Montrose Fresh

Good morning and welcome to Montrose Fresh, from The Montrose Daily Press. It’s MondayJanuary 11th and we’re here to bring you a closer look at our top stories, events and more that matter to us here in Western Colorado. 

Today - Montrose County is seeing a take rate of about 50% among people who were eligible to receive the vaccine.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Elevate Internet. Whether it’s for your home or your business they offer the best speeds at the best price. Right now, if you refer a friend you can get $25 off! Give them a call for more information at 844-386-8744 or visit them at elevateinternet.com

Before we begin, Police this week are warning Montrose County residents of a phone scam that has already defrauded at least one local.

According to Montrose Police Chief Blaine Hall, the scammer is calling locals, using Hall’s name, and threatening arrest if the victim doesn’t deposit money into an account.

There have been seven to 10 reports of this scammer in the past week-and-a-half. The victim who was defrauded, had $2,200 stolen.

Hall added that the best thing to do when someone receives such a scam call is to decline giving out any personal information, like name or bank account information, no matter how convincing the scam is. Second, he said, those who receive such calls should call dispatch and ask to make a report with a police officer.

Now, our feature story.

Montrose County Public Health and its medical partners are eager to vaccinate as many residents as possible against COVID-19. But first, they need to navigate a slim supply and a reluctance among about half of those eligible.

Dr. Joe Adragna, pandemic specialist for the county said that they think they can do around 5,000 doses a week.

But. the county has received nowhere near sufficient supply of the Moderna vaccine. The most recent shipment was, at 200 doses, far below what was requested. 

Adragna said that we need vaccines. Right now it’s completely dependent on the state shipping it, which is dependent on the federal government shipping it to the state.

Montrose County is following the state priority guidelines for who gets the vaccine and when. Phase 1A, the inoculation of frontline health care workers, nursing home staff and residents, and staff and residents of similar facilities, began on December 22nd. Members of law enforcement and the fire district have also begun receiving vaccines.

And so far, the county is seeing a take rate of about 50% among people who were eligible to receive the vaccine. According to Adragna, nursing homes saw an acceptance rate of about 55% among staff.

He thinks that this is far too low. 

Adragna stressed that a vaccine does not transmit COVID-19. It contains MRNA, which then sends a message to cells to make proteins that fight diseases. MRNA does not change a person’s cells or alter DNA.

The vaccines recently approved provide a critical tool in fighting COVID-19. Other options are just not ideal.

Adragna has also seen some eligible people hesitate to receive the vaccine because they don’t want to take it from someone else who might need it more.

But despite not everyone eligible for a vaccine opting for one, there is still high demand in the community. More than 3,000 people have pre registered. 

The vaccine is a powerful and welcome weapon, according to Adragna.

In his words, we can finally go on the offensive. We don’t have to hide anymore. We don’t have to wait for a tool we can use to fight back with. We have that now. We need to encourage our friends and neighbors to take this vaccine.

Before we go, we’d like to take a moment to highlight  Al Warnock, a retired South Dakota police chief who moved to Montrose about five years ago. Warnock recently donated several wooden toy cars to the Montrose Police Department to be given to kids who are involved in police encounters as victims or witnesses.

Warnock, who was a police officer for 22 years, said he got the idea from a similar program in South Dakota.

He said that it’s an attention diversion. They’ve got a toy to play with. They can try to escape the bad part of whatever is going on.

Warnock recently delivered 18 handmade wooden cars to the MPD for distribution. He spends about 20 to 30 minutes making each car and is making more that might go to another agency.

According to Police Chief Blaine Hall any time we have donations that we can actually personally give out to our kids, it always helps build rapport.

That’s all for today, thank you for listening! For more information on any of these stories visit us at montrosepress.com.

And don’t forget to check out our sponsor, Elevate Internet. Visit them at elevateinternet.com to learn more.

For more than 137 years, The Montrose Daily Press has been dedicated to shining a light on all the issues that matter to our community. Go to montrosepress.com to subscribe for just $1.99 per week for our digital edition. You’ll get unlimited access to every story, feature, and special section. Thank you and remember to tune in again next time on montrosepress.com or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Support the show: https://www.montrosepress.com/site/forms/subscription_services/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Montrose Fresh, from The Montrose Daily Press. It’s FridayJanuary 8th, and we’re here with local news, events, announcements, jobs, and more that matter to us here in Western Colorado. 

Today - Despite opposition, the Little Blue Canyon Highway 50 project will go on as scheduled.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Elevate Internet. Whether it’s for your home or your business they offer the best speeds at the best price. Right now, if you refer a friend you can get $25 off! Give them a call for more information at 844-386-8744 or visit them at www.elevateinternet.com.

