Helicopter images from the Hewlett Fire in Larimer County from Wednesday, May 16, 2012.

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Skechers has agreed to pay $40 million to settle claims of false advertising related to the shoemaker’s “Shape-ups,” “Toners,” “Tone-ups” and “Resistance Runner” lines of footwear.

The shoes cost between $60 and $100 a pair.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, Skechers deceived customers -women in particular- into purchasing the shoes to tone their buttocks, legs and abdominal muscles when evidence didn’t support the claims.

“Skechers’ unfounded claims went beyond stronger and more toned muscles. The company even made claims about weight loss and cardiovascular health,” said David Vladeck, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC’s message, for Skechers and other national advertisers, is to shape up your substantiation or tone down your claims.”

Kim Kardashian and Brooke Burke were among the celebrities who endorsed the shoes in television advertisements.

Those who purchased the toning shoes since August 1, 2008 may be entitled to refunds.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the refund process.

“I’m not opposed to equal rights at all. I love my son very much,” Coram said. “I am very saddened it’s been politicized as it has when it wasn’t necessary.”

On Tuesday, Coram’s son, Dee, told the Denver Post that he was disappointed in his father’s vote against House Bill 6, which would have allowed same-sex couples the legal protections married couples now have under state law.

“I was told by my grandfather, there’s always a time to lead and there’s always a time to follow,” Dee Coram, 44, told the Denver Post’s Jessica Fender. “He was given a time to lead, and he didn’t do it. He could have and should have been the deciding vote.”

On Wednesday, Don Coram told FOX 31 Denver that he’d just spoken with Dee and that their relationship is fine.

“My relationship with my son is very solid. As adults, you have differences of opinion. Disagreement I think is a good situation. I think being disagreeable is not. We have never been disagreeable about this and I don’t expect that to change.”

Coram said that he called his son on Sunday night to tell him that the revived civil unions measure was going to be heard Monday in the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee where he serves as the vice chairman — and that he planned to vote against it.

Like many House Republicans opposed to civil unions, Coram referred to the 2006 vote on Referendum I, which sought to legalize domestic partnerships in Colorado and was voted down when 53 percent of Coloradans voted against it.

“My vote was for the Constitution,” he said. “What you’ve got to do is, if you’re going to be a legislator, you’ve got to take your personal life out of it and look for what best represents your district. And that’s what I did and I’m still very comfortable with my vote.”

Coram told FOX31 Denver that the majority of phone calls and emails he received from constituents were from those opposed to the bill.

“If you’re going to lead, you need to sometimes set aside your personal preferences and do what you were sent here to do,” Coram continued. “This situation in my district is very, very clear from the calls I had coming in that this was an issue my district didn’t support.”

But some Democrats have taken issue with his “voting my district” defense, noting that Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, who represents many of the same constituents as Coram, voted in favor of civil unions when it cleared the Senate near the end of the regular legislative session.

WATCH FOX 31 DENVER WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT 9 P.M. FOR A ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEW WITH DEE CORAM ABOUT HIS FATHER’S VOTE AGAINST CIVIL UNIONS.

Gov. John Hickenlooper, who called the special session last week after several bills died as a result of House Republicans shutting down debate in order to avoid a vote on a measure to legalize same-sex civil unions, put a positive spin on the session’s limited accomplishments.

“It was important for the General Assembly to finish consideration of important bills that died last week when the House recessed to avoid voting on civil unions,” Hickenlooper said. “With the exception of civil unions, each of the bills we put on the special session call received an open debate and a final vote just like they deserved.”

On the first day of the special session, House Speaker Frank McNulty sent the civil unions measure to the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee knowing that the panel would kill the measure before it could reach the full House for an up or down vote.

Monday night, after three hours of debate, the panel did exactly that, angering supporters of LGBT rights but also galvanizing social conservatives who, on Tuesday, rallied around McNulty.

On Wednesday, as the special session came to a close, McNulty again called it a “waste of time and taxpayer money.”

Passing on Wednesday was a major water projects bill that both Democrats and Republicans agree will create jobs and protect water supplies for towns and agriculture through $61 million worth of loans and grants from the Colorado Water Conservation Board.

But, according to McNulty, that bill could have been salvaged before the end of the regular session last Wednesday and wasn’t, he contends, so that Hickenlooper would have political cover for calling the special session on civil unions because other work was also left unfinished.

