Delta County School District

Colorado state Rep. Tracey Bernett resigned from her lawmaking position on the eve of the 2023 legislative session. Bernett, a Democrat, is facing criminal charges that she lied about her residence to run for reelection, reports the Colorado Newsline. Colorado and many school districts in the state saw higher graduation rates for the class of 2022 than before the pandemic, reports Chalkbeat. Governor Jared Polis was sworn in yesterday. Capitol reporter Lucas Brady Woods was at the ceremony.

Representative Matt Soper defeated Democrat AliceMarie Slaven-Edmond for House District 54. Soper gained nearly 74% of the vote in the district. In House District 58 incumbent Marc Catlin of Montrose defeated Democrat Kevin Kuns by 11 percentage points. Grand Junction Republican businessman Rick Taggart soundly defeated Democrat Damon Davis for House District 55 in Mesa County by 26 percentage points. Delta County voters approved Ballot Measure 5B with nearly 55% in favor. The measure extends a bond issue for Delta County Joint School District 50J. Eligible Montrose County voters approved the measure,while eligible voters in Gunnison County turned down the bond issue.

The US Forest Service has released a report into a planned burn that turned into New Mexico's largest-ever wildfire. Anger against the Forest Service is simmering among the thousands affected by the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak fire. Dave Rosenthal of the Mountain West News Bureau reports.A group of Delta County students spoke at the School Board Meeting, describing discrimination and ill treatment. Kate Redmond brings that story.

Delta Health approved a sales tax increase ballot item at their meeting last night. Lisa Young reports. Plus, the water system for the town of Paonia continues to pose a contentious set of challenges. Solid Solutions Geosciences, the company under contract with the town, took issue with Town Trustees and members of the Water Advisory Committee touring the facility. Kate Redmond reports from last week’s Paonia Trustee meeting. *CORRECTION*: A speaker identified in this story as Christina Patterson was in fact her sister Sherin Patterson.

John Hickenlooper reflected on his first year as the oldest Junior Senator in Washington at a virtual event on Monday. The former geologist, Mayor of Denver, and Governor of Colorado spoke to The Colorado Sun and Kate Redmond has a recap. Plus, credible threats of violence from a man who allegedly sent out a manifesto full of violent fantasies involving schools and universities prompted an hours-long standoff on Boulder's University Hill yesterday and led to the evacuation of an elementary school. KGNU's Shannon Young reports.

John Hickenlooper reflected on his first year as the oldest Junior Senator in Washington at a virtual event on Monday. The former geologist, Mayor of Denver, and Governor of Colorado spoke to The Colorado Sun and Kate Redmond has a recap. Plus, credible threats of violence from a man who allegedly sent out a manifesto full of violent fantasies involving schools and universities prompted an hours-long standoff on Boulder's University Hill yesterday and led to the evacuation of an elementary school. KGNU's Shannon Young reports.

This week on Local Motion, I speak with Travis Cantonwine, editor in chief of the Delta High School newspaper, The Paw Print. He chats with KVNF news director Gavin Dahl about recent articles, and they discuss two podcasts he produced, including a second place winner from the Colorado Student Media Association.

This week on Local Motion, I speak with Travis Cantonwine, editor in chief of the Delta High School newspaper, The Paw Print. He chats with KVNF news director Gavin Dahl about recent articles, and they discuss two podcasts he produced, including a second place winner from the Colorado Student Media Association.

What happens to student COVID testing during the two-week holiday break? KVNF's Gavin Dahl asks Montrose School District public information officer Matt Jenkins. Plus, the Environmental Protection Agency ruled the White Mesa uranium mill in Southeastern Utah can no longer accept radioactive waste from Superfund sites. KZMU's Justin Higginbottom speaks with a lawyer who fought for that decision about the mill’s future.

Federal law enforcement arrested a Telluride man over the weekend for his alleged involvement in the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol. Plus, bridge work on highway 92 over the Gunnison River near Delta is underway. CDOT’s senior historian tells KVNF the bridge adoption we reported on back in May is happening after all, with the City of Delta and Montrose County taking the historic trusses from the old bridge.