Colorado Central Articles From — November 1996

Column by Hal Walter

Outdoor life – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

Through the black timber I could see the golden sunlight reflecting off antlers taller and wider than any I’d ever seen. I crouched and blew twice on the call, trying to imitate a cow elk.

The big bull bugled from about 30 meters away. Then he turned and started toward me, walking quickly and turning his head from side to side in a futile attempt to squeeze his massive rack between the trees. Read the rest of this article

Essay by Ellen Miller

Government – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

by Ellen Miller

It’s hard to worry about too many people being on drugs. What’s worse is that too many people have completely lost any sense of reason or perspective and they aren’t on drugs, so what in the world do they blame it on? Read the rest of this article

Article by Ed Quillen

Local History – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

by Ed Quillen

These days, presidential campaigns don’t venture into Central Colorado. Pueblo, where Bill Clinton and Jack Kemp have both spoken this fall, is about as close as they get. Denver is a frequent stop — Bob Dole spoke there right after the Republican convention, and Clinton was at Red Rocks on Oct. 12. Grand Junction got a campaign visit in 1980 when Ronald Reagan’s plane touched down there. Read the rest of this article

Article by George Sibley

Colorado History – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

A NATION BROUGHT TO THE VERGE

Revisiting the Election of 1896

The election campaign of 1996 should have been more interesting than it has been so far — and it also should have been more about the way the economy is undermining our democratic principles. Read the rest of this article

Essay by Martha Quillen

Culture & Politics – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

When it comes to candidates, it’s hard to tell whether they’re outright lying to us, or merely spouting banal rubbish without thinking twice about it. Then again, maybe they’re really deluded.

The Republicans, for example, actually seem to believe that they are fiscal conservatives. But the Republican Party’s devotion to Calvin Coolidge’s strategy — of lowering taxes while limiting government interference in the affairs of business and industry — is not conservative. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Alvin Edlund Jr.

Politics – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

Do `liberal’ and `conservative’ really mean anything today?

Editors:

Since it is a presidential election year, I thought you might find it interesting to know that both Bob Dole and Bill Clinton attend the Methodist Church. Bill Clinton is actually a Baptist, but he has been attending his wife’s church. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Lisa Dolby

Communications – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

Blame it on the Phone Company

Editors:

I can tell right now, this whole thing involving U.S. West [its less-than-stellar service in the hinterlands] is just another right-wing corporate scheme. First, U.S. West is succeeding in undermining rural telecommunications competition by holding out on installing lines in rural areas while they are still rural areas. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Paul Martz

Mining – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

It all comes out of the ground

Editor:

It’s been a few issues since Lisa Dolby’s letter on growth, mining, and what her version of what the economy of the West (outside of California that is) should be, was printed in #27. I was hoping someone other than the “patriot” (issue 28) who didn’t like the magazine anyway, would respond to her remarks. However, since no one else has yet, I will. Although as a “decrepit” baby boomer I don’t really think this chore should fall to me, since my generation supposedly lacks all sorts of intellectual strengths including both work experience and wisdom, according to the sociologists, political pundits, and now apparently Generation X. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Miriam Westbrook

Home-schooling – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

Some Home-School Pointers from an Experienced Parent-Teacher

Dear Editor,

I enjoyed the back-to-school articles in the September issue. And since we are in our eleventh year of home educating our three children, the home-schooling article especially caught my eye. I thought the article was well done and I can add my emphasis that home-schooling should not be undertaken lightly because it is becoming a fad thing to do. It takes an incredible amount of time, dedication and patience. Think it through before you jump in. If it really is for you and you plan well, the rewards will be worth many times more than everything you put into it. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Mark Emmer

Code of the West – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

Localizing the Code of the West

Editors:

Some suggested local additions to the Code of the West:

The climate varies considerably throughout Central Colorado, from heavy snowfall and long winters in Leadville to Salida’s semi-desert. Reduce your expectations if you’re a serious vegetable gardener — cold mountain nights don’t count as full growing days. When planning your building design and site layout, consider the winter winds, which often blow from mid-morning until dusk and can make outdoor activities unpleasant. Read the rest of this article

Review by Ed Quillen

Local Lore – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

You Hang Him
And Other Stories from the Base of the Collegiate Peaks
compiled by Les Messamer
published in 1996 by the author Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]1559633689[/amazon-product]Review by Ed Quillen

Rural economies – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

Lost Landscapes and Failed Economies – The Search for a Value of Place
by Thomas Michael Power
Published in 1996 by Island Press
ISBN 1-55963-368-9 Read the rest of this article

Article by Ed Quillen

1996 election – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

Incumbents look safe in Saguache County

by Ed Quillen

For Saguache County, the ’96 election sounds about as exciting as watching grass grow. The only local race is for two county commission seats.

