Durango Telegraph Oct. 15, 2020

So bossy

­elegraph the­­­­durango

FREE Oct. 15, 2020

Vol. XIX, No. 38 durangotelegraph.com

inside

T H E

O R I G I N A L

I N D I E

W E E K L Y

L I N E

O N

D U R A N G O

&

B E Y O N D

Eggscellent

The living museum

Election overload?

Why we’re flipping out over Chinese pancakes p9

Wandering the hallways of time in southeastern Utah p10

Have no fear, the Ballot Cheat Sheet is here p12

You’ll FALL in love with Jimmy’s Shop Local, Shop Jimmy’s check our website for hours: www.jimmysmusic.supply 1480 E. 2nd Ave. & 15th St. • 970-764-4577

2 n Oct. 15, 2020

telegraph

lineup

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4 La Vida Local

Breaking bad How the GOP and Trumpism is destroying democracy

4 Thumbin’ It

Revved up

by Shan Wells

5 Word on the Street 6-7 Soapbox 9 Flash in the Pan

9

10-11 Day in the Life

Eggscellent Flipping out over this Chinese “pancake” is a lot easier than it looks

12-15 Election 2020

by Ari LeVaux

16 Stuff to Do 17 Ask Rachel

10-11

18 Free Will Astrology 19 Classifieds

A trip through “the living museum” in southeastern Utah

19 Haiku Movie Review

photos by Stephen Eginoire

Clarification: Last week’s “thumbing it” on the first case of West Nile Virus in La Plata County forgot to add “this year.” West Nile has been reported in the county in years past as well.

12

On the cover: A camp robber and his friend look for a handout from some friendly bikers at Celebration Lake last weekend./ Photo by Missy Votel

Go time!

Have no fear, the annual Ballot Cheat Sheet is here

boilerplate

by Missy Votel

EDITORIALISTA: Missy Votel (missy@durangotelegraph.com)

STAR-STUDDED CAST: Lainie Maxson, Clint Reid, Jesse Anderson, Zach Hively, Shan Wells and Ari LeVaux

LITERAL ADDRESS: 679 E. 2nd Ave., Ste. E2 Durango, CO 81301

ADVERTISING AFICIONADO: Lainie Maxson (lainie@durangotelegraph.com)

MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 332 Durango, CO 81302

PHONE: 970-259-0133

THE GUY WITH THE CAMERA: Stephen Eginoire steve@gulchmag.com

Virtual address: www.durangotelegraph.com

he Durango Telegraph publishes every Thursday, come hell, high water, beckoning singletrack or monster powder days. We are wholly owned and operated independently by the Durango Telegraph LLC and

If you think town seemed strangely busy this summer despite a pandemic going on, you’re right. The Durango Business Improvement District recently released La Plata County sales tax numbers for July, indicated a big bump for local retail.

Overall July sales tax revenue showed an increase of 9.3 percent over July 2019. Much of this jump was attributed to retail, which was up 38.8 percent, marijuana up 59.9 percent, and building materials/garden supplies sales, up 14.6 percent.

Accommodations were down only marginally at 0.9 percent, essentially flat compared to 2019.

Unfortunately, the report was not all rosy or status quo. Food/drinking establishments showed a drop of 11.7 percent in July over last year. However, that number does show marked improvement over March and April, which were down 53 percent from the prior year to pandemic closures.

Year-to-date, revenue shows an increase of 7.9 percent over last year for the county when factoring in a one-time collection in March 2020 from the Mining Industry.

A shot in the arm

Time passages

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Ear to the ground: “I’ve had an eye twitch since my family came to visit and decided to stay an extra week.”

– Local discussing the added joys of having relatives visit during corona

thepole

RegularOccurrences

E-MAIL: telegraph@durangotelegraph.com MAIL DELIVERY AND SUBSCRIPTIONS: $3.50/issue, $150/year

distributed in the finest and most discerning locations throughout the greater Durango area.

We’re only human. If, by chance, we defame someone’s good name or that of their family, neighbor, best

friend or dog, we will accept full responsibility in a public flogging in the following week’s issue.

Although “free but not easy,” we can be plied with schwag, booze and flattery.

telegraph

If you haven’t gotten your flu shot, now’s the time to belly up. San Juan Basin Public Health is hosting upcoming walk-up flu clinics open to the general public: • Tues., Oct. 20, 9–11 a.m., Manna Soup Kitchen, 1100 Avenida Del Sol • Wed., Oct. 21, 1-4 p.m., Durango Public Library overflow parking lot (corner of E. 3rd and 20th St.) • Wed., Oct. 28, 1-4 p.m., Durango Public Library overflow parking lot (corner of E. 3rd and 20th St.) In case you’re out of the loop, getting a flu shot this year is more important than ever. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the addition of another respiratory illness on top of COVID-19 could overburden the health-care system, strain testing capacity and increase the risk of a double whammy of catching both diseases at once.

According to SJBHD, flu cases start to ramp up in October and typically peak in late December or early January. Since it takes two weeks for the vaccine to take effect, October is the ideal time to get your flu shot. Each year, the vaccine is a combo of three to four different strains of the disease that officials expect to be the ones most in circulation. Even when a flu vaccine is not an exact match to the strain that winds up being most common, it still prompts an immune response that will limit the severity of sickness.

The cost of a flu shot is covered by most insurance and shots will be free to those who are un- or under-insured. More clinics are planned for November, as well.

Oct. 15, 2020 n

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opinion

LaVidaLocal It takes one to tango Some people think me strange. Full stop. But especially now, because I’m doing quite well during the Undoubtedly Worst Year in Recorded Human History So Far (21st Century Edition). I’m embracing being a socially distanced hermit, learning who the bigots are in my life and wearing a mask that hides my facial expressions when I encounter them.

About the only thing I’m not embracing is other people, which makes dancing Argentine tango even more challenging.

The tango is enough of a challenge on its own. Dancers of other dances turn up their well-trained noses and call us elitist simply because our dance has no set rhythm or basic choreography, because our music is so esoteric, and because we’re better than everyone else. Pssh.

Their loss. They fail to realize that literally anyone can join our exclusive cult precisely because all this dance requires is a willingness to connect vulnerably and honestly with another human being. Then about 20 years of dedicated practice.

So naturally, when the world shut down in March and we could not step within the mandated 6-foot radius of each other, I decided to undertake an intensive study of humanity’s most subtle social partner dance. All by myself.

And because I see no sense in half-assing such an already senseless endeavor, I enlisted teachers who, as one-time European champions and world finalists who have performed at the most famous milongas in Buenos Aires and tour the world when they are allowed to, may wish to remain anonymous. So I will call them simply “Liz” and “Yannick,” because those are their names.

“Liz” and “Yannick” live in France. I do not.

On the surface, this is a problem. But thanks to the now very wealthy creators of Zoom, we can meet online, so long as we don’t keep messing up the time conversion.

Here’s what I appreciate about them as dancers and as teachers: they are goofy and nerdy, to the point where “Yannick” has promised me a lesson while wearing his Chewbacca onesie. Yet they are the most elegant people in my own age bracket I have ever met. This may say more about my own social circle than about them, but they dance like people whom tailors would dream of outfitting. Pick your strong-lined film stars from the 1930s, and these two would outclass them.

And then they eat nut butter during a lesson. My kind of people.

As teachers, they are GOOD. Right away, in my first online lesson in my living room, I learned something that changed my dance forever just by looking at their little Zoom faces: I was a wreck. I could have sawed my arms off and then used them to dance the macarena and they would have shown the same restraint. Needless to say, with 6,000 miles between us, they were not wearing masks to hide their expressions.

“All right,” they lied in their adorable Flemish accents. Then they told me that I had banana feet, my knees were hydraulically bouncy, my pelvis was tilted, my diaphragm opened too far, my shoulders were raised, my arms flopped, my head craned forward, and my face looked half dead when I was thinking too hard about all that.

“But otherwise good!” they said. “We can work with this.”

How, I wondered, had anyone ever survived a tanda with me? What was the point of the past four years of learning moves if King Tutankhamun – in his current state – could dance better than me?

Yet I couldn’t give up yet. Not without losing face and also the four lessons I had prepaid for. So I swept my living room floor every day for a week, and every day, I laced up my dance shoes and practiced the most remedial elements over, and over, and over. Things I had never considered on my own. Like, flexing my ankle a certain way and keeping it flexed. Grabbing the floor with my toes like a gecko. Filming myself – the horror!

Then the next week, I came back for more lighthearted punishment from “Liz” and “Yannick.” I swept the floor every day, and again, every day, I laced up those damn shoes. And I started to find, after months’ worth of weeks, that like the Grinch whose heart grew three sizes, I too had room to improve myself. To take responsibility for my own presence and elegance, spilling out beyond the dance and into my monthly excursions to the grocery store, where now the only bananas are the ones in my basket.

So when the dance halls open back up, look out world! Because I am new, and improved, and also have not practiced any of this with an actual human being.

Thumbin’It The La Plata County Board of County Commissioners proclaiming the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day, starting this past Mon., Oct. 12, and going forward

4 n Oct. 15, 2020

– Zach Hively

Sign of the Downfall: Durango, and much of the Western Slope, sliding back into the “exceptional drought” category according to the latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor

Native Colorado cutthroat trout finally being restored to 23 miles of Hermosa Creek thanks to a 35-year effort by Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Yet another flip-flopping on the U.S. Census count, with the Trump Administration prevailing in its quest to shut down the count early in an effort to disenfranchise undercounted populations

Ballots arriving in local mailboxes this week, bringing relief to weary voters that an end to one of the most grueling and contentious elections in memory is in sight

Flagrant bigotry on display in downtown Durango as a small group of anti-protestors showed up to disrupt and drown out otherwise peaceful marchers in Monday’s Indigenous People’s parade

telegraph

Space Ma’am NASA just spent $23 million on a titanium toilet that allows female astronauts to pee and poop at the same time. This is because the Russian ones we’re using in our spaceships presently were designed for men, which meant women had to do each duty separately. This is super important according to NASA’s Melissa McKinley because when you’re going No. 2 and try to stop No. 1, or visa-versa, “misses and escapes” can occur, which are disastrous in space given that “everything floats.”

