November 17 Newscast ~ Rio Blanco County News #31

The Rio Blanco County Historical society and Bureau of Land Management White River Field office are seeking stories, photocopies, or archival information about the Yellow Creek Schoolhouse to help complete the historical record. If you’d like to contribute or just want to learn more about the historic structure on state highway 64 between Meeker and Rangely, contact Teresa Reed. During a special board of health meeting with county commissioners Tuesday, Public Health Director Alice Harvey said a change in behavior was needed, recommended strong action, and asked the board to use messaging in support of mask wearing, limited gatherings and minimizing social activity. Dr. Albert Krueger from Pioneers Medical center spoke in support of public health recommendations, and repeated the call for mask wearing, hand-washing and social distancing measures to curb the spread of the virus. Dr. Krueger also submitted a letter to the editor this week titled, “Is this the season to love your neighbor as yourself?” Rio Blanco county has reported its first death due to complications from the virus. The individual was a resident of the Wallbridge Wing in Meeker, but will not be identified for privacy reasons. As of Friday Meeker had 39 active cases, Rangely had five. More on that story is also online. And in even more COVID related news, the Meeker Rec Center closed Tuesday due to an outbreak of COVID-19 among district staff members. Although the term outbreak may sound scary, its actually just a technical definition. The state of Colorado’s public health guidance on preventing workplace outbreaks defines an outbreak as “two or more people who are confirmed cases of COVID-19 in a workplace/facility, with onset within 14 days.” Rec District staff also shared updates virtually this week with its board of directors about the lap pool leak. Though surface cracks were identified as a likely cause of the leak early on, additional detection work has confirmed leaking water was actually coming from the pool’s main fill line. Page