April l2024

12,000 Years Ago in Northern Colorado

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William and Peggy Lambdin Founders, 1980

He Loved Estes Park

By P.J. Hunt

F.O. Stanley, who built the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park in l909, led a remarkable life.

He and his brother invented the Stanley Steamer automobile and made a fortune. They also invented a photographic process they sold to George Eastman (Kodak) for another fortune.

At age 53, F.O. Stanley contracted tuberculosis and was given only a few years to live. He came to the dry, healthful climate of Colorado and lived to age 9l.

Born in l849 at Kingfield, Maine, Freelan Oscar Stanley was one of seven children. He and his brother, Francis, were mechanically inclined and often invented things.

They built their first steam-powered automobile in l897. By l899 they owned a factory and were producing l0 cars a day, with orders backed up for months.

In l906 their Stanley Steamer set a world’s speed record of near-

His cap pulled down tight around his ears and dust swirling behind him, he made it in less than two hours—no doubt another record for a cliff-hanging, steam-hissing Stanley automobile.

He loved Estes Park and decided to build a luxurious hotel there for vacationing Easterners. He bought l40 acres and designed the hotel himself. He also designed a power plant for the hotel and a 9-hole golf course.

The hotel cost $500,000 to build. Stanley paid cash for it. He did not believe in credit. Historians said he and his brother always required full cash payment for every automobile they sold.

Some historians also said Stanley's wife went blind and that he described the beauty of the mountains to her as they sat in front of the hotel. He also played a violin for her, a fine instrument he made himself.

ly l30 miles per hour. The little car weighed only 500 pounds with a 35-pound, two-cylinder engine. But it was a masterpiece of engineering.

During the speed trial, the car became airborne and rose off the ground. It hit the ground and broke into two sections.

The boiler flew down the track “blowing steam like a meteor,” according to a reporter. Thereafter, that model of the Stanley Steamer was called “The Flying Teapot.”

When Stanley came to Colorado in l903, there was barely a wagon trail to Estes Park. But he was determined to drive his Steamer there to prove a car could make it.

He needed someone to accompany him to fetch water from streams for the car’s boiler. But no one would go along. The local people thought he was crazy to drive a car up the treacherous mountain trail.

So Stanley drove by himself.

The hotel was so popular that in a two-month period in l9ll over 2,500 guests rode up the canyon in a fleet of Stanley Steamer buses. Guests included J.C. Penney, John Philip Sousa, Dr. William Mayo and other famous people.

Guests also included the children of Estes Park. Stanley had no children of his own. He often held special events for the local children, paid for their horseback rides at his stable, and even paid the college tuition of some young residents.

He was very popular in Estes Park. At his funeral in l940, one local man said, “He enjoyed sitting out in front of the hotel, interpreting the beauty of the mountains to guests. He could give a respect for the mountains that nobody else could give you.”

No wonder. The mountains gave him life.

F.O. Stanley around 1910. Photo public domain.

At The Annual Fundraiser for Guided Personal Training for the 50+ Community

Joy on the Journey: Happy Days.

This Happy Days sock hop is a 1950's themed fundraising event that encourages FUN and family attendance, dancing. food, and beverages. And feel free to come dressed in your favorite 1950's attire! The event also includes a short program, a silent auction, and assigned seating for all guests.

The goal of this event is to raise $100,000 for our education, and enrichment events as well as to increase the community awareness of how Dementia Together helps to cultivate joy and build stronger connections, helping people discover that living well with dementia is entirely possible.

“Dementia Together is a nonprofit organization with a mission: No one has to walk the dementia journey alone. We realize that for people living with dementia their hope may not be in a future cure, it is in the current care. Dementia Together helps people care well, so that those experiencing dementia can live well. Through education and enrichment, we make living well with dementia the expectation, not the exception.”

$ TAXING RICH PEOPLE $

WASHINGTON — In the continuing effort to improve tax compliance and ensure fairness, the Internal Revenue Service announced a new effort today focused on high-income taxpayers who have failed to file federal income tax returns in more than 125,000 instances since 2017.

