Stories in this list received the most page views on SummitDaily.com from Dec. 14 to Dec. 20.
Breckenridge officials recently received refreshed insights into resident sentiment with a new focus on a certain stakeholder group: second-home owners.
The Breckenridge Tourism Office presented Breckenridge Town Council with preliminary results for a resident sentiment survey that focused on aspects like quality of life and attitudes toward tourism at a Tuesday, Dec. 9, meeting.
Breckenridge Tourism Office director of operations Bill Wishowski said the office hired Future Partners to conduct the survey. Final results will be presented in January.
— Kit Geary
Newspaper editors grow accustomed to breaking news occurring at any moment. From late night car crashes to major announcements, newspaper reporters and editors have to be ready to spring into action at all hours of the day and night.
On Saturday, Dec. 14, 1985, Summit Sentinel reporter and editor Brad Johnson was enjoying his Saturday afternoon at a friend’s house in Dillon before he received an urgent call from the advertising manager of the paper.
Although Johnson wasn’t in the newsroom that day, the advertising manager was — and what he heard over the police scanner quickly changed Johnson’s plans for the rest of the day.
“He was at the office, and he heard the traffic on the scanner,” Johnson said. “He called and explained that he did not know what was going on but that I needed to get to Keystone because they were calling every emergency agency in the county over there.”
Johnson wasted no time in getting to Keystone, charging into the marketing office at the resort and attempting to get a handle on what was developing. With little to no knowledge of the basis of the emergency, Johnson reportedly pressed staff at Keystone for information, but he was unable to learn any concrete details at the time.
— Cody Jones
3. How hard was the wind blowing in Colorado’s mountains Wednesday night?
High winds pummeled Colorado’s mountains Wednesday evening, causing howling gusts and power outages in some parts of the state.
Just how fast was the wind whipping though? On top of one mountain, gusts reached nearly 100 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
In Steamboat Springs, wind on top of Mt. Werner, or Steamboat Resort, hit 65 mph around 9 p.m. The winds were moving at 40 mph or more for about five hours between 5:30-10:30 p.m.
— Shelby Valicenti
4. High winds warning issued for Summit County says ‘widespread power outages are expected’
West winds are expected to hover between 30-50 mph, with gusts up to and exceeding 90 mph from 8 a.m. Wednesday to 5 a.m. Thursday, according to a high wind warning issued by the National Weather Service.
The alert urges folks to secure loose objects that could be blown around or damaged by the wind.
“Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are expected,” the warning states. “Travel will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles.
— Summit Daily News staff
5. Summit Middle School student arrested, charged with assault after on-campus incident
The Summit County Sheriff’s Office confirmed deputies arrested one juvenile after an altercation between two juveniles Thursday, Dec. 18, at Summit Middle School.
Summit Middle School staff sent parents an email Thursday evening, informing them of an “incident involving students” that happened that day on the middle school’s campus. Summit County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Mike Schilling said the altercation happened around noon and involved a dispute between two students that led to an assault with a pocket knife.
The school resource officer was on-campus and responded with school staff. Deputies investigated and established probable cause to arrest the juvenile suspect, Schilling said, before transporting them to a youth services center in Jefferson County.
— Kyle McCabe