Norwood Teacher Named One of The Best

By Mason Osgood

Photo courtesy Norwood Public Schools

Rain clouds hovering over Norwood didn’t diminish the buzz of excitement inside the Norwood school. It’s Tuesday, September 17th, and a group of administrators and visitors gather to surprise second and third grade teacher Shelley Donnellon.

Emma Garrett Nelson is Chief Communications Officer with the Colorado Department of Education. For the past two weeks, she and her colleagues have been traveling around the State to announce the finalists of Colorado Teacher of the Year.

“We have this program called Teacher of the Year and we ask everybody in Colorado, we ask who are your favorite teachers, and we got one thousand nominations,” Garrett Nelson explains to students. “A thousand teachers in the entire state were nominated including your teacher, and out of those thousand we had ninety three teachers do an application process. It’s a very hard process, and oftentimes teachers don’t like to brag about their awesomeness and that can be kind of challenging for teachers to do. Out of those ninety three applicants we had seven finalists, and your teacher is one of those seven finalists”

It's a big deal. There are about 55,000 teachers throughout the state of Colorado, and as Garrett Nelson shares, Donnellon is one of the top seven. Garrett Nelson hands over a check for $1500 dollars for Donnellon to use as she likes, in addition, a $500 donation to Norwood schools on behalf of the Boettcher Foundation.

Gathered in Donnellon’s second and third grade classroom is the who’s who of Norwood. The Superintendent, Principal, School Board Members. The Norwood Town Clerk; even her husband, San Miguel Sheriff Deputy Michael Donnellon.

While the state is now recognizing Donnellon’s accomplishments in the classroom, for her students, it's no surprise. 

“She makes her teaching fun, she gets nice cool activities, fun and activities,” says one student.

“She lets us do fun activities, and she’s so nice and pretty and just makes us all happy,” chimes in another.

Donnellon and her extended family have been in Norwood for over four generations, and she's taught for eleven years. Garrett Nelson, is excited to be in the Norwood school district, and to meet Donnellon in person.

“We’re just really excited to be here, our teachers are absolutely phenomenal and extraordinary and especially in a District like this and when you have someone who is homegrown and who has made the choice to be here who just loves this district,” Garrett Nelson says, “she described herself as ‘Norwood through and through’ and I think thats something thats really really special about Shelley.”

Todd Bissell, Norwood’s newest superintendent of three months, already has high praise of Donnellon. 

“She has made so many contributions to the school over the years, I’ve only known her for about three months being new here but going into her classroom it's always engaging, students are on task, they’re having fun, smiles on their faces, and that's what we like to see,” Bissell says.

Donnellon’s giddy students gather around her for a group photo, as she holds her award and check for $1,500. The seven finalists will go through a second interview process, and classroom visits from the state of Colorado, before a final winner is announced in early October. 

But Donnellon says it’s incredible to make it this far. “I am shocked and honored, so I never in my wildest dreams thought that this was and option,” she says “I appreciate everyone, I couldn’t have done it myself, the kids here are great, the families here are great, the staff, the support, the town, I mean this is just really the best place”

As the celebrations draw to a close, staff goes back to work, and the students take their seats for the next lesson, standing at the front of the room is one of the top teachers in Colorado. 

The San Miguel Rodeo Saddles Up

By Eliza Dunn

Photo Eliza Dunn/KOTO

It’s a Saturday night in Norwood. The late summer sun is setting over the mountains, but in the San Miguel County Fairgrounds, excitement is rising. 

Over the loudspeaker, the announcer’s voice booms, “well, good evening rodeo fans, and welcome to night number two of the San Miguel Basin CPRA Rodeo.” 

The first event of the night is bareback riding. The gates open and a wild bucking horse charges out into the ring, kicking up dust and tossing the cowboy around like a ragdoll. The goal is to stay on the animal for eight seconds.

Next up are the roping events. Down by the grandstand, a few cowboys tie up their horses after their ride. 

Bryce Grant just finished the tie-down roping, a fast-paced event that requires both speed and precision from the cowboy. 

