Archive

  • Sections: News Published

    Pages of the Past: Looking back on Potato Day’s roots

    Oct. 6, 1977: The Journal took the town’s oldest festival opportunity to share a bit of potato history. According to Martha Witchey, then viewed as the preeminent authority on the subject, Eugene Grubbs was testing potato varieties in the Carbondale area back in the 1880s before he was appointed to the State Board of Agriculture and wrote the definitive work on the subject. His work inspired area farmers, and Potato Day got its start in 1909 as much for buying and trading as for entertainment read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Illegal grow highlights the problems with pot on public land

    While the recent discovery of a 2,700 plant illegal cannabis grow on Forest Service land near Redstone is dramatic, it’s far from unprecedented. In fact, according to Regional Press Officer Lawrence Lujan, 51 such sites and more than 160,000 plants have been eradicated statewide since 2009, with Colorado ranked third behind California and Kentucky for such seizures in 2016. It’s a major challenge for the Forest Service on several fronts. First, there’s the matter of public safety, with booby traps, armed growers and toxic chemicals par for the course. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Keeping winter at bay

    The Historic Thompson House will soon be getting a new furnace thanks to a grant from the Community Office for Resource Efficiency (CORE), but its historic counterpart will stay in place so that Lew Ron Thompson can tell its story. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Illegal marijuana grow site eradicated near Redstone

    An interagency team of law enforcement officers removed over 2,700 marijuana plants from an illegal grow site near Redstone on Sept. 28, according to a White River National Forest press release. In addition to the plants, infrastructure including irrigation pipe, camping gear, trash, tarps, chemicals to deter wildlife and fertilizer was removed, and one suspect is in federal custody. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Education, preparation keys to backcountry safety

    Education. That is the word that comes up again and again regarding last summer’s death toll on Colorado’s highest peaks. Of the 11 people whose lives were claimed by the state’s fourteeners, eight of the incidents occurred on mountains in Pitkin County. Mountain Rescue Aspen recovered five bodies from Capitol Peak, two from Maroon Bells and one from Conundrum, MRA president Jeff Edelson said of the climbing season. Those are not numbers anyone wants to see in future years. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Trustees, AVLT partner in pursuit of new Red Hill parking

    With plenty of help from Aspen Valley Land Trust, Carbondale may end up owning almost 25 acres of land at the base of Red Hill — allowing the construction of a new parking lot and trail getting hikers and bikers off the road. “With the recent [Sutey-Two Shoes] land exchange, we’re just going to see more use in Red Hill,” said Town Manager Jay Harrington. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Pages of the Past: Carbondale celebrates 100 years of solitude

    Sept. 30, 1987: In honor of the town’s centennial, the journal published a special edition entitled “The Carbondale Echo” featuring 32 pages of local history. “A comprehensive history dealing with the political, religious, sexual, civic, architectural, anthropological, economic, ethnic, cultural, agricultural, civil, educational, technological, nutritional and scientific evaluation of the community has yet to be written. Maybe it shouldn’t be,” wrote Pat Noel in his introduction. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Snow it goes

    We have a winner! It snowed some on Sept. 22, but the real dump — which we're still seeing on the slopes days later — was on Sept. 23. That day belonged to The Sun's own Jane Bachrach, who obtained photographic evidence of her victory. The only person likely to dispute this decision is the bloke who guessed the day before (since that snow is presumably also still there underneath), but luckily that happens to be Editor Will Grandbois. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Spectrum Dance Fest features workshops, performance and ‘Mr. Gaga’

    For choreographer Stacee Pearl and her company dancers, this weekend’s Spectrum Dance Festival is all about work and progress, so it’s fitting that a work in progress is exactly what they will be showcasing Saturday, Sept. 30 at the Launchpad. “Wherever we are, that’s what you’ll see,” Pearl said of the modern-dance debut’s status. The piece will be the culmination of a weeklong in-house residency sponsored by Dance Initiative, an arts-focused nonprofit that co-facilitates the Launchpad and produces the Spectrum Dance Festival. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    See you around, Town

    As word of Town restaurant’s impending closure began to spread, Mark Fischer imagined how nice it would be if he could sit down and explain everything at one big table. Some would see sitting down with the newspaper as almost the same thing, but Fischer isn’t sure there’s a story here — at least not a controversial one. The mind and money behind not just Town, but also Phat Thai across the street and The Pullman in Glenwood, he’s Carbondale’s version of a celebrity chef . read more →