February 24, 2011

the

Sopris Carbondale’s

weekly, non-profit newspaper

Sun

Volume 3, Number 2 | February 24, 2011

Bud lite Now that it’s medical, teens are more likely to make light of marijuana

By Terray Sylvester Sopris Sun Staff Writer

G

lenwood Springs Police Chief Terry Wilson says that lately, local teens have tried to teach his officers a surprising thing or two about marijuana. For example, they’ve argued Colorado laws have made it legal for anyone to use it.

“We’ve had them stand there in our booking room and argue the fact with us,” he said. “We’ve created a state of confusion.”

Wilson doesn’t blame the kids, he blames the laws that have paved the way for the state’s medical marijuana industry, and he’s not alone.

Some law enforcement officers and counselors in the Roaring Fork Valley say that when it comes to convincing local youth to steer clear of pot, their job has become harder since Colorado’s medical marijuana industry exploded in 2008.

Young people appear to be finding the drug more accessible, and not just because it’s now being sold and grown legally from homes and shops throughout the valley, but also because of contradictions and inconsistencies in the marijuana laws, which have allowed adolescents to more easily downplay the drug.

“I would say that they totally minimize it, absolutely,” said Lori Mueller, program director at YouthZone, a non-profit organization that works with juveniles and their families on problems ranging from substance abuse to delinquency. “I would say most of the kids that I’ve heard of understand that [getting high] is not legal for everybody, but it’s just not a big deal ... and that’s a change in the last couple years.”

If that’s the case, it’s more than just an abstract problem, since by some indicators young people are finding it easier and easier to get a hold of pot.

A trickle-down effect Over the last two years, the number of juveniles referred to YouthZone for marijuana-related offenses has doubled. YouthZone has offices throughout the Roaring Fork Valley and its employees estimate they see about 95 percent of juveniles who MEDICAL MARIJUANA page 7

It’s calving season up and down the Crystal and Roaring Fork valleys but this little one is special. He’s a Guernsey dairy cow rather than a beef cow. He was born at Sustainable Settings on President’s Day and is named Abe. His barnyard mates include chickens, pigs, horses and more. Photo by Jane Bachrach

Join the education discussion

KDNK waits on CPB vote

Pics that didn’t fit

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Carbondale Commentary Join the education discussion

By Bonnie Cretti On Thursday, March 10, at 6:30 p.m. the Gordon Cooper Branch Library invites the community to a discussion of the nationally best-selling book “The Death and Life of the Great American School System” by Diane Ravitch. It is a thought-provoking and yet very accessible book about issues that affect us all.

In 1991 Diane Ravitch, already a well-known writer and historian of education, found herself working in Washington, D.C. as an assistant secretary of education in George H. W. Bush’s administration. From this first job in government service, she went on to become an avid supporter of some new (at least at that time) educational ideas: charter schools, educational choice, standardized testing, merit-based pay and performance-based evaluations for teachers, privatization, de-regulation, and a businessbased model for school improvement and reform. She worked for three well-known conservative organizations: the Brookings Institution, the Hoover Institution, and the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. For seven years she was also a member of the board that oversees the National Assessment of Education Progress (the NAEP test).

And then she changed her mind.

Her newest book,“The Death and Life of the Great American School System” is the story of this about-face. When questioned about her reversal, she writes: “I have the right to change my mind. … my views changed as I saw how these ideas were working out in reality.” She still firmly believes that “we must preserve American public education, because it is so intimately connected to our concepts of citizenship and democracy and to the promise of American life.” It’s how we try to improve it that she believes should be changed.

For anyone interested in education, children, government, community or the future, this book makes for compelling reading. Most of today’s crucial issues are here: standards, testing, diversity, parent involvement, No Child Left Behind, teacher evaluation, corporate funding, politics, and many more. But Ravitch, with her historian’s eye, helps us see how we got here and offers solutions, albeit not easy or quick ones, for how to move on.

From among her plethora of concerns, a few important threads emerge.

First, Ravitch believes that nothing, whether education or otherwise, can truly be solved with a “quick fix.” She says that this “magic bullet” approach that we Americans often seek has proven many times over to be a short-term fix rather than a sustainable solution.

Secondly, Ravitch thinks that before implementing new policies, we must ask,“What IS a good education? What are the essentials?” Her answer? A strong, deep, substantive, national curriculum, based on the sciences and liberal arts. She recognizes that these are very tough questions. She is not opposed to testing, but makes a good argument for testing what you teach, not teaching to a standardized test.

A third thread is that education, and the students and schools within the system, do not lend themselves to a business model of organization or improvement. “Good data collection” and “the lure of the market” might not be the best motivators for children, learning, and teaching, she suggests.

If you are a teacher, ever had a good teacher, or know one, you will like Chapter Nine: What Would Mrs. Ratliff Do? EDUCATION page 12

Letters

The Sopris Sun welcomes your letters, limited to no more than 400 words. Letters exceeding that length may be edited or returned for revisions. Include your name and residence (for publication) and a contact email and phone number. Submit letters via email to letters@soprissun.com or via snail mail to P.O. Box 399, Carbondale, CO 81623.

2 • THE SOPRIS SUN • FEBRUARY 24, 2011

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$40,000

An ‘insane expense’ Dear Editor: I read with interest your article concerning the Carbondale recreation center’s electricity bill since I work out there almost every day.

Why is it that the swirl of ESPN nothingness is broadcast hour after unending hour, on multiple TVs, and at taxpayer expense?

Sell the TVs and save the taxpayers electricity money. There are a good number of taxpaying businesses that are set up with TVs that would appreciate some business. Why compete with them?

CLEER’s energy engineer, Mr. Ogburn, described the results of efforts to improve the building’s efficiency as “insane payback.”

ESPN is “insane expense.”