“It’s a single-cowboy event, where it’s just you and your horse and you’re tied on,” Grant explains. “So you have a calf and they get a head start. You go down rope, and then you get off and flank him and tie three legs.” 

As he rides into the ring, Grant says, he tries to block out everything around him: “I try to just focus on myself. I try to get myself really angry and really aggressive, because that’s something that I’ve really struggled with lately. So I just really focus on what I'm going to do right then and there. Get out good and just go do my job.”

Next up, the cowgirls take the ring. Breakaway roping is an all-female event that moves at lightning speed. In a matter of mere seconds, competitors attempt to chase down and rope a calf.

After her ride, Ashlin Spitzer explains that she does breakaway roping because “not only does it take horsepower, which is instrumental, but also the intelligence of the roper itself, and making sure that you make the right call at the right time. And you’re almost in sync with your horse. But it’s also just so beautiful to watch and to actually see someone rope sharp or the proper form. I think it’s one of the most beautiful things.” 

Photo Eliza Dunn/KOTO

Spitzer grew up riding horses, but didn’t start riding rodeo until recently. “I got into rodeo because it was…. COVID happened and it was time for change and to try something different and I had always been fascinated with rodeo and horses,” Spitzer remembers. “And so I decided to go to college and work for it and it’s paid off and it’s better than I could’ve ever dreamed.” 

Patting down her horse, Gopher, Spitzer says tonight wasn’t her best ride, but she’s okay with that. “Nonetheless, this is my hometown rodeo, and I absolutely love it here and I’m happy when my friends get to come out and see,” she says. “And if I miss, if I don’t, there’s always something I can take away from it. Of course winning’s great, but you can always learn something.”

Photo Eliza Dunn/KOTO

As the sun disappears behind the mesa, the competition rides on. One after another, riders take the ring, going up against bucking bulls and wild steers. It’s a dangerous sport, and sometimes competitors are only a few inches away from a stray hoof or horn. Still, Grant says, when he rides out of the box, he’s not afraid. 

“No, I enjoy it too much to be scared,” he says. “And then when you’re riding good animals who are your best friend, it makes it so much more worth it.”

That connection with your horse, Spitzer agrees, is key: “You know, your horse can feel every single feeling you feel. So they can feel when a little fly flies onto their back, they’re going to feel all the tension you hold. To me, as a rider, I think it’s important to be as calm and collected as possible so he can go out and do his job and I can do mine.”

As the last events draw to a close, the ring empties out and the animals get loaded up for the night. A band starts up and competitors and spectators alike gather under the stars, to celebrate another summer of rodeo in Norwood. 

Local Law Enforcement Trains for Active Shooter

By Julia Caulfield

Telluride Intermediate/High School (courtesy of Telluride School District)

It won’t be long before the Telluride High School is once again bustling with students – going from one class to another, chatting with friends. But on a clear evening in August, the lobby of the Palm Theatre is bustling with law enforcement and paramedics.

“It’s unfortunate that it’s come to something that we need to train in our schools, for something like this. Having Columbine happened over twenty years ago, we’re expected to be proficient at these scenarios,” says Telluride Chief Marshal Josh Comte.

Officers from the Telluride Marshal’s Department and Mountain Village Police Department, San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office, and Telluride Fire Protection District are gathered together for an active shooter training.

Chief Comte starts with a debrief on how the training is going to go.

“We have two scenarios. We’re going to literally walking through these. So we going to walk through it, work on going through the motions, make mistakes,” he says.

The training on this night is focusing on getting a shooter contained in a location, moving rescue task forces into the building, triaging victims and getting them to safety – victims in this training are portrayed by pieces of paper with descriptions written on them – some say deceased, others describe how the individual is wounded.

“If you’re asking for stuff with unified command, ask for it. We’re not going to have dispatch repeating that, but we want to hear you guys voice what you’re doing,” Comte briefs, “If you’re asking for multiple helicopters, multiple units from other agencies, voice it as realistic as we can to get these agencies rolling.”

In the first scenario, a shooter is near the gym in the intermediate school.

