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  • Locations: News Published

    Red Hill group investigating “violent” vandalism incidents

    The Red Hill Council, the non-profit group that manages trails and trail maintenance on Red Hill, is taking recent vandalism of trail work as a sign of protest. The problems are occurring mainly on the lower half-mile stretch of Blue Ribbon Trail, which starts at the trailhead off County Road 107. In a number of spots, the trail switches back, and trail users have been cutting the corners, causing erosion and “trail braiding” (spur trails caused by trail users veering off the regular path — sometimes only by 20 feet — for shorter, more direct routes). The Red Hill Council has been trying to cover up the “shortcut” trails by placing larger woody material, dead logs, rocks and pine needles. Volunteers, including work crews from Backbone Media, have spent several days revegetating areas of the fragile desert soil. The council, furthermore, installed small signs with the words “Trail closed. Restoration area. Please stay on trail.” In early July, however, the council discovered that someone removed the material. Volunteers then returned to re-do the work of revegetating the shortcuts. According to Davis Farrar, president of the council, the dismantling of trail work has occurred at least a half-dozen times in 2015. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Developer presents for-profit senior housing project

    A plan to build a 70-unit senior-citizens housing project on the north side of Carbondale was officially placed in the lap of the town’s board of trustees on Tuesday night, though a lengthy discussion of the topic focused mainly on how to get to the project, if it ever is built. No actual land-use application has been filed for the project, and scant details were mentioned during the discussion at the Tuesday meeting. The main spokespersons at the meeting about the project, proposed by a for-profit company called Sopris Lodge LLC, were Terry Claassen, one of three managers of the LLC, and local real estate agent Lynn Kirchner, who is the broker for the sellers and the buyers of the property where the senior housing complex would be built. Claassen acknowledged on Wednesday, in a telephone conversation with The Sopris Sun, that he had previously been part of a group that won approval for a separate senior housing project, on a site along the Roaring Fork River in Glenwood Springs adjacent to the 27th Street bridge. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    New Carbondale book is a real name dropper

    If you’ve never seen your name in print, or even if you have, check out “Memoirs of a River … Up the Crystal, Vol. 2,” by Charlotte Graham, which concentrates on Carbondale. A small sample from the index includes: Augie and Donna Natal, Charlie Moore, Terry McShane, Mark Luttrell, Anita Witt, Rebecca Young, Randy Vanderhurst, Karen Tafejian, Roy Rickus, Meredith Ogilby, Wick Moses, John Foulkrod, Rose Le Van and Annemarie Zanca, plus pioneers such as Jasper Ward, Myron Thompson and Eugene Grubb. Graham devotes pages to what she calls “characters” and gives mentions to dozens of residents who are living and those who have passed on. Her previous book, “Memoirs of a River … Up the Crystal Vol. 1” contained somewhat of an index that she herself put together. This time she hired professional indexer Deanna Butler, the granddaughter of the late David and Shirley Thompson of Redstone. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Drum circle founder ready to pass the baton

    Laurie Loeb has been called the “mother” of the annual Carbondale Mountain Fair, which returns to town this weekend for the 44th time, and for years she has been the “facilitator” for what most agree is the spiritual opening event of the Fair, the Friday afternoon drum circle in Sopris Park. At the age of 75, Loeb has decided it is time to do something different and let someone else lead the 400 or so drummers who each year join the circle. “My mom lived to almost 102, and my dad made it to 94,” she told The Sopris Sun this week. “So I may be around for a long time. But I don’t have to be in this position.” Loeb has served on the town’s board of trustees, she’s been a long-time teacher in different subjects and has lived in Carbondale since moving from Aspen in 1970. For the past 16 years (with one break) she has been the main organizer of the drum circle, which this year is to begin at 4 p.m. on Friday. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Temple Grandin giving two talks in Carbondale

    Best-selling author Temple Grandin, who in 2010 was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, will lead two separate public discussions on July 28 at the Third Street Center. Grandin, a professor at Colorado State University, is one of the nation’s top experts on humane livestock management. She is also a leading voice on improving the lives of people with autism spectrum disorders. She has developed important inventions and moved the thinking forward in both areas. Grandin’s presentation on her leading-edge work in the area of livestock management is set for 5 p.m. and will be followed by a question and answer session. At 6:30 p.m., she will switch subjects and give a talk and take questions on autism spectrum disorders. “We are thrilled to have Dr. Grandin, one of our state’s and the nation’s leading thinkers about improving the lives of people with autism,” said Sallie Bernard of the non-profit group Ascendigo, who helped organize the visit. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Aspen Science Center responding to STEM challenge

    Dropping watermelons from ladders, making fountains out of soda bottles, and creating geometric structures from zometools are just a few of the activities kids experience when they enter the world of the Physics for Kids BBQs hosted by the Aspen Science Center. On July 22 at 5 p.m., the center makes its way to the Colorado Mountain School (CRMS) campus in Carbondale for its yearly evening of simple BBQ fare and hands-on science geared towards kids of all ages. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Fire district gets mixed grades

    The Carbondale Fire District, as personified in its board of directors and staff, has done “yeoman’s work in navigating the department through very difficult economic times,” concluded a recently submitted draft analysis of the district’s operations. But, despite its reputation for efficient and effective fire-fighting and emergency-medical assistance, the district has a number of problems in its organizational structure, and should act before district staff fall victim to “burnout” and other negative effects appear, according to a draft master plan by Almont Associates, a Florida-based consultant. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Main Street open for Mountain Fair

    Carbondale’s Main Street will not be closed to vehicular traffic for this year’s Mountain Fair, but it might be in the future, following a discussion of the idea by the town’s board of trustees on Tuesday night. The idea was raised by Trustee A.J. Hobbs, who wrote in a July 2 letter that he felt Main Street needed to be closed during Mountain Fair weekend for safety reasons. “I saw too many close calls between pedestrians and cars last year,” Hobbs wrote in his letter, which was addressed to the trustees and town staff. “I feel it is imperative that we close portions of Main Street for all of Mountain Fair.” The letter suggested the closure should be from Third to Eighth streets, and at Tuesday’s meeting Hobbs explained that vehicular traffic could be re-routed to the streets that parallel Main, primarily to Colorado Avenue. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Basalt Boy Scouts looking for a new home

    This year marks the 24th year that Basalt Boy Scout Troop 242 has been meeting in a quaint log cabin located on the outskirts of Willits. Approximately 30 registered Boy Scouts attend weekly meetings and store their equipment there. By the end of this month, the scouts will have to vacate the cabin to make way for a condominium development project. They are getting the word out about losing the space in the hope they can find a similar place to meet elsewhere in the community. Troop 242 has never actually owned the cabin. The original owners, who granted the scouts use of the cabin in 1991, were local architect Michael Lipkin and his family. Since then, ownership of the property has changed hands multiple times. The various owners of the property have always continued to allow the scouts use of the cabin. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Fire committee wants more time, board reluctant

    The ongoing task of writing a 10-year master plan for the Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District is being rushed to the point where citizen reviewers do not have adequate time to digest all the information coming from a team of consultants, the district’s board of directors was told at a meeting on Tuesday night. “We feel like we’re being rushed too far, too fast,” said fire board member Carl Smith, who sits on the Master Plan Steering Committee that is working with the fire board to review and mold a draft master plan. “I think the reality is, we’re all looking at some kind of potential mill levy adjustment,” Smith added, referring to the district’s ongoing financial difficulties since the recent recession drastically cut property tax revenues, which are the district’s main source of income. read more →