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STAFF
What’s inside Volume 5 Number 18 Thursday, August 27, 2020
Editor
Edibars ain’t yo’ average edibles
Angelica Leicht aleicht@bcimedia.com 375-4551 Staff writer
Edibars may not look like much, but holy deliciousness, friends – these things take like a dream. A dream filled with THC and sugar.
Nick Gonzales ngonzales@durangoherald.com Sales Chandler Sommerfeldt csommerfeldt@bcimedia.com 375-4553 Contributors
4
From the Blog
5
Eat & Drink
Wine slushies at Fenceline
5
Burgers at Pine Cone
7
Art at Animas Chocolate
7
9 Art Indigi-show 2020 9
Erin Brandt
10 Travel
Megan Bianco
Amanda Push
Get outta town
Laraina Hailey
11 Comics Utah quaran-zine
Reader Services 375-4570
DGO Pufnstuf for DGO
Chief Executive Officer
Jamie Opalenik
5 We’re feeling the froze...n slushies at Fencline Cidery One of the nifty things about Mancos’ Fenceline Cider is they always seem to be churning out (er ... pressing out?) new things. Say hello to wine slushies. 7 Pine Cone ain’t Dairy Queen – which is exactly why we like it
DGO is a free biweekly publication distributed by Ballantine Communications Inc., and is available for one copy per person. Taking more than five copies of an edition from a distribution location is illegal and is punishable by law according to Colorado Revised Statute 18-9-314. DGO Magazine is published by Ballantine Communications Inc., P.O. Drawer A, Durango, CO 81302
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Reviews
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Weed news
Despite its lineage, we weren’t expecting Super Sour Lemon to taste and smell the citrus in this strain — most strains just smell like weed to us. Let us tell you friends, it’s there. It’s there in spades. And we LOVE it.
23 Puzzles/ horoscopes
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Pine Cone in Bayfield does six types of sandwiches 10 kinds of burgers, chicken- and fish-strip baskets, beer-battered mushrooms, cheese curds, popcorn chicken, several kinds of fries, and onion rings..
art en drin tertai km nm usic ent fo nigh Augu od tlife st 27 -Sep tem ber 9, 20 20
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ON THE COVER Dealing with substance use disorder can be tough during quarantine. Angelica Leicht for DGO Mag
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[news]
From the blog News from our site on the interwebs you may have missed Durango gets a drive-in (for now!)
Back in June, we got pretty excited when Allen Theaters decided to put together a makeshift drive-in theater in Farmington. That drive-in is still going strong – and it has since moved into the parking lot of the Allen 8 theater itself on East 20th Street. If you live on the Colorado side of the state line, guess what ... Durango is getting a temporary drive-in, too. Finally. It’s located in the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad parking lot at 209 W. College Drive and is planned to last from Aug. 27 through Sept. 20. Unlike the one in Farmington, it’s not organized by the regional cinema company. Tickets are available online at www. durangodrivein.com and have to be purchased in advance. Admission costs $39.95 for one vehicle with up to six passengers or two motorcycles with up to four passengers. As far as an individual car goes, that’s almost double what they’re charging down in New Mexico, but it comes with a bag of popcorn, a theater-size box of Peanut Butter M&Ms, 7 oz. Twizzlers and two 20 oz. Cokes, Diet Cokes, Sprites or Dasanis. Other concessions are also available there or online. The gate opens at 7 p.m., movies start at 8 p.m. and the schedule is as follows: Aug. 27, “Breakfast Club”; Aug. 28, “Jurassic Park”; Aug. 29, “Wayne’s World”; Aug. 30, “Dirty Dancing”; Sept. 3, “Dazed And Confused”; Sept. 4, “Why We Ride”; Sept. 5, “Easy Rider”; Sept. 6, “The Big Lebowski”; Sept. 10, “Mama Mia!”; Sept. 11, “Tombstone”; Sept. 12, “Grease”; Sept. 13, “The Karate Kid”; Sept. 17, “Creature From The Black Lagoon”; Sept. 18, “Groundhog Day”; Sept. 19, “Steel 4 | Thursday, August 27, 2020
to have two rather nice indie theaters near me — with both quality film choices and maintenance. Though obviously not everyone can be fated the same way I’ve been, I can’t imagine that every single theater outside of my locality is as terrible as the internet makes them out to be either.
The pro-streaming crowd have been happily predicting that with events like the pandemic, new movies going straight to VOD or virtual cinemas will now be a norm much sooner. If this does happen soon, I feel the average price to view a movie at home right away would have to be frustration with this year’s pandemic Magnolias”; and Sept. 20: “Beetlejuice.” somewhere in between $10-$20, rather challenges shift from the postpostment As far as we can tell, tickets are selling than $20-$30 that studios are currently of new movie releases by the major like hotcakes (which you could actually studios to an old debate that’s been offering as theaters are closed. Not only cook or get to-go from a local eatery to going on for almost a decade — long is that much too pricey for young people supplement your 7 oz Twizzlers – you before COVID-19 became infamous. Has who live alone, but also not as fully haven’t really seen “Dirty Dancing” until the modern movie theater experience enjoyable if you can’t afford your own you’ve seen it with a stack of syrupy become less enjoyable and if so, is it a movie room with a fancy sound system pancakes) so it’s better not to wait until sufficient reason for streaming and home and TV. the last minute. viewing to replace the collective experiI watch movies at home all the time If anyone out there is organizing these ence of watching films in a theater? As a too, primarily because it’s the only way things, can we recommend a movie? The lifelong movie lover and traditionalist, I 1996 Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton disaster to see older movies if they’re obviously personally can’t imagine a world without flick “Twister.” not in theaters anymore. But at home I’m the availability of a big screen in a dark constantly distracted by my thoughts, Like “Grease,” it would have a cool room and lobby full of my favorite snacks surroundings and devices. In a theater meta scene that takes place at a drive— which is why my frustrations with setting I can absorb the movie’s full film in (in “Grease,” the movie playing is The these pandemic-related theater restricexperience in the intended scope and Blob; in “Twister,” it’s “The Shining” tions have been such a huge personal atmosphere of the dark setting, full — speaking of which, second movie blow for me. sound system and giant screen. This is recommendation ...). Twister’s scene is The arguments I’ve seen from nay-saya common divide among the movie con100% better because instead of Olivia ers poo-pooing going to the theater to Newton-John slamming John Travolta’s suming general public. As was originally see new movies are pretty consistent: junk in a car door, a tornado nearly kills standard, TV shows are for the small “People are too loud,” “The seats are everyone. screen, movies are for the big screen. dirty,” “Late attendees are distracting,” So while others are enjoying the few Think about it, movie organizers. “It’s claustrophobic,” and so on. These new releases in home viewing format, —— Nick Gonzales are things that I definitely agree are I’ll continue waiting for the world to go obnoxious. But I’m also very lucky back to normal and that includes trying because I can work with a schedule that Stop poo-pooing movie theallows me to view early movie showings drive-in theaters, if one ends up opening aters with hardly any other theater-goers on a close to me. This past week has seen my recurring
regular basis. Additionaly, I am fortunate
—— Megan Bianco
Thank You Durango!
