2001 June

Jerry Scavezze: Smithing in Salida

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Article by Ed Quillen

Local artist – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazineo Publishing Co. All rights reserved.

Return to June 2001 table of contents.

AS A STUDIO, the back room at 150 West First Street _in Salida looks more like the village smithy’s shop — massive antique anvils of horseshoe-forging dimensions, bench vices that could hold a car transmission, scores of punches and dies, extruders that form wire from solid metal ingots, pedal-powered hammers, and a panoply of other tools for shaping metal.

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Welcome to the Funhouse

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Column by George Sibley

Development – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

SOMETIMES IT SEEMS like the best thing to do would be to just laugh out loud. Everybody all together, although not at each other — or at anyone else — but just about the strange situations we’ve all gotten ourselves into. A good laugh might be the first step in getting beyond these situations. But of course some will say that these things are no laughing matter.

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A good story can get in the way of the facts

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Essay by Allen Best

History – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

IN THE WRITING of history, as well as journalism, there are two prime commandments. Get your facts right, and make the story entertaining. Flub them and you’re a stiff. Score both and you’ve got a masterpiece.

Masterpieces are rare. Hollywood never has lost sleep over rearranging facts, the landscape, or anything else when putting together a movie. In the rush for immediacy at a daily newspaper, the most common form of journalism, both the narrative of the story and facts get trampled like jackrabbits on a winter highway.

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What to do about those damaged trees

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Sidebar by Gary Ludwig

Foliage – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

What to do about those damaged trees

This is an excerpt from Mountain Gardener — a program featuring Gary Ludwig of Pleasant Avenue Nursery that’s on KVRH on Friday and Saturday mornings at 8:50. This particular show was aired after the big snowstorm.

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The Big Spring Dump of ’01

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Essay by Martha Quillen

Weather – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

May 10, 2001

I CAN THINK OF at least a dozen more topical subjects for a June edition, but snow it is. That won’t surprise most Central Coloradans, however, because last week’s storm was pretty unforgettable.

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Not exactly welcomed at Ski Cooper

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Letter from Roger Williams

Public land – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

I have a few comments about this little ski area off Tennessee Pass. I haven’t skied Cooper; but driving over the pass one summer, I turned off and drove up the hill for a look at it. There was a boom gate but half of it was open so I carried on. I drove round the base area and had a look at it, including the service shed with a Snow-Cat, Ski-Dozer or two; I’m a fan of crawler tractors.

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Once there was life without all the megacrap

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Letter from Slim Wolfe

Modern life – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

Colorado Central:

O.K. Martha, you win. I’ll concede your point [April]. Yes, the world has become a better place in our lifetime, despite my endless complaints. Some of the kids and young people today have a much better and broader education than was common 50 years ago. The Spectrum is much broader, in music, food, thought, fashion, language, and technology. Maybe there’s too much for anyone to absorb, and maybe a lot of it is crap, but there are more options, no doubt. Mainly the world is a better place though, because no one has to wear those horrid ladies hats of blue-blackened mold-hard straw with the tropical feather geegaws or the pompadour hairstyles which were foisted on the young men.

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The Western W was never an N

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Letter from Chris Dickey

Western State College – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

Ed and Martha:

Thought I’d drop a line to dispel the rumor about the “W” emblem signifying Western State College.

The “W” directly south of Gunnison on Tenderfoot Mountain was never an “N.” There once was an “N” on the smaller hill behind the college where the water tanks now sit, above the stadium. Dr. Charles Johnson, an early Western grad who went on to chair the Natural Science and Mathematics department, masterminded the building of the “W” shortly after Governor Sweet signed the bill in 1923 to change the name from Colorado State Normal School to Western State College of Colorado.

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How smart people banked before there was an FDIC

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Letter from Eugene Lorig

Mountain Memories – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

Dear Ed and Martha,

Well, we have a new set of rascals in office and, in the words of the old horse in Animal Farm, “Things will continue much as before; that is, badly.”

Back in September, Fred Rosa complimented me by wanting more Eugene Lorig. Thanks, Fred, I’ll try to oblige. And my best to you and your lovely wife, Melanie, who officiated at the wedding of daughter Dorothy. But Fred, it’s “Gene,” except to telemarketers, evangelists, and other panderers.

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A new leader for a new season at Creede Repertory Theatre

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Article by Marcia Darnell

Theater – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

“IT REALLY FEELS LIKE coming home,” says Maurice LaMee, surveying his new office. The creative director of Creede Repertory Theatre has only been on the job since October but has already sparked a revolution — CRT’s 2001 season will extend into fall.

