Pueblo Star Journal - July 2022

Vol. 1 No. 5

JULY 29, 2022

TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS 4 | “TWO RIVERS” 8 | ADA ANNIVERSARY 11 | STATE FAIR 16 | EVENTS 27

• DIG DEEPER •

| COMMUNITY | ACCOUNTABILITY | CURIOSITY | CONNECTION |

Colorado River crisis:

Dispute, drought have local implications

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By Joe Stone Special to the Pueblo Star Journal

Photo from Adobe Stock

wo decades of drought conditions in the Colorado River Basin have prompted dire warnings and alarming headlines about climate change and the Colorado River water crisis.

Critically low water levels in lakes Mead and Powell now threaten the ability to generate electricity at Glen Canyon and Hoover dams and spurred Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton to issue an ultimatum: On June 14, Touton announced that Colorado Basin states would have 60 days to come up with a plan to reduce water use by 2-4 million acre-feet per year. (An acrefoot of water is the amount needed to cover an acre of land with one foot of water.)

If Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California can’t agree on a plan, the bureau will use its emergency authority to make the cuts, Touton said.

The Arkansas Basin receives about 130,000

acre-feet of water per year from the Colorado Basin – up to 23 percent of Arkansas River flows, according to Colorado Division of Water Resources data. The Bureau of Reclamation operates the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, which imports an average of 57,000 acre-feet of water per year. Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Pueblo West combine to import the other 73,000 acre-feet. Fry-Ark Project water supports local agriculture, cities, towns and industry. Fry-Ark water and infrastructure also underpin the Voluntary Flow Management Program, which supports the multimillion-dollar recreation economies of Upper Ark communities as well as the Arkansas River’s Gold Medal fishery.

Water imports to the Arkansas Basin already face risks. Worsening drought conditions could impede Fry-Ark water imports as the project is required to meet minimum streamflows on the West Slope. A call for water on the Colorado River could also curtail water imports.

Water Crisis continued on page 12

A kayaker paddles past a sandstone wall at Lake Powell. The sandstone bleaches after years of being submerged in lake water, leaving behind a visualization of how much the water level has dropped from its historic level.

JULY 29, 2022 | COMMUNITY | ACCOUNTABILITY | CURIOSITY | CONNECTION |

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f you’re in the middle of Pueblo Reservoir in a boat, riding rapids through the Arkansas River canyon, fishing on that same river during low flows, eating a hamburger at the end of a playful day, enjoying a glass of water from the tap or even flipping on a light switch, it is unlikely that you think of how the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project made all that possible.

If you think of the Fry-Ark Project at all, it’s probably connected to those faded memories from the 1950s, when the valley rallied by selling golden frying pans. You might not realize that the Fry-Ark Project is a living, breathing thing that still pays dividends after decades of dedicated effort.

I am immersed daily in the Fry-Ark Project as a major part of my job. I left a career in journalism behind six years ago to come to work for the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which is the local management agency for the project. The project is owned and operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The district collects a small tax in parts of nine counties in order to repay the local portion of construction costs and pay for the majority of operations, maintenance and replacement for the project.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Fry-Ark Project. There are few days in the lore of Pueblo more important than Aug. 17, 1962. That was the day that President John F. Kennedy paraded down Fourth Street to District 60 Stadium (now Dutch Clark Stadium) and addressed a throng of people,

talking about the importance of water to the West and of the value of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project for “all of our people” in Chris Woodka the United States.

In my 31 years as an editor and reporter for the Pueblo Chieftain, I heard a lot about the project. Especially from my boss, Bob Rawlings, whose uncle, Frank Hoag Jr., had spent a career mustering an army of support for the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project. Mr. Rawlings looked at it through a lens clouded by suspicion that the Fry-Ark Project was being used for other than its intended purpose because the larger cities of the Arkansas River basin, as well as Aurora, seemed to be beneficiaries of the project.

But cities were always a part of the Fry-Ark Project, as were farms. The project was intended to buffer the worst effects of drought and flooding by bringing new water into the Arkansas River basin and building vessels to store it.

The other day, I was listening to a video clip of President Kennedy’s address on that hot August day in 1962.

One of the great perks of my job is having instant access to such treasures.

Here are some of his remarks: • “A rising tide lifts all the boats.

And as Colorado moves ahead, as your steel mill produces, it is benefiting all the people, as they are benefiting you.”

• “It is an investment in the growth of the West, in the new cities

| COMMUNITY | ACCOUNTABILITY | CURIOSITY | CONNECTION | PuebloStarJournal.org | 719-283-3361

Board of Directors: Gregory Howell, Paula McPheeters, Leslie Nazario, Caroline Trani Advisory Board: Regan Foster, Nicki Hart, Kennedy Pugh, Susan Wolf, Chantal Woodyard Creative Director and Designer: Melissa Edwards Contributors: Luke Lyons, Gary Markstein, Justin Morenz, Brandon Samora, Joe Stone, Rebecca VanGorder, Chris Woodka, Chantal M. Woodyard Special thanks to: Positive Content, Bay’s Meat Market, CSU-Pueblo Extension, Do Drop Inn, EDCC, El

and industries which this project helps make possible.”

• “I hope that in the 1960s we will commit ourselves to this same kind of mutual effort and not regard those projects which aid our cities as inimical to Colorado or those projects which help our farmers as taking it away from our cities.”

The project continues to be of tremendous benefit to irrigated agriculture, as was intended. It provides a supplemental source of water for cities and a place to store it until it’s ready for use, as was intended. It generates electric power through the Mount Elbert Power Plant at Twin Lakes, as was intended.

The enlargement of Twin Lakes and Turquoise Reservoir in Lake County has vastly increased the value of those assets as a result of the project. Ruedi Reservoir, near Aspen, benefits the part of the state from which the project draws water. Flows in streams on the other side of the Continental Divide are protected by the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project Principles, which were agreed to by the entire state.

We also have learned to make better use of water all along the Arkansas River as a result of the Fry-Ark Project. Two of the state’s major recreation amenities were created as a result of the project: Lake Pueblo State Park and the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area. We have flow management programs on the Upper Arkansas River and through Pueblo to benefit fish and recreation. They are possible only be-

cause we can control the river.

You may be surprised to learn that the Fry-Ark Project is not finished. We are getting ready to build the Arkansas Valley Conduit, the final piece of the project. More than 40 years ago, the AVC was declared dead because local water systems could not afford to pay for it. Twenty years later, the communities in the Lower Arkansas Valley came to the Southeastern District asking to revive the AVC project.

I recently reviewed the Fry-Ark Project as a part of a presentation on the AVC in La Junta. Water projects take seemingly forever to complete, so as part of talking about AVC, we included a recap of the Fry-Ark Project.

There was only one question: “What’s the Fryingpan?”

Simple. The Fryingpan River is the watershed where we get water to bring into the Arkansas River basin. The water comes in the form of melting snow in the winter months and precipitation in late spring and summer. As I mentioned earlier, we leave a fair amount on the Western Slope to cover environmental needs. The yield of the Fry-Ark Project varies year to year, but every drop is precious to the Arkansas Valley.

You may only give it a passing thought, but at 60 years old, the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project continues to produce a stream of benefits for cities, farms and the environment.

Chris Woodka is the senior policy and issues manager for the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District and an elected member of the Pueblo Board of Water Works.

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Historic Fryingpan-Arkansas Project continues to ‘lift all boats’

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JULY 29, 2022

Increase in fatal accidents cause for concern

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By Luke Lyons Special to the Pueblo Star Journal

| COMMUNITY | ACCOUNTABILITY | CURIOSITY | CONNECTION |

he Colorado Department of Transportation and local law enforcement agencies say the rise of fatal motor vehicle crashes in Pueblo County has reached concerning levels.

As of July 13, 20 people have died in 16 accidents this year. According to data collected by CDOT, 32 crashes resulted in 34 deaths in 2021 and in 2020, 24 people died in 24 accidents. Between 2017 and 2019, 95 people died in Pueblo County car accidents.

“We’ve been seeing a significant upward trend of fatal crashes in Pueblo County for the last two years,” said Colorado State Patrol Troop 2D Captain Mike Tafoya. “From 2020 to 2021, it was (about) a 35 percent increase in fatal crashes. …We have seen almost a 100 percent increase from the same time last year to the same time this year.”

More alarming is that crashes with an impaired driver involved – i.e., drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol – have increased as well. Ten years ago, there were seven fatal accidents involving an impaired driver. In 2017 that number was 11 and in 2018 it was 16. In 2019 it dropped to five and 2020 rose slightly, to seven.

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In 2021, however, the number of impaired-driving deaths jumped to 16. There have been seven so far in 2022.

CDOT Traffic Safety Communications Officer Sam Cole said crashes are up statewide as well as in Pueblo. “In the last few years, we’ve seen a 50 percent increase in fatalities in the state,” Cole said. “We saw almost 700 people killed on our roadways last year.”

Members of CDOT and law enforcement are working to combat that trend, though they face an uphill battle.

Multiple factors involved

High rates of speed, drivers who don’t wear seatbelts and impaired driving are the primary factors contributing to accidents.

Cole said seat belt use in Pueblo County is staggeringly low.

“Pueblo County has the lowest seatbelt use rate of any major county in the state at just 66 percent,” he said. “It’s no coincidence that we’re seeing vehicle fatalities. In 2019, the seatbelt use rate was 80 percent. Now we’re down to 66 percent. Buckling up increases your survivability in a crash by 50 percent.”

Impaired driving also has played a significant role

in the number of crashes in Pueblo County.

Tafoya said that, on average, one trooper typically administers an average of four or five field sobriety tests each week. Of those tests, Tafoya said, CSP arrests an average of 22 impaired drivers weekly. Alcohol and marijuana, he said, are the main substances involved.

“Data is still being collected about marijuana use and driving,” he said. “But I would say the majority of people we arrest are using alcohol or marijuana.”

In addition, excessive speed plays a part in fatalities.