“So it’s a Monday morning, say 11 o’clock. Jimmy’s our [Student Resources Officer], Jeremy’s our deputy working patrol,” Comte announces to the group. “Jeremy’s here for a meeting and we get calls of a ‘shots fired’ in the intermediate school on the north side.”

Two Marshal Deputies enter the scenario.

“As they’re passing, they’re main job is to go to the threat,” Comte explains. “We have our role players, which is our pieces of paper, with should indicate to them – with open doors as well – that this is where our first mass casualty incident is.”

Comte adds, “the way it should work, is they should start seeing these issues, start seeing that we have this room with a lot of people down. So this should be our first casualty collection point. We want [paramedics] to grab people, bring them in here, and then start treating them as best as they can. Law enforcement will provide cover on the windows and the doors and everything else.”

The scenario wraps in about fifteen minutes. Law enforcement set up a security corridor, paramedics carry victims to safety.

The scenario wasn’t completely flawlessly. There’s room for improvement, but Comte notes that’s the point – training to get better, and to be prepared for the unexpected.

“It’s all going to be game time decisions. My favorite quote is by Mike Tyson, ‘Everyone’s got a plan until you get punched in the face’. So we’re going to come in here with the best case scenario, and it’s going to change,” Comte concludes. “It’s always going to change.”

It’s all to ensure, Chief Comte says, they’re up to the task, if the unfortunate time comes.

The San Miguel Rodeo Rides Again

By Gavin McGough

San Miguel Basin Rodeo (Photo by Peter B Lundeen Photography)

Building on a long tradition of horse handling and ranching, the San Miguel Rodeo came through Norwood this weekend for its 117th year. While crowds traveled from across the county, rodeo competitors and workers came from all over the west. KOTO’s Gavin McGough brings an audio postcard from the event.

Down beside the grandstands at the San Miguel Basin Rodeo, competitors in Saturday evening’s barrel race are awaiting their turn to sprint around the ring. In a test of horse handling and athletic power, the steed and rider race in a cloverleaf pattern around four barrels set up in the arena. Coming out of her turn in the ring, Harley Zehnder, a barrel racer from Norwood, is unphased by what she says was a lackluster result.

“It wasn’t my best year, but sometimes that happens. It’s my favorite event of the year, everyone shows up and has a great time. They love watching the rodeo and it’s fun getting to see your family and friends. It’s a super fun event,” Zehnder says.

I ask another competitor, Taylor Hildreth, the secret to a good barrel race.

“Oh, I wish we all knew the answer to that! I train barrel horses for a living and I’m still trying to figure that out. I think the biggest thing is having one that has a lot of try and heart and wants to be a team player,” says Hildreth.

Harley Zehnder agrees that much of the magic comes from the spirit of the horse. She’s riding a speckled gray mare.

“My horse’s name is Penny, and she’s super gritty and tough and she loves to work,” Zehnder says.

Back in the grandstand, below a huge western sunset above the Norwood mesa, the final event of the weekend kicks off. One of rodeo’s iconic competitions, it's bull-riding. The animals, weighing it a ton apiece, rip out of the gates as cowboys hold on for life. The event is nail-biting, eight seconds of danger and suspense.

In the ring right beside the bull and the cowboy, rodeo workers are face to face with the action. Once the cowboy loses their grip and falls from the animal, their job is to corral the bull and separate the kicking beast from the fallen rider. After the event, the cowboy protection team Edward Huffman and Devin Cisneros say that an empty mind is key to working face-to-face with such danger.

Photo by Peter B Lundeen Photography

“Breathing helps big time. And adrenaline! Adrenaline is huge. It’s just such an adrenaline rush. To keep your cool while it’s happening and you’re in a situation is to pretty much turn your brain off. Don’t let it tell you you can’t,” Cisneros reports.

“Yeah, you just react,” agrees Huffman.

A far cry from the driven and well-groomed mares of barrel racing, the bulls have a personality of their own.

“When I stopped riding bulls — that was like the eighth grade — I just picked up fighting bulls right there,” Huffman says. He says he grew up comfortable around animals, but can only sometimes tell what’s going on in their head.

