Plaindealer Staff Report
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Don Batchelder has announced his intention to run for the District 3 County Commissioner position currently held by Heidi Albritton. Albritton's term is up at the end of this year, but she is term-limited and cannot run for re-election. Candidates must live in the district for which they are running, but voting for commissioners is countywide.
Batchelder said quite a few people for whom he has a great deal of respect suggested he should run. “I have a fair amount of experience and offer a unique perspective that would be valuable to citizens of the county,” Batchelder said. He served as county commissioner for eight years (2001-09),...

by Beecher Threatt
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Low income county residents could soon get help with down payment funds for a home purchase or loans for home rehabilitation, according to Shirley Diaz, president of Ouray County Housing Authority and executive director of San Miguel Housing Authority. On Tuesday Diaz told the Board of County Commissioners that Delta Housing Authority has funds intended for use in the entire region. DHA's Todd Wicklund outlined the programs for the board.

by Beecher Threatt
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With one revision, the county slash burn ordinance mandated by the state and adopted by the Board of County Commissioners passed second reading on Tuesday. Interim county attorney Kathryn Sellars told the BOCC that the county does not have an intergovernmental agreement with District Attorney Dan Hotsenpiller that would allow his office to enforce the new ordinance.
The section of the ordinance stating that the district attorney for the Seventh Judicial District would prosecute violations had to be deleted. The ordinance may be enforced by the Ouray County Attorney, however.
The slash burn ordinance will become effective 30 days after its publication in the Feb. 9 issue of the Plaindealer.

by Beecher Threatt
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On Monday Dan W. Hotsenpiller, District Attorney for the Seventh Judicial District, issued a strongly-worded statement apologizing to four sexual harassment victims of former DA Myrl Serra. The victims worked in the office of the district attorney. Attached to Hotsenpiller's statement was a letter from the Colorado District Attorneys' Council, offering an apology as a profession.
Last month Serra was sentenced to a year in prison for a bond violation and...