LOCAL NEWS: The city of Ouray has contracted with the Ouray County Sheriff’s Office to fill gaps in police officer patrol shifts, after the town’s Administrator decided not to hire Interim Police Chief Daric Harvey for the permanent job.
According to reporting in the Ouray County Plaindealer, City councilors unanimously approved a new intergovernmental agreement, already signed by the mayor and city administration earlier this week. The agreement allows a sheriff’s deputy to work 12-hour shifts per day in the summer and 10-hour shifts per day during the offseason. The agreement takes effect immediately and will expire at the end of this year. It can be renewed for an additional six months. The Ouray Police Department re-enters a period of disruption, with the departure of Chief Daric Harvey and Officer Bryce Phillips.
ENVIROMENTAL NEWS: A new report from the Colorado River Research Group at C-U Boulder highlights the dire conditions in the basin and calls for leadership to rethink how to manage the river going forward, especially with drought conditions and climate change. Rocky Mountain Community Radio’s Caroline Llanes has more on the ‘Dancing with Deadpool’ report.
FEATURE STORY: Scott Fitzwilliams spent over thirty years with the U-S Forest Service, the last sixteen of which were as the Forest Supervisor for the White River National Forest in Western Colorado. He took early retirement last year, shortly after the Trump administration fired thousands of workers at the Forest Service and other land management agencies. Now, he’s warning that the administration’s priorities and actions will hurt rural Western communities, even if they don’t see the impacts just yet. Again for Rocky Mountain Community Radio’s Caroline Llanes has more
