Stuff by Will Grandbois

  • Sections: News Published

    New group raising funds for skateboard park lights

    A group of local skateboarders, with the blessing of the Carbondale Recreation Department, has embarked on an ambitious plan to raise several thousand dollars for the installation of lights at the North Face Skateboard Park. According to Eric Brendlinger of the recreation department, the concept is included in the department’s ultimate plans for the park, though the town cannot afford to do it right now. “That is part of a recommendation in our 10-year master plan, that we did in 2015,” Brendlinger told The Sopris Sun on Tuesday, explaining that a consultant from Design Workshop, which was in charge of the master planning effort, predicted that lighting would be needed. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Thompson Divide leases cancelled but issues still remain

    Area environmentalists and land conservation advocates were buoyed last week when federal and state officials announced that 25 Thompson Divide natural gas leases had been formally cancelled and taken off the table. The Thompson Divide comprises more than 225,000 acres of land at the edge of the gas-rich Piceance Basin, which underlies much of western Garfield County, from Sunlight Mountain to McClure Pass, and has been the target of considerable oil and gas development interests for decades. For the past eight years or so, a loose coalition of environmentalists, ranchers, business people and local governments known as the Thompson Divide Coalition, which won support from the City of Glenwood Springs, the Town of Carbondale and Pitkin County, among others, has lead the fight against efforts to drill for natural gas in the Divide, a fight that culminated in the BLM’s cancellation decision. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Dorothea Farris: This year’s Hattie Thompson Award recipient

    A sense of place runs deep in Dorothea Farris, the 2016 recipient of the Mt. Sopris Historical Society’s (MSHS) third annual Hattie Thompson Award. The award is presented to a woman in the community who is bold, industrious and daring, who possesses a true love of the land and joy of learning, and whose significant contributions have enriched our community, according to MSHS Executive Director Beth White. White said Farris, 80, who is a former teacher, a community activist and a tireless champion of environmental and historic preservation, was the obvious choice for this year’s award. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Trustees look to assuage Hispanics’ concerns

    Carbondale Mayor Dan Richardson, whose former status as acting mayor was formalized by voters in the recent election, suggested on Tuesday that the town should “make a statement about the growing fear in the Latino community” following the election of President-elect Donald Trump. Trump’s campaign rhetoric for the past year and a half has been filled with statements about the undesirability of Hispanic immigrants and others, and with promises to deport Hispanics by the millions and build a wall along the border with Mexico to keep them out of the country. None of that rhetoric has yet turned into a reality, though news stories have mentioned that Trump’s transition team is actively working on a deportation scheme. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    E-Board survey shows climate plan support

    Organizers of a recent survey of Carbondale-area residents about the town’s “climate action plan” say the survey results clearly show a majority opinion in favor of the town’s actions over the past decade or so. The survey, conducted with the combined efforts of the Carbondale Environmental Board (known as the E-Board) and a team of consultants, collected a total of 409 responses to surveys either sent out in the mail or offered online through Survey Monkey. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    GarCo commish extends River Edge agreements

    A group of developers hoping to build a mix of 366 homes and a large commercial complex at the property known as River Edge, located between Carbondale and Glenwood Springs, failed to get everything they wanted from the Garfield County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) at a meeting on Monday. What they did get, though, was a clear indication from the three commissioners that Garfield County supports the basic proposals that make up the River Edge land use application, and want the developers to keep working to make the project a reality. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Safe routes consensus: Don’t focus on Rio Grande Trail

    While no decisions were made, a community meeting on Monday about finding “safe routes” for pedestrians and cyclists traveling around Carbondale at night yielded one item of information that a town trustee said will help a lot as the Board of Trustees (BOT) tries to determine how to meet citizen demands for safe streets in the dark. And that bit of information, reflecting a consensus of the roughly 15 people who participated in the discussion on Monday night, is that the town should not be focused too much on the Rio Grande Trail as it cuts through the center of Carbondale. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Dandelion Market keeps planning ahead

    The Dandelion Market in Carbondale (formerly known as the Carbondale Community Food Co-op) will be holding its annual members meeting Nov. 17 at 6 p.m., and on the agenda will be discussion of the possibility that the store needs to find a new home. The meeting is to be held at the Third Street Center (the old Carbondale Elementary School building at the south end of S. 3rd Street) and is scheduled to last until 7:30 p.m., according to store manager Katrina Byars, who said the public is welcome to attend. Byars said the store, which opened eight years ago after starting out as a natural foods buying club in 2007, might lose the lease on its current location in June of 2017. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    RE-1’s first community organizer ready to “listen”

    The Roaring Fork School District recently hired its first community organizer, Janeth Niebla, a 2004 graduate of Glenwood Springs High School. This one-year position is being paid for by a gift from the Manaus Fund, although Niebla is officially an employee of the school district. Superintendent Rob Stein told The Sopris Sun that Niebla will be “convening meetings in homes and other community spaces to help us learn more about the hopes and challenges faced by our families.” As Niebla explained in a recent interview with The Sopris Sun, one of the “pillars” of the district’s strategic plan is community partnerships. Her primary goal in her new position will be to get families more engaged in the schools and to help build school-community partnerships. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    NEWS ANALYSIS: Questions go “unadjudicated” in GarCo investigation

    What we have here, it seems, is a failure to adjudicate (paraphrasing, without apology, a line from the classic film, “Cool Hand Luke”). Local observers recently have been treated to a kind of legalistic circus involving five-term incumbent Republican Garfield County Commissioner John Martin fighting to hold onto his job in the Nov. 8 election; Democratic challenger John Acha trying to unseat Martin by, in part, accusing him of mishandling county funds; and Ninth Judicial District Attorney Sherry Caloia caught in the middle when Acha approached her office to investigate embezzlement allegations against Martin. read more →