Stories in this list received the most page views on SummitDaily.com from Nov. 10-16

1. 19-year-old Silverthorne woman killed in crash on Colorado Highway 9 near Breckenridge

Editor’s Note: This story was published on Wednesday, Nov. 13. The deceased victim has since been identified as Marlen Zelaya Rodriguez, 18, of Silverthorne.

A 19-year-old Silverthorne woman died Tuesday night, Nov. 12, in a two-vehicle crashon Colorado Highway 9 near Breckenridge.

The crash occurred around 5:20 p.m. near Mile Marker 90 when the young woman driving a Subaru Forester northbound lost control on the icy, snow-covered road, Colorado State Patrol trooper Gabriel Moltrer said the day after the crash.

The Subaru drove off the left edge of the road, striking a sign in the raised center median, then rotated into the southbound lanes where a Chevrolet Suburban driven by an 18-year-old Breckenridge man struck the right side of the Subaru, Moltrer said. The Subaru came to a rest on the shoulder with its wheels facing east, while the Chevrolet came to a rest on the shoulder with its wheels facing west, he said.

— Summit Daily staff

2. How many mountain lions are there on Colorado’s Western Slope?

Colorado Parks and Wildlife estimates that the state is home to between 3,800 and 4,400 mountain lions, but officials have been working to get a better grasp on the elusive cat population numbers and density as part of the agency’s 2020 management plan for the Western Slope. 

On Tuesday, Parks and Wildlife released the first results of the yearslong data collection, sharing what it found in Middle Park, between Kremmling and Granby, and in the Gunnison Basin. 

“These results show that the lion populations in these representative study areas are strong,” stated Mark Vieira, the agency’s carnivore and furbearer program manager, in a news release.

— Ali Longwell

3. Property owner sues Summit County assessor over property tax bill increase

A Summit County property owner is suing the county assessor over claims that the assessed value of his property did not reflect the true value of the property.

Todd Ruelle, the owner of property in the Peak 7 neighborhood in unincorporated Breckenridge, claims in a complaint filed in Summit County court in October that he received notice in 2023 that the valuation of his property had changed from $201,000 to about $576,000.

That equated to a $2,048 tax bill based on local residential property taxes, with that estimate reflecting a “residential” characterization of the property, according to the complaint. Ruelle states in court documents that he filed a timely appeal to the assessor and to the Board of Equalization, both of which were denied. 

— Ryan Spencer

4. Dillon residents initiate effort to remove 3 Town Council members

An effort is underway to recall three Dillon Town Council members.

Dillon Town Manager Nathan Johnson confirmed Wednesday, Nov. 13, that the clerk’s office has received petitions seeking recall elections to be held for council members John Woods, Dana Christiansen and Renee Imamura. Johnson said the clerk is in the process of verifying whether the petitions have enough signatures to trigger state law related to municipal referendum elections.

Dillon resident Barb Richard, one of the individuals who helped organize the recall effort, said that with about 35 signatures on each petition, she believes the recall petitions have the required number of signatures. 

— Ryan Spencer

5. Developer proposes scaled-down structure for Dillon town core with grocery store, restaurant and parking garage

Developer Jake Porritt has proposed a new conceptual design for a grocery store, restaurant and parking structure at the corner of Lake Dillon Drive and East LaBonte Street in Dillon.

The structure is a scaled-down version of what Porritt had previously pitched for the property where Pug Ryan’s Brewery and the three-story Payne building stand. A representative of the developer, Jesse Grewal, met with the Dillon Urban Renewal Authority on Tuesday, Nov. 12, to discuss the proposal.

“It’s a little bit of an evolution of what this body saw a few months ago,” Grewal said. “Two big changes from the initial concept are — one, there is no workforce housing incorporated into this project and, two, the scale of the project has been significantly reduced.”

— Ryan Spencer