“Patriot” Arrested A man who claimed to be the founder of the Operation Patriot Rally Point militia was arrested in October by the Colorado State Patrol and Alamosa police, according to The Denver Post. Rodger Marsh, 48, also known as Colt Severs, was arrested in Alamosa without incident on warrants from Texas for probation violation …
by Gena Dellett Playground Gets Facelift La Puente and the City of Alamosa are partnering with KaBOOM, a Washington. D.C.-based grantmaker, to replace all the play equipment in Zapata Park, located on the southside of Alamosa. The park is three blocks away from La Puente’s homeless shelter. The new play equipment will be valued at …
New Courthouse in the Works? County commissioners in Alamosa are expected to send a proposal to voters for a one-cent sales tax increase to fund a new courthouse and jail renovations, according to The Pueblo Chieftain. The proposed three-story courthouse, expansion of the existing jail and overhaul of the existing courthouse, built in the 1930s, …
by Gena Akers Have Lemons? Make $2,000 Peyton Sanchez, a 9-year-old Alamosa resident, organized his second annual lemonade stand for charity during Summerfest on the Rio in Alamosa. Last year all the proceeds he raised benefited Children’s Hospital programming and the Alamosa anti-bullying program. This year, Peyton is supporting La Puente and the PALS Children’s …
By Gena Akers Less Water for Irrigation Farmers have less water to irrigate with this year. While Colorado has a head start on delivering water under the Rio Grande Compact to New Mexico and Texas, the irrigation ditches are low. Both the Rio Grande and Conejos stream-flow forecasts are below average, according to The Pueblo …
by Gena Akers Gator Gets a New Home Jay Young, owner of the San Luis Valley’s Colorado Gators Reptile Park, recently drove 2,200 miles in 48 hours to rescue Jaxon, an 8-foot alligator. Wildlife officials found Jaxon in a backyard in Los Angeles, relocating him to a zoo. After retrieving Jaxon, Young visited the alligator’s …
by Gena Akers From Crop Circles to Baseball Diamonds Geoff West, a former baseball coach, professional scout and owner of the Pilot Baseball Academy, has hopes of building a 24-field park east of Alamosa. During a presentation at the annual SLV Tourism Conference, West said the complex could bring up to 2,000 little league players …
by Gena Akers Drilling Lawsuit Moves Forward Individual declarations have been submitted to the U.S. District Court and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to contest the authorized exploratory oil/gas drilling in San Francisco Creek, an area south of Del Norte. The complainants assert that the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to …
by Gena Akers Wolf Creek Development Approved The Rio Grande National Forest (RGNF) has completed The Village at Wolf Creek Access Project analysis. The land exchange between the National Forest and Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture (LMJV) will provide the opportunity for LMJV to develop year-round access to their property. Approximately 177 acres of privately held land …
Alamosa Agencies Look to Revitalize Historic Building Alamosa agencies are looking to revitalize the old Rio Grande Motorway for regular and special events, such as the Alamosa Farmers Market and Alamosa Live Music Association concerts. Other revitalization ideas include installing a catering kitchen, and banquet facility amenities that could hold up to 800 people. Building …
By Gena Akers Rio Grande Basin Adds to State Water Plan Gov. Hickenlooper expects to see a statewide water plan by December 2015 that encompasses all nine river basins. Under the jurisdiction of the Rio Grande Roundtable, the Rio Grande Basin water plan draft outlines 14 goals, including: protecting and restoring sustainability, watershed health and …
Wetlands Work to Begin On Aug. 20, Colorado Parks and Wildlife approved $400,000 for wetlands and riparian habitat projects in the San Luis Valley. Three national wildlife refuges operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management will see the installation of 10 water-control structures which will benefit sandhill …
Healthy Living Park Acquires Property The Rio Grande Healthy Living Park in Alamosa is one step closer to becoming a reality after backers of the project won a lawsuit and managed to purchase the controversial property from the developer. The site of the proposed park, the Polston property, adjacent to the Rio Grande river, created …
More Solar for the Valley Xcel Energy has signed a power purchase agreement with SunPower Corp, of San Jose, California for the output of a 50-megawatt solar photovoltaic plant the company plans to build in the San Luis Valley. Permits, financing and interconnection rights are still needed by SunPower in order to begin the project,.They …
Heartbreak Theatre in Monte Vista
The would-be theatre that was proposed before the Monte Vista City Council has been denied. The project vanguard, the Kelloff Regional Center for the Arts, was initially met with high praise and raised substantial funds through the community for the construction of the theatre, but reported difficulties met through meetings, and called working with the city a “negative experience.” All donations are being returned to patrons who contributed to the vision.
