Local News - The Journal

Trial nears in sex case

Judge upholds First Amendment at hearing

DATE: Jul 23, 2015 | CATEGORY: Local News

Judge stops bong-a-thon near Stoner; sheriff to post deputies

Crowd forces move to larger courtroom for injunction hearing

DATE: Jul 22, 2015 | CATEGORY: Local News

Hay fire

DATE: Jul 20, 2015 | CATEGORY: Local News

Co-owner of Notah Dineh Trading dies

Memorial service for Gregg Leighton set for Friday

DATE: Jul 20, 2015 | CATEGORY: Local News

Fire burns on 8 acres of Haycamp

The U.S. Forest Service is actively monitoring a wildfire atop Haycamp Mesa, about nine miles northeast of Dolores. Lightning is believed to have sparked the blaze about 1:45 p.m....

DATE: Jul 20, 2015 | CATEGORY: Local News

Fair will feature Colt Challenge contest

Montezuma County event takes place at fairgrounds July 30, 31

DATE: Jul 20, 2015 | CATEGORY: Local News

City eyes funds for removing blight

Council explores cost of demolishing unsafe, abandoned buildings

DATE: Jul 20, 2015 | CATEGORY: Local News

El Niño ends dry run in La Plata County

Above-average spring and summer rains have helped break a 3½-year drought in La Plata County. Higher-than-average precipitation in the region could continue into the winter if El ...

DATE: Jul 20, 2015 | CATEGORY: Local News

A nuclear bomb – and new debate – take shape in N.M.

A powerful, guided B61-12 appears to cross line

DATE: Jul 20, 2015 | CATEGORY: Local News

Pot tax, Web ballots face test

5 percent tax would fund city building improvements

DATE: Jul 20, 2015 | CATEGORY: Local News

Weather favors Four Corners area

El Niño, monsoon combine to ease drought

DATE: Jul 20, 2015 | CATEGORY: Local News

Legal pioneer Grace Storey Merlo dies at 90

First female judge in area district

DATE: Jul 20, 2015 | CATEGORY: Local News

Aztec High wrestling captures 22nd state team championshipA total of five Tiger wrestlers brought home individual titles, Bloomfield’s Caylee Miller captures back-to-back state titles in girls wrestling tourney

RIO RANCHO – The Aztec High School boys wrestling team turned the state championship tournament into a showcase last weekend at the Rio Rancho Events Center, crowning five individual champions and rolling to its second straight Class A-4A team title.As a team, the Tigers dominated their competition, winning by a score of 241-156 over Belen. West Las Vegas, St. Pius and Silver rounded out the top five teams in the 37-team tournament.For Aztec, the team victory is the 22nd in the history of the program, making the Tigers by far the most prized prep wrestling team in the state of New Mexico. Last year, the Tigers earned the state team title despite just claiming one individual championship. This year, the team sent five to the top of the podium with five other wrestlers finishing in the top four in their respective weight classes.“It was really just small improvements from last year,” said Aztec head coach Levi Stout. “They just united and decided to get each other’s backs and really embraced the family atmosphere and they really bought in.”

Leading the charge for Aztec were individual state champions senior Ethan Vigil (120 pounds), junior James Moore (126), senior Taner Olguin (132), junior Cory Douglas (165) and senior Aiden Trujillo (215).Trujillo, who finished his prep career with an emphatic 9-3 decision over Isaiah Rivera of Albuquerque Academy, was emotional about being a part of such a historic wrestling program.“I’m so proud to call these guys my brothers,” Trujillo said. “Knowing I’m a part of this legacy and what this team has done in the past and what they’ll continue to do means so much to me.”

Vigil provided the quickest highlight of the finals, needing only 31 seconds to pin St. Pius X’s Dane Padilla to claim the 120-pound crown. Moore followed suit at 126, grinding out a 4-0 decision over Miyamura’s Austin Lopez. Olguin kept the momentum rolling at 132, securing a 6-2 decision against Santiago Medrano of West Las Vegas, earning his second individual state title. Olguin began his prep wrestling career winning a state title as an eighth-grader in 2022 at 106 lbs.“Getting that second state title has eluded him ever since his eighth-grade year and it’s a long story for him but he’s such a special and deserving champion,” said Stout after the tournament. Douglas pinned Kirtland Central’s Todd Robinson at the 2:32 mark to take the 165-pound title, capping off a remarkable season with a record of 44-5.

