The Sopris Sun and Sol del Valle’s core staff met up in Glenwood Springs for a rare team photo on Feb. 5 before visiting the Colorado Mountain News Media printing press in Gypsum for a tour (see page 20). Pictured (left to right): Contributing Editor James Steindler, Digital Editor Ingrid Celeste Zúniga, Sol del Valle
Bianca Godina, Lead
Ritchie,
Chief Raleigh Burleigh, Sol del Valle
pictured: Advertising Designer Emily Blong, Delivery Champ Fred Kischbaum, Youth Journalism Instructor Skyler Stark-Ragsdale, Sol del Valle Layout Artist Diane Amsden, the Perez family Sol del Valle distribution team, our beloved volunteer proofreaders and many talented contributors.
Photo by Klaus Kocher
It takes a community…
Today we turn a leaf, beginning Volume 18 of The Sopris Sun. For 17 years, we’ve delivered a vibrant weekly newspaper with many changes along the way. We hope you’ll celebrate our continued growth and evolution at the Thompson Barn in Carbondale on Feb. 19. There you can catch the official announcement of our next editor-in-chief — drumroll — and bid me a fond farewell.
After more than five years at the helm of our editorial team, and three years on the Sopris Sun board prior to that, I am departing my role at the end of March. It’s been a difficult decision, compounded by the loving kindness I’ve received since the news broke, affirming that my work here is valued. Thank you for trusting me with the responsibility of curating this publication.
And I have total faith in The Sopris Sun’s bright future. The team we’ve built is delightful and strong. Our cadre of contributors is unparalleled. Our faithful base of readers, volunteers, donors and advertisers make it possible, week after week.
OPINION
Sol del Valle has existed for close to five years and benefits tremendously from the leadership of Bianca Godina, Margarita Alvarez and Ingrid Zúniga. A recent field trip to the Colorado Mountain News Media printing press highlighted for me the passion these three bring to the Valley’s only Spanish-language newspaper. A Sol del Valle Advisory Council meeting the following Saturday highlighted the impact this resource is generating for our Latino neighbors.
My time at The Sopris Sun has been transformative. I extend heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has supported me along the way. This community has a special knack for lifting people up, allowing them to blossom. It’s a beautiful thing to witness and experience, and I will sorely miss these days of sharing stories with Carbondale, my hometown, and the surrounding localities.
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
By Raleigh Burleigh
As announced by KDNK News on Jan. 28, I’ll be moving to New Mexico in April. The horizon is open, and it lights a fire within me not knowing exactly how that will look. But it’s likely you’ll continue to see my byline in this and other publications.
Now 33 years old, I am motivated to fly beyond my proverbial cradle — safely held within these paradisiacal valleys — to experience more of the world at a tumultuous time. I carry countless blessings with me and treasure every relationship that helped me grow. I am proud to come from here: a place of deep caring, joyful communion, creative expression and grand reverence. I am honored to have woven a strand into the tapestry of our shared histories.
LETTERS
CORRECTION: The Sun mistakenly reported last week that Patricia Savoy’s name was drawn for the top line for mayor on April’s ballot. In fact, Erica Sparhawk’s name was drawn first.
Keep writing, Pat
In 1969, 23-year-old U.S. Army Specialist Patrick Hunter took issue with his officer’s declaration that a moustache was “a sign of dissent,” and, as such, moustaches “would neither exceed the corners of the mouth … nor have individual hairs longer than one-sixteenth of an inch.”
Rather than comply quietly, Pat wrote a letter to the military newspaper. “It is difficult to imagine anything quite so small,” he observed, before making a persuasive — and humorous — case for the company’s right to reasonably sized moustaches. And dignity.
Fifty-seven years later, he is still writing letters.
As Pat, my father, celebrates his 80th birthday this week, I am writing my own letter of gratitude for how he has modeled what it means to be an engaged citizen. A lifelong learner and student of the world, he understands keenly that meaningful change happens at the local level. He’s worked to better our community and protect the environment through service on numerous community boards, and through his countless letters to local newspapers.
I’m sure you’ve read them! Maybe they affirmed your own views, or maybe they challenged them. Hopefully, they made you think, or even sparked a conversation. And more conversation is exactly what we need these days. If we value our freedom to converse freely and speak truth to
And the Sopris Stars team has accrued some of the most brilliant high school students I’ve ever met. The energy they carry into our office each week enlivens all the work we do. James Steindler, as director of that youth news program, helps channel their enthusiasm into a monthly print edition that continually impresses.
We are beyond fortunate that The Sopris Sun exists to do this work — advancing diverse, independent, community-centric news with heart. We bring innovation to a long and vital tradition, actively exercising democracy by sustaining a common place for meaning-making.
I should be so lucky to discover another job quite as purposeful. The lessons and memories will fuel me onward.
Wherever I end up, this place will live forever in my spirit, informing how I interact with the world, as it always has. I look forward to frequent visits and checking in. As the Sopris “curse” goes, I may very well find my way back to stay when the time is right.
Until then, thank you for everything. Let’s keep cheering each other on; it makes a tremendous difference.
power, then we must enthusiastically exercise those rights and fiercely protect them.
We must also celebrate and support our local newspapers. We are lucky to live in a valley with strong local journalism, an essential ingredient of democracy. I don’t take this for granted. Thanks to my dad’s example, I endeavor to be an informed, engaged citizen — and I always read the Letters to the Editor.
Here’s to many more years of letters from Patrick Hunter, Carbondale!
Christy Garfield Aspen
Unintended consequences
“The Librarians” was an enlightening and difficult documentary about political and ideological interference with our libraries, especially in Texas and Florida. Hard to imagine, since libraries have always been in complete service to us.
Since age 6, I’ve had a library card and used it constantly. That’s a lot of years and a lot of pages of adventures, stories, research and enchantment. How lucky we are to live in a country where we have the freedom to access a full diversity of information. It is no accident this is part of the First Amendment.
Eighty-percent of Garfield County residents approve of our libraries. Six-percent don’t. The Garfield County Commissioners’ determination to control our Library Board, a move that reflects a very, very small faction, may have unintended consequences. I’m reminded of a favorite quote from Mark Twain, “There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable.”
Kay Clarke Carbondale
Leash ‘em up
So many things on my mind this week, but one that got to me yesterday is the lack of respect for the trail workers on Red Hill. My beef at this moment: dogs off leash. I reminded two groups yesterday that, yes, dogs are required to be on leash on townowned portions of the trails. The Red Hill Council recommends dogs stay on leash even on what is BLM land.
With the first group, angry, I stated the rule and walked on. One person gave me an eye roll and “yeah whatever” look. The second time, I encountered a young couple with a dog off leash and I calmly asked, “You do know dogs are supposed to be on leash, right? Do you know why?” One of them answered, questioningly, “To protect the wildlife?” Looking around at the no wildlife here anymore, I answered, staying calm, “Yes, that and the plant destruction. Your dog goes off trail to poop, you hopefully go off trail to pick it up. That’s four trips off trail, destroying fragile vegetation.” They looked at each other, put the leash on the dog and we all walked on.
And if you don’t pick up that poop, shame on you. Those purple flags that show up in the spring? That’s where someone either didn’t see their dog go or decided it was okay to leave their dog’s poop in the woods.
Red Hill now sees over 70,000 users a year! The abundant disrespectful use has damaged plants and created erosion channels. Trail workers have spent hours of hard work and money to try to revegetate areas and reduce the erosion of social trails.
So, I sincerely ask, if you knew the reason for the dog-on-leash rules, would continued on page 22
Sol del Valle Editora Bianca Godina bianca@soldelvalle.org
Digital Editor Ingrid Celeste Zúniga ingrid@soldelvalle.org
Lead Editorial Designer Terri Ritchie
Partnerships & Engagement Manager Luise Nieslanik
Advertising Department adsales@soprissun.com
Sol del Valle Marketing & Development Manager
Margarita Alvarez margarita@soldelvalle.org
Advertising Designer
Emily Blong
Delivery
Frederic Kischbaum
Youth Journalism Instructor
Skyler Stark-Ragsdale
Proofreaders
Lee Beck
Tracy Kallassy
Ken Pletcher
Hank van Berlo
Executive Director
Todd Chamberlin 970-510-0246
todd@soprissun.com
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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+
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Basalt elections
There are four candidates vying for three Basalt Town Council seats this spring: Angela Anderson, Benjamin Fierstein, Elyse Hottel, Greg Shaffran. Registered voters will receive a mail-in ballot due back by April 7. Do you have a question for these candidates? Please email raleigh@soprissun.com with “Basalt election” in the subject line.
Red Hill alert
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According to the Red Hill Council, since markers went up surrounding degraded soils, meant to keep hikers away to allow for restoration, many trail users have disregarded the barriers and trampled right through. “People are annihilating the place, including carving new routes through previously intact biocrust gardens,” said Chris Brandt, council president, on Feb. 9. He acknowledged that some people may be sidestepping the muddy trail, but emphasized that that still causes damage. “There are only two trails that are bone-dry, moon-dusty even: Mushroom Rock and Ruthie’s. All other trails lead to squishy, slippery, sticky mud, and bypassing it causes even more damage to the adjacent environment.”
GarCo GOP candidate
Eric Rudd of Carbondale has thrown his hat into the race as a Republican candidate for the District 1 seat of the Garfield Board of County Commissioners, currently held by Chairman Tom Jankovsky. He’s served on the Planning and Zoning Commission for more than a decade, according to a press release. “I am committed to practical and principled leadership, and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve all my neighbors in Garfield County and preserve our county’s unique character for future generations,” Rudd stated. The Garfield County Democrat candidate(s) will be announced Feb. 17, said a spokesperson.
Snowpack report
Last week, Roaring Fork Conservancy reported that snowpack in the watershed is well below average — 57% of normal for this time of year. Due to dry and warm conditions not letting up, the snow-water-equivalent (SWE) reached historic lows daily over a two-week period, with the SWE tracking at 0.9-inches lower than the last snow drought of 2018. Flows from Ruedi Reservoir decreased by 15cfs, and the Bureau of Reclamation forecasts that the reservoir will not fill this summer.
FAB grants
The City of Glenwood Springs Financial Advisory Board (FAB) is now accepting 2026 grant applications. This City
Council-appointed group of community volunteers allocates a portion of sales tax revenue and tourism funds toward bolstering human services, special events, tourism promotion and other public purposes deemed appropriate. Applications are due on April 8 by 5pm at www.gwsco.info/fab-grant
Redstone bridge replacement
Pitkin County has awarded the construction contract for the Redstone South Bridge Replacement Project to Myers and Sons Construction. Construction activities will begin mid-February and the bridge will close in early March and remain closed through the summer. Built in 1947, the Redstone South Bridge is the oldest bridge in Pitkin County. Its replacement will improve safety and reliability and include a new trail connectivity component. The contractor has been offered a $2,000 per day incentive to complete the project up to 25 days ahead of the Sept. 4 target date.
Gray wolf mortality
The 3-year-old breeding male in the King Mountain Pack died during routine collaring operations in Routt County on Jan. 28. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) performed a necropsy with results still pending. CPW has decided to cease capture operations while the circumstances of this mortality are investigated. The wolf’s collar had low batteries, and CPW aimed to replace them to comply with the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, a press release explained. With the additional death of a female wolf on Jan. 16, KDNK News reported, this “brings[s] the total [number] of wolf deaths in the state to 14 since relocation began in 2023.”
Libertarians stand apart
The Libertarian Party of Colorado board has formally denounced and nullified the “Liberty Pledge” used during the 2024 election cycle to support Republican candidates who were claimed to hold “Libertarian-leaning” views. The state board determined that the “Liberty Pledge” conflicts with its party’s bylaws which explicitly state that only Libertarian Party nominees for partisan public office may be endorsed. Chair Keith Laube emphasized that Libertarians are not aligned with either major political party. “Libertarians are strong defenders of personal liberty and equal rights for all adults,” he said. “The Libertarian Party has long supported the LGBTQ community, immigrants and marriage equality — positions that the Republican Party has historically opposed.” He added, “The current Republican administration’s actions — including deploying ICE and masked military police into communities and intimidating schools — are unacceptable to Libertarians.”
They say it’s your birthday!
