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December 2018 . Issue 7.12
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Steamboat Springs Hayden Oak Creek Yampa
Photo courtesy of the Steamboat Springs Arts Council
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December 2018
Valley Voice Holiday Sale December 18 - 23, 20% off retail and bottle sales!
‘Tis the Season! Trying to find the perfect gift? Stop into Steamboat Whiskey Company and check out our selection of locally crafted spirits and merchandise. In appreciation of the success of our signature vodka, Ski Town Vodka, we will donate a portion from every bottle sale to the environmental organization POWProtect Our Winters- in order to help keep our winters white. Please enjoy our spirits responsibly this holiday season and have a safe and happy new year. Cheers!
970.846.3534 55 11th Street steamboat springs, colorado
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For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
Wishing everyone happy holidays! we will be closed on Christmas and New Year's Day
Valley Voice
December 2018
Contents Year In Review
Page 4
Analysis of Midterms
Page 5
‘Tis the Season to Spend
Page 6
End of Year Giving
Page 7
The Uranuim Boom
Page 8
Holiday Greenery a la Nature
Page 10
Thoughts Listening to Lenny
Page 11
Hayden Round Up
Page 12
Breaking the Silence
Page 17
By Jason Lacy
By Brodie Farquhar By Scott L. Ford
By Dagny McKinley
By Ellen & Paul Bonnifield By Karen Vail
By Joan Remy
By Brodie Farquhar
Publisher/Art Director: Matt Scharf mattscharf1@gmail.com
By Francis Conlon
Business Manager:
Scott Ford
Spirit of the Season
Page 18
Sales:
Eric Kemper valleyvoicesales@gmail.com
Shifting Baseline Syndrome
Page 19
Event Calendar:
Eric Kemper valleyvoicesales@gmail.com
9 Dot Solutions
Page 19
Two Minutes to Midnight
Page 20
Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood
Page 21
An Old Coal Miner/ Part I
Page 22
The Omega-3s Fad
Page 23
Valley Voice is published monthly and distributed on the last Wednesday of each month. Please address letters, questions, comments or concerns to: Valley Voice, LLC, P.O. Box 770743 or come by and see us at 1125 Lincoln Ave, Unit 2C, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477. Or contact Matt Scharf: 970-846-3801. Scott Ford: 970-819-9630. Website www.valleyvoicecolorado.com. Subscription rate is $40 per year (12 issues). All content © 2018 Valley Voice, L.L.C. No portion of the contents of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission from the Valley Voice.
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By Eric Kemper
By Wolf Bennett By Wolf Bennett
By Aimee Kimmey By Marian Tolles By Ted Crook
By Monica Yager
Chicken Fingers Page 23 By Aimee Kimmey
Calendar of Events By Eric Kemper
Page 24
Yepelloscopes Page 26 By Chelsea Yepello
Comics Page 27
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Rants... Selling booze to minors… Wasting Routt County taxpayer money all the way to your last day… Insulting condescension from the other paper… Thinking you’re going to die in a plane crash… Peter Brady Parties… Loose wheel bearings… The possibility of selling the old Cow Creek School...
Raves... Successful grassroots campaigns… One more family dinner at the old landmark… Corn Fritters… Winter starting on time… When your cat gets your jokes… Learning Spanish on your phone… When an older person opens the door for you... Living in a ski town... The deals you can get at Lift-up... Hatch green chili... Watching other people figure it out...
Say What?... “’The information was not understood by the average voter.’ Why not just come out and say ‘ignorant townies’ if that’s what you really mean?” “So the R. Kelly & Tekashi 6ix9ine tour is off?” “Driving back and forth on snow is not the same as plowing.” “So many details coming at you like a run-away ski.” “That nutcracker is too big to inflate.” “Is that egg? or is that nog?”
We go to press December 31st for the January 2019 issue! Submissions always welcome!
Emergency care doesn’t have to be an uphill battle. Put us in your phone before you head out for your next ski trip.
Please make checks payable to: Valley Voice, LLC P.O. Box 770743 • Steamboat Springs, CO 80487 Thank you for your support!
Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn’t come from a store.—Dr. Seuss
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December 2018
Valley Voice
Recycled Designs Art & Studio The fun place to learn something new when using something old! Book your class now! 1125 Lincoln/ Upstairs
Before
REDUCING REUSING RECREATING
recycleddesigns.co@gmail.com
Council Voices
Year In Review By Jason Lacy
With the New Year on the horizon, I thought it would be appropriate to provide a brief “year in review” summary of what Council has been working on the past 12 months. It would be impossible for me to cover everything we have touched in a short column, but the major highlights include:
After
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Happy Holidays to our wonderful clients and their fur friends! We are proud that we offer 24 / 7 on call emergency services. Even during the Holidays.
Community Engagement Council has made it a priority to engage the public on as large a scale as possible. To do this, we have been active in communicating to the community through various forums including monthly Coffee with Council meetings, a booth at the summer Farmer’s Market, columns in both the Valley Voice and Steamboat Pilot & Today, and a new radio show and live coverage of council meetings on KKSB 100.5 FM/1230 AM. As we move into 2019, it is important to continue to share your thoughts, stay informed and remain engaged so the best decisions are made for our community. Combined Law Enforcement Facility This year marked the groundbreaking of the new combined law enforcement facility with the county. This facility will enable city police and the sheriff’s office to work together in one facility, fostering more collaborative law enforcement efforts. This is a prime example of how working with one of our strategic partners, the county, will result in a long-term benefit for the community. Fiscal Sustainability During the past year we have learned from staff that, within the next 6 years, the city will likely face a financial shortfall of anywhere from 3.5 to 8 million dollars if
Happy Holidays from the Valley Voice We are here for you when your pet needs us most.
www.petkareclinic.com 102 Anglers Drive
970-879-5273 For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
current services are simply maintained. In short, our sales tax revenues are not keeping up with the cost of providing the services desired by the community. Without either a significant cut across the board or a change in the city revenue structure, we simply won’t be able to balance the budget in the near future. This has led to discussions on perhaps the biggest need in our budget, the fire department (see below). All Things Fire
The data we have seen is clear, the city has an increasing problem in regard to keeping up with Fire/EMS services. The call volume, and particularly concurrent call volume, has shown that we must provide additional services in the near future in order to maintain the safety of our community. We have engaged in serious discussions with the Steamboat Springs Area Fire Protection District (SSAFPD) about the possibility of merging the city boundaries into the SSAFPD. A citizen’s committee is now being formed to determine if this merger is the appropriate mechanism to solve our fire issues and/or if a property tax approach is the answer. We expect to reach a community consensus for moving ahead to address fire/EMS services in 2019. Howelsen Hill After nearly two years of negotiating, the city and the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club (SSWSC) have reached terms on a new supplemental agreement on how Howelsen Hill will be managed over the next 8 years. Council recognizes the importance of Howelsen Hill to both the public and SSWSC and we are committed to being good stewards of this facility for the long-term. I hope to see you on the slopes this winter, especially on one of the Ski Free Sundays. West Steamboat Neighborhoods/Brynn Grey Over the course of approximately 2.5 years and more than 20 work sessions, the city and Brynn Grey have reached terms on a Pre-Annexation Agreement for possibly bringing the former Steamboat 700 property into the city limits. In December, the formal annexation hearings will be held and these hearings will ultimately determine the fate of this project. Together, we have made a lot of progress addressing key issues for our community. However, we still have significant items ahead of us. Please feel free to reach out to me or any other member of City Council at any time to discuss any of the topics above or other issues that are of concern to you. You can find our contact information at steamboatsprings.net/council. We look forward to hearing from you.
Jason Lacy is President of the Steamboat Springs City Council. The opinions expressed in this article are his own and may not be reflective of the opinions of other City Council members.
Valley Voice
December 2018
5
Politically Speaking
Analysis of Midterms By Brodie Farquhar
The 2018 midterm elections are behind us, and with them a deluge of ads, mailers, inserts and rancorous coverage of candidates and issues. I’d like to take a stab at what it all means, from local to state to nation. An ink-stained colleague of mine once said he doesn’t know what he thinks until he tries to write it down, wrestling muddled thoughts and passions into something resembling coherence. And I have to emulate Ben Franklin at the get-go, who often prefaced analysis with the statement, “I may be wrong, I very often am….” Looking at local contested races, themes were all over the place. For the Hayden mayoral race, six-term council member Tim Redmond eked out a win over one-termer Ashley McMurray, who saturated the town with yard signs. Steady experience triumphed over flashy ambition. In the county sheriff’s race, I viewed the narrow win for incumbent Garrett Wiggins over challenger Kristin Bantle as a shot across the bow and a warning that the voters have a limited tolerance for good ol’ boy politics. Bantle was a flawed candidate, given her drug use history. I don’t think anyone would have cared if she smoked pot, but alleged cocaine is a different matter entirely. Someone without that history might have won, especially if they could exhibit a tad more empathy to locals and be less of a hard-a**. At the county commissioner level, I view it as very much a rebuke of good ol’ galism, with the defeat of incumbent Cari Hermacinski and win for Beth Melton. Cari is an old ally of developers, the Chamber, coal and the ranching community. Beth, however, I view as a breath of fresh air and progressive values. Beth is not a rubber stamp for the status quo, but will take a more measured approach to issues. That brings me to 2A, the tax that would have underwritten the airlines bringing more and more flights into the Yampa Valley. My sense is that the defeat of 2A is a huge “Time Out” called by Steamboat residents who are unhappy with pell-mell growth, crowds, traffic, nose-bleed housing costs and an overall decline in quality of life.
on those subsidized flights and decide to build a second or third home/mansion in the Boat.
terim, Trump and the red/blue chasm he fosters, will again be the focus, at all levels. It will be up to all of us to try and create some purple opportunities for cooperation and compromise. The alternative is a dystopian battlefield between red and blue that may well ruin this grand experiment in representative democracy that started in 1776.
Don’t miss this opportunity to rethink what we really want. Locally, measures supporting education, water and sanitation and fire protection all passed. And Routt County voted to send Democrat Dylan Roberts to the state House, rather than the woefully unqualified Nicki Mills.
