News

• A Vision for the West End
• West End Roundup with San Miguel Basin Forum
• The Book Battle is Back

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A Vision for the West End

The West End of San Miguel and Montrose counties is a dynamic and ever-changing place, but a vision for the region’s future is beginning to come into focus.

“When we went and we were looking at the economy shifting from the coal mine and the pressures coming from down valley, we really wanted to ensure we weren’t making decisions for our community without our community,” said Makayla Gordon, executive director of the West End Economic Development Corporation.

For more than a year, the organization, known as WEEDC, has worked with the nonprofit planning group Community Builders to create the West End Vision Plan — a roadmap and guiding framework for development in the region.

The groups hosted more than 100 community meetings and gathered input from about 700 residents to help shape the plan.

“We wanted to make sure that we’re preserving what matters most to our community,” Gordon said. “Making sure that our values and our goals are at the root of everything we do.”

On Wednesday, Gordon and Mackinzi Taylor of Community Builders met with the Norwood Board of Trustees to ask the town to adopt the plan.

Taylor said the plan identifies five core values for the region.

“We see them as the heart of the plan, but they provide this steady point of agreement,” Taylor said. “When there’s tough decisions or tradeoffs you’re grappling with, the values are that thing you can go back to and say ‘this is what the community really cares about.’”

The values include small-town solidarity, being rural by choice, living with the land, foundations for a prosperous future and charting the region’s own course.

From there, the plan outlines a series of visions and goals tied to those values.

“A vital and viable community that has access to healthcare and services,” Taylor said. “A community that has choices for housing at price points that work for local incomes.”

The plan also calls for a strong regional economy that is stable and diverse, where local businesses, industry and the workforce can thrive.

“Growth that’s managed, that’s at the pace you set,” Taylor said. “Balanced use of your public lands and natural resources.”

Other goals include pathways to success through high-quality schools and libraries and maintaining a vibrant community character that celebrates the region’s history.

“And one that has strong trust and civic health and dialogue,” Taylor said.

The plan identifies 45 strategies aimed at achieving those goals.

Despite the range of recommendations, Gordon and Taylor said the plan does not create regulations for local governments. Instead, it provides guidance for communities as they consider future development.

The Norwood Board of Trustees expressed support for the effort. Norwood Mayor Candy Meehan thanked WEEDC and Community Builders for their work.

“Thank you for giving the foundation,” Meehan said. “We are excited about taking this and making this document live for us.”

The Norwood Board of Trustees unanimously voted to adopt the West End Vision Plan.

The communities of Norwood, Nucla and Naturita, along with San Miguel and Montrose counties, plan to continue working together as they begin implementing the plan.

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West End Roundup with San Miguel Basin Forum

Today on the West End Roundup with the San Miguel Basin forum KOTO’s news team chats with editor Regan Tuttle. In today’s headlines: the West End hopes for more snow, Nucla school receives grant for greenhouse, and Mustang boys head to state.

Story begins at 3:40.

A recent snowstorm brought much needed precipitation to the region, but we’re still looking at a dry summer. Tuttle has more on what that means for ranchers.

Tuttle: I think we all know that the lack of snow and precipitation is getting people worried. We at the Forum reached out to some local ranchers to get their take on what it’s looking like.

Mont Snyder, a longtime local rancher from a multi-generational ranching family in Norwood who runs Mex & Sons, said he wasn’t really sure last Friday after looking at the latest data on snowpack, but he’s worried. He said it’s very depressing for anybody who’s farming and ranching right now.

Last year, Mex & Sons had to buy almost all of their hay, and it looks like that’s going to be the same for next year, Snyder said. He said it really depends on March. This is a critical time for what’s going to happen.

When asked if people are going to sell or downsize their herds, he said probably.

Snyder suggested that the Forum talk to Bobby Starks, the ditch rider for the Lone Cone. Starks was more hopeful. He said he had been monitoring the SNOTEL, which was at 10 inches, and that it really takes about 14 inches of precipitation to fill the Gurley. He said that also depends on conditions, like whether it’s hot or windy and how quickly things are melting. He said he is really hoping for March weather.