The new initiative, made possible by Inflation Reduction Act funding, begins with IRS compliance letters going out this week on more than 125,000 cases where tax returns haven’t been filed since 2017. The mailings include more than 25,000 to those with more than $1 million in income, and over 100,000 to people with incomes between $400,000 and $1 million between tax years 2017 and 2021.

These are all cases where IRS has received third party information—such as through Forms W-2

and 1099s—indicating these people received income in these ranges but failed to file a tax return. Without adequate resources, the IRS non-filer program has only run sporadically since 2016 due to severe budget and staff limitations that didn’t allow these cases to be worked. With new Inflation

e changing brain with hearing loss:

Please

avoid additional follow-up notices, higher penalties as well as increasingly stronger enforcement measures. People in this category should also consult with a trusted tax professional so they can quickly file their late tax returns and pay delinquent tax, interest and penalties. The failure-to-file penalty amounts to 5% of the amount owed every month – up to 25% of the tax bill. There is also special non-filer information on IRS.gov that can assist them.

Susan D. Baker, BS, BC-HIS Board Certi ed Hearing Instrument Specialist

Reduction Act funding available, the IRS now has the capacity to do this core tax administration work.

“At this time of year when millions of hard-working people are doing the right thing paying their taxes, we cannot tolerate those with higher incomes failing to do a basic civic duty of filing a tax return,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “The IRS is taking this step to address this most basic form of non-compliance, which includes many who are engaged in tax evasion. This is one of the clearest examples of the need to have a properly funded IRS. With the Inflation Reduction Act resources, the agency finally has the funding to identify non-filers, ensure they meet this core civic responsibility, and ultimately help ensure fairness for everyone who plays by the rules.”

This week, the IRS will begin mailing these compliance alerts for failure to file a tax return, formally known as the CP59 notice. About 20,000 to 40,000 letters will go out each week, beginning with the filers in the highest-income categories. The IRS noted that some of these non-filers have multiple years included in the case count so the number of taxpayers receiving letters will be smaller than the actual number of notices going out.

People receiving these letters should take immediate action to

Since the IRS is not aware of the potential credits and deductions these people may have, the amount of potential revenue to be gained from this effort is uncertain. The third party information on these taxpayers indicates financial activity of more than $100 billion. Even with a conservative estimate, the IRS believes hundreds of millions of dollars of unpaid taxes are involved in these cases. At the same time, some non-filers may actually be owed a refund.

“If someone hasn’t filed a tax return for previous years, this is the time to review their situation and make it right,” Werfel said. “For those who owe, the risk will just grow over time as will the potential for penalties and interest. These non-filers should review information on IRS.gov that can help and consider talking to a trusted tax professional as soon as possible.”

The new non-filer initiative is part of a larger effort underway with the IRS working to ensure large corporate, large partnership and high-income individual filers pay the taxes they owe. Prior to the Inflation Reduction Act, more than a decade of budget cuts prevented the IRS from keeping pace with the increasingly complicated set of tools that the wealthiest taxpayers use to shelter or manipulate their income to avoid taxes. The IRS is now taking swift and aggressive action to close this gap.

ELECTION ISSUES

Inflation and health care affordability continue to be the top issues voters want the 2024 presidential candidates to talk about on the campaign trail, and while national news has recently emphasized an improving national economy alongside expanded consumer spending, most voters (67%) rate the national economy as “not so good” or “poor.” Voters’ assessment of the economy is largely influenced by their perceptions of their own costs, as majorities describe the economy negatively due to the cost of everyday expenses (64%), inflation (63%), the cost of housing (57%), or the cost of health care (48%). About half of all voters say the economy is “not so good” or “poor” due to the state of the federal budget deficit and national debt (52%), and

few say financial indicators such as the unemployment rate (24%) or the state of the stock market (20%) factor into their assessment in a major way.

Unexpected medical bills and health care costs top the list of expenses that adults, regardless of partisanship, say they worry about affording, with three in four adults saying they are “very” or “somewhat worried” about being able to afford unexpected medical bills (74%) or the cost of health care services (73%) for themselves and their family. Just over half (55%) report worrying about being able to afford prescription drug costs, and about half of insured adults (48%) say they are worried about being able to afford their monthly health insurance premium.

