The Durango Telegraph, Jan 4, 2024

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inside

T H E

O R I G I N A L

I N D I E

W E E K L Y

L I N E

O N

D U R A N G O

&

B E Y O N D

Lithium in Paradox

Sneaky & underhanded

Rest in peace

Lack of water puts damper on Utah mining rush p6

LPEA suit accuses Tri-State of foot dragging p8

What happened to all of Colorado’s rest stops? p10

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lineup

Pushing past hurdles to realize dream of learning a new language

5 Soap Box

4 La Vida Local

Language barrier

by Doug Gonzalez

6 Land Desk

6

8 Big Pivots

Tapping out

10 State News

Utah’s Lithium extraction in question over fresh water concerns

by Jonathan Thompson / Land Desk

11 Murder Ink

8

12-13 Stuff to Do 13 Ask Rachel

Shedding light LPEA alleges foot-dragging on part of Tri-State in buy-out negotiations

by Allen Best / Big Pivots

11

15 Haiku Movie Review On the cover Local artist Jon Bailey graces this week’s cover with his drawing “Feather Wait,” a clever play on words. But if you want the real meaning, you’ll have to ask.

Book within a book Dusting off a gem from 2015 to combat January doldrums

boilerplate

by Jeffrey Mannix

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telegraph

Ear to the ground: “It’s going to be the same shit as 2023, but worse.”

– New Year’s reveler summing up the national sentiment of dread

Business time

thepole

4

RegularOccurrences

The holidays are over, the tree is on the heap at Santa Rita Park, and city staff are back at work. And, they wasted no time TCB. For starters, Police Chief Bob Brammer has been appointed Second Assistant City Manager, which we assume means he will be assistant to Assistant City Manager Erin Hyder and City Manager Jose Madrigal.

Brammer was hired as chief in 2019.

“Bob Brammer has shown exemplary leadership within the Police Department and our Executive Leadership Team,” said Madrigal. “As Second Assistant City Manager, he will be a tremendous asset to the City Manager’s Office, the City Council and the community.”

Of course, this move leaves a hole in the Durango Police Department, with the search for a new chief planned for mid-January.

Brammer will remain in his role at the PD until a new chief is chosen, hopefully by spring of early summer.

In other action at the City Council’s first meeting of the year on Tuesday: • Kelly Schmidt was hired as the City’s new Parks and Recreation director, replacing Ture Nycum who resigned in July after two years on the job. Schmidt most recently worked with the Runway Schmidt Group in Bentonville, Ark. The organization, in conjunction with nonprofit funders and the City of Bentonville, has spearheaded projects such as the 12-acre Osage Park and the Coler Mountain Bike Preserve, with 17 miles of trails. She has more than 25 years of experience in the parks and recreation industry.

• The City’s newest street, the right-ofway that accesses the Powerhouse and fire station was christened… West 12th Street.

OK, maybe not as catchy as Street of Fire or Super Fire-Power Place. But then again, this is fire we’re talking about – guess the point is not to be “catchy.”

• City Councilor Olivier Bosmans was officially reprimanded for saying things and doing things “in a manner unbecoming of a councilor and bringing disrepute to the Durango City Council” at City Council’s Nov. 7 meeting. The resolution calls for a letter of apology from councilors to the city manager and staff following Bosmans’ actions at the meeting. Whew, OK – let’s move on.

Jan. 4, 2024 n 3

opinion

LaVidaLocal A certain je ne sais quoi When I was young, I imagined someday I would speak multiple languages.

With the jet-set life I envisioned, I would need to speak the languages of the countries I would visit most frequently. With Paris being the home of the Louvre and several couture fashion houses, French was at the top of my “Languages to Know” list. However, my journey toward learning another language would be a bit more complicated than I expected.

My first language course probably mirrors most peoples’ experience: Spanish class in middle school. Nothing stood out to me about it, except the occasional annoyance when someone commented that with a last name like Gonzalez I should know more Spanish than I did, which was very little.

French was offered to students in my high school, but only to grades 10 and above.

Preparation for my life in fashion would have to wait until I finished freshman year.

When I started French, I had a surprisingly tough time. It was my lowest grade of that semester. However, French II and III were quite a bit easier. Maybe the initial difficulty was a fluke, but this struggle would appear again when I started college at Dartmouth.

Depending on fluency (or lack thereof), Dartmouth required students to finish three courses within a particular language. I signed up for French, excited to see a path that would take me to Paris. Dartmouth uses two modes of language learning: classroom instruction and drill sessions. In “drill,” a fluent student tests and reinforces what they learn in class by leading several rapid, popcorn style language activities. This method aims to immerse students and provide the most learning within the shortest amount of time.

Although I came to college with three semesters of high school French, I felt like I was on the lowest rungs of fluency in my class. I had some vocabulary and simple conjugation that allowed class to be manageable, but I struggled in the drills. Words I knew on paper sounded muddied or mushed together. We were assured it would become easier through the semester. That did not happen.

Why was I struggling again? Perhaps I wasn’t studying enough. Or perhaps it was too difficult. After 1½ semesters, I switched to Spanish. Occasionally hearing my father speak it, I thought it would be easy to pick up. However, I found myself struggling once again. Halfway through the semester, I met with

my profesora. She had a sharp, vibrant energy, reflected by her short gray hair and wardrobe of brightly colored mumus. I explained how I was hearing words in a way that confused me. This wasn’t the first time a student had come to her with a similar experience. She knew my best course of action was to meet with someone who could evaluate this issue.

I set up an appointment with a doctor. He began by asking me about my life and the history of my learning. Over the next couple of appointments, he ran various tests that aimed to paint a picture of how I processed words. After, he explained his findings. I learned languages a bit differently. Dartmouth’s method of teaching would prove quite challenging for me, although not impossible.

He also explained how my brain compensated for this by developing a strong visual aptitude.

This made sense to me. Despite feeling reluctant and insecure in language classes, I was always confident in art. Art came naturally to me.

The doctor recommended a language waiver, which I received. I was relieved to not only have the waiver, but to be armed with this knowledge about myself. At the end of the report, he also included a personal profile.

Using information I shared with him, he wrote that he was worried I didn’t date much. He added that I would be a good candidate for therapy. I thought, “Sheesh! Could this have been done without these last ‘fun’ facts?”

For many years after, I steered away from learning new languages. However, in fall 2023, I had the opportunity to take two language classes at Fort Lewis College: Navajo and Spanish. I spoke to my Spanish teacher on my first day of class, telling her I felt nervous, considering my history. But on the other side of the nervousness was excitement that stemmed from confronting this “language monster” I created in my head. It was exciting to push myself again, but as an adult who knows their strengths and weaknesses. It was an excitement that came from continuing to write the narrative about who I am and who I am becoming. When I finished the semester, I received an A in both classes. But it wasn’t necessarily a good grade that I was seeking. When I enrolled, I knew I was wanting to connect to parts of myself, both the unknown and the forgotten. The attempt to know these parts, despite the difficulty to do so, feels more important to my narrative than any fashion house or jet-set life could ever be.

