On Feb. 14, ownership of the Ace Hardware business in the old City Market shopping center in Carbondale passed from longtime owners Vicki Peterson and her husband, Chris, to Telluride-based Tom and Jenn Mortell. The process was not only a real estate transaction, it also represented a succession of ownership between two families who have […]
Ken Pletcher
Posted inArts & Entertainment
International Guitar Night comes to the Valley
Roaring Fork Valley residents are in for a treat on Friday, March 7, as International Guitar Night (IGN) plays at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen as part of its 25th anniversary North American tour. The IGN is the brainchild of guitarist and poet Brian Gore. A longtime performer in the San Francisco Bay area […]
Posted inBusiness
Carbondale’s old City Market — Is anything happening?
Nearly four and a half years have passed since City Market moved its Carbondale operations from the building at the Highway 133-Main Street roundabout north to its new facility in the Carbondale Marketplace shopping center. Since then, the building has sat vacant, mostly stripped to its outer walls and, as many townspeople have noticed, with […]
Posted inNonprofits
Toklat restored and open again
Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) announced in late November that its wilderness retreat facility in the Castle Creek Valley, the Catto Center at Toklat, was reopening to the public after a major renovation of the historic structure. In a conversation with The Sopris Sun, ACES CEO Chris Lane said that the nearly three-year project, […]
Posted inNoticias
¿Funcionaría en Carbondale un impuesto sobre viviendas vacías?
Ken Pletcher Traducción por Dolores Duarte para Sol del Valle Como todos sabemos, uno de los mayores retos a los que se enfrentan Carbondale y la región es la falta de viviendas accesibles. Nuestros asuntos sobre vivienda son un tema constante en los artículos de noticias, reuniones del consejo municipal, grupos de trabajo y campañas […]
Posted inLocal Government
Would a vacancy tax work here in Carbondale?
As we all know, one of the greatest challenges facing Carbondale and the region is the lack of affordable housing. Our housing issues are a constant topic in news articles, municipal council meetings, task forces and election campaigns. Various efforts have been made to reduce the shortage — such as rent controls and deed restrictions, […]
Posted inLocal Government
Curbside recycling progress report
It has been five years since Carbondale contracted Mountain Waste & Recycling to be the single-service hauler for the town’s trash and residential recycling. The Sopris Sun wanted to see, especially, how the single-stream curbside recycling program was going and sat down recently with Kevin Schorzman, Carbondale’s Public Works director. We also reached out to […]
Posted inNews
Hank Spaulding: A Carbondale original
Soft-spoken, self-effacing Henry (Hank) Spaulding is a third-generation Carbondale native with a ready smile and laugh. He is also a skilled stonemason with Gallegos Corporation and an avid outdoorsman. He recently sat down with The Sopris Sun. Sopris Sun: Both sides of your family have been here for quite some time, at least since the […]
Posted inColumns
Letter from Michigan: Elections have consequences
Editor’s note: Every summer Ken Pletcher has written a letter to Sopris Sun readers from Michigan. Here is letter number four. Hello again from the southeastern shores of beautiful Lake Michigan, part of a region sometimes called America’s Third Coast. I had planned, in this fourth letter, to write about our immediate neighbors behind our […]
Posted inBusiness
Builders FirstSource pulls its weight
In late August 2023, Builders FirstSource quietly opened its new lumberyard facility in Carbondale. Located just north of the City Market shopping complex on Highway 133, it was the culmination of a years-long process leading to the consolidation of the company’s three operations in the Roaring Fork Valley (Aspen, Willits and Glenwood Springs) at the […]