Thank you, Aspen Thrift!
The Roaring Fork High School baseball team is very grateful to the hardworking and super generous volunteers at the Aspen Thrift Shop for supporting our team. The Aspen Thrift Shop’s donation allowed our team to purchase a new pitching machine that will have us hitting over the outfield fence this season. While all the coaches and players are very grateful, this donation will make our last season the best yet for those of us graduating in May. Thank you Aspen Thrift Shop!
Roaring Fork Baseball, Class of 2025
Ethan Gardiner
Teo Menconi
Josiah Wheeless
Westin Sherman
Matt Fischer
Cole Fenton
Building code input
The Town of Carbondale is holding a Building Code Open House at Town Hall from 2 to 6pm on Thursday, Jan. 30. Building codes are a critical issue currently in this town because there’s an obvious building boom going on and the pro-growth disposition of the Town board indicates it will continue.
Even though I’m a renter and not a property owner, I intend to attend the open house and give the Town fathers my interpretation of what smart growth is. It’s not smart growth if new construction is allowed to have gas hookups. Crested Butte and Louisville have such a restriction. Methane gas in a building isn’t necessary if you have heat pumps and an induction stove. I’ve been harping on this since I joined the Environmental Board three years ago.
Recently, I was made aware that Boulder has required electric vehicle chargers in new construction, one for each single-family home and one for each ten units in a multifamily dwelling. With the installation of public chargers falling behind demand, this measure could alleviate some of the range anxiety potential EV purchasers are experiencing.
The Jan. 17 edition of Aspen Daily News had an interesting article about the building codes being considered for Pitkin County. Larger homes in Pitkin County could be looking at mandatory battery storage. If these energy saving measures aren’t in place already in Carbondale, they should be.
Whether you agree with my ideas or not, come to the Building Code Open House and share your thoughts.
Fred Malo Jr.
Carbondale
RE: Cookie incident
Confused and saddened; why would a community food pantry meant to help those in need be used to poison children? On New Year’s day, my son received a laced cookie from the community pantry outside the Carbondale Library. It was not labeled as a THC cookie, just looking and smelling like a normal cookie. If you choose to enjoy these THC treats, it’s your responsibility to keep them out of reach from others. Parents, talk with your kids about what they eat, make sure they know who made it, what’s in it and can trust the person giving it to them. Unfortunately, many drugs are made to look like candy, snacks or treats to appeal to younger audiences. This is sickening! My son was in our care, got silly, dizzy, vomited and lethargic after eating the cookie, but beyond that appears to have no lasting health consequences. Other parents have not been as fortunate because there have been accidental THC consumption. One case even resulted in death following ingestion of “a suspected delta-8 THC edible” (www.fda.gov June 16, 2022).
It has been a month since the incident. The THC has almost left my son’s body, but as I talk with families in the community many are still unaware of this incident. They too feel confused and sad after hearing our story. Finally, I’m writing this because I feel the Carbondale Police Department (CPD) and the Carbondale Library missed an opportunity to remind families these things do happen and what they can do to prevent them. I would have liked to see a co-crafted public service announcement (PSA) from CPD and the Carbondale Library encouraging parents to talk with their kids about the dangers of edibles. This could have been pushed out to families through Roaring Fork School District communications.
The PSA might have said, “Recently there was an incident in Carbondale where a middle school student unintentionally ingested a THC cookie. Please talk with your kids about what they put in their bodies. Someone might share something with them but, unfortunately, they have to be cautiously mindful about what they consume. If you are an adult that chooses to consume or produce edibles, please make sure they are not accessible nor intriguing to minors. This means keeping them in a locked cabinet, not in copycat packaging, and that they are clearly labeled as containing THC.”
Hopefully, this letter to the editor will encourage the discussed PSA.
Krista Lasko
Carbondale
Editor’s note: The Carbondale Library issued a press release regarding the incident to The Sopris Sun and Post Independent on Jan. 6. According to CPD, the department did reach out to the school district.
RFSD Accountability Committee
The Roaring Fork School District District Accountability Committee (DAC) is currently seeking new members. As a vital part of our district’s educational oversight, the committee plays an essential role in ensuring that our schools are meeting the needs of all students, while also keeping the community informed and engaged.
The DAC is tasked with reviewing school performance, analyzing budgets and providing input on educational priorities. DAC members help influence the direction of schools by directly advising the board of education on priorities communicated from school accountability committees. By becoming a DAC member, you will have a direct impact on shaping the future of our schools and help ensure that we are working together to provide the best possible education for our children.
If you are passionate about education and want to contribute to making a difference, I encourage you to consider applying for a seat on the committee. Whether you are a parent, teacher, administrator or community member, your perspective is invaluable.
