2025 was an interesting year in Pagosa Country. There was no want for good news, bad news, controversial issues, and no lack of interesting news to keep SUN readers focused on local events, situations and personalities.
The SUN is taking a look back at some of those events, selected by SUN staff writers. This week, we look back at April, May and June.
April
• As the calendar turned to April, multiple districts began canceling elections due to not having more candidates than positions available.
The Upper San Juan Health Service District (USJHSD), which operates Pagosa Springs Medical Center, declared Kate Alfred elected for a four-year term ending in May 2029, Mark Floyd for a two-year term ending in May 2027 and Kathy Campbell for a two-year term ending in May 2027. Joining the board for four year-terms lasting until May 2029 were Wayne Hooper, Erik Foss and Ashley Wilson.
The Pagosa Fire Protection District canceled its spring election due to a lack of candidates, with no one deemed elected.
• Davian Coss, 18, achieved the rank of Eagle Scout on April 1.
Davian earned 26 merit badges and completed his Eagle Project in November 2024, when multiple donation days were held to support the Humane Society of Pagosa Springs. In addition to the donations received, Davian built and placed a donation box within Chow Down so donations can continue to be collected as community members purchase items for their own pets.
• On April 1, the Pagosa Springs Town Council authorized town staff to enter into a contract with WW Clyde to perform the work for its downtown rehabilitation project, coinciding with Colorado Department of Transportation’s (CDOT’s) U.S. 160 reconstruction project.
The town’s scope of work in downtown Pagosa Springs includes the installation of new street lamps, new sidewalk sections, culvert repairs, side road repairs and replacements, electrical conduit, new street trees, and an irrigation system for the new trees and flower baskets.
• On April 1, the town council commemorated the fact that staff was recognized for earning a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for its annual comprehensive financial report for the 2023 fiscal year from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). The report was judged by an impartial panel, and the award is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, according to the GFOA.
• On April 2, the Daniels Fund announced its 2025 class of Daniels Scholarship Program recipients, which included Pagosa Springs High School’s (PSHS’s) Jesse Beck.
• At an April 4 special meeting, the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) Board of Directors voted to approve a proposal from Distribution System Resources Ltd. to inspect and service fire hydrants in the community.
PAWSD District Engineer/Manager Justin Ramsey explained that the fire hydrant issue is a “big deal” and that the hydrants have not been tested in at least a decade.
The testing and functionality of hydrants in the area had drawn concern within the community.
• Two PSHS track and field records were broken at the 30-team John Tate Steel City Fast Track Invitational on April 4 in Pueblo.
Abi Nehring set a new record in discus with a throw of 138 feet, 6 inches, beating a 2017 record belonging to Keena Murphy. At the time, Nehring was the top-ranked discus thrower in the state, with the second-ranked throw being 12 feet shorter.
Colton Lucero broke the school record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.96 seconds, beating the record set by Jason Schutz in 2002. Lucero was ranked second in the state for the event.
In addition to setting records, the Pirate track and field team also notched 17 top-five finishes at the meet.
• Local officials tended to three fires in two days on April 7 and 8, including two structure fires and a wildland/grass fire.
The wildland/grass fire was approximately two acres in size and was a controlled burn that was not properly extinguished and left unattended by the landowner.
• The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the Archuleta County Public Health Department and the Silver Thread Public Health District announced on April 8 that they had confirmed a case of measles in an Archuleta County adult resident. The person’s age and vaccination history was not disclosed.
• The PSHS Pirate baseball team moved the team to a 7-0 record in early April after picking up four more wins. The Pirates scored 67 runs over the course of the games while holding their opponents to four.
• Residents in the Twincreek Village area were treated to a rare sight on April 12: a moose. Multiple residents reported the unexpected and exciting sighting.
• More PSHS records were broken at the April 12 36-team Thunder-Storm Invitational in Pueblo.
Breaking school records for the second week in a row were Lucero and Nehring, with Creede Dozier also setting a new school record.
Lucero took more time off his 100-meter record, moving it to 10.85 seconds, and also broke a 2003 record in the 200-meter dash held by Schutz by running a time of 22.39 seconds. Lucero was ranked first in the 100 and fifth in the 200 in the state.
Dozier also set a new school record at the meet, besting the long jump record set in 2005 by Daniel Aupperle. Dozier jumped a distance of 22 feet, 2.75 inches to take first at the meet and was ranked second in the state in the event.
• During a regular meeting held by the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) on April 15, the BoCC unanimously approved the selection of Martha Whitmore as the preferred candidate for the county attorney position.
Prior to selecting a new county attorney, the BoCC unanimously approved entering into an agreement with Lance Ingalls of the law firm Icenogle Seaver Pogue to serve as an interim county attorney.