(Editor’s note: Brodie Farquhar is an ink-stained wretch who has won 21 national, regional and state press association awards. He appreciates good wine, scotch and beer, in spite of a Schlitz-level budget. He resides in Hayden with a wife of 44 years, who regularly kicks his butt in Scrabble. Also a daughter, giant Akbash and aging cat. Life is good.)
State level For the first time since 1936, the Democratic Party has won the state House, state Senate, governor and top executive posts. All those bills passed in the past by a Democratic House, only to be killed by a one-seat Republican majority in the Senate? They’re gonna come roaring back and they’ll be signed into law, much to the consternation of the Trumpists and Steamboat Institute. Higher minimum wages, reproductive rights, mass transit, clean energy, great schools, health care costs, labor rights, voting rights and progressive taxation are coming. Even, dare I say, efforts to end TABOR. Colorado, and several other states, are making it harder for legislative or congressional districts to be gerrymandered – a blow to the GOP – with passage of Amendments Y & Z.
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Prop 112 was defeated by Big Oil/Gas money, but the new, blue legislature may well come up with something that protects the environment and the public. The Blue legislature will also have to come up with better funding mechanisms for education and transportation than were rejected by voters in Props 109 and 110 and Amendment 73.
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National level Nationally, the midterms were all about Trump and the cultural chasm between red and blue. That was clearly seen in the Third Congressional District that pitted Republican incumbent Scott Tipton against Democratic challenger Diane Mitch Bush. Tipton lost the urban, ski towns that Bush won. But rural areas that depend on coal or cattle went for Tipton. Just not enough purple out there for Diane to bridge the gap.
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There is, I believe, such a thing as too much growth and busy-ness. The failures of 2A and of the downtown Business Improvement District (BID) reflect that growing unease and discontent among the people who make Steamboat, Hayden, Oak Creek and Routt County work. On the other side are developers, realtors and business owners catering to the 10-1.0-0.1 percenters who fly in
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No doubt you’ve heard that the Dems took the US House and the Republicans strengthened their grip on the US Senate by a couple seats. For the next two years, that means the blue House will investigate the heck out of the Trump administration; the red Senate will continue to confirm conservative judges and stalemate for pretty much everything else.
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Anyone who is focused on staffing up for the upcoming winter holiday season is in a high state of anxiety and border-line panic. Will we have enough warm bodies to give high-income visitors a quality experience at the resort, stores, shops and restaurants? Increasingly, the answer is “No,” which leads to visitors becoming more demanding, testy and out of sorts, which doesn’t do anything for our collective mental health.
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This past year's programming included assistance with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Ice; an outstanding season of free outdoor productions, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Bee Man of Orn; a collaborative production of Macbeth with St. Paul's Episcopal Church; and ongoing after school educational training through The Steamboat Arts Academy. These foundations, governmental organizations, businesses, and regular folks like you are the glue that holds it all together with your contributions and in-kind services. Our board and Artistic Director are so appreciative. Ask SDA to call me to discuss ad design and design rates
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Democrats flipped over 350 statehouse seats last month, as well as entire chambers: Colorado, Maine, New York and New Hampshire senates, as well as the Minnesota House. A number of states made gerrymandering impossible, expanded voting rights and protections, increased minimum wages and approved recreational use of marijuana. As for trifectas, where one party has both legislative chambers and the governor, there are now 14 blue trifectas. Four red trifectas were broken and there are no new red ones. In sum, the 2020 campaign is already underway at local, state and national levels. If he’s not impeached in the in-
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I have friends who will critique me much harder than any review.—Wynton Marsalis
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December 2018
Valley Voice
A
Your Money - Your Life
‘Tis the Season to Spend
E B
By Scott L. Ford
With the Christmas Holiday gift giving season upon us, here are some data fun facts you can savor as you browse, looking for that perfect item.
According to a recent Harris Poll, this year consumers will be spending more. An estimated $116 more than we did last year for a total of $776. Why are we spending more? To put it simply, we are more confident about our personal finances. Are we that much better off than we were during Christmas of 2017 to account for this 17.5% increase in spending? A wee-bit better yes, maybe 4%, but we simply feel better about spending even if it is not grounded in reality. Go figure!
If spending is up way beyond increases in household earnings – where are Americans getting the money to go Christmas shopping? The answer to this is pretty simple; they will use savings, or most will borrow it. Nearly threefourths (73%) of shoppers plan to use a credit card this holiday season to pay for gifts, compared with 58% last year. And this year, those using a credit card estimate that they’ll charge $650 on average.
Those that use credit cards (borrow) to cover their Christmas shopping will take longer to pay it off. For 2017 Christmas shopping it took on average 2.3 months to pay it off.
This year, the length of time will increase to 3.2 months. The sad reality is that about 28% of households that used credit cards to support their 2016 Christmas spending spree have not paid it off yet. Other Christmas holiday spending fun facts: Gift card purchases are made by 56% of all shoppers. 44% of shoppers will buy some form of media items such as games, videos, books, or music. Toys are bought by 42% of all shoppers. Food or candy purchases are made by 31% of buyers. Personal care and health and beauty items will be purchased by 25% of shoppers. 21% of those buying Christmas gifts will purchase one or more pieces of jewelry. The sporting goods and leisure section will see 17% of shoppers making a purchase. The average shopper will spend over $100 on themselves during Christmas shopping.
45% of buyers say they plan on doing at least some of their holiday shopping at the grocery store. The busiest shopping day is no longer Black Friday but the Saturday before Christmas. Shoppers who are single will make impulse purchases 45% more often than married ones. 46% of all holiday shopping occurs online. 12% of shoppers will do ALL of their Christmas shopping on the day before. December 15 through the 24th will account for 40% of all Christmas sales. Holiday shopping can account for up to 30% of annual retail sales. 21% of shoppers will do at least some of their shopping via a mobile device. My message of good tidings this Christmas – Enjoy the season and avoid going into debt. It’s not worth it.
Round Trip Ticket Prices Colorado between Rural/ Resort Airport and DIA
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For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
DIA Aspen Durango Eagle Gunnison Hayden Montrose Telluride
0 222 364 159 228 209 325 390
$326.65 $675.39 $536.30 $672.01 $553.57 $563.17 $520.33 N/A
$311.65 $663.42 $527.98 $648.71 $526.33 $560.44 $520.38 $756.75
$298.97 $702.58 $564.11 $672.93 $588.71 $585.86 $577.42 $737.28
$299.04 $652.85 $557.46 $645.43 $569.92 $547.77 $540.44 $837.00
$303.54 $630.94 $550.86 $618.66 $532.87 $639.75 $584.76 N/A
Round Trip Ticket Price Disparity of Rural/ Resort Airports vs. DIA Airport Aspen Durango Eagle Gunnison Hayden Montrose Telluride
2015 $349.74 $209.65 $345.36 $226.92 $236.52 $193.68 N/A
2016 $351.46 $216.02 $336.75 $214.37 $248.48 $208.42 $444.79
2017 $403.61 $265.14 $373.96 $289.74 $286.89 $278.45 $438.31
2018 (First Qtr.) $353.81 $258.42 $346.39 $270.88 $248.73 $241.40 $537.96
2018 (Second Qtr.) $327.41 $247.32 $315.12 $229.33 $336.21 $281.23 N/A
T c a d y w o a t
D s m S M D
M m r i C C M g o
T w g Average Fares are based on domestic itinerary fares. Itinery fares consist of round-trip fares unless the customer does not purchase a return trip. s f In that case, the one-way fare is included. Fares are based on the total ticket value which consists of the price charged by the airlines plus a any additional taxes and fees levied by an outside entity at the time of purchase. Fares include frequent-flyer or “zero fares.”
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
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Valley Voice
December 2018
7
Art in the ‘Boat
End of Year Giving By Dagny McKinley Birthday Parties Special Events
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Dance: Dance has been one of Steamboat’s creative outlets since the founding of town. From barn dances and community dances to ballet, modern dance and so much more, Steamboat is a world-class destination thanks to PerryMansfield Performing Arts School & Dance and Steamboat Dance Theater. Consider giving to them this year.
Literary Arts: Books change lives. They offer hope, worlds to escape in, a place to relate to others and feel less alone in the world. Steamboat has an abundant writing community. BookTrails encourages Steamboat’s kids to explore reading and writing on ranches in order to celebrate Steamboat’s heritage, natural environment and to foster a love of writing. The Steamboat Writer’s Group has been faithfully meeting at the Depot Art Center for the past 40 years. With opportunities to read, work and get feedback, this organization has been home to more than one successful author.
Visual Arts: The visual arts are thriving in Steamboat Springs. We have had some extraordinary exhibits this
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Se Habla Espanol! 2093 Curve Plaza Unit C Steamboat Springs CO 80487 year. From hosting Oil Painters of America to local artists like Chula Beauregard, Greg Block and Cully Kistler, there is art for every discerning collector. Steamboat Art Museum has put Steamboat on the map as an artistic destination. Steamboat Creates houses local and nationally recognized artists and, starting 2019, will be home to a new artist collective. Youngbloods are pushing the boundaries of creativity with fresh, exciting exhibits that offer a home to Steamboat’s emerging artists.
Theater: Story bridges worlds, allowing us to empathize with people from other cultures, other races and other genders. The Chief Theater and Piknik Theatre bring to life stories that are centuries old and stories that explore the future as well as stories that explore our rawest emotion and celebrate humanity’s greatest accomplishments.
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The holiday season is all about giving, not getting. In our community there are so many worthy causes to give to and people have to decide which causes are nearest and dearest to their hearts. As you think about giving and how you can help others this season, we want to showcase what the arts and culture organizations are doing to make our community a richer place. We hope you will consider arts and culture non-profit organizations when you give this year.
Music: Music moves the soul, becomes entwined in our memories and explores celebration, heartache, grieving, romance and reflects our environment and the happenings of the world. In Steamboat we are lucky to have the Chief Theater, Opera Steamboat, Rocky Mountain Summer Conservatory, Steamboat Symphony Orchestra, Strings Music Festival and the Yampa Valley Choral Society to give us a space to become part of something larger than ourselves when we share music with others.