Polston Property Annexed Alamosa city councilors annexed the controversial Polston school property in a unanimous vote, according to the Valley Courier. A group of Alamosa citizens had attempted to purchase the fertile piece of land to create the Rio Grande Healthy Living Park (RGHLP) with botanical gardens, a commercial kitchen and a production greenhouse as …
Stun Gun Scenario
An Alamosa city councilor who was attempting to evict his son from a rental property was living up to the traditional Wild West ways of resolving disputes – new school style. Leland Romero had waved a stun gun at his son Lucas during a lawn-watering incident and then pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment.
He has been sentenced to nine months of unsupervised probation and ordered to donate $200 to a local charitable group of his choice.
Fracking in the SLV
Rio Grande County (RGC) commissioned a hydrological study of First Liberty Energy (FLE) to address widespread concern about negative effects of oil and gas exploration and development on Valley aquifers and water supply systems. This resulted in FLE’s acceptance of more stringent conditions than those required by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC), which had issued a permit for the well in October 2012.
SLV Solar Spotlights
Saguache County Commissioners recently approved a sprawling 6,200-acre solar complex proposed by Santa Monica, California-based SolarReserve. It is to be located 30 miles north of Alamosa and 10 miles west of Great Sand Dunes National Park.
“We got a traffic-stopper,” said board Chairman Mike Spearman, according to The Denver Post. He said he hopes the site will become a tourist attraction, complete with a visitor center and shuttle tours.
In addition, the solar plant being built near Alamosa by North Carolina-based Cogentrix LLC – a Goldman Sachs-owned power company – is almost complete.
Hard Core Prosecution
A 72-hour hold for a suicide attempt delayed an ongoing criminal case in 12th Judicial District Judge Martin Gonzales’ court. Convicted thieves Carrie Dean, 50, and her husband, Richard Basinger, 67, were scheduled to appear for an already rescheduled sentencing date for knowingly possessing thousands of dollars of stolen property, but again skipped sentencing because of Dean’s suicide attempt. Her absence was accepted by the Court, as she was in the San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center (SLVRMC) in Alamosa, but Gonzalez issued Basinger a $50,000 cash bond failure to appear warrant despite pleas from his attorney, David Michael Lipka.
According to the Valley Courier, 12th Judicial District deputy attorney Crista Maestas said, “I object to the defendant not appearing. Mr. Basinger is not hospitalized at the moment.”
SLV – The Mecca for Solar Energy in Colorado
U.S. Secretary of the Interior and native of the San Luis Valley Ken Salazar released the final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) on July 24 identifying potential utility-scale solar development on public lands in the west.
All of the solar zones specified in Colorado are targeted for approximately 16,300 acres in the San Luis Valley. They include: Antonito Southeast on the boundary of Colorado/New Mexico, Los Mogotes East in Conejos County, Fourmile East in Alamosa County, and De Tilla Gulch about eight miles outside of Saguache.
by Patty LaTaille
Locals Needed for the Big Screen
Look for the open casting calls for movie extras at the end of March in the San Luis Valley for the Disney western “The Lone Ranger,” that will be shooting in Colorado and Utah this summer.
Sande Alessi Casting, the Los Angeles based casting directors of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Glee,” “The Social Network” and hundreds more projects, will be looking for men; including Asian, Native American and men of other ethnicities.
Those who miss the open call may still be considered for the film. Go to www.SandeAlessiCasting.com or “friend” The Lone Ranger Casting on Facebook.
by Patty LaTaille
Hot and Dry – Beware – It’s Fire Season
Due to the lack of snow on the peaks and no precipitation this winter, the SLV is scary dry. The “Green Fire” north of Alamosa in mid-April was one of the San Luis Valley’s biggest brush fires this season. 50-60 firefighters were at the scene.
In addition to the Alamosa Volunteer Fire Department, firefighters were called in from the Mosca-Hooper, Monte Vista and Costilla County departments. Crews from the U.S. Forest Service and Colorado State Forest Service also assisted with firefighting efforts, and a team from Woodland Park arrived to help fight the fire.