One can’t have a quick after-shower shave in the men’s locker room without the light turning off, yet every time I see what I think is the third or fourth taxpayer-funded basketball court in our small town, I’m reminded of the Northwest Territories around the Summer Solstice: vast, brilliantly lit and empty. Is Michael Jordan expected at any moment?

I’m told that there is no money or room for a bench to exercise the lower back or an abductor/adductor leg machine but we do have that glorious basketball court. I’ve read that many people suffer from lower back problems and that strengthening their backs with proper equipment would be wise and require no electricity. However, I’ve never read about an insufficient amount of dribbling on the part of the populace.

William M. Perich Carbondale

Sisu thanks

Luke Harris, who graduated from Roaring Fork High School in 2005, is now working with Manna Project International to provide food and health care to mothers and children in La Chureca, Nicaragua. He is shown here (at lower left) with his mother, Debbie Quinn, at a health clinic in La Chureca with the families he assists. Courtesy photo

00 $5U0R,0GOAL

Dear Editor: On Super Bowl Sunday the 19th annual Mount Sopris Nordic Council Ski for Sisu skiathon was held. I would like to thank Steve Zeder of Bighorn Motors, Don Gerbaz of Berthod Motors and Richard Fuller of Alpine Bank Carbondale for their generous sponsorships and support of the Ski for Sisu trail grooming fundraiser.

A last minute addition to this year’s event was a silent auction sponsored by Penn Newhard of Backbone Media. Backbone Media donated all of the items in the auction.

On behalf of the Mount Sopris Nordic Council I would like to thank Penn and Rob of Backbone Media for their generous donation.

An event like this is not possible without a posse of volunteers for which I am most grateful. Thanks go out to: Gregor Koplas, George Tempest, Brad Zeigel, Dave Peckler, Bob Lucas, Elliot Norquist, Trip Sutro, Mark Chain, Wick Moses, Gayle Wells, Steve Skinner, Jack and Doris O’Neil, Steve Hessel, Pat Bingham and Berit BjerkeDaniels. Thank you all.

LETTERS page 12

$30,000

$20,000

$10,000

START Illustration by Eric Auer

Help us with our fundraising goal.

Please send your donation to: P.O. Box 399, Carbondale, CO 81623

To inform, inspire and build community Donations accepted online or by mail. For information call 510-3003 Co-editors: Lynn Burton and Terray Sylvester 510-3003 • news@soprissun.com Advertising: Dina Drinkhouse • 970-456-7261 dina@soprissun.com Photographer/Writer: Jane Bachrach Ad/Page Production: Terri Ritchie Paper Boy: Cameron Wiggin Webmaster: Will Grandbois Sopris Sun, LLC Managing Board of Directors: Peggy DeVilbiss • David Johnson Allyn Harvey • Colin Laird Laura McCormick • Trina Ortega Jean Perry • Elizabeth Phillips Frank Zlogar

Sopris Sun, LLC • P.O. Box 399 520 S. Third Street #35 Carbondale, CO 81623

970-510-3003 www.soprissun.com Visit us on facebook.com Send us your comments: feedback@soprissun.com The Sopris Sun is an LLC organized under the 501c3 non-profit structure of the Roaring Fork Community Development Corporation.

Back to square two for historic ompson House

By Lynn Burton Sopris Sun Staff Writer

Developer Frieda Wallison didn’t exactly send the historic Thompson House back to square one at Tuesday night’s Carbondale Board of Trustees meeting.

Call it square two.

Wallison isn’t starting from scratch in her bid to annex her proposed Thompson Park and preserve the Thompson House, but she did tell trustees she’ll revert to her original plan of 30 housing units rather than the 80 she proposed in 2010.

The centerpiece in Wallison’s annexation/ zoning proposal is her offer to give the 123year-old Thompson House to either the town or Mt. Sopris Historical Society to operate as a museum. “We’re neutral (on which entity receives the house),” she told trustees.

Thompson Park is a 10-acre site on the west side of Highway 133 next to River Valley Ranch that was never annexed into the town limits.

The trustees voted in concept for the annexation in December 2009, then spent 2010 negotiating with Wallison as her site plan changed and her number of proposed housing units ballooned. In recent months Wallison asked for an up or down vote on the project, which many feared could end their dream of preserving the Thompson House and opening it to the public.

“The intent was there (to annex the property) in 2009,” Mayor Stacey Bernot told Wallison.“We got tripped up on the details.”

Those details included road configurations inside the sub-division, a proposal to reroute an irrigation ditch, water and sewer line placement, an easement across private property, traffic impact fees and more. Wallison’s representative, Michael Hassig, told the trustees he tried to put site plan elements of previous plans into the new plan.

“There’s aren’t any major issues here,” Wallison said Tuesday night, then added she isn’t in a position to pay traffic impact fees

“for (housing) units we haven’t built.”

One bone of contention did receive a pretty good chewing from trustees. It revolves around Wallison’s original offer to donate $75,000 for repairs or maintenance to the Thompson House. Tuesday night, citing the subdivision’s density decrease, Wallison said she is dropping the offer to $25,000.

“I see this as a possible deal breaker,” said trustee Ed Cortez. “This is a change at the eleventh hour.”

Later in the meeting, trustee John Hoffmann said, “We’ll have to figure something out.”

Thompson House supporters, many wearing red bandanas around their neck, took most of the available seats at Tuesday night’s meeting. Mt. Sopris Historical Society member Kip Hubbard gave a presentation that centered on cultural heritage tourism, which he said attracts visitors who spend more than regular tourists. “ … the Thompson House is integral to

our future economic vitality,” Hubbard said.

He said cultural heritage tourism is defined as people who travel to places and activities that “authentically” represent the people of the past and present, and includes historic, cultural and natural resources.

