Why is this such a hard lesson, one we have to learn over and over again throughout our lifetimes? It starts when we’re children, learning about touching hot stoves and going too fast downhill on a bike. By adulthood, hopefully we’ve learned not to touch the hot stove and how[Read More…]
Author: Niki Turner
Reflecting on the death of Laurie French, one year later
RANGELY I A year after the body of Laurie French, 38, was found off County Rd. 23 just outside of Rangely, her family and friends have questions about how her disappearance was handled by law enforcement. EARLY LIFE French was born in California in November 1981 and moved to Grand[Read More…]
Editor’s Column
I wasn’t expecting to like a TV show about sports so much, but the Ted Lasso series on Apple TV has thus far lived up to glowing recommendations from friends and family. In the last few weeks, I keep finding myself coming back to the phrase “do the right thing”[Read More…]
Fire above North Elk Creek
RBC | Tuesday afternoon crews responded to a small fire above North Elk Creek near Smizer Gulch. Jurisdiction has not been fully determined. It is very near private property and the Forest boundary. It is estimated at three acres. Crews will be working on the ground in the area. Helicopters[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: 9/11
The summer before I started high school I took my first trip to New York. The Statue of Liberty was encased in scaffolding that year, but the World Trade Center — the iconic Twin Towers — were open for tourists to visit. For a 14-year-old from rural Colorado, the Top[Read More…]
Proposed congressional redistricting map splits CD3
RBC I Following each 10-year census, congressional districts are redrawn so that each district represents an equal population. Last week, Colorado’s independent redistricting commission released a new map with proposed changes to the current congressional districts. The state currently has seven districts. An eighth district has been proposed on the[Read More…]
EDITOR’S COLUMN: Happy *meteorological* fall
We’ve always wondered if meteorologists — the prognosticators of weather so frequently jeered and abused for inaccurate predictions — lived in some kind of alternate universe. It turns out, they aren’t even operating on the same seasonal calendar as the rest of us. On the Gregorian calendar, the change of[Read More…]
RBCSO explores jail changes
RBC I In an effort to trim its budget in the face of declining revenue, the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office is exploring the feasibility of closing operations at the detention center and contracting with Moffat County to house inmates from RBC. The 2021 budget for the detention center was[Read More…]
Happy 75th Birthday to Rangely!
RANGELY I A special celebration will be part of this year’s Septemberfest festivities: the 75th anniversary of the incorporation of the Town of Rangely on Aug. 15, 1946. The vote to incorporate was 101 in favor, to seven against. Incorporation came during a boom in development and expansion. In 1946,[Read More…]
The long haul
RANGELY I Thanksgiving dinner preparations were underway last November when Rangely’s Wendi Gillard noticed she couldn’t smell the homemade cranberry sauce simmering on the stove or the turkey roasting in the oven. Or anything else. Gillard thought maybe she was just used to the cooking smells from being in the[Read More…]
Recall protest hearing scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 2
RBC | A hearing concerning the protest contesting the sufficiency of the petition to recall Gary Moyer as county commission has been set for Sept. 2, 2021, at 2:30 p.m. at the Rio Blanco County Courthouse in Meeker. The hearing will be live-streamed on the county’s YouTube channel. The hearing[Read More…]
Meeker traffic citations spike with I-70 closure
MEEKER I At its regular meeting Aug. 17, the Town of Meeker’s Board of Trustees heard from Chief of Police Eddy Thompson about traffic on Market Street during the I-70 closures. Traffic citations spiked during the closure of I-70 through Glenwood Canyon. The board also heard from Public Works Superintendent[Read More…]


