Re: Library Report
The June 5 Garfield County libraries board meeting at the Carbondale Library was my first opportunity to see the makeup of the new board, as directed by the county commissioners, in action. I wasn’t impressed.
As it has been for about three years now, how and when to restrict children from reading material someone has determined is unsuitable was the primary topic of discussion — and it drew a standing room only house. It got pretty heated.
Trustee Stephanie Hirsch has replaced Jocelyn Durrance as Carbondale’s representative on the board. She walked into the meeting late with a scowl that never left her face. Hirsch is a known homophobe who believes children’s eyes should be shielded from any literature that recognizes homosexuality exists.
Carbondale has a vibrant LGBTQ community and they’re embraced by nearly all. The June 6 Pride parade demonstrated that. I wonder if Hirsch has read Edmund White. I have. He’s a gay male who describes homosexuality in a way this straight male could never understand without reading the book. Kids could handle it. They wouldn’t be groomed.
Hirsch actually said, “Children have no First Amendment rights,” causing an audible gasp from the audience. She tried to explain how children can’t drink alcohol or drive, comparing those privileges to constitutional rights.
Hirsch likes to brag about being a published author. I wish I was, but I know at least a half dozen writers from Carbondale with their monikers on books and that’s probably just the tip of the iceberg. Does she think she’s the only one?
Just like first district County Commissioner Tom Jankovsky, Hirsch has no business representing Carbondale. If Garfield County was a home rule jurisdiction, Jankovsky would get nowhere near the commissioner’s desk.
Another one of the new trustees, Tony Hershey, was censured by the Glenwood Springs City Council for inappropriate behavior and foul language. He was abusive to representatives from Ceasefire Now RFV when they addressed the city council. Hershey replaced Susan Use on the library board.
Are these the kind of library trustees we’re going to get now that the commissioners have taken over appointing them? The trustees themselves chose new members in the past. Jankovsky said they made the changes to get more “diversity” on the board. Bull! As near as I could tell, there isn’t a progressive on that board. This is all a ploy to replace open libraries advocate Jamie LaRue as library director.
Get up early some Monday morning and go to the Garfield County commissioners meeting and tell them you don’t approve of their choices for the library board.
Fred Malo Jr.
Carbondale
Letter to Hurd
Congressman Jeff Hurd and the others who support the “Big, Billionaire, Boondoggle” are either unable to process math or are warriors against the poorest working Americans. Let’s give him advice to change his position.
Tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans continue the reallocation of wealth to the richest of society at the cost of increasing our national debt. It is really a simple concept. The Congressional Budget Office reviewed the proposal and found that it would result in the lowest 10% of households seeing their ability to support their family drop by 3.9%. The wealthiest would experience a 2.3% increase; that is unconscionable.
In addition, this monumental failure of reason balloons our national debt by more than $3.5 trillion, which likely ensures high interest rates. It is impossible to take anyone seriously who purports to care about the national debt and supports this bill. They are either lying about their position or too uninformed to be trusted with decision making. Tax increases are plus numbers and tax cuts are negative numbers — that is as real as gravity and the sun rising in the east.
According to the Federal Reserve, the top 10% of households by wealth hold more than two-thirds of all household wealth. Since Reagan’s presidency, the share of middle-income household wealth has fallen from 32% of all wealth to 17%, as tax policies benefited the richest households.
This bill would not solve problems but rather makes them worse, which requires educated citizens to object and oppose. The future of 90% of our fellow citizens calls for you to act. Congressman Hurd’s phone number is 202-225-4676.
Robert Schultz
Carbondale
BBB
My U.S. House rep just voted for the most anti-environmental bill in U.S. history. I’m furious, disgusted, and horrified by their vote.
Passing this bill will mean higher gas and electricity prices for struggling families and businesses. It will also tank the U.S. manufacturing resurgence, giving China a lead in the race for who wins the clean energy economy. And it will lead to increased pollution for our kids and communities.
I’m deeply concerned about our economy and rising costs. We can’t afford to halt our clean energy progress or give handouts to Big Oil companies to pay for tax cuts for billionaires.
