Cortez Police Department

Cases against two Cortez residents charged with beating one man to death and assaulting two other men in Veterans Park last year are moving toward trial.

Two Cortez residents are being held in connection with a violent homicide and two assaults that took place in the city’s Veterans Park on Wednesday evening.

Cortez police continue to investigate a fatal hit-and-run that reportedly took place late the night of May 18 in downtown Cortez.

The Cortez Police Department recognized the bravery and dedication of numerous officers and dispatchers in its first annual awards ceremony Thursday night.

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.

Thursday night's massive Fourth of July fireworks display by the City of Cortez ended abruptly because of gunfire in the middle of the celebration. According to the Cortez Police Department, a 17-year-old has been arrested in the incident.

Plans for a biochar facility at the former Ironwood mill site got a thumbs-up Thursday night from the Montezuma County Planning and Zoning Commission. In other news, a local man whose actions sparked concern early this month when he twice approached children in Cortez and offered them money has been cleared of any wrongdoing.

According to the Cortez Police Department, a man has reportedly admitted to contacting children in Cortez and offering them money, but says he did not mean to intimidate or scare anyone.

On Friday, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold visited Towaoc and met with officials from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe to discuss automatic voter registration for the state’s tribal communities. The Colorado Votes Act passed by the legislature earlier this year means some enrolled tribal members in Colorado will be automatically registered to vote. It’s the first instance of automatic voter registration for enrolled members of tribal nations in the U.S., and is part of a broader election reform package by the Secretary of State’s office. Griswold says that since she was elected in 2019, her office has been considering ways they could try to reverse the historical voter suppression of Native American people in Colorado. And the funeral for the Cortez police officer who was killed in the line of duty last week takes place on Wednesday morning.

Sgt. Michael Moran was shot near South Broadway in Cortez on Wednesday. The suspects fled in their vehicle but were quickly located. This is a developing story.