NEWS: School district early release up for debate, A12
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VOL. 143 NO. 17 | THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2024 | $1.00
Blue Mesa bridge closed indefinitely Inspection reveals potential for ‘catastrophic incident’ Abby Harrison Times Staff Writer Bella Biondini Times Editor
Several Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) workers dangle on ropes from Blue Mesa’s “middle bridge” on April 21 to grind away paint on the welded joints to reveal more possible defects. (Courtesy David Inouye)
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GVH fills vacancies Judge dismisses with international Hendry case nurses Defendant’s To reduce the number of trav- lawyer tried to Three-year elers, GVH signed an agreement with California-based nursing move case out contracts to consultant Flint Healthcare to ease reliance on recruit six international nurs- of Gunnison es in the coming years. Each nurse signs on for a three-year travelers Abby Harrison Times Staff Writer
SPORTS: GHS baseball falls to Basalt, B4
Colorado transportation officials closed the “middle bridge” that crosses Blue Mesa Reservoir on Thursday, April 18, after state engineers found cracking in the steel frame. The bridge is on Hwy. 50, the main corridor that connects the Gunnison Valley to western half of the state. The closure, west of Gunnison, is located between mile marker 131 (the intersection with Hwy. 92) and mile marker 138, near the popular Dillon Pinnacles hike. The only current local detour, County Road 26, or the Lake City cut-
In a bid to reduce its reliance on costly traveling nurses, Gunnison Valley Health (GVH) is now looking abroad to recruit full-time health care workers. A serious nurse shortage has plagued GVH and hospitals around the country for years — a phenomenon made worse by the wave of pandemic-era retirements. GVH has hired traveling nurses to fill this need and ensure the hospital can stay open.
contract, after which they can choose to leave or stay on at the hospital. The confirmed nurses so far are from Nigeria, Grenada and Brazil. The first nurse, from Nigeria, started a couple weeks ago in the labor and delivery unit. The final five will fill spots in the hospital's medical-surgical unit, emergency room and Senior Care Center. T h e nu r s e s hav e t o g o through the same hiring process as e ver y other GVH nurse, said Director of Human
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Abby Harrison Times Staff Writer
A month before trial was scheduled to begin, a Gunnison District Judge dismissed a sexual assault case regarding Gunnison local Celeste Hendry. Hendry alleged that Philip Pride sexually assaulted her in her own home, according to an arrest affidavit filed in April of 2022. Pride later pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him, which included felony counts of sexual assault, criminal extortion and trespassing. The Times covered the alle-
gation as part of a three-part series, “The toll of trauma,” that ran in the Jan. 31, Feb. 7 and Feb. 14 editions. The stories focused on the emotional burden of alleged sexual violence, and explored the difficulty victims have moving through the court system in the 7th Judicial District. In May of 2023, Hendry died by suicide. The Times did not initially name Pride. “Both the DAs office and the local police force worked hard to present a fair and unbiased case,” Hendry’s mother Enid Holden wrote in a statement to the Times. “However, as is often the situation, when the victim is the main witness it is very difficult and in this case the only real witness is deceased.” At a hearing on the morning of April 23, District Attorney Darren Struble, who handled Hendry A3