Noticias

• Five Years of COVID-19
• Hurd Introduces Productive Public Lands Act
• Music Fills the Box Canyon and Beyond

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Five Years of COVID-19

Five years ago, on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, residents of San Miguel County were ordered to “shelter in place.”

KOTO News reported on the announcement:

“San Miguel County residents are being ordered to shelter in place to slow the spread of COVID-19. The decision was announced at a special county commissioners meeting on Wednesday,” the report stated. ‘The public health orders to self-isolate came as officials observed the effects of coronavirus across the country and county.’

‘The reality is now that we are beyond containment. We now need to mitigate the spread of this virus and the effects of it,’ said Dr. Diana Koelliker, director of emergency and trauma services at the Telluride Medical Center and Telluride EMS director.

She said that while the measures may have seemed drastic to some, they were necessary to help limit the spread of coronavirus.

‘The reason all these drastic things are being done is because we are losing this fight,’ Koelliker said.”

Five years later, Koelliker still remembers the fear of those early days of the pandemic.

“We had such limited supplies for protective gear, gloves and masks and gowns. We were trying to scramble and source them from everywhere,” Koelliker said. “The limited testing we had was PCR testing and there were these very specific type of swabs. I kept a count every day of how many we had in the clinic. We were hording them, because one time we got down to eight.”

Dr. Sharon Grundy, primary care director at the Telluride Regional Medical Center and San Miguel County medical officer, recalled the uncertainty:

“At that time, you were unable to test for this illness, COVID-19, so you were kind of flying blind,” Grundy said. “We were in a very remote place, we don’t have a lot of medical services, and we live at 9,000 feet. What do we have to do to protect our community?”

What the county did was shelter in place.

“As hard as it was, I think it worked to the extent that it helped keep our COVID numbers relatively low,” Grundy remembered.

At the center of that decision was newly hired public health director, Grace Franklin.

“I started here as the public health director mid-February. The gravity of calling a shelter in place really hit especially once the ski area shut down,” Franklin said. “We were working on many different scenarios, but each day it got closer, there weren’t really too many other options to respond appropriately with the information we had at the time.”

Franklin noted she wasn’t making the big decisions alone. Grundy and Koelliker were instrumental, as were emergency management and the San Miguel Board of County Commissioners.

Susan Lilly, who was a public information officer for the county during the COVID response, recalled the urgency:

“In some ways, everything seemed to be moving so slowly. But at the same time, it was lightning fast,” Lilly said.

Commissioner Lance Waring added, “The Commissioners prior to COVID were meeting every other week, but when COVID broke, we were meeting daily. We were meeting two to three hours a day and then spending the rest of the day trying to catch up on all the changing information and the shifting COVID landscape, and then going back in the next morning armed with new information, trying to keep on top of the tide.”

At the end of the day, it was Franklin who signed the papers and made the call.

“As someone in public health, you always know it’s a possibility, but I am the person who took on the responsibility, and it was an enormous weight,” Franklin said. “But I also felt honored that people trusted me and our department to make these decisions.”

A key element, according to Lilly and Koelliker, was making sure the community had accurate information.

“From day one, I felt compelled to share any and all information with our community, accurately and as quickly as I could. It was truly full steam ahead,” Lilly said.

“I head from so many people outside of our community, that they used us for their information about COVID, even though they were in New York or Dallas. They listened in to our [updates], and really trying to convey the best information we had at the time,” Koelliker added.

KOTO provided regular updates regarding the COVID pandemic from March 2020 through 2022.

Despite the challenges, those in charge stand by the county’s decisions.

“We did the best we could with the information we had at the time,” Waring said.

Koelliker added, “No, I don’t think we always had the right answer, but we were trying to do the best. I think we had the best intentions of trying to keep everyone safe.”

Ximena Rebolledo León, a Telluride Regional Medical Center nurse and immigrant advocate, added, “Grace Franklin’s health equity approach to the pandemic and how we as the community responded to the needs of everyone in our community was something that was critically needed and it came at an essential time.”

Importantly, Dr. Grundy said, the community came together in the face of the challenge.

“A lot of communities COVID tore them apart, and for us, I feel like it brought the Telluride community and the county together,” Dr. Grundy remembered. “From Telluride Science who let us use their building for over a year for COVID patients. Pinhead at the very beginning when we couldn’t get appropriate protective medical equipment, they were trying to make face shields for us. Restaurants in town would bring food to us on a regular basis. It was really a beautiful thing to watch our community come together.”

Looking for silver linings, Rebolledo León, said she’s seen a shift in the community toward more equity.

“I am thankful for our community as a whole because broadly speaking, I think there’s been a ton of growth, a ton of allyship,” León said. “I think had it not been for the pandemic and George Floyd’s murder, I think we would have just continued at the rhythm that we were in, which was painfully slow.”

Five years later, people are still getting sick from COVID-19, but we’ve moved from emergency response, and Koelliker said one thing remains the same:

“This community, boy, we can rally and come together and pretty much face anything if we’ve got a challenge,” she said. “I said it five years ago, and I still say it: there’s no place I’d rather weather a storm, whether it’s a snowstorm or a pandemic, than Telluride.”

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Hurd Introduces Productive Public Lands Act

Congressional Representative Jeff Hurd has introduced the Productive Public Lands Act, aiming to dismantle public land management plans in Western Colorado.

Hurd introduced the legislation on Monday, March 10, outlining a goal to bring public lands across the West back onto a path of “energy dominance,” a term coined by President Trump when he took office.

The legislation rescinds several Biden-era Bureau of Land Management plans in Colorado. For San Miguel County, this legislation would dismantle decades of collaboration and financial interests on local public lands.

