Category Archives: Uncategorized

2024, Uncategorized

Obituary- Lucy Gaide

 

Lucy Gaide

In the spirit of gratitude, Lucy Gaide peacefully made her transition on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 2024, at Brookdale Monument Valley in Colorado Springs.
Lucille (Copelin) Gaide was born in Pueblo, Colorado, on January 29, 1925, and enjoyed a full and productive life of nearly 100 years. Other than ten years spent in California as a child, she lived in Colorado. In 1941, Lucy married Art Gaide and went on to have two children. As a young, married mother she held several professional positions: telephone switchboard operator, beautician, and State Hospital attendant. She then earned her Practical Nursing degree and her Psychiatric Tech-nician certification. She pursued her passion working for years as Charge Nurse on the night shift at the Colorado State Mental Hospital in Pueblo. Later she kept books at the Standard Oil Bulk Plant that she and Art owned in Pueblo before retiring to Westcliffe.
Once in Westcliffe, she designed and had her dream home, a gingerbread house adorned with hearts, built on Granada Court. For a time, she lived with her husband and grandchildren, Mike and Shawn, and was an active participant in the community. She was called to the ministry and graduated from Unity School of Christianity in 1985. Her prayer ministry was part of her daily practice, and she provided guest sermons at multiple Sunday services and readings at weddings and funerals. She held a special place in her heart for all animals and provided loving care for many dogs and cats over the years. Lucy and Art divorced
after 42 years of marriage and she lived quietly in her home in Westcliffe, taking care of herself until she was 98.
Lucy is survived by her children: Michael (Midori) Morgan-Gaide
of Seattle, WA, and Dove Cogen of West Brookfield, VT; grand-children: Michelle (Claude) Kerno, Mike (Robin) Gaide, Shawn (Brenda) Gaide, ldania (Christian) Mathews, Mark (Samantha) Morgan, Kent (Sharon) Bulloch, Kristali (William) Cameron; daughter-in-law Sandi Gaide; her dear
niece Cheryl (Don) Breeding; 19 great-grandchildren; 6 great-great-grandchildren; 10 nieces and nephews; and many loving friends. She was predeceased by her parents, Charles and Lucille Copelin, her brother, Charles Copelin, Jr., son-in-law David Cogen, grandchild Jef Cameron and former husband Art Gaide.
There will be an intimate graveside service Saturday, December 14th at noon at Ula Cemetery, Westcliffe, Colorado.
“In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Humane Society at https://www.hsppr.org/donate.”

2024, Uncategorized

Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church Nativity December 14

Canon City, Colorado

Saturday, December 14th, from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church will continue its traditional re-creation of the birth of Christ as a Living Nativity presentation.

Visiting the Living Nativity has become a tradition for many viewers, as well as the participants. New visitors are invited to join in the tradition at 801 N. Sheridan Avenue in Canon City to help celebrate the Christmas season.  Visitors are invited to stop in the Church to warm up and enjoy soups, hot drinks and cookies.

The cast, consisting of members of Shepherd of the Hills and Christ Episcopal Churches and other volunteers from the community, includes the Holy Family, angels, shepherds and wise men, all outdoors.  Many others are involved as support staff behind the scenes.  The live animals are provided by the Juan and Marlissa Gonzalez family from Wetmore, who have been involved since 2018.  Donations of nonperishable food and cash will be accepted and given to Loaves & Fishes Ministries of Canon City, which distributes food boxes to Fremont County families in addition to other services it provides.

Upon arriving at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, 801 N. Sheridan, Canon City, visitors may either drive through and observe the Nativity from their vehicles, or they can park their vehicles and walk along the changing scenes as the story is told through Bible readings and music.  Either way, visitors will be participants in the reason for the season, the story of the birth of Christ the Savior in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago.

2024, Uncategorized

December 5-8 The Cliffs Celebrate Christmas Season

Friends of the Library
Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair

December 5, 2 to 5 p.m. & December 6 & 7, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair to benefit the West Custer County Library@ Hope Lutheran Lange Hall, 312 South 3rd Street Westcliffe.

