News

The Carbondale Fire Board pretty much issued a collective “no comment” to allegations of election mistakes during its monthly meeting on May 14.
The allegations were brought by newly elected board member Carl Smith in what he told the five member board was an “after action review,” which he explained is a process the district itself uses following an incident its staff or volunteers have responded to.
As of May 21, Smith had not been sworn in as a Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District board member. At the May 14 meeting, he said the actions of Designated Election Official Jenny Cutright on election night raised questions in his mind as well as others. “There was a perception from a number of people of ‘what’s going on?’” said Smith.

Why is there a petition to name a park after Crystal River Elementary School teacher, Bonnie Fischer? “Because it’s Bonnie!” is the response The Sopris Sun got from Elizabeth Cammack, who is leading the effort to re-name the parcel of land behind Third Street Center as Bonnie Fischer Park.
Anyone who has had a child walk through the doors of Carbondale Elementary School or Crystal River Elementary School, viewed a Potato Day parade or advocated for educational advances in our public schools in the last 44 years has been infectiously touched by Fischer’s enthusiasm for children, community and education.

Carbondale’s busiest intersection will move one block to the north when Highway 133 construction begins and CDOT installs a temporary traffic light at Colorado Avenue to replace the Main Street traffic signal.
Construction on the 1.9 mile, $9.4 million project is scheduled to start on May 27 and conclude in November, according to CDOT officials, and will bring the following improvements:
• A round-about at the intersection of Highway 133 and Main Street;
• A wider highway and reconfigured lanes, beginning at the Highway 82 intersection;
• Additional sidewalks and trails;
• Extensive landscaping up and down the entire stretch, including the roundabout itself.
“When finished, the plan … will allow traffic to flow more efficiently, increase pedestrian and motorist safety, and enhance the aesthetics on this … highway,” said a CDOT press release.

Local businessman Federico Peña, who has forged the beginnings of a small commercial empire in Carbondale, set his sights on becoming an aircraft pilot early in his life.
But once he’d accomplished that goal, he said in a recent interview with The Sopris Sun, he realized he had other ambitions in life that had nothing to do with ferrying bankers around in private jets, which was what he was doing for several years after earning his wings.

Town staff and members of the Carbondale Board of Trustees will have to be a little more careful about their use of Facebook and other social media to connect with constituents, and town employees will have to shut their vehicle engines off more diligently than they may be used to, under two new policies adopted by the trustees at a meeting on Tuesday.
The board on Tuesday adopted specific policies this week on the idling of town-owned vehicles, and the use of social media by town officials and employees to get the word out to the citizenry, at their regular meeting.

With five candidates running for three Carbondale Fire Board seats, challenger Carl Smith far-out distanced the pack with 974 votes; incumbent Mike Kennedy logged the next highest total at 917.
In a battle between the other two incumbents, Gene Schilling edged out Mark Chain by five votes (875-870) for the third seat; Gary McElwee netted 863 votes. In all, the bottom three candidates were separated by 12 votes.

This Sunday the entire country will be focusing on moms as we celebrate Mother’s Day and show them our gratitude and appreciation.
For Carbondale mom Janine Cuthbertson, every day is a Mother’s Day of sorts as the focus of her work involves making every mother’s day a little easier.
Being a mom herself to daughters Aria and Tahlia, 7 and 5-years-old respectively, Janine understands the daily routines, challenges and joys common to all mothers. She also understands the need for moms to connect with other moms.

The Colorado Department of Education released third grade reading scores on the TCAP, Colorado’s mandated standardized test.
In the Re-1 district, 360 third graders were tested and 74 percent scored proficient or advanced, which is 2 percentage points higher than the state average.
The one Re-1 elementary school to show a decline in third grade reading scores was Crystal River Elementary School. Superintendent Diana Sirko emphasized that these results are “just one data point with one group of students” and other preliminary data suggest significant gains among CRES students overall.
The declining score could be related to the fact that there is a significantly higher percentage of second language learners and students from low-income families in this year’s CRES third grade class compared to last year’s.

Carbondale Fire District observers have something new to discuss and keep an eye on.
Rather than a projected $1.85 million reserve at the end of 2014, the functional figure is about $650,000 less than that.
The reason?
The district put up part of its reserves as collateral and borrowed $900,000 from Alpine Bank to buy a 100-foot-ladder truck, an accompanying tender truck and related equipment in May 2012, according to a report by fire district board candidate Carl Smith and confirmed by Carbondale Fire Chief Ron Leach.
The annual loan payment for the new trucks is $102,036 and two loan payments have been made, Leach confirmed. So, the district’s useable reserves at the end of the year are expected to be about $1.2 million — not the $1.85 million advertised in the 2014 budget.

As the battle wears on over gas drilling in the Thompson Divide area — a vast, scenic zone southwest of Carbondale that stretches from Sunlight Mountain to McClure Pass — some have expressed concern that the town’s water supplies might be contaminated by spills, seeps or other mishaps if drilling ever starts up on an intensive scale.
“The town has concerns about making sure our water sources are well protected,” Carbondale Town Manager Jay Harrington told The Sopris Sun in a recent interview.
“It’s an issue the town’s raised in our opposition to gas drilling up there,” Harrington added, referring to letters sent by the town government to elected officials and bureaucrats at the local, state and federal levels, urging officials to keep drilling rigs out of the Thompson Divide.