Category Archives: June 2014

Four former Montezuma County commissioners have sent a letter to the current board regarding the Dolores River Valley Plan. A public hearing to determine whether to alter or throw out one key element of the plan, its density-limiting system, has … Continue reading →

Commission candidate James Lambert bested Jim Candelaria in the Montezuma County Republican primary Tuesday, June 24, while Steve Nowlin scored a major win over incumbent Dennis Spruell in the sheriff’s race. Assessor candidate Scott Davis and coroner candidate George Deaver won … Continue reading →

Archaeology in the Four Corners is a culture charged with protecting its findings. Artifacts and photographs, records of scientific investigations, site security and knowledge are often kept behind closed doors and can be difficult to access. This is partly due … Continue reading →

A new Indian market will challenge the old in Santa Fe Late in March, John Torres Nez resigned from his position as chief operating officer of the Southwest Association of Indian Arts, the powerful not-for-profit that presents the annual Santa … Continue reading →

The Montezuma County commissioners appear poised to drastically change – or scrap – the decade-old plan that guides development in the Dolores River Valley above McPhee Dam. After hearing on May 19 from three groups concerned about possible changes to … Continue reading →

On May 10, Recapture Canyon north of Blanding, Utah, saw something it hadn’t seen in a long time— a crowd. For seven years a portion of the canyon has been closed to motorized travel under a Bureau of Land Management … Continue reading →

The town of Dolores’s first jury trial in decades stemmed from a rafting-related dispute It may not have been the trial of the century, but in the tiny town of Dolores, it was easily the jury trial of the last … Continue reading →

Despite a first term with some extreme peaks and valleys, Montezuma County Sheriff Dennis Spruell is eager for four more years in office. “I can’t convey to you how badly I want another term,” Spruell said in an interview. “It … Continue reading →

Veteran law officer Steve Nowlin believes it’s time for a change in the Montezuma County Sheriff ’s Office. Although that’s something challengers regularly say when seeking to unseat an incumbent, Nowlin says in this instance, it’s very valid. “If we … Continue reading →

Looking back on the May 10 Recapture Canyon protest ride, which drew nearly 100 motorized users onto a trail closed to vehicles, San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman says he is humbled by the size of the response. Media outlets … Continue reading →

A report warns that climate change threatens treasures such as Mesa Verde Apparently human-caused, the Slide fire, named for its point of origin in Slide Rock State Park in Arizona’s Oak Creek Canyon, broke out on May 20. It burned … Continue reading →

Board of County Commissioners Montezuma County Re: Water Quality Protections Provided by the Dolores River Valley Plan (DRVP) Dear Commissioners: The Dolores Water Conservancy District, DWCD, was established to bolster local water development that would support our community and continues … Continue reading →