CSU Agriculture Extension Specialist Mariah Foley and her husband, Aidan Goldie, helped rout out thistle at the Roaring Fork High School gardens on June 23 as part of a community effort to reclaim the space from the weeds. The grow dome in the background is also being revived, and it’s not too late for volunteers to get involved! Contact mariah.foley@ colostate.edu for details.
What cause to rejoice! The long overdue end to the illegal closure of a Pitkin County right of way and road has come to a settlement. The Rock Creek Wagon Road between Redstone and Filoha Meadows Nature Preserve, colloquially known as Dorais Way, will reopen in time for the Preserve’s summer season. This dirt road starts at the Redstone North Bridge and travels downriver for approximately one mile before entering the nature preserve. We believe this is the end of a very sad and unfortunate legal battle.
Years ago, several new residents along Dorais Way formed the Rock Creek Association (RCA). This non-unanimous group of homeowners proceeded to install a gate and signage and illegally locked everyone out except immediate neighbors. While The Crystal Valley Environmental Protection Association (CVEPA) understands the neighborhood’s concern about trail development and sharing this bit of paradise, this effort at exclusivity was misguided. Access is an important part of the CVEPA mission, whether it be to promote or restrict access.
to county commissioners to relationships the president has with local Redstone friends and neighbors and any conspiring conversations that might have been had about the road closure. Nothing was found. Three years ago, I was stunned that a judge had endorsed such intrusive measures. Sadly, in this present day, nothing from the judiciary shocks me.
By John Armstrong
The core RCA group of three men from outside the Valley built their retirement homes along the right of way and claimed the homeowners had the exclusive right of access to this road. The road has a precedent of public use dating back perhaps over 140 years. Numerous old timers agreed to testify to public use dating back generations. The Pitkin County attorney took the RCA to task in a years-long legal battle that has cost the taxpayers a great deal of money, all while public access was being usurped. Pitkin County ultimately proved that the route is a county road. Pitkin County and RCA have reached a settlement favoring the sovereignty of the county.
Early in this case, CVEPA learned of the facts and came out strongly and vocally in favor of Pitkin County’s defense of public access. This drew the ire of the RCA. CVEPA emails and minutes were subpoenaed by the RCA at great inconvenience to CVEPA. On a beautiful summer day three years ago, the president of CVEPA was deposed under oath at the office of the lawyer commissioned by the RCA. On that sunny day the president was interrogated by the RCA attorney for over four hours while the three new RCA “neighbors” sat there glowering at him. Questions ranged from anything that might have been said
It was quite an eye-opener on Thursday, June 19 when I picked up my Sopris Sun and found the cover page blank. Each Thursday I look forward to picking up my favorite newspaper, The Sopris Sun. I confess I am guilty of taking advantage of this “free” situation that gives me so much enjoyment and news, especially of our local area.
In addition to so many good articles, schedules, photos, etc., letters from readers are often very thought-provoking. For example, if you still have the June 19-25 copy, take time to read some informative letters. You may learn things we all should know.
I send many thanks to Raleigh, the editor, and all those working with him. I believe you have succeeded in your mission “to inform, inspire and build community by fostering diverse and independent journalism.”
With hope that others who are able and with similar feelings will help keep you writing for us.
Wendy Draina Carbondale
If you have traveled Hendrick or 8th Street south of Main, you have noticed odd-looking clusters of white or yellow plastic posts altering the streets. Changes to more streets are coming as the Town’s Mobility and Access Plan (MAP) is tested
Disappointment, anger, a feeling of helplessness — maybe a bit of all this was felt, but it is the reason that standing up in defense of access and engaging in the issues is so important! These stories need to be told. Knowledge and respect of history is the best way to avoid making the same mistakes again, or fighting the same battles.
It is time to get beyond this issue so the healing can begin. A carved stone sits in the yard of a unique educator and role model from my youth, reading: “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.” It is always time to stand tall for access to public lands. Defense of those very same public lands could never be more important. The “Big, Beautiful Bill” has threatened your public lands. Beware Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah, who is committed to fulfill his vision of Utah’s manifest destiny. Now is the time to write senators and congressmen to protect the wilds from the auction block.
CVEPA believes that public restraint from access, be it temporary or permanent, can be of equal importance to environmental well-being. The much revered conservation easement system is established to protect the environment and the conservation property owner.
Know before you go! The Rock Creek Wagon Road access settlement was ratified by the county commission on June 25, so the public can resume their peaceful and respectful access to one of the most ecologically rich gems of the Crystal Valley. The Filoha Meadows Nature Preserve Management Plan allows hikers to traverse the preserve on that access road from July 1 to Sept. 30.
Thank you to the people standing up for our rights and Pitkin County’s commitment to public access! Research the limited access to Filoha Meadows and why adherence to these regulations is so important.
To support CVEPA and to learn more about their mission, search www.cvepa.org or follow on facebook.
and implemented. The goal is to make our streets safer and more pleasant for all types of use including bikes, pedestrians, public transit and cars. Many of these changes will look odd because they are temporary, meant to test various plan concepts.
Early in 2023, the Board of Trustees (BOT) approved funding for a comprehensive analysis of Carbondale’s multi-modal infrastructure. Town staff was directed to manage the process, an experienced consultant was hired to study and propose a long-term plan and the Town’s volunteer Bike, Pedestrian & Trails Commission (BPTC) was asked to provide guidance and feedback. The public, too, was encouraged to provide input, and during the second half of 2023, hundreds of comments and concerns were documented. The final MAP draft was approved by the BOT in January.
The objectives of the plan are very clear: “Carbondale will have a safe, connected and affordable transportation network which ensures mobility and comfortable access for everyone; prioritizes biking, walking and transit; reduces private vehicle use; and proactively confronts the pressures of growth to protect and preserve the smalltown character and values of the Carbondale community.” It is a big vision and will not be achieved without significant funding and several years of planning and testing.
As a member of the BPTC, I ask for your patience and your feedback during these
early stages. Please consider the long-term objectives, recognize the temporary nature of this testing phase and give each feature a few months before you make a final judgement. Please ask yourself whether negotiating a mini-traffic circle or a street narrowed to accommodate bike lanes is a reasonable trade-off that serves the greater community good — for safer routes to schools, a healthier environment and preservation of our neighborhood-centered, deeply connected character. When we move around town on foot or by bike, that character is enhanced.
Editor Raleigh Burleigh 970-510-3003 news@soprissun.com
Contributing Editor
James Steindler
Sol del Valle Editora Bianca Godina bianca@soldelvalle.org
Advertising Rep Margarita Alvarez
margarita@soldelvalle.org
Digital Editor
Ingrid Celeste Zúniga ingrid@soldelvalle.org
Lead Editorial Designer Terri Ritchie
Partnerships & Engagement Manager Luise Wollesen
Advertising Designer
Emily Blong
Delivery
Frederic Kischbaum
Hank van Berlo
Proofreaders
Lee Beck
Tracy Kallassy
Ken Pletcher
Hank van Berlo
Executive Director
Todd Chamberlin 970-510-0246 adsales@soprissun.com
Board Members / Mesa Directiva board@soprissun.com
Klaus Kocher • Kay Clarke
Donna Dayton • Eric Smith
Roger Berliner • Elizabeth Phillips
Jessi Rochel • Andrew Travers
Anna Huntington • Loren Jenkins
Carlos Ramos
The Sopris Sun Board meets at 6pm on second Thursdays at the Third Street Center.
The Sopris Sun, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation with a mission to inform, inspire and build community by fostering diverse and independent journalism. Donations are fully tax deductible.
Sincerest thanks to our Honorary Publishers for their annual commitment of $1,000+
Lee Beck & John Stickney
Kay Brunnier
Frances Dudley
Michelle & Ed Buchman
Sue Edelstein & Bill Spence
Deborah & Shane Evans
Greg & Kathy Feinsinger
Gary & Jill Knaus
Eric Smith
Peter and Mike Gilbert
Patti & George Stranahan
Elizabeth Wysong
Alpine Bank
Emily & George Bohmfalk
Kathy & Carter Barger
Sandy & Paul Chamberlin
Karen & Roger Berliner
Donna & Ken Riley
Gayle & Dick Wells
Legacy Givers for including us in their final wishes. Mary Lilly
Donate by mail or online: P.O. Box 399 Carbondale, CO 81623
520 S. Third Street #26-B 970-510-3003
soprissun.com/Donate
The Sopris Sun, Inc. is a proud member of the Carbondale Creative District
OUR UNDERWRITERS AND NONPROFIT PARTNERS!
Stage 1
Garfield County has followed suit and implemented Stage 1 fire restrictions at midnight on Thursday. That means no fires outside of designated fire grates within a developed campsite, no fireworks, no smoking outside in undeveloped areas and all burn permits are postponed until further notice. Causing a fire can come with a class two felony and financial responsibility.
Roadless Rule rescinded
FirstBank Alpine Bank
Colorado Mountain College Nordic Gardens
Hilary Porterfield
Basalt Library
NONPROFIT PARTNERS
Two Rivers
Unitarian Universalist
Carbondale Arts
Carbondale Rotary Club
Colorado Animal Rescue
Interested in becoming an Underwriter or Nonprofit Partner?
Email Todd@soprissun.com or call 970-987-9866
*METAL ETCHING
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday it is rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule, stating the “outdated” rule impedes the ability of the Forest Service to responsibly manage forests and grasslands. Removing the rule will allow for road construction opening nearly 69 million acres for timber harvest, “30% of National Forest System lands.” According to Wilderness Workshop, the rollback of this rule “poses a significant threat to the Thompson Divide and numerous other beloved public lands across Colorado and the West.” A 12-mile stretch of designated roadless Ashley National Forest land in Utah has also stood in the way of the Uinta Basin Railway project.
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that the public lands sell-off plan inserted into the “Big, Beautiful Bill” does not meet necessary criteria to be included in a reconciliation bill. MacDonough advised removal of provisions permitting the selling off of millions of acres of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land in 11 states and exempting oil and gas sales from full National Environmental Policy Act review, ruling these provisions do not comply with the “Byrd Rule” which prevents extraneous matters from being included in a reconciliation bill.
The Forest Service lifted its hard-sided camper order for Difficult Campground put in place June 10 due to bear related incidents this season. Therefore, tent camping is again permitted there. “While bear sightings have continued, we have had no further incidents,” said District Ranger Kevin Warner. “We will continue to closely monitor the situation and educate campers about the rules and practices for camping safely in bear country.” The White River National Forest has a food-storage order for all developed campgrounds and many dispersed camping areas. Difficult Campground is equipped with food-storage lockers for visitors to use.
In 2021, Skyhook Solar, WE-cycle and Lyft
Wed’s, 11:10am-3:30pm, 7/9-8/6
*PAINTING WITH LIGHT
Wed’s, 11:10am-3:30pm, 7/9-8/6
*PAINTING WITH LIGHT
Wed’s, 11:10am-3:30pm, 7/9-8/6
Carbondale
*WIRE WORK & CHAIN MAKING
Wed’s, 5:10-9:30pm, 7/9-8/6
*Credit Classes - Call your campus for Registration info. Senior discount applies.
partnered to bring two Skyhook Solar stations to Aspen and Basalt to charge WE-cycle docks using the power of the sun. Since then, that reach has expanded to include 14 solar stations, powering 456 bikes, located in Aspen, Basalt, Carbondale and Snowmass Village. “Now entering its fifth summer season, the WE-cycle and Skyhook partnership with Lyft Urban Solutions has served as a model for solar-powered micro-mobility in North America,” read a press release.
All U.S. military veterans are invited to participate in the “Tribute to Veterans” section of Aspen’s 2025 Fourth of July parade. Veterans who would like to participate should meet at the Paepcke Park on Main Street at 10am. Rides are available with advanced notice. Call 970-948-8278 for more information.
