Ouray County hosts informational meeting about flooding and debris slides
Ouray County is hosting a community meeting next week on recent flooding and debris slides caused by heavy rain. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 11, at 6 p.m. at the Ouray Community Center. The meeting will focus on flooding, debris removal, economic impacts, and community resilience. It will begin with a presentation from a panel of experts, followed by breakout stations where attendees can ask questions and speak with regional, state, and federal partners.
The County says that community members are encouraged to attend to learn about ongoing recovery efforts, available resources, and will have an opportunity to ask questions.
Montrose commissioner Sean Pond faces criticism over social media post depicting Phil Weiser with devil horns
Sean Pond, a Montrose County Commissioner, recently shared an image showing Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Weiser with “devil horns” on social media.
Depictions of Jews with horns are widely recognized as a common form of antisemitic imagery. Kyle Clark, a Denver-based journalist, called out the post. Clark wrote that, quote, “depicting Jewish people with horns is a centuries-old, dehumanizing, antisemitic trope. Democratic Gov nominee Phil Weiser is outspoken about his mother’s birth in a Nazi concentration camp, his family members killed in the Holocaust, and the threat posed by antisemitism today.”
The post was highly critical of Weiser, stating that he has, quote “spent nearly eight years using the Attorney General’s Office to defend gun restrictions, obstruct federal immigration enforcement, protect the forced green energy transition and file approximately 70 lawsuits against the Trump administration.”
GOP gubernatorial nominee Victor Marx replied to Pond’s post, agreeing with the assertion that Weiser is a “threat” to Colorado. Marx is a self-described “high-risk missionary and evangelist” who has made questionable claims about having performed exorcisms by phone and having saved as many as 45,000 women and children from abusive situations.
Pond doubled down in a response to Clark, saying, “I had no idea Phil Weiser was Jewish. I portrayed a Democratic politician with devil horns because I believe his political agenda is dangerous for Colorado. His religion was never considered because I did not know it.”
Pond says that the two posts involving Kyle Clark and Phil Weiser alone generated 174,000 views, and nearly 1,300 shares. He has since posted images of other Democratic politicians with devil horns, and even facetiously added devil horns to his own profile picture.
Pond has also used the momentum to push his original message: calling on Republicans to stop attacking each other and present a united front against Phil Weiser. Notably, Pond lashed out against other Republicans earlier this year after he failed to receive enough support at the Republican Assembly to appear on the ballot in his bid for U.S. Senate.
Federal judge dismisses DOJ lawsuit over Colorado voter data
A federal judge has dismissed the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold over her refusal to hand over sensitive voter information. The DOJ filed the lawsuit in December after Griswold rejected a request for unredacted voter data. That included birthdates, home addresses, and partial Social Security numbers. Griswold says the Trump administration has no legal right to the information. The DOJ cannot bring the same claims against her again because the case was dismissed with prejudice.
The work doesn't stop after the fire is out
The Gold Mountain Fire has barely grown in ten days — containment, as of Thursday, stands at 89 percent of about 39,500 acres. Evacuation zones in Montrose and Gunnison counties are stepping down, and residents are heading home. But the national forest around the burn is still closed — because the fire operation isn't over, it's just changed jobs. For part two of our series on the Gold Mountain Fire, KVNF's Brody Wilson takes us into fire perimeter to learn about the work still taking place.
