Gavin Dahl

• Delta County Commissioners oppose forthcoming 'Protect Animals from Unnecessary Suffering & Exploitation' ballot initiative 
• CDOT has a bridge to sell you
• CDC: Coloradans suffered dizziness from anxiety, not Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine
• Lawmakers unveil transportation bill that adds fees to ride shares & deliveries
• Cops face discipline on Eastern Plains, in Denver
• Lawmakers vote on new gun control bills this week
• Archaeologist Don Montoya talks to KZMU about vandalism at Birthing Rock petroglyphs near Moab

This week on Local Motion, Gavin Dahl interviews three women doing public service media work in Colorado, photojournalist and educator Abby Harrison, Ouray County Plaindealer reporter Liz Teitz, and KGNU news director Shannon Young.

• Town of Paonia approves new pot shop ordinance
• Colorado Sun & National Trust for Local News purchase chain of 24 Front Range newspapers
• Luke Runyon reports on preparations for first-ever water shortage declaration along Colorado River
• Kate Redmond speaks to Arlene Porteus, among critics of North Fork school consolidation, as well as asking Delta County School District superintendent Caryn Gibson for reaction to some complaints

• Gov. Polis amends, extends mask mandate
• Lawmakers send $34B budget to Governor
• Gov. Polis signed 19 bills last week
• 39-year old woman killed by bear near Durango
• Colorado River cleanup finds surprising items including tires, shopping carts
• Drinking water & wastewater bill passes U.S. Senate
• Former Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff talks about new job at Family Visitors Program

• KVNF wins 12 awards from Society of Professional Journalists
• Paonia in Motion launches community survey
• Former Paonia police officer & Cedaredge High School tutor Shawn Sanchez arrested on suspicion of sex offenses against teen girl
• Holy Cross Energy & CMC team up on large photovoltaic solar array near Glenwood
• Democrats introduce 3 bills to prevent gun violence, reject assault weapon ban idea
• Shannon Dean, new director of San Miguel Resource Center talks about Sexual Assault Awareness Month & their confidential support line is a

• District 51 in Mesa County facing another COVID outbreak, at least 18 confirmed cases
• Pitkin County Commissioners accused of racial bias by rancher Jose Miranda
• Lumber prices up as much as 240% since last year, adding to increasing price of new housing
• State lawmakers pass bill letting cities, schools limit public info when hiring new leaders
• Mountain West News Bureau's Robyn Vincent shares second story on racial reckoning & police brutality

• Ridgway Concert Series approved for 5 Thursdays in July
• Aspen dropping outdoor mask mandate
• Colorado removing pejorative language from state contracts
• Restrictions eased on medication effective for treating opioid addiction 
• Kathleen Burnell from the Center for Mental Health talks about why deaths of despair, from drug overdoses and suicides, are an epidemic within the pandemic

• EcoGen BioSciences acquires 165-acre hemp farm & production campus south of Delta
• Montrose Republican representative Marc Catlin named vice chair of House Ag Committee
• Lawmakers make more changes to bill aiming to cut insurance premiums
• Unexpected buyer partly to blame for continued increase in housing prices
• Tech leaders active fighting climate change say Colorado will see green job growth
• Colorado will add 8th seat in Congress thanks to new Census data

• Committee will consider amendments this week, including more money for police body cameras, before sending approved state budget to Governor
• Ridgway Chamber welcomes David Nunn to board
• Intersection at Chipeta & Highway 550 in Montrose will get traffic light, but could take 2 years
• Mountain West News Bureau's Stephanie Serrano looks at how a shelter for homeless youth has fared during the pandemic

• Petition circulating to re-vote on North Fork Miners decision
• Delta Police a COVID outbreak site
• All Points Transit returning to fare system May 3rd
• River Valley Family Health Centers increasing mobile clinics for seasonal farmworkers
• Fish & Wildlife designates sections of Colorado & Gunnison Rivers as critical habitat for yellow-billed cuckoo
• Christian media empire moves to Ouray County
• Taylor McKinnon at Center for Biological Diversity co-authored letter seeking NEPA review of federal fossil fuel programs

• USDA, EPA, FDA launch Restore Colorado to reduce food waste
• Ela Family Farms starts 'adopt a tree' program, supporters get sapling named after them
• USBR releases Aspinall Water to assist with low Gunnison River flows 
• Green jobs rebounding after pandemic plunge
• Luke Runyon reports on water speculation
• New research says wildfire smoke may have caused bird die-off last year
• Delta BOCC awards recycling contract to Double J
• Colorado officials welcome return of federal work on mitigating climate change impacts

This week's Local Motion is a 420 special featuring Kate Redmond's interview of attorney Brian Vicente and Gavin Dahl's interview of journalist Leland Rucker.

• Hundreds attend Delta County school board meeting to protest comprehensive sex ed program that hasn't been adopted by the district
• Mesa County Commissioners open third round of hiring for new county attorney
• Palisade Peach Festival will return in August
• Black lawmakers in Colorado relieved jury convicted officer in murder of George Floyd
• Robyn Vincent checks up on bold police reforms passed by Colorado lawmakers last year

• Paonia trustees reduce limit on pot shops from six to three
• US House passes SAFE banking act, which would allow banks to work with cannabis companies
• Kate Redmond talks to Paonia locals who hold peaceful Black Lives Matter weekly vigil 
• Luke Runyon talks to ranchers about preparing for water shortages this summer
• Scott Franz speaks with Governor Jared Polis about what's next for pandemic response, and last month's mass shooting in Boulder