WordontheVirtualStreet With Canada celebrating its Thanksgiving this week, the Telegraph asked, “What do you think Canadians are most grateful for?”

Q

Kristin

“Eh, double denim outfits and maple syrup.”

Gina

“For being in the apartment upstairs from America because they don’t have to hear the constant pounding and weirdness.”

Emily

“Canadian geese.”

Matt Esteban

“RUSH!”

“Not Nickleback.” telegraph

Oct. 15, 2020 n 5

SoapBox More than just talk about health To the editor, It’s one thing to talk about working with everyone, but it’s another thing to have the skills to do it. I am voting for Marsha Porter-Norton for county commissioner because I’ve seen her in action through our work for better health care for everyone. When she moved here 26 years ago, and for six years, she served as executive director of the nonprofit Operation Healthy Communities. The organization’s mission was to mobilize local communities to create a better quality of life. One of Marsha’s legacies was helping develop a community indicator project, a tool for measuring the health of each county in the region. This work lives on at Region 9 Economic Development Council.

In her work as a professional facilitator over many years, Marsha has led solution-oriented meetings for Mercy Regional Medical Center, San Juan Basin Public Health, Community Connections, Community Health Action Coalition and more. She served on a funding committee for United Way and was on the board of the Community Foundation Serving SW Colorado. She volunteers at the Durango Food Bank. In 2014-15, she was on the board of the La Plata Community Clinic that utilized pro bono medical providers to care for those who couldn’t afford health insurance, mostly people who work. That organization transferred its care when Axis Health System secured federal funding for La Plata Integrated Health Clinic. Now everyone – especially seniors, families and children – in our county has a place to go for physical and behavioral health and dental care even if they lack insurance. Marsha was involved in helping raise awareness about the exorbitant cost of health care for small businesses and individuals on the Western Slope. She testified to the State Legislature for the 2019 Reinsurance Bill and volunteered her time to do community educa-

tion helping businesses access resources for paying health insurance premiums.

Marsha is brilliant at helping people with diverse perspectives work together to find solutions; this is critically important, and often missing, these days. These are abilities we need right now because community health, particularly pandemic response and recovery, takes patience. She not only listens, but actually gets things done. This amplifies her broad, deep and relevant experiences and skills.

Please find out more at marshaporternorton.com.

– Pattie Adler, Durango

Why is Bundy above ‘law & order?’

To the editor, Donald Trump has been repeatedly droning on about the importance of “law and order.” Meanwhile, Nevada rancher and notorious scofflaw Cliven Bundy continues to defy federal law. He has been grazing his cattle illegally on federal lands since 1993, and it is estimated that Bundy owes close to $2 million to the federal government in grazing fees. He recently brought his cattle once again to auction in Utah without a word of protest from the Bureau of Land Management. You might remember that Bundy precipitated an armed standoff with federal agents in 2014 after the BLM tried to confiscate his illegal cattle. Bundy was acquitted of criminal charges in the affair, and now he continues to brazenly flout grazing laws without an ounce of pushback from federal land managers.

In 2016, Bundy’s son Ammon led an armed six-week occupation of federal buildings at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. Unbelievably, he was acquitted of any federal charges, and now he regularly shows up at various Right Wing rallies across the West encouraging further lawlessness. He is particularly active these days promoting anti-science conspiracies about COVID-19 and

urging people to defy state and local mask ordinances.

Our legal system is not a buffet table where you can pick and choose which laws to obey and which to ignore.

For our system of justice to work properly, laws need to be applied evenly and without prejudice. However, in Trump’s America you’re an “anarchist” or a “thug” if you peacefully protest systemic racism and police brutality, but you’re a “patriot” when you regularly disregard laws, as long as you’re armed and wear a cowboy hat.

– John Wickersham, Durango

Salka will move us forward To the editor, Matt Salka is running for La Plata County commissioner!

For four years, Matt was mayor of Bayfield, providing the community with a new, up-to-date water purification plant plus new water pipes. These much-needed upgrades were provided at no cost to Bayfield citizens, plus the city budget was always balanced. Matt also worked to bring a small company to town to create a local recycling site. No longer did Bayfield citizens have to haul their recyclables to Durango. This was also a local jobs creator.

Believing in public service and having a strong IT background, Matt plans to work with LPEA to bring broadband technology throughout the county – especially our schools. Matt is also planning a project to install electric-vehicle charging stations all over the county at no cost to taxpayers by applying for a grant from LPEA. La Plata County needs Matt to represent us as county commissioner. He has already proven how much he cares for our community. He has all the qualifications and public service experience for this elected office, so please support Matt Salka for La Plata County commissioner when you vote.

– Susan Troen, Durango4

It’s always harvest time at d.o.

Stop by today, try a new strain.

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6 n Oct. 18, 2020

telegraph

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Thanks for a home at Purple Cliffs To the editor, To our fellow citizens of Durango & La Plata County, thanks, firstly, to commissioners Clyde Church and Gwen Lachelt who voted to allow our continued use of the county property where we reside. Secondly, thanks to all the people at NINA, CCO, the Vineyard Church and all other supporters who made it possible for us to have a safe and stable location to shelter in place for the opportunity to stabilize our lives. We have been working together as a community to create a safe and self-governed camp with rules and peer management. So far, our low barrier camp has established the following set of practices: • No hoarding or littering; • No fires out of season; • No unattended minors; • No stealing; • No sneaking about in other people’s camps; • No savage animals; • No sexually pervasive behavior; • Treat others with the same respect you expect for yourself; and, • No violent behavior.

As a community, we try to establish that none of our members go hungry or cold, nor be in want for any basic human needs. We are establishing a council of five individual campers to mediate problem campers and make executive decisions that represent the camp as a whole. We have so far established a community kitchen, a shower, two community tents and a bicycle kiosk. A second shower is planned. We performed fire mitigation, and we organized routine cleanups of the hillside. Currently, we have a once weekly drop-off of meat from Manna Soup Kitchen, a weekly food drop from the food bank, and a biweekly drop of food from St. Columba, with occasional donations from CJ’s Restaurant of individual meals. All of those donations feed our community members.

It is our hope that with community support, we will continue to receive consent for us to use this Purple Cliffs camp. We are hoping that the County and City will soon identify and decide upon a suitable new location for a large enough new site – equal to or better than Purple Cliffs – for most of the unsheltered community, including people with disabilities. Our thanks and gratitude for your continued support and prayers.

– Your friends and neighbors in need at the Purple Cliffs

Cut the slackliner some slack To the editor, On a recent postcard Durango Sunday morning (well, a little hazy) I looked up from a walk up Horse Gulch and saw a young man “walking in the sky” on a slack line spanning the gateway into the Gulch. I stopped to pick up my jaw – and watch. Even mountain bikers stopped (rare) to see what caught my attention. It is such a novelty to see this, and on other days, paragliders in our skies. Seeing this brought such a playfulness to my heart – a light in all the darkness that the news and pandemic bring. My neighbor was out running when the slacker finished his morning “air walk” and she had a chance to chat with him. She said he had a bright heart and playful spirit when sharing with her that he received a “cease and desist” order and that he’d no longer be doing this at Horse Gulch.

My heart dropped ... but wasn’t caught by a

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safety line. Perhaps there’s good safety or “public health” reasons to this prohibition. But I’m in agreement with another one of your readers who wrote in about the loud motorcycles. I’d rather see efforts containing that instead.

– Cynthia Billings, Durango

Salka will deliver the goods To the editor, Matt Salka has my vote and he should have yours too!

As the previous mayor in Bayfield and small business owner, he accomplished so much. I witnessed him put the concerns of the community first. He took the time to listen, approached any issue with great regard to the outcome and impact of the community. He completed a new water plant, new water line replacement project that cost the citizens of Bayfield nothing. He brought recycling to our community, he truly puts his heart into the accomplishments he provides for the people he serves. You will be pleased with the outcome of electing Matt Salka, he has the experience La Plata County needs.

– Amanda Johnston, Bayfield

What happened to good ol’ GOP? To the editor, This is to all the Republicans out there. What happened to you? You used to be the “conservative” party of values and principles. Remember? You have been hijacked by Trump, who shares none of your principles and does not care about you. This is not about politics, but leadership, values and what this country has meant in the world. How could all of you, and Christians especially (what would Jesus think?) be so duped? You have fallen for pitiful lies fueling anger that is dividing this country in a time when we need the opposite. Please take this seriously and realize we were a great country, and now it is being destroyed. How much Fox News are you watching?

Since you have accepted and even celebrated the continuous litany of disgusting behavior from Trump that has no empathy and is not human (as conservative commentators have noted), what would you find disgraceful from this thing? Maybe: IT kills a reporter at a press conference; IT jumps into the audience at a rally and chokes a person to death; or there is a video of IT grabbing a woman there, as IT bragged about doing on TV – I saw it. From what your party has shown, it will accept anything this Vile Orange Thing will say or do. Please SHOW me I am wrong!

And now, Republicans are going to ram-rod thru a Supreme Court justice when your hero Mitch McConnell would not even give Garland a hearing 10 months away, and established the “McConnell Rule?” Really? You guys have no standards or morals. What are your church leaders saying? This is not reality TV, which your leader excelled in.

Please respond once you get home from church.

– Dave Mehan, Durango

help speakers stay on topic and, above all, ensure community members’ concerns were heard, validated and responded to in full. Because of her vast experience working within public forums, her volunteer work and her many leadership roles, Marsha understands that significant projects require a shared vision among multiple agencies, their leadership and their constituents.

I am voting for Marsha Porter-Norton for county commissioner because she has decades of experience bringing people together – a wide variety of interest groups and constituencies – to arrive at real solutions for our community. Marsha is not driven by party affiliation or a narrow focus of interest. When Marsha says, “your future is my focus,” she means our collective future, a future in which everyone shares. That is what experienced public servants like Marsha do.