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Advocacy: Across Routt County, artists are using their mediums to inspire children, tell stories, activate spaces and raise awareness of social issues. Steamboat Creates supports these endeavors by being the only organization in town to advocate for arts and culture at the local and state levels. Giving rise to the importance of the creative industries as an economic driver is essential to our rural community’s resiliency and cultural diversity. We hope this year you will consider a donation to one of our arts and culture non-profits. Your donation nurtures the arts so creativity flourishes.
Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.—Khalil Gibran
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December 2018
Valley Voice
Bonnifield Files
The Uranium Boom By Ellen & Paul Bonnifield Baggs
B Maybell
A
Lay
Hayden
Craig
Hamilton
Juniper Rangely
With World War II approaching, the United States began “Military Preparedness.” Fearing a shortage of hardened steel for tanks, a large subsidy boomed mining on the Colorado Plateau. The Uravan Mineral Belt sprang to life. (Uravan is a combination of the words uranium and vanadium.) The mining towns of Uravan, Naturita, Nucla, Paradox, and Slick Rock flourished. Durango, Cañon City, Golden, Loma, and Rifle prospered as important mill towns.
Steamboat Springs
C
Axial
D
Meeker
Kremmling
Indicates areas where exploration work has progressed and production is under way. Indicates areas where uranium filings have made showing presence of radioactive minerals.
1955 Uranium Mine Claims
A couple of weeks ago, I dropped into the Routt County Clerk’s office and spent some pleasant moments looking at books of registered mine claims from the 1950s. Surprisingly, they listed hundreds of uranium claims, many made during months of deep winter snow. Inexpensive Geiger counters made amateur prospecting easy. Radioactivity travels through snow. Airplanes made prospecting a snap. Aerial prospecting identified the deposit between Maybell and Lay. More low-grade deposits near Steamboat and Baggs attracted attention. Another known deposit was in Yellow Jacket Pass east of Meeker.
The great mining excitement in Routt County died with the spring run-off. The 1950s became the age of atmosphere nuclear tests. Later theory argued after an atmosphere test, fallout accompanied the snowstorms, and in some areas, radiation collected enough to appear to be a solid mineral deposit. A personal account: During hunting season, a Missouri man located an extra-hot spot on Muddy Slide. In the spring, I accompanied him to open his mine. After wading through the deep, rotten snow up the side of the slide, we found his markers and began digging through snow to the ground. We ‘crow barred’ our way through the frozen crust and started to dig. In the fresh digging, the Geiger counter registered zero. The man eventually took the Geiger counter back to the stream and placed it over the running water, and the machine clicked with excitement. Later, when the snow melted and the stream dried, his dream of a fabulous mineral deposit also dried. The vast majority of claims filed literally washed away. Most people who had talked freely of their winter discoveries became silent and refused to discuss them. None-the-less, for a brief period, the uranium boom was exciting.
A = has been extensively drilled B = is the Poison Butes Uranium claims northwest of Baggs C = has been extensively drilled D = is Uranium Mountain
Small amounts of uranium found in the early gold mines in Colorado attracted little or no interest. In 1879, the Talbot brothers in Paradox Valley believed they had located silver and sent samples to Leadville for assaying. Assayers replied that they did not know the mineral, but it was not silver. The discovery was forgotten until 1898, when samples sent to the Smithsonian for analysis were identified as high-grade uranium. From then on, the tale of uranium mining cycled through boom and bust. That same year, two French scientists inspected the deposits and shortly afterwards constructed the world’s first uranium-concentrating plant at Camp Snyder on the Dolores River. Madame Curie in 1899 named the ore “carnotite” after French Inspector General A. Carnot. The Rajah Mine’s ore traveled by pack burros to the narrow gage railroad where it was loaded on cars and hauled to Montrose. Here it was transferred to standard gage cars and shipped to New York Harbor. Reloaded onto a ship, the ore eventually arrived in France. For a few years, Colorado uranium dominated the market. Then, rich pitchblende deposits discovered in the Belgian Congo ended Colorado’s market. Uranium and vanadium often share the same deposit. When scientists learned vanadium’s value for hardening steel, a solid market firmed up. In 1912, the U. S. Vanadium Company opened a mine in Yellow Jacket Pass near Meeker. Soon, wagons loaded with vanadium followed six-horse teams to Rifle for processing. Worthless uranium ore found its way to the tailings pile. Then, a mountain of vanadium, located in the Andes, nearly killed US mining. Through the 1930s, United States Vanadium Company and Vanadium Corporation of America struggled, but kept a mining presence on the Colorado Plateau.
For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, drafted men from all walks of life left a serious shortage of experienced miners in strategic metal production. Forty-five hundred men were assembled at Fort Douglas, Utah, and assigned to Enlisted Reserve Soldiers Miner Corps. Mining companies looked over the list of soldiers, selected the ones they wanted, and put them to work. The Soldier Miner was exploited. He received no military or civilian benefits. He had no control over his work assignment or hours, and he received low pay. In time, most soldiers reentered the regular army, but those hurt or killed in the mines fended for themselves. By February 1944, the steel industry found itself awash in vanadium, and on February 28, the government stopped buying; however, the Manhattan Project required ever more uranium. Until then, uranium was a waste product of the vanadium mines, but with the growth in demand, the uranium tailings piles were priceless. High fences encircled towns and secrecy reigned. No one dared use the word uranium in conversation or letters. Grand Junction thrived as a center for the Manhattan Project, and, by 1946, 2,600,000 pounds of uranium had been processed. After the war, production again fell. In 1947, a small committee of uranium mine owners met with Atomic Energy Commission officials. The officials bluntly stated that the West did not have enough uranium to matter. The US could get all it needed from Canada and the Congo. Next, the owners met with Colorado senators Ed Johnson and Eugene Millikin. Soon, the Atomic Energy Commission vigorously encouraged western uranium mining and prospecting. Boom times followed. And a boom it was. Jeffery City, Wyoming, sprang to life as a company town. Vast fortunes were made and lost in Utah. New Mexico ore turned Durango, Colorado, into a city. At Yellow Jacket Pass east of Meeker in 1952, the old vanadium mine was reborn. Numerous nearby claims resulted in residents calling the area Uranium Mountain. The thin, low-grade vein required large quantities of material, heavy equipment and large investments. It soon became clear this was not the place for a small operator; however, mine camps were built and ore sold to Union Carbide at Rifle. On Poison Buttes ten miles west of Baggs, Wyoming, Shawano Development Corporation enlarged and rebuilt an older mill intended to handle a thousand tons of lowgrade ore per day–a big mill in the mid-1950s. The system required large settling ponds and soon contaminated the water. In the early 1950s, numerous claims were filed in a township between Maybell and Lay. Russell Cutter aggressively promoted his claims on Sugar Loaf Mountain. In 1955, Trace Elements, wholly owned by Union Carbide, began making noise concerning construction of a mill and purchasing ore from local mines. Core drills confirmed the vein had profitable uranium. It looked like the real thing.
Valley Voice
December 2018
In the summer of 1957, Trace Mineral announced its intention to build a mill three miles east of Maybell to process uranium but no vanadium. Processing required 500 gallons of water per minute. A 500,000-gallon reservoir ensured an even flow. Waste material and the mill sat on sixty acres. Once in full operation, 240 employees processed ore supplied by about a dozen open pit mines. Operations began in 1957 and closed in 1964. Union Carbide left a 2.6 million-ton uranium pile that released radon gas from the decaying ore. Federal planning for cleanup began in 1986 and ended in the early 1990s. The Reagan administration changed its policy toward western coal and came close to destroying it. The policy was later reversed, but in the interlude, Moffat County experienced a deep recession. To relieve the depressed economy, county commissioner Tom LeFevre pushed for a study to store nuclear waste at the old uranium mill site near Maybell. It would be a big economic boost with a thou-
sand jobs. Unlike the earlier time when the uranium mill was welcomed, this time the residents of Maybell strongly opposed any waste site even if it were buried in four feet of concrete and deep underground. Governor Romer nixed the plan. Northwestern Colorado had yet another angle on the use of nuclear power. Following World War II, scientists and government officials attempted to discover peaceful uses for nuclear power. Plowshare planned to use A-bombs to create massive underground water storage tanks. Its principle target area was Arizona; however, no actual tests were made in the state. The Nevada Test Site ran several experiments resulting in the contamination of about 1.6 trillion gallons of underground water. The last Plowshare test (1973) occurred in the natural gas west of Meeker. Now that gas may be radioactive and unsafe. Thus closed another chapter in uranium mining.
9
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I’ve always said that God will somehow enlighten me.—Rodrigo Duterte
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December 2018
Valley Voice
‘Boat Almanac
Holiday Greenery a la Nature By Karen Vail start on leaf and flower production in the spring and limited photosynthesis over the winter (depending on the species). The negatives are increased water loss from the leaf surface, tissue freezing, sun and wind damage, and insect and other herbivore damage. Interestingly, a study done by Richard Karban (“Leaf Drop in Evergreen Ceanothus velutinus as a Means of Reducing Herbivory” Ecology, Vol. 89, No. 9 (Sep., 2008), pp. 2446-2452) showed that in elkbrush, stems retaining their leaves through winter “experienced higher survival, four times as many inflorescences, and forty times as many fruits” as shoots where the leaves had been removed in the fall. So in the case of elkbrush, it seems the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, and this could also hold true for our other broad leaf winter green plants.
