Stuff by Will Grandbois

  • Locations: News Published

    Surls center a no-go, roundabout sculpture is a g

    With about a month to go before the installation of the James Surls sculpture at Carbondale’s new roundabout, organizers who also had hoped to create a larger display space for Surls’ work in Carbondale confirmed this month that the idea has been shelved. “It’s not going to happen,” said local philanthropist Jim Calaway on Monday, regarding the Surls Center for the Visual Arts. Calaway, a retired petroleum tycoon who is a personal friend with Surls, not only went to bat on behalf of the Surls Center, but also has contributed $100,000 toward the sculpture’s price tag. Calaway’s wife, Connie, and Sue Edelstein, raised the $130,000 needed to complete the $230,000 deal. Surls, an internationally renowned artist whose work can be found in a vast number of museums and other venues, agreed that the Surls Center plans are not being pursued. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Town’s Creative District planning process takes shape

    On Monday night, 35 adults and three middle school students — all volunteers working on Carbondale’s Creative District planning process — met to brainstorm ways to organize and manage Carbondale’s new Creative District and to brainstorm projects for it take on. Their most urgent task? To figure out what to do with the $10,000 check that Carbondale received this week from the state of Colorado’s Creative District program. Laura Bernhard, a non-profit and economic development consultant who donated her time at Monday’s meeting, helped the group to outline tasks that need to be addressed by task forces on wayfinding and connectivity, media and awareness, governance, and economic development. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Governor finds receptive crowd at Beer Works

    Gov. John Hickenlooper took a sip on the wild side of Carbondale last Sunday, when he stepped off his huge campaign bus and into the tight confines of the Carbondale Beer Works brewpub. Really, though, he was in his element — a Broncos game on the television, microbrew beer on tap only a step away, and a crowd of Democrat-friendly locals on hand to ask him questions and to wish him well. “I love having the Broncos playing today,” the governor told the crowd after being introduced by Carbondale Trustee Allyn Harvey. “I’m guaranteed to have your attention.” read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Teen pot plant pilfering case expands to five

    It appears that there are now five teenagers accused of stealing pot plants from a Carbondale private garden last summer, after two new names reportedly were added to the original list of three alleged thieves. Due to their ages, the teens are not being identified by the Carbondale Police Department, but the department confirmed in late September that three teens had been arrested and were facing felony charges in relation to a series of three incidents that allegedly began last July and continued through early September. The three teenagers appeared in court in Glenwood Springs on Oct. 8, charged in separate case files, and were instructed to show up again for further proceedings over the coming weeks, according to Ninth Judicial District juvenile case prosecutor Tony Hershey. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Award winning “Camino” plays the Crystal

    The Crystal Theatre presents the award winning documentary “Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago” at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 17-21. “It (the film) shows the full range of the Camino experience: the internal thoughts, the spiritual insights, the physical strains, the solace of nature, the weather, the new friends made, and the sharing with others of all ages and from all countries,” said blogger Jack Karolewski. “In many aspects, I enjoyed this documentary a little bit more than the commendable Camino film ‘The Way.’” In 2013, “Walking the Camino,” whose assistant editor was Glenwood Springs native Andrew Zabel, won Best Documentary honors at the Hollywood Film Festival and other festivals, and was also recognized at The Newport Beach Film Festival (Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Film Making), the American Documentary Film Festival (Audience Favorite Award) and Prescott Film Festival (Audience Choice Award). read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    EV Rally drivers say “Now is the time”

    A finish line celebration held on Oct. 3 in Carbondale wrapped up the Electric Vehicle Rally of the Rockies, proving that electric vehicles are a viable way to travel in western Colorado. Eight drivers traveled from Grand Junction, Vail, Aspen and Snowmass Village to a finish line party in Carbondale. They stopped along the way to use free public charging facilities in Parachute, Glenwood Springs and Basalt, and arrived on Main Street in Carbondale in a horn-honking convoy. As the rally assembled at the Colorado Mountain College Lappala Center, more than a dozen electric vehicles lined up in the parking lot, including the Chevy Volt, Ford Focus, Ford C-Max and Nissan Leaf. Drivers immediately plugged in to the Lappala Center’s dual-plug public EV charge station. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Town forester alerts board to possible tree problems

    Is Carbondale’s “urban forest” in danger of a precipitous decline? David Coon, the town’s urban forester (among numerous other duties) believes it might be, and has cautioned other town officials that something needs to be done about it. Coon, who took over the position last May, recently issued a round of blast e-mails to members of Carbondale’s Tree Board, warning of a looming infestation of something called the emerald ash borer, which he said could quickly mow down nearly a tenth of the town’s “urban canopy” of trees. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Candidates talk budget, development, Home Rule

    In the contest to become the next Garfield County commissioner for District 1, incumbent Tom Jankovsky and his challenger, Michael Sullivan, both are essentially running on Jankovsky’s record. The difference is that Jankovsky feels his record has been exemplary and justifies keeping him in office, while Sullivan feels Jankovsky has not represented his constituents in District 1 and should be kicked out of office. District 1 encompasses the Garfield County portion of the Roaring Fork River Valley, including the Town of Carbondale and most of Glenwood Springs. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    Ditty dazzles CRES students

    The third graders in Danny Stone’s classroom at Crystal River Elementary School received a special treat for their Carbondale history lesson last week: a visit from one of the student’s 95-year-old great-grandmother, Ruth “Ditty” Perry. The children gathered at her feet as she told stories about “the old days” in the Roaring Fork Valley. Ditty’s father, David Brown, was born in 1856. He moved from Denver to Aspen in 1880 when “there was nothing there.” Brown built the first building to stand in Aspen: a two-story structure, with living quarters upstairs and a general store on the first floor. read more →
  • Locations: News Published

    County commissioner candidates lay out their views

    In the contest to become the next Garfield County commissioner for District 1, incumbent Tom Jankovsky and his challenger, Michael Sullivan, both are essentially running on Jankovsky’s record. The difference is that Jankovsky feels his record has been exemplary and justifies keeping him in office, while Sullivan feels Jankovsky has not represented his constituents in District 1 and should be kicked out of office. District 1 encompasses the Garfield County portion of the Roaring Fork River Valley, including the town of Carbondale and most of Glenwood Springs. read more →