– Doug Gonzalez

SignoftheDownfall:

Thumbin’It

4 n Jan. 4, 2024

The New York Times suing OpenAI and Microsoft over copyright infringement, with the hard work of Times writers being mined by chatbots. Sure, they’re just bots, but don’t they realize if they put the writers out of work, there will be no one left to plagiarize?

What is going on with the oceans? First high surf hammers California’s coast, with rogue waves and then a deadly tsunami hits in Japan. Might be a good idea to seek higher ground till Jason Momoa chills out.

FLC making higher education all the more accessible, by increasing the income limit for students who receive free tuition from $65k to $70k.

Durango’s long-standing, penultimate steakhouse, the Ore House, suffering a kitchen fire early Tuesday morning.

Here’s to a speedy re-opening – we’ve got birthdays coming up.

Hey look – gas is $3 a gallon! We know we will probably get yelled at for not riding our bikes, but sometimes the combustion engine is a necessary evil, as are heated steering wheels and seats.

Ugh – 2024 already? If we can’t fast forward to 2028, or at least 2025, please let it be over as painlessly and quickly as possible.

telegraph

Board Shame Starting Jan. 6, the Qanon-affiliated site TrueAnon.com will start selling a board game (for the low-low price of only $64.99) called “Steal the Capitol” that’s based on the Jan. 6th insurrection. In the game, players will be able to “take hostages” and “fight police” even though most people who will buy this “back the blue” according to their bumper stickers. The playable characters, called “patriots,” are all slightly overweight white people, so makes sense, but the notion that this game is based loosely on Monopoly doesn’t. Because if it were, every space would simply say “go to jail.”

SoapBox

D-Tooned/by Rob Pudim

Open letter to Boebert The following is an excerpt from a letter I sent to Rep. Lauren Boebert. I urge everyone to write to their representatives, regardless of your views. They cannot be held accountable for misrepresenting the People if we don’t tell them what we think. Whether you love her or hate her, tell her what you think. Don’t just sit around and complain. This is how democracy works.

Regarding your decision to run for Representative of Colorado Congressional District 4: • Your tactic of switching districts only serves to underscore the fact that you are more interested in preserving your spot in the House of Representatives than you are in representing your constituents.

• Your unexpected near-loss in the last election is a strong signal from the People that they do not condone the MAGA tainted, retribution-fueled fighting that currently characterizes our government. You are welcome to harbor

your own opinions, but please realize that a significant percentage of your constituents do not share your views.

• I want to remind you that your position of representative is a job and should be treated as such. Your job description is to represent all of your constituents as best possible. You have been commissioned to gather the opinions, wants and desires of your constituents, take them to Washington, and present them to Congress. It is your responsibility to do this, even if you do not agree with the opinions of your constituents.

• If you do not adequately represent your constituents, you are not suitable for the job, and you will be “fired” by the voters. You will find this to be true regardless of which district you “represent.”

In my opinion, you are failing as a representative and appear to be using your position to further your own agenda. The voters will be the ultimate judge.

– Don Baldwin, Durango

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telegraph

Jan. 4, 2024 n 5

LandDesk

Lithium in Paradox Water – or lack thereof – could put a damper on Utah mining boom

by Jonathan Thompson

M

yriad proposals to tap lithium deposits in southeastern Utah are progressing from conceptual to exploratory phases. But they are running up against a familiar obstacle in these arid parts: concern about how the projects might affect diminishing water supplies in the Colorado River Basin.

Lithium is the primary ingredient in lithium-ion batteries, which power everything from cell phones to electric vehicles to grid-scale energy storage.

Over the last decade, demand has shot up for the stuff, which has also elevated prices. That, in turn, has sparked interest in developing domestic lithium, with projects sprouting in Nevada, the Salton Sea, Great Salt Lake, New Mexico and in the Paradox Formation in the Four Corners.

The Paradox Formation (or Basin), stretching from the northwestern edge of the San Juan Basin up to the town of Green River, Utah, contains oodles of lithium (along with potash, bromide and so on). That’s because some 300 million years ago a sea covered the area, then evaporated, then flooded, then evaporated, repeating this cycle about 29 times over the course of 15 million years. The process left behind thick deposits of salts and other materials.

Over the ensuing millennia, rock piled up atop the salt, squeezing it into fault lines, where the salt was pushed up into domes that shaped the overlying landscape. Those salt deposits contain lithium.

Companies have poked around in the Paradox Formation in search of potash for years. Now they’re going after lithium in a big way, with several firms staking claims in the Lisbon Valley, located in the middle of the fold, roughly between Moab and Monticello, and beyond.

Anson Resources’ Paradox and Green River projects are probably the furthest along (if investor presentations are to be believed). The Australian company and its subsidiaries – A1 Lithium, Blackstone Minerals and Blackstone Resources – have been staking claims fervently among the sandstone

6 n Jan. 4, 2024

A very lonely Highway 90 as it stretches across the Paradox Valley, on the Colorado/Utah border, with the La Sal Mountains in the distance. Rich with deposits of lithium – which powers everything from cell phones to electric vehicles – several companies are eyeing the valley for mining. However, water – or the lack thereof – remains a huge barrier. formations northwest of Moab between the Green and Colorado rivers over the last several years, amassing more than 1,000 federal mining claims. They also acquired private land surrounding the Department of Energy’s uranium tailings disposal site on the southern edge of the town of Green River as well as secured leases on Utah state land.

Conventional lithium operations pump mineral-filled water to the surface, put it in shallow ponds and allow the water to evaporate, concentrating the lithium and associated materials. Potash is extracted like this – a complex of potash evaporation ponds near Moab have

gone viral on Instagram due to their vivid colors. This method not only requires a lot of land for the ponds but also is water-intensive, with as much as 200,000 gallons of water evaporating for each ton of material produced. Plus, the process can produce a lot of waste and takes a long time.

Anson plans a different approach.

They say they will partner with Chinabased Sunresin and use that firm’s patented direct lithium extraction, or DLE. Anson would drill a well (or redrill an old oil and gas well), pump the brine to the surface and use resin beads to extract the lithium from the water, without evaporation ponds. After the

telegraph

lithium is extracted, the water is injected back underground. That, in theory, makes it a non-consumptive use of the water, meaning it shouldn’t have as much of an effect on water supplies.

But direct lithium extraction is a largely unproven technology, and it’s not clear that it will work in the Paradox Basin. The technique may require fresh water to be injected into the lithium deposits before pumping it to the surface, since the minerals may not be adequately saturated. In the 1950s and 1960s, a couple of facilities in Moab pumped up brine for use in the Atlas uranium mill; they had to pump fresh water into the subterranean salt beds

first in order to dissolve the salts. Plus, any time you drill deep into the earth and remove or inject water, you’re potentially screwing with hydrology – and even geology.

