Western Colorado

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Church can stay in Mesa community center

Anyone wandering into the Mesa Community Center on a Sunday may want to bring a Bible. The community center, a county-owned building, has been the home of the Mesa View Bible Church for the past six months. Sunday services and church ...

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Sheriff’s requests irk commission

The cost of keeping cops on the street is causing the Mesa County Commission to squirm a bit. Mesa County Sheriff Stan Hilkey is being asked to explain the high cost of law-enforcement expenses such as patrol cars and laptops. Until he does, ...

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DA gets involved in sheriff’s office flap

GLENWOOD SPRINGS — Garfield County commissioners on Monday referred allegations against Sheriff Lou Vallario to the 9th District Attorney’s Office for possible criminal investigation. The action came after two commissioners ...

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Victim of fatal crash had been pulled over

A Fruita police officer who contacted and released an 18-year-old Grand Junction woman early Sunday morning came upon an accident about a half-hour later in which the same woman lay dying. Samantha Ann Loy, 18, died after her car careened off ...

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Blaze contained to one unit; family forced to move to hotel

Residents of two apartment units returned home and a third family is staying in a hotel after a fire on Monday morning forced them out of their building. None of the Zapata family was at home when the fire broke out in the kitchen of the ...

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Proposed GJ ethanol project is suspended

The companies that proposed to turn beetle-killed wood into cellulosic ethanol in a Grand Junction plant are suspending the project. Lignol Energy Corp. and Suncor Energy Inc. cited unstable energy prices, uncertain capital markets and ...

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Pedal pushers learn how to fix their rides

A new bicycle maintenance class taught by Chris Brown of Brown Cycles at Western Colorado Community College has proven so popular that more dates have been added. Brown said he is keeping the class size small, at fewer than 10 students per ...

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Street sweepers kick up dust

Every year, winter’s reign heralds in a coating of roads with sands and salts in an effort to keep motorists from slipping, sliding and crashing. But when the weather warms and the streets dry, the sand and dust blow with the wind. ...

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2008 tax revenue tallies at 7.7 percent projection

Grand Junction’s immunity to the sour economy in terms of retail spending faded at the end of last year, as city sales-tax revenue increased a scant 1 percent over the same period in 2007. The city collected $11.54 million in revenue ...

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Two die in separate accidents after being ejected from vehicles

Two people were killed in separate accidents over the weekend after being ejected from their vehicles, according to the Colorado State Patrol. One woman died Sunday morning on Interstate 70 near mile-marker 23 after rolling her sedan in a ...

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