Colorado Central Articles From — April 2000

Column by Hal Walter

Modern Life – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

IN SOME STRANGE WAY it was like saying good-bye to an old friend who had finally succumbed to a long illness. You’re sad to see the person go, but you’re glad he or she is finally free. The thing is, this friend wasn’t dead, and had not been physically ill.

Lance was merely moving to Montana. The only thing sick about him is that he has spent the last 18 years of his life living and working in Colorado Springs, something I would equate to mental illness. Read the rest of this article

Article by Ed Quillen

Local artists – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

FOR A GEOLOGIST, Sallyann Paschall draws and paints exceptionally well, and she doesn’t specialize in renderings of rocks.

Actually, she’s not a geologist, even though she holds a master’s degree in geology from the University of New Mexico. She’s a full-time artist, which was her goal for as long as she can remember. Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Ed Quillen

Historic Sites – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

FORT GARLAND wasn’t the first military outpost in that general area; it was the last. By the time it closed in 1883, the Utes had been removed and the Valley’s residents no longer needed military protection. Read the rest of this article

Article by Marcia Darnell

Historic place – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

THE FORT GARLAND MUSEUM is a wonderland of old times and old relics. Fans of the Old West, the Civil War, the military, history, playacting, art, and building restoration can find something to enjoy at The Fort Garland Museum in the town of Fort Garland. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]1565793471[/amazon-product]Review by Ed Quillen

Photography – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

Colorado: 1870-2000 Historical photographs by William Henry Jackson – Contemporary photographs by John Fielder
Text by Ed Marston, Eric Paddock, and Roderick Nash
Published in 1999 by Westcliffe Publishers in cooperation with the Colorado Historical Society
ISBN 1-56579-347-1 Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]1890437344[/amazon-product]Review by Ed Quillen

Colorado History – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

A History of Skiing in Colorado
by Abbott Fay
Published in 2000 by Western Reflections
ISBN 1-890437-34-4 Read the rest of this article

Letter from Abbott Fay

Code of the West – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

Ed and Martha:

There was a sort of Code of the West.

1) Leave cabins unlocked and stocked with food. Recipient is bound to clean up and eventually re-stock.

2) Never take a pair of skis or snowshoes left at a trailhead in case someone needs to reach campers or workers. It’s like stealing a horse. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Slim Wolfe

Arguing – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

February 25, ’00

Editors,

Babybee, you got what it takes. I can read almost any other journal and, like, there I am, but I have yet to read an issue of Colorado Central and not be called upon to write back. So let me attempt to answer the question posed in Martha Quillen’s essay: Why do people argue so much? Read the rest of this article

Letter from Slim Wolfe

Dunes National Park – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

February 15, ’00

Editors:

January’s days were too short and gloomy to shed much light on anything, including Quillen’s comments, which appeared in February. Greatness will surely regain the throne at Colorado Central as the light improves, but your attitude towards yuppo-tourist regional rape has been manifest before. It’s inevitable, you seem to tell us, so we’d better lie back and enjoy it. Some among us might be more inclined to bonk ‘em — where-it-hurts-and-run-like-hell. Read the rest of this article

Letter from T. L. Livermore

License Plates – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

How will we know how many fingers to use when we wave at other Colorado drivers?

Ed:

The first thing I think every time I see one of Colorado’s new license plates is, “God, those plates are ugly!” I thought we tried this experiment once before, only to promptly return to green mountains and white letters. Read the rest of this article

Essay by Ed Quillen

Population – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

JUST IN CASE you’ve been snowbound in a remote cabin since about October, without access to radio, television, or newspapers, I’ll remind you that the federal government is conducting a census this spring, as it does in April of every year that ends in zero. Read the rest of this article

Essay by Chris Frasier

Ranching – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

FOR THE FIRST TIME, there are two cattlemen’s associations in Colorado.