This has been shown in the oil and gas fields, where “produced water,” or wastewater left over from drilling and extraction, is often reinjected deep underground.

The process has induced earthquakes in the Permian Basin and elsewhere. During the coalbed methane drilling boom in the San Juan Basin in the 1990s, all sorts of weirdness occurred, from methane flowing from water taps to a freshwater spring suddenly becoming hotter — all likely the result of pumping billions of gallons of water from coal beds to “liberate” the methane and then shooting it back into the ground. And in the Paradox Basin, a project that captures salt before it can enter the Dolores River and then injects it 16,000 feet underground (to keep Colorado River salinity levels in check) also triggered tremors in western Colorado.

In other words, while direct lithium extraction could be a “game changer” for the industry, making it feasible to commercially extract lithium from geothermal brines under the Salton Sea, for example, many unknowns remain.

What we do know is that Anson is looking to secure a bunch of water for its operations. Their water right application seeks 4.5 billion gallons per year from wells on Utah state land north of Dead Horse Point State Park. The brine presumably would then be piped to a processing plant near the Colorado River, the lithium would be extracted, and the wastewater injected back underground. Intrepid Potash, the National Park Service, and a coalition of environmental groups protested the application, in part for its lack of detail

and because, well, there really isn’t any extra water available.

The application also seeks another 4.5 billion gallons a year from wells on the south end of Green River, adjacent to the uranium tailings depository.

After extracting the lithium at a plant on this property, they would inject the wastewater into 5,000-7,000foot-deep wells.

The Bureau of Reclamation protested the application because of its close proximity to the Green River and the potential to affect surface water. They also worry about direct lithium extraction, writing: “Data shows the success of DLE is hard to predict, consumes both freshwater and brine water, contaminates aquifers, reduces the groundwater table, hurts wildlife and worsens soil conditions … .” Ooof.

In addition to this, Anson has leased 2,500 acrefeet (814 million gallons) per year from the Wayne County Water Conservancy District. This water may be used for processing, but it’s not clear where, yet. Anson has indicated it could have processing facilities in Green River and on the Colorado River below Moab, neither of which is near Wayne County (home of Hanksville). Perhaps they also plan on having a processing plant there.

The water rights applications are still pending.

For more information, check out John Weisheit’s post for FarCountry.org, the website of the Canyonlands Watershed Council. ■ The Land Desk is a newsletter from Jonathan P. Thompson, author of “River of Lost Souls,” “Behind the Slickrock Curtain” and “Sagebrush Empire.” To subscribe, go to: www.landdesk.org

telegraph

The Paradox Basin and Anson/A1/Blackstone’s main target areas: A.) Green River Project; B.) Paradox Project; C.) Wayne County water rights (and possible future processing plant?)

Jan. 4, 2024 n 7

BigPivots

The Craig Station coal-burning power plant in northwest Colorado in 2020. Tri-State recently announced plans to close the unit it owns early in 2028, two years earlier than expected. The wholesale energy provider recently announced plans to transition to greener energy sources, but it may come too little too late for some of its members./Courtesy photo

Stalling out What to make of LPEA’s claim of Tri-State being ‘sneaky and underhanded?’

by Allen Best

A

lawsuit filed by La Plata Electric Association on Nov. 10, 2023, accuses Tri-State Generation and Transmission, its wholesale supplier, of being “sneaky and underhanded.” The suit is part of a far broader story that involves electrical customers across much of rural and semi-rural Colorado. In question is the business viability of Tri-State, the second largest electrical utility in Colorado. Taking it one step further, what are the consequences if TriState should go belly up?

It has happened before. Durango-based La Plata Electric became a member of Tri-State in the early 1990s after its prior wholesale supplier, Ute Electric, went bankrupt. It had built coal plants at Craig in the late ’70s and early ’80s in expectation of a huge demand for oil-shale extraction in northwest Colorado – that never happened.

Today, LPEA serves about 48,000 meters in primarily La Plata and Archuleta counties. In size, it’s on par with Holy Cross Energy. The electrical demand it has

8 n Jan. 4, 2024

represents about 5% of all of Tri-State, which has 42 members spread across Colorado and three adjoining states.

LPEA says Tri-State’s conduct has resulted in higher electricity rates than it would have paid had it been allowed a timely withdrawal in compliance with its contract. It first asked for an exit fee in July 2019. It still has no answer.

Three times in the 29-page filing, LPEA accuses TriState of dragging its feet in ways that were, well, “sneaky and underhanded.”

Despite recently filing a resource plan, Tri-State remains in deep financial distress. Clouds of debt hang over it. Plans to retire a coal plant in Arizona and possibly accelerate retirement of one in Colorado depend upon federal aid through the Inflation Reduction Act. It hopes to secure $970 million.

The overriding question is why Tri-State has been so determined to keep members of the “family” in the family. LPEA, in its lawsuit, argues that this goes against the cooperative principles upon which Tri-State was founded.

telegraph

Those already out the door Most of the drama cited in the lawsuit have been previously reported.

In 2016, New Mexico’s Kit Carson Electric got its freedom from Tri-State to innovate by its own rules after agreeing to pay Tri-State $37 million. I suspect a great many cooperatives had expected Kit Carson to stumble and fall. Instead, it has soared. It made its final payment last June.

Delta-Montrose Electric Association was next, departing in 2020. It had wrangled with Tri-State for several years before getting out of its contract that extended to 2040. That contract required DeltaMontrose to secure 95% of its power from Tri-State. It paid $62 million to leave the 42 remaining members.

As Kit Carson had done previously, Delta-Montrose hooked up with Guzman Energy, which promised to help the co-op develop more of its own electricity. The first significant project, a solar farm on Garnett Mesa, near Delta, is under way.

Three more members have now given notice they intend to leave. The most imminent is United Power,

which intends to be gone May 1.

LPEA and others have wanted to enter into partial contracts, in the case of LPEA, allowing it to generate 50% of its own electricity. That option is now off the shelf.

Why hasn’t LPEA gotten an exit number from TriState for either a full or partial exit? In 2020, Colorado members of Tri-State were close to getting an answer. A judge for the Colorado Utilities Commission heard testimony for about a week before issuing a recommended formula to the PUC. The formula was not much more complicated than drawing a straight line between what Kit Carson and Delta-Montrose had paid, then adjusting it for the size of the co-op.

Before the PUC could take up the matter, though, Tri-State managed to shift the decision-making nexus from the PUC in downtown Denver to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, in Washington, D.C., 1,656 miles away.

How did Tri-State engineer this? The story is generally known, but the lawsuit by LPEA discloses that the research for how to achieve this began in 2017 in an operation called Blue Sky II. It was before the chief executives now at Tri-State and the two dissident co-ops had arrived.

