2020 Election

Calls for newly elected Congressmember Lauren Boebert to resign are increasing across Colorado’s Third District. Reasons range from her role in the attempted overthrow of election results, to tweets like “Today is 1776” the morning of the insurrection, and sharing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s whereabouts while the Capitol was under siege. Retired marine George Autobee from Pueblo co-chairs Rural Colorado United.

• District 51 announces USDA will extend free school meals through end of school year
• Delta County Housing Authority will rehab 3 single-family rental properties with DOLA money
• Blue Valley Ranch in Kremmling wants to release phosphorus into Blue River to promote river trout
• Hanging Lake set to reopen in May
• KDNK's Kathleen Shannon explores how Basalt put Ranked Choice Voting to the test in 2020

This week, KVNF's Gavin Dahl asked two Democrats, Representative Barbara McLachlan who lives in Durango, and Ian Silverii the executive director of Progress Now and a Denver Post columnist, to reflect on the Special Session, the 2020 election, and the coronavirus pandemic. Last week we heard from two Republicans.

This week on Local Motion, news director Gavin Dahl speaks with two Republicans about the 2020 Election, the Special Session, and COVID-19. Next week, we'll hear from two Democrats. State Senator Don Coram represents District 6 which includes Montrose County, Ouray County, and San Miguel County. Ray Langston is chair of the Montrose County Republican Party. 

• Mesa County, Montrose County, Delta County, Ouray County face COVID spikes
• Governor Polis presented his billion dollar stimulus proposal to state budget planners Thursday
• Colorado State Patrol seeks feedback in a new survey
• Senator Jon Tester, the only Montana Democrat left in statewide office next year, talks with reporter Nate Hegyi about how progressives can win rural elections

• Prop 113 (National Popular Vote) and Prop 114 (Wolf Reintroduction) passed
• COVID-19 outbreaks are ongoing in 587 Colorado schools, jails, health facilities, offices & businesses
• Some MCSD students, staff at Centennial Middle School & Early Childhood Center now in quarantine
• 2 fires are burning in West Elk Wilderness area, east of Gunnison
• KUER: Engineers in Utah are producing rare earth elements from local ore
• KSJD: From the Motor City to a riverbank near you, controlling erosion with Detroit Riprap

• Mussel-contaminated watercraft intercepted in record numbers 
• Town of Paonia allocating $55k to help local businesses with COVID costs
• Town of Hotchkiss seeks economic development input
• Election unrest: Americans buy record number of guns
• New state park Fishers Peak opens near Trinidad
• Colorado Sun data journalist Sandra Fish talks 2020 election spending

• Get informed about judge retention here
• Over 10,000 mail ballots rejected as of Wednesday
• Federal appeals court once again tells Mountain Coal no new roads in NFV
• Suspect bites off fingertip of Olate police chief 
• Glenwood 5th grader kayaks Grand Canyon
• Scott Franz analyzes Gardner & Hickenlooper debate highlights

• Mesa, Montrose, Ouray County COVID-19 positivity rates too high
• On Thursday, the US Fish & Wildlife Service removed protections for the gray wolf under the endangered species act in the lower 48 states
• Colorado is sending stimulus checks to hundreds of thousands of Coloradans who have filed for unemployment since the start of the coronavirus pandemic
• Election doubts are spreading as legal challenges mount around the west
• The federal BLM plan that governs 1.7 million acres of public land in Western Colorado faces new court challenges

• Nearly 2 million ballots have already been returned in Colorado
• State commits additional funds to help landlords collect missed rent payments
• 50 state legislators sign letter demanding action from ICE as over 100 detainees in Aurora test positive for COVID-19
• Hospitals starting to show signs of stress due to increasing COVID cases
• After wildfires, people are finding themselves in new flood zones

Gavin Dahl speaks with data journalist Sandra Fish about covering campaign spending for The Colorado Sun, and Colorado College professor Corey Hutchins who publishes a must-read newsletter each week that's available through

• San Miguel Power won't increase rates for 2021
• Montrose City Council approves Russell Stover land purchase
• Governor activates National Guard to help fight East Troublesome Fire
• COVID-19 impacting sugar beet harvest
• Jodi Peterson interviews Independent Delta County Commissioner candidate Jere Lowe

• Grant-funded Uncompahgre River improvement project starts next week
• Police dog Oxx died this week after 9 years serving in law enforcement
• Joe Lewandowski of Colorado Parks & Wildlife explains why fire restrictions are in place
• Beau Baker reports on voter intimidation and violence in the Mountain West
• Jodi Peterson interviews Republican Delta County Commissioner candidate Wendell Koontz

Democrat Diane Mitsch Bush is running for Congress in Colorado's Third District against Lauren Boebert. She is a former college professor with a PhD in sociology, previously elected as a county commissioner and state representative. Should voters choose a veteran politican known for bipartisan compromise over a newcomer with a gun on her hip and no political experience? KVNF reporter Gavin Dahl spoke with Mitsch Bush on Monday, October 19th to learn more about her views. Here is the entire unedited interview.

