The Mountain Minute: 10/14/2025

🎧 Mountain Minute – October 14
Wedding bells, water wars, and world peace — this week’s headlines span everything from Colorado’s recovery efforts to global diplomacy. Here’s your sharp, unfiltered rundown from Team RMV.

💍 Note from Tori:
Sorry for the short break last week — I’m officially in wedding countdown mode! Just 11 days until the big day, which means this week’s Mountain Minute is packed before I take a short break from October 20–29. Unless Heidi gets a wild hair and takes over… no promises 😉

Colorado News:
🔹 Pagosa Springs Rebuilds After Flooding – The town is turning tragedy into triumph as volunteers and neighbors rally to restore homes, roads, and businesses, proving once again that small-town Colorado grit never quits.
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/10/13/colorado-town-begins-recovery-as-pagosa-springs-reopens-after-major-flooding/

🔹 La Jara Land Deal Sparks Outrage – Locals say the state locked the public out of land they paid for, prioritizing “conservation optics” over access. The fight is reigniting debate over whether state land policies serve the people or the politics.
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/10/13/la-jara-land-deal-raises-questions-about-public-access-and-state-priorities/

🔹 Democrat Lawmakers Face Donor Scrutiny – Democrat legislators are under fire for a private Vail retreat funded by undisclosed donors. Critics question who picked up the tab — and what influence may have been bought.
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/10/13/democrat-lawmakers-face-scrutiny-over-vail-retreat-funded-by-undisclosed-donors/

🔹 Colorado River Crisis Deepens – As key allocation decisions loom, experts warn short-term fixes won’t cut it. “We’ve already divided the river like it’s still 1922,” one said. “But the water’s just not there anymore.”
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/10/13/western-water-crisis-deepens-as-key-colorado-river-decisions-loom/

🔹 “A Seat at the Table, Not Just a Chair in the Room” – A new commentary argues Colorado communities deserve real power in land management decisions — not token consultation. Author Aimee Tooker highlights how local leaders were sidelined in Dolores River monument negotiations and calls for restoring true coordination between local and federal agencies.
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/10/13/a-seat-at-the-table-not-just-a-chair-in-the-room/

National & International News:
🔹 FBI Surveillance Scandal – Reports confirm the Bureau monitored multiple GOP lawmakers, raising major questions about political bias and government overreach. Critics say it’s another sign of justice being weaponized.
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/10/13/fbi-surveillance-of-gop-lawmakers-raises-questions-about-abuse-of-power/

🔹 Citizenship Fraud Crackdown – Federal officials say “nothing’s off the table” as they pursue fake marriages, forged documents, and visa scams that undermine legal immigration.
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/10/13/nothing-off-the-table-u-s-targets-citizenship-fraud-in-major-enforcement-push/

🔹 Trump’s Global Peace Push – Former President Trump’s Knesset speech drew worldwide attention, hailed as one of the boldest appeals for peace in recent history. A companion analysis, “The Price and Pieces of Peace,” explains how Trump’s pragmatic approach succeeded where decades of diplomacy failed — building trust between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/10/13/a-new-era-of-peace-trumps-powerful-knesset-speech-draws-global-attention/
Read more: https://rockymountainvoice.com/2025/10/13/the-price-and-pieces-of-peace-how-trumps-approach-worked-where-others-failed/

📲 Read and watch more at: rockymountainvoice.com
And remember — stay sharp, stay bold, and stay in the fight.