“Pueblo County has a lot of rural areas with long straightaway stretches of road which encourage people to speed,” Cole said. “That is a huge mistake whether you’re belted or not because speeding is one of the biggest contributors to fatal crashes in the state.”

From a law-enforcement perspective, Tafoya said he believes extreme speeds became a problem during the COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020. With fewer people on the road, drivers began obeying traffic laws less and less. Law enforcement agencies also became more reactive and made fewer traffic stops to keep from spreading the virus.

“We’re seeing a tremendous increase of people Accidents continued on page 7

“Buckle up, stay off your phone, never drive impaired, keep your speed down, (and) be careful around our most vulnerable roadway users like pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists”

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Photo by Luke Lyons

12 1 Type

JULY 29, 2022

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– Sam Cole

Date

Time

Location

Deaths

1

01/19/22

12:43

Hwy 50 0.3 miles East of MP 298

Pickup

1

2

01/23/22

09:50

Hwy 50 @ Hwy 231

Sedan

2

3

01/25/22

00:42

I-25 @ 500 Block

Sedan

1

8

4

01/29/22

00:20

I-25 @ 400 Block

Sedan

1

3

5

02/09/22

19:32

Hwy 78 0.5 Miles East of MP 22

SUV

1

4

6

02/15/22

15:45

Hwy 50 @ 36th Ln

Sedan

3

11

7

03/08/22

19:04

Hwy 50 @ MP 327

Pedestrian

1

8

03/11/22

01:24

Santa Fe Ave @ 13th St

Sedan

1

9

03/29/22

19:50

I-25 @ MP 92.7

Pedestrian

1

10

04/01/22

20:52

Cesar Chavez Blvd @ MP 2

SUV

1

11

04/23/22

02:24

W 4th St @ 800 Block

Sedan

2

12

05/05/22

13:08

I-25 @ MP 107.8

Pedestrian

1

13

05/06/22

14:36

Pinon Rd 0.4 miles East of I-25

Motorcycle

1

14

05/06/22

14:36

S McCulloch Blvd @ E Abarr Dr

Motorcycle

1

15

05/29/22

17:15

I-25 @ MP 113

SUV

1

16

06/11/22

01:14

Hwy 47 @ MP 4

SUV

1

14 10 16

6

7

2

9

N

5

I

By Luke Lyons Special to the Pueblo Star Journal

n addition to fatal vehicle crashes, law enforcement has noticed an upward trend of crashes in which pedestrians are killed or injured in Pueblo County.

According to data collected by the Colorado Department of Transportation, there have been more than 900 crashes involving a non-motorist in Pueblo since 2010, resulting in 28 deaths.

Since January 2021, there have been 77 crashes involving a pedestrian or non-motorist. The Colorado State Patrol has recorded four deaths from those crashes; CDOT data shows that 15 resulted in serious injury.

“We are seeing an increase in pedestrian fatal crashes,” Colorado State Patrol Troop 2D Captain Mike Tafoya said. “Last year at this time, we had

one pedestrian-vehicle fatal crash.

This year, I have four.”

Tafoya said he believes much of the increase is due to unsheltered and homeless citizens who cross busy roadways.

He said resources available for those individuals often are on the west side of the Interstate 25 corridor while many camps are on the east side. Individuals traveling east to west often walk on I-25, putting themselves and others at risk.

“Even outside of fatal crashes, we're seeing an increase in pedestrian-car crashes,” Tafoya said. “A few weeks ago, a girl just hit a pedestrian who walking in the middle of the road on Highway 50 East late at night.”

To combat this, CSP is getting proactive with some initiatives. CSP and several organizations are working to create mobile food trucks to visit local camps and shelters in hopes that it will

decrease the number of pedestrians crossing busy roadways.

Tafoya said troopers also are visiting areas where unsheltered people stay and are having conversations with those who may decide to use highways and busy streets to reach resources.

“When they encounter the homeless or see a homeless camp, I have troopers stop to talk to them and advise them of the risks associated with crossing or walking on the interstate,” Tafoya said. “That does a couple of things: It advises them of the risk associated and it also helps us develop those relationships with the homeless people and the unsheltered.”

Tafoya said that by creating a rapport with unsheltered populations, it makes responding to less-pleasant situations easier.

“There’s a great likelihood we’ll en-

counter them in a moment that isn’t the best in their life,” he said, “so we want to make those situations easier to manage for everyone. We want those encounters to go very well.”

To help avoid accidents, troopers will offer rides to those crossing busy streets and highways.

“When we do see a homeless person on the interstate, we obviously will give them a ride,” Tafoya said. “As long as they’re traveling within the county, we will try to accommodate them.”

Tafoya said drivers also share responsibility in looking out for those who may be walking on the road.

“Put down your cellphones and pay attention to what you're doing,” he said. “Slow down. A large part of the pedestrian crashes are due to not just pedestrians, but some level of distraction – especially at night.”

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Pedestrian accidents also on the rise in Pueblo

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driving with excessive speed,” Tafoya said. “It’s not just your average speeder doing 10 to 12 over. It’s not uncommon to find cars out here on Highway 50 doing 100 (miles per hour), 110 or even 120. … I-25 is the same way.”

Tafoya said stretches of Highway 50 both east and west, as well as the stretch of Interstate 25 north between Pueblo and Fountain, are trouble spots for fatal crashes.

Tafoya and Cole said other factors such as driver distractions and cellphone use, as well as disregard for traffic laws, also have played large roles in fatalities.

Working on solutions

Cole said enforcement, education and engineering are keys to reducing the number of fatal crashes statewide.

In addition to patrols and enforcing traffic laws, the Colorado State Patrol also has launched initiatives to help combat fatal crashes. Every Thursday for the first part of the year, CSP conducted “surge patrols” in which every active trooper in the region, troopers from other districts and aircraft patrolled problem areas from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

“We’ve found great success in doing these surge

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Continued from page 4

every year,” Cole said. “We teach everything from the importance of buckling up to staying off your phone to looking out for pedestrians on our roadways. Really, those three things together, the enforcement efforts, the engineering efforts and the education efforts is the magic mix that brings fatalities down on our roadways.”

From an engineering standpoint, Cole said CDOT is always looking at improving roadways to mitigate the risk of crashes.

Tafoya said the public plays a part in helping lower the number of fatalities on the road. He said not only should drivers obey all traffic laws, but they should also play a part in helping law enforcement by being aware.

“As we head into the summer months, it’s prudent that drivers and motorists and bicyclists here in Pueblo County just be aware that there’s gonna be an increase in traffic,” he said. “Be aware that impaired drivers are out there. And if you are drinking, just please don’t get behind the wheel. Find an alternate means. It’s not worth it. The risk factors are just too great.

“We all have an obligation to provide a safe community and to provide an environment that we all want to reside in.”

To report impaired or dangerous driving on local highways and I-25, dial *277.

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Accidents

patrols and we’re going to do that now every Friday through the month of July,” Tafoya said. “Our proactive, impaired driving numbers are increasing while our reactive numbers are decreasing, which is exactly what we’re wanting.”

CSP has also made a point to attend community meetings to hear feedback from those concerned about traveling in the county.

Pueblo police and the Pueblo County Sheriff ’s Office both said they have not noticed a significant increase in fatal crashes the past couple of years on the roads they patrol. Both agencies have devoted time and resources to focus on patrolling for excessive speed.

Pueblo Police Traffic Sergeant Michael Sincerbox said his department has largely been successful at patrolling problem areas and keeping speeds and other hazards in check, despite being understaffed.

“We’re out there quite a bit trying to slow people down, also working on impaired driving,” Sincerbox said. “We’ve found that to be pretty successful.”

CDOT, in conjunction with law enforcement agencies around the state, utilizes its Click It or Ticket campaign to encourage seat belt usage and The Heat is On campaign to combat impaired driving.

Cole said CDOT also works to educate the public about the importance of obeying traffic laws and being defensive drivers.

“We secured $3 million of federal funding to launch traffic safety awareness campaigns statewide

Fall classes start

August 22

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JULY 29, 2022

Gridiron greatness: The history of Pueblo’s two longest-running football rivalries, East vs. South and Central vs. Centennial, is coming to the big screen.

“Two Rivers,” an hourlong documentary directed by Pueblo native Stanton Gilliland, will premiere July 30 at Pueblo Memorial Hall. The film was produced by Denver-based media production company FanVu

and funded by the Southern Colorado Community Foundation.

The two rivers in the title are the Arkansas, which serves as the natural dividing line between the north and south sides of Pueblo and the rival schools, and the Mississippi. The Bell Game, first played in 1892, is known as the oldest football rivalry west of that river.

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‘Two Rivers’ documents history of Bell, Cannon games

According to a Pueblo School District 60 press release, the documentary includes historical photos and footage, as well as interviews with players and coaches who participated in the rivalries. The film is narrated

by Dave Logan, longtime Colorado broadcaster, high school football coach and former NFL player.

Screenings will take place at 3, 6

and 8 p.m. July 30 at Memorial Hall, 1 City Hall Place. Doors open one hour before show time.

Tickets cost $6.50 and are available at pueblofootball.com, pueblomemorialhall.com or the Memorial Hall box office. Seats for the 3 p.m. showing are reserved; the 6 and 8 p.m. showings are general admission.

he Cannon Game is the pinnacle of the season for East Eagles and South Colts alike and through my years playing in the game, I grew Brandon Samora to appreciate it more every year.

Other than a few years where we were playing for a state championship, Cannon Week was the best week of the school year – one of the few times in my high school career where the entire school felt united for one event.

My dad, Dan, played in four Bell games while attending Centennial and won a state championship in 1987. Through my four Cannon games and three state championship appearances, he was always one of my biggest supporters – not only because he was my father, but because he knows what those moments feel like. During some of those big moments, he taught me how to control my emotions, even if it was just through brief eye contact between drives on the sideline.

The team used to meet in the auxiliary gym at the

school before games for meetings and walkthroughs.

Those would always be followed by a speech. I never wanted to get too pumped up before I had my pads on at the stadium, but there was something about coach Keith Lane’s Cannon Game speeches after meetings that would make all of us feel like we could run through a brick wall. Something about seeing thousands of people, hearing the boom of the cannon, and winning for your friends and family can overtake you like nothing else in this life.

