Top 5 stories on SummitDaily.com

1. Pug Ryan’s Brewing Co. sold to Breckenridge Brewery veteran
Pug Ryan’s Brewing Co. opened in the heart of Dillon in 1997, bringing craft beers to Summit County well before the industry started on a nationwide boom. Purchased in 1986 by Travis Holton and his wife, Annie, the pair announced the sale of the brewery on May 1 to Breckenridge Brewery veteran John Jordan — who has brewing beer since 1994 — and his wife Judy.
“We just flat out said we need to find the right people to take Pug’s down the road another quarter century, because it’s more important than we are,” Holton said. “There were some other suitors who would not have understood the culture and would not have been able to hit a home run. So we were fortunate to find the right kind of buyers.”

2. Skier who died at Loveland Ski Area Friday is state’s 14th of season
A 59-year-old Boulder man died while skiing at Loveland Ski Area on Friday, April 28. Kevin Edwards, an attorney with the state Attorney General’s Office, was involved in an accident in the trees of the ski area’s double-black diamond West Ropes run off Lift 4. Edwards was pronounced dead at the scene, marking the second death at Loveland this season.

3. Highway 9 Iron Springs project transitions to new roadway in mid-May
As construction gets back underway following winter, the new alignment for State Highway 9 between Frisco and Breckenridge is now less than a month away. After additional paving and road striping, traffic will be transitioned over to the new route permanently around mid-May. Once finished, the $22.6 million undertaking being overseen by the Colorado Department of Transportation will expand that stretch of Highway 9, from Summit High School to the stoplight at the hospital, to four lanes — two each direction.

4. After Summit County ski area closures, officials urge safety in the backcountry
Although most of the Summit County resorts have closed for the season, backcountry skiing is still in full swing. Many of the top areas for these spring ventures are where snow slides can be triggered. The county’s rescue operation requests that if a skier releases an avalanche, no matter how large, to contact non-emergency services to make sure they’re clued in and not sending trained staff out into these dangerous zones, expending time, energy and valuable resources for no reason.
Although Colorado has seen a decrease in avalanche deaths this year, the total for incidents and burials in the state has been on par with other seasons.

5. Summit Middle School on lock-out after safety tip
Summit Middle School was placed on lock-out Thursday morning for around three hours as a precaution over a safety concern. Deputies from the Summit County Sheriff’s Office visited individual classrooms to investigate. After a review and investigation into the Safe2Tell tip, authorities determined there was not a safety threat at Summit Middle School or at any other school in the district.