Delta County

• Majority of Colorado students attend school under local mask mandates, but not in Montrose, Delta, or Mesa County
• 22 schools in Mesa County have active COVID outbreaks
• Delta County reports first West Nile virus death
• San Miguel County identifies 8 cases of RSV in infants & toddlers
• Ouray County hires new county attorney
• Mary Hockenberry's art recognized with Creative Leadership Award
• Republican Heidi Ganahl running for Governor
• Learning Council's Amanda Campbell talks about new Delta County CARES initiative

• Colorado requring staff at hospitals, some health facilities to get vaccinated by September 30th
• New COVID cases now rising faster in Colorado kids than adults
• Montrose County considered 'high transmission rate' community, Delta County 'substantial'
• Republican activists hope to convince 75% of GOP Central Committee to vote to ditch open primaries
• Officials marked international drug overdose day at state Capitol
• Hotchkiss marshal's office gets 3 new employees, who are all resigning from Paonia PD

• Number of Coloradans hospitalized with COVID, 705, at highest level since January
• Marine Rylee McCollum, whose mother lives in Montrose, among 13 service members killed in Kabul
• SOS Jena Griswold sues to remove Tina Peters from overseeing Mesa County elections
• Grand Mesa Nordic Council could lose access to permitted ski activities for 5 seasons due to timber sale
• Lauren Boebert has a primary challenger, Marina Zimmerman
• New water research lab opening near Crested Butte
• Working group for planned move of Delta Library discusses issues

• Interior Department restarts oil & gas leasing on public lands while fighting lawsuit by industry
• Colorado proposes new transportation planning standards to reduce pollution
• Delta, Montrose among 16 recipients of CDOT funds to revitalize Main Streets
• Palisade faces criticism over regulation of retail pot shops
• Ruedi Reservoir so low Aspen could struggle to generate hydro power
• Water shortage declared for lower Colorado River Basin
• Kate Redmond reports on release of 2020 Census numbers

• Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters not cooperating with Secretary of State investigation, Grand Junction Sentinel calls her 'unfit' for office
• Ace Hardware owner Kim Shay files complaint with state about Hotchkiss Municipal Judge Lynn French, who represented shoplifter Charidy Meeks, daughter of former Marshal Dan Miller, as her attorney
• Delta Commissioner Don Suppes explains why County is buying old City Market building from School District, moving library out of its historic building
• CDOT spokeswoman Tracy Trulove describes cleanup of I-70 in Glenwood Canyon

• COVID transmission in Delta County now 'substantial'
• Delta County Schools returning in-person with no mask mandate, despite CDC recommendations
• Cedaredge trustees select retail marijuana vendors
• USDA endorses Colorado proposal to grow hemp industry
• State investigation of Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters could lead to criminal charges
• Curecanti Rec Area designated dark sky park
• Kate Redmond catches up with Julia Kumari Drapkin who launched I See Change at KVNF

• As CDC updates mask guidance to recommend wearing them indoors regardless of vaccination status, Delta County School District is not requiring them for any student or staff member
• Montrose County names Jon Waschbusch as County Manager
• Montrose County Fair & Rodeo runs through Sunday
• Colorado has a new tourism director
• Booming demand for rental cars leads residents to rent out their own cars to strangers

• Journalist & former Telluride resident Danny Fenster has contracted COVID in a Burmese prison
• Delta variant of COVID showing up not only in Mesa County, but Delta County too
• Olathe sweet corn harvest is underway, with 26 million ears headed to consumers in 30 states
• KDNK's Amy Hadden Marsh speaks to state climatologist Dr. Russ Schumacker about La Niña weather

• Town of Paonia offering retail marijuana applications
• Family of Paige Schmidt Pierce intends to sue Delta County, undeterred by autopsy report
• DMEA announces new CEO Alyssa Clemsen Roberts
• Golden Girls program at Joseph Center in Grand Junction offers shelter to women age 65+
• Xcel Energy asks Colorado regulators to approve rate increases
• Kate Redmond speaks to Ewelina Bajda from Wild Cooperative in Crawford about water rights

Ben Graves from The Nature Connection explains the Colorado Outdoor Equity Grant Program, and outlines youth summer camps in Delta County. Mental Health Colorado reviews bills on rapid mental health response for youth, a suicide prevention lifeline, behavioral health initiatives, and mental health wellness exams.