We all know that Pueblo is the smallest town in America and you can’t go anywhere without seeing someone you know. It is absolutely the same way on the football field. I had teammates in my 2019 senior pictures that can also be found in my 2005 flag football team pictures. The same goes for a few players that played for the team on the South Side.

Rivalry games in Pueblo can include people you’ve known nearly your whole life. With that type of

history on both sides, it doesn’t matter if the teams are both 7-0 going into the game or 0-7. Something amazing is going to happen.

I played against a cousin of mine starting at the age of 5 and continued to play against them until our last Cannon Game in our senior year. There are so many relationships that come from good competition and nothing is like it is depicted in the movies. There is no lifelong bad blood; there are no grudges held past maybe a month or two out of the game. Everyone who has competed in a Cannon Game knows the impact it has on our lives. Teammates and opponents alike know the respect we have for each other.

It means something when I walk into Gray’s Coors Tavern and see our picture on the wall, and I guarantee that anybody who played in a Cannon or Bell game will never forget that experience.

Brandon Samora is a 2019 graduate of East High School and student at Colorado State University Pueblo.

“It doesn’t matter if the teams are both 7-0 going into the game or 0-7.

Something amazing is going to happen.”

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JULY 29, 2022

Playing in Cannon Game ‘like nothing else in this life’

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JULY 29, 2022

DID YOU KNOW?

| COMMUNITY | ACCOUNTABILITY | CURIOSITY | CONNECTION |

Wolves rarely pose a threat to people.

Contrary to popular belief, wolves pose very little danger to people, especially in North America. They typically fear people and avoid them.

Over the past 120 years, there have been only two cases where wild wolves reportedly killed a person in North America.

Learn more at the Living with Wolves PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBIT at the Pueblo West Library • September 2 - October 29

E N C O U R A G I N G

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In the 27 years since wolves were reintroduced to the American West, not one wolf from this recovering population has attacked a human being.

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uly is not only the month we celebrate America’s founding. For 32 years now, we have been celebrating an important civil rights law, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

This critical bill was passed in Congress with bipartisan support on July 26, 1990. It dramatically changed the landscape for Americans with disabilities.

Today, people with disabilities do not have to call ahead of time to see if they can access a concert, museum or almost any public place. Accessibility is expected and available.

Not only has the ADA changed the landscape for people with physical disabilities, it is moving forward with making life accessible for people with other disabilities. We also see accessibility in the form of program access, effective communication and the use of reasonable modifications and reasonable accommodations in all aspects of life – not just being able to get on the bus.

As with all civil rights legislation, the ADA had to be fought for, and that happened through the independent living and disability rights move-

accessibility, not just in the built environment but in the areas of employment, education and inclusive policies nationwide. People with disabilities have many more opportunities and experiences, all due to this important civil rights law.

Let’s take a moment this month to

ADA & DISABILITY PRIDE

reflect and thank the Coloradans who spent decades pushing for equality and equal access.

Chantal M. Woodyard is an advocacy advocate and owner of Pueblo-based Advantage Advocacy and Consulting Services. She sits on the Pueblo Star Journal’s community advisory board.

Disability Pride Month recognizes and celebrates people with disabilities. The first Disability Pride event took place in Boston just after the ADA became law. The Disability Pride flag, created

by Ann Magill, has six components and each symbolizes a different disability:

Tony Coelho, former congressman from California, introduced the legislation that eventually became the Americans with Disabilities Act. Coelho was diagnosed with epilepsy as a teenager and used his position to advocate for those with disabilities.

Green – sensory perception

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President George H.W. Bush.

Blue – mental illness

The ADA “prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in several areas, including employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to state and local government' programs and services,” according to the Department of Labor.

White – invisible and undiagnosed disabilities

Since 2000, 181 countries have passed laws similar to the ADA. 61 million adults in the U.S. – 26% of the population – live with some type of disability.

SOME OF THE ADA IMPROVEMENTS:

• • • • • •

Sidewalk ramps Curb cuts Designated parking Accessible bathroom stalls Entrance ramps Accommodation for service animals

• • • •

Automatic doors Closed captioning Web accessibility (audio/visual) Wheelchair lifts for public transportation • Accessible playgrounds

JULY 29, 2022

ments. Colorado was among the leaders of the movement, which really began a few decades before the Chantal M. Woodyard ADA signing.

On July 5 and 6, 1978, Wade Blank and Atlantis Community, a national model for independent living centers today, protested at the intersection of West Colfax Avenue and North Broadway near the state capitol in Denver. The Gang of 19, as they were called, shut down RTD – Denver’s public transportation system – for nearly three days after blocking the downtown intersection and chanting, “We will ride!”

The protest made RTD and the public more aware of the many discriminatory practices that people with disabilities faced. RTD became the first public transit district in the country to add wheelchair lifts to buses. Today there is a statue and plaque at Civic Center Park commemorating the event.

It took 12 more years for the ADA to be passed and to make accessibility a national right for all Americans.

We have made much progress in

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GUEST COLUMN

Photo by Glen Martin, The Denver Post/Courtesy Atlantis Community, Inc.

Celebrating Colorado’s role in the Americans with Disabilities Act

Yellow – cognitive and intellectual Red – physical Black – acknowledges the suffering of disabled people and represents rebellion and protest.

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JULY 29, 2022

Water Crisis

Continued from page 1

‘Living within our means’

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The 1922 Colorado River Compact divided Colorado River water between Upper Basin states – Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico – and Lower Basin states – Arizona, Nevada and California. The compact requires the Upper Basin states, where most of the precipitation falls, to deliver a 10-year rolling average of 7.5 million acre-feet, or maf, of water to Lees Ferry, Arizona, just south of the Utah state line. Of that water, California is entitled to 4.4 maf, Arizona 2.8, and Nevada 0.3. The compact also established a benchmark of 16.5 million acre-feet (maf) of water per year for Colorado River flows. However, data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show that average flows from 2000 to 2021 have dropped to 12.3 maf per year.

To date, the Upper Basin states have consistently met the 7.5-maf compact

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requirement. At a recent meeting of the Interbasin Compact Committee, Colorado Water Conservation Board Director Rebecca Mitchell shared statistics showing that Upper Basin states have significantly reduced water usage while Lower Basin states have not.

Colorado River Consumptive Water Use (acre-feet) Year

Lower Basin Upper Basin States States

2019

9,349,000

4,560,000

2020

9,639,000

4,546,000

2021

9,987,000

3,534,000

2022

9,879,000

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As the numbers reveal, Lower Basin states’ water usage – more than 2 maf per year beyond the 7.5 maf delivered by the Upper Basin – has trended higher, even as the 10-year rolling average dropped to 11.78 maf for 2012-21. Specifically, 2019 saw Colorado River flows of 17.75 maf, a rare yearly surplus of 3.8 maf. In 2020, flows dropped to 9.6 maf, 4.5 maf less than the water used that year. In 2021, flows dropped further, to 7.1 maf.

Even with Upper Basin states re- and Nevada are taking cuts to their ducing their water use by more than Colorado River water allocations “for a million acre-feet, total water use in the first time ever,” but what about the basin exceeded flows by 6.4 maf California, the most prodigious user in 2021. of Colorado River water? All sevColorado officials have indicated en basin states signed on to the 2019 they have no plans to make addition- Drought Contingency Plan, agreeing al cuts to meet the federal mandate. to reduce their use of Colorado RivAmy Ostdiek, a section chief with the er water, but the Imperial Irrigation CWCB, told the ColoraDistrict in Southern Caldo Springs Gazette that ifornia’s Imperial Valley sending water downrefused to compromise, stream from Blue Mesa, according to an Aug. 27, Flaming Gorge and Na2021, story by ProPublivajo reservoirs represents ca. With 3.1 million acrea significant sacrifice in feet of Colorado River water security for the water rights, the Imperial – Terry Scanga Upper Basin states. At a District accounts for 70% recent Upper Arkansas of California’s compact Water Conservancy District meeting, allotment and is by far the largest sinOstdiek observed that, while the Upper gle water rights holder in the Colorado Basin states have always lived with the Basin. need to limit water use to whatever is Imperial District Board President available, the Lower Basin states have James Hanks expressed the district’s “drawn down reservoirs instead of lim- refusal to compromise when state ofiting usage. … We are living within our ficials gathered in Phoenix to sign the means in the Upper Basin, but that’s 2019 plan. not happening in the Lower Basin.”

“As champagne is being prepared Ostdiek acknowledged that Arizona for debauched self-congratulation in

“Trying to fill a bathtub with the drain wide open is foolish”

Phoenix, remember this: The IID is the elephant in the room on the Colorado River as we move forward. And like the elephant, our memory and rage is (sic) long,” Hanks said.

As the Bureau of Reclamation’s mandate now makes clear, the 2019 plan proved insufficient to avert the current crisis and the Imperial District is indeed the elephant in the room, refusing to recognize the current reality on the Colorado River.

Growing cotton in a desert

The Imperial Valley lies within the Sonoran Desert and receives less than 3 inches of rain per year. It was uninhabited until 1901, when the Imperial Canal brought Colorado River water into the valley from Mexico. Because of the desert climate and poor groundwater quality, virtually all water demand in the Imperial Valley is satisfied with Colorado River water. The Imperial Irrigation District delivers that water, and 97% goes to agriculture.

Food production is a critical use of water, but not all agricultural water uses produce food. Growing cotton is one example, and the Imperial District supplies Colorado River water to 463,721 acres of cotton fields, according to the District’s most recent crop report. Arizona also uses Colorado River water to grow cotton in the desert. U.S. Department of Agriculture data show that Arizona farmers grew 258,000 acres of cotton in 2021.

Water consumption data from the University of Arizona shows that growing cotton in the desert requires

41.2 inches of water per year. In other words, cotton grown in the Imperial District and Arizona requires about 2.8 million acre-feet of water per year. But while one area of the federal government (Bureau of Reclamation) calls for reduced water use in the basin, another (Department of Agriculture) subsidizes those cotton fields, providing more than $4 billion between 1995 and 2015.