According to the LPEA lawsuit, for much of its existence, Tri-State successfully avoided both federal and state regulations. Tri-State historically was exempt from FERC jurisdiction because it was wholly owned by exempt rural electric co-ops. “Faced with regulation by the Colorado PUC in the last decade, Tri-State embarked on a secret plan to obtain federal regulation

by FERC in order to preempt Colorado regulations,” reads the lawsuit.

Beginning in August 2017, says the lawsuit, Tri-State paid lawyers to evaluate ways to obtain FERC jurisdiction and displace states’ regulations over potential withdrawals from Tri-State. “Tri-State initiated a secret project, code-named ‘Blue Sky II,’ which was designed to explore ways for Tri-State to become FERC jurisdictional,” reads the lawsuit.

Tri-State, this lawsuit says, kept this strategy secret from members until June 2019. But to make it work, Tri-State needed to create a new membership class. It needed to add at least one member that was not an electric cooperative or utility. Instead, it added three: a greenhouse near Fort Lupton that uses gas from TriState; a company that sold natural gas to Tri-State; and a company near Craig that rents land from Colowyo

Coal Co., a subsidiary of Tri-State.

With this, Tri-State secured overview by FERC. Next, LPEA and other co-ops worked with Tri-State to achieve a partial-requirements contract. After all, if Tri-State is hamstrung by its increasingly archaic 20th century technology for power generation, it has a very important 21st century asset: transmission.

Instead of being required to get 95% of their power from Tri-State, what if they could get less, 50% in the case of La Plata, or a third, as in the case of San Miguel Power?

LPEA even went out and secured deals from partners building solar and other technology in southwestern Colorado.

Out of options LPEA assumed that Tri-State would provide an exit fee proportionate to the partial-requirements contracts. It has not, and those deals with independent power producers have lapsed.

LPEA accuses Tri-State of employing delay tactics and – echoing the complaints of United Power – accuses Tri-State of being not inclined to have conversations. The way these two cooperatives have described Tri-State, it’s Tri-State’s way. The highway is not an option.

And hence the lawsuits – first by United Power and now LPEA. Out of options and without any active dialogue to modify its power supply, LPEA says it “was left with the single option of filing this lawsuit to vindicate its rights.”

I suppose I should reach out to Tri-State, to see what sort of statement they want to make. A he-said, shesaid piece. That is the formula purported to achieve fairness. Sometimes it actually works.

But honestly, I’ve paid my dues on this drama.

Watched the LPEA directors in 2021 approve the partial-requirements agreement. Been to Tri-State board meetings. Been to the annual “we’re-doinggreat” meetings of a few coo-ps. Had many, many conversations on the sidelines.

The question I have not asked Tri-State is why has it dragged its feet? The easy answer, one I’ve published before without kickback, is that it wants to stall the exit of members while it gets its house in order. Kit Carson and then Delta-Montrose is one thing. But if all the bigger ones leave, what is left? Well, the smaller, more rural cooperatives. It leaves Tri-State a much smaller operation, one likely at greater risk of failure.

telegraph

Under its previous manager, Tri-State was tepid in embracing changes. Duane Highley was hired as chief executive in 2019 with the explicit mission of steering Tri-State into the energy transition. By January 2020, he had announced the closure of the coal plants in Craig.

That transition was hard – and it’s still far from done.

But it’s the easiest of the work that needs to be done. Tri-State more fundamentally needs to reform its business model. It needs to figure out how to become a better partner in innovation with its members.

To be fair, all utilities are very different from what they were 15 to 20 years ago. Tri-State is no exception.

Today, it has exhibits about energy efficiency at its annual meetings. It is a sponsor of the Beneficial Electrification League. “Resilience” was the theme of its annual meeting in April 2023.

But the gravity must shift even more.

Highley and the board of directors at Tri-State have their work cut out for them. In a recent memo to its members about the Tri-State energy resource plan, the Colorado Solar Energy Industry Association said if TriState secures its Inflation Reduction Act funding, it could pay down debt on its stranded assets, which is good for its ratepayers and the Colorado energy market as a whole “to have a solvent and functioning Tri-State making an energy transition.”

That begs the question, what if Tri-State is not solvent? What if somebody else picks up the pieces from a Tri-State bankruptcy? Will they be better – or much worse?

I’ve only touched on the FERC proceedings on exit fees. A judge there issued a recommendation in September 2022 that is little different from what the PUC recommended in 2020. A decision from the FERC commissioners is expected any day now. But the formula for partial requirements is only beginning. It’s still a couple of years away.

Maybe a final metaphor would be clarifying. In a marriage, in a family, there needs to be communication. For whatever reason, the conversation between Tri-State and its larger members was obviously lacking.

The question this lawsuit begs is whether this marriage can be salvaged, whether this family can stay together? I don’t know the answer. ■ Allen Best tracks Colorado’s energy and water transitions at BigPivots.com

Jan. 4, 2024 n 9

ColoradoWonders

Rest in peace What’s with all the closed rest areas on Colorado highways?

by Nathaniel Minor Colorado Public Radio

I

n her previous life as a boreal toad researcher, Lauren Livo used to drive all over Colorado. Her “tours de toad” would send her to the plains of southeastern Colorado, wetlands near Steamboat Springs and a hatchery near Alamosa.

In other words, Livo knows Colorado’s highways. And she knows exactly where the Colorado Department of Transportation’s rest areas are – or where they used to be.

Livo ticked off a number of rest areas that have closed in recent years: Larkspur, Pueblo, Deer Trail, Bennet. In total, at least a dozen have shut their doors since 2006 – though some closings are just temporary.

“Why are they all closing?” she asked us via Colorado Wonders.

The short answer is money.

Colorado had 36 rest areas in 2007, said Hope Wright, a real estate asset manager at CDOT. Some were relatively new, paid for with federal dollars. But many were aging and had significant maintenance issues.

“We have (had) a lot of one-off investment, a lot of investment for capital – as is typical with federal funding,” Wright said. “And then no funding for maintenance at all.”

So the department started closing rest areas. Eckley, Raton Pass and Springfield were the first to go in 2008. Two facilities in Larkspur went next in 2009. Those needed expensive new sewage systems and were also being used for “nefarious activities” like methamphetamine cooking and prostitution.

“It seems like the closer our rest areas are to a major populated area, the more they tend to attract maybe the wrong kind of person,” Wright said. “It just became harder and harder to keep those open.”

By 2016, just 26 rest areas remained.

That’s still the case today, apart from three that are temporarily closed. All of the closures “shocked” the Transportation Commission, Wright said, which directed CDOT to study the issue. The resulting study actually recommended eventually closing or selling off 10 more rest areas, citing escalating maintenance costs.

