Stories in this list received the most page views on postindependent from September 8-15.

1. Satellite SOS signals from ‘PLBs’ have sent Colorado search-and-rescue officials to thrift stores,landfills and even a zoo. But most are false alarms.

Colorado search-and-rescue officials have been chasing satellite SOS signals around the state, sometimes tracking them to thrift stores, landfills and other bizarre locations.

Personal locator beacons, often called PLBs, allow backcountry travelers to signal for help by bouncing an alert off satellites. Only, in recent years, the portable, battery-powered devices — which are different from satellite communicators like the Garmin InReach — have been sending off distress signals when nobody is in danger.

“The vast majority of PLB activations are incidental activations, whether that is through device malfunction, through misuse, through accidental activation,” said Jay Christianson, a public information officer with the Colorado Search and Rescue Association. “The list of reasons they get activated is quite large, but the vast majority are incidental.”

-Ryan Spencer 

2. Glenwood Springs City Council narrowly backs tolling plan for South Bridge 

The Glenwood Springs City Council voted 4-3 on Sept. 4 to move forward with the South Bridge project including a toll, a decision that could shape how the long-debated route functions as both an emergency evacuation outlet and a potential commuter bypass.

Councilors Sumner Schacter, Ray Schmahl, David Townsley and Steve Smith supported the motion to include tolling. Mayor Marco Dehm, Mayor Pro Tem Erin Zalinski and Councilor Mitchell Weimer opposed.

The vote followed nearly an hour of debate over whether tolling should be tied to the estimated $80-million project, which would connect Midland Avenue south of Glenwood Springs to Colorado Highway 82 near the airport.

-Taylor Cramer

3. Big game hunting season 2025 opens throughout Colorado 

Hunting season is officially in full swing in Grand County. Hunters of grouse and turkeys are now out in the field, as well as bear and sheep hunters, and archery hunters for deer, elk, pronghorn and moose.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has shared important information and hunting season dates, so that all recreationalists can be informed. In a news release, the agency emphasized “the shared responsibility of safety” among hunters, hikers, bikers, leaf peepers, wildlife viewers and other people enjoying the great outdoors.

“As most of Colorado’s outdoors is multi-use, it’s crucial for both hunters and non-hunters to show respect and courtesy to all users engaged in outdoor recreation,” parks and wildlife stated.

-Meg Soyars Van Hauen 

4. Mother seeks accountability after Glenwood Springs crash that killed 23-year-old construction worker 

A 23-year-old man was killed Aug. 11 after being struck by a vehicle while working along U.S. Highway 6 near Glenwood Springs, and his mother is calling for tougher distracted driving laws as the driver faces a misdemeanor charge.

According to an affidavit filed by the Glenwood Springs Police Department, Madison Burke, 39, was driving a gray Toyota RAV4 when she struck a road sign trailer at mile marker 115 on Interstate 70’s frontage road just after 8 a.m. The crash killed Derrik “DC” Romero-Evans, who was working with a crew from WS Barricade at the time.

Burke is charged with careless driving resulting in death, which is currently classified as a Class 1 misdemeanor in Colorado. In the affidavit, Officer Jacob Braaksma wrote that Burke told him she “had only looked down at [her] maps for a second” and did not see the work truck, trailers or workers in reflective gear before the collision. Police noted there were no signs of impairment and that Burke said she had been sober for six years.

-Taylor Cramer 

5. A group of producers and elected officials is again asking Colorado Parks and Wildlife to hit pause on wolves 

A group of 29 agricultural groups, hunting organizations and county commissioners is asking Colorado Parks and Wildlife not to release any more wolves until next winter. 

The entities submitted a citizen petition to the agency on Sept. 5, marking the latest attempt to pause Colorado’s voter-mandated wolf reintroduction as concerns percolate about rising costs, livestock losses and a feeling of unpreparedness to deal with wolves on the ground from some communities and producers. 

“Ranchers are doing everything we can to coexist, but the state has not held up its end of the deal,” said Tim Ritschard, representing one of the petition’s signing organizations, Middle Park Stockgrowers, in a news release. “When wolves kill our cattle, our families pay the price emotionally, financially, and generationally. Until (Colorado Parks and Wildlife) can demonstrate it can manage the wolves already here, adding more is irresponsible.”

-Ali Longwell