News

• The Kids Are Alright
• The Dark Veil of Romance
• A Look Back: Ten Years of Good Curling

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The Kids Are Alright

What is it like to grow up in Telluride? How can adults support young people? There is not a silver bullet for getting that information, but the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey aims to provide some insight.

“It’s the state’s only comprehensive survey on health and wellbeing for students – middle and high school students specifically,” said Dawn Katz with the Communities That Care Coalition, part of Tri-County Health Network.

“We ask students about alcohol and substance use, marijuana use, vaping. They ask about racism, safety, mental health is a big one, sexual health and violence. Then they also ask things physical activity and safety in school and community,” Katz said.

The survey is administered every two years, most recently in fall 2025, and asks more than 100 questions. In the Telluride School District, 229 high school students took the survey, with 159 middle school students participating.

Questions look into risk factors.

“A risk factor refers to any attribute or characteristic of vulnerability that increases the likelihood of a negative outcome or event,” Katz said.

The questions also look at protective factors.

“[Protective factors] are about strengthening resilience by helping young people manage stress and setbacks. It also reduces the impacts of adversity and influences how a child or young person responds to their challenges,” Katz said.

Katz says the big takeaway is that the kids are alright.

“The big broad picture is that our trends are looking considerably well,” Katz said.

That’s not to say there are not challenges. Katz says substance use remains high among students.

“Our students are drinking at twice the state average, and that has been pretty consistent,” Katz said.

Fifty percent of high school students said they had at least one drink of alcohol in the last 30 days. Katz said marijuana and vaping use went down, but cigarette use went up.

When it comes to sexual and dating violence, the numbers are improving. In 2025, 3 percent of students said they were physically forced to have sex. That is down from 6 percent in 2023. Numbers also went down for students who were coerced or unsure if they consented to have sex and students who were emotionally abused in a relationship.

There were several new questions on the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey. One had to do with the use of oral nicotine pouches. Another asked if students had experienced gun violence.

“It was: had been threatened with a gun electronically or in person, witnessed a shooting where they live, or know someone who has been shot by another person during the past 12 months,” Katz said.

Katz says 8 percent of middle school students and 10 percent of high school students said they had experienced this type of violence.

Another new question asked if students had lived with someone with a problem with alcohol use. Nineteen percent of middle school students said yes. Thirty percent of high school students said yes.

While these questions looked at risk factors, Katz says Telluride students are thriving in protective factors.

“When asked if students had a parent or guardian they could go to for help, 85 percent of middle school students reported they did and 90 percent of high school students said the same thing. That was amazing,” Katz said.

Ninety-nine percent of high school students said they feel safe in their neighborhood, and 98 percent of middle school students said the same.

“Those are all really high responses. Even the state commented in a presentation they gave to the school district about how they’ve never seen protective factors so high. So that was a big time to celebrate,” Katz said.

Katz says it is important to lean into those protective factors and create space where young people can engage with adults and the community in meaningful ways.

“Protective factors, when we increase them, when we create these connections and relationships, they feel seen, they feel heard. Any healthy community has healthy young adults and that’s what we want to do,” Katz said.

The survey data does not give a complete picture or definitive answers on what to do, but it is a starting point: a glimpse into where young people in the community are now and an opportunity to make change.

Full survey data is available at the CTC website, telluridectc.com.

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The Dark Veil of Romance

Local author Aggie Unda Tames writes under the pen name A. Unda Tames. She has released a new book, “Dante,” the third installment in the “Dark Veil” series.

The dark romance trilogy features cartels, impact play and power dynamics, with Dante and Mariana at the center.

Unda Tames spoke with KOTO News about the book and feeling all the feels.

Julia Caulfield (JC): Aggie, thank you so much for being here today, taking a couple minutes to chat with me. You have your new book, “Dante,” is out. Can you just share for folks who maybe haven’t read it yet, they didn’t have it on pre-order, what this book is about?

Aggie Unda-Tames (AUT): This is the last book in the Dark Veil Series, and it’s a trilogy. It is a dark romance, it is a cartel romance. It’s the first book, even though I wrote it last, because readers really wanted to know what was happening before. So we have Dante and Mariana as our main characters.

JC: Without giving away too many spoilers, what do we see or learn or experience with Dante in this book?

AUT: Dante is a morally gray character. So throughout the books two and three, we do get to see things that he does that maybe we don’t understand fully why he’s doing them. Some of my readers were 50-50 with I love him and I hate him. And I think going back to book one, really now readers understand why he did the things that he did, which is part of the love of dark romance; understanding the reason behind the things that they do.

