by Mike Rosso

What began in the 1970s as a review and evaluation for wilderness designation has become a jumble of information and falsehoods – involving politicians, off-highway vehicle enthusiasts, wilderness proponents and the National Rifle Association.

If designated, the proposed Browns Canyon Wilderness Area in central Chaffee County would be one of the lowest elevation wilderness areas in Colorado and one of the few actual wilderness areas combining both U.S. Forest Service (USFS) as well Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. Read the rest of this article

I had already penned a piece to go in this spot, even going as far as dropping it in the layout, when Martha Quillen’s column came across my desk.

About halfway through it I realized she was voicing many of the same thoughts I had written except with a bit less cynicism. You see, what had prompted my unpublished tirade was a bumper sticker I had seen that day. It was stuck on an oversized SUV driven by an aging woman in downtown Salida equating liberals with laziness and unhappiness. Although I prefer not to be pigeonholed into all-too-convenient liberal/conservative tags, I certainly cannot side with a group of paranoid, angry folks who consider people like Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck their spokespersons. Read the rest of this article

By Kenneth Jessen

They had committed no crime, yet 110,000 of them were forced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to leave their West Coast homes and move to concentration camps scattered throughout the West, including Colorado. There they would remain, held behind barbed wire, treated like criminals, and guarded by military police. They were singled out because of their physical characteristics, as well as their ancestry with America’s new enemy, the Japanese. One of the smallest of these camps was located in southeastern Colorado, officially called the Granada Relocation Center and locally known as Camp Amache. Read the rest of this article

Column by George Sibley

Politics – January 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine

Only that day dawns to which we are awake.
There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.

–Henry Thoreau, Walden

RONALD REAGAN had one thing right when he was elected in 1980: it was “morning in America.” Read the rest of this article

Essay by Ed Quillen

Politics – December 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

GRANTED, I was reasonably happy with the outcome of this year’s election, at least on the state and national level. On the local level, there hasn’t been much good news lately. We can start with the local economy.

Development of the Climax Mine above Leadville is pretty much on hold, and one of Salida’s better employers, BBI International, announced it was closing its office here and laying off 25 to 30 full-time employees. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Slim Wolfe

Politics – December 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

The letter I wrote for November’s issue was apparently stolen by trolls, but I refer readers to Alexander Cockburn’s essay in the November 10 Nation magazine (“Against Obama, www.thenation.com). I shared little of the jubilation of the crowd at Hattie’s as the election results came in. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Politics – December 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

During the presidential campaign this year, supporters of Barack Obama strenuously objected to letters, e-mails and other campaign materials that included his middle name, Hussein. Their argument was that using his middle name was a sly attempt to link him in the public mind with Saddam Hussein, the late dictator of Iraq. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Politics – December 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Back on Oct. 15, the New York Times ran a story about how race was or wasn’t a factor in the presidential election in Chaffee and Lake counties, which are almost entirely white.

Among those quoted was Leadville Mayor Bud Elliott, who “said he thought Mr. Obama would win there because of the historic alliance of the mining unions and the Democratic Party. But Mr. Elliott also expects a gap, with Mr. Obama winning by a smaller margin than other Democrats, because of race-based defections.” Read the rest of this article

Essay by Ed Quillen

Politics – November 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

BY THE TIME this arrives in your mail, early voting will have already started in Colorado. I’ll likely take advantage of it, given the length of this year’s ballot and thus the likelihood of long lines at the polling place. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Politics – November 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Colorado is under a lot of scrutiny in this presidential election year, since it’s deemed a vital swing state that could go for McCain or Obama.

That’s a novelty, since the Centennial State is reliably Republican. Only three times in the past 60 years has a Democrat carried Colorado: Harry Truman in 1948, Lyndon Johnson in 1964, and Bill Clinton in 1992. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Politics – November 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Public meetings in Central Colorado can get rather lively, but we haven’t heard of anything recently that would match a town meeting in Eads, which sits out on the plains east of Pueblo. Read the rest of this article

Essay by Martha Quillen

Politics – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

WHAT TRAITS make a candidate viable? What does it take to be a contender?

