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A letter obtained by the Rocky is believed to be signed by a 26-year-old gang member that says he fired the shots that killed Denver Broncos player Darrent Williams.

Sara Burnett reports:

The letter is the first piece of evidence known publicly to link a triggerman to the New Year's Day 2007 shooting, the city's highest profile unsolved murder.

It carries the signature "Willie D. Clark."

Clark was arrested on a parole violation days after the slaying and is in jail on pending drug charges.

In the letter, Clark says he is worried someone who saw him shoot "D-Will" - a nickname for Williams - will start talking to police about the killing.

"(The person) seen me with the gun and shoot out the whip," the letter states.

"Whip" is slang for a car. Police have said the shots that killed Williams were fired from a Chevy Tahoe shortly after Williams and a group of friends left a Denver nightclub.

The report on Sen. Barack Obama's health records inexplicably contains a curious omission: no mention of the Democratic front-runner's inability to bowl at even a rudimentary level.

Despite being in excellent cardio-vascular health, having laudable cholesterol and blood-pressure readings and being an avid basketball player, the Illinois Senator is a documented lousy bowler.

Todd Sauerbrun says the Broncos treated him shabbily by cutting him after he was tossed into detox following a confrontation with a Denver cab driver outside a restaurant.

Sauerbrun said he's upset coach Mike Shanahan painted him as a bad apple and cut him so quickly after an arrest in the same season in which Shanahan constantly defended tailback Travis Henry over a failed drug test.

"The Broncos didn't give me a fair shot. I don't think they did me right," Sauerbrun said after being sentenced to 24 hours of community service for disturbing the peace. "I do feel ill about it.

Space alien who is NOT featured in the video.

UPDATE:

A Colorado Film School editor says the alien video wasn't faked:

The instructor at the Colorado Film School who analyzed a video that purportedly shows a living space alien swears the footage is real.

"There is no doubt in my mind that (Stan Romanek, a Colorado native who has reported UFO sightings) did not post-produce this material. In other words, it's not a trick done in special effects," Jerry Hofmann, a professional film editor with more than 30 years of experience, said in a telephone interview this morning.

"I have equipment that will test to see if that shot was recorded originally on that tape, which it was," he said.

However, Hofmann said there's no way for him to know whether or not the little gray alien, which was videotaped peeping through a window, is the real thing.

But Hofmann thinks it is.

"The chances are that we are not alone," he said. "That's the conclusion I've come to."

If you've ever doubted that space aliens exist, prepare to have them dispelled by video of a purported space alien peeping in a window that will be unveiled tomorrow by a guy who wants the city to create an extraterrestrial affairs commission.

Jeff Peckman will screen the footage for the news media Friday and a public showing isn't far off, reports Daniel J. Chacon.

"As impressive as it is, it's still one tiny portion in the context of a vast amount of peripheral evidence," he said Wednesday. "It's really the final visual confirmation of what you already know to be true having seen all the other evidence."

Peckman said the public will have to wait to see it because it's being included in a documentary by Stan Romanek, a Colorado native who has reported UFO sightings.

It was a critical -- perhaps historic -- game of inside baseball Saturday at the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting in Washington, D.C.

Click HERE for the full-story from www.RockyMountainNews.com.

The results -- restoring Florida and Michigan's delegations to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, but with 50 percent voting rights -- was billed as a compromise. It gave Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton a net gain of 24 delegate votes over Sen. Barack Obama, still leaving him on the verge of clinching the presidential nomination.

But the emotional festivities ended with a lot of anger for many Clinton supporters who wanted the full delegations restored -- with a much bigger net gain for their candidate. As the event drew to a close, they jeered, heckled and hollered "Denver! Denver! Denver!" and threatened to take their protests all the way to the Pepsi Center in August.

Will that happen? If Obama reaches the (new) magic number of 2,118 delegates shortly after this week's final primaries in South Dakota and Montana, how far will Clinton push the fight?

We raise the questions, but can't yet answer all of them, HERE.

In the meantime, check out some of the sights from the cheap seats at an event that's likely to be mentioned in political science text books years from now.

Debra Foster, 63, a school teacher from Long Island, N.Y., said she was bruised by the grip of a security guard who yanked her out of the hotel ballroom as she was jeering the committee's decision by shouting "Denver! Denver! Denver!"

"I was chanting, 'Denver!' because that is the next place" for a massive protest in August, she said. "We'll be chanting: 'Madam President, or else!'"

