Colorado Parks and Wildlife re-released a wolf into Grand County this week after it had traveled into New Mexico, according to a news release.
The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish captured gray wolf 2403 and returned the animal to Colorado.
Colorado wildlife officials decided to release the wolf in Grand County yesterday because of the proximity to “an unpaired female gray wolf,” nearby prey populations and distance from livestock, according to the release.
“Gray wolf 2403 has been returned to Colorado and released in a location where it can best contribute to CPW’s efforts to establish a self-sustaining wolf population while concurrently attempting to minimize potential wolf-related livestock conflicts,” said acting director of CPW Laura Clellan, according to the release.
A memorandum of understanding between Colorado and Arizona, New Mexico and Utah requires that any gray wolves that leave Colorado and enter those states be returned. That was created in part to maintain the integrity of a Mexican wolf recovery program.
“We recognized during the planning process that we would need to have consideration and plans to protect the genetic integrity of the Mexican wolf recovery program, while also establishing a gray wolf population in Colorado,” said CPW’s Wolf Conservation Program Manager Eric Odell, according to the release.
State investigators are searching for suspects after the body of an illegally poached mountain lion was found abandoned in a Colorado canyon last week, according to wildlife officials.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife rangers responded to Taylor Canyon in Gunnison City Mountain Park on Friday after the mountain lion’s carcass was discovered near a group of campsites, according to a news release from the agency.
The mountain lion, which had been shot in the chest and left in the bushes, was previously part of the agency’s mountain lion density study in Gunnison Basin, wildlife officials said in the release.
During that study, researchers captured, marked, collared and monitored dozens of mountain lions across western Colorado, according to the agency. Nearly 100 animals were collared between Middle Park and Gunnison Basin.
“We are looking for leads or information anyone might have that could assist us with this investigation,” CPW District Wildlife Manager Codi Prior said in a statement. “Somebody killed this lion and then dumped its carcass.”
The poached mountain lion’s carcass was discovered three days before the start of legal mountain lion hunting season in Colorado. The season runs from Nov. 24 to March 31.
Anyone with information on the mountain lion or the people responsible is asked to contact Prior at 970-641-7075 or codi.prior@state.co.us, or CPW’s Gunnison wildlife office at 970-641-7060.
Tipsters who want to remain anonymous can contact Operation Game Thief — a Colorado Parks and Wildlife program that awards people who turn in poachers up to $1,000 — at 877-265-6648 or by email at game.thief@state.co.us.
One person was killed in a four-vehicle crash on icy roads in a Teller County town early Monday, according to the State Patrol.
The crash happened at 5:44 a.m. on U.S. 24 in Florissant when a Dodge Ram driving west slid into the eastbound lanes and hit a Hyundai Elantra head-on, State Patrol officials said in a news release.
A Jeep Gladiator driving east then slid and rear-ended the Hyundai, and a Ford F-250 heading east hit the back of the Jeep, sending the Ford off the eastbound shoulder and hitting the Hyundai.
The driver of the Hyundai was flown to a hospital and pronounced dead, and the driver of the Dodge was taken to a hospital by ambulance.
U.S. 24 was closed for approximately three hours after the crash, the State Patrol said.
The crash is under investigation. Anyone with information can call the State Patrol at 719-544-2424.
Teller County officials lifted pre-evacuation warnings for a 5-acre brush fire burning between Florissant and Divide on Friday, according to the sheriff’s office.
The pre-evacuation warning for the Highland Lakes subdivision and people living north of U.S. 24 between Cougar Canyon Point and Lower Twin Rocks Road was lifted at 5:15 p.m.
The fire is burning north of U.S. 24 halfway between Florissant and Divide, the sheriff’s office said. The cause of the fire has not been determined, according to the Bureau of Land Management’s fire dashboard.
An 18-year-old Seattle man was arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide Wednesday after crashing head-on into an oncoming SUV while passing illegally on a curve, killing the other driver, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
Dylan Blessing-Garcia was driving a GMC Sierra northbound on Colorado 135 about 14 miles north of Gunnison at 8:20 a.m. when he tried to pass another vehicle on a double yellow line and on a right-hand curve, state patrol officials said Thursday.
