May 1-31, Sangres Art Guild ~ Light and Motion
Art Show, 3rd Street Gallery, 59000 N. Hwy 69
Friday, May 23, 7 – 8 p.m.
Custer County Schools BACCALAURATE East Gym
Saturday, May 24, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Custer County Senior Graduation @ Henrich Football Field
Saturday, May 24, 1 p.m.
Memorial Day Weekend Parade on Main Streets
To participate email dena@bearridgewestcliffe.com OR call or text Dena@ 719-371-5503
Saturday, May 24, KLRZ Block Party on 2nd St
after the parade
Saturday, May 24, 11 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.
SJO Sun Observing Hour & evening Public Star Party @Smoky Jack Observatory next to the Bluff
Monday, May 26, 10 a.m. Memorial Day Observance at Silver Cliff Park, 1099 4th St.
Memorial Day Services
Cañon City– The Annual Memorial Day Ceremony at Greenwood Pioneer Cemetery in Cañon City is Saturday, May 24, 2025. The ceremony will start at 11a.m. at the Cemetery, which is located on South 1st Street.
Silver Cliff- The American Legion Post 170 family is presenting the 19th Annual Memorial Day observance at the Silver Cliff Community Park on Monday, May 26, 2025 from 10 to 11a.m. The public is invited to attend this special occasion. This year’s observance includes keynote speaker Charles Bogle Col. USAR (Retired).
Ceremonies offer introduction, recognition and thanks to all Veterans who have served and currently serving our Country. Military Honors will be presented with three rifle volleys, taps and placing the Colors at the soldiers cross. The National Anthem and Amazing Grace will be presented by the Our Lady of the Assumption Church Choir. Following the ceremonies refreshments will be served by the Auxiliary Unit 170.
—May 19, 2025
[Last] weekend Custer Sheriff’s Deputies responded to three separate motorcycle crashes. Our thoughts and prayers are with the riders who fortunately all survived the serious crashes. These crashes occurred in the area between Wetmore and Mackenzie Junction encompassing the area commonly known as Hardscrabble on Highway 96 in eastern Custer County.
In one crash, Sunday evening, an off-duty deputy happened to drive up to the downed motorcycle first and called 911. The friends of the downed rider asked the deputy for a tourniquet. The deputy had one tourniquet in his personal car. Additional on-duty deputies arrived and described the injuries as life threatening. The deputies described one leg as “partially amputated” and one arm “partially amputated”. Before the response was over, we applied a total of FOUR tourniquets to get the bleeding completely stopped.
If you ride a motorcycle, wearing a helmet is critical to ensuring your survival if you make a mistake and crash. Right up there with a helmet in life saving importance, is a tourniquet attached to your jacket for quick access. Do you have a friend or loved one who rides a motorcycle? If so consider buying them a tourniquet to protect them when they ride especially in rural areas like Custer County where an ambulance must travel a long distance to reach the patient. Consider taking the Stop the Bleed class so that you can help yourself and others who need help after a traumatic incident. You cannot use a belt successfully as a tourniquet. It won’t get tight enough to stop the bleeding on injuries like this above the femur, or fully lock in place.
We bought our tourniquets for our deputies from Snakestaff Systems. You can also find tourniquets at sporting goods stores and firearms dealers. Are you going on a motorcycle ride this coming holiday weekend? Buy that tourniquet today.
The Custer County School District Board of Education has declared a director vacancy that will be filled by appointment
by the Board no later than July 12, 2025.
To be eligible for appointment, a candidate must be a registered elector of the district for at least twelve consecutive months and have never been convicted of commission of a sexual offense against a child.
Interested persons are invited to submit a statement of interest and qualifications to the Board of Education Secretary via email at jennifer.kriegh@ccbobcats.net or via US Mail to Custer County School District PO Box 730, Westcliffe, CO 81252. All correspondence must be received by 4:00 p.m. on Monday, June 2, 2025
The Board will interview prospective candidates at a public meeting, the date of which shall be established by the Board at a future public meeting. The term of this appointment shall be until the next regularly scheduled Board of Education election in November 2025.
