Just between us…
The “average” distance between our valley communities is 10 miles.
If we are five minutes late, pushing on the gas won’t magically transport us to our destination. To “make up time” these conditions would need to be met: no enforcement, no other cars ahead of us, all green traffic lights, a speed of over 90 mph.
Take A Minute, think about it, take the pressure off with a phone call to your destination and leave sooner next time.
Take A Minute/Slow Down in Town
Diane Reynolds, committee member
Re: Ranching
I greatly appreciate The Sopris Sun presenting a romanticized story about the ranching way-of-life in Colorado (Home on the range, Oct. 28).
I’m not sure I read anything about the lands all those cattle were grazing on. You should know a great number of cattle in the American West graze on public lands for which ranchers pay about $0.05 per head per day. You should also know that cattle ranching is chiefly responsible for damage to our public lands and ranching is heavily subsidized.
There’s a recent PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility) study called “Interior Wild Horse Focus Ignores Cattle Impacts.” It shows that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is ‘blind’ to their own data regarding the impact of cattle & sheep on our public lands.
Of most concern, BLM recently carried out an unprecedented removal of wild horses in the Sand Wash Basin, with a goal of driving them extinct. There’s no way to romanticize ranching’s impact on maintaining a sustainable, conscientious world which promotes respect for the integrity of all life forms.
I am asking that The Sopris Sun incorporate recognition of the plight of the wild horses and the critical need for oversight of the BLM.
I am asking for The Sopris Sun’s consideration of this request, keeping in mind that the several facts regarding the Sand Wash Basin are only a small part of a much larger issue involving damage to public lands across the American West.
Rick Karcich
Centennial
R.I.P Kenny
Last weekend I was sadly surprised to spot a picture of Kenny Reher on the beautiful Day of the Dead altar in front of Carbondale Arts. I had somehow missed his obituary.
Kenny was The Guy at Ace Hardware for years. If you walked in with a question and saw that Kenny was there, you knew he would help you find it and figure things out.
I appreciated him so much.
He was also the artist who created bigger-than-life snow sculptures in a field alongside Hwy 133, when the snow was just right for sculpting, by hand.
I think I am not alone in saying that I will miss him, tremendously.
Thank you, Kenny, for your hard work and kindness for so many years.
Diane Kenney
Carbondale
5B
A big thank you to voters in the Roaring Fork School District for a decisive YES on 5B! 5B will help pay teachers and staff a living wage, allowing the district to recruit and retain great people. We are deeply appreciative of all the campaign volunteers and generous donors who helped to make the campaign a success — thank you! The Basalt Junior Girl Scout Troop #1690 said it best with their campaign signs: “Teachers are Worth it and Students Deserve it!”
5B Campaign Committee co-chairs,
Autumn Rivera, Mark Gould, Ellen Freedman
Climate change
It is stunning to see how much faster climate predictions have come to fruition since 2010, when the questions in https://math.350.org were put forth. It’s obvious that we have been reflexively frog walking to climate upheaval. We MUST drop fossil resource extraction and change our paradigm to diverse energy production where every home is an energy producer/mitigator.
John Hoffmann
Carbondale