Colorado Central Articles From — May 2008

Sidebar by Lynda La Rocca

Collegiate Peaks Forum – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

The 2008 Collegiate Peaks Forum Series lecturers are:

Susan Tweit, award-winning author and Salida resident, who asks, “Does the Earth Need People?” and speaks on the topics of “Living Generously” and “Belonging to the Community of the Land,” June 5 and 6; Read the rest of this article

Column by Hal Walter

Burros – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

THE UPCOMING 60th running of the World Championship Pack-Burro Race, along with the selection of a Central Colorado donkey as the official mascot for the Democratic National Convention to be held in Denver this summer, has created a curious focal point. Read the rest of this article

Column by George Sibley

Environment – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Perhaps the difference between carbon man and the silicon devices he is creating is like the relationship between the caterpillar and the iridescent, winged creature that the caterpillar unconsciously prepares to be.

– O. B. Hardison, Jr., “Disappearing through the Skylight”

IT’S “EARTH HOUR 2008,” as I start this. The house is dark except for three lights. One is the orange flicker of a fire in the heating stove, whose glass door is the closest thing to television in our living room. In the winter my partner and I dine from TV trays in front of the stove, watching the fire, but we can still talk since the stove lacks the TV’s noise problem. Read the rest of this article

Article by Marcia Darnell

Local Artists – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

AT 61, Jane Rhett is on the sunny side of life. She and her husband, Jim, are retired, her children are grown, and she has a comfortable home in Monte Vista, equipped with two dogs. But instead of kicking back, she has chosen to focus her energies and talent on not only creating art, but on promoting art for her community. Read the rest of this article

Essay by Ed Quillen

Politics – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

FOR A WHILE, I was following the Democratic presidential contest every chance I got, and those chances come frequently when you spend most of the day sitting at a computer with a broadband Internet connection. Read the rest of this article

Article by Lynda La Rocca

Local lectures – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

“… all deep, earnest thinking is but the intrepid

effort of the soul to keep the open independence of her sea; while the wildest winds of heaven and earth

conspire to cast her on the treacherous, slavish shore….”

– Herman Melville

“Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.”

– Walter Lippmann Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]143481095X[/amazon-product]Review by Martha Quillen

Art – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Drawings
by Mel Strawn
Published in 2007 by Create Space Publishing
ISBN 143481095X Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0870819364[/amazon-product]Review by Ed Quillen

Wildlife – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Listening to Cougar – Edited by Marc Bekoff and Cara Blessley Lowe
Forward by Jane Goodall
Published in 2007 by University Press of Colorado
ISBN 978-0-87081-894-3 Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]1555916546[/amazon-product]Review by Ed Quillen

Colorado History – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Principled Politician – The Ralph Carr Story
by Adam Schrager
Published in 2008 by Fulcrum
ISBN 978-1-55591-654-1 Read the rest of this article

Column by John Mattingly

Economics – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

THE FIRST TIME I made a little money farming — back in 1973 when pinto beans hit $60 a hundred and sugar beets were $50 a ton — several old farmers in my area came around to visit when they heard that my wife and I were planning to build a new home. Read the rest of this article

Column by John Orr

Water – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel Update

Since the disaster declaration for the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel, it’s been learned that the actual cause of the rising water in the mine pool could be the result of a combination of factors including a collapse in the LMDT, increased precipitation over the last few years, and groundwater intrusion. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Slim Wolfe

Civil Liberties – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

Look over the list of grievances we Americans have about the state of our nation, as enumerated here in these pages by the editors and staff writers, and you may see a common thread: speculators. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Bob Russell

Directions – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Colorado Central,

A hundred years from now this probably won’t make any difference, and it may not now, but under Central Attractions, the location of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is shown as being west of Hooper and Mosca, east is more realistic. Read the rest of this article

Letter from F.a. Rios

Orthography – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Advice on accents en Español and in English

Amigo Ed: Read the rest of this article

Letter from Ted Foureagles

Future – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Dateline: April 1, 2009, Washington, NM

What follows is a brief recap of incidents which coalesced to become known as The Fall of the American Empire.

