November 6, 1987 – January 8, 2025

It is with deepest sorrow that we share the sudden death of Andy Michnay. A person too wonderful for this world.
Andrew George Michnay was born on November 6, 1987, in Wisconsin. Andy grew up in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Andy loved skiing and moved West to Steamboat Springs, Colorado in 2006 where he attended Colorado Mountain College and studied Ski and Snowboard Management.
He loved to ski. Andy spent many days and nights on the hill in the winter. Skiing with friends and family. Whether he was hitting the terrain park, or hiking to find fresh powder in the backcountry, Andy loved it all.
During the summer Andy enjoyed golfing and worked at the golf course taking care of the grounds. His love for mowing was born at a young age, due to many hours of tractor riding with his dad on the farm.
He began working for Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club in 2015, and found immense joy coaching all the children he worked with. Over the years he coached and guided so many to have the same love of skiing and outdoors that he did. He became the Director of the freeski program in 2022 and worked to get more kids on the mountain every year.
Andy is preceded in death by his loving Grandparents Raymond and Suzanne Michnay and Eugene and Georgia Recknagel.
Andy will be missed and live in the warm memories of his Father and Mother Timothy and Gail Michnay of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin; older brother, Christopher (Fiona) Michnay of Waukesha, Wisconsin; older sister, Bethany (John) Mueller of Waukesha, Wisconsin; nephews and niece, Walter Mueller, Henry Mueller, Rory Michnay and Georgia Michnay, as well as many family members and friends who loved him and will miss him greatly.
Though Andy’s time with us was far too short, the depth of love and kindness he shared will always remain in our hearts.

A Memorial Service celebrating Andy’s life will be held on January 17, 2025 at 4:00 in the Olympian Hall at Howelson Hill in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. We invite everyone to come and remember Andy, who walked through life with a gentle strength, touching many lives with kindness and his tender heart.

As we begin the 2025 legislative session, I am honored to continue serving as your voice at the State Capitol, where my colleagues and I will spend the next 120 days tackling issues facing Coloradans.

I am thrilled to share that the Speaker of the House, Julie McCluskie, appointed me as Chair of the House Education Committee, which holds special significance for me as both a teacher and legislator. I believe every Colorado student deserves the opportunity to thrive in safe, well-resourced schools. Additionally, I am excited to serve on the House Agriculture, Natural Resources & Water Committee, where I will ensure rural Colorado’s voice is heard.

After spending months meeting with community members, leaders, and organizations, I am introducing several bills that address key challenges facing our communities. Building on last session’s achievements – which increased total education funding for K-12 schools by over $560 million and modernized our School Finance Act – my legislative priorities focus on education, rural healthcare, housing and making Colorado more affordable.

Upcoming Legislation I am introducing several bills this legislative session, one of which was included in the first 10 House bills. The idea behind HB25-1006 came directly from the Eagle County School District and will help maximize resources by removing the current 10-year lease limitation on district properties when used for solar gardens or affordable housing.

It is a win-win for meeting our climate goals and creating more housing in the high country. Across House District 26, I heard time and again concerns from educators regarding student cell phone use in schools. In my classroom, I have experienced how smartphones can impact student learning and mental health.

Rather than imposing a one-size-fits-all approach, I am championing legislation this session that would empower school districts to establish their own policies to help with student achievement and address mental health needs. Another bill I am working on will streamline the Division of Water Resources processes to improve water management across Colorado.

The goal with this bill is to cut red tape while properly utilizing our valuable water resources. I am also working to strengthen protections for survivors of sexual assault by expanding the Civil Rape Shield Law which prevents unrelated details about a victim’s past to be included in civil court proceedings.

Our Focus for 2025 From housing to child care, we have made important progress at the State Capitol to lower costs for working families. As we dive into this session, our focus remains clear – we are building upon our progress to make Colorado more affordable and safer while protecting your rights and freedoms, our investments in public education, and access to quality healthcare.

With a tight budget year ahead, I’m committed to protecting our most vulnerable community members while maintaining crucial investments in education, healthcare, and public safety. These priorities directly align with what I have heard from community members across House District 26, and I am excited to work alongside my colleagues to deliver results for our rural communities while ensuring Colorado remains a place where everyone can not only get by, but thrive.

Please Reach Out As we dive into this legislative session, I remain committed to bringing our community’s pragmatic, solutions-oriented approach to the State Capitol. The next four months will be filled with important decisions that impact our Western Slope communities.

