Local News - The Journal

Bench dedication ceremony honors the loss of homeless friends and relatives

Montezuma coalition aims to reduce number of unhoused people

DATE: Aug 17, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Historic orchards of Montezuma, La Plata counties are a ‘living museum’

Restoration project aims to propagate rare apple cultivars that would be lost without human involvement

DATE: Aug 17, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Democratic secretaries of state oppose Kroger-Albertsons merger in letter to FTC

New Mexico’s Oliver, Colorado’s Griswold are among signees

DATE: Aug 16, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Kaylee Sanders faces charges in two Cortez-area slayings, attempted murder

21-year-old will appear in court in September

DATE: Aug 16, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Colorado State Forest Service will grant $7.2 million to mitigate wildfire risks

Applicants can apply by Oct. 18

DATE: Aug 16, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Accidentally dial 911? Don’t hang up

Dispatch warns that dropped calls can divert crucial resources

DATE: Aug 16, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Is fingerprinting still a worthwhile crime-solving tool?

Durango law enforcement says few cases are solved using fingerprint evidence

DATE: Aug 16, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Famed CO climber recounts rescue from peak near Silverton

Gerry Roach, 79, has written guidebooks on climbing the state’s highest peaks

DATE: Aug 15, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Montezuma-Cortez schools put on lockdown after texted threat

Pinged phone of text message threats has left the area

DATE: Aug 15, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Colorado’s famed nature photographer John Fielder dies

Dedicated life to preserve, conserve state’s landscapes

DATE: Aug 15, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Western states will not lose as much Colorado River water in 2024

Officials plan to back off water cuts, but long-term problems remain

DATE: Aug 15, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

U.S. commits $50M to enhance infrastructure in Upper Colorado River Basin

Investing in America Agenda directs spending for climate resiliency

DATE: Aug 15, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Montezuma County DA Christian Hatfield charged with DWICharges come 16 weeks after crash near Farmington, New MexicoMontezuma County District Attorney Christian Hatfield was charged Friday with driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs 16 weeks after he crashed his SUV on U.S. Highway 64 outside Bloomfield.The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office charged Hatfield, 59, with petty misdemeanor charge of DWI and an open container in connection to the Aug. 30 single-car crash.The charges come after results from a blood test by the New Mexico Department of Health Scientific Laboratory showed alcohol and a drug in Hatfield’s body after the crash.

“The results show that at the time of the blood draw, which was approximately eleven hours after the time of the crash due to medical issues, were 0.05 g/100 ml of Ethanol and 0.04 mg/L of Zolpidem (Ambien). Both Ethanol and Ambien are Central Nervous System Depressants,” the law enforcement report states.Two vials of blood were taken from Hatfield at 1:33 p.m. Aug. 30, which was more than 12 hours after the crash occurred about 1 a.m. Those vials were received by the New Mexico Department of Health Scientific Laboratory at 10:26 a.m. Oct. 11, which was six weeks after the crash, according to records from the lab.An investigation into the blood warrant by The Journal newspaper in Cortez, Colorado, showed that the blood sample sat in a refrigerator at the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office until Oct. 3, because paperwork to send it to the state laboratory was not processed.“I think it’s a non-prosecutable case because of all the errors made by law enforcement,” said Arlon Stoker, a high-profile defense attorney secured by Hatfield to fight the charges.

The charges made by the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office are “based on the observations made by law enforcement officers on scene and the presence of intoxicating drugs and liquors in Christian's blood,” according to the report that was given to The Journal by the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government.Amanda Lavin, legal director for NMFOG, assisted The Journal in accessing public records from the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office in Aztec. The records had been redacted, leaving out Hatfield’s name and information about the blood warrant filed in San Juan County Magistrate Court.Public records requests by The Journal and the Tri-City Record went unresolved for 14 weeks.The Journal requested body camera footage and lapel camera video on Sept. 3.The Tri-City Record requested any and all warrants, investigative reports and laboratory reports as well as photos, lapel cam videos and dash cam videos on Oct. 23.On Dec. 9, Lavin made the same requests.