JC: With a dark romance, you know, as you said, he is a morally gray character, there may be some sides of this romance that are not the sunshine and rainbows side of things. Why is that a side of romance or a subgenre within romance that you’re drawn to, that you enjoy writing?

AUT: I really enjoy writing this for several reasons. One of them, it does give me a lot of creative ways of expressing it. There’s a lot of escapism that a reader wants to experience in a safe way. And probably even me as a writer, I get to experience those things in a safe environment. Please do check all the trigger warnings because mental health is very important. And this is a dark romance that contains organized crime and cartel, some impact play, intense power imbalances, grief. So do check trigger warnings, not only before reading “Dante,” but before reading any dark romance.

JC: What do you hope for folks who do read the book, obviously like a fun time, that they get out of it? Or what do you hope that they’re able to experience through this book?

AUT: Feel all the feelings. It’s a book that you get to feel it all. I love it when I read through reviews that they’re like, “I laughed and I cried and I fell in love and my heart got broken.” They’re rooting for like the main character and then they’re screaming. I think experiencing all these feelings is really rewarding. So I really hope that people and readers love that variety of feelings at the same time.

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A Look Back: Ten Years of Good Curling

KOTO News was recently recognized by the Colorado Broadcasters Association for excellence in news programming in 2025. Today, we’re highlighting one of KOTO’s award-winning stories from last year.

This story, originally broadcast in March 2025, recognizes 10 years of the Telluride Curling Club.

Find all of KOTO News’ featured stories here.

Story begins at 9:45.

Megan and JD Wise were living in Scottsdale, Arizona, during the 2010 Winter Olympics when they saw a sport on TV that caught their eye.

“We started curling during the 2010 Olympic cycle. Like most folks, we were watching on TV and got really interested,” said JD Wise.

“We learned to curl there. Then when we moved to town in 2013, we felt like curling would be a really good fit in Telluride,” he added.

Curling is a game dating back to the 16th century in Scotland. Two teams compete to score points by sliding large stones down the ice toward a target.

“We found our first two sets of stones on a lease-to-own from the Denver Curling Club, and lo and behold, we were able to get the club started in 2015. We had two sheets and ran our first mini leagues and had a lot of interest and excitement in curling,” JD Wise said.

Ten years later, the Telluride Curling Club has grown to 80 league members. The club offers two adult leagues and a youth program. It has also sent teams to curling competitions, known as bonspiels.

This weekend, Telluride Curling is hosting a party in Mountain Village to celebrate its 10-year anniversary.

The rules of curling are relatively simple. Two teams compete on a lane of ice – called a sheet.

“Each team throws eight stones,” said Patty Jen Arndt, skip for the Sweeping Beauties (curling team name, Jersey Curl). She has been curling with the club since the beginning.

“You have a skip who is your head strategist, coach, coming up with how they want the team to play. They’re reading the ice, and they try to coach the team on where to place the stones. Everyone throws two stones, and the other two who aren’t throwing are sweeping,” Arndt explained.

The aim is to get your team’s stones into the house – essentially a bull’s-eye. The team with the closest stone to the center – or button – wins points. The winning team gets one point for each stone that is closer to the button than the other team’s closest stone.

While the rules are straightforward, JD and Megan Wise, the other co-founder of Telluride Curling, note there’s always the urge to keep going.

“There’s a tremendous amount of strategy that’s also part of the game. Curling is sometimes called chess on ice. There’s always another level you can take it,” JD Wise said.

“Throwing the stone is kind of this finesse. It’s kind of like golf, where if you get a good shot, you want to do it again. You’re hooked. It’s trying to get the speed of not throwing it too fast or too slow, too far or too light, getting it just right. When you get it, you want to keep coming back,” Megan Wise added.

But it’s not just the game itself that creates the curling culture. There’s an affinity for fun team names:

“The Sweeping Beauties, I Swept with Your Wife, The Telluride Stoners, The Jud Sweepies, Sweep Caroline, and many, many more. I could go on forever,” Megan Wise said.

There’s also camaraderie. Curling welcomes everyone. Logan Cormier is on the Gorronhoe’s. He’s new to curling this year and signed up with some of his friends.

“I’m from Louisiana, so we don’t have any of this stuff. Being from Louisiana, doing this, I never thought about doing it. We wanted to find a new activity besides skiing and snowboarding. So, we came along, started playing,” Cormier said.

“You always want to encourage your team and the other team. There’s very little heckling in curling. You cheer a good shot to your opponent, as well as your team. One of the most important rules is that the winning team buys drinks for the losing team. We also start and end the game with a wish of ‘good curling’ to the other team,” Megan Wise said.

