KSJD News

The Montelores Coalition's first Strike Team projects will support cleanup at Hawkins Preserve, Mancos River restoration and derelict fence removal near Rico.

Because of an enforcement order issued by the state, the Town of Dove Creek soon will be getting its water from a new source. That decision has led to a price increase that made some town residents so angry that the Town Hall has closed because of threats to staff.

Grand Canyon National Park has issued a warning that, because of extreme heat, people should not hike below the rim between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The Montezuma County commissioners this week said no to both a sales-tax question and a proactive emergency declaration.

The Four Corners Poetry Festival brought poets laureate to the Durango Public Library for workshops and readings focused on memory, language, sensory writing and place.

Conservation groups are expressing relief that Congress appears unlikely to throw out the management plan for Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

A survey regarding voters' attitudes toward a 1 percent sales tax in Montezuma County has been completed.

A Montezuma-Cortez School District staff survey showed gains in some areas, but concerns remain around social-emotional learning, gifted student support, behavior and family engagement.

How dry is it in the Four Corners? Statistics give the answer.

The Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council is considering an agreement with San Juan Counseling Services that could expand access to counseling and treatment services in White Mesa.

The principal of Montezuma-Cortez High School, Dr. Jennifer Boniface, has been named the 2026 Colorado Secondary School Principal Rookie of the Year.

Experts on public lands and wildfires are voicing concern about how budget cuts to federal agencies will affect firefighting during the approaching fire season.

Runners from more than a half-dozen countries carrying a torch and a message of peace stopped in Cortez on Wednesday.

The Mancos Board of Trustees approved a letter supporting Senator Michael Bennet's immigration enforcement bills after a divided discussion over the town's role in federal policy debates.

The Cortez City Council on Tuesday adopted a proclamation declaring June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month despite one council member's ten-minute-long speech against the measure. Also on Tuesday, Cortez city manager Drew Sanders told the council about an award the city recently received from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada.

Free summer meal programs are available for children in Montezuma and Dolores counties as families face rising grocery costs and food access challenges.

The Montezuma County commissioners have reinstated a fire ban in the unincorporated areas of the county. Also on Tuesday, they approved a contract for up to $15,000 with USDA Wildlife Services.

The Dolores Watersheds Collaborative is developing a Wildfire Ready Action Plan to identify post-fire flooding, erosion and sedimentation risks in the upper Dolores River watershed.

Attorneys representing the Montezuma County board of commissioners and a corporation seeking to build a Dollar General store here made their cases in District Court on Thursday.

The Montezuma-Cortez Re-1 School Board during its regular meeting Tuesday wrestled with the question of whether to allow student clubs to meet at lunchtime.

Utah regulators met with White Mesa residents Monday about Energy Fuels' proposed rare earth expansion at the White Mesa Mill.

A rainstorm in the first two days of April produced enough moisture to push the month's total precipitation to 179 percent of the historic average for Cortez. However, that didn't really change the dramatically dry picture overall in the area.

Drought conditions are forcing Montezuma County growers, livestock producers and gardeners to make hard decisions about water use, crops and conservation.

Hundreds of Montezuma County residents took advantage of the county's free clean-up days at the landfill Friday and Saturday, dropping off old appliances, furniture, electronics, and tires without paying a fee.

A Cortez man accused of brutally beating three men in Veterans Park in 2025, killing one of them, entered a not-guilty plea in District Court on Wednesday. In other news, a man who was struck by a plane and killed after he trespassed onto a runway at Denver International Airport on Friday reportedly had lived in Montezuma County.

Dolores trustees voted to let an early-stage housing and commercial development concept move forward after residents raised concerns about traffic, parking, building height and neighborhood impacts.

A Cortez woman accused of killing her 5-year-old daughter in 2022 entered a not-guilty plea Monday morning in District Court.

Two Republican candidates for Montezuma County clerk and recorder discussed issues such as mail-in ballots, election security, and the case of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters at a forum Wednesday night in Cortez.

A 21-year-old Cortez woman charged with first-degree murder entered a not-guilty plea in District Court Thursday, but attorneys indicated a disposition of her case may be in the works.

The Sexual Assault Services Organization is opening a Cortez office, expanding free, confidential support services for survivors in Montezuma and Dolores counties.

Three Republican candidates seeking a seat on the Montezuma County commission largely agreed on many issues at a forum Monday night, but expressed some key differences.

A Dolores library board review and a regional food summit highlight key issues in southwest Colorado, from governance concerns to food insecurity.

The recent transition between school superintendents in the Montezuma-Cortez Re-1 district was somewhat rocky, according to an email sent by board president Josh Shumway to the entire board and read aloud at its April 21 meeting.

The Mesa Verde Writers Conference will take place in September this year after organizers cited summer crowds and heat in southwest Colorado.

Montezuma County is moving ahead with efforts to clean up the county through clean-up days and a possible ordinance about trash.

The Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 school board voted to end ties with ERBOCES and CLAS, continuing governance changes under its new majority.

The Montezuma-Cortez Re-1 school district is cutting ties with a highly controversial attorney who has worked for the district for the past four years.

A Colorado State Patrol trooper used what's called a tactical vehicle intervention, or TVI, on April 8 east of Cortez to halt a Jeep Gladiator traveling the wrong way along Highway 160.

The weather, wildfire, and water outlook for the months ahead drew concerned comments from the Montezuma County commissioners at their meeting Tuesday.

Passage of a measure overturning a mining ban in a Minnesota wilderness area is raising concerns among environmentalists about its possible ramifications for the Four Corners. And the ongoing drought in the Four Corners is affecting conditions at a popular tourist attraction.

March madness is a good description for last month's climate in Cortez, according to longtime local weather observer Jim Andrus.

A campaign mailer sent to Cortez voters ahead of the city council election is raising questions about whether it meets Colorado disclosure requirements.

Students with the Youth Leadership Council recommended restoring lunch clubs to schools in District Re-1 at a school-board workshop Tuesday.

The Montezuma County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday not to have the county sponsor and seek a grant for a summer lunch program for local children.

Home sales in Montezuma County are slowing this spring, giving buyers more negotiating power as high costs continue to limit affordability.

The Montezuma County commissioners voiced reluctance Monday to giving the go-ahead to the county's sponsoring a summer lunch program for local children.

The finances of Southwest Health System in Montezuma County have been on something of a roller-coaster ride.

Approximately 750 people gathered in Cortez's Veterans Park on Saturday for the third No Kings rally against the policies of the Trump administration.

Cortez voters are being asked to decide four ballot questions in addition to choosing candidates for five open seats in the April 7 municipal election. City manager Drew Sanders explained the questions at a forum Thursday before a handful of people.

The Navajo Nation has come out in formal opposition to the SAVE America Act, saying it would disproportionately affect Navajo voters and other indigenous tribal communities nationwide.

Hotels and tourism businesses near Mesa Verde report early spring bookings, while park construction and shifting travel patterns shape the season outlook.