20240314

6 ~ Ute tales

7-9 ~ C'dale candidates

13-17 ~ Español

18-19 ~ Govt.

Sopris Sun the

Shine On

Green is the New Black has only grown brighter, with all sold out shows last weekend. Luckily for the folks who couldn't get tickets, we have plenty of pictures on pages 20 and 27! Here, Michael Gorman and Elissa Rodman take a spin on the runway modeling "Koimoyoo (Love Affair)" by Ruthie and Ayana Brown. Photo by Will Sardinsky

Phase 3 of Carbondale’s response to unhoused migrants OPINION

Carbondale Mayor

By Ben Bohmfalk

Since November, the Town of Carbondale has been responding to an unprecedented influx of unhoused migrants — specifically addressing housing needs during the winter months. We are now transitioning to our third and final phase of this response which involves gradually phasing out emergency services while participating in a coordinated regional approach to homelessness throughout the Roaring Fork Valley. We are proud of the success of this winter’s community response, and grateful for the overwhelming support of Town residents for our actions, but the longterm work of addressing homelessness in the Roaring Fork Valley is just beginning. I encourage you to join us in building a coordinated approach to these challenges.

This winter’s response presented numerous short and long-term challenges to our community. As we enter this next phase of building capacity as a broader valley to address the long-term challenges, I want to take a moment to celebrate our successes here in Carbondale. I’m happy to report that our temporary winter night shelters and related services have operated smoothly. Some newcomers have received work permits while others await processing. Additionally, we have successfully mitigated the impacts of a large unhoused population on Town residents, businesses, and the migrants themselves. The refugee population has been fairly steady in Carbondale

LETTERS

April for Carbondale

since November, with 40 people sheltering indoors and a few others accessing some services but sleeping elsewhere. Opening our shelters did not lead to a major influx of unhoused people. We addressed life and safety concerns by providing indoor shelter during the coldest nights of the year.

The key to this success is twofold: funding from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) and support from local organizations. The funding ensured we did not have to dip into the Town budget to respond to this emergency. The collaboration with and support of local organizations enabled us to implement a highly structured approach that served both the migrants and our community. Specifically, thank you to DOLA, Town of Carbondale staff, Voces Unidas de las Montañas, Roaring Fork School District and Family Resource Center, Recovery Resources, Carbondale Community United Methodist Church, the Third Street Center, Valley Settlement, West Mountain Regional Health Alliance, Clínica del Pueblo, Alpine Legal Services, Age Friendly Carbondale, Garfield County Public Health, Pitkin County, Ace Security, and the multiple groups of volunteers who contributed to the humanitarian effort our community put forward this winter.

The third phase of our plan involves a gradual phase-out of services leading to the closure of our shelters on April 1. New shelter residents are no longer being admitted. Each shelter resident is receiving individualized case management to plan their next steps. Dinner service ends on March 22. Our emergency funding from DOLA expires at the end of April. Carbondale police are planning to enforce our camping ban as usual this spring and summer. This plan is designed to transition us to longer-term work and ensure we don’t end up repeating where we’ve been.

The longer-term work is developing a coordinated regional approach to managing the impacts and needs

This letter is in support of April Spaulding who is running for a seat on the Carbondale Board of Town Trustees (BOTT). April is a local and works in Carbondale, so she is aware of the issues facing all of us. April has served on the Town’s Board of Adjustment, the KDNK board and The Sopris Sun board. She is also on the Ladies Auxiliary Board for the American Legion. She volunteers for many nonprofits and at Mountain Fair.

I am happy to support April in her most recent endeavor to join the Carbondale BOTT.

Martha Collison

Carbondale

Basalt endorsements

For Basalt Town Council, I’m voting for Hannah Berman who has worked in my office for six years. We focus on climate change, urban planning, philanthropy and civic health. That makes her a perfect candidate. She’s also smart, a hard worker and a good listener. She’s the youngest candidate and lives in affordable housing — we need that voice on council.

of unhoused people throughout the Roaring Fork Valley. Carbondale took the lead on this winter’s response because the refugees were sleeping outdoors right outside Town limits. But the refugees came for the jobs throughout our region and will continue to seek to have their basic needs met in each county and municipality, not just in Carbondale.

Therefore, we ask that each county and municipality join us in funding and supporting a regional effort to address homelessness, as experienced by newcomers and long-term locals, led by a joint coalition of nonprofit and government agencies. Carbondale has earmarked $20,000, or .002% of our general fund budget, to this effort.

We acknowledge that we have not done enough in the past to address the needs and impacts of our unhoused population. This winter’s influx of unhoused refugees forced us to respond, and we have shown that a systematic approach can successfully mitigate the impacts and address life and safety concerns without straining our other systems. The alternatives to such a regional approach are for each jurisdiction to respond individually or to take a ‘do nothing’ approach and hope that the challenges disappear. I worry about the burden on our law enforcement agencies if we take an enforcement-only approach to people sleeping outdoors, and experience shows that this approach only pushes the impacts around rather than mitigating them.

Immigration has always been a hot political topic, but Carbondale has attempted to respond to an influx of unhoused people in an apolitical way. We are not a sanctuary city, nor are we a non-sanctuary city. We are simply a small town that was unwilling to go through winter with a large group of unhoused people sleeping outdoors. Please join us in developing a regional response so none of our communities face a similar emergency next winter.

I’m also supporting Angele Dupre-Butchart, who was cogent and prepared at the recent forum. Then I’ll choose between Chris Mullen and Kaja Rumney — both seem great.

While I’m not backing Rick Stevens, there’s no shade intended. Rick has been a dedicated public servant. He put in 16 years on council and as mayor. But after witnessing low interest in elections, when we have eager young new thinkers, it’s good for democracy to let those ideas and people have a shot. I hope Rick will stay involved if not elected, because his input was valuable to me as a council member myself.

Last, a note on the referendum on downtown construction. During the forum, Rick and Chris said, effectively, they’re all for the discussion. That’s not what this is. This is a costly disruption. Basalt, under the leadership of our excellent town manager, undertook a textbook process to get here, asking first what residents cared about, then passing a bond and then executing. The effort to reverse that is a violation of public process and trust, and an invitation to governmental chaos. I’ll be voting to continue the Midland Avenue Streetscape project.

Auden Schendler

Basalt

continued on page 22

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Red Hill vandal(s)

The Red Hill Council, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Carbondale Parks and Rec reported that vandalism has occurred on the Red Hill trail system, damaging an infrared trail counter and dismantling restoration work. According to a press release, the disruption is “quite extensive in scale and undermines approximately 200 to 300 hours of volunteer labor over the past few years, including three weeks of Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteer community group investment in May of 2023.” Displaced wood chips were sorted into more than 30 piles along Ruthie’s Run, “which look like bonfires waiting to happen.” It’s suspected that the vandalism would have taken a considerable amount of time, and anyone with information is asked to reach out to the Parks and Rec Department, Carbondale police, Red Hill Council and/or BLM.

Grimmer bows out

Geoff Grimmer, who was running for the District Two Eagle County commissioner seat, suspended his campaign following the county’s Democratic caucus on Saturday. Grimmer has endorsed Sarah Smith Hymes, who is running for the same seat. Smith Hymes will face Tom Boyd in the June 25 Democratic Primary for the District Two seat, currently held by Kathy Chandler-Henry.

ReEnergize Eagle County

Eagle County, in partnership with ReEnergize (an affiliated program of the Community Office for Resource Efficiency and the Walking Mountains Energy Program), is providing critical home energy improvements for income-qualifying residents at no cost. Income limits correspond to 150% of the area median income for Eagle County. Renters and homeowners are eligible, though funding is limited to homes heated with propane during the first half of 2024. For more information, email energy@walkingmountains.org or call 970-328-8777.

Trafficking arrests

The Garfield County Sheriff’s Office announced that at least six individuals suspected of “internet luring of a child,” among other charges, were arrested and taken into custody. According to a press release, the local agency “worked in close partnership with Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the Glenwood Springs Police Department, the Rifle Police Department, the Basalt Police Department, the Ninth Judicial District Attorney’s Office, the United States Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations and the Garfield County Special Problem Enforcement and Response, (known as SPEAR) team.” Four other individuals were classified as fugitives and were also apprehended during this collaborative effort.

Burn’n

The Forest Service announced that the Upper Colorado River (UCR) Interagency Fire Management Unit is planning to conduct prescribed burns in the region during the coming weeks. For Pitkin County, burns are planned south of Carbondale at Avalanche Creek and Braderich Creek. Burns are also planned at Cottonwood Creek in Eagle County.

In the spirit of ranchers connecting with the community, Holy Cross Cattlemen’s Association and the Roaring Fork Valley Coop are taking donations for Beef Sticks for Backpacks — a statewide program that fights food insecurity children experience on weekends. Stop by the Coop this March to donate to the cause and every $5 donation will earn you the chance to win one of three coolers full of local meat. The drawing takes place on April 1 — no fooling! From 9am to 3pm on March 27, stop by for tasty samples and to learn more about ranching and ecosystem services. For information on Beef Sticks for Backpacks, visit beefsticks.org. Pictured here at the Coop: Ginny Harrington, Tai Jacober, Glen Jammaron, Lisa Nieslanik and Laura Cardome. Photo by Paula Mayer Photography

Youth outdoors

Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers invites young people, ages 11-14, to learn how to be stewards of the outdoors while having fun rafting and/or rock climbing. The Adventure Stewards program takes place June 10-14, July 8-12 and July 29 to Aug.

2. Visit rfov.org/adv to register. Meanwhile, Colorado Mountain College is accepting applications for its first youth outdoor leadership course at its Leadville campus, July 7-12. This opportunity is free and open to students going into ninth or 10th grade, but limited to 35 students. Enrollment concludes April 26. Visit coloradomtn.edu/firstascent for more information.

Star power

She’s done it again! Mandy Moore, daughter of local legends Bob and Wendy Moore, choreographed Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” performance at the Academy Awards on Sunday. The dance number was hailed as a highlight of the night. Moore directed choreography for the 2016 film “La La Land” starring Gosling, among other accolades.

They say it’s your birthday!

Folks celebrating another trip around the sun this week include: Sonya Meyer and Athena Wright (March 14); Paula Stepp and Sierra Thompson (March 15); Dalene Barton, Hannah Burleigh, Jordan Clingan and Trae Moxley (March 16); Annie Tempest and John Foulkrod (March 17); Michelle McGrory and Dean Mercado (March 18); Matthew Eames, Sophia Higbie, Katie Hunter and Michael Schneiter (March 19); Leigh Kauffman (March 20).

LIFT-UP gets an uplift with new GWS facility

By Jeanne Souldern Sopris Sun Correspondent

LIFT-UP, a nonprofit aiding those facing food insecurity across the Roaring Fork Valley, has seen a surge in demand.

With nine programs from Aspen to Parachute, LIFT-UP offers various services, including food pantries, mobile distribution sites, extended food tables (soup kitchens) and senior meals. In 2023, they served over 128,000 individuals, doubling their outreach from the 60,000 people served the previous year.

Ivan Jackson, executive director since August 2021, recently gave The Sopris Sun a tour of the organization’s new facility at 100 Midland Avenue, next to the Social Security Administration offices, in Glenwood Springs.The strategic location, equidistant from Aspen to Parachute, maximizes the efficiency in serving the community.

“Now we can divide and conquer because this location is central from Aspen to Parachute — it's 40

miles either way — making us much more effective by having one central warehouse location. It will have a huge impact on the community,” Jackson explained.

A $2 million capital campaign launched in May 2023 led LIFT-UP to purchase and renovate the Glenwood Springs facility. The central location, featuring three loading docks (none of their current facilities have loading docks) and ample warehouse space, fulfills the organization's wishlist. With about $750,000 raised to date, Jackson anticipates the remaining funds to come from pending proposals.

The expansive facility includes a thrift store, which opened last month, and administrative offices on the upper level. A 9,000-squarefoot area will facilitate dayto-day operations, including receiving, bagging and distributing food, and house a community kitchen downstairs.

“One of the problems many of our guests deal with is stigma. They feel like, ‘I have to ask for food because I can't afford to pay for it.’

Above: The new facility includes a thrift store and shopping experience equivalent to that of a local grocery store.

Right: A worker in the thrift store gets donated clothing ready to be sold.

Photos by Max Chadwick

For the first time, a LIFT-UP facility has loading dock access to more efficiently move goods to and from trucks.

LIFT-UP from page 4

If you walked into one of our pantries today, we would say, ‘How can we help you?’”

They aim to provide guests with a dignified shopping experience, like a visit to the grocery store.

Jackson reiterated that anyone struggling to buy food should visit one of their locations “because that’s what we’re here for.”

To foster a welcoming environment, LIFT-UP has a simplified application process. It requires your

name, contact information (email address or phone number) and the town or city where you reside — which is collected to determine where the most need is.

LIFT-UP works closely with 32 local farmers, allocating 50% of their budget to purchase fresh, healthy and nutritious fruits, vegetables, meats and dairy products from farmers. The initiative aims to simultaneously address the surplus produce issues faced by farmers. The community kitchen will assist farmers in adding value to their products

by creating goods like juices, salsas or jams, which will be frozen for year-round distribution, benefiting farmers and the community.

Jackson explained that most of LIFT-UP’s wares are transported by semi-truck from one of their partners, Food Bank of the Rockies, located in Denver. “We can just literally drag the food out, whereas before … it was a laborintensive process,” he said.

Jackson said obtaining the space has opened countless possibilities that were previously unavailable.

"It’s just like a kid on Christmas Day when they enjoy their shiny new toy. This is our shiny new toy. It's exciting because things are coming to us now that we couldn't even have contemplated three years ago,’” he shared.

Look for a LIFT-UP mobile pantry in the future. The nonprofit received an old school bus as a donation that will be refurbished into a mobile pantry.

“The bus will be the same as our fixed pantry, where you shop as you would at a

grocery store and pick out the food you want. That bus will be going to high-density populations and remote areas, so for the people who can't get to us, we can get to them,” Jackson said.

Around May, Jackson anticipates the community will be invited to a grand opening with a ribboncutting ceremony, snacks and beverages and a facility tour.

For more information, visit LIFT-UP’s website, accessible in both English and Spanish, at liftup.org

Photos by Max Chadwick

Keeping Ute culture alive in the Valley

By Myki Jones Sopris Sun Correspondent

The evening of March 3, the Carbondale Historical Society hosted the third installment of its 2024 Winter Speaker Series, “Tales of the Ute People in the Roaring Fork Valley,” in partnership with the Aspen Historical Society. Nina Gabianelli and Skyler Lomahaftewa were the keynote speakers.

