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Saturday, May 24, 2025
After years of pondering how to help provide affordable housing to district employees, the Gunnison Watershed School District board may be a step closer to an answer. Board members on Monday heard a presentation from Rural Homes Colorado that laid out a specific plan for developing up to 20 housing...
Colorado’s 2020 wildfire season was one of the most destructive on record. Three years later, Lowline, the valley’s first significant wildfire in over a decade, burned just 13 miles outside of town. With the rise of more frequent and unpredictable wildfires across the West, Gunnison County has finalized a new...
Despite economic volatility, the timing of the Gunnison Watershed School District’s valley-wide renovation project could not have been better. The progress is visible a year after the school district first broke ground. In Gunnison, bulldozers are moving dirt for new athletic fields behind the community school, and cranes have hoisted...
For at least three decades, Gunnison County commissioners have wrestled with the same question every fall when finalizing the budget: how to pay for road and bridge maintenance. A combination of factors — from stagnant state revenue to dramatic cost increases in every aspect of maintenance operations — has steadily...
U.S. Congressman Jeff Hurd attended a work session meeting of the Board of County Commissioners on Monday to discuss issues of local concern and receive input from county officials. Roughly 20 members of the public attended the meeting. Board chair, Commissioner Laura Puckett Daniels, set expectations in opening comments. She...
On May 15, just ahead of Colorado Public Lands Day, Rep. Jeff Hurd, and Sen. Michael Bennet reintroduced the GORP Act as bipartisan legislation. The public lands bill, nearly a decade in the making, would further protect more than 700,000 acres on the Western Slope. The Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection...
Faced with what would have been a daunting task on a short timeline, Gunnison County commissioners on Tuesday elected to postpone a ballot measure asking voters for a tax increase to fund road and bridge maintenance. For three decades, the county has struggled with the combination of dramatically rising road...
Some readers may remember hearing about the detection of zebra mussels in the Colorado River in Grand Junction last summer. It may still remain unclear what that means, or why it matters to the Gunnison community. Zebra mussels are considered an aquatic nuisance species (ANS), which is exactly what it...
With the recent discovery of immature zebra mussels in the Colorado River, the National Park Service is taking extra steps to protect Blue Mesa Reservoir from aquatic invasive species. The ice has melted, and the Elk Creek, Iola and Lake Fork boat ramps are all open for the season. With...
The last piece of repair work on the Hwy. 50 middle and Lake Fork bridges is set to begin May 12 as crews conduct paint operations. Last April, the Colorado Department of Transportation closed the middle bridge, located at Blue Mesa Reservoir between Gunnison and Montrose, after several steel weld...
As we remember our veterans and those we have lost this Memorial Day, consider a visit to the Gunnison Pioneer Museum to see its extensive military collection. The Gunnison Pioneer and Historical Society was founded...
Town is all a buzz after the recent opening of Sugar B’s Boutique on May 9. The celebration was complete with a ribbon cutting, local friends and delectable food. Gunnison’s newest Main Street boutique, at...
I remember vividly as a kid the first time I looked up at the night sky. My big brother had taken me out into the backyard and simply instructed me to look up. The stars,...
It was late on a Monday afternoon, and I was lying underneath a stranger's grand piano. The stranger was a classically-trained pianist named David Bergstrom, and while I lay flat on my back beneath his...
In 1999, Gunnison was designated as a “Tree City, USA” by the Arbor Day Foundation for all its towering pines, shady cottonwoods and blossoming crabapples. Yet, few who visit Gunnison know that in its early...
The seven seniors on the GHS baseball team have battled together on the diamond since they were 8 years old. The first round of the playoffs on May 17 proved...
Ten athletes from the GHS track and field teams represented Gunnison at the 3A state championship May 15-17 in Lakewood. The Cowboys battled through adversity — including a controversial disqualification...
The GHS girls golf team has dedicated long afternoons on the range, and tournaments across the state all season with hopes of peaking at the regional tournament. After a long...
Western Colorado University is set to add women’s wrestling as an NCAA Division II and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) varsity sport. The Mountaineer program is set to begin competing...
After months of back-and-forth travel to courses across Colorado, the GHS girls golf team hosted four rival schools on their home turf at the Gunnison Invitational on May 5. Aiden...
There is an AI-generated video circulating on the internet that depicts fallen Chinese soldiers from past wars who are suddenly resurrected and standing on the streets of contemporary Chinese cities. They are shown in their battle-torn uniforms marveling at what their sacrifice has led their nation to become — at...
Bipartisan public lands bill brings communities together Editor: With the bipartisan introduction of the Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection (GORP) Act in the U.S. Senate and House, our community takes a major step. Bipartisan public lands legislation may seem like a miracle in the age of partisan politics, but only for...
This is a great time to step up Editor: At the Community Foundation of the Gunnison Valley, we work towards a vision of Gunnison County where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. We believe every single community member has a role to play in reaching that vision. The Community Foundation’s...
As three Gunnison High School alumni pursuing scientific careers, we feel compelled to defend and elaborate on the broad value of science. United States science has been steadily funded since World War II, but the current situation risks gravely damaging this great American tradition — vital to our health, security...
National service changed my life Editor: Serving nearly 12 years in the military taught me a lot of things and changed me for the better. It gave me structure, a sense of purpose, taught me how to work with a diverse team to make a difference and what it means...
In this episode of Think Radio, Gunnison Country Times Publisher Alan Wartes talks with Jodi Payne, executive director of the Gunnison Country Food Pantry. Listen to "Think Radio — Jodi Payne" on Spreaker.
Listen to "Gunnison Swimming: Coach of the Year Tami Maciejko and Sam Jones" on Spreaker. This week on the Game Plan: Alex McCrindle chats with senior swimmer Sam Jones and Head Coach Tami Maciejko on the state swim meet this month, the strong team culture and the exciting future of...
Listen to "Gunnison Basketball: Cristian Aguilar, Wolfgang Anderson and Burk O'Rourke" on Spreaker. Times Sports Editor Alex McCrindle sits down with GHS basketball head coach Cristian Aguilar and seniors Wolfgang Anderson and Burk O'Rourke to chat about the rivalry win over Crested Butte, the brotherhood building in the Cowboy locker...
Following two defeats to UCCS and Fort Lewis, Western basketball stars Andrew Reichart and Tyler Halligan chat with Alex McCrindle about newfound momentum under Head Coach Zac Claus and a returning student section. Then, Alex recaps the Crested Butte Hockey team's recent defeats, and two first-place champions for the GHS...
The Game Plan returns for Season 2 with a high school winter sports preview. Host Alex McCrindle covers updates from the swimming, basketball, hockey and wrestling teams ahead of a turbulent holiday schedule. Listen to "The Game Plan: Winter Sports Preview" on Spreaker.