Blessing-Garcia crashed head on into a Ford Escape that heading southbound, driven by a 28-year-old woman from Crested Butte. She died at the scene.
Blessing-Garcia was treated for minor injuries and booked into the Gunnison County Jail on suspicion of vehicular homicide, the state patrol said.
Alcohol and drugs are not suspected as factors in the crash, Sgt. Ivan Alvarado said.
Blessing-Garcia was released from jail on a $5,000 bail and is set to appear in court Nov. 18.
Snow forced the closure of Interstate 70 between Silverthorne and Loveland Pass on Monday night.
The highway was closed in both directions between exit 205, near Silverthorne, and exit 216, near Loveland Pass for safety concerns, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation. Images taken near the Eisenhower Tunnel show snowy roads and heavy traffic.
Arapahoe Basin ski area will open for the season on Sunday, marking the first of Colorado’s resorts to get — and make — enough snow for skiers and snowboarders to hit the slopes.
A-Basin will open the Black Mountain Express lift to High Noon at 8:30 a.m., officials announced Saturday.
“The resort has plans to continue snowmaking, opening more terrain as quickly as possible, heading up to the summit and starting next with Lenawee Face and Dercum’s Gulch,” A-Basin leaders said in a news release.
Opening day attendees can also take in live music, score giveaways in the lift line or grab a bite at 6th Alley Bar & Grill, Black Mountain Lodge or Legends Cafe.
Opening day lift tickets go on sale at noon and are $129 for adults. Ikon Pass holders have unlimited season access until Dec. 19, when pass holders have five days for the rest of the season.
A-Basin, along with Loveland and Keystone ski areas, started snowmaking operations more than a week ago.
A woman was seriously injured in a hit-and-run crash while trying to flag down help along U.S. 285 in Park County, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
Troopers responded to the crash at 11:45 p.m. near mile 197, which is south of Jefferson between Bailey and Fairplay.
The woman, who was driving a 2002 Toyota Tacoma, was airlifted to the hospital after the crash, and further information about her condition was not available.
Investigators are looking for a black Volvo S60 with temporary tags that fled the scene. The vehicle, a 2011-2014 model, may have damage to the passenger side mirror.
Anyone with information about the crash can contact state patrol dispatch at 303-239-4501 and reference case number 2A251458.
At least one person died early Sunday morning in a semitrailer crash that shut down westbound Interstate 70 in Summit County for roughly 12 hours, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
The crash, which happened on the west side of the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel, happened just before 5:45 a.m. Sunday, according to a news release from the Colorado State Patrol.
Westbound I-70 reopened between exit 216 for Loveland Pass and exit 205 near Silverthorne just before 6 p.m., CDOT officials said.
The semitrailer went off the right side of the westbound highway, crashed and caught fire, state patrol officials said in the release.
Investigators said all people inside the semitrailer died in the crash. Troopers had not yet been able to verify the number of people killed Sunday because of the extensive damage and fire.
Additional information about the cause of the crash was not available on Sunday.
Anyone with information about the crash who has not spoken to investigators is asked to contact Colorado State Patrol dispatchers at 970-249-4392 and reference case VC250372.
Reports of a suspicious person near Guanella Pass that had law enforcement searching the area Saturday morning turned out to be an outdoorsman who was in the area to fish, the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office said.
The sheriff’s office received reports of a man wearing camouflage and a mask and carrying a high-powered rifle near Naylor Lake and the Silver Dollar Lake Trail at around 11:35 a.m., officials said on social media.
Deputies contacted the man wearing camo, a balaclava, a mask and carrying a rifle who told them he was in the area to fish — which is not illegal, the sheriff’s office noted. Deputies offered the man a ride back to the trailhead.
“We appreciate hikers in the area who saw something and said something,” sheriff’s officials said on Facebook.
