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While Sismai Moreno, the barista, pours claret-colored juice into a paper tasting cup for a first-time visitor, two additional customers step into the Tonic Juicery.
The juice bar, tucked into the courtyard at 320 Main St., offers a dozen different juices each day, all squeezed fresh on site, made in and expressly for Carbondale.
An artistically chalked menu lists all of the ingredients that go into Tonic’s organic, cold-pressed juices. Ruby Spice, the claret-colored blend in the tasting cup, contains carrot, apple and beet juice, spiced with ginger, turmeric and garam masala. Silky in texture with fruity undertones, it packs a feisty bite. “Some people say that they have tried these ingredients and didn’t like them,” Moreno to The Sopris Sun. “But here, sometimes they try again and they say, ‘it’s out of this world.’”

In 2005, Carbondale resident Amy Krakow published the third book in her children’s book series, “The Mutt and the Monster.” When numerous kids asked when the fourth book would come out, she mostly responded by telling them that the “trilogy” was complete. But now, several years later, she has written a musical based on the series.
“From the time the idea popped into my head, to writing it, and finally braving walking into SoL Theatre to meet with directors Logan Carter and Jennifer Michaud, seven years had gone by,” Krakow said. “Aside from working several jobs, too many ski days, and endless summer hikes, the musical spent most of its time inside a desk drawer collecting dust. When Sol Theatre decided to take it on, I spent the next few months editing and polishing it off.”

Here is how an 1889 Aspen Weekly Times article covered what might have been Carbondale’s last official “shindig.” The headline read “An Old Time Shindig,” with a “Special correspondence” byline and “Carbondale, Jan. 26” dateline. The article read:
Last night the social hop given at their pleasant home by Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Holland proved to be one of the most successful social events of the season. The dancing hall was beautifully wreathed in evergreens. The entertaining couple proved to be adepts (sic). The supper was superb, with all the delicacies from home and abroad. Davis Harris’s string band furnished the music. Dancing continued until six in the morning, when breakfast was served, after which the finishing dances were had.

It’s the Code of the West:
• Never try on another man’s hat;
• Never pass anyone on the trail without saying “howdy;”
• Remove your guns before sitting down at the dinner table;
• Cuss all you want, but only around men, cows and horses.
There are other important provisions in the unwritten Code of the West, but they broadly encourage hospitality, fair play, loyalty and respect for the land.
Yep, ma’am, we all live in the west, including Redstoners, so we’re all subject to the Code of the West to one degree or the other. That’s one reason the issue of horse poop on the road (aka “road apples”) has surfaced in Redstone.

A lawsuit filed in federal court on July 29 names Carbondale Police Chief Gene Schilling and police officer Michael Zimmerman, and other co-defendants, after what the plaintiff calls an “active shooter drill” at Heritage Park Care Center on Oct. 16, 2013.
In her lawsuit, Carbondale resident Michelle Meeker alleges that Zimmerman took her “hostage” with a “gun” while she was on duty as a registered nurse at Heritage Park and as a result, she “has suffered and continues to suffer significant damages, including severe mental and emotional distress, as a result of Defendant’s actions, which constitute intentional, willful and wanton violation of her rights under the United States Constitution and the laws of the United States and the State of Colorado.”

The Carbondale Fire Board meets in a special session on Aug. 4 to receive the final report from its Citizen Advisory Committee that among other items:
• Does not recommend asking voters for a property tax hike in November;
• Suggests the district consider continuing to dip into its reserve fund, dropping it from enough money to cover six months of expenses to three months;
• Says the board should look at adjusting wages and benefits paid to fire district staff members.
The Aug. 4 meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District headquarters, located at the south end of town on Meadowood.

The Garfield County Public Library district is about half way through a strategic planning process that includes public input sessions beginning in Glenwood Springs on Aug. 5 and concluding in Carbondale on Aug. 27.
The process, facilitated by JVA Consulting, is focused on creating a strategic vision and marketing plan, district director Amelia Shelley told The Sopris Sun in an e-mail.
Shelley said the strategic vision and marketing plan’s goals are to “determine how we can better reach the under-served and un-served segments of our communities, improve and streamline our existing marketing efforts, optimize our online and social media presence, and generally heighten the visibility of our library services.”

Every year, thousands of small, root-beer colored bottles holding herbal tinctures wend their way from Weant Boulevard here in Carbondale to patients and medical practitioners all across the United States.
Dr. Dave’s Herbal Medicine comes in nine different remedies: Allergies Away, Super Sinus, Throat Zap, Cough Arrest, Sinus Guard, Immune Defense, an immune-boosting Mushroom Tonic, Good Night and Meno-Pause.

The El Paso, Texas-based Radio La Chusma, brought their blend of reggae and south-of-the-border music

In lightning lexicon, the strikes are called “hold-overs.”
The inside of a tree can smolder for two or three days after being hit by lightning before burning all the way through to outside air. Once the fire burns through, with the right conditions, such as high wind, the fire can spread. After that, wildland firefighters can have a catastrophic blaze on their hands.
“Many fires start from hold overs,” Carbondale Deputy Fire Chief Rob Goodwin told The Sopris Sun on Tuesday.
Making sure those hold overs don’t flare and fuel what could become national news stories (a la the Coal Seam fire just outside Glenwood Springs a few years ago), the Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District reinstated its wildfire patrols last week, thanks funds provided by private donors.