Gunnison Country Times, January 25, 2024

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School district renovations on track Gunnison meeting set for Jan. 31 Abby Harrison Times Staff Writer

WINTER TRACKS: Gunnison Nordic board member and trail groomer Mark Fonken drove the organization’s small snow cat on the front side of Hartman Rocks on Wednesday, Jan. 17. Trails are firming up, and ready for riding, including Jack’s, Tailpipe, Moto Loop and more. According to Gunnison Trails, routes on the McCabe’s side are next on the list. (Photo by Jacob Spetzler)

A l t h o u g h b a re l y a n y o f t h e Gunnison Watershed School District's (GWSD) $95 million renovation budget has been spent, planners are refining the design for the historic project. In the coming weeks, an executive committee will match the “scope” of the proposed renovations to the existing budget. The school district’s bond money, supported by a property tax increase in 2023, will fund district-wide renoSchools A6

Whetstone design Ouray newspapers TODAY deadline extended stolen after story Still waiting about alleged rape for Crested

INSIDE

NEWS: Guilty plea entered for 2022 pedestrian death, A10 COMMUNITY: Rooted in western Colorado, B1

Butte utility connection

Abby Harrison Times Staff Writer

SPORTS: Cowboy grapplers gain confidence, B4

OBITUARIES A3 OPINION A4 CLASSIFIEDS A15-A1 SPORTS B6 ONLINE GUNNISONTIMES.COM

Last week, Gunnison County Commissioners approved a deadline extension for the valley’s largest affordable housing project, Whetstone. County planners and the project’s developer Servitas received another year to submit a detailed architecture and engineering report, also called the “preliminary plan.” But, planners anticipate they’ll only need a few weeks. Whetstone is the countyowned affordable housing project in development just south of Crested Butte. It will contain

255 units — offered only to locals for as low as 80% of area median income — a pedestrian trail circling the development and a central park space. John Cattles, assistant county manager for operations and sustainability, requested the year-long extension at a regular meeting on Jan. 16. But before the county can submit the plan, it still needs approval from the Crested Butte Town council for a utility connection. The preliminary plan will give the public the most clarity so far as to what the project will look like. Since 2001, the county has processed nine building applications that, like Whetstone, require a major impact land use change. At least four of those applications received the same time extension, Assistant County Manager for Community and Economic Whetstone A6

Plaindealer incident grabs national attention Bella Biondini Times Editor

The Ouray County Plaindealer, a locally-owned weekly Western Slope newspaper, became the center of national headlines after newspapers were stolen following the publication of sexual assault allegations last week. The Jan. 18 edition of the Plaindealer featured a frontpage story detailing an alleged sexual assault that occurred at the home of the Ouray police

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chief. The morning after publication, co-publishers Erin McIntyre and Mike Wiggins found that the majority of the Plaindealer racks across both Ridgway and Ouray were empty. “Whoever did this took the time to steal hundreds of newspapers from around the county to prevent you from reading the news,” the Plaindealer’s online newsletter read. On Jan. 20, the Ouray County Sheriff ’s Office cited Ridgway resident, Paul Choate, 41, in connection with the petty theft of more than 200 printed copies of the weekly edition. Choate admitted to stealing the newspapers early Thursday morning, but returned them to the Plaindealer’s office that same Ouray A7

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Rocky’s Gym:

THE TRANSFORMATION

BACKYARD CHICKENS

KOREAN FARMING

PATIO PROJECTS

RENOVATING WITH KIDS


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