Guanella Pass and other Colorado mountain roads are particularly busy with leaf peepers this weekend, and the sheriff’s office had asked people to avoid the area as they investigated Saturday morning.
No one in Colorado took home the nearly $1.8 billion Powerball jackpot on Saturday, but seven lucky ticket holders across the state still walked away winners.
The seven large-prize tickets sold in Colorado are worth between $50,000 and $1 million, according to a news release from the Colorado Lottery. The prizes include:
$1 million from a ticket sold at a Kum & Go/Maverick at 9665 Prominent Point in Colorado Springs
$100,000 from a ticket sold at a Loaf N Jug at 101 West Brontosaurus Boulevard in Dinosaur
$100,000 from a ticket sold at a Kum & Go/Maverick at 70 West Bridge Street in Brighton
$100,000 from a ticket sold at a Sherman Food & Gas at 207 South Sherman Street in Fort Morgan
$100,000 from a ticket sold at an A-1 Food & Gas at 10300 East Sixth Avenue in Aurora
$50,000 from a ticket sold at a King Soopers at 17761 Cottonwood Drive in Parker
$50,000 from a ticket sold at Banana Belt Liquors at 300 U.S. 24 in Woodland Park
Two Powerball players in Missouri and Texas won the nearly $1.8 billion jackpot during Saturday night’s drawing, ending the lottery game’s three-month drought without a winner. The two winners will split the jackpot.
The winning numbers were 11, 23, 44, 61, and 62, with the Powerball number being 17.
The winning ticket in Texas was sold at a gas station-convenience store in Fredericksburg, according to the Texas Lottery.
The $1.787 billion prize, which was the second-largest U.S. lottery jackpot in history, followed 41 consecutive drawings in which no one matched all six numbers. The last drawing with a jackpot winner happened on May 31.
Powerball’s terrible odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to generate big jackpots, with prizes growing as they roll over when no one wins. Lottery officials note that the odds are far better for the game’s many smaller prizes. There are three drawings each week.
The Missouri and Texas winners will have the choice between an annuitized prize of $893.5 million or a lump sum payment of $410.3 million. Both prize options are before taxes. If a winner selects the annuity option, they will receive one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5% each year. Powerball tickets cost $2, and the game is offered in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
A Colorado jury on Friday awarded $21 million to a woman who was paralyzed when she fell from a ski lift at Crested Butte Mountain Resort three years ago.
The jury verdict comes just over a year after the Colorado Supreme Court considered the woman’s case and ruled that liability waivers do not protect ski resorts when resorts violate state laws or regulations. That ruling allowed the lawsuit to go forward and likely ended a push by ski resorts to use such waivers to shield themselves from almost all lawsuits.
The case and its $21 million verdict may open up new avenues for skiers to sue ski operators, particularly over incidents involving chairlifts, said Brian Aleinikoff, an attorney for Annie Miller, the woman who fell in 2022.
“For the longest time, ski areas have been so insulated from lawsuits,” he said. “…At the end of the day the ‘inherent dangers’ and risks of skiing aren’t going to change. If you are skiing and you hit a rock or a bare patch or some ice or you go over a cliff, that is on you. But I think how some of the ski lifts operate — that is really where this will have the biggest impact moving forward.”
Jurors on Friday awarded the family $5.3 million in non-economic damages, $10.5 million in economic damages and $5.3 million in damages for physical impairment and disfigurement, according to an order from 17th Judicial District Court Judge Jeffrey Smith.
The jury assigned 25% of the fault for the incident to Miller and 75% of the fault to Vail Resorts, which owns Crested Butte Mountain Resort. Vail Resorts expects to pay a total of $12.4 million in damages both because of the jury’s assignment of fault and a statutory cap on non-economic damages.
“We disagree with the decision and believe that it was inconsistent with Colorado law,” Katie Lyons, communications manager for Vail Resorts, said in an email. “Still, we recognize the personal toll this accident has taken on Ms. Miller and her family, and we wish her continued strength in her recovery. We remain committed to the highest safety standards in our operations.”
