Literacy Outreach appeal
Thank you so much to The Sopris Sun for running a news brief about our information sessions and need for volunteer tutors. The meeting at the Carbondale Library on Jan. 16 was a success, but I would love to continue spreading the word about our program and our needs. Literacy Outreach is a nonprofit organization that has served Garfield County residents by teaching essential English-language skills to adults for the last 40 years. With the help of community volunteers, we have served over 3,228 residents, and there are currently over 110 more on our waitlist for lessons between Parachute and Carbondale. Anyone interested in learning more about how to get involved is invited to attend another one of our upcoming information sessions. We will have one on Jan. 23 at the Rifle Library at 4pm and one at our office (1127 School Street in Glenwood Springs) on Jan. 29 at 2pm. We can be reached at 970-945-5282 for more information.
Megan Webber
Literacy Outreach
Poop at the park
I am a resident of Carbondale, a dog owner and a frequent visitor of Crown Mountain Park. Who wouldn’t be grateful for such a wonderful and expansive park for our community, our families and our pets, too!
The issue, POOP! I am as responsible as the next resident, visitor, part-timer, or up valley / down valley pet owner who is welcome to, and uses, our amazing park. We have such a gift in Crown Mountain Park and such vast opportunity. It is equally an amazing place to meet neighbors, make new friends and share the wealth of our home community.
I am guilty of chatting with another dog owner, potential friend, cute person in our valley and then, unbeknownst to me, my pup is off pooping! To make up for it, as I walk the loop and through the vast fields, I pick up YOUR pups’ poop.
I have picked up 20-plus poops on an average day. Can you join in? Can you help too?
Recently, I was told that its board of directors discussed making the park an on-leash-only zone. Oh my! What an enormous loss that would be to our community. Among the reasons is the poop factor. So if you see a poop, whether it comes from your pet or not, can you help out and pick it up, dispose of it responsibly and help keep our park as spectacular as it is?
Last spring as the snow melted, the park had a sign that said they picked up 700 pounds of poop! Really? Why should they have to cover for all of us? I am out there gently reminding pet owners of our responsibilities and asking all of us not to turn a blind eye to poop.
Maybe a monthly or bimonthly community clean up (happy hour after!?) is the answer. What are you willing to do to keep our park as a dog-friendly, off-leash park that is equally shared with soccer teams, families, children, playgrounds, bike parks, etcetera. Please respond, and let’s make this work for us all!
Nicole Lucido
Carbondale
Demand charge
I am writing to express my opposition to the demand charge proposed by Holy Cross Energy (HCE). While HCE frames this new charge as a way to “align rates with grid costs,” the reality is that the new charge is regressive and places a disproportionate burden on working families.
HCE’s proposal imposes an additional $1 per kilowatt charge for electricity used based on the highest 15 minutes of electricity used in any month. If a customer uses multiple appliances at the same time, the kilowatts used increase and so does the penalty. If the 15-minute usage is 12 kilowatts, the new demand charge is $12 on your monthly bill. Most working parents will have the highest usage when they return home to cook dinner, bathe children, run laundry, etcetera. These are not luxury activities that can be easily “staggered” or shifted to non-evening hours. Residents of multi-family units or apartments, without separate billing meters, may find themselves paying the charge for high demand neighbors, or the combined electricity use for the entire complex regardless of whether they conserve energy.
Under this new structure, a single 15-minute spike in a month could significantly inflate a customer’s bill. The only way to avoid the new demand charge is to stagger the use of your various household appliances over the course of the day and sign up for “Time of Use” billing. This penalizes working families, while those with the luxury of flexible hours or those who can work from home can avoid these costs. This is inequitable.
HCE claims these changes give members “more control.” In truth, they shift higher costs onto working families who do not have the ability to perform life’s basic functions outside of evening hours when they return home from work. I urge the HCE Board of Directors to reconsider this regressive approach before their final decision on Feb. 18, and to find a more equitable way to manage grid demand. Members can comment on the proposed plan until Feb. 6 at www.holycross.com/rates
Siri Olsen
Glenwood Springs
Dear Sec. Rubio,
The world is watching the decline of a psychopathic, retribution driven, malignant narcissist.
In this nation, he is weaponizing the federal police and military against American citizens. People are being picked up in their homes, at schools and churches, all without due process. A citizen was shot in the head three times by a federal agent, and that was followed by a coverup from the Trump DOJ.
You know who else did this kind of thing in past history? Nazis!
When asked if there were any limits to his global powers he said: “I am restrained only by my own morality.”
Trump is an amoral man. You need to take the reins, and prevent the ensuing wars to come.
Trump is obsessed with invading sovereign nations for oil & regime change. Greenland is a NATO ally.
He just posted on social media that he is the “acting president of Venezuela.”
STOP TRUMP NOW!
What are all of you doing? Contact your Republican friends in Congress and implore them to do their jobs and block Trump. “We, the People” will remove all of the spineless Republicans in the November Midterms. This is the reality of what power used for evil can incite: resistance and rebellion. The American Revolution removed one King. We will not allow another, and YOU, Marco Rubio, should stand with our Democracy against another wannabe dictator!
I watched Trump walk away from an important oil executive meeting, to longingly muse about the destroyed East Wing and his big beautiful ball room.
Recently, his vindictive retribution has weaponized the DOJ to investigate Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Trump uses his power to go after anyone who stands on ethical principles for the people of this country. This is an evil, self-serving, greed-grifting liar, now in our White House, or what is left of our White House.
I hope that you believe in our democracy, the rule of law and our Constitution. If you do, then it is time to right the wrongs that you have allowed.
It is time for action.
Holly McLain
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.