“Cultural heritage tourism is a benefit to our community because it is sustainable tourism and contributes to the clean economy that Carbondale is known for,” he said.

Wallison has already donated the Thompson House contents, some of which date back 100 years and others from the 1920s through 1950s to the historical society.

The trustees voted to continue the Thompson Park annexation public hearing to April 12.

Other Tuesday night action included the approval of several liquor licenses. Discussion of a Habitat for Humanity proposal for Lot 9 at Cleveland Place was taken off the agenda.

Chamber’s 2011 plan calls for a sign on Highway 82

By Lynn Burton Sopris Sun Staff Writer What kind of sign does Carbondale need to draw motorists off Highway 82, onto Highway 133 and then into town?

If you’re thinking “potato,” “gigantic trout,” “cowboy,” “cowgirl,” “cow,” “flamboyant hippie” or any of a number of other images, hold on to that thought. The Carbondale Chamber of Commerce plans to hold a contest to design a sign for the intersection of Highway 82/133 and they’d like to have the sign in place by this spring.

“It (a contest) seemed like a natural fit,” chamber member Jason Segal told the Car-

bondale Board of Trustees at Tuesday night’s meeting.

Placing a sign on Highway 82 is just one of several projects and campaigns the chamber has planned for 2011, as outlined by chamber director Sherri Harrison during her presentation to the trustees.

The Carbondale Chamber of Commerce administers a 2 percent lodging tax assessed on motels and bed and breakfasts that is earmarked for tourism promotion and is expected to raise about $58,000 this year.

Naturally enough, much of the chamber’s attention in 2011 will be focused on tourism, which is guided by the Tourism Council of

Carbondale.“The focus for 2011 is to market Carbondale as effectively as possible with the limited marketing dollars utilizing professionals as well as chamber staff,” Harrison said in a memo to the trustees.

To get the word out, the chamber has contracted with Hyperseed Interactive and M3 Marketing. Armed with a $10,000 grant from the town in 2009, the chamber upgraded its Website, which it released in November.

“Continued development of the Website includes implementation of social media, blogging and event marketing,” Harrison said. “The site will have a large social media

component incorporating Facebook and Twitter, but the most exciting part is the real time reports the blogs will contain. We are going to develop a group that will report current trail conditions, fishing conditions etc.

This component creates an innovative twist that really sets the Website apart from other tourist sites.”

Tuesday night, Harrison also presented a report on the chamber’s activities in 2010.

They included: Taste of Spring, which returns this year on May 7 at the Church at Carbondale with the Milemarkers, wine tasting a silent auction and more.

Proposed budget cuts could hamstring local public radio

By Terray Sylvester Sopris Sun Staff Writer Local public radio stations are casting a wary eye toward Washington, D.C. where ongoing negotiations over the federal budget threaten to decimate funding for rural broadcasters.

A proposal to eliminate federal funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting could slash the budget of Carbondalebased KDNK by a little less than 30 percent. In Paonia, KVNF could also suffer a roughly 30 percent cut.

“I’m losing sleep,” said KVNF Station Manager Sally Kane.

She stated that rural stations will suffer disproportionately from the cuts since they rely more heavily on CPB funding than their counterparts in urban areas.

Although legislators have proposed cutting funding for the CPB in the past, this time Kane sees a perfect storm brewing, precipitated in part by a backlash over a perceived liberal bias on the part of National Public Radio, which receives only about 2 percent of its funding from the CPB, according to Politico.com.

“Every year this is part of the [budget] process,” she said. “Citizens have to stand

up for the things they use and value, but there’s never been such a conjunction of deficit-reduction fever and sour economic conditions.”

On Feb. 19, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would cut the federal budget by $60 billion. The bill was approved largely on party lines, with the support of Colorado’s 3rd District Representative Scott Tipton and all but three other Republican representatives.

The measure is expected to face opposition in the Senate, but if it does become law it would do away with a $340 million annual appropriation for the CPB. A decision on the bill could arrive as early as March 4, which is when a deadline for approving a new federal budget is set to expire, although lawmakers may extend that deadline.

KDNK is set to receive about $136,000 in CPB funds this year, said Station Manager Steve Skinner. KDNK’s total 2011 budget is $435,860.

“That would be a big hit,” Skinner said.

“We’re certainly dependent on it.”

Most of the CPB funds are unrestricted and flow into KDNK’s general fund. If they

Chaz Langelier, of Salt Lake City, cruises to victory in last Sunday’s 5K Nordic skate-skiing competition at Redstone’s Winter Fest. Justin Silcox of Louisville, Colo., finished second. Terri Sofarelli, also of Salt Lake City, finished third. Photo

by Lynn Burton

PUBLIC RADIO page 5 THE SOPRIS SUN • FEBRUARY 24, 2011 • 3

News Briefs The Weekly News Brief The Sopris Sun and the KDNK news departments team up to discuss recent news from the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond. Catch the Brief on KDNK between 7:30 and 8 a.m. and between 5:30 and 6 p.m. on Thursdays.

Agencies on the alert for bat disease The Colorado Division of Wildlife is stepping up monitoring efforts for white nose syndrome, a deadly ailment that results from a fungus and causes massive bat die-offs. At the same time the U.S. Forest Service has closed all caves on its land in Colorado and several surrounding states in order to prevent the spread of the fungus. The public is asked to avoid going near bat caves, and to report any signs of white-nose syndrome.

White-nose syndrome, which is caused by a fungus named Geomyces destructans, has resulted in large-scale bat die-offs in the eastern U.S. In the four years since it was discovered, white-nose syndrome has been responsible for the deaths of more than one million bats. The syndrome can wipe out 95 percent of a bat colony in a couple of years, and it may eliminate little brown bats in the northeastern U.S. within 16 years.