Miller, now 20, was 16 when she fell 30 feet from a four-seat, high-speed chairlift at Crested Butte on March 16, 2022. Miller boarded the Paradise Express lift with her father, but couldn’t get properly seated, and grabbed the chairlift to keep from falling.
Her father and others began to yell for the lift to be stopped as she was dragged forward, but the lift continued with Miller hanging from the chair and her father trying to pull her back to safety.
Eventually, Miller fell and landed on her back. Even then, the lift did not stop, and her father, Michael Miller, was forced to ride to the top and ski down to his daughter, who suffered severe injuries and was paralyzed after the fall.
Michael Miller brought a negligence lawsuit against Crested Butte, arguing that the resort employees should have stopped the lift before his daughter fell.
Annie Miller is now a junior at the University of Tulsa, where she is studying music and psychology, Aleinikoff said.
“We are trying to hold ski areas accountable to ensure they are following the safety rules and violations they have agreed to follow, in order to protect folks like Annie Miller who come out and want to ski,” he said. “To me it is not asking that much of them.”
A slowly growing, nearly contained wildfire burning on Colorado’s Western Slope is now the fourth-largest on state record, according to fire officials.
As of Monday night, the 90% contained Lee fire had scorched 138,844 acres between Meeker and Rifle. It grew by 1,086 acres on Monday, after multiple days with minimal to no growth.
The new acres consumed by the Lee fire bumped the wildfire from fifth-largest to fourth-largest in Colorado history, passing the 137,760-acre Hayman fire that sparked in 2002, according to the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control.
The Lee fire is now less than 200 acres away from becoming the third-largest wildfire on state record. Currently, that ranking belongs to the 2020 Pine Gulch fire that burned 139,007 acres.
Rain showers and thunderstorms are forecast across the Western Slope again on Tuesday, bringing much-needed moisture to the state, fire officials said. Previous hot, dry and windy conditions fueled rapid fire growth in multiple counties across western Colorado, charring thousands of acres outside of the Lee fire.
A wildland firefighting truck heads down a road through a hillside burned from the Lee fire near Colorado 64 in Rio Blanco County, west of Meeker, on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Lee and Elk fires, near Meeker
The largest wildfire burning in Colorado — now the fourth-largest ever recorded in the state — consumed more than 1,000 new acres after a week of slow growth and increased containment, fire officials said.
As of Monday night, the 138,844-acre Lee fire burning between Meeker and Rifle was 90% contained, fire officials said.
All mandatory evacuation orders were lifted Saturday, and areas on pre-evacuation status were downgraded to monitoring status on Monday.
No new evacuation orders were issued overnight Monday, despite the new fire growth. An updated evacuation map for Rio Blanco and Garfield counties is available online.
The Lee fire and nearby Elk fire, which consumed more than 14,500 acres before reaching full containment last week, have together destroyed at least five homes and 14 outbuildings, fire officials said.
Extreme drought, high temperatures and strong winds fueled rapid growth on both fires, which were sparked by lightning west and east of Meeker on Aug. 2.
Thunderstorms are most likely near Meeker and Rifle between 9 a.m. and midnight on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. Rain showers, which are also expected in that period, could continue through 3 a.m. Wednesday before a brief reprieve.
Rainy weather is expected to continue on Wednesday and Thursday, forecasters said.
While the rain is helpful, afternoon thunderstorms also increase the risk of gusty winds, frequent lightning and flash flooding along burn scars, fire officials said.
Road closures tied to the smaller Crosho fire near Yampa were lifted Monday afternoon. That fire has burned 2,073 acres and is 81% contained.
A plane drops fire retardant on the Derby fire burning in Eagle County on Aug. 22, 2025. (Photo provided by Derby Fire Information)
Derby fire, in Eagle County
A wildfire burning on the edge of Eagle and Garfield counties has scorched more than 5,300 acres, fire officials.
The Derby fire is burning on 5,346 acres with no containment, up roughly 100 acres from Sunday and 1,200 acres from Saturday, fire officials said Monday. No size update was available Tuesday morning.
