Sheriff | The Silver World Newspaper

30 GOP Delegates to Assembly; Nominate County Candidates

by Schuyler Denham Hinsdale County Republican Party held its 2026 caucus and county assembly last Saturday, March 7, in Baptist Church Fellowship Hall on Bluff Street.Attendance was nearly 60 residents, including a handful of observers.County Party Chair Diane Bruce called the meeting to order at promptly 1 p.m. and business began after the Pledge of Allegiance and an invocation.In addition to Bruce, the other officers were Michael Murphy, Vice-Chair, and Wes Williams, the Secretary-Treasurer.The credentials committee recognized 50 attendees – those Republicans who had been registered at least 22 days in the precinct – as eligible to participate in the proceedings.Bruce acknowledged how Hinsdale County was simpler to run as it has only one precinct and, thus, one assembly; some counties have over 100. [While Hinsdale County has the fewest number of registered voters in the state, Mineral and San Juan counties have fewer Republicans than Hinsdale’s 292.]Following eligibility verification, delegates were elected to the Hinsdale County Assembly that……… Seven Delegates to Hinsdale County Dems’ Assembly Expressing varying degrees of dissatisfaction with the present national political situation, all seven registered Hinsdale County Democrats attending last Saturday afternoon’s Caucus were named Delegates to present platform resolutions and vote in the county party’s ensuing Assembly.Democrats with three observers, town mayoral candidate Jodi Linsey, New York college student Silas Fox remotely, and Jesse Kendall, were warmly greeted by returning party chairperson Jennifer Rightsell who wryly noted “It’s been an interesting year. Maybe the only way we’re going to get through this is with a good sense of humor.”Both Rightsell and returning party secretary Grant Houston were unanimously re-elected as Hinsdale Party Democratic Chairperson and Secretary for both the 31-minute Caucus and 10-minute Assembly which were held at Lake City Public Library.In addition to Rightsell and Houston, Becky Vickers, Mary Nettleton, Carol Robinson, Bill Stewart, and Henry Woods were selected as Assembly Delegates.Woods, a past Democratic county party chair, enthusiastically proposed two Hinsdale County…… READ BOTH ARTICLES IN FULL SUBSCRIBE!

March 12, 2026 No Comments

Busy Election Season Shaping Up in ‘26 for Town, County

New Year 2026 is shaping up as a busy year for elections in both the Town of Lake City and Hinsdale County, with Mayor Roberts and Trustee Jodi Linsey as contenders for the town’s mayoral position, and one Commissioner, Kristie Borchers, and a plethora of other county officers either retiring or seeking re-election.On the county slate, District 2 Commissioner Borchers was elected to her first four-year term in 2018, was re-elected in 2022, and has not yet announced whether she will seek a third consecutive term on the three-member county board with incumbents Greg Levine and Robert Hurd.Hinsdale County Sheriff Denim Starnes has served as sheriff since January last year when he was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of former sheriff Ron Bruce.Denim, who is registered as Unaffiliated, has not yet announced whether he will seek formal election to the sheriff’s post in November this year, although there are already two announced candidates for the position, former Hinsdale County Undersheriff Jordan Kaminski, a Republican, who registered as sheriff’s candidate with Colorado Secretary of State on December 4 last year.Also planning to run for Hinsdale County Sheriff as an Unaffiliated is Hinsdale County Deputy Daniel Strausbaugh who has served as deputy since June 1 last year.Strausbaugh’s formal announcement as sheriff candidate is printed elsewhere in this week’s issue.In addition to sheriff and one commissioner, also up for election this year are Hinsdale County Assessor Sherri Boyce and Hinsdale County Coroner Lori Lawrence, both of whom have announced they will not be seeking re-election.Boyce, whose husband, Brent Boyce, retired as head Gunnison County Electric lineman in Lake City last year, has served as assessor since 2022 when she filled the vacancy caused by the resignation of Luke de la Parra.Boyce says she is ready for retirement and credits a fine professional working relationship which has existed between herself and her deputy, Sarah Tubbs.Also now lined up for retirement after a “tough decision” is Hinsdale County Coroner Lori Lawrence who was first appointed taking the place of retiring corner Jerry Gray on November 30, 2022, and was elected to a two-year term in 2024. Lawrence notes that she has enjoyed the coroner’s position but that being “on call 24-7 really ties me down.”As of this week, no candidates have emerged as potential successor to either the county assessor or county coroner.Hinsdale County Clerk & Recorder Joan Roberts says she will seek another four-year term in this November’s general election.Roberts succeeded retiring county clerk Linda Pavich on December 30, 2017 and was Subscribe now to read the full story and much more!

