Stories in this list received the most page views on postindependent.com from May 11-May 18.

1.Former Glenwood Springs school resource officer’s trial ends in mistrial

A former Glenwood Springs police officer facing felony and misdemeanor charges related to allegations of domestic violence, sexual assault and use of a stun gun had his jury trial end in a mistrial Thursday.

Sean Tatro, who previously served as a school resource officer in Glenwood Springs, faces several felony and misdemeanor charges, including menacing, sexual assault, second-degree assault, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and use of a stun gun in the commission of a crime.

Tatro was arrested in April 2024 by the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office after a domestic violence report led investigators to allege multiple incidents of physical abuse, threatening behavior and use of a stun gun during a confrontation. He was serving as a Glenwood Springs school resource officer at the time of the allegations, and the city said after his arrest that he was no longer on active duty and had been placed on administrative leave.

-Taylor Cramer

2. The Bureau of Land Management kills 2-year-old conservation rule for public lands 

The U.S. Department of the Interior has officially killed a two-year-old Bureau of Land Management rule that gave conservation the same priority as energy development, grazing, timber production, recreation and other uses on the federally managed land.

The BLM’s Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, also known as the Public Lands Rule, was implemented in 2024 under former President Joe Biden. At the time, environmental advocacy groups and communities claimed the BLM’s multiple-use mandate lacked direction and had led to a focus on extractive uses like mining and grazing on public land. Today, around 81% of BLM lands are open to oil and gas drilling. 

In September, the Trump administration announced its intent to revoke the rule, claiming that it placed “​an outsized priority on conservation or no-use” at the expense of other uses.

-Ali Longwell 

3. Wildfire risk is rising on Colorado’s Western Slope as strong El Nino is expected to bring monsoon rain in ‘spurts’

The wildfire risk on Colorado’s Western Slope is rising and expected to remain elevated throughout most of the summer after a winter with a record-low snowpack and well-above average temperatures.

AccuWeather Senior Forecaster Chad Merrill said Thursday, May 14, that the fire risk in the Colorado mountains is expected to increase heading into June and remain high into July, but could be dampened slightly by cooler temperatures and monsoonal rain in August.

“We have much of Colorado at a high risk for wildfires this summer,” Merrill said. “What we have going on is a strong area of high pressure is going to push from the eastern U.S. in May back into the northwestern part of the country in June, and that’s going to instigate some very warm temperatures and some very dry weather.”

-Ryan Spencer

4. Oil and gas liaison discusses new rigs set to drill in Garfield County, changing state regulations and more in periodic update

Garfield County Oil and Gas Liaison Kirby Wynn presented a periodic oil and gas update to county commissioners last week, which covered issues ranging from local drill rigs to upcoming rulemaking sessions.

Two active drill rigs are currently active in Rio Blanco County: one operated by Terra Rocky Mountain LLC and one operated by QB Energy Oil and Gas, according to Wynn. A rig laid down by Laramie Energy in Garfield County in February is expected to begin operating this fall, and Chevron last week mobilized a rig to drill two horizontal wells from May through July. 

“(Chevron) is standing up a rig on their property in Western Garfield County, over in the Roan Creek drainage on the property, and they will drill two horizontal wells,” Wynn told commissioners. “That’s a significant change for us. That…mica shale and natural gas is like 10,000 feet down.” 

-Julianna O’Clair 

5. Rifle City Council hears concerns about neighborhood safety, code enforcement

Rifle City Council received public comments Wednesday about neighborhood conditions, rising crime and more during their regularly scheduled meeting at city hall.

-Katherine Tomanek