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Tag: Western Slope

Anderson: On Flag Day, let’s remember what still holds us together
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Anderson: On Flag Day, let’s remember what still holds us together

By Nina Anderson | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice With Flag Day approaching, I took a moment to swap out the American flags at our home—a tradition we've kept ever since our son joined the Navy nearly three years ago. That decision changed how we saw everyday things. Since then, that flag hasn’t come down once. It stays up through wind, rain, and snow. We fly it for him, and for what he represents. We were raised to treat that flag with respect, because it stood for something bigger than ourselves. So no, changing it out isn’t just a chore. It’s a way of showing we still care. It's an act of gratitude and principle. Such dignity is shown by never allowing it to touch the ground, ensuring it is properly illuminated if flown at night, and when it becomes too worn, it should ...
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Montrose Commissioner Pond: Why I’m Drawing the Line and Standing Against Federal Land Grabs
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Approved, Commentary, Local, National, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

Montrose Commissioner Pond: Why I’m Drawing the Line and Standing Against Federal Land Grabs

By Sean Pond | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The views expressed here are my own and do not represent an official action or position of the Montrose Board of County Commissioners. I was appointed to represent the people of District 3 in Montrose County, and I took an oath to uphold the Constitution. That includes defending our land, our rights, and our way of life here in Western Colorado. In recent months, there’s been a coordinated push to place more of Colorado under federal control. We already fought back against the proposed Dolores National Monument, a 500,000-acre land grab, and we won.  Then came a 68,000 acre National Conservation Area proposal in Mesa and Montrose Counties. We stood our ground again and stopped it.  But now we’re facing two more ...
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Multiple wolf attacks hit Western Slope ranchers—CPW accused of broken promises
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Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

Multiple wolf attacks hit Western Slope ranchers—CPW accused of broken promises

By Tracy Ross | Colorado Sun Three ranches near where wolves were released in January say Colorado Parks and Wildlife is not keeping its promise to let them know when the collared animals are near Ranchers are calling multiple wolf attacks on cattle over Memorial Day weekend in Pitkin County “devastating” and evidence Colorado Parks and Wildlife is failing to keep its promise to alert ranchers when wolves are in range of their livestock.   The attacks occurred over three days on the Crystal River Ranch, in the Crystal River Valley, and on the Lost Marbles and McCabe ranches, in the Roaring Fork Valley.  The first happened early Friday morning on the Crystal River Ranch, according to Tom Harrington, manager of the ranch and president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association....
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Western Slope pushes $99M deal for historic Shoshone water rights—Front Range says not so fast
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Western Slope pushes $99M deal for historic Shoshone water rights—Front Range says not so fast

By Shannon Mullane | Colorado Sun Western Slope communities, led by the Colorado River District, want to buy the historic Shoshone Power Plant water rights to support their economies. Front Range water providers worry their water supplies could be harmed. Denver, Aurora, Colorado Springs and Northern Water voiced opposition Wednesday to the Western Slope’s proposal to spend $99 million to buy historic water rights on the Colorado River from Xcel Energy. The Colorado River Water Conservation District has been working for years to buy the water rights tied to Shoshone Power Plant, a small, easy-to-miss hydropower plant off Interstate 70 east of Glenwood Springs. The highly coveted water rights are some of the largest and oldest on the Colorado River in Colorado. The Front Range p...
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Wolf reintroduction strains rural Colorado as payouts outpace budget
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Approved, State, Westword

Wolf reintroduction strains rural Colorado as payouts outpace budget

By Catie Cheshire | Westword Colorado is eighteen months into the state’s wolf restoration project, and the teeth are still coming out. So far, the state has paid over $370,000 in claims to ranchers who have been impacted by the presence of wolves near their operations. Although wolf advocates and detractors both agree that Colorado should compensate people for wolf-related losses, ranchers believe the funds are not enough to cover the full breadth of the impact of the carnivores in this state. Conversely, wildlife advocates question if some of the reimbursements that ranchers have claimed are a good use of taxpayer money. The wolf-related claims that made many wildlife advocates howl came on December 31 from three ranchers in Middle Park. The ranchers argued the state s...
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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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Colorado ranchers and commissioners urge halt on wolf ballot measure, seek better management plan from state
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado ranchers and commissioners urge halt on wolf ballot measure, seek better management plan from state

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics While they might agree on the problem, a group of Western Slope county commissioners and agricultural groups are asking proponents of a ballot measure to repeal Proposition 114, which allowed the reintroduction of wolves in Colorado, to back off. A March 17 letter was sent to Patrick Davis, who heads Colorado Advocates for Smart Wolf Policy, which is supporting the repeal ballot measure. The signatories are county commissioners from Garfield, Grand, Mesa, Moffat, Montrose and Rio Blanco counties and four county-based wool growers associations. The letter indicates that ranchers and county officials opposed to the reintroduction program are willing to work within the system, utilizing the state's wolf management plan as a means of addressing...
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Colorado drug bust includes elephant sedative
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado drug bust includes elephant sedative

By Logan Smith | CBS Colorado Three people recently arrested for carrying drugs in western Colorado had among their stash an opioid said to be 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl.  A Delta County Sheriff's Office deputy pulled over a vehicle on March 3 that was swerving over the lane stripes on Highway 50 west of Delta.  Another Delta deputy invited his K9 "Teg" to sniff the vehicle. The dog alerted to the presence of narcotics.  The deputies removed the three people from the car and searched it, finding approximately 1500 fentanyl pills, 50 grams of fentanyl powder, 12 grams of ecstacy pills, 454 grams of methamphetamine, and 21 grams of Carfentanil.  READ FULL ARTICLE ON CBS COLORADO
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Mesa County Commissioner advocates for fair share of transportation dollars
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Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

Mesa County Commissioner advocates for fair share of transportation dollars

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice With an ever shrinking budget, and an ever increasing demand for state money for road repairs and construction due to increasing population and use on the Western Slope, Mesa County Commissioner, Bobbie Daniels went to the state legislature to put a spotlight on the needs of western Colorado. Her testimony highlighted the growing disparity between urban and rural infrastructure funding and the critical need for investment in the roads that keep Colorado moving. Rural communities, which already face resource limitations, are disproportionately affected. Large-scale infrastructure projects in these areas rely heavily on state and federal funding. Yet, much of the transportation budget is allocated to specialized urban pro...
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JBC weighing the closure of correctional facilities in Western Colorado
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

JBC weighing the closure of correctional facilities in Western Colorado

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Local and state officials, both Republican and Democrat, on the Western Slope are rallying against proposed budget cuts that would close the Delta Correctional Facility and Rifle Correctional Facility, both minimum security prisons. The group of lawmakers includes Republicans Rep. Matt Soper and Sen. Marc Catlin and Democrats Rep. Elizabeth Velasco and Sen. Dylan Roberts. “The Joint Budget Committee (JBC) is considering closing the Delta Correctional Facility due to a $1.2 billion shortfall in the state budget. This decision is moving quickly and we need to take action now to protect local jobs and our community,” Soper posted to his constituents on social media. Providing his constituents with further information ab...
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