During a special presentation held on the Fort Lupton campus of Aims Community College, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and Noble Energy presented their 2012 ad valorem checks to Weld County. The total of the two checks was $148,557,244 or nearly 33% of all taxes paid to the Weld County Treasurer.

The Weld County Board of Commissioners and Aims Community College used the event as an opportunity to talk about the projects and programs the revenue from the oil and gas industry helps to fund.

"This event was a great opportunity for the Board to talk about what projects the county is able to undertake as a result of the oil and gas revenue," said Commissioner Chairman William Garcia. Those projects include:

TABOR Refund: Every real property owner in Weld County receives a temporary tax credit on the County mill levy, and the County is able to extend the tax credit primarily due to the revenue from oil and gas.

According to information presented at the January 2013 Advisory Board meeting of the Northeast East Central Colorado Small Business Development Center (NEECCO SBDC), small businesses in Weld County are growing and thriving.

According to Richard Pickett, executive director of the SBDC, the Northeast East Central Region, to which Weld County belongs, realized $17,582,840 in capital formation in 2012.

Police in Lakewood want help identifying a man who has held up a couple of liquor stores recently.

The suspect went into a liquor store near W. Jewell Ave. and S. Oak St. at about 7:30 p.m. Friday, January 18 and threatened the store clerk with a knife. Police say he stole money from the cash register and left on foot.

Then on Sunday, January 20 at 8:35 p.m., a white male suspect entered a liquor store At W. Jewell Ave. and S. Kipling St.

The suspect threatened the store clerk with a handgun and stole money from the cash register. The suspect again left the store on foot but a possible related vehicle is a dark, two-toned Ford Explorer.

Lakewood police detectives think the same suspect committed both armed robberies.

Surveillance video images show he is a white male between 5’8″ and 6’2″. He has a medium build with sandy colored hair with a slight red tint. He has blue or green eyes and a very short beard and mustache.