According to an Aspen Journalism report on June 20, streams are flowing at 42-67% of normal in the Roaring Fork Watershed. “Streamflows peaked on June 3 or June 4 with the Roaring Fork River flowing as much as 3,050 cfs at Glenwood Springs, which was 87% of average peak flow, and the Colorado River running up to 11,400 cfs near the stateline the next day, which was 64% of normal,” the report stated. People can reference Aspen Journalism’s real-time streamflow tracker at www.tinyurl.com/AJstreamtracker
An internet and cell phone outage affected most of the Roaring Fork Valley on Monday evening. As reported by the Aspen Daily
News, the outage followed a national internet outage on Thursday, June 19, which affected CenturyLink, Quantum Fiber and Brightspeed services. A power outage on Saturday, June 21 also affected much of the Valley.
Carbondale local Sean Van Horn had an incredible weekend at the June 20-22 Broken Arrow Skyrace in Palisades Tahoe as he topped the Triple Crown podium. Considered one of the most challenging trail running festivals in North America, it is a consistent qualifier for Team USA and World Mountain Championship teams attracting world class and recreational athletes. To win, Van Horn endured three consecutive days of grueling mountain racing to achieve the best total time of the Ascent, 23k and 46k events. Other standout performances include Carbondale athletes Forrest Barton and Jeff Colt placing top 20 in the 46k and Joseph DeMoor finishing 6th in the Ascent.
They say it’s your birthday! Folks celebrating another trip around the sun this week include: Jaspen Mackin, Emilee Phelan, Zack Ritchie, Lucy Sontag and Jake Zamansky (June 26); Roberto de Leon, Erica Pincomb and Colton Mesner (June 27); Michael Black, Adele Craft, Niki Delson, Erin Galbreath, Jeff Isaacson, Claire de L’Arbre and Beth Mulry (June 28); Zuleika Pevec, Patty Phelan and Drew Sorenson (June 29); Erin Rigney and John Stickney (June 30); Cory Feldman, John Matchael, Jax Moss and Kyle Obuhanick (July 1); Staci Dickerson, Jeanie Chestnutt, Giana Grossman-Loiola, Dean Harding, Bruce Kirk and Laurie Loeb (July 2).
SLOW FLOW YOGA
Wed’s, 9-10am, 7/2-8/13
DICKENS AND THE LAW
Mondays, 6-8pm, 7/7-8/18
EDIBLE LANDSCAPES
Wed, 6-8pm, 7/2
Basalt In-person or Online
CHOCOLATE
Thurs’s, 5-7pm, 7/10-7/17
EAT YOUR WEEDS - LEAVES, SHOOTS, FLOWERS & FRUITS
Saturday, 1-3pm, 7/12
MYKI JONES
Sopris Sun Correspondent
The Carbondale Beautification Club (CBC) has begun to conduct a myriad of restoration, landscaping and cleanup projects at businesses, public areas and even homes in Carbondale. Its inaugural restoration project just took place at KDNK Community Access Radio, where club leader Jeff Basler and fellow volunteers cleaned and beautified the space in front of the building.
With the help of KDNK staff, volunteers twined painted rocks, created by young people at Andy Zanca Youth Empowerment Program’s 25th anniversary earlier this month, through cut-back foliage in the garden beds as part of their efforts to spruce up the patio space — and just in time for Typical Ghost’s album release party and the installation of a Bill Morrow sculpture, “Flight.”
Basler is retired from advertising and has since dedicated his free time, at least in part, to working twice a week at Eagle Crest and undertaking these restoration and
gardening projects which compliment the natural surroundings of each space. Having posted about the initial project on the Carbondale Facebook page, the club’s efforts and mission received a lot of positive feedback.
“In the weeks ahead, we’ll identify future project opportunities, communicate our needs and solicit engagement — whether it be simple volunteerism, tools, materials or other,” the June 16 post read. “For now we are keeping things simple: build a database of volunteers, identify simple projects and solicit needs and [dates] for project[s].”
Basler, alongside 67 likeminded volunteers, hopes to build connections with local institutions and make known their beautification offerings throughout town.
“We want to integrate naturally here in Carbondale and bring the art community into the beautification process. Our work includes a lot of gardening, art and tidiness that captures the essence of
Carbondale,” he said. “We want to support the Town’s efforts and ultimately support the businesses and contribute to a welcoming environment in Carbondale for people when they visit.”
The CBC has been brainstorming other ideas, including a possible restoration of the alleyway west of the Pour House and multiple weed pulling projects. Basler is ambitious and aspires to schedule three projects a week, possibly more, once things start catching on.
“When we identify a project, I’ll send out an email to the distribution list with the location and tools needed … to get started with beautification,” shared Brasler. “So we can do good by the community and do good by Carbondale.”
He continued, “If you need help and have a lawn at your business and for whatever reason it has overgrown or it isn’t to your liking, let us know. Our volunteer base is super motivated and eager to start working as soon as possible.”
In terms of volunteer outreach,
Basler is hoping to eventually partner with local organizations — such as schools or churches — as the need for the group’s services grows. At this time, though, CBC is keeping its projects simple, local and low-pressure.
“We’re keeping it really simple as it’s in the infant stage, and we’ll see how it organically grows one project at a time,” concluded Basler.
For more information or to get involved, get in touch with Jeff Basler at jbasler99@gmail.com
JAMES STEINDLER
Contributing Editor
With snowpack and river reports indicating a very dry summer, wildfire is, yet again, at the top of people’s minds. And the Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District (CRFPD) is doing everything it can to prepare for — and prevent — wildfires, while balancing increasing daily call volumes. To keep up with demand, its board of directors is mulling over whether or not to ask taxpayers for help.
“The board of directors is considering one or two ballot measures this fall,” Chief Rob Goodwin told The Sopris Sun. “One would be a proposed sales tax to fund our general fund … the second potential question would be a bond issue for capital improvements.”
Sales tax measure
The general fund is used to hire staff, buy gear and “keep the lights on,” explained Goodwin.
As a result of Colorado’s 2024 residential assessment rate and valuation adjustments, revenue for the district is expected to continue dropping by about $1.3 million a year. For at least the next six years, despite however much property values increase, fire districts can only increase taxation by 5.25% annually.
To offset these losses, the legislature adjusted Title 32 to allow certain special districts, with voter approval, to levy sales taxes. This takes effect July 1, but only three districts in the state have already received voter approval to incorporate a tax by that time.
CRFPD’s sales tax measure would be on the November ballot and, if passed, collections would begin as of Jan. 1, 2026.
Its sales tax would likely be set at 1.5% for the first five years, decrease to 1.25% for the next five years, then drop to 1% where it would remain. The reason for the initial 1.5% is to meet its apparatus (fire engines, ambulances, etcetera) replacement schedule. The average price of a rig is $1.5 to $2 million. The revenue will also be used to increase staffing (a top priority), replace equipment and replenish its reserves.
The district is currently dipping into its reserves due to the drop in funding, said Goodwin. “It’s not sustainable.”
Back in 2015, CRFPD hired a consultant, Almont and Associates, to develop a 10-year master plan. “We identified that we needed six [on-duty,] full-time, 24/7 responders — in 2015 — to be able to run two ambulance calls, or run a firetruck and an ambulance to a bread-and-butter car wreck.”
incrementally over the course of a few years. “We are understaffed in almost every division,” said Goodwin. “But the number one priority for this tax increase is responders.”
Last year, the department responded to about 1,900 calls, and 35% (660) of those were “concurrent” calls (two or more at the same time). “[That] happens much more often than it ever had before,” explained Deputy-Chief Administrator Jenny Cutright, speaking to the increased demand.
- Chief Rob Goodwin
There are five fire stations in the district: Marble, Redstone, Carbondale, Missouri Heights and near the CMC-Spring Valley turnoff (West End Station). Only the Carbondale and West End stations are staffed 24/7, albeit below the NFPA staffing standard.
The district wasn’t able to meet the six-person staffing recommendation until 2023, by which time the need had already grown. “We are staffed at levels identified in 2015, and it’s now 2025 and we’re way behind,” the chief stated. It also doesn’t meet the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standard.
According to the NFPA standard, a typical car wreck requires eight responders. To curtail the deficiency, regional fire districts constantly rely on mutual aid for calls. Should the district receive the sales tax revenue, additional staff would be hired
The bond, for $25 million, would primarily be for workforce housing projects, but also for station improvements. Breaking it down, Cutright stated that the bond tax for a homeowner with a $1 million property would cost them about the same as a Netflix subscription: $13 a month, though paid annually.
Goodwin said he’s been around for three bond cycles. One was paid back two years ago and another, from 2018 for $6.75 million that went toward the training center and the purchase of fire apparatuses, is still
being paid back at an average of $7 a month from property owners.
“It is so hard to get people that can stay here,” said Goodwin. “I never thought we’d be in this boat, but we are and we need to build workforce housing for career people and volunteers in different locations around our fire district.”
The department is considering small housing projects in Marble, Redstone, Missouri Heights and a larger project in Carbondale that would be for a mix of career and volunteer responders. The department has been in conversation with Colorado Mountain College and the Roaring Fork School District to possibly collaborate on a joint housing project — although those discussions are in the preliminary stages. The two education districts currently partner with CRFPD for fire science and emergency medical responder courses.
Magellan Strategies recently conducted a survey to gauge community support for the ballot measures. Each response was broken down into two parts for each prospective measure: 1) before being informed of the reasoning behind the request and 2) after being informed. The sales tax measure received 72% approval (before being informed) and 75% approval (after being informed). The bond measure had a 59% approval (before informed) and a 68% approval (after informed). There were a total of 498 responses.
The board is expected to make a decision by the end of July whether or not to include either, both or neither of the measures on the November ballot.
RALEIGH BURLEIGH
Sopris Sun Editor
In a 5-1 vote, Carbondale’s Board of Trustees pledged $1 million to a regional effort to purchase two trailer parks, representing 139 units, under a community-ownership model for a total cost of $43 million.
As framed by April Long, executive director of the West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition, the purchase would be akin to securing affordable housing at a rate of $145,000 per unit. Moreover, “It’s not just units, these are families, so it’s 139 families we’re looking to hold here in their home that they’ve been in for decades,” she said.
Long explained that local governments had already accrued $10.1 million in pledges — $3 million from Pitkin County, $3 million from the City of Aspen, $2.5 million from Eagle County, $1 million from Snowmass Village, $500,000 from Basalt and $100,000 from Glenwood Springs. Additionally, Atlantic Aviation, the company that operates the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport is committing $1 million and Aspen One $500,000. The Coalition is scheduled to speak with Garfield County on July 8.
The mobile home park residents are working with Thistle ROC, a lending nonprofit, to match a competitive offer on the two parks, which were listed for sale together. Under Colorado law, the residents were given 120 days to counter an offer made by an anonymous buyer. The property owner is not obligated to sell to residents, but must negotiate in good faith. According to Long, the group will also pursue state funding, but the Proposition 123 grant cycle does not coincide with the residents’ Aug. 7 deadline.
Carbondale trustees demonstrated enthusiastic support for the cause, beginning with Christina Montemayor proposing $1 million be appropriated from a dedicated housing fund currently sitting around $1.6 million. She also encouraged annexation of the Mountain Valley Mobile
Home Park, which is just outside Carbondale limits.
Chris Hassig concurred, and also issued a public challenge to Basalt Town Council to increase their contribution considering the proximity of the Aspen-Basalt Mobile Home Park to their town limits and that potential for annexation. He invoked the history of Pan and Fork, a mobile home park that was eventually redeveloped into Basalt River Park, displacing 38 families.
Erica Sparhawk acknowledged Carbondale’s parallel history, allowing the Bonanza Trailer Park downtown to be sold for redevelopment in 2002. Ironically, the majority of that land has since remained a dirt lot which the Town now owns and is struggling to finance a 65-unit affordable housing project on for $38 million.
