Month: October 2008

A stroke from out of the blue

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Column by Hal Walter

Health – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

THE WORDS SEEMED completely out of context: “Amy had a stroke last night.”

The information, through received in a local coffee shop, came from a reliable source, so I had to believe it was true. The details were sketchy, but from what I gathered, she had fallen out of bed, her partner Gary Ziegler had recognized that she was having a stroke, and called 911. An ambulance had come to Bear Basin Ranch and taken Amy to Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo.

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Looking out for the little guy

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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.

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If you go to the Bean Museum

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Sidebar by Lynda La Rocca

History – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Luther Bean Museum at Adams State College is open 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Tuesday – Friday (closed when the college is closed); donations accepted. Luther Bean Museum, Richardson Hall, 2nd Floor, Adams State College, 208 Edgemont Blvd., Alamosa, CO 81102; 719-587-7151; www.adams.edu/lutherbean.

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Alamosa’s Luther Bean Museum at Adams State College

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Article by Lynda La Rocca

History – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

SMALL MUSEUMS in small communities are a must-see because they often house the wildest, weirdest, most eclectic displays.

Some focus on the history — natural and manmade — of the area where they are located. Others reflect an individual’s obsession with amassing thousands of examples of one type of collectible, be it mineral specimens or mounted butterflies.

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Like cargo pants on sheep

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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.

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The price of gas, politicians, and our way of life

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Letter from Kenneth Jessen

Transportation – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

Politicians are promising something they cannot possibly deliver. The price of oil, thus the price of gasoline, is not controlled by the United States. Oil is an international commodity, and 79% is owned by foreign countries, many of which are not friendly to the United States. It seems that politicians want to beat up on “Big Oil,” but this is not the problem. Oil is become increasing scarce -it is not renewable. The increase in price during the last year is due in part to the steady decline in the value of the U.S. dollar. Recent strengthening of the dollar has resulted in a temporary reprieve in the price at the pump -but it will not last. Another even larger factor is demand, especially in India and China. These countries add millions of new cars each year. The oil futures market and speculators add to the problem. Production quotas, set by cartels such as OPEC, also control the supply and thus the price of oil. All of these factors conspire to drive up the cost of gasoline, but conservation is something under our control.

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Remembering Truman’s visit

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Letter from Orville Wright

History – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

Thanks for the memories [about presidents visiting Salida in the September edition].

Can’t remember Darlene Donahoo meeting Harry S. Truman in 1952, but definitely recall his visit — I was there, too.

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Why can’t Colorado be as smart as New Mexico?

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Letter from Peter Bulkeley

Transportation – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

Keith Baker’s letter in the September edition brought up a subject that has been sticking in my craw for a considerable time. What is the matter with the citizens of Colorado and their lack of support for rail transportation? New Mexico, a state with a substantially lower median annual income than Colorado and much smaller population, purchased the former Santa Fe Railroad right of way from Belen, south of Albuquerque, to Santa Fé and installed commuter rail (Rail Runner). The connection into Santa Fé, which required some track rerouting and bridges on a former spur, is scheduled to be put in service in mid-December. The rest is already in operation. There is also talk of purchasing the track the rest of the way to Raton Pass. Oh yes, this is the same state which kept up its financial support of the Cumbres & Toltec during hard times while Colorado didn’t.

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A reading list for the president-elect

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Review by Jeff Lee

The West – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

A Western Primer for the Next Administration, in which, the Rocky Mountain Land Library asks some of the West’s most insightful writers: What Western books would you urge on the next inhabitants of the White House? What do they need to know about our region, and where can they find that information, inspiration, and guidance?

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Iron Horse vs. Kicking Horse

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Column by John Mattingly

Agriculture – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

“I want to farm it all with horses.”

The speaker (over the phone, long distance), a noted New York City arbitrageur, had recently purchased 1,200 acres under center pivots in Wyoming. Based on readings from his long-time subscription to Amish Farm Journal, he wanted to farm with Belgian draft horses.

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Denial

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Column by George Sibley

Energy – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

WE’VE HAD SOME semi-heated discussions recently, over here in the Upper Gunnison valley, about the challenge of getting people to face up to “inconvenient realities.” One inconvenience is the double-jawed energy vise closing in on American society today — on one hand, the global build-up of greenhouse gases, which is delivering scientifically predicted results even faster than the scientists had predicted; and on the other hand, the growing inability of petroleum production to keep up with growing demands long-term, which is driving up the price of literally everything we depend on.

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June McDaniel, creative ladybug

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Article by Marcia Darnell

Artists – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

IT’S BEEN SAID that art is food for the soul, that it is sustenance to carry one through life’s travails. That sentiment is true for La Jara artist June McDaniel, whose painting has seen her through career, marriage, motherhood, and illness, and is still nourishing her in retirement.

Her gratitude and whimsy can be seen in her home/studio, which she calls Lady Bug Creations. Signs denoting her anthropomorphic sense of humor adorn the outside of her house.

