THOMPSON

blanket bond that covers all of their wells — whether it’s ve or 500 — on public lands nationwide.

Yet the average cost to plug and reclaim a single oil and gas well, according to a 2021study, is a whopping $76,000, with costs for deeper wells shooting up into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. at would add up to a $3.8 million cleanup bill for Chuza Oil’s 50 wells in the Horseshoe Gallup eld.

Court records show the company’s reclamation bonds with the Navajo Nation and federal government add up to less than $130,000, or about $2,500 per well. at means federal taxpayers — you and me — are on the hook for the remaining $3.7 million and change. And that’s just for one company’s wells in one location.

Equally maddening is that the regulators must have seen the warning

Coming Attractions

that my director was on board with allowing Wally to be autistic as well for this production. Wally has special interests like most autistic kids, and he thrives when he’s able to engage with them,” they wrote. “Even though Emily and Wally don’t always see eye to eye, Wally loves Emily deeply. He looks up to her, and sometimes envies her ability to succeed in school where he often struggles.”

Clarke Reader

e play, directed by Geo rey Kent, is set in the ctional town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire from 1901 to 1913, and follows the lives of some of the residents as they grapple with major life events and attempt to get a handle on the eeting nature of existence.

“Geo ’s vision for the show was that it isn’t just a show you see, you as the audience feel like a part of the story, and a part of the process, almost like being let in on a secret,” wrote Claylish Coldiron, who plays Emily Webb, in an email interview.

“We perform in the round in a very intimate theatre, which we have utilized every corner of, so that when the show starts, the audience is being invited to join the world we create for the next two hours.”

One of the decisions that adds a more personal touch to the experience is to allow Rosenkrantz to portray Wally as autistic.

“As an autistic actor, I’m ecstatic signs but didn’t — or couldn’t — act to make the responsible parties take responsibility while they were still somewhat solvent. e 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act authorized $4.7 billion in federal funds for cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells. On the one hand, it’s necessary to end this massive threat to the climate, the environment and public health. e antiquated federal royalty rate of 12.5% must be jacked up considerably — 25%, anyone? — to bring it in line with what states charge. A portion of the royalty should also go into a reclamation fund so that corporate owners pay to clean up the messes they leave.

But the truth is that it’s also a corporate bailout.

Jonathan ompson is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonpro t dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. He is the editor of the Land Desk and a longtime Western journalist.

One of the many things that makes “Our Town” so timeless is how applicable it is to every person, whether on stage or in the audience.

“ is script… brought to light how beautiful and spectacular life really is, and how precious, not in a way that is fragile but in a way that made us all want to hold it a little tighter and do a little more with whatever time and space we have,” Coldiron wrote.

Visit https://arvadacenter.org/ events/our-town for information and tickets.

Take a ride on the ‘Carousel’ at Lakewood Cultural Center e Lakewood Cultural Center and Performance Now eatre Company are teaming up to copresent the classic musical “Carousel,” which runs from Friday, March 17 through Sunday, April 2 at the Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison Parkway. Performances are at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m., Saturday and Sunday.

A traditional favorite from the legendary duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein, the show features standards like “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

Find detail and tickets at Lakewood.org/LCCPresents.

Wheat Ridge Theatre invokes ‘The Irish Curse’

Sometimes the best way to tackle touchy subjects is to do so with a funny and irreverent approach. at’s the method author Martin Casella uses in his black comedy, “ e Irish Curse,” which is currently running at Wheat Ridge eatre Company, 5455 W. 38th. Ave., Unit J. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, through Sunday, March 26.

SEE READER, P24

BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Af ter more than 20 years of collecting pinball machines, Dan Nikolich’s basement had run out of space to store them all. So Nikolich opened the Colorado Pinball Pub in Littleton to share his collection.

“Pinball is a unique thing because it doesn’t matter what your background or walk of life is, pinball will draw you in,” he said. “It’s a great equalizer because it only takes one ball.”

While the concept of offering drinks and games at one location is nothing new, the Denver area is host to a number of unique takes on the Dave and Buster’s business model.

Colorado Pinball Pub is one of the newer additions to the barcade scene, having opened in 2020. The pub offers 22 pinball machines, plus a few classic arcade games like PacMan and Centipede, for unlimited play for $15 per hour.

Nikolich’s love for games started young, when he was growing up in Las Vegas and working for the MGM Arcade, so he was happy to see the recent rise in pinball’s popularity.

“Pinball is having a great resurgence right now. The last few years it’s been really hot,” he said. “We have parents who will bring their kids who have never played pinball and, at night, we get a lot of adults and date nights, stuff like that. All people seem to like pinball.”

Like the pub’s patrons, the pinball machines available range in age and theme, with Nikolich’s oldest machine being from 1981. The walls of the pub also pay homage to the history of the game, including its prohibition from 1940s to the 1970s, with pictures and news clippings.

In addition to pinball, the pub features over 150 kinds of whiskey, craft cocktails and Colorado brewed beer.

Nikolich said the goal is to have something for everyone and to make it approachable, whether that’s pinball or whiskey.

“We want you to come and learn about it and not be intimidated to ask if you don’t know something, we want to teach you, so that you can enjoy something new,” he said.

On the opposite side of the metro area, another