• Ouray County, Delta County among 20 Western Slope counties enacting fire bans
• Delta County School Board rescind previous motion on sex ed, still may face lawsuit from nonprofit Delta County Citizen Report
• Congressmember Lauren Boebert votes against bipartisan bill honoring DC law enforcement for defending the US Capitol from insurrection by Trump supporters on January 6th
• Scott Franz reports on Colorado's economic forecast
• Madelyn Beck speaks to Grand Junction residents about Bureau of Land Management headquarters

• Hotchkiss Mayor: DCSO not charging for support
• Montrose code enforcement officer pepper sprays property owner
• Montrose county manager Ken Norris to be paid year of severance, benefits
• Grand Junction City Council leans toward buffering, zoning limits on retail pot shops
• Mesa County faces spread of Delta COVID variant, encourages vaccinations
• Telluride Bluegrass livestream available, KOTO only airing on FM
• Senator Michael Bennet on his Child Tax Credit bill
• Matt Cesario of Triple Play Records talks Record Store Day

• Telluride Foundation proposes 60 deed-restricted affordable housing units in Ouray
• Carson Lake drained for repairs
• Frontier Airlines begins Grand Junction flights
• Second Chance Center expands from Aurora to Denver, to address recidivism 
• Apollo Rodriquez speaks to Delta County Emergency Manager Kris Stewart about 9-digit dialing
• Kate Redmond filed an open records request to obtain the long-awaited hydrology report for the town of Paonia's water system, but the report comes with some surprises

• JoAnn Kalenak of Delta County Citizens Report is sharing Delta County School Board email correspondence acquired through CORA request that shows sex ed decision-making 'panic'
• Ouray silver mine hiring new workers, but housing is in short supply
• Routt County man survives bear attack in his garage
• Montrose County School District superintendent Carrie Stephenson reflects on the approach to managing the learning environment during the COVID pandemic, and discusses plan to help families obtain a year of free school supplies using federal grant money

• Climber Patrick Eells dies on Gilpin Peak
• North Fork Merchant Herald sheds light on Hotchkiss Marshall & Judge keeping marshall's daughter's shoplifting charge off public docket
• New Delta County recycling center opens in Austin
• CPW announces emergency fish salvage at Spring Creek Reservoir 
• Conservation groups oppose state weakening Clean Water Act
• State Supreme Court rejects changes to redistricting process
• Colorado creates new gun violence prevention office
• KOTO reports on struggle to hire in Telluride

The devastating reality for most of Colorado’s wine grape growers and producers is a loss of between 80-100% of most wine grapes for the 2021 growing season.

• Grand Junction hospitals began diverting patients Monday, with dozens of COVID variant cases
• Recycling at North Fork Transfer Station in Hotchkiss ends Saturday, shifts to Double J in Austin on June 1st, with paper & cardboard drop-off at public works building in Cedaredge, at parking lot across from Delta Post Office, & at Farm Runners parking lot in Hotchkiss
• Kate Redmond shares audio from kickoff of Arbol Farmers Market ahead of week 2 tonight
• Maggie Mullen reports on new thinking about indoor air in COVID era

• Delta County School Board votes not to adopt comprehensive sex ed
• Sen. Bennet calls on Congress to mitigate wildfires, restore forests
• Marijuana pardons forthcoming
• COVID cases are spiking in Moab
• Delta County Democrats give scholarships to Hotchkiss & Cedaredge seniors
• Philanthropist George Stranahan has died
• Luke Runyon: Lake Powell strategizing is underway
• Scott Franz: Residents statewide share thoughts on COVID vaccines

This week on Local Motion, news director Gavin Dahl speaks with reporters Dennis Webb of the Grand Junction Sentinel and Lisa Young of the Delta County Independent. From Lisa we learn more about the Hotchkiss Marshal's office in hot water, the investigation into the killing of Paige Pierce by an unnamed Delta County sheriff's deputy, changes to recycling in Delta County, and Paonia's plan for pot shops.