Christmas Benefit Concert for Lighthouse Pregnancy Center— December 6th

Press Release:
Hillside Events is excited to announce a special Christmas concert benefiting the Lighthouse Pregnancy and Family Resources Center on Friday, December 6,  6 p.m. at the historic Hillside Hall in beautiful Hillside, CO, featuring the Valley’s own Sons & Brothers!
The Lighthouse Pregnancy Center exists to help families through material, emotional and spiritual support. They uphold the value of life from conception on and they strive to serve our community with love, humility and wisdom as disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. The pregnancy center is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and relies on donations from the community to continue the essential work they do in providing support for women, children and men in Custer County. Examples
of the services Lighthouse Pregnancy Center provides include pregnancy testing, on-site ultrasounds, baby food, clothing, diapers, accessories/equipment, scholarships for high school students and many more. The center also plans to bring nurses services and new programs/groups for parents and families very soon! Pregnancy centers like the Lighthouse are an indispensable asset to communities all over the country and we hope you join us in supporting their amazing work!
Sons & Brothers are Mike, Aaron, and Joe Wolking, along with Rob Paulin on drums and guitar. The boys have been delighting audiences with their unique blend of American musical styles for more than 25 years. Now the band is focusing on bringing the
Gospel message to people through music and stories. In addition to the Sons & Brothers, the 2024 Christmas concert will also
feature special guests, so don’t miss out on the musical magic that is sure to ensue!
Drinks and light refreshments will be provided. Admission is free; however, due to very limited seating, tickets are required for entry. We strongly recommend reserving your tickets in advance. To request tickets, please call 719-207-3289, 719-371-7711, or email lighthousehelp1@gmail.com. You can also visit www.townofhillside.com or www.sonsandbrothers.com for more information. We look forward to seeing you there!

Historic Beckwith Ranch

Press Release
Soon the lights at Historic Beckwith Ranch will be turned on for the Christmas Season.
Saturday, December 7th, Friends of Beckwith Ranch, Inc. will celebrate the final event of the year, the Beckwith  Traditional Christmas.
The event begins on Saturday at 11 a.m. Bring the family out to see the festively decorated rooms of the old Beckwith Mansion and vote for your favorite. The Celtic High Mountain Strings will be there playing great Celtic music. Bring the kids for photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus.
Then the kids can make their own original Christmas Ornaments to take home for their tree. Refreshments will be offered for everyone and the Beckwith Gift Shop will be open for gift shopping.
Sunday, December 8th, Carolers will be on hand to sing our favorite traditional Christmas songs. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be there again for the kids and photos. Tour the rooms and vote on your favorite. The winners of the room decorations will be announced at 4 p.m.
And throughout the day, refreshments will be served and the Gift Shop open for shopping.
This event marks the end of the 2024 year for the ranch. It is your last chance for a guided tour and a fun day at Historic Beckwith Ranch. At the end of the day, we will announce the newest inductees into our Hall of Fame. Keeping Beckwith alive for another year is our mission and you can help with a generous donation.

Santa and Mrs Claus in Silver Cliff

December 7, 2-4 p.m.
Santa & Mrs. Claus @ Silver Cliff Town Shop
1011 Butler St.   Goody bag, hot dogs and more.

PARADE DOWNTOWN

Christmas Parade “Magical Musical Christmas”
on Silver Cliff and Westcliffe Main Streets at 4:30 p.m.
For more information or to register see ValleyStrong.us
Tree Lighting at dusk, followed by a reading of “A Christmas Carol” at the Historic Jones Theater.

 

Festival of Cheer

Custer County Elementary Festival of Cheer, formerly known as the Festival of Trees, will take place Friday, December
6th, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday, December 7th, from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The event will be held at Hanssen Hall at 218 Main Street. The entrance is to the right of Hayden Outdoors Realty, and the space is a fantastic open area right in the heart of Downtown Westcliffe.
All members of the community are invited to
attend!
This year, festival-goers will have the opportunity
to bid on auction items such as student-decorated
trees and wreaths, gift baskets, and other holiday items. We are also excited to introduce the NEW “Buy This Item Now” feature, allowing attendees to take home their desired items immediately!
Additionally, there will be a special KIDS ONLY TABLE with items priced for children’s wallets and purses. Refreshments and carolers will also be part of this special event!