“We pushed each other all season long in that room to make each other better,” Douglas said after his win. “I came into this match a little flat I thought and I didn’t take the opportunity to win as soon as I saw it, but it means a lot to be here.”Podium FinishersWhile the five champions stole the spotlight, the Tigers’ depth was on full display with several other wrestlers earning guaranteed places:Nathan Hare (106): Took second place after falling to Valencia’s Dominik Suarez in the final.Baylon Black (144): Earned a hard-fought third-place finish with a 7-6 decision over Silver’s Cruz Burrola.Delano Black (157): Secured third place by pinning Jule May of Chaparral in 1:51.Ian Vigil (138): Finished fourth after a 7-1 decision loss in the third-place match.CJ Saiz (113): Placed fourth overall.Local RivalriesThe tournament also featured strong showings from neighboring Bloomfield and Kirtland Central. Bloomfield’s Kellan Ray captured the 150-pound state title with a dominant 19-3 technical fall over Zachary Katz of St. Pius X, earning Ray a second straight individual gold medal. Bloomfield's Bryce Lance (113) and Kirtland Central's Todd Robinson (165) and Chance Aspaas (175) all earned runner-up finishes.

Miller captures back-to-back state championshipsThe Bloomfield High School wrestling program has a new standard-bearer at the top of the podium.Sophomore Caylee Miller capped off a perfect season by pinning her way to the 235-pound title at the state wrestling championships. Miller defeated Goddard’s Vanessa Martinez in the first-place match, securing the fall at the 2:29 mark.Miller’s victory assured a top-10 finish for the Bobcat girls wrestling team, which finished eighth overall. Cleveland High took the overall state girls team title, ahead of Las Cruces, with Miyamura, Volcano Vista and Atrisco Heritage rounding out the top five in the 53-team event.The victory kept Miller’s unblemished record intact, as she finished the year 25-0. Martinez, also a sophomore, ended her impressive campaign with a 26-4 record.

A total of five Tiger wrestlers brought home individual titles, Bloomfield’s Caylee Miller captures back-to-back state titles in girls wrestling tourney

Photos/video: Silverton Skijoring

Durango City Council shows unanimous support for electric fencing, bear matsProposed rules include $50 fee, safety and placement standards

Durango City Council is poised to approve a permitting process for electric fences and bear “unwelcome” mats within city limits.Councilors voted unanimously to approve two ordinances establishing standards and a permit process for the wildlife deterrence equipment and are scheduled to take a final vote at their Feb. 17 meeting.Daniel Murray, development services manager for the city’s Community Development Department, said city staff members propose “medium allowance” regulations for electric fences and bear mats.Electric fences would require barrier fences around them to prevent accidental contact by people unaware they are electrified, Murray said. They would be permitted in side yards and backyards but not front yards, he said. The same restrictions would apply to bear mats; however, bear mats would be allowed on front porches so long as the porch is more than 20 feet from the street or sidewalk.The city will permit only commercially available electric fences and bear mats with up to 10,000 volts of electricity and up to 2 joules of energy, Murray said.A $50 permit application fee was proposed, and applicants would be able to file online. He said he anticipates Community Development would be able to grant permits within 24 hours after receiving applications.Community Development and Durango Police Department would share enforcement and regulation responsibilities, he said.Murray said Community Development consulted Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Bear Smart Durango in developing the proposed standards, and both organizations are willing to support the city implementing permitting for electric fences and bear mats.

Bear Smart Durango will aid the city in creating educational brochures with explainers about the permit process.“Electric fences are an effective and humane deterrent for wildlife,” Murray said. “They create a negative association with human spaces. The goal is to keep wildlife wild and a safer environment where there are fewer interactions between humans and wildlife.”Table to Farm Compost co-owner Monique DiGiorgio and Bayfield resident Sandhya Atkinson, who said she was a professional facilitator for the La Plata County Bear Working Group for six years, spoke in favor of removing the prohibition of electric fences and bear mats in city limits.CUT FOR PRINTDiGiorgio said Table to Farm Compost dealt with bears getting into bags of compost at its county facility for years before it installed an electric fence around its 4-acre facility. Once the fence was up, bears quickly learned easy meals were no longer available at Table to Farm Compost.“We installed the fence and they started to come to the northwest corner of the fence. We actually have lots of interesting videos showing them trying to get in,” he said. “After a couple of months of them not being able to get in, we started to see that decline. And now I can say it’s been over a year if not more, the bears are just ignoring the facility altogether.”She said electric fences are efficient and effective at reducing human and bear conflict. They are also safe for pets and people and have been implemented successfully in other Colorado communities.Atkinson said the La Plata County Bear Working Group consisted of city staff, law enforcement, Bear Smart Durango, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and Colorado Parks and Wildlife, as well as others.It tracked bear activity, provided public education and responded to bear incidents.Education alone isn’t enough, said Bayfield resident Sandhya Atkinson. “The most effective way to prevent conflict is physical prevention. If bears can’t access the food, they don’t return,” Atkinson said. “ ... That protects people and it protects bears.”She said wildlife-resistant trash containers in Durango are one example of that concept. Electric fences and bear mats are the next step.They are safe, temporary, affordable and highly effective. They deliver a brief deterrent shock that teaches a bear to stay away without harming the animal or posing risk to people or pets, she said.She said 30% of all bear reports in Colorado for 2025 were in La Plata County. More than 750 trash-related incidents were reported, and 17 black bears in the region were euthanized.“In my own neighborhood here in Bayfield, a bear broke into a compost bin last fall. After Bear Smart helped install local fencing, the problem stopped immediately,” Atkinson said. “There were no further conflicts, escalation or harm, and children and dogs in our community are safer now than they were before.”cburney@durangoherald.com