"I've been voting Democratic for 40 years, and I end up with a bruise and a really sad heart, that I don't recognize my party anymore," Foster said, crying.

Rules and Bylaws Committee co-chairs Jim Roosevelt and Alexis Herman face the press and defend the decisions on Michigan and Florida, saying it gives both states a chance to participate in the historic election and gives the Clinton and Obama campaigns clarity, putting Democrats back on track for party unity.

And yet, the last protesters standing in the darkness outside the hotel, are not yet convinced.

All photos by M.E. Sprengelmeyer.

(BELOW IS HOW WE LIVE-BLOGGED THE EVENTS IN REAL TIME, STARTING AT 9 A.M. SATUDAY, MAY 31. The full, late-edition story, with the outcome, is HERE.)

Protesters greeted members of the Democratic Party's Rules and Bylaws Committee this morning as they took up the touchy question of whether -- and how -- to seat Michigan and Florida delegations at this summer's Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Resolving the question is one of the last remaining speed bumps on the long, long road to the Democratic presidential nomination.

The two states were stripped of their delegates after they moved up their primaries in violation of party rules. But in a marathon meeting today, the "RBC" is hoping to resolve outstanding challenges from both states, seating at least a portion of voting members from both states.

Backers of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who won the uncontested primaries in both states, are asking that full delegations from both states be seated in Denver. Sen. Barack Obama did not actively campaign in Florida and was not on the ballot in Michigan, so his backers are hoping for a result that seats a portion of the delegates, and roughly equally between the two remaining campaigns.

Watch this site for developments through the day.

' ' '

Co-chairs of the Rules and Bylaws Committee, Alexis Herman and Jim Roosevelt began by joking about the unprecedented attention the arcane committee was getting -- including live, gavel-to-gavel coverage on some cable television networks.

"We definitely have a quorum," Roosevelt said to a packed ballroom at the Marriott Wardman Park hotel in Washington, D.C.

The audience included party insiders from coast-to-coast, including various Florida and Michigan lawmakers, and party leaders from Iowa -- which was forced to move up the date of its traditional kick-off caucuses to preserve its first-in-the-nation status.

In an opening speech, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean called for party unity and a cordial event, saying the party has shown with unprecedented turnout in this year's primaries that it is strong enough to survive the dispute.

He also lashed out at the national media several times, calling for an end to "blatant sexist comments" and racial overtones that have marked the ongoing primaries, which will result in the party nominating the first female or African-American candidate.

"That will stop," Dean said. "We need to come together and unite this party."

' ' '

Before the committee took up the Florida challenge, Herman reminded the audience why the committee stripped the two states of all their convention delegates for the calendar move.

Tradionally, Iowa has held the nation's first caucus and New Hampshire has held the first primary election. In 2006, the committee decided to add geographic, ethnic and economic diversity to the calendar by allowing two more states - Nevada and South Carolina - to the early line-up.

But Florida and Michigan were among a number of states that threatened to leap ahead of the date when they were allowed to hold contests - Feb. 5 or later.

The party's rules automatically called for the states to lose half of their delegates, Herman said, but late last year the rules committee decided to impose a 100 percent sanction.

"We needed to send a very strong signal in order to prevent additional states from moving forward," Herman said.

' ' '

DNC committee member Jon Ausman filed the challenge asking to restore all of Florida's super-delegates and half of the pledged delegates.

He said the state already had been punished enough, by having the candidates shun the state during the most closely-watched presidential contest in recent history.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., a Clinton supporter representing for the Florida Democratic Party, was more blunt, arguing that Florida's voters would be disenfranchised if the committee did not restore all of the state's delegates to the Denver convention.

"We must uphold a sacred principle, and that is the principle of one person, one vote," Nelson said, echoing the sentiment of sign-waving picketers on the streets outside the hotel.

Nelson blamed Florida's Republican-controlled legislature and Republican governor for moving the primary date, and said average Democratic voters should not be punished as a result.

"These voters violated no rule. They committed no crime," Nelson said.

' ' '

State Sen. Arthenia Joyner argued Clinton's side of the case, comparing it to past fights for Civil Rights or against the Apartheid system in South Africa.

"Today I am fighting for the right of Florida Democrats to have their voices heard," Joyner said.

She said Florida's Democratic lawmakers had no choice but to approve the change in voting dates because it was attached to election reform legislation that included a mandate for a verifiable paper trail from voting machines.

Joyner said she doesn't take the party's rules lightly. But she said democracy is supposed to be "of the people, by the people and for the people."