The Journal received access to photos and videos in an email on Dec. 19, and Lavin, after making a legal argument for unredacted information, received the full report Dec. 19 and was advised that charges would be forthcoming.The report detailing the crash states that Hatfield was found “unresponsive and barely able to stand” about 1 a.m. Aug. 30 near the intersection of U.S. Highway 64 and County Road 5099.Investigators and medics noted a “pungent” odor of alcohol coming from Hatfield, and investigators found “an open 12-ounce can of Mexican Lager with residual liquid inside,” an “empty wine glass,” and a “bottle of Ambien prescribed to Christian,” according to the report.The affidavit for search warrant for blood submitted by sheriff’s deputy Avery Killifer states he had an “opinion that the defendant was driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or a controlled substance.” The deputy “placed the defendant under arrest” at the time, but Hatfield was taken to San Juan Regional Medical Center, because of “extensive injuries.”A summons was issued for Hatfield, and an arraignment is set for 8:30 a.m. Jan. 8 in Aztec Magistrate Court.

Charges come 16 weeks after crash near Farmington, New Mexico

Cortez hosts its 32nd Community Christmas Dinner Wintry conditions might have slightly impacted turnout On Christmas Day, the Montezuma County Annex Building in downtown Cortez hosted hundreds of people as they enjoyed a hearty holiday meal, together. Community members filled plates with ham, sweet potatoes, green beans, salad and pie, and gathered around long, rectangular tables dressed in green cloths and gold garland for the occasion.

“This, to me, is what Christmas should look like,” said Jennifer Essary, who’s on the Community Christmas Dinner Committee. “One of the highlights from today was getting to watch our community come together in friendships and fellowship while sharing a meal.”Leading up to the big day, organizers expected to feed 500 people. Around 200 showed up to eat at the annex building, and another 150 meals were packaged to go.

For those in the community who were unable to make it to the in-person meal from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., volunteers delivered a meal to them. Essary said they delivered 78 meals. It’s “hard to say,” the “weather might have contributed to a bit smaller turnout than we had expected,” though the white Christmas was undoubtedly dreamy.Essary underscored how she values and enjoys working with volunteers of “all ages and backgrounds.” “This dinner would not be possible without the hard work and support of our community,” said Essary. “We are blessed to live in an area that makes this event possible.”

Wintry conditions might have slightly impacted turnout

Colorado doctor finds hobby in photographing snowflakesEach flake that tumbles from the sky this time of year is a one-of-a-kind

At his home in Aurora, Jason Persoff peers out the window of his back porch overlooking a field and a small pond. “I always love it when there's fresh fallen snow,” he said.December finally delivered weather that was cold and moist enough to deposit a dusting on the porch railing.He opens a sliding-glass door. In his hand, he has a camera with a long lens. “The secret of my operation is here,” Persoff said, with a grin.On a table, there’s an LED light and a fluffy black sock. Against that unusual backdrop, snowflakes pop.

He carefully maneuvers the tiny frozen structures with a toothpick. The camera shutter registers each image.Click, click, click.“You can see they're incredibly fragile. They're microscopic glass, essentially. And actually, glass would be even more solid than these snowflakes,” Persoff said, rattling off dozens of images, in quick succession.Click, click, click.So, I cover the health beat – why am I telling you about pictures of snowflakes? Let me take you back a few years to early 2020.The pandemic hits, with the governor announcing Colorado’s first case. Soon news coverage tells of fresh cases, hospitalizations and deaths.I was scrambling to explain how the virus was affecting Coloradans. By phone or Zoom, I talked to a lot of people, including doctors in hospitals.One source was Dr. Persoff, a hospitalist at the UCHealth University of Colorado hospital. He helped it manage emergency preparedness, dealing with things like PPE and staffing.As the crisis grew and evolved, Persoff helped explain the trends, including when the early surge eased and Colorado could breathe an initial sigh of relief.I started following him on Facebook, where he posted about his passion – not related to medicine or health – but photography of weather and snowflakes.He manages to capture unreal images of bright, intricate crystals on a black background.At his kitchen table, Persoff, looking out over his eyeglasses, shows snowflake photos captured over the years.“It looks like this thing was handcrafted, which is what's spectacular. And this is what's possible when it gets cold enough to get these incredible snowflakes,” Persoff said.Some have broad arms, others delicate branches. Some have bubbles, others look like flowers. “And all snowflakes because of the way that water crystallizes will end up being hexagonal. Always.”

