PHOTOS: Gunnison fishing derby, A8
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VOL. 143 NO. 23 | THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2024 | $1.00
Housing needs report coming this fall Community survey opens in mid-June Bella Biondini Times Editor
ELK CROSSING: Willie Ungerman shares the process he used to create a taxidermy elk at the 2024 Colorado State Taxidermy Championships on Saturday, June 1. For more, see A10. (Photo by Mariel Wiley)
INSIDE
TODAY NEWS: School board undecided on drug testing, A12
COMMUNITY: Mountain mermaids make a splash, B1
SPORTS: Gunnison U14 softball takes on North Fork, B6 OBITUARIES A3 OPINION A4 CLASSIFIEDS A15-A1 SPORTS B6 ONLINE GUNNISONTIMES.COM
GHS teacher arrested for sexual assault Student first expressed discomfort in 2021-22 Abby Harrison Times Staff Writer
Thomas Kattnig, who has worked in the Gunnison Watershed School District for nearly 30 years, was arrested on May 24 for “sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust,” a third degree felony. Kattnig is a Gunnison High School (GHS) math teacher, and a girls’ basketball and track and field coach.
The charge, filed by the 7th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, was based on a student's testimony that Kattnig inappropriately touched them on a bus on the way to an away basketball game in Cedaredge in late 2021, according to the arrest affidavit. For this reason, the case is being handled in Delta County Court, but investigated by both the Gunnison Police Department (GPD) and the Delta County Sheriff's Office. Kattnig has yet to enter a plea. He posted a $50,000 personal recognizance bond and was released the same day he was arrested. He is currently on paid administrative leave from the district while they negotiate Assault A6
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Impacts to Cattlemen’s expected to be minimal Bella Biondini Times Editor
Because the closure of Blue Mesa Reservoir’s middle bridge was not a natural disaster, the relief funds that usually accompany an event with such widespread impacts have not been available to agricultural producers. A new fund set up by the Gunnison County CSU Extension Office may help soften the financial losses some ranchers have experienced this spring.
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CSU Extension organizes bridge relief fund
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“We're used to natural disasters, snow storms and floods, but this is something we've never face d b efore,” said Director and Agricultural Agent Hannah Cranor-Kersting. “How can we help each other out?” The Gunnison Ranchland Conservation Legacy, with help from the Gunnison Conservation District, is hosting the “Highway 50 Ag Impact Relief Fund.” Conservation Legacy started accepting donations this month and hopes to collect money from residents around the state. Once it reaches $10,000, the goal is to open the fund to producers in Gunnison, Montrose, Delta, San Miguel, Mesa, Hinsdale and Saguache counties. Producers from across the Relief A6
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