“From our perspective, two of the bills that passed today could have been passed last Wednesday by being attached to other pieces of legislation,” McNulty said.

“The Governor clearly called this special session for his own purposes. There’s no doubt the Democrats are attempting to change the focus from a bad economic situation for the president, and in this case they decided to use same-sex marriage to do that.”

Another bill that passed Wednesday aims to shore up Colorado’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund by allowing employers to receive credit within their individual accounts for repayment of principal-related bonding amounts.

House Minority Leader Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, who sponsored the civil unions bill, said he didn’t want the controversial outcome on that bill to diminish the legislature’s other accomplishments — but he also didn’t shy away from a parting shot at McNulty.

“After Speaker McNulty blew up civil unions and 29 other bills at the end of the regular session, we came together in a bipartisan way to rescue the most important measures,” Ferrandino said.

“It took a special session to finish our cleanup of the Speaker’s mess, but we improved the state’s water infrastructure and saved employers money on unemployment insurance, and both of those bills will mean more jobs for Coloradans.”

A third bill that passed Wednesday changes registration procedures for Special Mobile Machinery Fleets to allow owners of 10 or more pieces of rental special mobile machinery to register their fleet once per year, cutting some so-called “red tape” for businesses.

In the Senate, lawmakers debated reviving a bill to create a “pot DUI” measure that died Tuesday because the lawmaker who would have cast the deciding vote in favor of the measure was out of the state and unable to vote; but after caucusing separately, Democrats and Republicans both came to the conclusion that it wasn’t worth extending the special session a fourth day to pass the measure.

The designation would include Civic Center Park, Veteran’s Park, the McNichols Building, the City and County Building and the Colorado State Capitol.

 “For Civic Center to receive the honor of becoming National Historic Landmark would shine a spotlight on this city treasure and help to deliver Denver as a world-class city,” said Denver Mayor Michael Hancock while testifying at a National Park System committee meeting Tuesday.

The recommendation will go to the National Park Service Advisory Board on May 22nd and 23rd for further consideration.

U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will be the one to officially designate the new Historic Landmarks.

by Catrina Linhard

“I’ve always loved law enforcement, since I was a young man and I fell in love with the uniform,” said Adam Horney.

But spending time with his family brings him the most joy, and the Horney family has a close bond. They’ve been through a lot.

When Adam was born, he was a triplet. He had two brothers: Jared and Greg.

Greg did not survive.

Jared and Adam would live.

But Adam had a certain condition. “I have cerebral palsy,” said Adam Horney.

Adam has also been diagnosed with epilepsy, and recently overcame a battle with testicular cancer.

“When I’m in the hospital, I do get depressed and I will cry. Especially when I’m by myself in a hospital room. That’s not the most comfortable environment,” he said.

Now 31, Adam lives in his own apartment with the help of “Developmental Pathways” – a program that helps those with disabilities.

“Developmental Pathways provides him with a person who helps him with cleaning and cooking, really allows him to be independent,” said Karel Horney, Adam’s mother.

 “I’m very blessed to be in the situation that I am. My situation may be scary to some people. I overcome those boundaries and I do it very well,” Adam said.

And if he’s not at his apartment, you can usually find him at a local police station helping out in whatever way he can.

“Hey this kid can do something, we just need to find a task that he is suited for,” Adam said.

You can probably tell by now that Adam has always wanted  to be a police officer. He volunteers for the Denver Police Department and he has a number of certificates.

He says he knows he’ll never actually be a police officer, but he wouldn’t change anything about his life.

“If there is anything that you could ask me that I want? Nothing really comes to mind. I’m happy with my life.

Developmental Pathways, the program that has helped support Adam and others with disabilities, will be holding a fundraiser on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Tech Center in Denver.

You can make a donation here: http://www.developmentalpathways.org/donate.html

THE SERIES:
An OVA (Original Video Animation) is a short, usually made expressly for video film. They can run anywhere from a couple of minutes to a couple of hours in length, are usually stand alone adventures but can comprise a complete (and sometimes) lengthy continuing narrative. I’m no expert on the subject and still consider myself fairly new to the anime game, but from what I’ve seen OVAs are usually added as supplemental episodes outside of the main series; fun little adventures where the characters aren’t bound by the reigns of their main story. The wildly fun OVAs from BLACK BUTLER come immediately to mind like when all of our heroes and villains become the characters from “Alice in Wonderland” or appear as “real” actors playing their roles.