So far, white nose syndrome has not been found in Colorado, but in 2010, a cave in northwestern Oklahoma less than 200 miles from the Colorado border tested positive for the fungus. Scientists believe that the fungus jumped from the East Coast to Oklahoma on the clothing or equipment of someone who had explored an infected cave and then traveled west.

Signs of white nose syndrome include: bats moving to the openings of the hibernation site during the winter; bats leaving hibernation sites in the winter, especially on cold days; bats with white powder-like material on their noses, ears or wings; and dead bats. DOW would also like to know of any sites, especially in eastern Colorado, that have hibernating bats so biologists can include them in the monitoring effort.

Members of the public who see any active or dead bats this winter are asked to report that information by calling (303) 291-7771 or sending an email toWildlife.Batline@state.co.us.For more information, visit wildlife.state.co.us/Research/WildlifeHealth/WNS.

State water board hosts meeting The Colorado Water Conservation Board will host a public meeting on the framework for the Interbasin Compact Committee (IBCC)

from 1 to 4 p.m., Feb. 25, at the Glenwood Springs Community Center at 100 Wolfsohn Drive. The 27-member IBCC works to facilitate conversations among Colorado’s river basins and to address statewide water issues.

The committee is intended to encourage dialog on water, broaden the range of stakeholders actively participating in the state’s water decisions and create a locally driven decision-making process. At the meeting, participants will go over the IBCC framework, participate in a survey that will focus the discussion, and then have small group discussion on framework elements. Written feedback can be directed to Viola.Bralish@state.co.us, due Feb. 24.

Heads up, desert rats To protect ecological and cultural resources in the Grand Canyon watershed, the U.S. Department of the Interior is proposing to withdraw as many as 1 million acres from hardrock mining and exploration for 20 years. The terrain under consideration lies to the north and south of Grand Canyon National Park. The department is currently soliciting public comment on the proposal. Mail comments to the Bureau of Land Management, Arizona Strip District, 345 East Riverside Drive, St. George, UT 84790, or email them to nazproposedwithdrawal@azblm.org.

For more information, visit: blm.gov or call (435) 688-3200.

Website tracks GarCo energy use Government partners in the countywide Garfield Clean Energy program have a new tool to track energy performance in public buildings, share progress with the public, and identify ways to save additional energy and money. The Garfield Energy Navigator Website (garfieldenergynavigator.org) tracks energy use – in live, 15-minute increments – for 57 buildings countywide, including libraries, town halls, recreation centers, and wastewater treatment plants. The site helps facility managers identify if buildings are operating properly and make energy-saving adjustments if needed. The site also demonstrates the power of energy management for cutting energy costs and reducing emissions.

Business Briefs

EnviroTextiles hires Pradier Barbara Filippone, founder and president of EnviroTextiles in Glenwood Springs has tapped local entrepreneur Jerry Pradier to be the CEO of the growing international company, states a press release. EnviroTextiles deJerry Pradier velops hemp and hempblend textiles as well as other natural fiber products and works to improve corporate responsibility and transparency in manufacturing processes and labeling.As CEO, Pradier will focus on strategic direction of the company in coordination with Filippone’s vision as well as on marketing and branding efforts and serving the commercial clients of the company. For

more information: jerry@envirotextile.com or summer@envirotextile.com or 945-5986.

CMC earns recognition The marketing and public information departments at Colorado Mountain College recently received several awards from the regional chapter of the National Council for Marketing & Public Relations, which honors outstanding community college communicators from Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming.

CMC’s marketing team earned a gold award for its online newsletter enews.coloradomtn.edu, silver for its Website coloradomtn.edu and bronze for a 30-second television ad. The public information office took home silver for feature writing and bronze in the category of media success story.

4 • THE SOPRIS SUN • FEBRUARY 24, 2011

Cop Shop The following events are drawn from incident reports of the Carbondale Police Department.

SUNDAY Feb. 13 At 9:44 p.m. police issued summons to two juvenile females who allegedly broke into a home on Meadowood Drive while its owners were at church.

TUESDAY Feb. 15 At 1:41 a.m. Carbondale police assisted Garfield County Sheriff’s officers with a warrant arrest at the Catherine Store park and ride.

TUESDAY Feb. 15 At 1:53 a.m. police responded to a drunk man allegedly trying to force his way into a woman’s room on Delores Way. Officers gave the man a ride to his cousin’s house where he spent the night.

TUESDAY Feb. 15 At 6:50 a.m. a resident of Capitol Avenue reported someone had siphoned gas out of his car. The police have no leads.

TUESDAY Feb. 15 At 7:34 p.m. officers noticed three kids allegedly wrestling on the side of the road at the intersection of Eighth Street and Colorado Avenue.

The police gave them warnings for under-aged consumption of alcohol.

Roaring Fork’s Sam Carpenter takes it to the hoop in a game earlier this month. The Rams downed Olathe 64-50 on Feb. 22 and take on Grand Valley in district tournament action at Palisade High School at 4:45 p.m. on Feb. 25. Photo by Jordan Hirro

Next Steps:

Public radio continued om page 3 vanish, the station would suffer a loss equal to about half of its total staffing budget, which is roughly $223,000. Put more viscerally, the cut could simply pull the rug out from underneath the KDNK news department, which pays two full-time employees as well as other contributors.

In addition, some of the CPB funds pay for national programming that airs on KDNK, such as NPR, “Democracy Now!” and WNYC’s “Radiolab.”

Over the pass in Paonia, KVNF is set to receive about $120,000 in CPB grants this year, Kane said. The station’s total 2011 budget is roughly $360,000. The loss of the CPB funding could cost the station two full-time positions, plus require other cuts.

Kane explained that while an urban station might draw between 7 and 10 percent of its budget from CPB grants, rural stations rely much more heavily on federal funds.

