Columns

Amid ongoing efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), and after rejection of Colorado’s state-level single-payer plan, the United States struggles to determine its healthcare future. Meanwhile, premiums, deductibles, and other forms of cost sharing continue to rise for those fortunate enough to have insurance. Companies, cities, and school districts struggle to fund […]

Extreme. What in the world do we mean by extreme?  When we speak of temperature we say that something is too hot or too cold, or perhaps that it is pleasantly warm or cool, or perhaps tepid. The highest and lowest temperatures would be at the extremities, thousands of degrees in the case of the […]

There are legitimate concerns and consequences to be considered pertaining to the reintroduction of wolves. It is disingenuous to state that opponents of wolf reintroduction base their beliefs solely on myth while wolf advocates use only facts as suggested by Senator Phillips of Montana.   The real myth is that anyone could believe that wolves […]

As mayor, the most common question I get is “How are things with the Town?” My response usually includes some combination of the following statements: “The Town is doing great. I inherited a great situation where we have an incredible Board of Trustees and a very dedicated staff. We don’t have much money to fight […]

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” -Mark Twain I’ve been watching the Olympics like a middle-aged woman: every night, on the couch, arguing with my husband about the etiquette of curling. I love seeing athletes from all over the world coming together to compete with such […]

When I moved from Denver to the Roaring Fork Valley, I assumed my access to new cinema would suffer. It hasn’t. Thanks to theaters like the Crystal in Carbondale and the Isis in Aspen, the handy inter-library reservation system, and hard-working postal workers delivering Netflix DVDs every few days, it’s easy to go beyond the […]

A while back my older son asked me about God. I got all panicky, fumbled around with some half-assed reply and hoped that it would hold off any more questions concerning life after death, God or anything to do with religion for a while. But, as we know, kids are naturally curious and the questions […]

The much-talked-about “super blue blood moon” is now two weeks behind us, its appearance heralded in the first eclipse of 2018. Feb. 15’s partial solar eclipse, though only visible in Argentina and parts of Antarctica, signals the close of eclipse season. Eclipse season comes twice a year, roughly six months apart when the sun comes […]

When I give people my cell phone number, it’s always with the caveat that they shouldn’t expect to reach me 24/7. “I check this voicemail box about once a month,” my message warns. “If you need to reach me, call my landline.” Call me a Luddite, call me an introvert, but I crave untethered time. […]