The Ela Sanctuary pond at the entrance to the Connected Lakes section of the James M. Robb-Colorado River State Park is dry. During normal years, it is filled by high water from the river. With another winter of low snowpack, water companies in the Grand Valley will try to rein in water users with restrictions and by charging more for the water they use.

Three-year-old Colby Piper, right,  of Grand Junction wins the boys four and under strider race at the Grand Valley BMX Track.

Brian McClaskey, shopman at Carlson Memorials, moves a column into place Thursday morning while assembling the new WWII Honor Flight Memorial.

Patrons of the Ouray Brewery get a birds eye view of the main drag in Town from the seating on the roof.

The Durango and Silverton train puts into Silverton.Durango was founded by the Denver & Rio Grande Railway in 1879. The railroad arrived in Durango on August 5, 1881 and construction on the line to Silverton began in the fall of the same year. By July of 1882, the tracks to Silverton were completed, and the train began hauling both freight and passengers.

Fifth grade teacher Dan Worth enthralls his Scenic Elementary School students with a lesson on the scientific method involving the ability of cans of soda to float depending on the pop’s sugar content Friday. The class is comprised of some of the same students who scored fourth out of 1,944 schools in the state in reading growth on the TCAP test last year; three high schools scored better, making the Scenic the top elementary school in the state.

Ron Annan hits a hard return during a game of Pickleball at the Lincoln Park tennis courts. during the first game of the Western Colorado Senior Games. Events continue through the week until Friday.

Tom Danielson of the Garmin-Sharp Barracuda Team is congratulated by spectators after winning the Queen’s stage of the USA Pro Challenge in Aspen Wednesday.

Will Berg, Fruita No. 1 player,  tees off on 12 at Redlands Mesa.

Jayne Bilberry, left, and Mary Beth Pyle look through a box from the National Democrat Convention they attended in Denver.

More than 175 Romney supporters showed up in Grand Junction Sunday evening to welcome the Romney-Ryan Bus to Grand Junction.

A lone kayaker finds a wave big enough to surf at the Glenwood Springs Whitewater Park recently.  The drought has limited the water running in the Colorado River this year, but there’s enough water to do a little playing in at the park.

Pen back rider Neely Blum of Fruita trots her horse back to the ring after delivering a calf to the buyer’s pen Wednesday during the Western Slope Cattlemen’s Livestock Auction sale in Loma. Blum said that all but one of her fellow pen back riders at the auction house are female, and that they ride in all kinds of weather.

Dignitaries from Mesa County , Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce, and other organizations wait to cut the ribbon Thursday to officially open the new section of the Riverfront Trail that leads west for three miles from the Blue Heron boat launch.

Rees Potter, left, and Bill Martin of the Western Slope Cattlemen’s Liverstock Auction separate a calf from the rest of the heard to auction in the next lot during Wednesday’s cattle auction in Loma.

Three visitors to downtown Aspen are framed by the Mill Street Fountain, a Centerpiece in a pedestrian area in the resort town. Locals say that children try to balance balloons or balls on the random geysers of water on the sidewalk.

Fisherman take to a canoe on Molas Lake in the Weminuche Wildness Area in the San Juan National Forest between Silverton and Durango on the east side of U.S. Route 550.

The start of the USA Pro Challenge stage 2, a 99.2 mile run from Montrose to Crested Butte.

Jose Iglesias, left, walks with his son, Miguel, 10, a fifth-grader at Orchard Avenue Elementary School, after classes were dismissed Monday on the first day of school for Mesa County District 51 students.

Grand Junction High School running back Austin Lewis yells as he scores a touchdown in the first half.

Fruita Monument High School’s Vince Grasso tries to twist out of a flying tackle by Adams City’s T.J. Harris during the first half of Saturday’s game at Stocker Stadium.

Grand Junction’s Shafer Rubalcaba tags out Lucia Rose of Fairview High School as Rose slides into third in an attempt to turn a bouncing grounder into a triple during the top of the fourth inning of Saturday’s first game of a doubleheader at Kronkright Field.

Colorado Mesa University senior defender Sam Burneo fields a pass from a teammate during a scrimmage against Trinidad State Junior College Saturday at Walker Field.

#5, Ashley Graeter with the Grand Junction Rockies is tagged out between first and second base after getting in a rundown.

Three-year-old Ella Ousley of Grand Junction was perched on the shoulders of her father, Todd Ousley, on Lizard Head Pass, urging the racers in the USA Pro Cycling Challenge to “pedal fast” during Monday’s first stage. The second stage Tuesday goes from Montrose to Mount Crested Butte.

Two hummingbirds drink nectar from a feeder at a home on the Redlands Monday afternoon.

A mule deer fawn and a yearling find plenty to eat on a farm southeast of Montrose near the Uncompahgre River. Some deer stay near rivers in the lower valleys of Colorado year around. The deer’s coat takes on a rusty color in the summer and early fall contrasting with the normal grayish hue in the winter.

Four-year-old Natalie Lippert tries to play the trombone at the Grand Junction Symphony’s booth during the Jumpstart Fair in Lincoln Park. About 15 groups set up stations of interactive games for elementary and middle school students to play and work on. The fair was sponsored by the Grand Junction Chamber Commerce

Children make a beach on Main Street.

