Page 6 - Peter Brixius News Today

In addition to tourism, the plan calls for embracing renewable energy such as solar farms, adding amenities like a recreation center, improving public transit across the region, and finding alternative uses for coal. Officials also see potential to extract other precious minerals for electronics and manufacturing. Craig also will expand high-speed internet this year. Already, broadband connections have opened up the possibility of remote work for longtime residents and spurred hope that tech co...

What may have been a thinking-out-loud comment about funding the museum and not the library has some Craig residents upset. Near the tail end of the Feb. 23 Craig City Council meeting, City Manager Peter Brixius — in his usual report to council — stated that current state and local taxes being generated from the three dispensaries operational in town will soon exceed about $220,000 a year. “That’s kind of a beautiful thing,” Brixius said. “That’s hitting our targets, and in fact, ...

Though the Woodbury playground upgrade project will still be completed this year, the Craig City Council pulled a grant request for the project to shift focus to the Yampa River Corridor project. Craig had recently requested $168,000 in Colorado Department of Local Affairs Tier 1 grant funding. That request was pulled this week, with council replacing it with a $200,000-ask for a Tier 1 grant to cover architectural and engineering costs for the Yampa River Corridor project. City Manager Peter B...

A little over a week after officially becoming the interim chief of police for the city’s police department, Michael Cochran was officially sworn in as the interim chief Tuesday night in front of family, friends, and city council by City Judge Jay Cranmer. Cochran previously worked for the Moffat County Sheriff’s Office as the Emergency Management Coordinator before coming over to the police department once again, having previously worked as a Craig detective from October 2018 to January 20...

For the Craig Press The city of Craig in January settled a lawsuit alleging excessive force against two officers over a 2018 tasing incident, the second civil rights complaint of its type filed against police force members since July. Croix Orona’s federal complaint didn’t attract the level of publicity generated by another lawsuit with video exhibits of officers tasing a man purportedly experiencing a mental health crisis at his residence on Feb. 18, 2020. The civil lawsuit by Orona, howev...

Jason Gonzales Chalkbeat Colorado Even in the dark of night, chalky smoke from the coal power plant looms over Craig. For generations, coal has been a constant in this northwestern Colorado city. But by 2030, the Craig Station stacks will go quiet as Colorado shifts to renewable energy. Coal has fueled not only Colorado’s power needs, but also Craig’s economy. The plant’s closure will idle 600 workers and cost a slew of support jobs. Leaders of Craig, a city about 40 miles west of Steambo...

After accepting the resignation of former Craig Police Department Chief Jerry DeLong on the afternoon of Tuesday, Feb. 9 around 3 p.m., City Manager Peter Brixius rescinded a separation agreement with the former chief two days later. Brixius cited disparaging remarks allegedly made by DeLong, according to emails provided to the Craig Press through a Colorado Open Records Act request. On Feb. 10, the city — through Brixius — approached DeLong with a separation agreement, stating that the cit...

Leaders of Craig see a tight window of opportunity to build a new economic base to prepare for when their coal plant closes.

Woodbury Park will receive a new ADA-certified playground for the community to enjoy following a $336,000 bid approval from Craig city council during the Feb. 9 council meeting. Parks and Recreation Director Ryan Dennison said the new playground at Woodbury Park is a capital funds project that has been in the works for the last year. Dennison said that Parks and Rec received five bids on the project from vendors. “As you can see, the playground at Woodbury, it’s in desperate need of upgrade...

In the last two years, Craig City Council has found itself behind closed doors from the public in executive session 14 times out of 58 total city council meetings. Of those 14 times, a majority of the executive sessions have dealt with council receiving legal advice on a civil suit from a local man against the police department for excessive use of force, while others have dealt with personnel matters, according to the last two years of council packets dating back to January 2019. It is unclear...