Western Slope Community Fighting Energy Development in Its Backyard

By Matt Kroschel


Paonia, CO - There was a shortage of chairs in the Paonia Junior High School gymnasium Wednesday evening as hundreds of residents packed inside to learn more about the possibility of their rural community turning into an oil and gas drilling hub. The Bureau of Land Management is considering leasing 30,000 acres to oil and natural gas development. The proposal surrounds towns in the North Fork Valley.

Two separate local environmental groups have teamed up to get information about the proposal in Delta County. Their work seems to be paying off. At several meetings, there have been hundreds of people showing up, signing petitions and writing letters to the BLM asking them to deny the lease proposal.

Under regulations, the oil and natural gas company who nominated the area does not have be identified, and the BLM has extended the public comment period until February 9th.

“This could spell disaster for my organic farm. I am not going to let this happen. Our water comes from these hills, and that is exactly where they want to develop,” organic farmer Michael McCarthy told NewsChannel 5 from his farm Wednesday.

For Paonia mayor Neal Schwiterman, the concerns over water do not stop with local farmers. “One of the parcels comes right up next to city limits. Two of our drinking water wells are inside the area. We are concerned,” Schwiterman said.

For more information about specific parcels, click here.

To email your comments directly to the BLM at co_ufo_leasing@blm.gov.

There will be another community meeting Thursday evening Crawford Town Hall.         

Dog Ice Rescue Caught on Camera

By Matt Kroschel

 A yellow lab ventured a little to far onto the ice at West Lake Park in Grand Junction Wednesday afternoon, falling through the thin ice and becoming trapped.

Despite the dog owner's attempts, he could not get the dog out of the ice. Grand Junction Fire and Rescue teams responded with wet suits. They were able to get into the lake and break the ice, and rescue the dog.

Man Sentenced For Running Down 4 People At Cactus Canyon

by Matt Kroschel

Grand Junction- The man who ran down four people at the country and western bar, Cactus Canyon, was sentenced Tuesday after hours of family testimony.

Robert Helwig was sentenced to 14 years in the department of corrections and five years mandatory parole. Helwig plead guilty as part of a plea deal. He has already served one and a half years. Helwig was originally charged with four counts of first degree attempted murder, as well as first degree and second degree assault, but under the plea deal the maximum sentence for this type of crime was 16 years.

Helwig is accused of running over four men in the parking lot of Cactus Canyon in July. All four had to be hospitalized with serious injuries.

Family members of the victims spoke out at the sentencing hearing and asked the judge for the maximum sentence. Helwig's mother and father spoke and blamed the tragic incident on alcohol and described their son as a man with a golden heart who would give any one the shirt off of his back if they needed it.

The judge said he did not believe Helwig was "evil" but did think he is responsible for running down the four men out front of the bar.

One Man's Mission To Keep Kids Fed On The Weekends

December 'People You Can Count On' Recipient

by Matt Kroschel

Grand Junction- This month NewsChannel Five and Sky Ute Casino honor Kids Aid Backpack program founder Mike Berry as our People You Can Count December winner.

Berry started Kids Aid several years ago and now the program serves thousands of school-aged children with food for the weekends in District 51 schools.

To learn more about the program and Berry CLICK HERE

Protecting Your Online Reputation Is No Easy Task

by Matt Kroschel

Grand Junction- Word of mouth has gone high tech, now anyone can say just about anything about you or your business online.

"It slander and its frustrating when people can just say what they want and there is no way to hold them accountable," Kannah Creek owner Eric Ross told NewsChannel Five.

There are hundreds of websites devoted to giving people a virtual soap box to spew anything they like and don't like online, and once it hits the web it is hard to erase.

Ross spends a lot of time at work surfing the web looking at comments, and does what he can to respond to the negative ones, but that is hard because most people post as anonymous.

"This is a huge problem, people can hide behind their key boards and say anything," Online reputation manager Dan O'Connor said.

O'Connor's Grand Junction based business is booming as they fight back against negative and in many cases fabricated lies on the web that can ruin a business's reputation.

"We have a point by point system to help clean up a person's image online and present a more complete picture, it only takes one or two bad comments or reviews to ruin a business," O'Connor said.

For more information about NikeMedia and how you can clean-up your online reputation Click Here

Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Sued, Legal Battle Brewing

Voter Privacy vs. Public Open Records Request at Center of Heated Issue

by Matt Kroschel

Mesa County - The Mesa County Clerk and Recorder is being sued, and some people believe the outcome could have a huge effect on the 2012 general election.

Aspen resident Marilyn Marks is leading a statewide attack on county elections officials, including her lawsuit against the top Mesa County elections official. Her group claims the way things are set up right now is unconstitutional and could give anyone the chance to know how you voted on county elections.

Marks has requested copies of all of Mesa County's paper ballots, but because of the current system in place, clerk and recorder Sheila Reiner denied that request. Reiner told NewsChannel 5 if she does release the ballots under the open records request, there is a chance someone's personal private vote could be seen.

The issue is going to go before a district judge with a court date set for April. Several Mesa County residents have contacted us with concerns about the voter privacy.

University Students Discover Human Remains, Investigation Underway

EXCLUSIVE: Sheriff Officials Say "Investigation Could Take Months Or Even Years"

By Matt Kroschel



Grand Junction- Students with Colorado Mesa University stumble across the "discovery of a lifetime" while working on a class project, and now investigators are trying to find out how a human skull and other bones ended up on the Uncompahgre Plateau, and who they belong too.

The case is open and Sheriff Spokeswoman Heather Benjamin told NewsChannel Five finding out just what happened to this person may take months or even years.

This whole thing began in early October when a group of environmental fire students from CMU were up along Divide Road. They were working a few hundred yards off the path when they found the skull. They contacted sheriff investigators who began their investigation.

Then a few weeks later, those same students found a jaw in the same exact area. All of the bones have been turned over to sheriff's office. But for the group of students and their professor who made this grizzly discovery this mystery has been something they never could have imagined happening.

We will continue to follow this story and bring you the latest in the case.