Each is maybe 2 millimeters in width, each with its own ethereal design, due to the way changing weather shapes it. “It would be almost impossible to have two snowflakes that are alike because of that. Even across the snowflake, there's no symmetry.”Like people? I ask.“Like people. Most people are asymmetrical!” he said with a hearty laugh.And one of a kind!As we chat, his cats wander around, occasionally jumping in his lap. Their names are, of course, science-related: Thunder, Helix and Meso, short for mesocyclone. (If you didn’t know, that’s a column of air quickly rotating air that forms in a thunderstorm, often a precursor to a real tornado. I had to look it up.)Above a living room mantle, he’s hung a series of enlarged snowflake images. On other walls, there are big prints of tornadoes and spectacular cloud formations.

In warmer months, he chases storms, taking photos and videos as he roams the plains. A video he shared with me captures the moment a twister forms on the horizon. “Look at that thing!” he shouts, with someone nearby cheering. “Woo hoo!”“The thing that I really love about weather from a photographic standpoint is trying to capture the wonder that I feel sitting in the face of either storms or snowflakes about how just amazing the world is,” Persoff said.News outlets, like the Washington Post, have reported on his photos. He has a website, where folks can see and buy them and posts instructional videos on YouTube. But for Persoff, the joy comes in a spiritual connection to the natural world.“It’s a place where I get to experience true serenity,” said Persoff.

It’s a respite from working in a hospital, which he loves, but where it can be hectic and stressful.“Every now and again, I need to be reminded that the world is very broad and beautiful, and especially during wintertime,” Persoff said.That's one of the things the snowflakes give him.To read more stories from Colorado Public Radio, visit www.cpr.org.

Each flake that tumbles from the sky this time of year is a one-of-a-kind

Photos: Dolores falls in season opener against Ignacio

Four months after their capture, Durango bear cubs return to the wildTriplets were orphaned after sow was euthanized following a home break-in

SAN JUAN NATIONAL FOREST – With a bound, a tumble and not a second of hesitation, three bear cubs fled the open crate and disappeared from the clearing. Two of the triplets paused for a moment, exploring the trunk of pine tree, before the trio scuttled down the hillside.“As soon as we’re gone, they vocalize, they’ll call to each other, and they’ll get back together,” said Michael Sirochman, the manager of Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Frisco Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Facility in Del Norte.

The black bear cubs spent the better part of four months at the rehab center, where they were brought in July after they were orphaned. The sow broke into a home near Durango – a serious threat to human health and safety – and had to be euthanized. However, the 9-month-old cubs did not enter the home, said Area 15 Wildlife Manager Adrian Archuleta, and were given a second chance and sent off to Frisco Creek, where they would receive ample calories.

It was a busy year for CPW officials in Area 15, which covers the southwest corner of state. Bear reports nearly doubled over last year – 842 encounters or sightings were documented, up from 426 in 2023 and 274 in 2022. Sirochman hosted 25 bears at the state’s rehab facility, seven of which were captured in the Durango office’s jurisdiction. Five of those seven were released Wednesday on national forest land near Pagosa Springs. In captivity, Sirochman makes a concerted effort not to habituate the bears with humans. They are kept in a pen with blinds, shielded from the sight of humans. Staff members are careful not to speak near the pen, lest they train the bears to be comfortable with humans or associate voices with food.

“We don’t want them getting comfortable seeing people or hearing human voices,” he said. “So, when they encounter people in the wild, starting today, they will act like a wild bear and respond appropriately, retreat (and) leave the area.”The cubs are fed a mixture of whatever available forage they might naturally encounter in the wild and a protein-rich commercial feed. “Throughout their time there, we tried to introduce them to some natural foods,” Sirochman said. “We have gooseberries and currants and choke cherries nearby.” All of this is in keeping with the goal of raising bears that are not likely to engage in the kind of conflict behavior that led to the orphaning of these three cubs in the first place.

As winter nears, Sirochman starts to taper the cubs off a high-protein diet and replace it with produce in order to mimic the natural transition bears would experience in the wild. The decline in protein, paired with changing daylight and temperatures, signals to the cubs that winter is near, and triggers an instinct to find a den. The other pair of bears released Wednesday were given their last apple on a Friday, Sirochman said, and by Monday the pair was gathering material to build a den. In some circumstances, CPW will hold onto bears until they are large enough for release and situate them in a human-made den. About 25% of those bears will abandon that den, Sirochman said. “In some ways, I’d rather do a fall release where they have the advantage of dry ground right now to find a place and settle down,” he said. The triplet female cubs released Wednesday weighed somewhere between 80 pounds and 100 pounds, although in the wild they would likely weigh in the 50- to 75-pound range.