The two have collaborated since 2012 to bring the culture, language and stories of the Ute people to public schools and other educational programs.

Gabianelli served as vice president for the Aspen Historical Society and worked in programming and education there since 2008.

She discussed history specific to the Uncompahgre Ute, who have ancestral ties to the land and of which tribe Lomahaftewa is a member. She covered a wide spectrum, beginning with the Ute story for creation and delving into drafted U.S. treaties that were subsequently broken, the Meeker massacre of 1879 and the forcing of the Ute people onto reservations.

“Most of the information I've gathered comes from oral histories as well as reading different books and authors who write about the Native peoples — some [by] white men and some [by] Native people. So there are a lot of different variations,” Gabianelli said during her opening statement.

She explained that some Ute elders track their history back hundreds of years, while others say it expands thousands; some say they were always here, and some say there were others before them.

“We know there's hard evidence of human life in this Valley that dates back over 8,000 years,” Gabianelli asserted.

She pointed out the mid-’90s discovery of bones, found in a cave near Glenwood Springs,

known as the Timberline Man. Those bones proved to be over 8,000 years old.

Lomahaftewa shared his lived experience as an Indigenous person.

Lomahaftewa grew up on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation in northeastern Utah and came to the Valley many years ago to pursue positive change in his life and a love for snowboarding. He also has Hopi and Choctaw heritage on his father's side.

“My mother is Ute and in most Native tribes and cultures you go with your mother's side. So my mother being Northern Ute, I more or less identify with and gravitate toward the Ute side, even though my last name is a Hopi name,” Lomahaftewa explained.

He made it clear in his opening that he does not speak for all Ute or Indigenous people, but from his own perspective and experience.

“Everything often gets explained from the perspective of Western society. I come in and speak to a Native interpretation of things — our perspective of our history, our culture and everything else,” said Lomahaftewa. “I want everyone to get the idea that Native peoples and cultures are still living, versus being something in a textbook that you're reading in history.”

Though not an elder, he is a caretaker of one of the dance ceremonies on his reservation: The Bear Dance.

The tradition is performed each spring to mark the end of winter. Lomahaftewa’s greatgrandfather once held the same responsibility for their tribe — demonstrating his earlier point that Native cultures persist.

After the presentation, the duo answered questions from the audience.

One observer inquired how Lomahaftewa feels when he studies his people’s history.

“When I was a teenager, I was much more angry when learning my history. My reaction was natural … I thought about many things at once. Today, I think about how to fix that. How can we heal from that?” he rhetorically questioned in conclusion.

Visit carbondalehistory.org to find a recording of the presentation in the coming days.

Skyler

Get to know your Carbondale candidates

On Tuesday, April 2, Carbondale will elect three new members to the Board of Trustees, each for four-year terms. They will take the places of current trustees Marty Silverstein, Lani Kitching and Luis Yllanes. There are no incumbents in this race.

If you would like to submit a question for our candidate forum, March 20 at 6pm, please email news@soprissun. com with “Candidate Forum” in the subject line.

In the meantime, here are candidate responses to a few simple questions.

Questions:

1. Who are you? What makes you a good fit to represent Carbondale?

2. Please describe the moment you decided to run for trustee.

3. Are there any actions by the current board of trustees that you disagree with or would have voted differently on?

4. What's a fun fact most people may not know about you?

Christina Montemayor

1. My name is Christina Guadalupe Montemayor. I am a resident of Carbondale and I have lived in the Town of Carbondale for 22+ years. I am an enthusiastic person. I have a love and passion for Carbondale. I am a mother of three children and support a local small business.

I am a good fit to represent Carbondale because I have utilized and served the community. I am ethical. I have integrity, clear communication, critical thinking skills, and am committed to making decisions that benefit the overall wellbeing of the town and its residents. I am a common-law full-time employee, and this has given me a solid understanding of fiscal management, leadership, and acknowledgement of government operations. I have a willingness to listen, learn, and collaborate with community members. I am Hispanic and I will bring a unique perspective and lived experience to the role, which can be valuable in understanding and addressing the needs of a diverse community.

2. I was discussing civic responsibilities and opinions I had about a local small business concern, and this motivated me with a desire to make a positive impact on the community. Housing, environment, and preserving small town character is important to me. I want to be a voice to support our ethically and culturally diverse community.

3. I appreciate the time and dedication the board of trustees devote to making Carbondale a wonderful place to live. Diversity matters and it would be valuable to see a woman, minority serving on the board.

4. I love to laugh. I was Student Council treasurer in high school.

Ross Kribbs

1. My story may be similar to yours: I arrived in the headwaters of this valley a few decades ago, eventually made my way downstream, and finally found my place — and my purpose — in Carbondale.

Wanderlust and a job offer brought me from Pennsylvania to the Aspen Times in 1999. Twenty-five years later, after stints as a newspaper photographer, gallery owner, marketing director and graphic designer, I’ve returned full circle to my musical roots: playing professionally, teaching violin to a full studio of impressive young humans, and co-directing the Roaring Fork Youth Orchestra. I credit karma and Carbondale in equal measures: I can’t imagine a town with better opportunities for collaboration, better support for performers and learners, better spaces to create, or better public enthusiasm for the arts, the outdoors, and the wellbeing of its citizens.

I also know that those qualities are fragile. Very.

Our small-town community vibrancy can’t be maintained without deliberate effort, persistence, and determination. I promise to bring those qualities — along with a healthy dose of creativity and a very strong backbone — to the trustee table.

If I thought Carbondale was on the right track, I’d stick to the fiddle, but I’m running for this office because I know we can do better. I don’t look at windowless Wal-Mart-sized selfstorage buildings and think, “nailed it.”

With Aspen as the valley’s economic driver, we will always be a bedroom community to some extent, but we should never risk becoming the valley’s closet. As to buildings that people do live and work in, we need to raise the required affordable-housing percentage from 20% to something significantly higher — a 50% affordable housing project proposal in Basalt shows it can be done.

Fortunately, this town has gobs of talent, creativity, and a big bucket of success stories to help us find a path forward. Let’s focus on those and learn all we can from them. I’m heartened by the public outreach and creativity poured into the Town Center parcel and the Carbondale MAP plan. Efforts at community engagement and town updates have improved dramatically through the new website and notification options. Third Street Center is a hub of energy that optimizes its small footprint, while teacher housing nearby has created homes for some of our most important community members. Carbondale Arts continually reminds us that organizations with a fiery spirit need not sell out to create sell-out events. And our little library is bursting with opportunities and bustling with activity.

If you agree that we should look closely at what we’ve gotten right — and even closer at what we haven’t — I hope to earn your vote.

2. Because I value history and big trees (and good architecture if you can’t have the first two) I took an early interest in the Forest Service’s project on Main Street. Over the last few months, I spent considerable time neck-deep in NEPA regulations, trying to understand why public outreach about the project was minimal and why even the most basic information was so hard to find. (Spoiler alert: it was deliberately categorized as a “Repair and Maintenance” project for over three years. If that doesn’t seem reasonable to you, we agree.)

When the Forest Service presented at a standing-room-only trustee’s meeting, it became clear that the mayor and some on the board were creating their own narrative for the project, strongly implying that the new building was inevitable, that the town was powerless to persuade, and that the project met the town’s development guidelines anyway. Federal and municipal code would argue otherwise, but the general public was only allowed to make case in two-minute segments.

I attended that meeting expecting to be frustrated with the federal government, but I left disappointed with our local government’s response. Our mayor and trustees could have pressed Forest Service representatives for answers to serious questions about the project’s effect on our cultural and environmental fabric, but did not. In the end, an opportunity

to acknowledge and appreciate community spirit instead became an example of how to dismiss it.

I think this was the moment I realized it might be more productive to be on the other side of the table. I’ll always be a well-informed citizen, but given the option to ask challenging and engaging questions on behalf of my community — or to sit on my hands and hope that others will instead — I’ll take the former.

3. I do have concerns with specific recent votes, and two come to mind most readily: 1) approval of a futsal court near City Market that remains closed to the public after multiple broken promises from the developer, and 2) an allocation of an additional $1.5 million for a new pool, when we still don’t have operable bathrooms at many of our increasingly popular parks.

More concerning, however, are a number of pivotal decisions made recently outside of board meetings. The biggest decision regarding the new pool project was its location — the public supported a location near the recreation center by a 2-1 margin — yet I’m not aware of a trustee vote on that specific element. Likewise with a decision to exclude any mention of the Town Center parcels from the Comprehensive Plan, a serious and deliberate omission. In both cases, the final proposals were put to a vote, but key decisions that should have guided their creation were not.

When the town’s business is conducted this way, it’s tough for any individual trustee to raise concerns without fear of rocking the boat or dismissing the hard work of staff or consultants. It’s governing by inertia, and it’s the exact opposite of deliberation. When I see “update” instead of “discussion” on the agenda I often wonder what major policy decisions have already been made, and by whom. Even more fuzzy is the process to designate selected community members as “stakeholders” with early access to focus groups and paid consultants. In a town this size and citizens this concerned, everyone is a stakeholder.

And finally, an admission. I would have voted differently on the WEcycle approval … and I would have been wrong. The program appears to be serving a valuable role in public transportation, and I’d like to see how it might be optimized. However, I’d like to earmark a percentage of the WE-cycle allocation to bike maintenance and repair opportunities for those utilizing their own bicycles for transport, or modest subsidies for those needing help to purchase them. The Carbondale Bike Project could play a key role here. There’s a messy vitality component that starts to get lost when every bicycle is identical and bears an advertisement, but is reborn when folks get creative and get dirty.

Maybe that's the larger lesson here: we can embrace the benefits of

progress — and certainly argue over the definition of that term — while still being mindful of what keeps Carbondale Carbondale.

4. I’m one of a few people to have paddled the entire length of the Susquehanna River, the longest river on the East Coast. It’s 444 miles long, starts as a trickle and ends a mile wide, but you could walk across it in most places without getting your shorts wet. Until a few years ago, I used to say that the Susquehanna passed by my hometown, but I’ve realized recently that’s no longer the case. That river would be the Crystal.

Susan Rhea

1. I was raised an Army kid, and that means we moved around a lot. I lived in eight places before I was 17, and since then lived in three places in Colorado, the last 14 years in the valley. I was married to a wonderful man for over 30 years, and not long after we retired and moved here, he contracted cancer and died. We raised one son; he is happily married, and has two children. He chose sailing over skiing, and is now enjoying the traveling family show while serving in the Navy.

I worked as a research geophysicist and science communicator for the earthquake hazard reduction program in the U.S. Geological Survey, located in Golden, Colorado. I was fortunate enough to be able to live within two miles of work for all 35 years of my career, biking to work over 10 months

of the year. That was important to me because I love physical activity and I could minimize my energy footprint. I was active in community action, helping preserve lands for open space, bringing in recreational opportunities including two pools, and also serving as a hospice volunteer. My husband and I were the first in town to have solar installed (during the Jimmy Carter years), first in town to have a xeriscape yard, and in the Roaring Fork, we were the second in the valley to use geothermal heat pump heating in a residential property. Environmental protection and energy conservation have been a focus in my life.

I care about Carbondale as a place, as a people, as a community trying to do the right things, to be the best place to live for a generous, openhearted, environmentally responsible, physically active small town. I believe my personal and professional history, experience, and training give me insight into finding solutions to the many challenges and desires of our Town. I have opinions about many issues, but also know I don’t know everything and welcome info from others. I am not wedded to my opinions and will change my mind if information indicates there’s a better decision than I’ve thought of. My experience confirms diverse contributions make for a better result.

You might notice my responses are long. That’s because the more I learn, the more I know issues are complicated, rarely is something simple, and it takes a person willing to dive deep into issues and consider many perspectives to find good solutions. I think I am one of those people.

2. One of my core principles is to try and leave a place better than you found it. If that means picking up the trash someone dropped, or the poop they didn’t see their dog drop, or clearing deadfall from a trail, I do it. If it means raising funds or awareness for preserving land, I’m there. If it means helping gather and analyze data and make recommendations for improving walkability and bike-ability around town, I’m in.

I came across a statement last year that prompted me to step up. That statement is: if you’re complaining

and not offering solutions, you’re just whining. I decided to stop whining, and to step up. I offer my service to help solve Town challenges like housing for all, clean energy for all, safe and accessible non-vehicle movement for all, a pool for all, arts for all, while somehow maintaining our small town character and values. I want to help us manage the next phase of growth and still recognize people on my walks about Town. To grow and change is inevitable, and to do it while holding dear to our values and character is vital.

3. I am very impressed with Town leadership, elected, voluntary, and employed. We are a small town; sometimes people forget that when they come here from larger cities. We have a small staff and they step up to the enormous tasks we give them. I think our mayor has done an excellent job of navigating difficult decisions after listening to many points of view. And as one of the trustees said to me, know you’ll please half of the people. It can be a hard task to find balance in competing interests. We want affordable housing; that means accepting dense, multi-story multifamily housing, and that conflicts with small town appearance. We want to provide apartment and condo complexes, but we don’t want to look and feel like a city. We want to limit growth, but we don’t want property values to go to the moon. What do we compromise, and how much?

One error I think the BOTT made was to proceed with the new Marketplace/City Market before installing the traffic management infrastructure we all knew was needed. I believe it is a planning and development best practice to install infrastructure that supports pedestrian and cyclist safety, and the expected traffic increase, before development. Chasing development with improved infrastructure later is more costly and painfully disruptive. The lack of timely CDOT collaboration was a missed opportunity that has caused expected problems on 133.

Another area of concern is an instruction given to the architects for the Artspace project downtown, inviting them to explore designs that exceed our current height limit. There is an energy issue — residences

with high ceilings are more expensive to heat and cool. And there is an aesthetic issue — raising the height limit impacts the heart of downtown and unnecessarily challenges the historical feel I value. I know we want to create more affordable housing and promote a vibrant downtown art scene, but we must do it in a way that blends in with our existing Main Street.

4. I was with my son and family this Christmas, and my son and I did our first ever New Year’s Day polar plunge, in Puget Sound. Brrrr!

April Spaulding

1. Where to start? I'm a wife, mother, avid volunteer, gardener, KDNK DJ, outdoor enthusiast and more. I love Carbondale and enjoy the many opportunities that are available to become involved with local events and nonprofits that are integral to our way of life in this unique community we have.

I have served on executive boards for KDNK Community Radio, The Sopris Sun, the Women's Auxiliary of The American Legion, and I'm a supervisor for Mountain Fair. I served on the Town Board of Adjustments and have helped organize countless fundraisers for local charities and nonprofits.