This collection of OVAs pretty much follow suit to that definition for the FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: BROTHERHOOD anime. These are a collection of four stories that occur outside any of the story arcs in the series proper and sometimes don’t even feature the Elric Brothers. They are short (all four clock in at under an hour), they are funny, they are sad, they are action packed, they are very Fullmetal Alchemist.

The first story has Ed and Al searching for “The Blind Alchemist.” Judau is a man who reportedly has successfully performed a human transmutation, the same spell that would restore our heroes to their fully human selves.

“Simple People” is a strictly for laughs story with Ed and Al simply trying to get Ed’s arm repaired and buy Winry some earrings. Needless to say, things don’t go smoothly.

“The Chronicle of Teacher” is a short look back at one of the secondary characters in the FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: BROTHERHOOD universe, Izumi, and how she developed her survival skills.

“Yet Another Man’s Battlefield” is the most serious of the OVAs and the best of this lot. It focuses on Roy and Hughes, two boys serving in boot camp who start out as rivals but whose destinies entwine them in ways they could never have foreseen.

This release is a bit confusing to me. All four of the stories are excellent, well told and highly recommended OVAs, but why were they released like this? Surely these should more properly be supplements on the FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: BROTHERHOOD Complete Collection Blu-rays rather than a stand alone release. Only die-hard fans would know what is going on or who these characters are outside of the main series, so why not put them in a more natural context as supplements? Regardless of the why, these are seriously enjoyable films that all fans of Ed and Al will want to have in their collection.

THE DISC:
Like the Blu-rays of the full episodes themselves the picture and sound are very high quality. The anamorphic 1.78 picture is extremely pleasing to the eyes. The color palette has an intentionally slightly faded look to it and this old-timey/almost other-worldly feel is perfectly presented. Line detail is excellent as always.

Once again the soundtrack is available in a nice Dolby TrueHD 2.0 for the original Japanese track and a much more immersive Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix for the English dub. As has become the norm for FUNimation releases, I have to give the audio edge to the English mix due to its combination of exceptionally enjoyable voice talent and a well done and immersive soundscape.

THE EXTRAS:
The sole extra on this set is “Fullmetal Four Panel Comic Theater.” This is a collection of 16 comedic television bumpers that run maybe a couple of minutes each. They are silly, they are fun, and they are Fullmetal foolishness that is well worth checking out.

MY SAY:
Your FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: BROTHERHOOD collection will not be complete without this set, so if you are a fan you’ll have to bite the bullet and pay the extra coin for this basically set of supplements.

FUNimation Entertainment / 2009 – 10 / 60 mins / TV-14

THE FILM:
Robin Hessman’s award winning and critically acclaimed documentary MY PERESTROIKA achieves something remarkable, something more or less unseen in western civilization: it gives outsiders an intimate, open and uncensored look at life behind the Iron Curtain during the final years of the USSR. For decades, films and television from the USSR showed nothing but masses of steely countenanced Soviets fiercely demonstrating their loyalty and happy children bursting with pride as they recite speeches praising their way of life. The only real “faces” one would see or hear from would be those of the political elite. When average citizens would be shown, it would almost always be en masse. With the Soviet Union many years behind us, the average Joe on the streets of Moscow are free to come to the forefront, and Hessman’s film gives a very real and very human look into a culture that was mostly seen as a united front rather than individual people.

MY PERESTROIKA does this by combining vintage propaganda films from the final years of the Communist era with interviews with five classmates who were brought up in completely Soviet Russia but entered adulthood in a country drastically different from what they were taught. Borya and Lyuba Myerson are a married couple who had polar opposite views as children: she was a fierce conformist while he was a subversive rebel. Andrei is a successful businessman living a life unthinkable when he was a child. Olga is a single mother working at a billiard rental company. Ruslan was once in a famous Russian punk rock band but now has to busk on the streets with his banjo.

Their stories are often times funny, often emotional, always passionate but ultimately personal, something rarely associated with Soviet Russia. Hearing first hand about the ideals and dreams these people had as children and the very frank assessments they look back on these ideas with is fascinating. Hessman’s choice of participants for this film is outstanding. They cover all ends of the spectrum from the fiercely loyal Lyuba who would tearfully salute the television while singing the national anthem when it came on, to the punk rock musician who wanted next to nothing to do with the political climate. Her presentation (the mix of interviews with vintage films) always rings true and unbiased. MY PERESTROIKA is a rare look at individuals being raised in a very isolated culture and a rare film that will not only educate and possibly change your views but entertain you as well.

