Colorado Central Articles From — September 2007

Article by Ed Quillen

Local Lore – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

PUT HALF A DOZEN women on a stage, recalling their careers from an era when there weren’t many career options for women in Central Colorado, and you’ve got the basis for a production that has been playing to packed houses this summer. Read the rest of this article

Column by Hal Walter

Nutrition – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

PERHAPS THE MUSICAL EVENT of the year in Custer County happened right in my own living room one early August evening. Phil Maffetone and Coralee Thompson were passing through the area on their way home to Tucson and stopped for a few days. On their last night here they set up their equipment and played a concert for two. Read the rest of this article

Column by George Sibley

Modern Life – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

COLORADO CENTRAL’s most dedicated and critical reader, Slim Wolfe, complained last month about my insufficient respect for the Europeans, so he will probably love this one which is critical of the French. Read the rest of this article

Column by John Mattingly

Agriculture – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

TO DRIVE A VEHICLE on public roads, a person has to be tested for knowledge of road rules, and demonstrate proficiency behind the wheel. To own a piece of the Earth in the United States, a person has only to show up with the money. Likewise, to own any kind of livestock. When we speak of property in the United States, the next word that comes automatically to mind is “right,” not “responsibility.” Read the rest of this article

Article by Jennifer Dempsey

Artists – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

ALMOST 200 YEARS of living art history will be present at the Brookwood Gallery in Westcliffe on September 15th.

“The three of us artists are expected to be there, but being in the ‘no green banana phase’ there’s no guarantee,” laughed Gerald Merfeld, 71, owner of the gallery that will display his work alongside Colorado Springs artists Eric Bransby, 90 and his wife Mary Ann Bransby, 87. “When you get to be my age, you don’t buy the green bananas anymore!” Read the rest of this article

Essay by Ed Quillen

Arkansas River – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

SOME OF THE OBJECTIONS to Christo and Jeanne- Claude’s proposed “Over the River” project are based on practical considerations, such as “Can this area accommodate the expected horde of visitors?” and “How much will traffic on U.S. 50 be delayed during the assembly and disassembly of the project?” Read the rest of this article

Article by Ed Quillen

Local Lore – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

PUT HALF A DOZEN women on a stage, recalling their careers from an era when there weren’t many career options for women in Central Colorado, and you’ve got the basis for a production that has been playing to packed houses this summer. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Slim Wolfe

American Life – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Colorado Central:

Editorials (a/k/a “Letter from the Editor” ) by Martha sometimes cite smallpox eradication as an indicator of human progress. Fair enough, assuming one has the funds to access a doctor and the multiple long-distance carriers required to call one. So here’s the new m Read the rest of this article

Letter

Transportation – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine – No. 163 – Page 37

Dear Mr. Quillen,

I was surprised to learn recently that Amtrak has the power of eminent domain — including over other rail carriers. Interestingly, Amtrak actually did condemn a railroad line once and then quickly sold it to a different carrier, with the following provisions: the original railroad (Guilford transportation) could continue to serve its existing customers on the line, but the new railroad (Central Vermont) could go after new business. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Richard Blake

Economy – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Ed & Martha,

So Salida is in the top 10 most affordable retirement towns in the United States, according to U.S. News & World Report. Read the rest of this article

Guidebook – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Colorado: Off the Beaten Path – An Insider’s Guide to Unique Places
by Curtis Casewit
Revised and updated by Eric Lindberg
Published in 2007 by Globe Pequot Press
ISBN 0762750243 Read the rest of this article

Essays – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Something Needs To Be Said – Essays, Poems and Short Stories about Things That Matter
By Michael L. Bullock
Published in 2006 by Hillside Publishing Limited
ISBN 0-9758911-1-1 Read the rest of this article

Biography – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Thomas F. Walsh: Progressive Businessman and Colorado Mining Tycoon
by John Stewart
Published in 2007 by the University Press of Colorado
ISBN 0870818708 Read the rest of this article

Poetry – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Weight of Dusk: Poems
by Stewart S. Warren
Published in 2007 by Mercury HeartLink
ISBN: 1-4196-6933-8 Read the rest of this article

Column by John Orr

Water – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Rio Grande Basin Roundtable

At a recent meeting of the Rio Grande Roundtable, the Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust requested $1.5 million in funding from the Colorado Water Conservation Board. They’re hoping to preserve 26,000 acres of private land along the river for future generations. The funding will be used to match funds from the Great Outdoors Colorado Legacy Grant program. Read the rest of this article

Article by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Regional History – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

This account is based on Simmons’s narrative history, Drifting West: The Calamities of James White and Charles Baker, recently published by the University Press of Colorado (2007).

