Will Grandbois

Carbondale’s ongoing battle with garbage-eating bruins appears ready to move into a new phase, following a decision by the board of trustees on Tuesday to try to make residents more responsible in terms of putting out the trash every week.
Trustee Frosty Merriott, at the board’s regular meeting on Tuesday, suggested the town should tighten up its own regulations regarding trash pickup, and somehow exempt itself from the “two strikes and you’re out” rule that results in the death of bears at the hands of local law enforcement and Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Each fall, the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce hosts its annual Business Conference & Expo. The annual two-day event combines fun and education while supporting the community, the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce and businesses throughout the valley.
This year, the Drop into Carbondale event is presented by Colorado Mountain College. The Business Conference and Expo will be held at the Gathering Center/Orchard from 8 a.m. to noon on Sept. 18.
“On average, we draw 100-plus attendees from the Roaring Fork Valley, the Western Slope and beyond,” said chamber director Andrea Stewart.
The conference attendees take part in educational presentations, visit vendor booths that feature more than 20 local and regional businesses and engage in a networking session.

Bonedalians love their library, but they would love it even more if it had a fireplace. Or a coffee bar. Or both!
These were among the ideas tossed out last week at a planning meeting held for the Carbondale Branch Library.
Among the 48 people who attended the library’s brainstorming session were Joanie Anderson, her husband, and two daughters. “We came because we’re big users of the library,” she told The Sopris Sun. “My girls come looking for books and I’m in a ukulele group, so I’m here every first and third Monday. They do so many great programs here.”
After eight roundtable groups engaged in discussion and displayed their ideas on the wall, it turned out that many of the wished-for programs already existed. Library manager Mollie Honan noted that the library offers about 30 different programs for kids, along with adult programs that range from computer basics to research services. Apparently, many patrons don’t know about those programs.

North America’s top handlers and their canny sheepdogs will square off against wily, wild Colorado range sheep on Sept. 9-14 at Strang Ranch on Missouri Heights for the 2014 National Sheepdog championship title.
The national finals are a partnership between the U.S. Border Collie Handlers’ Association, Aspen Valley Land Trust and Strang Ranch, according to a press release. It showcases not only a premier herding competition, but the Strang family’s commitment to land conservation and support of the Aspen Valley Land Trust.
“It’s about our western heritage. That’s what’s important to me,” said event organizer Bridget Strang.
For Alasdair MacRae, the 2011 winner — the last year the finals were held at Strang Ranch — the finals are a challenging test of “the dogs’ patience, perseverance, stamina and skill. It’s a very exciting spectacle.”

Imagine riding a bike down the length of the entire United States through deep-forested woods and wide open-mountain valleys, to desert mesas and alpine meadows. Montana Miller did just that on a mountain bike. Miller recently raced in the Tour Divide, the ultimate endurance mountain bike race.
Did I mention he completed the race on a single-speed bicycle? To give the non-bicycler some perspective, riding mountain passes on a single speed bicycle is comparable to well, nothing because it’s pretty difficult.
Miller grew up in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. As a kid he spent his time playing in the woods, so when the opportunity to move to the mountains arose, the outdoor lifestyle of Colorado felt familiar to him. His fiancée, Colleen O’Neil, got an internship at Trail Runner magazine (based out of Carbondale) so the two made the move.

Matthew Wampler and Cheyenne Beightel are both finishing their first summer as lifeguards at the John M. Fleet Swimming Pool in Carbondale. Matthew attends Roaring Fork High School and Cheyenne goes to Glenwood Springs High School. Both are looking forward to their junior year. Swimming is a core part of each of their lives. Matthew visited the swimming pool on a regular basis each summer as a child and Cheyenne had been on the Team Sopris swim team for six years. Due to this, they decided to become lifeguards and work at the Carbondale pool.

If you’ve wandered into the food co-op lately you may have noticed that it’s a lot more spacious. The store has expanded, and now has a table and chairs for people to hang out, socialize, and eat local organic food.
The Carbondale Community Food Cooperative (CCFC) on Main Street is Carbondale’s only member-owned natural grocery store. There are currently 465 member-owners. A $75 lifetime membership fee means you own a share of the cooperative, have a voice in decision-making, receive weekend discounts and can order bulk items. Although the store wouldn’t be what it is today without its member-owners, anyone and everyone can shop there.

The “back to school” buzz at Crystal River Elementary School this fall is not just about eager students with shiny new school supplies getting to know their new teachers. This year, the start of the school year is also about the start of a new chapter of CRES.
Teachers, parents and community members are being invited to participate in a series of Vision to Action meetings this fall with the goal of selecting or developing a new model and a new identity for CRES by December 2014.
Crystal River Elementary School staff participated in an all-day retreat last week facilitated by Colin Laird, who is also the Third Street Center director. Through a process of exploring their core educational beliefs and discussing the strengths and challenges of the school, the staff identified some possible models and strategies for the school to adopt. Laird will continue to work with the staff over the next couple of weeks to solidify the potential options.

When it comes to hydraulic fracturing, the web of federal and state environmental regulations have things pretty well covered.
That was the message of Rebecca Watson, former Department of Interior official, told Garfield County Energy Advisory board earlier this month.
Watson is the former assistant secretary of Lands and Minerals Management for the Department of Interior. She left Washington in 2005, and since then has practiced law in the west, representing renewable and conventional energy clients, logging companies, ranchers and others. Watson currently represents SG Interests, who holds natural gas leases in the Thompson Divide, west of Carbondale.

Acting on an idea from students, the RE-1 School District is poised to build a solar array at Roaring Fork High School that will save the district $400,000 in energy costs over the next 20 years, according to a press release.
The school’s Energy Club proposed the array last school year, following the town’s installation of a similar array at the Carbondale Nature Park (aka Delaney dog park). “Roaring Fork High School is proud to have students with the grit, integrity and curiosity to accomplish such an amazing feat,” said Roaring Fork High School Principal Drew Adams. “Energy Club members and their sponsor, Wendy Boland, have been championing energy reduction methods for years.”
The RE-1 School District, CLEER, Carbondale Clean Energy 2020 and Sunsense Solar are seeking community input on the school’s proposed solar array.