Ceanothus Flower
What are some of your earliest memories of the holiday season? Mine is the aroma of the tree in the living room, pungent and sweet, a sensory memory lodged in the season. Looking into the history of plants in holiday celebrations, I consistently came across conifer boughs, as well as holly, ivy and mistletoe. Although we do not have true holly and ivy here in our area, and our mistletoe is very different from the “kissing cousin” mistletoe, we do have some beautiful winter green plants that provide bright spots of color in our white winter landscapes. This might be a stretch as a substitute for ivy and holly, but I think our elkbrush (Ceanothus velutinus) and Oregon grape (Mahonia repens) provide wonderful holiday spirit in our natural world. Mistletoe is just going to have to wait till next year! The term “winter green” defines broad leaf plants that retain their leaves through the winter. The term can be a little misleading, as many of these plants are distinctively red, not green, but it does help us distinguish the evergreens (i.e.; the conifers) from the broadleaf plants in winter. Before we delve into the lives of these two beautiful plants, let’s imagine what it is like for a broadleaf plant to retain their leaves in winter. Our winters are long, cold and windy, with limited sunshine (especially if the plants are under a blanket of snow) and many hungry herbivores. Because of these challenges, most broad leaf plants just drop their leaves in fall so the stresses of winter are minimized. Why, then, would ANY plant want to retain their leaves over winter? Well, it’s complicated and science has not yet found a good answer. Benefits of keeping a plant’s leaves over winter could include having a head
Let’s look at how elk brush has adapted to Yampa Valley winters. Elkbrush, also called snowbrush, sweet laurel, snowbush ceanothus, red root and tobacco brush, is a sprawling glossy leaved winter green shrub found in larger colonies on south facing ridge tops and exposed slopes, as well as shadier sites. It likes those open areas, and is soon outcompeted if overhead canopied trees move in. The first clue that you are nearing an elkbrush stand is the strong resinous aroma from the foliage, or, if you are there in late spring, the sweet, lovely aroma of the striking fluff of white flowers. Heavenly!! Take the glossy leaf and roll it between your fingers. It’s sticky, isn’t it? Those are resins protecting the leaf from moisture loss, possible wind damage and sunscald and interested herbivores. Those resins are also highly volatile and according to the USDA Forest Service “snowbush ceonothus burns “quite hot.”…(and) the foliage contains volatile oils that may contribute to fire hazard.” (us.fed.us/ceonothusvelutinus) Elkbrush is a fire-adapted species and the seeds may lie dormant for over 200 years waiting for heat to induce germination. They also sprout vigorously from an underground root crown even after hot fires. Elkbrush are nitrogen fixers through a nifty association with soil bacteria living in and around nodules on the roots. Most broad leaf plants invest a lot of nitrogen in leaf building and retention. Keeping the leaves all winter is a huge nitrogen draw. Elkbrush could have the upper hand with help from its bacterial buddies and their nitrogen fixing abilities. Did you notice that often these tough leaves are rolled inward, especially during drought and through the winter? Elkbrush stomata (pores in the leaf surface where gasses are exchanged in and out of the leaf) are on the bottom of the leaf, an adaptation drought
For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
Ceanothus Flower buds in fall tolerant plants often incorporate to reduce moisture loss. To reduce moisture loss even further, they roll their leaves inward, shading and protecting the stomata from wind (and moisture loss), and limit their surface area in the winter to minimize sun and wind damage and browsing by hungry elk and moose. As fall enters winter, I notice a stalk of bumps emerging from the branch tips. I have never found anything referring to these pre-formed flower buds, but I am sure that is what they are. They are protected by tough scales and sit down amongst the leaves until spring when they elongate and emerge as the luscious, pollinator friendly flower. The name, elkbrush, refers to browsing by elk in the winter. Here in our area I see exposed slopes of elkbrush trampled by elk during the winter, and here these dense stands rarely get much taller than a foot. In other areas, maybe where there is more snowpack through the winter, the bushes are only occasionally browsed and can get up to 5 feet tall and very dense. Oregon grape, also called grape holly, and creeping holly looks holidayish with holly-shaped leaves. But our Oregon grape “holly” is a stunning red over the winter season, inspiring the Spanish name Yerba de Sangre, or “Herb of Blood.” The red coloring on winter leaves is somewhat of a mystery. I looked at several papers studying the production of red anthocyanin pigments in overwintering leaves. All concluded the pigmentation could be a way to help protect exposed leaves to rigors of winter harshness, along with many other ideas and guesses. Spring for Oregon grape brings on honey fragrant, bright yellow clusters of flowers tucked under the still reddish tinged leaves. Ooh, I love that wonderful aroma!! Soon the leaves return to their green color with new growth sprouting. A summer of growth is brought to a close with bluish clusters of berries
Valley Voice
December 2018
11
Poetry Mahonia Fruit
hiding beneath the foliage. These are bitter at this point, and waiting for a frost to sweeten them up is best. Black bears and many birds, especially grouse, love these berries as well. This woody shrub spreads through underground rhizomes and, in optimal conditions, can form nice sized colonies. This spreading habit, and the fact that they grow in a variety of conditions, make them perfect for reducing soil erosion. I am always amazed at the different habitats I find Oregon grape growing in: dense shade of pines and shrublands, moist aspen groves, blazing hot and dry southfacing slopes. These are incredibly adaptable and diversified plants. Their use in landscapes benefits pollinators, local wildlife and provides that stunning winter color. Have I sold you yet?? Happy holiday to all, enjoy our beautiful bounty of nature. I will see you on the trails!
Thoughts Listening to Lenny
experiments resulting in the contamination of about 1.6 trillion gallons of underground water. The last Plowshare test (1973) occurred in the natural gas west of Meeker. Now that gas may be radioactive and unsafe. Thus closed another chapter in uranium mining.
By Joan Remy
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All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green.—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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December 2018
Valley Voice
By Brodie Farquhar
Hayden Round Up Hayden is a happening place this fall. In town government, school district and economic news, changes seem to be accelerating. Playground Dry Creek Park will see significant changes this upcoming summer, with a new playground and outdoor fitness course. The new features are the result of a $500,000 grant from the Colorado Health Foundation, as well as $130,000 from town coffers – all to finish planned developments for the park. The playground is expected to be accessible to the disabled, and is designed for children of all ages. The fitness course is inspired by Mitch DeVepo, a Hayden graduate, who has competed on the American Ninja Warrior television show, which is about competitors working through a challenging obstacle course. Dry Creek Park is on South Poplar Street, across the road from Hayden Elementary School and the planned preK-12 school complex. The park features a fishing pond, a one-mile trail, baseball fields, a disc golf course, gazebo, volleyball court and commercial kitchen. The new improvements should be completed by June.
The 583-square-foot structures have one bathroom, a loft bedroom, compact kitchen and living room.
School Plans The Hayden School District is well on its way to developing a blueprint for a pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade campus. A preliminary design has been released by Cuningham Group Architecture, based on input by a design advisory group of 19 community members and faculty. The complex will face Breeze Basin Road, anchored by the current elementary school on the east, at the intersection of South Poplar Street and Breeze Basin Road. The proposed design, subject to change, would have administrative offices, a second-floor campus library and cafeteria between the elementary school and the middle school/high school complex to the west. Visitors and parents would go through the administration office complex to reach other parts of the campus, including a courtyard, two new gymnasiums (one of which can serve as an auditorium) and classrooms. A new football field and track would be to the west, while to the south is a parking lot, service road and voc-ed area. A $38.8 million BEST grant from the Colorado Department of Education will help fund the $61.1 million project. Officials hope to break ground in the spring of 2019 and have the construction finished before school starts in the fall of 2020.
Growth & Development Late November saw the delivery of three tiny home structures. The 583-square-foot structures have one bathroom, a loft bedroom, compact kitchen and living room. The site, on East Washington Avenue, has foundations for a total of 10 units. The homes are duplexes and are built off-site in Vernal, Utah. The development is called SmartPads LLC, and is owned by Steamboat Sotheby’s International Realty broker associates Darrin Fryer and Ryan Cox. The Washington Avenue property is owned by Fryer and Louis Nijsten. Units include appliances, finishes and bathrooms and cost approximately $168,000. On the restaurant business scene, owner Todd Wakefield has closed the Wolf Mountain Pizza restaurant in downtown Hayden, citing increased competition and higher food costs. He bought the business from Charlie and Christine Epp in March 2017. On the west side of town, the Broken Yolk has obtained a liquor license and is offering beer and mixed drinks during meal hours.
The public is invited to a community dinner and update for the new school project at 6 p.m., Tuesday, December 4, at the Hayden Elementary School.
For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
The Hayden Chamber Board meets at the Yampa Valley Brew on the second Monday of each month. Plans are underway for a last Friday “stroll,” where interested businesses can showcase their goods and services, 6-8 p.m.
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Poetry
Breaking the Silence
experiments resulting in the contamination of about 1.6 trillion gallons of underground water. The last Plowshare test (1973) occurred in the natural gas west of Meeker. Now that gas may be radioactive and unsafe. Thus closed another chapter in uranium mining.
By Francis Conlon
I shall linger in the silence still, Whose long pause casts a spell, As mist descends from nearby hill, And nature’s rhythm says all is well. An uttered word the spell would break, No need yet for idle talk, No room here for a word’s mistake, Where superfluous chat can cause a balk. Rather let this pause extend, Breathe deeply and just wait, Drifting thoughts I might attend, While moving about the tranquil state. No words replace a shared smile, A whisper tells of the coming night, No work occurs, I’ll sleep a while, The silent quiet just feels right. Later, of course, we’ll talk and plan, No verbiage now you understand. (Silence echoes across the plain, Touching the self all the same.)
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Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection.—Winston Churchill
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December 2018
Valley Voice
Drink of the Month
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The scene is perfect; snow falls outside, alternating between gentle curtains of light flakes and gales of icy, wind driven knives. A fire crackles inside as you watch the winter through the window. The fire warms the room, but to warm from the inside, you want something a little more. A glass of whiskey is the perfect drink for this idyllic winter moment. Spirit is indeed the word for that whiskey. It is literally the distilled essence, a way to preserve into the long cold winter months, the fruits of the summer harvest. The longest days and most direct sun on the corn-knee high by the Fourth of July-lends sweetness and a distinct American character. Malted barley, backbone of beer and whiskey alike, gives body and character. Soft wheat and spicy rye, aged on charred American oak, complete the portrait, all subject to the whims of time. All of those various ephemeral elements tied together make the whiskey what it is. It used to be that you would have to look far afield, to places like Kentucky and Scotland, to fill that glass. But craft distilling has expanded the way craft brewing did 20 years ago, and options have come closer to home. Stranahans and Leopold Brothers led the way for Colorado craft whiskey, but now we are fortunate enough to have our own homegrown option here in town with Steamboat Whiskey Company’s Warrior Whiskey. Founded by Nathan and Jessica Newhall, Steamboat Whiskey Company is a craft distillery in Downtown Steamboat that produces a variety of potent potables. Ski Town Vodka and Sleeping Giant Gin join the aforementioned Warrior Whiskey on store shelves around town, but there’s always something new in the attached tasting room that you just have to go in to find out about. Ask about the Whiskeycello – trust me!
