News

An anonymous donor has pledged up to $45,000 in matching funds to the Carbondale Clay Center so the non-profit can pay off a $90,000 loan and concentrate on looking ahead.
“We’re excited (about the campaign) … so our future can start,” said Carbondale Clay Center Executive Director Jill Oberman. “It’s hard to go to donors … apply for grants … raise money for building improvements when we’re saddled with debt.”

Chances are, Carbondale residents will be asked next April to vote on whether to tax themselves to pay for energy-efficiency projects and programs, such as those conducted the past few years by CLEER and CORE.
“This funding would give the town the ability to invest in renewable energy projects,” said trustee Allyn Harvey after Tuesday night’s board meeting. “It would be an opportunity for residents to decide if they want to make those energy efficiency programs permanent.”

Pedestrians headed north on Third Street near the library heard an unexpected “clomp, clomp, clomp” behind them last Friday afternoon. A split second later the sound identified itself in the form of a bounding deer who was last seen between the library’s back porch and the Bridges Center heading west as fast as she could.
“Our dog barked and scared it,” an out-of-breath little boy dragging his coat backpack told this reporter. “He ran into the fence three times then jumped over.”

Chase Engel has won more than 40 medals in national beer competitions, including one at the 2012 Great American Beer Festival. With wife Aly Sanguily, he plans to open a tasting room for their Roaring Fork Beer Company brewery in February.

Our calendar item stated the wrong weekday to learn about Mike Johnston, his values, his vision for Colorado, and why he’s running for Governor. The event actually takes place from 5 to 6:30 at Tuesday, April 4 at the Third Street Center (520 South Third St.).

There are 168 hours in a week. KDNK broadcasts something for every one of those hours, but there are five hours in particular that are very unusual in the broadcast landscape.
KDNK partners with the Andy Zanca Youth Empowerment Program (AZYEP), a separate non-profit, to provide training and opportunity to local youth in community broadcasting. Our collaboration is now 14 years in the making.

Students from Roaring Fork High School and Carbondale Community School were among approximately 150 that attended EcoFlight’s “The Value of Wilderness” seminar at Aspen High School on Nov. 8. Presenters included Sloan Shoemaker of Carbondale-based Wilderness Workshop, and local author and founder of Huts for Vets, Paul Andersen.

The harvest may be over, but if you visited the Colorado Rocky Mountain School (CRMS) garden on one of these crisp November days, you’d find Linda Halloran as busy as ever, putting that rich ground to bed for the winter one last time. After 15 years at the helm of a school gardening program that has become a national model, she plans to hang up her keys to the CRMS greenhouse — and the skid-steer — for good on Dec. 31.

A ballot question asking Carbondale Fire District residents to more than double their property tax mill levy failed in Tuesday’s election with 1,515 (57 percent) casting “no” votes and 1,133 (43 percent) casting “yes” votes.

After approving a temporary tax hike two years ago, Carbondale Fire District voters rejected a permanent property tax mill levy hike 57 percent to 43 percent on Tuesday, setting the stage for probable staff cuts and other budget reductions in 2014.
“No matter what, we’ll (still) have to dip into our reserves,” fire district board member Michael Kennedy told The Sopris Sun.