Wet Mountain Valley Community Chorale
 Lessons and Carols
Sunday, December 8th

Season’s greetings, everyone!
Yes, it is that festive time of year again and the Wet Mountain Valley Community Chorale welcomes you to join us for a concert performance of “Lessons and Carols”.
This year’s event is being held at the First Baptist Church in Westcliffe on Sunday, December 8th, with performances at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. We are so pleased to be led once again by our wonderful Sarah Peachey, director, and amazing Cheryl Pinnella, accompanist.
The WMVCC is a non-profit organization and the concert is free to attend. Free will donations to support the chorale will be happily accepted. All funds are used to support the expenses of the chorale, including providing child care so that young parents are able to participate. We so appreciate your generous past support of us, our love of music, and our desire to add to the joy of the Christmas season as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We look forward to seeing you all there, friends and neighbors!
FBC is located at 410 S 6th St, Westcliffe.

2024, Uncategorized

Cameron Fore Joins Custer County School Board

via Custer County Schools
Facebook Page
Custer County Schools
Shared with Public

We’d like to welcome Cameron Fore to the Custer County School District Board of Education! The members put in countless hours to help make our District the best it can be and we are infinitely grateful!
Introducing School Board Director Cameron Fore:
Cameron has been a Bobcat parent for three years. Cameron brings his more than 25 years of experience in the Information Technology Industry to the District. He also serves our community as a member of the Sheriff’s Posse and serves as a 4-H Shooting Sports Leader. Cameron’s vision for the District is to improve student access to quality education while fostering a safe learning environment.

2024, Uncategorized

Nov 19 Mtg: Westcliffe to Move Forward on Grant Application for Infrastructure to Town Lots

Westcliffe to Move Forward on Grant Application for Infrastructure to Town Lots,
7th Street Rezone Approved, New Loader in the Works for Snow Removal

Westcliffe Town Meeting
November 19, 2024
by Laura Vass
The Regular Board of Trustees meeting for the town of Westcliffe started at 5:30 p.m. Pro Tem George Mowry called the meeting to order. Mayor Wenke attended remotely via Zoom through the first public hearing and vote. They had a quorum, however, without his presence.
Under New Business, the board approved the lease agreement with 4 Rivers Equipment with payments to begin January 2025. This will include one new piece of equipment deemed more appropriate for snow removal noting that currently owned attachments will also work with the new loader. Town Manager Caleb Patterson said that he got an improved interest rate.

Next the board went into a Public Hearing for Consideration of Approving Rezoning Blocks: 19 & 20, 33 & 34, and Town-owned lots in Westcliffe from Residential to Multi-Family District. (Finalizing this has been a long process.)
The Board heard a few residents and discussed ordinance 5-2024 being considered. There still seems to be a consensus among business owners that there should be protections in place to keep any future housing on the town owned lots for the workforce first, avoid overbuilding, due diligence on research of any “strings attached” to grant monies, and insuring builders provide sufficient parking. Caleb answered the the last item about parking, saying that any future builder on the town owned lots would need to provide 1.75 parking spaces per unit. Other zoning requires two paces per unit.
After the Public Hearing the Town board voted yes on #5-2024, Rezoning only the Town owned lots from Single Family to  Multi-Family District. The board voted no on the alternative ordinance #6-2024 which would have rezoned privately owned blocks.
A couple of post-vote comments that were notable were that 1) the town has made it possible for all home builders to add on to a home or home plan and ADU.  Duplexes are already allowed under current zoning for the lots in blocks 19 and 20. So flexible housing choices are already in place. 2) Mr. Schneider noted after a question about getting water to the private lots at a later time, that he could only comment as an engineer and not representer, that he hoped there would be an adjustment to the grant application for water/sewer to these lots (which will be completed and submitted at the beginning of December by Caleb) that would ensure that the infrastructure to the lots would accommodate any future extension of lines into the other blocks not being considered for rezoning.

The board went back into a new hearing for ordinance #7-2024 on Rezoning 106 South 7th Street. From Residential Single Family to Traditional Neighborhood per the Planning Commission’s recommendation.
The owner has plans to create housing and a rentable/leaseable event space and off-street parking. The owner’s plan is to create another venue for the dance studio, the VFW, etc. to use. A Caterer’s kitchen is also being considered in his plans. Ordinance #7-2024 was approved.

Next on the regular meeting agenda was a request to hire a part-time/ at will IT employee for the town’s website. The Town office staff has been doing their own IT. That was also approved.