January 23, 2026 No Comments

A Year That Built More Than Projects: Lake City & Hinsdale County in 2025

January 1, 2026 No Comments

Myriad of Topics Covered at Lively Town Meeting Dec. 17 Including Sheriff IGA, April Election, Short Term Rentals

The first topic on the agenda of the Town of Lake City Board of Trustees workshop December 17 was to continue an ongoing conversation about an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the Town and Hinsdale County Sheriff’s Office.Mayor Dave Roberts and trustees were presented with a revised draft of the IGA, which has undergone several revisions factoring in budget restraints, insurance, and information from other small towns comparable to Lake City, and how they make their Sheriff’s IGAs work for them.“The key to this is,” began Mayor Roberts, “we want law enforcement in our town, and we will have an IGA. The best way to explain this – when I was a trustee, when the Sheriff’s IGA would come up, it was just something we had to do, just renew it. No information, no thought put into it, really. What we’re trying to do is put together an agreement that makes sense. The old one was very strange and what we’re working on doing is putting together something that is fair between the Town and County. Nothing is set in stone yet. We’re just working on something that we can negotiate with that will be fair.”Roberts went on to say that it was suggested the Town Board compare Lake City to Silverton’s Sheriff IGA, since the towns are similar. “Their budget,” Roberts said, “is 8.3 million a year, and ours is 1.1 [million per year].”Roberts opened the floor to comments and asked Trustee Jodi Linsey to speak first. “I’m awful glad that we are not just rolling the same IGA over and over with no thought as to what it actually means in our world. From what I’m seeing [in this latest version] reflects a lot of the things that we have discussed in our workshops, so that’s good, and it’s time to lob it back to the County. Do we need to adopt an ordinance, or just give it a thumbs up?”Attorney Dan Krob, attending the meeting via Zoom, added “what we want to do is be on the same page as far as what we expect and what the County will expect. There will be hiring issues, that’s a statewide issue, and you guys being as remote as you are, it’s beautiful but that presents a challenge. So, we don’t want to put the Sheriff’s Office in a position to say, ‘we’ll give you fifty guys,’ when they can’t ever fulfill that.” Krob went on to say that the IGA should probably provide guidelines for what hours the Town expects the Sheriff to be working, and that a 3 percent increase in cost year upon year was fairly standard to other IGAs he has seen in other small towns. “But that’s completely up to you,” he said.Linsey replied with, “I think a set number of hours is going to be seen as unreasonable. The Sheriff’s Office will want to know how to track that; will there be timekeeping? I think it opens [the IGA] to issues rather than supplying answers.”Attorney Krob said, “Generally when I’ve seen these, there’s a breakdown that comes from the Sheriff’s Office that says ‘this is what our employees cost, this is what it costs to get them their vest or their car or whatever, and what we’re asking you [the Town] to pay, comes out to this amount of money.’ So I think it wouldn’t be out of line to ask the County – you [the Town] proposed $100,000 – what do we get for those services, what can we expect? I do think both sides want to work collaboratively, but I think both sides need to be on the same page as far as what is expected.”Town Manager Lex Mulhall said, “I do think [tracking] hours would be problematic and an administrative burden. As far as the cost, we had put in here $65,000, at a previous workshop someone mentioned $75,000, someone said that was too much, so we included a provision where if they provided a deputy for special events, that took place on town property, we would offer them additional compensations, they could charge us for that. I wanted your feedback on that. That way, also the non-profits wouldn’t have to hire their own security, which they had to do this year, at least for Wine and Music Festival.” Mulhall went on to say, “They [Hinsdale County] did provide additional information including dispatch fees; what’s expected for next year for just the dispatch fees it’s $69,317, plus a full-time deputy plus benefits plus overtime in the County Deputy Sherriff salary is $66,950. Undersheriff is $72,100. Also – the cost of the vehicles, which they just recently received two new Ford Expeditions, $71,500 each. I mention that because one of the other communities base the cost on one fully-equipped law enforcement vehicle. Then every three years, the cost of the IGA goes up based on a new vehicle being purchased and what the purchase price that year is for that vehicle. That is one of the ways we could approach this. If we did the three percent annual increase, and we paid the $100,548 they said they wanted next year, by 2035 we’re paying $131,193. It will keep going up more and more with that annual three percent increase, which is not really sustainable for us since our revenues aren’t going up three percent every year. Everyone’s cost goes up every year. Something that may be more manageable may be to [look at] the cost of the vehicle – $71,500 every three years, whatever it costs you to replace a vehicle, is what we pay – or something to that effect. Also in here, what was changed based on the conversation we had last time, was the insurance we changed to match some of the other IGAs that we’ve shown as examples, instead of us paying the liability insurance for a full-time police officer, which is another $8,700, we would just be adding them as additionally insured. $65,000 maybe a little

