Archives

The U.S. Forest Service plans to burn piles in the Ward Lake and Island Lake areas on Grand Mesa. The Ward Lake piles consist of slash (branches and trees) from fuels treatment within the wildland urban interface and the Island Lake piles contain slash produced from a parking lot expansion.

The Board of County Commissioners on Monday approved the specific development application for Kurtz Chicken Ranch on Redlands Mesa.

Approval came on a 3-0 vote.

Health care delivery is changing fast! To keep up with rapid changes, Families Plus has embarked on a project to develop a rural model for integrating behavioral health care and medical care. Families Plus employs eight behavioral health care professionals, some full-time and some part-time.

Delta County Economic Development (DCED) and Region 10 are partnering to create a new business center and community hub for Delta. To kick off this collaboration, these two organizations moved into the former Bank of Colorado building located at 145 W. 4th Street.

Due to increased patient demand for primary care services, DCMH Primary Care Family Medicine located at 311 Palmer in Delta will now be the central location for Dr. Jesus Ochoa, board-certified family medicine and a newly employed board-certified family nurse practitioner, Susan Brown.

Colorow Family Medical Care in Olathe closed Sept. 29 to provide time for the staff to move to the Delta clinic location.

On Sept. 21, Delta County Sheriff's Office Deputies Daniel Abeyta, Kevin Ray and Travis Lackey responded to a single vehicle accident in the 2100 block of State Highway 348. The accident was reported to dispatch by Larry Proctor, who was passing by and saw the vehicle in the ditch.

After written Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requests, the City of Delta has disclosed Robert Thomas received a $50,000 severance payment upon his retirement as police chief.

The city initially refused to disclose that information, citing "personnel" issues, but city attorney David McConaughy agreed the payment is public information.

City of Delta government offices will be closed Monday, Oct. 12, in observance of Columbus Day. Bill Heddles Recreation Center and Devil's Thumb Golf Club will be open regular hours. Refuse that is normally picked up on Mondays will be picked up on Tuesday, Oct. 13.

A warrant was issued for the arrest of Harlin D. Watkins, 23, of Delta for alleged menacing. He was later arrested in Montrose.

Librarians talk about books all day, recommending new authors to patrons, discussing materials to add to collections, even investigating unpopular titles destined for the discard pile. So it would seem that at the end of the day a typical librarian would have had enough of book talking and would prefer to sit down and watch a movie or something instead.

The goal of Options counseling is to connect those in need -- specifically the elderly and disabled -- with the services and benefits that will make them self-sufficient. Region 10 and Aging and Disability Resources for Colorado (ADRC) have provided Options counseling for Montrose residents for years, but will soon be expanding into neighboring counties.

Concerning the letter, "We need to heed the pope's call to action," in the Sept. 30 DCI: The pope and President Obama are flat out wrong on global warming and climate change.

Cedaredge High School has taken a step in the right direction toward laying claim to the 2A/1A Western Slope Grand Mesa League title. The Bruins continued their winning ways with wins over rival Paonia and Rangely this past week.

The Cedaredge High School softball team won three of its five softball games played last week. Action began for the Bruins on Monday, Sept. 28, against Delta (see related story in today's paper). That game resulted in an 11-6 loss.

Action began in the 1A Western Slope Conference last Friday night in Cedaredge, and Delta County fans can anticipate great football games as local teams make their push for the playoffs.

Perennial rivals kicked off against each other when Cedaredge hosted Hotchkiss.

Delta's Panthers split matches played in volleyball this past week. A win was recorded on Oct. 1 against Glenwood Springs, 3-1. A road trip to Gypsum resulted in a 3-1 loss to Eagle Valley.

The Hotchkiss Bulldogs are still seeking their first win in high school volleyball this season, but their play in recent matches shows that victory is right around the corner.

The Bulldogs went to Cedaredge and played the red hot Bruins last Friday and while they fell in three sets, Hotchkiss showed that it has all the pieces for a solid team and the foundation for the future is strong.

With a 5-0 4A WSL record, and 14-4 overall season mark, the Delta Panthers won their third straight softball title after defeating Palisade 12-2 in Delta last Friday.

Prior to that win for a league title, Delta faced Cedaredge on Sept. 28 at the Field of Dreams.

Despite knocking off one of the state's top 3A football teams, Delta's Panthers are listed in third place in the 3A WSL, behind Palisade, 2-0 and 5-0, and Grand Junction Central, 2-0 and 4-1. The Panthers are 2-0 and 4-1 as well and have both Central and Palisade left on their regular season schedule.

The Paonia High School volleyball team found itself in very unfamiliar territory last week after suffering its first consecutive defeats during the regular season in many years.

"Our last league loss was in 2011," Eagles coach Krista Carsten said.

As part of traditional observances for National 4-H Week locally, the Board of County Commissioners was paid a courtesy visit from Delta County 4-H County Council officers, parent advisors, and Tri-River Area Extension agent - youth Jackie Shea.

It's the beginning of an exciting new year of 4-H fun with all of Delta County's new and returning 4-H members and leaders.

Enrollments and re-enrollments will tentatively begin in the middle of October.

Join over 102,000 young people in Colorado in celebrating the 4-H program during National 4-H Week Oct. 4-10. 4-H is in all Colorado counties, in all 50 states, and in more than 50 countries worldwide. The 4-H program reaches seven million young people throughout the world!