Voters are divided along party lines over which candidate they think has the better approach to the future of the Affordable Care Act, with partisans overwhelmingly choosing their party’s candidate. Nine in ten Democratic voters (90%) say Biden has the better approach and nine in ten Republican voters (91%) say Trump does. Although the vast majority of Republicans say Trump has a better approach to the ACA, few (30%) Republican voters think Trump has a health care plan to replace it. At the same time, most of the public does not associate President Biden with playing a major role in the passage of the ACA, which was signed into law when he was Vice President. One in five (21%) say he had a major role in the law’s passage, including a

larger share of Democrats ages 50 and older (42%).

The Affordable Care Act continues to be more popular than it was prior to Republican attempts to repeal it in 2017, with six in ten (59%) expressing a favorable view, though partisans are divided on what they want to see done with the law. About three in four Democrats want the next Presidential Administration and Congress to expand what the law does (77%), while about two-thirds of Republicans either want the law to be scaled back (23%) or repealed entirely (39%). A majority of independents want the law to be expanded (48%) or kept as is (18%).

TOWN OF PLATTEVILLE COLORADO

Welcome Center @ Fort Vasquez 13412 US HWY 85, Platteville, CO 80651

APRIL 2024

27th Hands On “How To” Create May Baskets

Platteville Museum, 502 Marion Ave (970) 785-6285. Noon to 2 PM. Free admission.

27th Screening: “Overland Trail” & “Cherokee Trail in Colorado”

Doors open at 6:00 PM, refreshments served at 6:15 PM, movie begins at 6:30 PM. Requested donation of $5.00 per person. Reservations call 970-785-2832 Wed. Sat or Sun 10 to 4 at the Welcome Center.

MAY 2024

4th Old Fashioned May Pole Dance

Platteville Museum 502 Marion Ave., reservations at (970) 785-6285. Join in on an old-fashioned May Pole Dance in the Park from 1 to 2 PM. Free admission.

25th Screening: Indian Sign Language program showing the communications between Traders and Native Americans during the Fur Trade era. Doors open at 6:00 PM, refreshments served at 6:15 PM, movie begins at 6:30 PM. Requested donation of $5.00 per person. Reservations call 970-785-2832 Wed. Sat or Sun 10 to 4 at the Welcome Center.

DANGEROUS DRUGS

Opioids, including heroin, prescription pills and fentanyl, have caused the most overdose deaths in Texas, according to a Texas Health and Human Services report that studied death certificate data from 2010 to 2019.

And because opioids are often mixed with other drugs, there’s been a rise in deaths known as polysubstance overdoses. The most recent state data shows those deaths reaching a rate of four per 100,000 people in 2019.

The most prevalent drug combinations were commonly prescribed pills, like hydrocodone and oxycodone, mixed with depressants like benzodiazepines and psychostimulants that include amphetamine and methamphetamine.

“That is the reason I caution very much against focusing on one drug,” Neill Harris said. “Fentanyl is certainly a big problem. But I don’t think it’s necessarily the last drug crime crisis that we are going to face

The role of methamphetamine in the illegal drug market has been pushed aside in headlines as imag-

es of drug use in the South turned from exploding meth labs to potentially deadly fentanyl pills. But drug experts say meth has made an unwanted comeback as meth manufacturers have begun making a stronger product.

“Meth is eating everybody’s lunch and nobody’s talking about it. Meth is crawling up on everybody,” said Peter Stout, president and chief executive officer of the Houston Forensic Science Center. “Meth fatalities are way up even if you look at the Texas numbers.”

Cocaine, the highly addictive stimulant made from coca leaves, was used more than a century ago to treat a wide variety of illnesses and was often used by early surgeons to block pain before local anesthetics were developed. Frequent use can alter brain structure and function. Users can inject or snort the powdered version of cocaine. “Crack” is the term often given to cocaine after it has been refined into a smokable substance.

