LOCAL NEWS: The Montrose High School Advanced Jazz Ensemble has been selected to perform at the 2026 Colorado Music Educators Association (CMEA) State Conference, according to a press release from Montrose County School District. Each year, only two high school jazz ensembles statewide are selected through a competitive audition process to perform at the conference, and ensembles may apply only once every three years. The Advanced Jazz Ensemble last appeared at the conference in 2023, making this selection a significant achievement. The ensemble will perform at 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, at the International Center at The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. Students have been preparing their conference program since August, dedicating months to refining their performance.

A break-in at the Bruins Baseball equipment shed in Cedaredge resulted in a large chunk of the youth baseball program's equipment being stolen. Everything from helmets and gloves, the tees and bases were stolen. Over Christmas break, The Bruins Little League equipment shed was broken into, and unfortunately, a significant amount of equipment was stolen. This happened while we were already trying to raise funds to replace our field maintenance 4wheeler, which was stolen during the 2024 season. The group started a GoFundMe asking the community to help recoup what was stolen.

Montrose Regional Crime Stoppers is seeking information concerning a theft from Sidelines Sports Bar, 35 N. Uncompahgre Ave., on Jan. 13. At about 11:30 p.m., an unidentified man accessed the coin mechanism of a pool table in the bar, damaging the table, and stealing the coins before leaving with a group of other men. Anyone with information about this crime or the identity of the perpetrator(s) or any other crimes may call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 970-249-8500. Citizens can also provide information directly to the Montrose Police Department.

The trials for two men accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl in Ouray County in 2023 have been postponed. Gabriel Trujillo and Ashton Whittington were set to go to trial starting Feb. 9, but Seventh Judicial Chief District Judge Cory Jackson agreed to delay those trials at the request of prosecutors and attorneys for both men. Trujillo is now scheduled for trial this summer. The judge didn’t immediately set a new trial date for Whittington during the hearing. The two men, along with the stepson of former Ouray Police Chief Jeff Wood were charged with felony sexual assault in connection with the alleged incident in May 2023 at Wood’s home. Several reasons for delaying the trials for Trujillo and Whittington, including difficulty in securing a witness who would be traveling from Germany and limited availability for one of the Deputy District Attorneys in the case. The complete story is available at ouraynews.com

ENVIROMENTAL NEWS: The push by the Trump administration to keep Colorado’s coal plants running is projected to be a costly proposition for ratepayers. Eric Galatas has more.

FEATURE STORY: Over 700,000 animals are used in laboratory research every year in the United States. There's an on-going debate over the ethics and necessity of using live animals in experiments and product testing. But some of those animals do have a better life after they leave the lab. For Rocky Mountain Community Radio, K-G-N-U's Sam Fuqua reports from Wyoming

LOCAL NEWS: Current Delta County School Superintendent Caryn Gibson announced over the weekend that she will run for the open District 2 Montrose County Commissioner seat in November. Gibson is a life-long resident of Montrose County, graduating from Olathe High School in 1982. She spent 40 years in education and has served as Delta County School Superintendent for the past 15 years. Gibson is one of the longest-serving female superintendents in Colorado to lead the same district. She plans to retire from the school district in June. If elected in November, she would replace term limited Commissioner Sue Hansen.

A new town trash can rollout plan for Paonia is expected to begin in March. According to reporting in the Delta County Independent, the Paonia Board of Trustees approved a bid for them at a special meeting last month. Rehrig was approved as the sole source. Paonia Town Administrator Stefen Wynn said the company has been vetted by many municipalities in Colorado. The new trash receptacles will have a town logo plate and serial numbers with address indicators. Wynn expects the new bins to arrive in March.

The winter/spring session of the New Horizons Band of Montrose begins today and will run through April 8. The Montrose Recreation District 50+ Activities is once again offering this 12 week band instrument class. The concert band is for adults once active in a school music program, as well as an entry point for adults with no prior music experience. Organized in February 2022, the New Horizons Band of Montrose has approximately 25 band members playing a variety of instruments.

FEATURE STORY: Truth Be Told is a new documentary that explores the vital role of local journalism in sustaining informed communities and a healthy democracy.The 45-minute film features five Colorado media outlets, including K-S-U-T Public Radio.For Rocky Mountain Community Radio, K-S-U-T's Tami Graham spoke to film maker Brian Malone, the film maker behind the project.

