Here's our community newscast for the week of February 25, 2021.

Here's our community newscast for the week of February 18, 2021.

Here's our community newscast for the week of February 4, 2021.

Music in this episode: | ‘Coexistenz’ by Lyalty Freak Music | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Loyalty_Freak_Music/TO_CHILL_AND_STAY_AWAKE/Loyalty_Freak_Music_-_TO_CHILL_AND_STAY_AWAKE_-_01_Coexistenz

The full transcript of this episode is at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Lo7lnTJWY2niKQk1slV-pgmAue6AxFyfJO-49jrLTwg/edit?usp=sharing

Here's our community newscast for the week of January 28, 2021.

Music in this episode: | ‘You're Magic’ by Soft and Furious| https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Soft_and_Furious/Bae/Soft_and_Furious_-_Bae_-_01_Youre_Magic

It was business as usual for county commissioners this week, well, except for one thing. During their regular meeting the board voted unanimously to end Dave Morlan’s 17-year career as the director of the county’s road and bridge department.

During the meeting’s public comment period, Morlan shared statement in response to the commissioner’s decision.

In other county news, the board discussed a private fiber installation project on county road 8, received an update from Colorado Community Counts, approved contracts for oil abd gas property evaluation services and more. Details in the county beat on page 7A

The 11-member Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission hosted two days of virtual meetings Jan. 13 and 14, with approximately eight of 18 total hours allocated to discussing an adaptive management plan for wolf reintroduction.

The timeline for wolf reintroduction sets a target date of Dec. 31, 2023, to begin to “get wolves on the ground” in Colorado.

As of Monday, there were 42 active cases in Meeker and 34 in Rangely. Six residents were hospitalized in the last 14 days. Again you can find more details on the front page, and a link to the latest covid stats from the county on our website.

The HT’s collaboration with Colorado News Collaborative to shed light on mental health in the state continues this week with the story of Lauren Carpenter and Melissa Humphrey. More about How Friendship can be a safety net on page 2A.

During their regular meeting Tuesday Trustees heard from Kelli Neiberger, who reported that natural gas usage in 2020 had increased from 2019 and when compared to the 10-year average. Town manager Lisa Piering also informed trustees about a sewer line collapse at White River Village in one of the apartments, and provided a rundown of 2020 financials. More on page 6A

Also on 6A, read about CNCC being awarded the RISE Education Grant from the state of Colorado. The RISE fund was created to support innovation in high-needs school districts, charter schools, and public institutions of higher education to address the learning challenges related to the economic, social, and health impacts of COVID-19.

In this week’s opinion section, PIoneer’s Medical Center providers talk about the research and risks of returning to sports after a covid-19 infection. Editor Niki Turner talks “bad apples, and what to do about them” and shares the annual reminder of Colorado’s Sunshine Laws.

The Laws were established in 1972 as the Colorado Open Meetings Law, to ensure that public business–meetings of boards that represent taxpayers, government communications, access to public records, etc. — stay public.

Self described conservative republican Ron Keine writes about his personal mission to limit government power, by encouraging readers to re-think the death penalty after a wrongful conviction and abuse of power nearly led to his execution in 1974.

All that and more in the opinion pages -- 4A and 5A. And there you can also find information on upcoming vaccine clinics in Rio Blanco County.

Sports are back this weekend with the start of basketball and wrestling seasons. You can find team lineups and schedules in the sports section starting on 2B

Positions are open on 13 different county boards this year, including the building board of appeals, the citizens review panel, the Meeker and Rangely cemetery districts, the Meeker civic improvement board and others. Information about all the open positions, board meeting schedules, and how to apply can be found on page 3B

Rio Blanco County Commissioners on Tuesday January 26, 2021 chose not to re-appoint Dave Morlan as the Director of the Road & Bridge Department. This is his full statement to the board following their decision.

Statement transcript:

“I just need to make a couple points here about your decision not to re-appoint me. Rio Blanco County is my home, as we all know it is a special place. I've worked for Rio Blanco County for 35 years and I've proudly served as RBC's Road and Bridge Director for the past 17 years, and I do appreciate everyone I've been blessed to serve.

I believe my success has been because I’ve always listened to all sides of these issues, I’ve always had great open communication with the boards I’ve served, and I’ve made all of my decisions with the majority of Rio Blanco County Constituents in mind.