By Johns Hopkins University

A recent study shows that only seven percent of Americans are satisfied with the current healthcare system. The desire for change even crosses political lines as 6 out of 10 people from multiple political affiliations all agree the healthcare system needs changes or a complete overhaul.

Here are some of the issues.

Preventable Medical Errors. Researchers analyzed medical death rate data for eight years and found that medical errors are to blame for more than 250,000 deaths per year in the U.S. This accounts for 10% of all U.S. deaths and makes it the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer.

Lack of Transparency. Fraud and cover-ups are rampant in the U.S. healthcare system. A significant problem is upcoding in which providers “upcode” a procedure to

get more money from insurance companies, but insurance may charge higher premiums to employers, and pay less to consumers. Health consumers get stuck in the middle without any control over health outcomes and pricing.

Finding a qualified doctor. A doctor’s expertise is not evident in a quick search through online reviews and would require hundreds of hours of research to compile. This is why MediFind was created. See www.medifind.com.

High Costs of Care. Healthcare prices have increased year over year. Despite practices intended lower costs, they are still high because driving them down is a complex operation. A straightforward solution is to provide health consumers with information to better their health and lower the risk of preventable conditions. Lower demand for health services will drive prices downward.

FOOD POISONING

There are many ways that food can lead to illness. This article will focus on illness caused by eating food that is contaminated by a microorganism: a bacterium, virus, or parasite.

Microorganisms that cause foodborne illness — Many different microorganisms can cause foodborne illness. Updated information on outbreaks may be found on websites maintained by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Food and Drug Administration.

Some of the most common include the following:

of fresh produce. However, there have also been large outbreaks of Salmonella from other foods, such as peanut butter.

Norovirus — Norovirus infection is the most common foodborne illness and is often acquired when infected food handlers contaminate the food they are preparing (eg, in restaurants). Norovirus is very infectious and easily passed from person to person or by touching contaminated surfaces. Symptoms usually start 24 to 48 hours after exposure with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Most cases resolve without medical treatment.

Salmonella — Salmonella is the leading bacterial cause of foodborne illness in the United States with an estimated one million cases of salmonellosis each year. There are many types of Salmonella, including those that cause typhoid fever and those that cause gastroenteritis. In the United States, the type that causes gastroenteritis is much more common.

Salmonella is very common in the intestines of animals and reptiles and may exist in the environment. When food is contaminated from the environment or from contact with animals, it can make humans sick when they subsequently consume that food. Contamination of food can occur on a farm, during food processing, or as a result of cross-contamination (transfer from raw meat to salad) in the home, at a restaurant, or at some other point in the supply chain. Thus, most cases of Salmonella foodborne illness are due to either cross-contamination or undercooking of raw meat or poultry products or contamination

Escherichia coli — Certain Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria can cause foodborne illness, particularly an illness known as "traveler's diarrhea." Infection with E. coli can occur when food or water becomes contaminated with infected feces. Some types of E. coliinfection can be very serious, resulting in kidney failure or worse.

Hepatitis A virus — Hepatitis A virus is transmitted in foods contaminated by an infected human, such as a food handler, or from raw shellfish. Hepatitis A causes jaundice (yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes) and occasionally liver failure. Symptoms do not usually appear until 15 to 50 days after infection, which can make it difficult to determine the source of infection. In nonimmune individuals, post-exposure vaccination or administration of immune globulin can help prevent infection. In the United States, a vaccine for hepatitis A is recommended for all children.

Estate Planning Estate Planning

Q: Since the tax provisions that you mentioned in last month’s column are about to “sunset” and most of us don’t have $30,000,000 in assets, I don’t feel that your column last month was that helpful.

A: Just to clarify, there were two parts covered in that column-tax and probate. In Colorado you don’t need a Trust to avoid probate if assets are set up in joint tenancy, have beneficiary designations (which can include real estate) and the net value of the non-beneficiary, non-real estate assets is less than $80,000.

You might still need a Trust for other reasons but avoiding probate can be done much cheaper and simpler.

