KRAI AM & FM

State agencies have opened more trust lands to sportsmen, just in time for hunting season. Hunters and anglers will have access to 77,000 more acres, for a total of 480,000 acres of state lands currently open to hunting and fishing from September through February. Colorado Parks and Wildlife wants to eventually make one million acres of state lands available to sportsmen and women.

Continue reading →

A fire broke out in the Davis House last night, across the street from the Moffat County Courthouse, in the 500 block of School Street. Firefighters were able to put out the fire in the apartment building. No one was hurt, and firefighters were able to get two dogs and a litter of kittens out of the building. The fire is under investigation.

Tyler Smercina Mug shot

A Craig man has been arrested for stalking and harassing a former lover. 26-year-old Tyler Scott Smercina faces a felony charge of stalking, and misdemeanor charges of violating a mandatory protection order and a restraining order, and harassment. The Craig Press reports police searched the victim’s phone and found 32 calls and texts, some minutes apart, from Smercina. Smercina is scheduled to be in court at 2 p.m. today.

Continue reading →

The Rocky Mountain Bull Bash had top pro bullriders thrilling the crowd at Romick Rodeo Arena in Steamboat Springs Sunday night. Colten Fritzlan from Rifle had the winning ride on a bull named Stage Fright.

Second place went to Keenan Hayes from Hayden who rode a bull named Burnout, which had never been defeated before, but has now.

Continue reading →

The sales and excise tax that could be levied on recreational marijuana in Craig has been lowered. Craig City Council voted that the city’s ensuing marijuana ordinance would cap any additional sales tax at 4 percent, and eliminate any additional excise taxes all together. The Craig Press reports that there is a council workshop on marijuana at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10 at Craig City Hall, before their regular council meeting. The public is invited.

Continue reading →

Photo courtesy Craig Police.

Two Craig Police officers were recognized at this week’s Craig City Council meeting. KRAI’s Vladan Chase has more.

Continue reading →

The West Theater in Craig is shutting down Thursday, but just for a while. New owners of the theater are from Rifle, and they are in the final stages of closing the deal. The last movie will be Thursday, and then those new owners plan to start renovating the movie theater. No word on how long the renovations will take and when the West Theater will reopen, but it shouldn’t be too long, and most of the regular employees are staying.

Continue reading →

Ethan Robinson mug shot.

The Craig man who led law enforcement on a high speed chase last week has been charged with five felonies. Three include drug possession and distribution. 28-year-old Ethan Robinson of Craig was arrested Friday after he led a Routt County Sheriff’s deputy on a chase along county roads. Robinson eventually got out and ran, but he was found by the deputy and a K-9 unit hiding under a bush. The dog alerted the deputy to illegal narcotics, including meth and heroin, in the car. Robinson is in jail, on a $10,000 cash surety bond.

Continue reading →

New legislation in Colorado is hoping to reduce the rate of drug overdoses from opioids. Drug overdoses increased six-fold from 2014 to 2016, with more than 65 percent of those death attributed to the abuse of prescription opioids. A new law lets Colorado doctors recommend medical marijuana to treat pain, instead of prescribing opioids. It went into effect Aug. 2. Some health experts in Steamboat say there isn’t enough evidence that shows marijuana is an effective, or safe, replacement.

Continue reading →

Here are the local headlines for KRAI on this Friday, August 23rd.

Both of the fires in Routt County have been fully contained. The Indian Run fire was determined to be started by lightning, and is the biggest to burn in the county so far, burning one hundred seventy acres. The Mill Creek 2 Fire was contained as well, and Trevor Guire said suppression efforts went as well as they could have.

Continue reading →

Here are the local headlines for KRAI on this Thursday, August 22nd.

Northwest Colorado Health received a Health Center Quality Leader award. The US Department of Health and human services announced the awards to over twelve hundred health centers across the US. Each health center will use these awards to improve the quality, efficiency, and the value of the health care they provide. Northwest Colorado health received the award because of the care it provides to people from Moffat and Routt Counties.

Continue reading →

Two wildfires in West Routt County are near full containment. The Indian Run Fire reached 170 acres. It’s about 16 miles southwest of Hayden, and is at about 85 percent containment. The Mill Creek 2 Fire burned a little over an acre on private land, about five miles east of Hayden. It’s near Wolf Mountain. Those fighting the fires include all Routt County fire districts, the U.S. Forest Service, hotshots from the Bureau of Land Management, and a wildland crew from South Dakota.

Continue reading →

A wildfire is burning about 16 miles southwest of Hayden. It’s the Indian Run fire, and at last check, it had burned 165 acres, with no containment. The fire is near Pagoda Peak in southwest Routt County, close to the Moffat County border. It’s burning on private and Bureau of Land Management land. Seventy firefighters from local fire protection districts and federal agencies are fighting the fire. No structures are at risk right now. The fire started Saturday night, after some lightning was seen in the area.

Continue reading →