Proposed rules include $50 fee, safety and placement standards

Photos: Snowdown Light Parade 2026

Snowdown Light Parade offers a journey back in timeDinosaurs, prospectors and chain saws, oh my!

Main Avenue was transformed Friday into a menagerie of whimsy during this year’s Snowdown Light Parade.Dinosaurs, prospectors, yards of flannel, covered wagons, a yeti, humanoid trees, a healthy dose of Victorian garb, Jazzercise cowboys, chain saws, bubbles, bears, horses, rams, chickens and motorcycles all helped paradegoers get into a party mood and go back in time for this year’s Snowdown theme: Uniquely Colorado – Then and Wow!The parade, hosted once again by Purgatory Resort, gave participants the opportunity to time travel to celebrate Colorado’s 150th anniversary and all that makes the state special.Some floats leaned heavily into the theme of celebrating Colorado’s history and quirks – one with an intricately decorated Victorian room, another featuring a mega-sized miner working a steaming rock pile, and one sporting the infamous Denver International Airport mustang, Blucifer, among others.

Others – like a mobile boxing ring and pickleball court, a drivable airport luggage cart filled with suitcases and a vintage Barbie car – gained attention through their eye-catching presentations and quirky energy.Though many themed floats leaned into 19th and 20th century Durango and Colorado history, some – including the La Plata Electric Association float – brought paradegoers back millions of years to the age of the dinosaurs.Purgatory has hosted the light parade for more than eight years, said company spokesperson James Graven.Purgatory Marketing Director Matt Ericksen told The Durango Herald that hosting Snowdown is a way for the company to show its support for the festival and the community.“Hosting the Snowdown parade is a way for us to support a long-standing Durango tradition and the community that has supported Purgatory for so many years,” Ericksen said. “Especially as we mark our 60th season, it feels important to stay connected to the events that make this place special.”

Durango resident Emma Tomlinson has attended the parade for more than 30 years. Her 4-year-old son, Axel, has been coming to the parade since he was born.“People just love it – it’s a tradition,” Tomlinson said. “I think during the winter, we’re all at our low, you know? It’s a great pick-me-up. You get out and you see your friends and you invite your family, and people are just happy. It’s a great time to just celebrate and be with each other.”

Axel said his favorite part of the parade was the fire-breathing propane tanks released from hot air balloon baskets ferried on trucks.The parade concluded with a drone show depicting images from Colorado’s history – a new addition this year – and an impromptu appearance from anti-ICE protesters.

The protesters, a smaller cohort than one that filled Main Avenue only hours earlier, filed into the parade route just as the procession was coming to a close with homemade signs in tow, chanting, “stop deportation.” epond@durangoherald.com

Dinosaurs, prospectors and chain saws, oh my!

Durango High School students trade class for anti-ICE protest‘Skipping our lessons to teach you one,’ read one sign

About 200 Durango High School students and a smattering of supportive community members marched down Main Avenue on Friday during school hours to protest recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. Students intentionally missed two class periods to join the crowd, which made its way through DHS property, south to downtown Durango and back again. A handful of class absences can lead to disciplinary action – but many of the students marching on Main said they were more than willing to take an attendance strike to be at the protest.

“It’s our friends out there (being taken),” 11th grader Lila Scherer-Sickler said as she marched alongside her classmates. “It’s people we know in Durango, and we just felt like, as kids, we don’t often get an opportunity to have our voice out there, and we just took the chance. A bunch of us are missing AP classes right now, (but) I think that the opportunity to get your voice out there is more important.”