Please read more about Marsha’s background, experience and proven leadership at MarshaPorterNorton.com.

– Nancy Shanks, Durango

Matt has fresh perspective, ideas To the editor, Matt Salka cares about businesses and their success, as well as our community. As mayor of Bayfield, Matt addressed residents’ concerns head on and he truly cared about the community. If a resident reached out to him, he answered. If he did not know the answer, he got back to you right away. We need those qualities in a county commissioner. Matt has a proven record of accomplishments and has shown he can represent everyone in the county. Matt was a leader of the Mill St. Revitalization Committee. Block parties were born. This brought the community together and helped small businesses highlight their products. He worked closely with businesses and made sure they could get their vision accomplished.

Three new restaurants are now on Mill Street. Sales tax revenue is up, and Mill Street is bustling. This is just what we need for La Plata County, fresh ideas and a new perspective on county issues. Vote for Matt. We need someone who is honest, hard working and truly cares about the people of our community.

– Lacey Pratt, Bayfield

More compromise, less contention To the editor, In 1890, when my great grandfather came to this state to shoe horses for miners, he was a poor immigrant seeking a hopeful future. Similarly, today’s look to the future requires hope, compassion, and compromise.

Diane Mitsch Bush is remarkably different from her Congressional opponent in many ways. A few examples: Diane supports health insurance for people with pre-existing conditions, Medicare-negotiated drug prices, local clean-energy jobs, and keeping our public lands public.

She has long experience creating legislation and working with the other side. She’s willing to compromise. And she’s willing to debate her opponent. We don’t need more polarization; we need Diane Mitsch Bush in Congressional District 3.

– Michael Kinsley, Old Snowmass Colorado

Your future is Marsha’s focus To the editor, I have known Marsha Porter-Norton for some 15 years – we met during her previous career as a professional meeting facilitator/mediator when I was working for a government agency. I was impressed with, and grateful for, Marsha’s ability to progress the meeting agendas,

Our mailbag runneth over Due to an abnormally high volume of political letters, the Telegraph is no longer accepting letters related to the Nov. 3 election.

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Oct. 15, 2020 n 7

ReTooned

How the GOP succeeded in breaking us

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he mantra chanted by Republicans since the days of Ronald Reagan is that government is the problem. “The market will do a much better job,” they insisted. Yet, government is not a business. The two institutions fill entirely different roles. The U.S. Postal Service is a good example. It is run as a service for our citizens much like the U.S. military, and no one expects the military to make a profit. Yet profits seem to be the only thing the GOP cares about. Oddly, Trump gets good marks on his handling of the economy. This could not be further from the truth.

Trump and the GOP have managed in four short years to destroy the booming economy they inherited from Obama. Despite the lies Trump spins about building “the best economy in history,” Obama’s economy had three quarters of much greater economic growth, including the second quarter of 2014 at 5.5 percent. The best Trump managed was 3.5 percent. Likewise, with regard to job growth, Obama’s high-water mark was an average of 250,000 jobs added per month in 2014.

Trump’s best effort was 193,000 in 2018. And of course, he’s currently averaging a loss of 1.4 million jobs per month. Due to Trump’s continued assault on the Affordable Care Act (unbelievably malfeasant in the middle of a pandemic), only 30 million Americans now have health insurance, down from 48.2 million in 2010. Business investment dropped from 5.9 percent in 2017 to -27 percent now.

The conclusion is inescapable: we are in a deep economic and social crisis created solely by the GOP. Yet, predictably, Trump is blaming Biden for somehow destroying the country Trump has run for four years. As with almost every other aspect of Trump’s life, his only real skill is in stealing credit for the work of others, then blaming them when he inevitably fails miserably.

Trump’s inept response to the COVID crisis is the reason for our economic collapse. It is the ultimate dead-end we come to after 40 years of purposeful Republican governmental defunding and disorganization. This selfish disregard has cost us almost 200,000 lives and $1.3 trillion in personal income. More than 13 million jobs of the 22 million lost to the pandemic have not returned. Millions of small businesses will never reopen, including several beloved Durango watering holes. The response from Congressional Republicans? Gridlock and golf.

And now the virus has infected the president. It’s no surprise, as Trump has flouted safety protocols since the pandemic began, despite knowing COVID was deadly and airborne months before he admitted it. His lies that the virus was a hoax caused tens of

thousands of preventable deaths. Instead of admitting his humiliating failure, he’s doubled down with the insane lie that COVID is no worse than the flu. Trump’s hands, already dripping with the blood of those lost, are now actively engaged in killing even more Americans.

This Trumpian disaster clearly illustrates how desperately we need solid federal management. Our grandparents understood that a capable central government run by nonpartisan professionals won wars against fascism, built the infrastructure that fueled expansion, and allowed all our people access to the American Dream. They knew a con-man when they saw one.

They certainly never would have accepted “it’s not my fault” from their leaders. Unfortunately, we have lost that skill.

Having badly broken our country, Republicans now have no plan to fix it. For the first time ever, there is no national GOP platform. It has been replaced by official, gushing, lockstep devotion to Trump. In the face of the greatest challenge to our country since 1929, the week-long GOP convention revealed no other solution but to let the captain of this Titanic-sized mess continue to flail. Instead of ideas, the GOP has ceded total control to a man who extolled the benefits of injecting disinfectants, praised Nazis, was impeached for cheating in his re-election bid, is impressed by demon sperm-believing quack doctors, and retweeted “the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.”

This is not leadership. This is a death spiral. This is a glide path to collapse. Republicans have not only proven themselves catastrophically incapable of governing … they have shown the concept has no value in their eyes. Sadly, they are no longer even recognizable as Republicans. They are Trumplicans, dedicated solely to the increasingly dictatorial whims of their unstable, virus-spreading leader.

Make no mistake, the wounds inflicted by Trumplicans on our republic are severe.

They will be with us for decades. Healing is possible, but only with systemic change and that change must include you. Trump has destroyed or flouted every check built into the system, except one: us. Please vote early to ensure that your voice will be counted and that we will continue to enjoy a country where your voice matters. This is our last remaining chance to do so. Four more years of Trumpism will render the United States broken beyond recognition or repair.

Free Divorce and Custody Clinic Presented by Colorado Legal Services

Tuesday, Oct. 20, 5:30-7 p.m. via Zoom For more information, call: 970-247-0266 8 n Oct. 15, 2020

telegraph

– Shan Wells

FlashinthePan

Flipping out over Chinese ‘pancake’

by Ari LeVaux

I

’ve been buying Chinese chives at the farmers market from a vendor named Nancy. She has a lot of unique vegetables, like pink celery for stir-fries, delicious edamame soy beans, and Dutch-style tomatoes, individually priced with a piece of tape on each fruit. But it was the chives that kept me coming back.

Nancy had told me how to make a pancake, as she calls it, with egg, sesame oil and her scallion-sized chives. It took me a minute to get the hang of making it, but now I make this pancake at will. And I can make one disappear faster than my dog can delete a burger.

Chive pancakes are a popular item on many Asian menus, from Bhutan to Beijing. They usually have some glutenous form of starch, like flour or pancake mix.

But Nancy’s version, from “northern China,” has none.

While technically more an omelet than pancake, when it comes to Chinese chives, I do what Nancy says.

Chives have an earthy, tea-like flavor and a balance of sweet and spice that join magnificently with the other ingredients.

The only problem is the thing is so large, fragile and all-around floppy that a spatula alone can’t flip it.

I forgot to ask Nancy how she turns her pancake. And before I knew it, I found myself with a sizzling yellow disc, and realized I had to take matters into my own wrists.

Theretofore, I’d never flipped a thing, except when wishing a “good day” to my fellow Bostonian drivers growing up. But flipping things in pans always seemed too risky, especially given the lack of any reward in my life before the chive pancake to even attempt such a feat of hubris. Until then, every round thing in a pan that I’d ever needed to invert was small or sturdy enough that I could do it with a spatula or two. The chive pancake is different. Too big and delicate to turn, too important to screw up.

Delicious enough to eat off the floor if you did. I realized that the time had finally come. There was no way around this moment but through it.

The next thing I knew, I was cackling with delight, holding a flipped chive pancake in my pan.

The trick, with pancake flipping as well as managing other falling objects in front of you, is to bend your knees and drop your elevation as necessary. Dropping down stops the clock for a moment, allowing you to keep the object in front of you and in reach, even as it accelerates toward Earth. It allows you to wait for the pancake to rotate a full 180 degrees, before you stick that landing in your non-stick pan.

In order to flip the pancake, you need a round, relatively light pan with gently curved sides. Not to be confused with a cast-iron skillet. A non-stick omelet pan is the lightest option and makes it really easy. My stainless steel saucepan is almost as manageable.

While a perfectly flipped chive pancake is a beautiful, impressive sight, the most important thing is to simply catch the thing, even if it lands awkwardly on an edge, collapsing into a pile of chive scramble. Once you get the general feel, it will always be

close to perfect. Chive pancakes are too quick, and too easy, not to be cooked every day. But you might want to clean the floor, just in case.

Chive Pancake Serves one 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1 teaspoon olive oil 1 little bunch chives (or scallions), about the diameter of a quarter, minced from the bottom up, until the point where the relatively thick stem peters into flat leaves.

2 teaspoons butter 1 or two eggs, beaten 1 teaspoon soy sauce Pinch of black pepper Optional: two tablespoons of fresh corn (I know Nancy would approve.)

Heat the oils in the pan on medium heat.

Add the chopped chives and let them sizzle briefly, spreading them evenly around the pan with a spatula. Add half the butter to the middle.

When it’s melted, turn the heat to high, wait 10 seconds, pouring the egg right into the middle where the butter was, and then circling out as evenly as possible to cover the pan. Don’t hold the egg bowl upside down very long, because you will want to save a little beaten egg for a step I call “pancake repair.”