December 26, 2025 No Comments

County Commissioners Ponder Topics Ranging From Pass Access, Mt. Morris Lode Sale, All Hazards Team

by Jodi Linsey Hinsdale County Commissioners met for their third regular meeting of the month on Wednesday, October 29. Following are highlights on a wide-ranging topics during the open discussion portion of the workshop touching on subjects ranging from conditions on Cinnamon and Engineer Passes to PILT funding.Commissioner Robert Hurd led a discussion about two recent incidents involving out of state visitors getting stuck on top of Engineer Pass in a couple of feet of snow. Both of theses parties accessed the pass from the Animas Forks side. According to County Administrator Sandy Hines, the county has received calls and comments suggesting that the gates located on the pass roads that are closed and locked during winter months be locked now, although Hines pointed out that there are still hunters and recreationalists as well as property owners accessing the high country beyond the gates.Commissioner Kristie Borchers had multiple items to report, including upcoming sampling at the Ute-Ulay Mine complex that is owned by the county. She stated that during some routine clean-up, antique transformers were discovered in an overgrown area and that the Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) will conduct testing to determine if they pose an environmental danger.Borchers reported Hinsdale County Marketing Committee has received six proposals in response to its Request for Proposals (RFPs) for a one-year contract for a Marketing Consultant. Of those six proposals, there were two local people or companies, one with close local ties, one from Salida, Colorado, and two larger marketing companies. The RFP follows the declination of Kate Hopson to renew her contract with the Marketing Committee after her five-year tenure in that position.Catching up on housing news, Borchers spoke about the county’s commitment to the ongoing Affordable Housing Project by working to obtain a grant to pay for the hiring and two years’ salary of a Housing Coordinator. She will also pursue other funding sources to reduce the county’s costs for the project while obtaining buy-in from other local institutions.There was further discussion on topics from the potential loss of SNAP benefits for the 27 local families currently relying on them, to AlpineLoop.org, to the loss of highway cameras in Powderhorn and on Spring Creek Pass.The regular workshop agenda began with recent flooding in the Upper Piedra area in the South End of Hinsdale County, with County Emergency Manager Phil Graham reporting on the possibility of residents receiving State and Federal Emergency Funds. In the following regular meeting, the Commissioners ratified the Emergency Declaration that was verbally declared by the County Administrator on Monday, October 20.Next on the agenda was discussion about Emergency Medical Services Director Katherine Heidt’s employment contract, with some minor changes in language approved by county attorney Michael O’Laughlin and yearly compensation of $75,600. In the following meeting they unanimously approved the contract.Brad Jones has been nominated by Sheriff Denim Starnes to be Hinsdale County’s official alternate to sit on the Gunnison Hinsdale Combined Emergency Telephone Service Authority (GHCETSA), which is the authority regulating the 911 system in the local jurisdiction. The Commissioners readily approved Jones for this position in the following