The future of Craig will be built by the present, and, with the coal industry about to exit stage left, the new characters and developments on the business scene drove enormous deserved interest for Moffat County readers.
It didn’t start in 2021, but Frank and Kerry Moe’s effort to bring an outdoors-themed shopping and visiting experience to the largely abandoned Centennial Mall remained an item of interest and development this year.
A major contingency upon which that plan was dependent was the approval of an urban renewal authority in Craig, called, appropriately, the Craig Urban Renewal Authority. That program, which is an agreement between taxing bodies on which land sits to credit back to a developer the prospective property tax increase that comes from improved property and the subsequent increased property values so that the developer can improve the property, was finalized mid-year. The CURA board approved the Moes’ request for tax increment financing for the Yampa Valley Adventure Center in October.
The CURA itself is indicative of a part of the city of Craig’s efforts to be business-friendly. There are two urban renewal areas, one downtown and one around the area of the mall. Both have the opportunity for developers and current real estate owners to acquire financing to improve property within the lines drawn and approved by the CURA.
However, another city effort to help out businesses was nixed late this year, as the outgoing city council decided to end the three-year-old Small Business Grant amid questions of its legitimacy and legality. The future of the small-time grant program, which awarded tens of thousands of dollars a year to local small businesses, is uncertain, but, for now, it is no more.
One development was the opposite of permanent but could portend future activity and made Moffat County feel a little bit “on the map.” That was the advent of a Busch Light-led outdoor temporary workspace in early October. The space, called TreeWork, was near Freeman Reservoir.
“They provide beer, wifi and a place to work,” said Gary Cole, who owned the land on which the space was staged. “They’re bringing in a new group every day, they stay one night. It’s here through Friday, and they’ll be hosting about 60 people total. Out of thousands of applicants, they had to keep it pretty limited.”
The Anheuser-Busch corporate gimmick, such as it was, drew a lot of eyeballs.
Whether it might be the beginning of something long-term is up in the air.
“It’s too early to say, being in the midst of TreeWork now,” a representative of Anheuser-Busch said at the time. “But response has been overwhelming, and we’re encouraged. We want to do this type of activation for our fans again, but it’s too early to say. We’re thrilled with how it’s going and looking so far.”
Other businesses moved — Furniture Connection went from the mall to a spot downtown inside Jackson Office Supply, Fessler’s Barbershop moved from downtown out to a standalone building near Wendy’s, and Big O Tires moved down the strip in the same Centennial Mall parking lot to a much, much larger space on the corner where the old Safeway was. All were evidence of positive momentum for the respective business owners, who were expanding or improving their offerings.
Craig Steel, a generations-old business born and built in town, changed hands, as the former owners sold to former employees of the power plant. The pleasure on both sides was keeping the company local.
In worse news, Craig’s Bank of the West branch closed. In better news, just last week, Craig’s Kitchen a la More announced it would be a T-Mobile authorized retailer.
A few new businesses opened, too, including Way Out West on the west side of town, a western apparel retailer, Blue Sage Salon downtown, The 14er Outdoor & Running Emporium near downtown, and two pot shops — Kind Castle and Tumbleweed Dispensary.
The future is murky and hard to discern, to be sure, but several small, positive developments shed a bit of light on a dark and uncertain path forward for Craig and Moffat County.
In one of the most controversial issues facing the Craig community during the summer, the potential creation of a homeless shelter became one of the most-read stories in the Craig Press this year.
In May, Organizers of the Housing First Alliance of Craig received over $600,000 in grant dollars from the federal government to go toward the creation of the shelter for people experiencing homelessness. It was promised to those who signed off on the application — including the county commissioners — that the shelter was specifically going to be used for families, which many people agreed was a step in the right direction.
According to the CARES Act Emergency Solutions Grant, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would have provided $569,201 for the shelter, another $65,570 for Homeless Management Information Systems software and $57,129 for administration costs. The deadline for the grant would have been Jan. 31, 2022.
As pushback from community members who strongly opposed the shelter’s creation grew louder, Alliance members conducted public meetings around frequently asked questions regarding who and where the shelter would serve. Those meetings were often contentious, further pushing a divide between those who supported the shelter and those who did not.