The beaten eggs should sizzle fiercely upon contact with the hot oil. Tilt the pan this way and that for even distribution and a sharp edge.

As we prepare to flip the pancake, it must be completely unstuck from the pan. Shake the pan forward and back, left right left, trying to get it to slide loose under the pancake. If you can’t break it free like that, use the spatula to get the edges or any sticky spots in the middle that are keeping it from sliding. If it breaks at all during this unsticking process, repair the damage with leftover egg mix.

Once the pancake is loose, keep the pan moving underneath it, forward and back, left-right-left, in a swirling motion.

With the bottom loose and top still soupy with a shallow layer of raw egg, sprinkle the soy sauce and black pepper evenly, and place the rest of the butter in the middle of the pancake top, which is about to be the bottom. Keep moving the pan under the hot bottom to keep it from sticking. Turn off the stove, step away, get balanced, and flip it.

Don’t launch the pancake into orbit – 2 to 6 inches above the pan is fine, assuming you bend your knees, keeping your back straight, watching the floating pancake slowly rotate 180 degrees.

Stick the landing, and then bleat a vigorous “Ha!” and quickly free any pieces of the edge that may be folded and tucked under and repair any damage with leftover egg mixture.

If you don’t have the confidence to try flipping it, use a spatula or two to fold it in half like a normal omelet, and turn off the heat.

Put the pan back on the hot burner, but don’t turn it back on.

The pancake is cooked. Give it 30 seconds to rest and set up, and slide the finished pancake onto a plate. Serve with soy sauce. n

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Oct. 15, 2020 n

9

dayinthelife 10

n Oct. 15, 2020

The livin by

It's endlessly fascinating how rivers connect us to the layers of human his found across the Four Corners. Take our home river, the Animas. If one wer float its course to its confluence with the San Juan, then downstream across h desert valleys, the mountain-born waters eventually wind through a deep can along the edge of Cedar Mesa. It is here that you will find the Bears Ears region

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ng museum Stephen Eginoire

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area that has seen more than 13,000 years of human occupancy and is home to some 100,000 archeological sites. Several canyons hide an incredibly well-preserved picture of the past here. Cedar Mesa's main drainage, known by many as "the living museum" is a textbook example. Here's a look at just a few exhibits tucked away in the winding halls of time. *Please, always remember to visit with respect.

Oct. 15, 2020 n

11

Election2020

Ballot cheat sheet

The breakdown on everything from bingo and wolves to taxes and a guy named Gallagher

by Missy Votel

How we’re voting: Yes. The world would be a better place if we all played a little more bingo.

I

t’s a barn burner year for the Colorado ballot, with 11 statewide initiatives, running the gamut from wolves and bingo to everyone’s favorite: taxes. In addition, local voters will be asked to weigh in on a local school bond issue as well as new county commissioners, representatives, senators, judges and, of course, POTUS. For the sake of everyone’s sanity, this cheat sheet will deal only with the ballot issues (remember: amendments are changes to the State Constitution whereas propositions apply to state statute (i.e. laws.) For a refresher on candidates, see last week’s “Retooned” crib sheet by Shan Wells as well as our commissioner candidate questionnaire.

Below, we will lay out the basics of every measure, the pros and cons, as well as donors and, last but not least, how we’re voting. So grab a pen, a cup of coffee (or something stronger) and settle in. We promise to make this as painless as possible.

After that, the real work is up to you to get that ballot in the box.

3. Amendment 76, Citizenship Requirement for Voting (citizen initiated)

dential property assessment rates have dropped from 21 percent to the current rate of 7.15 percent, while nonresidential property is now assessed at 29 percent of value.

This, despite the fact that residential property makes up about 80 percent of the assessed value of all property in the state.

We like to think of it as going to dinner with a really big guest who eats almost everything and then leaves you with some scraps and skips out on the bill. Except the ones left most hungry are schools and local governments. Rural towns that have not seen as big of increases in home prices 1. Amendment B, (think Dove Creek vs. Telluride) are also esGallagher Amendment Repeal pecially hard hit by the dropping home-as(legislatively referred) sessment rates.

The 411: Ah, the Gallagher AmendSeeing a potential catastrophe on the ment – able to glaze over the eyes of even horizon, legislators got together and came the most earnest of Blue Book connoisseurs, up with Amendment B, which would repeal so let’s get it out of the way first. the Gallagher Amendment. In its place, it To make it as clear as possible, would freeze the state’s property tax let’s start with the basics. In order rates at current levels (7.15 perto pay for local government cent for residential and 29 perservices, like public schools, cent for non-residential). libraries, transportation and Legislative approval would police, we have property be required for any future astaxes, which are assessed in sessment rate decreases a complicated formula we while increases would rewon’t go into here (you’re quire voter approval under welcome). In 1982, this GalTABOR. lagher guy (the lawmaker and Those in favor say: The not the watermelon-smashing Gallagher Amendment is outcomedian) came along and dated and full of unintended decided it was a good idea Dennis Gallagher, the long- consequences. If not repealed, to set into stone a fixed ratio time Colorado lawmaker owners of high-end homes in that dictated taxes from res- and namesake of the Gal- Denver would get a tax cut idential property make up lagher Amendment (which next year while small busi45 percent of the total share he still supports). nesses and farmers would pay of state property tax revmore. The Gallagher Amendenue while the other 55 percent must come ment also unfairly penalizes rural and lowfrom non-residential, aka commercial, income communities that lack a significant property. commercial tax base.

Of course, as anyone who’s perused the Colorado already has some of the lowest real estate listings in the last 40 years residential property taxes in the nation, and knows, home prices have risen at a much without Amendment B, we will see deep higher rate than commercial property. As a cuts to schools, hospitals, fire protection, result, nonresidential property owners have law enforcement and other local services. had to pay a proportionately larger share to Amendment B will also reduce state aid for keep the ratio constant while residential schools. Many local jurisdictions have alrates have dropped, and continue to do so. ready instituted mill-levy overrides to comFor example, to keep the 45/55 split, resi- bat the fallout of Gallagher.

12 n Oct. 15, 2020

The measure was sponsored by Rep. Daneya Esgar, D-Denver, and is supported

by Colorado Coming Together.

Those against say: Amendment B will result in higher property taxes by preventing future drops in the residential assessment rate, which could translate to higher rents. In addition, it removes important protections for homeowners, who may end up paying an increasing share of property taxes. Better alternatives include having voters approve local tax increases or decide for themselves how to best fund services.

Opponents include Keep Property Taxes Low, which was created by Michael Fields, director of Colorado Rising State Action.

How we’re voting: Yes. The Gallagher Amendment is a classic case of “seemed like a good idea at the time.” But the hangover of the low-property tax party is crippling.

2. Amendment C, Charitable Bingo and Raffles (legislatively referred) The 411: Under state law, if a nonprofit wants to hold a raffle, sell pull tabs or even just host a simple bingo game, they must get a license from the state, which requires they have been in existence for five years.

In addition, anyone organizing or running the gaming must be a member of the organization working as an unpaid volunteer.

Amendment C would change the time requirement from five years to three and allow organization to hire outside help (at minimum wage) to organize and run the events.

Those in favor say: Allowing newer nonprofits to hold bingo-raffle games will improve their longterm success and expand fund-raising opportunities. Also, allowing them to pay workers reduces the added burden to provide volunteers.

The measure has wide bi-partisan support in the state House and Senate.

Those against say: Professionalizing bingo-raffle operations undermines charitable fundraising, and expanding the number of nonprofits able to participate may make bingo-raffle games more like for-profit gambling than charitable fundraising.

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The 411: This would change the Colorado Constitution to state that “only a citizen” of the U.S. who is 18 years or older can vote in Colorado.

The existing language dictates that “every citizen” of the United States can vote in Colorado, and 17-yearolds can vote in primary elections if they will be 18 by the general election.

Those in favor say: Voting is a fundamental right reserved for U.S. citizens, and Amendment 76 guarantees that the state will not be able to pursue policies that allow noncitizens to vote. The measure specifies who can vote in Colorado and provides additional “constitutional protections” for state elections.

The measure is supported by Colorado Citizen Voters, which is backed by a Floridabased organization founded by John Loudon, who has supported similar measures nationwide. Loudon was a Republican member of the Missouri State Legislature from 1995-2008 and an advisor to America First Policies, which supports President Donald Trump.

Those against say: Amendment 76 is unnecessary and potentially divisive. The state already has a secure election system that ensures only those who meet legal requirements can vote. Ultimately, the measure seeks to solve a problem that does not exist, may result in voter confusion and could discourage and disenfranchise voters.

How we’re voting: No. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Plus, a pro-Trump Florida group meddling in Colorado politics is a definite red flag (no pun intended.)

4. Amendment 77, Allow Voters in Central City, Black Hawk and Cripple Creek to Expand Authorized Games and Increase Maximum Bets (citizen initiative)

The 411: The initiative would up the ante at Colorado’s legal gaming establishments, removing the current $100 maximum bet limit and adding extra gaming options. It would also expand the current use of casino tax revenue for community colleges to improve student retention.

Limited, low-stakes gaming was legalized by voters in 1990, with single bets limited to $5 and games limited to slots, blackjack and poker. In 2008, under Amendment 50, voters approved an increase in the betting limit to $100, extended casino hours to 24/7 and added roulette and craps. 4

There is a graduated tax on casinos’ gross proceeds, with In addition, the measure will provide needed funding 6. Proposition 113, the National higher grossing establishments paying more. Under the 2008 for education in the wake of COVID, with additional assisPopular Vote Interstate Compact provision, 78 percent of tax proceeds go to financial aid and tance for rural districts that have been disproportionately (citizen initiated) classroom instruction at Colorado community, junior and impacted. And providing access to free preschool gives all The 411: Prop 113 would affirm the passage of Coldistrict colleges. The rest is split between the gaming counties kids the same foundation before entering kindergarten orado SB-42, which put Colorado into the Naand cities to help address the impacts of gaming. tional Popular Vote Interstate Compact. By Those in favor say: Amendment 77 alentering the compact, Colorado’s nine Eleclows residents of Black Hawk, Central City and toral College votes would be awarded to the Cripple Creek to make decisions that are best winner of the national popular vote for presfor their communities. Amendment 77 will ident, as opposed to the winner of the Collikely increase funding for community colleges orado popular vote, as is currently the case. and help provide important educational and Colorado legislators passed the law on party employment opportunities during the ecolines and it was signed into law by Gov. Polis nomic downturn. It will also attract more in March 2019. However, Mesa County Comtourists – and hopefully more affluent ones – missioner Rose Pugliese and Monument Mayor to the region.