My team and I at Road and Bridge have accomplished some amazing things. Roads are safer and in better condition than most counties in Colorado.

We've all seen Rector and Moyer make decisions that have not been in the best interest of our county. Several decisions have been self-serving and destructive to some really good people.

Throughout the last six months, Rector and Moyer have treated me with total disrespect, and I've been shunned because of an employee matter that should have easily been handled by myself and HR.

In recent meetings, they’ve assured me that I would be allowed to serve my last year until I retired in December, and obviously that's another lie.

All I can say right now is I’m going to do my best to make things right. Our county is too special a place to be ruined by bad decisions.”

Here’s our community newscast for the week of January 21, 2021

The full transcript of this episode is at https://tinyurl.com/rbcnews39

Music in this episode: | ‘Rio’ by 1000 Names | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/1000_Names_1770/Bonus_Beat_Blast_2011/02_1000_names-rio | License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Here’s our community newscast for the week of January 14, 2021

Music in this episode: | Telluric Undercurrent by Revolution Void | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Revolution_Void/The_Politics_of_Desire/revolution_void_-_05_-_telluric_undercurrent | License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

A snow person in a cowboy hat became a bit of a sensation last week, with some Meeker residents stopping to snap selfies with the frigid fellow. Photo on the front page, along with some big news about water storage in Rio Blanco county.

Aspen Journalism’s Heather Sacket reports that Rio Blanco Water Conservancy District now has a 66,720 acre-foot conditional water right to build a dam and reservoir between Rangely and Meeker. known as the White River storage project, or the Wolf Creek project, the reservoir would sit off-channel form the White River, contained by a 110 foot tall, 3,800 foot long dam. Read all about it on the front page.

Newly-elected county commissioner Ty Gates and re-elected incumbent Jeff Rector took their oaths of office Tuesday led by Clerk and Recorder Boots Campbell. Gates replaces retiring commissioner Si Woodruff. Commissioner Gary Moyer, who was elected in 2018, will chair the board this year. Find photos of the swearing in the the front page, and our report on the first regular meeting of 2021 on PAGE 2A.

The HT hosted a COVID-19 vaccine Q&A session with Rio Blanco County Public Health on Friday. You can watch the whole thing on our facebook page, or find a link on our website.

Editor NIki Turner reminds readers not to confuse ‘free speech’ with ‘free press,’ in her weekly column, and in letters to the editor, the McCord Family says “Don't change livestock town code.” Gus R. Halandras talks “Forced wolf reintroduction,” and resident Jim Magid and Dr. Albert Krueger praise the “impressive” COVID vaccine rollout in Rio Blanco County. Read more on page 4A.

Pages 5A and 6A have even more guest columns, including CNCC President Ron Granger’s thoughts on the upcoming Spring Semester, a statement by Colorado Press association on the January 6th capitol riots in Washington DC, and the latest “Writer’s on the Range” column by Dave Marston, who dives into the Walton Family Foundation’s influence on the Colorado River.

The state of Colorado released it’s “Just transition action plan” last week. The 20-page memo is intended to provide a summarized plan of action for replacing the jobs and revenue now subsidized by fossil fuels with sustainable alternatives. Read more on page 7A

Meeker School District's band programs have a new director. Randy Adams hails from Indiana and loves being able to conduct all ensembles. He has plans to add a few new things to Meeker's program, including a drumline and jazz band. The HT’s Sophia Geodert has more on page 8A, where you can also read Days Gone By. 50 Year’s ago the Rangely Times wrote “Beware of the half truth; you may have gotten hold of the wrong half.”

With open gyms and tournaments in other states, RBC club wrestlers participated in the Tournament of Champions (TOC) in Vernal, Utah, last Saturday. Results in the sports section on page 1B along with a photo of ERBM’s annual “Derby Day”

Here’s a quote from Jonathan Swift. A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes."A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”

That’s all for this week’s news highlights.

All that and more in this week’s edition, in print and online at ht1885.com

Thank you for supporting community journalism..