The Sopris Sun, Roger Berliner, Raleigh Burleigh, Sam Hayes, Anna Huntington, Ciara Low, Faith Magill, Sarah and Laura Nelson, Jamie Ramge and Gene Schilling (Feb. 12); Amy Rota (Feb. 13); Camille Backman, Cliff Coalia, Winnie CramptonSteindler, Deatra Glock, Gabriela Mejia and Andrea Stewart (Feb. 14); Richard Allen, Jesse Hill, Scott Levine, Dave Plumb, Skyler Stark-Ragsdale and Megan Tackett (Feb. 15); Cody Lee, Luby Lubrant, Tristan Mead, Jessie Murillo and Dale Will (Feb. 16); Emma Scher and Jade Wimberley (Feb. 17); Sarah Emily Murray (Feb. 18).
Thurs, Feb. 19, 4-5PM
Explore
Participants engaged in an avalanche-rescue practice scenario atop Aspen Mountain during Mountain Rescue Aspen’s 39th annual Community Avalanche Workshop on Saturday, Feb. 7. About 40 people took part in the event. Photo by Ken Pletcher
Small town, small crime …
KEN PLETCHER
Sopris Sun Correspondent
In mid-January, The Sopris Sun received an anonymous tip from a resident at the Crystal Meadows retirement community describing that a neighbor’s truck had been broken into. Several days later, a Carbondale Police press release detailed multiple break-ins of vehicles and residences at River Valley Ranch. This followed another press release from mid-December about the arrest of an individual who had burglarized a home with the owner present earlier that month.
These reports have led many to wonder if crime is on the rise in our little town — especially since many old-timers remember never locking doors and leaving keys in vehicles. The Sun recently sat down with Chief of Police Kirk Wilson to get his perspective.
Wilson, who took over as chief from Gene Schilling in November 2020, told The Sun, “Overall, crime is stable; it’s not increasing rapidly, it’s not decreasing.” With the growing number of people in town, “We’re seeing more and more quality-of-life type of calls for service,” such as parking (“a huge issue”) and altercations with
pets, “as opposed to big crimes.” The town does not “get many violent confrontations, though when we do, they get a lot of media attention.”
Traffic is another “big issue,” especially the greater number of vehicles on Highway 133. “When 133 gets plugged up … people use 8th, Hendrick or Snowmass as bypass routes,” Wilson said, with more calls from residents on those streets.
When asked about an apparent significant increase in drivers ignoring stop signs, Wilson agreed, acknowledging that rolling the signs is “becoming commonplace” these days. Noting that Carbondale has an aging population and enjoys its reputation as a “walkable town,” he said that officers try to address this and other situations (e.g., dogs off leash or pedestrian-bicycle encounters) as safety issues. “Our job, overall, is to seek compliance with the people’s behavior.” His philosophy: “Interact with our public, educate the public, enforce the law.” In that order.
Wilson emphasized that the police try to “tailor the way that we enforce, the way that we communicate with people, to a
way that this community really wants us to … to keep safety at the forefront of everyone’s mind.” He did acknowledge, though, that “Proactive enforcement has fallen behind,” since losing the force’s municipal officer last summer.
When asked if there had been any changes in criminal activity at big town events like Mountain Fair or Dandelion Day, Wilson indicated that the department had not seen any. He did mention, without going into detail, that his goal is for an “increase in actual public safety, with no one even noticing it’s taking place.”
Wilson was particularly concerned about vehicle-pedestrian altercations, given how many outside events take place in Carbondale, citing the deadly incident in New Orleans on New Year’s Day 2025. He said, “We have to plan for how to mitigate
“I love being off leash.”
these things,” adding that the Town is working to “minimize the obvious low-hanging-fruit risks” by using planter barricades and other measures.
Finally, the chief was asked about any actual or potential activity by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Patrol agents in the area, especially given our large Latino population. He said he knew of only one arrest, on Highway 82 near Carbondale. Although he was not at liberty to explain further, he mentioned ongoing discussions within the department and with others regarding the perception of the police if federal agents carry out operations here. He strongly emphasized, “We’re not enforcing [federal] immigration law, period.” In fact, he mentioned efforts to help staff and family
members obtain U.S. citizenship. He wanted people to be clear about the distinctions between local, state and federal jurisdictional responsibilities.
One last issue that Wilson wanted to touch on was the strong esprit de corps in the department. Personnel may leave to go elsewhere, but they often come back. “It says a lot about our community. It says a lot about our particular organization,” he said, “and also a little bit about our leadership — not me.” He noted efforts with Lieutenant Bill Kirkland to “make sure our officers here know that they are family, that they’re supported, that their personal lives matter to us.” He described programs to “make our officers feel and know that the department and the Town [are] interested in their well-being … because it benefits everyone.
Crystal Valley Echo flips the page
JAMES STEINDLER
Contributing Editor
Just up the Crystal Valley, in a cabin on Redstone Boulevard, Gentrye Houghton has kept busy behind the keyboard, often basqued in the blue light of her laptop late into the night to get The Crystal Valley Echo to print. While the winds of the Pacific have whispered in her ear that it’s time to move again, the Echo will remain, not lost or curated remotely from the deck of her 1980-yacht, but through the steady hand of young, motivated truthseeker Tucker Farris.
Houghton, an Amarillo, Texas gal, grew up showing American saddle-bred horses and wanting to be a doctor, just like her dad. It wasn’t until college at Oklahoma State University that she caught the journalism bug, afterwards blending her degree with her childhood knowhow through her work with two national equine magazines, and later producing a morning television newscast back in Amarillo. With the backing of a supportive husband, Ryan Kenney, she broke away to the high peaks of Colorado for an internship at Rock & Ice Magazine in Carbondale.
Eventually, they settled down in a little cabin on the Boulevard. Following McEvoy’s passing, Alyssa Ohnmacht, the paper’s founder, passed it off to Houghton in 2019.
“I’m really happy that Gentrye and Ryan had the paper for the years that they did, and I’m happy that they found somebody to pass it on to,” Ohnmacht told The Sun, “and I’m super excited that it’s Tucker.”
Crystal Valley residents are passionate about what affects its culture, lands and waters. Houghton has not shied away from printing relevant hard news, a trait she shares with her successor. “There were certain articles I knew were going to explode and cause controversy,” she said, “but in my gut and in my heart I knew that what I was printing was true and it was the right thing to do.”
Humanity of the work is what has always drawn me to it. It’s ordinary people telling ordinary stories in extraordinary ways. That’s what I love about it.
- Editor-in-Chief Tucker Farris
Once getting Kenney across the plains and into the Rockies, they came to the Crystal Valley. “It was January of 2013 when we moved up there,” she told The Sun. “I’d never seen that much snow in my life .. You come up the Crystal, drive by Penny [Hot Springs] and … see Chair Mountain for the first time — it’s just spectacular.”
She picked up some writing for The Echo, having been nudged by Sue McEvoy, the basically lone writer of The Echo for many years and Redstone Castle’s go-to tour guide. In 2015, the couple purchased a small school bus, which became their year-round lodgings, “Wendy,” hitting the road each winter and returning in the spring.
Farris is like a kid in a candy store right now. The ideas and possibilities are whirling. First, it’s important to the fifth-generation local to preserve the canon of The Echo. He’s aware of a stash with the Redstone Historical Society he’d like to see bound, and is working with Ohnmacht to collect her record for a digital archive.
As a tyke, he lived across Woody Creek Road from Hunter Thompson, breathing the same air as the Gonzo journalist, perhaps foreshadowing little-Farris’ future. His introduction to The Echo was also thanks to McEvoy, who during a tour of the castle, encouraged the then 14-yearold to submit some photos and words for publication.
His sights are set on expanding distribution and its current 16-page count, joining the Colorado Press Association, reviving the paper’s community calendar and giving its website a “facelift.” Further down the road, he may even, depending on capacity and growth, transition to a weekly.
It’s a labor of love and best to have support. Kenney,
who is listed in the paper’s masthead as its distribution man and layout designer (though Houghton often fulfills these roles, too), has helped keep it alive, along with regular contributors Amber McMahill and DJ Sugar Monkey, the sharp-witted watchdog of Marble politics. Farris has a supportive family with a knack for civil discourse. His grandmother, Dorothea Farris, was a commissioner for Pitkin County District 5 and a voice for Crystal Valley residents in Aspen-centric politics.
continued on page 18
Incoming editor Tucker Farris (left) and predecessor Gentrye Houghton reenact a photo from when she took over for the paper’s founder, Alyssa Ohnmacht, in 2019, as seen on this month’s cover of The Crystal Valley Echo. Photo by Ryan Kenney
New round of decisions on track for proposed Uinta Basin Railway
AMY HADDEN MARSH Sopris Sun Correspondent
Late last year, Uinta Basin Railway (UBR) backers, Utah’s Seven County Infrastructure Coalition, filed a 35-page motion with the Federal Surface Transportation Board (STB), asking the Board to reaffirm its original decision to approve the railway without further environmental review. But the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) is not on board with the idea. The conservation group is a plaintiff in a legal battle against the train that’s been going on for five years. It all started in December 2021, when four out of five STB members voted to approve the railway, with board chair Marty Oberman casting the sole dissenting vote. He argued that the environmental impacts of greenhouse gas emissions from increased crude oil production in the Uinta Basin and risks to water and wildlife outweighed transportation benefits. He also questioned the financial viability of the project.
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) approved the 88-mile railroad in 2022 through a roadless area in Utah’s Ashley National Forest, which would connect the Uinta Basin oil fields to the national rail line near Price. Trains would then carry up to 350,000 additional barrels of Utah crude oil per day to refineries on the Gulf Coast, crossing Colorado and rolling along the Colorado River in the I-70 corridor.
The years-long legal battle has involved conservation groups and county and municipal governments throughout Colorado. The case has ping-ponged from one court to another.
In 2023, Eagle County sued the STB in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The court vacated the STB’s original decision. “Conservationists and Eagle County prevailed on a number of claims, including claims about upstream and downstream impacts of the railway, as well as a number of claims concerning the impacts to the Colorado River from spills and the Transportation Board’s analysis of accidents,” said Ted Zukoski, CBD’s attorney. “We also prevailed on claims involving the Endangered Species Act for failure to address impacts to fish in the river, and under the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act [ICCTA] because the board failed to address the financial status and viability of the railway.”
The appeals court decision had a ripple effect. The USFS’ approval was based on the STB’s decision. Because that decision was vacated, the USFS also withdrew its approval, stating “If the deficiencies are addressed and resubmitted for consideration, the Forest Service may issue a new decision.”
Then, in October 2024, UBR backers took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Zukoski told The Sopris Sun that only
the upstream and downstream impacts of the proposed UBR were before the court.
“The Seven County Infrastructure Coalition [argues] that more than that was at stake, or more than that was decided,” he said. “We argue that it wasn’t and Justice [Sonia] Sotomayor, who wrote the concurring opinion, didn’t think more than that was at stake either.”
In May 2025, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the appeals court. The appeals court handed the case back to the STB to take another look. The original STB decision from back in 2021 still stands, but Zukoski says it’s illegal and the board has to fix it.
“The STB and its Office of Environmental Analysis has to address the errors under ICCTA and the Endangered Species Act, and also under the [National Environmental Policy Act],” he explained. “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will also have to review whatever renewed analysis that the STB prepares, and potentially issue a biological opinion for the impacts on the fish.”
Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and Congressman Joe Neguse (D-CD2) urged the STB in a January letter to review
the project. “We urge the Board to reject the motion submitted by the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition to reaffirm the board’s previous approval of the project with a truncated review,” said the lawmakers in a press release. “Instead, the Board should engage in a thorough, rigorous evaluation of the project that includes robust public participation and a supplemental environmental impact statement that considers the project’s risks to Colorado’s communities, water, land, air and climate.”
When the STB makes its decision, the CBD will review it and take it to court if necessary. Even though the case is not back to square one, Zukoski said, it could start the same legal battle all over again. “It could go back up to the Supreme Court,” he said.
Meanwhile, Politico Pro reports that Florida-based Uinta Basin Railway Holdings has hired Roger Stone as the new lobbyist for the railroad. Stone was convicted in 2019 of felony charges, including obstruction and witness tampering, for his activities around investigations into Russia’s interference with the 2016 election. President Trump pardoned Stone in 2020.
An oil train heads east through New Castle a couple of winters ago. Photo by Amy Hadden Marsh
Megan Hiles, MD, MBA, FACP
Women’s Inner Leadership spring cohort begins in March
KATE PHILLIPS
Sopris Sun Correspondent
Lindsay Gurley is not one to shy away from deep conversations. As a longtime leadership coach in the Valley, she has seen a powerful ripple effect when women are supported through the tides of messy thoughts and difficult experiences. It is in those deep conversations that women can shed old stories, reveal their most authentic selves and become magnetic leaders.