Given their good health, wildlife officials say the survival of the cubs through the winter is all but guaranteed. On average, cubs take six days to find a den after release from captivity. CPW has conducted many successful releases in that same location in the past, chosen in part because the surrounding aspens host understory vegetation that will bear springtime nutrients. And given the suitability of the habitat and past experiences, officials say these bears are unlikely to cause conflict with landowners or homeowners in the future. And to see the three bears, happy and healthy, bound out into the woods? That’s a win for CPW.“It’s definitely gratifying to know that we did some good and gave these bears a chance,” Archuleta said. rschafir@durangoherald.com

Triplets were orphaned after sow was euthanized following a home break-in

Photos: Dove Creek volleyball at CHSAA 1A state tournamentBulldogs end 2024 campaign with 24-3 record

Bulldogs end 2024 campaign with 24-3 record

Panthers cruise to 43-0 victory on Friday night

Talk of persisting inequities prevails at Fort Lewis College screening of ‘Ute Water Legacy’Rocky Mountain PBS documentary series episode was shown Wednesday

The Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe collectively own nearly half the 123,500-acre-feet of water sitting in Lake Nighthorse, and they have no way to access it. The federally built reservoir, formally called the Animas-La Plata Project, was built, in part, to settle the tribal claims to critical water resources. But a compromise in Congress in 2000 allocated funding for the construction of the $500 million reservoir, but not the infrastructure needed for dry land farmers in western La Plata County and the tribes to use the water. At an event Wednesday hosted by the Four Corners Water Center at Fort Lewis College, Rocky Mountain PBS screened a recent episode of the Colorado Experience titled “The Ute Water Legacy,” which detailed the evolution and apparent failures of the Animas-La Plata Project. The screening of the 27-minute episode and subsequent panel event, held before a crowd of about 80 in the college’s student union ballroom, were apart of the water center’s annual water week, an event that brings together stakeholders and students in conversation around water access, conservation and sustainability. Pagosa Springs filmmaker Christi Bode made the episode.

Ute Mountain Ute Chairman Manuel Heart, Southern Ute Vice Chairman and Colorado River Water Conservation board member Lorelei Cloud, water engineer Steve Harris and Hesperus farmer Trent Taylor all sat on the panel following the event, which was moderated by Celene Hawkins, who has a long history of working with tribes on water issues. The greater need for water than supply may have been an issue when Nighthorse was constructed in the early 2000s, but that issues has grown to a full-blown crisis today, tribal leaders say. And the need to either access their water or be compensated for it has grown too. And the right to water on paper is vastly different from what wonks call “wet water,” that is, water one can actually use.“The only way for us to protect our water is to use that water,” Cloud said. Heart, repeating a common refrain he coined, said the tribes water is in jeopardy because of the four U’s: “undeveloped, unused, unquantified and uncompensated.”

Recently, Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado’s two senators spoke out against a decision by federal officials stating the tribes are not eligible for compensation under the parameters of a new fund that would pay water users to decrease consumption. But The water rights have to be developed before the tribes can be compensated to not use their water, the Bureau of Reclamation said. The Ute water legacy is less a piece of history and more of a persisting inequity, Cloud and Heart indicated. Aside from a louder voice and a construction contract to build the Ridges Basin Damn, the tribes got very little out of the Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act that led to the construction of Lake Nighthorse. “We’re the losers in this whole thing,” Cloud said. “I don’t see much benefit other than driving by and seeing that water sitting there because we can’t use it. I don’t feel like we’ve gained a whole lot.”rschafir@durangoherad.com

Rocky Mountain PBS documentary series episode was shown Wednesday

Rare lunar event illuminates Chimney Rock National MonumentStone pillars, moon’s 18.6-year cycle and ancient structures tell a story

CHIMNEY ROCK NATIONAL MONUMENT – To archaeo-astronomers, the stone pillars that give Chimney Rock National Monument its name and the structures there built by ancestral Puebloan people send a message. “Something should happen here” – that’s the message Erica Ellingson, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Colorado Boulder, hears. She studies, among other things, the relationship ancient cultures had to the sky.And something did happen at the monument Tuesday night: The moon rose between Chimney Rock and Companion Rock, demonstrating a rare celestial occurrence called the major lunar standstill. The event occurs monthly over the course of about two years on a precise, albeit lengthy 18.6-year cycle.The standstill is an anomaly of sorts in the moon’s cycle.