The thing about being a new distillery and producing a whiskey is this: it takes time. A clean spirit like vodka needs no time to age. A good whiskey needs at least a couple of years, which is a long time for a business to wait to start recouping on its investments. If you were to start a distillery tomorrow, with all the financial resources in the world (that most of us likely don’t have), if your distillery setup went strictly according to schedule (which it never does), if your first batch goes flawlessly without so much as a test run (unlikely, but sure, why not), even if everything went perfectly, the first batch of proper whiskey still wouldn’t be ready until two or three years down the road when the barrel aging process is complete, whenever that might be. The one thing your money can never buy you is time. Whiskey needs to spend time in charred oak barrels, expanding and contracting into the wood with the temperature fluctuations of the seasons. It picks up color, tannins, vanillins and other flavor compounds in the barrel as it ages. Hot summers can speed the infusion of flavors, but the cold winter’s rest balances the process as the spirit sleeps in the wood. The only way to know when whiskey is ready is to have a good master distiller who constantly tends to their charges, rotating, aging and tasting the whiskey to know precisely when is its time. More than just the ability to distill, the art of making whiskey is knowing how to age and blend to make a delicious product. This is the art of Warrior Whiskey. Nathan and his crew have sourced young Colorado bourbons and Tennessee whiskeys, then blended and aged them in Caribbean rum casks until the whiskey is ready, at which point it is proofed down to Navy Strength, or 100 proof. Pouring a light amber gold, Warrior Whiskey has a sweeter nose profile, hinting at its time in rum casks. The oak character is pronounced across the palate, offset by the sweetness both of the cask and of the Tennessee portion of the blend. Tennessee whiskey, by definition, goes through a process of maple charcoal filtration (known as the Lincoln County Process), that mellows and softens the spirit, making it a little more approachable than its Kentucky cousin. Colorado bourbon punches this blend up a bit across its body; the spiciness in Warrior Whiskey’s finish suggests some rye in the grain bill. It finishes strong, but not too hot. For a 100 proof whiskey-that’s 50% alcohol content, in layman’s terms- Warrior isn’t overpowering. Neat or with 2 rocks, Warrior makes fine sipping whiskey, though it would also mix well into any Manhattan or Old Fashioned. So as the winter months and longest nights settle in, sit back and enjoy the snow. Plan for tomorrow, let the fire crackle and take in the Rocky Mountain winter with a glass of the local spirit.
Hayden
879.5929 905 Weiss Drive - across HWY 40 from the Holiday Inn
Steamboat Springs Walden
Meeker
750 Hospital Loop Craig, Colorado 81625 Phone: 970-824-9411 e-mail: info@tmhcraig.org
For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
Look for Warrior Whiskey in stores throughout the Yampa Valley, along with the rest of the Steamboat Whiskey Company line, or visit them at the tasting room at 55 W 11th St. Happy Holidays and Cheers!
Valley Voice
December 2018
Mensan Musings
Shifting Baseline Syndrome By Wolf Bennett
When the next generation starts its career, the stocks have further declined, but it is the stocks at that time that serve as a new baseline. The result obviously is a gradual shift of the baseline, a gradual accommodation of the creeping disappearance of resource species.” Most scientific disciplines have long timelines of data, but many ecological disciplines don’t. We are forced to rely on anecdotal and secondhand information. We don’t have enough data to know what is actually normal, so we convince ourselves that this is normal. But it often isn’t normal. Instead, it is steadily and insidiously shifting, no different from convincing ourselves that winters have always been this warm, or this snowy.
Overfishing off the Grand Banks - 1910 When John Cabot came to the Grand Banks off Newfoundland in 1497, he was astonished at what he saw. Fish, so many fish – fish in numbers he could barely comprehend. Cabot wrote that the waters were so swarming with fish that they could be taken not only by net but with nothing more than a basket weighted with a stone. The fisheries “boomed” for five hundred years, but, by 1992, it was all over. The Grand Banks fishery was completely destroyed and the Canadian government was forced to close it entirely, putting 30,000 fishermen out of work. The fishery has never recovered. Interestingly, guess who the fishermen blamed for the loss of their jobs? Yep, you guessed right, they blamed the Canadian government for “their” massive over fishing. About 80 years ago there were absolutely massive schools of shrimp swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. Schools 20 miles long and 5 miles wide. Boats would just dip into the school’s edges and fill their holds in very short order and return home. Those schools are obviously long gone, as they got smaller and smaller, no one stopped fishing, or even slowed. Whaling in the 1800s, bison on the great plains, passenger pigeons, over grazing land, water usage, wildfire increases, visitors at parks, atmospheric carbon dioxide, overpopulation, our own relationships, destruction of apex predators and base species, the Yampa river use and so very many more, are both history and happening right now. What went wrong in these catastrophes? Many things actually, though there is one main pervasive theme. People would shift the baseline, just taking the goalposts and moving them along. Other things certainly had an effect: factory and corporate profit driven mentality, ignorance, greed, poor science studies, ignoring scientific information, religion, refusal to look at their own declining numbers, justification of sport, inadequate oversight and more. But most importantly, all of these were driven by ignoring the measurements and changing the goalposts. Daniel Pauly described the Grand Banks “shifting baseline syndrome” like this: “Each generation of fisheries scientists (and fishermen and consumers) accept, as a baseline, the stock size and species composition that occurred at the beginning of their careers, and use this already mistaken starting point to evaluate changes.
Or convincing ourselves that there have always been this many deer in the forests of eastern North America. Or that current energy consumption per capita in the developed world is normal. All of these and many more are shifting baselines, where our data inadequacy, whether personal or scientific, provides dangerous cover for us missing important longer term changes in the world around us. When you are looking for the traits of Shifting Baseline, they commonly look like these: People treat each step toward disaster as normal and average. Ignoring history in favor of the current conditions. Believing in the fantastical instead of facts. Refusing to acknowledge that we could be wrong (arrogance, aggression, self righteousness). Group think (never questioning). Blame someone else (lawsuits, scapegoats, misinformation campaigns, etc).
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Puzzles for the Mind
2 Lines 9 Dot Solution By Wolf Bennett
Well, well, well. How did you do with the 3 line 9 dot solution? Did you find multiple answers? At least three? What were your assumptions and how did you break them? Did you slay a few sacred cows? Or bend them as I should say? Did you think we were done? Oh no, not yet; still much more fun to be had. Well, this next level is really not too difficult as you have already learned more about “How” to think and leads directly to a future phase, so here goes: 2 lines, 9 dots. Same rules: but only 2 continuous, straight, consecutive lines that connect all 9 dots. Hints: Are they simply variations of 3 line solutions or new and original ways? What are you thinking? What are you assuming? These puzzles are designed to get you to think more like a Zen Master. More awareness at each moment by seeing beyond the obvious. Knowing yourself a bit more deeply. Allow the ideas to flow and your creativity is enhanced. Heck, you’re already there. Have fun.
The entire path, from plentiful to total collapse, is taken as the status quo, right up until the fisheries, extinctions and environments are essentially wiped out. When you understand shifting baseline syndrome, it forces you to continually ask: “what is normal?” Is this?, was that? And, at least as important, it asks how we “know” that it’s normal. Because if it isn’t, we need to stop shifting the baselines.
Two Line Solution worksheet
I would argue that it is better to be aware of reality than to live in fantasy. Yes, knowledge takes work, but is always worthwhile and totally more fun. Learning is a challenge because it involves change and that is OK. Remember, nothing hard is ever easy, and the only thing you can do easily is be wrong, and that is hardly worth the effort. Yes, I know, pretty heady stuff. Not much fun to think about sometimes, and often difficult to discuss because it can feel depressing, but it beats hell out of denial. Kinda like hearing about cancer or other diseases from a doctor (I feel for their difficulty in addressing such things). But wonderfully, there are things you can do and ways to deal with the difficulties and they work. The first is awareness (dig in, face your fears, learn, grow, admit error). The second is teach.
Two Line Solution worksheet
Three Line Solution
Men die in despair, while spirits die in ecstasy.—Honore de Balzac
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December 2018
Valley Voice
Be Local & Eat Local! Locally roasted espresso and coffee drinks. Amazing sandwiches, soups & salads. Wonderful baked goodies!
Brighten Up
Two Minutes to Midnight By Aimee Kimmey
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“ “The failure of the world leaders to address the largest threats to humanity’s future is lamentable--but that failure can be reversed.” -The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists It seems like the world’s in pretty rough shape lately: escalating climate change is causing new horrors everyday. We’re devouring resources we can’t replenish. Every other week, humans find increasingly horrible ways to murder and torment one another. Hate and anger are running rampant. Fear is driving our choices. Reading the news is enough to make you want to crawl into a bunker and never leave It feels like everywhere you look, the world is getting darker. So many things need to be fixed; it seems like we’ll blow ourselves up long before we can figure out how. Is the end of the world as near as it seems? Way back in 1945, a group of University of Chicago scientists, the ones who helped develop the first atomic weapons on the Manhattan project, founded the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. In 1947 they published a report detailing how close we were to completely annihilating the human race. They used a clock metaphor, with midnight representing doomsday. The Doomsday Clock is a tradition that continues today; a group of scientists and security specialists, which includes 15 Nobel laureates, publish the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/). They specifically outline what’s threatening human life as we know it, and offer suggestions about how to avoid these catastrophes.