Don Wilson gathered enough signatures on a The initiative is sponsored by former mayor referendum petition to place SB-42 to a of Cripple Creek Bruce Brown and former Sen. statewide vote.

Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs. Local Choice Colorado has been carried by the winner of Colorado is leading the campaign to support the nationwide popular vote in every presidenthe measure. The top donor is Caesars Entertial race since 2004. The compact would take eftainment. fect once states representing at least 270 Electoral Those against say: Removing bet limits College votes adopt the compact. As of August, may increase problem gambling, which can 14 states and the District of Columbia have lead to a host of societal ills, from bankruptcy joined, representing 187 Electoral College votes. and crime to neglect, abuse, substance abuse Those in favor say: A national popular and suicide. In addition, it does not set aside any of the new tax revenue to help people or The cost of smoking could go up if Prop EE passes. Besides adding about a $2 tax vote for president advances the democratic other cities that may be harmed by problem per pack by 2027, it would also tax nicotine vaping products, which strangely principle of one person, one vote, and ensures are untaxed in Colorado. Proceeds would go to rural schools, free universal pre- that votes count equally. The national popular gambling. vote could also encourage candidates to camHow we’re voting: Yes. While we’re not school and smoking/vaping education and cessation programs. paign in a way that addresses the concerns of gambling people by nature, we’re all for eduvoters in all 50 states, and not just swing states. cation. And we’d be willing to bet the predictions of socie- while supporting working parents. Preschool is shown to tal collapse due to a removal of gambling limits are grossly improve educational, economic and health outcomes yet Five times in our country’s history, including twice in the last 20 years, a candidate has won the presidential election half of Colorado’s 3 and 4-year-olds do not attend. exaggerated.

The measure was passed along party lines, with state despite losing the popular vote. Proposition 113 is an imDems voting in favor and most Republicans voting portant step toward making sure this cannot happen again.

5. Proposition EE, Tobacco Groups in support include Coloradans for National against. “A Brighter, Healthier Future for Colorado’s Kids” and E-Cigarette Tax Popular Vote, Yes on National Popular Vote, and Consersupports Prop EE. (legislatively referred) Those against say: Increasing taxes on tobacco and vatives for Yes on National Popular Vote.

The 411: Much like Amendment 77, Prop EE is a vice Those against say: Colorado should cast its electoral tax for the greater good. The measure would incremen- nicotine will impose an additional financial burden on users, votes for the candidate who obtains the most votes in Colparticularly low-income people.

In addition, vaping is used tally increase cigarette and tobacco taxes from $0.84 per orado. The Electoral College system ensures that the minority pack currently to $2.64 per pack by 2027. It would also by many as a way to quit smoking. Youth vaping should be always has a voice by allowing smaller, less populated states close a loophole whereby nicotine vaping products are addressed through enforcement of age restrictions, education to have a more proportionate voice in electing the president. untaxed in Colorado. It’s estimated the measure will gen- and prevention, not by raising taxes on a product that some Furthermore, a national popular vote may encourage candierate $375 million for public schools over the next three use as a cessation device. The higher tax could also hurt small dates to focus on large population centers, with smaller, reyears, which will offset budget cuts from COVID-19. $90 businesses which may see a decline in sales. Lastly, the state gional issues losing out. This agreement would also sidestep million of that will go specifically to rural schools. The should not depend on revenue from a tax, which is likely to the U.S. Constitution, relying on legal agreements between revenue would also go toward free, universal preschool; decline as the increased price results in fewer products sold. states. In addition, in close elections, determining the winner The measure is opposed by “No on EE – A Bad Deal for smoking and vaping education and cessation programs; of the national popular vote could lead to recounts and litiColorado.” and affordable housing. gation, delays, confusion and erosion of confidence in the How we’re voting: Yes. We don’t buy the B.S. that vaDue to TABOR, voter approval is required on EE. electoral system.

Those in favor say: Colorado has one of the highest ping is somehow safer than smoking, and it should be Opposition includes: “Protect Colorado’s Vote” and “Conyouth vaping rates in the country, while also having one taxed accordingly. And while it is unfortunate that those servatives Vote No on National Popular Vote.” of the lowest taxes on tobacco products, and no tax on va- who are currently addicted will be bearing the brunt, if it How we’re voting: Yes. The electoral college has ping products. Tax increases have been shown to deter curtails future smokers and vapers (and the associated flunked out. One person, one vote – simple math. smoking and tobacco use, especially among teens and health problems) it’s worth it. Plus, more money for education: win win. moreballot 4 young adults.

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Oct. 15, 2020 n 13

BallotCheatSheet from p. 13 7. Proposition 114, Gray Wolf Reintroduction (citizen initiated)

Opponents include Coloradans Protecting Wildlife and Stop the Wolf PAC. The two top donors are the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Colorado Farm Bureau.

How we’re voting: Yes. And it’s not just because we’re dog freaks. Wolves, which were systemically and cruelly eradicated from Colorado, belong in the West. And if “restoring the balance” means fewer deer roaming our yards or out on the roads, we’re all for it. Plus, reintroductions in other states like Wyoming and Montana show that wolves and humans can co-exist – and wolves are even a boon for the tourist economy.

The 411: After years of debate and back and forth, the gray wolf has finally made it onto the Colorado ballot. Prop 114 directs Colorado Parks and Wildlife to come up with a plan to reintroduce and manage gray wolves west of the Continental Divide by the end of 2023. The law will also 8. Proposition 115, 22-Week Abortion Ban “fairly compensate” ranchers and property owners who suf(citizen initiated) fer livestock losses due to wolf predation.

The 411: Here we go again – another effort to pick away The law would increase state spending by about at a woman’s choice to decide when and if she $300,000 in 2021-22 and $500,000 in 2022-23 wants to start a family. Prop 115 would ban for public outreach and development of abortions in Colorado after 22 weeks. the plan. Beginning in 2023-24, spendAbortions after 22 weeks would be lawing will increase to about $800,000 ful only if a physician deems it necfor implementation. Funding will essary to save the life of the come primarily from hunting and pregnant woman. Under the inifishing licenses and the State tiative, physicians performing a Legislature. Actual state spendprohibited abortion would be ing will depend on the details subject to a Class 1 misdeof the plan and the amount of meanor, punishable by a fine livestock losses. between $500 - $5,000, and Gray wolves, once abundant would have their medical liin the U.S. and Colorado, were censes suspended for at least mostly eradicated from the west three years. by the 1930s due to bounty huntColorado, as well as Alaska, ing, trapping and habitat degradaNew Hampshire, New Jersey, New tion. The last gray wolves in Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Colorado were killed around 1940, Washington, D.C., do not restrict and the gray wolf was listed as endanabortions after a certain point in preggered in 1978 (except in Minnesota, nancy. In 2000, Colorado voters rejected a where they were classified as threatened). measure that would have required Gray wolves were reintroduced in women to be given certain informaIdaho and Montana in 1995 and Yel- Will the wolf survive in Colorado? tion from a physician at least 24 hours lowstone National Park in 1996. In Prop114 seeks to answer that question. in advance of an abortion. Coloradans 2009, the wolf was delisted in the also defeated three other measures (in Northern Rocky Mountains, and in 2008, ’10 and ’14) that would have defined “person” to inMarch 2019, U.S. Fish and Wildlife proposed delisting the clude fetuses or unborn human beings. wolf across the U.S., a move that was opposed by conservaThose in favor say: The measure protects viable human tionists and the Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund. life by placing a reasonable restriction on abortion after an Those in favor say: Reintroducing wolves in Colorado infant can survive outside the womb. The measure allows would restore an unbroken connection of protected wolf time for a pregnant woman to make a choice and permits populations from Canada to Mexico. Gray wolves perform abortion after 22 weeks when necessary to save the life of the important ecological functions, such as keeping deer and mother. In addition, the measure takes a “balanced approach elk populations in check and providing leftover prey for with reasonable and limited exceptions” by not penalizing other scavengers. Although wolves have begun to enter women who receive prohibited abortions. that northern part of the state on their own, it is believed Supporters of the abortion ban include: Coalition for they would not be able to establish a permanent popula- Women and Children, Alliance for Life, End Birthday Abortion on their own. Reintroduction is necessary to create a tions Colorado, and Coalition to Help Moms and Save Babies. sustainable population.

Those against say: Restricting access to legal abortion Supporters include the Rocky Mountain Wolf Action limits a woman’s right to bodily autonomy and interferes Fund, associated with the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Wolf with the patient/doctor relationship. The choice to end a Project. The two largest donors are the Tides Center and pregnancy is often a serious and difficult choice, and Defenders of Wildlife. should be left solely up to the woman and her health care Those against say: Gray wolves cause conflict with provider. The measure does not include any exceptions for humans and animals and are known to prey on livestock. risks to a woman’s health or for a woman who has been the Deer populations in some areas have dropped, and intro- victim of rape or incest. In addition, it provides no excepducing another predator would put further pressure on tions for the detection of a serious fetal abnormality. Every these herds. In addition, wolves from neighboring states pregnancy is unique, and decisions should not be arbitrarhave been observed in Colorado. This suggests wolves may ily limited by state government. be establishing a presence on their own, making reintroOpponents of the ban include: Abortion Access for All duction unnecessary. Allowing wolves to come back natu- and Students Vote No on 115. The largest donor was rally, rather than through an intentional program, could Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. give Coloradans more time to adapt.

