FEATURE: The shortgrass prairie of Northeast Colorado's Pawnee National Grassland is home to a unique and fragile ecosystem. But development is starting to spill onto the plains, threatening one of the country’s largest untouched expanses of prairie habitat. KUNC’s Rae Solomon reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.
TOP STORIES: On Friday afternoon, many Delta-Montrose Electric Association customers lost power due to a fault in aTri-State transmission line feeding the region. The outage, initially affecting 10,000 members, was reduced to nearly half by 4 p.m. Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association, which owns the transmission infrastructure, worked with DMEA to restore power shortly after 4pm.
Flags across Colorado flew at half-staff Monday to honor CDOT employees Trent Umberger and Nate Jones, who were killed in a crash last Wednesday on U.S. 6 near Palisade. Gov. Jared Polis ordered flags to be lowered in remembrance of the two Grand Junction maintenance workers.
Plans for the new Costco store on 24 Road near Interstate 70 in Grand Junction are moving forward as expected, reports the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. The project is undergoing a detailed planning process with the city, addressing engineering and infrastructure needs such as water, sewer, and roads. Once the planning phase wraps up, construction will take 8-10 months, depending on weather conditions. You can get the full story at GJsentinel.com
Former Ouray Police Chief Jeff Wood plans to sue the city of Ouray, claiming his constitutional rights were violated when he was fired in June, reports the Ouray Plaindealer
Wood was placed on leave after a sexual assault case involving his stepson. He was later terminated for poor performance and allegedly boycotting a local business due to its support for Black Lives Matter. Wood disputes the claims and argues that the city denied him due process, and violated his first amendment rights to free speech. He is seeking damages exceeding $150,000. You can get the full story at ouraynews.com