[drink]
Trying out some of Fenceline Cider’s 2020 summer line-up Frozen wine is better than we thought it would be more tang than tannin. It also had a faint tropical melon flavor, like a cantaloupe or a honeydew. It was refreshing and almost, but not quite, quaffable. The flavor was complex enough that it seemed better suited to sipping and savoring than slurping down. To round out our visit, we then moved on to Fenceline’s Elderberry Cider. We’ll be honest, we’re not exactly elderberry connoisseurs. If you sent us out into the forest to find some, we’d probably pick the wrong thing, sample it, and die. But whatever effect it had on the cider seemed like a positive one. Nick Gonzales/DGO
»» A Frozé Slushie made from a Riesling wine and blueberry and pomegranate concentrate at Fenceline Cider in Mancos.
One of the nifty things about Mancos’ Fenceline Cider is they always seem to be churning out (er ... pressing out?) new things. Over the course of this summer, we kept noticing the photos of refreshing-looking fermented fruit beverages they would toss onto the internet, and eventually, our resistance wore down. So we headed over to their tasting room, or at least the patio – COVID-19 and all – to see what was what. Among the things the cidery was slinging that intrigued us were its Frozé Slushies. You see, at some point in the last few months, Fenceline found itself a slushy machine and has been experimenting with it ever since. They’ve been churning out (in quite the literal sense) two drinks at any given time: a boozy adult drink and an alcohol-free one. As we saw them loading it up with wine and cider, both of which can be pretty dry, we wondered how a slushie – even a boozy one – would taste if it wasn’t sweet. Suffice to say we were pretty skeptical that it’d be, well ... drinkable. We imagined wine not just with an ice cube in it, but thousands of tiny ice cubes. Fortunately, they thought of this too and have been keeping all of their enslushied alcohols on the sugary side. The day we visited, the alcoholic icy option was their Riesling wine com-
Nick Gonzales/DGO
Nick Gonzales/DGO
»» Fenceline’s Spur Bearer cider. bined with blueberry and pomegranate concentrate. It tasted ... pretty good. We’re not sure the concept of frozen blended wine has entirely won us over yet, but we recognize why it might. For instance, just swishing it around in our mouth, we felt like we could taste each aspect of it, from the sour acidity to the fruitiness. We also like that the slushie didn’t do what half of our frozen drinks do, where the liquid drains from the ice as you drink it, quickly leaving behind a huge unflavored iceberg in an otherwise empty cup. On the other hand, though, the Frozé still maintained all the dangers frozen drinks carry. At one point ... OK, at two points ... the taste of wine distracted us from what we were doing and we took rather large sips of the beverage. We managed not to moan, but for a good five minutes of the time we were at the tasting room, if anyone had thought to look at us, they would have seen us leaning on the bar, arms clasping our head in the throes of brain freeze. As we finished the slushie, the sun was starting to set and we were pretty much done with that experiment, so we moved on to one of Fenceline’s newest ciders, the Spur Bearer. As we understand it, this cider is made from red-fleshed apples closely related to those found in Kazakhstan, which is basically where apple trees, as a species, originated. So they’re like the primal form of apples.
»» Fenceline’s Elderberry cider. Maybe. Don’t look at us, we’re not apple historians.
The drink was sweet, tart, a little bitter, and dark. In flavor, it felt 65% like a cider and 35% like a wine. But not syrupy like a port — just a kinda-sweet wine-tinged cider. We enjoyed it.
...because life has no off-season
The cider itself was tart and sharp –
—— Nick Gonzales
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DGOMAG.COM Editor: Angelica Leicht – aleicht@bcimedia.com Staff WritEr: Nick Gonzales – ngonzales@bcimedia.com SalES: Chandler Sommerfeldt – csommerfeldt@bcimedia.com
[eat/drink]
Welcome to the dessert of the real Animas Chocolate Company to host realism art show
Courtesy of Mariah Kaminsky
»» “Dichotomous Diptych” by Kelley Booze will be on display as part of Animas Chocolate Company’s “Get Real!” show this September.
If you wander into Animas Chocolate Company for chocolate and coffee in September, be sure to check out the art on the walls. Look on these works, ye mighty, and notice how truthfully they portray their subject matter. “Get Real! An invitational group exhibit of realistic art” will be showing at the shop from Sept. 2 through 26. It’ll feature the art of Durangoans Mariah Kaminsky (who is also curating the show), Peter Campbell, Jordan Farr, Miki Harder, Elizabeth Kinahan, Lexis Loeb, Bryce Pettit, and Allison Leigh Smith. Also on display will be work by Kelley Booze, of Springfield, Ohio, who specializes in portraying urban landscapes in states of decay – think abandoned parking lots where the grass is starting to grow back. (We don’t know about you, but this feels like just the mood for
Courtesy of Mariah Kaminsky
»» “Ms. Katherine” by Mariah Kaminsky.
heading into September 2020.) Last but not least, art by Susan Hansen Staves of Columbia, South Carolina, whose landscapes are a bit gentler and more traditional, will be there. Don’t worry — it’s not all landscapes. Smith paints animals, Pettit sculpts, and Kaminsky is contributing portraiture while trying to lock down some still lifes, last we heard. This will also be one of the first shows for Farr, who works at ACC. Why focus on realism, though? “For a while, it was very overlooked — we got into Impressionism. Now it’s coming back with a vengeance, I feel like, but not quite here yet,” said Kaminsky. “So I just wanted to kind of bring it here. ... It’s been kind of a lost genre here.” She said you have to be highly skilled to pull realism off, and she thinks people tend to underestimate how much goes
Courtesy of Mariah Kaminsky
»» “Occam’s Razor” by Allison Leigh Smith.
into each painting. For Kaminsky, the realism style of art is a tightrope walk balancing between accurately depicting something and not recreating it perfectly, and without adding any style to the image.
subject right about now.
But if you want to grill Kaminsky and some of the other Durango artists on how they go about recreating reality realistically, you’ll have the chance. There will be an artists’ reception that is open “I think there’s a challenge to it, trying to the public from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on to capture the realist aspect without it being photographic,” she said. “Copying a Sept. 18. It sounds like a pretty decent photograph onto a painting doesn’t make excuse to take in some art and some chocolate. any sense to me. Why wouldn’t you just use the photograph? There’s a talent Then again, if you’re the type who’d there, and there’s a skill, but that doesn’t rather avoid gatherings of people at this necessarily mean it’s art to me. So I’m point in time (and who can blame you?) trying to make it look more real than you can see the entirety of the show even a photograph.” from home. Kaminsky is adding all of the We’re veering dangerously close to pieces to her website at mariahkamina conversation about simulacra and sky.com, and anyone can check out the simulation and we’d rather not break out exhibit there. the Jean Baudrillard while everybody is having fun, so we’ll be dropping that —— Nick Gonzales
Bayfield’s Pine Cone fills a soft-serve and burgers niche That which we call a Blizzard by any other name would taste as sweet When Durango’s Dairy Queen closed in June of 2017, it marked the end of an era. Sure, it was just a fast-food, burgers and ice-cream joint, but it had been a part of the North Main Avenue landscape for 39 years. As its former location transformed into a Starbucks, the only soft-serve options in town became the other fastfood restaurants — and neither Sonic Blasts nor McFlurries are one-for-one stand-ins for Blizzards. The Flamethrower Grill Burger, with its spicy mayo, also seemed unique among cheeseburgers you could get without exiting your car. But I digress, and I’m quickly working up a dangerous craving for fast food.
Nick Gonzales/DGO
its interior doubles as a temple to the Wolverines, Bayfield High School’s football team. But I’ll be damned if it doesn’t also evoke quite a bit of nostalgia for a certain milk-product monarch.