2. It wasn't exactly a precise moment, more of a thought process that lasted a couple of weeks, but once I made the decision it felt right. I feel I have a lot to offer as a Town Trustee and would be honored to serve the community. Being married to a five generation plus

Carbondale local has given me the chance to learn so much about our town and the history of Carbondale.

3. WE-cycle has been operating in Carbondale for close to a year and has proven to be beneficial to many residents. I see the bikes being utilized by a cross-section of our population. I have to be honest and admit that I wasn't a fan of the idea and am so happy that our current board of trustees saw the benefit of this opportunity for our town. Great job!

4. I'm a DJ that can't keep a beat! This has become evident as I have been rehearsing for my first spin on the catwalk for the Green is the New Black Fashion Show. At this point I just hope I don't fall!

Jessica Robison

1. I was raised in the Roaring Fork Valley. I attended public schools in Basalt from Kindergarten through twelfth grade. After college, I returned to the valley and settled in Carbondale with my family. I am a Carbondale homeowner and business owner, raising two children with my local spouse. I have spent years volunteering for local organizations and have over a decade of board experience. I own a local construction business and I’m passionate about how to solve development and land use challenges. Carbondale is my home, and this community holds my heart. My heart has always been

called to public service and a local position seemed like the best way to make an impact. I am running for local public office because I want to serve my community. I hope to encourage a political environment in Carbondale that fosters engagement, moderation, equity, and inclusion. I have watched politicians pack up their personal agendas and sell them to the public to get elected. This doesn’t make sense to me. Our democracy was built on a foundation of public service, not personal agendas. My goal is to be a conduit from the public that I serve, to the government that serves them.

2. When I was in third grade, I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I immediately answered that I wanted to be the first female President of the United States. Even though that is not my answer anymore, I knew from a young age that I wanted to serve. Being of service to the people around me has been part of my character since I was very young and still holds true today. When I heard that we were 10 days out from the deadline for turning in petitions to run and not a single petition had been pulled, I immediately went to Town Hall. Democracy requires participation and it is our job as citizens to contribute in any way we can.

3. Anyone who lives in Carbondale who goes to City Market has cursed the infamous transformers that completely block the view of oncoming traffic at the cross streets of Main and Hendrick. When the board of trustees reviewed and approved the development at that location, they either didn’t notice the transformers on the site plan, or didn’t know to ask about them, or both. As an experienced contractor, I’m someone who pays attention to details like that. I understand construction documents and site plans and will play a valuable part in review of developments. I would be able to play a role of catching details like these transformers, long before completion so that future projects do not have critical problems such as these.

4. A fun fact about me is that I manage the Roaring Fork Swap on

Facebook with two other admins. I took over the admin role when the Swap had less than 3,000 members in 2013. The group now has over 46,000 members and has become one of the most well-known, local groups for our community. We get more than 50 member requests each day and we sift through them to decide if they are spam or real people who live here. The group is an integral part of the community, especially during emergencies.

Katie Tabor

1. Hi, my name is Katie Tabor. I’m a Leo pescatarian and I resonate at the same wavelength as a citrine crystal. Last week I saw Kate Hudson at Lululemon and talked her out of a truly heinous pair of yoga pants… ALL kidding aside, I’m a 12-year resident of the Valley and I work in landscape architecture and planning. I have a passion for design, planning and public projects. I previously worked as a parish (county) planner in Louisiana and have a lot of applicable knowledge from this experience as well as my work in the private sector here in the Valley. I currently serve on the board of the Keator Grove HOA and have a tremendous amount of interest in affordable housing policies.

I think I’m a good fit to represent Carbondale because I’m open-minded. My idea of a good representative is someone who actively listens to the public and doesn’t come to the table with a preconceived idea of what is right

or not for the community. Recently, Carbondale has received a ton of feedback from the public for the Comprehensive Plan Update, the Mobility and Access Plan update, various public projects, etc. and these data points are all good ways to inform board decisions.

2. I’ve always wanted to participate in some capacity on a municipal board because I really enjoy that part of the public process. A couple of years back my partner and I were able to buy a deed-restricted housing unit in Carbondale — yay affordable housing! Our roots are now firmly planted, so I felt the timing was right. Also, one of my goals this year is to give more time and energy to my community, and I think this opportunity aligns perfectly. If I’m not elected to this position, I will find some other way to give back!

3. I truly think they’ve been doing an outstanding job. When the community is disgruntled about a project or something that’s happening in town, it’s usually the fault of old codes and regulations that haven’t been updated quickly enough to capture current sentiments. The BOTT can work with Town Staff and other commissions to ensure that any updates reflect our values.

4. I worked as an environmental educator at a public zoo. I taught groups about the importance of species survival and habitat conservation and helped raise funds for wildlife conservation efforts. I also trained animal ambassadors to participate in these presentations.

Questions:

1. Who are you? What makes you a good fit to represent Carbondale?

2. Please describe the moment you decided to run for trustee.

3. Are there any actions by the current board of trustees that you disagree with or would have voted differently on?

4. What's a fun fact most people may not know about you?

“Classic Albums Live brings the magic of this album to life on stage.”

NOTE FOR NOTE, CUT FOR CUT Sat, Mar 16 | 7:30 PM

INTRO TO PASTELS

COMEDY AT STEVE’S

THURSDAY, MARCH 14

Amanda Selsky teaches the basics of drawing with pastels from 9am to noon today, March 21, April 4 and 11. Register at theartbase.org

LEGAL CLINIC

Basalt Library hosts a bilingual legal clinic on the second Thursday of each month from 2 to 5pm. To sign up for a 15 minute slot, call 970-927-4311 or email info@basaltlibrary.org

CODING CLUB

Students in 8th to 10th grade are invited to learn Python, a coding language, with Aspen Science Center at the Carbondale Library at 3:45pm every second and fourth Thursday.

BANNED BOOK CLUB

The Basalt Library invites adults and high schoolers to a safe and inclusive space for readers to explore literature that has challenged norms, defied censorship and sparked important conversations throughout history. This month features Lois Lowry’s “The Giver,” with a discussion starting at 4pm.

MUSIC AT THE LIBRARY

Salomé Songbird is, at a glance, a string-band but the acoustic trio boasts a background spanning fiddle tunes to free jazz; and baroque to bebop to bluegrass. Originally scheduled for 5:30 to 6:30pm at the Basalt Library, but canceled due to weather.

‘THUS, THE NIGHT’

The Isis Theatre screens a short art film inspired by French composer Henri Dutilleux's seminal work for string quartet written in 1976, Ainsi la Nuit. The event begins at 5:30pm and will include a panel conversation and a live musical performance. Visit aspenfilm.org for info and tickets.

‘SPIDER LIVES’

A 5:30pm Wheeler Opera House screening takes you on a journey into the rich history of professional ski racing through the story of renowned American ski hero, Spider Sabich, followed by a conversation with Christin Cooper, Mark Taché and Amy Redford. Visit aspenshowtix. com to reserve your seat.

‘BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA’

SoL Theatre Company opens “Bridge to Terabithia” tonight at 6pm at Thunder River Theatre. The run continues tomorrow and Saturday, March 16 with showings at 6pm and a matinee on Sunday, March 17 at 2pm. Tickets at tinyurl.com/BridgetoTerabithiaSoL

‘WOMEN WHO LEAD’

In celebration of Women’s History Month, The Collective Snowmass presents “Women Who Lead,” a community event bringing together a panel of influential women leaders to share their insights, experiences and strategies for success. Tickets and more info at thecollectivesnowmass.com

CRYSTAL CAUCUS

The Crystal River Caucus meets at 7pm at the Church at Redstone and over Zoom. Email crcaucus@ gmail.com for more info.

ISRAEL & PALESTINE

Ceasefire Now RFV hosts Nader Hashemi, a Georgetown University professor of Middle Eastern studies, at 7pm at the Pitkin County Library. Hashemi will speak about the history of the conflict and offer some possible paths toward peace.

WOMEN’S ADVENTURE FILM

Celebrate extraordinary women in the name of adventure with a touring selection of short films at 7:30pm at TACAW. Visit tacaw.org for tickets.

Beth Brandon and Miller Ford host a night of live comedy at Steve’s Guitars at 8pm. Tickets at stevesguitars.net

FRIDAY, MARCH 15

BOOK CLUB

Literary enthusiasts gather at Sopris Lodge in Carbondale to choose a book to explore together. To RSVP, call 970-456-8764.

LOVE LETTERS

Join Mateo Sandate at the Carbondale Library at 4pm today, April 19 and May 17 to explore techniques for letting appreciation flow and saying what you need to say to loved ones through letter writing. Each session is free and open to all. Call 970-963-2889 for more info.

ZIKR DANCE

Denver’s nationally-acclaimed Zikr Dance Ensemble celebrates its 15th anniversary season with “Invocation” — a showcase of some of the company’s signature works and audience favorites — at 5:30pm at TACAW. Visit tacaw.org for tickets.

THEATRE ASPEN

Theatre Aspen presents “Love, Loss, and What I Wore” by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron, based on the book by Ilene Beckerman, at the Paepcke Auditorium tonight and tomorrow at 6:30pm. Visit theatreaspen.org/whatiwore or call 970-300-4474 for tickets.

CRYSTAL THEATRE

The Crystal Theatre screens “Dune: Part Two” at 7pm tonight, tomorrow and Thursday, March 21, and at 5pm on Sunday, March 17. “Poor Things” screens tomorrow at 4pm.

ASPEN CHORAL SOCIETY

“The Drop that Contained the Sea” premiers at Basalt Middle School tonight, continues at the Harris Concert Hall in Aspen tomorrow and concludes at the Glenwood Springs High School on Sunday. All shows are at 7pm, tickets at aspenchoralsociety.org

IRISH COFFEE

The Cocoa Club is open evenings this weekend in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. “While green beer is NOT on the menu, delicious Irish beverages will be, like our classic grasshopper with a chocolate twist.”

SATURDAY, MARCH 16

AMERICA’S UPHILL

The 2.5 mile and 3,000-foot plus vertical race up Aspen Mountain starts at 7am. Visit utemountaineer. com/americas-uphill to register by 9am on March 9.

UPLIFT

HeadQuarters and Roaring Fork

CrossFit host a workout for mind and body fitness at 35 Park Avenue, Space A in Basalt at 9am. Register online at headq.org/support/events

SPRING GULCH SENDOFF

Before we hang up our skis, join fellow cross country skiers at Mountain Heart Brewing for drinks, apps and live music by Sweet Jessup and the Dirty Buckets at 5pm.

CHILI & CORNBREAD

KDNK hosts a “Chili and Cornbread Cook Off” at 5pm. Register your chili or cornbread by emailing aly@kdnk.org

LEN MAJCEN

Leon Majcen, the son of Bosnian war refugees, performs soulful tunes at Steve’s Guitars at 8pm. Tickets at stevesguitars.net

a

in Basalt from noon to 4pm on March 23 and a volunteer day — where participants get to hone their new skills — on March 30 in Emma from noon to 4pm. To sign up, visit coloradoedibleforest.com/ workshops Participants will receive details of the precise location upon registering. Check out this scene of expert pruners in the making taking in information during one of the workshops earlier this month. Visit kdnk.org for a related story by KDNK News Director Hattison Rensberry. Photo

SUNDAY, MARCH 17

ST. PATRICK’S DINNER

Join St. Vincent’s Catholic Church in Basalt from 4 to 7pm for the parish’s annual St. Patrick’s Day dinner — this year with carnitas in addition to the traditional corned beef and cabbage.

LIVE MUSIC

Kimberly Morgan-York plays at Steve’s Guitars at 8pm. Tickets at stevesguitars.net

MONDAY, MARCH 18

KLR BABY

Basalt Library hosts an eight-week group organized by KLR Baby for pregnant moms 35+ weeks and moms with infants 6 months or less. Each session goes from 10:30 to 11:30am on Mondays. For more information, contact 847-894-6546.

IN STITCHES

The Carbondale Library knitting and crocheting club meets at 1:30pm on Mondays.

TUESDAY, MARCH 19

CHAT WITH CHASE

Sopris Lodge’s director of sales and marketing meets the public and gives tours at 10am. To RSVP, call 970-456-6971.

PAWS TO READ

Therapy dogs from Heeling Partners of the Roaring Fork Valley help young readers get supportive practice, 15 minutes at a time, at the Carbondale Library on the first and third Thursday of each month at 3:30pm.

RFOV BONFIRE

The Coffman Ranch hosts a community social at 4pm, complete with a bonfire, organized by Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers. More info at www.rfov.org

INTERFAITH DIALOGUE

People from any and all religious backgrounds are invited to participate in an interfaith dialogue at 5pm at the Basalt Library. “The dialogue is not about debate, changing minds or pushing agendas … but rather about learning how to hold space for difficult conversations.” Visit basaltlibrary.org for more info.

DRAWING CLUB

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20

CLUB DE ESPAÑOL

Bodegon in Carbondale (46 North 4th Street) hosts “Spanish Conversation Club” where intermediate and advanced Spanish speakers practice speaking together. The club meets at 5pm tonight, March 27 and April 3.

DEMENTIA UPDATES

Join Dr. Brooke Allen from Roaring Fork Neurology to learn about the latest updates in treatments for dementia from 6 to 7pm at Carbondale Branch Library.

BROTHERHOOD CIRCLE

Kyle Jason Leitzke leads a monthly “Sacred Brotherhood Circle” at True Nature Healing Arts starting at 6pm. This month’s theme is “intuition.” Info at truenaturehealingarts.com

‘VISHNIAC’

Aspen Film partners with JOIN Israel to present a documentary that introduces new audiences to a lost world of images. Catch a 5pm reception at Galerie Maximillian or just the 7pm screening at the Isis Theatre. Visit aspenfilm.org for info and tickets.

LORD NELSON

Steve’s Guitars hosts Lord Nelson for live music at 8pm. Tickets at stevesguitars.net

FASHION CARES

The 10th Annual Aspen Cares Fashion Show kicks off at 9pm at Belly Up. Tickets and more info at aspencares. org. Proceeds benefit HeadQuarters.

THURSDAY, MARCH 21

THURSDAY BOOK CLUB

The Third Thursday Book Club meets at the Carbondale Library at 2pm. This month's book is “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig.

LOTUS LANTERNS

The Korean Spirit and Culture Promotion Project teaches participants how to make a lotus flower lantern using colored paper and a pre-made wireframe at the Basalt Library at 5:30pm. Visit basaltlibrary.org for more info.

LOUNGE

Community Ed Classes in Carbondale

ZUMBA WITH MIMI

Burn calories and have fun while dancing to Latin music.