Not a sudden crisis

Mitchell and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser recently penned an editorial pointing out that Colorado is one of the few U.S. states that administers water rights based on “the availability of water supply in a particular location at a particular time.”

Colorado’s water management system was key to the Upper Basin reducing water usage by 25% in 2020, “a huge reduction in water use of almost one million acre-feet.” When added to the “661,000 acre-feet of water provided from Upper Basin reservoirs in 2022, the Upper Basin is providing roughly 43% of its annual water use to help protect Lake Powell.”

In spite of the disparities between Upper and Lower Basin water use, officials in Lower Basin states – like Tom Buschatzke, director of Arizona Department of Water Resources, and Adel Hagekhalil, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California – responded to the bureau’s mandate by urging collaboration. As the numbers show, the Upper Basin states, especially Colorado, have

JULY 29, 2022

ing headlines would be tempted to believe that the Colorado River crisis is a sudden, unprecedented result of accelerating climate change, but a report published in the May 2007 issue of Geophysical Research Letters indicates otherwise. The authors used paleo-climate data to reconstruct Colorado River flows at Lees Ferry dating back to the year 762. They document multiple “multi-decadal (Upper Colorado River Basin) droughts” during the past 1,260 years, including one “in the mid-1100s” that persisted for “about six decades.”

This means that 15 years ago scientists demonstrated that, even without the effects of climate change, the current 20-year drought was not uncommon and the situation can get much worse, a reality that the Lower Basin states ignored.

“It should be obvious to anyone: Trying to fill a bathtub with the drain wide open is foolish,” wrote Terry Scanga, general manager of the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District. “This is precisely what the operators of the Colorado River system (lakes Powell and Mead) have been attempting to do for the past 20 years.

They have disregarded the increased withdrawals by the Lower Basin states and the ubiquitous arid nature of the Southwest.”

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Photo by Mike Sweeney/©2022

Lake Pueblo State Park, shown here in a March 5, 2022, photo, features 60 miles of shoreline and 10,000 acres of land.

done much more to conserve water than the Lower Basin states, which have consistently taken more than their share of water under the 1922 compact.

Another example of Colorado’s leadership in responsible water use is groundwater management. Since 1969, Colorado has recognized the physical connection between surface waters and most groundwater aquifers. The Lower Basin states have not.

For example, rivers deposit rocks and sand along their channels and floodplains. River water fills the spaces between the rocks and sand, forming alluvial aquifers. These aquifers are an integral part of streams and rivers; pumping water from them reduces surface-water flows.

In general, Arizona law does not recognize the physical connection between groundwater and surface water. From a legal standpoint, Arizona allows groundwater pumping that reduces streamflows to the detriment of senior water rights. California is just beginning to legally recognize the connection between surface water and groundwater, but groundwater extraction continues to deplete aquifers and cause subsidence, a gradual sinking of land. Ground currently is sinking more than a foot per year in some parts of California, according to ongoing research and multiple news reports.

Finally, anyone reading the alarm-

Illustration by Gary Markstein, Special to The Pueblo Star Journal

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JULY 29, 2022

JULY 29, 2022

Pics from the past

Colorado State Fair Parade North Main Street, Pueblo circa 1900 The Colorado State Fair Parade is one of the oldest parades in Colorado and is graciously coordinated by the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce and its State Fair Parade Committee.

Special thanks to Margaret Ward Masias of the Pueblo County Historical Society, who shared two volumes of State Fair historic photos along with a special single collection of State Fair Parade photographs dating to the late 1890s and early 1900s. For more information and to visit the archives, please contact the PCHS.

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REGENCY PARK 1301 S. Pueblo Blvd.

Pueblo, CO 81005 719.501.1400

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Color photos by

Regan Foster

JULY 29, 2022

State Fair prepares for 150th birthday celebration

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Illustrations from Adobe Stock

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By Rebecca VanGorder Special to the Pueblo Star Journal

he Colorado State Fair is celebrating 150 years of fun this year. With big-name talent, exhibitions, competitions and food to satiate all appetites, the fair is bringing its A game for its big anniversary.

Scott Stoller, general manager of the fair, spoke about all the attractions for this year – the lineup of concerts (both paid and free), competitions, exhibits and the carnival.

From new school to old school, the concerts and entertainment should appeal to a broad range of music lovers. Walker Hayes – winner of the 2022 Billboard music award for Top Country Song for “Fancy Like,” rapper T.I. and comedian Jim Gaffigan are some of the big names the fair was able to sign this year.

“Los Tucanes de Tijuana… is a bigger name than we’ve had for Fiesta Day in the past,” Stoller said of the featured entertainment for what typically is the fair’s busiest day.

With a larger budget for entertainment this year, Stoller said the fair was able to upgrade its offerings. Other acts include Lady A with Priscilla Block; Lou Gramm, the former lead singer of Foreigner, with Berlin; Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry; and Stone Temple Pilots.

In the grandstand, fans can catch the Toughest Monster Truck tour and the Tommy G. Memorial Derby, held in honor of its creator, Pueblo entrepreneur Tommy Giadone.

Stoller also made a point to tout the talent that will be performing free at the American Furniture Warehouse Amphitheater. Hypnotist Chris Mabrey will grace the Pepsi Stage most days while The Canine Stars of “America’s Got Talent” fame will be performing and educating. Comedian Skip Banks will work the crowds throughout the grounds and Washboard Willy will be inspiring kids to join him in his jamboree.

True to the fair’s agricultural

purpose, Moo U will offer guided livestock tours to educate visitors about Colorado farming. The Great American Petting Farm will welcome all ages to enjoy its menagerie of animals and will also offer pony rides. The sand sculpture, a fan favorite, is returning this year with, fittingly, 150 tons of sand.

The core animal and livestock competitions will include the return of the rabbit shows.

Unfortunately, there will be no feathered friends to show off their plumage due to the risk of avian flu. Stoller said the fair has a responsibility to the industry, which is why there won’t be bird shows of any kind.

Other, more informational, exhibits will be available as well. Visitors can learn about what went into the making of 150 years of fair history in the Colorado State Fair Museum. In the Colorado Building, the Power of Horses exhibit will explore the role of horses in pop culture through artifacts and items.

The Colorado Tourism Office will present Do Colorado Right, which showcases the state’s wide range of recreational opportunities.

“Food’s always popular,” Stoller said.

“We’ll have all the favorites and a new one this year we’re partnering with the folks who are doing the Fuel & Iron building in Pueblo.”

Fuel & Iron is scheduled to open its food hall this fall with five local restaurant concepts.

This will be the second year for the Governor’s Plate competition. This contest features food trucks showcasing Colorado’s varied cuisines. Per the fair’s website, competitors must be registered as “Colorado Proud,” meaning they use Colorado grown, raised or processed food or agricultural products.

The inaugural winner, Pueblo’s own Papa Mario’s Grilled Cheese Truck, will return to defend its title. The challengers will be The Porkchop Lady/Sam’s Street Tacos, Anne’s a la Mode, Big Stuff Food Truck, Mollie and Co., Shah’s Kabob & Gyro, Smith Grubs, Stoke Pizza and Thyme to Dine.

Entrants will offer their take on popular fair foods. The contest will take place from 5-7 p.m.

Aug. 30. Tickets, which include samples and a chance to vote for the People’s Choice Truck, will be on sale at coloradostatefair.com.

JULY 29, 2022

Photo courtesy Colorado State Fair

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By Rebecca VanGorder Special to the Pueblo Star Journal

he Colorado State Fair is older than the state of Colorado.

Its humble beginnings date to October 1872, four years before Colorado became the 38th state.

The nation saw a rise in agricultural fairs in the post-Civil War era and Colorado was no different. That first fair was held north of Pueblo. It lasted three days and included popular horse races.

The fair began under the auspices of the Southern Colorado Agricultural and Industrial Association, which incorporated in 1886 as the State Fair Association. The SFA bought land on the site of what is now Mineral Palace Park for the sum of $3,000. After spending another $5,000 to improve the grounds, the SFA held the 1887 fair there.

In 1890, the SFA sold that location for a $40,000 profit and purchased another site near Lake Minnequa. It turned out to be unpopular because it wasn’t near the train station and streetcar lines, which impacted attendance.

At the turn of the century, the SFA obtained the core of what is the current fairgrounds. With improvements including a 300-foot-long grandstand and half-mile racetrack, the fair’s at-

tendance in 1901 was a whopping 16,000.

In 1888, the Colorado Legislature deemed that Pueblo would be the permanent location of the state fair. Gov. George Carlson vetoed a $10,000 appropriation in 1915, highlighting the fact that the fair didn’t belong to the state at that time. That changed when the SFA deeded the fairgrounds to the state in 1917 and a State Fair Commission was created by the Legislature.

The grounds served as a training site for troops heading off to fight in World War I. While this affected the fair’s operations, the post-war rebound was strong in the 1920s. From the 1930s to the 1950s, the fair experienced significant growth in popularity and attendance.

In post-World War II Pueblo, the fair adjusted to a more urban populace by adding more entertainment.

In 1967, Fiesta Day was introduced to celebrate Colorado’s Hispanic community and culture.

The fair has played host to celebrities, politicians and Colorado’s citizens. From food to animals, it has become a yearly hub for a variety of entertainment, education and, above all, fun.

Sources: Colorado State Fair, coloradoencyclopedia.org

Illustration by Justin Morenz, Special to The Pueblo Star Journal

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The evolution of the Colorado State Fair

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JULY 29, 2022

City of Pueblo board and commission vacancies

W

ho helps Pueblo city and county governments operate effectively? You do.

The city and county have many boards and commissions that rely on community volunteers and there are plenty of openings. We’ve compiled a list of current availabilities. Why not check out the lists, see what interests you and consider applying?