Nick Gonzales/DGO
»» The Sizzling Egg burger at the Pine
»» An M&M Shredder with extra M&Ms at
Cone in Bayfield. It’s delightfully spicy and egg-y.
the Pine Cone in Bayfield.
Anyway, the closest DQs to Durango
The Pine Cone in Bayfield is an inde-
are located in Aztec, Cortez, and Farm-
pendent fast food restaurant attached to
ington.
a Shell Station just off U.S. Highway 160.
Or are they?
And it’s clearly its own entity – after all,
And there’s probably a reason for that. For the 11 years leading up to its closure, Durango’s DQ was operated by Tim Sapa, the Bayfield resident who owns the Pine Cone. As far as ice cream goes, the eatery does all the usuals, including shakes, malts, floats, cones, sundaes, etc. – and also “Shredders,” its mechanically-blended sundae-topping-or-candy-in softContinued on page 9
Thursday, August 27, 2020 | 7
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[art]
Indigi-Show 2020 aims to challenge people’s concepts of indigenous art Virtual modern art show seeking funding on Kickstarter Back in February, we reported on the then-upcoming Indigipop X, a South by Southwest-style festival celebrating indigenous media and culture that grew out of the Indigenous Comic-Con. It was one of the many things we were looking forward to this year. But 2020 has not gone at all how we hoped. Indigipop X postponed its in-person festival indefinitely and hosted a number of digital presentations on March 27 and 28, but those obviously weren’t quite the experience we were looking for preCOVID-19. Local artist Kayla Shaggy, though, is working on something in the same vein as the all-but-canceled festival. Indigi-Show 2020, which is not affiliated with Indigipop X, aims to create a virtual modern indigenous art convention featuring panelists and artists from various indigenous tribes. Courtesy of Kayla Shaggy “Indigi-Show is a planned online Courtesy of Kayla Shaggy convention by indigenous creatives and Lyshawna Benally’s poster for Indigi-Show » » The works of Kayla Shaggy and other participating artists will be available as part of we’ll be incorporating different modern 2020 is one of the rewards available to KickstartIndigi-Show 2020. art, including but not limited to comics, er funders. stickers, graphic design, and we might including it as campaign rewards. address issues indigenous artists are indigenous art isn’t what people think it get more ‘3D’ people in the future — like currently facing. is. It’s not just limited to traditional craftIf the campaign is successful, the jewelry and stuff like that,” said Shaggy. based stuff,” Shaggy said. “I am in a group with other indigeevent should be held online on Sept. “We’re also going to have speakers who nous creatives, and we were all talking Besides Shaggy, who is Dine and 26. Shaggy still plans to attempt the will be talking about different subjects. about how the pandemic hit us hard ... Anishinabe, the other artists include event even if the campaign fails, but it And a lot of them will be relating to Mercedes Acosta (indigenous Latinx), will probably look a bit different and be working creatively as an indigenous art- along with our jobs being lost, I had five ist. For example, I’ll be doing a workshop events planned this year, and they all got Lyshawna Benally (Diné), Elijah Forbes smaller in scale than if the project is fully canceled,” she said. “And I wasn’t the only (Odawa), and Jen Martin (Mi’kmaw). to help other indigenous artists get into funded, she said. indigenous artist that was suddenly in Shaggy said the event is concentrating self-publishing.” “We really want to make an immersive danger of losing their full-time artist job.” mostly on artists who have gone unnoYou might recognize Shaggy from her ticed within the world of indigenous art. experience as well as showcase the talIn addition to financially supporting recent self-published work “Godzilla ent of our indigenous creatives. ... I think indigenous artists, the show is also Shaggy is currently running a KickDecolonizes Durango!” or her series it’s going to be a really great experience,” meant to challenge how people think of starter campaign to get the event fund“The Sixth World,” which follows a Diné she said. their art. ed, and in addition to selling their work girl who fights giant insects on Mars. —— Nick Gonzales as part of the event, some of them are “I want to create awareness of how As a project, Indigi-Show is designed to
From page 7
serve item. On my most recent visit, I got an M&M Shredder with extra M&Ms because the cashier/waiter asked if I wanted extra, and I don’t know how to answer a query about whether I want more candy other than positively. For someone craving the more widely-available chain equivalent, it hit the spot. (Subjectively speaking, though, the best flavor is probably Heath — toffee, chocolate, and soft serve is just a perfect combination.)
On the food side, the Pine Cone does six types of sandwiches (including the chili cheese dog; Merriam-Webster says that just like meatballs on a split roll, a sausage on a roll is, by definition, a sandwich), 10 kinds of burgers, chickenand fish-strip baskets, beer-battered mushrooms, cheese curds, popcorn chicken, several kinds of fries, and onion rings. One item immediately jumps out at me every time I look at the menu: the Sizzling Egg burger — a quarter-pound patty, a fried egg, Swiss, bacon, Volcano Sauce, and grilled onion.
ever it’s placed upon, be it enchiladas, pizza, or a hamburger. I’m not sure what it is — perhaps some sort of primal remembrance of the embryonic state — but that moment when you crack the yolk and it spills onto everything around it is absolutely divine. Supplement that with bacon and something with the word “volcano” in the name, and what have you got to lose?
drive-thru and to-go service, if you
On the fast-food burger scale, it was just about perfect, especially when complemented by waffle fries.
easiest way to satisfy a longing for La
A fried egg instantly improves what-
It’s worth noting that outside of its
choose to dine-in, the set up has been transformed into a sit-down restaurant scenario in which you’re waited upon. In other words, thanks to COVID-19, the Pine Cone is not unlike a breakfast-less diner for the time being — and a pretty decent one at that. And, perhaps, the Plata County’s departed fast-food chain. —— Nick Gonzales
Thursday, August 27, 2020 | 9
[travel]
Grand Falls is an impressive sight in northeastern Arizona — when there’s anything to see Plan ahead before booking it into the desert to check it out
Courtesy of Giuseppe Milo/Wikimedia Commons
Courtesy of Frank Kovalchek/Wikimedia Commons
»» Grand Falls, near Flagstaff, Arizona, is a cool sight that ceases to exist as anything more
»» Grand Falls formed when a nearby volcano erupted, creating a lava dam that diverted the
than a trickle for most of the year.
flow of the Little Colorado River.
