About 200 people commemorated the fifth anniversary of the death of famed civil-rights activist John Lewis by joining a “Good Trouble” rally in Cortez Thursday morning. Participants stood along Main Street holding signs critical of the Trump administration and received numerous supportive honks from passing drivers. There were also a couple of drivers who “coal-rolled” in disagreement, and one man shouted “Get a job!” at the demonstrators, most of whom were of retirement age. More than 1,600 rallies reportedly took place around the country.
Monsoon rains are offering some mild hope for progress in fighting wildfires in the Southwest. Rain showers and lower temperatures Wednesday slowed fire activity on the 4,000-acre South Rim fire at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. However, it remained at zero percent containment and park superintendent Stewart West said in a press conference that most of the south rim is burned. West said, “It looks very different than when you saw it last time.” The Dragon Bravo fire raging on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park now is over 11,000 acres in size and still at zero percent containment. Locally, a blaze in southwest La Plata County reportedly prompted some evacuation warnings on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Cortez is projected to remain in moderate drought for the next three months.
