Delta County

• 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• Legislation addressing school-to-prison pipeline in Colorado withdrawn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

• Colorado's COVID death toll surpasses 6,000, as 90% of teachers have received first dose of vaccine
• High winds destroyed tipis at Ute Museum in Montrose
• History Colorado grants $25k to Montrose for cultural site survey in Tortilla Flats
• Colorado House passes bill requiring gun storage
• Republican Marc Catlin responds to Governor's Meat Out Day, calls for Meat In
• DCSD superintendent Caryn Gibson spoke to North Fork Rotary club about high school consolidation and outlined district properties she'd like to sell

• Delta County offering March 12th vaccination appointment signups for phase 1B3
• Sandhill Cranes are back at the Fruitgrowers Reservoir stop along their journey
• Aspen Santa Fe Ballet dissolving its dance company, continuing educational efforts
• New Colorado Yurt Company HQ in Montrose could add dozens of new permanent jobs
• Kori Stanton speaks to CSU professor Becca Jablonski about upcoming meat processing webinar

• Delta County School Board votes to consolidate North Fork high schools to Hotchkiss
• Pre-register for COVID vaccines in Delta County
• Colorado Rockies will welcome fans to Coors Field in April
• Abandoned oil & gas wells pollute air and groundwater, with profits privatized, damages socialized
• Conservation advocate Nada Culver appointed to BLM post
• Capitol statue will honor Sand Creek Massacre victims
• Gunnison County home to severe bark beetle infestations
• Montrose artist Lewis Williams embarks on 4000-mile bike trip

• Delta County moves to blue on the state's COVID dial
• BLM will relocate at least 500 wild horses from Piceance Basin herd
• Kate Redmond reports on marijuana ordinance updates from Tuesday's Paonia trustee meeting 
• KUNC's Luke Runyon reports Greeley's multi-million dollar water project is not without opposition

• Delta County Memorial Hospital & 13 clinics rebranding as Delta Health
• Animas River records record low flow, again
• Elijah McClain: Investigation criticizes Aurora police & 'failed' internal investigation
• Lauren Boebert amends FEC filing on mileage reimbursements
• Critics: FCC awarded SpaceX nearly $900m for untested rural broadband project
• Luke Runyon: Rivers in the southwest impacted by climate change
• Kate Redmond interviews Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship president David Jenkins

According to the Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association, "Fruit and veggie production in Colorado is a nearly $485 million dollar industry with more than 90,000 growing acres statewide and around 60,000 acres in Freemont, Mesa, Durango-La Plata, and Delta Counties." KVNF talked with CFVGA's Board President and Broomfield, CO veggie farmer, Robert Sakata about their 7th Annual Conference which will be held virtually on February 17th & 18th.

• Delta County Commissioner Wendell Koontz found guilty of two campaign finance violations, fined
• Kori Stanton: Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association goes virtual for 7th annual conference
• Mountain West News Bureau's Savannah Maher on how the pandemic has complicated efforts to revitalize Indigenous languages

On this week's Local Motion, Gavin Dahl hosts a reporter roundtable with two of the area's most prolific journalists, Katharhynn Heidelberg from Montrose Press and Lisa Young from Delta County Independent. The trio discuss a dozen stories covered recently in the local papers. 

• Delta County Hospital vaccinating adults over 70, Delta County Health accepting pre-registrations 
• CU Boulder computational biologist Daniel Larremore speaks to KVNF about the new study published in Science this week that finds prioritizing older adults when distributing COVID vaccines would save substantially more lives
• KDNK's Amy Hadden Marsh talks to stakeholders who have supported the CORE Act about what's next

• Governor Polis signs 5 bills 
• President Biden beings process to restore Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante boundaries
• Retail marijuana will be on April ballot in Grand Junction
• Ridgway switching water filtration from chlorine dioxide to carbon
• Drought plan activated for upper Colorado River
• Delta County Health director shares COVID-19 update
• Ian Silverii of Progress Now says Western Slope residents should share comments on redistricting