Now, with the call for authentic leadership louder than ever, Gurley is inviting all female professionals — from the CEO to stay-at-home mom — to join the second cohort of her Women’s Inner Leadership group, a professional and personal development program.
“I want to help women develop their internal compass. This is your anchor,” Gurley shared with The Sopris Sun. “I see so many women questioning and doubting themselves. I want to shatter that by creating a community and space that really slows down and remembers it all exists inside … I want to normalize that strong leadership comes from a place of presence, reflection, trust and inner clarity.”
Beginning in March, women enrolled in the spring cohort will meet regularly in Carbondale for three months. Offering dynamic pathways for connection, there will be six group meetings, individual coaching, optional virtual office hours and a full-day retreat that Gurley said will “nourish your body, heart and soul, all in one day.” Together, this intimate group will set aside the roles, responsibilities, titles and accolades, reject old narratives, internal critics and societal pressures to instead shift toward truths that cultivate synergy between one’s personal and professional lives.
“Everyone gets to choose how they participate, but it’s a really honest, open and vulnerable space. That alone can be worth the energetic or financial investment,” said Gurley. “We don’t tend to have spaces where people can get real with each other, without any shame … I think my skills and expertise are in creating safe containers and with this group you get a container that is really safe.”
In previous groups, Gurley noticed that while women
often have various needs and reasons for gathering, the common thread was a hope to find healthy ways to navigate their next phase of life. This commonality created a natural tendency for the participants to rely upon one another for support. Recalling the fall 2025 cohort, a warm smile spread across Gurley’s face.
“There was a desire for most of them to feel like they could believe in themselves,” she shared. “It was potent … I was astounded by the honesty, vulnerability and the connection that came during those first two hours of the group.”
For over a decade, Gurley has worked with clients who have felt disconnected from their dreams. They pushed, strived and achieved, and yet something fell flat. On
multiple occasions, she said clients have opted to take multi-year sabbaticals.
“I don’t want anyone to burnout to the point of sabbatical,” she emphasized. “With [the Women’s Inner Leadership] group, I want to create a space before burnout … Society wants us to push through and make things happen, but that isn’t working anymore.”
She continued, “There is so much strength, wisdom and power from the feminine, from the softness. Instead of women having to do all the things, if they can just be in that grounded, present place, and really allow themselves to lead from there, the world can transform.”
Gurley likened this strength to water — a mighty force that ebbs and flows with the obstacles. She noted the force of the Grand Canyon, carved by water, not a bulldozer; and like the water that ripples outward to beautify, transform and nourish the land, so too do the women who are lifted up and celebrated. Together, they can evolve into engaged leaders, feel more connected, earn higher income and find a sustainable alignment between work and life.
“It’s really easy right now to feel hopeless,” Gurley concluded. “There’s a lot of hope and possibility that can come when you’re in a group of people, because you’re not alone. This is something I recognized with professional women who are so driven — they feel alone. The doubt can feel isolating. This group can remind you that you are not alone and you can hone in on who you are when you feel like you’ve got people.”
Applications for the Women’s Inner Leadership group are now open. Gurley encourages anyone who identifies as a woman to apply. Early birds who register before Feb. 14 receive extra bonuses. Visit www.lindsaygurley.com/wil to learn more. Interested in a taste of Gurley’s style? On Feb. 21 at True Nature, she will host “When Success Changes You” — a workshop for women who want to feel alive and aligned. Registration can be found at www.truenaturehealingarts.com
Original theater productions that amplify voices in our community.
May 22, 23, 24
October 23, 24, 25
Directed by Jennifer Austin Hughes
Directed by Micha Schoepe
Lindsay Gurley, leadership coach and badass mom, is thrilled to launch the spring cohort of the Women’s Inner Leadership group. Applications are now open! Photo by Dan Holz
Town properties to host 93 events in 2026
RALEIGH BURLEIGH
Sopris Sun Editor
The main event at Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting, Feb. 10, was approval of the special events calendar for 2026, representing 93 unique happenings hosted on Town properties. With Mayor Ben Bohmfalk absent, Mayor Pro Tem Erica Sparhawk led the meeting.
First, a consent agenda was approved including meeting minutes; accounts payable; an intergovernmental agreement with the Garfield County Clerk and Recorder for April 7 election services; authorization of a Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) grant application for expansion of the Roaring Fork Water Treatment Plant. That last item merited additional discussion.
Assistant Public Works Director Scott Wenning explained how DOLA announced this grant near the beginning of the year with only a month-long window for applications. Public Works is requesting $750,000 to be matched by $1.25 million from the Town toward a $2 million resiliency project at the water treatment plant including expansion of the existing clearwell which would reduce the amount of chlorine used to treat Carbondale’s water. “Everything
BASALT REPORT
that’s in this package … has all been forecasted,” Wenning said. “We just took components we had planned over the next five years to self fund [and] slammed it all up into one package.”
Satisfied, trustees moved on to general public comments.
First, Doc Philip took the podium, distributing vintage Bonedale Brewwerks Dandelion Ale stickers and proclaiming: “Carbondale needs to secede from the Union and become its own nation-state.”
Next up, Lynn Kirchner relayed from others on Main Street the suggestion to have year-round twinkle lights on trees downtown, similar to Grand Junction, to maintain a festive and inviting atmosphere. Lastly, Susan Rhea requested the structure of public meetings be reconsidered to allow for additional public comment after agenda item presentations.
During trustee comments, several remarked on the vibrancy downtown during an abnormally warm February First Friday (55 degrees at 6pm, evidently). Jess Robison mentioned she was elected as chair of the Garfield Clean Energy board as Carbondale’s representative. Chris Hassig shared notes from a recent Colorado Association of Ski Towns meeting. Ross Kribbs said the
Town to pursue speed cameras to slow traffic
WILL BUZZERD
Sopris Sun Correspondent
This week, Basalt Town Council discussed a new form of automated speed enforcement technology that may come to Highway 82 in the near future in order to slow traffic at exits.
The presentation was led by Lieutenant Aaron Munch of the Basalt Police Department (BPD) and Brendan Knox, a representative of municipal-enforcement software company Dacra Tech.
The technology, called Speed Enforcer, is a system of solar powered cameras connected to a database which collects violation data and automatically sends out warnings, citations and penalty orders to speeding offenders caught on camera. In turn, citizens who need to take action after receiving a citation or order can do so via Speed Enforcer’s citizen portal.
This kind of system is referred to under Colorado law as an automated vehicle identification system (AVIS).
Basalt would not be the first Western Slope community to
Ruedi Water and Power Association welcomed Paula Stepp as its next director; he also repeated concerns about the size and scale of Chacos Park redesign features. The topic of Chacos Park will be discussed at next week’s work session.
Colin Laird gave a shout-out to Town staff for securing $2 million toward affordable housing in Carbondale as part of the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations bills passed by Congress thanks to Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper. Town Manager Ryan Hyland gave credit for that success to his predecessor, Lauren Gister. Hyland also mentioned that the nonprofit Downtown Colorado Inc. will visit in May to assess Carbondale’s downtown against others.
This dovetailed nicely into a brief discussion of wayfinding improvements with Michael Stout of Carbondale Arts and Brian Golden of 2757 Design. The topic of wayfinding has been percolating between the Town, Chamber of Commerce and Carbondale Arts, as well as the newly-formed Downtown Business Alliance and a subcommittee formed by members of the Bike, Pedestrian and Trails and Parks and Recreation commissions. A proposal
from Carbondale Arts falls within $20,000 budgeted to establish a wayfinding program this year, but additional funding would be necessary to implement the full program, likely over several years.
Concerning existing signage, “‘Eclectic’ is a generous term,” Stout remarked. Consistency was an emphasized goal. Hyland later suggested trustees have a conversation about the Town’s brand colors and logo, which would complement the wayfinding project.
The meeting concluded with the review of 2026 special events
presented by Parks and Rec Director Eric Brendlinger. He explained how the Special Event Task Force was formed in 2013 to give event producers and neighbors to event venues the opportunity to work through conflicts. It continues meeting annually to review one year’s events and plan for the next. Brendlinger noted how longer Main Street closures, from 2nd to Weant, were attempted in 2025, but required a lot of volunteer effort and generated frustration when activity warranting a closure
continued on page 17
implement such a system. Glenwood Springs installed five AVIS cameras within city limits. Vail and Avon have implemented the same system.
Knox stated that automated speed enforcement is only one part of a multiple-tiered approach, not a “silver bullet.”
He also dispelled the idea that these cameras are “speed traps,” stating that camera systems are highly visible and legally must be indicated with approaching signage. The cameras, approximately 10 to 14 feet off the ground, are generally solar powered and can function day and night. Photos of license plates taken by automated camera systems are confirmed to be accurate by members of Dacra staff before being handed off to municipal staff.
Regarding privacy concerns, Knox stated that all cameras are oriented only to take photos of the rear license plate of vehicles. Additionally, the only entities with access to traffic violation data are the violator, Dacra staff and support partners, and municipal staff.
A weeklong traffic study from December found that, among trips headed southbound on Highway 82 near the southern intersection with Two Rivers Road, 36.4% of vehicles were traveling over 10 mph above the speed limit. Courtesy graphic
Dacra Tech contracted a traffic study along two sections of Highway 82, selected because of their proximity to traffic lights leading in and out of Basalt. Over the course of one week in December, the study found that 11.3% of approximately 1.4 million trips were eligible for traffic citations. However, Knox dissuaded the Town from using AVIS systems too aggressively, and issuing citations immediately. “You can make rules about how you cite people … It doesn’t always have to be a hammer to get people’s attention,” he said. “You can get people’s attention by being kind about it, but ultimately being firm about it.”
Lieutenant Munch answered questions from the council. He stated that BPD primarily issues citations at violations of 10mph above the speed limit or higher. However, he also stated that issuing violations is contextual and up to an officer’s discretion, explaining that, for example, speeding in a narrow residential street like Homestead Drive might be a scenario when an officer tickets to ensure public safety. Drivers caught by the AVIS would be subject to a warning period before the issuance of fines and citations. “I’m supportive of this because I like the outcome, not because of anything else,” said Mayor David
Knight, implying the AVIS system is not intended solely to generate revenue. “People are going way too fast through town. Even if we lost a little money, I think getting those comms out [is good].”
The cameras and system have no upfront installation cost to Basalt and are instead leased to the Town. Furthermore, the system is wholly paid for by collections from traffic citations. “We will never bill you over and above what the city takes in from a collections standpoint,” emphasized Knox. “You will never owe money to Dacra.”
Upon being asked by councilors about other potential areas for AVIS cameras, Lieutenant Munch stated that while there were areas BPD has received complaints about, an advantage of setting up an AVIS system in areas already known to have high-speed incidence rates is that the automated system frees traffic enforcement officers to monitor other corridors.
Steps toward implementation would begin with an ordinance to amend Basalt’s code followed by approval of a lease agreement with Dacra. Council directed staff to pursue an ordinance and to provide additional financial data regarding the current use of funding from traffic violations.
Students of the month: Aria Moodie and Juanito Quintero; (not pictured) Ian Moreno Gomez and Wallace DeGolia. Photo by Raleigh Burleigh
Officials star in new film, nonprofits get grants, new Aspen Glen subdivision gets an approval
AMY HADDEN MARSH
Sopris Sun Correspondent
Toward the end of the morning session of Monday’s Garfield Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting, when commissioners typically discuss their calendars for the month, Commissioner Perry Will mentioned that he will attend the American Stewards of Liberty (ASL) Land and Liberty summit on Feb. 13 and 14 in Fort Worth, Texas. Event topics, according to the ASL website, include strategies to advance the property rights agenda at the local, state and federal levels, sunsetting conservation easements, ending the “failing” [Endangered] Species Act, helping the Trump administration roll back 30×30, dismantling the “climate cartel” and “stewarding creation as God designed.”
Garfield County Manager Fred Jarman announced that Will was a scheduled speaker at the event and the star of a new film. Jarman did not mention the name of the film, the producer or the content. But Will, Jarman and Commission Chair Tom Jankovsky are heavily featured in a 33-minute movie produced by ASL. “Thrown to the Wolves” is about ASL’s perception of the consequences of wolf reintroduction in Colorado, and how the Endangered Species Act is ineffective and has been weaponized by conservationists. Will is part of a panel on state and local policy solutions on Saturday.
Bill Dolbow, lobbyist and founder of Dolbow Global Strategies Resources in Washington, D.C., is also scheduled to speak at the ASL summit. On Monday, the BOCC awarded him a $60,000 contract to lobby on behalf of Garfield County in the nation’s capitol.