“We have totally changed the pattern from hot and dry,” said meteorologist Ryan Fliehman in a Monday evening briefing. “I’m afraid we might get too much rain. We are still having chances of precipitation six days out.”
Rain has forced some fire crews to pull back, and crews need to take extra care to avoid damaging dirt roads, which have turned muddy, Operations Chief Ben Patton said.
No containment has been reported on the fire, but officials hope to start solidifying the first bits of containment in the coming days.
The Derby fire was discovered on “remote, rugged terrain” in the White River National Forest, about 15 miles from Dotsero in Eagle County, on Aug. 17, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
It differs from the others burning in Colorado in that it started at higher elevations and has tried to push downhill at night.
Mandatory evacuations and pre-evacuations are in place for the northwest corner of Eagle County, including the town of Gypsum, and an eastern section of Garfield County.
Evacuations were lifted for Sweetwater Valley and Sheep Creek at 10 a.m. Monday, allowing limited access for residents to return home, according to fire officials. Those who need to access Sweetwater Valley and Colorado River Road are being asked to limit their driving to between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to avoid disrupting emergency operations.
At least one building has been destroyed by the wildfire, but it’s unclear what type of building it was.
Parts of White River National Forest remain closed in Eagle and Garfield counties, including southwest of Sweetwater Lake to the west rim of Deep Creek Canyon, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Some BLM lands are also closed, including north and west of Gypsum, north of Coffee Pot Road, west of the Colorado River, east of the White River National Forest boundary and south of Derby Creek.
Colorado’s fifth-largest wildfire on record is 90% contained as rain showers and thunderstorms continue across the Western Slope, fire officials said.
As of Monday morning, the Lee fire had consumed 137,758 acres, equal to roughly 215 square miles. The burn area is just two acres short of Colorado’s fourth-largest wildfire on record — the 137,760-acre Hayman fire that sparked in 2002.
Other wildfires burning on Colorado’s Western Slope have scorched thousands of additional acres. Fire officials across the state have said hot, dry and windy conditions fueled the flames’ rapid growth.
Storms over the next several days will bring much-needed rain to the drought-stricken Western Slope, according to the National Weather Service. But those storms also increase the risk of lightning and strong winds — weather that can start fires and fan the flames of those already burning.
A wildland firefighting truck heads down a road through a hillside burned from the Lee fire near Colorado 64 in Rio Blanco County, west of Meeker, on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Lee and Elk fires, near Meeker
Growth on the largest wildfire burning in Colorado — the fifth-largest ever recorded in the state — has slowed over the past week as firefighters increase containment around the flames.
As of Monday morning, the 137,758-acre Lee fire burning between Meeker and Rifle was 90% contained, fire officials said.
“Minimal work” remains to fully contain the wildfire, Incident Commander Brent Olson said in a Sunday afternoon briefing.
All mandatory evacuation orders were lifted Saturday, but multiple areas around the fire remain on pre-evacuation status. An updated evacuation map for Rio Blanco and Garfield counties is available online.
The Lee fire and nearby Elk fire, which consumed more than 14,500 acres before reaching full containment last week, have together destroyed at least five homes and 14 outbuildings, fire officials said.
Extreme drought, high temperatures and strong winds fueled rapid growth on both fires, which were sparked by lightning west and east of Meeker on Aug. 2.
Rain showers and cooler temperatures helped mitigate the flames last week, which allowed firefighters to steadily increase containment. More showers and thunderstorms are expected in the days ahead as Colorado braces for a monsoonal weather system.
Rain showers and thunderstorms are most likely near Meeker and Rifle between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday, according to the National Weather Service. Chances of precipitation range from 30% to 50%, forecasters said.
Chances of rain greatly increase later this week in both areas, jumping to 90% Tuesday afternoon and remaining there until 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to hourly forecasts from the weather service.
While the rain is helpful, afternoon thunderstorms also increase the risk of gusty winds, frequent lightning and flash flooding along burn scars, fire officials said.
