Category Archives: News

Grizzly Creek Fire in Glenwood Canyon. Photo courtesy Glenwood Springs Fire Dept.

Craig and Moffat County can expect heavier traffic than normal. That’s because I-70 is closed in Glenwood Canyon because of the Grizzly Creek Fire. It’s being re-routed north, to Highway 40. Glenwood Canyon was closed all night because Colorado Department of Transportation has to assess two bridges near the fire, and do rockfall mitigation. Over 1,300 acres have burned. Smoke from the Pine Gulch Fire north of Grand Junction is also floating our way. That fire has burned close to 30,000 acres. Link: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6942/

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Pine Gulch Fire courtesy inciweb.

The Pine Gulch Fire continues to burn out of control north of Grand Junction and into Garfield County. It’s now at over 24,000 acres and seven percent contained. That’s why it’s smoky in the Yampa Valley. It started from lightning on July 31. An Air Quality Health Advisory was issued over the weekend for the wildfire smoke.

• Pine Gulch Fire: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6906/

A Meeker man died Friday evening in Rio Blanco County Road 7, about 12 miles northwest of Meeker. 71-year-old Allen Maybury was on a 2020 Harley Davidson motorcycle when he went off the side of the road on a curve, and down an embankment. Maybury was wearing a helmet. Colorado State Patrol is investigating.

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Another person has died from COVID-19 at the Haven Assisted Living Facility in Hayden. It’s owned and operated by Northwest Colorado Health. A resident who had tested positive there passed away on Aug. 6. This is the second death of a resident at The Haven because of COVID-19 There have been seven positive cases among residents there and four cases among the staff.

In Routt County, there have been 110 positive cases with eight deaths with 6,736 tests administered. The case count in Routt County remains at medium spread, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Moffat County is reporting 26 positive cases with two still active and one death.

Michael Voloshin

The Moffat County Fair runs through the weekend. On Thursday afternoon in the Livestock Arena, 16-year-old Michael Voloshin won Grand Champion for Market Beef.

Ross, that big, black Grand Champion steer, weighed in at 1,371 pounds.  Voloshin’s second steer named Playboy, won Grand Champion Reserve.

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The Moffat County Fair is this week. At the Sheep Show Wednesday, Trinity Boulger won Grand Champion Senior Showmanship

Dustin McLaughlin won Grand Champion Market.

Kyler Scott is this year’s Fair Board President. He says masks are encouraged but not required for the livestock shows.

Thursday is the Goat Show in the morning at 8 a.m. and the Beef Show at 2 p.m. It’s all in the Livestock Barn.

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No high school football will be played at Moffat County High School this fall. Colorado High School Activities Association, or CHSAA, has come out with its sports and activities schedule for the upcoming school year, for the whole state. It has been rearranged to Seasons A, B, C, and D. Season A starts next week, with Cross Country and Boys Golf. Season B starts January 4, with basketball, girls swimming, and wrestling. Season C is girls volleyball, boys soccer, and football. Most start March 1, but football gets to start practicing in late February. The final season is Season D with the rest of the sports, most of which are typically played in spring. Here is the full schedule:

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Irish Canyon Fire, courtesy Karina Schwartznau.

Three fires are now burning in North Moffat County. One fire is in Irish Canyon. About 82 acres have burned since Saturday when lightning hit. Four helicopters are working it along with 51 people. It’s about 20 percent contained. Mary Beth Pecotte is the Public Information Officer for the Bureau of Land Management. She says crews are working on improving the hand lines they’ve made. And they’re mopping up.

Irish Canyon is County Road 10 and it is open, but the campground there is closed. It’s the Incident Command Post.

The Pots Creek Fire is about 65 percent contained, burning 235 acres. It’s between Brown’s Park and Dinosaur, accessible through Vernal, Utah. It was also started by lightning.

A third fire is the Stateline fire, which also started Saturday on the far north boundary of Moffat County, along the Wyoming State Line. Grass and sage brush has burned 16.5 acres there.

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Irish Canyon Fire, courtesy Karina Schwartznau.

Two fires are burning in north Moffat County. The Pot Creek Fire started Friday afternoon in the Dinosaur and Brown’s Park area. 235 acres have burned. 110 people are working the fire. A second fire started Saturday afternoon in Irish Canyon. 100 acres of pinyon and juniper in BLM land have burned and 30 people are working the fire.

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School starts in Moffat County on Aug. 31. That’s a week later than originally scheduled. Teachers and staff report Aug. 17. The Moffat County School Board met last night to discuss the plan for re-opening the schools. There are a lot of logistics and details of which the district will be telling parents and students.

Elementary School students will go to school Monday through Friday. No masks.

Craig Middle School students will wear masks all day. And like the high school, one group will go Monday and Wednesday, and the other group will go Tuesday and Thursday. Then they’ll alternate on Fridays. High School Principal Sarah Hepworth says the students will still have school on their days off. They’ll just be at home.

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Moffat County School District is having a special board meeting tonight. The discussion includes the proposed 2020 bond on the ballot, but the main part of the meeting will be to discuss the reopening of schools. The school board is scheduled to approve the reopening plan. The meeting starts at 6:30 tonight. It’s in the admin building at 600 Texas Ave. Seating is limited. There is a Zoom Link to the meeting (at Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/95727977854) and the last meeting was also on the Moffat County Proud Facebook page.

Link to agenda: https://drive.google.com/file/d/168PqsYsZzet96t_zuoE1UMII_Wjbc4LX/view

One resident of The Haven Assisted Living Facility in Hayden has died, of probable COVID-19. Lab tests are pending. Seven people have tested positive at The Haven. Four are residents and three are employees. Two of those employees are from Moffat County.

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The Haven Assisted Living Center in Hayden is reporting three more positive cases of COVID-19, for a total of five in the past two days. Two men in their 80s who live at The Haven have tested positive. Three staff are positive. That’s a woman in her 30s from Routt County. And then two Moffat County residents… A man in his 70s and a woman in her 20s. That brings the total number of positive cases of COVID-19 to 98 in Routt County. Public Health in Moffat County is reporting 23 confirmed cases. Because of the new cases at The Haven, Routt County will be filing an outbreak status notification with the state. Continue reading →

Moffat County has three new cases of COVID-19 today. The three cases were identified as close contacts of people previously reported as positive for COVID-19. Two are male teenagers. One is a woman in her 50s. All live in Moffat County. This brings the total number of positive cases of the Coronavirus to 23. Continue reading →

The Moffat County School District wants your opinion on getting school started in August. The district website has a link to a survey for parents, staff, and community members. Another aspect of getting back to school is the extra-curricular activities and athletics, especially at the high school. Here’s Moffat County High School Principal Sarah Hepworth.

The board and administrators will meet on Thursday to make a final decision on how to proceed with the school year. Those surveys will help with the decision. The board will also decide on the recommended starting date for the first day of school, which would be Aug. 31. That’s a week later than it is scheduled to start right now, but Superintendent Scott Pankow wants some extra planning time for teachers and staff.   Link for comments: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/137_XjXmztPpRyoUZKl1Ebeiv_XdXjnLSW_tI5I3OiwQ/viewform?fbclid=IwAR3b6ZR9tLQ39jHLxtk0DSniGUck1uHLWXfXG9E290kmwXUUKXnN29fDRFg&edit_requested=true

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