The Bailey Outdoor Education and Recreation Area is more popular today than ever before, and the result is a resounding win-win scenario for the entire community.

At the beginning of October, the Park County commissioners were hoping to apply for the least restrictive of Colorado’s five levels of COVID response and protection.

It is called “Protect Our Neighbors,” level green, and allows for larger numbers in group gatherings outdoors as well as indoors.  

Instead of being able to go to PON as anticipated a month ago, the county moved up from Level Blue Cautious to safer at home, Level Yellow Concern on Nov. 16.

There has been a considerable amount of discussion in political circles over the last few days regarding what constitutes a mandate for winners of electoral races.

According to Wikipedia, a mandate in politics is “the authority granted by a constituency to act as its representative. The concept of a government having a legitimate mandate to govern via the fair winning of a democratic election is a central idea of representative democracy.”

Judging by the scene at voting locations accross Park County on Nov. 3, one might be misled into thinking there was very little interest at all in this year’s elections.

The Flume is proud to be a part of Red, White & Bailey, whereby American flags are provided to local businesses and proudly flown year-round.

In 1974, the Park County Sheriff’s Office was at a loss to identify a man found dead off County Road 62 near Grant, Colo. His body was discovered by hikers, and was situated at the base of a towering rock formation on the south side of Guanella Pass.

No clues were ever found at the scene to assist in identifying the man, but fingerprints and dental records were obtained as part of an autopsy. That information failed to match with regional missing persons cases, so newspapers, including The Flume, published articles about the discovery in hopes of drumming up leads.

Park County residents are prepared for wind, dust, snow, fires, gravel, potholes, hail and more when they travel in the county. Few are prepared for an airplane landing unexpectedly on a gravel road. 

When Rey Ortiz, Hartsel resident and former Army aircraft mechanic, left his home Oct. 7, he did not expect that shortly thereafter he would see a small airplane land right in front of his truck, but that is exactly what happened. 

Just driving by South Park Senior’s, Inc. in Fairplay, one might never imagine the magnitude of the work that occurs there on a daily basis. 

The Flume is pleased to announce that it will be serving as the moderating party for an Oct. 6 public debate between District 2 Park County Commissioner Richard Elsner and challenger Richie Frangiosa.

The debate will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Canyon Room at Platte Canyon High School.

The format for the debate will consist of introductions by both the incumbent and challenger, followed by questions pertaining to a variety of issues central to Park County and its residents. 

From an economic perspective, it’s nice to know that Park County’s only medical facility, South Park Healthcare in Fairplay, is adding staff members and expanding services.

The search for Suzanne Morphew took a new dimension today with volunteers joining in an effort to find the Maysville woman missing since May 10.

“We kept getting reports of trash being strewn all over Fairplay Beach,” said Fairplay Mayor Frank Just. “It had the look of vandalism so we assumed it a group of kids or something.”

Fitzsimmons Middle School Huskies competed in the Husky Invitational Saturday Aug. 29. The meet was held at the Rosalie Property.

With a speedy response, the Southern Park County Fire Protection District kept two lightning strike fires near the mica mine southeast of Guffey contained to a small area without spreading Aug. 21.

A good time was had by all who participated in the Second Annual Nate Carrigan Scholarship Fund Golf Tournament Aug. 13 at Collegiate Peaks Golf Course in Buena Vista.

It’s been said that life is not a destination with an end, but a path down which we continue to journey as long as we can breathe.

The pace was slow and the road was long, but Marvin Sandoval and his burro Buttercup braved steady rainfall and stiff competition to defend their title in the 72nd Annual World Championship Pack Burro Long Course Race Saturday in Fairplay.

The Long Course was lengethened to a staggering 31.8 miles this year, making it the the longest pack burro race in the history of the sport.