Colorado Central Articles From — February 2009

Article by Mike Rosso

Agriculture – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED a clandestine wine-making operation in the family armoire in upstate New York would lead to a celebration of grapes and wine in Colorado years later?

Winemaker Steve Flynn of Salida certainly did not. Read the rest of this article

Column by Hal Walter

Economy – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

AS THE SNOW BEGAN TO FALL, I built a pretty big bonfire in the fire pit near the house. Since the ground was already covered with snow and more fresh powder was falling it was safe to light up some branches and old papers that had been accumulating like so much psychic baggage. Read the rest of this article

Column by John Mattingly

Economy – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

IN THE PAST THREE MONTHS I’ve received an astounding number of offers to show me how to make money in/from this current financial crisis. Some of the more interesting are: Read the rest of this article

Article by Patty Lataille

Lifestock – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

WHEN MY STEPDAUGHTER comes to visit, she brings along her “designer dog” Sadie, a Japanese Chin. This 8-pound black and white yapping excuse for a real dog appears to be scared of her own shadow, never mind the other dogs and the cat as well. Read the rest of this article

Column by George Sibley

Education – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

“The first duty imposed on those who now direct society is to educate the democracy.”

THAT WAS ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE, author of Democracy in America, 170 years ago. But it is good advice today for “those who now direct society.” I would argue that we never have learned how to “educate the democracy” — which is why, for most of our history, we have lived in a plutocracy (government by, for and of the wealthy) imposed on a politically naive populace through fear and propaganda (“you can all be rich too” ). Read the rest of this article

Article by Jennifer Dempsey

Health Care – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

PAT DULETSKY wouldn’t see Michael Moore’s movie Sicko.

“I was afraid I would break something,” said the Buena Vista physician and volunteer medical advisor of the Chaffee People’s Clinic. “So much of that movie was about stuff I have been incensed about for years. I remember before I was in medical school, hearing somebody say his insurance company would arbitrarily deny every tenth client and see if anybody would challenge it. It was standard operating procedure in his company. Apparently the company saved enough money that way that it was worthwhile.” Read the rest of this article

Article by Allen Best

Mountain Life – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

WHAT HAS SCARCELY BEEN MENTIONED in all the reporting about Jim Blanning, the former Aspen resident who deposited four bombs of gasoline in the city’s business district before killing himself on New Year’s Eve, is how closely the basic story line resembles the strange and fearful machinations in two other Colorado mountain towns: Alma and Granby. Read the rest of this article

Article by Anthony D. Fredericks

Paleontology – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

AS I DRIVE INTO Cañon City I am immediately flanked by long rows of motels, a neon parade of fast food restaurants, and scores of brightly colored gas stations on both sides of the road. I quickly notice that the town is home to the Colorado Woman’s Correctional Facility (Note to self: Talk nice to all the waitresses and leave extra large tips.). Cañon City is also the gateway to the Royal Gorge -a stunning geologic wonder that has literally sucked the breath out of thousands of tourists when seen for the first time -especially if, like me, they have a passionate and abiding respect for very high (and/or very deep) geologic wonders. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Slim Wolfe

Economy – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors,

I’m always pleased when someone — most recently Simon Halburian of Saguache — takes the trouble to dispute some comments I’ve made in these pages. In this case the objections seem to be well-grounded in the gospel of St. Alan Greenspan. Hopefully Mr. Halburian hasn’t gambled all his holdings on these antediluvian theorems, or he may find himself wiling away many happy hours on line at homeless shelters and soup kitchens — a joy which the Greenspans and other leading thinkers and economists will probably never embrace, themselves. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Dennis Felmlee

Energy – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

Our local water conservancy district could lead the nation in the solar production of electricity and hydrogen. A new administration is going to Washington, dedicated to gaining energy independence for the United States. Therefore it is time for the San Luis Valley to consider our own energy independence, and that of the state of Colorado. Read the rest of this article

Essay by Martha And Ed Quillen

Colorado Central – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

AFTER 15 YEARS AND 180 editions, it’s time for Martha and me to bid something of a farewell to Colorado Central. We founded it in 1994, and we’ve run it ever since. Now it’s getting a new owner and publisher, Mike Rosso of Salida. Read the rest of this article

Article by John Orr

Water – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

New advisory committee proposed to help regulate SLV water usage

Around the middle of December State Engineer Dick Wolfe let San Luis Valley irrigators know that he was planning to appoint an advisory committee to help draft rules that will govern groundwater use from the valley’s shallow aquifer. The rules are supposed to “protect senior water rights, prevent unreasonable underground water level declines, maintain sustainable underground water supplies and encourage the use of groundwater management subdistricts in Water Division 3.” Read the rest of this article

Reviews by Martha & Ed Quillen

Books – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

WE ORDINARILY RUN reviews “from, for and about” Central Colorado. But since our readers and writers doubtlessly read and enjoy nationally distributed books, too, years ago we decided that we would run recommendations of books of any sort at Christmas. Since then, Lynda La Rocca has consistently met the deadline, and Ed and I have flaked out, mostly because Christmas is one of our busiest seasons — with extra ads, phone calls, and gift subscriptions; expanded bookkeeping demands, family obligations, and calendar entries…. Read the rest of this article

Transportation – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

Zoom: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future
by Iain Carson and Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran
Published in 2007 by Hachette Book Group
ISBN: 978-0446698665 Read the rest of this article

History – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

Death of a Gunfighter – The Quest for Jack Slade, the West’s Most Elusive Legend
by Dan Rottenberg
Published in 2008 by Westholm
ISBN 978-1-59416-070-7 Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Wildlife – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

Robins usually disappear from Steamboat Springs during the winter. Not so this one. A bird count in December revealed 110 robins, compared to 4 the previous year.