Back in Nucla, Dean Nasland, the ditch rider for the Colorado Cooperative Company’s CCC Ditch, said it’s going to be what it’s going to be. Realistically, he said, the West End is sitting at about 50% of snowpack. As he looks at the high country and the low country, he’s concerned.

Nasland also noted that the river was up last week, running at 100 cubic feet per second, and that’s concerning. He said he thinks it’s getting warmer earlier, and that there’s going to be a call on the San Miguel River, which will affect people who live upcountry. He said a few ranches on Last Dollar and some others will be affected. He said it doesn’t get really chaotic with the San Miguel, but probably the water commissioner will put a call on so that those older decrees get to use the water that’s available.

The Nucla Middle and High School recently received a grant to support a greenhouse and agricultural place-based learning. Tuttle explains.

Tuttle: Our freelancer, Raquel Johnson, reported on this new venture.

Nucla Middle School High School received a $5,000 grant. Principal Josh Ledford went to Denver two weeks ago to receive the grant, which he accepted February 20. The grant comes from the Colorado Garden Foundation and will support a greenhouse project that is already under construction. The foundation is being laid and groundwork is underway.

Once the greenhouse is complete, the grant will fund a business component for students, including supplies such as seeds, soil, and other tools. Students will grow their own fruits, vegetables, and flowers, with the greenhouse supporting these efforts.

Local businesses and community volunteers are involved. Jen Nelson, with the Apple Corps project, has served as a guest teacher for many agriculture classes and is supporting Brianne Bonacquista, who is heading up the greenhouse project and related business activities. Bodie Johansson has been assisting with construction ideas, including a climate battery, an insulating resource that will help regulate temperature and teach students about physics.

Principal Ledford said the project is a great opportunity for students and expressed excitement that the community has bought in. More activity is expected this spring and summer, with the greenhouse, the business component, and hands-on learning opportunities allowing students to grow their own food and flowers.

The Nucla Mustangs boys’ basketball team is headed to the state tournament. Tuttle shares the excitement.

Tuttle: The team left Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. with a big send-off. With a 25-0 record, they swept the league and are on fire. The community is excited, and the players are thrilled.

The team is made up of Norwood and Nucla players, and from the beginning they wondered what it would be like to go undefeated. Coach Mike Rummel said the players have been committed. They swept the regional tournament, beating DeBeque in the finals 55-44 and executing the game just as they planned.

The players are riding a big wave of momentum, but they were disappointed that the girls’ team did not advance. The girls finished 21-2 and were narrowly defeated in the regional finals. The guys had hoped the girls could join them at the state tournament so both teams could participate together after strong seasons.

Fans are enthusiastic, and community support has been overwhelming. Nucla hosted the regional tournament as a top-seeded team, welcoming several visiting teams and drawing heavy traffic to the town last weekend.

The boys’ team is headed to Greeley, and Rummel hopes that people from West End communities who can travel will come to support the team and bring energy. The players are excited for the next stage of competition.

The San Miguel Basin Forum is a locally owned and operated newspaper out of Nucla Colorado. Visit SanMiguelBasinForum.com for biweekly news, events, and local happenings in the West End.

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The Book Battle is Back

The biggest literary competition of the year is returning to the Wilkinson Public Library.

The library’s annual Book Battle is back for 2026.

“It’s March Madness for books, basically,” said Jill Wilson, public services director at the Wilkinson Public Library.

“You have your Sweet 16. Your Elite 8. Your Final 4. And then your championship,” Wilson said.

The Book Battle was created by Wilson and Adult Programs Specialist Tiffany Osborne.

“We want everybody to have fun picking teams and having fun making those predictions,” Osborne said. “Not just with basketball, but with books.”

The Book Battle bracket begins with eight pairings. Osborne selected the titles based on what was popular in 2025, what patrons were checking out from the library and what was popular around town. Wilson then created the matchups.