The last item of business was to approve paying the bill on construction of the EV charging station via Black Hills Energy. The cost went over in construction by $8,047.60. The board approved this.
Under staff reports, Erin Christie said the audit is complete and has been filed with the state. It did not affect their sales tax income. The request for an extension was due to the auditor who was out for a period of time due to personal circumstances.
Caleb Patterson gave a short report on his preparations for the next Housing Needs Assessment.

2024, BOCC, Uncategorized

November 20 BOCC: Fleet Mgt Presentation, Bonuses, Meeting Location Change

BOCC: Fleet Management Presentation, Employee Bonuses,
BOCC Meeting Location Change

 

George Gramlich,
News and Commentary
The November 20, 2024 Custer County Board of County Commissioners’ (BOCC) regular meeting was held in their royally appointed quarters in the Annex across from the courthouse.
It started around 9 a.m. All three Commissioners were present: Bill Canda, Lucas Epp and Kevin Day.
In Commissioner Items, Epp said the Commissioners had to sign the 2025 budget in their December 11 meeting coming up. Day said he had received a letter from the County’s insurance carrier, CTSI, warning against “mass changes” in personnel when the new board convenes in January. (That, folks, was a little strange. There is one new Commissioner coming on board in January.) Epp noted that the Board has received three applications for the Director of Human Services (DHS) Director’s opening coming up in January. Epp wants to speed up the interview/hiring
process so the newly hired Director
has a chance to train with the
retiring one.
In New Business, the first item up was a presentation by a company
called “Enterprise Fleet Management”. They manage the purchase of fleet vehicles for various government entities and private companies. This was Day’s item. The Enterprise guy gave a decent Zoom talk which went on for a bit. The Commissioners will give him the VIN’s of all our fleet vehicles and he will get back to them with a
proposed plan.
Next up was approving the Upper Ark Weed Management Area Agreement. This passed.
The annual “Dedicated Service Awards for the County Employees” bonus was next. This is a year-end bonus of around $120 gross to each county employee. (Elected officials are not included.) Epp said we have “money in the salary lines” to do this. He also said the county “should be $200k to $300k under budget for the year”. (Commissioners, give that money to Road & Bridge. They need more help and equipment.) The bonus passed.
As a comment, Day said if somebody needed to see the County’s 2025 budget, one must go to the county website and then to the HR/Finance page. It is on a tab there.

Elected Official reports were next. The Sheriff’s Office report was first up. It was written and was not read at the meeting so we don’t know what was in it. After the Commissioners spent a few minutes scanning it on heir computers, Epp stated that he was working with our IT guy Vernon Roth to get the written reports online so us peasants can see what is going on. He said hopefully in January this will be working. (Thank you Mr. Epp and Mr. Roth for doing this.)
The Treasurer’s written report was accepted.
Coroner Brad Baltzly gave his report in person. He said they had 20 deaths YTD including one from Sawatch County (a hiker died in their county but the body was pulled out to Custer so we got stuck with it). Baltzly said suicides were “way up” (the county had seven) and about 40% of our total deaths are suicides. There were no homicides this year. He noted that in 2023 the county only had 13 deaths. (re homicides: Custer County Sheriff Rich Smith has put together a top notch team of very qualified counselors to respond to suicide calls. The timing is good. Our suicide rate, per capita, is very, very high.)
Department Reports

Human Resources was a written report. It was accepted.
Our Veteran Services Office Director, Dominic Edginton, was there to give his report. He had 61 scheduled appointments last month with around 65 walk-ins. He went through his claim numbers and compensation gained which were impressive. At the end he mentioned that he was Vice President of the Colorado Veteran Service Officers organization, but now, since the President stepped down, he became the big Chief. He made a couple of comments that there were going to be some changes in the organization in terms of performance and responsibility. (Go git’m Dominic!)
Road & Bridge gave their report. He needed the Commissioners to ok the water lease with the Upper Ark Water District (they get their road water from them). It was $9,500. The same as last year. It passed. He also needs the Commissioners to approve
the cost to replace the R&B’s fuel
station. That cost was $80k for the work and equipment and another $12k to do a new concrete pad. That passed.
Human Services, Landfill and Recycling reports were all written and accepted. Planning & Zoning was also written but Epp made the comment, from the report, that all receipts (building permits, etc.) were down dramatically from last time, around $200k worth. (The building boom is over folks. We better start tightening our budgets.)
The Airport report was written. Canda said the new AvJet fuel tank is here but not installed yet. He also noted the $450k game fence project had started. (That is being paid by a private company with no cost to the county.
Information Technology’s report was written. It was noted that there are two finalists for the vacant IT assistant position.
The Office of Emergency Management and the Extension Office reports were both written and accepted.
In Additional Items, Epp said the BOCC were moving their meetings down to the All Aboard Westcliffe building in Westcliffe to avoid using their current room as the Annex is HR and Finance’s current home and the BOCC meetings are very disruptive to their operations. The time frame is open.