It seems counterintuitive, but if you want to see a pretty bad-ass waterfall, head to arid Arizona. And no, we’re not talking about Havasupai Falls. Lovely as it is, it’s kind of hard to get to, being part of a
20-mile round-trip hike on the Havasupai tribe reservation, where they only give out a few camping permits a year to see it. The one that we have in mind is less of a destination that you go through an ordeal to see, and more of a cool thing to check out when you’re in the Flagstaff area in the northeastern part of the state. It’s a place to take photos and gaze in awe, but not go swimming or whatever it is you do at Havasupai. But to see it at all, you have to be either lucky or smart in the planning department. At 185-feet-tall, Grand Falls outclasses not just Havasupai (100 feet), but even Niagara Falls (167 feet). Also known as Chocolate Falls — for their color, not their flavor (trust us) — they’re fed by the Little Colorado River and located about 30 miles northeast of Flagstaff, near the town of Leupp. If you go at the wrong time, though, all you’re going to see is a trickle, if anything at all. In fact, the falls only exist when snow is melting in the early spring and late in the summer during monsoon season. Luckily, you can guesstimate whether the falls are going by checking out data gathered at the
10 | Thursday, August 27, 2020
U.S. Geological Survey river gauge (viewable at https:// on.doi.gov/3allNMz) in Winslow, Arizona, which the river flows past on its way to the falls. Most of the year, the Little Colorado flows past the gauge at a measly 10 cubic feet per second or less. But during those aforementioned times, its flowrate skyrockets into the thousands. If that’s where it’s at when you look at the data, go within a day or two — it takes that long to flow from the town to the falls. As spectacular as the falls can be, the event that created them was probably cooler to behold, but you would have had to be around 100,000 years ago. That’s when an eruption at Merriam Crater, a volcano a few miles to the southeast, sent lava flowing across the river. The lava solidified into a dam and forced the river to change course into the area that now forms the falls. The falls are located on the Navajo Nation and the area around the falls is not very developed. A gravel road, Indian route 6910,leads to the head of the half mile trail, a rotunda overlooking the falls, a picnic area, and a waterless restroom. As the crow flies, Grand Falls is only a few miles southeast of Wupatki National Monument, a collection of archaeological sites including a multistory Sinagua pueblo dwelling with over 100 rooms. However, to get to the monument from the falls, you have to drive back out onto the highway, making it about a 70-mile trip. Though you may see dirt roads heading north from the falls, don’t take them — they’re not for tourists and unless you’re Navajo, you’ll be bumbling around someone else’s land. Also, if you’re reading this in Summer 2020, maybe don’t head over there at all. Like most of the things on the Navajo Nation, it’s closed due to COVID-19. And with our luck, the monsoons have already come and gone. Wait until spring 2021 at least. —— Nick Gonzales
[comics]
Utah artists create epidemic-based ‘Quaranzine’ comic anthology Profits of sale benefit Utah Tribal COVID-19 Relief Fund
epidemic. starting at $1 for the digital version and $5 for the physical one — though For obvious reasons, Gambles said people purchasing them can donate as much as they wish beyond that. All of the that he hopes there is never a need to profits go to the Utah Tribal COVID-19 release a second volume. Relief Fund, which benefits the state’s —— Nick Gonzales indigenous communities hit hard by the
I’m planning for something bigger
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Courtesy of Utah Indie Comic Creators
»» “Quaranzine” is a 44-page anthology
sanjuancollege.edu or 505-326-3311
Courtesy of Utah Indie Comic Creators
»» The first page of Spencer Holt’s post-apoca-
featuring comics united by the theme of life in lyptic quarantine comic. quarantine.
The more ambitious among us (and we use the term “us” in the very loosest sense) used the COVID-19 quarantine to pick up new skills or start hobbies and projects. One that caught on was making of “quaranzines,” little magazines about life during the pandemic.
“It’s a comic anthology wherein each creator was asked to create a one- to four-page comic that is, like, whatever they think of as coming from the word ‘quarantine.’ Some of them were more like autobio, and like more serious in nature or tone. Some of them were just completely made up and or humorous. They ran the gamut,” he said.
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All said, the compilation contains the work of 14 artists. Gambles’ contriThis is exactly what’s been going on on bution follows a couple that is forced the other side of the state line. (No ... the to quarantine within a haunted house, *other* state line). while his creative partner Holt’s segment documents a post-apocalyptic trip A couple of years ago, D. Bradford to the nearest gas station for supplies. Gambles and Spencer Holt formed the Our personal favorite, though, is Angie “Utah Indie Comic Creators” Facebook Sandberg’s simple guide, “What is your group to bring together artists who do comics, mostly in the Salt Lake and Utah mask saying?” Valley area, Gambles said. When the The completed 44-page, 5.5 inch by virus put an end to the group’s weekly 8.5 inch black and white comic is availdraw night and canceled the area’s small able at gumroad.com/utahquaranzine,
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Anyone can make them — NPR even put together a how-to guide — but naturally, if you’re, say, a comic artist, yours is going to end up better than everyone else’s. And if you group up with a bunch of other artists to make an anthology, you’re going to end up with a cool artifact of the pandemic.
press festivals, they came up with their own “Quaranzine” as a project for everyone to work on instead. The end product debuted last month.
LIGHT
Thursday, August 27, 2020 | 11
Maintaining sobriety during COVID-19 As the coronavirus lingers, how are people in recovery finding community? By Nick Gonzales DGO STAFF WRITER
DGO tends to be a relatively substance-heavy magazine, writing at length about our enjoyment of cannabis and alcohol in particular. But we recognize that drugs, legal or otherwise, are not for everybody. Which is a large part of why we were curious about how people in recovery from substance abuse disorders are faring during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jerry McBride/BCI Media file
»» A YPR group fills a conference room in November 2018 at the Durango Holiday Inn.
Nick Gonzales/DGO
»» From left facing camera, Candice Seay, Krissy Brookmeyer, Dan
You would be hard-pressed to find anyone truly thriving during the pandemic, but people in recovery are one of the many groups with a heightened vulnerability to the stresses it has unleashed. For many, group meetings are a fundamental part of the recovery process, offering spaces where they can find a community that understands the addiction-related challenges they’re facing or just places to vent about what a week it has been. “Whether you’ve had a substance use disorder or not, if everyone had a group they could just come to and be real once a week, the world would be a damn better place,” said Dan Knapp, a member of the local Young People in Recovery leadership team. And at least in the traditional sense, the coronavirus took that away.
12 | Thursday, August 27, 2020
Knapp, and Mason Dyar attend an outdoor, mid-pandemic YPR meeting.
Jerry McBride/BCI Media file
»» Candice Seay, center, leads a Young People in Recovery group in November 2018 at the Durango Holiday Inn. The pandemic begins
the resources they need to thrive.
Prior to the pandemic, the Durango chapter of Young People in Recovery, a recovery support organization with chapters around the country, was meeting every week. Attendance at the recovery meetings, which were held at Holiday Inn, hovered steadily between 30 to 40 people up until March of this year, said Candice Seay, national chapter coordinator and local chapter lead with YPR. It was finding success in its mission to provide people with
Outside the meetings, the organization held social events such as barbecues and potlucks. Its kickball team was looking forward to defending its status as the champions of the city’s recreational league. And one Sunday a month, the members of the YPR community would head to Manna’s soup kitchen to prepare breakfast, mingle, and spread the word that recovery was possible. But along came the virus.