How we’re voting. No still means no.

14 n Oct. 15, 2020

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9. Proposition 116, Decrease Income Tax Rate from 4.63 percent to 4.55 percent (citizen initiative) The 411: Prop 116 would decrease the state income tax rate for individuals, estates and trusts from 4.63 percent to 4.55 percent starting for the 2020 tax year. The reduction would result in state budget cuts of more than $150 million a year. Large businesses and people with incomes over half a million dollars will receive 70 percent of the benefit.

Meanwhile, the average Colorado family will see a tax cut of about $37 per year.

Those in favor say: At a time when households and businesses are struggling, Prop 116 will leave more money in taxpayers’ pockets and stimulate the economy. Even with the tax reduction, state revenue is expected to increase in the next budget year; the measure only modestly slows that rate.

Prop 116 was sponsored by Jon Caldara, of the nonpartisan Golden-based think tank the Independence Institute, and Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling. Supporters include: Energize our Economy (306 Real Fair Tax) and the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity.

Those against say: Reducing state revenue will compound the impact of budget cuts already being made to education, transportation, health care and critical state services and could lead to more layoffs. Additionally, the measure will mostly benefit the state’s wealthiest taxpayers, including corporations. About 75 percent of taxpayers will receive a tax cut of less than $50 per year. Comparatively, those with incomes over $500,000, representing less than 2 percent of taxpayers, will receive more than half of the total tax savings.

Opponents include Protect Colorado’s Recovery and Great Education Colorado.

How we’re voting: No. The thought of giving the wealthiest taxpayers a break while regular folks struggle, all at the expense of education and other services, is laughable at best. Keep the $37 a year and pay some teachers with it.

10. Proposition 117, Require Voter Approval of Certain New Enterprises Exempt from TABOR (citizen initiative) The 411: This one screams snoozer, but hang in there – we’re almost done. This proposition with the very long, complicated name would require voter approval on new state enterprises generating over $100 million in revenue within the first five years.

Enterprises are described as government-owned businesses that provide goods or services for a fee or surcharge paid by individuals, as opposed to government agencies or programs that are paid for with tax dollars. Examples of Colorado enterprises include the state lottery, higher education, Colorado Parks & Wildlife, state nursing homes, Colorado Correctional Industries and the student loan program. Revenues generated by enterprises do not count toward TABOR limits, but 117 attempts to change that.

Those in favor say: Prop 117 strengthens the role of citizens in determining the size and scope of government.

TABOR requires voter approval for tax increases; this measure extends that principle to fees collected by new large government enterprises. Fees, like taxes, are paid by Coloradans, so people should have a say.

Supporters include Colorado Rising State Action, a nonprofit group dedicated to “advancing conservative principles in Colorado and holding liberals accountable.” Top donors include: Vote on Fees, Unite for Colorado and the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity. 4

Those against say: Enterprises were specifically exempt from TABOR for a reason: to shift the responsibility of paying for a government-provided service from all taxpayers to only those who use them. Prop 117 could result in fewer enterprises being created, which would force the state to instead use tax revenue to pay for these services.

Opponents include Earthworks Action Fund and Protect Colorado’s Recovery.

How we’re voting: No. As if the Koch brothers’ involvement isn’t enough to scare you away (this measure is funded entirely by out-of-state billionaires who would benefit most from it), it’s confusing, poorly written and will lead to even more cuts in education and health care. Sick and stupid is no way to go through life.

11. Proposition 118, Paid Medical and Family Leave (citizen initiative) The 411: Prop 118 would establish a paid family and medical leave benefit for most Colorado workers. It would provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave, allowing 2.6 million Coloradans to take time to care for themselves, a new child or an ill family member. An additional four weeks of leave would be allowed for pregnancy or childbirth complications.

Employees and employers fund the program 50/50, each contributing 0.45 percent of an employee’s wages to the fund, with the average Colorado worker contributing $3.83 per week. When workers need to take leave, they will be paid up to 90 percent of their salary during that time. Employers may optionally contribute up to 100 percent of the cost of coverage. Businesses with fewer than 10 employees are exempt from paying, but their employees will still be covered. The law would make it illegal for employers to take disciplinary or retaliatory actions against employees who request paid leave.

The first premiums would be paid beginning in 2023, and benefits would be available starting in 2024. Eight states including California, New Jersey and Rhode Island have similar, successful programs.

Those in favor say: Paid leave has a positive impact on families, especially new parents, by decreasing infant mortality and allowing parents and children to bond. Most individuals will need to take leave to care for themselves or a loved one at some point during their careers, and this measure ensures that Coloradans will not be forced to choose between their health and their livelihood.

Paid leave also will increase employment opportunities in Colorado and benefit the state’s economy. Only 18 percent of U.S. workers currently have access to paid leave. All workers deserve paid leave, no matter their income level, the type of work they do, or the size of their employer.

Supporters include Colorado Families First and AARPCO Committee to Support Proposition 118. Top donors are the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a D.C.-based nonprofit whose mission is to “invest in social welfare start-ups to solve problems and improve lives,” and the North Fund, also a D.C.-based nonprofit advocacy group.

Those against say: This measure places a financial and regulatory burden on businesses, particularly large

New school: 9-R bond issue would address maintenance backlog, facility needs Local schools are also on the ballot this November. Durango School District 9-R is asking voters to approve $90 million in bonds for school upgrades, construction, maintenance, safety and other capital improvement projects. The bond will not result in a tax increase but will replace bonds issued in the early 2000s that are about to expire.

If approved, the current 9-R mill levy of 5.776 will remain the same, which equates to about $166/year on a $400,000 home. The money will be split among all 9-R schools as well its three charter schools – Juniper, Mountain Middle and Animas High – which will each receive $2.5 million.

“Basically, it would inject $90 million into our schools, economy and community with no increase in taxes,” 9-R Board of Education member Erika Brown said in an email.

“The money can only be used on capital projects, but we have agreed to share funds with the public charter schools in our district as well – a first for the state of Colorado.”

The big-ticket item on the 9-R list is the replacement of Miller Middle School at $45 million. Built in 1966, with additions in 1972 and 1999, the district said the school no longer meets educational needs due to JusttheFacts increasing enrollment What: 9-R Bond Initiative Walk and deteriorating, When: 11 a.m., Sat., Oct. 17 outdated facilities, Where: Starting at Riverview too-small classrooms, Sports Complex, 2900 Mesa Ave. poor configuration RSVP: durangoschools4a.com. and hazardous conditions. The district decided it would be more cost-effective to build a new school rather than retrofit the old one.

Other projects include: • A $10 million career and technical education center, most likely at Durango High School • Purchase seven new school buses to upgrade an aging fleet with avg. odometer reading of 200k miles • New bullet-proof school entry vestibules, “Columbine-style” locks on doors and access control • Updated fire panels, PA systems, security systems and smoke alarms • Replacement of outdated HVAC equipment, leaking roofs, exteriors and windows • Upgraded lighting and electrical systems as well as energy efficiency measures

businesses. In addition, small businesses may be discouraged from growing in order to avoid premium costs. This measure requires workers to pay into a program that they may never use. And, if the demand for the benefit is higher than anticipated, employees will need to contribute an even larger percentage of wages in the future.

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Built in 1966, Miller Middle School is outdated and too small for current needs. If 9-R’s bond issue passes, it will be torn down and a new one put in its place.

• Resurfacing parking lots and ADA-compliance • Installing fiber optic, replacing classroom network hubs and wiring overhead projectors Brown said the list of recommendations came from the District’s Long Range Planning Committee. Made up of community members, parents, 9-R staff and consultants, the committee was created in 2018 and tasked with assessing facility needs and coming up with a five- to ten-year plan. She said the Board considered pursuing a larger bond to meet what she called “significant capital needs” but chose to pursue the no-tax- option as a result of the COVID recession.

According to the Board, Colorado consistently ranks among the lowest in the nation on per-pupil funding, severely limiting the ability to address deferred maintenance, safety, technology and air-handling systems that have long been neglected. In fact, over the decades, perpupil funding in Colorado has dropped, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. In 1982, Colorado spent $232 more per student than the national average whereas in 2015, it spent $2,162 less per student than the national average.

“Quality facilities, lab spaces and flexible learning environments will better prepare schools and students to take on challenges of the future,” Brown said. “As you know, great schools are at the heart of great communities.”

For more information on the 9-R’s proposed capital improvement projects, go to durangoschools4a.com.

– Missy Votel Opponents include: Not Now Colorado. The top donors were the Denver Metro Chamber and the Associated General Contractors of Colorado.

How we’re voting: Yes. We only wish we had this instead of our maternity leave of five days (two of which, technically, were a weekend.) n

Oct. 15, 2020 n 15

StufftoDo

Matt Rupnow plays, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.

Thursday15 Gary B. Walker plays piano, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Jean-Pierre Bakery & Restaurant, 601 Main Ave.

Adam Swanson plays ragtime piano, 5:308:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main.

Jose Villareal plays, 5-8 p.m., 11th Street Station.

Aftergrass Reunion, 6-9 p.m., a benefit for SOS Help Brittny Beat MS, bonfire and food trucks. Camping available with reservation. Wines of the San Juan, Blanco, N.M. $25 suggested donation. 505-632-0879

Tim Sullivan plays, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main.

Rob Webster plays, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.

“Wakey, Wakey,” a virtual performance by Merely Players, watch when you wish online Oct. 17-18, 22-24. Pay what you can per household.

Tickets at www.merely players.us

“Saving Creation: The Story of the Sixth Extinction,” a Zoom event with environmental scientist Robin Smith, 7 p.m., part of the Lifelong Learning Lecture Series. https://tinyurl.com/y57vl6s6

Bo James and Chuck Hank Trio plays, 6-9 p.m., 11th Street Station.