Secondly, from a tax point of view, I have been through at least three (probably four counting my time in law school) major

estate tax law changes. My experience has indicated that you plan for the present but don’t try to second guess what changes might be and set up an estate plan that can be easily changed.

If and when changes come, we just watch what those “wall street” lawyers do and then adjust for our clients. After reviewing estate plans, I have become disheartened at the cost and complexity of many of them done in the name of saving taxes. Remember that last month’s column said from -0- to around $30,000,000. Thus, if you are in this asset valuation range and are domiciled in Colorado, there is a high possibility of no estate tax and no probate.

Email rutz@ronaldrutz.com. Call 970.223.8388 in Loveland.

RURAL HOSPITALS AT

Kaiser Health News

A recent report from from the health analytics and consulting firm Chartis concluded that half of rural hospitals lost money in the past year, up from 43% the previous year. It also identified 418 rural hospitals across the U.S. that are “vulnerable to closure.”

The report noted that small-town hospitals in states that expanded Medicaid eligibility have fared better financially than those in states that didn’t.

Leaders in Montana, whose population is nearly half rural, credit Medicaid expansion as the reason their hospitals have largely avoided the financial crisis depicted by the report.

“Montana’s expansion of Medicaid coverage to low-income adults nearly 10 years ago has cut in half the percentage of Montanans without insurance, increased access to care and preserved services in rural communities, and

RISK

reduced the burden of uncompensated care shouldered by hospitals by nearly 50%,” said Katy Mack, vice president of communications for the Montana Hospital Association. Not one hospital has closed in the state since 2015, she added.

Hospitals elsewhere haven’t fared so well.

Michael Topchik, national leader for the Chartis Center for Rural Health and an author of the study, said he expects next year’s update on the report will show rural hospital finances continuing to deteriorate.

“In health care and in many industries, we say, ‘No margin, no mission,’” he said, referring to the difference between income and expenses. Rural hospitals “are all mission-driven organizations that simply don’t have the margin to reinvest in themselves or their communities because of deteriorating margins. I’m very, very concerned for their future.”

A GENUINE ARTICLE

(Editor’s Note: Greeley historian Hazel E. Johnson wrote the following story years ago.)

Chuck Pierson was what early cowboys called “a genuine article.”

He was well known around Greeley and worked for a number of big cattle outfits.

Walter Loustalet remembered him as a crusty old wrangler who never smiled. He once made Ripley’s “Believe It or Not” for having roped nearly 900 calves in one day.

“You never knew what Chuck was going to do, but he always kept you laughing—unintentionally,” said Loustalet.

One day Chuck was riding his horse down the street when a man called to him and asked, “What breed of horse is that you’re riding?”

Chuck replied in all seri-

ousness, “He’s a cross between a barbed wire fence and a s.o.b.”

Now and then, after several shots of red eye, Chuck would ride his horse into Jack O’Grady’s saloon in Evans and proceed to shoot out the lights.

Loustalet recalled the time

Chuck went to a fancy Denver restaurant and ordered a steak well done.

When it came, it was rare. Chuck stared at it for a long time. He then grumbled a string of cuss words, threw it on the floor, pulled out his pistol and shot it.

The waiter rushed over to ask what happened.

“I had to kill the g.d. critter before I could eat it!” said Chuck.

Loustalet said that, after a cattle drive east of Greeley, there was a dance at the old town of Orchard.

Chuck always wore his spurs to a dance as well as his pistol, which was jammed down in a holster on his back side and looked as if it were tugging at his pants.

He asked a girl to dance but she said, “I’d dance with you Mr. Pierson, but I’m afraid your pants will fall down.”

Chuck thought for a minute, seemingly unable to understand her refusal.

Then he drawled, “Well, if they do, my spurs will catch ‘em.”

A CATTLE STAMPEDE

(Editor's Note: Greeley historian Hazel Johnson wrote the following story years ago.)

An early Greeley cowboy gave this description of what a cattle stampede was like:

“One night a cowboy forgot and scratched a match on his saddle horn. When that match popped, there was a roar like an earthquake, and the herd was gone in the wink of an eyelid.