"Right now, as it applies to Florida, we are missing the people," Joyner said, drawing applause from Clinton backers scattered in the crowd.

' ' '

Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., argued Obama's position - that Florida's delegates should be restored with half voting rights, and Clinton be given a 19-vote net gain in the delegates allocated. (He said that would equal the combined total of what Clinton gained by winning both Ohio and Pennsylvania.)

"The Obama campaign supports a resolution today that will allow the DNC to preserve its nominating process and at the same time enable Democrats in Florida to participate in choosing our party's nominee," Wexler said.

He got a mix of applause and a few hisses from the divided audience when he called that a "concession" or "compromise."

The result would leave Obama with a larger lead in total delegates, putting him on track to clinch the nomination as early as Tuesday, when the final primaries are held.

Wexler said Florida Democrats were asking for the right to help unify the party.

"Let us unify," Wexler said.

Wexler was asked if the Obama campaign would support the proposal to restore 100 percent of Florida's delegates. He declined to state a position, drawing some jeers from the audience.

' ' '

The Michigan Democratic Party petitioned to restore 100 percent of its delegates, giving Clinton a net gain of 10 delegates over Obama. Since Obama was not on the ballot, the party based its delegate projections based on a combination of actual results, exit polls and an estimate about the 30,000 write-in votes that were cast.

Committee member Donald Fowler ridiculed that methodology: "If we could do that, John Kerry would be president of the United States."

The Clinton and Obama campaigns disagree on how to allocate 128 delegates from Michigan. Clinton wants 73 delegates, with another 55 assigned as "uncommitted." And Obama seeks an equal split. (NOTE: An earlier version misstated the Clinton proposal.)

But either way, both campaigns agree that Michigan's full delegation should be seated, said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.

"The Democratic Party needs unity in the middle of this contentious battle between two strong candidates," Levin said. "The Mighigan Democratic Party has achieved unity. We're asking you to preserve it."

Levin took repeated swipes at the "perpetual privilege" status of Iowa and New Hampshire to begin the presidential nominating season, year after year.

He said the proposed solution split the difference between what the Clinton and Obama campaigns wanted, giving Clinton a 69-59 advantage

"It's the best we can do, folks," Levin said, calling it "a fair reflection of a flawed primary."

' ' '

By the end of the later deliberations, it became clear that neither the Obama nor Clinton campaigns was happy with the delegate allocations in the Michigan Democratic Party proposal.

Former Rep. David Bonior, who once led former Sen. John Edwards' campaign, said Obama deserved an equal share of Michigan's delegates. Former Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard, a Clinton backer, said Clinton deserved 73 delegates, with another 55 assigned as "uncommitted".

Blanchard said the problem was not the election itself, but the decisions by Obama and other candidates to take their names off the ballot.

"It doesn't make the election flawed," Blanchard said. "They had, in my opinion, a flawed strategy."

' ' '

Blanchard raised eyebrows with one late aside about the delegate counting process.

"By August, some may be switching back and forth. You never know," Blanchard said.

Many audience members went "oooh," because it hinted at a possible floor fight at the convention in Denver.

"I was referring to super-delegates on that one," Blanchard quickly added.

' ' '

As Democrats prepare to decide the fate of the Michigan and Florida delegations on Saturday in Washington, D.C., it's important to remember a little of the behind-the-scenes drama that unfolded as candidates decided whether to take their names off the Michigan ballot.

On Oct. 11, 2007, Iowa blogger Lynda Waddington of the "Essential Estrogen" site had a nice scoop on part of the soap opera -- claims that Sen. Barack Obama's campaign was urging other candidates to pull out of the Michigan contest to diminish any benefit Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton hoped to win.

You can find the links HERE.

As Waddington wrote at the time:

"Five individuals connected to five different campaigns have confirmed -- but only under condition of anonymity -- that the situation that developed in connection with the Michigan ballot is not at all as it appears on the surface. The campaign for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, arguably fearing a poor showing in Michigan, reached out to the others with a desire of leaving New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as the the only candidate on the ballot. The hope was that such a move would provide one more political obstacle for the Clinton campaign to overcome in Iowa."

"'Yes, such discussion did take place,' said one national staffer, 'but that doesn't mean we were influenced by it. The decision to pull from the Michigan ballot -- or other renegade states' ballots for that matter -- was made the day we signed the pledge with the four early states.'"

All these months later, as the fate of Michigan is decided, it would be nice to hear from some of the insiders involved in this tale.