While many business owners hesitate to expand during a period of high unemployment and tight lending regulations, Steve and Kevin Reimer move ahead in downtown Grand Junction. The owners of the Main Street Suites and Hampton Inn expect to open a third hotel in the same block by late June. The new, five-floor hotel at […]
Efforts are under way to hire executive directors at both the Fruita and Palisade chambers of commerce following changes in leadership at the two business organizations. In Fruita, the president of the chamber board of directors says executive director Mary Lou Wilson resigned in February after the board discussed a no-drinking policy for chamber staff […]
It was nearly a year ago an effort to address senior issues in Mesa County reached a crossroads. Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland joined former county commissioner and state senator Tillie Bishop to solicit comments about a proposed GOLD initiative — an acronym for Growing Older … Leading the Direction. Rowland led the charge to […]
Many issues facing seniors are tied to the economic times. One trend that’s escalated over the past five years is that of an extended family under one roof. More seniors have moved in with family members, possibly due to the ripple effects of a downturn in the natural gas business and other effects of the […]
Uncertainty in the market adds to the funk the United States experiences as it trudges through a slowly recovering economy. The situation is difficult enough for people who’ve lost jobs or seen paychecks stagnate in recent years. But for seniors depending on pensions, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, uncertainty can be downright scary. “It’s the […]
Over time, businesses develop new and better ways to connect with customers. The business of senior care is no exception, and managers at Family Health West in Fruita say they’ve instituted recent changes to focus even more on the needs of their clients. At the long-term skilled care facility, seniors now exercise more control over […]
Seniors sometimes need temporary housing, whether to recuperate from surgery or illness or give caretakers at home a break. That’s where the Commons of Hilltop in Grand Junction can help. A place that’s already home to many seniors now offers hotel-like accommodations. Ten guest rooms have been set up as furnished apartments. The Commons also […]
The opening of the Fruita Community Center marked the culmination of years of planning — as well as contention that resulted at one point in a tie vote over whether or not to increase the municipal sales tax rate to fund the facility. Voters finally approved a 1 percent sales tax hike in the spring […]
“In the West, when you touch water, you touch everything.” — Wayne Aspinall, congressman from Colorado, 1949 to 1973 “Water: We have it, the Front Range wants it.” — oft-mentioned phrase by residents of Western Colorado Wayne Aspinall, one of the leaders in efforts to dam and store river water in the West, offered sage […]
Water wars are as infamous as battles between sheep and cattle ranchers in Western Colorado lore. But while opponents in livestock conflicts rarely resort to fisticuffs any more, negotiations over water rights can still come close to resembling old-fashioned street fights. Water companies in the Grand Valley have a different tale to tell, though. The […]