Taken upon his arrest while on the run. 2023 photo from CCSO
May 9, 2025by George Gramlich
There were two recent hearings regarding the alleged triple murder off Oak Creek Grade in November of 2023. One concerned the alleged perpetrator of the murders, Hanme Clark, and the other one was about his associate, Nancy Median-Kochis, who was charged with multiple counts of accessory to a crime. Clark is being held in the Pueblo County Jail while Kochis is out on bail. Continue reading More Triple Murder Motion Hearings, Evidence Challenge→
School Board’s Press for Accurate Hiring Information Comes to a Head
by Laura Vass,
News and Commentary
The Special Meeting
On April 16th, The Custer County School Board held a Special Meeting to determine a course of action concerning recent hires based on the recommendation of the Superintendent. According to CRS 22-32-109.8 (6.5) at least one of the new hires may not be eligible for school employment in the state of Colorado. The agenda called for the board to consider the following actions:
Consider placing Superintendent Thom Peck on paid administrative leave, consider placing High School Principal Aundrea McCormick on paid administrative leave, and if approved, to hire temporary replacements for the three positions those actions would leave open; Superintendent, HS Principal, and Athletic Director. Continue reading School Board’s Press for Accurate Hiring Information Comes to a Head→
BOCC: Tons of Policies, Silver Cliff Gets Some Free Land, Round
Mountain Donation Confusion
by George Gramlich, News and Commentary
The April 24, 2025 Custer County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) regular meeting was held at the All Aboard Westcliffe meeting room and started at 9 a.m. All three Commissioners were present: Chair Bill Canda and members Lucas Epp and Paul Vogelsong.
Not too much in Commissioner Items. Epp said the ARPA and LATCF yearly grant fund reports were done and submitted. Canda said the Commissioners had a “good” meeting with our local dems. (The local Polis, Biden, AOC, Pelosi loving Custer County democrat party asked our Commissioners to show up at a “round table” so they could question them about what is going to happen to Happy Valley when the fed and state grant money disappears, and the children will be starving.) In New Business, Accounts Payable was up first. Epp gave the run down. (Epp does good with this. He reviews, during his presentation, all AP items over $5k. Very informative. Of note, interim County Attorney Dan Slater got a $6.8k check and they finally paid for the infamous Rolls Royce level chipper with a $98k check.) The total AP for the last two weeks was $372k.
Next was a proposal to approve a proclamation for Family Crisis Services to proclaim April Sexual Assault Awareness month. Family Crisis Services does a lot of good stuff including safe houses for abuse victims, therapy and counseling. Last year they served 274 clients. The proclamation was approved.
The Mayor of the Town of Silver Cliff, Buck Wenzel was next at the royal table. He said the County and Silver Cliff had an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) regarding a piece of land the county owns but Silver Cliff uses and maintains. It has signs on it and it is a trail head. Buck wanted the BOCC to deed the piece over to Silver Cliff to make things simpler. This was approved.
Human Services was next with nine policies that the state requires and the County hadn’t adopted them. This was supposed to have been done in 2022 but it wasn’t. The Commissioners approved all the policies.
Next up was Human Resources Director, Bob Smith, with the newly revised Records Retention Policy for the County. Bob has sent it around to the various department heads for review and made some changes based on that input. The Commissioners approved it.
The final New Business Agenda Item was about setting up a procedure so people could donate money to help the Round Mountain Water and Sanitation District pay for the construction of their new waste treatment system. (Remember the County donated $40k recently.) Canda led the discussion. He wanted to set up an account item at the Treasurer’s Office to take the donations which would allow the donations to be tax deductible. It was asked why can’t Round Mountain do it and Canda said that under their statutory regulations, they were not allowed to do that. County Attorney Slater said that was wrong and Round Mountain, like a bunch of other local entities, by statute can accept donations and have them be tax deductible. This went on for a bit. Finally, Canda said he would go over and talk to Round Mountain to find out one way or the other.
