The mountain area’s newspaper since 1958
WEEK OF MARCH 20, 2025
VOLUME 66 | ISSUE 18
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Elk Creek Fire candidates weigh in on unification, other district issues BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Five candidates filed for two open seats on the embattled Elk Creek Fire board, setting up what will likely be one of the area’s most interesting contests. Michael Bartlett, Al Leo, Kathleen Noonan, Thomas Seymour and Todd Wagner are running. Board president Greg Pixley and director Melissa Baker are term limited and will step down. Elk Creek has undergone controversy in the last few years as its board has attempted to merge the district with neighboring North Fork and Inter-Canyon fire districts. A November 2023 vote on conSEE CANDIDATES, P7
Lead advocate Brenda Nelson holds Iris, PeaceWorks’ house cat.
PHOTO BY SABRINA FRITSS
A space for support PeaceWorks in Bailey offers shelter and healing for domestic violence victims BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Four years after she left her abusive ex-husband, Amy’s voice still breaks with emotion as she recalls that day. Amy had learned about several area shelters from a local police officer. But in addition to
her 4-year-old daughter, she had two dogs. “It was all escalating,” Amy said. “He had started abusing our daughter. But I didn’t want to leave our dogs because he’d beat them, too.” One shelter on the list said it would accept dogs: PeaceWorks, a house in Bailey with an adja-
cent, secure, heated building for cats and dogs. “They said we have room for all of you, if you’d like to come,” Amy said. “It was the best thing that ever happened to us.” The four-bedroom home on the Platte River is staffed with a team of advocates who help domestic violence victims recover and connect to needed services, including therapy, medical care, safety plans, victim’s services, legal services and housing. Founded in 1986 in the base-
HAPPENINGS: 6 | SHERRIFF’S CALLS: 9 | VOICES: 10 | PUZZLES: 19
ment of a Park County commissioner’s home — herself a victim of domestic violence — the organization found its current home in 2008. As the only shelter in a 2,800-square-mile grid, and one of only a few that accepts pets, it serves individuals and families from throughout the foothills. Although it is in Bailey, the exact location is kept confidential. Every door is secured with coded locks. Emergency alarms SEE PEACEWORKS, P12
INSIDE THIS ISSUE HOSPICE MEETING
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MMA FIGHTERS
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2025
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