And that was it. Another day in Happy Valley.

Uncategorized

Exclusive: At The Center of Tragedy — Asheville, North Carolina

Exclusive: At The Center of Tragedy — Asheville, North Carolina

14 Days at Mission Hospital

by Fred Hernandez
The Sentinel had a source on the ground in Asheville, North Carolina reporting on real time conditions in one of the most devastated areas resulting from the recent hurricane. Based on the follow-up interview of the Florida based team members, this is the Sentinel report:

After receiving an urgent call for help from their central emergency office, the Disaster Response Systems team, (DRS) took a commercial flight to Greenville, North Carolina, from Florida. At the airport they were taken on the next phase of the trek in a four-wheel drive Jeep Wrangler over very rough terrain and roads that had been almost washed out by heavy flooding to a rally point where they hopped on an EC-135, a large helicopter that also serves as aerial ambulances.
On their flight inbound they could see the extent of the destruction and the totally unexpected level of damage wrought on Ashville and the surrounding areas by the monster hurricane, Helene. The EC-135 landed on the rooftop of the Mission Hospital in Asheville. The seven hundred bed facility was surrounded by water and the emergency room on the ground floor was totally inundated.
Once on the ground the devastation was even more glaring. Pine trees bore evidence of how high the water rose from the clothing and other detritus and dregs tangled in the branches twenty or more feet above the ground. In one instance a human body was spotted high up in the trees tangled in the branches. Cars and other vehicles, sunk deeply in thick mud, had tags placed by workers in hazmat suits. The tags strictly instructed passersby and others not to open the doors or try to remove the vehicles. It quickly became clear that these vehicles were the final resting places of some of the unfortunate victims of destruction and death delivered by Helene’s
heavy hand.
After locating some higher ground close as possible to the medical facility that had been spared from flooding, they set up their emergency rooms in tents and immediately began the much
needed aid and care of waiting patients, many of whom had received no medical attention in days.

Mission Hospital in Asheville, part of a chain of medical facilities, the only hospital for thirteen counties in the area, is owned and operated by Hospital Corporation of America, (HCA), one of the largest healthcare companies in the country. Mission is a Level Two Trauma Center. The members of the emergency response team from other states came to Asheville to assist their colleagues in this time of disaster. They were to relieve the hospital workers of their duties in order to give them the time and opportunity to attend to their own family’s needs.
But this was not to be. After leaving the hospital they were the ones who were giving desperately needed aid to other victims in the rural areas. Helping people out of their mud filled and destroyed homes, giving aid to those rendered homeless and ferrying those in need back to the emergency rooms set up in tents outside the flooded medical building. There was no evidence of any teams or helpers from the government. These teams are known in their trade as strike teams. Team members who had previous experiences in these types of national disasters said that usually the government had teams of search and rescue professionals and medical aid personnel. This time there were none of these teams.


There were FEMA personnel on the outskirts of the town proper, but they were simply preventing outsiders from coming into the affected disaster zones. They were also “confiscating” whatever relief goods were being brought in. The real assistance came from surrounding states and mainly from private groups and enterprises. In fact, they were surprised that only fifty miles from Asheville, there is a military installation that had several large helicopters that would have been ideal for rescuing people from their rural homes and ferrying them to safety. It was common knowledge on the ground that while the personnel at the base were eager to help, they were not allowed to do so.

This was a double disaster for some of the communities affected by this natural calamity. The first disaster caused by nature is something that man cannot control. Nature will behave as it is supposed to. After a natural disaster, however, man, which is to say government, should have been able to control the aftermath at least a little bit better than it was in this case.

To have had no funds available to assist its citizens because they had squandered their budgets on illegal aliens entering the country in such a force, much like the hurricane, is inexcusable and unconscionable.
For fourteen days, the team worked sixteen-hour days continuously, before they were told that they could return to their homes. And so as they prepared to leave their posts they sadly took a last look around. Their surroundings seemed as if it had been ravaged by a marauding army. Death and destruction everywhere. Their last memory was the stench permeating the air while above them flocks of buzzards circled lazily over the treetops.