Thursdays, 6:30-7:30pm, 3/14-5/2

SPRING PLANTING IN THE ROCKIES

How and when to plant for high altitude gardens that thrive.

Thursday, 6-8pm, 3/21

NEW TECHNIQUES FOR PRINTMAKERS

Expand your printmaking skills with drypoint, photo transfers, brushwork and more!

Mondays, 6-9pm, 3/25-4/29

ADULT BEGINNER BALLET

Classical ballet fundamentals at the barre and center work with Alexandra Jerkunica.

Tuesdays, 9-10am, 3/26-4/30

INTRO TO DRAWING

Learn traditional drawing and observational skills with a simple method in this fun class.

Tue’s, 5:30-8:30pm, 3/26-4/30

BEGINNING FOOD GARDENING

For beginning gardeners or anyone wanting to increase productivity in their garden. 6-8pm, 3/27and 4/11

Carbondale Lappala Center 690 Colorado Ave 970.963.2172

PET PORTRAITS WITH CHARCOAL PASTELS AND WATERCOLOR

Explore materials, compositions, color theory, and how to interpret a portrait from photographs.

Thursdays, 6-8:30pm, 3/28-5/2

ADULT BEGINNER BALLET

Classical ballet fundamentals at the barre and center work in a fun learning environment.

Tuesdays, 9-10am, 3/26-4/30

INTERMEDIATE PAINTING

Your choice of medium.

Tues’s, 1:30-4:30pm, 3/26-4/30

INTRO TO DRAWING

Learn traditional drawing and observational skills in a simple method, and see progress.

Tues’s, 5:30-8:30pm, 3/26-4/30

The Roaring Fork Drawing Club convenes at The Launchpad at 6:30pm.

HeadQuarters hosts its first “Book Club, Journal, Draw” event, where participants draw inspiration from literature to unlock the power of journaling and artistic expression in a social setting at 6pm at its headquarters in Basalt. Every third Thursday. Visit headq.org for more info.

Colorado Edible Forest, UpRoot Colorado, CSU Extension and Pitkin County Open Space offer

fruit tree pruning workshop

by Hattison Rensberry

Voces Unidas rally sends a message of solidarity

By Jeanne Souldern Sopris Sun Correspondent

About 60 people gathered at Sayre Park in Glenwood Springs on Sunday afternoon for a community rally organized by Voces Unidas de las Montañas and the Voces Unidas Action Fund. Voces Unidas Regional Organizing Manager Alan Muñoz said the gathering was initiated to publicly denounce the actions of the Garfield County commissioners, who, on March 4, unanimously approved a resolution declaring Garfield County as a "nonsanctuary county," and to demonstrate solidarity with the local Latino community.

A response posted on the Voces Unidas website stated that the resolution is "sending a clear and unacceptable message that the region's established Latino and immigrant communities are not welcome here." Voces Unidas CEO and President Alex Sánchez added, "This resolution is cruel and misguided."

Speakers included Muñoz and Sánchez, who were joined by Representative Elizabeth Velasco (HD57), Roaring Fork School Board member Jasmin Ramirez and Garfield County commissioner candidate Steven Arauza.

Debbie Bruell, the chairwoman for the Garfield County Democratic Party, announced that Arauza garnered 70% of the vote during the county assembly on Saturday, thus ensuring his name will appear on the June 30 primary ballot.

Voces Unidas has activated a telephone hotline "to report any abuse or discrimination by law enforcement or while trying to access public services in Garfield County." People can reach the hotline at970-340-8586. In addition, the Voces Unidas Action

Fund launched an online petition urging the community to "tell the Garfield County Commissioners that they are wrong on this issue and that you stand with the immigrant community in Garfield County.” The petition is available at tinyurl.com/VocesPetition

Nosotros no cobramos por abituarios.

La muerte de un ser querido nos cuesta bastante. The Sopris Sun se complace en publicar obituarios locales de un tamaño razonable, incluida una foto, de forma gratuita.

Envie un correo electrónico a news@soprissun.com para enviar un obituario o para más información.

After the rally, participants gathered for a group photo at the gazebo at Sayre Park in Glenwood Springs. Photo by Jeanne Souldern

Cada vez que usas tu tarjeta de débito Loyalty*, Alpine Bank dona diez centavos a las causas comunitarias que son importantes para ti.

*Las tarjetas de débito de Alpine Bank están disponibles sin cuota anual para personas con una cuenta de cheques de Alpine Bank.

tu tarjeta hoy mismo!

Sol del Valle el

Conectando comunidades desde 2021

Volumen 3, Número 3 | 14-20 de marzo de 2024

English in Action se despide de su hogar

Por Bianca Godina Sol del Valle Editora

El pasado Viernes, 8 de marzo, English in Action se despidió del pequeño edificio que ha sido su hogar y el de muchos inmigrantes en el valle por casi 20 años para darle la bienvenida a su nuevo proyecto: Welcome Home.

Welcome Home, o Bienvenido a Casa, es un proyecto que inició hace dos años con una fase silenciosa. Durante esta fase, el equipo de recaudación de fondos, se hizo cargo de reunir $4.2 millones de los $5 millones necesarios para construir el nuevo centro de comunicación. La meta de este nuevo centro es poder “aumentar sustancialmente nuestros programas en los próximos años”, tal como lo menciona la página de internet de English in Action. Actualmente English in Action ofrece tutoría individualizada, tutoría en grupos pequeños y horas abiertas.

Heather Hicks Stumpf, la directora de desarrollo de English in Action, comento, ”Esto es un esfuerzo comunitario”, compartiendo que parte de los S4.2 millones recaudados fueron por parte de 125 estudiantes y tutores combinados, reuniendo S25,000 colectivamente a la par de la fundación CATTOSHAW quien ofreció una beca donde se duplicaría la donación de cada individuo por un lapso de tiempo. Hicks mencionó que este proyecto fue creado a la par de los estudiantes ya que comparten que English in Action es como su hogar.

Miembro de la mesa directiva, Lynn Nichols, lleva sirviendo a la comunidad junto con English in Action por más de 10 años como tutora y como parte del equipo de recaudación de fondos.

“Construir una comunidad que les deja saber a estudiantes inmigrantes que los honramos y celebramos su arduo trabajo de aprender inglés”, agregó Nichols, “Quiero que sepan que los vemos, los escuchamos, y que son la fundación de nuestra comunidad”.

La bienvenida de la campana Welcome Home de English in Action fue atendida por Taqueria el Yaqui. Foto por Bianca Godina

Rosa Contreras actualmente forma parte de English in Action como estudiante y miembro de la mesa directiva. Originalmente de Guatemala y residente de Carbondale, ella anima a la comunidad a donar a esta causa con la esperanza de que “otras personas puedan alcanzar sus éxitos también”.

Con orgullo, Contreras comparte que, gracias a que English in Action, compartió su historia con uno de los periódicos locales a ella le brindaron la oportunidad de recibir su barbería hace seis años.

Rosa cuenta que fue fácil comenzar a aprender inglés ya que Angy, su tutora, le brindó el apoyo a sus necesidades. Ella pudo tener la confianza de decirle a su tutora desde el inicio que ella no solo quería seguir aprendiendo lo básico, si no que realmente quería aprender vocabulario dirigido hacia su carrera de cosmetología en la academia.

Maria Elena Ávila es originalmente de Colombia y empezó en el programa de English in Action como estudiante en el año 2020.

Actualmente es asesora y su rol es llevar a cabo entrevistas con los estudiantes antes de encontrar el tutor/a que les acompañará a aprender inglés.

Heather Hicks Stumpf posando en el edificio actual de English in Action. Foto por Klaus Kocher

Con lágrimas de orgullo en los ojos Ávila comenta, “Ya nos quedó chiquito esto [el edificio actual]”, continúa diciendo, “Se crean amistades, lazos, y las barreras culturales se rompen.”

Ávila anima a la comunidad a sumarse a este gran proyecto ayudando con lo que pueda para llegar a la meta de completar lo que resta de los $5 millones diciendo, “Esto cambia vidas, lo digo por mi.”

Ávila comparte, “Acá uno no consigue solo saber inglés, si no es el puente para ser parte de la comunidad”. Para sumarte a esta causa, www. bit.ly/regaloseia o para formar parte de English in Action como estudiante o tutor/a: www.bit. ly/programaseia

Mesa de postres ofrecida para los invitados del evento Welcome Home. Foto por Klaus Kocher

"La Administración del Seguro Social no puede confirmar su estatus de ciudadanía", recuerdo haber leído esas palabras días después de completar la solicitud de FAFSA. En ese momento, como muchos estudiantes de la preparatoria, estaba llena de esperanzas y sueños de continuar con mi educación. En la escuela me dijeron que llenará la solicitud de FAFSA para poder obtener ayuda financiera, la cual me ayudaría a pagar la universidad. El inglés de mis padres era limitado y no sabían mucho sobre la universidad o los primeros pasos que tomar para obtener ayuda financiera. Tuve que llenar la aplicación yo sola y contestar preguntas que

Si la puerta se cierra, entramos por la ventana

apenas entendía. Recuerdo que finalmente terminé esa ardua solicitud y me sentí entusiasmada con las posibilidades que surgirían. Días después, recibí una notificación del Departamento de Educación sobre mi solicitud de FAFSA que me golpeó como una tonelada de ladrillos. Me enteré de que no podía solicitar ayuda financiera debido a mi estatus legal. Recuerdo haber pensado ¿y ahora qué?

Me sentí derrotada sin saber lo que vendría después. Mi mundo se derrumbó ese día porque pensé que no había otras opciones.

En ese momento yo era indocumentada y me sentía frustrada porque parecía que las puertas se seguían cerrando debido a mi estatus legal. Nací en El Salvador y llegué a los Estados Unidos cuando tenía siete años. Llegué al pueblo de New Castle en el año 2000 y he vivido en el valle desde entonces. Como muchos inmigrantes, mis padres se mudaron a los Estados Unidos y establecieron raíces en este hermoso valle en busca de una mejor vida y educación para sus hijos. Recibí una educación del distrito escolar

RE-2, y también me gané una comunidad entera. Una comunidad que se siente como familia y a la cual me siento responsable de servir lo mejor posible. Como inmigrante, entiendo las dificultades, el estrés y los obstáculos que enfrentan los estudiantes indocumentados cuando solicitan ayuda financiera y universitaria.

De niños nos enseñan que podemos conquistar montañas, y los sacrificios de nuestros padres en traernos al país de las oportunidades no pasan desapercibidos. Sin embargo, a veces, parece que las puertas se cierran simplemente porque uno es indocumentado. Pero a través de las lecciones de la vida he aprendido que, si la puerta se cierra, entramos por la ventana.

En mayo y junio, muchos estudiantes celebrarán el gran éxito de graduarse de la preparatoria, y junto a ellos, muchos padres y madres trabajadoras con corazones llenos de deseos para sus hijos. Aun así, debido a varios factores, muchos padres no pueden ayudar a sus hijos a alcanzar sus metas universitarias; sin

embargo, a diferencia de mi historia, no es necesario que la suya termine ahí.

En el estado de Colorado existen ayudas para estudiantes indocumentados como La Solicitud de Ayuda Financiera Estatal de Colorado (CASFA, por sus siglas en inglés) la cual ofrece ayuda financiera para los graduados de la preparatoria. A veces, no saber por dónde empezar puede ser intimidante, especialmente cuando uno no está familiarizado en cómo funciona el sistema de educación, por lo que es tan importante pedir ayuda. Como especialista en ayuda financiera en Colorado Mountain College (CMC), estoy aquí para ayudar a quienes desean alcanzar sus objetivos universitarios.

Quiero que mi comunidad y todos los que viven cerca y lejos sepan que hay ayuda para quienes deseen continuar su educación, sin importar su estatus legal. Siempre hemos escuchado la frase "Nunca es demasiado tarde para empezar" y estoy de acuerdo. Pero hay momentos cuando uno no sabe ni por dónde empezar.

Eso es lo que hace que mi trabajo sea especial; ayudo a graduados de la preparatoria, estudiantes de 20 a 60 años o más a realizar sus carreras académicas. En la Oficina de Ayuda Financiera de CMC, podemos ayudarlo a completar las solicitudes FAFSA y CASFA. También realizamos talleres de ayuda financiera para informar a nuestros estudiantes actuales y futuros sobre todas las oportunidades de ayuda financiera en CMC.

No sólo trabajó en CMC, sino que, en mi plena juventud de 31 añitos también soy estudiante de CMC. Una persona sabía un día me dijo: "La educación es el regalo más grande que puedes dejar para tus hijos". Como madre quiero enseñarle a mi hija que no importa lo que la vida te lance, sigues adelante y no te detienes hasta llegar a tu destino. Anímo a todos los padres, estudiantes, adultos y personas mayores a que pidan ayuda y dejen un legado de educación para quienes vendrán después. La educación es un regalo que nada ni nadie te podrá quitar.

Para mas información: https://tinyurl.com/59bfajc3

Por Joseline Rivas

Elevando el Futuro

Los comisionados del condado de Garfield afirman que no abrirán albergues ni prestarán servicios que no sean de emergencia a "inmigrantes no invitados o indocumentados" que lleguen a la zona.

Así lo establece una resolución que declara a Garfield "condado no santuario" que los comisionados aprobaron por unanimidad durante la reunión del lunes en Rifle.

Esta resolución surge después de que los comisionados del condado denegarán la solicitud de ayuda de la ciudad de Carbondale para dar refugio a los recién llegados, muchos de ellos procedentes de Venezuela. Carbondale ha estado buscando una transición hacia una respuesta más regional ante los refugiados sin alojamiento, y a finales de mes cerrará los refugios temporales.

La resolución declara que el condado de Garfield "apoya la inmigración legal a Estados Unidos" y que reconoce a las personas que buscan asilo de "gobiernos opresores".

Pero la resolución también dice que "los que entran ilegalmente en el país pueden suponer un riesgo significativo para la salud pública y la seguridad de una comunidad". Cita ejemplos como aumento de la delincuencia, enfermedades contagiosas y suponer una carga para las infraestructuras públicas, como son los servicios sociales, la seguridad pública, las escuelas y el sistema judicial.

La resolución afirma que el condado no dispone de la infraestructura "para hacer frente a las necesidades humanas a las que se enfrenta en la actualidad", y dice que los recursos del condado se ven sobrecargados por "la población de personas sin hogar no protegidas" y el aumento de personas que reciben beneficios públicos.

El comisionado Mike Samson dijo a sus colegas comisionados que pidió al fiscal del condado que redactará la resolución en respuesta a los comentarios de la comunidad.