In other news, the BOCC approved all consent agenda items, $150,000 for Garfield Clean Energy and $200,000 for Journey Home Animal Care Center in Rifle. Executive Director Heather Grant and staff member Hattie Rensberry were on hand to make a presentation and answer questions.
Numbers reported reflect the shelter’s success, including over 1,000 animals spayed or neutered in 2025, 1,146 animals sheltered and lots of dry pet food provided to pet owners.
“One of our biggest community programs is our pet food pantry,” said Rensberry. “Last year, we provided 4,500 pounds of dry pet food to our communities in Garfield County specifically.”
Will mentioned how guard dogs of livestock producers are being found and brought into the shelter. “It’s really a financial burden to a lot of our livestock producers,” he said. “People, I think, are well-intentioned to pick some of them up, thinking they’re lost up in the forest or whatever.” He added that he’s heard of border collies being picked up on the side of the highway right next to the ranch. “So how do we address this issue?” he asked.
Grant said the owners would have to microchip the dogs. She reiterated the protocol more than once, stating that they do everything they can to find the owners. Will asked
continued on page 19
Potential use of Flock cameras for immigration enforcement comes into question
JOHN STROUD
Sopris Sun Correspondent
The potential to use traffic surveillance cameras for federal immigration enforcement operations was the main topic for public comments during the Feb. 5 Glenwood Springs City Council meeting.
Six of the seven council members were present for the first regular meeting of the month; Councilor Mitchell Weimer was absent.
Following a late afternoon work session meant to gather information from the police department and discuss the City’s use of Flock Safety cameras, the council heard from four residents during the public comments portion of the meeting. They all shared concerns about the potential to use the data collected by the surveillance system in some of the questionable U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations that have resulted in protests and led to violence across the country.
Were there not a “pressing reason” to shut down the system immediately, Glenwood resident Mia Hunt said the City could take its time to address public concerns.
“But there’s already proof of concept, and it’s unfolding right in front of us,” Hunt said. “They’re being used to track people down and do things that are against the community values that we have.”
Given concerns about racial profiling tactics and a disregard for due process, it’s no longer just an issue of immigration enforcement, added Dawn Dexter, who also spoke before the council. She also asked that the City immediately cease its use of the Flock system, including for speeding enforcement.
“Yes, traffic safety measures are important, but they should not come at the cost of civil liberties, political freedom or racial justice,” Dexter said.
Deputy Chief of Police John Hassel said speeding enforcement and data collection for other law enforcement and public safety purposes function independently within the Flock system.
During the afternoon work session, and again during the regular session, Hassel shared that the cameras have been used by the City for the past three years for a variety of things. That includes gathering data related to Amber and Silver alerts for missing children and elderly people, and solving crimes, he said.
The cameras read license plates and can interface with other law enforcement agencies, he said. The program is budgeted for another $58,000 this year. Some changes in how the information is used and who it’s shared with have already come, Hassel said. In October of last year, the City revoked ready access for all out-of-state and federal law enforcement agencies.
“Now, if anyone from the outside is accessing it, it’s because we gave permission,” he said.
Council members offered assurances that the City is trying to find a balance between public safety, security and privacy.
“Let’s not jump to conflate that what we’re doing for public safety is to condone what’s happening nationally,” Councilor Sumner Schachter said.
South Bridge
Following unanimous approval of the consent agenda, appointments of Planning and Zoning Commission members, a presentation from Colorado wildlife officials about invasive zebra mussels, and approval of water service to a property outside City limits in West Glenwood, the council took another step toward construction of the South Bridge project.
A formal Request for Qualifications to hire outside construction management and engineering consultants was awarded to two firms, RockSol Consulting and SGM engineers.
The bid award does not commit the City to proceeding with the project, which is still several million dollars short of fully funding the estimated $80 million project.
Once school let’s out traffic picks up on Coach Miller Drive behind Glenwood Springs High School, one of two street project areas slated for construction in the coming weeks in Glenwood Springs. Photo by James Steindler
Lady Rams earn redemption win over Meeker on home court
JOHN STROUD
Sopris Sun Correspondent
Bolstered by the return of senior Nikki Tardif, who’s coming back from a leg injury, the Roaring Fork High School girls basketball team scored a huge win over Meeker in Carbondale Tuesday night, 66-47.
The win not only made up for the Rams first of just two losses on the season (47-40 at Meeker on Jan. 24), it repositioned them to grab at least a share of the 3A Western Slope League (WSL) title.
Roaring Fork led from the start, building a 36-24 halftime lead against the league leaders, and maintaining the intensity behind solid rebounding from Tardif and junior Hazel Jenkins, junior Riley Bevington’s scoring consistency and defensive pressure and a 16-point second half from sophomore Annelise Bumgarner.
“The girls were pretty fired up because we felt, up in Meeker, we didn’t play one of our better games, and of course Nikki had just gotten injured,” head coach Mike Vidakovich said.
“Even Saturday against Gunnison [a 50-26 win for the Rams], where she only played not even half of the game, just having that presence out there, I think it gives everybody else a lot of confidence knowing they have somebody like that in the middle.”
Tardif was stoked to be back on the court after missing four games.
“I’m so grateful that I’m healing,” she said. “I mean, I’m not 100%, but it’ll do for the rest of the season.”
It’s been a few games since the Rams played with as much intensity as they had on Tuesday.
“We were definitely hyped,” Tardif said. “We knew we were going to come in strong and we were just so excited for this game, but we wanted to stay humble. And we were making buckets tonight, which helped us a lot.”
Bevington led the way with 19 points, followed by Bumgarner’s and Tardif’s 18 each. Jenkins finished with eight points.
The Rams also defeated Olathe, 59-19, on the road Feb. 5, to go undefeated over the last four games and improve to 17-2 overall and 9-2 in the WSL, behind only North Fork.
Vidakovich said he’ll stack up the 3A
HOW DO YOU GET AROUND?
league teams against the 4A and 5A teams on the Western Slope any day.
“This league is tough,” he said. “The 4A and 5A teams in this area I don’t think would finish in the upper half of the 3A Western Slope.”
The Rams have a week off before getting a chance to prove their worth against one of those 4A teams, a Feb. 17 date at Rifle.
Rams boys down Meeker
Meanwhile, the league-leading Rams boys faced a fired up Meeker Cowboys team in the Tuesday nightcap, falling
behind 16-10 after the first eight minutes of play and trailing by one, 28-27, at halftime.
A spirited crowd, including a large contingent of Meeker fans, kept the Rams Gymnasium rocking. Roaring Fork eventually built a double-digit lead in the second half, pulling away for the 68-48 win.
Seniors Lucas Carballeira, Kiko Pena and Ryder Tezanos finished with 27, 16 and 11 points, respectively.
The Rams stay undefeated at 9-0 in league play and are 16-2 overall, coming into the week with a 3A state ranking of eighth.
Last week and over the weekend, Roaring Fork defeated Olathe 86-52 on Feb. 5 and Gunnison 70-34 on Feb. 7.
Against Olathe, it was Carballeira with 22 points, Pena with 19 points and 14 rebounds, and Tezanos with 14 points.
And at home against Gunnison, Carballeira had 25 points, including five three-pointers, and Quentin Galbraith had 14. Pena had 12 rebounds.
Girls swimming state bound
The combined Glenwood SpringsRoaring Fork-Basalt girls swim team took second place (first among class 3A teams) at the WSL championships in Grand Junction last weekend.
Top 10 swimmers in their respective events at the league meet: Ellie Rippy, seventh 50 Freestyle; Sylvia Duchscher, third 100 Free and sixth 200 Free; Isla Friel, sixth 100 Breaststroke; Maya Valean, 10th 500 Free; 200 Free Relay (Duchscher, Rippy, Vespera Steiner, Mazy McEwan),
continued on page 17
The Roaring Fork High School Rams mascot (aka senior Johan Soto) helped pump up the crowd during the Rams girls basketball game against Meeker on Tuesday, Feb. 10, a 66-47 win for the home team. Photo by John Stroud
FREE TALK:
Ecosystem Importance of Beavers
Thursday, 7-8pm, 2/19 in Carbondale Beavers create ecological benefits and habitat, and make landscapes more resilient to drought and wildfires. Explore how we can co-exist with beavers in the Roaring Fork Watershed. Space is limited. Pre-register to save your seat.
Community Ed in Carbondale
OPEN PAINTING STUDIO
Tues, 1:30-4:30pm, 2/17-3/24
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP Tuesdays, 6-8:30pm, 3/3-3/24
BEGINNING SWING DANCE
Wed, 6:30-8:30pm, 3/4-3/25
FRUIT TREES & SHRUBS
Pruning and Grafting Series
Saturdays, 12-4pm 3/7, 4/4, and 5/2
HERBAL ENERGETICS
Thursday, 6-8pm, 3/12
PHILOSOPHY FOR
MODERN LIVING with Bo Persiko Tuesdays, 6-7:30pm, 3/17-5/5
AIKIDO TRY IT FOR FREE Tue/Thur, 6-7:30pm, 3/17-5/7
PLEASANT DOGS AND PLEASED OWNERS Tue, 5:30-8:30pm, 3/17 ONLINE
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE II Wed, 1:30-3:30pm, 3/18-4/8
PILATES BLEND with Natalie Wed, 9-10am, 3/18-5/6
SCULPTURE Sat, 10am-2pm, 3/21-5/2
EXPLORATIONS IN MIXED WATER MEDIA Mon, 9am-12pm, 3/23-4/27
FUNDRAISING FOR NON-PROFITS Tues, 5:30-8:30pm, 4/7 ONLINE
SWING DANCE - LINDY HOP Wed, 6:30-8:30pm, 4/8-4/29
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12
NONFICTION BOOK CLUB
The Nonfiction Book Club discusses artificial intelligence at the Carbondale Library from 2 to 3:30pm.
BANNED BOOK CLUB
The Banned Book Club discusses “Monster” by Walter Dean Myers at the Basalt Library from 4 to 5pm.
SUSTAINABILITY SOCIAL CLUB
Join fellow conservationists for a friendly Sustainability Social Club potluck at the Third Street Center from 4:45 to 6:30pm. To join the email list, visit www.bit.ly/Sustainability-Social
‘RESIST & REIMAGINE’
Indivisible hosts an online presentation, featuring Congressional Reps. Ilhan Omar and Pramila Jayapal, “Resist and Reimagine: Lessons from Minnesota on Fighting Authoritarianism” at 5pm. Register at www.bit.ly/ resistreimagineMN
‘CONSERVATIVE ALTERNATIVE’
The Pitkin County Republicans host Hunter Rivera, Colorado director of the American Conservation Coalition, who’ll discuss a “conservative alternative” to climate and environmental stewardship from 5:30 to 7pm at the Pitkin County Public Library. RSVP at www.tinyurl.com/ ConservativeAlternativePItCo
CROCHET VALENTINES
Carbondale Library’s Crafty Teens club makes crochet valentines from 6 to 7pm. Teens in seventh grade and above are welcome.
TRIVIA NIGHT
The Homestead & Handlebar (303 River Valley Ranch Road, Carbondale) hosts trivia night Thursdays in February at 6pm.
HAPPY HOUR DANCE
Jen Cambell leads Dance Initiative’s Happy Hour dance class at The Launchpad at 6:15pm.
NO SWIPE SOCIAL
Tired of dating apps? The Crystal Theatre Alliance hosts a live, interactive dating game “designed to get people off their phones and back into real interaction” at 7pm. Get a discount on tickets by purchasing in advance at www.crystaltheatrecarbondale.com
MODI
New York City comedian Modi performs at the Wheeler Opera House at 7pm. Tickets at www.aspenshowtix.com
LES BALLETS AFRICAINS
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet presents Les Ballets Africains, a national dance company of the Republic of Guinea, for a one-night performance at the Aspen District Theater at 7:30pm. Tickets at www.aspensantafeballet.com
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13
BIKE TO WORK
The City of Aspen encourages you to bike to work and stop by Paepcke Park for food, fun and prizes.
DOUG GRAYBEAL
The Redstone Galley welcomes local painter Doug Graybeal for an artist talk at 4pm.