Your voice matters in this process, and I want to hear from you. Please reach out to my office at meghan.lukens.house@coleg.gov with your thoughts, concerns, or ideas, or join me at one of my upcoming town halls. Together, we can continue making our Western Slope communities even stronger.

Felix Bradley flashed a broad smile Tuesday morning after solving a math problem using didactic materials while working with his teacher Laura Tamucci at the Steamboat Montessori Charter School west of Steamboat Springs.

“We believe that we’re being very developmentally appropriate in our approach to how we’re teaching kids and what we’re exposing kids to,” said Emily Barnhart, head of school for the Steamboat Montessori Charter School. “We’re finding great success with making sure that kids have hands-on access to didactic materials that then is translating into success academically as they get older.”

The students’ success is also a big reason the Steamboat Montessori Charter School, at 27285 Brandon Circle, has earned “Performance with Distinction” honors from the Colorado Charter School Institute the past three years. The school was among 13 schools that earned the award for their performance in the 2023-24 school year, which was announced last December. Schools that receive this rating rank in the top 25% of all schools in Colorado with reportable academic data and have demonstrated strong financial and organizational performance as well.

“Montessori itself has these ingenious materials that were created long ago where students use the materials themselves to learn lessons,” Barnhart said. “Students use math materials, language materials, and then they’re able to practice the actual academic lessons that they’ve gotten on those materials, and they’re self-correcting for them, so students don’t necessarily need an adult to tell them whether they got something correct or not. It happens via computer now, but the Montessori materials have kind of done that for decades and decades.””

Students in Montessori use the didactic material to complete everything from addition and subtraction to multi-digit multiplication, multi-digit division, squaring, cubing and algebra. The materials can also be used to teach English and writing skills and every other subject, according to Barnhart.

“The Montessori materials are manipulative, so they’re beads, chains or blocks for math, or they’re small pieces of the paper that students can move around to create sentences or even paragraphs,” Barnhart said. “The materials maybe color-coded to teach the parts of speech and used to make sure they have complete sentences.”

While Steamboat Montessori focuses its classes on the Montessori method, Barnhart said the school provides a rounded educational experience that includes performing arts, Spanish and physical education, as well as digital literacy.

“At the school we teach kids how to use technology as a tool,” Barnhart said. “Starting in third grade, the kids do start taking a digital literacy class where they learn about different tech tools and learn how to use them responsibly.”

The Montessori method of education has been around since 1907, when Maria Montessori introduced in it in Rome, Italy. Today the method can be found in countries around the world.

“Montessori has been in Steamboat Springs for a really, really long time — I would say since the early 2000s,” Barnhart said. “There has just always been a presence of Montessori education in our valley.”

At one point there was a Montessori classroom in Strawberry Park Elementary School, and there was also a Montessori School across the street from the high school that went through kindergarten. In 2016, Steamboat Montessori opened its doors. Today it has 155 students in seven classrooms as it makes its way through its ninth year.

Steamboat Montessori is part of the Colorado Charter School Institute portfolio, which ranges from micro schools to high schools with 2000 students and is accredited by the Colorado Department of Education.

“What we really want to highlight is that we’re a free option in our community for kids, and we’re not a private school,” Barnhart said. “Obviously, kids are very different, and we’re always looking for the right fit for kids — the one thing that we really love about Montessori is it just isn’t a choice for families, but an alternative for families that are looking for something specific.”

Steamboat’s mogul phenoms Abby McLarnon and Anabel Ayad continue to impress on the biggest stages of the sport, this time at the FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan. 

McLarnon and Ayad each earned their spots in Junior Worlds based on results from U.S. Freestyle Selections that took place in Winter Park in December. Only the top six boys and top six girls from the country earned selection, making it one of the top honors for U20 athletes. 

Day 1 of Junior Worlds was the singles event on Jan. 7. McLarnon, 18, was the top-performing American athlete in singles with an impressive fourth-place finish thanks to good turns on the way down her run. Ayad, 19, was not far behind in sixth, posting the third-fastest time down the course in the second final. 

Duals day on Jan. 8 pitted McLarnon against familiar faces including her current roommate and Ski and Snowboard Club Vail teammate Reese Chapdelaine, as well as Ayad. 

Those three earned the second-, third- and fourth-place positions with Chapdelaine taking silver, McLarnon bronze and Ayad P4. 

