News

• Telluride Launches Business Relief Program
• Comedy Fest Brings the Laughter
• Cat Movie Fisher with Risho Unda

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Telluride Launches Business Relief Program

Local governments are working to support the community and businesses during the current uncertain economic landscape.

This week, the Town of Telluride launched its Targeted Business Stabilization Assistance Program.

Councilmember Elena Levin outlined how the program works at a Town Council meeting in January. She said distributing the support is a challenge because there is not enough money to fully close the gap for all businesses impacted by the ski resort closure.

“We wish that it was easier, there was more money, but given the limits of what we have available we tried to be really intentional and thoughtful about the process by which we distribute it,” Levin said.

The Town of Telluride allocated $400,000 for business support.

Levin said the goal of the program is to provide limited, one-time stabilization support to locally owned Telluride businesses that saw disproportionate impacts during the resort closure.

“The use of the funds is for fixed operating costs only. That’s things like rent or mortgages, utilities, insurance, and required fees associated with operating a business,” she said.

Levin said not all businesses will receive funding. The maximum award is $10,000 per business.

“This assistance is not intended to make businesses whole, replace lost revenue, or fully offset the economic impacts of the disruption,” she said.

To qualify, a business must be locally owned.

“We want to see some kind of physical presence. A brick and mortar, or service businesses with a physical presence in Telluride will qualify. Home-based businesses are eligible only if they’re storefront facing or customer serving,” Levin said.

Businesses also need to demonstrate revenue impact during the closure.

“This is to acknowledge that not all businesses will have experienced a hardship during the labor dispute. We want to make sure this aid is for the businesses who have shown hardship,” she said.

The town will use a point system to determine how much — if any — support a business qualifies for, looking at revenue impact, fixed-cost burden and employment impact.

Region 10, a regional nonprofit that supports local governments, will process and score the applications.

Levin reiterated that the goal is not to make businesses whole, but to help.

“We also talked about, if this $400,000 gets split into too many pieces it helps no one. $50 in everyone’s pocket – that’s a made-up number – really doesn’t get to the point to this money, which is to be stabilizing money for businesses that need it the most. That’s why we tried to have these qualifying factors so we’re not splitting this pie into so many pieces that nobody’s actually getting a bite,” she said.

Businesses can find the application at bit.ly/totbusinessrelief. The application will remain open through Sunday, Feb. 22. Businesses will be notified of their award on Monday, March 2.

In addition to the business support, the Town of Telluride allocated an additional $100,000 to the Good Neighbor Fund and nearly $400,000 to the Telluride Tourism Board and Colorado Flights Alliance for tourism and marketing efforts.

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Comedy Fest Brings the Laughter

Laughter will ricochet through the canyon this weekend with the 26th annual Telluride Comedy Festival.

Jeb Berrier, the mastermind behind the festival, stopped by KOTO to share what’s in store. He began with a preview of the sold-out Locals Night.

The 26th annual Telluride Comedy Festival runs Thursday, Feb. 12, through Sunday, Feb. 15. Shows begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at sheridanoperahouse.com.

A special Locals Night stand-up performance in the Show Bar will follow the main show on Thursday, Feb. 12.

Story begins at 4:00.

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Cat Movie Fisher with Risho Unda

Telluride High School’s Risho Unda is back for another installment of Cat Movie Fisher. A segment where he chats with members of the community about their favorite movie. This week he’s talking with Middle High School Librarian Dori Crowe.

Story beings at 8:50.

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Lack of Snow Cancels Butch Cassidy Ski Chase

The race to catch Butch Cassidy will have to wait another year.

The Telluride Nordic Association has canceled the Butch Cassidy Ski Chase due to a lack of snow.

According to organizers, there is not enough snow at the Priest Lake ski area to groom the course, and they cannot predict a large enough snowfall to make the event possible.

The annual ski chase and fun day typically features a variety of events for all ages, ski styles and distances, with an emphasis on community camaraderie rather than competition.

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Mountainfilm to Host Winter Adventure Shorts Fundraiser

Stoke is not reserved for one season — and Mountainfilm is proving it.

Next week, the film festival will host its annual winter fundraiser, featuring an evening of adventure shorts from the 2025 festival lineup.

The program includes “The North Face Presents: Trango,” which follows Jim Morrison and Christina Lustenberger on the first-ever ski descent of Pakistan’s Great Trango Tower. The pair navigate risk, grapple with grief and face physical danger as they push the limits of human experience.

The screening will be followed by a conversation and Q&A with Morrison.

Mountainfilm’s Adventure Shorts Winter Fundraiser will take place Monday, Feb. 16. Doors open at 5 p.m., and the show begins at 6 p.m.

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Colorado Lawmakers Propose Legislation After Evergreen High School Shooting

A group of Colorado Congressional and state lawmakers announced a joint set of legislative proposals on Monday in response to the shooting at Evergreen High School last September.

The measures focus largely on the shooter’s engagement with violent material online ahead of the attack. One proposal from Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen would require social media companies to respond to warrants or court orders tied to potential threats within 72 hours.

State lawmakers are pursuing similar legislation in Colorado.

The announcement comes days after the Jefferson County Sheriff’s office ended its investigation into the Evergreen shooting, with no charges filed against the shooter’s parents.

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Colorado River States Face Deadline Without Agreement

The seven states that rely on the Colorado River have until Saturday to present a plan to the federal government on how to divide the system’s water after 2026.

But as Rocky Mountain Community Radio’s Caroline Llanes reports, water experts expect the deadline will pass without an agreement.

The Lower Basin states — California, Arizona and Nevada — will likely take the majority of the cuts to water usage.

However, they want the Upper Basin states — Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico — to commit to cuts as well, even though the Upper Basin says it already uses less water due to climate change and drought.

Jim Lochhead, who represented Colorado during river negotiations about 20 years ago, said the focus has shifted to short-term measures.

“It’s my understanding that the states are really more focused on a short-term bridge deal right now, as opposed to a longer term deal— and they can’t even agree on that,” Lochhead said.

He said the stalemate in negotiations has created uncertainty for water users, in part because it is unclear how the federal government will respond if the states miss the upcoming deadline.

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Garfield County Residents Push to Restrict Library Books

Books on topics such as race, sex and gender are being removed from libraries across the country.

In Garfield County, a group of residents has been petitioning for about three years to restrict library books with mature themes.

So far, the public library district has not made any changes.

But as Aspen Public Radio and Aspen Journalism’s Eleanor Bennett reports, new leadership changes could shift the library’s approach.

Story beings at 16:55.