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Nearly 10 pounds of fentanyl powder seized in drug trafficking operation on Colorado’s Western Slope
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Approved, CBS Colorado, Local, Western Slope

Nearly 10 pounds of fentanyl powder seized in drug trafficking operation on Colorado’s Western Slope

By Jennifer McRae | CBS Colorado Seven people have been arrested, accused in a drug trafficking operation in Garfield County on Colorado's Western Slope. According to investigators, approximately four pounds of methamphetamine, three ounces of cocaine, nine-and-a-half pounds of fentanyl powder, and approximately 220 fentanyl pills, along with a firearm, were seized. The Garfield County Sheriff's Office said that suspects Sindy Vazquez Martinez and Osbaldo Ramirez-Andrade operated a drug trafficking organization that distributed methamphetamine and additional illegal drugs from Frisco to Rifle. Investigators said that they used their residence in Glenwood Springs, located 185 yards from the front door of the Glenwood Springs Middle School and 60 yards from school property, as a base t...
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Drone footage captures 300-foot-long dinosaur track site in Ouray County
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Approved, Out There Colorado, Western Slope

Drone footage captures 300-foot-long dinosaur track site in Ouray County

By Spencer McKee | Out There Colorado In case you haven't heard, public access was recently opened for the 'world's largest continuous dinosaur track site,' also known as the West Gold Hill Dinosaur Tracksite in Colorado's Ouray County. The tracks were left by a long-neck sauropod dinosaur, estimated to be more than 150 million years old. The site features 134 consecutive prints, measuring at about 106 yards long, also noteworthy as rare evidence of a saurapod's sharp-turning behavior. News broke about the track site opening to the public last April, with drone video recently published by ABC capturing how cool the spectacle really is. READ THE FULL STORY AT OUT THERE COLORADO Tracks from the Late Jurassic period are shown located west of Ouray in the San Juan Mountains. (Ph...
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In Colorado’s nonlethal wolf deterrent game, its Wolves 3, Cows 0 in one county, and ranchers aren’t pleased
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Approved, The Colorado Sun, Western Slope

In Colorado’s nonlethal wolf deterrent game, its Wolves 3, Cows 0 in one county, and ranchers aren’t pleased

By Tracy Ross | Colorado Sun Grand County ranchers say three calves were killed by wolves in the month since they were given $20,000 to hire a range rider to protect their cattle, and they’re demanding more action from Colorado Parks and Wildlife. But CPW says there’s not enough proof to confirm wolves transplanted to Colorado were responsible for more than one of the three dead calves found on May 11 and remains unwilling to kill the large predators, according to ranchers.   The stockgrowers wrote yet another angry letter to CPW director Jeff Davis requesting wolf No. 2309 and wolf No. 2312 be removed from the Williams Fork River Basin. Their request, dated May 23, references a rule in the Colorado Wolf Restoration Plan that lays out certain conditions under which a w...
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New technology may help find missing people in Colorado’s backcountry within minutes
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Approved, The Colorado Sun, Western Slope

New technology may help find missing people in Colorado’s backcountry within minutes

By Olivia Prentzel | The Colorado Sun A Durango-based helicopter company is testing a new tool that could help search and rescue teams in helicopters detect missing and distressed people in Colorado’s backcountry within minutes and communicate with them, even if they are stuck in an area without cellphone service. The technology, akin to a miniature cellphone tower, attaches to the outside of a helicopter and allows searchers to pinpoint the locations of any cellphones within a 3-mile radius using a map on a tablet, Dr. Tim Durkin, a search and rescue program coordinator for Colorado Highland Helicopters.  “As we detect the phone, basically a blotch shows up on the map and as we fly around that area, that blotch gets smaller and smaller and smaller until we can see exactly wh...
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‘Center of the gold universe’, this one spot is oft ignored by tourists in Idaho Springs
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Approved, Out There Colorado, Western Slope

‘Center of the gold universe’, this one spot is oft ignored by tourists in Idaho Springs

By Seth Boster | Out There Colorado A stone monument stands near a junction of highways that was once known as a junction of creeks. It stands inconspicuous, just a rock atop a block. It’s been even easier to miss lately, surrounded by orange construction wrap, lost in the hubbub. “It’s an important spot of Colorado history that nobody knows about,” Robert Bowland says. The local historian knows it as the spot where the Colorado gold rush began. READ THE FULL STORY AT OUT THERE COLORADO
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AG Weiser files legal complaint against Durango District 9-R for alleged ‘electoral favoritism’
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Approved, Press for Transparency, Western Slope