McLarnon narrowly lost to Chapdelaine in the semifinal, later being pitted against Ayad in the event’s small final. 

McLarnon earned maximum points in the small final due to Ayad being unable to finish her run. 

It was Ayad who would get the best of McLarnon on the third and final day of the competition, in the Mixed Dual Moguls Team event on Thursday. 

Ayad was paired with teammate Chase Littlefield. After a loss in the semifinal, the duo managed to bounce back with a victory over the Swedish team to secure third place and a bronze medal for Ayad. 

McLarnon, skiing with teammate Porter Huff, narrowly lost to the team from Kazakhstan in the quarterfinal, but managed to secure fifth overall in the event. 

McLarnon won both of her duals in the team event but was unable to move on with her teammate, losing his head-to-head run to Kazakhstan’s male finisher.

This was both McLarnon’s and Ayad’s first time competing in a Junior World Ski Championship mogul competition, marking important milestones in very promising futures in the sport.

The new cage-free legislation may not be the lead culprit in rising egg prices (state officials instead blame the outbreak of high-path avian influenza in Colorado) – but the new law helps level the playing field for local egg producers across the Yampa Valley.

As of January 1, 2025, Colorado now requires all egg-laying hens to have a minimum of 1 to 1-½ square feet of usable floor space – depending on vertical access. The sale of eggs from hens raised in cages is also banned, regardless of where the eggs are produced. 

Egg producers statewide were already impacted by rising feed costs, higher pullet pricing, and rising labor costs. With the added costs associated with avian influenza and the new cage-free law (including infrastructure investments and reduced production efficiencies), commercial egg producers have been forced to raise egg prices (as reported in The Steamboat Pilot last week). 

For local producers like Colby and Michelle Townsend of Hayden Fresh Farm, these new cage-free laws really don’t change their practices. Most small producers have been raising chickens and eggs in humane, cage-free environments, ensuring pasture availability, even before the new law went into effect. Local producers Hayden Fresh Farm, Lazy B Ranch, Stanko Ranch, and the Farm at Home Ranch sell chicken and duck eggs at the local food market, Yampa Valley Foods, operated by the Community Agriculture Alliance. Some also sell eggs wholesale to local restaurants and retailers, and direct to consumers.

“For years we have been competing on price against large caged operations that were able to much more efficiently and cost effectively produce eggs without regard to animal welfare,” explained Colby. “Now that Colorado has adopted more humane animal husbandry practices, all producers must ensure more space per bird and a cage-free environment. These rules will make it harder for commercial egg operations to be aggressive on pricing and allow smaller producers to be competitive.”

While the cage-free rules apply equally across the board, compared to commercially raised eggs, farm fresh eggs offer unique advantages and value. Per Colorado law, an egg’s sell-by data can be no more than 30 days after its pack date, and farmers have up to 30 days from when an egg is laid to pack it. That means a supermarket egg could be up to 60 days old by the time you eat it. Conversely, at Hayden Fresh Farm, eggs are collected daily and typically washed, packed and delivered within two to three days.

“When you compare egg quality between commercial producers and local farmers, it comes down to freshness,” adds Colby. “Once an egg is laid, nutritional value immediately begins to degrade. The longer an egg is out, the less nutritional value it preserves.”

While consumers still face sticker shock when it comes to egg prices, the price of  locally produced eggs is now more closely aligned to pricing for supermarket eggs while offering the added value of freshness and higher nutrition.

Builders FirstSource Inc. announced a definitive agreement to acquire Alpine Lumber Company, a Colorado-based, 100% employee-owned company with 21 locations across the state, including in Steamboat Springs, and in northern New Mexico.

The acquisition is anticipated to close in the first quarter of 2025, according to a news release.

Builders FirstSource, headquartered in Texas, says the acquisition will expand the company’s geographic reach in Colorado and New Mexico, in addition to its existing operation of approximately 580 locations across 43 states.

Announced Dec. 23, 2024, Alpine Chief Executive Officer Hamid Taha said the acquisition will provide a wider range of product categories and superior service to its customers.

“This transaction rewards the long history of dedication by Alpine’s employee owners and positions the combined business to provide a wider range of product categories and superior service to our customers. We are thrilled to join the Builders FirstSource team, and I know we have a bright future together,” said Taha in a statement.