meeting.The Commissioners next took up the matter of the finalization of the sale of Lot 2 of the Mt. Morris Lode Subdivision to Josh Gray following a prolonged process including a title search to determine the surrender of the property for unpaid taxes in the 1920s. The Commissioners decided to then create a subdivision in order to protect a corner of the property that contains a short length of the popular walking trail along Henson Creek. The requirement for a Special Use Permit also complicated the timeline as the buyer, Josh Gray, first inquired about the property and is still planning on building a campground of yurts.Phil Graham was back in front of the Commissioners to discuss the Natural Disaster Mitigation Enterprise Grant contract, which is a small grant that helps fund the Hinsdale County wood chipping program, an integral part of the local wildfire mitigation program. This was easily approved in the following meeting.There followed a lively discussion about the possibility of expanding the number of participants that the county can manage from the current cap of 60 to 80 employees in the All Hazard Team Program. Following delayed state reimbursed for salary and benefit costs of the employees, the county came close to dropping the program altogether but have since worked with the state to remedy the situation. The Commissioners agreed to the increased employment ceiling during their regular meeting.The final workshop agenda item discussed by the Commissioners was an opportunity for a JAG grant to pay for integral security infrastructure for the Sheriff’s Dept in the new County Administration Building. This agenda item was approved in the following meeting.Following a break in the action between the workshop and the regular meeting, the Commissioners opened bids for the 2026 propane service contract. Out of the three bids received, the one receiving the winning vote was submitted by JC Propane, with a price of $1.59 per gallon for 10,000 gallons for Hinsdale County and an added benefit of $1.99 per gallon for Hinsdale County employees.Other than the business that was introduced in the workshop and subsequently dealt with in the regular meeting, Commissioners reconvened at 1 p.m. to discuss the concessionaire fees at Deer Lakes Day Use Area. Betsy Bair of Senator Jeff Hurd’s office explained that both the county and the Senator’s offices have received complaints concerning the implementation of user fees at Deer Lakes. Following critical repairs that were paid for by U.S. Forest Service, management of the area was given to concessionaire, Recreation Resource Management, which also manages Williams Creek Campground above Lake San Cristobal. The management company has imposed new fees including a camping fee, a day use fee, and a new impact fee.There will be another meeting in January with Senator Hurd’s office which, in the interim, will attempt to negotiate changes in the fee schedule to allow for moose viewing and fishing without extra fees.

November 7, 2025 No Comments

Navy Reserve Veteran Strausbaugh Cites Resilience, Determination as New Deputy

As a student in law-enforcement academy, Strausbaugh described himself as “active”.
“I was challenging things, asking clarifying questions. There were quite a few times when things weren’t, in my opinion, clearly articulated and I’m thinking, ‘that’s pretty freaking important’, because that lack of clarity leads to the miscommunication leads to someone’s Fourth Amendment rights being trampled on.”