No fireworks. Of note, however, Chair Canda is letting people, one person in particular, interrupt the Commissioners discussion of items instead of waiting for the Public Comment interlude at the end of each Commissioner discussion. Very disruptive and rude.
BOCC: Grant Money Drying Up,
Coroner Wants a Cooler,
Tourism Volunteer Director Now Wants Pay
by George Gramlich, News and Commentary
The April 17, 2025 Custer County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) regular meeting was held at the historic All Aboard Westcliffe meeting room and started at 9 a.m. All three Commissioners were present: Chair Bill Canda and members Lucas Epp and Paul Vogelsong.
In Commissioner Items, Epp foreshadowed the coming dramatic drop in grant money coming to the County in announcing that the (total waste of money) courthouse sidewalk “improvement” project funding “may be pulled back” as the Colorado Democrats Colorado budget is ONE BILLION DOLLARS over budget and they are cutting a ton of things to save the money for their welfare state bribes.
Canda spoke about local realtor Bob Senderhauf’s effort to raise money to help Round Mountain Water & Sanitation District’s wastewater treatment project. Bob is opening donation accounts in both local banks and is encouraging various groups and entities to cough up some moolah to help out.
Interim County Attorney Dan Slater said he had settled two Planning & Zoning lawsuits against local property owners without going to court. There are still a bunch of lawsuits pending.
Epp talked about the new state Fire Resiliency Board and how each county, by law, is supposed to have a comprehensive plan in place this summer. This would affect home construction (it would be a form of building code for new home and business construction) and as we don’t have a building code in Happy Valley this will be a problem. Elected Official Reports
First up was Custer County Sheriff Rich Smith. He had two main issues to bring to the Board. First, he is selling two Dodge Durango police vehicles and he figures he can get about $20k each at auction for them. However, the City of Walsenburg is starting up a brand new police department and they are desperate for vehicles and they offered $26k for each one. Rich wanted to know if he could sell them to Walsenburg without going through an auction. It was decided later in the meeting that County Attorney Slater would draw up a contract to sell the two vehicles to Walsenburg.
The second item concerned the new jail standards the libs in Denver are issuing which will dramatically drive up the cost to house inmates. Rich said this is going to raise our cost big time. He is also looking at a grant to get closed circuit security cameras installed at the courthouse.
The written Treasurer’s report was briefly reviewed. No biggies there.
Coroner Brad Baltzly gave his office’s report. Brad said he wants to get a 20-foot metal shipping container and put a cooling system in it to store the deceased when it is not possible to immediately bring the bodies to a funeral home or to an autopsy. He said it would take about $6k to do the job. Other Reports
The Veteran’s Service Office report was given by the Director, Dominic Edginton. He said he had 47 scheduled visits last month and 32 walk ins. Plus he filed 19 new claims last month. Dominic noted that since he took over, he has filed 437 claims for our veterans and has gotten over $3 million in compensation for them. He said there are 581 Custer County veterans registered in the VA system, plus there are a bunch more not registered.
Bob Smith gave the Human Resources report. He said the RFP for county insurance is out and he is talking to five brokers about it. Also, there are three open county positions currently posted.
Finance Director Vernon Roth delivered the Finance report. Vernon said they are working on a bunch of procedures while he and Redlands Accounting continue to work on various issues like grant management and audit data. He stated that CORA open records requests consume too much of his time and he would like to see some changes there. County Attorney Slater is working on revising the County’s CORA policy. Epp noted that an RFP for a new County auditor is going out August 1st.
Epp then reviewed the Information Technology (IT) written report noting the IT employee John Mapes is doing a great job. Epp stated that they will be issuing an RFP for “contract services” to help in the IT Department. (IT is severely understaffed considering the amount of work in the county now.)