"Hacía varios años que no recibía tantas llamadas telefónicas, correos electrónicos, mensajes de texto, conversaciones personales con personas muy preocupadas por este tema", dijo, y añadió que sólo una de las llamadas estaba en contra de dicha resolución, mientras que todas las demás con las que habló estaban a favor.

El condado de Garfield se declara 'condado no santuario'

Los comisionados aprovecharon una reunión reciente para subrayar su renuencia a proporcionar servicios y recursos a los recién llegados y a los inmigrantes indocumentados

Por Caroline Llanes, Aspen Public Radio Traducido por Convey Language Solutions

¿Qué es un "condado santuario"?

Jennifer Smith es abogada de inmigración en Smith Immigration en Glenwood Springs.

En una entrevista con Aspen Public Radio, Smith dijo que no hay realmente una definición legal establecida de una "ciudad santuario", o condado, o cualquier otra entidad gubernamental. Sin embargo, lo más común es que se refiera a un municipio que limita la cooperación de las fuerzas de seguridad locales con el gobierno federal, más comúnmente con el Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de EE. UU. (ICE, por sus siglas en inglés) en la aplicación de la ley de inmigración. Smith dice que, a menudo, los acuerdos entre ICE y las fuerzas de seguridad locales pueden vulnerar los derechos de una persona, amparados por la cuarta enmienda, que protege a las personas de registros e incautaciones irrazonables. Dijo que ha tenido clientes que han sufrido esos problemas en el condado de Garfield.

“CARBONDALE HA ESTADO BUSCANDO UNA TRANSICIÓN HACIA UNA RESPUESTA MÁS REGIONAL ANTE LOS REFUGIADOS SIN ALOJAMIENTO, Y A FINALES DE MES CERRARÁ LOS REFUGIOS TEMPORALES.”

Samson añadió que la prioridad del condado debe ser atender a los ciudadanos locales y no a los recién llegados, porque sus recursos son muy escasos.

Tras las objeciones de su colega el comisionado Tom Jankovsky, Samson accedió a eliminar varias cláusulas de "considerando" que detallan cómo la ciudad de Denver se ha visto afectada por un repunte de la inmigración en los últimos meses. Jankovsky dijo que la resolución debería centrarse en el condado y su respuesta.

"En estas comunidades más pequeñas, la policía sabía quién tenía permiso de conducir y quién no, y los paraban, y entonces ICE aparecía en la parada de tráfico", dijo. "Eso les ocurrió a algunos de nuestros clientes. Hemos tenido casos en los que... esencialmente, la policía local y el sheriff se presentaban en casa de alguien acompañados por ICE. Y, digamos, esta persona no había sido condenada por nada. Así que era realmente un problema".

Las ordenanzas de ciudades santuario entraron en vigor para combatir estos incidentes en comunidades de todo el país, dijo.

"No vamos a utilizar el dinero de nuestros contribuyentes locales para hacer el trabajo del gobierno federal", explicó Smith sobre el planteamiento.

Respuestas de la comunidad a la resolución

El grupo local de defensa de los latinos Voces Unidas de las Montañas dijo en un comunicado que la resolución es política y no hace nada para abordar realmente la falta de recursos del condado para las personas sin hogar y los servicios sociales. El grupo también escribió que perpetúa los estereotipos racistas al vincular el aumento de la inmigración con el aumento de la delincuencia.

La diputada estatal Elizabeth Velasco (D-Glenwood Springs) también emitió una declaración en la que denuncia la resolución, y afirma que difunde "una retórica inhumana contra los inmigrantes y promueve estereotipos peligrosos e información errónea". A continuación, escribió que no sólo deshumanizaba a los recién llegados al condado de Garfield, sino que "también enviaba el mensaje de que la comunidad inmigrante establecida en el condado de Garfield no es valorada, vista, ni bienvenida".

Pero la definición del término no se ha limitado a la cooperación de las fuerzas del orden con ICE.

"Parece que se ha transformado en mi mente en algo así como si acoges a los inmigrantes o no, lo cual... es un término bastante amplio, ¿verdad?", dijo. " Acoger a inmigrantes puede significar muchas cosas diferentes. No significa que digas, necesariamente, 'dales casas gratis' o algo así".

La política actual del sheriff del condado de Garfield es no encerrar en la cárcel del condado a los detenidos por ICE que no hayan sido acusados de un delito.

Durante la reunión del BOCC, el sheriff del condado de Garfield, Lou Vallario, dijo a los comisionados a través de Zoom que el condado sigue cooperando con el ICE en la medida permitida por la ley de Colorado - algo que también se indica en la resolución.

"Por la razón que sea, ya no son elegibles para estar detenidos por cargos penales, notificamos a ICE, les hacemos saber que esta persona va a ser puesta en libertad, y luego ICE tiene la oportunidad de poder venir por ellos ", dijo Vallario sobre los detenidos.

Smith dijo que no está segura de por qué era necesario explicar esto en la resolución, porque si alguien comete un delito, tiene derecho al debido proceso según la constitución y la ley, independientemente de su estatus migratorio.

"El sheriff tiene su trabajo. ICE tiene su trabajo", dijo. "Esta persona necesita pasar por un proceso penal protegido por la constitución y entonces (los funcionarios) deciden si es, digamos, alguien que entonces merezca la atención de ICE. Pero esa no es una decisión que tome el sheriff. Esa es una decisión que toma ICE, basada en sus propias prioridades de aplicación de la ley. Y por eso lo que me preocupa de esa redacción es que suena como si el sheriff estuviera asumiendo que cualquier inmigrante que entra en contacto con las fuerzas del orden es alguien que debe ser detenido por ICE."

Jennifer Smith se mostró de acuerdo y dijo que parte del lenguaje utilizado en la resolución es preocupante, en particular la idea de que un aumento de la inmigración contribuye a un aumento de la delincuencia. Dijo que es una "afirmación falsa y alarmista".

"Eso... de ninguna manera está respaldado por ningún tipo de datos o estadísticas. De hecho, han salido múltiples estudios que no son partidistas... que han demostrado durante años y décadas que nunca ha habido una correlación o causalidad entre la inmigración y la delincuencia. Eso es simplemente falso", dijo. Smith también señaló que, si la resolución se refiere a los nuevos inmigrantes que han llegado a Carbondale, muchos de los cuales proceden de Venezuela, la caracterización de que están "entrando en el país ilegalmente" no es cierta.

"Todas esas personas habían sido procesadas en la frontera y se les había permitido la entrada en el país mientras trabajaban en sus casos, ya fuera a través de la aplicación CBP One, de libertad vigilada o de cualquier otra cosa", dijo.

También coincidió con Voces Unidas y Velasco en que el mensaje de la resolución podría tener un impacto negativo en las comunidades de inmigrantes existentes en el condado de Garfield.

"Nuestro condado se ha beneficiado del trabajo de generaciones de inmigrantes", dijo. "Y por eso es realmente confuso que hicieran la declaración y no intentaran separar eso un poco u honrar esa historia que tenemos. Y en lugar de eso, sólo se siente como un blanco en la espalda de cualquiera que... pueda parecer un inmigrante". Otras comunidades de Colorado que han aprobado resoluciones similares son los condados de Mesa, El Paso, Moffat y la ciudad de Colorado Springs.

Traducción por Jacquelinne Castro

Preguntas a los candidatos

KDNK Community Access Radio, Aspen Public Radio y The Sopris Sun organizan un foro de candidatos de administradores de Carbondale el miércoles 20 de marzo a las 6 p.m. en las oficinas del distrito escolar de Roaring Fork en Carbondale (400 Sopris Ave). Por favor envíe cualquier pregunta que le gustaría preguntar a los candidatos a news@soprissun. com antes del martes 19 de marzo. Encuentre las presentaciones de los candidatos en las páginas 8 y 9.

ReEnergize el condado de Eagle

El condado de Eagle, en asociación con ReEnergize (un programa afiliado de Community Office for Resource Efficiency y Walking Mountain Energy Program), está proporcionando mejoras críticas de energía a los hogares para residentes con calificación de ingresos sin algún costo. El límite de ingresos corresponden al 150% del ingreso medio del área para el condado de Eagle. Los inquilinos y dueños de propiedades son elegibles, pero los fondos son limitados a hogares con calefacción de propano durante la primera mitad del 2024. Para más información en español, envíe un correo electrónico a hola@ walkingmountains.org o llame al 970-343-6530.

Arrestos por tráfico

La oficina del alguacil del condado de Garfield anunció que al menos seis individuos sospechosos de “atraer un niño por Internet”, junto con otros cargos, fueron arrestados y llevados en custodia. De acuerdo con el comunicado de prensa, la agencia local “trabajó en estrecha asociación con la Oficina de Investigación de Colorado, el departamento de policía de Glenwood Springs, el departamento de policía de Rifle, el departamento de policía

AVISO PÚBLICO

de Basalt, la oficina del noveno fiscal de distrito judicial, el departamento de Seguridad Nacional/ Investigación de Seguridad Nacional de los Estados Unidos y el equipo de Ejecución y respuesta de Problemas Especiales (también conocido como SPEAR). “Otros cuatro individuos fueron clasificados como fugitivos y fueron arrestados durante este esfuerzo colaborativo.

Quemando

El Servicio Forestal anunció que la Unidad Interagencial de Bomberos del Río Superior de Colorado (UCR por sus siglas en inglés) está planificando en conducir quemas controladas en la región durante las siguientes semanas. Para el condado de Pitkin, las quemas están planificadas para el sur de Carbondale en Avalanche Creek y Braderich Creek. Las quemas también están planificadas en Cottonwood Creek en el condado de Eagle. “Estamos monitoreando el clima y el combustible cuidadosamente antes de la quema, y solamente incendiamos estas quemas controladas si las condiciones son buenas para la seguridad y quema efectiva”. Dijo Lathan Johnson, el oficial de administración de incendios actual de UCR. “También estamos observando las condiciones del clima para la dispersión óptima del humo para minimizar el impacto en comunidades cercanas.

Vándalos de Red Hill

El consejo de Red Hill, la Oficina de Administración de Tierras (BLM por sus siglas en inglés) y Parques y Recreación de Carbondale reportaron vandalismo ocurrido en el sistema de senderos de Red Hill, dañando un sensor infrarrojo de sendero y desmantelando obras de restauración. De acuerdo con el comunicado de prensa, la ruptura es “demasiado cara en escala y

AVISO DE ELECCIÓN MUNICIPAL REGULAR

POR LA PRESENTE SE NOTIFICA que la elección municipal regular de la ciudad de Carbondale, Colorado, se celebrará el martes 2 de abril de 2024. Los detalles y la información referentes a dicha elección se detallan a continuación: Esta es una elección de voto por correo. Usted puede devolver su boleta electoral marcada por correo (no olvide incluir el sello postal adecuado), o puede entregar personalmente su boleta electoral en los lugares designados para depositarla que se indican a continuación.

A partir del 18 de marzo de 2024, las boletas electorales pueden dejarse en el ayuntamiento de Carbondale, 511 Colorado Avenue, Carbondale, Colorado. La urna electoral está ubicada en el EXTERIOR del ayuntamiento y está disponible las 24 horas del día, los 7 días de la semana hasta el día de las elecciones. Se puede votar en el INTERIOR del ayuntamiento, 511 Colorado Ave., Carbondale, CO el día de las elecciones, martes 2 de abril de 2024, de 7:00 a.m. a 7:00 p.m.

REQUISITOS PARA PERSONAS CON DERECHO A VOTAR

Para votar en la elección, un elector debe tener dieciocho (18) años cumplidos al día de la elección, ser ciudadano de los Estados Unidos de América, estar registrado para votar, no estar en prisión y haber residido legalmente durante al menos treinta (30) previos a la elección en Colorado y en un área que esté dentro de los límites municipales de la ciudad a la fecha de la elección (Carta de Autonomía de la ciudad de Carbondale).

FUNCIONARIOS PARA ELECCIÓN

Los votantes elegirán a tres administradores, en general, de toda la ciudad. Los tres candidatos que reciban el mayor número de votos ejercerán un término de cuatro años cada uno.

NOMBRE DE LOS CANDIDATOS PARA ADMINISTRADOR

Vote por un máximo de tres (3)

Christina Montemayor

Ross Kribbs

Susan Rhea

April Spaulding

Jess Robison

Katie Tabor

"Sincronías" parte 66, por Leonardo Occhipinti

daña aproximadamente 200 a 300 horas de trabajo voluntario de los últimos años, incluyendo tres semanas de inversión del grupo comunitario Outdoor Volunteer en mayo del 2023”. Astillas de madera desplazadas fueron organizadas en más de 30 pilas a lo largo de Ruthie’s Run, “las cuales parecen hogueras esperando a suceder”. Se sospecha que el vandalismo pudo haber tomado una considerable cantidad de tiempo, y cualquier persona con información es alentada a comunicarse con el departamento de Parques y Recreación de Carbondale, el departamento de policía, el consejo de Red Hill y/o BLM.

DE PRUEBA PARA RADÓN GRATIS

El radón es un gas radiactivo canceroso que entra a hogares a través del suelo. La única manera de saber si su casa tiene radón es hacer la prueba. Salud Pública del Condado Garfield está ofreciendo pruebas gratuitas. Recoja su kit:

Salud Pública 2014 Blake Avenue Glenwood Springs 970-665-6383

Salud Pública

195 West 14th Street Rifle

Oficina CLEER

520 S. Third Street, #7 Carbondale 970-704-9200

970-665-6383

40% de los hogares en el Condado Garfield han probado por encima del límite de acción de radón de la EPA.

www.garfield-county.com

Extractos del episodio de marzo de VOICES Radio Hour, el cual salió al aire el 8 de marzo de 2024 y presentó historias de tres recién llegados venezolanos. Todos los episodios se pueden encontrar en voicesrfv.org/ voices-radio-hour.

The following excerpts are from “VOICES Radio Hour’s” episode aired on March 8 on KDNK, featuring stories from three Venezuelan newcomers. Visit voicesrfv.org/voicesradio-hour to listen to the full bilingual episode and all previous “VOICES Radio Hour” episodes.

Argenis

Argenis tiene 40 años y es abogado. Cada día trabaja por un futuro mejor para su familia.

Mi nombre es Argenis

Márquez. Soy de Venezuela, de El Llano, Portuguesa. Soy llanero. El día a día de un llanero es levantarse, tomar una taza de café y luego, salir a ordeñar las vacas. Primero que nada, ya, después de que siga el ordeño, viene lo que es la limpieza del sembrado, se trabaja hasta el mediodía, y se regresa a su casa a descansar. El café para el llanero es a las cinco de la mañana, sin duda. Y el almuerzo, siempre a las doce. Eso es lo que es la cultura de nosotros.

