Child care crisis: Routt County centers struggle to hire staff, parents scramble to find care steamboatpilot.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from steamboatpilot.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A protester holds a sign reading, We are all essential! on Lincoln Avenue on Dec. 4 as part of a “Save Routt County” rally against local COVID-19 restrictions. (Photo by Dylan Anderson)
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS The Saturday after Veterans Day, Nov. 14, a group of a dozen moms gathered together to talk about their children and how they felt COVID-19 restrictions were affecting them.
“We came together, because we had all been discussing how this forced shutdown of our county is having a serious impact on our kids,” said Rachael Jacobson, a Steamboat Springs mother of four children. “These 12 particular concerned moms decided that we finally wanted to do something about it.”
Diners stay warm outside at Mountain Tap Brewery as restaurants get creative with the outdoor-only dining restrictions. (Photo by Kari Dequine Harden)
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS With the onset of colder weather, tightening restrictions due to COVID-19 and no help from the federal government since the spring, the restaurant industry is in peril.
According to the National Restaurant Association, more than 110,000 restaurants nationwide have closed due to the pandemic, and a list of restaurants in the Denver Metro area reveals more than 100 have closed permanently and about 70 temporarily.
“That’s coming here too,” said Patrick Groves, owner of The Tap House in Steamboat Springs. “I don’t think people fully realize just how serious the situation is.”