Given a deed-restriction which prevents redevelopment of the trailer park near Carbondale — in addition to other financial commitments and budgetary pressures — Mayor Ben Bohmfalk could not agree with pledging $1 million. “That doesn’t mean I don’t support this,” he said. “I’m comfortable at the $500,000 to $600,000 level. I’m not comfortable at the $1 million, with a $15 million general fund and a housing fund that’s going to be really depleted after this, but I respect the decision.”
Dozens of residents of the trailer parks in attendance thanked the trustees for their pledge.
A light consent agenda was quickly approved including $7,250 toward skate park maintenance.
Doc Philip told the trustees during public comments, “We’re going to secede from the Union and become our own nation state.” He called it “Carbonationdale.”
Approval was granted for Mayor Bohmfalk to send a letter to Rep. Jeff Hurd and Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper stating Carbondale’s opposition to the
Sopris Sun Correspondent
Three representatives from the Basalt Sanitation District (BSD) came to Town Hall this week to inform the council and community about a significant construction project replacing approximately 800 feet of sewer line, including a section across the Frying Pan River just upstream from the bridge at Two Rivers Road. Construction is estimated to begin around late September of this year.
The section of sewer line slated for replacement begins at the intersection of Midland Avenue and Two Rivers Road and runs uphill towards the Frying Pan River. According to Ian Quillian of BSD, this is one of Basalt’s original sewer lines and serves 1/3 of the district. The significant age of the current pipeline poses a risk not only to the region which it serves, but also the Gold Medal Waters of the Frying Pan River and all of its downstream waters.
Protection of the river and minimizing environmental disturbance are significant aspects of the construction plan and four-year planning process for this project. In order to keep the river flowing and minimize the impact to fish, a U-shaped cofferdam will be used to block one half of the river at a time. BSD and contractor Stutsman Gerbaz estimate that work on the river crossing of the pipeline will take three
to four weeks in January, when flows are estimated to be the lowest.
BSD partnered with Roaring Fork Engineering and an independent environmental engineer for design and permitting, which will cost $120,000. The BSD estimates construction will cost $1.375 million, with $137,500 added for contingency. The team from BSD presented at a public hearing last week in Grand Junction, vying for the Colorado Department of Labor Affairs Energy and Mineral Impact Fund Grant.
BSD estimates significant savings as a result of the replacement of the sewer line. The current pipes are constructed from clay, which suffers significant infiltration and inflow from river water seeping into the pipeline, leading to an increased volume of water entering Basalt’s wastewater treatment facility. With a new pipeline preventing inflow and infiltration, BSD estimates energy cost savings of up to 25% at the wastewater treatment facility by drastically reducing the volume of water needing to be processed. This will also increase capacity at the treatment facility, enabling new construction. The lifespan of the new pipeline is estimated at 50-75 years.
Many of downtown Basalt’s original sewer lines have been replaced over the past few years as part of the Midland Avenue Streetscape Project.
“This is the last section of old sewer in
selling off of public lands.
Trustees gave heartfelt praise to outgoing town manager Lauren Gister. Mayor Bohmfalk highlighted Gister’s accomplishments — from taking Carbondale through the end of COVID to helping formulate a short-term rentals solution, overseeing the new pool project, managing staff turnover and responding to the sudden arrival of many unhoused migrants. He called her career “a life of service.”
“I just want to say a huge thank-you to all of you for allowing me the honor of working in such an amazing place with the best people,” she responded. “This is, as we
continued on page 17
Seen from the bridge at Two Rivers Road, a 100-foot section of original sewer line running beneath the Frying Pan River is set to be replaced by the Basalt Sanitation District as part of a 800-foot replacement project beginning this fall. The construction team plans on blocking one half of the river at a time in January, when flows from Ruedi are the lowest. Courtesy photo
downtown Basalt,” said Quillian. “We’ve all heard the ‘once-in-a-generation’ line a lot over the last three years. This is really our last once-in-a-generation project in downtown Basalt.”
This week, the Town Council approved an ordinance which permits the sale, manufacturing and use of natural psychedelic medicines in Basalt on a second reading and public hearing.
In 2022, Colorado voters approved Proposition 122, “Access to Natural Psychedelic Substances,” which simultaneously enabled the therapeutic use of psychedelic substances at licensed facilities and prohibited local governments from banning these facilities. However, local governments are free to regulate the time, place and manner of operation of such places.
Ordinance No. 08 approves an amendment to the municipal code that designates “Natural Medicine Healing Center[s]” as a new use permitted by special review in community districts, as well as the C-2 zone district which refers primarily to downtown Midland avenue.
“Natural medicine” is the term used in Colorado state code to refer to psilocybin, psilocin and other psychoactive substances. Natural medicine healing centers which are approved by special use cannot be within 1,000 feet of any childcare center or school. Similar to a marijuana dispensary, all doorways and windows of natural medicine buildings must be screened to hide the interior from view by pedestrians.
Natural medicine cultivation facilities, products manufacturers, testing facilities and any other business licensed to perform operations related to natural medicine are permitted special review only in industrial zones. These regulations are designed to mirror the manner in which Basalt initially regulated marijuana dispensaries when those sales were legalized by the state in 2012.
The motion was approved 6-1, with councilor Angela Anderson voting “no.”
AMY HADDEN MARSH
Sopris Sun Correspondent
High fire danger is behind the Garfield County Commissioners (BOCC) decision Monday to prohibit the use, sale and possession of fireworks in unincorporated Garfield County. Emergency Manager Chris Bornholdt told the BOCC that sagebrush fuel moisture “is at or below 100%.” Piñon pine and juniper fuel moisture is at 72% and is expected to dry out even more over the next two weeks. The ban is for unincorporated Garfield County only; municipalities will make their own decisions about holiday fireworks displays. Fireworks and other incendiary devices are always prohibited on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) lands.
Speaking of public lands, Commissioners Mike Samson and Perry Will signed a letter to Utah Senator Mike Lee, opposing the sale of up to 3.3 million acres of BLM and USFS lands as proposed in the One Big Beautiful Bill.
“This proposal is not only misguided but deeply threatening to the environmental, economic and cultural integrity of our county, state and the American West at large,” reads the letter. Samson said he asked county manager Fred Jarman to draft the letter last week.
Commission Chair Tom Jankovsky has not yet signed the letter. “I don’t feel like it’s our place to send a letter to a senator in another state,” he explained while sharing his take on whether or not to sell public lands. He said he didn’t like the idea of
selling off large swaths of public land but was not opposed to selling smaller parcels surrounded by private land. “I do think that there are some things that need to be cleaned up that could be done by selling some of those public lands,” he said.
“I support this letter one hundred percent,” said Will. “The public lands are our lands; they don’t belong to the government.”
Last week, The Wilderness Society published a map detailing lands eligible for sale that included close to 5 million acres of BLM land and 9.3 million acres of USFS land in Colorado.
In Garfield County, said the letter, federal lands make up close to 62% of the county. The BLM manages 615,973 acres and the USFS manages 515,865 acres. The letter also questions why public lands in Montana escaped the chopping block. “This provision … deliberately places a higher value of public lands in one state over another so that we are picking winners and losers across the federal western landscape.”
On Monday night, however, the Senate parliamentarian found that Lee’s provisions violated the Byrd Rule, which keeps proposals unrelated to the congressional
budget out of the reconciliation bill. Earlier, Lee posted on “X” that he would remove all USFS land from consideration and limit the proposal to BLM land within 5 miles of population centers.
The Garfield County letter will be ratified at the regular BOCC meeting on July 7. In other news, the BOCC renewed a $2.8 million contract with CorrHealth to provide health care to inmates at the Garfield County Jail. The county finance department presented the “pre-kickoff” to the annual budget process. Overall property tax in 2026, including oil and natural gas and residential, along with sales tax and intergovernmental income through federal grants is predicted to be significantly lower than 2025.
The county’s fund balance for 2025 is forecast to be $12.7 million lower than 2024 and to keep dropping for the next several years. County budget manager Shari Neuroth reminded the BOCC that this was a preliminary review of revenues, expenditures and fund balance forecasts and that the 2026 budget process is just getting started.
“We will balance the budget but that will mean some tough decisions,” said Jankovsky. Commissioners also heard updates from Mountain Family Health, the county’s Human Services and Public Health departments and Health Solutions West (HSW), which has replaced Mind Springs Health. Jason Chippeaux, CEO of HSW, told the BOCC that HSW is not Mind Springs Health under new management.
“Health Solutions West is a completely
continued on page 17
MEGAN WEBBER AND AMY HADDEN MARSH
Sopris Sun Correspondents
Close on the heels of Britton Fletchall’s June 19 resignation as president of the Garfield County Re-2 school board, his wife Myrna Fletchall submitted a letter to the Garfield County Library District announcing her resignation as a library board trustee. The Sopris Sun obtained a copy of her letter on Tuesday, June 24.
Myrna, whose board position represents the Rifle area, stated in her letter that she recently accepted a new professional opportunity that will require her “full focus and time.” She added that she has grown personally and professionally during her time on the board. “While there were moments of challenges, they only strengthened my resolve to help foster a more collaborative and respectful environment.”
appointment process. During her tenure, she made a motion for the board to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at each meeting and voiced her support to ensure children are restricted access to adult material.
Challenges included tension and disagreements among trustees. At the board’s May 1 meeting, members of the public asked Myrna to make public apologies to a former board member, Susan Use, Board President Adrian Rippy-Sheehy and GCPLD Executive Director Jamie LaRue. The Sopris Sun is not aware of any public apology, either by Myrna or Rippy-Sheehy.
In recent months, tension increased between Myrna and Rippy-Sheehy over access to documents detailing staff compensation.
After conducting a national search, the nonprofit Glenwood Springs Historical Society is pleased to announce the hiring of Mark Jensen as its executive director. The candidate pool, which included several local applicants, was extraordinarily strong. However, the Society’s board believes it has found the right match of experience and skills to lead the organization in its work to preserve and share local history.
Jensen, who begins work on June 13, is an experienced archivist and museum curator dedicated to preserving and interpreting American history. He holds a Master of Arts in American History from the University of Utah.
events, rentals and museum store sales. While managing the park, he guided several building and landscape restoration projects, helping to preserve the park’s historical authenticity. He planned and managed an annual budget, increasing it from zero to more than $130,000 annually, with primary responsibility for fundraising and donor development. His creation of a membership program expanded the annual contributor list to more than 550 individuals and business sponsors. He also led the effort to create an endowment fund to benefit the park, securing donations to grow the balance to more than $265,000.
Myrna told The Sopris Sun on Wednesday that she did not have time to comment due to “lots of moving pieces” ahead of a planned move to Mexico. She said she would comment further at the board’s July 10 meeting.
Myrna took on her library board role in May 2024, the first of three positions appointed by the Garfield County Commissioners after they took control of the
According to her resignation letter, Myrna’s departure is effective July 11. LaRue told The Sopris Sun in an email that her resignation opens a vacancy on the board for a Rifle representative.
“As always, we welcome community interest,” he said. Myrna’s term was filling out a previous vacancy, which ends Dec. 31. “Assuming successful re-appointment by the County Commissioners, the applicant would be eligible for two three-year terms,” LaRue added.
Jensen most recently served, since 2011, as executive director of Friends of Dangberg Home Ranch, a nonprofit historic preservation organization in Minden, NV. Under his leadership, the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park flourished, transforming into a vibrant public day-use park featuring a 15-room house museum and seven other National Register-listed buildings and structures dating from 1857 to 1917. He played a pivotal role in the creation, growth and success of the organization, overseeing board development, goal setting, planning and nonprofit administration. His efforts earned the organization more than $1.4 million in income from donations, grants,
Jensen’s grant-writing skills resulted in numerous successful applications for foundation and government grants to fund programming, restoration, staffing and operations. He developed the park’s guided history tours, artifact exhibits and other interpretive programs that enhanced the educational experience for visitors, and managed the park’s collection of 45,000 artifacts, documents and photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries. His creation of the Dangberg Summer Festival, featuring concerts, Chautauqua performances, and author and historian presentations helped quadruple the park’s visitation from 1,000 to almost 5,000 annually.
continued
JOHN STROUD Sopris Sun Correspondent
A nonprofit water utility is taking the City of Glenwood Springs to court over who should provide water service to parts of West Glenwood that are being redeveloped.