Whitmore later withdrew from consideration and the position was reposted.
• In April, it was announced that Pagosa Peak Open School (PPOS) Project-based Learning Advisor Rue Graham was recently awarded the John Larmer Lifelong Learning Award from PBL Works, the organization that sets the standard for project-based learning across the nation. The award recognizes up to three educators nationwide who have shown to majorly impact students with their high-quality project work.
• Pagosa Springs was not immune to national politics in 2025, with several events held throughout the spring and summer in protest of actions taken at the federal level and in support of political parties, with some events drawing hundreds.
National politics also came into play leading up to a visit to Pagosa Springs by Rep. Jeff Hurd on April 22.
The BoCC held a special meeting with Rep. Jeff Hurd at the county’s administration building, with only one matter on the posted agenda as a new business item: “Discussions With Congressman Hurd.”
That meeting was met with discord in the days leading up to it, and Hurd met with protesters outside the county administration building prior to the meeting.
• Archuleta County was named one of the cleanest counties in the nation in terms of ozone air pollution in the American Lung Association’s “State of the Air” 2025 report released on April 23
• Bella Gutierrez and Edgar Ortiz were named the queen and king during PSHS’s annual prom on April 26.
• Ten members of the Pirate track and field team earned Intermountain League (IML) honors with their performances at the Pine River Invitational in Bayfield in April, which served as the season’s IML meet: Nehring in the shot put and discus; Lexi Campbell in the triple jump; the 4x100-meter relay team of Sienna Rose, Molly Washburn, Campbell and Rylie Carr; Lucero in the 100- and 200-meter dashes; Dozier in the long jump and high jump; Emile Schneider in the discus; and the 4x100 team of Lucero, Tommy Nigro, Alex Pacheco and Dozier.
• In April, local snowboarder Logan Lamoreaux earned first place in the International Freeskiers and Snowboarders Association’s North and South American U15 snowboard men’s division. Lamoreaux competed in national competitions over the winter season, with the division featuring more than 100 riders across six countries. Notching first-place finishes in competitions at Crested Butte and Breckenridge, he also placed second at a Telluride competition and third at the Junior Americas championships held in Kirkwood, Calif.
May
• The PSHS Lady Pirates soccer advanced to the playoffs as the No. 32 team after defeating 2A Del Norte 5-0 on May 1 and falling to 5A Fruita Monument 10-0 on May 2.
• The Pagosa Springs Middle School (PSMS) track and field team returned home from the May 3 San Juan Basin League tournament with the league title. The program saw a record-breaking 70 student athletes participate, and the Pirates earned multiple meet victories, set “countless” personal records and had multiple student athletes — Raleigh Iverson, Jammer Grigsby, Rylan Ash, Bentely Briscoe, Ahrianna Martinez, Abigail Foss, Clara Kurz, Eathon Kinkead, Chatwin Pickering and Elijah Julian — contribute to the school’s record book. The boys’ team won the league title, with the girls’ team finishing second in the league.
• PAWSD customers moved under voluntary drought restrictions on May 5, with the move signaling developing drought conditions in the area.
• During a report to the Pagosa Springs Sanitation General Improvement District (PSSGID) board on May 6, the board heard that an April 17 lightning strike caused a power surge, resulting in approximately $35,000 of damage to electrical equipment at Lift Station 2.
The electrical damage caused the loss of two out of the three electrical legs on one of the submersible pumps at the lift station.
• The Lady Pirate soccer team wrapped up its season in Denver on May 8, when it fell 10-0 to the No. 1-ranked team and defending state champion in the state’s 3A division, Colorado Academy, in the opening round of the playoffs.
• The unofficial results of the May 6 PAWSD election were released on May 9, with Eugene L. Tautges, Bruce Jones Jr. and Alex Boehmer being elected to the board.
• During a special meeting held by the BoCC on May 12, the BoCC unanimously approved the selection of Cathleen Giovannini for the county attorney position.
• In May, the town and county became the first in the state of Colorado to have their regional housing needs assessment officially accepted by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs for full compliance with Senate Bill 24-174, also known as the Sustainable Affordable Housing Assistance bill.
• Eleven Pirates earned a trip to the state track and field meet May 15-17 to compete in 13 events: Lucero, Dozier, Jeremiah Jones, Pacheco, Nigro, Carr, Rose, Campbell, Nehring, Malorie Morton and Molly Washburn.
Multiple Pirates went into the meet with high seeds.
Nehring and Dozier returned home with state titles in girls’ discus and boys’ long jump, respectively. The pair claimed the titles within minutes of each other at the state meet.
