Every Thursday, something small but meaningful happens across the Roaring Fork Valley. Outside the Village Smithy… at a City Market… at a local library… someone pauses at a news box, pulls out a fresh copy of The Sopris Sun, and takes a moment to reconnect with what’s happening close to home. It’s a simple act. […]
Opinion
Posted inColumns
Dream Well: The walk of a lifetime
Natalia Snider is a certified dream practitioner living in Carbondale. She works with people’s dreams and imaginations to facilitate self-healing. Every month, she will analyze someone’s dream in The Sopris Sun. Anyone can submit a dream for personal analysis or inclusion in this column by visiting: www.dreamhealings.com DreamI had a dream my dad came to […]
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Protecting Snowmass Falls Ranch
Our public lands are treasured by most Americans and they deserve our protection. But there are rare exceptions when public lands can best be protected by key parcels of conserved private land. Most land incorporated into wilderness today is remote, high elevation mining claims. But with some land — like Snowmass Falls Ranch (SFR), with […]
Posted inColumns
Historiography: The last picture show
“Carbondale History, 1887-1976,” by the Carbondale Study Club (1976): In the early days of the town, there was a motion picture theater on the north side of Main Street [351 Main, now The Pour House]. Every week there was a show … on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Admission was 10 cents for children and 15 or […]
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CVEPA Views: Earth, water, fire and air!
Woe is us. Yes, the millions of people in the Great American West who depend on the snowpack for 80% of our water. This year has shaken us to the bone. Apparently, there was a warmer and drier year, winter 1980, that we are competing with. Oddly, more prominent in people’s memory was the terrible […]
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Mirror, Mirror: Which city is more messed up, Nairobi or Mexico City?
For eight days, Julián and I traveled through Nairobi, Kenya. The experience worked like a magnifying mirror: Observing this African city forces you, almost relentlessly, to rethink Mexico City. Nairobi is a remarkably green city. Vegetation is abundant, and trees — jacarandas, mangoes, avocados, fig trees, ceibas — reach uncommon sizes. Many are over a […]
Posted inLetters
Letters – Jan. 22, 2026
Literacy Outreach appealThank you so much to The Sopris Sun for running a news brief about our information sessions and need for volunteer tutors. The meeting at the Carbondale Library on Jan. 16 was a success, but I would love to continue spreading the word about our program and our needs. Literacy Outreach is a […]
Posted inColumns
Former local reporter’s new novel strikes a chord for resort-town residents
Editor’s note: Potential spoilers lie ahead. Michael Bourne, a professor of writing at the British Columbia Institute of Technology and a former reporter for Aspen Daily News, recently wrapped a mini tour promoting his second novel, “We Bring You an Hour of Darkness,” a riveting read that offers a peek, albeit fictional, into the world […]
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In a world of streaming services, you still can’t beat the big screen
The Nefud Desert, Saudi Arabia. Searing, shimmering heat. In “Lawrence of Arabia,” T.E. Lawrence (Peter O’Toole in his first major role) and Sharif Ali (world, meet Omar Sharif) lead their soldier band at night through the “Devil’s Anvil.” One man, exhausted, falls off his camel. I saw this film probably in the ‘80s, but still […]
Posted inOpinion
Literate Life: Library director begins a new chapter
Before I came to Garfield County, I lived in two big cities: Chicago and Denver. I was surprised to learn that I did a lot more walking and biking there than I did in the more rural and suburban settings I’d lived in before. Cars are a hassle in the city. In the country, you […]