Heavy rains caused flash flooding in the Lee fire burn area on Sunday afternoon. The water caused a debris flow, which was blocking Piceance Creek Road, officials said in a Sunday afternoon update. It’s unclear if rain caused flooding in the Elk fire burn scar.
A plane drops fire retardant on the Derby fire burning in Eagle County on Aug. 22, 2025. (Photo provided by Derby Fire Information)
Derby fire, in Eagle County
A wildfire burning on the edge of Eagle and Garfield counties has scorched more than 5,300 acres, fire officials said Monday.
The Derby fire is burning on 5,346 acres with no containment, up roughly 100 acres from Sunday and 1,200 acres from Saturday, fire officials said.
Thunderstorm activity and gusty winds have driven the fire south in recent days, meteorologist Ryan Fliehman said in a Sunday afternoon briefing.
Rain showers and thunderstorms started Sunday afternoon and are expected to continue through Wednesday as a “strong monsoonal push of moisture” hits the Western Slope, Fliehman said.
The storms will help dampen the quickly spreading wildfire but may create other problems on the newly charred landscape, like flash flooding, fire officials said.
The Derby fire was discovered on “remote, rugged terrain” in the White River National Forest, about 15 miles from Dotsero in Eagle County, on Aug. 17, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Mandatory evacuations and pre-evacuations are in place for the northwest corner of Eagle County, including the town of Gypsum, and an eastern section of Garfield County.
Evacuations will be lifted for Sweetwater Valley and Sheep Creek at 10 a.m. Monday, allowing limited access for residents to return home, according to fire officials. Residents will be required to present proof of address at checkpoints along Colorado River Road.
That area will remain on pre-evacuation status and people may be required to re-evacuate if conditions change, fire officials said. Livestock will not be allowed to return yet. The wildfire’s activity remains unpredictable.
“This is not a full repopulation, as the risks are still very high and residents should remain prepared to vacate at any time,” Eagle County Sheriff James Van Beek said in a statement on social media.
Travel within the restricted area must remain extremely limited to protect both residents and fire crews, sheriff’s officials said. The best window for essential travel is between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when conditions are safest and least disruptive to emergency operations.
The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office is working on a plan to allow some evacuated residents to access their homes, specifically “those who own property or depend on it for their livelihood,” sheriff’s officials said Sunday. Exact details of that plan were not available, and the evacuation orders remain in place.
At least one building has been destroyed by the wildfire, but it’s unclear what type of building it was.
The U.S. Forest Service also expanded closures in the White River National Forest in Eagle and Garfield counties, including southwest of Sweetwater Lake to the west rim of Deep Creek Canyon. Some BLM lands are also closed, including north and west of Gypsum, north of Coffee Pot Road, west of the Colorado River, east of the White River National Forest boundary and south of Derby Creek.
The Stoner Mesa fire burns in southwestern Colorado’s San Juan National Forest on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (Photo provided by Stoner Mesa Fire Information)
Stoner Mesa fire, near Dolores
The Stoner Mesa fire is burning on 10,233 acres in a remote section of the San Juan National Forest, fire officials said Sunday.
Multiple areas around the fire — including Mavreeso, Gobble Creek, Fish Creek, Johnny Bull Creek, Dunton, Lizard Head, Horse Creek, Rico and Sulfer Creek — remain on “monitor” status, the step before pre-evacuation orders, according to the wildfire’s evacuation map.
All pre-evacuation orders were lifted Saturday, but sections of the San Juan National Forest remain closed for the wildfire.
As of Sunday, the lightning-sparked Stoner Mesa fire was 41% contained.
A Meeker fire department truck stations itself at an out building across from W. Highway 64 as smoke billows on a ridge above it from the Lee fire in Rio Blanco County just outside of Meeker on Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Air-quality impacts
Air quality alerts for wildfire smoke near the Derby and Stoner Mesa fires were issued Sunday morning by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
The warnings, which include southeastern Dolores County, northeastern Montezuma County, western Eagle County and eastern Garfield County, will remain active through at least 9 a.m. Monday.
Smoke will be heaviest in the areas near the fires, especially during the overnight and early morning hours, state health officials said. Incoming storm systems should help improve air quality near the fires.