The majority of the team’s 14 qualifiers brought home medals, with the boys’ squad taking 13th in 3A and the girls’ squad placing 10th.
In addition to her title in discus, Nehring took fourth in the shot put. Morton took seventh. Dozier also made the podium with a fifth-place finish in the high jump. Jones joined him on the podium with an eighth-place finish. Carr finished sixth in the girls’ 100-meter dash. Rose took seventh in the girls’ 400-meter run. Lucero notched eighth in the boys’ 100 after fighting an injury. Campbell took ninth in the girls’ triple jump. The girls’ 4x100-meter relay — including Rose, Washburn, Campbell and Carr — finished seventh.
• Results of the 2025 La Plata Electric Association (LPEA) board election were announced at the cooperative’s annual meeting on May 21.
For District 1 (Archuleta County), Dusty Mars won with 1,075 votes. Candidate Holly Metzler received 739 votes. One seat in each of LPEA’s four districts comes up for election annually.
• U.S. Forest Service firefighters began tending to a new fire on May 24, the Freeman Fire, in the First Notch area of the Columbine Ranger District of the San Juan National Forest.
The fire was discovered north of U.S. 160 in the First Notch area of the San Juan National Forest in Archuleta County — in the Piedra River corridor — the night of May 24, with the fire at 38 acres as of the afternoon of May 25.
By midday May 26, firefighters had completed fire line around the fire and had begun mopping up.
The fire was in close proximity to lines providing power to Archuleta County.
• Tucker Jacobson, a junior at San Juan Mountain School, competed at the 2025 Colorado State High School Rodeo Finals over the Memorial Day weekend, in Craig, Colo. After scoring a total of 138 points on three horses, Tucker received the State Champion Bareback Riding buckle and trophy saddle. Tucker also placed fourth in the bull riding division and has qualified for the High School Rodeo National Finals in both events.
• Community members came together to honor those who lost their lives in service to the United States during a Memorial Day ceremony May 26 at Hilltop Cemetery. In addition to honoring those who died while serving, a list of Archuleta County veterans who passed over the prior year was read.
• In late May, construction began on PPOS’s Playground for the People.
Helped by a nearly $700,000 grant from the Colorado Health Foundation, the playground will double as a park for the community, open to the public when the school is not in session. Project completion was expected in August, before students returned to school.
• The PSHS baseball team finished the regular season in mid-May with a 9-9 record, ranked as the No. 32 team in Colorado 3A baseball.
But, when the 32-team regional playoff brackets were released, the Pirates were not listed, with the final playoff spot going to the team ranked 33rd in the Seeding Index.
• A map released May 28 showing radio-collared wolf activity from April 22 to May 27 highlighted watersheds within Archuleta County and La Plata County, indicating the presence of collared wolf activity in a small portion of the counties — the first confirmed collared wolf activity in the area.
• It was announced in May that Sage Merrill-Exton, a sixth-grader at Pagosa Springs Middle School during the 2024-2025 school year, designed and painted a mural at Pagosa Springs Elementary School (PSES) as part of her Girl Scout Silver Award project, as well as a class project focused on her recognition as a leader in and out of the classroom.
The project also provided an opportunity for other students to be part of a collaborative approach to community-based art and develop a sense of ownership in their school.
• With the end of the 2024-2025 school year, PSMS Principal Chris Hinger closed the book on 30 years of service to Archuleta School District (ASD), including 22 years as principal at the middle school.
• The end of the school year also brought with it Wes Lewis’ retirement from coaching basketball after 29 years, including 18 at PSHS.
Lewis leaves behind a 336-94 record in 18 years of coaching at PSHS.
Over those 18 years, Lewis’ teams made the playoffs 16 years, advanced to the Great 8 10 times, earned their way to the Final Four six times, made two championship games and brought home one state title.
• PSHS students, staff, family and friends gathered at Golden Peaks Stadium on May 31 to celebrate 71 graduating seniors as part of the 115th annual commencement.
Hailey Sams earned the honor of being the class valedictorian and Sophia Sottek earned the distinction of salutatorian.
• San Juan Mountain School honored 20 graduates the same day, with Mackenzie Moraine earning the distinction of class valedictorian and Kate Cernosek earning the salutatorian title. The school’s annual Character Award went to Zayda Skai Cardoso.
June
• At the June 3 town council meeting, Parks and Recreation Director Darren Lewis informed the council that his staff had “determined that a walking parade would be the best course of action” for the Fourth of July celebration at Yamaguchi Park.
Due to the highway reconstruction project, the council decided in March that it would forgo a traditional motorized parade for the year’s celebration, opting instead for a celebration at Yamaguchi Park that would lead into the annual fireworks display.
