Jeanne Josey tries a glass of Cabernet Franc. The Wine Mine hosted a free wine tasting Thursday, focusing on Cabernet Franc. Owner Steve Craig used a Chateau du Petit Thouars ? a French wine ? as a baseline, inviting tasters to compare Cabernet Francs from other regions. [Photo by Benjamin Preston]

What does a 550-mile-long pipeline draining water from the southwest corner of Wyoming to the Front Range have to do with San Miguel County? Enough for the Board of County Commissioners to draft a resolution opposing the proposed $9 billion project.

Paradox Valley is an expansive and desolate swath of land on the western edge of Montrose County. Unlike most valleys, the Dolores River cuts across the redrock landscape instead of running the length of the valley.

Every summer, off-road enthusiasts head for the high country, tackling challenging terrain in places like Black Bear and Imogene passes. For the past six years, the U.S. Forest Service, in conjunction with San Miguel, San Juan, Ouray and Hindsdale counties, has paid an alpine ranger to monitor high altitude off-road trails.

For the past 25 years, the Telluride Avalanche School, part of the San Juan Field School, has offered classes aimed at getting people acquainted with the safest ways to enjoy a backcountry experience. With four Colorado avalanche deaths already this year, the school?s poignancy snaps sharply into focus.

Telluride?s creative community is in the home stretch of applying for a Creative District designation that could bring Telluride funding to create a centralized mechanism to showcase cultural and artistic organizations and drive economic development.

Smart meters have been a contentious issue since the San Miguel Power Association introduced the idea for use in San Miguel County last year. But the meters have cleared their latest governmental hurdle as the San Miguel County Board of County Commissioners offered support Wednesday for installing the meters in the county.

Home Safe, a free transportation program aimed at keeping drunk drivers off local roads, gave late-night lifts to nearly 26,000 riders in San Miguel County between its inception in 2003 and this month.

Ken Burns ? the acclaimed documentary filmmaker known for recounting the histories of jazz, the Civil War, baseball, Prohibition and America?s national parks to a worldwide audience ? will premiere his upcoming film, ?The Dust Bowl,? at the Telluride Mountainfilm Festival.

Mountain Village?s hefty renovations of the Village Court Apartments, which  started this summer, are nearing completion. The project is coming in under budget and ahead of schedule.

28F FAIR

Snow likely. New snow accumulation around one inch. Highs 25 to 35. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 25 mph. Chance of snow 70 percent.

Partly cloudy. Colder. Lows zero to 10 above. Southeast winds 10 to 15 mph in the evening becoming light.