Smoky conditions are most hazardous for young children, older adults and people with heart disease or respiratory illnesses, according to state health officials.
All residents should limit outdoor activity when heavy smoke is present. If visibility drops to 5 miles or less, the smoke has reached unhealthy levels.
Westbound Interstate 70 is closed between Loveland Pass and Silverthorne because of a vehicle fire, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
The highway is closed between exit 216 for U.S. 6 and exit 205 for Silverthorne, state officials said. That stretch of the highway runs through the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel.
Drivers should expect delays, according to the alert.
Westbound Interstate 70 ropened Monday morning near Frisco after a crash, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
The westbound interstate was closed between Exit 203 for Colorado 9 and East Frisco and Exit 201 for Frisco, about 3 miles west of Silverthorne, CDOT officials said in an 11:18 a.m. post on X.
A screenshot of Michael Gardner’s Instagram account.
A Colorado mountain climber fell to his death while descending the Jannu East peak in Nepal this month, during a third attempt at establishing a route on the peak’s north face.
A tribute to Michael Gardner published by the American Alpine Club said the 32-year-old was widely respected among his fellow alpinists for his “empathy, enthusiasm, dedication to the craft of climbing, pure motivations and lack of ego.”
“His quiet pursuit of the mountains on his own terms means his legacy is not flashy but found in traces and in the background — he was climbing and skiing for the sake of the craft, not for recognition,” the organization wrote.
Gardner was born in Ridgway and spent his childhood shadowing his father, George, on climbing expeditions around the world, according to Arc’teryx, an outdoor clothing brand that sponsored Gardner and announced his death on social media Oct. 8.
The company’s post described Gardner as a consummate outdoorsman and athlete who enjoyed skateboarding and skiing in addition to his lifelong passion of mountain climbing.
On Oct. 7, Gardner and Hennessey were attempting the north face of Jannu East, also known as Kumbhakarna East, when Gardner fell during their descent. Hennessey returned from the climb.
Gardner’s surviving family includes his mother, Colleen, and sister, Megan, according to Climbing Magazine. The magazine said the October climb marked Gardner and Hennessey’s fourth time visiting Jannu East and was their third try at the north face.
Colorado’s 7th Congressional District, centered on suburban Jefferson County, hasn’t had a Republican in the seat since Bob Beauprez left Congress nearly 20 years ago.
But Sergei Matveyuk, an antiques repairman from Golden and the GOP contender for the seat in the Nov. 5 election, urges voters not to count him out in his battle with incumbent Brittany Pettersen. The first-term Democratic congresswoman is seeking reelection.
“People are hurting economically,” Matveyuk, 57, told The Denver Post. “They want someone who feels the pain.”
He’s running in a once-battleground district that has turned decidedly blue in the last decade or so, with Democratic former Rep. Ed Perlmutter winning election eight times running, until his retirement announcement in 2022 ushered in an open race.
Pettersen, 42, a former state lawmaker from Lakewood, won the 2022 election by 16 percentage points over Republican Army veteran Erik Aadland. The bulk of the district’s electorate calls left-leaning Jefferson and Broomfield counties home, while redder areas in the district — such as Teller, Custer and Fremont counties — simply don’t have the populations to give Matveyuk a sizable boost.
As of Sept. 30, Pettersen had raised more than $2.2 million this cycle, compared to about $35,000 collected by Matveyuk, according to campaign finance filings. There are two minor party candidates on the ballot this time: Former state lawmaker Ron Tupa is running on the Unity Party of Colorado ticket, while Patrick Bohan is running as the Libertarian candidate.
Matveyuk, a political neophyte, said that as a small business owner, the historically high inflation of the last two years has hurt those like him who are particularly sensitive to escalating prices. But it’s his personal story that he thinks will resonate with voters in the current political climate, in which border policy has taken center stage. Matveyuk, who is of Polish descent, and his family left the Soviet Bloc in the late 1980s after experiencing life under communist rule and immigrated to the United States.
