LOCAL NEWS: A recent round of winter weather has magnified avalanche risks on most Colorado mountain slopes, including those inclines surrounding the Grand Mesa. According to reporting in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel last week, experts from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center say the combination of wind with heavy ice and snow, plus an unusually shallow, weak existing snowpack, produced “the season’s most dangerous and widespread avalanche conditions.
The Colorado Department of Transportation closed part of Highway 65 on the Mesa last Wednesday for “avalanche mitigation efforts. Officials say that while the likelihood of natural avalanches around the Grand Mesa is expected to drop going into this week the risk of accidental, human-caused avalanches will likely increase.
Civil engineering firm Bohannan Huston presented their waterline capacity study to Orchard City Trustees at their regular meeting on Wednesday, February 11. The study's results showed that the town’s waterlines are capable of handling all available water rights, and only a few recommendations were made for improvement. According to reporting in the High Country Spotlight, Orchard City is using only about 25% of the water rights it owns. The water rights, however, are not at full capacity due to current drought conditions. More on this story is available at High Country Spotlight.
A meet and greet is scheduled this Saturday for Caryn Gibson, Republican candidate for Montrose County Commissioner District 2. The event will take place at 8 am at Rocking W Cheese on Hwy 348 west of Olathe. If successful in her bid, Gibson would replace term limited Commissioner Sue Hansen.
COLORADO'S THIRD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Hope Scheppleman, who served for 30 years as a critical care nurse, is running against fellow Republican Jeff Hurd in this June’s Republican primary race for Congressional District 3.
