Noticias

• The State of Crime in Telluride
• Peggy Parrish Joins the Wilkinson Public Library
• Young Artists Highlighted in New Ah Haa Exhibition

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The State of Crime in Telluride

Arrests in Telluride were down in 2024, hitting a five-year low, according to Telluride Chief Marshal Josh Comte.

The Telluride Marshals Department arrested 41 individuals last year, compared to 61 the year prior.

Crimes against people in 2024 were also at a five-year low.

“We had a total of eight that fell into this category. All eight of those were assaults. Our high in that category was in 2022 when we had 25. So, there’s a drastic decrease in the number of assaults and crimes against people in 2024,” Comte said.

Chief Comte provided an annual update to Telluride Town Council this week.

There was also a decrease in crimes against property.

“In 2023 we had 104 reported crimes, and that dropped to 86 in 2024,” Comte said.

With that said, Comte noted that 86 is still the second highest over the past five years.

“Where we saw a significant decrease was in reported thefts. We went from 77 in 2023 to 56 in 2024. But we did see an uptick in vandalism with an uptick of 10 from 23 to 33,” he said.

Some of that uptick, Comte said, could be from multiple incidents of a similar crime.

“We had an incident last year where we had a handful of tires getting slashed in Shandoka — which included some patrol cars as well as other people’s personal cars. So, one incident of someone going through and slashing a handful of cars could be four or five different reports for that,” he said.

In addition to vandalism, there was also an increase in residential burglaries.

“We had six reported burglaries last year, where our previous five-year high was only at three. The majority of those — all but one — was linked to one person, who was identified and charges were brought against that person,” Comte said.

Crimes against society — that includes things like disorderly conduct, DUIs, liquor violations, drug offenses and harassment — also went up compared to last year, from 81 to 86. However, Comte said that’s still the second lowest over the past five years.

One crime statistic that went down last year was hit-and-runs. Comte said they’ve been tracking that number over the past several years.

“In 2023 we had 33 reported hit-and-runs, and that number dropped to 12 last year. The efforts in that area have been paying off,” he said.

Looking at total call volume, Comte said calls went down slightly in 2024, but still remained above 5,000 calls. He noted that’s been the norm since coming out of the pandemic.

In 2024, there were six reports of use of force by the Marshals Department.

“Two of those uses of force were pointing a department-issued handgun at a suspect. The other four were hands-on in order to effect an arrest,” Comte said.

When force is used, Comte said he, along with department sergeants, reviews the report to make sure the use of force was appropriate and within policy.

“So, there is a lot of eyes on the incident — review of body camera, witness statements, dash cams, if possible, interview with the officer. There’s a lot that goes into it to make sure we’re staying within our lanes on that,” he said.

In addition to patrol and responding to calls, Comte said the Marshals Department continues to work on community engagement with programs such as ride-alongs, the Cafecito con un Policía program, mentorships and collaboration with the Communities That Care Coalition.

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Peggy Parrish Joins the Wilkinson Public Library

Peggy Parrish is the Wilkinson Public Library’s new executive director.

Parrish moved to Telluride from Austin, Texas, last month for the job. She stopped by KOTO to say hello.

Parrish began the conversation by sharing where she came from and how she got here.

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Young Artists Highlighted in New Ah Haa Exhibition

Walk into the Daniel Tucker Gallery at the Ah Haa School for the Arts and you may find yourself in an alien lair. Maybe you’ll wander through a garden of ceramics or flip through the pages of a hand-bound book.

If you show up to the Ah Haa this Friday, you’ll get a glimpse into the minds of eight talented young people.

“The Teen Fellowship is a 16-week art intensive for high school students living in the San Miguel Watershed, so Telluride and beyond,” said Lulu Priddy, visual arts manager at the Ah Haa. The fellowship is their brainchild.

“We found that in previous years, teen classes and camps were not as popular, there was a void there. Teens wanted to pursue their own independent projects, they wanted some professional development, and they wanted to get paid. So, we developed this program to include all of those things. Now it’s culminating in the exhibition.”

For the past 16 weeks, students have been working. They pitched their project, set up a budget and timeline, visited local art galleries, did the actual work, participated in critiques and got support from mentor artists.

Art mediums range from ceramics, acrylic painting, air brushing, charcoal, embroidery, graffiti, illustration, metalwork and video game design.

“I did color pencil portraits, kind of inspired by the Renaissance,” said Rachel Beard, one of the artists featured in this year’s New Makers exhibition. While often working in pencil, Beard used the color to embrace the style.

