Month: December 2005

Ten years of ‘true journalism’ in Central Colorado

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Column by Hal Walter

Colorado Central – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

I SUPPOSE AT THIS POINT it would be appropriate to mention that — with the writing of this piece — I will have completed 10 years of monthly columns for Colorado Central magazine. That’s 120 columns or essays, averaging 1,200 words or more apiece. It’s not exactly War and Peace, but totaling more than 140,000 words it represents quite a bit of material, which I suppose has been worth the ink and newsprint since Ed and Martha keep publishing it.

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Homelands, Migration and Insecurity

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Essay by Ed Quillen

Migration – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

FOR MY BIRTHDAY a few years ago, one of my daughters gave me a T-shirt, which I wear — even though I believe there should be a federal law against transporting T-shirts that don’t have pockets across state lines, since a shirt pocket is one of the most useful of human inventions.

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Scrimshander in the Valley

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Article by Marcia Darnell

Local Artists – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

WHAT DO YOU CALL a scrimshaw artist? A scrimshander. What do you call a scrimshander who specializes in elk antler? Tom High.

High, a third-generation native of the San Luis Valley, grew up in Alamosa but hit the road after high school.

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Holiday favorites

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Essay by Lynda La Rocca

Books – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

I LOVE CHRISTMAS. Not the crowded malls filled with stressed-out shoppers and definitely not the hurriedness and commercialism associated with contemporary merrymaking. I love the spirit of Christmas. Frankly, what’s not to love about a holiday that, at its purest and best, epitomizes peace on Earth and good will to … everyone?

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Babbitt on the stump

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Sidebar by Allen Best

Cities in the Wilderness – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Bruce Babbitt, the secretary of Interior in the Clinton administration, hopes to reframe the debate about federal intervention in the West – and the rest of the country.

The federal government, he says, has been a relentless agent of development in the nation. It sped up the settlement of the West in the 19th century by subsidizing operations of the railroads and, in the 20th century, by subsidizing construction of dams and other water operations. More recently, it has subsidized development by building the interstate highway system.

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Lamentation for a deceased canine

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Essay by Deric Pamp

Mountain Life – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

We walk our dogs, most mornings, in one of several narrow canyons that drain the Arkansas Hills and run down to the flood plain, across the river from Salida. We get there by driving a rough county road that runs only a mile or so to a dead end. The road has few users other than dog-walkers, some dedicated runners, and an occasional beer-drinker who leaves his spoor glinting in the bushes near the road until we pick it up. We recently found that someone had used the road to dump the carcass of a canine: headless, pawless, and skinned, we could not tell if it was a coyote or a domestic animal. Its slim, muscular body seemed naked and pathetic. It had been doubly defiled, stripped of its dignity as well as its coat, then tossed carelessly into the rabbit bushes along a county road. Our dogs found it, of course, but it upset them and they acted very subdued.

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A roadside attraction in Moffat

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Essay by John Mattingly

Mountain Life – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

BREEZING THROUGH MOFFAT, you might see a Subaru with the bumper sticker IN GUAD WE TRUST parked next to a pickup truck with a .22 in the gunrack, or a BMW next to a VW, all sitting quietly under the circle sign, MIRAGE TRADING COMPANY. The Old West clapboard porch holds a sculpture-in-progress on one side, a table and easy chairs on the other, with an ashtray ahead of the door as a reminder. Inside, a bell rings over the door as you’re greeted by a warm wood stove and walls covered with artworks, ranging from abstract impressionism to cowboy rustic to graphic realism. And much more: boots and jeans next to print dresses, jewelry fronting antiques, guitars on stands, local and Native American crafts, and the centerpiece coffee bar, flanked by a bucket of fresh flowers for sale, and a serious espresso machine almost hidden by designer chocolate bars, homemade toffee, and cinnamon rolls.

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A letter to Sibley about remembering my father in the future

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Essay by Aaron Abeyta

Mountain Life – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Dear George,

Again I am relying on the night for inspiration. Sometime within the next 24 hours I must write this letter to you. Antonito is mostly quiet; even the dogs are silent. In the not so far away distance a single car guns its engine and the sound dopplers toward me. I walk down the empty street and look toward Mars burning red; I recall that the paper reported our planetary neighbor, on this particular night, will be closer to earth than it has been in 600 centuries. After tonight it will spin away from us and never again, in our lifetime, approach us with such fire and proximity.

