July 2014

A relatively small but growing group of advocates is working to make Colorado one of the first states in the union to grow and use hemp, the non-intoxicating cousin of the marijuana plant, since it essentially disappeared from U.S. agriculture in 1957.
Specifically, the group is hoping to establish a Valley Hemp Co-op (www.valleyhempco-op.org) of farmers and other interested parties, which could work with an already established organization, the Colorado Hemp Cooperative, or other such organizations, to make hemp cultivation and manufacturing a reality in the state.

The Carbondale Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved an agreement to accept a large sculpture, titled “Sewing The Future,” from internationally renowned artist James Surls, to be the centerpiece of a new traffic roundabout now under construction at the intersection of Main Street and Highway 133.
The decision, passed by a vote of 6-1 with Trustee Pam Zentmyer dissenting, overrode objections from local residents who argued that the year-long selection process leading to the agreement was flawed and did not involve adequate citizen participation.

The town of Carbondale was recently chosen to participate in the 2014-15 Creative District program, instituted by Colorado Creative Industries — a division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.
“These (creative districts) are great examples of how the arts create exciting places for people to live and visit,” said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper in a press release.
Carbondale began its creative plan in 2013, focusing on “connectivity” and “wayfinding” (signage), according to Carbondale Council on Arts and Humanities Director Amy Kimberly.

Carbondale is about to take its next step in the continuing evolution of small-town medical care, when the doctors, nurses and technicians who have met the town’s medical needs for decades move into a new building and a new kind of business arrangement.
The Roaring Fork Family Practice clinic, 1340 Highway 133, will move later this month to a new home just two blocks away, at the corner of Euclid Avenue and Highway 133 — a short stroll for a pedestrian but a big jump for the doctors.

On May 11, during Dandelion Day, the Carbondale Soda Company popped the cork on a dandelion honey crème soda, offering its first public samples to passers-by. Since then, the new firm has quickly bubbled to life, so far brewing up around 80 gallons of fizzy fun, even though it has advertised only on Facebook and by word of mouth.
“We didn’t realize that we had a company until people started asking for sodas!” chuckles Adam Phillips. “It was more of a hobby at first.”

They were talking trash at Carbondale’s Town Hall on Monday night, but in the end it all came to little beyond a call for more meetings and more talk.
The town’s Environmental Board (aka E-board) called the meeting to get public input for a proposal to rewrite the town’s trash-hauling ordinance, and possibly to rearrange the entire system of trash pickups and disposal.
But after hearing from several local trash haulers, including a lengthy presentation from Scott Eden, a self-described “professor of garbology” and a part-owner of InterMountain Waste and Recycling in Carbondale, the meeting broke up for lack of time.