Just as the position of the sun’s rise and set travels across the horizon over the course of a year, the moon rises from different points on the horizon over the course of a month. But every 18.6 years, the moon’s orbit around the earth hits an extreme. For about two years – the period known as the standstill – the moon rises in an abnormally northern position. The ancient Puebloans took notice of this aberration, it seems.

About 1,000 years ago, between the years A.D. 900 and 1125, ancestral Puebloans on the northeast edge of the Chacoan society constructed more than 200 buildings at Chimney Rock. The structures, of which remnants remain today, include a Chacoan complex known as a Great House.From the Great house perched delicately atop a mesa – and only from that spot – a sliver of sky appears between the two offset pillars. “It begs you to think, what happens in this little piece of sky?” Ellingson said.

When the moon reaches its northernmost position during the major lunar standstill, it rises between the two rocks. The phenomenon has led researches to believe that the Chimney Rock Great House was built to serve as a celestial observatory.“The geology grabbed them and said, ‘Look at this thing. This is happening. It’s remarkable, it’s beautiful. Look!’” Ellingson said. “But other than that, this lunar standstill cycle is a very subtle thing. It’s every 18 years. It’s not practical. You can’t plant your crops by it, you can’t really do anything with it.”‘The moon does this wild and crazy thing’Chimney Rock is a sacred site to the descendants of those who inhabited it around the year 900. The monument, created in 2012 by presidential proclamation, is managed by the San Juan National Forest in collaboration with the nonprofit Chimney Rock Interpretive Association and in consultation with 26 tribes that claim a cultural affiliation.

The monument sits within the exterior boundary of the Southern Ute Indian Reservation. Tribal members know the pillars as “Standing Rock.” “It’s a part of our cultural landscape,” said Cassandra Atencio, Southern Ute Indian Tribe historic preservation officer during a presentation before the moonrise Tuesday night. “… It’s built into our histories and our oral stories.”During the last standstill in the mid-2000s, the U.S. Forest Service allowed small groups of people to observe the event from a fire tower near the Great House. The tower was removed in 2010, leaving minimal space from which the event can be accessed by what forest officials say is a hazardous trail.SJNF officials announced in 2023 that the monument would be closed during standstill viewing events. However, the forest service announced earlier this year that it would hold livestream viewings of the standstill in partnership with Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. Griffith employees, equipped with batteries, cameras and Starlink internet system, set up to stream the event to viewers in an amphitheater and live around the world.

“This is extraordinary location, extraordinary topographical feature, extraordinary history, and then the moon does this wild and crazy thing – who wouldn’t want to see it?” said Ed Krupp, the observatory’s director of 50 years. As many as 160 people attended the first livestream event in September, said Cody Cammack, Chimney Rock’s lead ranger. About 75 people filled out the frigid stone amphitheater Tuesday night at the last livestream event of the season. More viewings are tentatively scheduled for 2025.

“I’ve been looking forward to it,” said Jesse Carman, an archaeology student who traveled from Santa Fe for the event. Krupp, Atencio and Ellingson all spoke as darkness settled over the monument. At 10:01, the glow emerging between the two rocks on the screen (and on the actual horizon behind it) burgeoned into the edge of the waning moon. People have likely been observing this particular event in this particular location for a thousand years, experts think. Wood sampled from the Great House has been dated to the years A.D. 1076 and A.D. 1093-1094 – all years when major lunar standstills were observable.

“The ancestral Pueblo people built a Great House, the kivas, this complex up in the sky up at Chimney Rock to celebrate, to watch the moon rise,” Ellingson said. “And here we are, 1,000 years later, gathering here to watch the same moon do the same thing.”After the light faded from the narrow sky between Chimney and Companion rocks, the bundled masses returned to their cars and moon finished its rise, looking a little different.rschafir@durangoherald.com

Stone pillars, moon’s 18.6-year cycle and ancient structures tell a story