• 1 year after Colorado's Red Flag law took effect, at least 112 petitions filed for extreme risk protection orders
• Freedom of Information Coalition & other journalism groups ask Colorado Judicial Branch to continue free remote access to civil court records post-pandemic
• Delta County Administrator Robbie LeValley responds to concerns about accessibility of zoning maps during creation of Land Use code approved last week
• Mountain West News Bureau's Robyn Vincent reports millions of people are experiencing food insecurity in our region

• BLM approved 226 gas wells to be drilled 15 miles NE of Paonia, so SG Interests & Gunnison Energy will proceed with their Bull Mountain Master Energy Plan
• Delta County Commissioners approved a new Land Use code on Tuesday, but citizen journalist JoAnn Kalenek says the maps were never completely and accurately published for review
• KSJD's Daniel Rayzel reports dark skies advocates say mitigation for light pollution is too often ignored in SE Utah 

• 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

• New Delta County Human Services Building flooded badly on Christmas Eve
• COVID deaths in Delta County double during December, 2 more die over holiday weekend
• New study suggests working out at a gym not linked to viral COVID transmission
• State health departments encouraging people with COVID to do their own contact tracing
• Scott Franz interviews Governor Jared Polis about his coronavirus response

• Post-Thanksgiving COVID spike not as severe in Mesa County as expected
• Grand Valley Transit workers vote no confidence in their GM
• Hotchkiss trustees approve $1.2M budget for 2021, new headgate at Carl Smith Reservoir
• Senator Michael Bennet introduced one last bill, the Outdoor Restoration Force Act
• Eric Galatas reports this Sunday is deadline for food banks to apply for new state grants
• Jodi Peterson checks in with Natasha Legere for reaction to new COGCC oil & gas rules

• Mesa, Delta, Montrose, San Miguel Counties will begin vaccinating frontline health workers next week
• Connect for Health Colorado extends insurance sign-up deadline to Friday
• Audit finds red flags at Colorado State Judiciary Administration
• KBUT: Avalanche forecasters concerned about stability of this season's snowpack
• Avalanche education courses see record enrollment numbers
• Jodi Peterson gets oil & gas industry reaction to new COGCC rules

• Delta County Commissioners approve $36M budget for 2021
• Public comments on Delta County Land Use plan due before Monday's meeting
• Montrose Hospital changes management companies
• Colorado unveils plan for distributing COVID vaccines
• Advocates fielding growing number of calls from potential DACA applicants
• Jodi Peterson hears from Center for Mental Health on when alcohol & substance use becomes abuse

• Current COVID statistics across our listening area include 89 deaths
• Governor Polis signed 8 special session bills on Monday
• Who is dying in jails around our region and why?
• Chad Reich reports on roadless rule battle at West Elk Mine in Gunnison National Forest

• Delta County reported 53 new COVID cases Friday
• Montrose Schools announce another 177 students, 7 staff in quarantine due to 6 new positives
• Grand Junction finally solve cold case from 1975
• Bilingual contact tracers in particularly short supply
• Tribal councils in our region have made progress on gender parity, but women still underrepresented

• Mesa County program allowing some businesses to avoid COVID restrictions may become model
• Attorney General Phil Weiser releases report naming 9 more sexually abusive Catholic priests
• Dr Anthony Fauci joins Governor Jared Polis for virtual COVID update
• Kori Stanton speaks with Paonia Clayworks co-founder Karen Good about how they're facing pandemic
• Jodi Peterson speaks with Delta County Health Department Medical Director Dr Susan Bright about rising case numbers

• Delta County moves to High Risk level orange on COVID dial
• Governor Jared Polis tests positive for COVID, asymptomatic, working remotely
• New state task force hopes to help schools return to in-person learning safely
• Lawmakers return to Capitol for special session on coronavirus relief spending
• Update on historical monuments removed this year
• Senator Michael Bennet hears input on Future of Local News Commission Act from news leaders

• Delta County moves to Yellow on COVID dial, Montrose County moves to Orange
• Republican Chris Holbert: death of ex-legislator 'a wake-up call'
• State epidemiologist Rachel Herlihy warns: Avoid Thanksgiving travel 
• Center for Mental Health launches mobile crisis program
• Hotchkiss Chamber names annual award winners
• Unemployment numbers down, federal funds ending
• Jessica Beller, director of curriculum & instruction for MCSD, talks about supporting remote learners, explains new grant