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The Rampage of the Espinosas, part 1

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Article by Charles F. Price

Local History – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Terrorists inspired by religious fanaticism launch a murderous attack on a culture they regard as godless, greed-based, racist and colonialist.

Fear-stricken, yet determined to protect themselves and discover and exterminate the terrorists, that culture retaliates with urgent violence, overriding civil liberties and resorting to extralegal actions, including torture.

Sound familiar? Maybe. But this happened in the mid-nineteenth century, not in the early years of the twenty-first, and these terrorists were Roman Catholic Hispanics, not Muslim jihadists.

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Central Colorado Water Update

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Article by John Orr

Water – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel

This past June — with the release of their LMDT risk assessment — Reclamation threw the Environmental Protection Agency under the bus over the possibility of a catastrophic blowout of water and debris. Readers may remember that a November 2007 letter from the EPA to Reclamation was the basis for the Lake County Commissioner’s local disaster declaration.

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Dissatisfaction continues with Western Slope group

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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.

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Money pours into races for state legislature

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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.

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The wrong place to sign in

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Brief by Allen Best

Mountains – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Everyone wants to leave his or her mark in life. Of late, some peak-baggers on 14,440-foot Mt. Elbert have taken to leaving notes of their conquests with felt-tip markers on summit rocks.

One of them recently made the faux pas of also leaving his e-mail address. This being the Internet age, he was quickly tracked down and also vilified in Internet bloggings.

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Does climbing 14ers cause brain damage?

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Brief by Allen Best

Health – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Does climbing 14,000-foot peaks cause you to lose brain cells, because of hypoxia? A study done in Spain concluded that time spent at high elevations resulted in a significant loss of brain cells, even leading to permanent damage.

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This big SUV really gets bad mileage

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Brief by Allen Best

Transportation – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Bummed about the 12 miles per gallon your SUV gets when gas is $4 to $5 a gallon? Think of what it’s like to hurtle across the landscape in a Gulfstream, the airplane of choice for many billionaires.

The newest Gulfstream, the G-V, burns 400 gallons of fuel per hour in the air, and more when taking off.

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New Yorker magazine notes ski counties turning blue

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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.

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Forest thinning doesn’t always reduce fires

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Brief by Allen Best

Forestry – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Thinning of forests near homes in areas hit hard by mountain bark beetles continues in communities along Colorado’s Interstate 70. But the experience in Summit County has been that making neighborhoods in these wildland-urban interfaces less susceptible to fire is expensive and not without counter-intuitive twists.

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Local food gets on mountain menus

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Brief by Allen Best

Food – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

From Whistler to Aspen to Vail, food continues to be at the forefront on the minds of many people in mountain towns. Of great interest in recent years has been the idea of eating local.

In the Eagle Valley, where Vail is located, a local book club chose Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100-mile Diet as the book for common reading.

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UAWCD election ruled valid despite a misleading ballot

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Brief by Central Staff

Water – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Even though the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District put misleading information on the ballot, last year’s expansion election was valid, a district judge has ruled.

The ruling came from District Judge David Thorson of Frémont County on Sept. 15, in response to a suit filed by Ivan Widom of Cañon City and Mark Emmer of Salida.

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Briefs from the San Luis Valley

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Brief by Marcia Darnell

San Luis Valley – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Fall Pols

Rep. Mark Udall stumped through the Valley, campaigning for a U.S. Senate seat. Udall and Rep. John Salazar spoke together, promising to end the wars; create a “humane” immigration policy; and develop a clean energy strategy that will produce new jobs. The two also stressed health care, saying, “We need every American to be healthy so he or she can make a contribution.” Expanded benefits for farmers and veterans were also prioritized.

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Did $4 gasoline cause a slow summer in Salida?

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Brief by Central Staff

Economy – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

We note with sorrow the closing of the West End Café at the corner of First and G streets in Salida. From what we heard, business was just too slow this summer to sustain operations through the winter.

Indeed, we heard a lot about a summer with lower sales. One gallery said business was down about $7,000 from last year, and another put its slide at $10,000. Yet the town seemed about as busy as ever.

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Texas Creek trembles

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Brief by Central Staff

Geology – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Subscriber (and occasional contributor) Charlie Green, who lives near Texas Creek, seems to be on his way to becoming our earthquake correspondent.

Another small tremor shook his area at 12:37 p.m. on Sept. 12. Its magnitude was estimated at 2.5 on the Richter Scale by the U.S. Geological Survey; in lay terms, it was just on the edge of perceptibility if you happened to be sitting on top of it.

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Not even the privileged can deter a porcupine

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Essay by Judy Miller

Wildlife – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

WHEN FOLKS BUILD HOMES (or mansions) next to wilderness, they are often shocked to learn that the wilderness is, in fact, wild. Critters they once thought of as cute and charming are suddenly villainous and voracious, devouring flower beds, tunneling under irrigation systems, even munching on pricey trees dropped into the landscape by crane. And one of the most determined predators is the porcupine.

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