“Similar fiction genres,” Wilson said. “We genrefied our whole fiction section here into historical fiction or best sellers or horror, thrillers. Just trying to pick books that were in a similar genre of fiction.”

Osborne said Wilson’s matchups make the choices difficult.

“It’s hard because when you have the Great Big Beautiful Life against Atmosphere, I don’t know,” Osborne said. “Emily Henry against Taylor Jenkins Reid. How could she do that to us? I don’t even know what is going to happen.”

Other first-round matchups include The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny against Buckeye, The Correspondent versus Broken Country, What Kind of Paradise versus So Far Gone, and Beautiful Ugly against Onyx Storm.

Of course, participants must submit a bracket to compete.

“The most important is to submit your predations,” Wilson said. “So just like you would if you were doing a March Madness bracket, you submit your predictions of who’s going to win each matchup. So you have to do that. Then after that it’s going down. You’re going to start voting for your favorites and everybody will be voting for their favorite.”

Participants must submit their brackets by Monday, March 16. Voting will take place from March 17 through April 6, with the 2026 Book Battle winner crowned Tuesday, April 7.

Bracket predictions and voting are available at telluridelibrary.org.

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Celebrating Pi Day 3.14 Steps at a Time

Saturday marks March 14 — 3.14 — a regular day for some and Pi Day for others.

For Rico resident Paul Hearding, the date carries a different meaning.

Hearding holds the U.S. record for the most memorized digits of pi. He first claimed the title in March 2020 and then broke his own record last year when he recited 30,448 digits of pi, moving closer to the world record of 70,000 digits.

KOTO News spoke with Hearding after he reached the initial milestone. Today, the station is rebroadcasting that story, which originally aired in March 2020.

Story beings at 13:45.

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Sober Karaoke Night Returns to Norwood

Dust off the microphone and warm up your vocal cords. Sober Karaoke is returning to Norwood by popular demand.

Sponsored by Norwood Park and Recreation, the event offers a space for people to sing and have fun in a safe community environment.

Sober Karaoke Night will take place at the Livery in Norwood on Friday, March 13, from 7 to 9:30 p.m.

The event is free and open to all ages. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own nonalcoholic beverages.

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Warm Winter Could Impact Wildlife Behavior

Wildlife behavior in the Rocky Mountains could be affected by the unusually warm and dry winter.

The warmth influences the areas animals spend time in, and precipitation plays a big role in what food is available at what times.

Joey Livingston, with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said once the state reaches mid-April and May, officials will have a better sense of just how much of an impact this winter had on wildlife populations.

“That’s when we’ll really know things like, when it’s warm enough to start those plants growing, and then it freezes and it can wipe out a lot of that natural food. That’s one of the main things that we usually look out for,” Livingston said.

He said the effects will likely be most obvious in bear behavior.

If we get a late freeze and another thaw cycle, that could hurt the amount of food available to bears and push them into human communities in search of food.

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Custom-mixed weight-loss drugs could face new regulations under a proposal moving through the statehouse, according to reporting from the Colorado Capitol News Alliance’s Rae Solomon.

Weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro are all the rage. In recent years, low supplies and the high cost of brand-name versions have led more people to buy their doses from compounding pharmacies — companies that mix custom drugs from chemical ingredients that aren’t under FDA authority.

Democratic Sen. Iman Jodeh of Aurora is sponsoring a bill to set up state regulations. She said it’s meant to ensure those popular compounded weight-loss drugs are just as safe as their FDA-regulated brand-name counterparts.

“The bill simply wants to make sure compounding pharmacies are sourcing their ingredients from FDA sources,” Jodeh said.

Opponents argued compounding pharmacies are already safe and that new regulations could make the drugs too expensive for people who need them.

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Mobile Food Market Looks to Address Food Insecurity

Across the Mountain West, many rural communities are struggling with food insecurity, whether it’s the distance to the grocery store, a lack of transportation, or the cost of food itself.

For Rocky Mountain Community Radio, KLZR’s Stefanie Sere reports on how one rural Colorado community is trying to help those who are struggling

Story beings at 21:35.