“I was out of my blankets, running for my horse and hollering ‘Come on, boys!’

“Our horses were jumping and snorting. They scented the danger. I only had time to yell, ‘Hold your horses’ heads high, boys, and keep 200 yards ahead of the cattle. If your horse gives out, get off to one side.’

“And then that earthquake was at our heels. We were riding

for our own lives as well as trying to stop the cattle.

“If your horse stumbled or stepped in a hole, there wouldn’t even be a semblance of you left.

“I had been in stampedes before, but nothing like this one. Every steer had his long tail in the air, and those 4,000 waving tails made me think of a sudden whirlwind in a forest of timber.

“A ripple in the sea of shin-

ing backs meant a steer had gone down and his fellows had trampled him into mincemeat.

“After some 12 miles they had left the rolling prairie and were into the broken country along Crow Creek. Stampeding cattle follow the leaders, in this case the cowboys, who now were gradually letting the cattle get close to them in order to lead them onto the divide again.

“The cowboys separated them and finally got them stopped, not however till one bunch had gone about 10 miles beyond where I had got the first herd quieted.

“We were three days getting the cattle back to where they had started, and 200 of them were dead or had to be shot."

Can you imagine 4,000 crazed cattle running at you?

STEAMBOAT COLORADO

By Jerry Lambdin

Steamboat Springs, you might enjoy a book written some years ago by Tom Bie, titled "Steamboat: Ski Town USA."

It covered everything from the pioneers who settled the town to the Olympic skiers who made Steamboat famous for many years: Gordy Wren, Buddy Werner, Billy Kidd and the rest.

Along with hundreds of photographs, there are remembrances like this one from local historian Jean Wren:

"Antone Kline, owner of the Capital Saloon...had been a member of the Canadian Northwest Mounted Police for 25 years, and his best friend was Routt County Sheriff Charley Neiman.

"Antone's son remembered the time a big Swede from a railroad crew stayed after saloon hours to hold up his father.

"Antone, polishing glasses behind the bar, pointed to the safe. 'It's unlocked,' he said.

"The man opened the safe door and took out a bag of money. 'The swinging door at the back is still open,' Antone. said.

"The man went back to the door and, in pushing through, half turned. That's when Antone shot him with the .45 he kept under the bar.

"The hand that held the money bag was shattered. The loot dropped to the floor, and the saloon man picked up the polishing

rag. 'Now get the hell out of here,' he bellowed."

The book also contains remembrances by Sureva Towler, who wrote about the 1960s when the ski resort was just getting started and hippies arrived to mingle with the local cowboys:

"The lines were clear. You drank red beer or Harvey Wallbangers. You shot elk or did shots...

"You were a Cowboy or a Hippie. You were a Stomp or a Freak.

"It was easy to distinguish. Stomps thought hash browns were a vegetable. Freaks ate reinforced brownies...

"Stomps didn't wear shorts, and Freaks didn't chew. If you were a Stomp, the sheriff drove you home when the bars closed. Freaks got arrested for drunk walking."

Over the years, things changed and by the 1990s, Towler recalled:

"Stomps and Freaks were huddled together down at the VFW complaining about absentee second homeowners, jocks, tree huggers and wealthy newcomers imposing Brie on the land of American cheese."

Steamboat's first settler, James Crawford, brought his wife and children to the valley from Missouri in 1874. He became a successful rancher and the county's first judge. His wife, Maggie,

established the town's first church and school.

In 1905 Francis Light brought his wife and seven children from Ohio to Steamboat and established F.M. Light and Sons, the store you still see advertised on little yellow signs along the roads to Steamboat.

Generations of the Light family have been selling cowboy boots, saddles and other things ever since. Apparently the yellow signs have the same appeal as the old Burma Shave signs. Travelers tell store clerks, "We saw your signs and just had to come in."

Steamboat was still a sleepy, little ranch town when Norwegian ski jump champion Carl Howelsen arrived in 1913. He had been doing exhibition ski jumping with the Barnum and Bailey Circus after coming to America and working for a while as a bricklayer.