In July, Housing First Alliance members met with business owners to discuss concerns about the shelter’s location and its potential residents. That meeting — originally scheduled for 30 minutes — lasted almost three hours. Specifically, community members at that meeting had problems with language in the application for the CARES grant. In the shelter’s application for federal funding, the Alliance had written that individuals or families could use the facility, a fact that many at the meeting opposed.
Because of the type of funding the shelter received, the Alliance could not put preconditions on who could use the shelter — meaning that they could not turn someone away because they weren’t in a family or not a resident of Moffat County. Housing First Alliance had found at least 12 families that already lived in Craig that needed stable housing to fill the potential shelter, but there was no guarantee it would be those families only who were sheltered.
In August, another meeting was planned and executed, and was once again contentious. The board of county commissioners also sent a letter in that month to the Alliance that outlined concerns about the shelter. According to the commissioners, their initial understanding was that the shelter was only for Moffat County residents, but upon finding out that preconditions could not be placed on residents, they asked executive director Hannah Wood to return the CARES grant.
The one-time target location for the shelter — the former Furniture Gallery building — was sold to become a church, pushing the search for the shelter’s location back to square one.
The effort to bring a shelter for unhoused people to Craig is not over, but the execution in the future will likely change significantly. The federal grant was relinquished, and the Housing First Alliance is no longer in a partnership with Grand Junction-based group Homeward Bound, which had been executing the grant. Wood also stepped down as executive director, but remains on the board.
Despite efforts to prevent a homeless shelter, Craig — just like other towns and cities across the nation — is facing a housing shortage that will likely need long-term solutions to its problem.
In a recently released housing assessment commissioned by the city, Craig still needs 75 housing units to reach a balanced market. Specifically, there’s a need for smaller units that have 1-2 bedrooms. Business owners already cite a large concern about housing for their employees, and with future employers potentially needed to fill the void coming from plant and mine closures, housing will continue to be a great concern going into the next few years.
In early 2022, the consultants will release the final action plan as to how the city should move forward with potentially providing housing or if another option would be a better fit for the community.
Of all the dejection and disappointment — and, surely, despair — that came with 2020, hardly least of it all was attendant to the absence of the vast majority of Moffat County and Craig’s signature events.
That changed in 2021, as safe and effective vaccination, a renewed — if at times misguided — sense of security and, generally, far fewer state-imposed restrictions allowed for the return of the events and entertainment that make Craig fun.
Grand Old West Days in May enjoyed its largest rodeo pool in the event’s history, and packed houses returned to the signature kick-off to the summer in Moffat County.
“We used every available space,” said organizer Melody Villard in early June. “Had 106 indoor stalls for the fairgrounds, and put up 123 portable pens for animals. It was huge. Every inch of campus was utilized.”
The 30th anniversary of the event — though, thanks to the cancellation in 2020 it was technically just the 29th iteration thereof — boasted 218 rodeo contestants and saw about 1,000 attendees at the Saturday night concert. All in all, it was termed an unqualified success.
Whittle the Wood Rendezvous, perhaps the most Craig event of them all, followed a few weeks thereafter, and despite a smaller field of carvers than normal, the late-June event was again considered a hit.
Damon Gorecki of Salt Lake City won the carving contest with a bench shaded by the wings of a massive wooden eagle.
“We just come to have fun, but if I can get something out of it, then I’m happy,” Gorecki said at the time of his victory.
A robotic deep-sea fish took second place, as well as artists’ and people’s choice awards.
“It’s kind of a steampunk fish. I’ve seen some pictures of things like this, so I thought I’d try it,” its carver, Chad Stratton, said.
The outdoor concert brought Craig together in a way it hadn’t been in far too long to hear 1990s favorites The Verve Pipe and Everclear perform at Loudy-Simpson Park.
“Look at where we are; we’re in God’s country,” Art Alexakis, frontman of Everclear, told the cheering throngs during their concert. “We’re blessed to be able to play for you. Thank you guys so much for being here for us.”
The Moffat County Fair came as it typically does in early August, featuring its livestock and other shows, as well as the climactic livestock auction at its close.
