The year 2020 was one unlike any other. For so many reasons, these 12 months will be unforgettable, but no reason more significant than the world-altering global pandemic through which folks in the Greeley area suffered much like people in all parts of the planet.
As we look back together on the biggest stories that crossed the pages of the Greeley Tribune, it’s impossible to divorce the COVID-19 pandemic from, really, anything. The whole year was centered around this once-in-a-lifetime (hopefully) worldwide event. And as such, our annual year in review looks a little different than normal.
Rather than pull out the pandemic as a single story and slide it alongside our other big topics, we made the pandemic the whole story. With few exceptions — and we’ve listed those, too — the virus dominated and infiltrated into just about every one of the biggest news events of the year. So the majority of this retrospective will look at events and stories that were related to the pandemic. A final section will review those rare relatively unrelated stories.
It was a hard year for many, but it’s over now. Let’s look back and remember how we got to 2021.
COVID-19 and the government
The far-reaching effects of the pandemic challenged government and public safety officials with how to respond to an invisible disaster.
In mid-March, the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment issued a public health order requiring distancing and canceling events of 10 or more people. The department described the order as “self-enforcing,” meaning county officials never went out searching for violations. Later that month, Gov. Jared Polis issued a statewide stay-at-home order.
Local law enforcement chose to educate people about the order instead of enforcing it with threats of fines or jail time. A similar stance was taken in July when Polis issued an executive order requiring masks for people ages 11 and up.
In September, state officials released a dial dashboard to provide guidance on what level of restrictions should be put in place for different counties. County and state officials’ dispute over the government’s role in responding to the pandemic came to a head when the state moved Weld County to the Level Red phase in mid November.
The county commissioners issued a statement indicating outright defiance of the state’s restrictions. The state’s Liquor Enforcement Division ultimately helped enforce the state’s restrictions, suspending licenses of defiant businesses.
— Public safety reporter Trevor Reid
Schools deal with the virus
Was there a segment of the population more affected by the roller coaster, topsy-turvy nature of the pandemic than schools — the students, staff and administrators?
Schools and school systems are often reflections of the community at large.
The quarantines, the protocols, masks, building closures, lists of remote learning or those learning online could be indicative of the status of the pandemic at any given time through the first 10 months.
Through the spring and summer, leading to the start of the new academic year in August or September, school leaders nationwide were tasked with crafting an educational plan to suit their district’s needs.
While, in the meantime, voices from all sides weighed in and registered an opinion: schools should open, schools should not be open.
Teachers, then, were entrusted with executing and implementing these plans while worrying about the welfare of their students, of their own and of their families.
What must it be like to go to work each day not knowing what will come from the school day? Will I get sick? Will one of my students or fellow teachers fall ill?
For the students, the disruptions to their lives over the last 10 months reach beyond the walls of the school buildings. These were nothing short of jarring. The simple joys and pleasures of being in school — which is a very social environment — were often lost or reconfigured beyond the norm as it came to performance, sports, competitions, trips and events.
The power of the virus reduces many of us to spectators. Hurry up and wait for it to pass; wait for the vaccine to wipe it away while trying to cope in a very different world.
One local graduation speaker for the class of 2020 wasn’t having it. Not in the least.
“I don’t want to be a special class,” Greeley Central’s Brian Davis told his classmates at the school’s socially distanced ceremony in late July. “I just wanted my senior year. And that’s the last I have to say about that.”
—Education reporter Anne Delaney
Hospitals and personal protective equipment shortages
The COVID-19 pandemic strained patient capacity in hospitals around the world, including local UCHealth Greeley Hospital and Banner’s North Colorado Medical Center.
Not yet knowing exactly what they were dealing with, doctors and nurses worked tirelessly around the clock to care for coronavirus patients while hospital administrators worked with staff to convert different floors of the hospital into COVID-19 treatment areas.
UCHealth implemented a large tent outside its doors to screen people for COVID-19 prior to entering the medical center.
Both UCHealth and NCMC had to make the heartbreaking decision to not allow any visitors into their facilities. The move resulted in doctors and nurses comforting and holding the hands of patients who died from the virus as family members said their goodbyes by phone.
While hospitals stressed over the shortage of beds and ventilators, nurses, doctors, paramedics and other front-line workers and first responders fretted over a rising shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) like gloves, masks and gowns.
In early May, Weld County purchased more than $400,000 worth of PPE for front-line workers and first responders. The purchase included 12,800 isolation gowns, 60,000 surgical masks, 20,000 KN95 masks and 900 boxes of nitrile gloves.
Aims Community College and Greeley-Evans School District 6 collaborated to donate more than 1,100 mask bands while groups worked their sewing machines nonstop to make hundreds of cloth masks for frontline workers.
Genesis Plastics Technology transitioned from producing things like food packaging and light fixtures to cranking out medical-grade plastic face shields.
— Go and Do reporter Tamara Markard
The virus and the beef plant
When the pandemic came to Weld County, the JBS meatpacking plant wasn’t the first place the virus infiltrated. But the county’s largest employer, where employees worked shoulder-to-shoulder inside a giant concrete monolith off U.S. 85 northeast of town, became one of COVID-19’s first real tinderboxes of the spring — and remains among the largest to this day.