A LITTLE-KNOWN EPISODE during the early settlement of present-day Chaffee County occurred when two drifters engaged in a shootout. Had I not been digging into the careers of Charles Baker and James White, I would have missed this bit of action, which happened when Baker, White, George Strole and Joe Goodfellow were passing through Central Colorado on a prospecting trip in June of 1867. It was just a few years after the original excitement of the Pikes Peak Gold Rush had peaked and waned. Read the rest of this article

Cartoon by Jack Chivvis

Modern Life – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Fire – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

USA Today reports a major influx of new residents in the semi-rural areas of the West, setting the stage for potentially costly and — and deadly — wildfires.

The newspaper analyzed population figures to conclude that roughly 450,000 people have moved into these wildfire-endangered areas since 2000. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Mining – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

If you’ve driven from Westcliffe to Walsenburg, you may well have stopped at a roadside information display about the carbon dioxide industry in Huerfano County. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Skiing – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Jim Chalat is Colorado’s best-known lawyer in ski-related cases. He told The Denver Post recently that the ski slopes are not necessarily safer than they used to be. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Literature – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

If you’re a writer, you might want to enter the Writers Contest at the Seventh Annual Readers Festival, scheduled for October 20 at Mesa State College in Grand Junction. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Martha Quillen

Local News – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Gunnison Mine Makes Headlines

A mine cave-in in Utah recently led to a nation-wide review of safety conditions in coal mines, and The Denver Post concluded: “While the safety record of Utah’s Crandall Canyon Mine, where six workers remain trapped, has come under scrutiny, Colorado’s own Elk Creek Mine has a more significant record of safety issues, according to federal data.” Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Local History – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Two pioneer family ranches, both dating back to the 1860s, were open to public tours in August. The Salt Works Ranch near Antero Junction in South Park, above, attracted about 60 visitors the South Park Symposium on Aug. 4. The Salt Works buildings, including the chimney, have collapsed and await restoration. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Transportation – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Although other ski resorts in Colorado smiled through last winter, Crested Butte took it on the chin.

The difficulty was partly reflected in the direct flight program. American Airlines lost $765,000 on its flights, mostly from Texas cities, and the local transportation authority covered $500,000 of the loss. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Imaginary Wildlife – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Believers in sasquatch, otherwise known as bigfoot, have been tramping among the forests of the Uintah Range between Park City, Utah, and Evanston, Wyo. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Environment – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

The practices of many evangelists are very different from what they preach, and the same can be said for some environmentalists. Take climate crusader Al Gore, his 10,000-square-foot home, and galloping electrical consumption. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Musical History – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Sitting two miles above sea level next to the two highest mountains in Colorado, Leadville isn’t exactly a “Home on the Range.” But the “Junk Lane Hotel” in or near the Cloud City in 1885 is part of the song’s long history, and a Colorado musician is trying to find out just where that “hotel” — a miners’ cabin — stood. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Marcia Darnell

San Luis Valley – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Oopsy

A routine audit turned up an oopsy for the city of Alamosa. It seems former city manager Mike Hackett was overpaid for his accrued vacation and sick time when he left for Arcata, Calif. Hackett has been asked to repay $18,946 to the city. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Government – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Colorado’s open records laws allow individuals and organizations to request copies of public records. With that in mind, an organization called the Republican Study Committee of Colorado has asked for the e-mail messages sent by all three Gunnison County commissioners, plus Garfield County’s Trési Houpt and San Miguel County’s Art Goodtimes. All are Democrats except for Goodtimes, a Green Party member. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

History – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

The storied 10th Mountain Division of World War II held its last official reunion Aug. 1-5 in Denver, with an optional additional day on Aug. 6 that involved a visit to Leadville and the site of Camp Hale, just over Tennessee Pass. Read the rest of this article

Comic Strip written and drawn by Monika Griesenbeck

Mountain Life – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine Read the rest of this article

Essay by Gregg Mitman

Health – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

“Mom, would you really have shipped me off to Denver?” I asked my mother recently. “Absolutely,” she said.

“But imagine,” I said, “what it would have been like for a 5-year-old living in an institution, surrounded by doctors and a bunch of asthmatic kids?” Read the rest of this article

AFTER A DEADLY SEASON, CALLS FOR NEW RAFTING GUIDELINES ON COLO. RIVER

The Arkansas River in Colorado is the nation’s most-rafted, and after five deaths on commercially run trips this season, some are saying the white-water business needs more regulation. Denver Post; Aug. 5
denverpost link
in Idaho: idahostatesman link Read the rest of this article