The auction was the most successful in its history, buyers generously shelling out to benefit FFA and 4-H kids with their purchases.
“This community stepped up,” said Jason Bacon, treasurer for the Moffat County Junior Livestock Sale Foundation. “Amazing. Amazing. It was a really, really good sale.”
Overlapping with the fair was the return of the Moffat County Balloon Festival, a beautiful event that, despite fewer pilots than usual, was greeted with community appreciation and enjoyment.
Halloween downtown was a massive hit, with costumed revelers lining both sides of Yampa Avenue for hours. Fall Festival was fun, as was the Ghost Walk. The Parade of Lights to kick off Christmas season was another fun-filled return to a level of normalcy not felt a year earlier.
The year ended with Christmas events, including the Craig Chamber of Commerce Downhome Christmas. That was highlighted by a multi-school elementary choir singing in the Yampa Building for a packed house.
In all, it made for a year of getting together and enjoying our home. It was a welcome change from a 2020 in which we did far less of that.
I’ve only been here six months.
I’ve literally only known Sheli Steele for six months.
That’s hard to imagine sitting here, typing these words.
In six short months, the mentorship, guidance, wisdom, care, sincerity and love I’ve felt from Sheli have been incalculable, uncountable and unquantifiable.
I will miss her very much, and I’ve only been here six months.
I know the Craig Press will be fine. Bonnie Stewart will be wonderful for us and the paper, and I’m thrilled at the new opportunities new insight will bring.
But I personally am heartbroken to say goodbye to my boss, my friend. Sheli brought me here, she fought for me, she fought beside me, and she fought, most of all, for Craig.
This woman loves this community, and she’ll keep loving the community as she moves onto new opportunities. Sheli has the reputation in this town she has for a reason, and that reason is everything above and infinitely more I cannot find the words for.
I’m so grateful to know Sheli, to continue to know her, and to have learned how to love Craig and Moffat County under her tutelage.
So thank you, Sheli. Thank you for caring. Thank you for showing me that caring — really, truly, sincerely caring — matters. Thank you for your passion, your compassion and your dedication to serving your home — my home. Our home.
Thanks for bringing me home. Thanks for showing me the ropes. Thanks for your patience. Thanks for everything.
Good luck, from all of us. We’ll miss you. Don’t be a stranger.
For most of the Mountain West, heavy snow squalls and frigid winds mean staying inside, cuddling up under a blanket and possibly lighting the home’s fireplace in order to escape the cold. However, some of our furry friends outdoors may not be so lucky.
It’s not uncommon to see deer casually grazing in front yards throughout Craig no matter what time of the year it is. So how do they keep warm — even in subzero temperatures?
According to the Colorado Department of Education’s state library, larger mammals like deer and big game still live in mountain regions, but they often migrate to south-facing slopes. During colder months, the animals move to lower elevations, often along south-facing slopes that provide more sunlight, shallower snow depths and more food sources. With fresh grasses unavailable, big game animals change their diets during winter to feed on woody shrubs.
“Deer also typically seek areas that are more sheltered in which to rest and eat, such as stands of coniferous trees that maintain their needles during the winter and allow snow to build up, both of which help provide some wind resistance and possibly cover,” Tufts wildlife and conservation researcher Chris Whittier wrote. “These areas, sometimes known as ‘deer yards,’ may encompass many — if not hundreds — of acres, providing shelter for lots of deer.”
Usually deer can comfortably survive the winter by eating their usual diet of twigs, stems, grasses and other plants wherever they typically would find them, as well as by supplementing with high-calorie foods such as nuts, fruits and even mushrooms.
“Because deer are generally browsers, like goats, and not grazers, like cows or sheep, they do not need to get under the snow to eat, though they can and sometimes will,” Whittier wrote.
Deer’s hair is hollow, which allows their fur to trap air and retain heat. Gaps between window panes or a quilt sewn together can keep someone warm in the winter, and deer fur works in the same way. Heat stays trapped in while cold air is kept out. In addition to trapping more body heat in hollow hairs, a deer’s winter coat absorbs more sunlight. Their skin also produces an oil that makes their fur water repellent, providing protection against cold, wet snow.
According to the National Wildlife Federation, it’s common for certain types of deer to modify behavior, as well.