It’s life or death for the small shareholder-owned company that predated the City’s annexation of the area in the 1980s.
Last year, the Mitchell-Cooper Ditch and Pipeline Company sued the City for allegedly violating a long-standing contract when it agreed to a Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA) request to add its new Iron Mountain Place employee housing complex as a city water customer.
The former Rodeway Inn motel on Highway 6 & 24, which RFTA purchased in 2022 to convert into housing, had been part of the Mitchell-Cooper system.
A 1984 agreement between the City and Mitchell-Cooper includes provisions that the City will not provide water service to any of the company’s shareholders without prior written consent from the company.
That didn’t happen, said Arthur Rothman, the president of Mitchell-Cooper for the past seven years and a shareholder in the company who owns rental properties in the service area.
“We’re seeking to enforce the contract, which says the City cannot do what they’re doing and that they have to stop,” Rothman said, speaking on behalf of the 30-some Mitchell-Cooper shareholders and the company’s board of directors.
RFTA is also named in Mitchell-Cooper’s lawsuit, for allegedly failing to negotiate with the company before going to the City.
More recently, in April of this year, the City again agreed to bring the new 80-unit Canyon Vista affordable housing project onto the city water system. That property, where the Glenwood Gardens nursery — with its iconic greenhouse that came from the Redstone Castle — once operated, also had long been part of the Mitchell-Cooper system.
In both instances, and even dating back to the City’s approval of the Six Canyon Apartments in 201718, Rothman maintains it was a
breach of contract for which Mitchell-Cooper should be compensated.
Without water customers contributing to a financial base to make needed system upgrades — including a new water treatment plant estimated to cost between $1.5 million and $2 million — the company will likely go bankrupt.
Rothman believes that’s the City’s intent.
“It’s ironic to me that this contract was written by the city attorney and signed by the mayor [at the time], and now they’re saying it’s not a valid contract,” he said.
Complicating matters, though, and playing into the City’s counterclaims in the lawsuit, is the fact that Mitchell-Cooper has been unable to provide potable water
to its customers since 2018 when it came under a state boil order.
Through an interconnect between the two systems, Mitchell-Cooper now buys water from the City and sells it to its remaining customers. They include about 60 mobile home park residences, a few stand-alone homes, four motels and a smattering of other commercial properties fronting Highway 6 & 24.
City Attorney Karl Hanlon briefed Glenwood Springs City Council on the situation during a March 20, 2025, meeting.
With no progress in seven years toward being able to adequately treat their water, and with its customers relying on city water,
continued on page 17
Our team of Surgical Specialists is here to support your lifelong health, offering advanced surgical services crafted with your unique needs in mind.
• General Surgery
• Breast Surgery
• Cancer Surgery
• Laparoscopic Surgery
• Robotic Surgery with the latest da Vinci 5
• Trauma and Acute Care Surgery
• Specialized GI Services
Now seeing patients in Basalt and Aspen 8:30 am–5:00 pm 970.544.1200
SAM BRULE
Sopris Sun Correspondent
Torrey Peters visited The Arts Campus at Willits (TACAW) last week to discuss her latest work, “Stag Dance,” a story collection that explores gender, transness and self-perception.
The panel event was part of Mitzi Rapkin’s “First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing” podcast series, in which Rapkin interviews different authors and talks about their work as well as the process of writing.
Peters’ event at TACAW also follows a brief interview she did with the local radio station KDNK, in which she talked about her experience and process with writing. A snippet from the interview can be found on KDNK’s website.
The doors opened at 5:30pm, when attendees began trickling in. Fans of Peters from throughout the Valley came, including a local book club that had just finished reading “Stag Dance.” The event began at 6:30pm with Rapkin interviewing Peters about her work, personal experiences and thoughts on writing, later opening up to take audience questions. After the event, Peters signed copies of the book as well as copies of her first novel, “Detransition, Baby,” in the lobby.
about a gender plague that renders humans’ ability to produce sex hormones useless. The second is titled “The Chaser” and details a boy who questions his sexuality after he enters a relationship with his roommate. The third short story is titled “The Masker” and follows a character addressing their own identity after people turn on another character. The novel included after the short stories is “Stag Dance” and it follows a lumberjack and his experience as he attends his camp’s ball as a woman.
One of the distinguishing features of “Stag Dance” is its hybrid structure, combining a novel with three novellas, each in a different genre. Peters said she appreciated being able to let each piece take its natural form.
Writing is about being uncomfortable. It’s about saying the hard things, the impolite things.
- Torrey Peters
“Publishing asks you to either write stories or write novels. And that’s not always the length that stories want to be,” Peters said. “I was given the space to actually have them be the shape and the form and the variety that they are.” The goal, she said, was to create “a kaleidoscopic experience” of gender.
Peters first rose to prominence with her 2021 debut novel, which details the lives of three characters and their experiences with transitioning, detransitioning, motherhood and divorce. After its release, the novel was nominated for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and was named one of The New York Times’ best books of the 21st century.
“The brain you use to write a novel isn’t the one you use to promote it,” Peters said. “You have to be likable and charming when you’re on tour. But writing is about being uncomfortable. It’s about saying the hard things, the impolite things.”
After taking a few years to work on a new book, Peters is back with her release of “Stag Dance,” which was published in March. Her new book is made up of three short stories and a titular novel.
The first story, called “Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones,” is a post-apocalyptic tale
Peters, who spent two years writing for television between her two books, noted that “Stag Dance” was, in some ways, her reaction to the pressure of a follow-up. Peters said nobody would’ve anticipated a Western frontier novel written entirely in lumberjack slang. “So there were no expectations. It was liberating,” said Peters.
In a political climate that acts critically toward trans people, books like Peters’ that discuss nontraditional gender ideas are facing scrutiny. However, Peters’ experience with this type of criticism has been limited. She attributed some of this to the genre she writes in. Peters said fiction “sneaks around the side so that you can discuss these ideas through emotions, through characters, rather than the polemics that could be accused of being political tracts and therefore banned or attacked.”
Stopping at TACAW was the last stop of Peters’ tour for “Stag Dance.” After the event, Peters said she’ll be continuing work on the sauna she’s building in Vermont and working on her next release.
ABOVE: Hell Roaring String Band to headline the 25th Annual Mount Sopris Music Festival. Courtesy photo
LEFT: Peach Street Revival to perform at second show in Summer Concert Series at Sopris Park on Aug. 10. Courtesy photo
GUS RICHARDSON
Sopris Sun Correspondant
This coming First Friday, Steve’s Guitars will host its 25th annual Mount Sopris Music Festival. This event has continually highlighted local artists with a mix of styles and beats, while also engaging the community and fostering connection.
“I had the idea to have a music festival in downtown Carbondale that highlighted only local musicians,” explained Steve Standiford, the founder and owner of Steve’s Guitars. “Mountain Fair had just started to feature musicians and really only had out-of-town acts, so I thought we should have a festival that out-of-town acts can’t play!”
Former trustee Marty Silverstein is also a key organizer, and Steve’s Guitar’s soundguru, Ralph Pitt, will make sure all of the acts sound as good as they are, even from all the way in the back.
From this basic idea, the first Mount Sopris Music Festival came together. A few things have changed over the years, the biggest being that of a rather recent effort to pay the bands, thanks in no small part to a grant from the Town of Carbondale. When the festival began, it was purely for the love of the town and exposure for the artists. However, despite 25 years of growing with the times, that desire to showcase local bands within the community they hail from has remained consistent.
In the spirit of that sentiment, each of the bands playing at this year’s festival are rooted in the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys — from Aspen to Silt. This showcase will take place at Chacos Park (4th and Main Street) and will feature Aggie Flores, Mitt Spicy & The Blues Bandits, Dan Sheridan and at eight o’clock headliner Hell Roaring String Band will take the stage.
Other upcoming Steve’s Guitars’ sponsored events include two shows making up it’s Summer Concert Series held at Sopris Park. Each will last around four hours, beginning at 4pm. The first of which, on July 20, has been affectionately titled “The Birds and The Bees” and will feature The Queen Bees and Birds of Play. This event will be a sort of bluegrass-Americana blend.
The second will take place on Aug. 10, and features both the Taylor Scott Band and Peach Street Revival. The self-described “mountain funk” energy from Taylor Scott alongside the female-fronted rock’n’roll outfit Peach Street Revival will give this show a high-octane stadium vibe. All three of these events promise to be fun and family-friendly, as well as a continuation of all that Steve’s Guitars strives for: connecting local and regional musicians with local audiences.
Let’s boogie, Carbondale!
The 25th Annual Mount Sopris Music Festival kicks off at Chacos Park on First Friday, July 4 at 5pm. The Summer Concert Series shows take place at Sopris Park on July 20 and Aug. 10, both at 4pm.
Celebrate Mexican music and dance with AMFS Mariachi Workshop participants, Denver-based Mariachi Sol de mi Tierra, and Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Folklórico.
Join us for a fiesta starting at 4 PM on the David Karetsky Music Lawn! Free activities; food and drink available for purchase.
Presented in partnership with Presentado en asociación con
¡Gratis! Abierto a todas las edades!
JULY 2 | 5:30 PM KLEIN MUSIC TENT 2 DE JULIO | 5:30 PM KLEIN MUSIC TENT FREE! Open to all ages!
Celebra la música y el baile mexicano con los participantes del Taller de Mariachi de AMFS, Mariachi Sol de mi Tierra de Denver, y el Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Folklórico
¡Únete a nuestra fiesta de 4 a 7 PM en el césped de música David Karetsky! Actividades gratis; comida y bebida a la venta.
Interested in learning more about the AMFS x Querencia partnership? Visit Qcabo.com/Aspen
Learn more about our participating community partners and vendors: aspenmusicfestival.com
THURSDAY, JUNE 26
RED HILL PROJECT
Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers invites you to the first of three drop-in opportunities at Red Hill beginning at 2pm, with happy hour at Mountain Heart Brewing afterwards. Visit www.rfov.org for info and registration.
THEATRE ASPEN
It’s the final weekend to catch Theatre Aspen’s “Driving Miss Daisy.” Visit www.theatreaspen.org for showtimes.
PIZZA PARTY
The Carbondale Library invites teens to make a personal pizza at 4:15pm! For details, call 970-963-2889.
PHIL WEISER
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser visits Glenwood Springs for a free, bilingual conversation hosted by the CoWest Noticias Collaborative at Morgridge Commons from 4:30 to 6:30pm.
SOL THEATRE
Catch the final show of SoL Theatre’s “Peter Pan Jr.” tonight at 6pm at Roaring Fork High School. Tickets at www.tinyurl.com/SoLPeterPan
COMMON ROOTS
HeadQuarters hosts a women’s group for ages 18 and up at 6pm. This month’s topic of conversation is aging.
MASTER TAP
Aspen Dance Connection welcomes Mr. Tap to the Launchpad for a master class from 6:15 to 7:30pm.
WILD MOUNTAIN SEEDS
Folks are invited to volunteer at Wild Mountain Seed’s Sunfire Ranch south of Carbondale from 12:30 to 4pm. Email volunteers@wildmountainseeds.com to register.
BEVERAGE TASTING
Join Adrian Glasenapp, local founder of RKYMTN Adult Drinks for a soft-launch tasting of the new “hard refreshers” at Sopris Liquor and Wine in Carbondale from 3 to 5pm.
CRYSTAL THEATRE
Don’t miss your chance to catch “The Phoenician Scheme” (captioned) at the Crystal Theatre tonight at 7pm. “F1 The Movie” opens tomorrow and continues Saturday, Wednesday and next Thursday at 7pm. The Sunday show is at 5pm.
