Arkansas
Access to trail near Arkansas River to be briefly restricted for Southside dam project
Pueblo Water will temporarily restrict access to a trail near City Park so it can safely continue its reconstruction of the Southside Diversion Dam and Raw Water Intake facility.
In a news release Wednesday, the agency stated that a trail that runs between City Park and the Wild Horse Creek Bridge south of the Arkansas River will be closed so crews can continue constructing its Waterworks Park project.
A trail on the north end of the river that runs between Pueblo Boulevard and the same bridge will remain open.
It’s unclear exactly how long the closure will last, but work to install a new pedestrian bridge in the area will take at least several weeks, said Joe Cervi, public relations specialist for Pueblo Water.
In the release, Pueblo Water noted that the closure is in place to “ensure the safety of visitors and construction workers.” It went into effect on Wednesday.
Pueblo Water and Holcim WCR, the project’s contractor, began the rehabilitation effort in November. The project seeks to improve safety on that portion of the Arkansas River and will revitalize the area with a water park, which, in part, will allow people to better navigate downstream.
A series of six drops, or pools, will be built along the north side of the river and will fall incrementally at a total of 12 feet. Each pool will be about 3 to 4 feet deep and feature “beaches” alongside them if people want to temporarily exit the water.
The area’s 12-foot dam will be replaced with a chute spillway that will offer people a “safer and less dangerous” path downstream, said Seth Clayton, executive director of Pueblo Water. The project’s design maintains some of the dam’s key functions, including the ability to divert water to the Riverside Dairy Ditch.
The new pedestrian bridge will tie into a new trail system, which will connect with an existing trail near the north end of the river. A separate pedestrian bridge that’s currently there will no longer be relocated upstream but instead removed to make way for the new one, Cervi said.
The $11 million project is mostly covered by a nearly $10 million low-interest loan Pueblo Water secured from the Colorado Water Conservation Board. The city, county and Pueblo Conservancy District each pitched in $325,000, while Pueblo Water will pay the remaining costs.
Pueblo Water first announced the project in 2021. The agency accelerated efforts to complete it after a father and son drowned on that stretch of the river when they were ejected from their raft.
At the time of the project’s start, construction was estimated to last between 10 and 12 months.
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Chieftain reporter Josue Perez can be reached at JHPerez@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @josuepwrites. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.
Arkansas
OPINION | WALLY HALL: Arkansas will need more than Robinson’s coerced contribution | Arkansas Democrat Gazette
Wally Hall
Wally Hall is assistant managing sports editor for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. A graduate of the University of Arkansas-Little Rock after an honorable discharge from the U.S. Air Force, he is a member and past president of the Football Writers Association of America, member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, past president and current executive committee and board member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, and voter for the Heisman Trophy. He has been awarded Arkansas Sportswriter of the Year 10 times and has been inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and Arkansas Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame.
Will Garrett Nussmeier’s size hold him back in the NFL?
LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier will look to impress scouts at the NFL Combine despite size concerns.
Move over, Anthony Richardson. There’s a new quarterback athletic marvel at the NFL scouting combine.
On Saturday in Indianapolis, Arkansas’ Taylen Green broke Richardson’s top marks at the position since 2003 for both the vertical leap and broad jump. Green’s 43½-inch vertical topped Richardson’s previous high by three inches, while his 11-2 broad jump beat the Indianapolis Colts signal-caller’s measurement by five inches.
Then, Green reeled off a 4.36-second 40-yard dash time. That stood as the second-best time for any quarterback since 2003, trailing only Reggie McNeal in 2006 (4.35 seconds). Richardson, for comparison, logged a 4.43-second mark in 2023.
Green didn’t even bother with a second attempt after his initial time.
The testing profile created quite the stir around the 6-6, 227-pound passer, who had widely projected as a developmental option for teams on Day 3.
NFL Network’s Charles Davis said Green told him that no teams had approached him about working out as a receiver, adding that he would not be interested in a position switch.
Green started for the Razorbacks for the last two seasons after playing the first three years of his career at Boise State. Known for his running ability and ample arm strength, Green threw for 2,714 yards and 19 touchdowns last year while adding 777 yards and eight scores on the ground.
It was a banner day for Arkansas, as running back Mike Washington Jr. also stood out among his peers with a group-leading 4.33-second 40-yard dash as well as strong marks in the vertical leap (39 inches) and broad jump (10-8).
Rex Nelson
Rex Nelson has been senior editor and columnist at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette since 2017, and he has a biweekly podcast called “Southern Fried.”
After graduating from Ouachita Baptist University in 1981, he was a sportswriter for the Arkansas Democrat for a year before becoming editor of Arkadelphia’s Daily Siftings Herald. He was the youngest editor of a daily in Arkansas at age 23. Rex was then news and sports director at KVRC-KDEL from 1983-1985.
He returned to the Democrat as assistant sports editor in 1985. From 1986-1989, he was its Washington correspondent. He left to be Jackson T. Stephens’ consultant.
Rex became the Democrat-Gazette’s first political editor in 1992, but left in 1996 to join then-Gov. Mike Huckabee’s office. He also served from 2005-09 in the administration of President George W. Bush.
From 2009-2018, he worked stints at the Communications Group, Arkansas’ Independent Colleges and Universities, and Simmons First National Corp.
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