“When the weather is particularly harsh, deer act just like we do: They hunker down, sometimes staying in place for days,” a report from the NWF reads. “But unlike us, deer don’t have a steady supply of food while hunkered down, so they instead rely on their fat stores to help them survive.”
For elk, the large animals’ winter coat consists of two layers: thick, long guard hairs and a dense undercoat. On the inside, guard hairs look like a honeycomb. Thousands of tiny air pockets fill each hair, making them waterproof and warm. This warm winter coat is so thick it can keep snow from melting on an elk’s back.
“Elk can make their hair stand on end, trapping more air and creating an even thicker coat,” a report from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation reads. “They also tuck their legs beneath them when they lie down so they lose less heat through their legs, chest and belly.”
Students at Ridgeview Elementary banded together to make local families’ holidays a little bit brighter. Just before Christmas, students were able to deliver goods and funds to a local food bank to provide resources to less-fortunate families in Craig.
Last week, students delivered over 3,000 perishable items to the Interfaith Food Bank. In addition to food items, students and parents also collected monetary donations for the food bank, as well. Stacks and racks of canned goods and other foods were transported to the food bank last Wednesday, and student and parent volunteers helped unload and distribute the items to the bank’s stock rooms.
In total, $745 in donations were given to the food bank by students and other community members.
Ridegeview students weren’t the only ones looking to give back during the holiday season. Moffat County residents donated over $90,000 to various Moffat County charities and nonprofits earlier this month for Yampa Valley Gives Day, which aims to provide funds and donations to agencies in the community.
In early 2022, Craig and the rest of the world will experience the second anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, we had become comfortable with the new normal.
As the pandemic continued, Craig learned how to navigate public health concerns while transitioning into a post-lockdown community.
Widespread vaccination begins
By January of 2021, distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine became more accessible to immunocompromised communities, and the general public was not far behind. By Jan. 18, Moffat County reported it had vaccinated 1,174 people between its three primary medical providers: Memorial Regional Health, Moffat County Public Health and Northwest Colorado Health.
According to a report from Public Health from January, MRH had administered 611 vaccines, Public Health had administered 408 vaccines, and Northwest Colorado Health had administered 156 vaccines. The majority of vaccines administered have been to those who were over the age of 70. By the end of March, vaccine appointments were open to anyone over the age of 16.
Statewide health mandates ease
In April, Gov. Jared Polis lifted the mask mandate in counties under level-green restrictions on Colorado’s coronavirus dial. Counties were to wear masks only in K-12 schools, child care centers, indoor children’s camps, public-facing state government facilities, congregate care facilities, and prisons and jails. Masks were required in healthcare settings — including hospitals, urgent-care centers and doctors’ offices — as well as at personal-services businesses, like hair and nail salons.
People who live in counties that are in levels blue, yellow, orange, red or purple had to wear masks only when they are gathering with 10 or more unrelated, unvaccinated people in indoor public settings. At the time, Moffat County was considered green, which meant mask regulations eased.
The summer surge
With positivity rates climbing quickly as a result of the onset of the Delta variant, cases in the county rose exponentially and caused a strain on local health infrastructure. By June 9, Craig had its first COVID-19 death since early January — after about six months of zero deaths.
By the end of the month, MRH was dealing with its most patients in the COVID unit since December of 2020. In mid-July, Moffat County experienced its youngest death from the virus, a young person in his or her 20s. By the end of that month, three more community members died within a week of each other.
Getting through the new year
Much like the holiday season of 2020, doctors and public health officials have warned of a post-Christmas surge as a result of traveling and family gatherings. As the year draws to a close, across the country, numbers of those infected with COVID-19 are rising significantly.
Much of that is likely due to the Omicron variant. Though symptoms of Omicron appear to be less severe than Delta, it’s still highly contagious and has been shown to break through to infect patients that have two vaccine doses, though boosted individuals are at much lower risk. Right now, local health experts are hoping to keep the spread low in order to protect hospital capacity.
In October, vaccination rates among adults finally surpassed 50% in Moffat County, adding a protective layer against hospital overflow in the new year. That rate has not moved much since October. Vaccines are now available for children as young as 5 years old, but those rates in Moffat County are still very low.