Having been the opposite of an outgoing, trailblazing, student-body-president type all my life, I never gave much thought to running for office. But now that Sarah Palin’s on the scene, I’m beginning to reconsider my attributes. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Slim Wolfe

Politics – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

It must be terribly limiting to be a candidate for high office. You’ve got to stick to the same old litany of: I’m for change, the other guys are gonna ruin us, and on and on. You never get to talk about cargo pants, dormer windows, Cadillac tailfins, or all the other little things which add up to wasteful spending of the earth’s resources. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Politics – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Several of the ski-anchored counties of Colorado’s Western Slope are threatening to bolt from Club 20, the regional public interest lobbying group. The flashpoint for the dissatisfaction is the increasing domination of the group by the booming oil-and-gas industry. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Politics – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

With candidates for mayor in ski towns spending $30,000 and more to get elected, as was the case in Aspen last year, is it surprising that state legislature candidates are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In the state house district that includes Summit, Eagle and Lake counties, Republican candidate Ali Hasan has already spent $191,000, nearly all of it his own money. His opponent, Christine Scanlan, a Democrat, has raised only $31,000, and spent only a third of it. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Politics – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

The New Yorker in a recent article examined the politics of Colorado. The article argued that if Barack Obama hopes to win the West, he needs to understand how Democrats came to control Colorado. The ski towns were mentioned as what political operatives called a “blue strip.”

For most of the last 60 years, Republicans have controlled the Rocky Mountain West. They still do in those areas where ranching prevails. Read the rest of this article

Column by George Sibley

Politics – September 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

IT WAS AN INTERESTING WEEKEND. I spent most of Saturday doing “community stuff,” but of the enjoyable sort (no meetings) — helping set up the Library’s Used Book Sale (highgrading a couple of books); then over to the Farmers’ Market to pass out copies of the new Gunnison Valley Journal, a collection of local writings and pictures I’d helped edit; then back to the Book Sale for another foray (found a brand new John LeCarre I hadn’t read); then back to the Farmers’ Market (via the Gunnison Brewery for a liquid lunch and The Bean for liquid dessert) to help dismantle things; then back to the Book Sale to help pack up the unbought books (free by then, and I found a “Cremation of Sam McGee” for the new grandson)…. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Slim Wolfe

Politics – August 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

Is health care a right? Or is it just plain ridiculous to debate the topic while the bulk of the nation wallows in a toxic sludge of junk foods and drinks, cigarettes that taste like ether or formaldehyde, carpets and building materials that exude nasty gasses, and sedentary lifestyles? Is there any hope of mental health for a population bombarded by commercials and sleaze TV? Should taxpayers carry the burden of health care while free enterprise is free to foist degeneration on the body public? Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Politics – August 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Even though the major and minor political parties have pretty well agreed on their presidential candidates, and Colorado voters had a say, the official state primary elections are on Aug. 12.

What happened last February were precinct caucuses, where party members gathered to select delegates to the county assemblies, which in turn selected delegates to the state convention, and then in turn, to the national conventions. Read the rest of this article

Essay by Martha Quillen

Politics – June 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Last month, I received a flattering letter:

Editor

Martha Quillen:

I would like to read a short (12 pages or less) editorial detailing exactly how you as President, or the President You Elected, should have responded to 9/11 & the five years following. 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

Brief by Central Staff

Politics – April 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

We’re all for congressmen staying in touch with their constituents. That’s why they have a “franking privilege,” which allows them to send mail at public expense. Read the rest of this article

Essay by Martha Quillen

Politics – April 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

PEOPLE WHO HOPE may be audacious. But hope itself is fragile. Or as Shakespeare put it:

This is the state of man: today he puts forth

The tender leaves of hopes; tomorrow blossoms,

And bears his blushing honors thick upon him;

The third day comes a frost, a killing frost;

And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely

His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root,

And then he falls….

