Arguments continue to rage over whether President Biden should designate a national monument on lands along the Dolores River.

The Montezuma County commissioners have settled on a rate of 1 percent for a proposed public-safety sales tax that would fund the sheriff’s office and detention center, and Montezuma County Clerk and Recorder Kim Percell tells the county commissioners that using full hand counts to tabulate ballots during elections would take more time, cost more money, and be more complex and confusing than fully automated counts.

Two people died outside in the elements in Cortez this winter, but neither was actually homeless. That’s according to Montezuma County Coroner George Deavers.

Este martes se produjo una larga discusión entre los comisionados y el personal de salud pública del condado de Montezuma sobre una ley que cobraría una tarifa a los fabricantes de alcohol y los mayoristas en Colorado.

A bill that would implement a fee on alcohol manufacturers and wholesalers in Colorado prompted a lengthy discussion among Montezuma County commissioners and health officials Tuesday.

Fewer than 800 ballots for municipal elections in Montezuma County had been returned as of Thursday morning, and schools in Cortez were put on “secure” status briefly Thursday morning after a report of shots fired near Por Dia Preschool on South Oak Street.

Troubled by the possibility of a new national monument along the Lower Dolores River, county commissioners for both Montezuma and Dolores counties met Tuesday and voiced support for creating a National Conservation Area instead.

Voters in Montezuma County may have the opportunity in November to decide whether to adopt what’s being called a “public-safety sales tax.”

Southwest Memorial Hospital in Cortez is holding its own financially, but to keep it viable over the long term, people need to use it for as many services as possible. That was one message officials gave Thursday during a talk about the annual report for the private not-for-profit that operates the hospital, Southwest Health System.

20 years after the murder of a Native American man on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation, the FBI says it’s offering a new $10,000 reward for any information about the crime. On January 31, 2004, a Towaoc resident named Avery Whiteskunk went missing and was later found dead near County Road G. An FBI bulletin released on Monday said anyone with information about the individual responsible should contact its Denver field office. Whiteskunk is one of 27 cold case homicides involving tribal citizens in Colorado, according to statistics from a newly-created state office. And the Rico Board of Trustees is considering pursuing dark sky certification for the town. At a trustee meeting earlier this month, a representative from Dark Sky Colorado said that the certification could preserve Rico residents’ views of the starry night sky by changing the land-use code or ordinance that regulates lighting in the town, according to the Ore Cart.