RegularOccurrences

4 La Vida Local

Ear to the ground

“I used to get dizzy reading the Telegraph.”

– We’re glad the new printing press in Phoenix is working out.

4 Thumbin’ It

5 Soap Box

6-7 Top Story

8 Film Fest Rundown

10 Local News

11 Murder Ink

10

Land of opportunity

City weighs options for new 50-acre parcel near Oxbow

by Jonathan Romeo

11

A bright light

West African mystery will help pass the long dog days of winter

by Jeffrey Mannix

EDITORIALISTA: Missy Votel missy@durangotelegraph.com

ADVERTISING SALES: telegraph@durangotelegraph.com

STAFF REPORTER: Jonathan Romeo jonathan@durangotelegraph.com

The Durango Telegraph publishes every Thursday, come hell, high water, tacky singletrack or mon-

STAR-STUDDED CAST: David Feela, Missy Votel, Jeffrey Mannix, Lainie Maxson & Clint Reid

MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 332, Durango, CO 81302

VIRTUAL ADDRESS: www.durangotelegraph.com ster powder days. We are wholly independently owned and operated by the Durango Telegraph LLC and dis-

12-13 Stuff to Do

13 Ask Rachel

14 Free Will Astrology

15 Classifieds

15 Haiku Movie Review

On the cover

A lone rider ventures upward on Purgatory’s six-pack on a recent snowy day./ Photo by Ri Ganey

REAL WORLD ADDRESS: 679 E. 2nd Ave., Ste E2 Durango, CO 81301

PHONE: 970-259-0133

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Brown town

Have you been on your favorite hikes recently – Horse Gulch, Dalla Mountain, Animas City Mountain – and noticed piles of dog poop marked with pink flags and wondered … huh?

Well, the City of Durango recently launched its “Scoop the Poop” campaign in response to the increasing problem of dog owners leaving their dogs’ poop on trails, making it gross and awful for everyone.

Amy Schwarzbach, the city’s natural lands manager, said signs have also been posted to inform people why it’s important to pack out your dog’s waste. Also, the pink flags help highlight just how bad the problem is. “Snow makes it obvious where dog waste is left behind, and then it gets gnarly in the spring,” she said.

The City of Durango recently did some math to estimate that 38% of Durango homes have at least one dog, or about 4,779 dogs in city limits. Take into account a dog on average poops about 12 ounces a day, that’s 274 pounds per year.

Dog waste left on trails has detrimental impacts on the environment and wildlife, Schwarzbach said. Now, it’s look-in-the-mirror time: a lot of dog owners do not pack out their dogs’ waste, which can be carried into rivers, causing algae blooms and deoxygenated water that kills fish. And, it’s gross for those who like to swim, boat and fish. Parasites in dog poop – including salmonella, giardia, parvovirus and distemper – can spread to other dogs and wildlife, even humans.

Schwarzbach said the increasing amount of dog waste has become one of the major complaints from trail users. “It’s ridiculous we have to use taxpayer dollars to clean up dog poop,” she said. “And it bums me out to have people call us and say their experience on city open space was disgusting.”

The City hopes the campaign will help encourage people to pick up their dogs’ waste. “We’re not trying to be bullies; there’s an environmental impact when dog feces is left,” Schwarzbach said.

And if we all claim to be environmentalists and love the outdoors, who can argue with that, right?

Emailing the dead

Joe was our friend for more than 30 years, but that friendship has ended. He was murdered by a violent man who went to a rental home and shot its tenant in the back. That tenant was Joe. He was a good Joe, a teacher and a friend. Now he’s just dead.

When we heard of his sudden death, Pam and I struggled to process the news. His murder was so unlike the other senseless gun-inspired violence we hear about every day, because he wasn’t just a news story or a statistic. We knew him, visited often, shared meals and gifts, talked by phone and email.

We sat quietly on the couch at the hotel where we were staying overnight during a trip to Flagstaff, me searching the internet for information about Joe’s murder while Pam – at least I assumed – was doing the same, that is, until she spoke.

“Do you want to hear what I wrote in my email?”

“Who are you writing to?”

“Joe.”

For an instant, I wondered if Pam had slipped into that mental chasm that can appear when confronted by a sudden tragic loss, sending her into a free-fall of denial. But then I remembered who I was talking to, the woman who helped me understand and deal with my mother’s terminal cancer and my father’s death when his heart simply wore out.

“Sure,” I replied. “What did you write?”

So she read. “Oh Joe, you are missed. May you know happiness and that you finally found your bliss. The sun dimmed when we heard you had been killed. Go in peace. You were always loved.”

She spoke so directly to Joe that I was comforted by her words, as if he was in the room, listening, smiling, shaking his head. I exhaled a grateful breath and told her I liked it, that I would try to write to him too. And I did.

Of course, he never answered, and I’m not suggesting that he ever will, except in that brief wireless moment when we could let go of the guardrails to say what is on our minds.

Linda Pastan wrote beautifully and honestly about this moment in her poem, “The Five Stages of Grief.” It begins by suggesting an overly simplified technique for breaking down the process and grappling with grief.

“The night I lost you someone pointed me toward the Five Stages of Grief.

