Essay by Ed Quillen
Politics – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
AS A COLUMNIST for The Denver Post, I get a fair amount of mail, and of that correspondence, a goodly portion begins with something like “You liberals….”
This always gives me pause, since if I’m a political liberal, liberalism is in worse shape than I thought. I’m not good at toeing that line. Just look at the issues.
Article by Lynda La Rocca
Leadville – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
ONE-HUNDRED-AND-TWENTY-FIVE years ago, no one could agree on a name for it. Today, no one can agree on a direction for its future. When it comes to Leadville, only one thing seems certain: You can’t keep this place down. And as Leadville celebrates its 125th birthday this month, the “Cloud City” is thumbing its nose at those who say the party’s over.
US MUST BRACE FOR A WATER CRISIS, REPORT SAYS
The U.S. must develop a nationwide water plan that details cooperation between governments and regions and is aimed at controlling drought, floods, municipal water supplies and water quality if the nation is to thwart a water crisis, according to a report from the Water Resources Policy Dialogue. Salt Lake Tribune; 1/10 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6304>
Column by Hal Walter
Livestock – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
JUMPIN’ JACK FLASH moved on to that high desert in the sky during the Winter Solstice, 2002. After years of caring for Jack in his old age and declining health, I had often wondered how it would end. But I had no idea he was leading me to such a mystical experience.
Letter from Ken Yeager
Mountain Life – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
Wow, another year gone, lots of exciting things happening in our little part of what used to be heaven. And now, more subdivisions for every part of Central Colorado — more people who want to live in the country, but want the country to have everything they left in the city.
Letter from Slim Wolfe
Mountain Life – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
Winters are slow here, which is natural and good, but for those of us self-employed in building trades, a bit of December income is advantageous, even if it means a long commute. High-end subdivisions, though, always come as a bit of a culture shock to a low-end desert rat like myself. Big, clumsy, angular, high-ceilinged homes, failing to take advantage of southern exposures, pretentious signs (Sherwood’s Castle, Dun Diggin’ Ranch), spiffy appointments in guest rooms though the kids would probably just as soon stay in town where they can let their hair down. Grandiose entries, huge kitchens, the manifestation of success triumphant: waste.
Article by Marcia Darnell
Art – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
TOM COULSON’S WORK is virtually unknown in the San Luis Valley, despite the fact that he’s been producing paintings, large and small, since he moved here almost 30 years ago.
The reason? Real life intervened.
“We moved here from Baltimore in ’76,” he says. “My whole family — parents, five grown kids, and their spouses.” The tribe settled briefly in South Fork, then relocated near Alamosa, where Coulson still lives with his second wife, Genevieve.
Review by Ed Quillen
Corrections – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
The Pain and the Pride – Life inside the Colorado Boot Camp
by Brian P. Block
Published in 2000 by Waterside Press
ISBN1872870848
Review by Jeanne Englert
Wildfire – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Fire In the Sky – Colorado’s Missionary Ridge Fire
Published in 2002 by the Durango Herald<
ISBN 1-887805-04-4
Review by Martha Quillen
Poetry – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Talking Gourds #2 – Edited by Art Goodtimes
Published by Lone Cone Press
No ISBN
Article by Steve Voynick
Leadville – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
BACK IN THE 1970s, the Golden Burro Café & Lounge on historic Harrison Avenue in Leadville, Colorado, did a land-office business when the shifts changed at the nearby Climax Mine. I was one of those miners who grabbed a quick meal or a cup of coffee at the Burro before our shifts. When our shifts were finished, we were back at the Burro, this time for a cold beer or two, and to talk about everything that mattered in Leadville in those days, from fishing the high lakes to drawing elk permits and buying new pickups. Mostly we exchanged “Climax talk” about development on the 900 Level, job bids, and how we’d spend our coming paychecks.
Essay by Lynda La Rocca
Leadville – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
THE WORDS “limited financial resources” are almost synonymous with Leadville and Lake County these days. Businesses, individuals, and local government alike are scrambling just to make ends meet.
Yet the voices of those who advocate working to improve, promote and preserve what Leadville and Lake County already have are being drowned out by a contingent that continually promotes ideas like building an industrial park, assuming an attitude of, “If you build it, they will come.” This same group tends to dismiss those who oppose their proposals as being against “progress.”
Column by George Sibley
Political Economics – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
A READER FROM Whitefish, Montana, took me to task for an inaccuracy in my enthusiastic bashing of private-sector public transportation (December 2002 issue). Specifically, he took issue with my perception about the poor quality of the rails the trains run on, and it turns out that he is right. Checking some more authoritative sources than my own perceptions and word-of-mouth from fellow rail passengers, I’ve learned that the Class I trunk lines in the United States today are in much better shape than they were in the 1970s and 80s, when my perceptions were formed. That doesn’t mean things are great, but I wasn’t giving credit where it’s due, and I apologize to both readers and railroads.
