As drought conditions worsened on the Western Slope, the National Weather Service has issued its first “extremely critical” fire danger warning in 15 years for northwest Colorado. The warning, in effect through midnight, covers parts of Moffat and Rio Blanco counties that also are in a state of “exceptional drought,” according to the weekly U.S. […]
Moffat County
Posted inClimate, Coloradans, Economy, Environment, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
Hard-right rooted group has made inroads in Colorado opposing Biden’s vision for public lands
Land grab or precious-resource preservation? The battle over where the truth ̶ and where Westerners’ hearts ̶ lie on that matter is rumbling through Colorado counties as a federal government initiative nicknamed 30×30 gains momentum, and opposition. Colorado has become the beachhead in a Texas-based group’s efforts to use local governments to thwart the Biden […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
1-year-old dies after woman and her two children become stranded in Colorado wilderness
CRAIG — A woman and her two children were found Thursday by aircraft after they spent two nights in the northwestern Colorado wilderness, authorities said. The Moffat County sheriff’s office said Kaylee Messerly, 36, and her daughter, 3, were taken to the hospital with exposure-related injuries, KCNC-TV reported. The 1-year-old daughter died before the family was […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Education, Energy, Environment, News
In rural Colorado, one town is looking to its community college to help survive the end of coal
By Jason Gonzales, Chalkbeat Colorado Even in the dark of night, chalky smoke from the coal power plant looms over Craig. For generations, coal has been a constant in this northwestern Colorado city. But by 2030, the Craig Station stacks will go quiet as Colorado shifts to renewable energy. Coal has fueled not only Colorado’s […]
Posted inSun Investigation
“Fraudulent worker” investigation shakes Moffat County; human services director leaves job
Jennifer Tipp knew who was giving her 15-year-old son methamphetamine. She even had a photo of the adult in a living room with a group of teenagers and a bong. The Craig mom called police and local child welfare authorities more times than she could count, begging them to confront the person who was smoking […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Energy, Environment, Transportation
Anticipating a bust, the Colorado coal town of Craig gets an unexpected boost
If there was one thing everyone agreed on in Craig back in early March, it was that predicting a future without coal was impossible. Two months earlier, the operator of the Craig Station power plant said it would close one of its units by 2025, and the other two by 2030. The coal-fired plant is […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Technology
Northwest Colorado gets a gigabit broadband boost from U.S. Department of Agriculture
The Yampa Valley Electric Association became the first Colorado-based entity to receive a federal ReConnect grant to build better broadband service in rural communities. The rural electric co-op, which currently offers its Luminate Fiber broadband service in Craig and Hayden, received a $6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture program. It will use […]
Posted inSun Investigation
Colorado child protection caseworker under investigation for falsifying reports about checking on kids, at-risk adults
At first, the child protection worker’s supervisor noticed missing notes in a handful of cases of alleged abuse and neglect. Then more cases looked suspicious, as if the caseworker’s details about checking on children and their families weren’t actually true. After an outside team — a crew of 15 caseworkers from nine counties — was […]
Posted inCOVID, Health, News
Wave of suicides in northwest Colorado part of “toxic stress” from coronavirus, experts say
Five people have taken their own lives in the span of about a month in the mostly rural counties of Moffat and Routt, alarming mental health workers who worry the deaths are part of the pandemic aftermath. The latest suicide in Steamboat Springs, that of a well-known and beloved firefighter EMT, was the fifth in […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, Health, News, Politics and Government
Colorado oil and gas emissions rules begin to tighten, but gaps open over what is monitored, by whom and where
Colorado is moving to tighten air emissions from a range of oil and gas activities – including hydrofracturing or fracking – with a general consensus among industry, environmental and community groups. In two days of testimony before the state’s Air Quality Control Commission there was general support for proposed rules covering fracking and drilling, internal […]