“The portraits of the era were very vibrant in color originally. They have faded over time,” she noted.

Hazel Frerichs is working in watercolor.

“I did a series of four watercolor pieces of carnivorous pieces that I thought were interesting,” said Frerichs. “Frankly I think that they’re amazing and I also like how they’re unique in their species because they are omnivorous in how they consume living things aside from photosynthesis,” she said.

Hannah Jurecki made a mixed metal wall hanging of a mountainscape with a centipede crawling up to the peak and a silver dollar as the sun.

“I worked a lot with copper, silver, brass, a rusty background piece I found in someone’s yard,” she said. “And a silver dollar, obviously.”

The artists applied for the fellowship for a number of reasons. Frerichs said it’s been eye-opening to see behind the curtain of being a working artist.

“To have to manage a bit of deadline and work so you get your piece done in time, it’s been a lot more planning than I have usually done,” she noted. “It was interesting to see that, ‘oh, you do have to do this, and you do have to write yourself an artist statement, and you do have to put so much thought into your work.’ It becomes something other than making art, it becomes more than art.”

She hopes the exhibit will inspire others to pick up a pencil, or brush, or piece of clay.

“I hope that people can see that anybody can do art. There are all kinds of people in the show who may not have done something at this level of professionalism,” Frerichs said. “I hope that people are inspired to do more art than they might in their normal lives.”

Jurecki added the world is your oyster.

“Seeing all the other mediums like charcoal pastels, watercolors, colored pencils, a mosaic of all sorts of things, and everything else in between has been super,” said Jurecki. “I think it would be cool to share that and have people think ‘wow, there’s lots of different things.’”

For Priddy, they want to keep uplifting the voices and perspectives of the young people around us.

“The arts are so important to young people, to all of us, it’s the way we express ourselves, the way we connect and build community. That’s what Ah Haa is all about,” they noted. “We’re seeing lack of funding in the arts right now, and we want to be able to give students not only the materials and support they needed, but also the ability to follow their own inspiration and their artistic drive.”

The New Makers Exhibition will open with a reception and artist talk from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 16. It will also be part of a special Mountainfilm Artwalk on May 23.

Applications for the next cohort of the Teen Fellowship will open in the fall.

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Roadwork Continue in Mountain Village

The Town of Mountain Village will conduct roadway improvements at Village Court Apartments next week.

Crews will repave the entrance to VCA from Mountain Village Boulevard to the Maintenance Shop. During the project, traffic will alternate lanes to access VCA and Mountain Munchkins.

Parents dropping off children at Mountain Munchkins may park at the Mountain Village Police Department or at the basketball courts and use the sidewalk during paving operations.

The work is scheduled for Monday, May 19, through Friday, May 23, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

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EcoAction Partners Hosts Spring Cleanup

It’s time to say goodbye to the old television that doesn’t work, the computer you no longer use, and the fax machine that honestly belongs in a museum.

EcoAction Partners is hosting its spring electronics recycling event.

Recyclable items include cell phones, wires, batteries, televisions, projectors, printers, copy machines, and microwaves.

Telluride (Carhenge Parking Lot):

• Friday, May 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for household hazardous waste material.
• Saturday, May 17, and Sunday, May 18, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for electronics recycling and non-hazardous waste
• The Telluride Mountain Club will collect used outdoor gear on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• A Trash Bash will be held on Sunday, May 18, in Telluride’s Elks Park, from noon to 4 p.m. Participants can grab a bag and gloves to help clean up trails and public spaces, with food, drinks, and a raffle.

Mountain Village (Market Plaza Parking Lot):

• Electronics recycling will be available on Friday, May 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Norwood (San Miguel County Fairgrounds):

• Saturday, May 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for hazardous waste material and electronics recycling. Household waste can be dropped off from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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Labor Groups Launch Campaign to Protect Workers

Labor groups in Colorado launched a ballot campaign Tuesday aimed at making it harder for companies to fire workers.

Bente Birkeland reports for the Colorado Capitol News Alliance.

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Study Shows Public Lands Unsuitable for Housing Development

The Trump administration has indicated it would like to sell federal public lands to develop housing, which it says could help address the nation’s housing crisis.

A new study from nonpartisan land management group Headwaters Economics says federal public lands in the West aren’t the most suitable for housing and may even present safety and logistical challenges for developers.

Caroline Llanes of Rocky Mountain Community Radio spoke with Megan Lawson, one of the economists who worked on the study, to learn more.

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