Author Archives: KRAI

The Moffat County Fair is celebrating 100 years this summer. The first fair was in Maybell on Labor Day in 1918.

• The parade is at noon August 3, which is a Friday, along Yampa Avenue and Victory Way. Fair Board Treasurer Karl Huntsman says they want the parade to be the biggest one ever, celebrating their 100^th anniversary. All types of entries are welcome. Entry forms are available at the Moffat County Extension Office or the Community Budget Center.
• August 9^th is the Ridin’ & Riggin’ Days Rodeo and the Catch-a-Pig Contest. That’s on a Thursday.
• Also at Moffat County Fairgrounds, country music stars Diamond Rio will perform  Aug. 10.
• And to celebrate 100 years, there will be 100 local quilts on display around Craig, at places like the Museum of Northwest Colorado, the Moffat County Courthouse, and the Luttrell Barn.
• Back to that first Moffat County Fair in Maybell 100 years ago, the biggest contest was for babies, and who had the best. Thirty-six babies were in the beautiful baby contest. The Moffat County Cattlewomen will do it again with the Cowboy Baby Contest on Saturday, August 11.

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Union Wireless reported a system outage on Tuesday. Union Wireless is the regional wireless service provider. Callers started receiving a recorded message in the morning that all circuits were busy. But text and data weren’t impacted.

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Buckle up. That’s the message from churches in Colorado right now. It’s a seat belt enforcement campaign going on this week, and the churches are the ones spreading the word, with help from the Colorado Department of Transportation, Colorado State Patrol, and local law enforcement agencies. They’re targeting rural areas in Colorado, which tend to have the lowest seat belt use rates in the state. Colorado’s statewide seat belt use rate is 84 percent, which is in the bottom third of the nation. For pickup trucks, it’s 76.5 percent of people use a seatbelt. In Moffat County, it’s estimated at 88.5 percent use seatbelts. 233 people died in car crashes in Colorado last year who weren’t wearing seatbelts. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that about 60 lives could be saved every year in Colorado if everyone buckled up.  Continue reading →

Three fires in Rio Blanco County are fully contained. The Bureau of Land Management says there is no more threat from the Fawn, Sprague, and Smith Fires, which claimed close to 13-hundred acres. The Ridgetop Fire is also near full containment. The new risk is heavy rain. If it happens over burn scars, there could be flash flooding.

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The man who died Tuesday at Steamboat Lake Park is 24-year-old David Mutabazi. He was a seasonal employee of Steamboat Lake Park. Routt County Coroner Rob Ryg says he died from drowning during a regular evening swim. Ryg thinks he might have cramped up when he got in the water. Mutabazi was born in the Republic of Congo, but was a U.S. resident, and went to college in Iowa.

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Craig City Council has passed an emergency ordinance in response to the wildfires burning across Northwest Colorado. The ordinance lets the city adopt the same fire restrictions issued by the county, in an emergency. It makes it easier for first responders to battle fires.

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Wildfires continue to burn across the country. Nearly a third of the 47 wildfires actively burning in the United States are burning in Colorado. That’s according to the U.S. Forest Service. Colorado is suffering one of the worst wildfire seasons in history. In Craig, the Craig Interagency Dispatch Center has responded to 67 wildfires, 28 smoke checks, and five false alarms, as of Tuesday afternoon. Six fires have been substantial in Moffat and Rio Blanco counties. And August is considered the peak of the western fire season.

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A Hayden Man died in a rollover accident three miles east of Hayden Monday afternoon. The single vehicle rollover crash was along Highway 40, near mile marker 111, in Routt County. The driver of the car was 61-year-old Stephen Manzanares of Hayden. No other vehicles were involved. Colorado State Patrol wants to remind all drivers to always wear their seatbelts.

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Fires continue to burn in Moffat County.

• The Divide Fire is 23 miles north of Craig. Nearly 20,000 acres have burned. About 70 firefighters are working the fire lines, and it was 40 percent contained on Sunday. Two structures have been destroyed.
• The Thornburg Fire is five miles west of Maybell. It has burned over 16-hundred (16,360) acres, and did not grow on Sunday. Two helicopters and 45 firefighters are working the fire, and it was about 50 percent contained on Sunday.
• More small fires started throughout the weekend because of lightning. The Fawn Fire is about 30 miles southwest of Meeker. 55 firefighters are there. The Ridge Fire is a 150-acre fire near Mile Marker 27 on Highway 13.
• Northwest Colorado is still under Stage 1 Fire Restrictions.
• A new fire has started as of last night in Wolcott, and it is affecting power. Residents in Edwards, Avon, Vail, Minturn, and Beaver Creek have been told to anticipate a prolonged power outage.

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The Divide Fire northwest of Craig has now burned close to 12,000 acres, and another structure. And there is no containment estimate yet. About 50 firefighters are securing the firelines. Four single engine air tankers and a helicopter are working the fire, which is burning on private and Bureau of Land Management lands. Agencies responding include Moffat County Sheriff’s Office, Northwest Colorado Interagency Fire Unit, Craig Fire/Rescue, Moffat County Road and Bridge, and Yampa Valley Electric. The Divide Fire first started June 29, and it increased greatly on the 4^th of July. The cause is under investigation.

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Fireworks in Craig didn’t happen on the 4^th of July. That’s because a fire started about 30 miles northwest of Craig. Craig Fire Rescue Captain Doug Willems spoke to KRAI right after the fireworks were cancelled.

Willems said Wednesday evening that the fire was, “burning very rapidly and vigorously.”

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A Craig man died Monday evening, in a one-car accident north of Maybell. Colorado State Patrol reports 19-year-old Hunter Roberts of Craig, was the only person in the car. The accident happened on Highway 318, about 30 miles north of Maybell. Corporal Bagley with CSP said the vehicle Roberts was in lost control on a corner, and rolled two and 3/4s times. Roberts was ejected from the car. Bagley says the cause of the accident is excessive speed, however they are still investigating.

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