County
After wanting to die, learning to live
AURORA | Navee Essien has grown up keenly aware of her gifts. More times than she can count, people have reminded the senior at Aurora’s Rangeview High how fortunate she is to have a close […]
Mental Health
Features
How friendship can be a safety net
GRAND JUNCTION | It started about four years ago when Laurel Carpenter and Melissa Humphrey bought matching parkas and then matching comfort shoes. Soon enough, the nurses-slash-best friends from Grand Junction found themselves with matching […]
County
Veteran paramedic grapples with post-COVID toll on his lungs and his sense of self
ALAMOSA | Even now, nearly three months after COVID invaded his body, Jason McGinnis cannot stop asking himself how he contracted the virus. On its face, the answer seems clear: He’s a paramedic. But he […]
Features
In the wake of furloughs, closings, suicides, a mountain town businessman searches for balance
BRECKENRIDGE | Dick Carleton came to Breckenridge from Virginia when he was 24. He had a business degree from Virginia Tech, a ‘69 Volkswagen bug, $100 and three friends willing to share a crappy two-bedroom […]
County
The Splotch: In a rural Eastern Plains community plagued by drought, stigma won’t be easy to overcome
EADS | “The Splotch,” as some here call the brown mark on the map they check weekly, is the color of scorched earth. Here in Kiowa County, farmers have always relied on whatever moisture happens […]
Features
Speaking about depression
DENVER | Some words fail us, and for Robert Werthwein, “depression” is one of them. The 41-year-old director of Colorado’s Behavioral Health Office prefers to say “everything turned to complete s—” when his identical twin, […]
Opinion
Why getting help for your mental health is so important
RBC | Getting professional help for dealing with your persistent fears and anxieties is the single most important step in your recovery. Many people are reluctant to get the help they need for various reasons. […]
County
Colorado’s shadow epidemic: heightened anxiety, depression are testing families, communities and Colorado’s already-frayed mental health safety nets
RBC | On Denver’s west side, an elderly man had been managing his solitude just fine until the pandemic hit, taking with it what social life he had and leaving in its place a loneliness […]
Opinion
Editor’s Column: Stigma, snowflakes, and sensationalizing
Last week when I wrote about finding gratitude, I wasn’t expecting to be quite so tested by that notion. I’ll begin with this: I am profoundly grateful for and proud of our local law enforcement […]
Rangely
‘Hearts and minds’ of Rangely force focus of new services
RBC | Ti Hamblin, Chief of Police in Rangely, was interviewed for this article. When appointed Chief of Police for the Town of Rangely, Colorado, Chief Hamblin set a goal to acquire a great staff […]
Opinion
Guest Column: Being an advocate for your child’s mental health
RBC | Although statistics vary, the American Psychological Association approximates one out of every five children in America has a diagnosable mental health disorder. Mental health problems in young people are associated with outcomes such as suicide, […]
Opinion
Editor’s Column: 1 in 4
Last week we learned that we have received another national press award for our coverage of the Daniel Pierce shooting in Rangely last year. We are the recipients of the first-place award for investigative journalism […]