Si pudiera cerrar los ojos y de repente tener cualquier tipo de comida frente a mí, sería el pabellón, sin duda. La comida venezolana es el "pabellón criollo". Consiste en; arroz, frijoles negros, huevo frito, tajada (pedazo de plátano maduro), queso y carne desmechada, ese es el pabellón, los frijoles van cocidos y el huevo frito.

Los momentos más felices con mi familia son en diciembre cuando todos nos reunimos y compartimos. Siempre estuvimos juntos. ¡Y la comida! La cena de Navidad con mi familia es el momento más feliz que uno puede pasar. Mi esposa y mis hijos se encuentran actualmente en Denver. Mi mamá y mi familia

están en Venezuela. Yo soy el caballo de guerra; primero tengo que avanzar para sacar adelante a mi familia.

Argenis is 40 years old and is a lawyer. Every day he is working toward a better future for his family.

My name is Argenis Marquez. I am from Venezuela — from El Llano, Portuguesa. I am a “llanero.” The daily life of a llanero is to wake up, have a cup of coffee and go milk the cows. After milking comes the cleaning of everything that is planted. The work goes until noon, then people return home to rest for the next day's work. Coffee for the llanero is at five in the morning, without a doubt. And lunch, always at noon. That's our culture.

If I could close my eyes and suddenly have any kind of food in front of me, it would be the "pabellón." Venezuelan food is the pabellón criollo. It consists of rice, black beans, fried egg, "tajada" (a fried ripe plantain slice), cheese and shredded meat. That's the pabellón. The beans are cooked, the egg is fried.

The happiest time with my family is in December when we gather and share for hours. We were always together. And the food! Christmas dinner with my family is the happiest time.

My wife and kids are currently in Denver. My mom and my family are in Venezuela. I'm the warhorse. I have to go forward to keep on fighting for them.

Benigno

Benigno tiene 55 años. Ama a su familia, especialmente cocinar para ellos. Es operador de grúa.

Mi nombre es Benigno José Ricardo. Soy de Venezuela, el estado Bolívar, San Félix. A dos días caminando de Brasil.

Primero, es por la gracia de Dios que todo sucede... estoy aquí porque quiero salir adelante. Soy una

Llegados / Newcomers think of home

persona capaz de emprender para un mañana, un futuro y también para incluir a mi familia. Mi familia está en Venezuela. Tengo cuatro hijos adultos, dos varones y dos hembras. La madre murió joven y lo logré, por medio de Dios, pero quise salir de mi país, buscando otro futuro porque mi país cayó en un sistema donde todo empezó a decaer.

Me gusta jugar y reír. Cuando era más joven jugaba béisbol, fútbol, practicaba boxeo, nadaba en los ríos y me salia a correr. Me gustaban mucho los deportes. Corrí maratones en las montañas. En mi país hay montañas grandes, como de cinco kilómetros de altura. Corría con amigos hasta los ríos, a algunos lugares también con aguas termales, y nos subíamos a los árboles en las orillas del río y nos lanzábamos. ¡Los ríos no son tan fríos como aquí!

Ahora mismo están celebrando el Carnaval en Venezuela. En los barrios de Venezuela se sorprenden tirándose agua, esa es la tradición. Así sabemos que estamos en Carnaval. Las chicas se disfrazan y los chicos se pintan la cara con carbón. Por la noche, la gente empieza a correr y bailar. Disfrutan de su tradición. Allí se ven tanto jóvenes como adultos. Se toman de la mano. Incluso la policía se une.

Benigno is 55 years old and trained as a crane operator. He loves his family and cooking for them.

My name is Benigno José Ricardo. I am from Venezuela, specifically from the state of Bolívar, San Félix. From my region, it is a two-day walk to Brazil.

Firstly, it's by the grace of God that everything happens ... I'm here because I want to move forward. I like to embark on ventures for a better tomorrow, for a future and to support my family. My family is in Venezuela. I have four adult children: two boys and two girls. Their mother died young and I managed through God's grace. But I wanted to leave my country to seek another future, because my country fell into a system of decline.

I like to play and laugh. When I was younger, I played baseball, soccer, practiced boxing, went swimming in rivers and went jogging. I was very into sports. I ran marathons up

mountains. There are big mountains in my country, like five kilometers tall. I would jog with friends to the rivers, some places with hot springs too, and we would climb up the trees on the river banks and jump in. The rivers aren’t as cold as here!

Right now they’re celebrating “Carnaval” in Venezuela. In the neighborhoods of Venezuela, they surprise each other by throwing water — that's the tradition. That’s how we know we’re in Carnaval. The girls dress up and the guys paint themselves with coal. At night, people start to run and dance. They enjoy their tradition. You see both young people and adults there. They hold hands. Even the police join in.

Ricardo

Ricardo tiene 34 años. Es ingeniero aeronáutico. Le encanta la música.

Mi nombre es Ricardo Urbina y vengo de Zulia, Maracaibo, ubicado en la costa de Venezuela. Soy mestizo de herencia indígena y maracucha. La cultura maracucha es muy reconocida a nivel mundial, especialmente su gastronomía. Es la cultura más representativa de mi familia. Nos gustan mucho platillos como el pabellón y la chicha de maíz. La chicha de maíz se elabora moliendo el maíz en un molino, remojándolo en agua, agregándole azúcar y dejándolo toda la noche. También tenemos una salsa que llamamos guasacaca, hecha con mayonesa, cilantro y cebolla amarilla, todo licuado. ¡La famosa Guasacaca! Es la pieza central de la mesa.

Cuando preparamos la comida, siempre ponemos música. En Zulia, de donde soy, tenemos nuestra propia música, llamada "gaita". La Gaita es una música típica que se toca con maracas, con el Cuatro venezolano (un instrumento más pequeño de cuatro cuerdas

que pertenece a la familia de las guitarras), arpa y timbales u otros tambores. Otro instrumento realmente singular utilizado en la Gaita es el “furruco”, un tambor redondo con una baqueta unida al parche superior que produce un sonido grave y profundo cuando se frota.

He aprendido que hay que vivir con alegría cada día y ser feliz. Se dice que reír es bueno para la salud. Es bueno ser feliz. De esta manera, incluso en momentos de tristeza, una sonrisa nos hace olvidar la tristeza. Muchas gracias por aprender un poco sobre nuestra cultura y creencias.

Ricardo is 34 years old. He is an aeronautical engineer and loves music.

My name is Ricardo Urbina and I come from Zulia, Maracaibo, located on the coast of Venezuela. I am “mestizo,” with both indigenous and Maracucho heritage. Maracucho culture, which is recognized worldwide (especially in terms of its gastronomy), is the most representative of my family. We enjoy dishes like pabellón and corn chicha. The corn chicha is made by grinding corn in a mill, soaking it in water, adding sugar and leaving it overnight. Another thing we have is a sauce we call "guasacaca," made with mayonnaise, cilantro and yellow onions all blended together. The famous guasacaca! It’s the centerpiece of the table.

When we prepare food, there is always music playing. In Zulia, we have our own music, called the "gaita." The gaita is music played with maracas, the Venezuelan cuatro (a smaller four-stringed instrument that belongs to the guitar family), the harp and timbales or other drums. Another really unique instrument used in the gaita is the “furruco," a round drum with a stick attached to the top drum head that produces a deep bass sound when rubbed.

I’ve learned that one has to live joyfully every day and be happy. It's said that laughing is good for your health. It's good to be happy. That way, even in moments of sadness, a smile makes us forget about the sadness. Thank you very much for learning a bit more about our culture and beliefs.

Trustees decline to consider ceasefire resolution, other news

By Raleigh Burleigh Sopris Sun Editor

Tuesday’s meeting lasted nearly four hours with an already packed agenda on top of nearly an hour of public comment on a topic not on the agenda. All trustees were present.

The topic in question was a resolution brought forth by the local Ceasefire Now group demanding an immediate end to the U.S.-backed war in Gaza, including the release of all Israeli hostages. Twenty people spoke on the issue, with several chiming in via Zoom from communities on the Front Range. The controversy was on full display, with exactly half the speakers in support of the resolution, which Glenwood Springs City Council adopted last month. The other half opposed the Town taking a stance on international policy.

“If you were to pass this,” Niki Delson warned, “it would be one of the most divisive things you could do in the Town of Carbondale.”

Jessica Richardson, who is also Jewish, stated: “Jewish people do not deserve a separate colonialist ethnostate enacting violence

BASALT REPORT

in our name. Jewish people deserve to be safe wherever we are in the world.”

Members of the Ceasefire Now group expressed frustration with contacting state and federal representatives without response. “We’re here as locals because we don’t have any other options,” said Maya Hunt of Glenwood Springs. Although tense, the exchange remained respectful.

According to an online tool (www.bit.ly/ CeasefireResolutions), more than 100 U.S. cities and tribal nations have passed similar resolutions. One speaker said the issue with these resolutions is leaving Hamas in power to conduct “another genocidal attack” on Israel.

The trustees opted not to put the resolution on a future agenda. “I don’t think it’s appropriate,” said Marty Silverstein. “Our purview is the Town of Carbondale, and that’s what we should stay focused on.”

Moving ahead with local issues, trustee Lani Kitching gave the update that Garfield County’s detox facility in Glenwood Springs is now slated to open on May 8.

Town Manager Lauren Gister said that the Town will

receive a planning grant from the state to help make text amendments to the Unified Development Code based on updates to the comprehensive plan, in addition to other improvements like digitized files and new software for affordable housing applications.

Bodegón, the new Argentine restaurant on fourth street, received a liquor license approval after a heartfelt appeal. “The only thing we need is to be able to pair our delicious food with some good wine,” said coowner Lucas De Cesco.

In other actions, HQ Sopris LLC received approval for retail marijuana store license and retail marijuana manufacturing facility ownership transfers to Consciously Crafted LCC, based in Denver. This came after a change to the code allowing nonresidents of Carbondale to own marijuana facilities in town, so long as they have a local agent.

Then, 5Point Film Festival received a liquor license for its flagship event at the Carbondale Rec Center, April 23-28. Luis Yllanes, executive director of 5Point and town trustee, recused himself.

Trustees were then faced with setting precedent, hearing an appeal of a staff determination to prohibit a short-term rental license. Morgan Williams, owner of a home within town limits on the edge of Satank, was determined to be in violation of a short-term license and building and zoning codes due to the conversion of a storage loft into a bedroom and inclusion of a kitchenette which he called a wet bar after removing cooking appliances. Williams cooperated diligently with the Town to bring his unit back into compliance, but was denied by staff a short-term rental permit for all of 2024.

“This punishment seems arbitrary and capricious,” Williams said, emphasizing a potential $40,000 income loss, while also admitting fault.

After some dialogue, trustees decided to set the standard at a 90-day license suspension after conditions have been rectified, inspected and approved — for a first offense.

The next hot topic was an ordinance amending the Unified Development Code in reference to impervious lot coverage. Although a public hearing was conducted on Feb. 13, Mayor Ben Bohmfalk allowed for additional comments from members of the public who had only recently caught wind of the vote.

Each spoke about the impacts that one change relating to pervious pavers would have on their projects in River Valley Ranch, several far along the design process.

continued on page 27

Town Council discusses new childcare centers on the horizon

By Will Buzzerd Sopris Sun Correspondent

This week, Basalt Town Council convened to discuss some hopeful news for young families regarding new childcare centers coming to Basalt within the next few years.

Before the meeting, the council held a brief work session during which Planning Director Michelle Thibeault provided a quick update regarding the development status of some of the Town’s properties. Designated “2E,” the town’s parcel across from TACAW recently received a $200,000 grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs to aid in creating a mixed-use development. In accordance with the master plan, the town intends to use the property for a childcare center as well as affordable housing. A request for proposal will likely be posted sometime in late spring. However, Willits residents should not expect a local childcare center coming online until “2025 at best.”

At Stott’s Mill, however, construction is expected to begin much sooner, starting with the Blue Lake Preschool in April. With a building permit coming in this week, Thibeault said the team is hopeful that the four-classroom preschool will be up and running by September. Both the Stott’s Mill and 2E childcare centers are being developed in partnership with Blue Lake Preschool in Carbondale.

Later this year, the Town intends to develop some

housing at Stott’s. Basalt owns four lots in the area, but will only be developing two of them this year, raising “highly energy efficient prefabricated homes” on the narrow lots to help provide housing specifically for recruiting and retaining Town employees.

Councilor Elyse Hottel briefly touched on the Community Office for Resource Efficiency’s (CORE) Coal Basin Methane Project. Despite being long abandoned, the coal mines above Redstone are venting large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. After collecting data in 2023, CORE now plans to present both its findings and possible mitigation measures on Tuesday, March 26, from 6 to 8pm at the Basalt Regional Library, and at the Church at Redstone on April 4 — also at 6pm.

Town arborist Chris Beiser gave a brief presentation laying out some wildfire mitigation strategies for the next few years, particularly north of Ridge Road on Basalt Mountain. While the town has designated five acres of the pinyon-juniper woodlands as open space and can manage it independently, the surrounding 80 acres are owned by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW). Because of that, Beiser stated that, for the next five years, the town will be working with the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) of Colorado State University to manage the landscape.

Matthew Mastalir presented on behalf of CSFS, stating that treatment will consist of both thinning out the woodlands and restoring sagebrush landscapes being encroached upon by pinyon and juniper.

Beiser also said that thinning out the pinyon forests will not only help mitigate wildfire but assist in some pinyon ips problems springing up on Basalt Mountain. Although it is a native species, the ips (a small, brown, cylindrical beetle) has become responsible for significant tree mortality across Colorado. Environmental stressors — such as continued drought periods or local ecological shifts caused by recent wildfire — can render trees susceptible to the ips, which bores into bark and can bring down mature pinyons within a year.

Thinning out trees on Basalt Mountain, especially stressed and dying trees which pose the greatest fire risk, can help ensure that the ips population is reduced and give uninfested trees a better chance of survival.

CSFS is currently waiting to hear back from CPW about its thoughts on the mitigation plan. This spring and summer, CSFS will engage with partners and the community to create a plan. After applying for grant funding in the fall, implementation may begin this winter depending on whether that funding is secured. After that, a five-year long project will be set to begin.

In construction news, the Town also announced that Frying Pan Road will only have one lane open for three weeks beginning March 18 for the emergency repair of a failing retaining wall. Traffic signals will be used to direct traffic, but those headed in the direction of Ruedi should expect delays.