…

And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,

Never to hope again. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Slim Wolfe

Politics – March 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

I enjoyed Lynda LaRocca’s story about woodstove cooking. The intrepid chef can manage stovetop items on most any flat-topped range, potatoes can be steam-baked in a lidded casserole in a half-inch of water, or use a dutch oven. If I had my druthers — for baking — I’d rather use a Canadian farm-kitchen range with a self-stoking gravity-feed wood chamber large enough to handle four or five big chunks of wood, since the typically small fireboxes on the stoves we see around here need frequent attention, especially to keep the oven heat up. Seems a shame that so many stoves were made with that built-in inconvenience. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Politics – March 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

At least one Central Colorado resident will be attending the Democratic National Convention that runs Aug. 25-28 in Denver.

That resident will doubtless have a voice, if not a vote. Mordecai, a 7-year-old donkey owned by Curtis Imrie of Buena Vista, was selected as the official convention mascot on Jan. 26 at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. The burro was shown by Sophie Herzog of Fairplay. Read the rest of this article

Essay by Martha Quillen

Politics – February 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

CHANGE IS THE BUZZWORD for the 2008 Presidential campaigns — at least for the moment. But initiating desirable change is harder than the campaigners contend. It’s even harder than Hillary Clinton professes when she insists that is takes hard work and experience (while simultaneously implying that her opponents would contribute neither). Read the rest of this article

Letter from Slim Wolfe

Politics – February 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

Moment of truth: It was the night of the New Hampshire primary and BBC news anchor Dan Damon was on the line to his stringer in Concord: “So Jamey, what were the substantive issues in play?” With all the smoothness of the politicians surrounding him, poor Jamey had to sidestep the question. Americans have learned that we aren’t entitled to debate substantive issues, we just get to place bets on the horse-race called a campaign. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Politics – January 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Central Colorado is in the state’s third and fifth congressional districts, but it’s the second district that has caused considerable political shuffling in recent weeks.

The second district basically comprises Boulder, Grand, Gilpin, Eagle, Summit and Clear Creek counties. It has been represented by Democrat Mark Udall of Eldorado Springs (or, as you will doubtless hear often this year, “Boulder liberal Mark Udall” ). Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Politics – July 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Locals rate well in Legislature

Central Colorado appears to be represented pretty well in the Colorado General Assembly, at least if you go by a “report card” issued at the end of the session by Colorado Confidential, an award-winning website that should fascinate any Centennial State political junkie. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Slim Wolfe

Politics – May 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

An army of advisers

Editors:

The last bastion of true grit in these parts seems about to fail. You’ll be lucky to catch a glimpse of a worn-out pickup or a weathered rancher any more at Villa Grove Trade. Early mornings might be a good time, but even the old-timers look a bit on the comfy side compared to the hardscrabble coffee-klatsches I remember not so long ago. The vehicle of choice in the parking lot now is a scratch-free SUV and the bragging of the newcomers won’t be about their latest coup in the land, water, hay, or cattle biz but about how they retired from a career of riding the corporate jet. They may wear jeans but the new look is soft and pallid: a smart new breed which hires expendable labor rather than build up calluses. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Slim Wolfe

Politics – April 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors,

There will always be a few Wonder Bread fanatics out there who think whole wheat is a communist plot, and the Salida City Council must have had these in mind when it expressed fears that KHEN-FM community radio might be Read the rest of this article

Letter from Laird Campbell

Politics – April 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

The Republican nominee for president in 2008 will have no choice but to pretend that George W. Bush never existed. He will be in the same position as Hubert Humphrey nominated by the Democrats when Lyndon Johnson and his war were equally unpopular. (I use “he” advisedly since there are members of the Republican party who believe that women’s place is in the home and who may still have some reservations about giving them the vote.) Read the rest of this article

Letter from Fabien Farkel, Jr.