“We’ve got two incumbents, one from each party, and each has an opponent from the other party. Pretty much the same old same old,” said Dean Coombs, publisher of the Saguache Crescent. Read the rest of this article

Article by Jim Little

1996 election – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

3-way race for a parking place at the Custer County Courthouse

by Jim Little

In spite of the problems our quiet Valley is having with National Guard zoomies in our skies, a soft cattle market on our ranches, and a whole slew of newcomers fighting over who can pay the most for the remaining 40-acre ranchettes, we now have our diversions turned to the most popular contact sport of the season, a three-way county commissioner race. Read the rest of this article

Article by Ed Quillen

1996 election – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

In Leadville and Lake County, it’s the school bond that matters

by Ed Quillen

In Lake County, the hot item on the ballot is an $8.9 million school bond issue. Letters pro and con have covered acres of the Leadville Herald Democrat in recent weeks, and editor Grant Dunham says “It’s the thing everybody’s talking about.” Read the rest of this article

Article by Chris Dickey

1996 election – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

All signs point to a close race in Gunnison County

by Chris Dickey

It’s not difficult to determine that there is a local political race in progress, with Gunnison yards, businesses and cars transformed into a sea of brightly colored billboards espousing one candidate or another. If an impromptu inventory of this signage has any merit, the races for two Gunnison County Commission seats could be close ones. Read the rest of this article

Article by Ray James

1996 election – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

No matter who wins, Chaffee will be conservative

by Ramòn Diego

Conservatives are destined to take Chaffee County District 1 and District 2 county commissioner seats next January regardless of who wins the Nov. 5 voting. Both the Republicans (in 1, Ron Leyba of Buena Vista, and in 2, incumbent Frank McMurry, Nathrop) and the Democrats (in 1, incumbent Jim Thompson, who lives just outside Buena Vista, and in 2, Jerry Leewaye, Salida) reside on the fiscally and politically conservative wings of their respective parties. Read the rest of this article

Article by Daniel G. Jennings

1996 election – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

Democrats could get majority on Park County Commission

by Daniel G. Jennings

Although Park County is traditionally Republican, there’s a good chance two Democrats will be serving on the Board of Commissioners in 1997.

Two of the three commission seats are up for election this year and both are in the Bailey area where most of our county’s population lives. In District Two incumbent Eunice Takatloglou, a Republican, lost the nomination at the Republican Party Convention in April, but was able to get on the primary ballot by petition. Takatloglou came in third in the primary behind Steve Benninghoven and Rosie Wiley. Read the rest of this article

Article by Ed Quillen

1996 election – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

For the Statehouse…

by Ed Quillen

Central Colorado doesn’t fit well into any known political subdivision. It is in one congressional district, the third, but that stretches a long way past Central Colorado. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Politics & Transportation – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

The UP-SP merger, and probable abandonment of the Royal Gorge-Tennessee Pass tracks, appears to be the federal decision in the recent past which will have the biggest effect on Central Colorado. By driving up transportation costs, the merger may crush any hope of economic diversity in our region. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Martha Quillen

Political Humor – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

You can be a viable candidate

With these fail-proof suggestions about what to say

(After all, with so many candidates saying this stuff, some of them are bound to win.) Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Growth – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

Funny, none of the winners came to accept their awards

Remember Gov. Roy Romer’s “Smart Growth Summit” in 1995? From it emerged 14 guiding principles, such as sustainability, public participation, and coördination of planning. Our governor now issues annual Smart Growth Awards to projects which best follow the principles. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Local History – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

Today’s Troublesome Teenagers Are … well, pretty much like their forebears

“We have secured from the Mayor and City Council their consent to have a curfew in Salida.”

So reported Mrs. A.D. Salomson, the city’s humane officer, on Sept. 7, 1948, when the grandparents of today’s Salida teenagers were apparently running at large and bound for no good end. Read the rest of this article