Rural stations have to foot the bill for much of the same expensive equipment as urban stations while operating in sparsely populated areas home to a much smaller pool of potential donors. They also face added expenses to maintain their infrastructure, Kane said, mentioning one snowy expedition this winter when KVNF workers rounded up snowmobiles (and a team of sled dogs) to repair a piece of transmitting equipment near Montrose.

Native American and minority stations – which may serve a small listenership even if they’re located in urban areas – would

also be hit particularly hard if the CPB loses its funding.

And by some standards, broadcasters in rural areas are more valuable, since they operate in underserved areas, Kane said.

KVNF itself serves an estimated 180,000 listeners spread over seven counties, she explained. It is the only broadcast facility physically located in Delta County, where, according to Kane’s research, about 60 percent of residents don’t have Internet access in their homes.

“We’re already really having a tough time sustaining local news as it is,” she said.

“All we’ve got is one … weekly paper in this county.”

Back in Carbondale, Skinner managed to find a silver lining.

“It could be absolutely horrible but it could force people to pay for their radio station,” he said, explaining that the loss of CPB funds could stimulate listeners to identify what they value most in the station – whether it’s the local news from KDNK’s reporters, national programming or music shows – and then step up and fight for it.

Skinner suggested the best way for people to get involved – aside from calling lawmakers who may or may not pay attention – would be to “pony up,” become a member if they aren’t already, renew their membership if they need to and generally “get in-fricking-volved and not let the world pass them by.”

Coincidentally, KDNK’s pledge drive kicked off this week. (See sidebar.)

March

For more information on the proposed cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, visit 170millionamericans.org.

KDNK’s Spring Renewal Membership Drive runs through March 9 or until the station hits its fundraising goal. This year it features a breakfast talk with Amy Goodman of “Democracy Now!” on March 5 at Carbondale Town Hall. For more information visit KDNK.org or call 963-0139.

KVNF will start its spring membership drive in late March; for more information visit kvnf.org or call (970) 527-4866.

Andy Patterson makes a trip across the newly refurbished Satank bridge earlier this month. The bridge (formerly also known as the “Pink Bridge”) was coated with a protective stain before being installed, and reportedly still smells like a gigantic furniture refinishing project. In any case, Garfield County plans a formal bridge opening in the spring. Photo by Julie Albrecht

AT VALLEY VIEW HOSPITAL

VVH Auxiliary offers scholarships Teeny Jeung Memorial Scholarships

A LOCAL SHOWING OF THE NATIONAL EXHIBIT

March 15, 5-7 pm Valley View Hospital

Please join us for the opening reception of this compelling art exhibit. The Lilly Oncology on Canvas display honors the journeys people face when confronted with a cancer diagnosis, providing insight into the wide range of emotions experienced. Showing until March 25.

The exhibit is touring communities nationwide, and showcases select pieces of art from the 2010 Oncology On Canvas competition.

Additional art pieces from local cancer survivors will also be shown.

Champagne and light refreshments Complimentary valet parking

Blood testing Predraws for Valley View Hospital’s Community Health Fairs

Blood PreDraws only: • March 2, 6:30-10 am • March 23, 6:30 to 10 am Glenwood Springs Community Center

Blood draw includes cholesterol, cardiac risk, blood sugar, kidney and liver function for $40. Add Prostate Specific Antigen for $30. Blood count $15. Colorectal kit $10.

Requires fasting 12 hours before blood draw. 18 years and older.

For information: 384-6653.

Health Fair dates:

Coal Ridge High School (Silt/New Castle) April 9 – 7 a.m. - 11 a.m.

Roaring Fork High School (Carbondale) April 16 – 7 a.m. - 11 a.m.

GMA (Glenwood) April 30 7 a.m. - 11 a.m.

Valley View Hospital Auxiliary offers four scholarships in memory of Teeny Jeung, a long time nurse at Valley View Hospital.

Any local graduating high school studen who has been accepted into a Health Sciences program at a college or university is eligible.

Valley View Hospital Auxiliary Health Sciences Scholarships

The Health Sciences Scholarship is for those entering or continuing with studies in the medical field. Two scholarships will be awarded. Any person wishing to study or to continue studies in the medical field is eligible for this scholarship.

Completed applications are due Friday, April 15, 2011. For further information and applications for either of these scholarships, please call Becca Schickling, at 384-6656.

Tobacco Cessation Classes Create a personalized plan to stop smoking using the Quit Smart Program from Duke University. Small group classes are taught by Sandy Hyra, RN. There will be two additional sessions, to be scheduled by consensus of the participants.

All three sessions must be attended.

Individual classes available by request.

Fee $35.

March 1, 5:30 pm

Third floor conference room at Valley View Hospital.

New class sessions begin on the first Tuesday of every odd-numbered month.

For questions, contact Martin Gaither at 384-7702 or email: mgaither@vvh.org

VALLEY VIEW HOSPITAL 1906 BLAKE AVENUE, GLENWOOD SPRINGS • WWW.VVH.ORG • 970.945.6535

THE SOPRIS SUN • FEBRUARY 24, 2011 • 5

Scuttlebutt

Send your scuttlebutt to Scuttlebutt@SoprisSun.com.

Third Street Center takes place on March 2 at 7 p.m.

For more on KDNK and its spring membership drive, go to kdnk.org.

On Feb. 26 at 4 p.m. the public is invited to a free performance featuring the students and faculty at Roaring Fork High School. For details, visit jazzaspensnowmass.org.

Dog update

Happy birthday

Folks who walk their dogs (or vice versa) at the Carbondale Nature Park take note: cows with their new calves have returned to the pasture east of the park. The upshot? To make sure your dog doesn’t run off barking and bothering the cows, consider keeping them on a leash when they are over that way. Or, do an up-and-back on the west side of the park.