FLY TYING CLINIC
Learn the art of tying flies, or just socialize and enjoy a drink, from 5:30 to 7:30pm at El Dorado. Email shyanneorvis@gmail.com to register.
ART OPENING
The Art Base hosts an opening reception for Judge Barton’s “Alignment and Form” exhibit from 5 to 7pm with an artist talk at 5:30pm. The display will be up through July 25.
FRINGE FEST ENCORE
Catch an encore presentation of “Lincoln Goes to Hollywood” at Thunder River Theatre today and tomorrow at 7:30pm.
CONSENSUAL IMPROV
The Roaring Fork Valley’s premier improv comedy troupe, Consensual Improv, performs at The Collective Hall at 7:30pm.
JON LAWTON
Steve’s Guitars presents Jon Lawton at 8pm. Tickets at www.stevesguitars.net
HAM RADIO FIELD DAY
The Ski Country Amateur Radio Club sets up their annual Field Day event at the CMC Spring Valley campus to
practice an emergency preparedness exercise with other hams around the country today and tomorrow.
BASALT RECYCLING
Basalt and Eagle County residents can drop off electronics, hazardous waste, tires, scrap metal and yard waste at Basalt High School for its 5th annual free community recycling event from 9am to 1pm.
FAMILY TRAIL DAYS
Aspen One hosts Snowmass Family Trail Days, offering simultaneous skills-focused clinics for children (9:30am to 3pm) and adults (10am to 1pm) today and tomorrow. For details, visit www.aspensnowmass.com/visit/events/ snowmass-family-trail-days
HISTORY HIKE
The Aspen Historical Society takes hikers on an easy trek along Midland Trail to discover the town’s mining and transportation history starting from Koch Lumber Park at the corner of Copper and Garmisch at 10am. Register at www.aspenhistory.org Call 970-925-3721 for details.
PLEIN AIR FESTIVAL
The Redstone Boulevard hosts a maker’s market from 10am to 5pm. Works created by artists participating in the Redstone Plein Air Festival will be available for purchase at Joy & Wyld all day. Joy & Wyld will also host live music from 3 to 5pm.
Mountain Valley Mobile Home Park hosts a fundraiser in an effort to purchase the park themselves, to include food, raffles and more, at 171 Highway 133, Row B in Carbondale from 11am to 5pm.
GLOW PARTY
The Basalt Library hosts a family-friendly glow party with lights, music and glow sticks from 3 to 4pm.
SOUND IMMERSION
Ildi Ingraham leads a sound immersion journey at the Carbondale Library at 4pm.
FIESTA DEL SOL
Sol del Valle turns the page to a new volume at the Glenwood Springs Library with a public party from 4 to 9pm.
REDSTONE CONCERT
Steve Manshel performs a free concert at the Redstone Park from 6 to 8pm.
V.S.O.P
Steve’s Guitars presents “A Very Special One-time Performance” with Tashi T. and Alex Paul (of Birds of Play) with special guest Vince Allis at 8pm. Tickets at www.stevesguitars.net
SUNDAY, JUNE 29
OLIVIA THE BARD
Olivia the Bard performs at Joy & Wylde in Redstone from 2 to 4pm.
MONDAY, JUNE 30
ROARING FORK ZEN
A new Zen meditation community based in Carbondale gathers at True Nature to sit from 8 to 9am weekly.
EV RESILIENCE
Colorado State University and Drive Clean Colorado host an “Electric Vehicle Resiliency Listening Session” at the Morgridge Commons, above the Glenwood Springs Library, from 11:30am to 1pm. Register at www.tinyurl.com/EVresilience
EL PLACER DE LEER
Dive into Spanish-language literature with Angélica Breña at the Basalt Library from 5 to 6:30pm.
MARIACHI MOVIE
Aspen Film partners with the Aspen Music Festival and School, Raizado Festival and Justice for Migrant Women for
Alchemy of Prana — a nonprofit dedicated to fostering “practices for participating, connecting with and embodying the liberation of consciousness living in reciprocity with Nature and all aspects of prana” aka life-force — brought a group of local youth into the mountains for initiatory, coming-of-age solo journeys. Upon returning to Redstone, they were greeted by family, friends and community, as well as a hearty stone soup supplied by the Redstone General Store.
a screening of Sundance award-winner “Going Varsity in Mariachi” at the AF Isis Theatre at 5:30pm.
STREET MEDICINE
The Albert Schweitzer Sesquicentennial Convocation comes to TACAW with a screening of “The Rise of the Global Street Medicine Movement” followed by a Q&A with Dr. Jim Withers. The program starts at 6:30pm.
COEXISTENCE
A representative from the Pauline S. Schneegas Wildlife Foundation presents best practices for coexisting with wildlife at the Rifle Library at 6pm. Specifically, there will be a discussion of predator-proofing chicken coops.
TUESDAY, JULY 1
ICE CREAM SOCIAL
Celebrate summer reading and beat the heat with a tasty treat at the Glenwood Springs Library at 1pm and the Carbondale Library at 4pm.
‘BLACK TABLE’
In collaboration with Raizado Festival and Justice for Migrant Women, Aspen Film presents “Black Table” at the AF Isis Theatre at 6pm. Find details at www. aspenfilm.org
DRAWING CLUB
The Roaring Fork Drawing Club visits Coffman Ranch, just outside Carbondale, for socializing and art beginning at 6:30pm.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 2
ART, ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Anderson Ranch hosts an engaging discussion on the intersection of contemporary art and furniture design with Rainer and Flavin Judd in conversation with Paola Antonelli, senior curator of architecture and design at The Museum of Modern Art, from 12:30 to 1:30pm. More info at www.andersonranch.org
RAPTOR FAIR
Learn about majestic birds of prey first hand at Hallam Lake from 3 to 5pm. Register at www.aspennature.org
THURSDAY, JULY 3
VICTORIA PENNOCK
Victoria Pennock performs at the Hoffmann Hotel from 6 to 8pm.
FRIDAY, JULY 4
INDEPENDENCE DAY
All libraries and most public offices are
closed in observance of America’s Independence Day.
BUDDY RACE
The Buddy Program hosts its 39th Annual Buddy Race starting from Rio Grande Park. The five-mile race starts at 8am, 5k at 8:05am and the one-mile family and canine walk starts at 9am. Register before 7am on race day at www.buddyprogram.org There will be no in-person registrations.
REDSTONE PARADE
Redstone hosts its annual Fourth of July celebration and parade on the Boulevard starting at 9:30am. Details at www.redstonecolorado.com/events
ASPEN PARADE
Aspen’s old-fashioned Fourth of July parade begins at 11am, following a route that includes Main Street, Hunter Street, Cooper Avenue, Galena Street, Hopkins Avenue, Mill Street and Hyman Avenue. Residents and visitors should anticipate traffic delays. Travel by RFTA is strongly recommended.
NATURE JOURNALING
Adults who wish to explore, observe and creatively document nature are invited to join like-minded folk at the Carbondale Library from 1 to 2:30pm.
FOURTH IN GLENWOOD
Glenwood Springs hosts its Fourth of July celebration at Two Rivers Park from 4:30 to 9:30pm, culminating with a laser show. Details at www.cogs.us
MT. SOPRIS MUSIC FESTIVAL
Celebrate Carbondale’s 25th annual Mount Sopris Music Festival in Chacos Park with music by Aggie Flores, Mitt Spicy & The Blues Bandits, Dan Sheridan and The Hell Roaring String Trio, all beginning at 5pm.
A BARD & A POET
Olivia the Bard will be busking on the Promenade as part of First Friday from 5 to 8pm. Rachel Leigh Cohen will be nearby creating “Typewriter Poetry.”
‘FREEDOM STREET SKATE’
KDNK Community Access Radio hosts a “Freedom Street Skate” party at Main and 2nd Street from 5 to 8pm. BYO skates and wear your most patriotic ‘70s and ‘80s get up.
VOICES TINY STAGE
VOICES rolls out its ARTery Tiny Stage for a production of “The Way Here” at the corner of the Village Smithy from 5:30 to 6:30pm.
MARCHFOURTH
Banshee Tree opens for MarchFourth at TACAW at 8pm. Tickets at www.tacaw.org
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
The Meeting Place in Carbondale (981 Cowen Drive) offers “Hole in the Donut AA,” Monday through Saturday at 6:45am, plus “Daily Reprieve” at noon on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Find a full schedule at www.meetingplacecarbondale.org
MONDAY MEDITATION
Roaring Fork Insight guides a weekly meditation group meeting at the Third Street Center (Room 31) from 7 to 8:30pm. A Wednesday session takes place at St. Peters of the Valley in Basalt from 11:30 to 1pm with a Zoom option.
PILATES
Coredination offers weekly pilates mat classes for all levels at The Launchpad in Carbondale. Tuesdays from noon to 1pm intermediate/advanced students are welcome. Beginners are encouraged to attend on Thursdays from 8 to 9am. For more info, call 970-379-2187.
BIKE PROJECT
The Carbondale Bike Project Shop helps people repair their bicycles on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2 to 6pm and Sundays from noon to 6pm on the east side of Third Street Center.
The Carbondale Farmers’ Market season is underway, every Wednesday from 10am to 3pm at 4th and Main.
Every Wednesday at noon, Garfield County Senior Programs provides a nutritious meal for seniors at The Orchard. To reserve a place at the table, call 970-665-0041.
SUSTAINABLE SETTINGS
Sustainable Settings welcomes volunteers
every Wednesday from 2 to 4pm — just email rose@sustainablesettings.org to RSVP.
SPANISH CLUB
Practice Spanish and enjoy specials at La Raza in Carbondale every Wednesday from 5 to 7pm.
UNDER THE SUN
Join Sopris Sun correspondents and guests for “Everything Under The Sun,” airing every Thursday on KDNK at 4pm.
RODEO TIME
It’s Carbondale WIld West Rodeo season at the Gus Darien Riding Arena. Every Thursday, gates open at 5pm, slack starts at 5:45pm and grand entry is at 7:30pm. Free shuttles run from The Orchard and 4th and Colorado between 6 and 10pm. Find the list of special events at www.carbondalerodeo.com
GROUP RUN
Independence Run & Hike leads a weekly group run on Thursdays departing from the store’s location, next to the Carbondale City Market, at 6:30pm.
COFFEE WITH THE MAYOR
Carbondale Mayor Ben Bohmfalk posts up at Bonfire every Friday from 8 to 9am, and everyone is welcome to stop by to chat.
SUNDAY MARKET
Basalt’s Sunday continues every Sunday through Sept. 28 along the Midland Spur from 10am to 2pm.
COSMIC WHOLENESS
Micha Shoepe leads Cosmic Wholeness, an embodied movement and meditation offering that explores patterns found in nature, the cosmos and our inner lives, at The Third Street Center every Sunday from 2:45 to 3:45pm. More details at www.michaelschoepe.com/ cosmic-wholeness
KATE PHILLIPS
Sopris Sun Correspondent
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story discusses child loss.
On June 17, Rita Marsh, founding member of The Center for Human Flourishing nonprofit, welcomed a nearly sold out crowd at the Third Street Center to a special screening of the award-winning documentary “Wolf’s Message.”
Opening with some meaningful insight, she shared, “We are ambassadors of love. We are living beings with souls that soar after we leave this time and space … We are following the guide from a loving universe.”
A collective hush descended as Marsh’s words settled and the film began to roll. Directed by filmmaker Jim Spruell and inspired by the book penned by evidential medium and bestselling author Suzanne Giesemann, “Wolf’s Message” follows the aftermath of a young man’s death and his family’s journey to demystify the clues he left behind.
