Posted inClimate, Energy, News

Delta County thought solar panels were a baaaaad idea. But what if there were 1,000 sheep grazing under them?

The question before the Delta County Commission this month is whether 1,000 sheep can forge a path for dozens of solar panels — after the commissioners rejected a solar project citing concerns about losing farmland. In March, the commission, on a 2-1 vote, rejected an 80-megawatt solar project covering 475 acres just outside of Delta, […]

Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News

Western Slope county rejects solar project over fear of losing a sliver of farmland

A plan to provide solar power to a Western Slope rural electric cooperative ran aground last week when the Delta County Board of Commissioners rejected a zoning change for the 472-acre project, citing concerns over the loss of farmland in the county. The 80-megawatt solar project proposed by Guzman Energy would have supplied the Delta-Montrose […]

Posted inEnvironment, News, Outsider

A 120-year-old water tunnel beneath the mountains is the Uncompahgre Valley’s lifeline. We went inside.

MONTROSE — After more than a half-hour splashing through the dank dark of one of the world’s longest irrigation tunnels, Dennis Veo grins in the sunshine showering the cliffs of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River.  “The guys who did this were dang sharp,” says Veo, the operations manager of the Uncompahgre Valley Water […]

Posted inEducation, Health, News, Politics and Government

“Everyone is being crazy”: Conservative Delta County erupts over an effort to teach sexual education

DELTA — Sex. Couple that with education. Link it to anything other than heterosexual unions. Bring the Bible into it. And, in Delta County, expect a volatile civic tempest. The latest controversy over sex in this conservative Western Slope county has been sparked by a progressive push to add state-recommended comprehensive sex education in the […]

Posted inColoradans, COVID, Health, News

An army of volunteers is using Facetime, Zoom to protect Colorado foster kids during coronavirus

The call usually comes around 7 each night, while Sarah Sparks is watching a movie with her two daughters on the couch. She keeps her phone close so she doesn’t miss it. On the other end of the line is a 7-year-old girl, a foster child who lives in a Denver residential treatment center, a […]

Posted inColoradans, Growth, Health, News, Politics and Government

Parked: Delta mobile-home resident poisoned by carbon monoxide; rental company denies anything is wrong

Editor’s note: The subject of the story has asked her real name be withheld out of fear for her safety due to a previous violent relationship. When Joanna first moved into her new home, it seemed like a step in the right direction. She had just gotten out of jail and had spent some time […]