Fred Hernandez comments:
In this reporter’s opinion, nature’s hurricane causing much destruction and death on American communities is akin to the man-made destruction caused by those in office to allow millions of unvetted, illegal aliens to swarm into the country unchecked. Much like an unwelcome hurricane. In some cases the same government officials intentionally flew in illegal aliens from other countries and settled them in small communities disrupting the lives of law-abiding citizens, causing cumbersome difficulties on their modest resources and inflicting pain and in some cases even death. Nature cannot be held accountable for its behavior. However, in the case of men inflicting great damage on his fellowman, they should be taken to task. 

 

2024, BOCC, Uncategorized

Oct 30th BOCC: Another Grant Machine, Weed Board Bylaws

BOCC: Another Grant
Machine, Weed Board Bylaws

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary
The October 30, 2024 regular meeting of the Custer County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) was held in their royal annex across from the courthouse. The meeting started around 9 a.m. and all three Commissioners were in attendance: Bill Canda, Lucas Epp and Kevin Day.
In New Business the Commissioners approved the Accounts Payable monthly bill. This was $227, 087.
Next, a lady from the Southern Colorado Economic Development District (SCEDD) gave a pre-sentation on who they were, what they do, and how they can “help” Custer County. (SCEDD is another one of the multitude of parasitic grant entities that live off of fed and state grants. These folks try to find grants for their members and help them get in on the grant money train. Like literally dozens and dozens of similar operations around the state. SCEDD is paid by its member counties, of which Custer is one. I think she said there were 14 member counties.) The lady droned on about how they write grants for us, etc. She mentioned SCEDD has a grant that it is using to do a study in our area about seeing if they can help to bring, get this, the semi-conductor computer chip industry here. (They are spending our tax money on this pipe dream. You can’t make this stuff up.) She also said that they had done a Custer County Economic Development study as requested by our very own Charles Bogle (currently on the SCEDD Board.) (How many “economic” studies have we paid for in the last ten years, folks?
Too many.) The lady of course touched on broadband (SCEDD handled HUGE grant monies for this over last few years) and the need for more workshops. Finally, it was done.
The Commissioners then ok’d some changes to the Weed Board Bylaws. They then approved the Sheriff’s contract with the Town of Silver Cliff. (Same $ as last year.)
In Public Comments, citizen and big-time local democrat James “Dr. Doom” Gilbert then delivered a handwritten speech attacking
Canda and Epp over the dismissal of County Attorney Dan Slater at the last meeting. He went on and on and on in his usual, somewhat, whiny voice saying that Canda and Epp hadn’t given a reason for them to fire Slater. (Folks, they said it last week, and they said it at this meeting: there was a personnel issue with Slater and a County employee, and it was confidential.)
Gilbert seemed to intentionally ignore the reason given and attacked the two without merit.
Here’s a couple of good quotes from the Dr. Doom; “maybe doing this for political reasons”, “Canda has no transparency”, “Sounds like a purge to me”, and “Shame on you, Mr. Epp, for going along with this”. Ahhh, a riff Kamala would be proud of.
And that was it.

Uncategorized

Black Hills Energy Botched Its Rate Increase Notice, PUC Demands Do-Over

From Canon City’s Energy Future

Black Hills Energy Botched Its Rate Increase Notice, PUC Demands Do-Over

Material errors in the original Customer Notice from Black Hills Energy in June of 2024 made it impossible for customers to determine the real impact of BHE’s proposed large rate increase to their utility bills.

The local citizen group, Canon City’s Energy Future (CCEF) (established 2018), questions the confusing information.

“BHE officials presented information to Canon City in mid-May that no increase was coming before 2030, and in fact they showed we could expect a 7%-8% DECREASE by 2030,” said CCEF committee member Steve Andrews, “one month later they proposed as much as an 18% rate increase.”

“The BHE notice sent to all customers in mid-June 2024 was loaded with errors, not mere ‘typos’ as the company, argued,” Andrews said. “BHE’s filing at the Public Utilities Commission in mid-June contained even more contradictory information stating a 20.46% increase to both business and residential customers.”