“They have a different mind; they show one thing and are thinking another,” Cisneros agrees.

“Their smart animals, that's for sure,” adds Huffman.

After Saturday night, the fairgrounds fall silent for another year. The rodeo company, however, bulls and all, move on to their next competition of the season. Cisneros says he’s already excited for the next one.

“It’s phenomenal. This is my first time fighting [bulls] with Ed, and I can’t wait for the next one,” Cisneros says.

Photo by Peter B Lundeen Photography

Rural Communities Shift Away from Boom and Bust

By Julia Caulfield

Wild Gals Market in Nucla, Colorado (photo by Julia Caulfield)

Mining has been an economic driver in Southwest Colorado since the late 1800s. But when a local mine and power plant closed in 2017, a number of communities were forced to reimagine. KOTO’s Julia Caulfield has more on the region’s effort to create a new economic future.

Walk into Wild Gals Market in Nucla, Colorado and the store is bustling. Owner Galit Korngold is doing inventory on the order that just came in, when a member of the community busts through the door. She got her days mixed up and forgot people would be coming to her house for book club in a few short hours. She needs soup and bread.

Wild Gals is a success story for the West End Economic Development Corporation, or WEEDC, an organization supporting businesses like Wild Gals Market, and encouraging new industry and jobs in the area. Something crucial since the closure of local mines.

Nucla, and Wild Gals, sits in Colorado’s West End, a collection of communities on the west ends of Montrose and San Miguel Counties in the Southwest corner of the state, right on the Utah boarder.

If you ask Deana Sheriff, Executive Director of WEEDC, the region has always been boom and bust.

She says, “the people that came out here, if they were not the original homesteaders, they came out here as part of a mining operation, or a milling operation for uranium. And then when that fell out of favor, post-World War 2, we   saw a little bit of a bust then. Uranium came back a little bit in the early-80s, busted again in the 90s. It’s been very volatile since then.”

The last “bust” came when the New Horizon Mine and the Tri-State Power Generation facility closed in 2017.

“It’s been challenging when you have a community of less than 1,000 people, you’re talking about 10% of your population was impacted by this – and that’s just direct impact,” says Sheriff. “That doesn’t count the grocery stores and the gas stations, and the hair salons and everything that was also impacted.”

According to Sheriff about 60% of the mining workforce moved. Businesses on Main Street largely sat empty. But a group of locals in the West End did see the closure coming, and created WEEDC, with the aim of helping new businesses and the region weather the storm.

“That’s everything from how to set up your books, how to hire, do you need a personnel manual, where do you find employees. We really help them try and identify every piece of their business so they can be successful,” notes Sheriff.

Sheriff says WEEDC focuses on three areas of business growth: entrepreneurship, value added agriculture, and outdoor recreation and tourism. To date, WEEDC has worked with over 100 entrepreneurs in the area, with 36 of those turning into businesses.

Galit Korngold, over at Wild Gals, was one of those entrepreneurs, although she didn’t lose her job when the mine closed. Originally from Montreal, Canada, she and her husband moved to the area just before the pandemic, and bought an old mechanic shop.

“Once we moved here, I realized that there was no food that I really wanted to eat in this town. We had this great space at the front of the building, and I decided to open a food store,” says Korngold.

Wild Gals Market focuses on local, organic, and homemade goods from the region – with a selection of ingredients from the international market.

Korngold says WEEDC was “integral” to developing the plan for Wild Gals.

“I took accounting classes, and business mentoring from WEEDC,” she notes. “Because we don’t have a commercial kitchen of our own yet, and we make a lot of homemade food, we use the kitchen at WEEDC. That’s been just the greatest resource. We love that kitchen. We’re usually in there once a week, making stuff for the store.”

The West End is shifting. New businesses are opening, and broadband across the region makes remote work easy – drawing workers from across the state and country looking for a rural life. Korngold says it’s an exciting time to be in the area.

“I feel like we’re at the beginning of a renascence here, and it’s really cool to be a part of it,” says Korngold.