Mayor Pro Tem Erica Sparhawk and Mayor Ben Bohmfalk stand next to Carbondale's first all-electric truck for public works, a new Ford F-150 Lightning. Photo by Raleigh Burleigh

No new cars for sheriff, library malcontent more content

By Amy Hadden Marsh Sopris Sun Correspondent

Silt resident and library malcontent John Lepkowski was the first to speak at Monday’s Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting, as has been his practice for months. But this time he was full of praise for the BOCC’s recent decisions, including last week’s resolution that Garfield County is not a sanctuary county. “I just picked up the paper today and [Voces Unidas] is protesting [the resolution],” he observed. “If there was no protest, you wouldn’t be doing any good.”

Lepkowski has led the charge against manga books at the Silt Library for over a year. His apparent crusade against the books has morphed into an attack on the library, executive director of the district Jamie LaRue, board president Adrian Rippy-Sheehy and the American Library Association (ALA). Lepkowski has labeled the ALA a communist organization and has demanded that the Silt Library put the manga books, which he considers to be pornographic, behind glass. Minutes from the Dec. 1, 2022 library board meeting in Silt also show that Lepkowski suggested that the books “be shelved higher or burned.”

Lepkowski has admitted to checking out more than 30 of the books to “protect the public.” He has attended BOCC meetings regularly to remind commissioners about the books. And he hasn’t had much pushback at the meetings — the BOCC has generally agreed with him and not many from the public have opposed his comments. Now, the BOCC has made what he considers to be a wise decision: the Feb. 26 letter informing the library board of trustees that the commissioners intend to take control of the trustee hiring process, beginning with the current opening for the Rifle area. “You’ll get the actual results from the people, the prospects,” he said. “I’d like to see it more balanced because they all seem to be the extreme left.”

SCHOOL DISTRICT REPORT

"It all started with manga."

Lepkowski stated in February that he has applied for the trustee position. He continued to claim Monday, in a wandering statement about the ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791, that the Garfield County library district is wrong about the First Amendment in relation to the manga books.

In other news…

Youthentity requested and received $11,000 for annual support. Executive Director Kirsten Petre McDaniel and Greg Beachy, Career Academy program director, updated the BOCC mainly about the financial literacy, jobs training and Career Academy programs.

The Colorado Department of Transportation also

provided updates for Region 3, which includes Garfield and 14 other counties. A brief presentation included information about focus and maintenance priorities, traffic and safety projects and construction projects.

Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario failed again to convince the BOCC to allocate money for new vehicles. “Right now, for me to be able to put a full complement of deputies out there doing the job they need to do and what the community expects,” he said, “I need a couple of extra vehicles to make that happen.”

Vallario asked for $183,000 for two new reserve patrol vehicles, which commissioners Tom Jankovsky and John Martin said was too much. “You've got 92 vehicles and you need two more,” repeated Martin. Vallario replied that not all of the 92 vehicles were patrol cars. He made an impassioned case for purchasing new cars, citing how sharing a car slows response time, how more vehicles on the road show a more robust police presence, why deputies trading vehicles won’t work and more. A member of the public also came forward praising the need for sheriff deputies in remote parts of the county.

Jankovsky questioned whether two or more of the six vehicles heading for auction this year had more life in them as patrol vehicles. Vallario reminded the BOCC of a motor pool assessment a few years ago. “There’s a significant amount of safety concerns for utilizing these vehicles after a certain amount of miles,” he explained. “Especially the way they’re run on a regular basis.”

Ultimately, the BOCC and a reluctant sheriff nixed the new cars and settled on getting the older cars in shape as reserve vehicles until the money appears to allow for new purchases.

“What’s the point of coming back?” questioned Vallario. “This is my third attempt to get this information across and show how important it is.” Commissioner Mike Samson was the lone voice in favor of granting Vallario’s request.

Cole named sole superintendent candidate; contract negotiations next step

By Jeanne Souldern Sopris Sun Correspondent

On Tuesday evening, at a regularly scheduled meeting, the Roaring Fork School District (RFSD) Board of Education voted unanimously to offer Interim Superintendent Dr. Anna Cole the superintendent position.

The timeline of Cole’s path to the position began in mid-August 2023 when thenSuperintendent Dr. Jesús Rodríguez asked Cole to fill in as acting superintendent while he was on parental leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act in preparation for the birth of his child.

When Rodríguez was due to return from medical leave in mid-October, he tendered his resignation, and after the board approved it Cole was named interim superintendent. In November, the board approved Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, the consulting firm that had selected Rodríguez as a superintendent candidate the previous year, to begin a superintendent search.

The position was officially posted in mid-December, with applications closing on Feb. 10.

An RFSD press release, sent shortly after Tuesday evening’s board vote, stated that 20 candidates nationwide applied for the position by submitting applications, which included essays.The board introduced a new element to this hiring process: the Superintendent Search Advisory Committee (SSAC), formed in February and composed of 10 volunteers who responded to a public invitation to join this committee. The SSAC

conducted initial candidate interviews and offered detailed feedback to aid the board in selecting finalists.

On Feb. 27, the board met online in a special meeting to approve the finalists for the superintendent position: Cole, Aspen School District Assistant Superintendent Tharyn Mulberry and Brush School District RE-2J Superintendent Bill Wilson. When Aspen School Superintendent David Baugh announced his resignation to become executive director of the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard

Club, Mulberry withdrew his name from consideration. The SSAC completed secondround interviews with Cole and Wilson to provide further feedback to the board.

Last week, Cole and Wilson engaged in focus group discussions with students, teachers, district office staff and community members, including some led by Spanish-speaking individuals and students.

Before the vote at Tuesday night’s meeting, each board member spoke in support of offering Cole the superintendency. Cole will now negotiate an employment contract with the district and is expected to officially take over the superintendent role on July 1 — a date when superintendent contracts often begin, aligning with the school district’s fiscal year. She has served as chief of student and family services since 2021, previously holding the director of the Family Resource Center position for two years. Cole also has experience as a high school science teacher,

teacher educator and curriculum developer.

When reporters interviewed Cole after the meeting adjourned, The Sopris Sun asked about the importance of the community trusting in the district's leadership and the need for accountability, transparency and communication, to which Cole provided the following answer.

“What's amazing about our scope and scale is that people feel very connected to our district leadership — it's a real strength and it also holds us incredibly accountable. When folks feel dissatisfied, they make it really clear,” she stated. “They have really legitimate questions. … I think those concerns and questions are absolutely valid, and they're pushing us to do better in terms of transparency and accountability in all the right ways, frankly.”

Summing up her feelings, Cole said, “It's a real privilege to get to be in this position right now. I think that's probably the biggest thing I'm feeling right now — it's a real honor to do so.”

Dr. Anna Cole interacts with community members during a meet and greet on March 7.

Photo by Jeanne Souldern

Community that creates together...

Photos

Sardinksy Sopris Sun Correspondent

Green Is The New Black has been going strong for 13 runs. This year, models and dancers took to the runway attired in up-cycled, repurposed and natural materials. The designs are intricate and, put simply, breathtaking. A big takeaway each year is the community collaboration that brings it all together. This year was no different and nothing short of impressive. Even dress rehearsal was a gas!

by Will

Right: Sam Stableford led the dance troupe for “The Heart,” performed during the 13th Annual Green Is The New Black Fashion Extravaganza. Below: The "Wires" line by Skye | Aire. Center, left to right: A model dons a head piece from the “Collective Heart by Land of Peace x Justice Bouchet” line. Ernan Torrez performs with Foco Flava. Caitlin Evans feeling the groove. Bottom: Behind the scenes at the Rec. Center.

'Interdimensional Threads' woven at The Launchpad

By Myki Jones Sopris Sun Correspondent

Local artists Chris Erickson and Claire Wright opened their collaborative showcase, “Interdimensional Threads,” at The Launchpad in Carbondale on First Friday, March 1. Observers of the exhibit are in for a diverse, eclectic, colorful and fun experience.

The pieces on display include upcycled materials and were created through various mediums, including woodworking, welding and upholstering. Plus, there is a “kids’ corner” with abstract pieces for youngsters to climb on and play with.

Wright and Erickson connected on Instagram after Wright suggested that the imagery in Erickson’s paintings would look great on a piece of furniture.

“Conceptually, the idea is two strangers coming together through social media and having mutual admiration for each other’s work,” Erickson told The Sopris Sun. “We will have traditional paintings of my own, wall sculptures — and then the imagery and the icons in my work are

reproduced on fabric via screen printing, commercial printing, embroidery …” Erickson lives in the Valley and has been a practicing artist for more than 20 years. He has a background in graphic design and is predominately a sculptor and painter. He said that he draws inspiration from everyday experiences.

“Much of my work derives from the everyday inundation of the constant barrage of stimuli that we experience … by means of music, sight,

sound, advertising and all of the media we get. I take excerpts or samplings of what I hear, feel and smell. I digest them, think about them and sketch them out,” he shared. “It manifests into the language and visuals I use in my paintings.”

As the owner of Cosecha Textiles, Wright has spent 10 years collaborating with interior designers — as well as private clients — to help them breathe new life into well-used furniture. Plus, she is one heck of a seamstress.

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“I found upholstery through my love of sewing, and I found sewing through my love of fashion. As a teenager, I used to shop at thrift stores and was particularly interested in vintage fashion. I would buy things and alter them,” Wright told The Sopris Sun. “Then, I started sewing things, making my designs, using sewing patterns and trying different things on my own, which evolved into selling my wares at craft shows and art festivals.”

She made a home on San Juan Island in Washington state, where she worked as a barista/waitress and did seamstressing on the side. She did alterations and started taking on more extensive and challenging projects — like repairing cushions on sailboats.

In discussing

“Interdimensional Threads,” Wright commended Carbondale Arts for being so helpful and accommodating. Though this is not her first collaboration, it is her first professionally curated showcase, she shared.

“People have been calling me an artist my whole life, but I've never claimed that title. I would call myself more of a maker. I didn't know what to expect as far as the installation goes. But it was really fun and great to work together as a team, curate the space and see all the beautiful colors coming together.

Seeing the vision take shape was amazing,” she concluded

“Interdimensional Threads” is on display through April 5 at The Launchpad. For more information, visit carbondalearts.com

Pippa, Reagan and Sawyer got immersed in “Interdimensional Threads” after an aerial silks class at The Launchpad. Photo by Sue Rollyson

Recycling symbol designer returns to Aspen

By Jeanne Souldern Sopris Sun Correspondent

When designer Gary Anderson arrives in Aspen next week, it will be his first return since 1972, when his iconic recycling symbol was unveiled at that year’s annual International Design Conference. Anderson’s “chasing arrows” recycling symbol is recognized globally and has become an icon representing environmental consciousness and waste reduction efforts; it is seen on recycling bins, packaging and products worldwide.

On March 18, from 6 to 7pm, Pitkin County Library and the Resnick Center for Herbert Bayer Studies will present “The Recycling Symbol: Born in Aspen.” Anderson and Recycle Colorado Executive Director Liz Chapman will converse with moderation by Andrew Travers, the Bayer Center’s Penner manager of educational programming.

In what began as a nationwide competition to design a recycling symbol for cardboard and paper, the sponsor was Container Corporation of America, started by Aspen Institute founder

Walter Paepcke, one of the largest producers of cardboard and cardboard boxes.

At the time, Anderson was a 23-year-old student completing a master's degree in urban design at the University of Southern California Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Architecture when he saw a poster announcing the competition, scheduled to coincide with the inaugural Earth Day on April 22, 1970.

The first-place winner was awarded $2,000, with the stipulation that “the money was used for something educational,” Anderson shared. After graduating from UCLA and wanting to learn more about his ancestral roots, he used the money to enroll in an educational program for English-speaking students in Stockholm, Sweden.

Anderson said numerous factors influenced the creation of the recycling symbol. One significant inspiration he recalled was a childhood field trip to a printing press, where the continuous motion of paper through rollers left an impression. He also learned about the Möbius strip — a twisted loop with one continuous side — both of which contributed to the

concept of three arrows moving through three dimensions.

Now, at the age of 76, Anderson recalls his first visit to Aspen in 1972: “It had a smalltown flavor, and everybody seemed pretty laid-back.

Again, it was kind of the hippie era, and because it was a design conference, there was a lot of long hair on the men who attended.” He continued, “I was enchanted and thought Aspen was a great place. That's one reason I'm eager to go back:, to see what it's like now. I have to think it's changed a lot.”

Anderson said the symbol evokes associations beyond its literal meaning and is a nod to early 1970s culture, characterized by youth movements and environmental concerns. “The late ‘60s, early ‘70s — I don't think there's been anything quite like it since. There were many things that seemed to be converging at once,” he said. “As time goes by, I think of more and more things that probably influenced my designing that particular symbol. At about that time, I had started to learn about [the Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst] Carl Jung and the idea that the mandala is found in many cultures, and its meaning is the universality

and interconnectedness of everything. Although I wasn't specifically thinking about that as I was coming up with a symbol, it was something I was aware of.”

Anderson's journey, from a young student crafting the symbol amid the burgeoning environmental movement to

its widespread recognition today, offers insights into the intersection of design and sustainability. These topics will be explored at the event, which coincides with the seventh Global Recycling Day. It is free and open to the public, but registration is required at www. bit.ly/RecycleAspen

Gary Anderson, right, with his original recycling symbol in 1972 at the University of Southern California School of Architecture design studios. The figure on the left is Container Corporation of America general manager Hans Buehler. Courtesy photo

Choral Society finds universal resonance

By Raleigh Burleigh Sopris Sun Editor

Aspen Choral Society’s spring show is set to dazzle, once again, after pushing the creative edge last year with movement, moody lights, living sculptures and provocative symbolism along the themes of grief and rebirth.

Each year, the all-ages, volunteer choir produces Handel’s “Messiah” in the winter followed by a special spring show. According to director Paul Dankers, now in his 10th season with Aspen Choral Society, “This is the most difficult choral piece that I’ve ever tackled,” and he knew it from the start.

“The Drop that Contained the Sea,” composed by Christopher Tin, is conceptually based around a Sufi proverb that within every drop of water is the essence of all water. Considering that the planet and our bodies are mostly water, all of life is united by a common care for this precious element.

Tin, a two-time Grammy-winning, ChineseAmerican composer, evokes this universality by basing each movement of “The Drop that Contained the Sea” in a different culture and language. Nearly 80 singers, accompanied by a 20-piece orchestra directed by MinTze Wu, will sing in 10 languages, weaving together poems and prayers from around the world: Proto-Indo-European, Turkish, Bulgarian, Xhosa, Mongolian, Portuguese, Sanskrit, Ancient Greek, Old Norse and Lango.