As we enter the new year we also encourage you to visit montrosepress.com to take a look at the Top Moments and Top Stories of 2020 that we’ve compiled. 

Now, our feature story.

Despite a protest this past summer, the Little Blue Canyon Project will go on as scheduled. John Knowles, the Central Federal Lands Highway Division manager for the project said that the project has been awarded to American Civil Constructors of Littleton.

But, district 6 Colorado Senator Don Coram intends to put up a roadblock.

According to Coram, it’s not over. 

Coram said he’s working with the leadership in the Senate to try and develop a worthy solution.

According to Knowles the decisions for how to handle traffic on the road during the construction is primarily the call of ACC. The contractor is a familiar entity in the infrastructure development arena in Colorado. It has actually been the primary contractor for the I-70 construction around Glenwood Springs.

The project is backed by the FHWA and CFLHD, as well as the USDA, the Department of Interior, and Colorado Federal Lands Access Program. CDOT got a $20 million grant through FLAP to initially fund the project and then added another $20 million in state money to get it done.

While Colorado owns the highway, the federal government is doing the project. 

And the decision on the road closure schedules was very much left to the contractor

Knowles said the closures expected over the next two years are the same ones that were announced last summer. 

Back in August this announcement drew strong criticism of Western Slope ag producers as well as stakeholders like Arrowhead Mountain Lodge. 

The lodge expects a major, if not business-killing, impact from the project. Others adversely affected include ranchers, Montrose Forest Products, and the entire tourism industry. And the tourism industry has already been damaged by the pandemic.

The project affects about 3 miles of the vital east west link in western Colorado. Work will straighten the road between mileposts 123 and 126.8. 

To skirt the project, motorists could go through Delta, Hotchkiss, Crawford and over the Blue Mesa dam, which adds about 90 minutes to the trip.

To learn more, or to find the full list of the closures - which without action by the Legislature - would begin in April of this year on our website.

Now, some local history. This week's local history is brought to you by England Fence. England Fence is family owned and operated, and they're ready to help you build your dream fence, archway, gate, or deck. Right now they're offering their best prices of the year, 20% off of all installed jobs through the month of January. Give them a call at 970-249-4430, or head over to their website englandfence.com.

In 1905 Dalton Trumbo was born in Montrose. He also lived in Grand Junction and worked for the Grand Junction Sentinel. He became a screenwriter in Hollywood, but was fired on suspicion of Anti-american sentiments. Even after he was blacklisted he still wrote screenplays - including Roman Holiday. 

And finally, before we go we’d like to take a moment to remember the life of 

Ronald Kenneth Dellen Darling. He was born and raised in Indiana, and then moved to Glendale, California, at the age of 11. He was accepted to Los Angeles Valley College on a football scholarship, and then served in the Army - stationed in Alaska. Together with his first wife, Sharon, he had two children, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

While working as a manager at Sears he met his second wife, Suzanne, with whom he raised Stephanie and Kristian. Together they had three children, four more grandchildren.

Ron had a beautiful friendship, full of adventure and love, with Etta Walker, and played a very important part in the life of her daughter.

He continued to enjoy special times, full of family and fitness, with his third wife, Sara, and had the privilege of being part of the lives of her children.

In his most recent years, he enjoyed many happy times and dances with his dear friend Maryanne Love.

Ronald always had a knack as an entrepreneur, and began his own business flipping houses and developing shopping centers. He also had a deep love of travel, and enjoyed taking in different cultures around the world in a way that made him feel like a local. He traveled by train all over Europe, hiked Machu Picchu, skydived over the plains of the Las Vegas desert, and went paragliding off the coast of California. He was immersed in the culture of Miramar, gazed over Lake Como in Italy, went on safaris in South Africa, and explored the beauty of Iceland. He found joy in riding camels in Egypt, making friends all over Scotland, going on a road trip around Australia, and sampling specialty pastries all along the coast of Italy.

Montrose was Ron’s beloved home for the last 19 years. He lived a full, vibrant life and was proud to have done it his own way. Thank you for taking a moment today to remember and celebrate his life.

That’s all for today, thank you for listening! For more information on any of these stories visit us at montrosepress.com.

And don’t forget to check out our sponsor, Elevate Internet. Visit them at elevateinternet.com to learn more.

For more than 137 years, The Montrose Daily Press has been dedicated to shining a light on all the issues that matter to our community. Go to montrosepress.com to subscribe for just $1.99 per week for our digital edition. You’ll get unlimited access to every story, feature, and special section. Thank you and remember to tune in again next time on montrosepress.com or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Support the show: https://www.montrosepress.com/site/forms/subscription_services/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Good morning and welcome to Montrose Fresh, from The Montrose Daily Press. It’s Wednesday January 6th and we’re here with local news, events, announcements, and more that matter to us here in Western Colorado. 