Colorado will soon launch a new online portal allowing the public to report alleged misconduct by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The state Attorney General’s Office says the tool will be used to document ICE activity and review any concerns raised by residents. Attorney General Phil Weiser pointed to recent events in Minnesota as part of the motivation behind the effort, saying the goal is to keep Coloradans safe.

Meanwhile, Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff and commissioners are reporting threats connected to recent wildlife management decisions. The threats followed the agency’s decision to euthanize two mountain lions after a hiker was found dead in Larimer County on New Year’s Day. Officials say the hostile messages also stem from broader debates over mountain lion hunting rules and upcoming discussions on trapping regulations. CPW law enforcement is actively investigating the threats.

Tribal leaders from the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribes addressed a joint session of the Colorado Legislature during the fourth annual State of the Tribes address. Southern Ute Chairman Melvin J. Baker and Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council member Marilyn House urged lawmakers to consult tribes more consistently, citing issues including public safety, environmental contamination, housing, health care, water rights, and sports betting. Tribal leaders emphasized the long history of their presence across Colorado, including much of the Western Slope.

Colorado Congressman Jason Crow is also pushing back against a U.S. Department of Justice investigation tied to a social media video posted last fall. In the video, Crow and other Democratic lawmakers encouraged service members to refuse illegal orders. Crow and others say the investigation is politically motivated.

EV Policy in the Mountain West
The newscast also included reporting on the growing role states are playing in electric vehicle infrastructure as federal incentives wind down.

a feature on the sale of St. Benedict’s Monastery near Aspen. The historic property was purchased by Palantir CEO Alex Karp, raising questions — and mixed reactions — about the future of the land and its role in the Roaring Fork Valley.

LOCAL NEWS: Numerous federal, state and local entities are closed today as the nation celebrates Martin Luther King Junior Day. The federal holiday in the United States is observed on the third Monday of January each year. King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which protested racial discrimination in federal and state law and civil society.

Last month, the Board of Delta County Commissioners unanimously voted to discontinue the State of Colorado’s pretrial service program in favor of a locally based one. According to reporting in the Delta County Independent, the decision is based on a combination of disappearing state funds and a straying of the state’s standards regarding crime.

The community-based program will aim to reduce barriers to pretrial release for suspects in criminal cases and to alleviate pressure on the court system and to steer defendants toward the right path without overburdening the courts. As of Dec. 31, Delta County had 101 active pretrial cases.

STATE NEWS: Colorado’s senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper attempted to secure funding for the National Center for Atmospheric Research, or N-Car last week. The Trump administration said last month that it would dismantle the research facility in Boulder, calling it a “source of climate alarmism.”Senate Republicans blocked the amendment from the Colorado senators, and the appropriations package passed without N-Car funding.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Bennet praised the work N-Car scientists have done for weather forecasting, disaster preparedness, water planning, wildfire prevention, aviation safety, and military operations. He said in the face of a changing climate, that research only becomes more important.

Bennet also decried the president’s decision to veto funds for the Arkansas Valley Conduit, a water project in southeastern Colorado intended to bring water from Pueblo Reservoir to the town of Las Animas. He said President Trump was deliberately singling out Colorado in political retaliation.

ICE NEWS: A new report shows that ICE is violating its own deportation family separation policy. Eric Galatas has more.

MAYOR OF MOUNTAIN VILLAGE STEPS DOWN: he mayor of Mountain Village near Telluride has resigned amid questions about an attempted purchase of the Telluride ski area. For Rocky Mountain Community Radio, K-O-T-O's Julia Caulfield has more.

LOCAL NEWS: The former operators of Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose who were convicted in a body part fraud scheme have asked to be resentenced for a second time. According to reporting in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, Megan Hess’s attorneys have asked that consideration for her rehabilitation efforts while in prison along with the removal of the enhancement for a large number of victims be considered in a new sentence. While her mother Shirley Koch’s attorneys are asking for a reduced sentence due to her lesser role in the crime and her age. More on this story can be found at gjsentinel.com.

Delta High School was evacuated earlier this week as the result of an anonymous bomb threat. Law enforcement attended the scene and conducted a preliminary investigation. Interim Delta Police Chief Jesse Cox, Delta PD is working with the Grand Junction Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to locate the source of the call. Law enforcement has learned that at least two other high schools in Colorado received the same threat. According to School District Assistant Superintendent Kurt Clay, Safe2Tell reported that 11 schools across the state received similar threats.

