Governor Bill Ritter cancels Rangely trip

RANGELY — Colorado Northwestern Community College President John Boyd will have to take a raincheck.
Boyd was all set to host Gov. Bill Ritter during a visit to the CNCC campus last Saturday, but, due to weather conditions, the governor’s scheduled appearance was canceled.
Backing out was understandable, given the snowstorm that hit much of northwest Colorado, Boyd said, but he’s not letting the governor off the hook that easily. He plans to hold the governor to his promise to visit the Rangely campus at a later date.
“We said we still expected him to make this trip, and his aide said they certainly intended to,” Boyd said. “But it may be awhile.”
No new date was set for when the governor would travel to the western end of Rio Blanco County, but Boyd is optimistic it will happen. He just doesn’t know when.
“We expect that he will get here,” Boyd said. “And, you know, maybe next time he’ll have even more time (to spend in Rangely.)”
Boyd had invited the governor to stop in Rangely on his way to Grand Junction, where he had been slated to speak at last Saturday’s meeting of Club 20, a lobbying group for the Western Slope. But the governor had to back out of that appearance, too, because of the weather.
Ritter has visited the CNCC campus in Craig, but not in Rangely, Boyd said, adding the lieutenant governor, Barbara O’Brien, had been to the Rangely campus.
Hopefully, the weather will cooperate next time the governor is scheduled for a visit, Boyd said.
“That’s spring in the Rockies,” the CNCC president said. “You never know what you will get. But we’ll catch him next time.”
You can bet Boyd won’t let the governor forget.