Teller County and Charis Bible College made national news after the shooting of Charlie Kirk in Utah Sept. 10. Kirk was scheduled to appear the next day at the bible college in Woodland Park.

As a result, Sheriff Jason Mikesell directed a surge of law enforcement at the college that day.

“We had to change how we looked at the event at Charis due to the shooting,” said Mikesell, speaking at the Teller County commissioners’ meeting Sept. 25.

The conference at Charis included federal and state officials as well as staff from the White House. In addition to the FBI, the surge of law enforcement included the SWAT team, drones, police from Cripple Creek, Woodland Park, El Paso County and Colorado Springs.

“And everything came out very good,” Mikesell added.

While offering high-profile protections, Mikesell’s officers are handling a surge in traffic accidents, three at the intersection of U.S. Hwy 24 and Sherwood Forest.

“We’ve had multiple accidents ourselves at the sheriff’s office – one bad one,” Mikesell said, referring to the accident when Undersheriff Stan Bishop and Lt. Wes Walter suffered serious injuries at the intersection. Both men have returned to work and were present that day at the meeting.

Since then, there have been two more accidents at the intersection, one fatal.

“We’re trying to figure out how to deal with that,’ Mikesell said. “We need a stoplight there.”

In other business, the commissioners managed to remove the county from a state mandate to draw a map designating Wildland Urban Interface areas. For Teller County, the mandate would include the entire county, drawing the ire of the commissioners.

“If you declare everywhere a WUI, then insurance companies are not going to provide insurance,” said Commissioner Erik Stone. “Also, if everything is a WUI then nothing is a WUI.”

The mandate is the result of the Marshall Fire near Boulder in January 2024 that destroyed more than 991 structures.

“Dan (commissioner Williams) and state Sen. Mark Baisley we were able to change that law to allow local governments to define a WUI,” Stone said. “We are working on our definition of what a WUI is, where wildland and development interface. We need to be cognizant of the cost of housing.”

If the county had not been successful at gaining local control over the mandate, the cost of housing would escalate to more than $50,000, Stone said.

“We went on bended knee and approached the Democrat senator,” Williams said.

The commissioners have met with most of the candidates running for the school board in the November election, Williams said.

“In the community, there is a divisive culture on both sides,” he said. “I’m hopeful that we can turn a corner and put that chapter behind us. I encourage you to stay off social media.”

As of last week, it appeared that Democrats and Republicans would not agree on approving a federal budget before a shutdown looms.

“They’re both asking for things that don’t sound like compromise so that’s the impression we’ve been given,” Williams said.

Nonetheless, Teller County will be okay in the short term.

“We are debt-free, our vehicles are gassed-up, ready to go,” Williams said adding that programs that will not be cut during the shutdown are Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, and Veterans Services.

With friction between the federal government and Colorado, Teller County is caught in the middle.

“The state could lose up to $20 billion if we don’t get in line with immigration,” Williams said.

To that end, in April, the commissioners sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Civil Rights stating their opposition to Colorado’s sanctuary laws while highlighting the county’s agreement with ICE to hold detainees wanted on criminal charges.

When it comes to employee loyalty, Brad Shaw, supervisor of operations for public works, received a service award for 30 years with the department, now under the direction of Fred Clifford.

In addition, Kurt Schoenberger paid tribute to Linda Bretag, for her 30 years in the assessor’s office.

Teller County and Charis Bible College made national news after the shooting of Charlie Kirk in Utah Sept. 10. Kirk was scheduled to appear the next day at the bible college in Woodland Park.

As a result, Sheriff Jason Mikesell directed a surge of law enforcement at the college that day.

“We had to change how we looked at the event at Charis due to the shooting,” said Mikesell, speaking at the Teller County commissioners’ meeting Sept. 25.

The conference at Charis included federal and state officials as well as staff from the White House. In addition to the FBI, the surge of law enforcement included the SWAT team, drones, police from Cripple Creek, Woodland Park, El Paso County and Colorado Springs.

“And everything came out very good,” Mikesell added.

While offering high-profile protections, Mikesell’s officers are handling a surge in traffic accidents, three at the intersection of U.S. Hwy 24 and Sherwood Forest.

“We’ve had multiple accidents ourselves at the sheriff’s office – one bad one,” Mikesell said, referring to the accident when Undersheriff Stan Bishop and Lt. Wes Walter suffered serious injuries at the intersection. Both men have returned to work and were present that day at the meeting.

Since then, there have been two more accidents at the intersection, one fatal.

“We’re trying to figure out how to deal with that,’ Mikesell said. “We need a stoplight there.”

In other business, the commissioners managed to remove the county from a state mandate to draw a map designating Wildland Urban Interface areas. For Teller County, the mandate would include the entire county, drawing the ire of the commissioners.

“If you declare everywhere a WUI, then insurance companies are not going to provide insurance,” said Commissioner Erik Stone. “Also, if everything is a WUI then nothing is a WUI.”

The mandate is the result of the Marshall Fire near Boulder in January 2024 that destroyed more than 991 structures.

“Dan (commissioner Williams) and state Sen. Mark Baisley we were able to change that law to allow local governments to define a WUI,” Stone said. “We are working on our definition of what a WUI is, where wildland and development interface. We need to be cognizant of the cost of housing.”

If the county had not been successful at gaining local control over the mandate, the cost of housing would escalate to more than $50,000, Stone said.

“We went on bended knee and approached the Democrat senator,” Williams said.

The commissioners have met with most of the candidates running for the school board in the November election, Williams said.

“In the community, there is a divisive culture on both sides,” he said. “I’m hopeful that we can turn a corner and put that chapter behind us. I encourage you to stay off social media.”

As of last week, it appeared that Democrats and Republicans would not agree on approving a federal budget before a shutdown looms.

“They’re both asking for things that don’t sound like compromise so that’s the impression we’ve been given,” Williams said.

Nonetheless, Teller County will be okay in the short term.

“We are debt-free, our vehicles are gassed-up, ready to go,” Williams said adding that programs that will not be cut during the shutdown are Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, and Veterans Services.

With friction between the federal government and Colorado, Teller County is caught in the middle.

“The state could lose up to $20 billion if we don’t get in line with immigration,” Williams said.

To that end, in April, the commissioners sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Civil Rights stating their opposition to Colorado’s sanctuary laws while highlighting the county’s agreement with ICE to hold detainees wanted on criminal charges.

When it comes to employee loyalty, Brad Shaw, supervisor of operations for public works, received a service award for 30 years with the department, now under the direction of Fred Clifford.

In addition, Kurt Schoenberger paid tribute to Linda Bretag, for her 30 years in the assessor’s office.