Candidate debates to be held in Grand Junction on Saturday
With November elections quickly approaching and important races on ballots throughout the KVNF listening area, candidate debates are happening this Saturday in Grand Junction. The debates are hosted by Club 20, an organization that brings together counties, communities, businesses, individuals and associations in Western Colorado. Debates between Colorado House and Senate candidates, state-level candidates, and U.S. Congressional candidates will be held all day on Saturday. This is a great opportunity to learn more about who’s on your ballot and what they stand for. Learn more about the event and view the schedule at club20.org.
New apartment complex in Montrose breaks ground
Montrose has a fairly limited number of long-term rentals available to residents, especially those with pets. That creates a difficult situation for young people and others who may not have the means or desire to purchase a home. But more apartments are coming to the community— construction started this week on the HUB, a planned 160-unit apartment community next to Cobble Creek Golf Course. According to the press release, the HUB will have a swimming pool and spa, fitness and meeting facilities, dog parks, and a pet spa. The HUB describes itself as a higher-end market-rate community, so it won’t necessarily provide affordable units. It will, however, increase the inventory and options available to renters.
That said, not everyone is thrilled about the HUB. Montrose residents, especially those living near the development, have spoken up at public meetings throughout the years since the HUB was first proposed. A group of nearby residents even formed a citizens opposition committee, and expressed concerns about a high density area popping up to a relatively sparse one, and the amount of traffic that the HUB could add.
Despite objections, construction started this week on the complex, and developers say it should be completed in about two years.
Camper who survived a bear attack near South Fork last week shares her story
Kathleen Baran told the Colorado Sun that she woke up to a bear crashing into her tent at Park Creek Campground. She said, “There’s claw marks on the tent there, which helps wake me up, from a dead sleep. And this feeling of absolute dread because I know something’s going down.” She says the bear came crashing down on her, and she instinctually put her hands over her face. The bear’s jaws were clamped on her right arm through the fabric, so she used her left arm to try to hit the bear–which she couldn’t even properly see, since it was on the other side of the tent. The bear, which she thought might have been a wolf at the time, growled and let go of her arm. Baran managed to drive herself to a hotel, stumbled into the lobby, and received medical care after witnesses called the authorities. Afterwards, a wildlife officer met her back at the campground and showed her claw marks on both sides of the tent as well as footprints, declaring it a bear visit. Baran considers herself lucky, given that the bear could have easily bitten down on her head. She also said she wanted to make it absolutely clear in her interview with the Colorado Sun that, “no, she absolutely did not have food in her tent that might have attracted the bear, despite what she says Colorado and Arizona health officials said about her while exchanging information.
Sediment impacting dam capacity
New research finds many reservoirs across the West are slowly losing storage space because sediment is piling up behind dams. The Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel reports.
How is West Nile virus monitored in Western Colorado?
Colorado has counted 40 cases of West Nile virus this season as of September 16th, and almost a third of them live in Montrose County, where an 83-year-old woman died of the virus earlier this month. Based on a listener's concern KVNF's Brody Wilson reached out to learn about West Nile virus monitoring in Delta County.
