The Arc of History came down, the Bridge to Nowhere went somewhere, a Superfund site was declared, a huge grass-roots turnout at statewide caucuses led to election system changes and Durango mourned the deaths of a homegrown hero and a Fort Lewis College student.
In a year of political divisiveness, cities, towns and tribes in the Four Corners came together to support Superfund designation for the mining district near Silverton that has released toxic sludge into the Animas River watershed for decades. The Environmental Protection Agency’s declaration in September for 48 sites in the Bonita Peak Mining District was among the region’s significant news stories for 2016, and one that will resonate in the region for years to come.
The action, for years, was staunchly opposed by Silverton and San Juan County officials. But in the wake of the Aug. 5, 2015, Gold King Mine spill, the scope of mine-related environmental issues became evident. The spill brought other actions in 2016, including ongoing river and fish monitoring, scientific research and legal action, including lawsuits brought by the state of New Mexico against Colorado and the EPA.
The presidential election was a top story across the nation, and state and local issues brought their own robust debates.
The June 2 death of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss, a Blue Angels pilot, stunned his hometown when it learned his jet crashed during an air show practice in Tennessee. The Durango native and Fort Lewis College graduate had gone on to join the Navy’s elite flight demonstration team. Area residents turned out en mass to honor Kuss as a motorcade carrying his remains passed through downtown on its way to Greenmount Cemetery.
Tragedy, too, grabbed the attention of readers at durangoherald.com, where fatal crashes, other deaths and crimes largely accounted for the 50 most-read stories. But politics – the huge caucus turnout was the No. 1 online story – and a few issues and some offbeat stories also made the list.
A sampling of some other significant news stories from 2016:
La Plata County
Comprehensive plan: Planning officials spent the year plodding through revisions to the comprehensive land-use plan, and the end is in sight: The advisory document is expected to be completed in early 2017. The plan, which has not been updated since 2001, outlines the county’s long-view goals for land use. It has been under review since 2015 and contains sections addressing agriculture, infrastructure, housing, extractive resources, environmental resources, land use, the airport and public safety. Staff will complete final chapters for historic preservation and tourism/recreation in 2017. Planning commissioners have approved the amendments by chapter, and their recommendations are ratified by the county board of commissioners.
LAND-USE CODE: In October, La Plata County selected a firm to rewrite its land-use code, a governing document for the county’s comprehensive plan that should streamline the permitting process for businesses, which complain the current regulations are prohibitive. The Texas-based planning consultants, Kendig Keast Collaborative, have made site visits and began interviewing local stakeholders. The code will be rewritten over the next year at an estimated cost of $250,000.
NO TAX INCREASES: Commissioners were dismayed when voters said “no” to a property tax increase for road and bridge work for the second consecutive year. The county also sought a tax increase to pay for improvements to Durango-La Plata County Airport. The airport measure failed by 24 percent and the road and bridge one by 4 percent. Property tax revenue is suffering because of the bust in the oil and gas industry, and commissioners will pursue alternative revenue sources in 2017, including other types of taxes and impact fees.
KING II MINE PERMIT: A county land-use permit was a divisive topic this year in the case of La Plata County’s only coal mine, King II. In late spring, after many postponements, the commissioners approved a permit for the Hesperus mine after years of haggling and much complaining from the public. Some said the county tried to hamstring business at King II during tough times for the coal industry by requiring the laborious permitting process. Others insisted the county didn’t do enough to control mine traffic, which travels a residential county road. Commissioners approved the permit 2-1, on the condition that mine owner GCC Energy help pay for widening and improvements to its main thoroughfare, County Road 120.
Police and Courts
FLC STUDENT KILLED: During the early morning hours of May 24, Samuel Gordon, a 20-year-old college student with a passion for biology and the outdoors, was shot and killed inside his home in a home-invasion-style robbery. Police arrested four men as they drove away in the SkyRidge subdivision. Police learned the men planned to rob Gordon of 9 pounds of illegal marijuana and nearly $20,000 in cash. One of the burglars apparently became spooked when he saw Gordon leave his room with a flare gun in hand and shot Gordon in the abdomen. All four suspects have been charged with first-degree murder and await trial.
