Archive

  • Sections: News Published

    RFHS students reflect on Trump win

    In the weeks following the election of President-elect Donald Trump, there have been numerous reports of verbal and physical attacks of different kinds on immigrants, which observers have largely linked to anti-immigrant statements made by candidate Trump during the recent presidential campaign and to his supporters. Even here in the Roaring Fork Valley, a legal forum was held last Saturday on immigration issues and immigrants’ anxieties about their future under Trump. Carbondale Police Chief Gene Schilling, in an effort to reassure local Hispanics, told a local newspaper last week that his department is not about to start looking for illegal immigrants to deport. And elsewhere in Carbondale, while similar anxieties have been reported by some Hispanic immigrants, the mood at Roaring Fork High School was one of cautious hopefulness, at least as far as three student leaders could tell. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Standing Rock update: Cheers for Corps decision

    Despite a recent decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to withhold a permit that would send the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline under the Missouri River near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, it appears that the battle over the pipeline project is far from over. The Corps, following months of protests by members of the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes and thousands of supporters from around the country and the world, last weekend announced it would not immediately grant the final permit for the pipeline route. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    School board approves safe haven resolution

    At a school board meeting on Dec. 7, the Roaring Fork School District Board of Directors unanimously approved a resolution regarding the board’s commitment to ensure a safe haven for all students. The board was responding to local community concerns and incidents across the country which, the resolution states, have been “motivated by racism and hatred.” read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Ohio jury convicts Harding on pot charges

    Carbondale resident Kelly Harding was convicted in Madison County, Ohio, last month on marijuana-related charges, and has begun serving an eight-year prison term at the Ohio State Penitentiary, according to published news accounts and statements by his girlfriend, Kristie Bullington. According to a news story in the Madison Press in London, Ohio, Harding was convicted by a six-person jury on Nov. 16, following a Jan. 13, 2016 traffic stop on I-70, after which police reported they had found more than 120 pounds of pot stuffed into plastic bags and stored in “Totes” in the back of Harding’s car. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    KDNK board parts ways with Steve Skinner

    The board of directors at KDNK, Carbondale’s community access radio station, declined to provide specific reasons behind last week’s termination of long-time station manager Steve Skinner. When asked why, Board President Bob Schultz explained, “In personnel matters, you just don’t do that.” Skinner’s employment ended on Nov. 22, following his annual review by the board on Nov. 21. At least one board member, board treasurer Susan Darrow, stressed that the decision was not part of a long-term campaign to get rid of Skinner, whose job was on the line on at least one prior occasion in the last two years — in December, 2014. “This was not a conspiracy in any way,” said Darrow on Tuesday, after she noted that the board members had agreed to avoid making individual statements about the matter, and to stick to a prepared statement issued on Nov. 23 announcing the decision and expressing gratitude for Skinner’s service during his decade-plus at the helm. read more →
  • Sections: News Published

    Life behind the front lines at Standing Rock, ND

    After three days of driving from Carbondale to Standing Rock and searching Oceti Sakowin Camp at dusk with three kids in tow, I finally found Phyllis. Phyllis Bald Eagle, who had invited my children and me to be her guests, smiled wide and gave me a warm hug when I gave her my name. I was instantly accepted for whoever I was, whatever reason I came for and for however long I wanted to be there — no questions asked. Amos and Phyllis Bald Eagle are elders in the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and while only one small piece to the larger puzzle that currently makes up the Oceti Sakowin Camp, they are at the heart of the solution. read more →
  • 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

    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 →