Free Republic

A bear entered a home in Steamboat at 2 a.m. Saturday. Kelly Mauldin heard her dogs barking and got up to investigate and discovered the 300-400 male bear in her house. She screamed for her husband, Ken, who got up and shot and killed the bear. When I went to my bedroom door, I saw the bear about 10 feet away and shot it instantly with a 40-caliber, semi-automatic handgun. Then the bear charged me. I continued shooting at it as fast as I could. The bullet hole in the floor suggested the bear got about five to six feet...

Todd and Kim Robertson are convinced their Ford Focus was targeted by a black bear because of the aroma of donuts that permeates inside. =============================================================================================================================== Doughnut delivery drivers in Steamboat Springs might want to start looking over their shoulders. Todd and Kim Robertson awoke early Monday to discover a black bear was so determined to break into their doughnut delivery vehicle, it ripped off the car's back bumper. The Robertsons had no doubt about the bear's motives. "It always reeks of doughnuts in there," Kim Robertson said. The bear left a paw print on the car and left the scene...

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — Routt County Sheriff Garrett Wiggins suggested the ongoing protests around the country aren’t about race. Wiggins instead indicated that people are “trying to create chaos in our nation during a campaign year.” ... This nonsense our country is experiencing has nothing to do with race,” Wiggins ... “It is totally political, fueled by extreme ideology and haters of America.” Wiggins .. bases his opinions on thorough research and data, and “the data does not support this protest movement where cops are targeting blacks and blacks are overwhelmingly killed by police more than whites. ... The leaders of...

After a lengthy discussion with several public comments, the Steamboat Springs School Board voted Monday to make collective bargaining meetings open to the public, regardless of the outcome of Proposition 104. ... If passed, Proposition 104 will require all meetings of school boards, or between district representatives and employee representatives at which a collective bargaining agreement is discussed, be public. School districts in Colorado negotiate contracts annually, with bargaining in Steamboat Springs slated to begin in January or February 2015 for the following year's contract. The board has discussed the possibility of making meetings public since last May, and Andrew...

Applicant shortage threatens service. Steamboat Springs Transpor­tation Director George Kraw­zoff said this week that his department is currently 26 drivers short for its winter bus service program. Last winter, nine seasonal, foreign workers — including six Australians — drove Steamboat Springs Transit buses. This year, there will be no foreign drivers. Krawzoff said an energy boom in Australia has lured away many of the workers that would have considered driving buses in Steamboat this winter. A weakening dollar also has made working in the U.S. a less appealing option. Krawzoff said recruiting one or two drivers from other countries was...

Steamboat Springs’ winter bus service likely will be curtailed because of a shortage of qualified drivers. Transportation Director George Krawzoff said despite recent hires, Steamboat Springs Transit still is 20 drivers short of filling all 40 of its positions. “Our situation is improving,” Krawzoff said Monday. “But we’re a long way from being fat and sassy. … We will start the winter service with very limited service.” The extent of the cuts remains to be seen. Krawzoff said the city is weighing two options: maintaining frequency on the most heavily used routes while cutting lesser-used routes, or “spreading the pain...

An unstoppable wave could devastate 3 million acres of lodgepole pines. Mountain pine beetles are obliterating a forest that stretches from British Columbia to Mexico, and in the process are creating a hazard for fire, public safety and water supply. “What we’re looking at is an entire lodgepole pine forest dying right before our eyes,”... Severson described the problem to the Colorado Water Congress at its convention last week.... More than 22 million acres eventually will be destroyed in the American West. Meanwhile, the beetles are making their way across Canada toward the Atlantic Ocean as well. The lack of...

Last weekend (Fri. Sept. 15th to Sunday Sept. 17th) we went to Steamboat Springs, Colorado for the first time to hike, run, play golf and have a look at local real estate. On the way we captured the changing of the Aspen trees on digital camera along with a couple of shots of Steamboat Springs ski resort after they had about 8 inches of snow on Storm Peak and Mt. Werner during the day on Saturday. Aspens from Poudre Canyon on Highway 14 in Larimer County WNW of Ft. Collins - --- A couple of pics of Steamboat Springs ski...

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. The Rocky Mountains apparently aren't high enough for eleven people cited for smoking marijuana in a gondola at a Colorado ski resort. A spokesman for the ski area in Steamboat Springs says the sheriff was called in because of complaints the gondola was filled with smoke and that it reeked of marijuana. Colorado forbids using ski resort facilities while under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. All those cited are 22 years old or younger. They've had their ski passes revoked for two weeks.