Rhiwan Williams and Drew Drake from Kirstie Strate’s fifth-grade class demonstrated their robotic project Friday at Meeker Elementary School. Fellow team member Haley Rippy, from Keri Grieser’s class, is not pictured. The robotics project, taught by Ann Bailey, takes 45 minutes a week for eight weeks to teach coding to[Read More…]
Author: editor
Road and bridge questions claim dump fees have increased
RBC | There haven’t been any increases to landfill dump fees in Rio Blanco County for nearly a decade. In fact, the county last changed its rates in 2009. A letter from Eagle River Water Services, providers of residential trash services in Meeker for the last four months, indicates that[Read More…]
New ambulance for Meeker Fire
MEEKER | The Rio Blanco Fire Protection District has a new ambulance. The state-of-the-art 2017 vehicle includes a powered stretcher that can be loaded and unloaded at the push of a button, improving patient comfort and safety while protecting the well-being of first responders. The vehicle has four-point safety harnesses for[Read More…]
UPDATED: Fatal crash on Hwy. 13 south of Meeker
The following official press release from the Colorado State Patrol was released late Friday night: On Friday, March 16, at approximately 10:14 a.m., local emergency personnel were dispatched to a three-vehicle crash on Colorado Highway 13 near milepost 35, approximately five miles south of Meeker. A gray 2011 Dodge Caliber[Read More…]
It’s Sunshine Week—why that matters {Editor’s Column}
Government works best under the glare of public scrutiny. Absent such scrutiny, abuses occur.” ~Stephen Hawking A world-renowned physicist, Hawking passed away this week. His quote seems especially timely during Sunshine Week—when journalists remind everyone how vital it is that government activities be open and accessible to the public and[Read More…]
County’s new planner settles in
RBC | It’s been “about a month” since the Rio Blanco County Board of Commissioners named Rachel Gates as the new county planner. The county has contracted with Phil Vaughan of Rifle for several years to fulfill its planning needs and will retain his services as needed to assist Gates. Gates[Read More…]
Bighorn sheep, wolves topics of discussion for woolgrowers
RBC | Colorado lamb is considered the “gold standard” in American lamb, according to Rio Blanco County Woolgrowers Association vice-president Tony Theos at the annual RBC Woolgrowers meeting March 2, and the price of wool continues to climb. But most of the discussion in the meeting revolved around other species: bighorn[Read More…]
Wildlife Services could provide help with nuisance wildlife in county
MEEKER | Meeker’s trustees heard a presentation regarding nuisance wildlife and predator control efforts at the regular meeting Tuesday. County Commissioner Si Woodruff introduced David Moreno, the district superintendent for USDA Wildlife Services, and two Wildlife Services specialists: Justin Ewing who is contracted with Rio Blanco County Woolgrowers for predator control,[Read More…]
How to kill your newspaper {Editor’s Column}
Most everyone I talk to agrees with me (at least to my face) about the importance of having a local newspaper, yet we’re often guilty of systematically destroying the very thing we say has value to our towns. I’m not talking about the mainstream media entities recently threatened by a[Read More…]
Tomato plant blooms right where it landed
MEEKER | A batch of fringed sagebrush seedlings grace a table in the greenhouse at the Upper Colorado Environmental Plant Center (UCEPC), located on the mesa south of Meeker. The UCEPC focuses the majority of its attention on growing and testing seed varieties of native plants—mostly grasses and shrubs—but this[Read More…]
Guarding the freedom of the press {Editor’s Column}
Our commissioners, after careful consideration, have suspended their support of Senate Bill 18-156, a vote for which I am grateful, and you should be, too. But why, you ask, does it matter? We’ve got horrific gun violence on one hand and sports teams going to regionals on the other. Where[Read More…]
County approves update to traffic code; higher fines on the horizon
RBC | The county’s IT and communications director, Blake Mobley, informed the board of county commissioners Monday he has accepted a position with Mammoth Networks to help with “Project Thor,” an eight-county fiber network in development across Northwest Colorado, and other broadband projects similar to the one he spearheaded for Rio[Read More…]