Colorado’s 2026 legislative session started this week on Wednesday. After gaveling in, legislative leaders gave opening-day speeches. Both Democrats and Republicans say they plan to prioritize making life more affordable for Coloradans and balancing the state’s massive budget deficit. In her speech, House Speaker Julie McCluskie also condemned rising political violence in the US and called on lawmakers to maintain civility and respect. The legislative session runs for 120 days.

REGIONAL NEWS: In health news: Mountain West states will receive over $1 billion dollars to improve rural health care in the coming months. As Jenny Kinsey reports, the funds were passed by Congress last year.

ENVIROMENTAL NEWS: Local environmental groups are still trying to secure new protections for landscapes across the region despite the Trump administration’s push to roll back protections for federal public lands. For Rocky Mountain Community Radio Caroline Llanes has more.

RIGHT TO REPAIR LAW: Colorado's expanded Right to Repair law went into effect on January 1st.The law covers things like electronics and appliances, and it requires the device manufacturers to share tools, software and parts to allow consumers to fix broken devices. Dr. Libi Rose Strigel ,the managing director of the Media Archaeology Lab at the University of Colorado talks with K-G-N-U’s Jack Armstrong to find out what that means for consumers.

LOCAL NEWS: Scott Riba, a former Montrose County Republican Party chairman, rancher and businessman, filed paperwork to run for the District 3 Montrose County Commission seat in November.According to reporting in the Montrose Daily Press, He filed a candidate affidavit with the Colorado Secretary of State on Jan. 9, opening his second bid since 2024 to hold the seat. His decision came following the announcement from Commissioner Sean Pond that he intends to run for the U.S. Senate.

The Delta County School Board approved posting a salary range for the superintendent position as Superintendent Caryn Gibson plans to retire this summer. The competitive salary ranging between $185 to $220,000 is intended to prevent the district from serving as a “stepping stone” for potential candidates and to attract quality candidates. The board’s approval was unanimous. The search is taking place through a third-party firm.

STATE NEWS: Colorado's $850 million budget woes threaten homeless programs, Eric Galatas has more on how leaders are dealing with the crisis.

FEATURE STORY: Making a living as a visual artist today is very difficult. KVNF's Brody Wilson spoke with one artist in Ridgway that is charting a course.

COLORADO RIVER NEWS: The federal agency overseeing the water supply for tens of millions of people in the West published a playbook last week for how it might manage the drought-stricken Colorado River in the future. KUNC’s Scott Franz has more.

Last week, the federal Department of the Interior released a draft environmental impact statement for the Colorado River Basin, and its two largest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead. The river’s current operating guidelines expire this year, and the document lays out potential scenarios for allocating water into the future. It comes in the middle of contentious negotiations between the states that use the basin over who will bear the burden of cuts to water usage as drought continues. To find out what this means, Rocky Mountain Community Radio’s Caroline Llanes spoke with Chris Winter, the director of the Getches Wilkinson Center at C-U Boulder’s school of law.

LOCAL NEWS: A mistrial has been declared in the case of Patrick Egan, the man accused of attacking a TV reporter in December 2024, after the judge ruled Egan was not competent to continue with the trial. According to reporting in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, the judge in the case declared that Egan was not competent to continue following an outburst in the courtroom. He will now be ordered he be placed in custody with no bond until a competency evaluation can be made. After that evaluation, bond can be readdressed, she said. The next court date in the Egan case is set for 8:45 a.m. on Feb. 3. The 40 year old man was charged with second-degree assault, bias-motivated crimes and harassment in 2024 after he allegedly followed and assaulted a former KKCO reporter from the Delta area to Grand Junction.

Delta County Board of County Commissioners appointed Commissioner Mike Lane as Chairman of the Board during their last meeting. Lane who currently represents District 1 in the County is term-limited and will step down next January. Commissioner Craig Fuller, District 2 Commissioner will serve as vice-chair. Commissioner Wendell Koontz stepped down from the chair position. Koontz’s term will end in 2029. Also during the meeting, Commissioners approved a hotel and restaurant liquor license with optional premises and takeout and delivery permits for an upcoming wedding venue at Mountain Top Resort on Grand Mesa contingent upon completion of the required site visit by the Delta County Planning Department. More commissioner news is available at deltacountyindepedent.com

The former home of RockyMounts at Las Colonias Park in Grand Junction has been listed for sale for $3.4 million, reports the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. Bicycle rack manufacturer was the first business to break ground on a building in the Las Colonias Business Park in 2020. It announced in December 2024 that the business was sold to Rhino-Rack, an Australia-based subsidiary of Clarus Corporation. At the same time, the company moved its operations from Grand Junction to Aurora.

