In mid-January, The Sopris Sun received an anonymous tip from a resident at the Crystal Meadows retirement community describing that a neighbor’s truck had been broken into. Several days later, a Carbondale Police press release detailed multiple break-ins of vehicles and residences at River Valley Ranch. This followed another press release from mid-December about the […]
Kirk Wilson
Posted inLocal Government
Law enforcers in Roaring Fork, Colorado River valleys play ‘leap frog’
One thousand seventeen dollars per month. That’s a whopping $12,204 annually. This was a starting salary offered to anyone interested in becoming a Thornton, Colorado police officer in March 1978, according to a classified advertisement printed in an old edition of the Rocky Mountain News. By December 2025 — 47 years later — starting annual […]
Posted inLocal Government
Carbondale Report: Honing in on a 2026 budget
Tuesday’s trustee meeting, Oct. 28, was sparsely attended with the main focus being next year’s budget. All trustees were present with Jess Robison joining via Zoom. The consent agenda included meeting minutes, accounts payable and a special event permit for KDNK and Thunder River Theatre Company’s Halloween party — for which Chris Hassig, a KDNK […]
Posted inEnvironment
Beneath 133 bridge, litter and more causing concern
At recent Carbondale Board of Trustee meetings, members of the public have brought forth concerns about pollution accumulating beneath the Veteran Memorial Bridge. That bridge, connecting Carbondale with Highway 82, has long attracted homeless campers and gained extra attention in the fall of 2023 when a large group of migrants was found to be sheltering […]
Posted inNews
Investigation into Carbondale sex assault remains ongoing
On Nov. 2, 2024, and in the following days, the community of Carbondale experienced collective shock after an elderly woman was attacked in her own home. Concerns in Carbondale and neighboring communities began as online chatter before an official announcement from the Carbondale Police Department (CPD) was made, which prompted further community response. This was […]
Posted inNews
Scuttlebutt & Calendar
CPD on immigrationFollowing Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario’s statement regarding his agency’s commitment to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within the parameters of Colorado law, Carbondale Police (CPD) Chief Kirk Wilson outlined his department’s commitment to uphold the Town’s 2017 Resolution 10. “CPD is here to serve and protect all members of our […]
Posted inNews
Late-night incidents cause of concern for Satank neighbors
In the early hours of Sunday, Nov. 24, between 2:46 and 3:38am, a man allegedly attempted to enter a residence in Satank, a residential neighborhood located just outside Carbondale within Garfield County. Finding all entrances locked, the man left. A neighbor’s security camera captured the coming and going of a large white truck which corresponded […]
Posted inNews
Sexual assault rattles Carbondale
Content warning: This article discusses an ongoing investigation of a sexual assault perpetrated against a vulnerable community member. On Nov. 4, the Carbondale Police Department (CPD), represented by Chief Kirk Wilson, Lieutenant Bill Kirkland and Public Information Officer Anna Ramirez, hosted a community meeting at the Old Thompson Barn in River Valley Ranch to brief […]
Posted inLocal Government
Carbondale Report: Trustees consider police/rec budgets
All trustees were present for a relatively short regular meeting on Oct. 22. It began with liquor license renewals and accounts payable unanimously approved in the consent agenda.Two residents spoke up during the time allotted for general comments. The first insisted that non-compliance of state and municipal laws for “years and years” is affecting safety […]
Posted inLocal Government
One year after unhoused newcomers influx, regional response coalescing
It was November 2023 when Voces Unidas de las Montañas, an advocacy organization, sounded the alarm about close to 100 unhoused people, mostly from Venezuela and unfamiliar with a Colorado winter, camping in cars and tents beneath the Veterans Memorial Bridge at the north entrance to Carbondale. According to Carbondale Police Chief Kirk Wilson, what […]