THREE TRIALS: Harold Nakai was granted a new trial for his role in a violent sexual assault that caused the death of his girlfriend in 2007 at Spanish Trails Inn & Suites in Durango. A special prosecutor from Montrose and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office retried the case in June, but jurors were unable to reach a verdict on the most serious charge, sexual assault. So he went to trial a third time in September and was convicted. On Dec. 19, District Judge Jeffrey Wilson resentenced Nakai to the maximum penalty – 48 years to life in prison.
JUDGE’S MESSAGE: La Plata County Judge Martha Minot sent a strong message to tired and distracted drivers when she sentenced Durango resident Michelle Northcutt, 50, to one year in jail for running into the back of a motorcyclist at a stop light, killing him. Northcutt was seen swerving June 6 while driving south for two miles on Colorado Highway 3. She admitted to smoking pot five hours earlier, but police said she passed roadside tests, and they let her leave the scene without performing a blood test. Northcutt said she was tired – an excuse that didn’t win sympathy from Minot, who said Northcutt had ample opportunity to pull over and get herself out from behind the wheel of a “deadly weapon.”
Environment & Health
BATTLE AT WOLF CREEK: This fall, a coalition of environmental groups filed an opening brief, the first step in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Colorado, asserting that the U.S. Forest Service erred in 2015 when it approved a land exchange that would provide B.J. “Red” McCombs access to develop his Village at Wolf Creek near the ski resort. All documents and arguments are expected to be in the hands of Senior Judge Richard P. Matsch by Feb. 2.
GOLD DIGGING?: For nearly a decade, Wildcat Mining Corp. has tried to get right with the state after illegal mining operations began at a historic gold and silver mine in La Plata Canyon, west of Durango. In December, after proving it completed remediation work, its permit was reinstated. Now, the company must file a mining and reclamation plan with the state and obtain a La Plata County land-use permit. If that happens, Wildcat Mining would become the only operating gold and silver mine in La Plata County.
WILDERNESS GRAZING: The U.S. Forest Service announced in February that it prefers to allow sheep grazing in the Weminuche Wilderness, with some restrictions. That met with some backlash, and public commenters complained that sheep grazing affects the environment and other wild animals. Over the summer, six wild bighorn sheep that came into contact with domestic sheep were euthanized, a protocol wildlife managers say protect bighorn herds from disease.
FINAL PUSH: Last year, health organizations around the country directed their efforts at enrolling the 10 percent of the population that remains uninsured, and La Plata County was no different. Locally, the Hispanic population accounts for 33.8 percent of residents, but were most of the 10 percent that remained uninsured, prompting health officials to target that population.
With open enrollment ending for 2017 coverage on Jan. 31, the numbers will tell how effective health organizations were in their efforts to reach one of the most underserved populations in the county.
CITY OF DURANGO
AIRPORT BALLOT QUESTION:Voters said no to a property tax increase to pay for a new Durango-La Plata County Airport terminal on the east side of the runway. The tax increase, supported by Durango City Council and La Plata County Board of County Commissioners, would have raised about $40 million over 20 years to pay for the terminal and associated infrastructure to accommodate growth. The airport is paying for an environmental assessment examining future expansion; in recent months, the focus has been on mitigating habitat for the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse.
WILSON GULCH ROAD: This fall, the city completed the $9.8 million Wilson Gulch Road after it was delayed about a year. The road connects the Grandview Interchange, better known as the Bridge to Nowhere, to Mercy Regional Medical Center. The road, which will serve a new retail shopping center, was funded by the city, La Plata County and Colorado Department of Transportation.
The city expects the area south of the road, adjacent to U.S. Highway 160, to develop first. Developers will be responsible for new roads to serve their stores.
HOUSING SHORTAGE: City Council wrestled with the affordable housing shortage throughout the year. To encourage more housing construction, the council approved an ordinance this summer intended to protect condominium developers from frivolous lawsuits.
The council also approved several large projects, including a 194-unit apartment complex between Wal-Mart and Home Depot, plans to restart housing development in Twin Buttes and revisions to the plan for Three Springs.
ARC OF HISTORY: After the controversial sculpture at the intersection of U.S. Highway 550/160 was vandalized in 2015, the city took it down this year. After one failed attempt, the sculpture was removed with a blow torch in September and the pieces were auctioned off. A city planner and historian bought them for $565. The city paid $28,000 for the Arc and received $23,000 from an insurance claim after it was vandalized.