No big news in the written Human Services and Road & Bridge reports.
The Planning & Zoning Report was written. All types of permits are up dramatically from last year, showing good growth in the housing market. Total income for P&Z, YTD was $117k.
The written Landfill report noted that in the first quarter 4,816 cubic yards of trash was delivered to the landfill via waste collection companies and 2,837 bags of trash were brought to the landfill.
The Recycling written report stated that they made a total of 23 bales of all materials in March with 15 being just cardboard. In New Business, our Tourism Board Director, Deb Adams, had a proposal for the BOCC. Adams first spent a fair amount of time reviewing the things she has done with the Tourism Board since she became the Director a few years ago. (She has done a good job.) (The Tourism Board Director and all the Board members are volunteers. It has always been that way.) Adams then segued into what she was really there for: she wants to get paid for the job now. Adams argued than since she puts a lot of time into the volunteer job that she should now get paid. She wants her new job to be called the “Destination Management Director” and she would become a county employee. (It sounded like it would initially be a part-time position but that was unclear. The issue of county benefits, insurance, retirement, were not discussed.) Canda said she needed to produce a job description, and this might be a new County “department”. Epp stated the job would have to be posted for competition. The discussion ended with agreement
that Adams will produce a job description and no decisions on actually doing this were made. (Well, it is always the money. Remember Adams ran for County Commissioner a while back looking for that county job and was beaten badly by Canda. So, no county paycheck there. We don’t like this new paid position proposal for a variety of reasons. First, it is a volunteer position like the dozens of other volunteer boards in the county. Just because one is doing a good job in those positions doesn’t justify that position getting paid. It is a volunteer position for a reason. Second, this would set a bad precedent for other boards: If Adams can get paid why can’t I? Third, it is unnecessary. Things are going fine with the current setup. She has a whole board of people helping so no need to spend a ton of time personally. (Delegation is the word here.) It is her call on how much time she spends on the job. If it is too much for now, cut back and have others help you. Why do we now have to pay for it out of tax money? It is a VOLUNTEER position. She has plenty of resources available. Fourth: The last thing the County needs now is to add more “optional” employees. The County is going to be in a ton of trouble in the near future as the fed and state grant money dries up (and these fund over half of the County’s budget). And we should be looking at downsizing County government, not growing it. Fifth: The three conservative, small government, Republican County Commissioners ran on being FISCAL CONSERVATIVES. Which means SMALLER GOVERNMENT, not growing it. Remember all governments tend to grow like a cancer eating up our tax money and sending us taxpayers to the poor house. Governments grow incrementally and then all of a sudden. Each new proposed job must be totally analyzed to see the impact on the county’s future financial liability. There is absolutely no need to create a new paid government job when it is currently being well handled on a volunteer basis. It is a total waste of money. Commissioners: You were elected to be fiscal conservatives. And this is an easy one. Do what you were elected to do. NO GO on this. You should be REDUCING the County government’s financial footprint, NOT INCREASING it. And no offense against Adams looking for a county paycheck. I guess it is human nature, and the County is the biggest fat cat in Happy Valley. But Adams signed on knowing it was a volunteer job. No need to change that. There are plenty of true volunteers willing to fill that position.)
by Fred Hernandez
Hear ye, hear ye! This is a heads up for all parents of kids between the ages of one and 17: there is a new place in the City of Florence where the kids can safely enjoy hours of good, clean fun and healthy, physical activity in an ultra clean environment.
GOKIDZ officially opened its magic doors on Wednesday, April 23rd. Their hours and days of operation are seven days a week, Monday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oh my, what great joy for all the children who visit this magical place called GOKIDZ. The young ones can climb up ladders or stairs and slide down into pools of colorful plastic balls, crawl in and out of tunnels, swings of all types and many attractions to ride on, climb or bounce on. Truly a joyful place that guarantees hours of safe fun for the young ones and the adults who accompany them. The very reasonable price of $20 per child for three hours of fun includes one adult. The adult can join the child and go through all the attractions or may prefer to sit in the dining area which offers delicious pizzas, sodas and other snacks.
