“Remember when we were kids and a field like this would be buzzing with bees? We were always afraid of getting stung.” My friend Jae Gregory said that while standing in a meadow near the Maroon Bells that was bursting with dandelions. And she was right. There were very few bees. At home, my xeriscape […]
July 2019
Posted inOpinion, Uncategorized
A fond farewell
Oh, man. Just typing “Sopris Sun Staff” and realizing it’s for the last time gave me pause. I’ve never been shy about my love for Carbondale, and much of that comes from my experience with The Sun (and, in a more limited capacity, KDNK). The relationship a reporter gets to have with the community she’s […]
Posted inNews, Uncategorized
Affordable housing a continuing challenge for first responders
Carbondale Police Officer Paul Lazo considers himself one of the lucky ones. He found affordable housing in the town where he works. The Town-owned employee housing he now lives in is twenty-percent less expensive than his former residence in New Castle. And his new home allows him to keep his dog, Eleanor, who is a […]
Posted inNews, Uncategorized
Translating finer points through different brush strokes
The American West boasts incredibly stunning landscapes, to be sure. Andy Taylor, though, does his best to paint the scenes that often fall in the shadows of the likes of Mt. Sopris. “I go places sometimes that other people might not go. It doesn’t mean that they’re exotic or remote; they might be awash under […]
Posted inNews, Uncategorized
Myth-busting rural America at the Ideas Festival
What does it mean to live in modern rural America, and which myths mischaracterize the mysterious middle ground locked between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts? I attended a session at the Aspen Ideas Festival, “Rural Mythicism: Fake News About Rural America,” to hear what a panel of experts had to say about the challenges facing […]
Posted inNews, Uncategorized
Local nonprofits innovate, celebrate amid daunting numbers
What leads someone to give or not to give are often highly personal reasons. But when Giving USA released its annual report on philanthropy last month showing a 1.7-percent decline in overall giving, Colorado Nonprofit Association President and CEO Renny Fagan wasn’t entirely surprised. The association had done some data-gathering of its own. “We do […]
Posted inNews, Uncategorized
Town commits to senior housing upgrades
Carbondale’s elected leaders signed on the dotted line in their support for local, affordable senior housing this week, formally accepting the task of financial oversight of roughly $1 million in repairs, improvements and upgrades to the buildings and facilities of the Crystal Meadows senior housing complex on Hendrick Drive at the south end of town. […]
Posted inOpinion, Uncategorized
Bridging the divide
When I hear about people talking about the partisan divide in the country, I feel like the conversation often drifts to thoughts of Alabama vs. California or hoping Colorado will turn all red or all blue in a presidential election year. But in 2016, even ol’ liberal California had a significant number of red counties, […]