Thumbin’It

One of Durango’s most important culinary scenes getting a big victory after City Council members voted to allow long-term permits for food trucks.

The ridiculous dumping of snow across the West that is sure to help (but not fix) the region’s drought. And maybe, just maybe, gives us at least one spring without the dust storm-pocalypse.

A proposed bill in Florida that would ban dogs from hanging their heads out the window. Finally! At least one brave state has the courage to wage the war on cuteness we’ve all been calling for.

Go that way, they said, it’s easy, like learning to climb stairs after the amputation. And so I climbed.”

It’s not true that the pain will go away by ignoring it, or that crying (or not crying) means you are weak or strong. The “stages” of grief in poetry may be shaped like a staircase that leads upward toward a firmly fixed landing, but the grieving process is more like a fingerprint, a mark everyone carries to prove they have touched the world in their own remarkable way.

For me, the Pastan mark resides in her poetry, and this poem in particular is the one I come back to again and again. Its words are for the living, not the dead, and I can feel its pulse each time I reach to hold her pages in my hands. She blindly follows the steps and climbs the staircase, reporting at the end of the poem on her quest to master grief only to start again:

“... Acceptance. I finally reach it.

But something is wrong.

Grief is a circular staircase.

I have lost you.”

Joe died at the hands of a man with a history of violence. It was easy. He carried a gun. He pointed at Joe, somehow the object of his rage, and pulled the trigger. According to the Albuquerque Journal, “In November, (the perpetrator) allegedly fled from a Sandoval County deputy with his 12-year-old son in the car, driving up to 120 mph, and later trying to head butt a deputy. Salazar was released and awaiting trial in that case when Keleher was killed.”

We have produced more guns than people. According to Guns.com, “...an estimated 434 million firearms (are) in civilian possession.” Adding fuel to the violence, more than 1 million guns were stolen from private citizens between 2017-21. If we love our guns as much as our children, why are we not doing a better job of protecting the living half of this equation?

The Constitution’s articles and amendments also configure a similar staircase for the stages of democracy – seven steps through the articles that stabilize the government’s authority, and 27 more ascending amendments that set forth the rights retained by the people. It may appear simple, but as I pause to consider our freedoms upon reaching the Second Amendment, I begin to understand why denial is the first stage of grief. Substantive legislation for curbing everyday violence and homicide desperately needs to be enacted, because merely adapting to a perpetual climb on America’s circular staircase is not a solution.

– David Feela

SignoftheDownfall:

Residents at Lightner Creek Mobile Home Park going more than two weeks without water, prompting the Red Cross and local governments to step in.

Two backcountry skiers caught and killed in an avalanche last weekend near Vallecito, bringing total avi fatalities in Colorado to seven so far this season.

The two-year mark of Russia invading Ukraine, with no end in sight. When will Putin go back to riding a horse shirtless or scoring eight goals against hockey players afraid they’ll be shipped off to Siberia if they block a shot?

Run DeSantis

Last month, a 34-year-old politician from Florida – Councilman Peter Filiberto of Palm Bay – tried running from the cops on his motorcycle after a traffic stop for speeding and blowing multiple stop signs. But being a Florida Man, Peter couldn’t leave it at that. So, he attempted an erratic U-turn, fell off his bike and then got arrested for driving with a suspended license and having a large amount of cocaine hidden in his shoes. The funny thing here is that you were right when you guessed Peter’s political party.

Bring good business

I did a little research on the candidates for Durango City Council, and to no surprise, they all want to cure homelessness! Of course, the current City council ran on the same promise as did their predecessors. Only one candidate, Carter Rogers, took a stand to embrace local businesses with fewer restrictions and regulations. David Woodruff has the background to support the local business community.

One of the keys to eliminating homelessness is the opportunity to get a good paying job locally. The City Council rates a solid “F” on being business friendly. Twenty-five years ago, Will Williams’ only job at La Plata Electric Association was to bring companies to Bodo Park that would create good jobs and support the community. Unfortunately, the powers that be are more interested in buzz words like justice, equality and inclusion. Those same buzz words have a lot more meaning if there was a concerted effort to bring more businesses to the area. And those new businesses might even become Telegraph advertisers!

– Dennis Pierce, Durango

Great, however sad

In last week’s Telegraph, I enjoyed the column, “A Dude and a Gentleman,” about the loss of longtime Durango resident Dave Diaz.

The loss of a longtime friend is never good. The column was a very meaningful memorial, so well-written, of a man I never met, but somehow know.

So many of us have lived the events that Diaz loved and we seek more of. A life best lived or in need of moderation, who can say? Condolences to family.

Also, I enjoyed “Quarter-Full or Three-Quarters Empty,” by Jonathan Thompson.

Thompson has, once again, gleaned the essential information concerning the Glen Canyon Dam’s dilemma and produced a reality-based analysis that can be understood. So many perspectives from stakeholders. Many people have joined their future to the availability of water and electricity, recreation and civic growth. The water is simply not there to meet the amount needed.

How many good snow years will be needed to meet the demand of millions of people and their lifestyles? During the best of precipitation times, the allo- cated water didn’t exist.

John Wesley Powell didn’t see a future for many people living along the river basin. However, there is an increas- ing population in the Colorado Basin. Condolences to future population.