Person found unresponsive in vehicle on Highway 550 dies
One person died Tuesday afternoon on U.S. 550 near Ouray. The county coroner's office says EMS and sheriff's deputies responded around 1:15 p.m. to a report of an unresponsive person in a vehicle near mile marker 97, close to Red Stone Road. Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. The office is investigating, and the person's name is being withheld while next of kin are notified.
Flood-protection construction begins below the Gold Mountain burn scar
Contractor Haynes Excavation began Emergency Watershed Protection work Wednesday in the Cutler Creek drainage near Ponderosa Village, the same drainage where a late-July debris flow forced the rescue of 17 people and damaged homes, roads, and utilities. Ouray County commissioners awarded the roughly $2.6 million construction contract at a special meeting Monday; the work is funded largely through a federal Natural Resources Conservation Service grant. The preliminary plans cover three drainages between Ridgway and Ouray — Crooked Tree, Cutler Creek, and Dexter Creek — with debris removal, regraded channels, and concrete-block barrier walls backed by earthen berms to steer future flows away from homes. County officials say the engineered plans will keep changing as work proceeds; the current set is posted on the county's website.
Ty Barger on paid leave as county investigates report of DUI arrest
Ouray County has placed Road and Bridge Superintendent Ty Barger on paid administrative leave while it investigates what it calls a pending report of a DUI arrest. Crew Chief Don Castle has been designated interim superintendent by the county manager. The county says it may decline further comment on pending personnel matters.
Paonia enacts Stage 2 water restrictions as springs fall behind demand
Paonia's Board of Trustees adopted Stage 2 water restrictions Tuesday, effective immediately, for everyone on the town's treated water, inside town limits or not. The town says water use has outpaced what its springs are producing amid severe drought, drawing down stored drinking water. Watering lawns, planting new turf, and washing vehicles at home are prohibited. Gardens, trees, and shrubs may still be hand-watered or drip-irrigated, but only between 7 p.m. and 4 a.m., for up to two hours. The bulk water station is capped at 300 gallons per customer per day. Violations carry fines of up to $250 per day. Questions go to Paonia Town Hall at 970-527-4101.
Montrose sets 15 mph limit for bikes and e-bikes in city parks
Montrose City Council has adopted Ordinance 2726, setting a 15 mph speed limit for bikes, e-bikes, and other conveyances on sidewalks, trails, and multiuse paths in the city's 38 parks. Off-trail riding is prohibited, and violations are Class A traffic infractions carrying fines of $15 to $100. Police say enforcement starts with education. "We will also be doing a month long warning period for minor violations, mainly educating our community on the classless vehicle, electrical vehicle side of it," Deputy Chief Tim Cox told the council.
Western Colorado Alliance's new deputy director heads for Power Forward
A familiar face from the Montrose library has a new mission. Sara Rinne, who spent almost 18 years with the Montrose Regional Library District, joined the Western Colorado Alliance for Community Action in January as its deputy director. The Alliance is a grassroots organizing nonprofit working across the Western Slope from Garfield County to Ouray County; in Rinne's words, "we help communities build power." Recent wins include organizing that helped preserve public transit funding in Garfield County and securing funding from the lodging-tax for transit in Montrose. The Alliance holds its annual conference, themed Power Forward, on Saturday, August 29, at the DoubleTree in Grand Junction, "celebrating our wins and the power that we've been building in our communities over the past year," Rinne says, with an eye on the upcoming election cycle.