Thursday, August 27, 2020 | 13
YPR quickly adapted to a virtual support network and started doing recovery meetings through online platforms. “We also tried to do some social events like virtual trivia, virtual banana bread baking tutorials, just some activities to keep people engaged,” Seay said. “But we saw a huge reduction in engagement. We went from seeing almost 40 people to having eight to 10 people attend our virtual meetings.” For YPR, online groups were far less than ideal. “There’s a huge difference in connecting with people through a video screen versus seeing somebody face-to-face, especially at recovery meetings where people really allow themselves to be vulnerable and talk about some sensitive issues,” Seay said. “It’s just kind of hard to have that same connection virtually. So we saw a lot of people just kind of disappear off the radar. I know that there were a handful of folks that they returned to use. ... Basically what we were seeing was a lot of folks felt disconnected, and they were kind of isolated once again, just because they didn’t have access to the community.” And it couldn’t have come at a worse time. Mason Dyar, a member of YPR’s local leadership team and the lead UAS (drone) pilot with Upper Pine River Fire Protection, said there has been a noticeable increase in suicides, substance abuse, and overdose calls to emergency services during the pandemic. On a personal level, he knew quarantine would be hard for him and other people in recovery. “You hear about the world going to crap, and it’s like, ‘Okay, this is gonna be hard for me; this is gonna be a trigger,’ because boredom is triggering for me, and for a lot of people, you gotta have a set schedule. So there was kind of this fear of the unknown,” he said. He quickly found that there wasn’t much he could do to ease his anxieties about the situation unfolding around him. As the number of people attending the meetings plummeted, so did his mood. “There was frustration because I wanted to help. All of us want to be there for people. And I had like two weeks there where I was just jaded. ... We were really trying, we were putting in a lot of effort and work to reach people. And it comes from a sense of if we don’t see them, then we assume they’re out there relapsing.” “We know that there’s a pretty good chance if somebody Keyser Sözes ... It’s always kind of a bummer. You don’t know for sure until you do, but it’s something that you think about: if that person who hasn’t been coming to groups is doing okay,” Knapp said. Everyone felt the effects of the pandemic a bit differently. Knapp used the first few weeks of quarantine to spend time just with himself and the people closest to him for the first time since he entered recovery. It became real for Seay when she realized that she couldn’t travel — one of the main mechanisms for her recovery was using the money she had previously spent on alcohol to see the world — for the foreseeable future. More formal therapy options That drop off in meeting attendance YPR experienced was not necessarily felt by every local recovery group as a result of COVID-19. 14 | Thursday, August 27, 2020
Nick Gonzales/DGO
»» National chapter coordinator and local chapter lead Candice Seay, center, speaks at a Young People in Recovery group meeting Aug. 13 at Durango’s Fassbinder Park.
“It has certainly changed how we deliver care,” said Stephanie Allred, a psychologist and senior clinical director at Axis Health System. The nonprofit healthcare organization provides services to residents of La Plata, Archuleta, Dolores, Montezuma, and San Juan counties, including behavioral healthcare such as substance use treatment. “I think the biggest change for us is we have a lot of group programming. And we’ve had to put all of our groups on video conferencing. So the support is there, that contact is there,” she said. Allred said the response to the switch over to virtual rather than in-person group meetings has been positive. While inadequate internet or technology has prevented some people from participating, Axis has been able to provide them with one-on-one, in-person care. When it comes to participation, she said numbers have remained steady. “I think we’ve certainly lost some people because they don’t have the technology. But we’ve also made it easier for some people to participate. We’ve got patients who have transportation barriers and time barriers and being able to participate virtually from home has helped them take advantage of those services,” she said. In-person, socially-distant It’s difficult to know how the pandemic has affected local 12-step recovery groups unless you’re in one — after all, most encourage their members to practice anonymity in the public media and respect each other’s confidentiality. On March 17, the Animas Alano Club, which provides a physical location for 12-step groups to have their meetings, stated on its Facebook page that it would not be “closing or refusing to honor our agreements with the groups holding meetings at our loca-
tion. Groups can make their own decision on meeting schedules, formats and times.” “I do know a lot of other groups met in person, you know, inside throughout the entire deal,” Dyar said. Meanwhile, as the temperature warmed up in time for the summer, YPR began experimenting with a new way of meeting in person. In June, they began holding meetings at local parks. “We’re doing our best to implement best practices and maintain appropriate social distancing, providing masks, having sanitizer — and with that we’ve definitely seen an increase in engagement,” Seay said. “But numbers are still down because I think there’s a lot of different opinions on COVID.” Some holdouts do so because they disagree with the mask ordinance, she said, while others are more worried than others about catching the virus because they live with people who are especially vulnerable, such as elderly grandparents. “We spend a lot of time — and we actually lost one of our leadership members — discussing our responsibility for keeping people safe,” Dyar said. That said, the recovery group meetings are back up to 12 to 15 people, and growing. “A couple of group members just flat out did not want anything to do with virtual meeting. And so they’ve kind of returned to the group now that we’re able to meet face to face,” Seay said. “But we’re worried because things are not really getting better with COVID. Schools are going to be opening up — we’re kind of thinking that there could be a spike with COVID. And between that and then colder weather ... we’re going to be forced to retreat back indoors because it’s not like we can have an outdoor event when it’s 15 degrees outside.”
Extra activities and silver linings Until it’s forced to do otherwise, YPR plans to take advantage of the good weather and continue having its recovery meeting every Thursday. The chapter is also adding a yoga series, also in the park. Adding activities for people in recovery to do together — as long as they’re not exposed to the virus — can only benefit the community. “Substance use disorders can be very isolating,” Allred said. “That’s why groups can be so powerful. It’s really up when people feel like they’re not in this alone, and so some of these organizations and groups are helping reduce that sense of isolation.” Another silver lining is that groups like YPR have been enjoying a greater degree of unity with alternative support groups as they increasingly work together to support members of the community going through recovery. “I have seen historically where different groups have had some level of misunderstanding that could lead to people thinking or feeling one way or the other about a group that they’re not a part of. And we’ve definitely lately done a really good job of just saying, ‘Hey, let’s get involved with each other and understand each other’s groups a lot better,’” said Knapp. “It’s always better to just have more perspectives and more people involved. We have the same goal, which is to get our lives back and help other people to do the same thing.” Even just within Young People in Recovery, the coronavirus pandemic has inspired members of its 60 chapters to interact with other chapters for the first time and share how they were experiencing things differently in California or Ohio than here, Seay said. “Durango is this weird bubble where we just don’t really experience it on the same level as other places.” Some of the organization’s chapters were just in the process of starting up when COVID-19 hit, complicating everything and making the process of launching a support group that much more challenging. And as Knapp points out, this era of extreme politics isn’t helping the situation. “It’s been a shot of steroids into the powder keg that is the political spectrum. People are freaking out about so many different things and everybody has an opinion, and that’s making it even harder to be socially distant and have a stay at home order put on you Because where do we go? You immediately turn to social media and the outlets that we have to connect with people, and it got really messy and still continues to be,” he said. But even when it looks like the world is falling apart, it’s not impossible for both individuals and the groups they’re a part of to grow.
Nick Gonzales/DGO
»» TOP: Mason Dyar speaks about maintinting sobriety during the COVID-19 epidemic. BOTTOM: Krissy Brookmeyer and Dan Knapp listen to another YPR member at a meeting at Durango’s Fassbinder Park.
“I think that some of the organizations that are really killing it right now are the ones that are saying ‘Okay, this is a lot of adversity, but it also is breeding great opportunity. We’ve probably seen people get more educated on things that are really uncomfortable in the last few months, than in the few years prior, and recovery is no different,” Knapp said. “It’s really important to be empathetic and understand everybody’s journey is different. But realize that this is a really great opportunity to help educate other people.” Thursday, August 27, 2020 | 15
[weed]
Smoking two bowls of Super Sour Lemon after a bout with COVID made me the happiest weed smoker of all Very few tastes and smells evoke the feeling of summer for me quite like citrus. There’s just something so clean — so crisp and sunny — about the scent of a lemon or an orange. I’m not sure where that feeling comes from. Perhaps it was the fact that I grew up in south Texas, where I spent my childhood playing among the bees and the blossoms of my grandparents’ grapefruit and orange trees, or the fact that I equate summer with sitting on a patio with a Corona and lime in hand. Whatever it is, I love that smell and the warm feelings it brings to my soul. That love of summer and citrus now extends to the Super Sour Lemon strain from Prohibition Herb, which is the strain we’re reviewing this week. This strain, if you aren’t familiar, is a hybrid created by California Sour with Lemon OG. Despite its lineage, I wasn’t expecting
to taste and smell the citrus in this strain — most strains just smell like weed to me. Let me tell you friends, it’s there. It’s there in spades. And I LOVE it.
oddly devoid of delicious junk food right
I first noticed the heavy smell of lemon when I popped the lid off the container. Rather than smelling skunky or like diesel fuel, I noticed a hint of bright yellow lemon instead.
the couch with an apple in just as good of
now. I went to the kitchen, dug around for non-existent chips, and returned to
a mood as before. And that chipper feeling lasted through a binge of the new season of
Where that lemon really stood out, though, was in the taste. I caught freaking COVID earlier this year and it has been RIP to my taste buds ever since. I lost both my sense of smell and my sense of taste with the virus, and I can really only taste salty or sour things these days (which is really frustrating and a topic for another day). So, the fact that I could detect lemon from this strain was a bit, well, shocking. But, despite the weird ability to suddenly smell lemons, I really wasn’t banking on being able to taste lemon.
