Bark beetles are devouring trees in the San Juan National Forest, and this may ultimately mean less shade for recreationists in the popular Boggy Draw area near Dolores.

Cortez’s monsoon season ended, as the saying goes, not with a bang but a whimper. Cortez Animal Shelter kennel supervisor Jennifer Crouse says the shelter has been inundated with cats.

The Cortez Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday gave a unanimous thumbs-up to a proposal for a log-home-manufacturing operation near the west entrance to the Carpenter Natural Area off Lebanon Road.

A sharply divided Cortez City Council on Tuesday rejected a proposed ordinance that would have allowed people to bring firearms to council meetings.

The Montezuma-Cortez School District drew enthusiastic accolades last week from the director of accountability pathways for the Colorado Department of Education. And work on an overlook to the Cliff Palace site will obstruct a trail and thus prevent Mesa Verde National Park from holding a luminaria-lighting event this winter.

An investigation is ongoing into a report of a student with a gun in the vicinity of Montezuma-Cortez High School on Tuesday. Cortez police are asking local high-school students and their parents for help in the matter.

Montezuma-Cortez High School and Southwest Open School were placed on lockdown Tuesday after a report of a man with a weapon in the vicinity of the high school. However, no potential shooter was found.

A legislative proposal before the Navajo Nation Council that could have led to changing the name of that nation has been withdrawn.

Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin gave a grim report Monday on the current state of his office.

A Cortez man facing federal charges for reportedly threatening public servants has been ordered to remain in custody until the case is resolved.