It’s time for Congress to deliver on their commitments to ensure an affordable, clean energy future, not do the bidding of corporate polluters. I urge my rep, Jeff Hurd, to protect investments that grow jobs and lower prices, not sell off our public lands and waters, damaging our communities.
Our reps need to fight for us!
Ruth Trowbridge
Glenwood Springs
Medical research
I am a family physician writing to express concern over recent dramatic cuts in medical research. For decades, the National Institutes of Health has been the world’s premier public funder of medical research. This has positioned the U.S. as a world leader in medical science, resulting in incredible relief of suffering and countless lives saved. Unfortunately, this changed in 2025. The New York Times calculated that almost 2,500 biomedical grants have been delayed, diminished or eliminated. The lost funding may total $4 billion, over 20% of last year’s grants.
These studies greatly impact the health of Coloradans. Interrupted research prioritizes cures for neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. According to the Center for Disease Control, 665 Coloradans died from Parkinson’s disease in 2022. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that 91,000 Coloradans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, with secondary impacts on 178,000 family caregivers. There have also been sweeping cuts to programs developing cures for brain and colorectal cancers and vaccines for HIV, vital to all communities.
Cancellations target grants including words such as “female,” “racial” and “equity,” eliminating research prioritizing the health of women and people of color. Programs addressing mental health and substance abuse have been decimated. Medpage Today reports that the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is canceling $1 billion in school mental health grants, considering them to violate civil rights. According to the Colorado Health Institute, 16.5% of school aged children in Colorado suffer from poor mental health and would have benefited from these initiatives.
Preventive health has suffered extensive funding losses. A cancelled study at Emory University was developing drugs to treat viruses such as bird flu and measles. Bird flu has caused widespread outbreaks in poultry and dairy cows in Colorado and begun infecting agricultural workers. Colorado has reported 14 cases of measles so far this year, in two separate outbreaks. Massive funding losses for medical research threatens our health now and in the future. Please contact Representative Hurd and senators Bennet and Hickenlooper to urge them to support valuable medical research!
Maria Chansky, MD
Glenwood Springs
Cost of living
A web-based company called “SmartAsset” gives personal finance advice. They just produced a cost of living guide for the states. They use the 50/30/20 budget rule — 50% for necessities, 30% for discretionary spending and 20% for long-term spending like retirement or debt. A single person in Colorado should earn $105,955 per year. That requires an hourly salary of $50.94 — the ninth highest in the country.
The current federal minimum wage is $7.25. Big corporations provide campaign money for the country’s politicians. Low wages produce more profit for those companies. A lot of people make a lot less, so they need government programs for support. The Republican Party is in the process of cutting and even eliminating support programs. At the same time, they plan to cut taxes. The Colorado minimum wage is $14.42.
If people earned enough money, federal and state programs wouldn’t be needed. Housing would be affordable. People would be healthier. Life expectancy in the U.S. is falling. At 79.61, it is now 50th in the world. Life expectancy in Japan is at 85.
Isn’t it a question of priorities?
Patrick Hunter
Carbondale
Morrow moves on
I am holding Bill Morrow’s heart in my heart as he is freed from the earthly bounds of his gross material body and now resides in his emotional body and the body of the Mind. I don’t miss him because now he is closer than when he was a physical manifestation. I hold all the best for him on his journey.
John Hoffman
Carbondale
Remembering Bill
Our beloved friend William Morrow, aka Bill, has taken his final trip to the galaxy and beyond the universe, as he’s always been looking forward to doing, on June 11, 2025.
Bill, a dear friend of mine and many others throughout the Roaring Fork Valley and especially Carbondale, leaves us a tremendous legacy of kindness, generosity, and love. His wonderful, inspirational and one-of-a-kind metal art sculptures throughout the Valley will live on as his spirit, wisdom, incredible insights, imagination and fortitude, and many other things of his life, will always be remembered along with his true love for those he loved. I am honored to be one of them.
Explore through the universe my dear friend, you will always be cherished!
For anyone wishing to see his art or hear his stories or contact someone about his
legacy, go to www.williammorrowsculptures.com
Nancey Glass
Rifle
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