But instead, the commission rejected

10 n Jan. 4, 2024

A sight familiar to most Durangoans, the Shaw Pass rest stop on Highway 160, east of South Fork. Along with several other CDOT rest stops in the state, it will be getting upgrades in the next few years. Another fun fact, according to several online reviewers, it purportedly was the rest stop that appeared in the infamous “the dog wet on the picnic basket” scene in National Lampoon’s “Family Vacation.” the study’s recommendation, and resolved that no more rest areas would be closed.

And now, CDOT is pumping more money into rest areas, vitally increasing funding and even creating a dedicated funding stream that kicked in last fiscal year.

“We’re making a huge impact with what we’ve received so far,” Wright said.

“It’s been a great thing.”

The highest-profile project is an overhaul of the immensely popular rest area on the east side of Vail Pass. The old, dank buildings built in 1981 were closed in May 2022. They had a host of problems, Wright said, like inadequate water supply, heating issues, leaks and a questionable fireplace.

“We don’t really know what the purpose of that fireplace was,” she said. “It was quite frightening.”

The new $22.5 million “world-class” facility will be mountain chalet-chic, with two-story windows, massive waterstorage tanks, more bathrooms, more parking, cultural nods to Native Ameri-

cans’ historic use of Vail Pass, life-size animal forms and interpretive panels, and a viewing platform facing down the pass toward Copper Mountain. It should reopen by late 2024.

A lack of water also doomed the two rest areas just north of Pueblo, which CDOT closed in 2020. They never had running water, Wright said, which meant maintenance workers often couldn’t keep up with waste, and they closed frequently.

CDOT plans to replace those rest areas with a new one at the edge of Pueblo West – with both water and sewer services – in the next few years, Wright said.

More projects focused on making facilities ADA-compliant or rebuilding them entirely, are planned too. Those include rest areas near Holly on the Eastern Plains, Trinidad, South Fork, Dinosaur and at Bair Ranch, No Name and Grizzly Creek in Glenwood Canyon.

But decades of disinvestment means some of those projects will cost more and take longer than initially planned. The

telegraph

Glenwood Canyon rest areas first need new wastewater facilities, which came as a surprise. And costs at Vail Pass came in far higher than CDOT had initially estimated.

Wright said because CDOT went so long without building a rest area – more than 20 years – it didn’t have good data for how much they should cost.

She’s hopeful that once the agency has triaged maintenance on its existing rest areas, it can start thinking bigger too. The department has been pushing for years for the legal right to add electric vehicle chargers to its rest areas. And perhaps one day, it can even add more facilities across the state.

“We want people to stop. We want them to get out,” Wright said. “We want to make it comfortable for them so they can get right back on the road, feel refreshed, and hopefully that improves travel for everyone by making it safer for everyone.”

For more from Colorado Public Radio, go to www.cpr.org. ■

MurderInk

Down the rabbit hole Revisiting a thrilling book-within-a-book for January doldrums

by Jeffrey Mannix

Y

ou’d think the winter holidays with schools out and virtually no business transacted from Thanksgiving through the first week of January would be a turkey shoot for publishers and a bookbuying frenzy for even the vaguely bookish.

It’s not.

Kids’ picture books reckon to be the primary winter publishing thrust. And the weighty biographies of the long dead probably get wrapped for grandfathers and grouchy uncles who fulminate against fiction should you have the bad luck to be invited for daytime dinner. So for this new year, I’ve picked a book in my library from years ago that I remembered viscerally and had the immense pleasure of re-reading recently.

Sometimes, it’s mind-cleansing to see how long you can hold your breath swimming underwater, or to peer over the ledge of a skyscraper and wonder what you’d be thinking on the way down if you jumped. “Woman With a Blue Pencil” by Gordon McAlpine is an unexpected test of wonderment and mind-sluicing invented for taking that theoretical leap in the safety of your reading chair.

“Woman With a Blue Pencil” is not a horrifying book, it’s neither creepy nor distressing or about cops or lost children. “Woman With a Blue Pencil” is a trip down the rabbit hole – a fall through darkness with harshly lit scenes of inevitability on the way down to what you know will be an unlovely landing. And isn’t suspense what we read fiction for?

“Woman With a Blue Pencil” is a short, unpretentious paperback by Seventh Street Books with a pulpy cover. I pulled a dusty copy out of my library for this first Murder Ink of 2024, because publishers don’t want to compete with holiday shopping, and I have no January releases. I remembered McAlpine’s book from 2015, certainly for its unique and masterfully drawn drama and, frankly, for the respectful 187 pages.

And so that’s the pedigree for “Woman With a Blue Pencil.” I’ll try now to explain what makes this book so compelling.

Sam Sumida was born in Long Beach, Calif., a year after his parents emigrated from Nagasaki, Japan. Sam is now an adult, and he’s sitting in the Rialto Movie House in downtown Los Angeles.

He is watching Dashiell Hammett’s “The Maltese Falcon” starring Humphrey Bogart, with the hope that he will sharpen his fledgling ability as a private investigator.

Somebody had put a .22 slug in the head of Sumida’s wife 11 months earlier and dumped her body in the harbor at San Pedro – stupefying a racially indifferent LAPD. Sumida possesses a PhD in Oriental Art History and taught as a part-time instructor in three local colleges. Defeated to the core, he’s given up his teaching positions to devote his time to investigating Kyoko’s murder.

The date was Dec. 6, 1941. The movie and Sam’s life were interrupted by news from Pearl Harbor.

Cut now to Maxine Wakefield, Associate Editor, Metropolitan Modern Mysteries, Inc., who writes on Dec. 10, 1941, to novelist Takumi Sato in Los Angeles that due to the tragic events at Pearl Harbor, she would of course not be able to publish his novel. “Now, even if you were to change your protagonist’s nationality, I believe current events

telegraph

dictate that your new Korean or Chinese hero be far more American/apple pie than your discarded character, the grieving Nisei academic, Sam Sumida … you might even position your new Oriental hero against Japanese Fifth Columnists. Yes! Patriotism will sell in the coming period.”

And so, Jimmy Park instead of Sam Sumida is the new and now Korean PI in William Thorne’s “The Orchid and the Secret Agent.”

Maxine is pleased with Sato’s typescript of a grand, jingoistic detective story under the Thorne pseudonym. And character Sam Sumida is blue-penciled out of his own story, but not hardly out of his real life, where he hovers alone and unrecognized as a fictional character cut from his history and future.

Disoriented? Of course you are, it’s a rabbit hole. “Woman With a Blue Pencil” is a book written about a book written about a book about a real man who gets cut from a fictional narrative and loses his identity but not his real life. Phew!

You better read that again – no, you better read “Woman With a Blue Pencil” by Gordon McAlpine. Celebrated American novelist Joyce Carol Oates is quoted as saying “Gordon McAlpine has imagined a totally unique work of ‘mystery’ fiction – one that Kafka, Borges and Nabokov, as well as Dashiell Hammett, would have appreciated.”

