Stories in this list received the most page views on postindependent.com from Feb. 9-Feb. 16.

1. Glenwood Caverns files Chapter 11 bankruptcy following $116M verdict in 2021 ride death, park says it will remain open

Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday following a more than $116 million wrongful death judgment last year tied to the 2021 death of 6-year-old Wongel Estifanos.

The company that owns and operates the mountaintop amusement park, Glenwood Caverns Holdings LLC, filed for Chapter 11 on Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The move comes months after a Garfield County jury found the park partially responsible for Wongel’s death after she fell from the Haunted Mine Drop ride, now known as the Crystal Tower, in 2021.

The Haunted Mine Drop ride was closed after the 2021 death and later reopened in June 2023 with redesigned safety features and under a new name, Crystal Tower.

-Taylor Cramer 

2.Garfield County court deputy faces felony charge after alleged road rage incident

A Garfield County Sheriff’s Office court deputy was arrested Feb. 8 on suspicion of felony menacing following an alleged road rage incident on Interstate 70, according to court records and the Colorado State Patrol.

Mark C. Fox was booked into Garfield County Jail on a Class 5 felony menacing charge and released later the same day on a $1,000 personal recognizance bond, according to court records.

According to an arrest affidavit, Colorado State Patrol troopers were dispatched around 11:31 a.m. Feb. 8 to a reported weapons violation on westbound I-70 near milepost 100. A driver reported that a man in a red GMC Acadia had pointed what appeared to be a handgun during a road rage incident.

-Taylor Cramer

3. There’s a lot of heartbreak’: Colorado Olympic athletes respond to representing the U.S. amid political tensions

Colorado Olympic athletes aren’t shying away from political questions, even as criticisms from President Trump have made their fellow athletes targets for threats on social media.

Svea Irving, a freeskier from Winter Park, and Mikaela Shiffrin, an alpine skier from Vail, are among the athletes competing in the Milan-Cortina Winter Games who have shared their complicated feelings regarding representing the U.S. during a time ripe with political turmoil — stemming largely from Trump’s heightened immigration enforcement efforts in blue cities like Minneapolis.

“There’s a lot of heartbreak, there’s a lot of violence. It can be tough to reconcile that when you’re also competing for medals in an Olympic event,” Shiffrin said when a reporter asked her about representing the U.S. amid political tensions. The two-time gold medalist had prepared a quote by Nelson Mandela in anticipation of the question prior Saturday’s press conference.

-Andrea Teres-Martinez 

4. Garfield County commissioners approve major subdivision plan, award discretionary grants, nonprofit general funding and more

The Garfield County Board of County Commissioners approved a major subdivision plan, awarded thousands in discretionary grants and nonprofit general funding and approved amendments to the county attorney’s child support services agreement on Monday during the second meeting of the month. 

-Julianna O’Clair

5. Trial begins for Parachute man charged in 2021 homicide case

Jury selection began Monday in Garfield County District Court in the case against John Michael Worley, the Parachute man charged with the 2021 killing of Wayne Moore.

Dozens of prospective jurors gathered across multiple courtrooms Monday morning as Ninth Judicial District Judge Anne K. Norrdin began the selection process. A panel of 12 jurors and two alternates will be chosen to hear the case, which is expected to last about three weeks once testimony begins.

Worley, 31, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence in connection with Moore’s death. The trial is scheduled to run through March 4. He remains in custody at the Garfield County Jail on a $200,000 bond.

-Taylor Cramer