The crowd of high schoolers touted handmade signs and called out chants like, “We want justice, we want peace, we want ICE up off our streets.” Many passing cars and passersby honked, smiled and waved at the crowd. Some put up their middle fingers or shook their heads. One student said a classmate intentionally blew exhaust at protesters from his car as the crowd was leaving the school. Durango School District spokeswoman Karla Sluis told The Durango Herald in a written statement that the school was aware of the protest and “coordinated communication with local law enforcement and nearby facilities” before the march.

“We acknowledge students’ First Amendment right to express their views,” she wrote. “At the same time, we are responsible for students’ safety and education. Usual attendance policies apply, and we encourage respectful dialogue through planned, supervised events.” The protest comes after several months of rising tensions between ICE and U.S. citizens, in Durango and nationwide. A father and his two children were detained by ICE in October in Durango, despite having an open asylum case, and a man who had lived in Durango for 22 years was arrested in the city on New Year’s Eve. According to reporting by The Guardian, at least eight people have died in dealings with ICE less than a month into the new year – including Minneapolis residents Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, who were shot and killed by ICE agents weeks apart.

Other people killed in interactions with ICE this year include Luis Gustavo Núñez Cáceres, Keith Porter Jr, Geraldo Lunas Campos, Víctor Manuel Díaz, Parady La and Luis Beltrán Yáñez-Cruz, according to The Guardian. Eleventh grader Finn Hughes said he participated in the walkout because using his privilege as a white U.S. citizen is important. “These are abhorrent kidnappings, and they’re happening not just in Durango, but around the nation,” he said.

Durango resident Barb Day was one of the community members who joined the protest in support of the students. She brought along a repurposed sign she used in 1968 to protest against the Vietnam War. “We have this brutal masked secret police that are just breaking all of our constitutional rights, and people are dying,” she said. “My parents were in World War II – my dad was in the Navy, and my mom was a combat nurse – and I know what my parents fought for. And this is just so wrong. We’re losing decency.” Liza Tregillus of the Apoyo Immigrant Partner Team also joined the protest in support of the students who marched. “I’m very proud of them, and I think (they’re out here) because they’re losing their own friends, and their own friends are terrified,” she said. “I feel we’ve lost our democracy after 250 years, (and) we need young voters.”

Tregillus has worked closely with many immigrants in her line of work, including the father and two children – Fernando Jaramillo-Solano and his 12-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son – who were detained by ICE in Durango late last year. The family opted to self-deport back to Colombia after a month in the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, but told the Herald in January through Tregillus that they feared for their safety back in Colombia. One student, ninth grader Owen Holland, said he had a connection to the Jaramillo-Solano family. “I have a friend who lived here, from Mexico, and he was friends with them,” he said. “And it was like, really bad for my friend. It was really bad. It’s so much different than people make it seem.”

Tregillus said the tone of a protest is important, and that leading with curiosity and solution-based efforts – rather than confrontation – can make a difference. She said chants and signs that put the focus on immigrants being neighbors and friends, versus those that are meant to demean ICE or its agents, is one way she feels protesters can use their voices with intention. Many of the immigrants she works with are fearful that protests with tones that attack ICE agents may make conditions worse for them, she said. “From the immigrants, they would appreciate that our protests not be negative,” she said. “Many of them come from cultures of respect toward authority, and they’re frightened. ... They would rather we stick to a different tone. I talked to an immigrant (who had been detained by ICE), and he said every time there were protests outside when they were in lockdown, they were punished.” ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. Students returned to their classes after the protest, and the demonstration remained peaceful, with no pepper spray or rubber bullets deployed, nor any heavy police or ICE presence in sight – unlike some other recent protests in Durango. epond@durangoherald.com

‘Skipping our lessons to teach you one,’ read one sign

Mobile home residents north of Durango vote ‘yes’ to purchase property97.5% in approval of purchasing the mobile home property north of Durango

Residents of Hermosa Mobile Home Village, north of Durango, voted “yes” on Thursday to purchase the property on which their park sits and officially form a resident-owned community. It’s a major step toward ensuring long-term housing stability for the community. “Just the fact that we control our destiny is really the best thing about it,” said Brian Franks, who has lived in the park for six years. “An investment group is not going to come in and just start increasing our rent to where it's crazy now.” Residents mobilized this summer after learning the property owner planned to sell the park. Concerned about rent hikes and displacement, they moved quickly to form a cooperative and pursue a resident-owned community, or ROC – a model in which residents collectively own and manage the land beneath their homes.

