared release.
The open house will allow guests to meet urgent care physicians, explore the breast center and mammogram suites, receive flu shots and blood pressure checks and enter prize drawings, according to the release. Refreshments will be available, as will free carnations for the first 50 women.
Children will be able to make pink ribbon magnets for their mothers in recognition of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Women may schedule mammogram appointments and enter to win a full body scan.
American Cancer Society and NCMC Spirit of Women representatives will be available at the event.

This year’s wheat crop is a bin buster.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the state’s wheat farmers harvested 108.2 million bushels of wheat – most of it winter wheat – up from about 98 million bushels in 2010, which ranked the state second only to Kansas in overall production. In Weld County, winter wheat is one of the three major crops – the others being corn and hay – and last year Weld farmers harvested 5.66 million bushels, ranking it fifth in the state.

Of the 108.2 million bushels harvested this year, 105.8 million came from winter wheat – that crop that is planted in the fall and harvested the following summer. That represented about an 8 percent increase from 2009 and resulted in a record yield of 45 bushels to the acre, the USDA said Thursday.

This year’s Weld crop, however, was hit hard by hail that wiped out as much as 1 million bushels in the southeast part of the county, according to some estimates.

DENVER – Colorado will begin collecting DNA from those arrested for felonies beginning Friday under a law that is expected to be challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union.

DNA from those arrested for felonies will be collected through a cheek swab and sent to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for testing and addition to the state database. Those not charged within 90 days can ask that their DNA be removed from the database.

The Colorado-ACLU plans to challenge the law, saying it violates the rights of those who should be presumed innocent. Previously, only DNA of those convicted of crimes went into the state database.

Bill sponsor Sen. John Morse says he’s confident the law will survive. Twenty other states have similar laws.

Monday is the last day to register to vote in the Nov. 2 general election.
Residents may register to vote, change address, change name, and designate party affiliation at any driver’s license office, county clerk’s office or municipal clerk’s office in Colorado, said Steve Moreno, Weld County Clerk & Recorder.
Weld has three offices where voters may register:
* Greeley, 1401 N. 17th Ave.
* Southeast Weld, 2950 9th St., Fort Lupton.
* Southwest Weld (Del Camino), 4209 Weld County Road 24.5, Longmont.
Office hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday.
Weld residents who are not already registered to vote and who have a valid Colorado driver’s license or an identification issued by the Colorado Department of Revenue may also go to www.GoVoteColorado.com to register. Those who are already registered to vote may also visit this same link to change their address, party affiliation, and to request a mail-in ballot.
Moreno’s office will begin mailing ballots for th