Former Sunset Mesa funeral home director Megan Hess has asked the U.S. District Court to delay the Jan. 3rd sentencing date by at least 90 -120 days reports the Montrose Daily Press. Hess and her mother Shirley Koch co-operated the former Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors and Donor Services in Montrose. The two were indicted for mail fraud in 2020 following FBI raids in 2018. The raids revealed a detailed operation of harvesting and selling body parts for research, experiments and medical markets without the consent or knowledge of next of kin. A ruling on the motion to delay the sentencing has yet to be approved. For now Hess and Koch will still appear in District Court in January.
Search giant Google has agreed to a nearly $400 million dollar settlement with Colorado and 39 other states in connection to how the company tracked users’ locations even when they opted out, reports the Denver Post. Colorado will receive roughly $8.3 million from that settlement, according to State Attorney General Phil Weiser. The attorney generals in the case called the settlement a historic win for consumers, and the largest multistate settlement in U.S history dealing with privacy.
Paonia Police Chief Matthew Laiminger urged the public and community at large to check on people and reach out to neighbors, reports the Delta County Independent. The Police Chief told the Paonia Town Council recently that his “department is currently responding to a mental health/suicide call for service approximately every other week”. He added that the calls for service are increasing in frequency and in many cases the police department is called too late to prevent the suicide.
Delta County Commissioners approved an intergovernmental agreement with the town of Orchard City for police coverage. Delta County Sheriff Mark Taylor told the board that the biggest change is how the coverage will be paid for. Taylor said the county will pay the deputy salary from the Back-the-Badge funds while Orchard City will provide the police vehicle.