Mike Strasser, right, of Grand Junction accepts the donation of a can of soup from Kathleen Hollingsworth for his camp-out food drive for the Salvation Army while bellringer Rod James mans the kettle at the 24 Road City Market on Saturday.

Mike Strasser pokes his head out of his tent where he is camping in the parking lot of the 24 Road City Market today.

With the broken glass of the rear window spread across the back of the car, citizen’s academy attendee Lynn Ensley of Grand Junction wears a firefighter’s bunker gear as he wields a power cutter on the C post to remove the top of the vehicle during a skills training exercise on extrication Saturday behind the Grand Junction Regional Center.

Under the watchful eye of a Grand Junction firefighter, Bud Markos of Grand Junction uses a power cutter to slice through the B post on a wrecked vehicle as his Public Safety Academy group gets a hands-on lesson in extrication behind the Grand Junction Regional Center on Saturday.

The generating station of the waste-methane to energy power plant at the Oxbow Elk Creek Mine in Somerset, Colorado. Oxbow Mining, LLC, Executive Vice President Mike Ludlow stands next to the 4,160-volt generating plant.

The waste-methane pumping station at the Oxbow Elk Creek Mine is shown in Somerset, Colorado.

Santa tosses a handful of magic dust from the top of Wells Fargo Bank at Fourth and Main Streets to turn on the lights on the downtown Christmas tree and Main Street to the delight of hundreds of parents and children gathered below on Friday.

A Grand Junction firefighter, right, goes to the aid of a fire department captain, in red hat, after the man was injured when a portion of a ceiling inside collapsed while they were fighting a blaze at a house at 2911 Jon Hall Drive Friday. According to Mike Page, no one was home at the time. The house had significant damage to the outside, and smoke damage to the interior. The firefighter was taken to the hospital from the scene as a precautionary measure.

Consultant Mike Noble, left, uses a Google satellite image of a Grand Junction neighborhood to describe to customer Gary Bell of Grand Junction Friday how a tree would affect the placement of a photovoltaic system for solar power at Syndicated Solar, a new solar energy store in Mesa Mall.

The capella musical group Mo5aic performs one of their popular selections for Central High School students at the high school.

In her element, photojournalist Mara Ferris gathers footage for a Driggs Mansion video.

In her element, photojournalist Mara Ferris gathers footage for a Driggs Mansion video.

A red rock canyon north of Canyonland National Park in an area that would be in the new Greater Canyonland National Monument.

Priscilla Yoder, left,  prepares a chili wrap from the Main Street Chilis booth at this year’s last Farmer’s Market. After tonight, long lines of hungry customers will have to wait till next year for the popular treat

Marilyn Schanaman, owner of Eta Pi, pours a fresh batch of homemade caramel into a pan inside her shop’s kitchen. The pie shop, located at 3415 C 1/2 Road, opened last week and is taking orders for the holidays.

A drilling rig working at a Williams Production Company site towers above houses in the Battlement Creek Village neighborhood in Battlement Mesa in this 2011 file photo. Shot with a telephoto lens, the drilling rig is actually about 1/2 mile from the homes by Garfield County Road 301.

With three canines in tow, Erika Hall of Strutt Your Mutt crosses Tiger Avenue as she rides down Fifth Street past Grand Junction High School Wednesday.

As the evergreen lies on its side in the plaza at Fourth and Main Streets, Grand Junction Parks and Recreation Department employee Rod Korte winds a string of lights around a branch near the top of the 25-foot Christmas tree.

Tira Rado Golf Course.

Registered nurse Missy Alexander, left, takes the blood pressure of a woman at the Novia Care Clinics office located in the medical plaza at 1060 Orchard Avenue. Mesa County depends on the local Novia clinic to attend to the medical needs of its employees.

A rancher moves his cattle down from the high country to the lower valleys for the winter. Here the cattle move east on State Route No. 133 between Paonia and Hotchkiss, slowing traffic to a crawl.

Workers pause in their labors as a bobcat pours more road base for a new bus stop pullout at Lincoln Park today.

A participant signs in before weighing herself at a kiosk at American Furniture Warehouse. Participants will receive money based on the percentage of their body weight that they lose.

A recent weekend storm on Grand Mesa brought plenty of new snow for tracking. For some hunters, such as Gabe Cisneros of Littleton, the storm caused them to shift from four-wheelers to snowmobiles,.

Glenn Foster’s wines under three labels received twenty one awards, including ten gold, at the Denver International Wine Competition.

Visitors to the Glenwood Springs Hot Springs Pool enjoy a dip in the therapy pool, the “small” pool is 100 feet long and contains 91,000 gallons of water. It is kept at a temperature of about 104° F / 40° C. The main pool, the “big” pool, is 405 feet long and 100 feet wide at the widest point

Snow on Mount Garfield and Bookcliffs on the north side of the Grand Valley. Stretching nearly 200 miles from east to west, the Bookcliffs begins where the Colorado River descends south through De Beque Canyon into the Grand Valley, near Palisade, to Price Canyon, near Helper, Utah

Forrest Aley, right and Adam Werner both from Palisade hike up to the top of Powderhon Mountain Resort for a day of skiing Monday. A storm this past weekend dropped 18 inches on the slopes. Powderhorn is scheduled to open the season on December 13th.

Six-year-old Jayna Raup from Grand Junction drops money into the Salvation Armys Red Kettle at the Mesa Mall Sunday afternoon during the Red Kettle Kickoff event.

The Veterans Day Ceremony at the Western Slope Vietnam Memorial Park in Fruita Sunday afternoon.

Workers with the Colorado Department of Transportation inspect the Grand Avenue Bridge spanning the Colorado River Wednesday.