Politics – March 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

To the Central:

I cannot mention the “name” of the person responsible for what I am about to tell you. But he “has been” known to spit-shine Hugo Chavez’s combat-booties with his shouts. This low-down, scrawny varmint was sewing blank bedsheets together for Salida’s scenic Riverside Park. He and other foaming mad Trotskyites were going to spread their lily-white mega-sheet over the park’s hallowed soil, import 150 homeless folk from Denver, and have all of ‘em get jay-bird naked while the pious disciples of pure Presleyterianism poureth gallons of sacred Mazola oil over their birthday suits! Yea, verily, boys and girls, a Squirm-in. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Brian Stewart

Politics – March 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Dear Martha and Ed,

I enjoy your magazine in its entirety for content, delivery, humor, and seriousness.

You have a fine insight for subjects and choose your contributors well. Please continue with your attention to the water issues for our area. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Joan C. Wilson

Politics – March 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Dear Ms. Quillen,

I was sent a copy of your magazine by a friend in Buena Vista — just to show typical goings-on in your part of the country. It also contained one of the best summings-up of the Iraq situation I’ve read in a long time. Your writing is so clear and down-to-earth — and your sentiments so sympathetic! I feel as if I should order ump-thousand copies and send them to everyone…. Seriously, it should be reprinted in the nationals. I mean to send a copy to the Guardian Weekly (London UK) anyway. Read the rest of this article

Essay by Michael S. Smith

Politics – March 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

I RECENTLY FILLED OUT A SURVEY from an environmental group but got stumped by the question about my political affiliation. The right of the scale was labeled “conservative” and the left side was “radical.” Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Politics – February 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Doug Lamborn, a Republican who now represents Colorado’s Fifth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, won’t be in a position to exercise much influence in an important sector of his district’s economy.

The Fifth is dominated by Colorado Springs and El Paso County, where there are five major military installations, among them Fort Carson and the U.S. Air Force Academy. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Phil Doe

Politics – January 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

Here are some suggestions for the 2007 session of the Colorado General Assembly: Read the rest of this article

Letter from Slim Wolfe

Politics – January 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

Lessers of two election weevils: Why not earmark some of that animal shelter funding for a birth control campaign? Why levy the entire county for the negligence of a few animal owners, unless we’re in line with conservatives whose notion of acceptable contraception seems to be a fourteen-year-old male? Read the rest of this article

Letter from Phil Doe

Politics – January 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

Here are some suggestions for the 2007 session of the Colorado General Assembly: Read the rest of this article

Letter from Marianne Dugan

Politics – January 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Dear Sir or Madam:

OK, so the Democrats won, more or less. What the public said, loud and clear, is that they don’t like the direction in which we’re going. Some voted on corruption, some on the war in Iraq, a few, we hope, even voted on whether the President of the U.S. can anoint himself king. But on past performance a Democratic congress isn’t likely to come up with new directions. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Politics – January 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

GRANTED, people may be tired of politics at the moment, and we should have looked at the election results in our December edition. But as you may have noticed, the newer the technology, the longer it takes to get results. The Colorado Secretary of State’s office did not issue official election results until Dec. 1 — well after our December edition came out. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Timothy J. Kregel

Politics – December 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

Very poignant piece by Hal Walter in the October edition. Having inadvertently purchased some asbestos along with a house in the past, I can relate to the frustration with local bureaucracies as well as the deep concern for family. Please convey best wishes from a couple he’s never met. One good laugh in the article as well — “cognitive and social dysfunction … Republican voting tendencies and widespread addiction to Fox News….” Read the rest of this article

Column by George Sibley

Politics – December 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

SO THE ELECTION IS OVER– long over by the time you read this — but still very fresh in the mind as I write it. Well, maybe “fresh” isn’t the word for an election like this one. Read the rest of this article

Column by George Sibley

Politics – November 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

I DIDN’T KNOW what else to do, so I went out among the aspens and cut some firewood. I cut down a dead-standing aspen, then sat on it, looking around amazed and wishing I belonged to a species that measured up to it all. That’s how I celebrated the recent death of the America I’ve always known, because I didn’t know what else to do. Read the rest of this article