One-year-old Roger Sommers from Palisade was a two-fisted ice cream eater during the Palisade Peach Festival Ice Cream Social in downtown Palisade Thu afternoon. This event was the start of the 2012 Palisade Peach Festival as hundreds packed downtown for free peach ice cream.

Tom Volkmann from Grand Junction hits onto the No. 9 hole at the Bookcliff Country Club Friday afternoon during the opening round of the 2012 Rocky Mountain Open Golf Tournament. The three day tournament will finish this Sunday.

A bee land on a purple sage plant in Hotchkiss.The plant was very poplar with the bees as hundreds were buzzing about going from flower to flower.

Adrianna Jacobsen, 8, wins her heat of the 6 to 12 age group at the Peach eating contest at the Palisade Peach Festival.

Rockies’ Corky the Coyote, right, watched as Charlie Brown stole the show at the Grand Junction Rockies game Saturday night.

Dave Grossman turns his bike around on a trail, which recently has been closed in the Jacob’s Ladder area on Glade Park.

Kids from the Kids of the Kingdom Dayschool sing the national anthem before the start of the Grand Junction Rockies VS Ogden Raptors game Sunday afternoon at Suplizio Field.

Despite the cast on his left arm, Omar Tarin, 8, of Clifton launches himself off the the sculpture “Big Drop Five” by artist Alvin Sessions that sits at the corner of Fifth and Main Streets. Omar was visiting downtown with his sisters Ruth Huggins and Veronica Tarin and Veronica’s friend Destiny Johnson.

Jauden Mayer, 10, left, sprays children in the neighborhood as Fireman Todd of the Clifton Fire Protection District holds the fire hose at the National Night Out event at Kimwood Park in Clifton. Residents were treated to a give-away of new children’s bikes and backpacks, two Bump and Jumps, a DJ and demonstrations from the Mesa County Sheriffs Department. The event tries to pair law enforcement with neighborhoods to celebrate a night out against crime.

Six-year-old Amadeaus Foster goofs around with sisters Shelby Goff, 18, right and Anastasia, 15, at their home in Grand Junction Thursday. Shelby saved his life after she performed CPR on the boy when he was found not breathing in a swimming pool.

Lorrie Sheley and Kim Jones stand next to the motorcyle that Sheley plans to ride this fall to raise money for the Testicular Cancer Awareness Foundation.

The Grand Junction Fire Department working at a training fire on the south end of 9th Street in May 2012.

A message to President Barack Obama is cut into an alfalfa field southeast of the Grand Junction Regional Airport, in anticipation of his visit to the city today. A network called Protect the Flows arranged for the message written by artist Stan Herd.

Obama mingles with the crowd during his campaign visit at GJHS.

Shoppers browse through stacks of sweets and other items at Operation Interdependence’s parking lot extravaganza Saturday morning west of the 29 1/2 Road and North Avenue intersection.

Triantáfilos Patsantáres, 96, of Grand Junction waves and salutes the congregation of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church after the Rev. Luke Uhl, left, and His Eminence Metropolitan Isaiah present him with a pair of medals recognizing his service to his native Greece as a corporal in the Greek Army and member of the Andártes, the Greek Resistance fighters, during World War II.

Robert Jones of Grand Junction dives off of the high board at the Lincoln Park-Moyer Swimming Pool Wednesday. He was taking his family to the last free day before school starts Monday.

Colorado swimmer Colby Allen wins the 11-12 50m breaststroke.

The evening session of the Western Zone Championships at the el Pomar Natatorium at CMU featuring the swimmers from the western U.S.

Courteney Northrup,age 5 right and her sister Brittany Northrup,age 6 both from Grand Junction enjoy an ear of corn at the Olathe Sweet Corn Festival Saturday in Olathe Community Park.

Eight-year-old Hayden Murray, of Grand Junction, holds Jennie Finch’s Olympic gold medal from the 2004 Olympics during Saturday’s Jennie Finch softball camp at Canyon View Park.

Ogden’s Eric Smith, left, was tagged out by Grand Junction third baseman Rockies Ashley Graeter Sunday in Ogden’s 15-11 win.

Monument LL Jax Nourse is congratulated by Coach Brett Coutts after the State Championship win.

Archeologists at Mesa Verde National Park say a crack is threatening the southern half of the park’s largest and most famous cliff dwelling. The park announced Friday that the crack and other related structural problems is the reason why visitors have been kept away from the edge of a kiva on tours of Cliff Palace this summer.

Carrie Rodriguez plays a hot fiddle during a Pickin’ in the Park concert in Paonia’s town parkThe next show in the free concert series will be on Augest 9th with Rosie Ledet and the Zydeco Playboys; August 16th with Lisa’s Gogo Lab and on August 23 Darrell Scott will close this year free show.All shows start at 6:00p.m.

A line several hundred people long winds through the inside of Chick-fil-A, along the outside of the building and around the back during an “appreciation day” in response to backlash against the restaurant chain’s CEO since he voiced his opposition to gay marriage.