Two moose make their way through downtown Aspen on Thursday, April 22, 2021, which happened to be Earth Day. While bear and deer sightings are quite common in the downtown core, moose are rarely seen in town. Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times.
As the snow melts and spring comes out of its shell in the upper Roaring Fork Valley, human conflicts with bears, moose and mountain lions are increasing.
Local wildlife officials have been fielding calls about bears they’ve gotten into cars so far though no home break-ins have yet been reported while moose have already been chased out of the downtown core and at least one dog has been snatched from a yard by a mountain lion, according to wildlife officials.
Anna Stonehouse/The Aspen Times file
A former inmate of the Pitkin County Jail who is accused of making threats to local government officials is in custody in Colorado Springs.
Andrew Johnston, 27, was arrested Wednesday after the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office tracked him to a location in Colorado Springs, where local police apprehended him.
Johnston, who allegedly sent two threatening emails to county officials Monday night that intimated that there would be “killing” and “shooting,” is charged with two counts of misdemeanor harassment, according to Pitkin County Undersheriff Alex Burchetta.
Those threats caused the Pitkin County administration building to be placed on lock down Tuesday and Wednesday.
Man suspected of sending threatening emails to Pitkin County officials arrested in Colorado Springs aspentimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from aspentimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A small wildland fire broke out in McLain Flats Wednesday afternoon, covering half an acre of land near 2222 McLain Flats Rd., according to a release from the Aspen Fire Protection District.
A total of 16 personnel from Aspen Fire, the Aspen Ambulance District and the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office responded to the fire around 1:53 p.m. and promptly mitigated the flames; the fire was contained in 20 minutes and out within an hour. Five fire apparatus and one ambulance responded to the scene.
It appears that the fire was caused by a bird that flew into power lines, the release states. Crews from Holy Cross Energy attended to the scene immediately after emergency responders to make essential repairs to power equipment.
With claims of low morale among some firefighters at the Aspen Fire Department and continued strained relationships between chief Rick Balentine and the heads of other public safety agencies, the special district is embarking on a strategic planning retreat this week. meeting with Rich Buchanan, a consultant hired to conduct the strategic-planning process.
Buchanan, who works for Sacramento, California-based AP Triton Consulting, will present to the board the results of two satisfaction surveys one of the community at large and the other of firefighters and paid staff.
At the board’s March 9 meeting, volunteer firefighter Ryan Warren, who is the president of the AVFD Inc. that represents the firefighters, said the results of that survey could very well indicate that there is dissatisfaction with Balentine as a leader.