Summit Daily News

Following several days of hot, dry weather, Colorado’s Western Slope is poised to see a period of rainy skies with possible thunderstorms ahead of what meteorologists expect to be an active monsoon season arriving later this summer. Beginning Tuesday, a wave of energy is expected to track across the Northern and Central Rockies, leading to a significant uptick in thunderstorm activity statewide, according to a July 6 report from OpenSnow Meteorologist Alan Smith.

Accounting firm Edie Bailly completed an annual audit of the Summit County government, and a firm partner reviewed reports with the Summit Board of County Commissioners on June 23. The partner, Janeen Hathcock, expressed no concerns with the county’s financial statements, but she told the board there was one immaterial misstatement in them as well as one deficiency in the county’s administration of Medicaid benefits. “All in all, everything looks great,” Hathcock said of the financial statements.

A fatal pedestrian crash, recent collisions and years of complaints about faded or unmarked crosswalks have kept traffic safety at the forefront of Silverthorne government discussions. This July, residents should finally begin seeing one of the town’s most anticipated improvements as the Colorado Department of Transportation starts restriping Blue River Parkway and upgrading traffic signal visibility.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, alongside lawyers from nearly two dozen other states, is urging the U.S. Postal Service to abandon efforts to fulfill President Donald Trump’s executive order that aims to restrict mail-in voting for the 2026 midterm elections. Trump signed the order on March 31, directing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to compile a list of U.S. citizens based on federal databases and requiring the Postal Service to send mail ballots only to voters on that list.

A property that Summit County and the town of Breckenridge jointly purchased in 2022 to turn into workforce housing is in predevelopment stages to be torn down and replaced. Summit County commissioners expressed different views on the importance of density in the project.

The 10th annual Keystone River Run Village Art Festival will return later this month, bringing artists from Colorado and around the country to Keystone for three days. The free festival will be held Friday, July 24, through Sunday, July 26, at River Run Village, 120 Ida Belle Drive. Events will last from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Theatre SilCo has appointed Christopher Anderson as its new director of development, bringing an experienced arts executive and former professional dancer to lead the organization’s fundraising efforts. Anderson most recently served as artistic director of Alberta Ballet, one of Canada’s largest dance companies. Before moving into arts leadership, he spent 16 years as a professional dancer with Ballet West in Salt Lake City and the Boston Ballet.

The Interstate 70 mountain corridor was busy over the Fourth of July weekend, but did not see record-breaking traffic. About 163,500 vehicles passed through the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels from Thursday, July 2, through Sunday, July 5, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation. That’s about 4% fewer vehicles than during the Fourth of July holiday period last year and about 10% fewer vehicles than during 2020, which was the last time that the holiday fell on a weekend.

Smoke is continuing to waft through the mountains from wildfires burning in Colorado and neighboring states, prompting health advisories due to air quality. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has issued an air quality health advisory through at least Tuesday morning for more than a dozen counties, including Summit, Lake, Chaffee and Park counties.

A significant bipartisan push to revitalize a funding mechanism for deferred maintenance projects on federal public lands and national parks cleared two critical hurdles in June. Natural resource committees in both the U.S. House and Senate unanimously approved bills to renew the Legacy Restoration Fund, which directs $1.9 billion annually over the next five years to improve campgrounds, trails, visitor centers and vital infrastructure.