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July 21, 1977: Valley Journal Editor Pat Noel addressed a growing sense that Carbondale was becoming Aspenized by pointing out that the influx of upvalley folks was nothing new. “In the end, I suspect everything will have changed quite a bit from what it used to be, but if ‘what it used to be’ had any real merit, the vestiges of it will certainly remain,” he wrote. “Carbondale is, after all, more than a name — it’s a state of mind.”

Carbondale and Garfield County have for years talked about exploring ways to put a trail alongside Snowmass Drive, the one-time bypass for coal trucks hauling loads from mines near Redstone to the coal loading facility on Catherine Store Road east of town. Following a joint meeting between town trustees and the county’s Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) in June, the two entities may be moving closer to actually getting a project underway.

Si usted cree que el Departamento de Tránsito es la peor forma de burocracia, preguntale a Jesus Ortiz sobre su travesía de 17 años para recibir ciudadanía.
-Ha sido difícil, -te diría -. No es solo mandar una aplicación. Es un proceso muy largo.
Ortiz, 46, ha formado parte del equipo para Obras Publicas en Carbondale desde 2012 y logró ser oficialmente ciudadano de los Estados Unidos en abril, un logro que el atribuya a su patrocinador, gerente anterior de Pour House Skip Bell.

Following a mid-June spill of more than 2,300 gallons of chemicals, wastewater and drill “cuttings,” for which the Texas gas drilling company SG Interests was ordered on June 20 to shut down the well in question, drilling has resumed. The well is located in the southernmost portion of the controversial Thompson Divide region, and following a brief interruption to clean up the spill, the company is back in business at the same well, according to an official with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which leased the site of the well to the company a decade ago.

July 14, 1977: It took three hours for rescuers to reach a fatally injured climber near Bulldog Creek after dispatchers failed to agree on which of three emergency groups could get there the fastest. Aspen Search and Rescue, Carbondale Volunteer Fire and Garfield Search and Rescue were all called in and called off in turn before the Aspen crew finally set off.

Polo is an exciting sport and if you live in Carbondale you don’t have to walk, bike or drive very far to enjoy it this summer. The 2017 polo season has officially kicked off at the Aspen Valley Polo Club outside of Carbondale, and in addition to the complimentary food and refreshments served at Sunday games, the growing number of spectators already seem to be eating it up.

Roaring Fork Schools Board of Education approved the 2017-18 budget on June 28 with a combined total budget appropriation of $189 million. Of the district’s 12 funds, the building fund and general fund are the two largest funds with appropriations of $89 million and $67 million, respectively. The building fund is a temporary fund established to account for the proceeds of the $122 million bond issue authorized by voters in November 2015. The majority of bond projects are scheduled to be completed by December 2017, with a handful of projects carrying into 2018 including staff housing and the completion of Glenwood Springs Elementary School’s addition and renovation.

Hiding in plain sight, the Carbondale Clay Center’s Sopris Park restroom-tile project was four years in the making. “I always say this took four Mountain Fairs and two Potato Days,” project organizer Diane Kenney told The Sopris Sun. “I think we started in 2000 at Mountain Fair.”
The project eventually wrapped 600 individual ceramic tiles around the restrooms on the west side of Sopris Park.

Need has no season, but Tom’s Door keeps track anyway. For 15 years, the nonprofit has been mostly recognizable to the public through the cards it sells to raise money for folks facing emergencies. Available at dozens of local stores, they feature local scenes from around 65 area photographers appropriate to the time of year.

A 114-page report on possible wildlife impacts from construction of a pedestrian and biking trail up the Crystal River was not intended to identify one particular trail route or another, said the study’s author, Boulder-based wildlife biologist Rick Thompson on Monday. Nonetheless Thompson’s report, which was outlined at a meeting on July 10 in Redstone (with a second meeting scheduled for Carbondale the following day), seemed to lean toward keeping the proposed trail along the Highway 133 right-of-way for most of its 20-mile length.