After some confusion about federal vaccine requirements for hospital workers, Memorial Regional Hospital will continue with its 100% vaccinated or exempted requirement for employees. Hospital employees are required to receive the vaccine by Medicare and Medicaid, and with over 60% of the hospital’s revenue coming from those two offices, interim CEO Jennifer Riley told the Craig Press in December that enforcing the mandate is what’s best for the hospital and the community.
While statistic gathering have changed somewhat over the last year — relative to counts that include people who died with COVID-19 or definitively due to COVID-19 — current statistics indicate that as many as half or more of the 50 people listed by Moffat County Public Health who died from the virus in the county did so since June, 2021.
July 20, 1937 – December 22, 2021
Barbara Montieth, of Hayden, died Wednesday, December 22, 2021 at her home. Memorial services will be held at 1:00 p.m., Sunday, January 2, 2022 at The Hayden Congregational Church. Memorial donations may be made to Northwest Colorado Health and Hospice or The Jan Bishop Cancer Center in care of Grant Mortuary.
UPDATE, 5:45 p.m.: Both directions of Interstate 70 reopened following a roughly three-hour closure from a 24-vehicle pileup Wednesday afternoon.
A total of 17 passenger vehicles and seven semitrucks were involved in the crash, which happened around 2:30 p.m. in the eastbound lanes near mile marker 120, according to Colorado State Patrol Master Trooper Gary Cutler. Westbound closed to enable access for emergency vehicles.
At least 15 passenger vehicles and three semis were disabled. Four injuries were reported.
#BREAKING I-70 in BOTH directions is CLOSED through the Glenwood Canyon due to a multi-car crash with injuries. Initial reports of 17 passenger cars and 7 semi's involved at I-70 MP 120 EB. Expect this to be an extended closure. #COtraffic – 4C10 pic.twitter.com/nw7an61crf
— CSP Eagle (@CSP_Eagle) December 29, 2021
The Garfield County Sheriff’s Office issued a reminder via Facebook that nearby passes, including Cottonwood and Independence, are closed for the season.
Police say a Craig man, who is a registered sex offender with a lengthy criminal history, advanced on officers with knives in both hands before being tased by police Tuesday afternoon.
Melvin Rowton, 48, of Craig, came into contact with Craig Police at the Elkhorn Apartment complex Tuesday about 4:30 p.m. when officers were called by a party at the complex who claimed Rowton had hit the party.
Rowton, who police reports indicate was convicted in 2006 of felony menacing, in 2008 for second-degree assault to cause injury with a deadly weapon, and is listed as a sexually violent predator, was contacted by police in an apartment at the complex. Police say he acted aggressively, picked up a machete-like weapon and eventually advanced on the two officers present with that weapon and another knife.
The warrantless arrest affidavit filed and signed by Craig Police officer Tracy Mendoza states that Mendoza and a partner, Sgt. Anthony Fandel, drew their firearms and trained them on Rowton when the latter initially picked up the machete-like weapon. Per the report, Rowton alternately stepped toward the officers with the weapon, put the weapon down, threatened to fight with the officers verbally, and then eventually, after some conversation between police and Rowton, picked up the weapon and a smaller knife and advanced on police.
During the exchange, Mendoza writes in the report that he switched from his firearm to his Taser while Fandel kept his gun drawn. When Rowton eventually advanced on police, with a knife in each hand per the affidavit, it was Mendoza who deployed his weapon. The taser, the report states, stopped Rowton, allowing Fandel to get on top of him and restrain him. Mendoza reports he then removed the knives, and, with Fandel, searched Rowton and placed him into handcuffs.
Rowton was transported by patrol car to Memorial Regional Health, where he was evaluated and released to be transported and booked into Moffat County Jail.
Rowton is charged with two counts of menacing (threat/fear of severe bodily injury with a deadly weapon or threat of a deadly weapon), both fifth-degree felonies, possession of a weapon by a previous offender, also a fifth-degree felony, and two counts of attempted second-degree assault on a police officer, among a series of other charges. He’ll appear in court Jan. 6 at 8:30 a.m. for an arraignment.