SPELLEBRATION
Literacy Outreach’s 32nd annual Spellebration takes place at the Hotel Colorado beginning at 5:30pm. More info at www.literacyoutreach.org/spellebration
CANDLEMAKING
Jill Kosdrosky, founder of Aspen Clean Candle, leads a candlemaking workshop at Botany Houseplant Shop in
Carbondale from 5:30 to 7:30pm. Tickets at www.botanyhouseplantshop.com
BEATS, BUBBLES, BON BONS
Kula Yoga on Main hosts a special yoga class with Cari Eisenson and DJ Styler at 6pm. Registration at www.kulayogaonmain.com
TOWNLINE TRUCKS
A-Mac performs live music at Townline Trucks from 6 to 9pm.
COSMIC SOUND JOURNEY
Danielle Klein offers a healing sound journey at True Nature from 6:30 to 7:45pm. Tickets at www.truenaturehealingarts.com
VALENTINE POTTERY
The Carbondale Clay Center hosts a wheel-throwing pottery date night for couples from 6:30 to 9pm tonight and tomorrow. Register at www.carbondaleclay.org
CRYSTAL THEATRE
“Wuthering Heights” rolls at the Crystal Theatre tonight, tomorrow and Monday at 7pm, with a matinee at 3pm (captioned) on Sunday. “The Princess Bride” screens at 3pm tomorrow and Wednesday, Feb. 18.
QUEER SOAK
AspenOUT hosts its monthly LGBTQ+ soak at the Glenwood Hot Springs at 7pm. Details at www.aspenout.com
‘THE WHITE CHIP’
Sopris Theatre Company presents “The White Chip” by Sean Daniels, directed by Julia Whalen, at the New Space Theatre (CMC Spring Valley) at 7pm tonight and tomorrow and 2pm Sunday. For tickets, call 970-947-8177 or visit coloradomtn.edu/theatre
‘THE SECRET GARDEN’
The Glenwood Vaudeville Revue presents “The Secret Garden” Broadway musical opening at 7:30pm and continuing weekends through March 22. Tickets at www.gvrshow.com
‘K2’
Thunder River Theatre Company’s production of “K2” opens tonight at 7:30pm and continues with Thursday through Saturday shows at 7:30pm and Sunday shows at 2pm through March 1. Tickets at www.thunderrivertheatre.com
FULTON FILMS
Short films by the late Aspen filmmaker Bob Fulton alongside brothers Rawn and Travis will be shown at the Wheeler Opera House at 7:30pm. Tickets at www.aspenshowtix.com
BLACK VALENTINE
Olivia the Bard, Erin Strawberry, Lena Maude and Mugsy Fay perform at Steve’s Guitars at 8pm. Tickets at www.stevesguitars.net
JOHN CRAIGIE
John Craigie returns to TACAW for Valentine’s Day themed shows tonight and tomorrow at 8pm. Tickets at www.tacaw.org
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14
PALENTINE’S DAY
Make new friends at Sunlight Mountain Resort. Sign up for chair speed friending at Skier and Rider Services all day.
PLANT MEDICINE
Learn about local and wild plants and their medicinal uses with Lisa DiNardo and Sheehan Meagher at Eagle Crest Nursery from 10 to 11:30am. To sign up, visit www.eaglecrestnursery.com/events ANDREW HARVEY
The Aspen Chapel presents author and activist Andrew Harvey on “The Divine Feminine and the
Marriage of Heaven and Earth” — a daylong event from 10am to 4pm. Harvey will also present at tomorrow’s Sunday service from 9:30 to 10:30am. More info at www.aspenchapel.org
MUNCHKIN MATINEE
The Collective Snowmass screens “The Princess and the Frog” for free at 10:30am.
GLENWOOD HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The Glenwood Springs Historical Society welcomes historian Steve Schulte for a presentation on the legacies of Colorado politicians Edward T. Taylor and Wayne Aspinall at the Glenwood Library at 11am.
BOOK SIGNING
Local author Jan Hubbell presents her book, “The Boy Who Couldn’t Say Goodbye,” at Barnes & Noble in Glenwood Springs from 1 to 3pm.
‘SPARKING PEACE’
Learn about the efforts of RAWtools to turn guns into garden tools with Hannah Rose Martin, co-author of the children’s book “Sparking Peace,” at the Glenwood Library today at 2pm and Carbondale Library at 4:30pm, followed by a noon presentation at the First United Methodist Church (824 Cooper Avenue, Glenwood Springs) tomorrow. There will be a live blacksmithing demonstration for the community to participate in.
SOPRIS MOUNTAIN BOYZ
The Sopris Mountain Boyz perform bluegrass at Townline Trucks from 6 to 9pm.
GALERIE MAXIMILLIAN
U.K. artist Suzy Murphy visits Aspen for the opening reception of her show “A Place Between Earth & Sky” at the Galerie Maximillian from 6 to 8pm.
CAFE CON BACHATA
Mezcla Socials Dance hosts a dance class, 7:30pm, and social, 8:15pm, celebrating the Valentine’s spirit at CC’s Café in Basalt (104 Midland, Unit 101). Questions? Email info@mezclasocialsdance.com
SLOPESIDE SOIRÉE
The Aspen Art Museum’s Slopeside Soirée winter benefit features Chromeo and an opening set by Dylan Rhee from 7 to 10pm. Tickets at www.aspenartmuseum.org
Despite historically dismal snowpack, the Mt Sopris Nordic Council pulled off its 34th annual Ski for Sisu fundraising event. “We’re sitting at the lowest snowpack in our ski area’s 39-year history, and it would have been much easier to throw in the towel,” a press release stated. “But our groomers dug in instead. Literally.” Crews spent many hours hauling snow to cover hot spots and stockpile in the shade. Preliminary results showed Ben Luck achieving “Men’s Distance Champion” with 66 kilometers; Kaya Williams earned “Women’s Distance Champion” with 37 kilometers; Hazel Kuhn and Atlin Mason each got “Youth Distance Champion” with 50 and 40 kilometers, respectively; and Rachel Marble was declared “Fundraising Champion” bringing in $1,800. Courtesy photo
‘90S PROM
The Ute Theater in Rifle hosts a ‘90s-themed Valentine’s Day prom night at 8pm. Tickets at www.utetheater.com
THE BAND PERRY
The Band Perry presents an acoustic evening at The Wheeler Opera House. Tickets at www.aspenshowtix.com
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15
HERESY OF LOVE
The Two Rivers Unitarian Universalist congregation welcomes Rev. Zenshin Florence Caplow for a service on “The Heresy of Love” from 10am to noon.
DEATH DULA
Death Dula Akaljeet Khalsa discusses how to keep “an open heart when someone says they are dying” at A Spiritual Center, Room 31 of the Third Street Center, from 10 to 11:30am.
GAY FOR CLAY
The Carbondale Clay Center hosts a Valentine’s brunch and hands-on class about connection, creativity and fun for couples from 10am to 12:30pm. Register at www.carbondaleclay.org
YEAR OF THE HORSE
WindWalkers celebrates the Lunar New Year with a sound journey and intention-setting experience led by Danielle Klein from 11am to 12:15pm. Registration at www.windwalkers.org/events
ROOTED
The Orchard invites young adults (18 to 30) to explore Christianity and friendship with a brunch from 11:30am to 1:30pm.
PUNKENTINE’S DAY
The Glenwood Library welcomes rapper Myles Bullen for a dance party from noon to 3pm.
TEEN JAM
Glenwood Parks and Rec welcomes teens to a jam and open mic at the Bluebird Cafe from 5 to 7pm.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16
PRESIDENTS DAY
Municipal and county offices will be closed in observation of the federal holiday. Garfield County libraries will be closed as well.
ONGOING EVENTS
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
ROARING FORK ZEN
A Zen meditation community gathers at True Nature to sit from 8 to 9am on Mondays and 7:30 to 8:30pm on Wednesdays weekly.
TAI CHI
Community tai chi sessions are hosted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 to 10am at the Third Street Center. Newcomers are welcome. For details, email jhof@rof.net
GRIEF/LOSS SUPPORT
A new support group offering a safe and compassionate environment for individuals grieving any type of loss, regardless of when the loss occurred, gathers at the Third Street Center on the first and third Monday of each month from 1 to 2:30pm. A licensed, professional counselor will guide participants in a discussion exploring healthy ways to cope and move forward. For more information, contact Dr. Terry Bordan at 516-242-9365.
IN STITCHES
The In Stitches Knitting Club meets at the Carbondale Library every Monday at 1:30pm.
COMMUNITY ACUPUNCTURE
Colorado Community Acupuncture offers community acupuncture sessions on the third Wednesday of each month with sliding scale payment options. To schedule an appointment, text or call 970-963-2150 or visit www.cocommunityacupuncture.com for more offerings.
RAGING GRANNIES
All are welcome to join the Raging Grannies, singing for a healthy planet and a kind world, on Wednesdays at the Two Rivers Unitarian Universalists office at the Third Street Center from 4:30 to 5:45pm.
CRYSTAL RIVER AIKIKAI
Crystal River Aikikai offers aikido classes for kids from 4:45 to 5:45pm and teens and adults from 6 to 7pm on Mondays at 13 Moons Ranch, south of Carbondale.
ENGLISH IN ACTION
Volunteer English tutors and developing learners meet for informal conversational practice at the Carbondale Library every Monday at 6:30pm. Interested in becoming a tutor? Email angela@englishinaction.org or call 970-963-9200.
AFRICAN DANCE
Dance to live drumming by the Carbondale Rhythm Collective at the Glenwood Springs Library on Mondays from 6:30 to 8pm.
BABY STORYTIME
The Carbondale Library hosts baby storytime at 11:30am on Tuesdays.
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 6pm.
PILATES
Coredination offers weekly pilates mat classes for all levels in Carbondale. Tuesdays from 9 to 10am beginners are welcome at Dance Initiative’s Third Street Center studio. Intermediate/ advanced students are welcome from noon to 1pm at The Launchpad. For more info, call 970-379-2187.
Ways of Making: What we don’t throw away
MIKE DE LA ROSA
Arts Correspondent
Last week, I joined Kathy Honea in her art studio to launch a new series, Ways of Making, which platforms how local artists think within the community. Honea is a distinguished artist with a long history across the Valley’s art institutions, including Carbondale Arts, The Art Base, the Aspen Chapel Gallery, Aspen Art Museum and Anderson Ranch.
It’s important to note that Honea is also a highly accomplished collector of oddities and trades. One corner of her studio holds 70 pounds of beads while another contains at least a dozen varieties of scissors, each awaiting its precise moment. There are sections for troll dolls, kintsugi (broken pottery restored with inlaid metals), tin foil run through a dishwasher (precious), handbound books and more. There are treasures everywhere.
Asked how she navigates all these materials, Honea said: “I walk in the door, something catches my eye and my imagination takes it from there. How can I put this bike on that rock? Because my supplies are organized, I know where to find the next quirky thing I need.” Pointing to another
section — “This pile hasn’t found a home yet, but I mean, who isn’t going to put that fabulous little item with something else? I’m all about adding bling and glitter and, of course, including some miniature oddity.”
In Honea’s studio, objects feel as if they are waiting for their big break. It has the charged atmosphere of an L.A. coffee shop, humming with the potential energy of many aspirants chasing their dreams. When she showed me a copper scouring sponge she referred to as a nest, I asked what she was looking for in its egg. In a Seussian turn, Honea replied, “I don’t know if I need an egg — maybe I will use it as a hat.”
Honea worked extensively with beads as a visual language for over 20 years. Around 2003, she decided to pivot and explore new mediums. As she recalls, “The galleries I worked with were successful with my beaded work but were not interested in anything else. Okay by me, I was ready to explore using all kinds of unusual materials — bits and pieces from many collections. This frequently required taking a class to learn the craftsmanship that would build my idea to fruition. All this experimenting led to
a storage problem.”
Now, hand-bound books with a little skull inside live beside model train figurines and bowls made from vinyl records. “I fill them with grapes, or other funny things and give them to people.”
One sculpture titled “Nobody knows the Truffles I’ve seen” is made from little toy pigs. Looking at the mass of objects and collected oddities that now populate her studio, I asked Honea whether the artist is shaped by the archive they keep — whether the accumulation of ideas and materials is, in fact, the core of the work.
“Maybe,” she said. “One thing I read was: ‘We are what we don’t throw away.’ And I thought, ‘Uh-oh.’ This is very telling.”
If some artists hone their craft like surgeons developing precision within a narrow niche, becoming specialists in a single operation, Honea is instead a pharmacy, equipped for any malady. She guided me through one example of her process using tin foil.
“There’s a great thing you can do with tin foil. When you run it through the dishwasher and you get this wonderful surface for a substrate, then you put a transfer on it,” Honea points to another
piece, “you make an oil pastel of a nest with an egg in it. And it’s terrible, so you turn it upside down, glue on a mini spoon and googly eyes, and voilà! It’s a fabulous face with hair.”
