The Home Front: A missing Crestone medium is the subject of a popular podcast series

Your morning roundup of stories from the front pages of newspapers across Colorado

“An Atlanta-based media firm is spinning an intriguing story in an ongoing podcast about a Crestone medium who vanished two summers ago shortly after attending a full-moon ceremony in mountains sacred to the Navajo Nation in southwest Colorado,” reports The Denver Post. “But law enforcement officers don’t believe there is anything mystical about 29-year-old Kristal Anne Reisinger’s disappearance. Saguache County Sheriff Dan Warwick said Monday he believes Reisinger, who left behind her 4-year-old daughter, Kasha, is the victim of foul play. Reisinger disappeared July 13, 2016, shortly after the ceremony, and hasn’t been seen since, Warwick said. Filmmaker Payne Lindsey and his staff at Atlanta’s Tenderfoot TV have created a podcast series about the case called ‘Up and Vanished, Season 2: The Disappearance of Kristal Reisinger.'”

“When Matt Webb pointed to 11 small red lasers that were shining onto the pavement from the front bumper of his van, he emphasized they’re not the type of lasers you see in movies,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “‘They’re not painful or anything,’ he said. ‘It’s not like James Bond-type lasers. As we’re traveling along, these record the roughness of the road.’ On top of the 2007 Ford van, he said, high-definition cameras continuously take photos of the roads in front of the vehicle. And in the back, a laser camera scans the road, picking up thousands of pixels at a time to create an image.”

“With the retirement of four of the Grand Junction Police Department’s six commanders in the last seven months, Police Chief Doug Shoemaker lost a combined total of more than 140 years of institutional knowledge of his agency,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “But he’s choosing to look at the glass as one-third full.”

“A gun-rights activist and two Longmont City Council members exchanged criticisms during Tuesday night’s council meeting,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “Michael Bacca, a Brookfield Drive resident, accused Mayor Brian Bagley of attempting to take a ‘politically neutral’ position instead of upholding people’s constitutional right to keep and bear arms, when Bagley declined to read a firearms awareness and gun safety proclamation in September.”

“The large wildfires that broke out in the Routt National Forest this summer cost an estimated $36 million to fight, and Steamboat Springs city coffers have seen some of that money,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “Steamboat Springs Airport, which is owned by the city, had a significant boost in fuel sales thanks to numerous firefighting helicopters that have used the airport over the summer. “Although we don’t want to see the fires or the helicopters in our region, if there are fires in the region, there will be a financial benefit to an airport,” Airport Manager Stacie Fain said.”

“The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA) provides transit services from Aspen to Rifle, and is asking voters in the Nov. 6 election for a 2.65 mill levy property tax, formally known as RFTA Ballot Issue 7A,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “Although Rifle and Silt receive service from RFTA via the Grand Hogback route, RFTA’s official taxing district boundary halts at New Castle and does not include the unincorporated parts of Garfield County.”

“The company wanting to build a 100-megawatt solar energy generation facility in Stem Beach has asked for more time to discuss the proposed project with residents,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “The project is facing stiff opposition from neighbors in the adjacent St. Charles River Estates community, south of Pueblo. ‘We’ve had a couple discussions with them (residents) already,’ said Ben Turner, manager of renewable development for Invenergy. ‘They had expressed concerns at the last hearing, and so we’ve started that discussion and there’s some things that we hope we can work with them on.'”

“The Thompson School District school resource officer program, which places Loveland police officers in local middle and high schools, may soon officially take on an expanded and improved form, due to a unanimous vote Wednesday night by the Thompson Board of Education,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald.

“About 20 members of the public and a dog joined the town’s planning commission and historic preservation committee to see options for moving the Hahnewald family barn on Tuesday, Oct. 16,” reports Vail Daily. “The more than 100-year-old barn must be torn down or moved off Eagle River Water & Sanitation District property by June 1 to make way for a new water treatment facility.”

“A former chief inspector in the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office this week filed a $10 million lawsuit against numerous high-profile Colorado law enforcement officials, accusing them of false arrest in retaliation for his allegations they mishandled the investigation into the assassination of former state prisons chief Tom Clements,” reports The Denver Post on the front page of its sister paper The Cañon City Daily Record.

“Larimer County voters will have the opportunity Nov. 6 to choose between a Republican candidate mentored by his predecessor and a Democratic candidate with statewide political experience for a seat that has historically been held by a Republican,” reports The Coloradoan in Fort Collins. “The District 1 seat on the board of Larimer County commissioners represents roughly the northern third of the county, though all Larimer County residents can vote on the seat.”

“The race for Summit County Sheriff has undoubtedly become one of the more contentious and competitive campaigns that has emerged over recent months, with rumors and figures flying in every direction about both candidates,” reports Summit Daily. “But with so much information, much of it unsubstantiated, what are voters to think? We broke down some of the most common criticisms and rumors surrounding the campaign to try to shed some light on the issues.”

“Colorado Springs and its private-sector partners are asking for a year extension on starting ‘substantial work’ on two City for Champions projects after conceding they won’t meet the December deadline for retaining millions in promised tax-increment financing from the state,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “Such a request is allowed under the agreement the city and state reached in 2013 when the Colorado Economic Development Commission granted Colorado Springs $120.5 million in state sales tax rebates over 30 years for the City for Champions initiative.”

“City council did not pursue an emergency ban on so-called McMansions Tuesday night after an outpouring of comments from homeowners and builders in Boulder frustrated over the rushed public process,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “The issue has been on council’s agenda since the start of the year; members have expressed concern that smaller houses are being demolished and replaced with bigger, more expensive homes. Proposals were discussed at a September study session, but Tuesday’s vote was a last-minute move.”

“For the better part of the past 10 years, the question has left Colorado state policymakers paralyzed,” reports The Colorado Sun. “How should the state boost funding to transportation, when neither side can even agree on what the transportation grid should look like — much less how to pay for it? This November, the question will be taken directly to the voters by advocacy groups on different sides that have lost patience with the legislature’s inability to endorse a lasting solution.”

“There’s a lot at stake on November 6 — specifically the elevation of some of our fellow humans into powerful state government roles that control far-reaching policies,” reports Denverite. “Democrats could have way more control over those policies if they gain control of the state Senate, where Republicans are clinging to a one-seat majority. (Outgoing State Sen. Sheri Jahn became unaffiliated last session to make a point, but votes Democrat.) It’s possible. If Democrats keep their current posts and wrestle at least one seat away from Republicans, the Senate will flip with it. That scenario would make passing legislation a breeze for the Dems, who are expected to keep the House.”

“If you’re counting endorsements from the state’s largest newspapers, Democrat Jared Polis has a 4-3 edge on Republican Walker Stapleton,” reports ColoradoPolitics. “Taken as a whole, the candidates were deemed bold, if not unrealistic thinkers. Polis generally got good marks for big ideas on providing universal health care and free all-day preschool, but lost points on his vague talk about how to pay for those government goodies. Some editorialists didn’t like Stapleton’s brash tone toward his opponent, or his embrace of hard-right Republican positions.”

The Colorado Independent is a statewide online news source operating in a time when spin is plentiful, but factual, fair and unflinching news in the public interest is all too rare. Our award-winning team of veteran investigative and explanatory reporters and news columnists aims to amplify the voices of Coloradans whose stories are unheard, shine light on the relationships between people, power and policy, and hold public officials to account. We strive to report the news with context, social conscience, and soul, and to give Coloradans the insight they need to promote conversation, understanding and progress in this square, swing state we call home.