CURRENT OPENINGS (as of July 1)

Overview of the application and appointment process: www.pueblo.us/84/Boards-Commissions

ADA Advisory Committee www.pueblo.us/153/ADA-Advisory-Committee Openings: Unspecified Term: Four years Role: The committee serves as a resource for the city and county about issues affecting people with disabilities. Among its responsibilities are reviewing new building projects, monitoring existing facilities/ services for ADA compliance, handling citizen issues and suggestions regarding community access, and identifying barriers that keep citizens from participating in all aspects of community life.

Note: Applicants must reside within city limits.

Community Services Advisory Commission

Pueblo Energy Advisory Commission

El Centro del Quinto Sol Recreation Center board of trustees

Pueblo Human Relations Commission

www.pueblo.us/2695/CSAC-Application-Process Openings: One (joint city-county appointment) Term: Four years, expiring April 30, 2026 Role: The commission evaluates proposals from service agencies – health and human services, recreation programs/services, arts and cultural programs/services and economic development – wishing to provide community services through the use of City or County general funds and other allocated funds. The commission makes recommendations to the county commissioners and city council regarding the proposals.

Information: Ashley Huggins, 719-583-4411

www.pueblo.us/658/El-Centro-Del-Quinto-SolBoard-of-Direct Openings: Two Term: Three years Role: Members serve in an advisory capacity and provide recommendations to the parks and recreation department and city council about issues related to planning and operation of the rec center.

Note: Applicants must reside within city limits.

www.pueblo.us/2699/Pueblo-Energy-AdvisoryCommission Openings: Two Term: Four years – one opening expires June 30, 2023; the other expires June 30, 2025 Role: The commission provides “an entity through which the City may officially encourage and bring about better and more effective use of energy in all its forms within the City, to enable the City to reach its goal of 100% renewable energy by 2035 and to monitor franchise agreements and Public Utility Commission proceedings with respect to energy, insofar as they impact the City.” www.pueblo.us/159/Human-Relations-Commission Openings: One city appointment Term: Three years Role: The commission “serves as an instrumentality through which the City and the County of Pueblo may officially encourage and bring about mutual understanding and respect for all persons of any race, creed, color, disability, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin throughout Pueblo County, and helps give effect to equal rights for all persons as assured by

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w w w. p u e b l o. u s / 1 3 3 / Re g i o n a l - B u i l d i n g Department-Boards-of-A Openings: Five (see below) Building board – one general contractor Mechanical board – one journeyman, one engineer and one contractor Plumbing – two journeymen Term: Three years Role: Each board of appeal “issues, suspends, or revokes licenses or registrations, makes reasonable interpretations, determines the suitability of alternate materials and methods of installation, grants minor variances, hears appeals, and reviews performance of work under the adopted codes.”

UPCOMING OPENINGS Community Commission on Housing and Homelessness

www.pueblo.us/2458/Community-Commissionon-Housing-and-Home Openings: Unspecified Term: Not provided Role: The commission works to find a permanent solution to the city’s shelter crisis. This includes seeking temporary housing and finding ways to offer more affordable housing.

Pueblo Memorial Airport Advisory Committee

www.pueblo.us/564/Airport-Advisory-Committee Openings: Four Term: Three years starting in October Role: The committee investigates, evaluates, promotes and recommends programs for commercial airlines and general aviation services at Pueblo Me-

Pueblo City-County Library District board of trustees

www.pueblo.us/156/Library-District-Board-ofTrustees Openings: Two Term: Five years starting Jan. 1 Role: The board endorses expenditures, formulates and approves the annual budget, presents the library’s program to the community, hires the director and delegates the operation and management of the library to the director.

Pueblo Regional Building Commission

www.pueblo.us/161/Regional-Building-Commission Openings: Minimum of two Term: Three years starting in October Role: The commission provides general supervision of administration and policy direction for the Pueblo Regional Building Department, appoints the building official, submits an annual department budget to the City and County, makes monthly reports of activities, and carries out other functions and responsibilities as required.

Information: Jeanette Kelley, 719-543-0002

Pueblo Municipal Golf Course Enterprise Advisory Committee

www.pueblo.us/1722/Golf-Course-EnterpriseAdv-Committee Openings: Three Term: Three years, starting in December/January Role: The committee makes recommendations to the parks and recreation department about issues re-

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lated to planning, operation and development of the Municipal Golf Course Enterprise (Elmwood and Walking Stick golf courses).

Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center board of trustees

JULY 29, 2022

Pueblo Regional Building boards of appeal

morial Airport; creates a community awareness program regarding the availability and use of air service of Pueblo Memorial Airport; and makes periodic reports to the city council and county commissioners.

Information: Jayme Riddell, 719-553-2741

www.pueblo.us/165/Sangre-De-Cristo-ArtsConference-Ctr-Boa Openings: Three Term: Three years starting Jan. 1 Role: The board of trustees meets at least four times per year and elects an executive board that meets once a month to manage the affairs of the arts center.

Streetscape Advisory Committee

www.pueblo.us/162/Streetscape-Advisory-Committee Openings: One Term: Three years starting November/December Role: The committee “investigates, evaluates, promotes and recommends projects with respect to streetscapes throughout the City of Pueblo, creates a community awareness program as to the availability and use of grant and general fund monies, promotes volunteerism to maintain sustainable streetscapes, makes periodic reports with respect to streetscape projects to the city council and promotes the use of western landscaping within the Pueblo community.”

Find Pueblo County Board and Commission vacancies on page 21

Discover more information, ways to advertise and how to donate on our website.

PUEBLOSTARJOURNAL.ORG

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the federal and state constitutions and laws.”

Information: pueblohrc15@gmail.com or 719-5824503

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JULY 29, 2022 | COMMUNITY | ACCOUNTABILITY | CURIOSITY | CONNECTION |

Experience the Power of Community

For more information visit: pueblowatertowerplace.com Aerial photography by Jaymes Johnson

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Main county boards and commissions webpage – links to individual groups, application and more information: county.pueblo.org/boards-andcommissions/boards-and-commissions

2030 Commission for Communities of Pueblo Strategic Plan

Openings: Five Term: Three years Role: The commission creates a strategic plan for the communities of Pueblo.

Community Services Advisory Commission

Openings: One (joint city-county appointment) Term: Four years, expiring April 30, 2026 Role: The commission evaluates proposals from service agencies – health and human services, recreation programs/services, arts and cultural programs/services and economic development – wishing to provide community services through the use of city or county general funds and other allocated funds. The commission makes recommendations to the county commissioners and City Council regarding the proposals.

Information: Ashley Huggins, 719-583-4411

Community Services Block Grant Advisory Committee

Openings: One Term: Three years Role: The committee is composed of low-income people, local government staff and members of the business, labor, religious, law enforcement or education communities who fully participate in the planning, development, implementation and evaluation of the program to serve low-income people.

Desert Hawk Golf Course at Pueblo West Management Board

Openings: Two Term: Three years Role: The board promotes, manages, operates, develops and maintains the Desert Hawk Golf Course in Pueblo West.

Fire Code Adoption and Revision Commission

Openings: One Term: Indefinite Role: The commission reviews and makes recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners concerning the adoption of a fire code for the unincorporated areas of Pueblo County.

Fire Code Adoption and Revision Commission Board of Appeals

Openings: One Term: Indefinite Role: The board hears appeals for Fire Code Adoption and Revision Commissions decisions.

HAZMAT – Hazardous Materials Committee Openings: One Role: Not provided

Term: Not provided

McHarg Park Community Center Advisory Committee

Openings: Seven Term: Three years Role: The committee provides input, advice and recommendations to the Pueblo County Department of Facilities regarding the policies, rules and procedures for general operations of the McHarg Park Community Center in Avondale.

Pueblo Advisory Council on Aging (PACA)

Openings: Four Term: Varies Role: The council facilitates the involvement of older people and other interested residents in the development and implementation of an area plan for aging services for the region.

Pueblo Conservancy District

Openings: One Term: Three years Role: The district serves to reduce flood risk.

Pueblo County Board of Retirement

Openings: One Term: Four years Role: The board oversees the county’s pension fund on behalf of Pueblo County retirees.

Pueblo County Juvenile Community Review Board

Openings: Four Term: Varies Role: The board reviews case files of juveniles prior to the juvenile’s placement in a residential community setting and and makes a decision regarding community placement, taking into consideration the results of an objective risk assessment, the recommended needs of the juvenile and the public safety interest of the community.

Pueblo County Retail Marijuana Sales and Excise Taxes Oversight Committee

Openings: Two Term: Three years Role: The committee fosters a transparent and objective review of the county's retail marijuana sales and excise tax revenues and expenditures and ensures that the monies are spent in accordance with the purposes described in Resolution Nos. 13-186 and 15-203, respectively.

Pueblo County Workforce Board Advisory Council

Openings: One Term: Three years Role: The council advises the Pueblo County Workforce Board on matters related to training and employment programs.

Pueblo Economic Development Corp. (PEDCO) board of directors

Openings: One Term: Three years Role: The board oversees PEDCO in its mission to attract, retain and expand primary jobs in Pueblo County.

Pueblo Human Relations Commission

Openings: Four county appointments Term: Three years Role: The commission “serves as an instrumentality through which the City and the County of Pueblo may officially encourage and bring about mutual understanding and respect for all persons of any race, creed, color, disability, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin throughout Pueblo County, and helps give effect to equal rights for all persons as assured by the federal and state constitutions and laws.”

Pueblo Local Emergency Planning Committee

Openings: Four Term: Indefinite Role: Representatives from local government, fire districts, state patrol, hospitals, utility companies, medical services and concerned citizens oversee emergency planning for Pueblo County.

Pueblo Memorial Airport Advisory Committee

Openings: One Term: Three years Role: The committee investigates, evaluates, promotes and recommends programs for commercial airlines and general aviation services at Pueblo Memorial Airport; creates a community awareness program regarding the availability and use of air service of Pueblo Memorial Airport; and makes periodic reports to the City Council and county commissioners.

