Dandelion Day
Thank you Carbondale community for one of the best Dandelion Days I have ever experienced. My heart is so full of gratitude for the joy and love that was shared in Sopris Park on May 14. A big thank you to our 75 amazing vendors who filled the park with wonders! Thank you Carbondale Arts, Environmental Board, KDNK, The Sopris Sun, Holy Cross Energy, Sunsense Solar, Alpine Bank, Evergreen Zero Waste, ANB Bank, Verde Land Management, CLEER, Pollinator Chocolate, MANA Foods, and Sopris Self Storage for being financial sponsors and making this great event possible! A huge thank you to all our volunteers and to my parents for helping out! Thank you to Songbird Sound Systems and all the musicians from Valle Musico, Red Hill Rollers, and Hell Roaring String Band for the wonderful music all day. Thank you to the drummers and dancers of Carbondale for leading our Parade of Species and all of our community —young and old — for dressing up! Again, I could not be happier to be part of an amazing community. What a beautiful soul.
Natalie Rae, Dandelion Day Organizer
Thank you, creatives
Thank you to the amazing community member(s?) who diligently put artwork on the phone poles around town. Your creativity and positive vibes are appreciated!
Erin Quinn, Carbondale
Thank you, trustees
Thank you Carbondale trustees and former Mayor Richardson for calling on Xcel Energy to close their Pueblo coal plant by 2029 or earlier. The trustees submitted comments, along with dozens of other municipalities and thousands of Coloradans, to the Public Utilities Commission for the earlier closure date. Richardson co-authored a guest opinion in the Colorado Sun with the mayor of Golden. 350 Colorado was one of a number of groups mobilizing public opinion. Due to the pressure, Xcel is now agreeing to close the plant by 2031 or earlier — keeping nearly 17 million tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere. Furthermore, Xcel has agreed to use a shorter, 25-year timeframe for evaluating the cost-benefit of producing electricity with methane gas. That will make renewables like solar and wind more attractive.
Now begins Phase II of Xcel’s Energy Resource Plan, when they will submit their plans for developing renewable energy resources. It will be an opportunity for us to demand Xcel go big with solar and wind in place of new fracked gas plants. “Natural” gas is no cleaner than coal when you account for the upstream methane leakage from gas drilling, production, storage and transport.
Thanks Carbondale trustees for speaking up!
Will Hodges, 350 Roaring Fork
Apartments, gravel pits, traffic, water
TOO MANY: 1) Apartments which are not affordable… $2,500 monthly, which necessitates a $95,000 gross income. 2) Gravel pits… dust in the wind, and up my nose 3) Traffic. 82/133 jam from 3 p.m. on…
TOO LITTLE: 1) Water!! Where do developers propose to find enough? 2) Concern for maintaining Main Street’s historic district, empty storefronts…
When does it stop? Ten-year interest rates have doubled in 2022. Short memories… think 2008!!
Dan Hogan, Carbondale
Fire preparedness
A special thanks to the Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District for hosting a most informative meeting last night regarding fire safety and preparedness for our area.
With increasing fire dangers all around our valley, it was assuring to know that these firemen, policemen and EMTs are ready and prepared for any and all emergencies.
The handouts the fire department provided were very thorough in helping homeowners and residents be prepared for any fire situations. We only wish more of our citizens had taken advantage of this meeting as it is so very important to know what to do, where to go and how to prepare for these dangerous situations.
Our thanks to the firemen, police officers and interpreter, all who gave up their time to educate this community.
Let’s hope to have a very safe and fire-free summer.
Janet and Arvid Johnson, Carbondale
Riverfront Trail
I believe people should not take dogs on the Riverfront trail. They can scare the birds. The birds might leave their eggs. If the mom bird left the nest because she has already been scared, the baby birds can’t get food by themselves. I think people should not take dogs on the Riverfront Trail.
Lucy Rose Hankins, Two Rivers School
WHAT CAN WE DO?
There were tears in the eyes of a young woman when we were discussing climate change. She made the comment, “I’m afraid we are not leaving our children and grandchildren a good future to look forward to.” This made a big impression on me. Sometimes we may feel powerless in the face of climate change but there are many things WE CAN do to make a difference.
We, a small group of concerned citizens (Wendy Draina, Adele Hause, Ann Johnson, Fred Malo and Illene Pevec) will be providing information that will help all of us protect our earth for generations to come. We will share this information in The Sopris Sun one topic at a time. Help us by adding experiences and topics you feel would encourage others to join this important cause by sending to: news@soprissun.com or mail to:
Sopris Sun
PO Box 399
Carbondale, CO 81623
What can we do? Please join us. Together WE CAN collect ideas, act on behalf of a healthy environment and leave a brighter future to our children, grandchildren and generations to come.
Wendy Draina, Carbondale
Remember Pat Milligan
Newcomers may chuckle at locals’ tendency to ignore the front page and head straight for the letters to the editor to capture the heart of the Valley. There, corporate bullying and other tyranny is often defended by Napoleonic characters.
In that regard, Irish-American Pat Milligan has been a local Aspen institution for over four decades. Her initial 2012 ban from SkiCo created so much outrage it jumped from the letters to the front page resulting in CEO Mike Kaplan hilariously backing down and a victory for the underdog.
History is repeating itself but neither Aspen paper has taken up Ms. Pat’s mantle yet (she is over 80). For many of the Old Guard, Pat represents the kind of spirit, magic and irreverence for why we moved to the Valley in the first place.
Lee Mulcahy, Kyiv, Ukraine
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