Carbondale resident George Wear provided a change of pace to the public comment period ahead of the regular agenda items at the Garfield County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting on Monday, Feb. 3. “I came here today to talk to you about your support for locating a nuclear waste depository in northwest Colorado,” he said. “I assume […]
February 2025
Posted inFiction
Works in Progress
A high-stakes scavenger huntBy Tom MercerCarbondale-ish Long ago, it was not uncommon for children to participate in a scavenger hunt. For our purposes, a scavenger hunt is a competitive activity wherein two or more teams are given identical lists of items which they have to locate and acquire by going door-to-door in their community. At […]
Posted inLocal Government
Colorado Democratic Latino Caucus and Rep. Velasco address priorities for 2025
This story was originally published in Spanish by Sol del Valle. The Colorado Democratic Latino Caucus met with Governor Jared Polis on Jan. 13 to address the concerns of the community. Colorado House District 57 Representative Elizabeth Velasco, co-chair of the Caucus, is also the first Mexican-born legislator in Colorado, the first Latina to represent […]
Posted inColumns
Seeking Haystacks: Seeking America
Let America be America again.Let it be the dream it used to be.Let it be the pioneer on the plainSeeking a home where he himself is free. (America never was America to me.) Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—Let it be that great strong land of loveWhere never kings connive nor tyrants schemeThat […]
Posted inSports
Senior leadership steers Rams hoops teams toward 3A playoffs
Chalk the dual success this season for the Roaring Fork High School boys and girls basketball teams up to a combination of factors that have the Rams on track for respective state playoff berths for a second straight season. Not the least of which are two groups of senior athletes who’ve stepped into the all-important […]
Posted inYouth News
From Nantes and back again
On Jan. 18, 17 high school students from Lycée Nelson Mandela — a school in Nantes, France — arrived in Carbondale. However, these French students were not here for purely a personal vacation. Rather, they came here as part of Roaring Fork High School’s (RFHS) Carbondale-Nantes 2025 Exchange, a program put on by English Language […]
Posted inEducation
Pulitzer-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar kicks off Winter Words discussing creativity in the age of AI
The doors shut. The lights dropped, save for a single spotlight on a podium at the side of the stage. A slender tuxedo-clad figure emerged out of the audience into that spare brightness. It was not immediately clear whether the first words spoken were from William H. Macy as a local arts enthusiast or as […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Tickets now on sale for Palisade Bluegrass Festival
Tickets are now available for the Palisade Bluegrass & Roots Festival, which has served as a weekend getaway for people in the Valley since its inception 17 years ago. The festival will take place June 6-8 with a plethora of bluegrass, roots and Americana acts ranging from big-name artists to up-and-coming ones: including a few […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
DanceAspen presents ‘Ember Glow’ at Wheeler Opera House
On Feb. 15 and 16., at 7:30pm, DanceAspen will premier its two-night winter season production of “Ember Glow,” a showcase featuring works by the company’s own choreographers Matthew Gilmore and Jonah Delgado, as well as guest choreographers Gabrielle Lamb and Noelle Kayser. The works will focus on the rich local history of Aspen, and even […]
Posted inEducation
Declining enrollment in Valley schools part of a broader trend; districts planning mitigation
Secondary education schools are experiencing a balloon effect: deflation. Enrollment hasn’t increased dramatically in recent years, but numbers were slowly growing. That is starting to change, and local school districts are preparing for what smaller student numbers will mean moving forward. The Sopris Sun spoke with Roaring Fork School District (RFSD) and Aspen School District […]