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One big borderland

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Letter from Slim Wolfe

Migration – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Dear Ed,

I didn’t make it to the Headwaters Conference again, though I heard a half-hour’s worth of excerpts on the radio. I have the following afterthoughts about borderlands:

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Pleasure and disagreement

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Letter from Eleanor Fry

Colorado Central – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

I enjoy your magazine. I remove nearly all the historical articles and put them in the Pueblo County Historical Society vertical file.Your comments are generally too liberal for my taste, but I would defend to the death, etc. I happen to like George Bush although I don’t agree with everything that he does.

Your November issue cont

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Kind words

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Letter from Larae Essman

Colorado Central – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

If I were not in such a slump because of the nomination of Scalito to the Supreme Court, I am sure I could compose an ode that would compliment you elegantly for writing and publishing your interesting, thought provoking, and amusing magazine.

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The day they close the pass

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Essay by Steve Voynick

Mountain Life – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

OLD-TIMERS STILL remember when winters in mountain towns meant something more than just catering to hordes of skiers. Sure, those winters were tough; the days were short and cold, and drifting snow restricted outdoor activities, and even closed some businesses and high mountain roads.

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Return to Earth Mountain

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Article by Marty Rush

Mountain Life – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

ON AUG.16, 2004, I quit my job in the communications department of a large HMO in Denver. A growing dissatisfaction with my life as a corporate mouthpiece had reached critical mass. I was horrified by what I’d become: a suburban commuter who sat in a cubicle all day, cranking out the party line. As editor of the employee newsletter, I informed the Organization’s local staff and physicians about company initiatives and policies, reflecting the ideology of the Head Office in California and regional executives down the hall. I was good at my job. I reduced complex ideas to succinct paragraphs and used clever headlines, quotes and graphics to edify my readers even as they were propagandized, producing a punchy, two-page newsletter each week, one that flattered the right power groups and furthered Leadership’s objectives.

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Random design at Hartman Rocks

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Column by George Sibley

Geology – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Gunnison’s greatest blessing might be Hartman Rocks. This wonderful in-our-face uprearing of bare brown rock visible from most places in town is only five minutes away by car, or twenty or thirty by bike unless the wind is blowing, which it usually is. And once there, you are in a random wealth of semi-secret places where you can depend on being pretty much alone for the hour or three it takes to defragment the mind around whatever.

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Humane Society needs more money

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Brief by Central Staff

Animals – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Based in Buena Vista and serving the entire region, the Ark-Valley Humane Society is conducting its third annual Friends of the Shelter fund drive.

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Park County: Leading in delinquency?

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Brief by Central Staff

Local Government – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

We know from experience that small-town newspaper publishers encourage civic virtue, except perhaps in one regard — paying your property taxes on time.

If the property taxes aren’t paid by the deadline, the county applies a lien against the property. The liens are then advertised (thus providing some income for the local newspaper) for three weeks in the fall. People can bid on the liens at a public sale conducted by the county treasurer. The money from the winning bidder pays the taxes.

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No escape from expensive real estate

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Brief by Allen Best

Real Estate – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Land prices have been skyrocketing at Crested Butte. Now, the town council wants to jack up prices for the hereafter.

It’s a grave matter, this business of slicing-and-dicing the wildflower-strewn cemetery. And at its current rate of sales, the cemetery will be out of space in 16 years.

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Can an ass class be far behind?

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Brief by Central Staff

Education – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Every once in a while, we joke that collegiate athletics in Colorado would make more sense if state schools took up Colorado’s only indigenous sport: pack-burro racing.

While we have yet to see stables on any campus, or a donkey derby between Western and Adams State, let alone CU and CSU, we have learned that a California college has introduced mules to higher education.

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Regional Roundup

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Brief by Martha Quillen

Local News – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

DOW Seeks Info on Missing Lynx

The Colorado Division of Wildlife is asking for help in solving the mystery behind three missing lynx near Durango. Recently the DOW recovered two radio-telemetry collars that had been cut from lynx in southwest Colorado and also reported that a third collar was emitting a “mortality signal.”