Florence Mayor Steve Wolfe was at the GOKIDZ indoor playground Monday, the 21st of April during the unofficial dry run opening of the newest business in the city. The mayor welcomes GOKIDZ as a wonderful addition to the commercial area on Church Avenue and congratulated business owner Henry Usmin and his family for the innovative concept that will surely delight all parents and children who will enjoy this facility for many years to come. The mayor also said that Florence is a kid friendly city and welcomes everyone to come visit soon. GOKIDZ is located at 111 Church Avenue in the City of Florence. Call 719-372-1647 for more information.
Sangre de Cristo Electric Association (SDCEA) is pleased to announce the selection of Michael Robinson as the new At Large director on the SDCEA board.
Robinson, who previously served on the SDCEA board, has extensive experience in the telecommunications field and investment firms. He is a resident of Chaffee County and serves as a board member of the Chaffee County Community Foundation.
Robinson steps into this role following the resignation of former director Jeff Fiedler earlier this year and will serve the remainder of Fiedler’s term, which concludes in June 2026. Robinson will be eligible to run for the seat at that time for a full 3-year term.
Robinson was selected by the board after interviews with four candidates who applied for the position. Per SDCEA bylaws, the board must appoint a director within 3 months of a resignation. He will be formally seated as a director during the cooperative’s April 23 regular board meeting in Buena Vista.
About the Election Process
Director terms on the SDCEA board are for 3 years, with elections held annually on a rotating basis for each seat. Board members are elected by SDCEA’s membership, comprised of account holders in the cooperative. This democratic process ensures that all members have a voice in the direction of their electric cooperative. While board members are elected to represent specific geographical areas of the cooperative, they are elected to serve all members. Two board seats are designated as At Large.
Current board officers include:
• Sandra Attebery, representing Custer County, Chair
• Charlie Abel, Rural Chaffee/Lake County, Vice-Chair
• Blake Bennetts, town of Buena Vista, Secretary & Interim Treasurer
The board also includes directors Mark Boyle, Rural Chaffee/Lake County; Sandy Long, At Large; Rob Canterbury, Fremont County; and now Robinson, At Large.
Born January 9th, 1943 in Okeene, OK to Carl Mark and Alice Hey, passed away April 10, 2025 in Casa Grande, AZ. Ralph spent his earliest years in Okeene, OK, until his parents purchased the Lodge at Lake San Isabel, CO, in 1952 and the Heys moved to this location. He attended school in Rye, CO, graduating in 1961. He was a freshman on the 1958 State Champion Basketball team, scored the first touchdown for the newly established Rye High School Football team, was a member of the 1960 State Champion Baseball team and set the career scoring record for the Basketball Team. In 1961 Ralph moved to Cañon City, CO, and played fast pitch softball, American Legion baseball and went on to be a two-time Cañon City Champion in Singles and Doubles competing in Tennis. He accomplished both the Tennis Championships again in 1969. He decided to attend Adams State College and compete in Basketball, Baseball and Tennis. Ralph graduated from ASC in 1966 and moved to Los Angeles, CA in 1967. Later in life he continued his education at the University of Southern California, Western State College, and the University of Northern Colorado.
