The announcement was part of a speech by Owens at a Durango Area Chamber Resort Association luncheon Monday at the DoubleTree Hotel. Owens also took the opportunity to point out the numerous appointments in his Cabinet that are not from the Denver metro area, including Sen. Jim Dyer, D-Durango, who will vacate his Senate seat May 9 to take a seat on the Public Utilities Commission. I know how important it is for you in Durango and La Plata County to not feel forgotten, and you re not. Education is the most important priority, he said. Half of Colorado seventh-graders can t write at a standard level set by the state, he said.
All children have a right to learn, and that includes poor children and children of color.
Also Monday, Owens toured a construction site on U.S. Highway 550 at the New Mexico border. The construction of the first 3 miles north of the New Mexico border will be done this summer, Reynolds told the governor. The rest of the project is in the environmental-assessment process now, Reynolds said. The assessment should be done by spring 2002, and Reynolds said he expects construction to begin that fall. Blasting should resume on the Wolf Creek Pass project within a month, which will again prompt night closures on the pass Monday through Thursday, Reynolds said.