Last Chance U — it shouldn’t have, cause this season is BORING, but it did. I guess I was just really into hearing about football plays and some random coach’s relationship with his wife. The only real anomaly in my notes, aside from the fact that I can now taste
Details Where to find Super Sour Lemon: Prohibition Herb, 1185 Camino del Rio, prohibitionherb.com
lemon but only in weed, is the fact that I was tripped out by the sheer idea of football. I guess I got into my head a little bit, where I was totally tripped out by
My taste buds got hit just as hard as my nose, and I have struggled to be able to taste any food since. Most things taste like a mound of play-doh, which is nice with super skunky weed, but sucks when you’re eating a steak.
the idea that football is basically like the
However, it’s my job to do these things, so I threw the Super Sour Lemon buds in the dry herb vape and crossed my fingers. One puff and HOLY CRAP. I COULD TASTE LEMON. Like, really, really taste it. It definitely wasn’t in my head. Every hit I took was more lemon-flavored than the last, and at one point, I swear, I could even taste some mint. (That part may have been in my head, though.)
(whatever the hell that is). Everything
I ended up smoking two bowls of this beautiful strain back-to-back, probably out of sheer delight that I could taste something other than frigging salt. And the outcome? Well, the outcome was glorious, too. I felt like I was floating on Cloud 9, my mood elevated and my outlook a hell of a lot better than it has been the last few months.
coach playing chess with humans. Set the pieces up, attack, and then hope to get in the chess version of the end zone
else was just me making notes about how happy I was. Here’s the bottom line. I haven’t been able to taste ANYTHING for so long that this strain could have made me hallucinate killer clowns and I would have loved it. But I love it even more now that it didn’t. It put me in a great mood and made my post-COVID ass taste lemons for the first time in forever. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get to taste delicious fruit again, and now I can with Super Sour Lemon. So, if I could wed this
Both the high and that elevated mood strain, I would. It is my one true love. lasted for a hot minute, too. I wasn’t even —— DGO Pufnstuf frustrated by the fact that my house is 16 | Thursday, August 27, 2020
[weed]
Edibars are proof that edibles can be a mellow, delicious way to ingest THC I am not going to lie to you guys. Most edibles gross me out or put me into a freaking weed version of a K-hole that I never want to venture into again when it’s over. I don’t know why my stupid body reacts like that to THC in edible form vs. the delightful way it reacts to THC that is smoked or vaporized, but I guess that’s the way the gods made me. YOLO or something. I’ve tried to come to terms with (or perhaps even overcome) my general trepidation at the very idea of ingesting an edible, but so far, I haven’t leveled up to that point. I’ve had plenty of edibles that were fine or, dare I say, good, but a couple of bad trips – including one that caused me to be unable to recognize my own freaking family member – have me forever scarred.
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could my friend, what with their working taste buds and all. (Show-offs.)
The effects were just as good as (I’m told) the candy bar tasted, too. It kicked I need to find a therapist who specializ- in for my friend in about half an hour, es in weed trauma or something, though, and I started to feel the effects at about because most edibles are fine. I’m just a that time, too. And, like the flavor of the chicken. So, when The Green House in Edibar, the effects were perfect. I felt Durango asked me to review an Edibar, mellow, relaxed, but not overly high. I a THC-infused candy bar, I was quietly could also still recognize other humans, panicking. which was pretty chill. I don’t like being And, as usual, it turns out that I overre- high enough to lose that ability. acted, because after downing said Edibar What was even nicer, though, was that (part of it, anyway), I am here to tell you the effects of this Edibar weren’t lingerthat there is no reason to panic. I know ing in the way the effects of other edibles I’m not the only anti-edible pot enthuhave been. It kicked in quickly, and that siast out there, and if any other edible mellowed out feeling lasted for a few haters are out there, I am here to tell you hours afterward before packing up its that Edibars are where it’s freaking AT. bags and exiting my brain stage right. So, there are a ton of different Edibar There wasn’t a huge crash afterward, flavors available, but the one I grabbed either. I just felt kinda high but super melwas creme brulee flavored. I wasn’t sure which to go with – the bananas foster bar low for a while and then back to normal a sounded good as hell too – but ultimately while later. Pretty freaking pro. the creme brulee bar won. And, it was I need to start giving edibles more a good default choice on my part, as I credit. They’ve come a long way from found out a short time later when I ate it. those homemade pot brownies that Well, to be fair, when I gave a friend a piece to eat. I also ate one 10 mg square of the weed bar, but as I mentioned in my Prohibition review, I recently recovered from COVID. Overall, I’m fine, but my taste buds and sense of smell are not. I can’t really taste things very well, which means I had to have someone else taste this bar to make sure it was good.
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scared the shit out of me, and Edibars are proof. They taste great, they have super chill but noticeable effects, and didn’t hurl me off the edge of that sober cliff like I feared.
The only downside is that if my taste buds were working, I know I would have been tempted to eat the whole bar. Creme brulee is freaking delicious, And, turns out it was. They loved it. and if my taste buds were functioning, I The tastes of toasted sugar and sweet wouldn’t have been able to fight the urge. creme brulee were on point, and the Without them, though, this was a perfect Edibar even had bits of caramelized sugar on top. I couldn’t detect the taste of weed fit. —— DGO Pufnstuf in the bar, but more importantly, neither Thursday, August 27, 2020 | 17
[weed]
Wana Quick Edibles are a boozy-flavored way to get higher than a kite
Have you ever innocently nestled into your couch for the evening only to forget you were stoned to high Zuul and then you start hearing UFO interference? No? Just me? Cool, cool. Let me provide a little more context. This week, Wana hooked us up with some products off of their Wana Quick line: peach Bellini gummies at 5 mg each and strawberry margarita 1:1 gummies that came in 5 mg of CBD and 5 mg of THC.
When I took these gummies, I noticed something interesting. Let me be blunt: edibles tend to knock me on my ass. However, with these I realized I didn’t feel like my face was melting or that I was a video game character in a virtual reality hellscape.