Thanks for listening to another edition of Rio Blanco County news. Here’s our community newscast for the week of January 7th, 2021

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Music | https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Gangi/Bonus_Beat_Blast_2011/22_gangi-proton_beat

Copyright: CC-BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Composer: Gangi

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Happy new year to all our readers. The first edition of The Herald Times in 2021 begins with an update on COVID-19 vaccine rollouts. Walk-in clinics started Wednesday in Rio Blanco county for eligible residents of Tier 1B, which includes people over 70 years of age, moderate risk health care workers, first responders, frontline essential workers and essential officials in state government. More about vaccine rollout is on page 1A.

The HTs collaboration with Colorado News Collaborative continues this week with another story bringing awareness to topics like depression and anxiety, stigma and a dearth of mental health resources in Rural Colorado and the US as a whole. In the wake of furloughs, closings and suicides a mountain town businessman searches for balance. Read the full story on page 2A.

20 year barber Jason Boudreaux grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana, before coming to Colorado to work in the oilfield. After being laid off in early 2020, he took the opportunity to pursue his passion for barbering again. More on Boudreaux’ story, work philosophy and more is on the front page.

This week’s editor’s column proposes the idea “Maybe Politics shouldn’t be a profit game. Dolly Viscardi’s “Loose Ends” column talks about news years resolutions, and in a letter to the editor, Dr. Bob Dorsett responds to last week’s column about covid-19 death statistics. All that and more in the opinion section on page 4A

Two Meeker High School students have started a fundraiser to give back to healthcare workers. EMTs, school staff and administrators, and law enforcement. The HTs Sophia Geodert shares more details on page 6A. There you can also find information about upcoming drivers license clinics in Meeker, and AGNC’s open records request to find out whether Colorado Parks and Wildlife are planning to “fast Track” the reintroduction of wolves into the state.

The sports and rec section on page 1B is a story from Adventure Colorado Magazine about the history, joys and economics of snowshoeing.

January is National Radon action month. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reminds you to get your home tested for Radon, a radioactive gas. More information is at colorado-radon.info

50 years ago, the Rangelty Times reported on the official groundbreaking for the Rangely Library, they also wrote “Rio Blanco County is a proposed site for a nuclear gas stimulation. A public meeting will be held by the City Council to discuss the stimulation.”

25 Years ago, the Meeker Herald wrote “It has been said, in jest, that doctors bury theirs. Lawyers lock theirs up in remote prisons. And accountants juggle and restate theirs. But journalists print theirs where they become enshrined forever as part of history. We’re talking about mistakes, and we’ve made some doozies during the past year. And you can bet we’ll make some humdingers this year, and next year, and… Well, you get the idea.”

And here’s a quote from George Washington’s Farewell Address on September 17, 1796

“However, [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust domination.”

All that and more in this week’s edition, in print and online at ht1885.com

Thank you for supporting community journalism..

Thanks for listening to another edition of Rio Blanco County news. Here’s our community newscast for the week of December 31st

Music | http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ryan_Andersen/Pop_Music/Synthwave

Copyright: Attribution-NonCommercial: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Composer: Ryan Andersen

Happy New Year, and goodbye to 2020. To wrap up a year like no other, we asked readers to tell us what kept them going. Thanks to all who submitted! You can read those responses on the front page.

HT Editor Niki Turner says Good Riddance, 2020 in her column on page 4A.

Rangely District Hospital CEO Kyle Wren and an Eagle Crest Assisted Living resident were the first two recipients of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in Rio Blanco County, along with other providers. Vaccinations also happened at Pioneers Medical Center on Wednesday. Photos, including a caption with more on how the new mRNA vaccines work is on the front page. You can also find a vaccination tier schedule printed on PAGE 4A.

The CoLab On Edge mental health series continues this week on page 2A with the story of Jimmy Brown from Kiowa County. Brown shares his experience in an area plagued by exceptional drought, where data show residents’ discomfort talking about personal problems is 11% higher than the statewide average. That story on page 2A. Watch for more coverage, and features from Rio Blanco County residents, in the coming weeks.

Aspen Journalism’s Heather Sackett dives deep into the upcoming water court trial for Wolf Creek Reservoir. As its trial date in water court approaches, hundreds of pages of depositions obtained by Aspen Journalism reveal state engineers’ sticking points regarding a proposed reservoir project they oppose in northwest Colorado.

The trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 4 in Routt County District Court in Steamboat Springs. Among the witnesses that Rio Blanco plans to call are Colorado River Water Conservation District Manager Andy Mueller, Colorado Water Conservation Board Chief Operating Officer Anna Mauss and Rio Blanco County Commissioner Gary Moyer. Read the full story on page 6A

According to BLM press release in October, the White River Field Office plans to remove approximately 75 excess wild horses impacting private property within the Piceance-East Douglas HMA following requests from a private landowner. That process is expected to begin next week. Details are on page 7A

Easter Rio Blanco Metropolitan Recreation and Park District celebrates its 40th year of service in 2021, which will include the reopening for Circle Park and a new fishing pond edition.

You can Kick off the new year than with a trip to the yurt on the Marvine Trail. According to the White River Nordic Council, the roads are plowed and the trail is groomed, be careful around the cattle guards, and be COVID smart while at the yurt. Photo of the snowy spot is on page 1B, along with ice fishing guidelines for Colorado Anglers.

Colorado public health officials Tuesday confirmed the presence of the new variant of COVID-19 first discovered in the United Kingdom, saying the state is the first to identify the strain in the United States. The variant is believed to be as much as 70% more contagious, but not have more severe symptoms, than previous strains of the novel coronavirus. More about the variant is on page 3B.

100 years ago the Meeker Herald published “The Herald has given over considerable space in this issue to what we believe to be the coming industry in Rio Blanco County — oil shale production.”

And, here’s a quote from James Madison:

"The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty."

All that and more in this week’s edition, in print and online at ht1885.com

Thank you for supporting community journalism..

Warmest holiday wishes to you and yours from the Herald Times. This week’s front page features letters to Santa from RBC elementary students, brimming with the magic of the season. On page 5B you can color your own Christmas village, check page 3A for a photo of a couple kiddos seeing Santa Claus in real life, and finally look on pages 6A and 7A for the 2020 Shop at Home for Holidays featured business, and winners of the week 4 drawing, the Christmas Cheer Contest, and the Light Up Rangely contest.

The CoLab On Edge mental health series continues this week on page 2A, with the story of Robert Werthwein who suffered from severe depression for more than a decade, following the death of his identical twin brother, just a week before their shared 15th birthdays. Watch for more coverage, and features from Rio Blanco County residents, in the coming weeks.

Whatever you’re going through, crisis counselors and professionally trained peer specialists are always available to help. Call the Colorado Crisis Services hotline at 1-844-493-TALK (8255). There is no wrong reason to reach out.

Following Governor Jared Polis initiation of the state’s drought response and mitigation plan, the HT interviewed Rio Blanco Water Conservancy District Manager Alden Vanden Brink about the lack of storage in the White River basin, and an upcoming lawsuit in state water court where Rio Blanco hopes to secure a water right for the proposed Wolf Creek Reservoir. Here’s a clip from that interview.

CLIP

More with Alden Van Brink is on page 2A

This week’s editor’s column dives into subjects like representatives who will do anything to cement their power, regardless of the cost and light at the end of the 2020 tunnel. Other pieces in the opinion section starting on page 4A are Kay Sulllivan’s guest column, thanking the HT and detailing some of the challenges of running a newspaper, and doing journalism in general. Also, look out for Rangely resident Wendi GIllard’s letter, sharing her experience with the COVID-19 virus.

In county news, 200 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine arrived at RBC public health department this week. Commissioners also met with public health director Alice Harvey Tuesday. Harvey informed the board that as of right now, case incidence rate numbers look good and that the county could move into a less restrictive COVID dial phase in the first week of January, so long as Christmas gatherings don’t cause another spike.

Season B sports start practice on January 18 after a variance approval from the state health department. More on that is in the sports section on page 1B. Check there for a photo of the CNCC ice tower which is growing every day, and the new Cowboy logo on Meeker High School, complete with glowing backlights.

An intense “snow squall” triggered an emergency alert Tuesday night as winds started to pick up. You can see a video on our Facebook page. Speaking of snow, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, avalanche danger is considerable in the Flat Tops and the rest of the state. More on snow conditions is on page 3B.

All that and more in this week’s edition, in print and online at ht1885.com

Thank you for supporting community journalism.