You’ll have to order the book from Maria’s Bookshop. Give them a call, keep your $15 in town, and Maria’s will give you a 15% discount if it’s not consumed in special shipping. ■

Jan. 4, 2024 n 11

StufftoDo

Thursday04

EsoTerra Ciderworks, 558 Main Ave.

Monday08

Dry January Mocktail Tastings, 3-6 p.m., Durango Sustainable Goods, 1259 Main Ave.

Live music by Dustin Burley, 6-9 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.

Ukulele Jam, 5 p.m., Durango Coffee Co., 730 Main Ave.

Seth Yokel & Andy Gallen Duo play, Thurs., 5-7 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St.

Aria PettyOne presents Aria’s Pizza Party, 8:30-9:30 p.m., Father’s Daughters Pizza, 640 Main Ave.

Meditation and Dharma Talk, 5:30 p.m., Durango Dharma Center, 1800 E 3rd Ave., Ste. 109 or online at www.durangodharmacenter.org/

First Irie Friday Reggae Dance, 9 p.m.-2 a.m., Roxys, 639 Main Ave.

Happy Hour Yoga, 5:30 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St.

Live music by Leah Orlikowski, 5-8 p.m., El Rancho Tavern, 975 Main Ave. Bluegrass Jam, 6 p.m., Durango Beer & Ice, 3000 Main Ave. Poetry Night, 6 p.m., Durango Sustainable Goods, 1259 Main Ave. Live music by Tim Sullivan, 6-9 p.m., The Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave Live music by Andrew Schuhmann, 6-9 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.

Deadline for “Stuff to Do” submissions is Monday at noon. To submit an item, email: calendar@durangotelegraph.com

Trivia Night, 6:30 p.m., Powerhouse Science Center, 1330 Camino del Rio. Drag Trivia Night, 7:30 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

Friday05 Free Friday Yoga, 8:30 a.m., Lively (a boutique), 809 Main Ave. Local First’s First Friday, 4-7 p.m., downtown Durango First Friday Art Crawl and Roundtable Discussion, 4-7 p.m., Smiley Building, 1309 E. 3rd Ave.

Saturday06

Comedy Showcase, 7:30 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

Elks National Hoop Shoot, doors 8:30 a.m., Whalen Gymnasium, Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Dr. Adam Swanson Ragtime, 5:30-10 p.m., The Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave. Karaoke, 6 p.m., Durango Beer & Ice, 3000 Main.

Community Yoga, 6-7 p.m., Yoga Durango, 1485 Florida Rd. Donations accepted.

Live music Andrew Schuhmann, 6-8 p.m., EsoTerra, 558 Main Ave. Live music Matt Rupnow, 6-9 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave. Silent Disco, 10 p.m.-12:30 a.m., 11th St. Station

Sunday07

Tuesday09

Community Yoga, 4:30-5:30 p.m., Yoga Durango, 1485 Florida Rd. Donations accepted.

Slow Bluegrass Jam, 5:30-7:30 p.m., General Palmer Hotel, 567 Main Ave. Rotary Club meeting and talk by Ireland traveler Natambu Obleton, 6 p.m., Strater Hotel, 699 Main Ave. Live music Randy Crumbaugh, 6-9 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave. Live music Jason Thies, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave. Open Mic Night, 7 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

Veteran Benefit Breakfast, 9-11 a.m., VFW, 1550 Main Ave. Demo Days, Sun., 9 a.m. -3 p.m., Purgatory Resort.

Wednesday10

Opening reception “Landscapes of Light” by Matthew Sievers, 5-7 p.m., Blue Rain Gallery, 934 Main Ave.

Vinyl Sundaze, 12 noon, Lola’s Place, 725 E. 2nd Ave.

Restorative Yoga for Cancer, 9:30-10:45 a.m., no cost for cancer patients, survivors and caregivers, Smiley Building, 1309 E. 3rd Ave. Info and register at cancersupportswco.org/calendar

Live music by Leah Orlikowski, 5-8 p.m., El Rancho Tavern, 975 Main Ave.

Feed the People! free aid for homeless community members, 2 p.m., Buckley Park

Yoga with In the Weeds, 10-11 a.m., The Hive, 1150 Main Ave., Ste. A

“Ec(h)o” Closing Reception featuring artist Ted Moore, 5:30 p.m., 11th Street Station, 1101 Main Ave.

Mindfulness & Recovery Group, 4:30 p.m., Durango Dharma Center, 1800 E 3rd Ave., Ste. 109

Hideaway Ukulele jam, Jan. 10, 6-7:30 p.m.

Smiley Building Studio #114 and online via Zoom

Jack Ellis & Larry Carver play, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.

Sunday Funday, 6 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

Open Mic, 6:30 p.m., EsoTerra Ciderworks, 558 Main Ave.

Friday Dance! 6 p.m. West Coast swing lesson; 7 p.m. dance-of-the-month lesson; 8-10 p.m. open dancing, VFW, durangodancing.com

Blue Moon Ramblers play, 6-9 p.m., The Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.

Trivia Night, 7 p.m., Bottom Shelf Brewery, 118 Mill St., Bayfield

Joel Racheff plays, 6-9 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.

Geeks Who Drink Trivia, 8 p.m., The Roost, 128 E. College Dr.

Wine 101 A Night of Comedy, 6-8 p.m.,

12 n Jan. 4, 2024

telegraph

AskRachel

Black sheep, un-decoration day and being like Babs Interesting fact: The First Night of Christmas is sundown on Dec. 25, meaning the 26th is actually the First Day of Christmas, and therefore Mariah Carey is technically legal until Twelfth Day, Jan. 6.

Dear Rachel, I was reminded over the holidays why I moved so far away from my family. I love them but I do NOT love their passive communication styles and their way of trying to guilt me. Instead of thanking me for flying there, they spent my last day suggesting I was rotten for not changing my flight to stay longer. But when’s the last time any of them flew to visit me? NEVER. Do I push the issue, even at the risk of seeing them more?

– The One Who Got Away Dear Runaway, Heck no! The last thing any single one of us needs is more people coming to the Four Corners. There’s already too many of us here. Heck, you and I and several thousand others probably shouldn’t be here at all.

Would we leave if it meant preserving the place we loved? Probably not, because you know that some remote worker would snatch up your place. And where you gonna go? Crawling back to your family?

– Imbalanced, Rachel

Dear Rachel, When do Christmas decorations come down?

One of us in this household says New Year’s Day, another says the end of the 12 Days of Christmas, and the really wrong one says first day of spring. Renewing our lease as roommates may be determined by your verdict.

– Take Down Dear Anti-Christmas, We really need to bring back the 12 Days of Christmas. Why should it be just one day, then (as all the memes say this time of year) a week of mindlessly eating cheese? It should be a socially sanctioned, full-on bender for nearly two weeks, at the end of which odds are no decorations are left because they’ve all been wassailed to bits. So there’s my vote.