Howelsen built one of America's earliest ski jumps in Steamboat and began training local youngsters. His efforts changed the town forever. It was on its way to producing more Olympic skiing competitors than any other town in the United States.

Howelsen Hill is still used to train champions. He returned to Norway in 1922 but continued to jump until age 71.

Buddy Werner learned to jump on Howelsen Hill and was the first American ever to beat the powerful European skiers in the 1950s. He became a Steamboat

legend, competing for three years in the Olympics before being killed by an avalanche in Austria in 1964. Steamboat's ski mountain, Mt. Werner, is named for him.

Werner's brother, Loris, and sister, Skeeter, were also Olympic competitors in the 1950s and 1960s. Skeeter later became a model in New York, married football great Doak Walker, and returned to run Steamboat's first ski shop. She was inducted into the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame in 1984.

Making Steamboat a ski resort was the dream of a local rancher's son, Jim Temple. He began raising money in the 1950s. One of his early associates was John Fletcher, a Harvard University engineering graduate who moved to Steamboat in 1949.

Fletcher recalled going to Denver bankers to raise money: "We wore overalls and looked like a couple of sheepherders coming to borrow money."

It took years to get the ski run going, and ownership changed several times. Bie's book contains colorful stories about the winners and losers associated with the ski run's development.

To promote skiing in Steamboat, local businesses sold T-shirts that said: "More mountain than Aspen. More powder than Vail. More lifts than Snowmass. More bars than Utah."

“At night, I couldn’t sleep because my feet were shocking me. I can now sleep through the night without pain!” Cheryl F.

“My balance was so bad I was afraid I was going to fall. My balance has improved and I can feel the carpet again.” Joe L.

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• Numbness

• Diabetic nerve pain

• Sharp, electric-like pain

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“The tingling and numbness in my hands was making it hard for me to write and cook. My hands already feel 90% better.” Bob L.

12,000 YEARS AGO IN NORTHERN COLORADO

By Peggy Hunt

Some people in northern Colorado don’t know we live in one of the world’s richest archaeological areas.

Dinosaurs roamed here millions of years ago, and some of the first humans in North America lived here about 12,000 years ago.

Some of the first archeological finds in the United States that linked pre-historic man to ancient mammoths were made near Greeley and Fort Collins.

The Dent Site by Greeley, excavated in 1932, contained Clovis spear points next to mammoth fossils, the first such discovery made in North America.

The Lindenmeier Site north of Fort Collins was found in 1924 and excavated by the Smithsonian Institution. Folsom spear points found there proved that early man lived here thousands of years ago.

Fossils of the Triceratops and other dinosaurs have been found in the area. Bones of a 35-million-year-old rhinoceros that was among the earth’s earliest mammals were found at Pawnee Buttes northeast of Greeley.

Millions of years ago, the plains we see were covered by a huge inland sea that was formed when massive glaciers melted. The Rocky Mountains we know were formed 65 million years ago but were not the first mountain range here.

A much earlier range existed 300 million years ago. It was gradually worn down and replaced by the mountains we now see, which were created by volcanoes and other natural forces. Volcanoes were active in Colorado until 30 million years ago.

The last ice age here ended about 12,000 years ago. At one time, glaciers thousands of feet deep covered everything except the highest mountain peaks.

When those glaciers moved, they carved the rugged mountain sides and huge valleys we see today. The sheer 1,000-foot east face of Longs Peak, for instance, was sliced away by a glacier.

Northern Colorado has a long, interesting history.

ACROSS

1 Dramatic section of California coast: Big _____

4 Pricey Japanese model

9 Land or treasure given to a vassal by his lord

13 Con opposite

14 Suffix used with “auto” or “cine”

15 “He objected _____ _____ the intent of the law.”

16 Iconic Lakewood restaurant originally opened in 1974.

19 New York University located in New Rochelle

20 Colorado town and county whose name in Spanish means “place of cottonwoods”

21 Rome is known as the “ _____ City”

23 Prefix meaning star

24 Long sufferer’s mantra: “ _____ is me!”

25 Sport or game played with a Frisbee: _____ golf

27 “ ______ , all my troubles seemed so far away...”

