NEWS: State could boost school district budget, A8
SUBSCRIBE TODAY gunnisontimes.com
VOL. 143. NO. 6 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2024 | $1.00
Colo. River District to protect key Western Slope water rights State commits $20 million to preservation of Shoshone Bella Biondini Times Editor
The Colorado River Water Conservancy District is working to obtain the water rights tied to the Glenwood Canyon’s
HOOPS ON THE LOOP: A group of Nordic skiers donned vibrantly-colored hoop skirts as they made their way down Elk Avenue to the Alley Loop starting line on Saturday, Feb. 3. The event is Crested Butte’s biggest costume party of the year, and a qualifier for the largest cross country ski race in the nation: the American Birkebeiner. For more, see A14. (Photo by Mariel Wiley)
Shoshone A5
New composting The toll of trauma: TODAY drop site at City part two Sexual assault Market case drags on INSIDE
NEWS: Gunnison Trails grows team, A12
COMMUNITY: Figure skating for everyone, B1
Mountain Roots partners with Salida company Bella Biondini Times Editor
SPORTS: Cowboy swim places second at regionals, B6
OBITUARIES A2, A3 OPINION A4 CLASSIFIEDS A15-A18 SPORTS B6 ONLINE GUNNISONTIMES.COM
At $12 per month, subscriptions are open to Gunnison Valley residents for a new composting drop site at City Market. The new residential composting program was established through a partnership between the Salida-based company, Elements Mountain Compost, and Gunnison’s Mountain Roots Food Project. Subscribers will have 24-hour access to the drop site, located on the north wall of City Market in
Gunnison, through the use of a lock code. Elements opened the drop site this month. Composting is the recycling of organic matter, such as food and yard scraps, into a natural fertilizer. From apple cores and banana peels to eggshells and coffee grounds, roughly 20-30% of landfill waste is compostable and could be recycled. When food waste goes into the landfill, it eventually rots and produces greenhouse gasses. “Especially when we're facing a climate crisis, composting has so many benefits as far as soil retention, and the reduction of CO2 emissions from landfill,” said Ally Reeder, a member of Mountain Roots’ food security team. “We're hoping that this
32%
32%
3
$ 69 EACH
OFF
Abby Harrison Times Staff Writer
(Editor’s note: This is the second of a three-part series covering sexual assault cases handled in Gunnison District Court. The next, and final installment will appear in the Feb. 15 edition of the Times.) Highway 92 stretches into the rumpled horizon of western Colorado, corralled from the arid landscape only by telephone poles and cattle fences. Along this road lies the town of Crawford, which offers passersby a Methodist church, a humble public library, an uncrowded cemetery and a lone gas station.
Hart A6
OFF
2
$ 79
F! UP TO 37% OF
Composting A11
for five years
For those who call it home, Crawford can feel insulated from the turmoil of the outside world. Generations of farmers and ranchers occupy boxy homes on a hill scabbed with sagebrush. It’s a town where last names matter. A patron at the post office knows one’s grandmother. But when an allegation of sexual assault emerges, the comforting smallness of rural life can turn sour. Rumors circulate as truths, whispered across every dinner table and slick bar top. For Crawford local Jazmyn Hart, it’s what pushed her to leave her childhood home. At the age of 15, Jazmyn was sexually assaulted by a longtime family friend, according to an arrest affidavit filed in early 2021. Her case dragged on for nearly five years. Her assailant
SIETE
Maíz Totopos Corn Tortilla Chips 7.5 OZ ALWAYS AFFORDABLE $5.59 SM
HOPE® FOODS
Select Hummus 8 OZ
ALWAYS AFFORDABLE $3.99
Terms and conditions apply. See store for details.