On the topic of cultural appropriation, Dankers said, “It would do nothing but harm to the world in which we live if we all became cultural purists and only did music from our own traditions.” As someone with German ancestry, he gave the example: “I would never say to a Japanese artist, ‘You are not allowed to perform the music of Bach because that’s my culture.’” On the

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contrary, “I can’t say I know of any flavor of music that hasn’t been influenced by some other culture,” he said. “Different influences make life richer.”

He emphasized the necessity of approaching another culture’s traditions with humility and respect, not making fun or intending to exploit. “I want to have the conversation,” he said, fearing a global trend toward nationalism. “I’m not afraid of hearing something I didn’t know before.”

Dankers explained that he makes a concerted effort to build community within the choir. “Every rehearsal begins with a meditation, and at the end, [members] are reminded not to leave before telling someone they enjoyed singing with them.” This has resulted in a group of people that genuinely love being together. “Yes, we’re all there to make good music, but we believe people who are connected make better music than people who are disconnected.”

The show is openly intended as an environmental statement, reminding audiences that water is sacred. In a region of the world where it is also becoming scarce, Dankers hopes that people will leave motivated to do what they can to protect it.

For this reason, they invited Roaring Fork

Conservancy and other advocacy organizations to have a presence at the show. Rick Lofaro, executive director of the Roaring Fork Conservancy, was quoted in a press release saying, “This invisible resource is critical to everything we do. Yet, in a developed country, it’s easy to take it for granted. Music is a great way to help people think about the world around us, and to remind us that we are all connected in our need for this critical resource.”

“If you wouldn’t inject [a poison] into your own blood system, why are you putting it into our water?” Dankers said directly, in reference to herbicides and other chemicals which leach into our waterways.

“The Drop that Contained the Sea” will feature three showings this weekend: the first at Basalt Middle School on March 15, followed in Aspen at Harris Concert Hall on March 16, concluding at Glenwood Springs High School on March 17. All shows are at 7pm.

Tickets are $20 online in advance, $25 at the door for adults, with discounted rates for youth and children. It’s highly recommended to purchase tickets in advance at www.aspenchoralsociety.org

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City El Jebel

Music

Thurs,

As

Last year’s spring show, “Illuminare” conveyed an emergence from darkness into light. Visit www.bit.ly/ ACSilluminare for the archived show. Courtesy photo

By Lynn "Jake" Burton

Surmise to say, I might have snagged the last good real estate deal in Carbondale in 1987. It was a 7,200 square-foot residential building site in the old part of town — at 756 Sopris Avenue, to be precise — for $16,000 cash. By 1988, a developer offered me $20,000 for it.

The south-facing lot had unobstructed views of Mount Sopris. The first fall in my new house, back in 1990, I shot a picture of a cattle drive on Highway 133 from my living room. This was before the Donita Townhomes were built to the south, effectively ending my Sopris views from the ground floor. I still had one of my second-floor windows through which to view the mountain. From the east side second-story windows, I looked down on a neighbor’s small log cabin, which was

A tale of the last good real estate deal

torn down to make way for a big house a few years back.

The history of my purchase began in an unlikely place: upstairs of the Dinkel building at the KDNK studio.

As I remember it, Frank Smotherman was doing a radio show. I walked up the building’s creaky steps and in on Smotherman. I said “Frank, I’ve got $16,000 in the bank and am looking for a building site in Carbondale.” He replied, “I didn’t know you were in that kind of financial position.” This assumption might have arisen from the fact I drove a mustardcolor 1973 Toyota Corolla and sometimes dressed like a bum. Frank and I later met and he told me the only residential building site in my price range was at 756 Sopris Avenue.

The out-of-town owners had put up a self-made “For Sale by Owner” sign and were asking $12,000 for the lot. Eventually, they hired Smotherman, who raised the price to $16,000.

Four years earlier, the 1983 oil-shale bust in West Garfield County immediately put about 2,000 Exxon employees out of work, and real estate prices from New Castle to Parachute

plunged. I was working at the old Free Weekly newspaper in Glenwood Springs at the time and saw an ad for a new condo in Rifle for, as I recall, $16,000. I thought about buying that, but decided I wanted to live in Carbondale if possible.

That’s the story about the lot’s purchase, but here is how I got to that point. Both of my parents were thrifty and managed to give their three boys some money. My older brother used his sum to remodel his house and my younger brother used his to buy a condo. I put my money in the bank and forgot about it until hooking up with Smotherman.

I started working at the old Valley Journal newspaper in 1987, not long after I bought the building site. I worked three other part-time jobs from time to time as well: delivering the Aspen Times downvalley route once a week, fulfilling the duties of a “popcornist,” also once a week, at the Crystal Theatre and editing the Valley Journal’s quarterly tourist guide, “The Lark.” I think I had the delivery job for about four years.

A friend said I would be able to build a house because

The original house

I didn’t eat out and didn’t take vacations. She wasn’t too far off.

At the initial closing for the building site, the sellers said they had a three-bedroom, single-story floor plan I could buy, but it sounded boilerplate and I declined.

In the fall of 1989, with money I’d saved — plus some from cashing in on my IRA — I was able to go to Joe Schofield at Alpine Bank for a construction loan. Owning my lot outright helped in getting the loan. All totaled, I think I paid a little less than $60,000 for labor, materials and fixtures. The house’s first appraised value was $80,000.

My house had a shed roof, redwood siding, two bedrooms, one and half baths and was roughly

800-square-feet downstairs and 400-square-feet upstairs with an open floor plan. The house was the first built on that block since the ‘70s when someone built one at the corner of 7th and Sopris.

For the most part construction was fairly uneventful, except for the time when my contractor’s only worker vanished one day. He said the guy turned out to be a narc or drug informant of some kind.

I had told my architect I wanted to add to Carbondale’s architecture. That’s how it turned out in my view, although not exactly as I imagined. I sold the house in 2009, and the new owners expanded it in such a way it looks nothing like my original house. And that’s okay.

at 756 Sopris Ave, completed in 1990. A lot has changed in Carbondale since 1990, including how this house looks today. Photo courtesy of the Garfield County Assessor’s Office

Share your works in progress with readers by emailing illustrations, creative writings and poetry to fiction@soprissun.com

Comparte tus proyectos creativos aún en proceso con nuestros lectores. Puedes enviarnos un correo electrónico con tus ilustraciones, creaciones literarias y poesía a fiction@soprissun.com

A Paper Predicament

By Deborah Holt Williams Glenwood Springs

The assignment was “try origami.”

I folded a giant green frog.

But things didn’t go quite according to plan —

My homework, it seems, ate my dog!

Artist Larry Day stopped by the Carbondale Library on Monday, March 11 during a presentation by Carbondale Historical Society Museum Director Sue Gray about Carbondale’s early history. He said it was a full house! Next up, Gray presents “Our Gal Hattie: A Pioneer

LETTERS

Berman for Basalt

Hannah Berman would be an exceptional Basalt Town Council member. I have known her longer than most people in the Valley because I was actually her school principal in Denver. Twenty years later, she’s still the same Hannah I knew as a student with grit, intelligence and aplomb, but she now stands out as a professional who is truly serving our community.

I have witnessed Hannah’s strengths through her work on a range of projects since she moved to Basalt five years ago. Early in the pandemic, Hannah rallied people and resources to deliver meals and coordinate internet services. In 2021, she helped organize the successful ballot measure to increase teacher pay. Hannah has shown her commitment to ensuring local people get healthcare through her role on the board of Mountain Family Health. And she’s been a vocal proponent of early childhood care through her role on the Confluence Early Childhood Coalition. I know that Hannah will continue working to support children and families by looking for more opportunities like Basalt Vista to create affordable housing for teachers and advocating for early childhood care and access to healthcare for all.

Most remarkable about Hannah is how quickly she has become a leader in our community. She has done so by being a good listener, collaborator and problem solver, and by being kind, thoughtful and helpful. Although I don’t reside in Basalt, I can attest that Hannah Berman would be an excellent steward of the community as a member of the council.

Rob Stein

Carbondale

Supreme Court fail

Our Supreme Court has failed us again by denying the Colorado ruling to disqualify Trump. Their rationale was erroneous. They were concerned with having the states make their own decision about disqualifying Trump. So, they said that the states had no jurisdiction. They said Congress would have to act. However, historically, after the Civil War, thousands of Confederates were disqualified without one act by Congress. Further, by accepting the Colorado decision it would apply across the nation. Justice Roberts had complained that approving Colorado would lead to the political parties disqualifying each other willy-nilly. That’s a straw man argument. An insurrection is required. We went 160 years between insurrections. It’s not common.

Also remarkable is the quickness of their decision and that it was released online when the court was closed. Meanwhile, they have yet to rule on the Trump request to find him immune from anything he did while in office — such as creating an insurrection. Seems like a “no brainer.” Are they dragging their feet?

But the disqualification issue is not over. Should Trump win the election, he could be denied from taking the office. Expect a flood of lawsuits.

This Supreme Court is partisan and contains some people who lied about their intentions, who lied about their past behavior and who lied about large financial gifts. It is time to add four honest and reasonable people to the court.

Patrick

Hunter

Carbondale

Israel-Palestine history

Come listen to Georgetown Professor Dr. Nader Hashemi’s talk, “Israel-Gaza War: Myths versus Realities,” at the Pitkin County Library on Thursday, March 14, at 7pm. This is a rare opportunity to learn from a Middle East expert about Israel and Palestine.

Don’t miss it!

Admission is free, but donations made in support of Doctors Without Borders’ relief work in Gaza are encouraged. A question and answer session will follow and live Spanish interpretation will be provided. RSVP at bit.ly/hashemirfv

Hashemi is an associate professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and the director of the Alwaleed Center for MuslimChristian Understanding. He has edited several anthologies on the Middle East and is a frequent voice on NPR, PBS and other outlets.

Hashemi draws on his deep experience and informed study of the region’s history and politics. At his Aspen lecture, he plans to discuss the historical seeds of Israel’s war with Hamas and debunk common misconceptions about the conflict and the role of the U.S.

He will also address the critical role and responsibility of Americans, whose government has urged Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to show restraint; but shows no sign of withholding funding or weapons and has repeatedly vetoed nearly unanimous ceasefire resolutions in the United Nations (UN).

Hashemi’s talk comes at a perilous moment in the war as Israeli forces are poised to invade Rafah, the last city in Gaza its forces have not entered and where a million Gazans have fled to after five months of bombing. The UN and aid organizations report sharp increases in child mortality and warn of famine.

The event is presented by Ceasefire Now Roaring Fork Valley, an all volunteer group that persuaded the Glenwood Springs City Council to unanimously pass the state’s first municipal ceasefire resolution on Feb. 15. The group continues to pressure Aspen and other Valley municipalities to pass similar resolutions and for citizens to lobby their members of Congress.

Hannah Saggau

Glenwood Springs

C'Dale

Rather than create a grace period for these projects or go back to the drawing board, Bohmfalk suggested omitting one change which would have removed an item from the code stating: “Up to 10% of the pervious surface required … may be used for improvements such as parking, driveways and walkways if a manufactured pervious paving system is used.”

Content with that suggestion, trustees approved the code amendment with the exception of keeping that item in the code.

Moving right along, trustees heard from Travis Gleason, co-founder of the Downtowner on-demand transportation service currently operating in Basalt and Aspen. Trustees considered a proposal for a six-month trial in Carbondale for a budgeted $181,500 to be matched by the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA).

Trustee Chris Hassig expressed concern that, once implemented, it will be difficult to undo this service without public pushback. Gister stated that RFTA is working with Downtowner for Valley-wide branding and a standard app.

With five votes in favor and Yllanes and Kitching voting against, a contract will be presented at a future meeting. If approved, the service would be available for free

SERVICE DIRECTORY

Locally

(970)

from 7am to 10pm, Monday through Friday, beginning in July.

Chip and seal contracts were rapidly approved, as well as acceptance of public infrastructure and release of the $235,590 security for Builders FirstSource with a warranty period — though Hassig voted against this without giving reason. A license agreement with RFTA was approved for water and sewer lines crossing the Rio Grande Trail to connect with Sopris Lodge. Trustee and mayor compensation increases were also approved, setting the salary of the mayor at $2,000 per month and salary of trustees at $1,200 — which will come into effect after the election and only for newly-elected trustees.

Last but not least, Parks and Rec returned with a schematic design for the new pool including “add alternates” which bring the project back into budget at $11.6 million. This still necessitates a $1.6 million fundraising goal to supplement the bond money acquired through a public vote. In the best case scenario, the project will be completed by July 25, 2025. Find details, including renderings, at: www. carbondaleconnect.org/carbondaleaquatics-center

Next week’s work session, March 19, will focus on winding down services for newcomer migrants, with weekday dinners concluding March 22 when the schools go on spring break.

Behind the scenes of GITNB

Above: Annabelle Stableford and Carrie Vickers grew quite tall before the GINTB Fashion Show so that their clothes would fit. The two greeted ticket-holders in the lobby as they arrived for the performance on Saturday. Brian Colley was clearly jealous and wanted to be as tall as they were, so he asked if the two women would lift him up. They tried, but said he was too heavy.

and designer Laura Stover.

Photos and text by Jane Bachrach

HELP WANTED

Light housekeeping and gardening.

WEEKLY: TUESDAYS & FRIDAYS

3 hour minimum, more as needed

RATE: $25.90 per hour

TRANSPORTATION/CAR MODEL/YEAR

Provide Copies of: Drivers License, Auto & Health

Age: 35 yrs to 55 yrs

Bilingual & List of references required.

***CALL RENEE @ 970-510-5596***

Left: Photographs covering the wall in the make-up room inspired the artist applying eye make-up on model

The meeting began with student of the month awards celebrating (left to right): Iker Medina Compos (CRES), Caden Smith (Ross), Jade Keeling (CRES) and Ben Emack (Ross). Photo by Raleigh Burleigh

Report from page 18

NOTICE

NOTICE OF REGULAR MUNICIPAL ELECTION

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the regular municipal election of the Town of Carbondale, Colorado, will be held on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. The details and information pertaining to said election are as follows:

This is a mail ballot election. You may return your voted ballot by mail (do not forget to include adequate postage), or you may hand deliver your ballot to the designated drop-off locations listed below.

Beginning March 18, 2024, ballots may be dropped off at Carbondale Town Hall, 511 Colorado Avenue, Carbondale, Colorado. The ballot box is located OUTSIDE of Town Hall and is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through Election Day.