San Miguel County Natural Resources and Climate Resiliency Director Starr Jamison presented to the Board of County Commissioners on Wednesday, March 19, on the local impacts of Hurd’s legislation.

“So how this affects San Miguel County. We were cooperating agencies for the Big Game Habitat Conservation for Oil and Gas Management, as well as the Gunnison Sage Grouse ROD approved RMP,” Jamison said.

Over the past three years, Jamison said the county has participated with federal agencies and other counties to craft management plans for big game habitat corridors and a plan to protect the endangered Gunnison sage grouse—a bird endemic to San Miguel County.

Jamison said Hurd’s plan would eliminate protections for the bird. “In our county in the Tres Rios, we had an area of critical environmental concern in Dry Creek Basin, and so with this bill that would be rescinded. That was 10,000 acres.”

San Miguel County also contributes to a grouse working group, a collaborative effort to assist in habitat restoration. Jamison said, “San Miguel County has financially contributed between $1.4 and $1.6 million during the period, and this was taken from 2017 numbers, so since then we’ve actually contributed more than that.”

Under Hurd’s legislation, the two BLM offices that cross into San Miguel County, Tres Rios and Uncompahgre, would revert to their 2015 and 2020 management plans, respectively.

The bill’s next step is a hearing in the House Committee on Natural Resources, of which Hurd is a member. The legislation would affect 2.3 million acres of Colorado public lands and millions more across Western states.

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Music Fills the Box Canyon and Beyond

The hills will be alive with the sound of music on Thursday, with top-notch musical acts performing in Telluride and Mountain Village.

Telluride Chamber Music is hosting a performance by the Haas Sisters, a violin/cello duo featuring sisters Brittany and Natalie Haas.

“They’re going to get a smattering of things. They’re going to get a tour through our musical history, all the styles we love to play, as well as our original music, which is informed by those styles,” said Brittany Haas. “So, there’ll be some American music, some Celtic music, some Scandinavian music, and plenty of groove.”

Raised in California, the sisters started playing classical music before turning to Americana, bluegrass, and Celtic. They’ve taken their own paths in music, bands, and careers, coming back together to create something new and exciting.

“We both respect each other musically, and at the end of the day, because we’re sisters, we can push each other and know that we’re still going to be on good terms at the end of it,” said Natalie Haas. “It’s kind of a cool combo. I think we’re both bringing different things to it that hopefully add up to greater than the sum of its parts.”

The Haas Sisters will be playing at the Telluride Science and Innovation Center on Thursday, March 20, at 7 p.m. Tickets are sold out, but individuals can join the waitlist by emailing [email protected].

Meanwhile, up in Mountain Village, the supergroup Woods Herman Andree Cloonan Quartet will play the Telluride Adaptive Sports (TASP) Blue Party.

“You can’t spell fundraiser without fun. I want people to come and have a good time, enjoy the music, enjoy the company of other smiling faces, and people trying to do things to help one another,” said Tyree Woods of the Woods Herman Andree Cloonan Quartet.

The Blue Party will feature food, drink, speakers, a photo booth, and an auction—all to raise money for the local nonprofit.

A disabled veteran himself, Woods said the mission of TASP hits close to home.

“When I first got retired from the military, it was a really tough transition. It was a hard time in my life,” he said. “I worked with programs similar to what TASP does, and it pulled me out of my shell and showed me there’s still a lot of cool stuff to check out in this life. Even though you’ve been through the ringer, you can’t give up. [TASP] taking people out and showing them, these beautiful natural things shows you there’s always another dawn.”

The TASP Blue Party will take place on Thursday, March 20, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Plaza Lounge in Mountain Village, near the base of Chair 4. Tickets are available online or at the door.

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Telluride Seeks Input on Future Gondola Station

Want to share your vision for the next Gondola station? Now is your time!

The Town of Telluride is working to enhance the functionality, accessibility, and sustainability of one of the town’s most vital transit connections. The Telluride to Mountain Village Gondola, which is the second most popular public transit system in Colorado, is undergoing upgrades over the next five years after more than 20 years of service.

Residents, visitors, and local business owners are invited to share their thoughts. This project is separate from the SMART gondola replacement project, but it will contribute to the future of the gondola system as a whole. Join the Town of Telluride at Oak Street Plaza on Thursday, March 20, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. to offer your ideas on the vision for the next gondola station.

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Dolores Huerta Speaks at Latino Advocacy Day Rally

Hundreds gathered at the Colorado State Capitol on Monday for Latino Advocacy Day, rallying to support immigrant rights. Among the speakers was longtime labor and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta.

“Thank you all for coming out, because you’re coming out to fight not only for your rights, but for the rights of every person here in Colorado, especially our undocumented, okay? We are here to march for them, to let them know that they are not alone,” Huerta said.

The 94-year-old co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association addressed the crowd from the bed of a truck before marchers took to the streets of downtown Denver.

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Lawmakers Hear Budget Forecast

Lawmakers got good and bad news from state economists who project a weakening economy but say the state’s budget picture has slightly improved.

Colorado is still facing a roughly billion dollar budget shortfall. Greg Sobetski is a non-partisan legislative economist. He told the legislature’s joint budget committee there’s a lot of uncertainty at the federal level and he said there’s a chance that the state could be in a much better position than what economists show, or much worse.

“You should know that there are real consequences that aren’t even anticipated here based on the risks that we’re showing you,” Sobetski said.

Colorado’s economy is expected to grow, and some of the pressures of the state’s budget could slightly ease. Lawmakers are required to pass a balanced budget and cuts still loom.