• When asked about campaign finance complaint filed against Back the Badge campaign, Delta County Sheriff Mark Taylor tells KVNF's Jodi Peterson that he made a mistake 
• Part two of KVNF's interview with Democratic congressional candidate Diane Mitsch Bush

• Cameron Peak Fire, near Fort Collins, now the largest wildfire in Colorado history
• COVID-19 testing relocates from Montrose Memorial Hospital to County Event Center
• While new COVID cases are up in Mesa County, few hospitalizations mean overflow facility unneeded
• Human rights groups release new report on growing far-right movement in our region
• Part one of KVNF's interview with Democratic congressional candidate Diane Mitsch Bush

Republican Lauren Boebert is running for Congress in Colorado's Third District against Diane Mitsch Bush. She is a business owner with a GED and no previous government experience. Should voters choose a novice with a gun on her hip over a veteran politician known for bipartisan compromise? KVNF reporter Gavin Dahl spoke with Boebert on Thursday, October 15th to learn more about her views. Here is the entire unedited interview.

• Delta County Planning Commission certifies draft land use code, removes Right to Farm expansion
• 2020 U.S. Census counting has officially ended
• Voters returned over 400,000 ballots by Thursday in Colorado, 25 times as many as in 2016
• Part two of KVNF's interview with Republican congressional candidate Lauren Boebert

• Montrose High student tests positive for COVID-19 
• Laurel House for homeless aged 18-24 opens in Grand Junction
• Colorado Chief Medical Officer Eric France recommends flu shots 
• New study shows cities with more undocumented immigrants do not have higher crime
• Part one of KVNF's interview with Republican congressional candidate Lauren Boebert 

On this edition of Local Motion we hear a debate produced as part of Colorado Decides by PBS12, CBS4, and The Colorado Sun. Proposition 117 would establish a requirement of voter approval before the state can collect new enterprise funds of a certain size. 

• Governor Jared Polis extends mask mandate for another 30 days
• DMEA receives $2M grant for Elevate Broadband in Cedar Mesa, Beaver Hill
• William Perry Pendley defies judge to stay in job at BLM
• AG Phil Weiser vows to fight EPA rollback of clean car standards
• Scott Franz reports on Proposition 115, which would outlaw abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy

• When High School football games start Friday, Montrose won't allow public, Paonia will
• Fox Theater in Montrose closing indefinitely due to movie release delays
• Body of missing hiker found near Lake City
• Early voting numbers much higher than 2016 nationally
• KOTO's Julia Caulfield reports on the newlyweds who died in a plane crash near Telluride this week

• Russell Stover intends to buy its property from City of Montrose for $1, resell land & factory
• Fire at Olathe storage unit destroys resources of 3 charitable ministries: Angels for the Needy, Haven House, & Open Hands, Open Hearts
• New report finds most western states not doing enough to protect residents from COVID-19
• Capitol Coverage: Scott Franz examines Proposition 118, which would create a new state program in Colorado to provide paid family & medical leave to workers

• Now 15 human cases of West Nile in Delta County
• Montrose Lighthouse looking for new location to avoid reduced shelter capacity due to COVID
• Arch Resources looking to sell West Elk Mine in North Fork Valley, the largest coal producer in Colorado
• Legal fate of 2020 Census count deadline still uncertain
• Scott Franz explains the most complicated statewide ballot question, Amendment B, which would change the Gallagher amendment in Colorado

• John Hickenlooper campaigns in Grand Junction
• Colorado Air Quality Commission will require pollution monitoring at new oil & gas wells
• Curecanti Rec Area getting major upgrade
• Unemployment rates high in our region
• Activists want climate questions in the debates
• State climatologist Russ Schumacher talks wildfires

• State names Delta Walmart pharmacy, Delta Building Center as COVID outbreak sites
• Affordable housing project in Ridgway to break ground next spring
• Luke Runyon: Colorado River's largest reservoirs expected to keep struggling due to climate change
• Scott Franz: Gray wolf reintroduction proposition will be on the statewide ballot 

• Grand Junction Sentinel finds contradictions in congressional candidate Boebert's claims
• Theft and vandalism of campaign signs rampant in Ouray County
• New trails complete at Crossroads Park in Hotchkiss 
• Governor allows high school football this fall
• Disability community want to make sure all eligible voters can cast