Archive

  • Sections: News Published

    Town does an about face on North Face weeds

    Carbondale’s elected leaders decided Tuesday to use herbicides to knock down a persistent weed problem at the North Face Bicycle Park, which goes against a long-standing policy against using toxic chemicals on town parks. But the move is needed, the trustees decided, in order to prevent a crop of noxious weeds from taking over the bike park and spreading onto nearby properties, both public and private. The issue arose when Darryl Fuller, chair of the town’s Bike-Pedestrian-Trails Commission (BPTC), stood up to talk to the trustees during a time reserved for “persons present not on the agenda,” meaning anyone who is not there for a specific agenda item. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Forest Service OK’s operating plan for controversial quarry

    Federal officials have approved an operating plan for the White Banks Quarry operation at Avalanche Creek, between Carbondale and Redstone, that calls for mining operations to begin as early as May. Robert Congdon, a former coal miner who first started work at the White Banks location nearly a quarter century ago, confirmed on Tuesday that it is likely there will be only a minimal amount work done at the mine in May, thanks to the sudden nature of the recent approval from the U.S. Forest Service. “We’ve worked five years to get the permit,” Congdon said. “It’s dropped into our lap pretty unexpectedly.” It will not be until later in the summer, perhaps July or August, before any significant work begins, Congdon said. The mine is intended to produce marble, alabaster and gypsum. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    CRES kids take action for endangered animals

    After learning about endangered animals in 1st grade, a group of nine students at Crystal River Elementary School returned to 2nd grade determined to do something to help these creatures. “They are beautiful and I don’t want them to be gone,” reads a quote by Campbell Maybon posted on the classroom wall. The kids approached their teacher, Marie Voss-Patterson, asking if she would help them organize some kind of project which would contribute to saving endangered animals. While her schedule was completely full, Voss-Patterson volunteered to spend her lunch hour once a week on such a project if any of the kids wanted to come in during their lunch and recess time. All nine kids jumped at the opportunity—and the 2nd Grade Lunch Bunch was born. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Murder suspect threatened wife’s life last year

    The Carbondale man accused of slashing his wife to death with a machete on Feb. 16 had threatened to kill her at some point late last year, and to then kill himself by crashing his car, according to an interview with the victim’s sister. The sister told authorities that the two had separated for a couple of months last year and that, during that separation, Arturo Navarrete-Portillo, 46, had sent an email to his wife, the late Maria Carminda Portillo-Amaya, 30, containing those threats. Court documents also seemed to offer conflicting information about whether Navarrete-Portillo and his wife were alone in the apartment where the victim died. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Saturday is annual Spring Clean-Up Day in C’dale

    Saturday, April 11, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., is Carbondale’s annual Spring Clean-Up and Waste Diversion Day, when the town accepts a variety of trash, recyclables and electronic waste for free or very low charges. The day-long event is sponsored by the town’s public works department and the Environmental Board, known as the E-Board, (made up of volunteers Richard Scott Mills, Matt Gwost, Jeff Lauckhart, Jason White, Christopher Paul Ellis, Patrick Hunter, Julia Farwell and Sasha Williams). According to the town website (www.carbondalegov.org) the funding that makes the cleanup day possible comes from revenues generated by the town’s disposable bag fee. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    County rezoning application has trustees worried

    Carbondale officials expressed anxiety on Tuesday over plans concerning the proposed River Edge development project, halfway between Carbondale and Glenwood Springs, where developers want to rezone part of the project site from residential to commercial in apparent hope of creating a commercial and retail hub at that location. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Heritage fruit tree project gets $10,000 boost

    The effort to identify and care for heritage fruit trees in the Roaring Fork Valley recently got a major boost, in the form of a $10,000 grant from the Kay Brunnier Tree Fund, which will be used to survey fruit trees in the Carbondale and Missouri Heights area this summer and start a program aimed at caring for and harvesting the fruits from those trees into the future. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Judge unseals Navarrete-Portillo warrant

    The man accused of slashing his wife to death in Carbondale earlier this year told police he “kind of went crazy” on the morning of Feb. 16 read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Caucus grabbing Bull Mountain by the horns

    The Crystal River Caucus is holding a special meeting on April 9, at 7 p.m. at the Church in Redstone, to talk about plans by the energy industry to drill up to 150 wells in a 20,000-acre area known as the Bull Mountain Unit on the western side of McClure Pass. Of that total, approximately 13,000 acres of gas leases are on federal land. The wells would be located to the north and west of Paonia Reservoir, directly west of the Raggeds Wilderness Area, according to a map published by the Western Colorado Congress (WCC), a non-profit community-organizing group that operates around the Western Slope. The Crystal River Caucus, according to its chair, Delia Malone of Redstone, is “concerned” about many aspects of the drilling plan, which has been proposed by SG Interests of Houston, Texas, but mainly about the prospect of big trucks coming over the pass and heading north to Carbondale and beyond. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Carbondale Rhythm Collective: one of a kind

    In many world cultures, it’s said that “it takes a village to raise a child.” Eric Baumheier goes a step further, suggesting that the village that makes music and dances together is the ideal environment for child-raising, community-building and coming together to celebrate life. He describes Carbondale as just that kind of place. “For one thing,” says Baumheier, “I’ve noticed that Carbondale has a population that really likes to dance. Just go to Mountain Fair one time and you can see that there a lot of people here who love to dance.” Aja, his partner in music and dance as well as in living and raising their three daughters together, agrees and expands on the idea. “The original connection between dancing and drumming is about ceremony, healing, and celebration,” she says. “A lot of people are receptive to that, and seek that expression in a safe space to experience transformation, letting go, releasing stress, or just celebrating together and bonding with other people who feel that same way.” read more →