July 18, 2025 No Comments

Snow Showers, Elevated Spirits at Long-Awaited Groundbreaking…

After decades of discussion and faltered plans, Hinsdale County Commissioners, staff, and Sheriff’s Office personnel have broken ground on the 6,000-square foot Operations Building which is being built directly south of Hinsdale County Courthouse at the corner of 4th and Henson Street.Ground breaking in advance of this week’s start of work by contractor Buildings-by-Design and excavation subcontractor — additional photos, page 5— took place last Tuesday afternoon, May 7, with commemorative hardhats and diminutive gold-painted shovels in the midst of a spring snow shower.Pictured left to right are County Finance Officer Lynn McNitt, Administrative Assistant Davee Menzies, County Administrator Sandy Hines, Building Official Gabe McNeese, Dana Hlavac on behalf of Colorado Department of Local Affairs, Hinsdale Commissioners Robert Hurd, Greg Levine and Kristie Borchers, Hinsdale Sheriff’s Department Administrative Assistant Bobbi Vickers McDonald, and Hinsdale County Sheriff Denim Starnes. Cole Zwesler, a travel tech working with Montrose-based Alpine Archaeology — standing, far left — is monitoring subsurface excavations at the site of the new County Operations Building on Henson Street.Zwesler is keeping an eye out for remnants of the old county jail building which burned in 1946 — pictured below left at the site location from a 1902 Sanborn Insurance Map — together with another now vanished frame building at the site, identified below as an assay office, which was originally occupied as a library started by Rev. George Darley in 1877, and later briefly used as a hospital.

May 15, 2025 No Comments

Homecoming April 26 for Local Man Critically Injured in Hit-and-Run Accident

Saturday, April 26 will be a joyous day in Lake City, as Shad Barlow returns to town after a lengthy stint in a Craig, Colorado, rehabilitation center.52-year-old Barlow was struck by a vehicle January 24 on Gunnison Avenue and suffered fractures to his ribs, vertebrae and left arm, and was left unconscious in sub-zero temperatures, leaving him with severe frostbite.Barlow was thus rendered paralyzed and will need to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life, and it was uncertain whether he would be able to return to Lake City to live with his mother, Phyllis Bairrington. But Lake City being the amazing community that it is, local contractors volunteered their time, skills and materials to make renovations to Bairrington’s home so that it is now wheelchair-accessible.The community will be celebrating Barlow’s return to town on Saturday – time still to be determined, but expected to be late afternoon – with a welcome home celebration. Sheriff Starnes will be waiting outside of town for the approach of the vehicle and will lead the cavalcade into Lake City. Those wishing to attend the event are encouraged to follow updates regarding the time on Facebook’s Lake City Locals and Friends page.There will a multitude of ballons and yellow ribbons tied around trees, WORLD has been informed by Barlow’s former landlord, Tammy Nekoba. Residents are also encouraged to make welcome home posters, and a poster-making party will be held today – Friday, April 25 at the Arts Center from noon until 5:00 p.m. Folks are encouraged to bring their own materials, but the Arts Center does have some supplies as well.

