Carbondale Fire Meets Tonight on Future Funding
The future of the Carbondale and Rural Fire Protection District is slowly inching closer. The Board of Directors for the sprawling, struggling district is meeting tonight. Board members are finalizing the contracts for two consulting firms. Their main task is to help put together a master plan for Carbondale and Rural Fire Protection District, which could run out of money in two years. Gene Schilling is President of the Board.
“We believe that once the master plan’s done, there will probably be some recommendations on the funding that we need to go forward with, to get the Fire District’s level of service back up to what it was before.”
The District covers more than three hundred square miles, and provides ambulance service along a busy stretch of Highway 82. It lost more than half of its budget in late 2013, when a big chunk of mill levy funding ran out. A ballot measure to reinstate that money failed.
Pitkin County Seeking to Sign Up Residents for Medical Coverage
Sunday is the deadline for signing up for health insurance this year for people who don’t already have coverage lined up. Pitkin County is holding an event today to help people do that. It’s one of several in the Roaring Fork Valley this week.
As of the end of last month, just under 900 hundred people in Pitkin County have signed up for health insurance. That includes medical and dental coverage with private insurance companies. Enrollment numbers came up at the County Board of Commissioners’ meeting earlier this week. Today’s event Pitkin County runs until 7pm at the County Health and Human Services Building.
RFSD Considering Leadership Moves
The Roaring Fork School District is continuing to hash out who should be superintendent. After ongoing controversy over the matter, its Board of Education will meet again tonight. The Board initially planned to keep sitting Superintendent Diana Sirko and Chief Academic Officer Rob Stein. Then Stein would become superintendent after three years. That was proposed two months ago. But some community members are agitating for Stein to take the reins now. A representative of the board said in a statement “multiple meetings are taking place to provide clarity and for the board to solidify a strong executive leadership team." The Roaring Fork School District has also hired a consultant to help find a solution.
Man Shot By Sheriff’s Department on I-70 Following Incident
A Parachute-area man was shot and killed by law enforcement yesterday after a high speed chase on I-70.
The Sheriff’s Office received the call around 1pm Tuesday, of a woman physically hurt by her husband. After officers spotted the suspect’s car, a pursuit ensued. The suspect reached high speeds over a stretch of about 30 miles. Spikes set up along the Interstate eventually stopped his vehicle. He got out and held a gun to his head as officers ordered him to stop. Shots were fired when he began to head toward the interstate with the gun. Walt Stowe is a Sheriff’s Office spokesman.
“I mean he could have gotten onto the interstate and started shooting at passersby, he could have forced a car to pull over so he could take that car, shooting at officers themselves. All of those things come into play when a person has a gun and is willing to use it.”
An autopsy is being done and the man’s name is being withheld while family is notified. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is investigating.
