A great horned owl focuses on an intruder at the Pauline S. Schneegas Wildlife Foundation in Silt.

A golden eagle that is not able to fly after suffering a broken wing at the at the Pauline S. Schneegas Wildlife Foundation near Silt.

Men’s Highline Hustle winner Erik Hemstad, right, used a strong ride during the bike portion of Saturday’s sprint triathlon at Highline State Park to defeat defending champ Kevin Koch.

The first 2012 cutting of hay is being baled or soon to be baled in a field northwest of Fruita in a pastoral scene just after sunrise.

A helicopter drops water on a hot spot near a residence northeast of Cedaredge Friday as firefighters work to contain the fire below.

The Rev. Mike Smith has been the pastor at Sacred Heart Catholic Church since 2001 and has watched the number of parishioners worshiping at the church’s building on Aspen Avenue in Fruita grow to 450 households. The church has started a capital campaign for a new building.

A few miles south of Page, Arizona, the Colorado River takes a sharp turn, almost making a full circle. This spot has come to be known as Horseshoe Bend and is one of the more impressive views I have seen. It can be reached by a short 3/4 mile hike on a wide flat trail. Boats can be seen on the river kicking up a white wake.

Georgann Jouflas’s yard at 743 Wedge Drive is the May Yard of the Month. Jouflas is pictured with her children, Zoe and Brady.

Patrick Kost and Whitney Pollock have a mocha latte and a chocolate shake at the Dairy Queen on 30 Road and I-70 B Thursday. Kost is visiting the Grand Valley from Wichita, Kan., and Pollock is having her first shake of the summer, an appropriate treat with temperatures reaching into the high 80s this afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

Porter Maxwell celebrates his 4th birthday with his father, Chris Maxwell while on the putt putt golf course at Bananas Fun Park, 2469 Riverside Parkway in Grand Junction.The park is opened Sunday-Friday 11am to 10pm and Saturday 10a to 10pm.

Doug Simon with his nieces and his sister, Renae Snyder, at Craig Hospital in Denver, where Simon is rehabbing after a motocross accident left him paralyzed from the chest down on May 13.

Neal Erickson and his blushing bride, Anna Schmalz, pose for wedding pictures last weekend at Ridgway State Park. Across the Uncompahgre River, on right, a 300-pound bear, who likely smelled the food on the reception table, takes in the festivities.

Low water on the Colorado River passing under I-70 west of Fruita at mile marker No. 17. Shot June 2012.

High water on the Colorado River passing under I-70 west of Fruita at mile marker No. 17. Shot June 2011.

Sally Matchett of Housing First! No More Deaths! holds up a sign at City Hall before the Grand Junction City Council meeting. The advocacy group was protesting the removal of homeless camps along the rivers in Grand Junction.

Kim Painter waters some day lillies in her yard on E Road on the Redlands which is under water restrictions.

Two people, who declined to give their names, use the children’s features as pedestals for laptop computers at Sixth and Main Streets Wednesday morning. According to one member, they are a business group. The eight members of the group packed up and left as the photographer tried to get enough information for a caption.

Micheal Dible rides during the Mutton Bustin competition at the first week of the Jim Dible Oil Rim Rock Rodeo at the Rim Rock Adventer Park in Fruita.The rodeo will run each Tue. for the next 14 weeks starting at 7pm with the Mutton Bustin and the rodeo staring at 7:30pm.

Venus can be seen as a shadow as the Sun sets over Colorado National Monument.

Father Mike Smith stands inside Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Fruita Monday morning. The church will soon be for sale.

Georgeann Smith feeds Casper, a young steer that will one day go from Smith’s ranch near Palisade to a dinner table. Purchasing bulk meat — steer or hog — is a way to support local growers and to know where your food has come from.

Owen Richards, age 4, right and Desmond Danso, age 5 play in the cool water of the Little Dipper Bubbles & Puffenstuff fountain in the 600 block of Main Street Tuesday afternoon.The fountain is part of the Art on the Corner art collection.

Four-year-old Jessie Pedersen of Grand Junction fits her hands into the ceramic impressions of a donor to United Way as she glances up at her parents Sunday.

A field of wild iris on Pinon Mesa, southwest of Grand Junction. Iris is a genus of 260-300 species of flowering plants with showy blooms. The iris takes its name from the Greek word for “rainbow,” referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species.

Inside the terminal at Grand Junction Regional Airport.

A crying woman, left, sits in the parking lot of the Affordable Inns, 721 Horizon Drive, while Grand Junction police investigate a shooting that happened at the motel Monday morning.

Music fans were stopping along Main Street at one of the breeze ways to check out Josiah Abshear, left and Austin Abbott picking the guitars for the lunch time crowd Monday afternoon.

A girl jumps from the bridge over the main lake at the Confluence Park in Delta to cool off, weather conditions continue to be hot and dry.

Dr. Brad Baldwin, who does a varicose vein surgery that is minimally-invasive and requires putting a catheter in the leg and closing off a vein rather than using the old technique and stripping out the vein.

Two-year-old Jaela Bercher of Grand Junction eyes another water feature to head toward as she plays in one of the fountains at Lincoln Park – Moyer pool on Thursday.

Silhouetted against the fairground stands, Thena Walton of Collbran warms up with her horse Tango in the arena before the driver class competition of the Grand Valley Dressage Society’s event at the Mesa County Fairgrounds Sunday.

Megan Wilson from Grand Junction cuts a section of siding for one of the Habitat for Humanity homes being built at the hoffman Country Village, a Habitat subdivision at D Road and Wedgewood Avenue in Grand Junction Saturday morning.

Sydney Chitwood with her two dogs Why Not, right and Just Because at the Canines for CASA dog show Saturday morning at Longs Family Park.

Andrea Datz stretches with Dude, a 12-year-old quarter horse, who has a spine injury.

Roger McClelland, owner of Party Land, carries one of the giant stuffed animals that are popular with children at the moment. McClelland’s store is one of the succesful businesses along North Avenue.

As traffic along North Avenue whizzes past behind her, Poppy Woody, co-owner of Grand Mesa Medical Supply, Inc., talks about her movement to spark change along the business-lined road.

Traffic breezes past a “For Rent” sign in front of the Castle Creek Plaza, just one of several dozen such signs along the four miles of North Avenue that are advertising space for rent, lease or sale.