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For most of my life, and probably yours, the Clock has hovered around fifteen to ten minutes away from Doomsday. But in 2015, the clock was pushed to three minutes ‘til. The last three years have inched it closer to midnight. 2018’s Bulletin was not favorable: “It is now two minutes to midnight--the closest the clock has ever been to Doomsday, and as close as it was in 1953, at the height of the Cold War.”
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Reading the details about: “The untenable nuclear threat,” “An insufficient response to climate change,” “Emerging technologies and global risk,” is sobering, yet inspiring.
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They clearly state that our failures to address the threats to our future CAN be reversed. “This is a dangerous time, but the danger is of our own making. Humankind has invented the implements of the apocalypse; so it can invent the methods of controlling and eventually eliminating them.”
I We’ve come close to the eve of destruction before, and found ways to survive it. We have to be able to do it again. O Sure, the evils plaguing the world today seem insurmount- e able. Somedays it feels like it’s not even worth the effort to t save it. But right there in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, a bunch of really smart people assure me that we really W o can fix this. The answers are within our reach. o When we ask ourselves, “how do we save the world?” it l feels like the answer must be one grand, glorious act or h invention. It seems impossible that one average old Joe s w could do anything to change the world. t But maybe the answer isn’t some great master plan or h piece of technology. Maybe it’s just small acts of kindness s and love and thoughtfulness. Maybe if everybody does just fl a tiny bit to help take better care of our world and our F neighbors, it will snowball into one big solution. Maybe our concern for life on our planet, and patience with our m adversaries, will inspire our leaders. Maybe we can push d p the Doomsday Clock away from disaster. r There are 7.7 billion people on the planet. Imagine if every t one of them did something nice for someone else, or took i one tiny step toward protecting our world? If we could do c that more days than not, I think we could move gracefully t away from the eve of destruction. No matter how small a a s step forward you take, you’re still moving forward. t So as we head recklessly into the chaos of the holiday season, in a world full of terror and turmoil, take a breath. O Have patience with your fellow humans, no matter how p arrogant and crazy you think they are. Take a moment S S to appreciate the beauty in the world around you. I assure you it’s there, especially for us in the Yampa Valley. T Remember the love you have for your friends and family i and CELEBRATE! Celebrate life, celebrate love, celebrate w S another day on our beautiful planet. s 2
Valley Voice
December 2018
21
Beautiful Day for a Neighbor
Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood By Marian Tolles
From: The World According to Mr. Rogers: Important Things to Remember — Fred Rogers In an era of ever more frequent mass shootings, the October synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh left me feeling especially sad. In the weeks since, I’ve been reflecting on the chapter of our lives spent in that city. When George was a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh in the late 1960s we lived in a row house on Darlington Road, a street of shady trees and mostly larger old houses in the predominately Jewish neighborhood of Squirrel Hill. We had the only Christmas tree on a street of menorahs. For George it was a pleasant half-hour walk through Schenley Park to his classes and office in the University’s landmark Tower of Learning. As part of his scholarship he counseled undergraduates, and kept in shape by always taking the stairs to his office on the 23rd floor. From our house we could walk to Murray Avenue, the main shopping street, where we found great bakeries, delis, butchers, bagel shops, news stands with Hebrew publications from all over the world and our favorite restaurant and bar, the Squirrel Hill Café. Located around the corner on Forbes Avenue, the Café was a local gathering spot offering comfort food, draft beer and friendly conversation. One of our few luxuries was season tickets to the Pittsburgh Symphony, which we shared with another couple. After the concerts, George and I usually stopped at the Squirrel Hill Café for a beer, as did many of the musicians. Our next-door neighbors in the row house were the Kaplans. Solomon Kaplan was then the rabbi at Tree of Life Synagogue. Their daughter Judy and our oldest daughter Sarah were the same age and soon became best of friends. They walked to school together and Sarah was often included in the Kaplans’ Sabbath dinners. She sometimes went with Judy to her after school Hebrew lessons at the Synagogue. Although they later lived far apart, the friendship lasted until Judy’s death from cancer in August of 2018.
Mon.- Fri. 9-6 Sat. 9-5 Sun. 11-3
As the elementary schools in Squirrel Hill were split by grade levels, our daughter Robin attended first grade at a different school than Sarah. Her favorite playmate was Walter, one of the black children bussed in from a ghetto across town. The sixties were turbulent times. Pittsburgh had its civil rights issues, rioting and fires, but Squirrel Hill was for the most part spared the violence. When George was looking at graduate schools, we decided a priority was finding one where we could live in a city, so that our daughters would have a more diverse cultural experience from rural Steamboat Springs, where in the sixties there were few Hispanics or other minorities. Pittsburgh and Squirrel Hill turned out to be the ideal city choice.
“It’s easy to take a gun and annihilate your opposition, but what is really exciting to me is to see people with differing views come together and finally respect one another”
In Central Park Plaza
Shortly after we moved to Pittsburgh, our youngest daughter, Allison, was diagnosed with Legg Perthes, a crippling childhood bone disease. As a result she had to wear a cumbersome weight-bearing leg brace for two years until the disease ran its course. On her good leg her shoe was built up three inches to compensate for the height of the brace. She had to learn to walk all over again, but soon became adept. When we went to the nearby Jewish Community Center to see if we could enroll Allison in their pre-school, they offered her free tuition because of her disability and George’s student status (i.e. we were poor). Allison thrived at the school. In addition to the usual pre-school activities, she learned about many Jewish holiday traditions — a jolly song and hamantaschen at Purim, the meaning of various foods served at the Passover Seder. The Jewish Community Center was also the cultural hub of Squirrel Hill, where neighborhood residents gathered for classes, lectures, book reviews etc. I remember that a review of Philip Roth’s newly published and controversial Portnoy’s Complaint drew a record crowd. I took a yoga class there while Allison was at school. In winter of 1968 a new children’s TV program, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, was launched on the National Educational Network (NET), precursor to PBS. Allison was an avid fan. The program was produced in Pittsburgh on WQED, most of it filmed in Squirrel Hill, which was Fred Rogers’ real-life neighborhood. Allison was thrilled when one day we met him on the street.
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In his gentle manner, Mr. Rogers taught several generations of children the values of kindness, tolerance and self worth. His program won two Peabody awards and several Emmy awards for outstanding children’s programming. Fred Rogers received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contribution to children’s education, and in 1999 was inducted into the TV Hall of Fame. The last episode of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood aired in 2001. Fred Rogers died in 2003 at his home in Squirrel Hill, where his spirit lives on. When our two years in Pittsburgh were up, George turned down an offer to stay on at Pitt. We had a house in Steamboat Springs and a job teaching at the college. We missed our beloved mountains. However, we’ve always had fond memories of our time in Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood, where we and our children were welcomed with kindness, acceptance and charity.
Breakfast All Day! Open 7am – 9pm Daily 738 Lincoln . Downtown Steamboat Springs www.johnnybgoodsdiner.com 970-8400
When one neighbor helps another, we strengthen our communities.—Jennifer Pahlka
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December 2018
Valley Voice
Globally Speaking
An Old Coal Miner Looks at Global Warming Part I - the Science By Ted Crook
As a progressive who spent 36 years at a coal mine, I claim to have a unique perspective on the subject of climate change.
2. The climatologists refuse to use good old fashioned temperatures and are messing with the data in all sorts of ways to make their point.
The old bromide, “lies, damn lies, and statistics” is correct in the sense that statistical analysis is often the only way to get to the truth.
The best source of real data on the science is www.giss. nasa.gov, the website of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Until his retirement, this institute was directed by James Hansen/, the man who made correct predictions in the 1980‘s about the state of climate now and who is probably the one most responsible for raising the alarm early.
A perfect measurement of global temperature would require a perfect sample set. Most weather stations are in cities (which are hotter than the surrounding area) and few weather stations are in the all important Arctic and Antarctic regions. Many measurements have to be thrown out, modified, or interpolated to obtain a better picture. If cities’ temperatures were the main samples, global warming would appear worse than it is.
4. If the summer weather is cold, a denier will ask, “where’s the global warming (heh, heh), ” If winter weather is hot, the same denier will say, “you gotta love that global warming (heh, heh)”.
First, a few objections to climate science and the answers to them: 1. The weather models are wrong a lot, how can the climatologist models be any better? Weather models are designed to predict local weather over short term time scales. Climate models predict global changes over longer time scales where the random variations are averaged out.
The measurements are expressed as anomalies, temperature difference from a selected local mean, to minimize problems and allow averaging between stations. 3. These models rely on statistics too much. Contrary to popular myth, statistical analysis is simply common sense in mathematical form. It is the only way to get any meaningful scientific data in almost every case.
Examples from the deniers and answers to them: There are many obfuscations and actual lies in the climate denial camp. The one I like best involves satellite pictures of arctic ice, showing the whole arctic ocean covered. The presenter says, “see, it’s all there after all.” Of course the whole of a lake will look the same covered in ice whether the ice is one inch or one foot deep. The presenter can’t tell thickness from space. He ignores the life risking real researchers on the ice who actually know how thin it is becoming. Other half truths: 1. More carbon dioxide will actually help farmers and make a better life for all. This might be true, but do we want to bet the planet on it?
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2. The Pacific Decadal Oscillation is responsible for the warming evidence. Not likely--correlation without proof of causation. It is much more likely that the warming is responsible for the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. 3. The scientists are lying: the hacked emails prove it. The emails are not scientific papers. A scientist expresses frustration or suggests a statistical approach in the email, but actual scientific results are enshrined in peer reviewed journals. 4. The journals won’t publish contrary data. Possibly true, but irrelevant. Any theory of global warming must accept the results of studies published in peer reviewed journals or refute those results. As each supporting paper is published, refutation gets harder.
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Quantum mechanics doesn’t refute the results of Newtonian Physics, merely expands those results into a new domain. 5. Things have been heating up since the ice age. No doubt of that, but it is the rapid acceleration of warming over the last century that is the point of concern. It is easy to adapt to a slow warming trend.