April 24, 2025 No Comments

Town Passes OHV Ordinance for Hours of Operation, Spark Arrestors, Fines

Town of Lake City Board of Trustees and Mayor Dave Roberts met with Sheriff Denim Starnes and Deputy Jim Hunsicker during the March 19 regular workshop and meeting to discuss Town OHV regulations and the OHV year-end report. The annual report is generated through input collected from Hinsdale County Finance Director Lynn McNitt, Mayor Roberts, Sheriff Starnes, Captain James Saunders with Colorado State Patrol, Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Traffic and Safety Program Manager Zane Znamenacek and CDOT Regional Operator RE Hall.The report, which is required by CDOT’s Special Use Permit, is submitted at the end of each season to communicate concerns or issues that occurred.The report states: Following the end of the 2024 summer season, concerns were communicated to the County and Town that the new start date had adversely affected local business. The County Commissioners and Town Trustees discussed changing the start date for 2025, which would require a new request for an updated Special Use Permit from CDOT. Eventually it was determined to wait until the end of the current 2024-2025 permit. Both the Town and County boards will meet to discuss the possibility of requesting a new permit to continue the OHV Highway program in 2026 and beyond.Other than a few exceptions, each contributing participant named above had relatively the same sentiments to relate, summed up by Saunders as, “Everything else was usual. Nothing to report. That’s good news.”Sheriff Starnes stated that along with Colorado Parks and Wildlife Officer Lucas Martin, reporting approximately 150 total contacts were made with OHV drivers on Highway 149. Of those 150 contacts, approximately seven percent resulted in citations.At the March 19 meeting, Mayor Roberts reiterated that in the end of year report, he had “nothing new to add following the 2024 season.” His biggest complaint, within the report, he said, was that the program timeline was shortened and that “a lot of businesses didn’t like that. A lot of people in town would like to see the program go back to the original start date (Memorial Day).”Trustee Bruce said, “So we haven’t had any incidents. Again.” Bruce referenced the data that Lucas Martin contributed to the report, saying, “so when he says 150 total contacts, with seven percent being issued citations – I would be curious to know what the contacts were for. Moving violations, equipment issue – or whatever – I think that could help us.”Mayor Roberts said, “as we all know, we have been working with the town in regards to the OHV program, to make it as palatable as we can for the town citizenry. The Commissioners discussed it this morning, we’ve discussed it a couple of times, we were working on that ordinance to see what we can do, and the three major factors that came up: the amount of the fines; the county wants to raise the helmet fine to $300 for 18 and under. Then, mufflers and spark arrestors – so, noise, and hours of operation.”Bruce said, “they (Hinsdale County) were going to follow us on the hours of operation and we were going to follow them on the fines.”Roberts, speaking to Starnes, said, “I requested that the Sheriff be here because he’s part of this and as we do what we do, I’m interested in your feedback.” Starnes replied, “happy to give it. What are the proposed hours of operation?”Roberts replied, “we’ve been discussing 6 a.m. until 9 p.m.”“What if someone comes off the loop at midnight, or if they have a flat tire?” asked Starnes.Trustee Bruce said, “well, you have discretion, and that would be an exception.”Town Manager Lex Mulhall stated that the other timeframe being considered was 6 a.m. until 11 p.m., and Starnes replied that he felt those times would be more reasonable.Trustee Bruce said she had spoken with some homeowners who lived along the highway, who were not necessarily in favor of OHVs, proposing a 6 a.m. start time until a 10 p.m. end time, and she reported that this idea was favorable, as it gives the noise an eight-hour break. Mayor Roberts agreed, saying, “[we know] not everyone is going to comply. What we’re doing is asking the citizens what they prefer, then we can publish that for all the visitors and guests, saying this is what the town wants. But also, let me back up a step – the newspaper kind of put me out of context – in one of our meetings, I made a comment and I was talking about the stereos [not mufflers, as reported] and how I heard them coming down Crooke’s Hill, and as I read our existing ordinance, that’s in there already. I don’t see you guys [Sheriff’s Office] chasing down every loud stereo.”Starnes interjected to say, “I’ve chased down a few.”Further, Starnes said he would like to share an example from last summer,..(continued) Missing the Whole Story? Click the button below to subscribe! You can receive the weekly publication of The Lake City Silver World to your inbox or front door!

March 28, 2025 No Comments

Deputy Sarah Poet Resigns Sheriff’s Post Effective March 5

Sheriff’s Deputy Sarah Poet, one of the prime investigators on the January 24 vehicular hit and run case, resigned her post effective March 5, 2025. Poet began the academy application process in the fall of 2022, beginning classes in January, 2023. Once her training was completed, she was sworn in to the Hinsdale County Sheriff’s Office June 11, 2023, hired on by former Sheriff Chris Kambish. WORLD spoke with Poet this week, inquiring into her future plans, and she said she plans to remain in Lake City and return to work at The Country Store.“I really miss the people I got to see everyday at the store,” she said. When asked what she liked most about working in law enforcement, she said, “it was an amazing opportunity and I learned a lot. The law enforcement community is the most supportive community of people I’ve ever experienced. No matter what position or rank someone is – Sargeant, Captain, Lieutenant, Sheriff – it doesn’t matter, everyone is so supportive and always has each other’s best interest and success in mind. That was amazing.” With the vacancy Poet’s departure will create, Sheriff Denim Starnes is on the lookout for suitable sheriff’s deputies and has recently been interviewing new recruits.

March 7, 2025 No Comments

Tag: Sheriff