• Rick Stockton, musician, KVNF DJ, cofounder of Mountain Harvest Festival, has died
• Ridgway joins Hotchkiss & Paonia enacting voluntary water restrictions
• Governor signs 12 bills, we hear Rep. Matt Soper on bill for composting of human remains
• Polis shares new mask guidelines: anyone age 11+ not fully vaccinated should continue wearing masks
• Sen. Bennet introduces Future of Local News Act
• Kate Redmond learns about greywater from 2 CDPHE water staffers & local advocate Bruce Woodside

• Colorado will offer on-site vaccine clinics at workplaces
• Gunnison affordable housing shortage leads to packed extended stay motels
• Drost's Chocolates moves from Eckert to Delta
• Learning Council announces Pride Parade outside DCSD meeting on May 20th
• Transportation bill moving through State Capitol
• Survey finds broad support for redirecting some police funds to social services
• Kate Redmond speaks with Delta County Commissioner Don Suppes about taking over COVID policy

• USDA, EPA, FDA launch Restore Colorado to reduce food waste
• Ela Family Farms starts 'adopt a tree' program, supporters get sapling named after them
• USBR releases Aspinall Water to assist with low Gunnison River flows 
• Green jobs rebounding after pandemic plunge
• Luke Runyon reports on water speculation
• New research says wildfire smoke may have caused bird die-off last year
• Delta BOCC awards recycling contract to Double J
• Colorado officials welcome return of federal work on mitigating climate change impacts

• Hundreds attend Delta County school board meeting to protest comprehensive sex ed program that hasn't been adopted by the district
• Mesa County Commissioners open third round of hiring for new county attorney
• Palisade Peach Festival will return in August
• Black lawmakers in Colorado relieved jury convicted officer in murder of George Floyd
• Robyn Vincent checks up on bold police reforms passed by Colorado lawmakers last year

• A Delta County Sheriff's Deputy shot and killed Paige Schmidt of Austin on Friday
• Sunset Mesa defendants found liable by Montrose District Court Judge
• Buyer poised to close on former Russell Stover plant, provide distro for small farms & ranches
• Fire near Meeker grows to 1000 acres, 60% contained
• Rep. Boebert tells Club 20 she is 'unwilling to compromise'
• Coloradans respond to Boulder lawmakers calling for assault weapons ban, waiting periods for gun purchases

• Montrose County moves to Green on COVID dial
• So-called Brazilian COVID variant identified in 2 Boulder County patients
• Fewer than half of prisoners in Colorado have gotten vaccinated, more than half have tested positive, at least 29 have died from COVID
• Legislation addressing school-to-prison pipeline in Colorado withdrawn
• Kate Redmond speaks to Delta County's new Director of Community Development and Natural Resources Carl Holm about building permits and other land use issues

• Grand Junction voters repeal retail marijuana ban, reject Republican-aligned council candidates
• Senators Michael Bennet & John Hickenlooper, Representative Lauren Boebert attend local meetings
• Delta County still under mask mandate due to uptick in COVID cases
• Colorado lawmakers introduce $34B budget 
• KVNF's Kate Redmond checks in with Delta County administrator Robbie LeValley as Commissioners take up privatization of recycling collection

This week we hear from Carlton Mason, CEO for CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates of the 7th Judicial District, helping to break the cycle of child abuse and neglect through prevention, advocacy, and interaction. Then blogger JoAnn Kalenak of the nonprofit Delta County Citizen Report talks about the future of the Delta library, recycling, junkyards, transparency, the mask mandate, and other stories she covers in her newsletter.

• Delta, Ouray, Hinsdale, Gunnison County are now Green on the state's COVID dial, while Montrose, Mesa, San Miguel County are still Blue
• Cedaredge pot shop application process opens April 2nd
• Governor orders flags to half-staff on Saturday in honor of Chester Riley
• New study finds listening to nature could have significant health benefits
• Lawmakers begin debating controversial health care plan aimed at lowering costs for those who buy insurance on the individual market because they can't get it through an employer

• Delta County moves to Green on COVID dial [UPDATE: Restaurants no longer have capacity limits]
• National Park Service warns of ice breaking up along shorelines of Curecanti Rec Area
• State lawmakers from Boulder want new gun regulations
• What you can do to help stop salmonella outbreak killing birds in the Mountain West
• As migrant agricultural workers return, community health centers are helping distribute COVID vaccines
• Nancy Watzman comments on on combating misinformation & disinformation at CFOIC's Sunshine Week panel 

• Colorado ramping up vaccine shipments, expanding six mass vaccination sites around the state
• Bill advancing at Capitol would cap late fees for rent payments, give tenants more time to avoid evictions
• Governor signed bill to cancel some standardized tests at grade schools this spring, Don Coram comments
• Kate Redmond speaks with Hotchkiss-based citizen journalist Terry O'Brien about the metrics of the COVID pandemic, and the success of the vaccine rollout so far