Uh… me Caitlin. Ok, now we’re on the same pageđź‘Ť
You’re going to be hearing a lot more from me pretty soon. This week, we officially announced Niki (my mom) will be taking a leave of absence, and I will be returning to the newspaper as editor. Please give Mom your best when you see her, and remind her it’s okay to take a break!
Maybe camouflage cloak would have sounded better, but that just made me picture hobbits tromping along in head-to-toe Mossy Oak.
On second thought, that would have worked pretty well… 🤔
Clearly I am right, because I always am, even when I am clearly wrong. #marriage
Let’s get to the news, shall we?
Several of our stories this week ended up with a wildfire theme.
“The ranchers in western Colorado are really struggling. These are things that are not getting the attention and the investment that the federal government needs to give.”
~ Senator John Hickenlooper
Note: The print edition of our story misattributed the organization of the event to the Rio Blanco County Community Wildfire Resiliency Coalition, but the meeting was organized by the ranch owners, the Rio Blanco Water Conservancy District, Rio Blanco County and U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper’s office. Apologies to anyone we upsetti-spaghetti-ed.
Annnnnd here’s what it actually looked like the next day.
Like, not even a whole sagebrush.
The TL;DR: there’s a huge-normous difference between a professional fireworks show and a dude in jean shorts hollerin’ “hold my beer.”
I kind of feel like that deserves a “duh,” but you be the judge.
Usually, Fourth of July weekend is punctuated with the booms of fireworks well into the wee hours of the morning. Some people hate it, some love it, but…
I have a few things I’d like to pass symbolic resolutions against, too. Real pants, calories, housework, eye rolls from my 13-year-old. I’m sure it will work … right?
As we’ve experienced firsthand, fire grabs attention and headlines while it’s burning. After the spotlight fades, the real work begins. That’s where we are now, and where many of our friends and neighbors in Colorado and Utah will be in a few months. Let’s keep them in our collective thoughts as they begin the hard work of rebuilding. ❤️
- Craft Crazy at the Library July 9: Paint flower magnets with Erin; register at Meeker Public Library.
- Fire Preparedness Day July 17: Free landowner bootcamp from 5–7 p.m. on the Courthouse lawn during Meekerpalooza.
- Free Day at MRC July 11: ERBM is offering free admission and will have indoor and outdoor inflatables this Saturday.
6/30/2026 @ 9:24 pm. Dispatch received a call from a neighbor hearing screaming and a woman saying “don’t hurt me.”
Upon arriving on scene law enforcement discovered everything was 10-4. As it was found out it was only a female party who had got hot sauce in her eye.
Meeker Sports, Sports
MEEKER | The Meeker 11-13 Meeker 1 Rec Center softball…
Meeker Sports, Sports
MEEKER | The Meeker 2 Goldrush 11-13 Rec Center softball…
Meeker Sports, Sports
MEEKER | The Meeker Recreation Center 8-10 softball team continued…
Check out more photos from the Fourth here and here!
Ohhhkay, again, if you made it this far, my congratulations. I think I will just keep making the newsletters progressively longer every week to see what happens, like a surprise contest you know nothing about.
Except now you do, I guess.
The prize is having an attention span longer than three seconds, and that’s worth something these days.
This week’s sort-of secret is that I took a popsicle out of the freezer, set it down somewhere in my house, and promptly forgot about it for several days.
Last night, I asked the kids if anyone had found it, eaten it, or, you know, put the popsicle back in the freezer. My 15-year-old walked into the other room and returned with the sad, soggy bag of melty human hummingbird food. Everyone had just … walked past it. For days.
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