On the accumulation itself, Honea reflected, “If I didn’t have all these interesting supplies on hand, my imagination would have no place to roam — I wouldn’t be able to do anything.”
After such a long career, Honea’s
pieces live in many places. One particular nine-foot-long beaded hammershark, “Beat Bait,” resides with a family in Santa Fe. Honea tells me they decorate it as a Christmas tree. Playfulness and accessibility mark the ethos of her practice. As she says, “I don’t make heirloom art. I’m just having a good time until I croak.”
To invite us into your studio, email Mike@SoprisSun.com
“Wildlife is an intricate part of our ecosystem, and people don’t want to see wildlife suffer. We take animals into our clinic and get them back to good health and put them back into the wild. Our goal is to re-release animals to the wild.”
“We are making our community safer by helping people resolve their crisis. Civil legal matters that involve our safety, our homes and our children need to be resolved fairly and efficiently, so people can have faith in our system of justice, and get back to living their life.”
- Jenny Wherry, Executive Director Alpine Legal Services works to advance justice, and improve lives through legal advocacy, outreach and education from Aspen to Parachute, and is a grant recipient of the Pitkin County Healthy Community Fund.
- Nanci Limbach, Executive Director PSSWF provides quality, professional care to injured and orphaned wildlife in conjunction with educational programs on wildlife and the environment and is a grant recipient of the Pitkin County Healthy Community Fund.
The voter supported Healthy Community Fund assists the Pitkin County community by providing grants to nonprofit organizations that provide critical health and human services and community resources.
The voter-supported Healthy Community Fund assists the Pitkin County community by providing grants to nonprofit organizations that provide critical health and human services and community resources.
Learn more at: pitkincounty.com/hcf
Learn more at: pitkincounty.com/hcf
A vaguely egg-like portrait by Kathy Honea. Photo by Mike de la Rosa
The Art Base displays ‘Creative Destruction’
MYKI JONES
Arts Correspondent
On Feb. 6, The Art Base in Basalt debuted its current exhibition, “Creative Destruction,” featuring a collaboration between Carbondale artists Michael Stout and Lindsay Jones working under a shared pseudonym: Also Known As.
During the artist talk on Feb. 7, Stout and Jones discussed their respective processes for pieces in the mixed-media show with a full house of inquisitive art lovers in attendance.
The show primarily features screenprints and collages, including a few by Stout incorporating ash and soil collected in the aftermath of a local fire. The artwork touches on several themes: climate change, the power of a dollar bill, the current political climate.
“In general, the show revolves around cataclysms — these creative and destructive acts and how they influence us personally. Michael and Lindsay bring a lot of their personal imagery as artists into this exhibition,” Mike de la Rosa, gallery manager at The Art Base, told The Sopris Sun.
He continued, “The traces that both artists collected — personal photographs Lindsay took of the fires, and the ash and soil that Michael collected himself — all these elements are directly connected to their personal experience. I think that’s an entry point for the community, just thinking about how we process these things, but it’s interconnected. There is an economic, political, social and ideological connotation to these things. They don’t come out
of nowhere, and there’s such a web that these things extend into.”
Stout, who is well known within the arts community of the Roaring Fork Valley as community engagement director for Carbondale Arts, shared a bit more on how the show came to be.
“When we started crafting the show, we stumbled upon the phrase ‘creative destruction,’ which is a term that comes from a Marxist critique of capitalism,” Stout said. “With this, we began looking at what was happening around us and processing
the personal challenges we’d been facing with the fires. It started with wildfire, but it evolved into much more. Everything from geologic time scales and natural processes to social and political upset, unrest, and personal and domestic events.”
His comments were echoed by Jones, who shared how her use of “chaotic” textures became a staple in her own artistic vocabulary. This sentiment can be seen clearly in her piece titled “Power of the Purse.”
“It’s an image of flowers, and it says, ‘Your wallet is your weapon.’ It portrays
how, in a capitalist system, your dollar is like your vote. Another piece of mine, ‘The Big Beautiful Burn: End of an Empire,’ which was made from wildfire photos I took of the Glenwood [Grizzly Creek] fire, was created with the image of destruction in our government. What’s happening with the government currently is very destructive. It begs the question of ‘When do we draw that line?’ Who’s happy with this destruction? Why is it so bad?” Jones shared.
Among gallery-goers on Feb. 7, Melanie Test expressed her interest in the works on display as rooted in her already being a fan of Jones and Stout’s graphic styles. Test shared how the work evoked surprise and delight in her as a viewer.
“I’m a graphic designer myself, so I feel drawn to the graphic representation of things,” she stated. “I love all of the texture that they put into their work with the different printmaking techniques, the layering, collaging, the way they mix media. It’s one of those surprise-and-delight experiences. The cool thing about art is that it’s not so much about causing people to feel something extremely specific, because it’s abstract and because it has the artist’s intentions and feelings in it, and it ignites your own perspectives and your own feelings as a viewer.”
“Creative Destruction” will remain on display through March 6, 2026. A special lunch with Stout and Jones will occur on Feb. 19 from noon to 1pm, offering a more intimate drop-in with the creatives. For more information, visit www.theartbase.org
Also Known As creatives surrounded by loving friends (left to right): Claudia Pawl, Michael Stout, Lindsay Jones, Staci Dickerson, Marina Skiles, Emily Reilly. Photo by Bob Rugile
Writer Susan Orlean never imagined doing anything else
ANNALISE GRUETER
Sopris Sun Correspondent
Susan Orlean cuts a slight but certain figure. When she and moderator Christine Benedetti took the Paepcke Auditorium stage on Jan. 28, no one in the audience could doubt that Orlean enjoys a good conversation. That was how she passed the next hour: Cheerful chatting about her years as a features journalist and her newest book, “Joyride: A Memoir.”
Orlean’s career took off in Boston in 1982, where she was a staff writer for the Boston Phoenix. By 1987, she earned her first piece in The New Yorker, and has written for the lauded magazine ever since. She has served as a contributing editor for Rolling Stone and Vogue magazines, and is the author of books including “Saturday Night,” “Rin Tin Tin” and “The Orchid Thief.” Over the course of her career, Orlean has worked with and for writing industry icons including Tina Brown, Anna Wintour and David Remnick.
Benedetti is a local journalist who has lived in the Roaring Fork Valley for 20 years. She is currently editor-in-chief of Local Magazine, which publishes bi-annual issues, and serves as an Aspen city councilor and a member of the Aspen Historical Society board. In her conversation with Orlean, she focused on the newly released “Joyride” and Orlean’s lifelong relationship
to writing. She kicked off the conversation by asking, “Why write memoir now?” after a lifetime writing about others.
Orlean shared that during the height of COVID, she felt very reflective. In addition to that feeling of increased introspection, she realized that the 25th anniversary of publication for “The Orchid Thief” was fast approaching. With those sparks, “I wanted to write a book about writing,” she said. But as she started to plan it, the advice she wanted to share felt inadequately grounded by itself. “I started realizing those stories needed more context.”
Orlean approached the project like a journalist. She hired someone to interview her as a way to force herself into the third person perspective. They built up hours of conversation over the course of two months. She also poured over years of notes, which she said was a unique experience as she had recently signed over decades of papers to Columbia University. She was therefore required to request and peruse her own work at Columbia’s archival library.
A major focus for Orlean was how to structure “Joyride.” “For me,” she said, “one of the big questions was how personal did I want it to be?” She ended up picking three major stories, though “Joyride” lightly touches on many anecdotes from her career. “There were so many stories that
would have been fun to tell,” she shared, but “it will mean more to the reader to zero in on a few significant ones.”
Benedetti inquired about how “Joyride” has been received by a general audience, and how writers have responded. Orlean shared that she has gotten more response from people who are close to the reporting and publishing world. “There’s a certain kind of nostalgia in writing about an era of journalism that’s mostly gone,” she explained. “There were a lot of people who saw it as a nostalgic look at a specific period. I’ve had a terrific response in people feeling that I’ve described being a writer in ways they haven’t seen before.”
When Benedetti asked if Orlean has ever had doubts about her career in a challenging
field, Orlean said she has always felt it is more of an identity than a job. Even during phases of challenge and intense pressure, “there’s never a time I thought about going into corporate communications.” Orlean described herself as a generally curious person who loves to learn. “It doesn’t feel like I’m acting as a writer,” she said. “It’s just who I am.”
Aspen Winter Words also presented conversations with novelist Lily King on Feb. 4 and adventure journalist Tara Roberts this week at TACAW on Feb. 11. The writing program of the Aspen Institute is accepting applications to its Aspen Summer Words workshops until Feb. 26.
Local journalist Christine Benedetti (left) asks visiting writer Susan Orlean about her new memoir, “Joyride,” and the arc of her career at Aspen Institute’s Paepcke auditorium.
Photo by Annalise Grueter.
Movie Business 101
As the Crystal Theatre suddenly finds itself the only cinema between Rifle and Aspen, it seems like a good time to publicly address a question I’ve heard almost daily since we went nonprofit last September. Why don’t we show more new movies? Exactly what someone means by that varies a bit, but the answer almost always comes down to how movie studios do business. If all anyone wanted was for us to show, say, “Song Sung Blue” five times a day for two straight weeks, that’s theoretically possible, but tremendously inefficient. I think most people would agree it’s more fun to show a movie a few times to a full house than over and over to 10 patrons at a time. And our collaborations with other local organizations for one-time special events have been popular, with many selling out days in advance. I don’t think there’s a desire to get rid of those so we can show the same movie every night. Instead, what I think folks are imagining when they ask for more movies is the multiplex model: “Sarah’s Oil” at 1pm, “Rental Family” at 5pm and “Running Man” at 9pm. Which, unfortunately, wouldn’t have been allowed when those three films all launched the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Muddying the waters further is the concept of a “limited release.” Sometimes, particularly with the kind of prestige films our viewers enjoy, a movie debuts on a handful of screens in New York and Los Angeles and isn’t available anywhere else for a while. So although “Hamnet” officially dropped on Dec. 12, you’d have been hard-pressed to see it before it “went wide” on Jan. 16.
GUEST OPINION
By Will Grandbois Crystal Theatre Alliance
See, when you show a major studio release “on the break” (the day they advertise in the trailers and on the poster) you’re almost always required to run it and nothing else “first run” (out in theaters) on that screen for at least the next two weeks. They generally tolerate repertory (older than six months) and indie films in the mix, but you can’t even mix and match new releases until five or six weeks later, by which time they’ve often moved to streaming.
This isn’t a big deal for theaters with multiple auditoriums, but for single-screen operations it means you’re almost always limited to one new movie at a time. Every once in a while we get lucky and get to bring a movie back for a couple shows while we bring in something fresh, but we can’t bank on it, particularly for blockbusters.
There are also some studio-specific quirks. There’s one that makes you choose between their first-run and repertory content. For now, we’ve gone with the latter, figuring that a steady stream of older family flicks serves the community better than two straight weeks of the latest live-action remake a couple of times a year. Another generally goes straight to streaming after a two-week limited release, which is why there are two films nominated for Best Picture that won’t have graced our screen by the time the Academy Awards roll around.
Finally, the terms and bookings for first-run films aren’t actually set until the week we show it. A studio might opt not to offer the show we were planning on, or could lobby for us to carry over one that’s doing well for an extra week. That’s why we can publish a monthly calendar of our family classic matinees, but the exact dates of our “on the horizon” first-run films are left deliberately vague. It’s also why our weekly email goes out on Mondays and remains the best way to stay abreast of what we’re showing. If you’re lost, I understand. After six months of movie management, I’m still sometimes caught off guard by an obscure piece of red tape. But rest assured, we’re doing our best to keep things fresh. We’ll accept the two-week commitment for the most anticipated releases (“Wuthering Heights”) and show the rest a few weeks later. We’ll never be able to play everything that Movieland did, but we’ll try to keep most runs to one or two weeks so we can pack in a wide variety of content. If you have any questions or suggestions, reach out to info@crystaltheatrecarbondale.com or 970-510-0540. And hopefully I’ll see you at the movies!
wasn’t evident. The recommendation was to maintain the stretch between 2nd and Snowmass Avenue open, however the opening of Townline Trucks could change the equation by attracting more pedestrian traffic to that end of Main Street.
