A new school year already is underway at Caprock Academy, a Grand Junction charter school that instructs students from kindergarten through 11th grade. With the planned addition of 12th grade in 2012, Caprock soon will provide the only K-12 campus in the Grand Valley. Students showed up July 25 for the first day of classes, […]
Mesa State College made a big splash when it announced a name change designed to better reflect the location of the largest college in Western Colorado. Starting Aug. 10, Mesa State College officially will become Colorado Mesa University. While not all signs and logos will be in place by that time, the college had already […]
Business and educational leaders worked for more than a year on plans to help Mesa County School District 51 offer what they touted could become a world- class education. The effort spurred an initiative to recruit 500 volunteers to help tutor elementary school students an hour a week. At the same time, School District 51 […]
While there are indications the Mesa County economy is improving, some local business leaders worry the more optimistic outlook could offer a false hope that leaves businesses unprepared for a potential slide. “Retail sales of tires and automotive services are flat with 2010,” says Kevin Brooks, chief executive officer of Big O Tires in Western […]
Charter schools. Magnet schools. Home schools. Alternatives to traditional public classrooms are plentiful these days. And in an age when schools integrate technology into instruction, technology itself becomes yet another option for students and parents. Enter K12, one of many national companies offering parents the option of teaching their children at home with the aid […]
The head of the Grand Junction office of the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority is the latest high-profile director to announce a resignation this year. Scott Aker will leave to become deputy director of the Mesa County Department of Human Services. Aker joins Tim Sarmo, Palisade town administrator; Ann Driggers, president and chief executive officer […]
A Grand Junction college professor has earned a second Fulbright Scholar Award, this time to teach entrepreneurship in Denmark. Tim Hatten, a business professor at what soon will become Colorado Mesa University, expects to teach at the Niels Brock Copenhagen Business College during the 2011-2012 academic year. Hatten plans to teach courses in entrepreneurship, counsel […]
A monthly measure of consumer confidence increased in July as more upbeat expectations for the near future outweighed less favorable assessments of current business and labor conditions. The Conference Board reported that its Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) rose nearly two points to 59.5. “Consumer confidence posted a modest gain in July, the result of an […]
When Chantal Unfug talks about building bridges in her new role as Mesa County administrator, she speaking both literally and metaphorically. One of the responsibilities of county government is to build and maintain roads and bridges to ensure safe and efficient transportation, Unfug said. At the same time, Unfug believes its her responsibility to build […]
While the unemployment rate moves higher in Mesa County, a combination of a shrinking work force and increasing labor demand has actually made it more difficult for some employers to fill job openings. According to the latest estimates from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE), the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate in Mesa County […]