By Shannon Lukens.
The Rainbow Family members continue to leave the Adams Park area in northwest Routt County, which was the site of their unauthorized gathering over the 4th of July. Federal law enforcement officials are still at the scene working with the Rainbow Family to coordinate post-event cleanup and rehabilitation at the event site.
One person who is still in Routt County, in the jail, is Zackery Greene from North Carolina. The 34-year-old was arrested over the weekend up at the Rainbow Gathering for Indecent Exposure, for allegedly running around naked and committing an obscene act in front of a federal law enforcement officer. Greene had his third court appearance Wednesday. The public defender assigned to him asked to have him let out on a PR bond instead of the $750 bond set on Sunday. Deputy District Attorney David Maris then told Routt County Judge Erin Wilson that Greene had 85 pages of criminal history across multiple states. Judge Wilson declined to reduce the bond due to that criminal history, a history of failure to appear, a lack of any ties to the community, and to the seriousness of the nature of the charges. Greene’s next court date is Wednesday, July 13, where the public defender said they are hoping to request a plea offer to resolve the matter.
Two other arrests up at the gathering were Troy Smart and Derek Swingle. They were both taken to the Moffat County Jail, which has a contract with the US Marshals Service to hold federal detainees. Moffat County Sheriff KC Hume says the US Marshal Service picked the two up before 6 a.m. Tuesday morning where their cases will be managed in the federal criminal justice system. No more details were released by forest service officials because they say it is an active investigation.
But a Forest Service spokesperson said officers found large amounts of illegal drugs coming into the gathering, including over 70 grams of fentanyl. Officers also found LSD, heroin, methamphetamines, psychedelic mushrooms, cocaine, and marijuana.
On the Rainbow Gathering social media platforms, there was a lot of talk about a post from a woman who said her cat decided to “stay in the wild today.” She said, “If anyone sees her, I trust you will enjoy the joy and unconditional love she gives.” The backlash to the post from other Rainbow members and people on the site was unforgiving of what the woman did. Now the search is on for the cat named Sparrow.
We reached out to the Craig Animal Shelter at Bear Creek and the Routt County Humane Society. They don’t go out to the field, but they would accept pets if they are brought in to the local shelters. Also, local animal control is not going to the site of the Rainbow Gathering since it is on National Forest property. It’s an issue for the federal law enforcement officers.
US Forest Service Website for the Rainbow Gathering
Hayden Town Council meets tonight. The Northwest Colorado Business Park Annexation is on the agenda.
The Moffat County community is invited to a Meet & Greet to meet the finalists for superintendent of the school District. It’s from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 7, at Craig Middle School. Two candidates are in the running. One is Jill Hafey who is the current principal at Sunset Elementary. The second candidate in the running is Sheldon Rosenkrance who was recently a superintendent in the Estes Park School District.
Bill Thomas has been named Vice President of Human Resources for Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation. He replaces Trish Sullivan who has held the job for 20 years of her 32 years at the ski area. She’s retiring. Thomas starts Monday.
And finally… Zipper Merge. Use both lanes until the merge point.
For the KRAI Time, Temp, and Weather Hotline, call 970-824-1918.