Mountain Fair rollin’
Thank you, Carbondale, for walking and rolling to Mountain Fair! There was such an incredible sense of community and pride watching the continuous parade of kids and adults on foot, bikes, strollers and wagons. Imagine if every day felt like this!
Let’s pledge to walk or bike whenever we travel around town this year. Together, we can preserve the peaceful, outdoorsy, small-town feel we all love.
David Clair
Carbondale
Fire-safe grants
The Wildfire Collaborative Roaring Fork Valley has grant offerings for those who are concerned about fire mitigation on their property. I am fortunate to receive their offer. I was able to do extensive tree cutting around the perimeter of my home. Without their help, I would not have been able to complete the necessary steps to fire-safe the home. I thank Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District for the awareness inspection and Kelsy and Nick from the Wildfire Collaborative Roaring Fork Valley program for making this all happen.
Kathleen Enman
Redstone
Climate thank you
Meeting climate targets requires active community participation, leadership, partnerships and long-term investment in solutions.
At last Tuesday’s climate progress discussion, the Carbondale community demonstrated once again why our small town has achieved impressive results on climate. Carbondale has reduced carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by 30% since 2004 — but we have a lot more work to do to meet the 2030 goal of cutting emissions by 50%.
Thank you to all the people who took time out of their busy lives to learn more about Carbondale’s climate progress, discuss challenges ahead and brainstorm how climate progress can be accelerated. Thank you to our event co-sponsors and partners: the Town of Carbondale, the Carbondale Environmental Board and Garfield Clean Energy.
Thank you to Carbondale Mayor Erica Sparhawk for speaking at the event and providing important historical context and inspiring current leadership.
Thank you to Marble Distillery for offering craft libations in support of the discussion, and Beth Shoemaker of the Carbondale Environmental Board for catering snacks.
Finally, we thank The Sopris Sun for covering the discussion and sharing valuable insights in the July 23 edition of the paper. An informed public is essential to solving the climate crisis, and the community-owned Sopris Sun is a model of how a local newsroom can provide high-quality, thoughtful reporting that inspires civic engagement and solutions.
Emily Williams
Carbondale
Tree dweller
Regarding the Aspen tree dwellers’ treehouse eviction from the lands of the billionaire Chicago ownership of Aspen One (Aspen SkiCo): the State of Colorado has a long and regrettable history of siding with capital against ordinary people — most clearly demonstrated during the Colorado Labor Wars of the last century. Jury nullification has long been the people’s means of resisting such injustice.
Mama Sandy and Lee Mulcahy, PhD
Arlington and Basalt
Decentralization is safe
Many of you who read this have been voting for at least 30 years. There was Reagan, the Bushes, Clinton, Obama, Trump, Biden.
We used to all go to our local polling place or drop off our ballot, then, in the ‘70s we were able to mail our ballots in places, and it was convenient and more popular.
When the ballots were counted we found out who won and we accepted the outcome, no discussion about election integrity or rigging. The only controversy was in 2000 when the Supreme Court ruled that Bush had won. Not everybody was happy, but most of us accepted it.
Until 2017, when Trump became president and started talking about foreign influence and rigged elections. Sadly, he created fear in his base and the fear spread into the 2020 election, causing strife and then a riot at the Capitol when he lost the election. Interestingly, no talk about rigged elections when he won in 2024. But here we are in 2026 and the noise is starting again.
Election security experts say the decentralized U.S. voting system, with the power over elections residing with the states instead of the federal government, is a strength. Americans vote in more than 10,000 different jurisdictions with different rules, making the nation’s elections extraordinarily complicated but safe from widespread fraud.
Udelle Stuckey
Carbondale
Last call: Medicaid restrictions
I am a family physician and daily see patients who rely on Medicaid. Medicaid provides coverage for individuals with disabling health conditions and who fall into specific income categories. Approximately 1.3 million Coloradans are on Medicaid, including 20% of our adults and 40% of our children. This may change soon!
Last year, significant funding cuts were enacted, including expansive limitations on who qualifies for Medicaid. The Human Rights Watch (HRW) estimates that between 4.9 and 10.1 million people in America may lose Medicaid coverage in the next two years because of new requirements.
The “new” work requirement is that physically able adults on Medicaid with low incomes and without dependents will work or study at least 80 hours per month to maintain coverage. The reality is that most capable adults on Medicaid are already working at least that much. Statistics from the People’s Policy Project indicate that only 5% of Medicaid recipients are individuals who could be working and are not. The new requirement doesn’t significantly improve work activities among Medicaid recipients and doesn’t do anything helpful.
The harm comes from the new reporting requirements. Forms confirming appropriate work were required yearly, and now will be required twice yearly. According to the HRW, poorly administered enrollment and verification systems and technical failures frequently cause Medicaid loss. Increased reporting requirements provide more opportunities for enrollment, verification and technical failures, which directly translate to lost Medicaid coverage. Individuals with poor internet or phone access, unstable housing and limited in-person support will be at particular risk. Every dollar spent on administrative costs lowers the resources available to cover health costs.
Public comments on the new Medicaid requirements can be made until midnight on July 31. Go to www.regulations.gov and in the search line type CMS-2026-2047. And remember, your vote is your voice! Please vote in November!
Maria Chansky
Glenwood Springs
ICE out
When it feels like the world is falling apart and everything is overwhelming, sometimes it’s best to take some local action. You can pressure Glenwood City Council members to stop the continued operation of an unauthorized, unpermitted, unsafe ICE detention facility in the City limits. The City can enforce code violations against JG Housing Solutions LLC, the private, Florida-based landlord. T hey plan to make a decision at the Glenwood Springs City Council meeting on T hursday, Aug. 6, at 6:15 pm, at Glenwood Springs City Hall, 101 8th St.
Peter Westcott
Carbondale
Letters policy: The Sopris Sun welcomes local letters to the editor. Shorter letters stand a better chance of being printed. Letters exclusive to The Sopris Sun (not appearing in other papers) are particularly welcome. Please, no smearing, cite your facts and include your name and place of residence or association. Letters are due to news@soprissun.com by noon on the Monday before we go to print.