If you think this week’s regular season finale has a playoff feel to it, you’re not alone. No. 1-ranked Buena Vista (4-0) travels to No. 3 Estes Park (4-1) for a noon kickoff Saturday.

The weirdness of spring football and its necessitated cozy scheduling suddenly has a sense of electricity, the kind urgency brings – an urgency borne of playoff seedings on the line.

Vaccinations have been an important aspect of community-wide public health efforts to guard against many types of communicable disease, long before the focus was on COVID-19.

The Bureau of Land Management Royal Gorge Field Office opened a public input period Tuesday on the subject of dispersed camping in BLM-managed lands in Chaffee County.

“As long as everything kind of stays status-quo,” said Collegiate Peaks Stampede Rodeo committee president Jan Johnson, the plans are on to host the 100th rodeo in Buena Vista June 12-13.

The annual Chaffee County League of Women Voters geranium sale will to begin at 8 a.m., Monday, May 10 on the league’s website at www.lwvchaffeecounty.org

Colorado Mountain College will host its fifth sustainability conference from 9 a.m. to noon, April 23. Presented by the Bachelor of Arts in Sustainability Studies program, “Envision Sustainability 2021,” will be accessible through Zoom across CMC’s district and beyond.

While the devolved dial still exists for guidance, the new state public health order issued April 16 allows counties to implement their own regulations at the local level while maintaining limited requirements across the state.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Colorado Joint Vaccine Task Force recently paused the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

The interruption was due to reports of blood clots and low platelets in six Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients in the United States. The exact cause of the condition and whether it is related to the vaccine is unknown.

This photo shows a Buena Vista Fire Department hose cart team. 

It was donated to BV Heritage by Frankie Hankins and had belonged to Harvey Mear originally.

Choose Life Toymakers would not exist without the inspiration and expertise of Bill Distel.

Beginning this weekend, Buena Vista High School’s Trident Theatre Company debuts their first musical on the stage of the new flex commons: The mythical, tropical “Once on this Island.”

Clear Creek may have watched game film of the 4-0 Demons and decided they weren’t going to be the third team in a row tackled for a loss on the first play from scrimmage.

After surviving the opening kickoff fumble caused by Haden Camp’s hit, the Golddiggers (0-4) came out throwing. They could have tried running.

GARNA executive director Dominique Naccarato will host an hour-long Zoom lecture from 7-8 p.m., April 15 about birding, an exciting way you can interact with nature anytime and anywhere.

Buena Vista won its first volleyball match of the spring season with a 3-match victory over South Park April 1.

The Greater Arkansas River Nature Association and Arkansas River Watershed Collaborative lead forester Andy Lerch will lead an interpretive hike through areas just above Monarch Park, where ARWC and the US Forest Service have worked to mitigate fire danger.

Chaffee County Family & Youth Initiatives and partners are hosting a community art display event with prizes to bring awareness to Child Abuse Prevention Month in April.

Salida Police Chief Russ Johnson said Tuesday there have been no new leads in the disappearance of Nathan Schwartz.

The 22-year-old Eaton man was last seen Feb. 22, according to family members. His car, a black 1999 Toyota Rav4, was found in Salida March 2, parked on F street between 13th and 14th streets.

Chaffee County Public Health reported Thursday that to date 52.4 percent of Chaffee County’s population has received at least a first dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

Today a drive-through vaccination clinic will be held from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Chaffee County Fairgrounds with the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, newly received by public health.

The depot in Nathrop served both the Denver and Rio Grande and the Denver South Park and Pacific. 

Chaffee Arts is proud to announce the 2021 Evelyn Gottschall Baker Emerging Artist Grant award winners Jade Baron and Loriana Cassidy of Just Adventure Art.

The Alliance will commemorate Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April with several events designed to both empower survivors of sexual violence as well as raise awareness.

It’s spring cleaning time and the Buena Vista Parks and Recreation department is celebrating with a neighborhood clean-up day Sunday, April 25.

For the third week in a row, Buena Vista schools reported no cases in superintendent Lisa Yates’s Monday update.

Experience and height paid off for visiting county rival Salida March 31 and the Lady Demons fell 25-17, 25-21, 25-23.

The Collegiate Peaks Chapter of Trout Unlimited and GARNA are teaming up with Buena Vista Recreation for another year of Stream Explorers to connect youth to the river in their backyard.

Chaffee County Early Childhood Council sponsors a monthly virtual Conscious Discipline Parent night with Amy Speidel from 7-8 p.m., the second Thursday of the month.

Elena Dunn, a junior at Buena Vista High School, was selected for the Colorado All-State Concert Band for the second year in a row in 2021, as well as the Colorado All-State Choir and the University of Colorado Honor Band.

Dunn, who plays clarinet in the BVHS Concert band, was the only student to audition for the All State Concert Band or choir.

Last year, the first year that she was eligible, Dunn also qualified for the Colorado All-State Concert Band, along with Molly McMurry.

Dunn’s band teacher, Marti Bott, said that “only a very small percentage of the students accepted into this band were from small schools.”

Like last year, the bands weren’t actually able to perform together due to COVID-19, but Dunn was able to reap the rewards of master classes at University of Northern Colorado and the University of Colorado.

Dunn expected that the bands would not meet in person, but that didn’t discourage her from auditioning. She said she would like to pursue a career in music after “music production, or music therapy,” Dunn said.

Before I shut my plate glass eyes

The Chaffee County Community Foundation announced the launch of ChaffeeCOMMONS, or Chaffee Common Services – an innovative back-of-house supports program for local nonprofits.

Buena Vista sidestepped losing a fumble at midfield on the fourth play from scrimmage and routed Roaring Fork 46-0 at home Saturday.

Snow in the mountains, sun in the valley and spring break have combined to inspire legions of people to visit Buena Vista recently. And while business owners and their staff members rejoice as visitor dollars help make up for a difficult year, the surge in tourism also brings challenges for the town’s trail network.

One, near the Tunnels north of Buena Vista has been vandalized. Fourmile volunteer Alan Robinson discovered the damage to the sign, as well as damage to the newly built Bureau of Land Management restrooms at the CR375 parking area.

As of March 30