After an ambiguous election in which all three major U.S. parties received exactly 33-1/3% of the vote, Hillary Clinton occupied the Oval Office using a set of old keys and a can of Mace. Dick Cheney, refusing to cede power, fled to the Pentagon. Barack Obama left for Tahiti, saying, “You people are (expletive deleted) crazy — I’m done with this (expletive deleted)!” John McCain locked himself in the Senate men’s room to be found 41 days later, having succumbed to fumes. Reports claim that he died with his wing tips on and a defiant smile on his face. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Stan Stanfill

Orthography – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Ed,

It took a few days for me to get around to reading the April issue of Colorado Central, so I imagine you have been inundated with the “gotcha” emails on the pair of painful usage errors your usual careful copy editing failed to catch. Imagine two different writers making the same mistake in the same issue! Both George Sibley on page 11 and Martha on page 33 used “incite” (“vt. to set in motion”) when they obviously meant “insight” (“n. the ability to see and understand clearly”). At least that is the way I remember it from Mrs. Rae’s 8th grade English class in Craig in 1946. Even though the error is more in keeping with those of our own Montrose Press, keep up the good work. We both enjoy your publication and your columns in the disappearing Denver Post. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Paul Brown

Colorado Central – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors,

I’ve known Hal Walter for years as a very good athlete and a pretty good writer. As he ages, his athletic achievements are somewhat diminished but his writing skills have soared. I don’t know if it’s the maturity of fatherhood or the constant polishing of his trade, but he has somehow found an improved technique. His description of the tiny details of life gives him a style reminiscent of our more accomplished authors. I hope you’ll continue to give him that favored spot at the back of the magazine. Yours is the only magazine I receive that I begin at the back instead of the front. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Chuck Downing

Orthography – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

People,

In your April issue, it appears that the Great Spell-Checker in the Sky won out over the Great Grammar-Checker in the sky. On pages 11 and 33, you use the word “incite” instead of “insight.” Ed and George Sibley might be able to incite a riot by speaking at Civic Center Park in Denver, but more likely they would provide insight about a specific problem. Read the rest of this article

Article by Dan Fitzgerald

Water – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

IT’S BEEN WEEKS since a drop of rain has fallen in Tucson, but Brad Lancaster’s backyard vegetable gardens and fruit trees are thriving. By collecting and storing the rain that falls on his property, Brad harvests about 45,000 gallons annually from his modest home and 1/8 acre lot. As Brad shows me his pomegranate, olive, orange, and white sapote (a banana-like fruit) trees, it’s easy to forget that Arizona, like much of the West, is a desert. Read the rest of this article

Article by Marcia Darnell

Water – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

“Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink”

– Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Read the rest of this article

Brief by Martha Quillen

Local News – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Sad Homecoming

Casey, a Lab/Australian Shepherd mix belonging to the Helsley family who live in the Burland subdivision near Bailey, started wailing on March 26 after being let out for an evening pit stop. The dog’s “screaming” was heard, and the person dogsitting for Casey went to get her, but she ran. He drove around looking for her, and finally spotted the dog, but she was bleeding, and had numerous deep puncture wounds to the top of her head. Air bubbled up from the dog’s wounds when she breathed, and her motor skills were impaired. The sitter got Casey to a vet within the hour, but the dog suffered from brain damage and was later euthanized. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Environment – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

The heyday of the Pennsylvania Mine is now more than a century past, but the mine is still causing problems in Summit County. At this point, reports the Summit Daily News, some people are thinking that a Superfund designation may be necessary. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Economy – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Newspapers in the mountain towns of Colorado keep looking for evidence of the tsunami of housing foreclosures hitting their communities. The real estate market has definitely slowed down, but nobody seems to find a wall of foreclosures about to crash. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Wildlife – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

A bear expert from Whistler, British Columbia, reports a perhaps surprising compatibility of bears and people there. The population reaches up to 120 bears in some years, owing to the resort’s three golf courses and its ski area, Whistler-Blackcomb, according to Michael Allen, a bear researcher. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Transportation – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

The proposal to levy tolls from motorists using Interstate 70 between Denver and some mountain towns has riled the locals to an extent not seen in years.

From Steamboat Springs to Granby, and Idaho Springs to Eagle, it was a two-Tums case of indignation after State Sen. Chris Romer, a Democrat, and then Andy McElhany, a Republican, introduced legislation to begin tolling. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Environment – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Greenhouses serving the Taos Pueblo are now being heated by burning wood from a nearby forest. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Mining – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

It was two steps forward, then two steps back for a potential molybdenum mine at Crested Butte. Kobex Resources Ltd. of Vancouver, B.C, has withdrawn its plans to develop an ore body in the community’s backyard. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Marcia Darnell

San Luis Valley – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Other Cheek

Officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints traveled to San Luis to apologize for one of their own. Three Mormon missionaries vandalized a statue at the stations of the cross in San Luis. The apologists were not met with Christian forgiveness, however. Several residents demanded that the men — and the church — leave town. Their response seems to have ignited more controversy than the original crime. Despite the Catholic bishop’s request for forgiveness, feelings still run hot. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Transportation – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine -

U.S. 285 from Denver to the New Mexico line has been christened the “Ralph Carr Memorial Highway” by our state legislature; the joint resolution passed unanimously on March 15. Read the rest of this article

Comic Strip written and drawn by Monika Griesenbeck

Mountain Life – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine Read the rest of this article