By Shannon Lukens.
Yampa Valley Regional Airport; Dec. 29, 2022.
Southwest Airlines flights across the country and into Yampa Valley Regional Airport are expected to get back to their normal schedule today, with four flights scheduled into Hayden. At least 17 Southwest Airlines flights have been canceled into the local airport in Hayden in the past week with close to 16,000 canceled nationwide. A Southwest Airlines spokesperson says they will look at reimbursements of expenses on a case-by-case basis.
AT&T customers in Northwest Colorado have been having trouble making phone calls and sending texts. Service just wasn’t working since Christmas. It said, “Call Failed.”
Greg Effinger of Steamboat called AT&T Customer Service when it started getting bad.
“I had such bad service that the lady on the other end couldn’t understand me. We went back and forth with ‘Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now?’ I got cut off so they ended up hanging up on me.”
Effinger checked the website and called an agent through WIFI at home.
“The gal on the other end actually confirmed that they had a tower down and that they’ve been working on it since Dec. 12. I’m not sure if she was supposed to tell us that but she sure did.”
We made nine calls and sent at least that many emails to AT&T. Iza from the Philippines and Ivan from the Middle East and Michael from Southeast Asia all said there were no outages or problems in the Steamboat Springs area. But, eventually we got through to a corporate spokesperson who said, at the end of the day, there was a third-party equipment failure affecting some people in Steamboat Springs and that the issue was now resolved and now service is back to normal.
Effinger also says he was told that anyone affected can request compensation for the outage time.
Steamboat’s snowy December continues with a new snow total at the summit of 122 inches for the month of December. That’s as of Thursday. There will be more with snow on the way tonight into the weekend.
Celebrate New Year’s Eve at the base of Steamboat Resort Saturday night, with fireworks and the Light-up Snowcat Parade. The fun starts at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
Skate with the Grinch tonight. It’s a fundraiser for the Steamboat Skating Club at Howelsen Ice Arena, from 5-7 p.m. Feel free to dress up. There will be pizza, cookies, and hot chocolate. It’s $10 per person or $30 for a family of four and that includes skate rentals.
Celebrate New Year’s Eve on skates at Loudy Simpson Ice Arena in Craig. The New Year’s Eve Party is hosted by Craig Youth Hockey Association along with Craig Cougar Hockey and the Moffat County Bulldogs Hockey players. It’s from 6-9 p.m. for $10 per person and that includes the skating and rentals, games, snacks and drinks. Reach out to Mardi Anson if you have any questions at 970-629-2380.
The new short-term rental tax of 9% goes into effect in Steamboat Springs on Sunday, Jan. 1. It was approved by voters last month. The tax applies to rentals for fewer than 30 days. Short-term rentals can include single-family homes, duplexes, condos, and townhomes. There is an exemption for a reservation made on or before Dec. 31.
The next DUI enforcement period is underway for the New Year’s Eve weekend, running through Jan. 3. During enforcement periods, drivers may see sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols and additional law enforcement on duty dedicated to impaired driving enforcement.
KRAI & 55 Country are proud to bring you the Meeker SkiJor Races through the weekend at Ute Park in Meeker. Registration is tonight in the 4H Building. It’s the third year for the annual event. It’s $5 per person to get in. Kids 12 and under are free. Tickets are available at the gate. Watch the races Saturday. It’s a Mardi Gras theme. Celebrate New Year’s Eve with live music from The Tucker Rose Band. Sunday’s race day theme is Vikings. MeekerSkiJor.com
Photos courtesy Rory Clow.
Today is the last day for junior racers to register for the World Pro Ski Tour Junior Challenge at Howelsen Hill on Jan. 6. Register through WorldProSkiTour.com
Check out upcoming events in the Yampa Valley on the Community Calendar on our website.
For the KRAI Time, Temp, and Weather Hotline, call 970-824-1918.