By Shannon Lukens.
Casey Schaeffel was in Routt County Court Wednesday. He is the former Hayden High School Basketball coach who is now charged with 15 misdemeanor counts. Steamboat Springs Police are also doing an investigation from when Schaeffel was a Strength and Conditioning Coach for Steamboat Springs High School. He is no longer working for either school. Old Town Hot Springs also put Schaeffel on administrative leave on Feb. 10, pending the legal proceedings. The police investigation against Schaeffel and the pending charges from Hayden have to do with him allegedly providing a substance called Kratom to people under 21 years old, which is illegal. Schaeffel will next be in court on April 12.
Verizon Wireless has reached out after continued inquiries about disrupted service in the Yampa Valley. The communications manager for the region says that as of late last week, additional capacity has been added to the network in Steamboat Springs and Verizon saw significant improvement in performance. Liz Maly says, “And if you think of capacity in a wireless network as a highway, this is like adding additional traffic lanes.” She says Verizon is also working on plans that will further enhance capacity in the area later this year as well.
In a Steamboat Springs Post Office Update…
James Boxrud with USPS Strategic Communications out of Denver has been in Steamboat Springs this week to meet the local staff. He has been here to see what else needs to be done to keep up with the mail delivery.
“We’ve hired drivers, we’ve hired employees, cleaned the facilities, got our parking straightened out, we’ve got Safety Task Force Teams coming up, making sure that our employees are safe and our customers are safe, and trying to stabilize the delivery that we didn’t have a month ago.”
Steamboat Springs City Council member Gail Garey also reminded Boxrud of the importance of figuring out if residents still have to pay for a P.O. Box when they have no other way to get their mail. Boxrud says they are working on it but it will take some time.
He said he was re-keying the 80 boxes at AlpenGlow Village behind Walgreens to get that cluster box up and running as soon as possible, after over two years of waiting.
There is also a new United States flag at the Steamboat Springs Post Office since the old one was missing.
And workers have been removing snow from the roof.
U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper’s office has reached out to Steamboat Radio News for an exclusive interview with the senator next week about the post office situation in Steamboat Springs. We’ll keep you posted.
U.S. SENATORS MEET WITH POSTMASTER GENERAL
Friday, March 10, there is a statewide effort to stop distracted driving. Colorado State Patrol troopers are working with local jurisdictions to conduct strict enforcement and to bring awareness to put an end to distracted driving. They will be focusing on Highway 40. Watch the speed limits, don’t pick up your cell phone, don’t eat behind the wheel, never drive impaired by alcohol or drugs, and always buckle up.
COLORADO STATE PATROL TO CRACK DOWN ON DISTRACTED DRIVERS ON MARCH 10
Colorado State Patrol is also reminding drivers about motorcycle safety. In 2022, there were 82 motorcycle deaths on Colorado roadways. Motorcycle riders need to be aware of their surroundings. Other drivers need to always check their blind spot and use caution around motorcycles.
Check out what’s happening in the Yampa Valley on the Community Calendar.
For the KRAI Time, Temp, and Weather Hotline, call 970-824-1918.