Brendlinger described how June’s First Friday Pride parade will reverse the typical direction of Carbondale parades to begin at Weant and conclude at Snowmass Drive where the Town’s mobile stage will be set up. Other changes included the return of a 4th of July pool party, four summer concerts in Sopris Park sponsored by the Western Mosaic Fund, a KDNK block party, another pickleball tournament and the return of Oktoberfest to 4th and Main.
To review the full calendar of events as presented to the the trustees, visit www. bit.ly/Carbondale-2026-events
Several members of the team will be representing at the 3A State Swimming and Diving Championships in Thornton this Friday and Saturday. They are:
• Duchscher – 100 and 200 Freestyle
• Steiner – 50 Freestyle
• Valean – 500 Freestyle
• Taucher – 100 Backstroke
• Friel – 100 Breaststroke
• Claire Hardaker – Unified Athlete
50 Freestyle
• 200 and 400 Free Relays
Act Now Before Peripheral Neuropathy Redefines
Your Days
Act Now Before Peripheral Neuropathy Redefines Your Days
Don’t let burning, tingling, and numbness steal ease and joy from your life.
Don’t let burning, tingling, and numbness steal ease and joy from your life.
Living in the Roaring Fork Valley means living in motion. Our community includes skiers in their 70s who still chase powder mornings, gardeners who coax life out of the high-desert soil, musicians who rehearse late into the evening, ranchers waking before dawn to move their herd to summer pastures. Whether it's nerve damage from chemotherapy, diabetes, or other causes, when neuropathy takes hold, it is about more than just discomfort: It's about the impact on identity.
Living in the Roaring Fork Valley means living in motion. Our community includes skiers in their 70s who still chase powder mornings, gardeners who coax life out of the high-desert soil, musicians who rehearse late into the evening, ranchers waking before dawn to move their herd to summer pastures. Whether it's nerve damage from chemotherapy, diabetes, or other causes, when neuropathy takes hold, it is about more than just discomfort: It's about the impact on identity.
up on projects, or even feeling less confident behind the wheel. Neuropathy isn’t just a medical condition; it can be the slow erosion of everyday freedom.
up on projects, or even feeling less confident behind the wheel. Neuropathy isn’t just a medical condition; it can be the slow erosion of everyday freedom.
The numbness, tingling, burning, and loss of dexterity in the hands or feet touches the activities that make a life feel rich and full. For some, it shows up as a missed foothold on a trail or the dropped guitar pick. For others, it’s the new frustration while tying a fly, holding a paintbrush, buttoning a shirt, or stepping into ski boots. Some describe it as stepping on pebbles during yoga; others as buzzing, restless sensations interrupting the quiet hours of the night.
The numbness, tingling, burning, and loss of dexterity in the hands or feet touches the activities that make a life feel rich and full. For some, it shows up as a missed foothold on a trail or the dropped guitar pick. For others, it’s the new frustration while tying a fly, holding a paintbrush, buttoning a shirt, or stepping into ski boots. Some describe it as stepping on pebbles during yoga; others as buzzing, restless sensations interrupting the quiet hours of the night.
Symptoms result in pulling back from meaningful activities, giving
causes, trail from meaningful activities, giving
Symptoms result in pulling back from meaningful activities, giving
Many people hear a discouraging message from Western medicine: “Here is your medication to help with discomfort, there’s nothing more we can do.” While neuropathy is complex and challenging, the nervous system is not static. It retains the capacity to change, adapt, and regain function, especially when supported with consistent, thoughtful treatment. Medications can help with pain, but standard treatment does not improve nerve conduction or repair. Side effects like sedation, fogginess, physical dependence, rebound pain, and digestive issues can interfere with the very activities people are trying to return to.
Many people hear a discouraging message from Western medicine: “Here is your medication to help with discomfort, there’s nothing more we can do.” While neuropathy is complex and challenging, the nervous system is not static. It retains the capacity to change, adapt, and regain function, especially when supported with consistent, thoughtful treatment. Medications can help with pain, but standard treatment does not improve nerve conduction or repair. Side effects like sedation, fogginess, physical dependence, rebound pain, and digestive issues can interfere with the very activities people are trying to return to.
A Clear Path to Relief
A Clear Path to Relief
If you’re tired of pain keeping you up at night, frustrated by the loss of sensation that limits the activities you love and need, don’t wait. Zelena Medicine’s approach goes beyond managing symptoms to treat the underlying damage using a targeted combination of
If you’re tired of pain keeping you up at night, frustrated by the loss of sensation that limits the activities you love and need, don’t wait. Zelena Medicine’s approach goes beyond managing symptoms to treat the underlying damage using a targeted combination of
therapies. This includes: noninvasive ATP Resonance BioTherapy® to support healthy cell energy production, researchsupported acupuncture protocols to promote nerve signaling and repair, and manual therapy to improve circulation and decrease hyper-sensitivity. Unlike conventional methods, these treatments help relieve pain and discomfort, reduce inflammation, and repair damaged nerves.
therapies. This includes: noninvasive ATP Resonance BioTherapy® to support healthy cell energy production, researchsupported acupuncture protocols to promote nerve signaling and repair, and manual therapy to improve circulation and decrease hyper-sensitivity. Unlike conventional methods, these treatments help relieve pain and discomfort, reduce inflammation, and repair damaged nerves.
“People seek my support because they want more from their care,” says Mishe Skenderova, clinician and owner of Zelena Medicine.
“They know how precious each day is, and want to keep creating, hiking with friends, playing their instrument, dancing at weddings and showing up for those they love.”
“People seek my support because they want more from their care,” says Mishe Skenderova, clinician and owner of Zelena Medicine. “They know how precious each day is, and want to keep creating, hiking with friends, playing their instrument, dancing at weddings and showing up for those they love.”
What people experience with treatment
What people experience with treatment
“I love hiking, but because of my neuropathy I kept feeling like my socks were getting wrinkled and balled up inside my shoes. It was kind of painful and very frustrating. Treatment got me back on my favorite trails, and I no longer worry about tripping and getting hurt.”
“I love hiking, but because of my neuropathy I kept feeling like my socks were getting wrinkled and balled up inside my shoes. It was kind of painful and very frustrating. Treatment got me back on my favorite trails, and I no longer worry about tripping and getting hurt.”
had
“I had more and more trouble with the buttons on my shirt. I was
“I had more and more trouble with the buttons on my shirt. I was
dropping things like my car keys because my fingers just didn’t feel right. Treatment helped me have more control over my day to day. It’s such a relief.”
dropping things like my car keys because my fingers just didn’t feel right. Treatment helped me have more control over my day to day. It’s such a relief.”
“Before, I used to wake up with pain in my feet all the time. I was crabby and foggy from so little sleep. I wasn’t sure about acupuncture but after a few weeks I noticed I was sleeping so much better.”
“Before, I used to wake up with pain in my feet all the time. I was crabby and foggy from so little sleep. I wasn’t sure about acupuncture but after a few weeks I noticed I was sleeping so much better.”
If neuropathy has reshaped the way you move or participate in the life you love, you have options.
If neuropathy has reshaped the way you move or participate in the life you love, you have options.
Reclaim the activities that make your life feel like yours.
Reclaim the activities that make your life feel like yours.
Book a consultation with Zelena Medicine and find out if this approach is right for you
Book a consultation with Zelena Medicine and find out if this approach is right for you
schedule today.
Mishe Skenderova LAc, MSOM
Mishe Skenderova LAc, MSOM
The Stock Market for Dummies
Picture this: You’re a 16-year-old boy... wait, it gets worse! You’re hired to crew a ship on a voyage to a faraway land to trade for exotic spices and textiles and medicine. The voyage is dangerous: rough seas, foreign animals and insects, unfriendly strangers, scurvy... but what an adventure, huh?
When successful, the payoff was enormous. Sailors got paid, merchants cashed in and the expedition company sold the goods in the local market for a pretty penny. We’re talking about classic risk and reward here. If risk is high, people hope for equally high return.
OPINION
MONEY JUICE
By Megan Janssen
So how did these journeys get funded? Trading companies like the Dutch East India Company would raise capital from the public in order to bankroll expeditions. In exchange, the investors received a stake in the company’s growth (hopefully) over time and, when possible, the company paid out dividends.
This proved to be popular because rather than investing in one particular voyage, the investor could spread their risk across many voyages. The investor was actually investing in the company (rather than the journey) and as such, owning a small piece of it — otherwise known as a share. Shares in the company became standardized and sellable from person to person.
So the blacksmith could sell her share to the butcher if she needed money and if the butcher thought it was a good deal. Buyers and sellers gathered — behold, the infant stock market! — and because shares could be bought and sold without relying on a ship to come in, they were considered “liquid.”
So, in short, you have one major company that needs a bunch of money for a project and raises it from the general public. Those public people are now tiny owners of a portion of the company’s value over time. To make it simple, the ownership pieces are standardized into shares and can be bought and sold from person to person. It basically still works this way, but on a much, much larger scale. What’s baller now is that there is so much global trading happening and so many companies to invest in, an investor can (and should) invest in hundreds of different companies and sectors, mitigating their risk. So if one ship doesn’t return (just to stick with the simplified history metaphor), they aren’t at much risk because other ships will likely come in.
So why are prices constantly fluctuating on the market? What are those old images of people making weird hand signals on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange about? At its core, it is still just a giant group of people negotiating prices the way you might haggle for vegetables at your farmer’s market. And here’s my favorite part: Each price indicates an agreement. It’s an agreement between eager buyer and seller based on economic conditions, company information, political climate and many other factors. But isn’t it beautiful? How often do we get to witness so many agreements in real time?
If you look up a stock during trading hours, it will change frequently. This is due to new information coming to light and varying needs of investors. That’s why markets are so fascinating — they are always shifting. They’re a cross-section representation of the current knowledge and sentiment of buyers and sellers.
Even if you’re not an active investor, take a moment from your busy day to watch the values change. Find the stock price for a company, ETF or mutual fund and bask in the momentary collective agreement.
Megan Janssen is the founder of Money Juice (www.money-juice.com) and a financial advisor with Forum Financial Management, LP. The ideas and language written here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Forum.
“That’s part of the legacy I’m carrying on into this work — continued dedication to places like Redstone and Marble, the Crystal Valley, that are sometimes a little overlooked,” Farris said. “There are important stories to be told up there.”
“Humanity of the work is what has always drawn me to it,” he continued. “It’s ordinary people telling ordinary stories in extraordinary ways. That’s what I love about it.”
Farris is settling in at the editor’s desk, as Houghton and Kenney tie up loose ends before sweeping the sea aboard “Lady Bountiful,” named in honor of Alma Osgood, the second wife of Redstone founder and coal-tycoon John Osgood, who was given the nickname by the community who adored her.
Houghton and Farris each wrote letters to their readers, which can be found in this month’s issue on news stands now. Farris plans to present at the Pitkin County Senior Services luncheon at the Redstone Inn on March 10, and to host regular office hours there in due time. The new editor-in-chief can be reached at editor@crystalvalleyecho.com Tune into Everything Under The Sun on KDNK this Thursday, Feb. 12 at 4pm for a radio interview.
OBITUARY
Joanne Joy Howard
Joanne Joy Howard was born in Ohio on Aug. 27, 1933, daughter to John and Ann Becker. Married in 1954 to Richard (Dick) Howard, they had four children: Leanne Montoya, Lauri James, Lynnea Washburn and Rick Howard. They were also blessed with seven grandsons, six great grandchildren. Joanne and Dick lived in Pleasanton, California (30 years), Carbondale (17 years), and in both Maple Valley and Issaquah, Washington (13 years). They established treasured relationships everywhere
how they could address financial charges. Grant explained that it costs to give the animals professional care. “[The shelter pays] for the vaccine being put in them, the employees that are doing the intake, the kennel that’s being cleaned, the bowls that are being cleaned,” she explained. “The nonprofit has to be refunded.”
She added that she understood Will’s side of the issue, but that there are other people who
they called home.
The most important things to Joanne all throughout her life were faith, family and community.
Joanne studied nursing at Western Reserve University, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree. Her ensuing health career was very diverse, beginning in the role of an emergency backup nurse with a traveling circus, and eventually moving into administrative positions alongside many volunteer roles.
Joanne volunteered at the American Red Cross, where she taught infant education.
feel differently. “There’s another side that feels very strongly that the guard dogs are being mistreated,” she said. “I mean, there are two sides and I’m not saying that I support either side, but there’s, very strongly, the other side too.”