Pueblo Regional Building boards of appeal

Openings: Five (see below) Building board – one general contractor Electrical board – one journeyman/electrician Mechanical board – one journeyman, one engineer Plumbing – two journeymen Term: Three years Role: Each board of appeal “issues, suspends, or revokes licenses or registrations, makes reasonable interpretations, determines the suitability of alternate materials and methods of installation, grants minor variances, hears appeals, and reviews performance of work under the adopted codes.”

Runyon Sports Complex Commission, Inc. Board of Directors

Openings: Four Term: Three years Role: The board develops, promotes and coordinates recreation programs utilizing the Runyon Field facility.

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Current openings (as of July 1)

JULY 29, 2022

Pueblo County board and commission vacancies

Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center board of trustees

Openings: Two Term: Three years Role: The board of trustees meets at least four times per year and elects an executive board that meets once per month to manage the affairs of the arts center.

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JULY 29, 2022

Photography by Lyss

Vol. 1 No. 2

SPORTS COMPLEX SPRING PLANTING 6 | RUNYON

25 8 | ARTS CENTER 10 | EVENTS

APRIL 29, 2022

• DIG DEEPER •

No. 1 Vol. 1

MARCH 18, 2022

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Photo by Bryan Kelsen

WN TOURIST 10 | PUEBLO ARTS 8 | HOMETO SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW 6 LOCAL RESTAURANTS 4 |

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| ITY | CURIOSITY | CONNECTION

lo’s past The future of Pueb

Natural light photographer in Pueblo Colorado & surrounding areas.

adaptive reuse Projects illustrate Steel City possibilities in the

| COMMUNITY to explore hospitalSouthern Colorado restaurants, the fields of ity careers in

By Rebecca VanGorderJournal Star agriculture.

Special to the Pueblo packaging and up in that region, peocan is a term many “For kids growing daptive reuse know that they recognize. That in want them to ple probably don’t as the number we g hospitality (career) have a rewardin without leavmay soon change projects be- any of those three sectors these too of all and scope because, I think in Pueblo. , ing the region know the lack of amenities low-income more evident people don’t tion remakes a ities often, a lot of Despite an apparent le is Colorado’s While gentrifica area deexist in their commun “Avonda t hood into an opportunities

By Juan Espinosa Journal Soto declared, to move to a bigger come neighbor It’s a small, close-kni Star residents, adaptive think they need livbest-kept secret.

Special to The Pueblo their hospitalisigned for wealthierrecycling old build- and the best part of in order to achieve said. y is life in this village community – that’s them city reuse essentiall Stern ng. or generations, .” process of giving the ty-related dreams,” Harding in Avondale has been challengi s includes commuings. It is the of about 600 of the Holmes teenThis isn’t like Her list of highlight the Sacred Heart The first floor current crop of ed into new life and purpose. to Aside from the such as that are streaming ware building is being transform FeaPano one has plans nity traditions Veterans foodie. with however, g renovation shows inner annual ’s agers, the for everyone taking somethin Church Festival, else. nts. a coffee and everywhere, but life into it a space move anywhere restaurants and east of Pueb- rade and softball tourname breathing new to probPueblo will is situated just using turing five of solutions historic value, and on , Avondale River. residents shop, of upgrades The ART works mental of the Arkansas cuisine. way ice cream through a variety physical and steel the distinctive lo on the banks completely different when lems that affect employers – the be able to enjoy take on a lot of the the space in a The area’s biggest the Army’s Pueblo health, Soto said. For example, will intended.

Avondale and The food hall house, althan it was originally schools, many can be mill to the west the front of the COVID closed the interto the north – on the operations in have access to eurs to focus Chemical Depot students did not Fuel &Vol.Iron lowing the restaurat 1 No. 3 eted, ambitious project seen in the distance.famed settler Charles net to do their work. products. my unThe MAYmulti-fac of Union evolution of their 27, 2022 in Denver my children to Since the days fertile construction on if you are up “I had to take early 1800s, this currently under online to do “The goal is, Hardware you’ve womPueblo to get Autobee in the old Holmes or wherever and Robincle’s home in hardy men and Avenue in the the Fuel & or Fort Collins come into mesa has attracted dig canals and coax their school work,” said Kassi resident first phase of Pueblo, you can to Stern been the building is the for never ers Nathan having a unique en to clear ground, abundance son, a program specialist real-es- the food hall and you’re Iron project. Co-found producing an are life in both Denver the earth into e. And not only team. than a century, and Zach Cytryn, for their culinary experienc on page 14 but none of of foods. For more from feast to famine Avondale continued have a vision greater you experiencing Pueblo, you can see tate developers, ebbed Avondale has it can be in the the steel are concepts prosperity of project and what the concepts also and back as the Stern said.

Pueblo in general community. first food hall, anywhere else,” supporting lomill, depot and Introducing Pueblo’s emphasized that the the blue-colStern d. to nt meld to fluctuate Fuel & Iron seeks with the diverse and cal entrepreneurs is paramou to renovate past and Fuel & Iron project. Getting lar, industrial Here to stayyears of COVID have been of Pueblo’s food historic landdelicious present aims to make Pueb- and reuse one of Pueblo’s The recent The upper but nobody leaves. culture. The projectin Colorado to start marks was an added bonus.

Vol. 1 No. 4 will particularly difficult, and get through. | COMMUNITY | ACCOUNTABILITY | part of the project to JUNE 24, 2022 lo “the best place just hunker down that two floors of this CURIOSITYThey business,” according | CONNECTION to move,” observed | e housing units a food-related “Nobody wants older; become affordabl on page 14 Soto. “They’re is to Stern.

Adaptive Reuse continued resident Lynn for the project Hardfrom the depot.” of The second goal town Pueblo’s historic Holmes some are retired ities for the youth and eventually an unincorporated opportun project on Union Avenue. housing Iron & provide Fuel affordable the ent, Avondale is an

By Regan Foster while working on facility that will feature a food hall, of local governm Special to the Pueblo A worker climbs scaffolding San Luis Valley and Team that, for a lack adapted as a multi-use Star Journal cut down a subdivision Avondale Residentproject ware building is being the on ta, now Pagnotrelies unnison “Gunny” the communications On Dec. 30, 2021, urban farm.

Pagnotta flipped coordinator for GOAL . Soto is the team’s a open his High School and a phone and scrolled of direction drought and hurricane-f combination for long-termART is in the fourth year licensed real estate through the photo The orce agent, helped what library. build just a few years It took a moment, the stage for Colorado Trust grant that of just under 600. would quickly become gales set director. before. but he found the t town, with a population the most destructive archived Pagnotta, a jovial of a five-year video for which he of the comin Colorado history County’s eastern-mos man who is quick fire was looking. the health equity Avondale is Pueblo and meant to grin and Year rarely caught without With towering pines focuses on for hundreds of residents a very unhappy New a pun or self-describ set before a hazy mountain joke,” was the principal of Boulder, background, the munity. ed “dad and Superior.

Louisville clip could have been at John Mall High While 2022 hadn’t of most any in Walsenburg in the School season burst alpine forest. It would yet begun, its fire years leading up be easily described to the blaze. the Marshall out of the gate with the devastation During his summers, as were it not for the of he helped Fire. flames leaping skyward idyllic, the Paradise Acres neighborho sell lots and homes in the trees. amongst Throughout the Western od in La Veta.

U.S., dry grasslands Current real estate trees, near-zero Pagnotta neither and listings show multi-acre humidity and widespread shot the short-but-d plots have created a evastating clip available with images of babbling nor tangoed with drought playbook for a fire the blaze it depicted brooks, lush mounseason that has already proven to be, — the career tain pastures and Aspen trees educator and one-time blackened by the inarguably, wild. hot shot firefighter “It went from Paradise

By Luke Lyons blaze. April 12, a half-dozen Around 6 p.m. his protective gear hung up Acres to paradise Special to the Pueblo wildfires broke out nearly two decades lost just cession across Star Journal in rapid sucearlier — but like that,” Pagnotta said with a snap he held on to it as the region, keeping of his fingers. Junta a reminder of a horrific ueblo’s prime fishing “Paradise Acres will crews busy from La to Beulah. One, which heal and be more spots weren’t the event that razed a place close burned about 2½ deciding factor for beautiful than between ever before. to his heart. Between acres U.S. 47 and Alamosa Sam Ebersole when and Sept. 10, 2018, June 27 he took a job at Drive just southeast “It’s the natural cycle, the Spring Creek and adjacent to the the then-University of Fire rampaged but we humans put across the forested Colorado State University of Southern Colorado natural the foothills near La in it, and unfortunate un- lo campus, put to Puebin 1990 – but they Veta Pass in the rest the former truth ly it comes at the certainly helped. human life.” cost of should only be expected that wildfires at the urban-rural Ebersole, a longtime interface. professor and faculty the mass communica in Fire Danger continued tions department on page 2 at Colorado State University Pueblo, took a drive plore some of the to exnearby scenery after his interview that June. While exploring Bighorn Canyon between Salida Sheep and Parkdale, something caught his eye in the Arkansas River below.

“I actually saw some fish rising,” he said. thought, ‘Oh my, “I this looks like a great trout river.’ And that kind of sealed the deal when they came back with an offer.”

It wasn’t the biggest reason he took the but he said the prospect job, of good trout fishing “definitely sweetened the pot.”

Ebersole has fished since he was 12 years He’s an avid fly old. fisherman who has angled in Pueblo, across the state and region for more than 30 years. He’s one oradans and nonresidenof the millions of Colts who trek to rivers, streams, ponds and lakes each year to fish.

The Steel City is home to two prominent fishing locales: Lake Pueblo State Park and the Arkansas River.

Other fishing spots in Pueblo include creeks and streams off the lake near Pueblo West, Runyon Lake off Locust near the Runyon Street Sports Complex, and the St. Charles River on the Mesa.