Birthday greetings go out to: Steve Skinner, Jeff Dickinson and Kyle Watts (Feb. 24), Neill Taylor (Feb. 26), Tim Whitsitt (Feb. 27), and Kate Feinzig and Dick Hallagan (March 2).

Note to Slim-Not-So-Shady Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club member Devon Cardamone charges down the hill at a recent competition in Telluride. Photo by Michele Cardamone.

Amy Goodman’s coming Amy Goodman of “Democracy Now!� hits town March 5 for a KDNK fund-raising breakfast at town hall (8 to 10 a.m.). Tickets are $50 for KDNK members at 963-0139.

Goodman’s Carbondale stop is part of a two-day Western Slope tour that includes an event in Paonia.

In other KDNK news, it’s spring membership time and ladies’ arm wrestling returns. The girls will be going at it Feb. 26 at Phat Thai starting at 10 p.m.

The non-proďŹ t station’s membership drive lineup also includes a special Cajun night on March 8. KDNK supporters will throw parties in the privacy of their own home from 6 to 8:30 p.m. while the station plays Mardi Gras music for everyone to enjoy. At 8:30 p.m., the partiers will converge at the Pour House for dessert, king cake and Cajun tunes from Dana and Brecca Wilson.

Also on tap during the spring membership drive: the second annual “C Town� talent show at Steve’s Guitars takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 25; an immigration panel discussion at the

The Sopris Sun received a letter to the editor from an outďŹ t identifying themselves as “Slim-Not-So-Shady & Associates.â€? The handwritten letter had to do with drug dealing in Aspen restaurants. The letter was somewhat humorous and outlined a plan that would be a boon to the economy, lower the jobless rate and increase sale tax revenues. Alas, the Sun couldn’t print the letter because it didn’t include the name of an actual person, hometown or a telephone number so we could conďŹ rm the letter. The moral here? Letters to the editor must include an actual name, hometown and phone number for conďŹ rmation.

Teenage jazzers jam The seventh annual District Eight Honor Jazz Band, sponsored by Jazz Aspen Snowmass and hosted at Roaring Fork High School, takes place Feb. 25 through 26. More than 50 teenage jazz musicians representing 24 middle and high schools from Aspen, Basalt, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, Eagle, Summit County, Steamboat Springs, Soroco, Granby, Rie and Leadville will participate in two days of intensive jazz training, including instructional workshops and rehearsals, with a faculty of professional musicians provided by JAS. Faculty members include Carbondale trumpet player Tim Fox.

Be seen in the Sopris Sun

Dee Hoffmiester of Silt, right, describes the impacts of natural gas drilling upon her life, her family and her property at a screening of the documentary “Gasland� presented as part of the Naturalist Nights speaker series on Feb. 16.

She was joined by local gas activist Tara Meixsell (left).

Both women appear in the ďŹ lm. Nearly 200 people packed the Calaway Room in the Third Street Center for the event. Photo by Terray Sylvester

MOM, WHAT IS ‘GOD?’ DAD, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DIE? Do your children ask you the hard questions?

You’re not alone! ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Two Rivers Unitarian Universalists invite you to FAMILY, FRIENDS AND “THE BIG FIVE� a conversation for kids and adults about how to tackle life’s big questions with honesty, integrity and love

The Sopris Sun works hard to make your ad noticed: • Bright, mando paper instead of newsprint • We don't stack ads like other papers in the valley do • Every page draws readers with great stories and pictures • Our readers live in Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, El Jebel and Basalt

We'll help you prepare for the conversations.

You'll provide your children answers.

Sunday February 27, 11:30-1:00 LUNCH PROVIDED

All also are welcome to our regular Sunday gathering at 10 a.m.

Shine some light on your business, advertise in the Sun.

Bridges High School - South (back) Entrance

To place an ad, contact %JOB %SJOLIPVTF at dJOB@soprissun.com or 970. .

For directions and more Info, visit Two Rivers Unitarian Universalist

6 • THE SOPRIS SUN • FEBRUARY 24, 2011

www.tworiversuu.org

Teens and medical marijuana continued om page 1 end up in municipal courts from Parachute to Aspen.

From July 2008 to the end of June 2009, 32 kids were referred to YouthZone for possession of controlled substances or paraphernalia, an offense that generally entails marijuana, according to YouthZone Program Director Lori Mueller.

From July 2009 to June 2010, that number climbed to 68, and it looks like YouthZone will see at least as many referrals for marijuana this year. Between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2010 the program saw 30 such referrals.

As Mueller put it, that number is “on target” with the previous year.

“I would absolutely think that because the medical marijuana is out there, that’s why we’ve seen an increase,” Mueller said, though she noted the medical marijuana industry is the only factor contributing to the increase.

The trend is not as clear-cut in the Re-1 school district. Although marijuana-related discipline cases spiked on some campuses in the 2009/2010 school year, the same hasn’t proven true this year.

Last school year, about 30 marijuana incidents occurred at Glenwood Springs High School, up from only about a half dozen in the previous year, said Judy Haptonstall. This year she said the numbers are back to normal at the school.

Assistant Superintendent Brad Ray said a similar trend played out district-wide.

“I would say we’re definitely down on expulsions this year based on distribution [of marijuana],” he stated. “It’s definitely not

what we saw last year.”

Ray explained that students aren’t allowed to possess or be under the influence of marijuana while they’re on campus, not even if they possess a medical marijuana license.The district expels students who distribute marijuana, but suspends kids caught in possession of the drug.

Roaring Fork High School has not seen any increase in marijuana use, according to school administrators, but Andrea Caruso, a counselor at the school, said that while she hasn’t seen more teens using pot she has heard that more of them are getting it from adults with medical marijuana licenses.

“There’s an increasing amount of times when they’re getting it from their parents” without their parents’ knowledge, she said.

