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KSJD Newscast - April 21st, 2016

  • The Montezuma-Cortez School District has a new superintendent, but she isn't really new.
  • Montezuma County Commissioners are upset that an eagle's nest is complicating a proposed trail expansion at Phil's World.

The Montezuma-Cortez School District has a new superintendent, but she isn’t really new. In a unanimous vote Wednesday night, the Re-1 board chose interim superintendent Lori Haukeness over three other finalists to permanently fill the position. Chairman Jack Schuenemeyer said the board found all the candidates to be strong, so the choice took serious deliberation. Haukeness has served with the district 22 years.  

The Montezuma County commissioners are upset that an eagle’s nest is complicating a proposed trail expansion at Phil’s World east of Cortez. The Southwest Colorado Cycling Association wants to double the current 27 miles of single-track on about 4,000 acres of federal and state lands. On Monday, Matt Thorpe of Colorado Parks and Wildlife said the trail needs to stay a half-mile away from the federally protected raptor’s nest. Commission chair Larry Don Suckla said he’d seen an eagle’s nest in Denver recently and asked how it could endure such traffic. Thorpe said constant urban noise is probably less disturbing than the sudden appearance of humans in a remote area. Noting that the Cortez City Council recently voted to support developing an oil and gas master leasing plan in the area, Suckla suggested the city should pay $3600 the  Bureau of Land Management needs to complete surveys for the expansion.

Gail Binkly is a career journalist who has worked for the Colorado Springs Gazette and Cortez Journal, and was the editor of the Four Corners Free Press, based in Cortez.
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