Whether a novice or experienced Pueblo is accessible angler, to all.

| ACCOUNTABILITY | CURIOSITY

ity fails to dampen Staying power: Advers

A

| CONNECTION |

town spirit

Alyssa Vallejos Photographer

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719-250-1762

MAKE A FIRE PLAN 5 | UMPIRES 8 | CITY PARK 12 | MESA DRIVE-IN 14 | EVENTS 19

• DIG DEEPER •

Experts talk risks, respon sibilities as dangerous fire seaso n heats up

Star Journal Special to The Pueblo

Red line in the sand G

www.photographybylyss.com PICNIC PERFECTION 4 | WATER SAFETY 11 | TITLE IX 12 | CROSSWORD 25 | EVENTS 27 Photos by Mike Sweeney,

• DIG DEEPER •

Hooked on Pueblo

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| COMMUNITY | ACCOUNTABILITY |

CURIOSITY | CONNECTION |

Sure Lock Locksmith

Prime fishing spots attrac t anglers of all types

Courtesy photo/Austin

Belore/The Today

Specializing in commercial, residential and auto locksmith services.

8

Erica Thornton (foreground)

casts her reel into the

Arkansas River near the

Nature and Wildlife Discovery

Center in south Pueblo

as Charles Stamey ventures

deeper into the water

Locally owned, family business

Photo by Luke Lyons

Fishing continued on page

on June 12.

Daniel Sandoval/Owner 719-251-2925 www.surelocklocksmith.com

Don’t miss an issue! Find digital versions online at

"KEEPING SOUTHERN COLORADO SECURE ONE DOOR AT A TIME"

| COMMUNITY | ACCOUNTABILITY | CURIOSITY | CONNECTION |

pueblostarjournal.org/paper

22

Pueblo Electronics Supply is a locally owned Pueblo business that strives to maintain a strong relationship with its customers. It is an evolution of a long-standing business in the community that is now fully local. We offer an array of electronic components and products that are not easily found elsewhere and we pride ourselves on our vast knowledge and tremendous customer service. Come see us and let us know how we can assist you in your work or hobbies alike!

CONTACT US:

729 Fortino Blvd Suite B, Pueblo, CO 81008

www.PuebloElectronicsSupply.com

(719) 542-1924

www.facebook.com/PuebloElectronicsSupply

Crossword: Colorado State Fair 30 Name of major agriculture building added in 1964

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JULY 29, 2022

150 Years of the Colorado State Fair

34 Top leadership of Fair from 1930s to 1950s 36 First used in American English about 1834 to denote a "round up" of cattle 37 Artists will sculpt 150 tons of this material 38 Horse competition facility

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39 This cake is a cross between a doughnut and churros

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40 Homemade wine type competition

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3 In 2005 number of fair days reduced from 17 days to this amount

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4 Iced citrus beverage

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5 Type of candy

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9 Most notable building added to showcase these animals in 1940s 10 2022 Comedian

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13 Traveling amusement show or circus

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14 Animal shelter or home

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1 Fermented grape beverage

16 Pie and cake competition

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17 Washboard Willy wears these on his gloves to perform 18 Chris Mabrey performs this on the Pepsi Stage 19 Audience stadium seating

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23 Competition allows this type of American Quarter Horses to demonstrate their abilities 24 Type of jam

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26 Special 'days' added in 1967 to honor Hispanic community 39

27 This Valdez designed the 150th Anniversary poster

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29 Place of games 31 Name of beer garden built in 1953

2 Decorative textile, often used as a bedspread 6 Boiling kettles and buckets used to make a batch of beer, mead, or cider 7 Building coating used on bricks in 1944 8 Governor who vetoed appropriation in 1915

15 These 'Stars' do big air stunts, dock diving, frisbee freestyle routines, and more!

17 Presented by Front Range Antique Power Association, check out this display of these vintage machines

33 Manager of Fair from 1936-1950 34 Thanksgiving legs 35 Most popular races in 1872

20 Eliminated from the fair in 1965 21 Source of bacon

11 Skip Banks ends his performance inside this

22 Equine performance event that requires a horse and rider to effectively work together

12 Equestrian event consisting of speed pattern racing and timed games for riders on horses

25 Horse pulling competition

Do you want to contribute to the PSJ crossword puzzles?

32 Rodeo audience entertainer and barrel man

Would you rather do the puzzle digitally?

Visit PuebloStarJournal.org/puzzles Answers on page 30.

| PUEBLOSTARJOURNAL.ORG

Across

28 Name of first pavilion built

Join us Aug. 15 and Sept. 19, 6 pm at Watertower Place, Alpha Beta Room 2F to help create and perfect future puzzles. RSVP to Gregory@PuebloStarJournal.org

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| COMMUNITY | ACCOUNTABILITY | CURIOSITY | CONNECTION |

JULY 29, 2022

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COMPETITION LIVESTOCK CONCERT LONGHORN Storytelling Series Sponsored by COWBOY PIGLET WORD LIST: COWGIRL POULTRY PUEBLO LEAVES YOU SPEECHLESS THEN FAIRGROUNDS QUILTING TURNS YOU INTO A STORYTELLER HAMBURGER QUILTING GAMES RABBITS HOGS RABBITS A v o n d a l e | B e s s e m e r | E a s t S i d e | A b e r d e e n HAMBURGER RIBBON The Dig will be traveling to four of Pueblo's iconic JUDGING neighborhoods between September 2022 and March HOGS RODEO RIBBON 2023. Join us in Avondale, Bessemer, East Side and JUDGING LEMONADE TICKETS RODEO Aberdeen to experience the power of storytelling. The LEMONADE LIVESTOCK TURKEYS TICKETS f i n a l D i g s c h e d u l e a n d t i c k e t i n g i n f o r m a t i o n w i l l b e

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pueblostarjournal.org/donate

26

| COMMUNITY | ACCOUNTABILITY | CURIOSITY | CONNECTION |

HELP US TO DIG DEEPER

JULY 29, 2022

JULY 29, 2022

Photo by Gregory Howell

Festival Fridays 6-10 p.m. July 29 (Martini Shot) and Aug. 5 (Thumpin') Sangre de Cristo Arts Center, 210 N. Santa Fe Ave. Info: tickets.sdc-arts.org/festival-fridays Country Line Dancing 6-7 p.m. Wednesdays, Eagleridge Event Center, 805 Eagleridge Blvd., Suite 170 Info: facebook.com/PuebloDanceCompany Cocktail Hour with Live Music 7-9 p.m. Wednesdays, Analogue Bar, 222 N. Main St. Info: facebook.com/AnalogueSolar Open Mic at Blue Cactus 6-9 p.m. Thursdays, El Nopal's Blue Cactus Room, 1435 E. Evans Ave. Info: 719-564-9784 Karaoke Night at The Fallout with KJ Mikey D. 9-11:30 p.m. Fridays, 1227 S. Prairie Ave. Info: facebook.com/PuebloFallout

EATS Food Truck Union Noon-7 p.m. Fridays, Mineral Palace Park, 1600 N. Santa Fe Ave. 3-9 p.m. Sundays, City Park, 800 Goodnight Ave. Info: thefoodtruckunion@gmail.com or thefoodtruckunion on Facebook

Pueblo Rocks in the Park Noon-2 p.m. Fridays, Ray Aguilera Park, 840 W. Northern Ave. Books Again 50% Off Summer Sale Friends of the Library members only Aug. 11, general public Aug. 12-13, Books Again, 622 S. Union Ave. Info: booksagain-pueblo.com or (719) 553-0340

ART & HISTORY Art History for Kiddos 1 p.m. every other Sunday, Pueblo Arts Alliance, 107 S. Grand Ave. Info: 602-281-5558 “Exploring Steel: Energy and the West” Closing 10 a.m.-4 p.m. July 29, Watertower Place, 303 S. Santa Fe Ave. Info: pueblowatertowerplace.com or 719-315-1757

PUEBLOSTARJOURNAL.ORG/EVENTS/SUBMIT

Trudonna, vessels and mixed media drawings Opening 6-9 p.m. Aug. 5, ongoing noon-5 p.m. through Aug. 26, at Blo Back Gallery, 131 Spring St. Info: blobackgallery.com War Memorial Ghost Tours 7-9 p.m. first Saturday of each month, Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum, 31001 Magnuson Ave. Info: pwam.org

Chile & Frijoles Festival 3 p.m.-midnight Friday, Sept. 23; 10 a.m.-midnight Saturday, Sept. 24; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25 $5 gate admission, Downtown Pueblo/Union Ave. Info: pueblochilefestival.com

PERFORMING ARTS "Never Have We Ever" Aug. 13, 14, 20 and 21, Impossible Playhouse, 1201 N. Main St. Info: impossibleplayers.com Open Mic Night at Grind Haus Cafe 7:30-9:30 p.m. Fridays, all ages, 209 S. Union Ave. Info: facebook.com/thegrindhauscafe

MUSIC Pueblo Municipal Band Summer Concert Series 7 p.m. Sundays July 24 and 31, Pueblo Community College, 900 W. Orman Ave. Info: 719-406-2888 or pueblomunicipalband.org

CHILE & FRIJOLES FESTIVAL

Photo from PuebloShares.com

FAMILY EVENTS

Southern Colorado Farmers Market & Craft Fair 4-7 p.m. Tuesdays, Lake Minnequa Veterans Memorial Park, 3005 Lakeshore Drive (off Pueblo Boulevard); 7 a.m.-noon and 4-7 p.m. Fridays, Mineral Palace Park, 1500 N. Santa Fe Ave. Info: www.facebook.com/SoCofarmandcraft or socofarmandcraft@gmail.com

| PUEBLOSTARJOURNAL.ORG

COCKTAIL HOUR WITH LIVE MUSIC GAVIN GRANT AT ANALOGUE BAR

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JULY 29, 2022

WELLNESS Low-cost sports physicals for students July 27-Aug. 8, Centennial, Central, East, and Pueblo County high schools and Chavez/Huerta K-12 Preparatory Academy wellness centers $30. By appointment only, cash only; face coverings required in clinic.