At 29 years old, Michael “Wolf” Pasakarnis Jr. was a vibrant, kind-hearted poet with a gift for helping others. He appeared “otherworldly” and like an “angel” to friends and family, and he often spoke as such, claiming to walk between two worlds at once. As a child, he was diagnosed with a mental illness to explain the voices he heard and his struggles adjusting to society. That eventually translated to difficulty sustaining jobs; but he was cherished by his community, as showcased in interviews with friends, and he continued to embody an altruistic spirit. According to his family, Wolf always said that while it was busy in his mind, there was nothing wrong with his heart.
On Sept. 8, 2010, Wolf’s father, Mike, and stepmother, Beth, received devastating news. Wolf had been struck and killed by a single bolt of lightning from an unexpected storm that swept through his home of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Heartbroken and dazed, Mike and Beth retraced Wolf’s last day including a visit to the tree where he died.
In 2006, her pregnant stepdaughter, Susan, was killed by lightning. Giesemann and Susan’s father, Ty, would enter uncharted territory as they navigated their grief. A former U.S. Navy commander and commanding officer and aide to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Giesemann said she had no prior belief system, but she began meditating to understand where Susan went. Finally, during one session, she connected with Susan. Filled with awe, Giesemann and Ty used mediumship to heal their grief and reach a new understanding of the afterlife. She then went on to study evidence-based mediumship in England, intent on helping others.
When Giesemann met Mike and Beth, she was struck by their parallel stories and the mountain of “irrefutable evidence” and decided to join them. Channeling Wolf’s “powerful spirit” took the trio on a metaphysical journey where they experienced unexplained phenomena, explored consciousness in the afterlife and reevaluated their perceptions of mental illness. With an open mind, audiences will be shocked and moved by these encounters with Wolf.
They left two roses, an act that would be of great importance later in the film. After the detectives completed their work in Wolf’s apartment, the couple entered trying to rationalize his untimely death. It was here they would unearth startling and unnerving evidence that indicated Wolf knew exactly when, where and how he was going to die.
Over the course of the next hour, the film unfolds like a mystery novel as Mike and Beth try to decipher the message Wolf needed to convey from beyond the veil. Eventually they crossed paths with Giesemann, who like Mike and Beth experienced her own tragedy that led to spiritual awakening.
Weaving rich cinemagraphic footage with emotional interviews, Spruell has created a film that is both compelling and transformational. It is a film that encourages viewers to challenge their conventional beliefs and receive an uplifting story about balance, humanity’s interconnectedness and love’s healing powers. At a time when humanity feels most adrift, “Wolf’s Message” offers hope and compassion to those in need — just like Wolf did when he walked this earth.
Wolf once shared, “We don’t have to be perfect. Our souls are already divine.” Echoing the philosophers, ancestors and spiritual guides who came before him, Wolf knew that when we recognize our oneness and our love for each other, then we can heal together.
“Wolf’s Message” is now available for online streaming. Head over to www.wolfsmessage.com/about to demystify the clues and read exclusive interviews.
ANNALISE GRUETER
Sopris Sun correspondent
EDITOR’S NOTE: Annalise Grueter is a member of the Aspen Writer’s Network and participant in its Summer Words workshops.
Currently, a tribe of people devoted to painting a picture in black and white for the mind’s eye are eagerly discussing their craft in Snowmass Village. This is the 49th anniversary of Aspen Words, and the summer workshops have brought in writers from around the U.S. and several other countries. This annual conference hosts both juried and general workshops run by prominent authors across genres, and facilitates connections with agents and editors.
As Aspen Words has grown, the time is ripe for the literary branch of the Aspen Institute to expand its offerings. Three months from now, Sept. 26-28, the organization is partnering with Book of the Month to present the inaugural Aspen Literary Festival (ALF). The event will bring 40 exceptional authors to the Roaring Fork Valley, and local organizations will partner with the hosts for a variety of literary-related events.
The festival was first announced in late March. The first nine authors to confirm their participation over the long weekend were: Elin Hilderbrand, Michael Lewis, Kevin Kwan, Leigh Bardugo, Bonnie Garmus, V.E. Schwab, Jasmine Guillory, Nathan Hill, and Victor LaValle. Per Aspen Words, these
authors, collectively, have sold more than 65 million copies of their books, nine of which have been adapted to film or television.
“We’re setting out to create something fresh, immersive and wildly fun,” said Adrienne Brodeur, executive director of Aspen Words. “Aspen has long been a home for big ideas and creative visionaries. At Aspen Words, we’re bringing that same energy to literature by inviting some of the most exciting voices of our time to our beautiful mountain town at the most perfect time of year. For insiders, outsiders and in-betweeners this will be a weekend to remember.”
Seven more attending authors were announced through April and May. Xochitl Gonzalez, Jane Hamilton, Jess Walter and Patti Callahan Henry are all best-selling novelists. James Frey, who has been called the “bad boy of American literature” by The New York Times, is also attending. His most recent novel, “Next to Heaven,” was published just last week. Prolific multi-genre writer Walter Mosley and journalist Molly Jong-Fast have also confirmed their attendance.
Two leaders from Book of the Month are serving as the festival co-chairs. Executive Chairman John Lippman and Editorial Director Brianna Goodman look forward to ALF’s potential for increasing Aspen’s literary ties and the opportunity for further connection between writers and readers.
“We want the festival to be the literary love child of Sundance and South by Southwest — an event that buzzes with energy,
creativity and fun,” said Lippman. “It’s about creating an experience where readers and authors connect and celebrate our literary community in a beautiful environment.”
Aspen Words Senior Program Associate Ivy Chalmers shared more details about the festival with The Sopris Sun, including that the organizers hope to connect literature with other forms of art throughout the weekend. “The Red Brick Arts Center will be the headquarters, so people will be encouraged to interact with the visual artwork.”
Chalmers also mentioned that Aspen Art Museum and Aspen Music Festival and School are also collaborating with Aspen Words to facilitate specific family-friendly events during the festival.
General free registration for the festival opened this month. Many of the author talks will be free for registered participants, hosted in downtown locations including the
Aspen Community Church, Pitkin County Library and Galena Plaza.
The Wheeler Opera House will host ticketed events. Tickets for the Wheeler will open to the public on July 10 at $45, with discounts and early purchase available to Aspen Words members. Literary fanatics can purchase a $950 VIP ticket, which includes special seating at the marquee events and access to a private cocktail party with authors. Additional special events for full festival participants will be announced closer to September.
Read more about attending authors and register for the Aspen Literary Festival at www.aspenliteraryfestival.org Aspen Words and Book of the Month will continue to release periodic updates as more authors confirm attendance and collaborative events take shape.
INDEPENDENCE DAY INDEPENDENCE DAY JULY 4 | 5 - 9 pm JULY 4 5-9pm
In The Heart of the Carbondale Creative District
Featuring extended hours and special events at local shops, galleries, and restaurants. Plus live music, food trucks, street activities, and games with community booths.
Freedom Street Skate with KDNK DJs Main & 2nd St | 5-8pm
VOICES Storytelling & Music at The ARTery Main & 3rd | 5:30-6:30pm
Typewriter Poetry with Rachel Leigh Cohen Main & 4th St | 5-8pm
Busking with Olivia the Bard Promenade | 5-8pm
Sign up to volunteer with us during First Fridays! Main Street is closed to thru traffic from Weant Blvd to Snowmass Ave. 2nd and 3rd Streets will remain open for cross traffic.
SAM BRULE
Sopris Sun Correspondent
Colorado Mountain College (CMC) is offering an opportunity this fall for students and interested community members to travel to Cuba through a facultyled study abroad program. The 11-day, 10-night trip is scheduled for Nov. 21 through Dec. 1, 2025, and is part of the official coursework for “Current Political Issues” (PSC 1050), a class offered through CMC. Participants of the trip, students and non-students, must be registered for the online course in order to tag along.
The trip is being organized and led by Dr. Bob Gumbrecht, a professor of political science and history at CMC’s Steamboat Springs campus. This will be the third study abroad trip Gumbrecht has done in Cuba.
Gumbrecht’s first trip with students to Cuba was in 2013, before the normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuba. He took students to meet diplomats before an official U.S. embassy had been established.
His second trip, in 2016, concluded with the group in Havana when the news about Fidel Castro’s death broke. He recalled seeing an
interesting side of the country as many of the residents mourned Castro’s death as the group was preparing to leave Cuba.
Gumbrecht has also led similar CMC study abroad programs to other destinations, such as Guatemala, Nicaragua and Northern Ireland.
“Normally, Americans are not allowed to travel to Cuba unless under very certain, narrow circumstances,” said Gumbrecht. “This is an opportunity right through CMC to be able to do that.”
The complicated history between the U.S. and Cuba dates back to the Cold War era, when Fidel Castro rose to power in the 1959 Cuban Revolution. Since then, there has been a nuclear crisis, an embargo and long-term political effects. Relations between the countries improved briefly during the Obama administration but renewed restrictions in recent years have made U.S. citizen access to Cuba increasingly rare.
Due to the restricted travel conditions, CMC is partnering with the Center for Global Education and Experience, a program operated by Augsburg University,
a private Lutheran college in Minnesota. The program holds the necessary licenses to make trips like this one possible for CMC.
Participants on the trip will travel to Havana and the resort town of Varadero. The itinerary also includes visits to museums and schools, a clinic, an organic farm and art spaces such as the Afro-Aesthetic Experience.
Throughout the trip, participants will meet with Cuban residents, visit cultural and historical sites and attend presentations and discussions that offer insight into Cuba’s current political climate. The group will also visit the U.S. Embassy in Havana for a briefing with diplomats.
“I hope that folks get an opportunity to see what a different way
of life looks like, get a different sense of how people deal with their relative opportunity or lack of opportunity and how people cope with the challenges of daily life in a developing country,” said Gumbrecht.
The program is open to all CMC students as well as interested community members, regardless of their field of study.
No prior political science background is required. Gumbrecht emphasized that the program is designed to be inclusive and accessible to anyone curious about global issues and interested in meaningful cultural exchange.
The trip cost is set at $3,000, which covers accommodations, meals, in-country transportation, travel insurance and all scheduled
activities. Not included in the base price are airfare, CMC tuition for the course and incidental expenses such as passport or immunization fees. Course participants will earn transferable academic credit upon completion of the trip.
CMC encourages interested students to explore financial assistance opportunities. Scholarships and aid may be available through the college’s Financial Resources for Study Abroad program. The application deadline is Aug. 1, 2025, with final course registration and payment due on Aug. 15.
More information about the trip, including application instructions and eligibility, can be found on CMC’s website: www.coloradomtn.edu
all know, a very special place, and there’s good work to be done.”
Trustees elected to align with Garfield County’s stage one fire restrictions.
Gister announced that sales tax revenues are showing a 3.7% increase over last year at this time, more than double the budgeted 1.5% increase. “Many municipalities and counties are down for the year and we are not,” she said. “So that’s good news.”
In other good news, Trustees approved Mountain Fair permits, including the addition of a beer garden in the new oasis space on Main Street, extending the festival downtown with additional music, activities and more.
from page 7
new company operating on the Western Slope,” he explained. “Mind Springs Health is gone.”
This is HSW’s first foray into Western Slope communities, expanding from a southern Colorado base in Pueblo, Huerfano and Las Animas counties. Chippeaux wants to create a substance use disorder treatment hub in Glenwood Springs, adding that the short-lived withdrawal management unit
from page 8
Before his most recent role, Jensen’s experience included work as a historic site interpreter for Nevada State Parks, the archivist for the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Winter Games organizing committee and archivist at the University of Utah’s Marriott Library. He is a native of northern Utah.
Officially incorporated in 1964, Glenwood Springs Historical Society’s mission is
Public Works Director Kevin Schorzman was appointed interim town manager until Ryan Hyland assumed the town manager position on Aug. 4. Hyland was selected from a pool of over 40 qualified applicants and brings more than two decades of municipal government leadership experience to Carbondale, including 10 years as the Town Manager of Silverthorne. “I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to join the Carbondale organization and community,” Hyland stated in a press release. “I know that Carbondale is a town that truly shows up for one another, grounded in shared values, strong relationships and a deep sense of identity and place.”
is also gone. Detox services are currently offered at Recovery Resources in Aspen and Health Solutions West in Grand Junction. He emphasized treatment partnerships.