“It’s kind of changed maybe for some kids from being in the class of meth and those hardcore drugs to being more in the class of alcohol because it is legal,” Caruso added.“It just may be that the fear factor or the deterrent factor is not so strong anymore.”

Easier to downplay pot Ted Benge, a junior at Roaring Fork High School explained that the contradiction between Colorado medical marijuana laws and federal regulations (under which marijuana is still illegal) is perplexing to students.

“It’s so confusing,” said Benge, who plays a variety of sports and stresses that he himself steers clear of pot.“I don’t think any people really know the state of the laws, where they are now.”

Thunder River Theatre Company “Professional Theatre at its Finest” Lon Winston, Executive Artistic Director

A Streetcar Named

D

e r i s e

He said teens have begun to take the legal penalties and the potential health impacts of using marijuana less seriously, particularly in comparison to alcohol, for which the penalties are well known.The picture is hazier with marijuana, in part because the state constitution does allow minors to obtain medical marijuana licenses under some circumstances.

“Personally it seems like maybe the consequences wouldn’t be so bad now because [pot] is legal,” Benge said. “Certain kids can get their licenses and it’s just like, ‘Oh well, this can’t be bad.’ It seems like it’s not as bad as getting caught with alcohol.”

Colorado’s constitution allows people under the age of 18 to get a medical marijuana license with parental permission and recommendations from two doctors, among other requirements.

Other state laws prohibit marijuana businesses from running ads that target minors, and state that no one under the age of 21 can work in a dispensary or grow marijuana commercially, but beyond that the rules are largely silent when it comes to minors.

Benge may be more informed on the topic than many of his peers since he has delved into the state’s medical marijuana rules as part of one his classes. But Mueller, of YouthZone, says the problem doesn’t just result from adolescents failing to understand the letter of the law.

As she describes it, contradictions in the medical marijuana industry have made it more difficult for YouthZone to convince their clients to avoid the drug. She pointed out

that medical marijuana licenses are commonly thought to be relatively easy to obtain, whether or not an applicant is suffering from a legitimate ailment.

It doesn’t help that the drug isn’t dispensed like other pharmaceuticals. Mueller said she has heard of dispensaries handing out free samples – not a typical maneuver for a pharmacy. When asked about the lack of officiallooking pharmaceutical packaging, and the proliferation of advertisements that sound more like deli specials than doctors’ recommendations – for example, the one-day 1ounce tincture advertised in one local newspaper on Wednesday – she agreed those also undermine the drug’s stature.

“It’s easy for kids to minimize [marijuana] because we don’t know what we’re doing as adults,” Mueller said. “[Adults] are confused about it so of course kids are confused about it. We’re saying one thing and the reality is very different.”

From her point of view, the medical marijuana industry has given short shrift to young people.

“Right now [medical marijuana] is pretty much a joke and that’s what everybody pretty much says,” she stated. “Someone is making a lot of money on it and our kids are really the ones that are suffering from it.”

Not your mommy’s marijuana Mueller understands that teens can get what they believe are benefits from marijuana. It can help them relax and deal with MEDICAL MARIJUANA page 11

Non-profit highlight CCAH now has online tickets/class workshop registration...go to www.carbondalearts.com and click on the tickets registration tab.

Upcoming Events FIRST FRIDAY, March 4, 6-8 p.m., “Untamed and Reclaimed” Artists Wewer Keohane, Gena Hawkins, Susan Obermeyer-Strauss, Terry Muldoon, Janet Nelson, Linda Drake and Kathy Honea Green is the New Black, Fashion Extravaganza, A World of Fashion March 11-12 at 7 p.m. at the Carbondale Recreation Center It sold out last year, so we added a night. Go to www.carbondalearts.com for more information and to purchase your tickets.

March 19, Infamous Stringdusters at the Church at Carbondale Tickets $18 for CCAH members, $20 non-members or $25 at the door.

Buy them online at www.carbondalearts.com

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

Upcoming Classes/Workshops

Tennessee Williams

Improvisation with Jack Green, February 23 through March 9 Wednesdays from 7-9 pm at CCAH Center for the Arts. Adults: $100.

Directed & Designed by Lon Winston

Valerie Haugen • Lee Sullivan • Jennifer Michaud • Tim Rafelson

Toy Theatre, February 26-27 With Soozie Lindbloom, Ages 16 and up, $60 non-members/$50 members, $10 materials fee, scholarships available.

Tammy Kenning • Mark Gregory • Carlos Herrera

Drop-In Figure Drawing, Mondays, starting February 28, 7-9 p.m., CCAH Center for the Arts. Model fee, no instruction.

Email Ro at ccah@sopris.net.

Gerald Delisser • Mayra Ramirez • Tripp Watts

Register online at www.carbondalearts.com, then tickets/registration.

Thunder River Theatre

67 Promenade, on the Red Brick Walkway, Downtown Carbondale

Feb. 24 (Preview), Feb. 25 (Opening), 26, March 4-6, 10-12, 2011 7:30 p.m. Curtain, except Sunday Matinee, 2 p.m.

Tickets & Information: www.thunderrivertheatre.com or 970-963-8200 Find us on Facebook!

Produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service. Inc.

Carbondale Council on Arts & Humanities 520 South Third Street, Carbondale 970.963.1680

www.carbondalearts.com

Ad sponsored in memory of Carol Rothrock

THE SOPRIS SUN • FEBRUARY 24, 2011 • 7

Community Calendar THURSDAY Feb. 24-26

THEATRE • The Thunder River Theatre Company starts its production of Tennessee Williams’s “A Streetcar Named Desireâ€? at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 25-25, with a preview on Feb. 24 (also at 7:30 p.m.). “Williams’s early plays connected with the new American taste for realism that emerged following the Depression and World War II,â€? said TRTC Artistic Director Lon Winston. “The characters in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ are trying to rebuild their lives in postwar America. The more powerful the electricity, the more extreme its positive and negative poles. Williams’s extremities were most famously embodied by Stanley Kowalski and Blanche Dubois, a rampage of masculinity that will survive and a feminine delicacy that may not. The play continues March 46 and March 10-12. All performances begin at 7:30 p.m., except the Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. on March 6. For ticket information, call 963-8200.