• Orchard City declares first stage of drought, meaning new fees & regulations
• Vaccine supply outpacing demand in Mesa County
• Pandemic EBT program extended for 2021 academic year, low-income families will receive $136/month per student learning remotely, $82/month per student in hybrid model
• New report shows Colorado River reservoirs will drop to lowest levels ever this year
• From KDNK: Town of Marble struggling with lack of enforcement for ATV overuse 

• Delta Health transitioning COVID vaccine clinics to primary care locations
• Lauren Boebert & Marjorie Taylor Greene only no votes on bone marrow bill
• Colorado House approves $34B state budget
• Colorado has more realtors than homes for sale
• Farm & Food Alliance launches incubator app, new website
• Montrose Summer Music Series will return in July
• COVID cases & hospitalizations are up as counties take over managing restrictions

• Colorado will shift to county-led COVID rules on Friday
• Telluride Bluegrass approved for June 11-13 in addition to June 17-20
• Sen. Hickenlooper answers questions at first virtual Town Hall 
• State lawmakers release more details on stimulus plan
• Colorado River forecasts show increasing likelihood of persistent worsening drought
• Natural gas plant operator near Moab now mining cryptocurrency

Meet Colorado College student Anya Steinberg, named a grand prize winner in NPR's Student Podcast Challenge for exploring the impact of learning her biological father, a sperm donor she'd been told was a doctor, was in fact a jazz musician. Plus, journalism professor Corey Hutchins on the Grand Junction Sentinel retiring its 40-year old printing press, and a racial reckoning at 9News and The Denver Post.

• Gov. Polis expects Colorado will continue Johnson & Johnson vaccines soon
• Montrose approves incentives, tax increment financing loan for new Colorado Yurt Company HQ
• Sen. Hickenlooper hosts first town hall since being elected tonight at 6
• New bill at statehouse seeks to give Colorado youth free access to mental health services
• Moms and Students Demand Action for Gun Sense gathered at Boulder's municipal building Monday, urging legislation to implement more robust background checks on gun purchases

• A Delta County Sheriff's Deputy shot and killed Paige Schmidt of Austin on Friday
• Sunset Mesa defendants found liable by Montrose District Court Judge
• Buyer poised to close on former Russell Stover plant, provide distro for small farms & ranches
• Fire near Meeker grows to 1000 acres, 60% contained
• Rep. Boebert tells Club 20 she is 'unwilling to compromise'
• Coloradans respond to Boulder lawmakers calling for assault weapons ban, waiting periods for gun purchases

• KVNF's Kate Redmond recaps Colorado Media Project webinar The News About the News, highlighting new University of Denver research about journalism in Colorado
• Ridgway Secondary School student Emma Berwanger and Tanya Ishikawa from Ridgway Area Chamber of Commerce talk with KVNF's Gavin Dahl about the

• Montrose broke ground on a new development at the Colorado Outdoors site & a new Public Safety Complex downtown
• Montrose City Council members nominated Doug Glaspell as new mayor
• Independent Congressional Redistricting Commission voted unanimously to remove chair
• Firefighters warn this year's conditions will be just as bad if not worse than last year
• Grand Junction blogger Anne Landman reflects on the city's changing politics, as voters this week repealed a ban on retail marijuana & rejected a slate of conservative candidates

The Ridgway Secondary School is hosting a Youth Volunteer & Career Fair on April 21st. KVNF spoke to Ridgway 12th grader Emma Berwanger and communications professional Tanya Ishikawa about opportunities available to students. Businesses or nonprofits interested in participating have until April 14th at noon to get registered on the Ridgway Chamber website. 

• Montrose County moves to Green on COVID dial
• So-called Brazilian COVID variant identified in 2 Boulder County patients
• Fewer than half of prisoners in Colorado have gotten vaccinated, more than half have tested positive, at least 29 have died from COVID
• Legislation addressing school-to-prison pipeline in Colorado withdrawn
• Kate Redmond speaks to Delta County's new Director of Community Development and Natural Resources Carl Holm about building permits and other land use issues

• Grand Junction voters repeal retail marijuana ban, reject Republican-aligned council candidates
• Senators Michael Bennet & John Hickenlooper, Representative Lauren Boebert attend local meetings
• Delta County still under mask mandate due to uptick in COVID cases
• Colorado lawmakers introduce $34B budget 
• KVNF's Kate Redmond checks in with Delta County administrator Robbie LeValley as Commissioners take up privatization of recycling collection

This week we hear from Carlton Mason, CEO for CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates of the 7th Judicial District, helping to break the cycle of child abuse and neglect through prevention, advocacy, and interaction. Then blogger JoAnn Kalenak of the nonprofit Delta County Citizen Report talks about the future of the Delta library, recycling, junkyards, transparency, the mask mandate, and other stories she covers in her newsletter.

• Investigation into sexual misconduct at Colorado Judiciary criticized for opacity
• Colorado House passes bill penalizing owners who fail to report lost or stolen guns
• Gunnison Ranger District implementing camping management this summer
• District has a plan for displaying Paonia and Hotchkiss High trophies at new school
• Cedaredge Community Band returns to rehearsals
• Mountain West News Bureau's Madelyn Beck reports on spring bird migration in the region

• Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association turns on water for canals
• Though Governor relaxed statewide mask mandate for counties in level green, masks are still required in schools & health care facilities, plus all public places in 33 counties at level blue, yellow, and orange
• Lawmakers debate state budget this week
• Laura Palmisano reports road accessing Lake San Cristobal finally gets repairs
• KSUT's Sarah Flower asks Fort Lewis College president Tom Stritikus about becoming first in Colorado requiring COVID vaccination for Fall semester