From The Daily Sentinel (Grand Junction):  A federal magistrate in Denver ordered the U.S. Attorney on Thursday to begin the process of unsealing documents related to the investigation of the Grand Junction Regional Airport.

Magistrate Boyd Boland of the U.S. District Court in Denver told U.S. Attorney Tonya Shotwell Andrews to propose redactions to two documents in the case: the original complaint, and an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Alex Zappe that explains why disclosure of the original complaint would undermine the investigation. Boland set a deadline of Dec. 19 for the proposed redactions.

Boland also set a deadline of 
Feb. 11 — 60 days from now — for ending all restricted access on the original complaint unless the U.S. Attorney seeks another extension. Boland reasoned that the case should be far enough along in the next 60 days that claimants who owned trucks seized by the FBI in the course of the investigation should be able to see the original complaint in its entirety. The public would have that access as well.

The Daily Sentinel filed a motion Tuesday to ask the court to unseal the records in the case, which have been under wraps since November 2013.

During the 90-minute hearing Thursday, attorney Steve Zansberg, representing The Daily Sentinel, told the court that the government bears the burden to defend its decision to seal the records, and nothing so far has illustrated why the court files should be restricted.

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