As that renascence continues, the future of the region is still to be determined. But for Sheriff, she hopes the days of boom and bust are over. For her, it’s all about steady, community building growth over the long term – and WEEDC plans to be there every step of the way.

San Miguel County Administers First COVID-19 Vaccines

By Julia Caulfield

Dr. Diana Koelliker receives her COVID-19 vaccines (courtesy of San Miguel County)

The Telluride Regional Medical Center’s Depot Respiratory Clinic is buzzing. The first Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are being administered to medical professionals across the county.

Dr. Diana Koelliker, Director of Emergeny and Trauma Services at the Telluride Medical Center, Dr. Paul Koelliker, and ER Nurse Aaron Clark are the first to go in Telluride.

Dr. Diana Koelliker and her husband, Dr. Paul Koelliker prepare to get the COVID-19 vaccine (courtesy of San Miguel County)

If you ask them, the act of getting the vaccine, is not a huge deal.

“Physically it’s just like any other vaccine. It’s a small needle, it hurts a tiny bit, but it’s not a big deal at all,” says Dr. Paul Koelliker.

But obviously vaccine day is more than just getting a shot.

“We have been anxiously waiting for today,” says Dr. Christine Mahoney, Director of Primary Care at the Telluride Regional Medical Center, “It is amazing. It’s hard to put into words. It’s a step towards the end of this. I feel like it’s a day of solidarity with all the healthcare works across the world who have been living through this.”

That sense of comradery and connection with scientists and doctors is apparent throughout the afternoon. The COVID vaccine has been developed faster than any vaccine in history, and Dr. Diana Koelliker says it’s because of those scientists and doctors who sprang into action.

“It’s kind of amazing that we have gotten to this point so quickly. I am shocked,” she says, “and really that is because worldwide our medical community, our scientist, came together and developed all of these vaccines.”

And beyond COVID she says it’s an amazing day for science.

“Not only is this going to revolutionize how we can end this pandemic,” she notes, “but I think it’s actually going to have huge applications for all other kinds of things. So, this is historic for so many reasons. For medicine it’s a turning point.”

San Miguel County – between the Public Health Department and the Telluride Medical Center – received a total number of 200 vaccines in the first rollout. On Wednesday, 50 vaccines were administered in Telluride, with another 30 administered at the Uncompahgre Medical Center in Norwood.

By Saturday evening all 200 vaccines in the county should be administered. Officials expect more doses will arrive in the coming weeks.

But despite the monumental day, Dr. Koelliker recognizes this is actually just the beginning.

She says “we’ve got a million other people we have to have the same thing happen to. Or in our county, we have another 8,000 people to give this to. So we got to move on and keep our eye on the prize, which is everyone getting the vaccine and helping to get to that herd immunity spot where so this doesn’t have to alter every single day of our life.”

For the time being, COVID will continue to affect our everyday, but one by one residents across San Miguel County and the world are getting stuck with a needle, containing the vaccine which will slowly pull us out of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr. Paul Koelliker receives his COVID-19 vaccine (courtesy of San Miguel County)

Local Lawsuit Asks Oil and Gas to Help Pay for Climate Change

By Julia Caulfield

Colorado saw its two largest forest fires in state history in 2020. This fall, the U.S. Drought Monitor classified the entire state as in drought. Colorado’s average temperature has risen by 2 degrees Celsius in recent decades. Scientists say all of these effects are caused by climate change.

While these statistics have an impact from an environmental standpoint, according to San Miguel County Commissioner Hilary Cooper, they also affect the pocketbook of state and local governments.

“Our roads are deteriorating faster than they have in the past from extreme temperatures,” says Cooper, “and then of course the effects on our economy of extreme weather and especially drought conditions and the effects that that has on the ski area’s ability to operate and then also our farmers and ranchers.”

San Miguel County Commissioner Hilary Cooper (courtesy of Hilary Cooper)

Cooper says the changes in climate means the county needs to budget more money for climate mitigation, and she says they had a choice.

“Either going to our taxpayers and increasing their taxes or we can go to these companies who are making massive profits off of their sale of fossil fuels and make them accountable for at least a percentage of what it’s costing local governments,” says Cooper.

