In-person voting
In-person early voting in Garfield County is underway as of Monday, Oct. 19. Voting centers are open Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm, up through Election Day at the Glenwood Springs Community Center and the Garfield County Fairgrounds South Hall. The voting centers, along with in-person voting at the Carbondale and Parachute town halls, will be open on Election Day, Nov. 3, from 7am to 7pm. As of 8am on Monday, 3,523 ballots had been returned to the Garfield County Clerk and Recorder’s Office, according to a press release. Folks mailing in their ballot should do so no later than Oct. 26, which is also the last day to register and receive a ballot by mail. After Oct. 26, people can register and vote at a voting center. Ballot drop boxes are also available 24 hours a day at the Carbondale, New Castle, Silt and Parachute town halls as well as the Garfield County Courthouse in Glenwood and Garfield County Administration Building in Rifle through Election Day at 7pm. For more information, visit garfieldcountyco.gov/clerk-recorder/elections
Public lands support
All eight commissioner candidates running to represent Garfield, Eagle and Pitkin counties supported keeping federal public lands public, according to a nonpartisan voter education survey conducted by Wilderness Workshop. “Voters deserve to know where county commissioner candidates stand on the issues that matter to them,” said Erin Riccio of Wilderness Workshop. “I encourage everyone who is casting a ballot in Eagle, Garfield [or] Pitkin counties to read our candidate questionnaire to see how these candidates think about public lands.” Find the candidates’ responses at tinyurl.com/publiclandsquestions
House fire GoFundMe
Folks have rallied to support a Carbondale family who lost their home in a fire northeast of Catherine Store by donating to gofundme.com/f/help-lisa-kosow-after-house-fire As of Tuesday, Oct. 20, the fundraiser, launched by two friends of the family, had raised more than $52,000 out of the $55,000 goal. As the organizers write, the parents and their 9-year-old boy were “forced to leave with nothing but the clothes on their backs,” as the house, where the family also ran their business, was engulfed in flames. The fundraiser will help the family replace day-to-day essentials like clothes, food and other necessities.
Roan ‘protest period’
The Bureau of Land Management announced earlier this month that the federal government plans to lease roughly 5,000 acres of public land on the Roan Plateau for future oil- and gas-related drilling, and has opened a public “protest period” for those wishing to speak out against the decision. Protests can be made at tinyurl.com/protestperiod until 4pm on Nov. 8. The decision comes as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to increase oil and gas development in nine western states, including Colorado, via the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
La Clínica del Pueblo
La Clínica del Pueblo — a medical clinic located at the Third Street Center and “dedicated to providing high-quality, bilingual medical care and preventive health education to rural, uninsured and underserved communities,” according to the clinic’s website — is currently hiring a Spanish-speaking medical assistant. The candidate selected for the role will perform clinical and administrative tasks to support physicians and healthcare providers. The position comes with benefits. Find the job posting at bit.ly/4iuXuAi For more information, email ximena@peoplesclinic.care
C’dale leaf drop
The Town of Carbondale set out the leaf-disposal dumpster in the dirt lot at 4th St. and Colorado Ave. on Monday, Oct. 19. Carbondale residents (only) are welcome to drop off branches (no more than 2-inches in diameter), yard and garden waste and, of course, leaves. The debris will be repurposed by local ranchers, so it’s very important, according to a town newsletter, that folks do not toss garbage or plastic bags in the container.
Death investigation
The Garfield County Sheriff’s Office and Rifle Police Department arrested Andres Fabian Vega-Morales, who was charged with first degree murder after deputies discovered a “deceased male who appeared to have sustained fatal stab wounds” on Friday, Oct. 16, at a “residence in the Silt Mesa area,” according to a press release. “This remains an active and ongoing investigation,” the release stated. “Based on information currently available, authorities believe this to be an isolated incident and there is no known ongoing threat to the community.”
They say it’s your birthday!
Folks celebrating another trip around the sun this week include: Lisa Quint and Adam Ting (Oct. 22); JoAnna Caldwell, Babbu Cheema, Anderson Cole, Tamara Haynes-Norton (Oct. 23); Jeremy Cerise, Dave Kodama, Mary Kenyon, Olivia Savard, Ron Speaker and Alicia Zeringue (Oct. 24); Liesl Bellack, Crystal Beltz, Bill Dunn and Jocelyn Murray (Oct. 25); John Runne and Bob Vhrin (Oct. 26); Chip Brotzman, Julie Lang, Katrina Nelson, Annette Roberts-Gray, Kay Schaefer and Ellen Stapenhorst (Oct. 27); Kaden Kirk and Gina Murdoch (Oct. 28).