KSJD News

While Colorado's Front Range is experiencing abundant rainfall, the state's Western Slope continues to bake and even burn

Rumors of a major restructuring of Southwest Memorial Hospital in Cortez are false. That was the message given to about 20 members of the public who came to Wednesday night's meeting of the Southwest Heath System board.

Crews make progress on several Four Corners wildfires, but hot, dry weather and wind continue to fuel active fire zones in Colorado, Utah, and Arizona.

How should alternative energy be regulated in Montezuma County? About 80 people showed up to a meeting on that topic held by the county Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday night.

After a school-board meeting at which more than a half-dozen anonymous letters were read aloud, Montezuma-Cortez School District Re-1 Superintendent Tom Burris says the board may need to consider adopting a policy about such letters.

About 200 people commemorated the fifth anniversary of the death of famed civil-rights activist John Lewis by joining a “Good Trouble” rally in Cortez Thursday morning. And Monsoon rains are offering some mild hope for progress in fighting wildfires in the Southwest.

Smoke, drought, and wildfire have marked the month of July so far across most of the West.

The month of June was wet, but not wet enough to pull the local area out of drought.

The Montezuma County commissioners on Tuesday defended their support for creating a national conservation area on the Dolores River.

A Dollar General store proposed at Highway 145 and Road N got yet another thumbs-down from Montezuma County on Tuesday.

The impacts of President Trump's “Big Beautiful Bill” to health care will be devastating. That was the message delivered by one Colorado senator, four Colorado congresspeople, the state's governor, and some members of the health-care industry during a Zoom press conference Wednesday.

Fire restrictions are being implemented throughout the local area as residents hope for monsoon rains to arrive soon. On Tuesday, the Montezuma County commissioners reinstated a fire ban across all unincorporated areas of the county, starting Wednesday at 6 a.m.

Cortez officials are not planning a highway bypass around the city. That message was emphasized Wednesday night at an open house about the city's new Transportation Master Plan.

A controversial proposal to place a Dollar General store between Cortez and Dolores got a second chance before the Montezuma County commissioners Tuesday.

Southwest Memorial Hospital in Cortez is one of six hospitals in Colorado that could wind up closing if the federal budget reconciliation bill passes in its current form.

Could the popular Phil's World bicycling trail system east of Cortez be put up for sale in the near future? The answer appears to be yes, if the federal budget reconciliation bill in its current form becomes law.

Approximately 750 people joined in a peaceful rally Saturday on Cortez's Main Street to protest the policies of the Trump administration.

More than 3 million acres of federal public lands in the West could be put up for sale under the latest budget reconciliation proposal put forth by the U.S. Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The Montezuma County commissioners have scheduled a second public hearing June 24 on a proposal to place a Dollar General store at Highway 145 and County Road N.

Cortez has hit the jackpot for two months in a row in terms of much-needed precipitation.

As it has in previous years, the Cortez City Council last week passed a proclamation declaring June as Pride Month for LGBTQS+ people. This time, however, the proclamation drew objections from two council members.

The Cortez City Council approved a resolution Tuesday night that commits to the goal of ending traffic fatalities and serious injuries on the city's streets.

Cortez police continue to investigate a fatal hit-and-run that reportedly took place late the night of May 18 in downtown Cortez.

Supporters of public lands are breathing a sigh of relief after a proposal to sell off some lands in Nevada and Utah was removed from the federal budget reconciliation bill.In other news, Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper have reintroduced legislation to protect more than 68,000 acres along the lower Dolores River.

Nine people, including seven students, voiced concerns about teacher turnover and curriculum issues at Tuesday's meeting of the Montezuma-Cortez School Board.

A proposal to restructure two elementary schools in Cortez drew many concerned comments from an audience of about two dozen at a town hall Monday night.

Conservation groups are alarmed about a provision currently in Republicans' tax-cut package that would allow for the sale of hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands in two Western states.

The Cortez Farmers Market has found a new home – the parking lot of the Children's Kiva Montessori School at Mildred Avenue and Empire Street.

Recent stormy weather in the Four Corners has brought welcome relief to a parched landscape. Unfortunately, the precipitation wasn't enough to lift the area out of its lingering drought.

The Cortez Farmers Market will be in a new location when it opens this season.

The beauty of trees is now on the minds of many of Cortez's residents and library patrons, as a beloved willow just outside the library is set to be removed.

The Washington Post is reporting that officials with the Interior Department are considering shrinking at least six national monuments in the West. According to the Post, the monuments that may see their acreage reduced dramatically include Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in southern Utah.

The Montezuma County commissioners are considering implementing a permit system for short-term rentals.

On Tuesday, the Montezuma-Cortez District Re-1 School Board is set to take up the issue of how to handle allegations made against its personnel.

A legal battle between the Montezuma County commissioners and the Georgia-based corporation Leaf Properties is not over.

Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin recognized ten employees of the sheriff's office Monday night at the department's second annual awards ceremony.

Measles is now on Colorado's Western Slope. The state Department of Public Health and Environment says an adult resident of Archuleta County who has not traveled out of the country recently has contracted the disease.

More than 600 people concerned about actions taken by the Trump administration walked along Cortez's Main Street Saturday morning as part of a “Hands Off!” march.

Dry times are here. The local area is in moderate drought and that is expected to continue for at least the next month

The Independent Log Company got the go-ahead Tuesday night for its proposed wood-processing operation near the Carpenter Natural Area in Cortez.

A recurring theme popped up at Tuesday's meeting of the Montezuma County commissioners – money.

The skate park in Cortez's Parque de Vida is physically unsafe. That was the message several people gave the Cortez City Council at its regular meeting Tuesday night.

An owner of the Independent Log Company gave a tour Saturday morning to 15 citizens concerned about the company's proposed project in Cortez.

Local residents turned out Friday morning in different locations around Montezuma County to show support for public lands.

Following a statement of “strong disappointment” from the Navajo Nation Council, the U.S. Department of Defense is reportedly planning to restore information about Navajo Code Talkers it has deleted from some websites.

Some 45 people turned out at Thursday night's meeting of the Montezuma County Planning and Zoning Commission to voice opposition to a proposed “glamping” development near Mancos. At the end of the two-and-a-half-hour hearing on the proposal, the commission voted 3 to 2 to recommend denial.

The Montezuma County commissioners want to hear from the public about the idea of placing a temporary moratorium on major solar-energy developments in the county.

The Four Corners saw a little more moisture than usual falling from the sky last month. But the area remains in moderate drought. There's hopeful news, though. Snow has fallen in the mountains for the past few days, with at least a foot reportedly dropping on Wolf Creek Pass, Red Mountain Pass, and Coal Bank Pass in southwestern Colorado.

Concerns about impacts to ranching and tourism following federal budget cuts voiced by demonstrators at local events at Mesa Verde National Park and the Dolores Public Lands Office.

The Mancos Conservation District is working to deal with the abrupt pullback of a $630,000 grant it had received from the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Montezuma County is already feeling the impacts of sweeping cuts to the budgets of federal agencies