Will Grandbois

The Sopris Sun is conducting a series of interviews with folks you may not have seen in the paper before – a sort of introduction to your neighbors. This week, meet Dave Dixon, the proprietor of Strange Imports on the Main Street level of the Dinkel Building.
THE SOPRIS SUN: Is the Carbondale Strange Imports the only location?
Dave Dixon: Right now, yes. We used to have a few others. One in Vail for a few years, one in Aspen for a couple as well.

May 10, 2007: Students at Roaring Fork High School staged a walkout in response to what they viewed as the forced resignation of longtime teacher Jill Knaus — part of a broader trend of teacher turnover. “Our school has lost its meaning — it is education,” said senior Jay Engstrom. “A lot of… the most important teachers in our school are being pushed away when we need them.”

There’s a story behind the some of the seeds and starts you’ll see at Dandelion Day, and Casey Piscura is happy to tell it.
“When you buy a start from us, it’s been under the Colorado sun the whole time,” he told The Sopris Sun. “I’m giving you a packet of seeds for four bucks that are outgrowing hybrids in our greenhouse that are a dollar a seed.”

The Thompson Park housing project, which has been in the works for nearly eight years, is likely to be reduced in scope in the coming weeks, according to town officials and developer Frieda Wallison of Basalt. The project, which initially was planned for a little more than 10 acres along Highway 133 between Triangle Park and the Keater Grove neighborhood, at one time was expected to result in construction of between 45 and 85 homes.

A last minute change in a housing mitigation plan ruffled some feathers at the Carbondale Board of Trustees meeting on May 9, but didn’t stop things from moving forward. In the original plan submitted to the trustees and reproduced in the packet, the construction of the remaining 18 units of a 27 unit development in the Kay Planned Unit Development next to the Carbondale Community School on Dolores Way would have included 11 income restricted apartments.

Achieving 100 percent recycling and composting, and zero trash, at events such as Dandelion Day may not be possible as long as there are babies that must be diapered, and folks who tote in non-recyclable items such as waxed paper, Styrofoam, Magic Markers and a few other others. “We can’t rule on what people bring in,” said EverGreen ZeroWaste co-owner Alyssa Reindel.

The Carbondale Homeless Assistance coalition (or Carbondale Habitat-Challenged coalition, as some prefer it) has been in business for about a year and a half, and has successfully helped local habitat-challenged individuals with everything from dental surgery to meals to showers at the Carbondale Recreation and Community Center (CRCC).

Up to 45 eighth graders at a time have been staying late at Carbondale Middle School on Mondays to discuss social issues and will offer suggestions at a forum in Denver, and propose a resolution to the Carbondale Board of Trustees. The students are members of the school’s new Issues Club. Speakers so far have included a 9th Judicial District public attorney, a police officer, local mayor, and spokespeople from Planned Parenthood and the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, among others.

War and cancer are rightly viewed as among the world’s worst things to endure. But two graduates from the Colorado Mountain College nursing program used their experiences with deadly conflict and disease to learn how to care for others.
The nursing program at Spring Valley and Breckenridge awarded Associate of Applied Science and Bachelor of Science in nursing degrees to the class of 2017 on May 6.