By Christopher Kolomitz
Leadville Hospital gets $1M Grant
In Leadville, a $1 million grant has been awarded to St. Vincent Hospital by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs. The money will be used for repairs on the heating and ventilation system, which will cost about $2 million. There are seven patient rooms without heat because of the poor condition of the system, reports the Leadville Herald Democrat. The hospital is going after additional loans for additional facility upgrades.
School IT Director Pleads Guilty of Theft
The former information technology director of the Gunnison school district has pled guilty to two counts of felony theft of more than $400,000 from the district. Cannon Leatherwood faces up to 18 years on prison on the charges. Leatherwood is free on bond and sentencing is set for early June, reports the Gunnison Country Times.
New Clues Sought in Rust Case
A new website dedicated to the disappearance of Saguache resident Mike Rust is up and running. According to the Saguache Crescent, the Rust family is still offering a $25,000 reward for information that solves the case. Rust went missing five years ago and authorities have ruled it suspicious. The website is: www.MissingMikeRust.com.
Found Money in BV Earmarked for Park
The $50,000 found in an undocumented Town of Buena Vista bank account will be used for a park at the Sunset Vista subdivision. Back in November, the fund was uncovered and it was initially reported that the money was earmarked for sidewalks. According to The Chaffee County Times, town officials investigated a little bit more and found documents supporting the creation of a park.
Possible Redesign for Falls Trail
Officials at the Salida Ranger District of the U.S. Forest Service say the trail near Agnes Vaille Falls will no longer be open to the falls and are looking at redesigning the trail as a loop system. The trail was the site of a tragic rockslide in September that killed five people. It remains closed today.
Historic Gunnison Courthouse Demolished
The Gunnison County Courthouse, built in 1881 has been demolished. Plans called for saving a portion of the building to be incorporated into a new courthouse under construction. However, when construction started, a poor foundation, safety and financial complications led to the decision to tear the old building down.
Custer Ambulance Issues
Emergency medical responders in Custer County will be paid as employees by the West Custer County Hospital District as a temporary solution to maintaining services. Additionally, the hospital district is expecting to pay nearly $38,000 in back wages and payroll taxes to EMS workers after state regulators said the hospital can’t treat them as independent contractors. The status of ambulance service in the Wet Mountain Valley is the focus of public conversation as a solution is needed as to who handles calls – either the hospital district, the local fire district or a combination of the two, reports the Wet Mountain Tribune.
Communities Grapple with Cannibas Questions
Gunnison voters get to decide whether they want recreational marijuna shops in the city after leaders recommended putting the question on the November ballot. A previous vote in 2011 banned medical dispensaries. In Florence, city leaders are working to establish rules regarding pot shops through a series of workshops and public hearings. And in Walsenburg, a move to reduce the minimum distance between a dispensary and a home to 200 feet failed on a 6-2 city council vote. Earlier this spring Huerfano County Commissioners extended a moratorium on both medical and recreational growth and sales.
Shorts …
• Winter flights into the Gunnison airport were 72 percent full through March, say officials at the local transportation authority.
• The Fryingpan-Arkansas water project will bring about 73,000 acre feet over from the Western Slope into the Arkansas River Basin this year. The 12-year average is 54,000 acre feet.
• The Florence Pioneer Museum is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
• A new round of searching is underway for a superintendent of schools in Buena Vista after the first selection declined the offer.
• Chaffee County Commissioners will give $15,000 to the USA Pro Challenge, that finishes a stage race at Monarch Mountain in August.
• The 100th anniversary of the Ludlow massacre will be recognized May 17-18 at the Ludlow National Historical Site near Walsenburg. The actual anniversary was April 20.
• May 12 is the deadline for officials at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to make a decision as to whether the Gunnison Sage-Grouse is worthy of “endangered” status under the Endangered Species Act. Meanwhile, Colorado officials are talking lawsuit if the bird is listed.
• In Gardner, leaders of the Raymond Aguirre Community Center are looking to increase use of the building and are planning a big landscaping project.
• La Veta has lost its Country Store. The gasoline and convenience store, as you enter town, closed in early April.
• Salida metalsmith Harold O’Connor is featured in a cover story in the May/June issue of Metalsmith Magazine.
“Notable Quotes”
“It’s important to protect the rivers and streams and make sure that they have good flows. Everyone who comes to Colorado, whether to hunt or fish or recreate, cares about clean, fresh flowing streams.” – Bill Dvorak, a Chaffee County outfitter, in the March 27 edition of The Chaffee County Times.
“I’ve been flattered to be told by many of my past students that I was the best math teacher they ever had, including their college teachers.” – Jean Dawe, who is retiring from the Leadville school district after 31 years of teaching, in the April 17 edition of The Leadville Herald Democrat.
“See if you want to live in a major city in Colorado, where there are head shops popping up on every corner, and people flying into your airport just to get high … to me, it’s not the quality of life we want to have here in the state of New Jersey. And there’s no tax revenue that’s worth that … go to Colorado and see if you want to live there.” – New Jersey Gov. and health advocate, Chris Christie, on an April 21 radio program.
“A lot of people think Colorado is great place to live, work and play. Plus, we have a pretty awesome quality of life.” – Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, in response to Christie’s commentary.