Deadline for “Stuff to Do” submissions is Monday at noon. To submit an item, email: calendar@durangotelegraph.com

Laugh Therapy Open Mic, comic sign-up at 7 p.m., show starts at 8, Union Social House, 3062 Main. Show up early for seating.

Jesse Ogle/Dj Calvin play, 7 p.m., Union Social House, 3062 Main Ave.

Sunday18

Friday16

Henry Stoy plays piano, 9 a.m.-12 noon, Jean Pierre Wine Bar, College Drive and Main.

Eat Local Month Harvest Dinner, Fridays thru Oct. 16, 5-7 p.m. Each week, pick up a gourmet take-out dinner from a participating restaurant, farm or local purveyor. $75 ticket includes three courses, an alcoholic beverage and a special gift. Proceeds benefit Local First and local food businesses. Tickets at: local-first.org/eatlocalmonth.

Dan Winkler plays, 12-2 p.m., 11th Street.

“RBG’s Legacy,” a virtual town hall discussion with guest speaker Attorney General Phil Weiser and State Rep. Barbara McLachlan, 4 p.m. Weiser, who clerked for RBG, will speak about his experiences, Colorado law and the legal process upon the death of a Supreme Court Justice. Tune in on Facebook Live, www.facebook.com/Barbara forthe59th/.

DJ Calvin Duo plays, 6-9 p.m., 11th Street Station.

Terry Rickard plays, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.

Starting Sat., Oct. 17, Merely Players presents “Wakey Wakey,” a poignant examination of life and death starring Elizabeth Gray Blue Moon Ramblers play Americana/blueand Jessica Jane Harris and written by Will Eno. Folks can watch grass, 5:30–8:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, Black Velvet Duo plays, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Dia- the Zoom play online any time between 8 a.m.-midnight Oct. 17- 699 Main Ave. mond Belle Saloon, 699 Main.

18 & 22-24. It’s a “pay-what-you-can” show, with tickets available at www.merelyplayers.us.

Joel Racheff plays, Oct. 18, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m., Larry Carver & Ben Gibson play, 6 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave. Henry Stoy plays piano, 9 a.m.-12 noon, Jean Pierre Derailed Pour House, 725 Main.

Wine Bar, College Drive and Main.

Joel Racheff plays, 7 p.m., Union Social House, 3062 Free Jedi training, learn the Japanese weapons and Meditation and Dharma Talk with Yong Oh, 5:30Main Ave. techniques seen in “Star Wars,” 9-10 a.m., Claire Viles 7 p.m. online at www.durangodharmacenter.org Park. Masks required. www.durangoaikido.com Joel Racheff plays, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Durango Farmers Market, Saturdays, 9 a.m.-12 Nationwide Women’s March in Honor of RBG, Saloon, 699 Main. noon, TBK Parking Lot, across from the Transit Center.

11 a.m., 5th and Main, march on sidewalks to Buckley Park Facemasks required. www.durangofarmersmarket.com. rally. Speakers include Rep. Barbara McLachlan, La Plata Rob Webster plays, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Office Spiritocounty commissioner candidate Marsha Porter-Norton, rium, 699 Main Ave. Bayfield Apple Harvest, featuring a no-contact, and more. drive thru event with cider and mash. For more info., call Rocky Mountain Ukefest Online Jam, 6 p.m., Pine River Shares, 970-884-6040.

Snazzy Licks play, 12-2 p.m., 11th Street Station. denise@rockymountainukefest.com 4

Monday19

Saturday17

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16 n Oct. 15, 2020

telegraph

AskRachel Getting ghosted, on the juice and being worked over Interesting fact: A startling number of websites purport to list “ghost facts,” yet not a single one passed the Ask Rachel Interesting Fact smell test.

Dear Rachel, My group of friends loves to sit around and share their paranormal stories. It’s not just because Halloween is here either, though that causes a decided uptick in the norm. Ghosts in their hallways, warps in spacetime, glitches in the matrix. All cool, creepy stuff. But I have no ghost stories. I’ve never been haunted, never had my stuff rearranged, never had messages whispered through my pillow. How can I meet a specter just once? Or is it me?

– Ghosted by Ghosts Dear Caspered by Casper, Woof. That sounds rough. Can’t even get the undead to glance your way. Dating during COVID really is the pits. Going to go out on a big phantom limb here: have you ever considered that your friends make it all up?

That there really was no headless hitchhiker or creepy kid in a propeller hat floating outside the window? I’ve only met one ghost in my time, and she turned out to be the radio playing low in the other room.

– Boo, Rachel Dear Rachel, I’ve turned into a diehard, evangelical juicer.

Never thought it would happen. Used to mock people who slurped ginger celery concoctions in public. But I can’t stop now. I offer to make juice for everyone who walks down my block.

Tuesday20 “How to Build Your Website,” e-commerce web series, 9-10:30 a.m. Presented by the SW Colorado Small Business Development Center. $10/workshop. Register at: https://tinyurl.com/y57v7xd9 “Jersey girl” Tina Ooley, founder of EveryPedal MTB, shares her story as part of the Professional Women’s Network’s Virtual Inspiring Speaker Series, 5:30 p.m. Pre-register and become a member at pwndurango.com Leah Orlikowski plays, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave. Terry Rickard plays, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main.

LPEA District 3 Virtual Town Hall on future power supply options, 7 p.m. Register: tinyurl.com/yxnq4wns

Wednesday21 Free Jedi training, learn the Japanese weapons and techniques seen in “Star Wars,”, 5-6 p.m., Claire Viles Park.

Masks required. www.durangoaikido.com Free circuit workout, every Wednesday, 6 p.m. lead by physical therapist Andre Botha. Masks required. Ohana Physical Therapy, 130 Rock Point Drive, Unit C in the Tech Center. RSVP at: 970-247-7895.

Ian Lennox plays, 5-8 p.m., 11th Street Station. “Basic First Aid,” free community education class, 5-7 p.m., Durango Rec Center. Presented by Durango Fire Protection District and Durango Parks and Recreation. Classes limited to 20; masks required. Registration: tosh.black@durangofire.org Donny Johnson, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon.

Corner people at the grocery store. Buy the discounted produce in bulk because it would make great juice, bruises and all. I’m basically only writing to you to hijack your platform. Tell everyone how juicing rocks!

– Born to Juice Dear Juice Springsteen, Juicing rocks? You won’t get very far doing that. Also, I seriously cannot imagine the Boss juicing for anything other than preparation for a medical procedure in his advancing age. He is way too cool to juice. Think of all the uncool juicers out there. Steroid users. O. J. Simpson.

The only cool juice is a Capri Sun, because you could blow the bag back up through the straw and pretend it was full again.

– Squeeze this, Rachel Dear Rachel, I’m in my first “real” job experience right now, and while the regular paycheck is cool, the expectations are not. Turns out I’m contracted for 8-5 with a lunch break. But the boss expects me to work after hours to “show my dedication,” and he makes me clock out for lunch while also telling me to work through it. You won’t be surprised to learn I also don’t get overtime pay. What’s the best particular way to give him the bird while also, you know, keeping my pay?

– Working for The Man Dear Employee of the Month, No one should have to work after hours. I mean, I often write this column at like 9:30 at night. But that’s Terry Rickard plays, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.

Ongoing 2020 Devo Online Silent Auction, www.duran godevo.com. Bidding closes 8 p.m., Oct. 29.

Free Book for Every 4-Year-Old, thru Oct. 24 while supplies last, Durango Library.

Virtual Road Apple Rally, thru Oct. 17, racers will use Strava or MTB Project to track and record their times on the course. Register online by Oct. 17 at noon. Take a screenshot of your results and submit by Oct. 18. www.fmtn.org.

“Dinosaur Discoveries: Ancient Fossils, New Ideas,” a traveling exhibit from the American Museum of Natural History, Powerhouse Science Center.

Sunnyside and Fort Lewis Mesa libraries are open, providing books, movies, music, audio books and internet, Mon.-Fri., 2:30-7 p.m. or call 970-375-3816. Curbside service also available.

Fort Lewis College 2020 Faculty Biennial exhibit, viewing every Wednesday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and by appt. thru Nov. 19. For info: www.fortlewis.edu/art-design/artgallery.

Episode 2 of the “Actor’s Journal,” free recordings of original works, essays, poems, remembrances by various actors. Six new actors featured every month. www.durango playfest.org/actors-journal Durango Public Library Weekly Activity Kits available for curbside pickup every Tuesday. Kits include supplies for one project for preschool, elementary and teen-age students. A new kit is released every Tuesday while supplies last.

telegraph

Email Rachel at telegraph@durangotelegraph.com my choice. No one makes me, except my editor that one time I forgot to do it earlier and the deadline loomed like an unforgiving boss. Time to stage a haunting. Get the ghosts on your side. And if your boss doesn’t learn his lesson, then you ghost right on outta there.

– Clocking out, Rachel To request, email reference@DurangoGov.org oPIVOT: Skateboard Deck Art exhibit, over 100 skateboard decks painted by 30 different Native American artists, on view by appointment through spring 2021, Center of Southwest Studies, FLC. swcenter.fortlewis.edu/

Upcoming: “A Modern Man: The Genius of George Carlin,” a Zoom event with longtime fan and former radio broadcaster Bob Griffith, Oct. 22, 7 p.m. part of the Lifelong Learning Lecture Series. https://tinyurl.com/y57vl6s6 Tim Sullivan plays, Oct. 22, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main.

Dustin Burley plays, Oct. 22, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave. Devin Scott plays, Oct. 23, 5:30–8:30 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave. Jack Ellis plays, Oct. 23, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main.

NICA Colorado State MTB Championships, Oct. 2425, Durango Mesa Park.

Maddy & Kev play, Oct. 24, 12-2 p.m., 11th Street Station.

Deadline to submit items for “Stuff to Do” is Monday at noon.