Valley Voice
A Closer Look
The Omega-3s Fad By Monica Yager
December 2018
Tales from the Front Desk
Chicken Fingers By Aimee Kimmey
Omega-3 fatty acids have become sensationalized from must-have supplements to being added to an amazing array of foods at the grocery store. But is this for the benefit of consumer health or to increase sales for food manufacturers?
The clerk shook her head innocently as the woman’s voice creeped up an octave. “Chicken fingers! Four nights in a row! He’s twenty-one, and that’s all he talks about!” The woman was slipping into a rant. The clerk pulled back slightly, trying not to get gobbled up.
Foods fortified with omega-3 range from dairy products to cereal, breakfast bars, orange juice and pasta and mayonnaise. Even peanut butter gets the omega-3 treatment with anchovy/sardine oil and tilapia gelatin. Soybean oil and algae oil are also commonly used in some products in order to make the omega-3 claim. Is the adulteration of perfectly fine food with the premise to attain good health a good idea? Most fortified foods contain very small amounts of omega3s. In addition, omega-3s are not created equal. Of the three components of omega-3s, two, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) are sourced from fish while the third, ALA (alpha linolenic acid) comes from plant foods. It is typical to come up short on consuming the recommended two 4-ounce servings of fatty fish a week while at the same time easily consuming an adequate amount of ALA from plant foods. But some fortified foods do not accurately list the specific type of omega-3 that has been added, so consumers may believe they are getting all the omega-3s, but in fact are only getting ALA from a plant source. Because fortified foods cannot compensate for not eating fish, fish oil supplements are recommended. Why? Evidently for all kinds of reasons. Omega-3s have been recommended for cancer prevention, brain boosting, inflammation fighting, autoimmune diseases, depression and mental disorders, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, macular degeneration, dry eye disease, inflammatory bowel disease, ADHD, allergies, cystic fibrosis, and heart health. So far, reviews of studies for these conditions conclude no consistent effects on health outcomes, insufficient evidence, no consistent relationships, findings that seem promising but need to be confirmed with more research, effects that are not clinically significant, and probably not effective. What does all this mean? Well, for one thing, it means we can just say no to peanut butter fortified with sardine/ anchovy oil and tilapia juice. You’re Welcome. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Omega3FattyAcidsConsumer/
A Closer Look is the culmination of witnessing first-hand the wackiness of the alternative health world from the perspective of a former owner of a health food store. Everyone can and should take a closer look, especially when it comes to their health.
23
“And just guess where he is right now? Looking for a restaurant that serves chicken fingers! What kind of nutrition is my sister teaching him?!” She had both hands on the counter now, the clerk was beginning to worry that she might crawl across it. “I mean I thought this was going to be a nice trip, a chance for us to re-connect. I haven’t seen him much since he went off to college, I figured we could have a nice holiday trip before the whole family arrived, but four days of nothing but chicken fingers?! Are you kidding me?!” “Um...?” The clerk wasn’t sure what to say. The story you are about to read is true... More or less. Tuesday. Front desk. 4:38 pm. With the holidays looming around the corner, the hotel was filling up. At the moment there was a rare bit of quiet. The front desk clerk knew it wouldn’t last, but you take it where you can get it. Outside, the setting sun drenched the snow covered mountains with vibrant pink, giving everything an otherworldly glow. A cold wind betrayed the picturesque scene with harsh winter reality as the front door burst open. The clerk shivered; a heavily bundled woman stomped toward her. The clerk knew right away that the woman was in a mood. The look in her eyes bordered on madness. The angry muttering was the dead give away. The clerk couldn’t quite make out what she was mumbling, but it sounded like something to do with... Chicken fingers? Determined to do everything in her power to sooth this woman, the clerk greeted her with her biggest smile. “Good evening.” “Yeah!” The woman said as though it was anything but. She dropped her massive purse on the counter to rummage around it. “...So what can I do for you?” The clerk prodded gently. “Checking in.” The woman snapped, slapping her wallet down for the clerk to see her ID. The clerk typed her info into the computer, “Alright, here we go Barbara, we’ve got you down for three nights?” The woman rolled her eyes, “Ugh, if I last that long! We’ve been on the road for four days, my nephew and I--that’s dinner in four different restaurants. And do you know what he ordered every single night?!”
“For hours, all he’s talks about is chicken fingers! Do you know what that’s like?!” The woman stared at the clerk, demanding answers. The woman’s anger broke as she suddenly noticed the clerk’s wide eyes and recoiled posture. “Oh dear Lord! I’m so sorry, it’s not your fault, I shouldn’t have exploded at you.” The clerk shrugged, “It’s oaky, family can be trying sometimes. Especially on a road trip. But we still love them, right?” The woman stared at her for a long moment, “You know, you’re right. I do love him, despite his terrible food choices-he’s a grown boy, he can eat what ever he likes. Besides, we did have a pretty good trip--it’s just been a long day in the car.” The clerk finished processing the check-in. “Yeah driving’s always stressful, especially this time of year.” For the first time, the woman smiled, “Yeah it really is. I don’t think I’m mad at him at all... I think I’m just tired, maybe I need a glass of wine! Do you think there are any restaurants around here that serve chicken fingers and wine?” The clerk laughed passing the woman her room keys, “Oh I bet you’ll find one! You guys are in room 281: down the hall then up the stairs. Good luck!” The woman smiled deeply at the clerk, “Thank you. For everything!” “It’s my pleasure.” Smiling and waving, the woman headed back out into the cold, “Happy holidays!”
The most important thing in the world is family and love.—John Wooden
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December 2018
Valley Voice
HappyHours
RECURRING WEEKLY EVENTS:
Last minute changes can and do occur - Mother Nature, illness, tour malfunction, whatever - the accuracy of this calendar is not guaranteed!
SUNDAY
WEDNESDAY
8th Street Steakhouse 4:30 - 6:00 p.m. & 9:00 p.m.
Ski Free Sunday 10AM-4PM @ Howelsen Hill Mid-Dec to March 10 Steamboatsprings.net/ski
Dart League 6:30PM @ The V
Aurum Food & Wine 4:30 - 6:00 p.m. daily Azteca Taqueria 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. & 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. daily
McKnight’s Irish Pub 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. & 9:30 - 11:00 p.m. daily Off the Beaten Path After 4:00 p.m. daily Old Town Pub 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. daily
Back Door Grill 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. daily & All day on Sundays
O’Neil’s Tavern and Grill 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m. - 12:00 p.m. daily
The BARley 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. daily
Rex’s American Grill & Bar 4:20 - 6:00 daily
Big House Burgers 4:20 - 6 p.m., Mon-Sat. & 2 - 6 Sunday
The Rusted Porch 2:00 p.m.- 6:00p.m. daily
Carl’s Tavern 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. daily
Salt and Lime 3:30 p.m.- 5:30 p.m. & 10:00 p.m.- 11:00 p.m.
Circle R Bar 4 - 6 p.m. Thurs., Fri.,Sat.
Sake 2 U 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Cuginos Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. & 9:00 - 11:00 p.m. daily
Sambi Canton 5:00 - 6:00 pm Monday - Saturday
Double ZZ BBQ 2:30 - 6:00 p.m. daily Dude & Dan’s Bar and Grill 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. daily Late Night Happy Hour: 10:00 - 12:00 p.m. daily E3 Ranch & Chophouse Restaurant 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. daily Harwigs & L’Apogee: 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. daily Laundry 4:30 - 6p.m. Tues.-Sat. Low Country 4:30 - 6 p.m. daily Mahogany Ridge 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. Late night happy hour: 9:00 to 10:00 p.m. daily Mambo Italiano 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. daily Mazzola’s Majestic Italian Diner 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. daily
Schmiggitys 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. daily Slopeside Grill 10:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m. Steamboat Smokehouse 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. & 9:30 to 11:30 p.m. daily: Sunpies Cajun Bistro 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. daily
Latin Dance Night 7PM @ Schmiggity’s (Free Salsa Lessons). FREE. www.schmiggitys.com MONDAY Piano Bar Night 9PM @ Schmiggity’s. FREE. www.schmiggitys.com TUESDAY “A Good Yarn” Crochet & Knitting Group 10:30AM @ Hayden Public Library www.haydenpubliclibrary. org Pool League 6:30PM @ The V Two-Step Tuesday 7PM @ Schmiggity’s (Free Country Dance Lessons). FREE. www.schmiggitys.com
Table 79 Foodbar 5:00 - 6:00 & 9:00 - 11:00 daily
Karaoke Night 9PM @ Schmiggity’s. FREE www.schmiggitys.com THURSDAY Steamboat Springs Writers Group Noon @ Art Depot.FREE www.steamboatwriters.com “A Good Yarn” Crochet & Knitting Group 4:30PM @ Hayden Public Library www.haydenpubliclibrary. org Live Band Karaoke/ Schmiggity Jam 9:30PM @ Schmiggity’s. FREE. www.schmiggitys.com SATURDAY Meet & Take Pictures with Santa 10AM-1PM @ Downtown Steamboat Springs Saturdays until Christmas
Calendar of Free Events To submit your free events or calendar information e-mail to: valleyvoicesales@gmail.com Events may be edited for length or content. Calendar entries must be received by the 15th of each month.