GYMNASTICS BUILDING: The city bought an 11,000-square-foot building on Bodo Drive to house the gymnastics program and has been renovating the building for opening in early 2017.
It will replace the Mason Center, which could be demolished to create more park space, although a decision has not been made, and the city may consider expansion of other recreation facilities.
TRANSIT SHORTFALL: The city solved a $250,000 transit budget deficit by increasing parking ticket fines. The most common parking ticket, for an expired parking meter, will rise from $12 to $25. All other parking tickets will increase as well. By raising the parking ticket fines, Durango City Council avoided raising fares, cutting service or increasing the fees at parking meters.
EDUCATION
TAX INCREASES: After suffering for several years from a shortfall in state funding, Durango School District 9-R will have little relief in 2017-18 after voters approved a mill levy that will bring in $1.7 million from property taxes its first year. The district also is lobbying for a change in the School Finance Act that would give it more funding to work with at-risk students.
Voters in the Bayfield School District approved a $28.6 million bond measure that will pay for a new elementary school for grades third through fifth and upgrades to the current elementary school, so primary students in grades kindergarten through second can move in. Both should be ready for classes when school starts in 2018.
GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS: District 9-R finalized graduation guidelines for the Class of 2021. They require higher levels of competencies than the state in several areas, and also require demonstration of standards in social studies and science, while the state requires only English, language arts and math.
A DIVORCE: District 9-R and the San Juan Board of Cooperative Educational Services will separate after almost 40 years at the end of June. The separation was approved by the Colorado Department of Education after an independent audit showed both organizations could survive independently of each other.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: After much debate over its identity as a liberal arts college, the Fort Lewis College board of trustees in December adopted a new mission statement that incorporates that with more practical goals. It reads: “Fort Lewis College provides an integrated and formative liberal arts and professional education to a diverse student population, preparing global citizens to work in and contribute to a complex world.”
POLITICS
STATE CHANGES: Democratic challenger Barbara McLachlan ousted incumbent Rep. J. Paul Brown, a Republican, in a tight state House District 59 race. Also, Republican state Sen. Ellen Roberts, who represented Senate District 6 in Southwest Colorado, announced her resignation in October. Her replacement has not been named, although Rep. Don Coram of House District 58 said he would ask to be appointed.
VOTERS APPROVE: Colorado voters approved a handful of measures in November, including an increase in the minimum wage, the creation of a presidential primary that would include unaffiliated voters, the inclusion of unaffiliated voters in non-presidential primary races and the right for terminally ill patients to obtain life-ending medications.
NOTABLE DEATHS
Karen Langhart: Former Durango resident and longtime owner of the Red Snapper restaurant died Jan. 7 by suicide at age 56. She and her husband, Rick, led a legal and public-relations battle against Merck & Co., the pharmaceutical company that makes NuvaRing after their 24-year-old daughter suffered two heart attacks and died while using the contraceptive.
Paul Wilbert: This champion of city open space died March 18 at age 60. A landscape architect, he co-founded the Children’s Museum of Durango, which grew into the Powerhouse Science Center, and designed and founded the Peter Carver Memorial Forest.
Wolfie: Silverton’s mascot and resident wolf-dog died May 22. He was believed to be about 15 years old.
Joel Jones: The former Fort Lewis College president died at his home just before midnight July 13 after fighting brain cancer for 18 months, one month shy of his 79th birthday. He was at the FLC helm for 10 years, during which time enrollment grew and academic programs expanded.
Gudrun “Gudy” Gaskill: The “mother of the Colorado Trail” died July 14 at age 89. She was an organizer and builder of the 500-mile trail that stretches from Denver to Durango. She lived in Golden.
Ed Morlan: The longtime economic development leader and five-term Bayfield Town Board member died Nov. 15 in Durango at age 66. He retired in September as the executive director of the Region 9 Economic Development District of Southwest Colorado, where he helped many now well-known businesses, such as Mercury Payment Systems (now called Vantiv), Advanced Mobile Propulsion and Silverton Mountain, get their starts.
Herald staffers Shane Benjamin, Ann Butler, Sue McMillin, Jessica Pace, Jonathan Romeo and Mary Shinn contributed to this report.
