S T E A M B O AT
TODAY
TUESDAY
APRIL 14, 2009
Steamboat Springs, Colorado
®
Vol. 21, No. 89
RO U T T
S T E A M B O AT S P R I N G S
FREE
C O U N T Y ’ S
DA I LY
N E W S PA P E R
Job cuts likely
Washing away winter
Wall’s letter does little
Commissioners hold out hope for other cost savings
Commissioners unfazed by sheriff’s correspondence about employee pay cuts Page 5
Tom Ross
PILOT & TODAY STAFF
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
SPORTS
Sailors win showdown Page 19
Correction The Routt County Board of Commissioners did not receive a letter from Sheriff Gary Wall’s attorneys until Monday morning. Thus, there was no letter for the commissioners to refuse to release. The receipt of the letter and the county’s willingness to disclose it were reported incorrectly in the “Wall fights pay cuts” story on page 1 of Monday’s Steamboat Today.
■ LOTTO
■ INDEX Briefs . . . . . . . . .10 Business. . . . . . .18 Classifieds . . . . .24 Colorado. . . . . . .14 Comics . . . . . . . .22 Crossword . . . . .23
JOHN F. RUSSELL/STAFF
Bill Doyne, manager at BeauJo’s Mountain Bistro, uses a power washer to remove a winter’s worth of dirt and dust from the side of his building at 704 Lincoln Ave. Now that Steamboat Ski Area has closed, many local businesses are using the shoulder season for routine maintenance and spring cleaning.
Happenings . . . . .7 Horoscope . . . . .22 Nation. . . . . . . . .32 Sports. . . . . . . . .19 ViewPoints . . . . . .8 Weather . . . . . . .31
Monday night’s Cash 5 numbers: 5-8-18-24-29 Drawings are held Monday through Saturday.
■ WEATHER
Overcast, afternoon storms. High of 58.
Page 31
Layoffs now appear inevitable for some Routt County government workers. County employees can expect to have a clearer picture of their job security by the middle of next month. On Monday, the Routt County Board of Commissioners acknowledged that it will be difficult to achieve needed budget cuts without a reduction in work force. “Sixty-five percent of our budget is personnel. We would be unrealistic to think we’ll be able to reduce operational budgets to meet what we need to be at by the time we need to do our 2010 budget” without a reduction in work force, Commissioner Nancy Stahoviak said. The county has about 285 full-time-equivalent positions. According to previous estimates, the elimination of 19 positions would reduce county personnel expenses by a minimum of $695,400. The commissioners will alert county employees this week that they can expect their department heads to have a set of criteria by May 15 that would
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See County, page 12