The Telluride Curling Club 10th Anniversary Celebration will take place on Saturday, March 8, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the ice rink in Mountain Village. The celebration is free and open to all ages.

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Lyrics and Poetry with Joan Shapiro

The wind so fierce,

the snowflakes fair,

and winter’s song

is everywhere.

The air so cold,

the snow so deep;

the hint of spring

so bittersweet.

A stand of bud,

a branch outstretched,

resisting winter’s

icy breath.

The sun now warm,

the air now sweet,

bringing winter’s

slow defeat.

I feel my heart

lift like a song.

My breath returns

in springtime thaw.

Yet breath and life

renew the pain

of never seeing

you again.

I long for winter’s

dreamlike sleep;

my thoughts of you

so bittersweet.

* Bittersweet, Joan Shapiro

Joan Shapiro is a Ridgway poet and lyricist.

Shapiro is the featured poet for this month’s Talking Gourds Stories and Poems event.

At the event, Shapiro will give a presentation on creating lyrics for songs. Attendees are encouraged to bring a poem to share, whether their own or someone else’s. For those looking for a prompt, the theme this month is “Singing to the Moon.”

The April Stories and Poems night will take place Tuesday, April 21, at 5:30 p.m. at the Wilkinson Public Library.

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Candidates Run for SMPA Board

The San Miguel Power Association is the region’s local electric cooperative. SMPA is overseen by a board of directors elected by its membership — anyone who has purchased power from SMPA and resides in the service area.

Directors serve four-year terms and are elected based on their geographic district. This year, SMPA is electing board members for its 3rd and 6th districts.

In District 3, incumbent Dave Alexander is running against challenger Joanna Yonder. District 3 includes parts of Montrose, San Miguel, Ouray, Dolores and San Juan counties, including Dunton, Norwood, Placerville, Rico and Sawpit.

Two candidates are also running in District 6 — incumbent Valentine Szwarc is facing Tricia Savage. District 6 covers part of Ouray County, including Ridgway and parts of Log Hill.

SMPA voters in districts 3 and 6 have several options for submitting their ballots. Voters can use a secure online ballot, send a ballot by mail, or drop it off at the SMPA office in Ridgway. More information is available at smpa.com.

All ballots must be received by 5:30 p.m. June 3. Results will be announced at the end of SMPA’s annual meeting on June 4.

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Region Faces Drought Amid El Niño Uncertainty

Much of the Rocky Mountain West is in a state of drought after one of the warmest winters on record, including a record-shattering March heat wave.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, San Miguel County is in extreme drought, with snow levels in the Upper San Juan Basin at 14% of normal.

Forecasters are predicting a super El Niño weather pattern over the Pacific Ocean, which could bring more moisture to the Southwest later in the summer and fall.

Seth Arens, a scientist with the Western Water Assessment, said while a strong El Niño could be good news, there are still many unknowns.

He said 1983, one of the strongest water years on record for the Colorado River, came in the midst of a strong El Niño, but climate change has altered conditions since then.

“The temperatures would probably be three degrees Fahrenheit warmer at least. So even if we got that same amount of precipitation, the reservoirs wouldn’t go up as much, and the stream flow wouldn’t be quite as high because not as much of that would fall on snow. The soils are drier than they were in 1983,” Arens said.

He said in addition to drought and water supplies, the lack of snow could also mean a more severe wildfire season for much of the Western United States.

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Lawmakers Advance Bill Addressing Prison Overcrowding

A proposal from legislative Democrats to adjust Colorado’s response to prison overcrowding passed its first hearing at the State Capitol Monday.

As Kyle McKinnon reports for the Colorado Capitol News Alliance, Colorado activated its emergency prison population management plan for the first time last August, but lawmakers say it hasn’t done much to free up space.

Currently, the plan kicks in when prisons are more than 97% full for 30 days. The bill would activate it sooner—when prisons are more than 96% full.

The Department of Corrections would have to notify the governor, the legislature and law enforcement agencies within 48 hours after the inmate population hits the threshold.

Under the bill, the plan would also speed up parole reviews for people in low-security facilities and address delays for certain people already approved for parole.

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North Fork Valley Finds Community Through Classical Choir

In the North Fork Valley on Colorado’s Western Slope, a group of volunteers come together regularly to make music.

They set aside busy schedules and drive long distances to sing in a local classical choir.

As KVNF’s Brody Wilson reports for Rocky Mountain Community Radio, the group is fostering a sense of community for singers and listeners alike.

Story beings at 20:15.