Stretch of U.S. 50 from Silverton to Molas Pass to be fully closed on Monday
Drivers in southwest Colorado should plan ahead Monday, June first, as U.S. Highway 550 will fully close between Silverton and Molas Pass from seven a.m. to two p.m. for chip seal road work.
Traffic will be stopped in both directions along a six-mile stretch of highway, and motorists are being urged to use alternate routes or travel through the area before seven o’clock Monday morning.
CDOT says the detour between Durango and Ridgway will add about an hour of extra driving time. Once the highway reopens, drivers should slow down and use caution due to loose gravel in the work zone.
Enterprise gas spill in southwest Colorado continues to raise concerns about drinking water
A major gasoline spill on Southern Ute tribal land in southwest Colorado is raising concerns about drinking water contamination and pipeline safety. According to the Telluride Times, the spill was first discovered in late 2024 after cows walking through a field exposed the leak.
Officials say between 97,000 and 200,000 of gasoline leaked from a forty-year-old pipeline near Ignacio.
Enterprise Products Partners, the company responsible for the pipeline, says it has workers on site daily, recovered thousands of gallons of fuel, and continues groundwater testing and cleanup efforts. However, the Southern Ute tribe has grown increasingly frustrated with what tribal leaders characterize as a slow response and misrepresentation from Enterprise. The tribe says the gasoline plume has contaminated more than one-hundred acres of drinking water aquifer and moved closer to the Animas River. Tribal leaders also say some residents have already lost access to their wells and homes because of contamination.
The company plans to replace the section of pipeline running through tribal land, but local officials remain concerned about older sections still running beneath rivers across southwest Colorado.
GMUG suppressing 8-acre Lost Canyon Fire
The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests, in coordination with Gunnison County, are actively suppressing the Lost Canyon Fire, located approximately seven miles northeast of Almont near the Fossil Ridge Wilderness Area.
The fire was reported at around 3 p.m. on May 25 and has been mapped at approximately 8 acres. GMUG says that smoke may be visible from the Gunnison Highlands area, and that the coordinated response to this remote area will require significant resources to extinguish the fire. Further updates will be provided as additional information becomes available.
Polis signs laws changing process for criminal defendants not competent to stand trial
Lawmakers set out to reform the process in response to a number of controversial cases in which defendants' charges were dropped because of competency issues. The new law directs the Colorado Department of Human Services to work with treatment facilities for people charged with serious crimes who are unlikely to regain competency in the near future. It sets up a new treatment placement process and changes when criminal charges against them must be dismissed. The measure also creates new court hearings to help determine whether someone’s competency can ever be restored. It passed the legislature with wide bipartisan support. Lucas Brady Woods reports for the Colorado Capitol News Alliance.
ICE agents accused of breaking Colorado law across the state
A Colorado law limits where Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents can make arrests connected to courthouses. You may remember KVNF’s reporting on this law earlier this year, after a Montrose criminal defense attorney’s client was arrested by ICE from her car. Immigration advocates say ICE is abusing loopholes in this law across the state. For Rocky Mountain Community Radio, KDUR's Jamie Wanzek reports.