“I’m interested in putting depression out of business,” he said. “I’m not interested in putting local providers out of business.”
Archived Garfield County Commissioner meetings dating back to 1996 are available at the Garfield County website.
“serving as the living legacy of our local life.”
The Society operates the Frontier Museum at 1001 Colorado Avenue and the Doc Holliday Museum in the basement of Bullocks Western Wear, and provides other forms of outreach and historical education for the Glenwood Springs community. The society is a registered 501(c)(3) organization and donations to help achieve its mission are welcome at www.GlenwoodHistory.com
Mitchell-Cooper has essentially ceased to exist as a functioning company, Hanlon said.
At the same time, it’s the City’s responsibility to ensure its residents have a safe water supply, including those on the Mitchell-Cooper system, he said.
“What this is about is the failure of that system to provide for the health, safety and welfare of its customers, and the City stepping up to fill that gap,” Hanlon said. “Now we’re taking a beating for that.”
Mitchell-Cooper was formed long before the City annexed the West Glenwood area in the early 1980s, in an effort to bring the then newly built Glenwood Springs Mall onto the City’s sales tax rolls.
It’s a throwback to the 1950s when Glenwood began to boom as a post-war tourist destination for its famous hot springs and Old West attractions. The highway running west of town, before Interstate 70 was constructed, became a natural place for motels, homes and other businesses to support the tourist trade to be built.
Mitchell-Cooper was formed to provide both treated water and raw water to the area, utilizing an 1882 water right on Oasis Creek — one of the most senior rights in the state, Rothman said.
“We look at this as a property right,” he said. “This water has value, and when people buy or sell property in our service area, that water right is part of the value.
“If we stop being a water provider here, those water rights go up for grabs, and it could go to a developer who wants to develop something that the City has no control over,” Rothman argued.
The 1984 agreement with the City regarding water service was admittedly favorable
to Mitchell-Cooper, Hanlon said during his March 20 remarks to City Council.
But the other major issue is that the system is incapable of providing the kind of water flows needed for fire suppression sprinkler systems that are required in newly developed commercial and multi-family residential properties, Hanlon pointed out. That ended up being one of the main reasons that Canyon Vista, the RFTA redevelopment and Six Canyon were prompted to go onto city water.
Hanlon said the City has tried to negotiate a favorable agreement to take over Mitchell-Cooper’s system infrastructure, and for its customers to transition onto city water, including fee waivers to make it less expensive. Instead, they decided to sue, Hanlon said.
Rothman counters that the City’s proposals did not include enough compensation and other assurances to make them acceptable.
At the same time, he said the City rejected Mitchell-Cooper’s offer to create a functioning dual water supply that would be aimed at preserving some of the last remaining affordable housing options in Glenwood, and creating new ones through additional motel conversions.
“This dual water supply system exists in many parts of Colorado, including Carbondale [in the Satank area], and is acceptable to [the state health department],” Mitchell-Cooper wrote in a January 2022 proposal.
With such a plan in place, and an adequate customer base, Mitchell-Cooper could make progress toward building the water treatment plant and making other system upgrades, Rothman said.
As it stands, those matters are now before a judge in Garfield County District Court. The case is still in the discovery phase, and no hearings are currently scheduled.
Anita McCune Witt was born in Kansas to city folk, so when her dad bought her a horse as a child, she had to board it on some vacant land outside of town. Nevertheless, she fully embraced the Western lifestyle.
Witt told Walter Gallacher in a 2014 Immigrant Stories interview (www.bit.ly/IS-Anita):
“I started dressing like a cowgirl and spending so much time with horses that the kids at school nicknamed me ‘Hoppy’ after Hopalong Cassidy, a famous cowboy from that time.”
After attending Oklahoma State University, Witt tried teaching, but found she could make more money as a singing cowgirl on the popular Western music entertain ment circuit. That’s where she met fellow entertainer Don Witt.
In 1967 the Witts moved to a ranch on the mesa northeast of Carbondale. Their neighbors were mostly ranchers, some descended from the original homesteaders for whom the area was named Missouri Heights.
The Witts owned and ran City Drug in Glenwood Springs. Anita continued to perform and was well known in the Roaring Fork Valley for entertaining audiences with her trained horses and dogs, fancy rope tricks, guitar playing, singing and humorous stories.
Natalia Snider is a certified dream practitioner living in Carbondale. She works with people’s dreams and imaginations to facilitate self-healing. Every month, she will analyze someone’s dream in The Sopris Sun. Anyone can submit a dream for personal analysis or inclusion in this column by visiting: www.dreamhealings.com
Hi, I had a strange dream last night. I took cough medicine so maybe that’s why. In the dream, I was in my college town, drunk with a friend. (I’m sober and have been for years. I did a lot of stupid things back then and have a hard time forgiving myself, so I don’t like the idea of being drunk in real life, let’s just say).
Anyways, we saw a raft full of our other friends floating down the street. I guess it was flooded. So, me and my friend tried to catch up with them because we were supposed to be on the raft. We chased it to a beach, but got separated. I tried to take a shortcut and fell off an embankment, landing on a bunch of
fishermen’s lures and junk on the beach. The fishermen were mad because this drunk guy ruined their lines, and my body was riddled with fishing hooks. I kind of just laid there and gave up. Then, a middle-aged woman came down and gently removed each hook. The pain was visceral. I could really feel it. I thanked her and then continued to search for the raft full of my friends. I searched the beach for a while but never found them. The feeling I had was that they left without me on purpose. I was sad in the dream and felt betrayed.
Okay, first the obvious, then the not-so-obvious. The dream was indeed induced by the
feeling of the cough medicine because it’s similar to the feeling of being drunk. Any medicine we take before bed will affect our dream space from the mildest medicines to the most active. There is always a layer of meaning in dreams that is correlated to the body. But this one goes so much deeper than just the body.
Let’s discuss the meaning your subconscious has left for you. The unwanted feeling of being inebriated has provoked your emotional body to release a truth that it has been holding onto. Something that needs attention. It is revealing to you that this is what you think you deserve for your history with alcohol: not being included or worthy of friendship, that you
By Natalia Snider
must feel physical pain and that in the end you are alone in this journey. Yet it’s not such a morbid dream, instead it is only your perspective on the dream. Which happens to be the “big takeaway message” from this dream: to shift your perspective.
First you begin with a friend in the dream, but instead of sticking with that friend you run after other friends who seem more fun. So, the first thing your subconscious wants you to notice is that you already have friends. Then, you get stuck with hooks and a caring female figure comes over to help without any prompting. This indicates that you have people that care for you unconditionally, even if you don’t realize it or ask for it. That they are there for you even when you give up.
In the final parts you are
alone looking for the friends on the beach, and this feeling of abandonment emerges. Yet, the grass isn’t greener. You abandoned your friend for others and purposely left the care of the female. Your subconscious is allowing you to experience the feelings you are meeting in this dream. Like a mirror of emotion — a perfect way to show you how it feels.
It’s also a perfect tell that you already have everything you are searching for; that you are worthy and always have been. You have friends and you have unconditional love. You are not alone unless you choose to be. Choose your perspective. That’s what your subconscious is offering you to observe and contemplate from the safety of your bed.
Often, the dreams that leave us with poor feelings pointedly do this so we must address them. They are being unconsciously stored inside of us. Emotions are meant to be felt and released. We hold onto them when we don’t allow their natural flow in and out. Suppressed emotions come out in dreams to try to get released. They sneak out of the gates when our conscious mind isn’t in control. The paradox is that we hold onto them so hard that there then becomes this idea that it must also be hard to let them go.
FELIPE PEREZ Sol del Valle
A dozen photographs of cancer patients were displayed in Sayre Park in Glenwood Springs, accompanied by inspirational phrases including: “A doctor once said that the best medicine for humans is love. And someone asked: ‘And if it doesn’t work?’ And he replied, ‘Then increase the dose.’”
As part of National Cancer Survivors Month, celebrated every June, the community gathered on June 17 to participate in an emotional event organized by the Calaway-Young Cancer Center at Valley View.
From 4 to 6pm, family members, friends, patients and neighbors all came together to pay tribute to local cancer survivors and fondly remember those who are no longer with us.
During the celebration, attendees enjoyed live music by Shaefer Welch, as well as complimentary drinks and snacks provided by Aspen Mini Donuts and Jimmy John’s. One of the most moving moments was a speech dedicated to survivors, both past and present, which deeply touched those in attendance and reinforced the spirit of community, hope and solidarity in the face of cancer.
In an interview with Sol del Valle, Dr. Alexandra Donovan, oncologist and hematologist at Valley View, said, “I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to celebrate our patients and cancer survival. This event reminds us that no one is alone on this journey.”
She added, “More than a hospital community made up of dedicated doctors and nurses, we are a family. And as a family, we serve all people with commitment, including underserved communities, regardless of language barriers or whether or not they have health insurance.”
This gathering gave voice to patients, healthcare professionals and members of the local community. Gestures of empathy resonated among those present, reaffirming the Center’s mission to provide compassionate and accessible care, and strengthening the ties between the hospital and the community it serves.
The stories shared and tributes paid not only honored the resilience of the survivors, but also highlighted the tireless work of the medical staff who accompany them every step of the way.
The event emphasized the mission of the Calaway-Young Cancer Center to provide dignified and accessible care, regardless of language, background or insurance status. Beyond its role as a healthcare institution, the event positioned the hospital as a true refuge of support, humanity and hope.
Share your works in progress with readers by emailing illustrations, creative writings and poetry to fiction@soprissun.com
By Rick Davis Glenwood Springs
What and Why are two questions that I sometimes ask myself When I was much younger, I would ask myself the usual questions “What is life about, and Why am I here?”
This was asked when I first woke in the morning and as I lay my head down at the day’s end.
I would wonder about this during my really good days and also the times when storms brewed “What and Why”
I never really found any answers, although I did gain some insights Slowly, as I aged, and the years stacked behind me that question became less important
In mid-life, I asked a different “What and Why” What is compassion and why is it important?
This lead me on a quest that lasted many years, a journey of self discovery and renewal
I came to understand that compassion was the opposite of pain
One made me selfish and self absorbed, the other set me free
I learned that before I could really have compassion for others I needed to have compassion for myself
This was a hard lesson as I had deemed myself not worthy
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
I have cried myself to sleep many nights, over the “what and why” questions
For what and why is there war?
Why are people homeless? Why do they go hungry?
Why do children suffer? Why do the innocent pay such a high price? Why does both religion and government serve itself, but neglects the real needs of the people?
Why is truth not a simple, tangible thing, but molded and twisted?
As I have grown older, my earthly vision has grown worse
My eyes are dimmer and I don’t see with the clarity I once did, but my inner vision has grown stronger I see some things so much clearer
People are fearful, afraid of life and terrified of death
The promise of something greater is falling on fewer ears,
The hope of a better tomorrow has been all but shattered
We can only get through this together, hand in hand, lifting the others up, carrying another when they need help, and allowing yourself to be carried, when you need help
To care
To love and be loved
To share all that we have and all that we are
This, for me, is the what and the why
Three Mile Mobile Home Park Infrastructure Improvements Project
Three Mile Mobile Home Park Infrastructure Improvements Project
Three Mile Mobile Home Park Infrastructure Improvements Project
CO 81601
Three Mile Mobile Home Park Infrastructure Improvements Project Issue Date: 6/11/2025 | Closing Date: 7/10/2025 Non-Mandatory Pre-Bid Conference: 6/19/2025 @ 11 AM at Project Site
Issue Date: 6/11/2025 | Closing Date: 7/10/2025
Non-Mandatory Pre-Bid Conference: 6/19/2025 @ 11 AM at Project Site
Sealed bids for the construction of the 3 Mile MHP will be received from invited Bidders by the Roaring Fork Community Development (“OWNER”) electronically until 11:00 AM on July 10th, 2025, at which time the Bids received will be publicly opened and read The project scope includes the replacement of entire water distribution system within 3 Mile MHP, replacement of sewer creek crossing from aerial to buried, and replacement of two bridges (vehicle and pedestrian) on site. Additional scope of chlorination building replacement, buried water storage tank, and abutment and stream protection scope is also included.
