Former Paonia town administrator Stefan Wynn interviewed for Cedaredge town administrator position
The Cedaredge Board of Trustees also met yesterday, and entered executive session to interview three candidates for the open town administrator position. One of the three candidates was former Paonia town administrator Stefan Wynn. He stepped down from his position in Paonia in July, and accused a former town employee and her husband of harassment. The couple denied his claims.
One of the other candidates is Michelle Wingfield, the director of the Montrose Recreation District director and Community Initiatives Manager of the Montrose Development and Revitalization Team. Wingfield received accolades during public comment at city council earlier this year when DART faced a budget crisis.
The last candidate is Jeffrey Prystupa, a chiropractor and natural health educator who frequently posts anti-vaccine messages and other political content on Facebook.
First Baptist Church of Cedaredge to turn vacant building into youth center
A historic building on Main Street that’s sat vacant for 15 years has a new lease on life– in the form of a youth center. The Delta County Independent reports that the 1909 building, directly across from the Cedaredge Town Park, is the former church building of First Baptist Church of Cedaredge. The building is in good condition, and First Baptist Church intends to simply a safe place for youth to hang out.
The church does not currently have a significant funding source for the project. Pastor Jake Wyatt says he is actively seeking grant funding to update the building's infrastructure and bring it up to date while preserving its historic character. The church is also relying primarily on donations of games and money from the community to bring the space to life. The church is looking to acquire full-size table games such as ping-pong, pool and foosball, as well as other similar items, in addition to board games and tabletop games. The church hopes that it can open its doors as soon as it secures games and other necessities.
Dry water year comes to an end
Water year 2026 is coming to an end, and, in the words of the Colorado Sun, “good riddance.”
The Sun reports that Colorado water officials base their calendars on the water cycle each year, starting new years on the first of October. This past Water Year brought record temperatures, closures, water cutoffs and the winter-that-wasn’t, when barely any snow fell compared with past years. This was the warmest water year on record, and not by a small margin. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, every 1 degree rise in temperature equals as much as a 4% rise in atmospheric water vapor. That means the heat this year resulted in less liquid water running into streams, reservoirs and croplands. So, temperature is as much a part of the equation as rainfall.
Colorado is ending the water year with almost 40% of the state in extreme or exceptional drought. That’s about twice as much compared with the same time in 2025.
And its storage reservoirs have, on average, just over half of their usual water supply.
Precipitation from monsoons, which came a bit late this year, have been decent– but the Sun reports that monsoonal moisture doesn’t contribute much to water supply.
But it DID help prevent the horrible wildfire year that was predicted for Colorado.
Officials expect the fire potential this fall to be close to normal. Beyond that, it’s hard for them to say if we’re going to have a particularly dry or a particularly wet winter– though most Coloradans are holding out hope for an epic powder year.
Montrose holds flu shot clinic
Something else on the horizon as we approach winter is the flu. The CDC says the best time to get your flu shot is before the end of October. Montrose County and community partners are hosting their annual free flu shot clinic on October 7th in three locations: the Montrose County Event Center, Olathe Community Park, and the Basin Clinic in Naturita.
Coloradans are also now able to get newly formulated Covid-19 vaccines. The U.S. FDA approved the updated vaccine formula late last month. It targets a variant called XFG.
Covid rates have been rising across the country, though the risk in Colorado remains low.
As the seasons change, so do the microplastics in our water
Rivers swell with snowmelt each spring. New research suggests those higher flows can also carry a surge of microplastic pollution. Our Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel reports.
Paonia's 2026 Mountain Harvest Festival
Mountain Harvest Festival in Paonia marked its 25th anniversary this past weekend. For KVNF, Laura Palmisano brings us an interview with Festival Director Lillia McClure about the origins of the event and what's changed over the years.
