Noticias

• Moonlight Dinner Under the Worm Moon
• Lawmakers Discuss Immigration Enforcement

---

Remembering Alexandra Doherty

Alexandra Doherty of Tampa, Florida, passed away Sunday morning after being found unresponsive by her husband in their Mountain Village hotel room. She was 36.

According to the San Miguel County Coroner’s Office, emergency medical services responded and provided resuscitative care for 20 minutes but were unsuccessful.

Doherty was on vacation with her family. She had visited Telluride before and had not complained of any issues.

The cause and manner of death are under investigation. Crippin Funeral Home will handle services.

Doherty is survived by her parents, Darren and Liz; her brother, Zach; her husband, James; and her children, Millie, Etta and Sullivan.

---

Moonlight Dinner Under the Worm Moon

The March full moon — the Worm Moon — will grace the night sky Tuesday, March 3.

In Telluride, that means it’s time for the Moonlight Progressive Dinner.

“Every year we go out on to the Valley Floor, behind the Shell Station, and we set up three stations of food and drink,” said Ruthie Boyd, executive director at Sheep Mountain Alliance.

“People can walk, or ski, or snow bike, or snowshoe, however you want to transport yourself between the three stations for food and drinks,” Boyd said.

The annual tradition was started by Cindy Farney. For the past five years, Sheep Mountain Alliance has organized the community event.

Typically, the dinner takes place over the first full moon of the year, but Boyd said this year the date fell too close to New Year’s. Regardless of the date, Boyd said it’s a special way to honor the Valley Floor.

“I think it’s so special that the event takes place on the Valley Floor. We worked so hard, as a community to protect it in the early 2000s. Getting to celebrate that in the middle of winter — or in this case March — it does feel special. I think it brings a different element to the way that we usually recreate on the Valley Floor. I think it’s really special to get together as a community in the winter, and celebrate in the darker times, what we have as a community and the beautiful landscapes that we’ve worked to protect,” Boyd said.

While the weather and lack of snow are factors for this year’s event, Boyd said it’s not going to dampen the spirit.

“Personally, I’m really excited to go out, despite the weather, and see everyone enjoying themselves, and remembering that public land is always going to be here for us if we continue to choose to protect it and make those decisions as a community,” Boyd said.

The Moonlight Progressive Dinner will take place from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, on the Valley Floor.

Diners can access the event from the Shell Station or the longer route from the Shandoka parking lot.

Given the conditions, Sheep Mountain Alliance encourages people to walk rather than ski.

---

Lawmakers Discuss Immigration Enforcement

Lawmakers in Denver are nearing – not quite there – the midpoint of their legislative session, and they’re taking on a national topic of conversation: Immigration and Custom Enforcement. This week on Capitol Conversation, statehouse reporter Lucas Brady Woods shares the latest.

Story beings at 3:30.

Julia Caulfield (JC): We are kind of in this, like, midway point of the legislative session up in Denver. I first wanted to chat with you, kind of a little bit of a recap of where we are and where we have to go as it relates to kind of like the process of bills for the legislative session.

Lucas Brady Woods (LBW): Yeah, we’re really, you know, approaching the midpoint. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re sort of getting there, and it feels a little bit like it’s the midpoint in session. You know, we’ve seen some big bills working their way through. We haven’t really seen any big bills pass yet, but we could see some of those pass soon.

At the same time, on the flip side, we still could see some, and are expecting some pretty significant bills to be introduced. Lawmakers who get permission to introduce some late bills have those coming, and we should still see some fairly big-ticket items be introduced. So lots of things in flux, and still a lot more to come.

JC: One bill that I wanted to touch on specifically is a topic that is at the front of many people’s minds in the nation, and that has to do with immigration and customs enforcement. There’s a bill that would actually allow folks in Colorado to sue ICE agents. Can you share what this is?

LBW: This bill has been pretty controversial here at the state Capitol. It’s past the Senate and is waiting to go through the House. This deals with immigration authorities, federal immigration authorities, and Coloradans’ ability to sue them in state court for alleged constitutional rights violations.

This is a direct response to what the sponsors are saying — this is a Democratic lawmaker-backed bill. Republicans opposed it in the Senate and are likely to do the same in the House. Really, this is in part a response to what the sponsors see as real federal overreach with immigration operations in Minneapolis.

During the debate over this bill on the floor, there was a lot of reference to those immigration operations and sort of the chaos that we saw in Minneapolis and the deaths of two American citizens. The sponsors say that the way this bill works creates a pathway for Coloradans to protect their rights, protect their constitutional rights, and hold these authorities accountable.

It’s important to note in this conversation about state legislation that touches on immigration that immigration enforcement is under federal purview — that is federal jurisdiction. The state cannot pass laws that govern immigration enforcement completely. What they’re trying to do with this bill and a couple others is put guardrails around how those authorities operate here in Colorado and around how local law enforcement interacts with them.

JC: We have mentioned before that Democrats have a majority in both the House and Senate in the Colorado General Assembly. So do you think that this is a bill that’s likely to pass and become law in Colorado?

LBW: I think it’s very possible. It has wide support from Democrats who have the majority. I’m not sure where Polis stands on this right now, but I think that this one has a good chance of passing and making it to his desk, and I could see him signing it.

JC: Yeah, you mentioned there’s several, a handful of other bills that are having to do, um, with immigration, some of those guardrails. Can you talk about what those bills are?

LBW: Absolutely. There are two main other immigration-related bills. One of them touches on a pretty big touchpoint here, which is mask-wearing with law enforcement and immigration authorities. The bill would actually require that all law enforcement that works with immigration and customs enforcement, immigration authorities, show their faces and properly identify themselves.

The other one would create a whole slew of requirements, including regular checkups on any immigration detention centers in Colorado from the state health department and reporting requirements for those detention centers, and a bunch of other requirements around data sharing of personal data with federal immigration authorities. And really, like I said, limiting how the state and local law enforcement can cooperate with immigration and customs enforcement and other federal immigration authorities.

---

Telluride Town Park Campground Reservations Open April 21

The box canyon is inching toward spring, but Parks & Recreation officials are already preparing for summer.

The town of Telluride announced Friday the dates for first-round reservations for the Town Park Campgrounds.

This summer, the town will open four booking windows.

Reservations for May 15 through June 12 will open at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 21.

Reservations for June 22 through Aug. 5 will open May 19.

Bookings for August through October will take place in July and August.

The Telluride Town Park Campground season runs from May 15 to Oct. 4.

---

Colorado Wolves on the Move

Colorado Parks and Wildlife released its latest wolf location map tracking activity from Jan. 27 through Feb. 24.

As KDNK’s Amy Hadden Marsh reports for Rocky Mountain Community Radio, Colorado’s collared gray wolves have pushed farther south along the Front Range, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Gray Wolf Tracking Map released Wednesday. CPW states that some wolves continue to make broad movements, while packs have developed territory and tend to stay put.

Two individual wolves moved separately through several watersheds in the San Luis Valley near the southern part of the Front Range. Data also show wolves moving into southeast Colorado. No wolves have crossed Interstate 25 or spent time near urban centers, the agency reported.