AG Weiser files legal complaint against Durango District 9-R for alleged ‘electoral favoritism’

By Adam Howell | Press for Transparency An illegal election campaign contribution from Durango School District 9-R towards one of its school board members is the subject of a lawsuit filed by Colorado Attorney General Philip Weiser on behalf of the Elections Division of the Secretary of State. The problem of electoral advocacy arose after Katie Stewart – a member of the Durango School District 9-R Board of Education – had announced her candidacy for the General Assembly in House District 59. Earlier this year, questions arose about whether Stewart was capable of serving on both the General Assembly and the school district at the same time. Also in question is the legality of serving both positions at the same time. However, it was in January 2024 when the Durango School Distric...
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A billionaire’s fence is the latest fault line in a 150-year-old San Luis Valley land war
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Approved, The Colorado Sun, Western Slope

A billionaire’s fence is the latest fault line in a 150-year-old San Luis Valley land war

By Jennifer Brown | The Colorado Sun  For more than 150 years, going back to when this high desert of sandy arroyos and snow-capped peaks was ceded by Mexico, they have gone to “the mountain” as part of their survival. Like their ancestors who settled in the San Luis Valley before it was even Colorado, the descendants still gather firewood and graze their livestock on what they call “La Sierra” — more than 100 square miles of juniper and piñon pine forest rising to a 20-mile stretch of the saw-toothed Sangre de Cristo range.  That was the deal made when the valley was subdivided in the mid-1800s. The settlers each got a plot of desert with access to an acequia irrigation ditch, and they were allowed to go into the high country to harvest timber, hunt deer and elk, and graze t...
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Durango’s hotel-to-housing project financing is a first in Colorado
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Approved, The Colorado Sun, Western Slope

Durango’s hotel-to-housing project financing is a first in Colorado

By Mark Stevens | The Colorado Sun Giant plastic sheets seal off the hazard zones where asbestos abatement is in full swing. The swimming pool where travelers once lounged is buried under fresh fill. Kitchen appliances, new smoke detectors and media boxes for internet access are being added to each of the 72 rooms in the former roadside inn. Plumbers are fitting new sink drains. A new community room, laundry facility and fitness center are being readied off the main entry. Saws buzz, hammers pound, and a giant Volvo L60H loader kicks up dust as it makes runs to fill the foundation where a new general store will rise. Two new structures are going up behind this former Best Western motel a mile west of downtown Durango along Colorado 160. They will be home to 24 two-bedroom and 24 thre...
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One introduced wolf is dead in Colorado as another is likely expecting pups in Grand County
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Approved, The Colorado Sun, Western Slope

One introduced wolf is dead in Colorado as another is likely expecting pups in Grand County

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Just a few hours after U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists confirmed that one of the 10 gray wolves transplanted to Colorado in December was found dead in Larimer County, the state’s top wildlife official told ranchers he will not kill a wolf blamed for the death of four cows in Grand County because it is likely the mate to a wolf that appears to be denning. Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis on Tuesday said GPS points from the female wolf’s collar indicate that she is likely in a den. In early April, GPS points stopped uploading and very recently those points began to upload again.  “The biological interpretation of this is that she was likely in a den during the time when connectivity with the collar was interrupted, which aligns ...
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‘Time to pay up’: Calf in Grand County was killed by wolf attack, Parks & Wildlife officials confirm
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, Western Slope

‘Time to pay up’: Calf in Grand County was killed by wolf attack, Parks & Wildlife officials confirm

By BRIAN PORTER | The Rocky Mountain Voice A calf in Grand County has been killed by a wolf reintroduced to the state, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials confirmed Wednesday. Following voter approval and much angst from ranchers across the state, CPW officials reintroduced a pack of wolves in December, a process in itself which drew ire from lawmakers and others. The state agency was contacted April 2 by the rancher related to the calf kill. An investigation confirmed the killing by a wolf, they said, based on "tooth rake" marks left on the hindquarters and neck, and hemorrhaging. Wolf tracks were found nearby the kill. It is unknown how many wolves may have participated in the kill and the identification of the wolf or wolves. Republican House leadership responded to the ne...
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