Today -- we’re taking a look back at 2020 and reflecting on the challenges that our community faced.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Elevate Internet. Whether it’s for your home or your business they offer the best speeds at the best price. Right now, if you refer a friend you can get $25 off! Give them a call for more information at 844-386-8744 or visit them at elevateinternet.com

Before we begin, congratulations to Joanna and Shane Daly - the proud parents of the first baby born at Montrose Memorial Hospital in 2021. Daphne, who weighed 6 pounds and 14 ounces was born on January 1st at 1:33 p.m.

Daphne is the first biological daughter for Joanna and Shane. Through foster care, the couple adopted daughters Selena and Audrey.

The two described the moment when Daphne arrived as “magical” as anticipation grew for the couple, aware the baby could arrive either late in 2020 or in the morning hours of the new year.

Now, our feature story.

2020 was a year of upheaval in Montrose, the state, the nation and the world.

In late 2019, Montrose County was more concerned with the annual flu than with a new strain of the coronavirus that had cropped up elsewhere in the world. That quickly changed.

Montrose Memorial Hospital has been on the front lines of fighting the pandemic.

The hospital had to suspend its elective surgeries for a period of time to keep resources available. This was a heavy hit to the hospital’s already slim bottom line. Montrose Memorial also implemented pay cuts, put visitor restrictions in place, and created a COVID unit. 

Montrose County Public Health and its partners, including the City of Montrose, took the lead in emergency response. They established a call center, a website, and test-coordination efforts.

 The county also added Dr. Joe Adragna as a temporary pandemic specialist.

County commissioners and city leaders established restrictions to slow the spread of Covid-19. Early during the pandemic restrictions, several locals took to the streets to protest what they condemned as violations of their rights.

The state’s mask mandate also remained a point of contention. The mandate fell hard on local businesses. When they enforced it, they risked losing customers. When they did not, they risked the virus spreading.

Montrose Regional Airport’s traffic, which had been growing year after year, plunged. There were more travel restrictions and fewer people making trips. But the airport was able to secure about $2 million in federal funds. It also notched successes like the addition of Southwest and JetBlue airlines.

Law enforcement agencies had to take extra steps to protect officers and staff members. They also reduced the number of non-violent misdemeanor arrests. Instead, they issued more court summonses in order to keep the jail population down.

Courts in Montrose had to close to in-person business. Trials were pushed forward indefinitely at first, then were allowed to resume. And then they were suspended again as another wave hit. Courts even began using technology like Zoom to conduct virtual hearings.

The entertainment landscape — from movies, to theater and fundraisers — dropped from the calendar. Even The Montrose County Fair was radically different this year, with many events — including the rodeo and parade — canceled.

The cancelation of fundraisers in particular hit Montrose nonprofits hard. But many got creative and developed virtual or meal-delivery fundraisers.

Finally, vaccine shipments from Moderna began to arrive at the end of December. Montrose County is now using a phased priority system to distribute it.

Not everything associated with the pandemic was bad news. The Montrose community — individuals and businesses alike — worked hard to help others.

Companies donated PPE or even began manufacturing it, individuals and nonprofits stepped up to provide assistance, and the city and Montrose County School District continued to supply students with school lunches, even when in-person learning was canceled.

Thanks for listening, finally, we’d like to take a moment today to remember the life of Anna Dorene Carkhuff. Dorene met her husband, Delbert, in 1962 when she was a telephone switchboard operator, and he was a telephone lineman. They were soon married. Together they raised their children in Nevada, and retired in Montrose.

Dorene was an avid Bible reader, enjoyed playing the piano and watching old-time cowboy shows. She was well known in the area as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, sharing her faith and love of Jehovah with as many as she could.

Dorene is survived by her four children, Keith, Kathy, Betsy and Paul; her son-in-law, Mark; and her grandson, Caleb. Thank you for taking a moment today to remember and celebrate Dorene’s life.

That’s all for today, thank you for listening! For more information on any of these stories visit us at montrosepress.com.

And don’t forget to check out our sponsor, Elevate Internet. Visit them at elevateinternet.com to learn more.

For more than 137 years, The Montrose Daily Press has been dedicated to shining a light on all the issues that matter to our community. Go to montrosepress.com to subscribe for just $1.99 per week for our digital edition. You’ll get unlimited access to every story, feature, and special section. Thank you and remember to tune in again next time on montrosepress.com or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Support the show: https://www.montrosepress.com/site/forms/subscription_services/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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