The Brazilian-owned beef producer, which not only employees several thousand area workers, but also has its international corporate headquarters in Greeley, initially insisted, from the CEO’s own lips to the Greeley Tribune, that the plant was “100%” safe from the virus, even as cases grew inside the facility.
Just days later, the state health department had ordered the plant temporarily closed, as multiple employees — an eventual total of six in the plant — died of the virus and evidence pointed to an uncontrolled spread inside the Greeley facility.
Nearly 300 people inside the plant — neighbors of ours — would contract the virus by the time the outbreak was declared over in October, and battles between the union that represents most of the workers inside and the company are ongoing, and allegations over lip-service-level safety protocols have emerged as well. The company has denied summarily all these claims.
But, more concerning, perhaps, is the fact that a new outbreak has come to the plant, this one beginning, per state data, Nov. 17. Seventy-three confirmed cases among employees have been reported in that time, and while it’s not the 294 confirmed cases and six deaths that ravaged the plant in the spring and summer, it’s a reminder that the virus isn’t going away yet.
— News editor Cuyler Meade
The pandemic comes to Weld County Jail
In early April, seven inmates of the Weld County Jail worked with the ACLU of Colorado to file a class action lawsuit against Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams, alleging unsafe jail conditions due to inaction regarding the pandemic. A U.S. District Court judge ruled in a preliminary injunction against Reams in May, requiring several steps to respond to the pandemic.
Reams, who listed 80 different actions his agency took to prevent viral spread, called it the most personally disappointing ruling in his six years as sheriff.
Construction at the jail collided with the ruling for a short time this year, resulting in tighter arrest standards than before. The standards notoriously resulted in two men accused of shooting at each other in a Walmart parking lot in Greeley not being booked into the jail.
The ACLU and Reams reached a settlement announced in December, which expanded on the preliminary injunction. Reams said almost all of the steps laid out in the settlement were steps his agency was taking before the lawsuit began.
— Public safety reporter Trevor Reid
The social life in an age of social distancing
If the COVID-19 pandemic taught us anything, it was how to socialize virtually and embrace online technology.
As coronavirus cases rose across Weld County and the country, events like concerts, fairs, parades and any kind of gathering were constantly being rescheduled, postponed or canceled.
The Greeley Blues Jam, Arts Picnic and weekly Friday Fests were some of the first events to be canceled due to the pandemic. The Greeley Stampede quickly followed suit by nixing the rodeo, carnival and concert series, opting for an online shoebox parade and socially distant fire works show.
While the Union Colony Civic Center canceled its 2020 season, the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra took to providing the community free outdoor performances — socially distanced of course — as well as an online Christmas concert.
The holiday season also looked different this year with the city’s popular Festival of Trees and Greeley Lights the Night Parade switched for the drive-thru Holiday Lane at Island Grove event.
In addition to event and activities, the virus put a damper on in-door dining and social gatherings at restaurants and bars throughout the county.
Breweries like WeldWerks Brewing Co. and Brix Brew and Tap, along with 477 Distillery and Syntax Distilling were forced to convert operations to takeout only for beer and drinks while restaurant turned to food delivery services like GrubHub, Door Dash and NOSH to provide customers with food from their favorite eateries.
— Go and Do reporter Tamara Markard
The business side
Few sectors of society were more profoundly impacted nationwide by the COVID-19 pandemic than small businesses were. And the local small-business sector certainly wasn’t an exception.
The first major blow toward small businesses came March 16 when Gov. Jared Polis ordered restaurants, bars, theaters and other non-essential businesses to close, forcing many business owners to lay off staffs.
Restaurants had to shift toward delivery and takeout orders, while other small shops moved toward an online-only storefront. Some of these small businesses weren’t completely equipped to transition to an exclusively digital presence and had to cease operations completely during this time.
A handful of local businesses had to shut their doors for good, but most persevered before receiving a reprieve in May when Polis’s “safer at home” order allowed restaurants and other businesses to phase in in-person patronage.
However, in November, the Colorado Department of Public Health moved Weld County’s COVID-19 dial to level red, designed to again suspend in-person dining and heavily restrict capacity among other businesses. Some local businesses again reverted to a delivery/takeout/online model, while others kept their doors open as the Weld County Board of Commissioners indicated intentions to ignore the state’s mandate.
Heading into 2021 and beyond, small businesses will continue to face significant challenges and an uncertain fate in the midst of the pandemic.
Ditto for the oil and gas industry, which was already facing challenges pre-pandemic because of the new oil and gas law, SB 19-181. The law increases regulations on the industry and directs state officials to focus primarily on health and safety when approving new permits.
The COVID-19 pandemic added to a rough year for the industry, causing many operators to lay off dozens of workers locally and cut other costs.
— Growth and development reporter Bobby Fernandez
The belly of the beast, assisted-living facilities and nursing homes
Among the largest group of victims of the COVID-19 pandemic were nursing home and assisted-living facility residents and staff.
