EMILY HAYES/The Journal

Candidates for the county commission and local party leaders test the ballots for the upcoming election in November.

EMILY HAYES/The Journal

Candidates for the county commission and local party leaders test the ballots for the upcoming election in November.

Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office

Riddle was sentenced to 15 years in prison for second-degree murder.

Associated Press file

The U.S. Capitol is illuminated at night.

Courtesy of Marcel Gaztambide

A wildfire, dubbed “The Needles Fire,” broke out about 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, near Purgatory Resort.

Jerry McBride/Durango Herald file

It may look a little different than a normal trial in normal times, but Mark Redwine is set to begin a 30-day trial for allegedly killing his 13-year-old son, Dylan, in 2012.

The Journal file

The city of Cortez is proposing that agencies that use its dispatch center pay additional fees to cover the cost of services such as payroll, benefits and human resources for dispatch center employees starting in 2022. The dispatch center and its technology are funded through fees to the agencies that use it, including the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office, the Cortez Fire Protection District, the Southwest Ambulance Service and the Mancos Marshal’s Office.

Courtesy of Sean William McLain

A wildfire broke out Wednesday afternoon near the top of Lift 2 at Purgatory Resort north of Durango. Two single-engine air tankers were working the blaze.

Courtesy of Hinsdale County Office of Emergency Management

Authorities say Ben Brownlee of Denver was hiking alone when he went missing last weekend. His body was found Tuesday.

Durango Herald file

Fire bans remain in effect throughout the state as wildfire risk continues to be high and resources taxed by the COVID-19 pandemic.