– Festively, Rachel Dear Rachel, With all this talk of “manifesting” the things we want in the new year, Babs Streisand was evoked as someone who believes in manifesting. Why don’t we ever hear about people who tried manifesting, and it didn’t work out? Do they just suck at manifesting?

Or is it all a random-ass crapshoot?

– Manifest Destiny

Karaoke Roulette, 8 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

Free Yoga, Fri., Jan. 12, 9-10 a.m., Hoody’s, Purgatory Resort

Ongoing

Maybe Tomorrow Band plays, Fri., Jan. 12, Purgy’s Patio.

Christmas Tree Drop Off, Santa Rita Park, thru Jan. 31 “The Return of the Force,” art exhibit exploring the influence of “Star Wars” on Native artists, FLC’s Center for Southwest Studies. Thru August 2024.

Cascade Canyon Winter Train, thru May 2024, Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, 479 Main Ave.

Upcoming

Sustainable Biz Meet & Greet, Jan. 11, 5-8 p.m., Durango Sustainable Goods, 1259 Main Ave. Safety Meeting Trio, Thurs., Jan. 12, 5-7 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard

1 paper is stealing!

Free Yoga, Sat., Jan. 13, 9-10 a.m., Hoody’s, Purgatory Resort.

*Yes, it’s fine if you want to bring one to your nextdoor neighbor, friends, grandma, etc. Just don’t poach the whole stack.

That’s lame.

Durango Wedding Expo, Jan. 13, 12-3 p.m., La Plata County Fairgrounds.

Eminence Ensemble X Evanoff with River Spell, Jan. 13, doors 7 p.m., Animas City Theatre, 128 E College Dr.

Mountainfilm on Tour, Jan. 13, 5:45-8:30 p.m., Kendall Mountain Community Center, Silverton

Dear American Imperialism, It’s totally a random-ass crapshoot. But it’s a crapshoot with house odds in favor of the sorts of white people who talk about manifesting. Still, what’s it hurt to get clear on what you want, then do what you can to make it so? So long as you’re not stealing half a continent from indigenous peoples, or laying a guilt trip on your family, or leaving any garland besides Judy up through April, that is.

– Dreaming big, Rachel

HEY! Taking more than

Wine Sampling, Fri., Jan. 12, 2-3:30 p.m., Purgatory Resort.

Venture Snowboards Demo Day, Sat., Jan. 14, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Purgatory.

Email Rachel at telegraph@durangotelegraph.com

If you need extra papers for fire-starter, piñatas, hamster cages, gift wrap or stuffing in your walls, we keep backstock at many of our racks around town including:

• The Durango Post Office • Peerless Tire • Tele HQ, 679 E. 2nd Ave.

Deadline to submit items for “Stuff to Do” is Monday at noon.

Or give us a call at 970-259-0133 & we’ll try to hook you up.

E-mail your stuff to: calendar@durangotelegraph.com telegraph

Jan. 4, 2024 n 13

FreeWillAstrology

by Rob Brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The plan I will propose in this horoscope is for temporary use. I’m not recommending you stick to it for all of 2024, but just for the next 15 to 18 days. If you do, I believe it will set you up for beautiful success in the coming months.

Here’s my idea: Embark on a free-form extravaganza of having fun. Just for now, set aside your ambition.

Don’t worry about improving yourself and producing results. Simply enjoy a phase of suspending inhibitions, creatively messing around, having nothing to prove, and being motivated by the quest for joy.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Climate change is impacting rainbows. Rising temperatures and dryer conditions mean that some parts of the world will get fewer rainbows, and other areas will get more. Canada and Siberia will benefit, while the Mediterranean will be less endowed. But I predict that no matter where you live, the rainbow will be a potent and regular symbol for you Bulls in 2024. That means you will have increased reasons to entertain hope and more power to find beauty. On occasion, there may even be very good luck at the metaphorical rainbow’s end. If you’re an LGBTQIA2S+ Taurus, be on high alert for breakthroughs in your ability to get the appreciation you deserve.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): As one of your inspirational stories for 2024, I offer this tale from singer-songwriter Tom Waits: “Once upon a time, there was a crooked tree and a straight tree. They grew next to each other. Every day, the straight tree would look at the crooked tree and say, ‘You’re crooked. You’ve always been crooked, and you’ll continue to be crooked.

But look at me! I’m tall, and I’m straight.’ Then one day, lumberjacks came to the forest and looked around. The manager in charge said, ‘Cut all the straight trees.’ And that crooked tree is still there to this day, growing strong and growing strange.”

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Japanese artist Hokusai (1760-1849) developed a fascination for his country’s iconic Mount Fuji.

In his seventies, he produced a series of woodblock prints titled “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji.” Later, he added three books of prints collectively called “One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji.”

Some art historians say his obsession stemmed from the legend that the mountain was home to the secret

14 n Jan. 4, 2024

of immortality. The coming year will be a fine time for you to celebrate and concentrate on your own Mount Fuji-like passion. Sometime soon, identify what it is and start making plans to commune with it intensely.

know about being a fantastic ally and partner? Are you ready to approach the arts of collaboration as if it is the most important thing you can do? For the sake of your best selfish goals, be a brilliant teammate in 2024.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): If you will ever in your life go viral – that is, create or do something that suddenly becomes widely known and influential – I bet it will be in 2024. Even if you don’t produce TikTok videos seen by 10 million people, you are at least likely to become more visible in your local community or field. Of course, I would prefer that your fame and clout spread because of the good deeds you do, not the weird deeds. So I urge you to cultivate high integrity and a wildly generous spirit in coming months. Be a role model who inspires and uplifts.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Each of us is a complex, kaleidoscopic work of art. Every day, we use our imagination to craft new elements of the masterpiece known as the story of our life. Leos come by this fun project naturally, but you Sagittarians also have great potential to embrace it. I trust you will be especially keen on enjoying this sacred work in 2024.

And right now and the coming weeks will be an excellent time to ramp up the scintillating drama.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I expect 2024 to be a free-spirited, big-vision type of year for you. I predict you will feel an abundance of urges to travel, roam and explore.

You will be more excited than anxious about the prospect of leaving your comfort zone and getting your mind expanded. That doesn’t mean you will avoid all awkwardness and confusion. Some of that will happen, though it will usually evolve into educational adventures. And the extra good news is that wandering in nature will provide more inspiration and healing than usual. Treasure this quote from conservationist Rachel Carson: “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure: the migration of the birds, the ebb and flow of the tides, the folded bud ready for spring.”

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I am pleased to inform you that a visit to hell will not be on your itinerary in 2024. You may be invited to take a few excursions into the realm that depth psychologists call the underworld, but that’s a good thing. There you will be able to hunt for treasures and uncover secrets that will illuminate your epic quest for wholeness. It may sometimes be dark and shadowy down there, but in ways that will lead you to healing. (I will reiterate what I implied above: The underworld is NOT hell.)