THURSDAY Feb. 24

LIVE MUSIC • Steve’s Guitars, in the old part of the Dinkel Building, presents Michael Rhodes, Laurel Sheehan, Doug Davis and guests at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $10. Rhodes is a musician/singer-songwriter who will be joined by Davis on congas and Sheehan on keyboards. “I've heard rumors of Steve Koch and Jimmy Polowchena joining in on a night of original songs and cool covers,â€? Steve Standiford said. “From rock ’n’ roll to country and everything in between, Sheehan is an amazing and accomplished classical piano player so

To list your event, email information to news@soprissun.com. Deadline is 5 p.m. Saturday. Events take place in Carbondale unless noted. For up-to-the-minute valley-wide event listings, check out the Community Calendar online at soprissun.com.

SATURDAY Feb. 26-27

I’m looking forward to seeing her play some other genres. Does she rock? Come out and see. I bet she does.� Info: 963-3304.

GREEN JOBS • The Wilderness Workshop presents a slideshow by Piper Foster titled “300,500 Permanent Green Jobs: Why Europe Isn’t Afraid of Climate Policy and We Shouldn’t be Eitherâ€? at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies at 7:30 p.m.

KINDERGARTEN DISCUSSION • The GarďŹ eld County childcare program holds a kindergarten transition seminar for parents of pre-school children at Carbondale Town Hall from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Info: 970-309-4393.

FRI.-SAT. Feb. 25-26 MOVIES • The Crystal Theatre presents“The King’s Speechâ€?(R) at 4:45 and 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26 and 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25 - March 3.

THEATRE • Glenwood Springs High School presents a rock musical based on tunes from the 1980s. Curtain time is 7 p.m. and tickets are $12/adults and $8/students. The show continues March 4-5.

FRIDAY Feb. 25 LIVE MUSIC • Steve’s Guitars and KDNK team up for the second annual “CTownâ€? talent show at 7:30 p.m. (doors open at 7 p.m.). “We are long-standing, big fans of this creative, one-of-a-kind, public radio station,â€? said Steve Standiford. “When we were asked to help host a 2011 Spring Membership Drive event, we were glad to help.â€? Expect lots of laughs and some lively merriment put on by

KDNK staff and volunteers. Info: 963-3304.

LIVE MUSIC • Rivers restaurant in Glenwood Springs presents 50/Fifty (classic rock) from 9 p.m. to midnight. No cover.

LIVE MUSIC • Big Daddy Lee plays Jimmy’s, located in Aspen at 205 S. Mill St. Danceable blues and R&B. 10:15 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.

LIVE MUSIC • Carnahan’s in the Dinkel Building presents King Hippo at 10 p.m.

SQUARE DANCE • The Roaring Fork Valley Horse Council throws a square dance at Alpine Animal Hospital (located on old Highway 82 between Carbondale and El Jebel) from 7 to 10 p.m. Tom Paxton will be the caller. Tickets are $10 members/$15 non-members. Dessert will be served. Info: 925-6118.

BALLET FOLKLORICO • The Folkloric Parents’ Association presents its annual Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Folklorico Mexican dinner and dance show fundraiser. More than 70 children ages 7-18 from Basalt and Carbondale will dance. The shows take place on Saturday at Basalt Middle School, with dinner from 5:30-6:30 p.m. and the dance performance at 6:30 p.m., and on Sunday at Carbondale Middle School, with dinner from 4:305:30 p.m. and the dance performance at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $7 adults/$3 children, which includes a burrito dinner. Info: 963-7467.

SATURDAY Feb. 26 LIVE MUSIC • Steve’s Guitars presents Milemarkers at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.

The band is comprised of Nelson Oldham, Vidi, Chris Goplerud and Hap Harriman.

Info: 963-3340.

LIVE MUSIC • Carnahan’s in the Dinkel Building presents the Roaring Dub Stars at 10 p.m.

SUNDAY Feb. 27 ACT COURSE • Carolyn Williams of ColCALENDAR page 11

Carbondale Community Housing Lottery 611 Bridgewater, $200,411

Open House: Saturday, February 26, 2011 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Saturday, March 5, 2001 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Application Deadline: March 8, 2011 5:00 p.m.

Lottery: March 11, 2011, 12 noon Mountain Regional Housing, 520 South Third Street, #23

Income Category 4

Maximum Gross Household Income: $108,300*

*May add $7,500 per dependent up to three dependents

611 Bridgewater - $200,411 • • • • • •

Roast Beef

Single Family Home 3 bedroom 2 baths 1,120 SF of living space (per assessor) 2 Pets OK HOA - $140 per month 2010Taxes - $894

Requirements: Full-time Employee: minimum local employment of at least one household member of 30 hours per week, 9 months per year. Priority is given to applicants who live and/or work in Carbondale town boundaries.

Not Own Other Property: members of the household may not own other improved real estate in the RFValley, including mobile homes, with the exception of owner-occupied commercial real estate (not less than 50% occupied by the owner).

Occupancy: Owner(s) must live in the unit

Applications are available and may be picked up and turned in at Mountain Regional Housing 520 South Third Street, #23, Carbondale, CO www.carbondalegov.org or www.colorado.gov/housingcommunity.org Information: 970-704-9801 or janet@housingcommunity.org

Expires

7am - 4pm • