Tom Ross

Repriced Steamboat Barn Village lots attract 15 offers

Fifteen offers on 13 building lots at Steamboat Barn Village could signal contract home construction.

Tom Ross: Steamboat and Ouray have hot springs in common

I’ve always urged that it’s important to visit other mountain towns to gain new insights into the quirky, little burgh we happen to inhabit.

Improved load factors, higher fares boost Steamboat airline program reserves

The committee that reports to Steamboat Springs City Council on the airline contracts that secure the majority of Steamboat’s and Routt County’s air service received good news Friday — the past winter’s ski season jet flights weren’t nearly as expensive as once feared. But challenges remain.

Mainstreet Steamboat Springs tests the water for Sunday festivals on Yampa Street

The June party on Yampa Street will offer sand piles and small water pools for children, volleyball, street games and reggae music.

Four Points Lodge construction at Steamboat Ski Area weathers mud season just fine

Soon, 40-foot tractor-trailers will climb the switchbacks that cross ski trails including Twister and Nelson's Run to haul steel to the site of of the new Four Points Lodge.

Hahn's Peak Roadhouse returns to Routt County Planning Commission to expand guest services

Members of the Routt County Planning Commission will make a field trip to North Routt to visit the Hahn's Peak Roadhouse and walk the site in advance of Thursday's meeting.

Temperatures spiking toward 80 degrees push Yampa River in Steamboat upward

Soon after entering full runoff stage, the Yampa and Elk rivers likely are approaching their peak flows for the season, and experts caution that the rivers are dangerously cold for people who aren’t equipped with whitewater paddling gear.

Routt County seeks to streamline regulations on solar panels and food processing on farms

County Commissioner Doug Monger expressed strong concern with new definitions of food processing facilities on farms and ranches that would allow them as many as 50 vehicle trips per day.

Tom Ross: Steamboat Lake sheds its winter mantle of ice

Senior Steamboat Lake State Park ranger Brent Lounsbury said the campgrounds are muddy and there are many chores to do, including turning the electricity on, but the snow is going fast.

Data mining answers questions for startup businesses in Northwest Colorado

Does Steamboat have an appetite for stir-fried squid and vegetables (nakji somyun) and thinly sliced pork belly (sam gyup sal)? In the business sense, that’s a complicated question.

Business & Real Estate briefs: Quicksilver CEO discusses operations with Shell

Quicksivler Resources CEO Glenn M. Darden discussed his company’s first-quarter fiscal performance and its collaboration with Shell Oil in Northwest Colorado during a May 7 conference call.

Tom Ross: "Storage Wars" fails to materialize at west Steamboat auctions

Thirsting for adventure this week, I cruised over to a couple of storage unit auctions. I learned that while there isn’t an antique in every locker, there definitely can be some pleasant surprises.

Routt County taxpayers have until June 1 to question property valuation

Routt County Finance Director Dan Strnad said this week that the valuation of residential and commercial properties in the county are down but not by as great a margin as they were in the 2010 valuation.

47 Barn Village at Steamboat lots poised to re-enter real estate market

Lots in Barn Village are as small as 0.14 acres and as large 1.07 acres, where higher priced lots are grouped around two cul de sacs, some of them bordering Fish Creek.

Summer-like weather in forecast for Steamboat in time for Mother's Day

The National Weather Service in Grand Junction is forecasting a high temperature of 72 degrees under mostly sunny skies Sunday followed by even higher temperatures to begin the workweek Monday.

Shell Oil intends to act on Camilletti oil well permit this sumer, but won't frack it

Shell Oil’s Matt Holman, a senior geologist and project manager in this region, said Wednesday that his company does not intend to use hydraulic fracturing at the Camilletti well north of Milner.

Routt County Commissioners approve new oil well permit despite concerns that grouse are reaching tipping point

“I think it’s really bad business that it needs to be done at the cost of driving sage grouse into extinction,” commissioner Tim Corrigan said just before approving Entek’s special-use permit to drill a new well in North Routt County.

Cold moisture continues to buoy snowpack in mountains near Steamboat

Weather observer Art Judson reported Tuesday morning that 0.26 inches of rain had fallen in Steamboat in the preceding 24 hours. A chance of showers is forecast for Steamboat and Craig through Friday.

Tom Ross: The best things in life are free, or so sang a famous musician

I can’t find a record of it, but I believe it was also 1994 when Sheryl Crow understandably canceled her free show in Steamboat because David Letterman’s staff had called to offer her an appearance on “Late Night.”

Steamboat Ski Corp. President Chris Diamond receives lifetime achievement award from National Ski Areas Association

On the slopes of Steamboat, Chris Diamond oversaw the installation of the Christie Peak Express six-pack chairlift and the redesign of the lowest slopes to create moderate slopestyle parks.

Steamboat supply tightening for single-family homes for working households

A sign of a real estate recovery: Competing offers were submitted on two Routt County homes that sold for $580,000 and $615,000 during the last week of April.

Tom Ross: College professor's new all-electric car the 1st Nissan Leaf in Routt County

Jeff Troeger's Nissan Leaf has a backup beeper that sounds like space bells, and when the driver is keeping it below 20 mph, the Leaf assumes that it is in a parking lot and makes a gentle whooshing sound to alert pedestrians.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife goes social to share fishing updates with followers

Northwest Colorado anglers who have liked Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Facebook and followed the agency on Twitter already have picked up on some valuable information to guide their spring fishing trips.

Yampa Valley rivers placed in cold storage by wintry storm

Aldis Strautins, a service hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction, said the current cool down appears to be a good thing for water supplies.

Public responds to rescued Steamboat Springs Transit line; ski season ridership up 62 percent

Saved from budget cuts in autumn 2012, the Steamboat Springs Transit Yellow Line grew passenger numbers by 62 percent during the ski season.

Routt County to Storm Mountain Express: Wait until 2018

Storm Mountain Express will have to wait until 2018 for its next chance to apply to Routt County for a license to solicit business from arriving passengers at Yampa Valley Regional Airport who don’t already have a shuttle reservation. The company's owner said the county isn't playing fair.

Tom Ross: Barry Fey's many concerts attracted Steamboat residents to Red Rocks Amphitheater

Barry Fey’s greatest contribution to Denver and the region may have helping to establish Red Rocks as one of the most sought-after concert venues by the artists themselves.

New foreclosures in Routt County drop 41 percent in first quarter of 2013

Realtor Dean Laird of Colorado Group Realty said he closed the sale of a Walton Creek condominium on Friday, which represented the last bank-owned condo on the Steamboat Springs Multiple Listing Service.

Steamboat Chamber redesigns economic development website

Of the 200 companies nationally who consult on business relocation, 20 to 25 do 80 percent of the business. They are the "influencers" Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association CEO Tom Kern is targeting.

Tom Ross: Former Steamboat resident Steve Smallwood publishes his poetry

When he lived in Steamboat in the 1990s, poet Steve Smallwood worked behind the desk of the old Harbor Hotel at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Seventh Street. He would bring his poems into the newspaper office, and we often would publish them as letters to the editor.

60 degree temperatures in Steamboat to catch up with persistent snowpack

Nicke Bencke, of the U.S. Forest Service, made the trip up Buffalo Pass on April 23 and took two snow depth readings that showed 124 inches and 128 inches at the Tower measuring site.

State Rep. Mitsch Bush insists on changes to renewable energy bill

State Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush said she told her fellow Transportation and Energy Committee members she wanted to see changes to Senate Bill 13-252 because she is concerned about the impact on rural households, schools and businesses.

Routt County tables oil well permit for BLM land near Wyoming

The Routt County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to table Entek Energy’s application for an oil well drilling permit on public land close to the Wyoming border while it takes the time to study a report from the federal Bureau of Land Management on the proposed well.

Routt County chicken farmer seeks permit to process his own roasters

Josh Kilbane still has a long list of permits he must obtain before he can begin processing roasting chickens west of Milner, but Kilbane received three thumbs up from the Routt County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.

Winter hanging tough in Steamboat; 60s on the way

The warming trend takes hold with an expected high of 59 degrees Friday before temperatures forecast in the 60s break out for the weekend.

Tom Ross: With plastic trash threatening turtles, South Padre residents take action

Rehabilitating injured turtles is a major part of the mission at Sea Turtle Inc. Turtles arrive there after stranding themselves on the beaches due to injuries caused by boat props, fishing lines, shark attacks and ingesting pieces of plastic.

Spring runoff could kick in this weekend on Yampa River in Steamboat Springs

The Colorado Basin River Forecast Center predicts the Yampa River’s flows will begin to climb steeply on Friday as spring runoff season begins in earnest.

Testing the waters: Routt County cattle ranching dealing with struggles in continued drought

Ranchers and farmers on Colorado’s Western Slope are confronted with the likelihood of a second straight season of extreme drought. And if their hay fields aren’t more productive this summer than last, they might be forced to sell some of their mother cows to avoid paying more than twice what they are accustomed to.

47 lots at Barn Village at Steamboat set to return to market at reduced pricing

The foreclosed lots, just east of Pine Grove Road opposite the Central Park Plaza shopping center, were purchased at foreclosure auction in December by Gibraltar Capital and Asset Management LLC for a reported $5.6 million.

Tom Ross: Pioneer Mesa County safecracker had his nose replaced by his left pinky finger

Earlier in his criminal career, John Homutoff lost his nose while trying to blow a safe with nitroglycerine. It was the same crime that landed him in San Quentin.

Mitsch Bush bill would require Colorado energy companies to report smaller oil spills

In addition to requiring earlier reporting of spills leading to faster response times, Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush said, the bill would establish a track record for operators.

State park managers in Routt, Moffat counties react to 2012 drought

The managers of Routt County’s three major state parks told the Routt County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday that they are preparing for another season of drought while they study the impacts the drought of 2012 had on their campgrounds and picnic areas.

Steamboat closes all but 2 lifts Tuesday because of weather

Most of the chairlifts at Steamboat Ski Area closed at about 10:15 a.m. Tuesday because of sustained winds in the upper 50 mph range, according to a news release from the ski area. The ski area expected all of its remaining 12 lifts to operate Wednesday.

Federally licensed gun dealers in Routt County wary of doing background checks for private sales

More than 130 people who showed up at the Steamboat Springs Community Center on Monday night heard two local gun shop owners say they don’t want to have anything to do with facilitating the newly mandated background checks for gun sales they are not directly involved in.

Stories by Tom

Steamboatpilot @ Twitter