Sealed bids for the construction of the 3 Mile MHP will be received from invited Bidders by the Roaring Fork Community Development (“OWNER”) electronically until 11:00 AM on July 10th, 2025, at which time the Bids received will be publicly opened and read The project scope includes the replacement of entire water distribution system within 3 Mile MHP, replacement of sewer creek crossing from aerial to buried, and replacement of two bridges (vehicle and pedestrian) on site. Additional scope of chlorination building replacement, buried water storage tank, and abutment and stream protection scope is also included.
Sealed bids for the construction of the 3 Mile MHP will be received from invited Bidders by the Roaring Fork Community Development (“OWNER”) electronically until 11:00 AM on July 10th, 2025, at which time the Bids received will be publicly opened and read The project scope includes the replacement of entire water distribution system within 3 Mile MHP, replacement of sewer creek crossing from aerial to buried, and replacement of two bridges (vehicle and pedestrian) on site. Additional scope of chlorination building replacement, buried water storage tank, and abutment and stream protection scope is also included.
Bids will be received for a single prime Contract. Bidding Documents will be provided to prospective Bidders as electronic PDF files
Bids will be received for a single prime Contract. Bidding Documents will be provided to prospective Bidders as electronic PDF files
Bids will be received for a single prime Contract. Bidding Documents will be provided to prospective Bidders as electronic PDF files
The Issuing Office for the Bidding Documents is Roaring Fork Engineering (RFE), 592 Hwy 133, Carbondale, CO, 81623 (Contact: Maggie McHugh, PE (614) 256-4714, MaggieM@rfeng.biz). Prospective Bidders may examine the Bidding Documents at the Issuing Office on Mondays through Fridays between the hours of 8 AM to 5 PM and may obtain copies of the Bidding Documents from the Issuing Office as described below.
The Issuing Office for the Bidding Documents is Roaring Fork Engineering (RFE), 592 Hwy 133, Carbondale, CO, 81623 (Contact: Maggie McHugh, PE (614) 256-4714, MaggieM@rfeng.biz). Prospective Bidders may examine the Bidding Documents at the Issuing Office on Mondays through Fridays between the hours of 8 AM to 5 PM and may obtain copies of the Bidding Documents from the Issuing Office as described below.
The Issuing Office for the Bidding Documents is Roaring Fork Engineering (RFE), 592 Hwy 133, Carbondale, CO, 81623 (Contact: Maggie McHugh, PE (614) 256-4714, MaggieM@rfeng.biz). Prospective Bidders may examine the Bidding Documents at the Issuing Office on Mondays through Fridays between the hours of 8 AM to 5 PM and may obtain copies of the Bidding Documents from the Issuing Office as described below.
Bidding Documents are available as electronic portable document format (PDF) files Alternatively, printed Bidding Documents may be obtained from the Issuing Office via in-person pick-up, for a nonrefundable charge of $75 per set. Checks for Bidding Documents shall be payable to Roaring Fork Engineering. The date that the Bidding Documents are transmitted by the Issuing Office will be considered the date of receipt of the Bidding Documents. Partial sets of Bidding Documents will not be available from the Issuing Office. Neither Owner nor Engineer will be responsible for full or partial sets of Bidding Documents, including Addenda if any, obtained from sources other than the Issuing Office
Bidding Documents are available as electronic portable document format (PDF) files Alternatively, printed Bidding Documents may be obtained from the Issuing Office via in-person pick-up, for a nonrefundable charge of $75 per set. Checks for Bidding Documents shall be payable to Roaring Fork Engineering. The date that the Bidding Documents are transmitted by the Issuing Office will be considered the date of receipt of the Bidding Documents. Partial sets of Bidding Documents will not be available from the Issuing Office. Neither Owner nor Engineer will be responsible for full or partial sets of Bidding Documents, including Addenda if any, obtained from sources other than the Issuing Office
Bidding Documents are available as electronic portable document format (PDF) files Alternatively, printed Bidding Documents may be obtained from the Issuing Office via in-person pick-up, for a nonrefundable charge of $75 per set. Checks for Bidding Documents shall be payable to Roaring Fork Engineering. The date that the Bidding Documents are transmitted by the Issuing Office will be considered the date of receipt of the Bidding Documents. Partial sets of Bidding Documents will not be available from the Issuing Office. Neither Owner nor Engineer will be responsible for full or partial sets of Bidding Documents, including Addenda if any, obtained from sources other than the Issuing Office
A pre-bid conference will be held at 11:00 AM on June 19, 2025 This conference is non-mandatory but highly encouraged. In accordance with the Contract Documents (C-200 Section 5.03) the Contractor is required to conduct a site visit prior to bid submission. That visit can either be at the pre-bid meeting or arranged for another day and time with Town staff present The pre-bid conference will be at project site located at 250 County Road 127, Glenwood Springs, CO 816 01
A pre-bid conference will be held at 11:00 AM on June 19, 2025 This conference is non-mandatory but highly encouraged. In accordance with the Contract Documents (C-200 Section 5.03) the Contractor is required to conduct a site visit prior to bid submission. That visit can either be at the pre-bid meeting or arranged for another day and time with Town staff present The pre-bid conference will be at project site located at 250 County Road 127, Glenwood Springs, CO 816 01
A pre-bid conference will be held at 11:00 AM on June 19, 2025 This conference is non-mandatory but highly encouraged. In accordance with the Contract Documents (C-200 Section 5.03) the Contractor is required to conduct a site visit prior to bid submission. That visit can either be at the pre-bid meeting or arranged for another day and time with Town staff present The pre-bid conference will be at project site located at 250 County Road 127, Glenwood Springs, CO 816 01
A 5% bid security shall be furnished in accordance with the Instructions to Bidders. Bidders shall submit proof of qualifications to perform the Work as described in the Instructions to Bidders
A 5% bid security shall be furnished in accordance with the Instructions to Bidders. Bidders shall submit proof of qualifications to perform the Work as described in the Instructions to Bidders
A 5% bid security shall be furnished in accordance with the Instructions to Bidders. Bidders shall submit proof of qualifications to perform the Work as described in the Instructions to Bidders
Roaring
Roaring Fork Community Development 3 Mile Mobile Home Park
We watch out for each other, wave, enjoy a front-porch or sidewalk chat. We connect. In their song “The Last Resort” the Eagles sang: “They call it paradise, I don’t know why. You call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye.” Obviously from recent increases in traffic and growth, the word is out on our little bit of paradise. MAP is an attempt to change that growth paradigm. To preserve our Carbondale character, we must prioritize and secure safe and appealing bike and pedestrian access to our schools, parks, downtown core, shops, doctors’ offices, library and between neighborhoods now
When it is safe and pleasant to walk and bike, more of us will do it. And driving our cars will be more pleasant, too. We all bene-
Thanks in advance for your patience on tap for summer 2025: bike lanes, mini traffic
curb bulbouts (street narrowing) at Garfield and Euclid Sopris Avenue and Weant Boulevard: minor alterations to slow vehicles turn-
Main Street and North 8th from painted green and Nieslanik pedes-
Bike, Pedestrian & Trails
As an aging Medicare-dependent member of our population, I am very concerned about H.R.1, Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” and the cuts it proposes to Medicare. As the daughter of two very elderly, Medicare-dependent human beings, with a variety of medical conditions, living on their limited social security, I am horrified at the lack of respect and compassion this bill displays toward our elderly citizens who have worked their whole lives and contributed their hardearned money into the Medicare system.
Furthermore, when one comprehends that the root cause of these cuts is to give tax breaks (TRILLIONS!) to the wealthiest people in our country, at the expense of the poorest, my normal even-temper fails me. I am appalled at our politicians who have voted for this bill. I tuned into Jeff Hurd’s telephone town hall meeting on March 15 where he promised that he would protect Medicare for his constituents but then turned around and voted for H.R.1 on May 22.
Either our politicians are living in a bubble and are totally disconnected from the American people or they are completely bought and sold and are voting out of self preservation with disregard for their constituents. Fellow Americans, let your voices be heard!
Jan Schubert Carbondale
On the Fourth of July, Americans gather to celebrate that day in 1776 when we declared our independence from Great Britain and undertook a magnificent experiment as a free democracy. It hasn’t been easy! We continue to face challenges and major differences of opinion. We should always remember that these freedoms have often been hard-earned by young Americans.
As we celebrate, we should remember the men and women who serve — and have served — in our military. They, sometimes at great cost, served to protect the U.S. and the freedoms we enjoy. Our U.S. veterans will be honored at several parades around the Valley this holiday. If you served, join in and receive your community’s appreciation. If you are on the sidelines, express your gratitude as they pass. Don’t hesitate to stop someone you know is a veteran on the street and say, “thank you.”
Aspen’s Fourth of July parade invites all U.S. military veterans and active-duty members, locals and visitors, to join our group, Tribute to Veterans. Meet at 10am on Main Street by Paepcke Park. (Remember traffic is a nightmare that day.) Call Sally at 970-948-8278 for details. Rides are available, but must be arranged in advance.
We hope to see you there. Happy Fourth of July!
Hugh Roberts USAF Vietnam
Tipping points
We live in a world that is currently on the edge of so many things that 350 words cannot begin to express.
1. Climate change and global warming — the globe has experienced the 10 warmest years on record within the past 10 years (climate.gov)
2. Political strife and unrest — there are six major conflicts going on around the globe (Reuters)
3. Habitat loss — global wildlife populations have declined by over 73% over the past 50 years (WWF)
4. Violence — life is becoming more violent, shootings are normalized and blaming the other side doesn’t help
Let’s find common ground by imagining a space where we can all gather, air our thoughts, find common ground and build a stronger, more inclusive future for the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond. It’s all about weaving our community’s diverse threads into a cohesive, resilient fabric.
We are asking for people to sign a petition (www.bit.ly/Hurd-petition) you are tired of not hearing back from your local representatives. Please consider taking a small step toward democratic representation and add your name to over 400 other local residents today.
Steve Kuschner 350 Colorado Roaring Fork Valley Coordinator
The Sun will keep shining, the question is how brightly?
Show of hands; how many readers of this fine paper know about geoengineering or HAARP or 5G’s capabilities? Must search beyond Wikipedia. Another term is: solar radiation management. In Europe it’s: stratospheric aerosol injections.
Look up and support The Sopris Sun. Richard Vottero Carbondale
LETTERS POLICY: The Sopris Sun welcomes local letters to the editor. Shorter letters stand a better chance of being printed. Letters exclusive to The Sopris Sun (not appearing in other papers) are particularly welcome. Please, no smearing, cite your facts and include your name and place of residence or association. Letters are due to news@soprissun.com by noon on the Monday before we go to print.
erected this tower-slide in Two Rivers Park for their annual ball race fundraiser. Numbered balls raced down the track, and participants who bought tickets with matching numbers won prizes with proceeds benefiting various local initiatives.
Size
FULL PAGE PREMIUM SPACE (6.75” x 9.34”)
FULL PAGE (6.75” x 9.34”)
HALF PAGE (6.75” x 4.5”)
1/4 PAGE (3.3” x 4.5”)
1/8 PAGE (3.3 x 2.2”)
AD Reservation Deadline
Friday, June 27 by noon.
Reserve by June 16 and get a 10% early bird discount.
Deadline
Camera Ready Deadline is July 3.
Camera
Program Distribution
•Inserted into The Sopris Sun
•Given directly to Mountian Fair Guests
•Available online at www.soprissun.com