Fifteen students at Delta High School have earned AP Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on AP exams.

The College Board's Advanced Placement Program® (AP) provides willing and academically prepared students with the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school, and to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP exams.

Hotchkiss High School is a flurry of activities this week as the Bulldogs celebrate Homecoming week. This year's theme is "Super Heroes."

Dr. Stacy Laiminger and skilled staff members from The Clinic at Community Dental offered full dental checkups at Lincoln and Garnet Mesa elementary schools. The service was optional and open to all students.

Barbara Marie "Barbie" Dickinson of Crawford died Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015, at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction. She was 57.

Betty Jean Koppes, 83, of Greeley, formerly of Delta, passed away on Sept. 28, 2015, in Greeley.

Betty Jean Radcliff was born in Oklahoma City, Okla., to Margaret (Brown) and Clarence C. Radcliff, Sr. on Jan. 10, 1932, the second of nine children.

Donald "Don" Clay, died Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, at Horizons Care Center in Eckert. He was 94.

Lifetime Colorado resident Evea Ashurst died Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015, at her home in Cedaredge. She was 75.

Jose Eugenio "Gene" Ruben Salazar of Grand Junction died Sept. 29, 2015, while visiting family in New Mexico.

He was born May 22, 1949, in Coyote, N.M., to Lydia (Ortega) and Jose Salazar.

Longtime Delta resident Geraldine Vining died Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015, at the HopeWest Hospice Center in Grand Junction.

Funeral services were held Tuesday, Oct. 6, at Taylor Funeral Service Chapel in Delta.

Glenda Evelyn Reed Sheldon Bass died of pancreatic cancer Sept. 26, 2015, at HopeWest Hospice Center in Grand Junction. She was 68.

A celebration of life for Colonel Jacob P. "Jake" Accola will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Cedaredge United Methodist Church with Rev. Christy Tullis officiating. Inurnment and military rites by the Grand Mesa VFW Post #9221 will follow at the Cedaredge Cemetery.

Peggy Ann Niemand died Sept. 26, 2015. She was 72.

Crawford resident Richard Homer Valles died Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, at his son's home in Crawford. He was 87.

As the Town of Paonia grapples with cash shortages caused by years of overspending and theft of more than a half million dollars in cash, the board of trustees is considering ways to raise capital. Under consideration is liquidation of assets, including the town's 75 percent ownership in the North Fork Valley Airport.

The announcement of layoffs at Bowie Mine #2 on Sept. 29 by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bowie Resources LLC (BRP), is expected to have lasting negative impacts on Delta County's economy.

BRP will lay off 78 full-time positions and eliminate 19 contractors as part of its efforts to scale back production of its Bowie #2 mine at Somerset "as a result of idling its longwall while it develops a new longwall panel and continues to evaluate the market for Bowie #2 coal," according to a press release. Development of the new longwall panel is expected to take 12 months.

After announcing last July that the iconic Creamer Arts Center in Hotchkiss would close its doors in August and end classes due to a lack of funding, a lot of calls came in regarding after-school classes, said program administrator Gail Smith. "So many parents were really upset.

Today is the day Hotchkiss freshmen will whitewash "H" as part of traditional Homecoming festivities. At 9 a.m., prior to painting, a group of volunteers and Hotchkiss alumni will begin efforts to reconstruct the hillside letter, which measures roughly 25 feet in width and 100 feet in length.

At a work session on Sept. 29 Hotchkiss trustees were informed that the town is being asked to commit money toward building middle-mile broadband infrastructure. The Delta-Montrose Electric Association, which is partnering with Region 10 on a grant to build that infrastructure, originally asked the town for a letter of support.

The North Fork area has a rich history of coal mining. Unfortunately, mining is a boom-and-bust industry that includes a long history of layoffs.

James Roberts knows what it's like to lose a good-paying mining job.

The Town of Paonia may not be headed for bankruptcy, but it is experiencing dwindling cash reserves and a "cash crunch" that needs to be addressed.

That's according to town manager Jane Berry, mayor pro tem Charles Stewart and trustee Ross King. King and Stewart serve on the town's finance committee and have been following the town's financial situation closely.

The annual Pioneer Town car show brought another turnout of fine automotive projects and antique tractor restorations this year.

This was also the first year that the AppleFest motorcycle display joined the Pioneer Town exhibit, bringing even more motor admiring variety to one location.

The bonds of respect and of love that exist between the Surface Creek Valley community and the Cedaredge Volunteer Fire Department came out in full display again at the annual chili cook-off last Thursday, Oct. 1.

The story of AppleFest 2015 was the weather. Everywhere were heard comments on the superb, perfect day that welcomed visitors to 2015 AppleFest last Saturday.

Among the almost countless community services contributed by Lions Clubs internationally and in local communities at home is something that many people consider to be the clubs' signature cause. That is caring for and promoting proper vision.

We turn off of Highway 65 onto Myers Road. There's a lovely home right at the corner and just beyond it is a driveway into an adjacent field.

The excitement started early on Saturday at AppleFest as the annual 5k AppleFest Fitness Run/Walk left the starting line promptly on time at 7:30 a.m.

Runners and walkers made their ways along a course designed, appropriately, to provide a flavor of the apple orchards surrounding Cedaredge.