San Miguel County went to the companies.

In 2018, San Miguel County, along with Boulder County and the City of Boulder - representing both urban and rural parts of the state - filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy, to make them pay a portion of the price for climate mitigation on the local level. Exxon and Suncor are two of the largest fossil fuel companies working in Colorado - one of Suncor’s two U.S. offices is in the state.

The Colorado municipalities are not the first to file similar lawsuits, there have been cases in California, New York, and Hawaii – to name a few - though none of the cases have been decided in court yet. But the Colorado lawsuit is the first to be filed by governments in a non-coastal state. Marco Simons, General Council at EarthRights International, and part of the legal team in the lawsuit, says they wanted to tell the story of climate change from a different perspective.

“It’s not just about sea level rise, and it’s not just about coastal communities…It’s really affecting everyone across the United States,” says Simons, “and there’s a range of climate impacts that are visible to many folks in Colorado, whether that’s the changes in precipitation and snowpack, the damage to forests, heat waves, wildfires. All of these impacts which are happening throughout the Mountain West.”

Simons says the first aim for winning the lawsuit is to collect damages for San Miguel and Boulder. But there’s a secondary aim too, and it’s wrapped up in tort law.

“What tort law essentially does is it shifts the cost of dangerous or injurious activities onto the people who are engaging in those activities, rather than simply the victims,” says Simons.

In this case, Simons argues Exxon and Suncor are the agents, with residents and taxpayers in San Miguel and Boulder as the victims. His hope is, by shifting the cost, the lawsuits can also shift behavior.

Simons says, “whether that’s cutting back on the harmful activities, especially where the cost of those activities might exceed the benefits; and/or to raise the price of the products that are causing those harmful effects so that if they are continuing to sell fossil fuels, that the cost of the harms of those fossil fuels would ultimately get priced into them.”

The litigation process is long. Filed two years ago, the Colorado case still hasn’t been approved for a trial. But policy experts say lawsuits like the one in Colorado are having an impact already, noting as the lawsuits move further into the court process - and there’s discovery and hearings - oil and gas companies may lose their social license to operate, or acceptance from the general public.

Attorneys representing ExxonMobil and Suncor in the lawsuit did not respond for comment, neither did Suncor Energy. Exxon spokesperson Casey Norton commented in an email that lawsuits such as the one in Colorado “waste millions of dollars of taxpayer money and do nothing to advance meaningful actions that reduce the risks of climate change”.

But with the potential a loss of social license, oil and gas companies might be forced to change direction, or risk losing investment. That’s according to Patrick Parenteau, a professor of environmental law and former lawyer with the Environmental Protection Agency. He says the banks that finance the oil and gas companies are looking at the rising number of lawsuits.

“And of course they’re looking at the science, and they’re beginning to get nervous. You can begin to see that the financial institutions are going to be disinvesting in oil and gas and reinvesting in renewables…so I think these cases could actually result in a major disinvestment in these companies that will push the energy transition that we’re seeing already even faster”, says Parenteau.

Time will tell if the tides are turning on the oil and gas industry. Until then, San Miguel and Boulder Counties, the City of Boulder, and all their residents will be stuck with the bill.

San Miguel County Shifts to Safer at Home Level Red

By Julia Caulfield

San Miguel County is moving to Safer at Home Level Red: Severe Risk.

The county’s COVID case numbers have been on the rise for weeks.

“We’ve now more than doubled the bi-weekly cases for COVID than what we had in our July peak,” says San Miguel County Public Health Director Grace Franklin. She says the county was allowed a brief window of time to get case numbers moving in the right direction, but that hasn’t happened.

“Seeing were we are now, there’s not much of a shift without taking policy action,” she says, ”so we will be moving into that Level Red of the State dial.”

Franklin made the announcement at a San Miguel Board of County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday. The new level affects most industry and private gatherings.

“Personal gatherings, private or public, are no longer allowed. In the last few dials it was up to 10 people no more than two households,” Franklin says, “in Level Red, for gatherings it’s ‘please stick to your households and do not gather’.”