COVID-19 ravaged these care facilities nationwide.
The COVID-19 Tracking Project reported long-term care facilities accounted for 38% of U.S. COVID-19 deaths as of Dec. 24.
In Colorado, the project noted more than 16,000 total cases in long-term care facilities — including both nursing homes and assisted-living residences — with 1,450 deaths in 274 locations.
“We know that the populations in these facilities are among the most vulnerable and are at highest risk of severe illness from this virus,” said Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in the spring.
In Greeley, Fairacres Manor on 18th Avenue was the source of the worst outbreak in the state during the height of the pandemic in the spring, according to a story from The Denver Post.
Centennial Healthcare Center on 29th Avenue Place was also the site of a severe outbreak in the spring according to CDPHE data.
“It was scary — it just hit us really fast,” said Fairacres Certified Nursing Assistant Mary Meraz in the Denver Post story. “Everybody pitched in…We tried to comfort the residents who were getting really sick. Their families couldn’t be there for them so it was really hard.”
— Education reporter Anne Delaney
The beginning of the end — a vaccine
A bright spot in 2020 was the promise of a vaccine for COVID-19.
“We believe vaccine is the beginning of the end of the pandemic,” said Banner Health Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Marjorie Bessel in early December.
Rolled out in mid-December, the vaccine from pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna were approved for emergency-use by the Food and Drug Administration earlier this month come with incredibly high efficacy rate — in the 94% and 95% range, which a local health official called “remarkable.”
Here in Colorado, the state just Wednesday introduced a revised vaccination timeline.
The timeline has been updated to prioritize residents age 70 and up, teachers, grocery store employees, postal worker and other frontline workers including essential officials in state government and frontline journalists.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported as of Dec. 30, more than 246,000 doses of vaccine had been administered in Colorado with more than 74,000 people receiving a first dose.
— Education reporter Anne Delaney
And all the rest
Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, there were plenty of other headline-grabbing stories that took place in 2020. Here’s a quick look at some of them:
- The Election — Republicans again won every seat on the Weld County Board of Commissioners. Republicans won several other key local races. Those victors included: Ken Buck (4th congressional district), Tonya Van Beber (State House District 48), Mike Lynch (House District 49), Barbara Kirkmeyer (State Senate District 23), Dan Woog (House District 63) and Michael Rourke (unopposed, Weld County District Attorney). Democrat Mary Young kept her seat as Colorado State Legislator for District 50. At the state level, democrat John Hickenlooper defeated Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner for a seat in the U.S. Senate.
- Arrest of Steve Pankey — On Oct. 12, Steve Pankey was arrested and accused of the 1984 kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews. Following a hearing Wednesday, he learned he will have no reduction or change to his bond. His arraignment is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Feb. 3 in Division 11 of Weld District Court.
- Black Lives Matter movement in Greeley — Following a nationwide trend, people took to the streets of Greeley to speak out against social injustice, police brutality and the recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others killed by police. Among the demonstrations, more than 300 people gathered at Monfort Park in June.
- Kamada arrested — On June 30, former Weld District Court judge Ryan Kamada pleaded guilty to a federal felony charge for obstructing an investigation into a cocaine trafficking ring in northern Colorado. He resigned from the bench in August 2019. He was disbarred this summer and will be sentenced in the federal criminal case in February.
- Greeley Tribune sold — On March 1, MediaNews Group purchased the Greeley Tribune from longtime owner Swift Communications. MediaNews Group is one of the largest newspaper businesses in the United States, also owning The Denver Post, Loveland Reporter-Herald, Longmont Times-Call, Boulder Daily Camera and other Colorado media outlets.
- Increase in violent crimes — Greeley saw a spike in shootings and other violent crimes in 2020. In the past year, Greeley police responded to seven reports of homicides across the city, two of which involved two victims, according to the department’s Community Crime Map on LexisNexis. In 2019, police responded to just two homicides. In the past decade, the department’s record high for homicides in a single year is five, which was in 2017.
- State champions — Even with the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupting high school sports throughout the state — including bringing an abrupt end to the boys and girls basketball postseasons in March and wiping out the spring season altogether — Weld County programs racked up the hardware in 2020. Eaton won three team state titles this year, in wrestling, softball and football. Valley earned a share of the 3A wrestling title with Eaton. Windsor won the 4A wrestling title. Frontier Academy won the boys cross country title. Also, numerous Weld athletes won individual wrestling titles at the state tournament in February: Windsor’s Dominick Serrano (4A, 132 pounds), Vance Vombaur (4A, 138), Cody Eaton (4A, 160), Tristan Perez (4A, 170) and Isaiah Salazar (4A, 182); Roosevelt’s Miles Beam (4A, 195); Weld Central’s Roberto Estrada (3A, 106); Fort Lupton’s Jacob Duran (3A, 126); Valley’s Isaiah Rios (3A, 138) and Jaziah Whaley (3A, 160); Eaton’s Ryan Dirksen (3A, 145); University’s Emanuel Munoz-Alcala (3A, 285).
— Growth and development and prep sports reporter Bobby Fernandez
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