Commissioner Mike Samson said he didn’t know of anyone who abused what he calls a “livestock dog.” “They’re not going to mistreat their livestock dogs,” he said. “That dog is very valuable to
She worked as a supervisor for a family planning clinic, as the director of Hope Hospice in California, and as a Hospice volunteer board member. Joanne was also
him.” The conversation then sort of drifted into legal speculation when Samson gave his suggestion for solving the problem. “If it was me and I was a rancher and if somebody took my dog that was doing his job out there, I would probably go after that guy for kidnapping my dog, stealing my dog,” he reasoned. “You have no right to take my dog. He’s doing his job.”
Journey Home also works with about 50 volunteers and
on the board of a mental health clinic, and found time to volunteer at an animal shelter.
She enjoyed an adventurous lifestyle with her husband, traveling many countries around the world over the course of many years, sometimes with organizations, always with friends, and together they created many precious memories.
Joanne loved participating in a variety of building projects alongside her husband, which included converting a 100-yearold barn into a beautiful three-story home in Pleasanton, and construction of a home from the ground up in Carbondale.
She had a very creative side with interest in various art forms
accepts all kinds, including people sentenced to community service. Samson said if he had to complete community service, Journey Home is exactly where he would go. “We might have you mucking out kennels for a minute,” joked Rensberry. “Just let us know if you ever want to do a bring-your-commissioner-towork day.”
The BOCC approved a $140,000 budget supplement for assistant county attorney wages,
including oil painting, leaded glass, sewing, liturgical choreography and dance. Additionally, Joanne directed and participated in various church productions. She had a joyful spirit and kind heart toward all around her, and had a deep appreciation of friends and family. She was beautiful inside and out, and embraced the fun and adventure in life. She loved to learn new things, loved to visit new places and meet new people. She loved every community she lived in, and they loved her back. Above all, she loved the Lord and her family, and we all felt it, flourished from it, and now pass on her legacy of love to our growing families.
$359,784 for six Chevy Tahoes for the Sheriff’s Department and $226,515 for two new crackseal machines for the Road and Bridge Department.
During the afternoon session, commissioners approved a major subdivision preliminary plan for The Sages at Aspen Glen.
You can find archived videos of all BOCC meetings at the Garfield County website, www.garfieldcountyco.gov
‘Newspaper isn’t dying yet, not as long as I’m around!’
A look
inside
the newspaper printing process
BIANCA GODINA Sol del Valle
Last Thursday, Jan. 5, after sending Sol del Valle to print, the Sol del Valle and Sopris Sun teams traveled through the Glenwood Canyon to the printing press where both newspapers, along with many other local publications, come to life on paper. The Colorado Mountain News Media (CMNM) printing facility is located in Gypsum.
The tour was led by Dan Barton, supervisor at CMNM, who has worked in the industry for more than 20 years. He was joined by Andrew Salazar, who has worked alongside Barton for nine years. For our news team, the tour was an opportunity to see inside this critical part of the production process.
The editorial team sends a fully designed digital file, but it is at the press facility where that file becomes a physical newspaper. Barton explained that CMNM uses environmentally-friendly materials, including soy-based inks, recyclable cardboard, newsprint paper and recyclable aluminum plates. According to Barton, around 22% of the materials they use are recyclable.
The process begins with special aluminum plates passed through a machine that uses lasers to engrave the design of each page, separated into four colors. The base colors used are cyan, magenta, yellow and black — similar to those used in a standard printer.
The plates are then reviewed on a computer, where color levels are checked. From that point on, the experience of the press team shines as they manually adjust the inks. Loud sounds and bells signal when everything is ready for a test print.
At this stage, between 600 and 800 test copies are printed when the newspaper is 12 pages or less, and up to 1,500 copies when it’s more than 16 pages. The larger the newspaper and the higher the count, the less relative waste is produced. The team has only a few minutes to align the colors and make sure each page is properly set.
As copies moved quickly through the press, members of the Sol del Valle and Sopris Sun teams commented on how meaningful it was to see the process in-person, noting that among the thousands of copies printed each week, it is sometimes possible to spot a photo that did not align perfectly.
Barton explained it simply: “This is graphic art, not graphic science.”
Some interesting facts
• CMNM recycles around 40,000 pounds of newspaper at a time.
• The press prints approximately 20,000 newspapers per hour.
• Each month, the team manages between 100 and 120 large rolls of paper weighing more than 1,500 pounds.
Each roll produces about 28,000 copies.
• CMNM prints an average of 3 million issues of different newspapers each month.
• The DGM 440 printing press was installed in 2006 for around $13 million.
CMNM serves several mountain communities, including the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys, Steamboat Springs, Vail and Eagle, as well as some publications in Denver.
During the tour, Salazar shared that Sol del Valle was the first team of Latino, Spanish-speaking journalists he had guided through the facility. He said that seeing the newspaper printed there was especially meaningful. “Having you here and seeing Sol del Valle being printed shows that we’re here, that we’re united and that we’re strong,” he said.
Salazar also shared what he enjoys most about his work. “I like the daily challenges and the growth I have made,” he said. Despite long hours and late nights, Salazar takes pride in the work and, as one of the youngest members of the team, looks up to the seasoned pressmen.
At the end of the tour, Barton summed up his commitment to print journalism: “Newspaper isn’t dying yet, not as long as I’m around.”
CMNM Supervisor Dan Barton (left) stands beside Andrew Salazar, one of his top mechanics. Photo by Raleigh Burleigh
Share your works in progress with readers by emailing illustrations, creative writings and poetry to fiction@soprissun.com
For My Senior Valentine
By Deborah Holt Williams Glenwood Springs
So many ways to say “I love you” now that we’re old and grey. Will you help me find my glasses? Did you take your pills today? We go to appointments together. Stay with me forever, please. Got your hearing aids? “My WHAT?” Hey look! I found your keys!
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
Positive notes created by Carbondalians fill the phone booth at 4th and Main Street following a lovey-dovey First Friday. Photo by Just Jim
you abide by them? Do you follow norms of good community behavior when no one is there to enforce them? Do we need bigger signs, “YES-DOGS ON LEASH HERE,” leashes to borrow at trail entrances? Do we need trail ambassadors
And, I know, it’s hard for us old timers. These places used to be ours, only a few of us used them regularly. But as more people come to the valley, locals have to acknowledge the game has changed, and to protect and preserve these special places, we have to change our ways.
Susan Rhea Carbondale
Minnesotans stand together
It is amazing and wonderful what the citizens of Minnesota are doing; their commitment to each other, their incredible degree of organization, on and on. Thousands of individuals (yes, thousands), people just like you and me, are trying to protect neighbors, students, friends, to provide safe transportation to work, to deliver groceries, medications, on and on.
Meanwhile the terrorizing of neighborhoods continues, abducting children — as young as five year olds, students in grade school, high school — detaining parents and leaving children abandoned at home, detaining people who are legal, have papers and are waiting for court appearances. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Thousands of Minnesotans have joined nonviolent, peaceful protests and attended evening vigils, singing together as temperatures dropped way below zero. Our son described that for him the most emotional scene was at the airport protest — peaceful, solemn, singing, chanting. The Minneapolis police had hot chocolate for the protesters (“to keep them warm and feel safe”). At the end, the 99 ministers knelt in a long line. One by one, four police officers first handed a minister a “bullhorn,” then let each person speak. One minister read part of MLK’s letter from Birmingham jail. Then the officers quietly and gently helped each person stand up, applied handcuffs and escorted each individual to the police bus waiting to take them all to jail. Slowly. Carefully.
Such a contrast to the terrorizing
GLENWOOD REPORT
behaviors of ICE, which is detaining not only “criminals,” but people like you and me.
I hear that ICE is now here in our Valley in Colorado. May we Coloradans have the courage to stand together and be good neighbors.
To support Minnesotans, visit www.standwithminnesota.com
Nancy Bo Flood Four Mile
ICE in Colorado
I have been pleased to see how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been operating here in Glenwood. Colorado is a smart state that seems immune to radical measures employed elsewhere. ICE’s mission is easily held to the rule of law by gathering police records on undocumented persons that have been charged and found guilty of felonies (as Trump has) and obtaining warrants for the rare, actual worst of the worst. Most likely, it seems that sort of a person would be in lock up. They should be apprehended respectfully and taken to a court to get a hearing if an order to deport is called for.
The person apprehended in Carbondale had a judicial warrant out for him, setting him in jeopardy of becoming a deportee. All persons in America have a constitutional right to a proper hearing before being detained or deported. Especially, I should think, the wonderful Indigenous people who roamed the continent trading and hunting with enough respect for the land that after 15,000 years of occupation the Europeans were able to commandeer a pristine environment from them 500 years ago. I love my Latin neighbors and their gentle, generous ways, and I applaud our bilingual outreach to our historic hosts.
John Hoffmann 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.
from page 9
The planned new bridge over the Roaring Fork River would provide a southern connection between the area near the municipal airport and Highway 82.
What this latest action does is provide the City with professional services to shepherd the project through the bidding and pre-construction phase to a construction bid award, City Engineer Ryan Gordon explained.
That initial phase of preparation work is expected to cost between $50,000 and $100,000, he said.
One pre-construction task is to further identify cost savings within the project that could bring it closer to reality, he added. The project budget includes a $49.6 million federal grant.
Gordon said the hope is still to award a construction bid over the summer and break ground by September.
The contract award was approved 5-1.
Two other projects
Also approved were construction bids for two public works projects that are expected to commence in the coming weeks.
The first was a $2.1 million award to Timberwolf Excavating for the reconstruction of Coach Miller Drive and 14th Street near Glenwood Springs High School.
The second was a $2.8 million award to Gould Construction for a new shared-use pedestrian and bike path along Highway 6 & 24 near the turnoff to Two Rivers Park.
Both bid awards were approved unanimously.
LEGAL NOTICES
TOWN OF CARBONDALE
REQUEST FOR BIDS - 2026 CHIP SEAL PROGRAM
The Town of Carbondale is accepting bids from qualified local contractors to perform work on the 2026 Chip Seal program. Sealed bids will be received until 11:00 am February 26, 2026, by the Town of Carbondale, 511 Colorado Avenue, Carbondale, Colorado 81623, at which time the bids will be opened and read aloud. Specifications and contract documents can be found on the Town of Carbondale website, or at Town Hall. Work on this project cannot begin prior to May 18, 2026, and must be complete by June 30, 2026. No chip seal work will be allowed on residential roads on Tuesdays as Tuesdays are residential trash and recycling collection days.
The Chip Seal Program consists of applying asphaltic binder and aggregate meeting CDOT No. 8 specifications on approximately 51,470 square yards of street surface. An alternate bid is also included for sealing approximately 2,395 square yards of pavement at the town’s wastewater treatment plant. All work shall meet, at a minimum, the Town of Carbondale Chip Seal Surfacing Specifications. A list of the
streets scheduled to be chip sealed are included (see Street Listing). The Town has a limited budget for the 2026 Chip Seal program and therefore reserves the right to adjust the quantities to fit within the financial limits of the program based on the bids received. The listed square yard measurements are estimates for bidding purposes only and the final square yardage will be determined at the end of the project.
The successful bidder will be expected to enter into an Agreement for Professional Services with the Town (see attached Agreement). Bids shall be submitted on the bid form attached to the request for proposals.
Published in The Sopris Sun on February 12, 2026
PUBLIC NOTICE OF PETITION FOR CHANGE OF NAME
Public Notice is given on January 29, 2026 that a Petition for a Change of Name has been filed with the Eagle County Court. The petition requests the name of Andrea Pellegrini Olson be changed to Andrea Elizabeth Pellegrini. Case Number 26C1. Publication dates February 12, 19, 26 of 2026.
February’s abnormally springish First Friday abounded with activity. The White River National Forest’s Aspen-Sopris Ranger District building held its grand opening ceremony and invited the public to an open house with Smokey Bear posing for photos. Sprazzo, Townline Trucks and Tavern Carbondale also welcomed crowds to partake in their first First Friday offerings. Carbondale Arts activated several love note creation stations, displaying these messages within the red phone booth at 4th and Main. Cattle Creek Confluence Coalition gathered signatures at Bonfire Coffee opposing the Harvest Roaring Fork development with a choir on the street to draw people in and Marcel Kahhak performed a live painting of musician Ted Frisbie at his studio.
Photos by Raleigh Burleigh
Roaring Fork Valley ATTORNEY CHALLENGE
Alpine Legal Services would like to thank the following attorneys and law firms who collectively donated over $20,000 and contributed over $200,000 in pro bono hours to support free civil legal aid for survivors of abuse, older adults, low income residents, and at-risk children from Parachute to Aspen.
We also want to thank the 9th Judicial District Bar Association for their annual donation.