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): I hope that working hard on togetherness will be a fun project for you in the coming months. To do it well, you must outgrow habitual ways of doing friendship and intimacy. You will have to be imaginative and ingenious. Are you willing to believe that you do not yet know all there is to

telegraph

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “I am against sex education in schools because sex is more fun when it’s dirty and sinful.”

So said Capricorn author Florence King. I reject and rebel against that perverse declaration – and encourage you to, too. In my astrological opinion, the coming months will be a favorable time to learn everything about sex and eros that you don’t already know. I hope you dive deep and gather a rich array of teachings about how to enjoy making love more than ever before. (Consider consulting tantric manuals like Margo Anand’s “The Art of Sexual Magic: Cultivating Sexual Energy to Transform Your Life.”)

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Singersongwriter Tori Amos says she’s sure she was burned for being a witch in a previous lifetime. I suspect most of us had past incarnations in which we were punished simply for being our beautiful selves. I bring this up, Aquarius, because I think 2024 will be a favorable time to get healing from any ancient hurt. You will have a series of experiences that could help you recover from the illusion that being faithful to your truth is somehow wrong. Life will help you reclaim more of the full audacity to be your gorgeous, genuine self.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I believe 2024 will be one of the best years ever for your education. Your willingness and eagerness to learn will be at a peak. Your knack for attracting inspirational teachers will be excellent. It’s likely you will be exceptionally curious and open to good influences. My advice is to be alert for lessons not just from obvious sources, but also from unexpected founts. Don’t be too sure you know where revelations and illumination might come from.

classifieds

Deadline for Telegraph classified ads is Tuesday at noon. Ads are a bargain at 10 cents a character with a $5 minimum. Even better, ads can now be placed online: durangotelegraph.com Prepayment is required via cash, credit card or check.

(Sorry, no refunds or substitutions.)

Ads can be submitted via: n www.durangotelegraph.com n classifieds@durango telegraph.com n 970-259-0133 n 679 E. 2nd Ave., #E2 Approximate office hours: Mon-Wed: 9ish - 5ish

Announcements Earn Your Master of Social Work (MSW) From the University of Denver (DU) here in Durango – for the two-year program starting in fall 2024. Classes are held on Fridays. For more info contact Janelle.Doughty@du.edu or www.du.edu/socialwork.

Call a Lawyer Event Colorado Legal Services will host a free “Call a Lawyer” event on January 23 from 5-7PM. Callers will be paired with a volunteer attorney to ask their legal question in a confidential setting. No registration is required, simply call 970-247-0266 on Tuesday, January 23, between 5 and 7PM to participate in this event.

Friday 6pm Dancing Lesson at VFW Go to DurangoDancing.com to get on notification list.

KDUR is Celebrating 50 years of broadcasting in 2025. With that anniversary fast approaching, staff is on the hunt for past DJs. Maybe you did a show for one year, maybe you did a show for 10. However long that was, hopefully you have a fond memory, a story or maybe even some recorded material! If you do, please email station manager Bryant Liggett, Liggett_b@fortlewis.edu or call 970.247.7261

Classes/Workshops Intro Aikido Series Aikido boosts self-discovery through self-defense. Find the true you in the new you 2024. 4-week intro class M 6-8pm begins Jan 8. Register durangoaikido.com

Text/call questions to 970-426-5257.

Services

HelpWanted

Marketing Small/Local Businesses Media, website and content editing, copywriting and editing, newsletters, blogs, etc. for small, local, independent or startup businesses. email jnderge@gmail.com

PT County Coordinator Wanted Wildfire Adapted Partnership (nonprofit) seeks one part-time (30 hr/wk) County Coordinator to manage wildfire education and mitigation programs in Montezuma and Dolores counties. Visit www.wildfireadapted.org to view full job announcement.

Wanted Cash for Vehicles, Copper, Alum Etc. at RJ Metal Recycle. Also free appliance and other metal drop off. 970259-3494.

Lost/Found Lost: Man’s Ring Lost in P.O. parking lot, inscribed, reward 970-375-7616

ForRent Small Office for Rent Downtown Office is 8 x 10 sq. ft. located at 755 E. 2nd Ave. Rent is $209/mo. Available by Feb. 15th or March 1st. For more info. please call 970-703-8458.

Harmony Cleaning and Organizing Residential, offices, commercial and vacation rentals, 970-403-6192.

Lowest Prices on Storage!

Inside/outside storage near Durango and Bayfield. 10-x-20, $130. Outside spots: $65, with discounts available. RJ Mini Storage. 970-259-3494.

BodyWork Compassionate, Informed myofascial massage and structural integration, offering well-being and mindbody connection for 17 years. Now Receiving new clients. Melanie Higbee LMT, 970.238.0422 Lotus Path Healing Arts Offering a unique, intuitive fusion of Esalen massage, deep tissue & Acutonics, 24 years of experience. To schedule call Kathryn, 970-201-3373.

ForSale TaoTronics 4k Action Camera New and in the box. Comes with user guide and all accessories that came with it: waterproof housing, handlebar/pole mount, mounts, battery, tethers, protective back cover, USB cable and lens cleaning cloth. $50. J.marie.pace@gmail.com Reruns Home Furnishings Brighten up your space. Lots of new inventory including serving and glassware, cool furniture, lamps and decor.

Looking to consign smaller furniture pieces. 572 E. 6th Ave. Open Mon.-Sat. 385-7336.

telegraph

HaikuMovieReview ‘Asteroid City’ Another gorgeous, peculiar Wes Anderson postcard of a film – Lainie Maxson

Massage by Meg Bush LMT, 30, 60 & 90 min., 970-759-0199.

CommunityService WRC Extraordinary Woman Award Nominations open for 2024’s theme, “Women who advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion.” Nomination forms at wrcdurango.org or by calling 970.247.1242. Winner(s) will be honored at an award dinner at the end of March.

Nominations due by Mon., Jan. 15.

The Maker Lab in Bodo Park Community-led nonprofit provides collaborative workspace, tools, learning opportunities and equipment featuring metal and woodworking, laser cutting, 3D printing, electronics and sewing.

Classes for all levels. To join or learn more, go to www.themakerlab.org

“I saw it in the Telegraph.”

Read by thousands of discerning eyeballs every week. (*And a few that just look at the pictures.)

For more info. on how to get your business or event seen, email: telegraph@durangotelegraph.com Jan. 4, 2024 n 15

POWER IT FORWARD

WITH LPEA’S GIVING TREE Donate and help your neighbors keep the lights on this holiday season.

1.

Venmo us @GivingTree_LPEA (or scan the QR code) 2. Call us at (970) 247-5786 3. Drop off your donation at our office in Durango or Pagosa Springs.

Donations will be accepted through January 31st, 2024.

www.lpea.coop | (970) 247-5786 16 n Jan. 4, 2024

telegraph