This, I learned, is because of the increased solubility of the gummies. When edibles are absorbed through the liver, the THC is converted into an 11-Hydroxy molecule which creates a more intense stoned experience. Because these Now, what’s so late and great about Wana Quick edibles? Well, let’s get into a Wana edibles are absorbed through the bit of science. To start, the cannabinoids bloodstream, however, the TCH turns into the Delta-9-THC molecule. As a in marijuana are oils which means that, result, the effects are much less intense most of the time, when you take an edible, it’s metabolized into the liver rather though still very pleasant. I found myself experimenting with the than the bloodstream. This is why, when peach Bellini and strawberry margarita you ingest an edible, most of the time, gummies to see what kind of impact they it takes around an hour for the THC to had. I first took them separately before take effect. With Wana Quick, however, an encap- combining them into a single stoned fest. sulation technology is used to increase the edible’s solubility and it is absorbed into the bloodstream instead which means that these gummies take effect within 5-15 minutes and last for roughly 2-4 hours.
The strawberry margarita was a tasty flavor – a delicious mix of sweet strawberry and acidic limey aftertaste. No boozy or weedy aftertaste here for those of you wondering. Each of the strawberry margarita pieces comes with
The folks at DGO miss leaving our homes for concerts, drinks and dinners out. We don’t like cooking or cleaning the kitchen — and we certainly don’t like mixing our own drinks, all things we’ve had to do since the start of this pandemic. PLEASE wear your masks and practice social distancing so we can get back to our regularly scheduled (fun) programming.
18 | Thursday, August 27, 2020
combination of CBD and heavier-handed THC made for, shall we say, a bit more of a hallucinogenic experience. Sitting on my couch, I was convinced I was getting UFO radar signals from space and was quick to inform my friend and fellow weed writer, DGO Pufnstuf. They The peach Bellini brought me back to were not convinced that whatever I was the days when we could get slightly hun- experiencing was based in reality, but gover at brunch without the fear of con- they also didn’t tell me my experience tracting a deadly virus. Alas ... here we was totally off base. After all, when the are! This delicious edible had much more extraterrestrials do come I fully expect of a THC kick to it. This gummy will make to be stoned off my ass. literally every damn thing funny, even if If you’re looking for an opportunity it isn’t. And I mean it. You’ll be watching to change up your edibles game, Wana Forensic Files in your living room and a Quick is where you’re going to find some somber scientist will explain why it was variety, especially if you’re wanting to important evidence that there were no avoid an intense high. These gummies onions found in a dead victim’s stomach after an autopsy and you will laugh your are especially useful for when you’re having trouble falling asleep or looking actual ass off. for an edible high that doesn’t last for Finally, one evening, I decided to get a long period of time. I am a personal experimental and combine these two convert to these treats and am looking gummies to see what kind of edible forward to the evolution of edible soluconcoction I’d get out of it. It turned bility. In the meantime, you can find me out to be a rather intense experience. stocking up on these for the remainder See, on their own, the two gummies of COVID-19. are much less severe when it comes to 5 mg of CBD and 5 mg of THC so you’re most likely not going to get real stoned ingesting these. These are great if you’re looking for something to take the edge off of anxiety, need to relax, or want nothing more than to fall asleep (which is what I did).
their impact. Together, however, that
— Sir Blaze Ridcully
PLEASE WEAR A MASK! [correctly!]
[weed]
Get virtually educated about ganja with this graduate certificate program in cannabis control Who needs physics when you can study the science of weed instead? With the cannabis industry expanding and becoming more complex by the day, it’s important that those going into the field be fully knowledgeable of its full breadth. After all, it is the fastest growing industry in the U.S., according to Markets Insider. Thankfully, institutions like Excelsior College, a regionally accredited, notfor-profit online college, now offer a graduate certificate in cannabis control program, starting August 31. What is a cannabis control program, you ask? Glad you asked! This threecourse, nine-credit certificate offers an educational opportunity to people currently working or looking to work in the cannabis industry. Excelsior’s certificate program educates students on the “opportunities, challenges, and complexities of the cannabis industry and its accompanying regulations.” Students will learn the impact of cannabis legalization on a local,
control certificate program requires students to have a bachelor’s degree. This graduate-level certificate program takes an interdisciplinary approach and can be taken alone for college credit and career advancement or applied toward four of Excelsior College’s master’s degree programs. “The more we talk to experts and leaders in the industry, the more we are hearing about the need for education and training in this dynamic and rapidly-evolving regulatory space. Despite projections of continued growth, regionally-accredited universities and The program is 100% online. state, and national level. colleges have been relatively slow to The three courses include: Instructors hope to prepare students respond with educational offerings,” to eventually dialogue and work with — Implications of Legalization of Can- Scott Dolan, dean of graduate studies nabis: Policy and Compliance policymakers, industry leaders, propriat Excelsior College, told Benzinga. “For etors, etc as far as the cannabis market is — Interstate/International Commerce: us, this program is naturally aligned with considered. Policy and Regulatory Environment our disciplinary expertise in business, public health, criminal justice, and public — Risk Assessment in Cannabis ConBefore jumping in, here are a few administration.” trol things you should know about the program: Admission to Excelsior’s cannabis —— Amanda Push
To toke or not to toke — that is the question The town of Trinidad mulls over the question of social cannabis use in designated spots If you know anything about the cannabis industry in Colorado, you’ve probably heard of Trinidad. It’s a small town with a population of just 8,000 people but home to 25 dispensaries which draws visitors from Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. “Cannabis coming to town got us out of the economic slump we were in. The economy busted in 2008 and 2009, and we also saw a boom-bust cycle with our natural gas industry,” Kimberly Schultz, co-owner of Trinidad’s Higher Calling U, told Westword. “When we were able to open these shops, we saw a dramatic increase in tax revenue coming into the community, we saw people become employed, and that was our main goal. People are working, and we saw this tremendous real estate grab when this all occurred.” While Trinidad no doubt revels in the fruits of their local marijuana market, consumers are a bit stuck. Yes, they have the freedom to legally purchase weed here, but they have nowhere to lawfully smoke it. This is up for debate now, however, as the Trinidad city council is now seeking input from locals as to whether
it should allow for marijuana hospitality licenses for businesses such as dispensaries and hotels, according to Westword. “So we’re still kind of in a situation where people know Trinidad for our central location: to stop and buy gas, maybe some food, and now maybe some cannabis, but they’re getting back on the road,” Schultz said. “There are no reasons to stay. I have these conversations with my customers every day, where I have to essentially tell them that they’ve purchased legal cannabis and paid high
“Colorado has many tourists and residents who choose to participate [in legal cannabis use]. Up until this bill, there’s been no way to have safe public consumption,” Polis said. However, the development has been slow to roll out in Colorado. On the other hand, states like California have long been growing their capacity for marijuana lounges, according to Vox. As long as Colorado continues to drag its feet on evolving the cannabis industry and being the leader of the pack, we’ll find ourselves eating the dust of states like California. The state and communities like Trinidad will suffer in the process.
taxes to do so, but they still have to treat it like they always have. It’s legal, yet still like a black-market situation, because we’re setting these customers up to fail. … If people had options, they’d enjoy themselves here, spend their money and come back.” Social cannabis use and hospitality have a bit of a bumpy history in Colorado. In May 2019, Governor Jared Polis signed a law legalizing social marijuana use spaces.