Thursdays vote finalized that decision, with 97.5% of residents voting in favor. “It was basically our last out,” Franks said. The vote formally approved financing packages and loan terms, along with an engineering report outlining capital improvement needs and how those projects will be funded over the next decade. The final step is completing legal documents and closing on the sale, which Franks said is scheduled for March 3.Resident-owned communities allow manufactured housing residents to control rent increases and park management, rather than leaving those decisions to for-profit owners. The model – one solution to the affordable housing crisis – has gained more momentum in Colorado over the past several years, particularly in high-cost areas such as La Plata County, where housing prices have far outpaced wage growth.“There’s no place to live in Durango that anybody can afford,” said Olivia Burkhart, who has lived at Hermosa Village for all three decades she has lived in Durango.The process to form an ROC is complex and lengthy. Even with the help of Thistle ROC, the Colorado-based nonprofit that helps guide residents through the purchase and management of community-owned mobile home parks, there were still many parts to wrangle. “I’m pretty happy about it all and I’m glad it’s almost over,” Franks said. Securing financing was one of the biggest challenges, as residents worked to piece together multiple funding sources while keeping rents affordable.What worked in favor for Hermosa Village was the unusually supportive owner. “The previous owners’ willingness to sell it to us was really one of the more helpful things,” he said. “She turned down a higher bid, pretty much to make this happen for us. And I’m not sure a lot of people in America would do that.”While the purchase will stabilize rents long-term, it does require rent increases. Under the cooperative model, monthly rent will be set at $868, Franks said. That represents an increase for some longtime residents who were paying closer to $450 per month, while newer residents were already paying $700 or more.“It’s going to be hard to handle. Obviously, I won’t be able to retire for a while,” Burkhart said. “But if I want to stay in Durango and La Plata County, that’s what I’m going to have to pay – because there’s no place cheaper.”Initial rent projections were higher, driven in part by a remaining $800,000 loan balance carrying a 6.75% interest rate. In December, the cooperative’s five-member, resident-led board sought philanthropic assistance to reduce costs – and received support from several local organizations and lenders.“We got some really great local community support from HomesFund, Region 9 and First Southwest Bank,” Franks said. “We’re really happy about all that.”jbowman@durangoherald.com

97.5% in approval of purchasing the mobile home property north of Durango

Tina Peters involved in prison altercation, Department of Corrections saysFormer election appears to grab another inmate by the neck and shove her

Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters was involved in an altercation with another incarcerated person over the weekend at the La Vista Correctional Facility, a state prison for female inmates, in Pueblo.According to a statement from the Colorado Department of Corrections, the incident occurred Jan. 18, and did not result in any injuries. Peters is currently serving a nine-year sentence for election fraud at the facility.In surveillance video footage obtained by CPR News, Peters is seen grabbing another inmate’s neck in a scuffle. The video shows Peters dragging a cart across the room toward a closet. Another inmate walks toward the closet and appears to begin to move the cart away from the closet door when Peters emerges from the closet and grabs the inmate by her neck and pushes her. The two appear to exchange words before Peters lets her go and leaves the room.

Peter Ticktin, Peters’ attorney, said in an interview Tuesday that Peters was attacked by the other inmate as Peters was moving a water cart, and that the video that captured the altercation is unclear. He insisted the other inmate struck Peters first.According to Ticktin, the other inmate said to Peters, “Let me go in there first,” before striking her. Peters allegedly responded with “I’ll just be a minute,” Ticktin said. Ticktin said those were the only words the two women exchanged.Ticktin said that Peters was later told that Peters herself was going to be charged with felony assault.It’s unclear if she will face any charges; a message left with 10th District Attorney Kala Beauvais was not immediately returned.The corrections department says it is conducting an “administrative investigation” following the incident. And as part of standard safety procedures, Peters was moved to a different housing area after the altercation. Corrections officials emphasized Peters was not placed in solitary confinement, noting that La Vista Correctional Facility does not utilize solitary confinement. Moving inmates involved in incidents while an investigation is underway is routine practice, the department said.No additional details about the cause of the altercation were released.To read more stories from Colorado Public Radio, visit www.cpr.org.

Former election appears to grab another inmate by the neck and shove her

Photos: An afternoon in 2004 with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell as he works on Capitol HillDurango Herald Photo Editor Jerry McBride had the chance to spend an afternoon with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, photographing him during meetings and around the Capitol.

Durango Herald Photo Editor Jerry McBride had the chance to spend an afternoon with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, photographing him during meetings and around the Capitol.

Trial nears in sex case

Judge stops bong-a-thon near Stoner; sheriff to post deputies

Hay fire

Co-owner of Notah Dineh Trading dies

Fire burns on 8 acres of Haycamp

Fair will feature Colt Challenge contest

City eyes funds for removing blight

El Niño ends dry run in La Plata County

A nuclear bomb – and new debate – take shape in N.M.

Pot tax, Web ballots face test

Weather favors Four Corners area

Legal pioneer Grace Storey Merlo dies at 90

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