For more information about the application process, time commitment and more, please contact roaringforkdac@rfschools.com
RFSD DAC Members
Bryan Snow
Sarah Dogbe
Madison Hays
Bridget Derkash
Building codes 2.0
The Town of Carbondale (ToC) will be updating all of its building codes to 2021 versions from multiple older vintages. Typically, these changes result in increased construction costs. That’s painful here now, but as far as I can tell, high costs are mostly due to land, labor and material. Over the years requirements have increased for fire protection, electrical and plumbing safety, disability access, building durability, structural stiffness, radon avoidance, indoor air quality and water and energy conservation. Currently the code with the most local amendments is energy conservation, but it’s not the only change over the years.
It’s cold here, so our gas-burning heating systems emit more greenhouse gases than in most places. We can reduce this by utilizing heat pumps powered by Colorado’s renewable electricity. It’s my understanding that ToC cannot outright require heat pumps instead of gas heating. So, the updated energy code attempts to encourage heat pumps, but it might not succeed. Currently, measures are in place to do that through our green code. They seem to have encouraged commercial construction (even the Dinkel Building renovation) and apartments to utilize heat pumps, but it does not appear that single-family homes and townhomes have followed suit (new Meadowood townhomes excepted). Many of the installed heat pumps are ones which work well even at the cold temperatures we just experienced, but some are models which are inefficient and expensive to operate during normal winter weather.
In any case, citizens who are interested in reducing our future “carbon footprint” should advocate for good cold-climate heat pumps in new construction. Look at the documents at www.carbondaleconnect.org/adoption-of-updated-building-codes, where you can also make comments until Feb. 3, and attend the open house on Jan. 30 from 2 to 6pm at Town Hall. Ask that the Town track the building permits and tabulate and publish the floor area heated in different ways so that citizens and officials can know if these policies and programs are getting the vast majority of new construction floor area on “clean heat” and, if not, revise the policies.
Fred Porter
Carbondale
Unpatriotic
Four years ago, it was hard to imagine anything more unpatriotic than storming the Capitol and assaulting police officers in an attempt to hang the vice president and overturn the election. What could be more unpatriotic? Well on Monday, President Trump showed us. He pardoned those violent criminals. Pardons are usually reserved for those who were not given a fair trial or those who have served time and demonstrated that they are clearly not a threat to society. None of that is true in the case of the January 6th insurrectionists. If we had read about this happening in Haiti or Russia, we might not be surprised. But in America?
Patrick Morrissy
Carbondale
Economic future
We have a new president. He has promised radical changes. But a look around the world suggests difficult days ahead that may put a damper on those plans. Warnings are coming that many countries are seeing declining growth — from China to Australia to Europe to Canada to the US. One reason is that populations are declining from ageing and lower fertility. Fewer working age people leads to lower productivity. The U.S. has relied on immigration, but that trend may stop while many are deported. Europe’s right wing is now anti-immigration. As in Germany, who is short of car builders, even as exports are declining.
The U.S. economy relies on consumer spending. But the catastrophic weather and fires reduce consumer confidence and leave people with little money to spend. Climate change contributes to concern. Insurance companies are pulling out of markets where they experience major losses.
Major healthcare companies are consolidating, and prices are rising. The smaller independent providers are closing. There are plans to reduce funds for Medicare at the federal and state levels. Social Security payments are considered for reductions. This means less money to spend by recipients. Salaries for health workers are being depressed by the big conglomerates. Foreign workers are finding visas harder to get. There is talk of closing down Obamacare that insures some 40 million people.
The new leadership has plans to create a system of tariffs on imported goods which will raise their prices. Tariffs also raise the prices of U.S. made goods that use imported parts, like cars and appliances. This may restore inflation as well as reduce sales. Fewer sales also means problems for the countries that export to us. These countries will reduce imports from us.
Reductions in income taxes are planned, and this means reduced revenue for government budgets. Our governments will reduce programs to hold deficits down. That money will not be in circulation. There are plans to fire tens of thousands of government employees. That too reduces consumer spending.
Bird flu is increasing, and many chickens must be destroyed. That will push up the price of eggs and meat. Fewer immigrants will be available for agriculture which will increase food prices across the board.
The U.S. economy is still the world’s largest. It is insanely complex, and it is intertwined with most of the other economies. It would be a shame to ruin it.
Patrick Hunter
Carbondale
Letters policy: The Sopris Sun welcomes local letters to the editor. Shorter letters stand a better chance of being printed. Letters exclusive to The Sopris Sun (not appearing in other papers) are particularly welcome. Please, no smearing, cite your facts and include your name and place of residence or association. Letters are due to news@soprissun.com by noon on the Monday before we go to print.