“I’m kinda discouraged.” Today, that was how Mason responded to my daily “How are you?” question. My query isn’t just a routine. Every morning we both awaken to find ourselves in one another’s company is a blessing. The cause of Mason’s discouragement was a Town of Carbondale flyer reminding us that our sidewalks must be […]
Nicolette Toussaint
Posted inNews, Uncategorized
Carbondale attorney makes change and history in fight against human trafficking
More than 125 local cops, doctors, teachers, philanthropists and citizens recently gathered for the biggest anti-human-trafficking conference ever held on Colorado’s Western Slope. That one-day summit happened because Glenwood Springs Attorney Angela Roff asked Carbondale resident Beth Klein to make it happen. Beth Klein, a Boulder attorney who retired here with her husband James two […]
Posted inColumns, Uncategorized
Seeking Higher Ground: Rage at the (driverless) machine
Although I’m seriously opposed to armed insurrection, I empathize with the folks who have assaulted driverless cars in Arizona. In Glendale, there have been least 21 attacks: by assailants wielding guns, slashing tires, throwing rocks and even threatening a driverless van’s attendant with a chunk of PVC pipe. It’s also happening in California. Individuals there […]
Posted inColumns, Uncategorized
Seeking Higher Ground: Santa in cyberland
I’m over 60; that’s much too old to be asking Santa to bring me gifts from the North Pole. At my age, Christmas gets awkward. I have all the material goods I need, and it’s hard to shop for things like good health or replacements for friends and relatives who have died or moved […]
Posted inOpinion, Uncategorized
‘Akimbo’ a wickedly funny visit with a family more dysfunctional than yours
If you’re feeling off-kilter about holiday family visits, Thunder River Theatre Company’s production of Kimberly Akimbo might be the tonic you need. The old adage says that laughter is the best medicine, and TRTC is providing a healthy dose of just that. Written in 2000 by Pulitzer-Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, the play is the coming-of-age […]
Posted inColumns, Uncategorized
Seeking Higher Ground: Debunking Trump’s mean and mindless jab at our Forest Service firefighters
This morning, I’m flaming over the president’s callous, clueless, cruel tweet: “There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or […]
Posted inColumns, Uncategorized
Seeker Higher Ground: Some sober reflections on Carbondale culture
Even though it’s home to Jaywalker Lodge, I suspect it isn’t easy to get or to stay sober in Carbondale. Although I have been darn-near dry for 30-plus years, it’s rare for me to go to a First Friday, an art opening or a fundraiser without feeling like a fifth wheel. No sooner do I […]
Posted inOpinion, Uncategorized
Thunder River Theatre’s Equus – a galloping hit
The small stage positioned in the cavernous darkness of Thunder River’s black box theatre can barely contain the unbridled passions loosed by Equus. This stage is an emotional boxing ring in which disturbed 17-year-old Alan Strang squares off against middle-aged psychiatrist Martin Dysart. The discomfort begins even before the play as five horses — bare-chested […]
Posted inColumns, Uncategorized
Seeking Higher Ground: Dangerous days for journalism
Asked to choose “whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government,” Thomas Jefferson stated, “I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” Today, Jefferson wouldn’t have that choice; due to economics, electronic media and the internet, newspapers face extinction. In their stead, according to the Pew Research Center, […]
Posted inColumns, Uncategorized
Seeking Higher Ground: A secondhand rose in a great, green town
When Barbra Streisand sang about being a secondhand rose in Funny Girl, she sounded a little blue. But I think it’s something to celebrate, and Carbondale’s clutch of secondhand stores make it easy to do. My affection for recycled goods predates my life in Carbondale. When I lived in San Francisco, fab recycled finds regularly […]