Retail, offices, and gyms will have capacity limited even further – and working remotely is recommended when possible.

“Indoor dining will be closed. Takeout, curbside, delivery, to go, and outdoor dining – as long as spacing is appropriate between households – is okay,” she notes.

Bars are still to remain closed, unless they serve food, and County Commissioner Hilary Cooper notes food service, must be substantial.

“It cannot be a microwave or a bag of popcorn,” Cooper emphasizes, “we understand our bars have been hit extremely hard by this. But we’ve been a little lenient around here, allowing our bars to operate this summer, and we just want to make sure you don’t lose your liquor license because you don’t have the correct information.”

Level Red also places last call at 8 p.m. but Franklin adds that cutoff isn’t just for bars and restaurants.

“It’s our businesses as well. It’s not a curfew, people can still be walking around, but the intent is not having those late nights,” she says.

On Tuesday, Governor Jared Polis also warned businesses against defying new COVID regulations.

“I think it’s a time for every Coloradan, and that includes county elected officials too, to really asking themselves ‘are you on the side of the virus? Or are you on the side of Colorado?’” the Governor cautioned.

The warning came after some business owners on the Front Range said they would not follow public health orders in their counties. Polis says the state may need to punish businesses that do not comply to protect customers from the virus.

On top of the state’s Level Red restrictions, in San Miguel County, lodging will be capped at 50% and the County is adding an additional provision that will require guests in a lodging unit to be from the same household.

“So a good example would be if I was go hang out with my family and rent a place here. I don’t live with them typically throughout the year and so we would be considered two separate households, which would not be allowed,” notes Franklin, “but Dr. Grundy, with her husband and kid, they could go and rent a place because they are all one household.”

Lodging guests will also be prohibited from visiting others or hosting gatherings within their lodging unit – such as a condo, or hotel.

Education is allowed to stay in person, hybrid, or remote, based on what is deemed appropriate, and the Telluride Ski Resort will still be allowed to operate lifts – however businesses, lodging, and restaurants associated with Telski will be required to comply with Level Red restrictions.

When it comes to getting out of level red, Franklin says that will require a shift in positivity and incident rates, and hospital capacity. The Public Health Department will continue to monitor trends, and reassess San Miguel County’s level in about two weeks.

And if the county does shift back to level Orange, Franklin says the community will need to take deliberate steps to figure out what a slight reopening looks like.

“What worked in the summer does not work as well now,” says Franklin, “and we really need to reevaluate what that looks like for each industry and each business.”

San Miguel County will enter into Stay at Home Level Red: Severe Risk at 1 a.m. on Friday morning, November 27th.

Florida Newlyweds Die in Ingram Basin Plane Crash

By Julia Caulfield

Courtesy of the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office

A newlywed couple from Port Orange, Florida died on Monday afternoon after their plane crashed in Ingram Basin, near Telluride.

Costas John Sivyllis and Lindsey Vogelaar were visiting Telluride, and married at Alta Lakes on October 1st. Sivyllis was 30 years old. Vogelaar was 33.

The couple was flying home in their privately owned Beechcraft Bonanza – a small, single engine aircraft, when the accident occurred. Sivyllis was a United Airlines pilot and flight instructor. Vogelaar also worked in the airline industry.

According to Susan Lilly, Public Information Officer for the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office, the couple took off at 12:45 p.m. on Monday from the Telluride Regional Airport.

“The crash occurred as soon as 10-15 minutes after takeoff, unless they did any kind of sightseeing in the area before the plane went down,” Lilly says.

The Sheriff’s Office received report of the crash just before 2:30, after an individual using a drone in the area spotted the downed plane.

Lilly says “And that lead to our, what started as a search and rescue effort that changed to a body recovery mission.”

The Sheriff’s Office contact the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB is leading the investigation into the crash.

Alex Lamishco, is a senior air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, and lead investigator on the incident. Lamishco traveled from Denver on Tuesday, and spent Wednesday at the crash site.

