NEWS: School board applications open, A3
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VOL. 144 NO. 8 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2025 | $1.00
School board questions Wednesday early release in Gunnison Parents remain split Bella Biondini Times Editor
GLITTERY GLIDERS: Aoba Matsunaga, Katelynn DeGroot, Camille Reaves and Allie Weatherill dance across the Jorgensen Ice Rink during the Western Figure Skating Club spring showcase on Feb. 8. For more, see B11. (Photo by Mariel Wiley)
INSIDE
TODAY BIZCENTS: Signs of all kinds, A10
COMMUNITY: Power of the dogs, B1
SPORTS: Maciejko wins swim coach of the year, B6
OPINION A4 CLASSIFIEDS A14-A17 SPORTS B6 ONLINE GUNNISONTIMES.COM
Nearly four years after the major schedule change, early-release Wednesdays at Gunnison schools still remain a point of contention for a number of parents. The abbreviated school day, which has been in place in Crested Butte for a few years longer, was introduced to Gunnison schools during the fall of 2021. Each Wednesday, students are released from class roughly an hour and 45 minutes early. The short school day School A6
Lift maintenance Camp Gunnison union reaches welcomes nonagreement with Vail members for New contract includes pay raise, improved training Bella Biondini Times Editor
After almost a year-long stalemate, Vail Resorts and the Crested Butte Lift Maintenance Union reached an agreement on Feb. 12. The Crested Butte Mountain Resort lift mechanics, a group of 12, considered going on strike in January, citing low pay despite the physical demands and sometimes dangerous nature of the job, alongside high turn-
over. These employees, essential to the daily operations of the ski resort, are tasked with keeping the lift chairs spinning, making on-the-spot repairs and conducting daily inspections. Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) lift mechanics unionized in June 2023, and are represented by the United Mountain Workers. This same union currently represents Crested Butte Ski Patrol and more than 1,000 ski industry professionals across the West. The mechanic’s union entered negotiations with Vail Resorts, the owner of CBMR, in January of last year, requesting a pay raise, stipends for work gear and access to more training and opportunities for professional Union A6
first time The Way International campus opens to Air Force Academy Alex McCrindle Times Sports Editor
Five miles north of town, the cottonwood-speckled banks of the Gunnison River give way to white-rock lettering on the hillside. Similar to the white “W” atop Tenderfoot Mountain
to the east, its northern relative is visible to the keen eye along Hwy. 135. The hill — which reads “Camp Gunnison” — marks an 150-acre campus, a towering lodge built of Engelmann spruce and rolling lawns, hidden from the public eye for half a century. Camp Gunnison, a secluded campus of the religious ministry The Way International, opened its doors to non-members for the first time in its nearly 50-year history in January. The campus hosted a group of 100 cadets from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs Camp A8