We are Mesa County voters who share one unifying characteristic. We are political conservatives now at odds with major elements of today’s Republican Party. Some of us may never have
Barring a districtwide or communitywide outbreak of COVID-19 the likes of which haven’t been seen throughout the pandemic, required masking in School District 51 schools will soon be a thing
Christie Aschwanden / KHN
On a sunny Saturday this month, Ruth Hatfield was sitting with a friend’s dog on a sidewalk bench in downtown Grand Junction. Back home in Snowmass Village, 120 miles away through winding Rocky Mountain roadways, local officials had just shut down indoor restaurant dining as COVID-19 cases reached some of the highest levels in Colorado.
Here in Grand Junction, though, restaurants were open, and Hatfield had sought out those with the local health department’s “5-star certifications,” a designation meant to reassure people it is safe to patronize businesses during the pandemic. Those 5-star restaurants are part of an innovative program that allows businesses that agree to follow certain public health protocols to be open with less stringent rules than would ordinarily apply.
Christie Aschwanden | KHN
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. On a sunny Saturday, Ruth Hatfield was sitting with a friend’s dog on a sidewalk bench in downtown Grand Junction.
Back home in Snowmass Village, 120 miles away through winding Rocky Mountain roadways, officials had just shut down indoor restaurant dining as the number of coronavirus cases reached some of the highest levels in Colorado.
In Grand Junction, though, restaurants were open. And Hatfield had sought out those with the health department’s “5-star certifications,” a designation meant to reassure people it is safe to patronize businesses during the pandemic. Those restaurants are part of an innovative program that allows businesses that agree to follow certain public health protocols to be open with less stringent rules than would ordinarily apply.
Christie Aschwanden/KHN
Requirements for Mesa County’s 5-star program include mask enforcement for employees and customers, regular cleaning schedules, hand sanitizing stations and spacing of furniture.
On a sunny Saturday in January, Ruth Hatfield was sitting with a friend’s dog on a sidewalk bench in downtown Grand Junction. Back home in Snowmass Village, 120 miles away through winding Rocky Mountain roadways, local officials had just shut down indoor restaurant dining as COVID-19 cases reached some of the highest levels in Colorado.
Here in Grand Junction, though, restaurants were open, and Hatfield had sought out those with the local health department’s “5-star certifications,” a designation meant to reassure people it is safe to patronize businesses during the pandemic.