In 1969 he began teaching and coaching at Vona Public Schools in Vona, CO. The following year the neighboring school in Seibert, CO, burnt down causing the schools to consolidate. Mr. Hey was asked to assist with the newly established school by naming it Hi- Plains, making the mascot the Patriots and the colors Red, White and Blue. He also started and coached the football program in 1970. Coach Hey was very proud to be the Guest of Honor at the 40th Anniversary of Hi-Plains High School in 2010. In 1972 Coach Hey relocated to Custer County High School in Westcliffe, CO, to teach and coach for the next 26 years. From 1972-1974 the Boys Basketball teams placed at the state tournament and set many state records, while some are still standing. He started Girls Basketball at Custer County in 1974. Some of Coach Hey’s career accolades are coaching High School Basketball for 8 years with a record of 140-39 with 6 League/District Championships and 4 Regional Championships. In Basketball he coached 16 All-State Players and 3 All-American Players. His Junior High Football record was 186-43 over 25 seasons. For 29 years he coached Jr. High Basketball accounting for a record of 1,067 wins with only 188 loses during this time. While coaching the Jr. High Track and Field team for 26 years, his boys’ teams won the West Central League 24 of those years. Coach Hey became the first Athletic Director for Custer County High School and held that capacity for 20 years, in 1993 he was named the State Athletic Director of the Year. Mr. Hey influenced thousands of student athletes over the course of his career.
Ralph served 14 years on the CHSAA Board of Control, many tournament committees for Basketball/Volleyball and has been honored for contributions in football, basketball, and track at the State level. He was the Meet Director for 19 Regional Track Meets and was a State Track Official for 41 years (21 years Head Finish Judge and 8 years on the Games Committee and Jury of Appeals). In 2002 he was honored as a member of the Colorado Football Association. Coach Hey oversaw 7 State Football Playoff games, 17 District and 11 Regional Basketball Tournaments, 6 Regional Wrestling Tournaments, and 6 District and 3 Regional Volleyball Tournaments.
Mr. Hey held a license as a Colorado Guide and Outfitter. He was hired out by multiple movie crews to take them fishing and tour mines in the Custer County area during filming of local movies. He even was an extra in a few throughout the years. He loved hunting and fishing; he fished in 50 of the 53 lakes in the Sangre de Cristo Range and climbed a few 14ers.
In 1975 he was one of the four original founders and board members of The Valley Park Recreation and Youth Center in Westcliffe, CO. He helped organize the beginning of
the adult softball program in 1979 and was one of the original owners of Shadow Ridge Sub-Division established in 2003.
Coach Hey attended many big-time sporting events such as 6 Super Bowls, 3 Final Fours, 1 World Series, 1 Stanley Cup and worked as a Marshall at the 1985 U.S. Open Golf Tournament. He was a season ticket holder for the Denver Broncos and the Colorado Rockies throughout the years. He always loved the University of Oklahoma because his father played football and basketball there.
Ralph was an avid golfer and won multiple tournaments in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. He also served as a board member for Northern New Mexico Senior Men’s Golf Association for 8 years and was President in 2007. The Association gave 11 scholarships to Custer County High School seniors in a 7-year span. His annual Pig and Putt Golf Tournament in Walsenburg, CO, carried on for 19 years.
After retirement from Custer County School District, Ralph and his wife Donna moved to Casa Grande, AZ.
He spent almost every day of the week playing golf at the area courses.
When he wasn’t golfing, he was busy making fresh lemonade from his lemon trees and watching sports on TV. He always looked forward to visits from friends. Grandpa Ralph cherished every time his or Donna’s grandchildren came to Arizona.
Ralph Hey is survived by his loving wife Donna Paschall of Casa Grande, AZ, sister Cathy Hey (Bruce Olson) of Sioux Falls, SD, son Grady Camper of Walden, CO, son Tanner (Lindsey) Camper of Westcliffe, CO, Donna’s daughter Anne (Evan) Miller of Lampe, MO, Donna’s son Nathan (Susan) Ruhl of Seattle, WA, grandchildren Sawyer and Savanna Camper of Walden, CO, Caroline
and Harvey Camper of Westcliffe, CO, Donna’s grandchildren Taylor (Gage) Luketich and family of Wasilla, AK, Travis and Trey Leiker of Aurora, CO, and Asha Ruhl of Seattle, WA.
There will be a Celebration of Life on Saturday, June 21, 2025, in Westcliffe, CO. It will be held in the Town of Ula at 403 County Road 175 from 12-3 p.m.