Article by Ellen Miller
Water – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
THAT GIANT SLURPING SOUND you’ll be hearing in the next few years will be coming from all of the bootlicking, lobbying, groveling and lawyering going on in order to influence a decision on the Big Straw, a proposed project that would redesign Colorado’s plumbing.
Supporters of the Big Straw, who spoke at an informational meeting on Dec. 10 in Grand Junction, promise that it will do something for everyone.
Article by Marcia Darnell
Water – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
WHAT IF THEY GAVE a water summit and everyone came? They’d need a bigger facility, for sure.
About 400 people attended the Jan. 10 water conference in Alamosa, titled “Conservation, Conversation, Problem Solving.” About the same number were turned away for lack of seating (or lack of planning). The crowd was mostly of the farmer/rancher variety, meaning Carson Auditorium was awash in booted, blue-jeaned males.
Brief by Central Staff
Corrections – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
The Colorado economy is hurting, and the pain is apparent in the mountains, where counties face lower sales-tax revenues on account of declining tourism, which has causes like drought and wildfires.
At their convention last December in Colorado Springs, county commissioners asked Gov. Bill Owens for help in lowering insurance costs, expanding water storage, and increasing tourism promotion.
Brief by Central Staff
History – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
The first person to write about our part of the world was Juan Bautista de Anza, governor of the Spanish province of New Mexico in 1779. He led a campaign against the Jupe Comanche that summer, which took him north from Santa Fé and over Poncha Pass, then to South Park and the Pueblo area.
Brief by Central Staff
War – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Executives want their money (and country) back
In our December edition, we told you about locals protesting the war in association with a national peace protest that can be found on the web at www.notinourname.net. But now there’s another anti-war movement — one that we only wish we were qualified for — Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities.
Brief by Martha Quillen
Regional Briefs – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Alamosa Police Investigate Murder/Suicide
An Alamosa woman, Alison Phillips, 27, reportedly killed herself and her three-year-old daughter by intentionally driving off of Wolf Creek Pass on January 2. The woman’s two young sons and 16-year-old cousin, who were also in the car, survived the plunge.
Brief by Central Staff
Drought – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazin
If you dress for a shower, then water might fall from the sky?
As our drought progresses, we’ve read about all manner of proposed remedies, ranging from cloud-seeding to water restrictions.
Southern Australia is also suffering from drought, but they’re trying a different approach. To quote from a Dec. 5, 2002, Reuters dispatch:
Brief by Central Staff
Drama – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
1-act plays sought
We buy a fair amount of prose every year, and there are local and regional publications for p
Brief by Central Staff
Great Sand Dunes – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
The Dunes will be listening
If you’ve got anything to say about the general management plan for the expanded Great Sand Dunes National Monument, or even if you’re just curious, you’re invited to some meetings in February.
Brief by Central Staff
Politics – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Last year wasn’t a good one for local tourism, which meant that sales-tax collections were off, which means the City of Salida faces a shrinking budget, and might need some other revenue sources — like requiring $22 building permits for the most minor repairs, and collecting a $1,000 fine for each day of each violation.
That’s one explanation, anyway, for the city’s proposal to adopt the 2000 International Building Code.
Brief by Central Staff
Animals – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Hector, the official tomcat of Colorado Central world headquarters, died Jan. 10 from a lethal injection after incurring end stage renal disease. He was about 17. His birth date is unknown, but it was on a spring day in 1986 that he found Columbine in the alley and adopted her.
Brief by Marcia Darnell
San Luis Valley – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Springs Shift
As of Jan 1, 2004, Valley View Hot Springs, the clothing-optional resort near Crestone, will be under ownership of the Orient Land Trust. Neil and Terry Seitz will continue to manage the resort as employees of OLT.
Brief by Central Staff
Wildlife – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
As almost everyone knows, Feb. 2 is Groundhog Day. Folklore has it that if the critter emerges from his burrow and sees his shadow (which means it’s a sunny day), then there will be six more weeks of winter.
We don’t have groundhogs here, but we do have a close relative: the yellow-bellied marmot, which abides at elevations up to 13,500 feet and typically hibernates from September until April or May. (There’s plenty more about marmots in our July, 2002, edition.)
Brief by Central Staff
Media – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
By the time this magazine arrives, Salida’s new community radio station, KHEN, will likely be on the air, although the schedule will be somewhat sporadic at first.
KHEN is an FM station broadcasting at 106.9 mHz and 100 watts, a signal that should reach Poncha Springs and Buena Vista.
Comic Strip written by Clint Driscoll and illustrated by Judie Moorhead
Mountain Life – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Essay by David Feela
Mountain Life – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
SOMETIMES IT CAN’T BE HELPED, that long drive across the West, rolling the odometer like a slot machine that promises to pay off with just one more spin. The gas gauge hovers around “half” and it looks like you’ll get there without stopping again in the middle of who knows where. Home is all you think of, the familiar walls, the mattress that remembers the curve of your hip.