SATURDAY DEC. 1
WEDNESDAY DEC. 5
Holidays in the Rockies Artisan Market 9AM-3PM @ Strawberry Park Elementary School www.steamboatcreates. org/events/
A “Brunch” of Memories 11AM @ the Hayden Public Library haydenpubliclibrary.org
The Annual Hayden Holiday Stroll 1PM @ Hayden Museum & Wild Goose More info call 276-4380 www.haydenheritage center.org
SUNDAY DECEMBER 2
Mountainfilm On Tour in Steamboat Springs 6:30PM @ Library Hall. $10 at the door includes popcorn and lemonade. www.steamboatlibrary. org/events
Hanukkah Begins
THURSDAY DEC. 6
MONDAY DECEMBER 3
Library Author Series: Verne Lundquist 6:30PM @ Library Hall. FREE www.steamboatlibrary. org/events
A-Mac & the Height 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. FREE. www.schmiggitys.com
Free Film: “13th” 6:30PM @ Library Hall. FREE www.steamboatlibrary. org/events TUESDAY DECEMBER 4 Colorado Gives Day Select from over 60 local non-profits to support during this 24 hours of online giving. All donations made on this day will be boosted by a $1M incentive fund. Go to www.YampaValleyGives.org
The Tap House Sports Grill 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. weekdays Truffle Pig 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. daily The V 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. & 10:00p.m. - 12:00 a.m. Vaqueros Mexican Restaurant & Taqueria 2:00 - 6:00 p.m. daily
Behind the Scenes Tour of Collections 11AM @ Tread of Pioneers Museum treadofpioneers.org City Council Meeting 5PM @ Centennial Hall steamboatsprings.net
Photo by Scott Kimmey For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
Bud Werner Memorial Library presents Mountainfilm for Students 4PM @ Boys and Girls Club Gym. FREE www.steamboatlibrary. org/events
History Happy Hour 5:30PM @ Butcherknife Brewery treadofpioneers.org
FRIDAY DEC. 7 First Friday Art Walk 5PM @ Downtown Steamboat. Self-guided tour of local art galleries, Museums and alternative venues. FREE. First Friday Artwalk Reception GIFT, Small Works Show Artist Reception 5PM@ Arts Depot. FREE www.steamboatcreates. org Hell’s Belles w/ Hot Apostles 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. $15. www.schmiggitys.com
Schmac andDecember Cheese2018
Valley Voice
25
Calendar of Free Events What do you want to do today? I don’t know. What do you want to do? SATURDAY DEC. 8
FRIDAY DEC. 14
THURSDAY DEC. 20
TUESDAY DEC. 25
DeadPhish Orchestra 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. $10. www.schmiggitys.com
Coffee with Council 7:30AM @ Centennial Hall steamboatsprings.net
Merry Christmas!
MONDAY DECEMBER 10
Continental Cup @ Howelsen Hill sswsc.org
Behind the Scenes Tour of Collections 2PM @ Tread of Pioneers Museum treadofpioneers.org 8 Ball Tournament 6:30PM @ The V
Parks & Recreation Commission 5:30PM @ Centennial Hall steamboatsprings.net/ agendas
Hanukkah Ends Wild Films: “Earth One Amazing Day” 6:30PM @ Library Hall. FREE www.steamboatlibrary. org/events Hayden Chamber Meeting 7PM @ Yampa Valley Brewing Company, Hayden.
TBA 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. www.schmiggitys.com SATURDAY DEC. 15 Continental Cup @ Howelsen Hill sswsc.org
City Council Meeting 5PM @ Centennial Hall steamboatsprings.net
Ocelot + Intimin8 + Zac Ivie + The Outsiders + Dassaro 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. FREE. www.schmiggitys.com
WEDNESDAY DEC.12
SUNDAY DEC. 16
Parks & Recreation Commission 5:30PM @ Centennial Hall steamboatsprings.net/ agendas
Community Yoga Practice A deep relaxation practice in honor of Beth Boyd, followed by tea, performances by local dancers and a silent auction to benefit Beth’s cancer treatment. 10AM @ Bud Werner Library. FREE but donations greatly appreciated www.steamboatlibrary. org/events
TUESDAY DEC. 11
Bud Werner Memorial Library’s Foreign Film Series at the Chief “Egon Schiele: Death and the Maiden” 7:00PM @ Chief Theater. FREE www.steamboatlibrary. org/events THURSDAY DEC. 13 Planning Commission 5PM @ Centennial Hall steamboatsprings.net/ agendas Library Author Series: Susan Cunningham “Crow Flight” 6:30PM @ Library Hall. FREE www.steamboatlibrary. org/events
TUESDAY DEC. 18
FRIDAY DECEMBER 21 Ugly Sweater Party 7PM @ Yampa Valley Brewing Company www.yampavalleybrew. com SoDown w/ TruFeelz @ Schmiggity’s. All Ages Show 8PM $15; 21+ Show 10:30PM $10 www.schmiggitys.com SATURDAY DEC. 22 Rocky Mountain Grateful Dead Revue 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. $10. www.schmiggitys.com
WEDNESDAY DEC. 26 Kwanzaa Begins
THURSDAY DEC. 27 Planning Commission 5PM @ Centennial Hall steamboatsprings.net/ agendas FRIDAY DEC. 28 Eminence Ensemble 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. $10. www.schmiggitys.com SATURDAY DEC. 29
SUNDAY DEC. 23
Trout Steak Revival 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. $15. www.schmiggitys.com
Festivus
MONDAY DEC. 31
MONDAY DEC. 24
New Year’s Eve
Christmas Eve
Euforquestra 10PM @ Schmiggity’s. $20 pre-sale $25 at the door. www.schmiggitys.com
City Council Meeting 5PM @ Centennial Hall steamboatsprings.net
821 Lincoln Ave - schmiggitys.com t; he Heigh t & c a M -A Sat Dec 1 -Hop/Rock; FREE ip H Reggae/ Apostles; t o H / w s lle : Hell's Be Fri Dec 7 te; $15 u AC/DC Trib ; Orchestra ! h is h P d a $10 : De Sat Dec 8 ad/Phish Tribute; e Grateful D T.B. A. Fri Dec 14
Ivie in8 + Zac REE im t In + ip-Hop; F 5: Ocelot Sat Dec 1 iders + Dassaro; H ts + The Ou nic; lz; Electro e e F u r T / nw 1: SoDow Fri Dec 2 ow 8 pm $15; 21+ h All Ages S 0 pm $10 Show 10:3 ful tain Grate $10 n u o M y k 2: Roc ribute; Sat Dec 2 e; Grateful Dead T u Dead Rev ; Ensemble e c n e in 8: Em Fri Dec 2 $10 ; Rock/Jam al; eak Reviv t S t u o r T 9: Sat Dec 2 rass; $15 g e Indie Blu estra; e door : Euforqu pre-sale $25 at th 1 3 c e D 20 Mon Reggae; $ l/ u o S / k n Fu pm e Night 7 c n a D in t La m Sundays: Night 9 pELLS) r a B o n ia s: P m $1 W MondayH m r 10 -11 p u o r t 10 -11 p e h w ig N (Po p li 7 pm (F Two Stepcent drink) : s y a d s e Tu pm win a 25 ontest 9) C e chance to k o a r a is oke/ K wboard or Sk o ays: Kara Wednesdustom Harvest Sn c a (Win /21/2018 Final 11 oke/ and Kara B e iv L : s y Thursdagity Jam 9:30 pm Schmig
Oh Schmiggity!
Free Film: “Loving Vincent” 6:30PM @ Library Hall. FREE www.steamboatlibrary. org/events
Schmappy Hour 7-9 Da
www.valleyvoicecolorado.com
Steamboat's ONLY Happy Hour from 7-9 pm 1/2 Off the entire bar; $3 Hot Dogs & Corn Dogs Tickets online at schmiggitys.com or at All That.
$1
We cannot make events. Our business is wisely to improve them.—Samuel Adams
26
December 2018
Valley Voice
Yepelloscopes
Your Monthly Message By Chelsea Yepello Aries
March 21 - April 19
This fortnight you will finally be proud of your determination as you won’t let all of the ‘little things’ stop you from obtaining your goals. That’s the politically correct way of saying that these days.
Taurus
April 20 - May 20
This fortnight you will accomplish your life goal; sneezing with your eyes open. Your parents knew there was a reason they put you through college.
Gemini
May 20 - June 20
Keep swimming you little mermaid! It’s hard to swim upstream but you’re almost there... wait... salmon swim upstream, not mermaids... well, that would explain the smell...
Cancer
GOLDEN LEAF WILL
MATCH
ANY PRICE
IN STEAMBOAT * * Excludes flower. Not to be combined with any other discounts.
NOW OFFERING
$99 OUNCES
RECREATIONAL & MEDICAL
OF SELECT STRAINS
OPEN DAILY
Recreational & Medical
1755 Lincoln Avenue Steamboat Springs, CO On the Free Bus Route
970-870-2941 www.GoldenLeaf.co For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
June 21 - July 22
Sometimes we forget how much we lean on spellcheck, never considering that on the rare occasion, we have to actually use spelling skills to spell something. Iz ok. Wee ale knead an refreashher one en an wile.
Leo
July 23 - August 23
You will find yourself incredibly relieved that you brought a fresh pair of underwear. Just throwing that one out there...
Virgo
August 23 - September 22
Libra
September 23 - October 23
Wow! You certainly have lightened up. Ah, you. How you were missed. This fortnight you will begin a small feud with your local school district when they refuse to
add Pig Latin to the foreign language curriculum. Eoplepey ustjay on’tday etgay ittay.
Scorpio
October 24 - November 21
This fortnight you will decide that you want to start a new and exciting career as a singing minstral. Unfortunately, the only song you know is the chorus of “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol. Sing on friend, sing on.
Sagittarius
November 22 - December 21
You know you found someone special when they like all of the Jelly Bellies you don’t. Together, you won’t waste any of those wonderful gems of sugar…and you get all the good ones.
Capricorn
December 22 - January 19
It’s a hunger inside of you that gnaws at your innards, begging to be satisfied. The longing... the yearning... the intense want and desire... wait, you are actually hungry. You missed lunch.
Aquarius
January 20 - February 18
There is nothing to say to help someone that refuses to get their head out of their a**. It’s not that they don’t appreciate the advice, they just can’t hear you with their head stuck up there.
Pisces
February 19 - March 20
Eat, sleep, work and repeat... Eat, sleep, work and repeat... Eat, sleep, work and repeat... Eat, sleep, work and repeat... Eat, sleep, work and repeat... Eat, sleep, work and repeat... crazy drunken sex odyssey with complete strangers... Eat, sleep, work and repeat... Eat, sleep, work and repeat... Eat, sleep, work and repeat...
Valley Voice
December 2018
By Aimee Kimmey
27
28
December 2018
Thanks!
Thank you Routt County for your overwhelming support! from the Twin Enviro Family
twinenviro.com
Happy Holidays For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
Valley Voice