In addition to the 132-year-old Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, the recently chartered Colorado Livestock Association has thrown its hat into the ring. Read the rest of this article

Essay by Hal Rothman

Western Economy – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

DAN DAGGET, the well-known authority on western livestock grazing and a seemingly mild-mannered guy, lost his cool and fairly screamed at me: “Why don’t all of you go back to the cities Back East you came from and give us back our West!” Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Salida politics – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

To put this as charitably as possible, when you open a reference book and look up phrases like “responsive to the public will” or “candid and trustworthy,” you do not find “Salida City Council” among the examples.

On Feb. 29, Salida held a special election on an initiative supported by petitions. The petitioners had wanted the vote to be held last November with the regular municipal election, but the city government stalled on that. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Local politics – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

Bjünites will get new mayor

Clint Driscoll’s name should be a familiar one to our readers — in past years, he’s written several articles for us, and he currently writes the On Mountain Time comic strip, which is drawn by Lara Ravenwood. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Growth – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

Does residential development pay in rural areas?

Not in Custer County, according to a study conducted by the San Isabel Foundation, the Custer Heritage Committee, the Sonoran Institute, and the American Farmland Trust.

They analyzed data from 1998, and came to these conclusions in their Cost of Community Services survey: Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Education – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

Colorado doesn’t have school vouchers, but it does allow for charter schools.

In essence, a group organizes to operate a school, and gets a charter from the local school board, which in turn allows the charter school to get local and state educational funds.

So it happened in Crestone in 1995, and its five-year charter expires this year. Crestone is in the Moffat Consolidated School District — and that board voted 5-0 against renewing the charter. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Word usage – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

In our March edition, we gave the Wet Mountain Tribune a hard time about using the word “Nigonarian” in a headline to refer to someone who just turned 90.

Jim Little, the Trib’s publisher, sent us a fax: Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Transportation – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

Now the UP says merger isn’t such a good idea when it’s somebody else who’s doing the merging

Four years ago, railroad mergers were a great idea, according to the Union Pacific. At the time, UP was seeking regulatory approval for its merger with the Southern Pacific, which had previously merged with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Land use – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

Two controversial land swaps haven’t gone away — they’re both still active.

On March 14, the Colorado Board of Land Commissioners voted to “initiate the proposal” to swap 640 acres of state land on Little Cochetopa Creek in Chaffee County for 3,080 acres near La Jara Reservoir in Costilla County. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Local arts – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

One of our favorite annual late-winter events, the Sonofagunn in Gunnison, didn’t happen this year.

Sonofagunn is a satiric musical comedy, based on familiar works like “Brigadoon” and “Atlas Shrugged,” filled with clever local twists that are side-splitting even if you don’t live there. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Marcia Darnell

San Luis Valley – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

History and Hammers

Husung Hardware, in downtown Alamosa, was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The 1936 art deco building has its original ceiling, freight elevator and light fixtures, meaning customers can ooh and aah as they shop. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Electronics – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

Our computers made it through Y2K just fine, but for the past month, they’ve been fractious. And the telephone system has been worse — much of Central Colorado was cut off from the world one March afternoon, and a week later, phone service throughout the state was tenuous at best for a day. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Census – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

Search Teller Street in Salida as much as you want, and you won’t find this address, even though it was on official U.S. Census matter, and you’d think that they of all people would know what addresses were valid. Read the rest of this article

Comic Strip by Clint Driscoll and Laura Ravenwood

Mountain Life – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine Read the rest of this article

Essay by Mary Sojourner

Rural economy – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

FOR ÆONS, Arizona had only one Grand Canyon, our high desert ocean of rock and light, our beloved Big Ditch. No more. A second abyss is opening, ugly as the original is beautiful.

Mid-January, Pulling Apart, a study prepared by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, and the Economic Policy Institute, announced the gap between the wealthiest and poorest Americans is growing rapidly — and, Arizona is second for that grim distinction. Read the rest of this article

HYDROLOGIC CONDITIONS

The snow water equivalent averages continue to improve in most basins throughout Colorado: The Gunnison River Basin is at 90%; Upper Colorado River Basin is 95%; South Platte is 98%; Laramie, North Platte is 101%; Yampa, White is 98%; Arkansas is 91%; Rio Grande is 60%; and San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan is 77%. Read the rest of this article