By NIKI TURNER | [email protected] MEEKER | If you’ve visited Meeker Family Health in the last six weeks you may have met Tessa Hennesy, a third year CU School of Medicine student completing a rotation in family medicine. During the third year, medical school students get to test out different[Read More…]
Author: Niki Turner
The life of a mail ballot
By NIKI TURNER | [email protected] RBC | Voting by mail has been a hot topic in this year’s election, complete with errors and innuendos about the safety and veracity of the process coming from multiple sources. For Colorado voters, voting by mail isn’t new. Every county in the State of[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Oct. 1, 2020
That was a debacle, not a debate By NIKI TURNER | [email protected] I try to avoid touching on national politics in this space, but what we witnessed on live television Tuesday between presidential candidates was, quite frankly, embarrassing. It resembled those awkward family dinners that devolve into a shouting match[Read More…]
Benefits, mask usage and more at BOCC meeting
RBC | Commissioners and budget and finance director Janae Stanworth discussed the possibility of making changes to the county’s employee benefit plans in a work session Tuesday. Currently, the county pays 100% of the monthly health insurance premiums for staff, with a $1,000 deductible. The monthly premium for an individual[Read More…]
“All options” on the table for budget balancing act
Four FT jobs and dispatch still up in the air, creation of a “commissioner coordinator” position discussed RBC |Commissioners are still considering “all options” (with the exception of reserves) as they endeavor to cut $2.3 million from the 2021 budget. Those options include merging various departments to cut back on[Read More…]
RBC moves into “Protect Our Neighbor” phase
RBC | Rio Blanco County is one of three Colorado counties, along with Mesa and Gilpin, to receive the governor’s approval to move into “Protect Our Neighbor” status for COVID-19 response. RBC had to meet certain qualifications, or metrics, in order to achieve the new status, including: sufficient hospital bed capacity,[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: A different kind of horror movie
I’ve never been a big fan of modern horror movies. Most of the characters are what we refer to in fiction writing as TSTL (Too Stupid To Live) and the villains are over-the-top evil with zero redemptive qualities. It’s hard to connect with protagonists who are too dumb to turn[Read More…]
Prop EE “only viable hope” for rural education funding
MEEKER I Revenue from a proposed tax on nicotine products on the November ballot would be dedicated to health and education programs if it passes. “That’s really the only viable hope right now I see for rural funding in the next few years,” Meeker Superintendent Chris Selle told the Meeker School Board[Read More…]
Body of missing Rangely woman found
RANGELY | A body discovered near County Road 23 on Wednesday has been positively identified as that of Rangely resident Laurie French, 34. According to a Facebook post from the Rangely Police Department on Sunday, Sept. 12, French was last seen on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 5. Her body[Read More…]
Commissioners continue to wrestle with 2021 county budget
By NIKI TURNER | [email protected] RBC | RBC Assessor Renae Neilson volunteered to serve as the voice of county employees during a work session Tuesday with the county commissioners as they consider where to make cuts in the 2021 budget with a projected deficit of $2.3 million. “I’m here today[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Hindsight is 20/20
By Niki Turner | [email protected] 2020 sucks. On that — if on nothing else — we can all agree. I’m still scraping branches off my roof from this week’s super-early winter storm. I don’t know why any of us are surprised, the weather these days is beyond unpredictable and into[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Cutting off the nose to spite the face
By now you’ve likely heard about the drama this week at the county regarding budget cuts and restructuring county departments and how no one wants to lose our local dispatch center. It’s true that the commissioners have some difficult decisions to make, and anyone who has ever tried to balance[Read More…]
