Colorado Central Articles From — November 2003

Column by Hal Walter

Real Estate – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

IT’S BEEN SAID that the golden time from mid-September to mid-October almost makes it worth all the hassles of living here the rest of the year. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Slim Wolfe

American life – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors,

Some time back, I wrote a few words about the sort of verbal currency found in these parts (and elsewhere, as well): People, not finding dollars and cents sufficient, are always trading “youcant’s” and “yougottas” in the endless struggle to get a leg up on other folks. I have since realized that my list was woefully incomplete. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Dick Scar

Outdoors – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

Gail Binkly is one lucky girl to have survived camping for nearly 20 years in a $19.95 tent [September, 2003, edition]. She joins countless others having copious amounts of good luck who climb to the summits of the 14,000-foot mountains around us wearing shorts and a T-shirt and without raingear, maps, compass or any emergency gear. I am amazed after every summer season that the mountain trails are not littered with the bodies of some people I see on the trail. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Bob Cross

Water – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

Regarding George Sibley’s column in the October edition:

Labeling your feelings as “paranoia” is simply too self-deprecating. Let me suggest that your observations are more properly classified as the vigilance of true patriotism. Remember that in Federalist No. 10, Madison was arguing that representative government is the remedy for “the violence of faction.” Read the rest of this article

Letter from Larae W. Essman

Language – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

In the August 2003 issue of Colorado Central (pg. 27), Ed Quillen used the word suffragettes, a word that triggers a grim visage and a rude exclamation on my part. It is true that both words denote an advocate for the extension of political voting rights to women, but suffragette is never used to describe male suffragists. Read the rest of this article

Article by Columbine Quillen

Local Artist – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

MANY AREA RESIDENTS are familiar with Peg Corthoust. She was one of the fastest skiers at Monarch’s Town Challenge Race last winter and she loves a good river trip. She always seems to be smiling and ready for a tasty conversation or a funny joke. But what a lot of people don’t know about Peg is that she is a phenomenal painter. Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Marcia Darnell

Education – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

Some day you may do what Ed Quillen did, and idling in Main Street traffic in Alamosa, ask yourself, “Why the hell is there a branch of Trinidad State Junior College here?”

“I’m not sure how we got together,” recalls Tom Scarlett, dean of instruction and student services. The facility used to be the San Luis Valley Area Vocational School, under the control of the Alamosa School District. Read the rest of this article

Article by Ed Quillen

Education – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

IN THE HOPE of finding cheap student labor to exploit, I talk to college journalism and writing classes as often as possible. After those visits, it’s impossible to avoid generalizing about the students, and that led to a surprising observation. Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Martha Quillen

Education – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

If you want to know where American law stands on prayer, it’s probably best not to ask the courts. But in the last sixty years, there have been numerous cases handed down.

In 1962, the Supreme Court heard Engel v. Vitale, and decided it was unconstitutional for government agencies, including schools, to require prayers. Read the rest of this article

Essay by Martha Quillen

Education – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

AFTER READING A SUNDAY supplement feature about depression last week, I realized that I’m not particularly prone to depression. The article talked about people who felt hopeless, suicidal, tired, and defeated, and who thought that there was nothing they could do to change anything. Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Alison Hobbs

Agriculture – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

THE FOLLOWING RECIPES were adapted (with slight alterations) from Colorado Farmers’ Market Cookbook: Delicious Recipes and Tips fresh from Colorado Farmers’ Markets and Chefs, by Melissa Craven, Laura Korth, and Janis Judd, with permission from CD Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Alison Hobbs

Agriculture – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

THE FOLLOWING RECIPES were adapted from Vegetarian Celebrations and Great American Vegetarian by Nava Atlas. Atlas is also the author of The Vegetarian Family Cookbook; Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons; Vegetariana; and several other books about vegetarian cooking which can be ordered from local bookstores. Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Alison Hobbs

Agriculture – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

REGIONAL:

Butternut squash with Whole Wheat, Wild Rice, and Onion Three Sisters Stew Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Alison Hobbs

Agriculture – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

Some stores that support regional production Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Alison Hobbs

Agriculture – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

Farms and Farmer – Rancher Associations Read the rest of this article

Article by Alison Hobbs

Agriculture – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

WE ARE ALL FAMILIAR with the story of the first Thanksgiving. Like many historical events, it is a tale muddled by both fact and myth. But we know it was a day the settlers celebrated with the natives of the region after suffering years of hunger and sickness. In fact, the survival of these newcomers was due to the generosity of a Wampanoag Indian named Squanto who taught them how to live off of the land they had settled on. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0917582896[/amazon-product]Review by Ed Quillen

Business – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Home Town Advantage – How to Defend your Main Street against Chain Stores, and Why It Matters
by Stacy Mitchell
Published in 2000 by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance
ISBN 0-917582-89-6 Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0700612041[/amazon-product]Review by Ed Quillen

History – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

Promised Lands: Promotion, Memory, and the Creation of the American West
by David M. Wrobel
Published in 2002 by University Press of Kansas
ISBN 0-7006-1204-1 Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0881925888[/amazon-product]Review by Ed Quillen

Gardening – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

Columbines: Aquilegia, Paraquilegia, and Semiaquilegia
by Robert Nold
Published in 2003 by Timber Press
ISBN 0-88192-588-8 Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]1590580729[/amazon-product]Review by Martha Quillen