“I’ve never seen a winter like this. We’re really scratching our heads on this one,” the Yampa Valley Birding Club’s Tom Literall said. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Wildlife – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

You’ve heard the cliché about locked horns?

Cindy Cohagen had a rare opportunity to observe that phenomenon while walking her dog recently in the countryside near Eagle. Two deer bucks were smashing their an Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Health – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

A 37-year-old man from Pleasanton, Texas, died the weekend before Christmas at a lodge in Mt. Crested Butte, the slope-side town at the base of the Crested Butte ski area. The man had suffered from high-altitude pulmonary edema, in which the lungs fill with fluid. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Mountain Life – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

The school in Silverton — there is just one for the town of 500 people — got chilly after the coal-fired boiler cracked in early November.

The boiler can still be used, but not sufficiently to warm the building. As a result, electricity-driven space heaters have been used to warm the classrooms. A propane heater keeps the gymnasium at 40 to 50 degrees, reports the Silverton Standard, although water has been turned off there. This makeshift situation will have to make do for this winter, superintendent Kim White says. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Martha Quillen

Local News – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Bus Stops Here

Bus service from Gunnison to Denver is available again. According to the Gunnison Country Times, round-trip service will happen Thursday through Sunday, departing from Gunnison at 7:15 a.m. and arriving in Denver at 12:15 p.m. The bus leaves Denver at 2 p.m. and returns to Gunnison at 7 p.m. There will be no Tuesday service, and on Mondays the bus will only go to Denver, and on Wednesdays it will only return from Denver. The fare is $32 one way. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Art – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

Some of our national parks came about because of the artistic eye. Paintings and sketches by Thomas Moran, along with photographs by William Henry Jackson (who trained as a painter), helped persuade the U.S. Congress to make Yellowstone the world’s first national park in 1872. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Roads – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

We don’t spend nearly as much time as we should on the back roads of Central Colorado, but even at that, we have noticed that our counties number roads differently. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Recreation – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

Two of the raps against snowmobiles are smell and noise. Both problems are eliminated with a new electric-powered prototype that has been tested in Greenland. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Jane Carpenter

Media – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

Six years ago, the dreams of a hundred hard-working people came to fruition when KHEN-LP went on the air at 106.9 fm in Salida with 19 new local disc jockeys and some syndicated programs from around the country. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Mining – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Colorado Supreme Court this week said that Summit County — and other Colorado counties — cannot ban the method called heap-leach that uses cyanide and acids to remove gold from crushed ore. Gunnison, Gilpin, Conejos, and Costilla counties had also adopted similar legislation. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Economy – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

It could be a much, much worse winter — namely one with no snow. Instead, records for December snowfall from Telluride to Aspen Highlands tumbled. And the holiday schedule this year allowed for people to excuse two weeks of vacation. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Economy – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

Things have gone down the toilet for the Ginn Co. at several of its real-estate projects in the Southeast. Does that mean that its plans for a high-end, 1,700-unit project on former mining properties in the Minturn area are headed for the same place?

No, says Ryan Julison, the company spokesman. “Every project is its own legal entity,” he tells the Vail Daily. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Marcia Darnell

San Luis Valley – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

Old is New Again

The Costilla County Courthouse has a new look. Funds from the Department of Local Affairs, the state historical fund and the county have given the state’s oldest courthouse a $1.9 million renovation. The project began in 2000, and the courthouse is scheduled to open for business in late January 2009. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Mountain Life – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

Things could be worse — a lot worse. So believes Crested Butte Mayor Alan Bernholz. The town council was having a discussion about the best way to keep traffic moving slowly. But by all accounts, the number of 40 mph scofflaws are few. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Water – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

Chaffee County is now considering plans by Nestlé, the global food-products company based in Switzerland, to haul mountain spring water in trucks to Denver for bottling under the company’s Arrowhead brand. Read the rest of this article

Comic Strip written and drawn by Monika Griesenbeck

Mountain Life – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine Read the rest of this article

Essay by Walt Gasson

Livestock – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

SHE WAS TALL and dark and lovely. Athletic, but with curves in all the right places. Solid — not an ounce of extra weight anywhere. Her eyes were a deep brown, and I was infatuated from the first time I saw her.

True, she completely ignored me and her breath smelled like grass hay, not to mention the fact that her ears were bigger than my feet, but I was smitten from the moment Steve Kilpatrick walked her out of the horse trailer. Ah, Silas, mule of my heart, mule of my dreams, why did it have to end so sadly between us? Read the rest of this article