“Alpine has long-standing customer relationships and a proven track record of profitable growth in highly attractive markets,” said Peter Jackson, president and CEO of Builders FirstSource. “I am looking forward to welcoming the Alpine team members to Builders FirstSource.”

Routt County commissioners Angelica Salinas and Tim Redmond were sworn in Tuesday at the start of the commissioners’ meeting at the historic Routt County Courthouse.

Salinas, a Democrat, secured the District 1 seat in November after winning the election against Republican challenger Brent Romick with 55% of the vote. She replaces Commissioner Tim Corrigan, who stepped down from his seat after serving in the position since 2013.

Commissioner Tim Redmond, a Democrat representing District 2, was also sworn in Tuesday morning. Redmond won his reelection bid in November after beating Republican Tracy Lawton with just over 61% of the vote.

The Routt County Board of County Commissioners meets every Monday and Tuesday, except holidays. The commissioners’ meeting dates and times are subject to change. Meeting agendas can be found on the county’s website at co.routt.co.us/.

A “strong cold front will usher in a dangerously cold Arctic air mass” across much of the United States this weekend, according to a forecast from the Climate Prediction Center.

In Colorado’s High Country, cold air is set to arrive Friday, with daytime highs between 20  and 30 degrees in most valley areas. Temperatures could drop into the teens on Saturday with Sunday seeing highs in the single-digits or. Areas east of the Continental Divide have the potential of seeing daytime temperatures below zero. 

Temperatures will be coldest in the metro area. 

“With these arctic intrusions, it’s often times colder down in Denver than it is up in the mountains,” said National Weather Service meteorologist David Barjenbruch, adding that below-zero readings are likely across “a good chunk of the state.”

Barjenbruch warned of elevated risk of hyperthermia and frostbite this weekend as wind chills could be as cold as 30 degrees below zero. It can take just 10 minutes for exposed skin to begin to develop frostbite in such conditions. 

“We’re suggesting cover up in multiple layers of warm, loose clothing, which allows for circulation,” Barjenbruch said. 

The state typically only experiences these blasts of Arctic air once or twice per year, Barjenbruch said. The air mass originated in the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska. 

This weekend also carries the potential for more snow in mountain areas. 

In a blog post Monday, OpenSnow meteorologist Sam Collentine predicted 2-6 inches on the ground along the Interstate 70 corridor between Friday night and Sunday. Areas in the foothills west of Denver will likely be favored for the deepest snow totals of 6-10 inches, Collentine added. 

Daytime temperatures will remain in the single digits on Monday, Jan. 20 with some valley areas potentially reaching highs around 10 degrees. Temperatures will steadily warm through next week, Barjenbruch said. 

A forecast from the Climate Prediction Center shows temperatures have a strong chance of being below normal through Jan. 23. 

Colorado lawmakers are seeking to clamp down on price gouging with a new bill that would make it illegal for businesses to raise costs beyond what is average for certain products.

House Bill 1010, one of the first to be introduced in the 2025 legislative session, would prohibit price gouging of necessities like food and other grocery store items. If a product’s cost remains steady for 90 days before increasing by 10% or more above its average price, that could be considered price gouging, according to the proposal. 

The legislation is being sponsored by first-year Democratic Rep. Yara Zokaie, who represents parts of Larimer County, alongside Boulder County Democrat Kyle Brown. 

A mother of three, Zokaie said she understands the pressure rising grocery costs put on working Coloradans. 

“It is hard to get by,” Zokaie said. “It’s an issue that’s close to me personally, but also around Colorado it’s an issue that we’re hearing about and want to do something about.” 

Grocery store prices vary across the state depending on different regions’ microeconomic factors. In high-cost mountain resort towns, for example, staple grocery store items at Kroger-owned stores can cost slightly more than in Denver, according to a recent analysis by the Steamboat Pilot & Today.

A Kroger spokesperson said increased fuel and labor costs are the main driver for higher prices on the Western Slope, though the analysis shows that prices are higher in areas with less competition. 

Still, pledges to take on price gouging have become a rallying cry for politicians across the country as they confront a host of cost-of-living issues, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic. Vice President Kamala Harris, in her failed 2024 White House bid, rolled out her own national price gouging ban. 

Economists have debated whether price gouging is a culprit for rising costs which they say have largely been driven by inflation and supply chain issues as a result of the pandemic. 