“As an immigrant myself, I know how hard it is to start a new life — but it has to be legal,” he said.
Matveyuk doesn’t echo former President Donald Trump’s calls for mass deportations but says migrants who “are hurting our people and committing crimes need to be deported, for sure.”
“We need immigration reform — 40 years ago we had a regulated border and now we have a porous border,” he said.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data through August, there have been more than 8.6 million migrant “encounters” at the southern U.S. border since President Joe Biden took office in 2021. That influx has prompted many big city mayors across the country, including Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, to cut city services to pay for migrant housing and plead for help from the federal government.
Pettersen acknowledged that the U.S. asylum system is “absolutely outdated.” But many of the arriving migrants are filling jobs that businesses in the district, like nursing homes, are desperate to staff, she said.
Making people wait years before getting work permits is an unworkable policy, Pettersen said.
“We don’t have the people in the U.S. to meet our economic needs,” she said. “We need legal pathways based on economic need.”
Though Pettersen is in the minority party in the U.S. House, a bill she sponsored was recently signed into law by Biden. It directs the federal government to study and report on illicit financing associated with synthetic drug trafficking.
Last month, she introduced a bill that seeks to incentivize more states to offer substance use treatment through Medicaid, six years after she sponsored a bill in the state House requiring Colorado to provide that care. Pettersen has often spoken publicly of the struggles her mother faced battling opioid addiction.
If reelected, she said in The Denver Post’s candidate questionnaire that she would work to protect abortion rights and to address the opioid epidemic. Her top priority would be “modernizing our tax code to rebuild the middle class.”
“We need to lower costs by reinvesting in access to affordable housing, childcare, health care, and higher education,” she wrote.
More than 10 people are trapped underground in a Colorado gold mine on Pikes Peak after an equipment malfunction, according to the Teller County Sheriff’s Office and Denver7.
The sheriff’s office was responding to an equipment malfunction at the Mollie Kathleen Mine, a tourist destination near Cripple Creek, as of 2 p.m., agency officials said in a post on Facebook.
Gov. Jared Polis is “closely monitoring” the situation and state emergency personnel are on scene responding with more on the way, the governor’s office said in a news release.
“The state is assisting Teller County and sending resources to rescue those inside the mine. We will do everything possible and assist the county to ensure a speedy and safe resolution of the situation,” Polis said in a statement.
The now-defunct mine offers hourlong tours by taking visitors 1,000 feet down the shaft into the southwest side of Pikes Peak, according to the tour company’s website.
The mine has offered tours in some format since it opened in the 1890s, with mine tours becoming the main focus after production ceased in 1961.
A mama bear was fatally shot by a San Juan County sheriff’s deputy in Silverton this week after a beanbag round used to haze wildlife penetrated her stomach.
Several people called 911 just after 9 p.m. Tuesday to report someone harassing bear cubs near the 1300 block of Greene Street, the sheriff’s office said Thursday.
A deputy arrived to find a crowd of people in a narrow alley with a mama bear and her two cubs and directed the bystanders to leave the area before using a beanbag round to get the sow off the roof.
As the bear headed down the block with her cubs, the officer used a second beanbag round to keep her moving out of downtown. The second shot penetrated the bear’s lower abdomen and killed her, the sheriff’s office said.
Sheriff’s officials contacted Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers, who removed the bear and captured, tagged and relocated the two cubs.
“The officer involved was acting accordingly, using commonly practiced methods, and attempting to save this bear’s life, not cause any serious harm. This is a most unfortunate incident, and our entire office is saddened by the outcome,” agency officials said in a statement.
While orphaned bear cubs can be taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center in Del Norte, wildlife officers determined the two cubs could be released immediately, said CPW spokesperson John Livingston.
“These cubs were in good body condition, at a great weight for this time of year and released to a place with ample natural forage to continue to pack on weight ahead of denning this winter,” Livingston said.
While bear sightings are not uncommon in town, Silverton Mayor Dayna Kranker issued a statement calling for community members to form a coalition to reduce harm from human-wildlife interactions.
