Letter from Slim Wolfe
Politics – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editor,
Poppycock, Quillen. We know a liberal when we see one: Unkempt hair, unkempt house, unkempt dog, it all adds up to pinko. I don’t see why you people can’t appreciate the war on drugs, it’s as simple as uppers for the pilots and hash for the infantry. Winner take all! I bet you’re against our invading France as well, but more reasonable men know that these are times that call for faith in leadership.
Review by Kirby Perschbacher
Construction – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Logs, Wind and Sun
by Rex A. Ewing and LaVonne Ewing
Published in 2002 by PixyJack Press
ISBN 0-9658098-3-8
Column by Hal Walter
Media – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
I GET MOST of my unbiased news these days from a regional weekly newspaper called Thrifty Nickel. From this decidedly alternative newspaper, which is emblazed with the motto “Want Ads That Do What You Want Them To Do,” the analytical and creative mind can learn much more about the state of the immediate world than it can from the mainstream press. (Trust me. I have a bachelor of science degree from the state’s finest journalism school, the University of Colorado, hanging right here on my wall. And this, technically, makes me a scientist.)
Review by Allen Best
Ski industry – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Downhill Slide: Why the Corporate Ski Industry is Bad for Skiing, Ski Towns, and the Environment
by Hal Clifford
Published in 2002 by Sierra Club Books
ISBN 1-578-050-71-5
Review by Ed Quillen
Geography – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Colorado: An Aerial Geography of the Highest State
by Tom Huber and Jim Wark
Published in 2002 by Western Reflections
ISBN 1-890437-59-X
Review by Martha Quillen
Islam – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Islam versus Terrorism
by Firooz Zadeh
Published in 2002
By Twin Lakes Publishing
ISBN 0-9674480-1-8
Essay by Martha Quillen
Media – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
ON FEBRUARY 2, The Denver Post led its “Perspective” section with an article about two insolvent Colorado school districts. “Broke schools, busted system” the feature declared, and it continued: “There is nothing unique about the ineptitude demonstrated by those two district boards and their leadership.”
Article by Columbine Quillen
Local Art – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
ANYONE WHO COMES THROUGH Salida these days notices all of the art galleries. Artists from all over the country have moved here in recent years, but very few of them grew up here.
Cindy Lilly’s trade, however, wasn’t learned at an art institute or a faraway college, but acquired right here in the town where she was raised.
Article by Betty Plotz
Local History – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
WENDELL HUTCHINSON is a man with a sense of place. He was born on the Hutchinson Ranch in 1924 and has lived there for most of his life.
And this year, Colorado Preservation Incorporated (CPI) has recognized that place.
Letter from Ed Rogers
Drought – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
As this winter turns dry, more people are starting to realize that the drought we are experiencing is not short term and finally the media appear to be waking up to what many geologists and climatologists have been warning: this drought is long term, possibly decades long.
Brief by Central Staff
Drama – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
The Crystal Mountain Center for the Performing Arts has changed its name to the Westcliffe Center for the Performing Arts, but it’s still sponsoring the annual one-act play contest.
There’s a change, though. The contest had been limited to Colorado playwrights, but New Mexico entries are welcome this year, and there are plans to expand it to the entire Mountain West in coming years.
Brief by Central Staff
Wildlife – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
You see a lot of birdseed on sale this time of year, and it can be entertaining and educational to watch the birds gather at the feeder outside your kitchen window.
But putting out feed might not be the best thing for the birds. To quote from an article in the Dec. 27, 2002 Wall Street Journal:
Cartoon by Jack Chivvis
Local Life – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Cactus Jack’s View
Brief by Central Staff
Wildlife – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Monte Vista Crane Festival will run March 7 – 9
Greater Sandhill Cranes are about 4 feet tall, and gray with a red patch on their foreheads; they have a 6-foot wingspan, weigh about 12 pounds, and every spring they leave New Mexico and wing their way to Idaho. Along the way, however, cranes meet in the San Luis Valley where they entertain visitors with aerial demonstrations and courtship dances — in which they leap, bow, croak and flex their wings to entice life-long mates. This year, the Monte Vista Crane Festival celebrates this annual event on March 7 & 8 with tours, classes, lectures, a movie, and meals, plus a Friday concert, a Saturday dinner, and a spectacular sunrise fly-out tour on March 9.
Brief by Ed Quillen
Regional news – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Dry pocketbooks
It’s easy to see how drought has affected agriculture, which is one major Central Colorado industry. As for our biggest industry, tourism, some effects are quite obvious: if there’s not much snow, there won’t be many skiers.
Brief by Marcia Darnell
San Luis Valley – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Whooosh!
CoPIRG is urging the Valley to think about turning its infamous winds into $$$. The Colorado Public Interest Research Group says wind farming would generate energy and income for farmers hit hard by the drought and recession.
Brief by Central Staff
Water – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Every so often, a politician keeps a campaign promise, and so we’re pleased to report that Rep. Paul Weissmann, a Democrat from Louisville on the Front Range, has come through on a pledge he made last fall.
He promised to introduce a bill that would require elections for water conservancy districts, and on Jan. 27, he brought forth HB-1195.
Brief by Central Staff
Colorado Central – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Compared to most other publications hereabouts, which date back to the 19th century, Colorado Central is just a baby — our first edition was dated March, 1994, so this is only our ninth birthday.
We confess to mild astonishment that it’s lasted this long, and in pretty much the same format as when we started. That might be because we started on a kitchen table, and much of the editing work still happens on the same table, next to the same wood-burning stove that is such a blessing in the winter.
Comic Strip written by Clint Driscoll and illustrated by Judie Moorhead
Mountain Life – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Column by George Sibley
Wildlife – March 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
I’M SITTING HERE thinking about water, thinking I ought to be writing something about water, but I’m being distracted by a murder of crows.
They’re in the yard across the street, about forty of them, some in a tree but most on the ground, pecking at the snow — drinking maybe. A study in black and white because it is a gray morning outside with just enough new snow to cover the grass. It might snow more.
COLORADO SNOWPACK IMPROVING
During the last week in February, snowpack jumped in every basin in the state. The Gunnison Basin snowpack is at 83% of average. The Upper Colorado stands at 90%, the South Platte is at 81%, the North Platte, Yampa and White are at 90%, the Arkansas is at 88%, the Rio Grande is at 73% and the San Juan is at 72% of the 30-year average. Hydrologists are estimating it will take 20% of the snowpack to replenish soil moisture.