A March 2024 report from the Federal Trade Commission, however, points to “elevated profit levels” for grocery retailers that “casts doubt on assertions that rising prices at the grocery store are simply moving in lockstep with retailers’ own rising costs.”

“I think there’s a lot of reasons why costs go up, why prices go up,” Zokaie said. “To the extent that corporate greed is one of those factors, which I believe it is … we want to hold that accountable.” 

Zokaie’s proposal builds off legislation passed in 2020 that empowered the Colorado Attorney General’s Office to investigate claims and levy fines worth up to $20,000 in most cases for businesses that engaged in price gouging during a state of emergency. 

If passed, House Bill 1010 would expand the scope to include allegations of price gouging during any time, with a focus on essential grocery store items like food, medical supplies and hygiene products. It does not, however, outline specific penalties for offenders. 

Zokaie said the business community has “come to the table” to work with her on the legislation. 

Cynthia Eveleth-Havens, chief strategy officer for the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, which represents business groups across the state, said the chamber has not yet taken a position on the bill. 

“But we are concerned about the unintended consequences of any legislation creating additional regulatory burdens on business,” Eveleth-Havens said in a statement. “We’re in the process of reviewing the bill and getting feedback from our members.”

Aurora Democrat Mike Weissman, who is sponsoring the bill in the Senate, said the legislation’s intent is not to target businesses that are increasing costs to meet the demands of inflation.

“We want to make sure we’re allowing honest businesses, which are most businesses, go about their day-to-day operations,” Weissman said, adding the legislation is meant to give the Attorney General’s Office “more tools to be on the lookout to help people make ends meet and to take action against economically-unjustified or abusive prices.”

The bill does not have a Republican sponsor in either the House or Senate, but Weissman hopes it will garner bipartisan support. 

Zokaie said she “has not heard much fierce opposition from the other side of the aisle.”

“I am hopeful that we’re all going to be able to come together on this,” she said.

Democrats currently hold a 43-22 majority in the House and a 23-12 majority in the Senate. A House Republicans spokesperson said members don’t currently have a comment to provide on the legislation. 

The bill has been assigned to the Business Affairs & Labor Committee, which will vote on whether or not to advance it. A hearing date has not yet been set. 

A section of a family ranch property in the Slater Park area in northwest Routt County that is surrounded by U.S. Forest Service land is the latest county parcel to enter a conservation easement through nonprofit Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust.

The nonprofit organization worked with the Smith family to conserve 760 acres on the Slater Park parcel of the Smith Ranch. The easement continues a commitment to conservation with funding provided by the county’s Purchase of Development Rights program, said Karina Puikkonen, CCALT communications manager. The program uses revenue from property taxes to help purchase conservation easements from willing landowners to permanently conserve land from development.

“The property is unique in that it is surrounded by the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest on all sides,” Puikkonen said. “It features open ranchland with montane meadows and mixed conifer and aspen woodlands with Slater Creek flowing northward directly through the property. Slater Park is a contiguous landscape of conserved private and public lands, and this piece was a very important addition.”

Puikkonen said the conservation easement purchase agreement finalized in late 2024 adds to 80,330 acres conserved through the organization in Routt County. Since the initiation of the PDR program in 1997, Routt County has helped fund the purchase of conservation easements on more than 68,000 acres at a cost of more than $32 million, Puikkonen said. The nonprofit organization has partnered with hundreds of ranching families in the protection of more than 800,000 acres statewide, she said.

“Conservation of the (Slater Park) property is a significant accomplishment, helping achieve the landowners’ long-term vision for the property and building on CCALT and PDR’s aligned goal to protect our Western heritage through the conservation of agricultural land,” said Courtney Bennett, CCALT senior conservation manager.

The Smith family began ranching in Routt County in 1924 and purchased the Slater Park property in 1935 with the land used for sheep and cattle operations. The Smiths irrigate the property for summer and fall pasture to graze sheep, cattle and horses, and the water rights on Slater and Adams creeks are now tied to the land through the conservation easement.

“Our primary interest in a conservation easement is to preserve the Western working landscape and forever conserve the open space, agricultural productivity and scenic qualities of Slater Park,” landowner Leland Smith said. “It is our desire to have it remain the same for generations to come, for our family and for the public. It is a treasure and a beautiful spot in Routt County.”

Funding for the PDR program is derived from a 1.5 mill levy in county property taxes approved by voters through 2035.