Staff

If you would like to contact a member of the staff directly, the following is their e-mail information. You can also reach them at 970.878.4017 or 970.675.5033.

Bobby Gutierrez, editor
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Deb Pettijohn, subscriptions, classifieds, legal notices, display ads and billing
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Debbie Watson, classifieds, display ads and billing
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Tonya Morris, ad and page design, Colorado Hunting Club GM
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Niki Turner, Meeker town beat, proofreader, ad design
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Mitch Bettis, publisher
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Recent Popular Stories

Mayor, town manager appeal for Rangely to house justice center

RANGELY I Feeling that his town has been left out of consideration for too long, Rangely Mayor Frank Huitt believes the Early Education Center, which is now for sale by Rangely School Ditrict RE-4, would make an ideal location for the new Rio Blanco County Justice Center. “It seems the people in Meeker can’t decide [...]

The courtyard outside Rangely Town Hall is currently under construction to replace the old fountain and spruce up the area. When complete, the area outside the front of the town office building will be complete with more benches for sitting in the shade. This is just one of many projects facing Rangely town officials this summer.

Rangely has large number of summer projects to complete for summer

RANGELY I Several projects begun by the Town of Rangely in recent weeks will finish up in the next month, others will begin or continue into the summer and the first of three water treatment facility renovation phases will be complete by summer’s end. A total reconstruction of curbs, gutters and sidewalks, along with a [...]

The Rangely Hurricanes kicked off their 2013 swim season with a team victory over squads from Craig and Steamboat at their annual swim meet this past weekend. With several new faces on the team, 28 swimmers ranging in ages 7 to 18 represented the Hurricanes as they swam to their championship. There were a number of great performances over the weekend including three state long-course qualifying times by Patrick Scoggins. The team will next compete at the Jackalope Pentathlon in Douglas, Wyo., where nine of the older swimmers will be competing against some of the best swimmers from north of the border.

Rangely swim program builds confidence, teaches humility

RANGELY I During the summer, 15-year-old Angelica “Geli” Brown puts in about three-and-a-half hours in the pool each day. Depending on her team’s schedule, she’ll swim “ladders,” or sets of increasingly longer lengths, to build endurance. Brown will do multiple sprints of 100 or 200 meters, with just seconds of rest in between. Following two [...]

Members of the Meeker High School Class of 1953 held their 60th class reunion during the weekend as part of the Old Timers’ Dinner and Dance at the Freeman E. Fairfield Center in Meeker. The reunion was coordinated by Dale and Emma Lou Frisby and included classmates Fred Hahn, Zane and Jacklyn Gray, Ernie and Judy Coats, Ann Schram and Rodney Smith.

More than 200 area pioneers take part in Old Timers’ dinner, dance

MEEKER I More than 200 Rio Blanco County Pioneers Association members, including many former Meeker residents from across the nation, traveled to Meeker on Saturday for the 101st “Centennial Plus 1” Old Timers’ reunion dinner and dance held at the Fairfield Community Center. Rio Blanco County Pioneers Association co-presidents Kay and Bob Bivens extended a [...]

CNCC Foundation Dinner raises more than $39,000

Roughly 170 persons attended the annual Colorado Northwestern Community College Foundation fundraising dinner Saturday at the Weiss Activities Center on campus. The amount of money raised at the event, which included dinner, a no-host bar and an auction, was $39,646, which goes to the foundation. Several awards were presented and gifts given by CNCC President [...]

The second doubleheader between Rio Blanco County’s two high school baseball teams was supposed to be played in Meeker, but, because of a wet field, the games were played in Rangely on Saturday, when the Panthers won both as they did in the first doubleheader. Playing for the Panthers this year are, in back, coach Gary Denny, coach West Torsell, Chad Bolding, Gabe Garcia, Cameron Enterline, Bryson Palacios, Layne Mecham, Jimmie Sherman, Tobie Gasper, Josh Bolding, coach Jeremy Lohry and coach Paul Fortunato. In front, Fredy Ruiz, Manny Madrid, Kelton Elam, Kiki Ruiz, Jessy Powell and Kaulan Brady.

Panthers take out Cowboys, twice

RBC I On Saturday, the Meeker baseball team played what was supposed to be the first home games of the season against the Rangley Panthers, but the games were moved to Rangley after the Meeker fields were subject to rain and snow. The first game was played by Meeker starters Alex Smith, Tanner Matrisciano, Jeremy [...]

Dressed in their Sunday finest are Mary Ann, Sally and Pauline Wilbur. All three girls have fond and vivid memories of family life growing up and the hard work that was involved in getting by without a lot of money to spend.

Work ethic, good sense, class define Wilbur family

MEEKER I Many people in Meeker are fortunate to have homesteaded land passed down through generations. The work it took to turn those homesteads into real homes is difficult to comprehend, but many of those homesteading families have maintained that work ethic and history for generations. These families have held fast to the foundational beliefs [...]

April 27: Drug take-back and bike auction

MEEKER I Meeker Police Department, in conjunction with several state health and law enforcement agencies, will join many cities and towns across the nation with its National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on April 27. As part of the drug take-back event, the MPD will also hold a bicycle auction in which 14 refurbished bikes will [...]

Ten Meeker-area women portrayed members of the area’s pioneer families during the “Pioneer Women in Rio Blanco County” presentation put on by the Rio Blanco County Historical Society on Sunday at Kilowatt Korner in Meeker. Roughly 75 persons attended the program.

Program highlighted area pioneers

MEEKER I The Rio Blanco Historical Society’s “Pioneer Women of Rio Blanco County” program drew more than 70 persons Sunday to enjoy the telling of tales dating back at least decades in county history. The event, which was the historical society’s quarterly meeting, featured a smattering of business, a potluck luncheon and the history presentation [...]

Children’s music recording artist Lois LaFond spent time making music in the tank last week with several Rangely children (from left: Drew Zadra, Zane Wiley and Caleb Wiley). The Friends of the Tank successfully raised more than $46,000 in three weeks to secure and restore the unused water tank for the next generation of sound-makers.

Campaign raises more than $46,000 to save tank

RANGELY I The “Save the Tank” campaign may be over, but the task of saving the tank is just beginning. One year ago, the empty 60-by-30-foot water tank west of Rangely, a recording and performance space for musicians and composers for more than three decades, looked like it would be sold and taken down. By [...]

Sammi Wade, 22, has been listening to artists make music in the tank since she was a child. Last summer, she recorded “Sammi’s Song” with Friends of the Tank organizer Bruce Odland and other musicians. Listen to the clip online at www.tanksounds.org on “The Tank Channel.”

Locals try to save old Rangely tank

RANGELY I When musician and composer Bruce Odland first came to Rangely in 1976, it was the last stop of the Chautauqua Tour, a traveling arts festival funded by the Colorado Council on the Arts and Humanities. Odland carried sound equipment around town for three days, recording the sounds of pump jacks and big rigs, [...]

State champion…

Meeker High School activities director Brett Steinacher, who is a member of the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) wrestling committee, shakes hands with Meeker freshman TJ Shelton before presenting him with his gold medal and championship bracket at the 2013 Colorado State Wrestling Championships. Shelton is the first freshman from Meeker High School to [...]