E-mail your stuff to: calendar@durangotelegraph.com

Oct. 15, 2020 n 17

FreeWillAstrology

by Rob Brezsny ARIES (March 21-April 19): Would you be willing to meditate on how you might become more skilled in the arts of intimacy? Would you consider reading books and websites that offer guidance about strategies for being the best partner and ally you can be? Are you receptive to becoming more devoted to practicing empathy and deep listening?

I’m not saying you’re deficient in these matters, nor am I implying that you need to improve your mastery of them any more than the rest of us. I simply want you to know that now is an especially favorable time for you to make progress.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Entre chien et loup is a French idiom that literally means “between dog and wolf.” It’s used to describe twilight or dusk, when the light is faint and it’s tough to distinguish between a dog and a wolf. But it may also suggest a situation that is a blend of the familiar and the unknown, or even a moment when what’s ordinary and routine is becoming unruly or wild. Entre chien et loup suggests an intermediary state that’s unpredictable or beyond our ability to define. In accordance with astrological omens, I propose you regard it as one of your main themes for now. Don’t fight it; enjoy it! Thrive on it!

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GEMINI (May 21-June 20): For 34 years, the beloved American TV personality Mr. Rogers did a show for children. He’s now widely acknowledged as having been a powerful teacher of goodness and morality. Here’s a fun fact: His actual middle name was “McFeely.” I propose that you use that as a nickname for yourself. If McFeely doesn’t quite appeal to you, maybe try “Feel Maestro” or “Emotion Adept” or “Sensitivity Genius.” Doing so might help inspire you to fulfill your astrological assignment in the coming weeks, which is to allow yourself to experience more deep feelings than usual – and thereby enhance your heart intelligence. That’s crucial! In the coming weeks, your head intelligence needs your heart intelligence to be working at peak capacity.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): A blogger named Dr.LoveLlama writes, “You may think I am walking around the house with a blanket around my shoulders because I am cold, but in fact the ‘blanket’ is my cloak and I am on a fantasy adventure.” I approve of such behavior during our ongoing struggles with COVID-19, and I especially recommend it to you in the coming days. You’ll be wise to supercharge your imagination, giving it permission to dream up heroic adventures and epic exploits that you may or may not actually undertake someday. It’s time to become braver and more playful in the inner realms.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): According to author Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell, “The body has its own way of knowing, a knowing that has little to do with logic, and much to do with truth.” I recommend that you meditate on that perspective. Make it your keynote. Your physical organism always has wisdom to impart, and you can always benefit from tuning in to it – and that’s especially important for you right now. So let me ask you: How much skill do you have in listening to what your body tells you? How receptive are you to its unique and sometimes subtle forms of expression? I hope you’ll enhance your ability to commune with it during the next four weeks.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In his fictional memoir Running in the Family, Virgo author Michael Ondaatje returns to Sri Lanka, the land where he spent his childhood, after many years away. At one point he enthuses that he would sometimes wake up in the morning and “just smell things for the whole day.”

I’d love for you to try a similar experiment, Virgo: Treat yourself to a festival of aromas. Give yourself freely to consorting with the sensual joy of the world’s many scents. Does that sound frivolous? I don’t think it is. I believe it would have a deeply calming and grounding effect on you. It would anchor you more thoroughly in the here and now of your actual life, and inspire you to shed any fantasies that you should be different from who you are.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “The hardest thing you will ever do is trust yourself,” Libran journalist Barbara Walters says. Really? I don’t think so. In my experience, the hardest thing to do is to consistently treat ourselves with the loving care we need to be mentally and physically healthy. But I do acknowledge that trusting ourselves is also an iffy task for many of us. And yet that’s often because we don’t habitually give ourselves the loving care we need to be healthy. How can we trust ourselves if we don’t put in the work necessary to ensure our vitality? But here’s the good news, Libra: In the coming weeks, you’re likely to be extra motivated and intuitively astute whenever you improve the way you nurture yourself.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “You can’t learn anything when you’re trying to look like the smartest person in the room,” author Barbara Kingsolver writes. That’s a useful message for you right now. Why? Because you will soon be exposed to teachings that could change your life for the better. And if you hope to be fully available for those teachings, you must be extra receptive and curious and open-minded – which means you shouldn’t try to seem like you already know everything you need to know.

telegraph

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22Dec. 21): I’ve decided not to use quotes by famous writers who’ve endorsed bigoted ideas. In the future, my horoscopes won’t mention the work of T. S. Eliot, Roald Dahl, V.S. Naipaul, Edith Wharton, Kingsley Amis, H.P. Lovecraft, Flannery O’Connor, Rudyard Kipling and Louis-Ferdinand Celine. I’m sorry to see them go, because I’ve learned a lot from some of them. And I understand that many were reflecting attitudes that were widespread in their era and milieu. But as I’ve deepened my commitment to fighting prejudice, I’ve come to the conclusion that I personally don’t want to engage with past perpetrators. Now, in accordance with current astrological omens, I invite you to take an inventory of your own relationship with bigoted influences – and consider making some shifts in your behavior.

(More info: tinyurl.com/BigotedAuthors1 and tinyurl.com/BigotedAuthors2) CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn chemist Tu YouYou doesn’t have a medical degree or PhD. Yet she discovered a treatment for malaria that has saved millions of lives.

The drug was derived from an ancient herbal medicine that she spent years tracking down. In part because of her lack of credentials, she remained virtually unsung from the time she helped come up with the cure in 1977 until she won a Nobel Prize in 2015. What’s most unsung about your accomplishments, Capricorn? There’s a much better chance than usual that it will finally be appreciated in the coming months.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Luck is what happens to you when fate gets tired of waiting,” author Gregory David Roberts says. If that’s true, I expect that a surge of luck will flow your way soon. According to my astrological analysis, fate has grown impatient waiting for you to take the actions that would launch your life story’s next chapter. Hopefully, a series of propitious flukes will precipitate the postponed but necessary transformations. My advice?

Don’t question the unexpected perks.

Don’t get in their way. Allow them to work their magic.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Have you formulated wily plans and crafty maneuvers to help you navigate through the labyrinthine tests and trials up ahead? I hope so. If you hope to solve the dicey riddles and elude the deceptive temptations, you’ll need to use one of your best old tricks – and come up with a new trick, as well.

But please keep this important caveat in mind: To succeed, you won’t necessarily have to break the rules. It may be sufficient merely to make the rules more supple and flexible.

classifieds

Deadline for Telegraph classified ads is Tuesday at noon. Ads are a bargain at 10 cents a character with a $5 minimum. Even better, ads can now be placed online: durangotelegraph.com.

Prepayment is required via cash, credit card or check.

(Sorry, no refunds.)

Ads can be submitted via: n classifieds@durango telegraph.com n 970-259-0133 n 679 E. 2nd Ave., #E2 Approximate office hours: Mon: 9ish - 5ish Tues: 9ish - 5ish Wed: 9ish - 3ish Thurs: Out on delivery Fri: Probably skiing, riding or drinking, call first, 259-0133.

Announcements The Perfect Gift for your favorite dirtbag. Literature from Durango’s own Benighted Publications. The Desert, The Climbing Zine, The Great American Dirtbags, American Climber, Climbing Out of Bed and Graduating From College Me are available at: Maria’s Bookshop, Pine Needle Mountaineering, the Sky Store, or on the interweb at www.climbingzine.com.

HelpWanted Managing Director Local First, a thriving nonprofit organization advocating for the independent, locally owned business economy in La Plata County, seeking dynamic leader w/ admin., financial and communication skills to lead organization of over 250 members. Info at https://local-first.org/work , EOE, deadline 10/27.

Wanted Cash for Vehicles, Copper, Alum, Etc. at RJ Metal Recycle. Also free appliance and other metal drop off. 970-259-3494.

Services Math Help Experienced tutor for grades 5 - 11. $40/hr. 970-560-0737.

RSE Handyman Service Home repair. Yard work. Odd jobs. 970903-0449.

Lowest Prices on Storage!

Inside/outside storage near Durango and Bayfield. 10-x-20, $130. Outside spots: $65,

with discounts available. RJ Mini Storage.

970-259-3494 Harmony Organizing and Cleaning Services Home and office 970-403-6192.

Marketing Small and Local Businesses Media, social media, website content, SEO, etc. for small, local, independent or startup businesses.

Email jnderge@gmail.com

BodyWork massageintervention.life Voted best massage in Durango 2018-19.

Couples, cupping, local CBD. Reviews on FB + Yelp. 970-903-2984

CommunityService Rent a Harvest Kit from the GFC! Want to harvest fruit with your family, friends, or all on your own? The Good Food Collective has the equipment you need! Visit the www.goodfoodcollective.org for DIY rental kits, how-to videos & more! Reduce food waste, save bears and feed community.

Take what you want donate the rest back!

City residents can call City Code at 3754930 to report incidents of trash accessed by bears. County residents should call Animal Protection via Central Dispatch at 3852900. Call Bear Smart Durango at bp@ frontier.net for info. information.

Report incidents of bears accessing trash With bears actively foraging, residents are reminded that local bear and trash laws only work when incidents are reported.

HaikuMovieReview ‘The Invisible Man’ What is it about Miss Moss that makes people treat her so damn badly?

– Lainie Maxson

NewspaperOrigami

ForRent Salon Space Large 2 room suite/salon on North Main plenty of parking $575/month 970-9460663 for more info

ForSale Gear Hauler Spacetrailers.com Used 4x7 covered utility trailer to haul your gear with a car! $3K OBO. 970-749-9037 Commuter/Gravel Bike 2016 Diamondback Haanjenn XS 47cm, very lightly used, 2x9 drivetrain, can handle up to 700x40 tires. $300 OBO. 970-7499037.

Reruns Home Furnishings Brighten up your space! Willett midcentury side table, barstools, chairs and ottomans. Patio set, tile plant stands, nightstands and much more. 572 E. 6th Ave. Open Mon.-Sat. 385-7336.

RealEstate Radon Services Free radon testing and consultation. Call Colorado Radon Abatement and Detection for details. 970- 946-1618.

telegraph

A bat Oct. 15, 2020 n 19

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