Fiction – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

Silver Lies
by Ann Parker
Published in 2003 by Poisoned Pen Press
ISBN 1-59058-072-9 Read the rest of this article

Column by George Sibley

Politics – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

OVER HERE IN THE Upper Gunnison Valley we are once again at loggerheads over private property and the public interest. A couple of years ago, after a long, convoluted and occasionally convulsive process, the conservatives in the valley — that branch of conservatives that call themselves environmentalists — got an “upgrade” of the Gunnison County Land-Use Resolution through the County Board of Commissioners. Read the rest of this article

Article by Chas S. Clifton

Local Lore – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

LAST SPRING, a check came for me from Leland Feitz, owner of Little London Press in Colorado Springs. “Little London” was an 1890s nickname for Colorado Springs, coined when the city was flush with British mining capital and had its own stock exchange. Feitz publishes short books on local history, and in 1982, he turned a newspaper feature series that I had written into Ghost Tales of Cripple Creek. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Weather – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

Does cloud-seeding really work? Or would any extra snowfall have happened anyway?

Last winter, as Colorado struggled with a drought, cloud-seeders were set up in the mountains. They have chimneys that shoot silver-iodide particles upward, into the clouds. In theory, the small particles provide a place for water molecules to coalesce into snowflakes, which then fall. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Outdoors – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

The traditional campfire is fading away, even when there are no drought-inspired bans.

For instance, there were the Camp Fire Girls, now known as Camp Fire USA. The girls used to be encouraged to “sing around the campfire.” Read the rest of this article

Cartoon by Jack Chivvis

American Life – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Geography – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

Mt. Cosgriff should be somewhere in this picture, since 14,433-foot Mt. Elbert is on the right. But we’re not sure which peak is Cosgriff.

In July, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names approved designation of a subpeak of Elbert, highest summit in all 3,000 miles of Rocky Mountains, as Mount Cosgriff, to honor long-time Leadville lawyer Peter Cosgriff. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Ed Quillen

Regional News – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

High Country Agriculture

Agriculture has never been a mainstay of the Lake County economy, since the growing season is short at 10,200 feet.

But that doesn’t stop some people from trying. Acting on a tip that led to a search warrant, the Lake County Criminal Activity Task force raided a residence on Loop Road on Sept. 19, and found 89 marijuana plants and about five pounds of dried hemp. Two people were arrested. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Tourism – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

Generally, we think of the “Royal Gorge War” as something that happened a long time ago — specifically, in 1879 when two railroads were battling in court and on the ground for the right to lay tracks in “the Grand Canyon of the Arkansas,” a defile so narrow that there was room for only one set of tracks. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Education – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

Amish farmers, with their old-fashioned lifestyle, are associated with Pennsylvania. But they do live in other states — now including Colorado. In July of last year, Amish families from Missouri, Michigan, and Wisconsin bought land near Monte Vista in the San Luis Valley, and now there are about 65 people. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Charity – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

The mines of Leadville produced millions of dollars of wealth over the years, but that didn’t make Leadville a wealthy city. This was so even in 1931, when Margaret Tobin “Unsinkable Mollie” Brown, whose fortune came from Leadville, saw such destitution among the city’s children that she donated candy, Christmas presents, caps, stockings, and underwear to be distributed at the Community Christmas Tree in front of the post office. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Politics – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

We haven’t even finished with the 2003 election, and already people are lining up for 2004 — and we’re not talking about the presidential election.

There might be a primary for the Democratic nomination to represent House District 60 in the Colorado General Assembly. The district includes Chaffee, Park and Custer counties, along with Canon City, Florence, and western Fremont County, plus eastern Saguache County and some of western Pueblo County. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Marcia Darnell

San Luis Valley – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

No Body

Several days of searching led nowhere for Costilla County officials following the hand-drawn map of confessed serial killer Richard Paul White. During his interrogation in Denver for another crime, White happened to mention that he killed several women, one or two near his former home near Mesita. No bodies have yet been found in the Valley. Read the rest of this article

Article by Marcia Darnell And Ed Quillen

Water – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

Referendum A, the ballot issue to fund water projects through bonds, is the hot button of this election. Proponents say it’s a way to pay to save water without taxes; those against it are afraid of the unspecified nature of such projects and fear a “big suck” of their liquid assets. Read the rest of this article

Comic Strip written and drawn by Clint Driscoll

Mountain Life – November 2003 – Colorado Central Read the rest of this article

Essay by Tim Willoughby

Geography – November 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

THE MEDIA RELISHED reporting Ken Lay’s sale of two homes in Aspen. The former Enron exec, who became the poster boy of corporate malfeasance, was President Bush’s major source of campaign funds in both his Texas governor race and his 2000 presidential campaign. But Lay had to liquidate quickly to build up his defense fund. Read the rest of this article

WATER DIET FOR CALIFORNIA

For the first time in the 81-year history of the law, California will promise to use only its allotted share of Colorado River water, to the relief of officials in upstream states. Denver Rocky Mountain News; Oct. 16 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=11469> <http://www.nytimes.com/auth/login?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/17/national/17WATE.html> <http://www.enn.com/news/2003-10-16/s_9487.asp> <http://www.enn.com/news/2003-10-17/s_9527.asp> <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38266-2003Oct16.html> Read the rest of this article