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  • Locations: News Published

    GarCo commissioners continue CRMS road discussions

    A road-related dispute between Colorado Rocky Mountain School and its neighbors to the north, in the unincorporated community of Satank, apparently will play out at a meeting of the Garfield Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) on May 4 in Glenwood Springs. And one outcome of that meeting could be whether the school will be forced to undo some of its recent moves involving a historic road that bisects the campus property. At issue is a series of actions taken by the school that critics say have affected the public right-of-way of County Road 106 through the CRMS campus, which is located to the west of town where West Main Street turns into CR106. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Earthquake spares Pokhara, other areas not so lucky

    POKHARA, Nepal — On April 25, 2015, I was with Lakpa, one of the two men who flew off Mount Everest and co-starred in the documentary “Hanuman Airlines.” We were sitting in the Himalayan Encounters garden in Pokhara, Nepal, talking about the next film we would make about his descent of the Ganges River to the sea by kayak. Within a minute of sitting down the rumbling began, a thunder that seemed to come from the earth and all around. After 10 seconds it didn’t stop and I remembered to turn my camera on. A hundred barking dogs and cows moaning, the distant screams of girls carried over the rumbling of the earth added to the cacophony unfolding. My second thought was “It’s not stopping!” read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    North Face weed spraying continues despite protests

    Carbondale’s elected leaders came close to reversing themselves Tuesday night, regarding an herbicide-spraying program at the North Face Bike Park that upset several area residents when it was revealed to the public earlier in April. But a 3-3 tie vote (Mayor Stacy Bernot was absent) put an end to an appeal from residents to hold fast to the town’s long-standing policy against the use of toxic chemicals on town property. Trustees Allyn Harvey, Pam Zentmyer and Frosty Merriott voted against a motion to stop the herbicide program, while trustees A.J. Hobbs, Katrina Byars and John Hoffmann voted in favor of holding off on the herbicides while the town investigated its options. The issue arose during the public-comments section of the trustees’ April 28 meeting, which is when anyone who wants to talk with the trustees, but is not there for a scheduled agenda item, can take a few minutes of the board’s time. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    5Point rolls in April 23-26

    The eighth annual 5Point Film Festival takes over Carbondale once again on April 23-26, with: more than 35 special guests, more than 45 short adventure films spread over six programs, 12 free participation activities, four free community parties and the ever-popular Van Life Rally. 5Point’s five guiding principles are: Respect (For each other, the environment, for the experience and the knowledge we inherit from those who inspire and teach us); Commitment (To overcome fear and give ourselves completely to the challenge at hand while leading a vital existence and never allowing ourselves to become complacent); Humility (To assume the courage and the discipline to listen to our intuition and not our egos, always mindful of our place in the natural order); Purpose (To muster the motivation and conviction necessary to pursue our highest aspirations in the face of adversity); Balance (To maintain our focus and energy in life, in nature and on the journeys we undertake while things we cannot control shift around us). read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Library fireplace fuels heated debate

    Officials with the Garfield County Libraries District want to install a gas fireplace in the relatively new Carbondale Branch Library, but some people in Carbondale think a gas fireplace is a bad idea that sends the wrong message about the town’s energy priorities. The issue gained public prominence on April 14, during a discussion at the Carbondale Board of Trustees meeting between the trustees and library board member Bill Lamont, about an issue not related to the fireplace. During the discussion, Trustee Pam Zentmyer brought up the fireplace project, which is scheduled for review at the May 7 meeting of the library district’s board of directors in Parachute. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Local educators pan possible pot ordinance changes

    Carbondale’s elected leaders agreed on Tuesday, at least in principle, to hold off on shrinking the allowable distance between local cannabis businesses and various educational or counseling facilities around town. Because the conclusion was reached during an informal work session, it is not yet cast in the bureaucratic equivalent of concrete, as formal and legal decisions cannot be made during such sessions. The trustees arrived at their conclusion after some of the trustees and two local educators — Roaring Fork School District assistant superintendent Rob Stein and Carbondale Community School Principal Tom Penzel — panned the idea of allowing pot shops to be located closer to schools, daycare centers, drug rehabilitation centers and other facilities than current law allows. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Mother's Day photo shoot adds another session on April 25.

    Due to popular demand the last sitting for The Sopris Sun’s Mother’s Day photo spread has been extended to April 25 from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Third Street Center. Portraits of moms and their babies born in the past year or adopted since Mother’s Day will be… read more →

  • Locations: News Published

    Town does an about face on North Face weeds

    Carbondale’s elected leaders decided Tuesday to use herbicides to knock down a persistent weed problem at the North Face Bicycle Park, which goes against a long-standing policy against using toxic chemicals on town parks. But the move is needed, the trustees decided, in order to prevent a crop of noxious weeds from taking over the bike park and spreading onto nearby properties, both public and private. The issue arose when Darryl Fuller, chair of the town’s Bike-Pedestrian-Trails Commission (BPTC), stood up to talk to the trustees during a time reserved for “persons present not on the agenda,” meaning anyone who is not there for a specific agenda item. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Forest Service OK’s operating plan for controversial quarry

    Federal officials have approved an operating plan for the White Banks Quarry operation at Avalanche Creek, between Carbondale and Redstone, that calls for mining operations to begin as early as May. Robert Congdon, a former coal miner who first started work at the White Banks location nearly a quarter century ago, confirmed on Tuesday that it is likely there will be only a minimal amount work done at the mine in May, thanks to the sudden nature of the recent approval from the U.S. Forest Service. “We’ve worked five years to get the permit,” Congdon said. “It’s dropped into our lap pretty unexpectedly.” It will not be until later in the summer, perhaps July or August, before any significant work begins, Congdon said. The mine is intended to produce marble, alabaster and gypsum. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Satankers, CRMS squabble over new and old issues

    A simmering road-related dispute between Colorado Rocky Mountain School, a private academy for grades 9-12, and it’s neighbors to the north, in the unincorporated community of Satank, seems poised to spill over into a broader fight. At present, the spat has expanded to include the Garfield Board of County Commissioners and the board of directors for the Rockford Ditch Association, which controls one of the oldest ditches diverting water from the Crystal River, supplying irrigation water to CRMS as well as to the residents of Satank. “We went through this all, last year,” lamented one Satank resident, John Armstrong, who works for the Pitkin County Open Space and Trails department and has been deeply involved in the CRMS/Satank conflict in recent months. Armstrong also was involved in a similar conflict last year when the school tried but failed to get the county to vacate a county road right-of-way and turn it over to CRMS. The current dispute, Armstrong told The Sopris Sun, “has a whole different flavor to it, but it’s the same issue, that’s for sure.” read more →