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Court tells the State Land Board to get a better appraisal

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Article by Ed Quillen

Little Cochetopa School Section – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

THE COLORADO STATE LAND BOARD can sell or trade the Little Cochetopa School Section — but it has to get a fair market value for the land, and the trade proposed last year did not represent a fair market value.

That was the essence of a ruling issued May 1 by Chaffee County District Court Judge Ken Plotz in a suit brought by four neighboring landowners who had formed the “Citizens to Save the Little Cochetopa School Section.”

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Should have stayed outdoors?

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Brief by Central Staff

Weather – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Big Spring Dump of ’01 also struck Gunnison, depositing about six inches of snow just in time for graduation at Western State College. Thus the ceremony was moved indoors for the first time in years, according to George Sibley, who teaches there.

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South Park Symposium put on hold for a year

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Brief by Central Staff

South Park – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

There won’t be a South Park Symposium this summer, but the organizers are planning one for 2002.

The first two symposiums, in 1999 and 2000, featured presentations on everything from prehistoric archæology to contemporary water issues in South Park.

But there were some scheduling problems this year, and the organizers also wanted to regroup and find a way to increase attendance.

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Getting silence on the radio

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Brief by Central Staff

Media – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

When big storms hit, people often turn to the radio for the latest information. But the radio stations can also be victims of the storm.

Salida’s Big Spring Dump of ’01 knocked two stations off the air: KSBV and KRCC, both with antennas on Methodist Mountain.

KSBV, a commercial station based in Salida, was back on the air by Monday, May 7, as soon as electric power had been restored to the antenna site.

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Answers, and no questions for a while

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Brief by Central Staff

Colorado Lore – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

Answers, and no questions for a while

Our May quiz inspired absolutely no responses. And so, we’re taking a break from question construction.

But we will give you the answers — the idea was to guess the town from a published description.

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Register for the great outdoors without goiong outdoors

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Brief by Central Staff

Outdoor recreation – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

Now you can go on-line to renew your Colorado registration on a boat, snowmobile, or OHV (off-highway vehicle).

State law requires that these be registered each year, with the fees going toward trail maintenance and safety programs, among other things.

Owners get mailed notices, and with the information on those cards, they can go to www.coloradoparks.org and renew instantly. They’ll be able to print a temporary registration, and the regular certificate and decals will arrive by postal mail in a week or so.

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Molybdenum cutbacks continue

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Brief by Central Staff

Mining – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

Molybdenum prices keep dropping, and so there will be some cutbacks this summer at the Henderson Mine — the last operating part of Climax Molybdenum Co., now a subsidiary of Phelps-Dodge.

In 1998, moly was selling for $3.42 a pound on average, and by 2000, that had dropped to $2.56.

That means production will be cut back at the Henderson Mine, with some suspensions in June, July, and August to reduce 2001 production by about 3.5 million pounds. The mine, near the summit of Berthoud Pass, has about 300 employees.

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Briefs from the San Luis Valley

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Brief by Marcia Darnell

San Luis Valley – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

Water OK

The state health department gave San Luis Valley water an OK after testing the 30 monitoring wells here. Levels of pesticides were judged “infinitesimal” and nitrate “acceptable.” Local farmers were lauded for their management of land and water.

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Speculating about our gasoline future

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Brief by Central Staff

Tourism – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

Since most of our tourists arrive by auto, and gasoline prices are high, what’s that mean for summer business in Central Colorado and the San Luis Valley?

The short answer is that no one knows, although it’s fun to speculate:

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Everybody should have a pet mouse

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Essay by Pat Walsh

Wildlife – June 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine

I have two strange things to tell you.

One. There is a mouse living in my car.

Two. I don’t mind.

I’m not supposed to like this situation. First, I’m a woman and we all know that women hate rodents even more than men do, and that’s saying a lot. Emphasis on the word “rodent.” I’ll come back to that later.

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Western Water Report: 10 June 2001

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SOUTH PARK CONJUNCTIVE USE PROJECT (SPCUP) DEFEATED

Over 4 years ago, Aurora filed a water rights application to pump groundwater from the Sportsman’s Ranch near Como, CO, to feed its rampant growth. The applicant was hoping to pump 140,000 af/y. The water court judge dismissed the application saying the augmentation modeling showed insufficient water available. In defense from this attempted water grab, the citizens of South Park formed a new water conservancy district within the Southeastern Water Conservancy District to help fund their efforts.

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