PUC Trial Staff together with the Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate (UCA) confronted BHE with at least some of these issues October 18th in a Joint Motion requiring an immediate corrected Customer Notice be done at BHE expense. The motion also listed other items.

“A do-over five months after it was botched does not inspire confidence, nor can it hide the enormity of the increase BHE wants to inflict onto rural Colorado customers,” stated Andrews.

Between now and the end of the year, this issue is moving quickly through Public Comment and Public Hearing. Here are four important meetings:

Tues. Nov. 12th 5pm-6:30pm – PCC Fremont Campus, 51320 US Hwy 50 Rm 146 Canon City

Thurs. Nov. 14th 6pm at Canon City Hall, 128 Main St – with the Utility Consumer Advocate

Mon. Nov. 18th 5:30pm – Florence City Hall, 600 W 3rd St – Informational meeting on how to provide input to the PUC

Tues. Nov. 19th 5pm-7pm Canon City Hall – Public Comment Hearing with the Public Utilities Commissioners.

The volunteer members of Canon City’s Energy Future group encourage you to come learn why the Utility Consumer Advocate recommends NO RATE INCREASE for BHE.  Then testify at a full hearing with the Colorado PUC on Nov 19 to push back on the proposed 18% rate increase to your electric bill.

2024, Uncategorized

Trump Wins! There Is Hope Epp, Vogelsong Cruise to Commish Wins

Trump Wins! There Is Hope
Epp, Vogelsong Cruise to Commish Wins
Mt. Lion Hunting Ban Shot Down

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary

(Unofficial ballot numbers from 11/6/24))

Some real good news statewide with the Ranked Voting and Mt. Lion Hunting Ban ballot measures being defeated. Locally, the two big races were for the two County Commissioner slots with Lucas Epp and Paul Vogelsong easily defeating their opponents Epp beat his opponent with 2,465 votes to 1,235. Vogelsong vanquished incumbent Commissioner Kevin Day by 2,053 to 1,205. (Some thought that the write in candidate, Attebury, would pull enough votes away from Vogelsong to let Day slide in, but that didn’t happen. Attebury only got 378 votes.)
Jeff Lindsey ran uncontested for our 11th Judicial District District Attorney. He got 2,788 votes in Custer County.
Of note, all the judges up for retention were voted down in Custer County except one, Court of Appeals Judge Gilbert Roman, who barely won a “Yes” by just nine votes (locally.)
Stephanie Luck, won her District 60 State Representative position against Dem Kathryn Green, In Custer County, Luck got 2,596 votes to Green’s 1,102.

At the Federal level, our hero, Donald Trump, won the monumental President of the United States battle against Kamala Harris. In a landslide predicted by only a very few. He won in the electoral college vote and the national popular vote. In Custer County, The Donald received 2,560 votes to Harris’s 1,171. For the entire state of Colorado, Harris got 1,345,023 votes to Trump’s 1,052,320.

In the U.S. Congress District 7 House race, Democrat Brittany Pettersen won, but in Custer County her opponent, Sergei Matveyuk, whooped her bad getting 2,435 votes to Pettersen’s 1,168.

The Colorado ballot measures results were generally good:
Amendment G: Expand Veteran Property Tax Exemption won easily (72.4% to 27.6%).
Amendment H: Create an Independent Judicial Board passed (72.7% to 27.3%).
Amendment I: No Bail for First Degree Murder passed (69.4 % to 30.5%).
Amendment J: Remove the Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriages passed (63.8% to 36.2%).
Amendment K: Earlier Election Filing Deadlines lost
(55.3% to 44.7%).
Amendment 79: Constitutional Right to Abortion passed
(61.5% to 38.5%).
Amendment 80: School Choice K-12 failed
(52.2% to 47.9%).
Proposition JJ: Keep Sporting Betting Tax Revenue was ok’d
(75.9% to 24.3%).
Proposition KK: Tax on Firearms and Ammunition passed
(54.2% to 45.8%).
Proposition 127: Prohibit Big Cat Hunting was defeated
(55.5% to 44.5%).
Proposition 128 Change Parole for Violent Crimes passed
(62.4% to 37.6%).
Proposition 129: Create New Veterinary Positions passed
(52.4% to 47.8%).
Proposition 130: The Law Enforcement Support Fund passed
(53.1% to 46.9%).
Proposition 131: Ranked Choice Voting was defeated
(55.2% to 44.8%).