Niki Turner | The Herald Times

Meeker

Split vote ends fall grazing, keeps spring calving in Ute Park

MEEKER | In a split vote that had to be decided by Mayor Kent Borchard, Meeker’s Board of Trustees approved a lease for the use of Ute Park for cattle grazing only during the spring calving season. In past years — since the Town purchased the property — there has[Read More…]

February 5, 2021 by Niki Turner Comments are Disabled

Community spread boosts case counts

RBC | With new case counts remaining high, Rio Blanco County recorded its 401st positive COVID-19 case on Monday, Jan. 25, with some of the highest active case counts since the spike in November. As of Monday, there were 42 active cases in Meeker and 34 in Rangely. Six residents[Read More…]

January 27, 2021 by Niki Turner Comments are Disabled

County

Buffalo Horn decision issued

RBC | It’s been a lengthy process, but the Bureau of Land Management, White River Field Office, has issued a decision to approve a land exchange with Buffalo Horn Properties, LLC. The parcels are in the Strawberry Creek and Smith Gulch areas in Rio Blanco and Moffat counties. In 2011,[Read More…]

January 22, 2021 by Niki Turner Comments are Disabled

Editor’s Column: Changing our minds

The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind. ~ William blake Change is hard, and perhaps no kind of change is more difficult than that of changing our own minds. Our opinions are rooted in what we believe, and we are[Read More…]

January 21, 2021 by Niki Turner Comments are Disabled

Meeker

Trustees divided on Ute Park use

MEEKER | In the decade-plus since the Town of Meeker purchased the property just west of town now known as Ute Park, defining the property’s use — park or pasture — has been an annual debate. “We have this discussion every year about how the livestock and the people can[Read More…]

January 20, 2021 by Niki Turner Comments are Disabled

RBC COVID-19 cases spike as state vaccination plans change

RBC | Both Meeker and Rangely are seeing spikes in positive COVID-19 cases, and an increase in the number of residents requiring hospitalization. As of Monday, six local residents, ranging in age from their 50s to 80s, were being treated at Pioneers Medical Center in Meeker. RBC Public Health Director[Read More…]

January 20, 2021 by Niki Turner Comments are Disabled

County

Just Transition action plan released

RBC | Instability in the energy industry comes as no surprise. For decades energy market volatility drove the economic boom and bust cycles that shaped the landscape of northwest Colorado for better or worse. As changing technologies and a shifting focus toward renewable energies begin to take a heavy toll[Read More…]

January 15, 2021 by Niki Turner Comments are Disabled

Meeker

Town considers code changes

MEEKER | In the first official Board of Trustees meeting for 2021, the town reviewed a proposed assessment and design of the White River corridor through town, completed in conjunction with the Eastern Rio Blanco Metropolitan Recreation and Park District and SWCA Environmental Consulting out of Broomfield, Colorado. The study[Read More…]

January 8, 2021 by Niki Turner Comments are Disabled

Editor’s Column: Maybe politics shouldn’t be a profit game

Anyone who thought politics was a slow-moving game, or dreadfully dull, has had that idea challenged this year. Now almost every political race is a neck-and-neck battle to the finish line (if a finish line can ever be agreed upon… how I miss those simpler times). It’s exciting when a[Read More…]

January 8, 2021 by Niki Turner 1 comment

Walk-in vaccine clinics start today for 1B tier

RBC | Changes made to the state’s vaccination roll-out plan last Wednesday that added additional groups of people to Tier 1B have created new opportunities for vaccination distribution. “Supply chains have been able to get allocations out sooner than expected,” said RBC Public Health Director Alice Harvey. “We have 300[Read More…]

January 7, 2021 by Niki Turner Comments are Disabled

State changes vaccination tier schedule

After press time Wednesday, the state announced surprise changes that will expand the number of people who qualify for a COVID-19 vaccination in Tier 1B. Tier 1A included highest risk health care workers and long-term care facility staff and residents. The new 1B tier includes Coloradans age 70+, moderate-risk health[Read More…]

January 1, 2021 by Niki Turner Comments are Disabled

Editor’s Column: Good Riddance, 2020

When the pandemic kicked off last spring I said I thought this event was going to leave a mark. Little did I know at that point how deep that mark would go. I’m chalking 2020 up as the second worst year of my life (second only because no one in[Read More…]

December 31, 2020 by Niki Turner Comments are Disabled