FEATURE STORY: The Aspen School District is exploring a fairly novel concept: partnering with the city on an underground energy network. The district started testing the feasibility of installing a geothermal system on campus in November. That’s well established technology, but as Aspen Public Radio’s Michael Fanelli reports for Rocky Mountain Community Radio, connecting that system to other buildings with different owners is a new idea in the U.S. that brings added complications.

LOCAL NEWS: Telluride Ski Patrollers strike has wrapped up after nearly two weeks of negotiations over higher wages. According to reporting in several news outlets, the Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association accepted a new contract offer from Telluride Ski & Golf. The strike and closure of the ski resort was causing economic worries in the town and was dividing its residents. Graham Hoffman, president of the ski patrollers’ union, confirmed that the 70-member organization had accepted the offer, hammered out earlier this week. To everyone’s delight Telluride received its first significant snowfall after weeks of drought. The resort issued a statement noting that the mountain will complete its gradual reopening by this weekend.

Many Delta County property owners can expect to see an increase in their 2025 property taxes due to a combination of expiring state tax relief and rising property values reflected in the county-wide reappraisal. In tax years 2023 and 2024, two Senate bills provided temporary property tax relief by reducing the assessors’ actual value of each residential property by $55,000 and reducing the actual value of each commercial improved property by $30,000. Those reductions resulted in average annual tax savings of approximately $240 for residential properties and $544 for commercial properties. Those temporary reductions expired at the end of this year.

In a press release, Delta City Manager Elyse Casselberry reported that the city is closing out the previous year with sales tax revenues up approximately 6% over 2024. Despite the financial gains, she noted that the city is grappling with internal "burnout" and staffing reductions. The city also consolidated its unhoused strategy under a single team to improve coordination between street outreach and the Riverbend Resource Center. The resource center reported 165 contacts in December alone, providing 63 showers and 47 laundry services to those in need.

STATE NEWS: It’s been a very warm winter and snowpack is below average across most of the Upper Colorado River Basin. Rocky Mountain Community Radio’s Caroline Llanes has more on how that’s impacting ongoing drought conditions. Colorado food pantries face rising demands due to federal disruptions, Eric Galatas has more.

FEATURE STORY: 2025 was a tough year for craft brewers in Colorado, with 30 breweries closing around the state. For Rocky Mountain Community Radio, K-G-N-U's Lyra Elliott Stone brings us the story of one craft brewery in Denver that served their last pints just before the new year.

LOCAL NEWS: The city of Ouray has contracted with the Ouray County Sheriff’s Office to fill gaps in police officer patrol shifts, after the town’s Administrator decided not to hire Interim Police Chief Daric Harvey for the permanent job.

According to reporting in the Ouray County Plaindealer, City councilors unanimously approved a new intergovernmental agreement, already signed by the mayor and city administration earlier this week. The agreement allows a sheriff’s deputy to work 12-hour shifts per day in the summer and 10-hour shifts per day during the offseason. The agreement takes effect immediately and will expire at the end of this year. It can be renewed for an additional six months. The Ouray Police Department re-enters a period of disruption, with the departure of Chief Daric Harvey and Officer Bryce Phillips.

ENVIROMENTAL NEWS: A new report from the Colorado River Research Group at C-U Boulder highlights the dire conditions in the basin and calls for leadership to rethink how to manage the river going forward, especially with drought conditions and climate change. Rocky Mountain Community Radio’s Caroline Llanes has more on the ‘Dancing with Deadpool’ report.

FEATURE STORY: Scott Fitzwilliams spent over thirty years with the U-S Forest Service, the last sixteen of which were as the Forest Supervisor for the White River National Forest in Western Colorado. He took early retirement last year, shortly after the Trump administration fired thousands of workers at the Forest Service and other land management agencies. Now, he’s warning that the administration’s priorities and actions will hurt rural Western communities, even if they don’t see the impacts just yet. Again for Rocky Mountain Community Radio’s Caroline Llanes has more