“If you’re in this sort of business, whether it’s alcohol or cannabis consumption, as a business owner you have to make sure people are safe and don’t over-consume,” Schultz said. “If the city council would let some of these hotels and other businesses allow it, too, it’d be even better, because then people wouldn’t have to travel. Right now, we’re putting people in that position on the road every day. … There has got to be a happy medium here.” —— Amanda Push
Thursday, August 27, 2020 | 19
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[true crime]
These weird local murders will give you the creeps
It was November 1985, when a passenger enjoying their time on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad caught sight of a disturbing scene that would completely upend their trip: a local business owner laying dead in the back of his truck, murdered. It turned out, that death was only the tip of the iceberg of a much larger and sinister case. While Durango is generally a safe and idealistic place for most people, it turns out, it also attracts all kinds of strange occurrences, and maybe even a serial killer or two. Robert Spangler Robert Spangler might just be one of the evilest humans to set foot in Durango. Spangler, a serial killer and family annihilator, moved to Durango in 1990, with his third wife, Donna Sundling. Spangler came into the marriage with an unusually tragic background. In December 1978, a neighbor discovered the bodies of Spangler’s first wife, Nancy, 17-year-old son, David, and 15-year-old daughter, Susan, in their Littleton, Colo. home. They had all been shot. Span-
gler claimed he was at work during the massacre but during the investigation revealed he was having an affair with a co-worker, Sharon Cooper. His and Nancy’s marriage was not going well. Eventually, investigators closed the case, concluding that Nancy had murdered her children before turning the gun on herself. Spangler went on to marry Cooper. They divorced in 1988 when she became convinced he was out to kill her, too.
In 1990, he married his third wife. Sundling, the mother of five grown children and an aerobics instructor, did not share Spangler’s love of hiking because of her fear of heights. In 1993, however, Spangler convinced Sundling to hike the Grand Canyon with him where, according to Spangler, she fell to her death while he attempted to take a photo of her next to a ledge. After Sundling’s death, Spangler reconnected with Cooper, who he later found dead of an alleged drug overdose. Investigators were eventually able to link the deaths together and got Spangler to confess to the murders of Nancy, David, Susan, and Sundling. He
was never charged for Cooper’s death and was sentenced to prison without the possibility of parole, eventually dying of cancer.
Hatfield-Hall (Dylan’s mother) told the Durango Herald in 2019. “It’s time that we can settle this.”
Dylan Redwine
In the early 1900s, relations were tense between miners and mine owners, and it was no wonder. According to Westword, the Western Federation of Miners went head-to-head with mine owners using strikes, sabotage, and the forced deportations of strikers. The fighting was particularly ugly in Colorado and impacted Durango, Cripple Creek, Leadville, and Denver.
Dylan Redwine was just 13 years old when he disappeared while on a court-ordered visit to his father, Mark, in November 2013. Mark lived near the Vallecito Reservoir and had a tense relationship with Dylan. Dylan was last heard from at 9:37 p.m. Nov. 18, 2012, when he texted a friend to make plans to meet up, according to the Durango Herald. Investigators found Dylan’s remains in June 2013, eight miles from Middle Mountain Road. Hikers later found his skull in November 2015, a little more than a mile from Middle Mountain Road where the rest of his remains were found. Mark was charged in July 2017 of second-degree murder and child abuse. He is currently awaiting trial in the La Plata County Jail. “I’m sure I’ll never get the truth (about what happened to Dylan),” Elaine
The Colorado Labor Wars
In Telluride, tensions spiked when mine manager Arthur Collins reduced miners’ wages and cut back on safety regulations to increase mine profits. In response to a 1901 strike, he hired gunmen and strikebreakers, and on November 20, 1901, a fire at his Smuggler-Union Mine resulted in the death of 24 people. The tragedy was blamed on Collins’s cuts to safety measures. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a year after these events, he was killed via shotgun blast while at his home. The murder was
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www.fourcornersexpos.com 22 | Thursday, August 27, 2020
Continued on page 23
Horoscope ARIES (March 21 to April 19)
person is happy, too!)
This is a lovely time for family relationships because people will be warm and supportive to each other. You might do something to help someone or someone might help you.
LEO (July 23 to Aug. 22)
TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Look around you, because you will be surprised at the beauty of your daily surroundings right now. You also might be surprised to see how much love there is in your daily world. GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) If shopping during this time, you will want to buy beautiful things for yourself and for loved ones. Because you might be too extravagant, keep your receipts. (Just in case.) CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Right now you feel warmhearted to everyone you meet. You see how happy you feel when you are kind to someone. (That
Because you are concerned for someone who is less fortunate than you, you will help them. (True generosity is giving what is needed.) VIRGO (Aug. 23 to Sept. 22) You feel warm and caring to a friend right now, or perhaps even a member of a group. You will find it rewarding to work with a charitable organization right now.
You want to escape to idyllic surroundings. (Don’t we all?) SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 to Dec. 21) In discussions about inheritances, shared property and such, be careful you don’t give away the farm. It’s good to be fair and kind to others, but you also have to be fair and kind to yourself.
improve your workspace. PISCES (Feb. 19 to March 20) True love might happen for some of you right now. This is because your idealism is aroused and it’s easy to admire someone. You also will feel warmhearted to children. BORN DURING THESE TWO WEEKS
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 to Jan. 19)
You have excellent social skills. You are generous, disciplined and helpful to others. It’s Relations with your close friends or partners your turn for a fun-loving year ahead! You LIBRA (Sept. 23 to Oct. 22) will be warm and supportive right now. will be more popular and will enjoy warm You might use someone else’s influence to That’s because it’s easy to admire someone friendships. You will also be more grateful help a third party right now. Meanwhile, you love. for your life and will appreciate the everyday someone might ask you for your creative AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 to Feb. 18) input about something – perhaps how to happiness and beauty around you. This year Others might ask for your advice at work make something look better. is the time for an important choice. Choose right now. People want to know what you wisely. SCORPIO (Oct. 23 to Nov. 21) think because they admire you and value Travel for pleasure appeals to you right now! your input. You also might do something to (c) 2020 King Features Syndicate, Inc.
never solved. Unsolved 1985 murders In 1985, something unusual happened in Durango. On Nov. 10, a train passenger spotted the body of local businessman David Tyler, 36, the owner of Automatic Transmission Exchange, in a truck bed parked outside his shop. A few weeks later, Durango police found the body of Dennis Sleater after responding to a robbery at Junction Creek Liquors. Sleater, 24, worked as a clerk at the store and was a Fort Lewis College student. Friends of Sleater’s had come to the liquor store. They found the cash register open and Sleater facedown in the basement, shot twice in the head. The two cases have never been solved but as the two victims have a lot in common, it is theorized that the murders could be connected. One of the most popular theories involves Eli Stutzman, an Amish man who was in Durango at the time of the murders.
Bizarro
From page 22
fire, and the 1985 death of his son, Danny. When questioned about Danny’s death, Stutzman claimed he died from an illness. Out of fear of being blamed, Stutzman claimed he abandoned the body in a ditch outside Chester, Neb. Eventually, Stutzman was found guilty of the 1983 murder of a former roommate while living in Austin, Texas, and served 16 years in prison. He was paroled in 2005 and died by suicide in 2007. Stutzman and Tyler knew each other and maybe attended the same party in Durango on Nov. 8, 1985, two days before Tyler was killed. A witness also reported seeing a man matching Stutzman’s description near the liquor store during the time of Sleater’s death.
Stutzman, it seemed, had a knack for Stutzman’s death reignited interest in being around whenever tragedy struck. Though he was never convicted, he was the cases when police obtained Stutzman’s linked to the mysterious 1977 death of DNA and fingerprints. Unfortunately, they did not match a bloody handprint found at his pregnant wife, who died in a barn
Thursday, August 27, 2020 | 23
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