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  • Locations: News Published

    Smoke scare at Basalt Post Office

    A fire call at the Basalt Post Office on the evening of March 29 turned out to be more smoke than anything, according to Fire Chief Scott Thompson. The building was closed for business, Thompson said, when someone smelled smoke – though the alarm system wasn’t triggered. “We didn’t know what we had and it seemed to be getting worse, so we treated it like we had a fire,” Thompson said. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Sutey-Two Shoes swap clears IBLA hurdle

    The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Monday announced that the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA), a panel of administrative judges within the BLM, had given the go-ahead to the controversial Sutey-Two Shoes land exchange deal, and that the deal had been signed and sealed that day. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Diminutive domiciles by any other name

    In Carbondale they are called “micro-units” rather than their more common designation as “tiny houses,” and there are some key differences in how local governments view the growing national phenomenon of ultra-small houses, compared to the viewpoints of other jurisdictions. For example, in Carbondale if the tiny house is perched on wheels it can only be located in an RV Park. But if it is built on a permanent foundation and can be hooked up to the town’s water and sewer systems it can be located in a more traditional residential subdivision, according to Chief Planner Janet Buck. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Carbondale Tree Board: A species unto itself

    Read early accounts of life in Carbondale, or look at photos from back then, and at least one feature stands out – trees were few and far between. “Carbondale was a sage brush plain (in the 1880’s),” Tree Board Chairman Dan Bullock told The Sopris Sun.” According to published reports, one of the town folks’ first municipal projects was to plant trees, mostly Siberian elm, on their own property and also town property. read more →
  • Locations: Columns Published

    Protect open space and ‘messy vitality’

    Finally, past the musical chairs of elections and Stacy’s lamented move up the Crystal, Carbondale is settled in with a well-qualified, dynamic, and level-headed board of trustees for the next year at least. I can’t think of a better moment to tackle some tough issues. The toughest issues facing this board are intertwined and familiar: growth, affordable housing and community character. Let’s start, roughly, with growth. It’s happening fast. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Trustees on the fence for annexation proposal

    The Carbondale Board of Trustees gave a somewhat tepid response on Tuesday to a proposal to annex about 2.6 acres of ground at the north end of town and make it home to a new mini-storage complex along Highway 133. But the trustees did not indicate an unwillingness to work with the developer, Dr. Ron Stein and his corporate persona, Huntington L.P., headquartered in Burbank, Calif. Stein, also owns the Sopris Shopping Center on Highway 133, as well as land between Main Street and Colorado Avenue at Highway 133, which is hopes to develop into a mixed-use project of homes and businesses. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Old Carbondale bus barn closes its doors

    On the morning after spring break, four school buses leave the venerable bus barn on Third Street in Carbondale, but don’t return. The maintenance crew and a handful of drivers have spent the last week moving all the old tools and parts up to a new facility near El Jebel. In a few months, Roaring Fork School District hopes to have the old building torn down, the soil sampled and mitigated as needed, and a new teacher housing complex under construction on the site. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Pages of the Past: Highways, sidewalks and burning planes

    April 2, 1987: The Town of Basalt commended those who had rescued a man from his burning aircraft when it crashed in Holland Hills two weeks before. “Let it be known to everyone that’s what saved my life,” Federal Express pilot Greg Dunham reportedly told Police Chief Larry Johnson when the idea of special recognition was proposed. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    RFHS principal selection prompts backlash

    Roaring Fork School District Superintendent Rob Stein announced on March 24 that he had offered the job of principal at Roaring Fork High School to Brett Stringer, who currently serves as principal at the North Middle School Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Aurora, CO. Stringer accepted the position, Stein reported in an email to the district’s staff and obtained by The Sopris Sun, and will be starting the new job on July 1 if the selection is confirmed by the school board on April 12. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    RFOV unveils 2017 project season

    For some local nonprofits, it seems as if they’ve been around forever. Take Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers (RFOV), which works with the Forest Service and other agencies to repair and build trails on public lands, and undertake projects that state and federal agencies can’t afford. RFOV is marking its 22nd year of improving access to public lands through the work of volunteer crews. “We’ve accomplished quite a lot since our first project season in 1995, when we had only three projects and 105 volunteers,” said RFOV Director David Hamilton on the nonprofit’s website. read more →