“The initial goal on on scene investigations is to inspect the airframe for any anomalies, inspect the flight controls for any anomalies, do a cursory inspection of the engine for any pre-impact anomalies,” Lamishco says.

Lamishco adds he will also look at conditions outside the plane itself for information.

He says “for instance, since this aircraft impacted in a mountainous area, I will be looking at the flight path in relation to weather conditions, environmental conditions, that kind of thing.”

Lilly notes flying in the mountains, at altitude, can be challenging. She says the crash occurred near 11,850 feet.

“High altitude flying takes a certain skill set, whether you’re flying a helicopter, a single engine plane, or something else,” Lilly says.

But Lamishco says when it comes to flight path, it’s not abnormal for small private planes to take off from the Telluride Airport, and fly over the mountains.

“From preliminary ADSB data it appears the take off and departure were normal, taking off to the West and making a turn to the East. That flight track seemed normal until it terminated in and around the accident site,” Lamishco says.

While Lamishco says an on-site investigation only takes a day or so, he notes a full investigation can take anywhere from 12-18 months. He adds if there is an area of special interest, the plane will be transported to Greeley, Colorado for further examination.

Sivyllis and Vogelaar eloped to Telluride for a small wedding and adventure filled honeymoon. They were documenting the celebration online for their friends and family. Lilly expresses condolences to the families on behalf of the entire mission.

“Our collective thoughts are with the family and friends of the family who are mourning this tragic loss. The Sheriff is personally extending his condolences, and also on behalf of all the members who participated in this mission,” Lilly says.

Sivyllis is survived by his parents Dimitris and Kristen. Vogelaar is survived by her parents Gary and Sandra, and her siblings, Courtney, Addy, Shayley, Ryan and Matthew.

Lawson Hill Parking and Transit Center Officially Opens

By Julia Caulfield

The Lawson Hill Parking and Transit Center at Society Turn officially opened on Wednesday.

A small group of Telluride, Mountain Village, San Miguel County, and Colorado Department of Transportation officials met to celebrate the event on the warm morning, with only wisps of clouds in the sky. It’s a little different from when Nina Kothe, Administrative Assistant for San Miguel County, and David Averill first discussed the idea several years ago.

“When we came out here it was a blustery November day, and I remember standing over the hood of her car with a concept drawing and we’re holding them down so they didn’t blow away,” says Averill, Executive Director for the San Miguel Authority for Regional Transportation.

Back then, he was working for the CDOT. On a work trip to the area, Kothe brought Averill to lot by the Conoco to share her idea for upgrade.

According to Kothe, the area has always been a parking lot, but the County didn’t have enough money to even pave it. She thought there could be some funding from the state.

“It just turned out there was some money available in a pool, it’s called SB 228, that had to be used for transit. So it was almost like perfect timing, and there were no what they call “shovel ready” projects on the Western Slope except for ours, so we got the money,” says Kothe.

The timing of the project is something Mike McVaugh, Director for District 5 of CDOT, also notes at the ceremony.

 “This is only the second transit project to be completed in the state [with SB 228 funds], the first in Region 5, so we feel really good that everyone was ready, that timing was right, to really pull this together and take advantage of funding that was available statewide and we have this wonderful project here today,” McVaugh says.

San Miguel County got around $1.5 million of State funding to update the lot, although Kothe notes that they came in under budget.

The lot at Society Turn has been used as a parking lot for years, but now, the new transit center has around 120 paved spaces. It’s a stop for the Galloping Goose, SMART buses, and the Bustang Outrider. There are restrooms, and even several charging stations for electric vehicles, all powered by solar panels. Kothe says she hopes both locals and visitors alike will take advantage of the extra parking.

“The hope is really that people, even locals, they might opt to park here and hop on the Galloping Goose to get into town, because then they also don’t have to worry about parking in town. But mostly we envision it as a transit center for regional transportation, and maybe even a transfer station where people might get off a bus that’s come up from Montrose…and hope on a bus that will then take them up to Mountain Village,” Kothe says.

The Lawson Hill Parking and Transit Center officially opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony on May 29th, and bagpipes to mark the occasion.