THE DISC:
The anamorphic 1.78 transfer is on par with a television broadcast; completely acceptable for the type of film this is. The abundant propaganda films from the 1970’s and 1980’s are in mostly very good condition and the rest of the documentary is talking head interviews or hand-held camerawork.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix isn’t really needed or utilized to its potential, but is nice to have. Dialogue is clear and everything is subtitled. Overall, this is a fine presentation.

THE EXTRAS:
Supplements are limited to an hours worth of “Deleted Scenes” and 35 additional minutes of “Interviews.” That more footage than made it into the finished film!

MY SAY:
Thoroughly enjoyable, MY PERESTROIKA comes highly recommended!

New Video / 2010 / 87 mins / NR

Contaminated melons on one cantaloupe farm caused a listeria outbreak that killed nearly three dozen people and dealt a severe blow to the state’s melon industry last year. Now, growers believe increased knowledge about safe food handling will help ensure there’s no repeat this summer.

“We’re trying to put out the message that what we send out of the valley here is going to be wholesome, healthy and safe,” said Paul Casper, co-owner of Lusk Farms in Rocky Ford. Casper said growers have become more educated than ever about contamination risks.

“We know each and every producer and what they’re doing and how they’re doing it and making sure what we’re sending out to the grocery stores and the farmer’s markets is a quality, safe product,” he said.

Casper said a new growers’ association helps guarantee best practices are followed on each farm. He said everything is documented. Cantaloupes can now be tracked from the field all the way to the plate. One melon packing shed in the Rocky Ford area will include a brand new system for washing cantaloupes to avoid any possibility of contamination.

“We’re not so closed-minded anymore,” said Michael Hirakata of Hirakata Farms and Produce. “We’re open. We want to have our operations as transparent as possible… It’s very important for us to keep our livelihood alive and what we like to do. It’s all we’ve done. I’m the fourth generation.”

Although cantaloupe farmers are audited occasionally, some experts say auditors are not specifically trained in melon growing practices. There are also no federal guidelines that growers must follow. But Casper said he and others have learned from last year’s outbreak. He points to an unblemished safety record in the Rocky Ford area itself.

“We hope we raise the sweetest melon in the world down here,” he said.

The daughter of a Littleton listeria victim said she believes growers have made progress in terms of food safety.

“I initially thought their dragged their feet and I think because of all the media coverage and as deaths kept rolling in… that things started to get a little bit more serious,” said Jeni Exley, whose father Herb Stevens continues to recuperate from his illness. “I do have a sense that they’re trying to correct it.”

by Hendrik Sybrandy

According to Weld County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tim Schwartz, two irrigation service workers found the body near a ditch.

The man is described as a white male approximately 5’9” and 140 lbs., between 30 and 40 years old. There were no obvious signs of trauma, Schwartz said.

The case is classified as an “investigated death.”

Early Tuesday morning, police received a 911 call from Lonnie Weygant’s roommate claiming she had heard a bang. Weygant, 29, who identified herself as Loni Rae in an interview Tuesday, then got on the phone reporting a hand injury.

Weygant told police she and Fisher had returned home from a bar when they got into an argument over alleged cheating “that escalated into Fisher grabbing her by the head and throwing her down,” the police report states.

Both claimed the other had been unfaithful. The two had been dating for about two months.

“(Weygant) ran into the bathroom and put her back against the door and braced herself with her feet on the sink cabinet,” according to police.

Weygant says Fisher forced the door open, knocking a cabinet off the wall.

Fisher, who told police Weygant was “acting hysterical and had trapped him in the bathroom,” was transported to DHMC for his intoxication and minor injury.

A seven-year-old girl, believed to be Weygant’s daughter, witnessed the incident and told police Fisher was the aggressor.

Weygant was also transported to DHMC for bruises on her lip and thigh, and an abrasion on her hand.

Fisher, 38, faces charges of Assault, Disturbing the Peace and Destruction of Private Property. He was freed on bond Wednesday afternoon.

He declined a request for an interview.

Read the full police report here 

OneRepublic, originally from Colorado Springs, was nominated for a Grammy award in 2009 for the hit song, “Apologize.”