Info: 719-543-8718, Ext. 700 Seniors: Riverwalk Walking Group Meets 10 a.m. Mondays in front of Senior Resource Development Agency (SRDA), 230 N. Union Ave. Info: 719-553-3446 or richmond@srda.org Wellbriety Support Meeting 9-10:30 a.m. Wednesdays, Center for Inner Peace, 740 W. 15th St. Info: 719-543-2274 Prenatal Workshop and Support Group 6-7 p.m. last Wednesday of each month, Phoenix Massage, 105 W. Fifth St. Info: socodoulaco@gmail.com

| COMMUNITY | ACCOUNTABILITY | CURIOSITY | CONNECTION |

Yoga: Hun Yuan Qi Gong 10 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at Anahata Healing Yoga Studio, 3942 Ivywood Lane $5/class; Wednesdays and Thursdays on Zoom (no charge); Sundays at City Park Ballroom, George L. Williams Pavilion, 801 Goodnight Ave.

PUEBLOSTARJOURNAL.ORG/EVENTS/SUBMIT Ladies Night Out Self-Defense Training 6-8 p.m. first Friday of the month, Rocky Mountain Empowerment Center, 330 Lake Ave. Info: $39. 800-748-2074

FAITH Interfaith meditation and service 10-11:30 a.m. daily, Center for Inner Peace, 740 W. 15th St. Info: 719-543-2274

FILM Studio Ghibli Fest anime series Cinemark Tinseltown Pueblo, 4140 N. Freeway Info: ghiblifest.com "Kiki's Delivery Service" 3 p.m. July 31 and 7 p.m. Aug. 3 (English), 7 p.m. Aug. 1 (Japanese with subtitles) "Only Yesterday" 3 and 7 p.m. Aug. 28 (English), 7 p.m. Aug. 29 (Japanese with subtitles) "Howl's Moving Castle" 3 p.m. Sept. 25 and 7 p.m. Sept. 28 (English), 7 p.m. Sept. 26 (Japanese with subtitles) "Spirited Away" 3 p.m. Oct. 30 and 7 p.m. Nov. 2 (English), 7 p.m. Nov. 1 (Japanese with subtitles)

NOT JUST YOUR FAVORITE PIZZA PLACE

Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner.

You Want It? We Got It. 28

1201 S. Santa Fe Ave. | 944 E. Kimble Dr. | DoDropInnPueblo.com

GAMES Pueblo Crossword Puzzle Creators 6 p.m. Aug. 15 and Sept. 19, Watertower Place, 303 S. Santa Fe Ave. Info: pueblostarjournal.org/puzzles Chaos Games & More 4065 Club Manor Drive Info: chaosgamesandmore.com Pokemon Trading Card Game 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Sundays Warhammer 40K match play 11 a.m. Sundays and narrative play 6 p.m. Thursdays Board game league 6 p.m. Sundays and Tuesdays Magic: The Gathering - Commander 6 p.m.

Mondays Yu-Gi-Oh 6 p.m. Wednesdays Learn to Play Dungeons & Dragons RPG 6 p.m.

Thursdays MechWarrior RPG 6 p.m. Thursdays BattleTech 6 p.m. Fridays

STUDIO GHIBLI FEST ANIME SERIES

Free tire collection for Pueblo County and city residents 8 a.m.-3 p.m., Pueblo RecycleWorks, 1595 Stockyard Road Info: pueblohealth.org/recycle

JULY 29, 2022

Photo from PuebloShares.com

Aug. 6 - Saturday

IDEA Con 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Grome Park, 159 Jewell Ave. Info: pueblolibrary.org/ideacon Dancing With the Pueblo Starz 5 p.m., Pueblo Convention Center, 320 Central Main St. Info: www.pdipueblo.events

“TWO RIVERS”: PUEBLO HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS RIVALRY DOCUMENTARY FILM PREMIERE

JULY 2022 July 29 - Friday Annual Pueblo Chamber Golf Tournament 8 a.m., Walking Stick Golf Course, 4301 Walking Stick Blvd.

Info: 719-542-1704 Southern Colorado Small Business Development Center and Children First inaugural Childcare Expo 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Pueblo Community College student center, 900 W. Orman Ave. Info: southerncoloradosbdc.org

Movies in the Park: “School of Rock” 7 p.m., City Park, 800 Goodnight Ave. Free

July 30 - Saturday "Two Rivers": Pueblo high school sports rivalry documentary film premiere 3, 6 and 8 p.m., Memorial Hall, 1 City Hall Place $6.50; Info: pueblomemorialhall.com

AUGUST 2022 Aug. 5 - Friday Hello, Colorado art show (First Friday Art Walk) Steel City Art Works, 216 S. Union Ave. Info: steelcityartworks.org

Aug. 10 - Wednesday First day of classes for Pueblo County School District 70 students

Aug. 11 - Thursday Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce "Business During Lunch"; topic: coronavirus 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Pueblo Convention Center, 320 Central Main St. Info: pueblochamber.org

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Do you want to advertise, but aren’t sure you can afford it?

Our 1/4 page ad is only $125 Reserve by Aug. 17 to run in our next issue! Call 719.283.3361

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29

JULY 29, 2022

Aug. 12 - Friday

Aug. 21 - Sunday

Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation Muchachas Inteligentes Golf Tournament 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Pueblo Country Club, 3200 Eighth Ave. Info: 719-320-5596; $125 per player

Pueblo Pride 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Mineral Palace Park, 1600 N. Santa Fe Ave. Info: socoequality.org

Aug. 22 - Monday

Aug. 13 - Saturday Movies on the Riverwalk: “Sing” Dusk (between 8 and 9 p.m.), Confluence Plaza, Riverwalk (weather permitting) Info: puebloriverwalk.org

Aug. 16 - Tuesday Aug. 18 - Thursday

Aug. 20 - Saturday

Please do not submit the same event more than once. Check first to see if it's already posted, or ask us. If someone beat you to it and there are issues you'd like to correct, let us know.

Event listings are free. We will also offer paid display advertising in print and online that may suit your events better. If you have specific needs, let us know how we can work with you.

All events are screened before they appear online and in print. We Local Author Meet & Greet: Rebecca Nolting, reserve the right to refuse to publish any event, for any reason.

"Pieces of Faith" 1 p.m., Books Again, 622 S. Union Ave. Info: booksagain-pueblo.com or (719) 553-0340 150 Years of the Colorado State Fair

with Pueblo County Agriculture A Farm to Table, Conservation-Focused Conversation

Saturday, August 13 • 6:30pm to 9:00pm 26358 Gale Road, Pueblo, CO 81006 Featuring Palmer Land Conservancy Sponsored by Farm Credit of Southern Colorado Meal prepared by Chef of Fuel & Iron Tickets: $20 - Scan the QR Code to RSVP

Extension programs are available to all without discrimination. If you have a disability or special request for which you see an accommodation, please notify CSU Extension/Pueblo County at 719-583-6566 at least �ive (5) business days in advance of the event. Colorado State University Extension, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Colorado counties cooperating. For complete policy information visit our website at https://pueblo.extension.coloradostate.edu/csue-pueblo-policies/

Crossword Answers

A Moveable Feast

PUEBLOSTARJOURNAL.ORG/EVENTS/SUBMIT

Word Search Answers

| COMMUNITY | ACCOUNTABILITY | CURIOSITY | CONNECTION |

Photo from PuebloShares.com

Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce "Business After Hours" 5-7 p.m., Senior Resource Development Agency, 230 N. Union Ave. Info: pueblochamber.org

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SUBMIT YOUR EVENTS ONLINE - FREE

All submissions must be a specific event with a start time and date. We do not include regular business listings. If you have a question about whether or not your listing qualifies, just ask.

We’re glad to help.

First day of classes for Pueblo School District 60 students

BACK TO SCHOOL

First day of classes for Pueblo Community College and Colorado State University Pueblo students

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Dig in to the fun!

Join us Aug. 15 and Sept. 19, 6 pm at Watertower Place, Alpha Beta Room 2F to help create and perfect future puzzles.

RSVP to Gregory@ PuebloStarJournal.org

JULY 29, 2022

A fundraiser for the Pueblo Star Journal

PSJ fundraiser digs up more than $3,000 Howell said the fundraiser’s shovel motif derives from the Star Journal's "Dig Deeper" tagline; the end of every article in the print newspaper, now preparing its fifth monthly edition, displays a tiny shovel icon to emphasize this philosophy.

Donors contributed $3,003.34 during a June 23 fundraiser at Watertower Place. Gregory Howell, president of the Pueblo Star Journal board of directors, said $805 came from the auction of shovels that were painted by local artists, as well as an original canvas painting that was created during the free community event.

"We are so grateful for the community's incredible support," said journalist and educator Regan Foster, a founding member of the nonprofit newspaper who serves on its advisory board and teaches at Colorado State University Pueblo.

"From the artists who donated their talent and time to the community members who came out to celebrate the paper, the showing of love and appreciation were absolutely overwhelming. We are eager to keep digging deeper for Pueblo and all of Southern Colorado."

Photo by Javier Quinones/Stephanie Persephanie

Local artists Teresa Vito, Jean Latka, Tom Latka, Joshua Soto, Kim Pluskota, James Beck and Jeff Madeen donated their time and talents to transform the digging implements into works of art to raise funds for the newspaper's mission. Artist Vince Benevidez created the canvas painting.

Local vendors including Do Drop Inn, Springside Cheese and The Sacred Bean donated appe-

tizers, dessert items and beverages for the event.

More than 125 people attended the evening's festivities, Howell said.

The Pueblo Star Journal accepts tax-deductible online and mailed donations at PuebloStarJournal.org/donate. The newspaper is currently publishing monthly and is distributed free at more than 30 locations around the city and one location in Denver. For more information, visit PuebloStarJournal.org/paper.

Rational Media Ltd., dba The Pueblo Star Journal, is fiscally sponsored by Positive Content. As a fiscal sponsor, Positive Content acts as an umbrella organization for our mission-focused work and accepts and administers funds on our behalf. Positive Content is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which makes all donations to the Pueblo Star Journal tax deductible.

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he Pueblo Star Journal brought in more than $3,000 in donations in a single night as Puebloans celebrated the revived publication and its efforts to bring local, nonprofit news to the county.

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JULY 29, 2022

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