33 Mountain man, guide and trapper (1809-1868)

35 Seven _____ = all the world’s oceans

36 The “Roaring 20’s” was also known as the Jazz ____.

37 Prefix used with sex, form, cycle and others.

38 Unsuccessful car model

40 Simple cheer

41 Regional Transit System in a text

42 A lie detector should help determine what is _____

43 Type of oil

46 Action witnessed at a guillotine

49 Mansard, for one

50 1060 in old Roma

51 Big name in pasta sauce

53 Intelligent

57 Watching Caitlin Clark at Iowa, I felt she would be _____ _____ star in the WNBA.

61 “Never was so much owed by so many ___ ___ few”

62 There is a strong _____ _____ sentiment coming from Washington, D.C. due to Houthi attacks.

64 “Evening, in Paris?”

65 “Not graduating from college is ___ ___ regret.”

66 Controversial letters in ingredient list in food

67 Audience participation musical hit

68 Greek myth creature that is part man and part goat

69 Mountain road shape, often

DOWN

1 Org. created to help in the treatment of animals

2 Russian topography feature: _____ Mountains

3 Parks of segregation fame

4 “It’s _____ _____ unusual day...”

5 Bird which warned miners of toxic fumes

6 Med diagnosis usually made by a urologist (briefly)

7 Ceremonial religious act

8 _____ _____ -o-nine-tails was a whip used by the British Navy in its early days

9 Ump’s call on a ball hit down the line: ___ ___ foul

10 “There _____ _____ _____ _____ go before the law takes effect.”

11 Volcano in Sicily, Italy

12 Baby horse

17 Gather

18 Chocolate syrup brand around since 1928

22 Barnyard females

25 Early Rockies’ hitting star (familiarly)

26 “Riverdance or Celtic Woman”

28 City of the Ruhr Valley in Germany

29 Espy

30 Softest mineral on earth

31 Period in Western Europe during 17th and 18th Centuries: “ _____ _____ Enlightenment”

32 Time period

33 Raised concrete area which defines a street

34 Geek

39 Traffic citation

42 Maneuver a plane to a main runway

44 Debate certain facts

45 Disney movie of 1946: “Song of the _____”

47 Front range ski area

48 Of poor picture quality

52 Post, meaning regarding time

53 E-commerce company for handmade goods

54 Word which follows “elbow” or “panic”

55 Scottish head ware

56 “Orinoco Flow” artist

58 Strongly suggest

59 Mates for 22 down or CSU mascots

60 Grandson of Adam in the Bible

63 Very young child

An ammonite fossil. Photo from Pixabay.

A man called his wife and said, “I got hit by a car. Paula took me to the hospital where they conducted tests and did x-rays. I have three broken ribs, a spinal injury, and they might have to amputate my right leg. They said the head injury is serious.

His wife replied, “Who’s Paula?”

6

A mother walked into her daughter’s house and found the husband angrily packing his suitcase.

“Where are you going?” she asked him.

“I’m leaving,” he said. “I sent my wife, your daughter, an email telling her I’d be home today, and guess what I found when I got home?”

“What?”

“She was in bed with another man.”

“There must be a simple explanation,” said the motherin-law. “Let me talk to her.”

She came back smiling and said, “I told you there was a simple explanation. She didn’t get your email.”

6

From Steven Wright:

If your car could travel at the speed of light, would the headlights work?

How do you tell when you’re out of invisible ink?

What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

The problem with the gene pool is there is no lifeguard.

6

Redneck vocabulary cour-

tesy of Tony and Peggy Donovan:

RAT. Go down that road and make a rat turn at the bait shop.

FAR. My still blew up and caught on far.

BARD. I bard that truck from my cousin.

6

From Rodney Dangerfield:

I was such an ugly kid that, when I played in the sandbox, the cat kept covering me up.

My father carried around a picture of the kid that came with his wallet.

I remember the time I was kidnapped and they sent a piece of my finger to my father. He said he wanted more proof.

•

• Colorado has had a 65% increase in this age group in the past seven years—the largest in the nation.