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Hunter numbers down, but spending up

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Brief by Central Staff

Wildlife – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

A couple of years ago, it seemed to us that Salida wasn’t as busy during hunting season as it used to be. But when we checked with the Division of Wildlife, we learned that hunter numbers were about the same as usual, and perhaps even up a little.

That’s not the case nationally, though, according to an article in the Nov. 5 Wall Street Journal (we know, that’s a Saturday — the Journal went to six days a week on Sept. 17).

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Where Coloradans want to go

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Brief by Central Staff

Tourism – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Colorado office of the AAA Auto Club (used to be the American Automobile Association, but everybody called it “Triple A”) maintains a website to help members find the best routes, rooms, and the like. The club also keeps track of the places that get the most inquiries.

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Monks sell winery in Cañon City

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Brief by Central Staff

Wine – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

The winery at the Holy Cross Abbey in Cañon City has a new owner — a former New Jersey accountant who said he was tired of the urban rat race.

Holy Cross Abbey sits on 175 acres along U.S. 50 on the east side of Cañon City. It is owned by the Benedictine Society and has been in use since 1925. The society’s ranks have been thinning as older monks die. To make money to maintain the facility, they started growing grapes four years ago, and hired Matt Cookson, a California winemaker.

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Cotter closing uranium mill and mines

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Brief by Central Staff

Mining – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Cotter Corp., which runs a uranium mill in Cañon City, had been expanding production to meet increased demand for uranium, which is fetching higher prices these days — from $7.50 a pound in 2001 to $33.25 in late October. However, the price may not be high enough for the company to make money.

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The latest in high-end developments

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Brief by Central Staff

Real Estate – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

In our experience, magazine publishing has not been a route to fame and fortune, but it worked differently for Malcolm Forbes, who founded an eponymous business magazine and left a huge estate when he died at age 70 in 1990.

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Heritage tourists spend more, study says

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Brief by Central Staff

Tourism – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

For the past couple of years, Chaffee County has been promoting itself as the “Headwaters of Adventure” for tourists. But the local tourist industry might make more money with another catchphrase, one that promotes “Heritage Tourism” rather than “Adventure Tourism.”

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Better showslide warnings

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Brief by Central Staff

Recreation – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Avalanche forecasting in Colorado should improve this year, thanks to a new remote weather reporting station at the top of 12,126-foot Cottonwood Pass west of Buena Vista.

Previously, there were no reporting stations in the 75 or so miles between Tennessee and Monarch passes, making the Sawatch Range something of a “black hole” for avalanche forecasts.

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Briefs from the San Luis Valley

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Brief by Marcia Darnell

San Luis Valley – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Votes Are in

Alamosa voters okayed the floating of bonds to finance a water treatment plant, while Monte Vista voters nixed a mill levy increase. The DA will still be under term limits in the San Luis Valley, while half the SLV’s school boards saw candidates run unopposed. The mayors of Alamosa and Monte Vista remain in office.

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China now holds railroad altitude record

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Brief by Central Staff

Transportation – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

In October, the Chinese government announced completion of the world’s highest railroad line. The 720-mile route cost $3 billion to construct, and connects Golmud to Lhasa, Tibet. It crosses the Tibetan Plateau, sometimes called “the roof of the world.”

The railroad’s high point is at 16,640 feet — nearly half a mile above Colorado’s highest spot, 14,433-foot Mt. Elbert near Leadville. When passenger service begins next year, the cars will be sealed and pressurized like airplane cabins so that riders will avoid hypoxia.

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How I almost turned into a time-share sucker

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Essay by Ken Wright

Real-estate – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

MY FAMILY AND I just got back from Sedona, Ariz., land of piñon-juniper forest, redrock spires, and vortexes said to be spiritual. The only vortex we found, though, was the one our credit card number went into.

We headed down to the self-proclaimed “New Age” capital of the West, thanks to a friend who gave us a free three-day stay at a resort. All we had to do was sit through a short sales pitch for the timeshare program.

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Western Water Report: December 3, 2005

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COLORADO HIGH COURT UPHOLDS INSTREAM FLOW PROGRAM

Environmentalists lauded a Colorado Supreme Court opinion as a victory for a state program designed to ensure streams always flow at certain levels, but critics said the program allows water to flow out of state and wastes a critical resource. Denver Rocky Mountain News; Nov. 29 <http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4274022,00.html>

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