• During its regular meeting on June 5, the Archuleta County Combined Dispatch Board voted unanimously to approve a resolution moving toward dissolving the intergovernmental agreement between the four entities operating dispatch.
In its last meeting of 2024, the board had approved a resolution giving operational oversight of the dispatch center to the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO).
• In June, it was announced that Daniel Cammack, who grew up in Pagosa Springs, was presented with Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Outstanding Biologist of the Year. Cammack is CPW’s Southwest Region native aquatic species biologist.
• During its regular meeting on June 10, the ASD Board of Education unanimously approved multiple items, including its 2025-2026 budget and a district cellphone policy.
• One individual died following an ATV crash on a ranch on Stevens Lake Road early the morning of June 11.
The deceased was identified as a 19-year-old from Texas.
Austin James Brown, 20, of Beaumont, Texas, was arrested on charges that include driving under the influence, vehicular homicide-DUI, criminally negligent homicide, manslaughter-reckless, alcohol-under 21 possession/consumption and weapon-prohibited use.
• A June 12 act of arson at the county’s offices at 449 San Juan St. left the county working to relocate those offices and meet deadlines related to property valuations and property tax payments.
At approximately 1:19 a.m. on June 12, the Pagosa Springs Police Department and Pagosa Fire Protection District responded to a burglar and fire alarm at 449 San Juan St. Upon arrival, firefighters discovered an active fire inside the east end of the building.
Crews entered the structure and successfully contained and extinguished the fire, which was limited to two office areas on the first and second floors — the offices of the assessor and county clerk.
Both sustained moderate to severe fire and smoke damage. The building was unoccupied at the time, and no injuries or fatalities were reported.
• At the June 12 meeting of the PAWSD board, Ramsey provided a final update on PAWSD’s efforts to test fire hydrants in the community.
Ramsey explained that testing of the approximately 1,100 hydrants connected to the PAWSD system had been completed by the hydrant testing contractor slightly less than two weeks before the meeting.
Of these hydrants, seven would need to be replaced and 32 had “significant problems” that PAWSD staff would work on, Ramsey stated, and some others would require maintenance such as painting.
Ramsey indicated that PAWSD staff would work on developing a plan for future testing and maintenance of hydrants building off the results.
• The PAWSD board also discussed the upcoming departure of Ramsey and approaches to hiring a replacement at its June 12 meeting.
Ramsey explained that, once the Snowball Water Treatment Plant expansion project is done, he would resign from his position at the district.
He added that that would likely happen six to eight months in the future.
Ramsey stated that he wanted to give the district “plenty of time” to find a replacement and that his departure time can be flexible depending on the district’s needs.
• On June 16, shortly after announcing that its wastewater system is experiencing critical situation, the town held the first of a series of listening sessions about the challenges of funding necessary repairs to its aging wastewater system.
The town’s notice to PSSGID users and the community urged users to minimize stress on the system due to pump failure.
• The outgoing and incoming Spanish Fiesta royalty were honored at the June 14 Spanish Fiesta event. The 2025-2026 royalty were crowned at the event: Tesla Morris, royal court; Lillyan Vega, princess; David Trujillo, prince; Ana Lucia Romero Gallegos, queen attendant; Hadassah Trujillo, princess attendant; Amaryah Trujillo, junior princess; Bella Postolese, queen; and Anthony Rodriguez, king.
• At its meeting on Tuesday, June 24, the board of the USJHSD appointed Matt Mees to fill the board vacancy created by the resignation of Kathy Campbell.
• William Wayne Bryant, 71, of Archuleta County, was taken into custody on June 26 in connection with the June 12 arson incident at county offices located at 449 Lewis St.
The case is ongoing.
• Following an executive session held June 26, the BoCC approved negotiating and entering into a lease with Wyndham for temporary county office spaces that were displaced by the fire at 449 San Juan St.
The motion was approved by a split vote of 2-1, with Commissioner John Ranson and Commissioner Veronica Medina in favor and Commissioner Warren Brown opposing.
• On June 27, brothers Draven and Emiliano Martinez qualified to the second round of the Drive, Chip and Putt. Draven Martinez took first place in the chipping discipline and second in the putting discipline, as well as third overall. Emiliano Martinez took second in both the chipping and putting disciplines, as well as third overall.
• The county celebrated the opening of its new transportation center in Harman Park on June 28 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
• The Arboles Independence Day parade kicked off the area’s Fourth of July celebrations on June 28. Following the parade, the community celebrated with a cookout and live entertainment.
• PAWSD and the San Juan Water Conservancy District solidified their unwillingness to reach a compromise over the potential sale of the Running Iron Ranch at a June 30 joint work session.
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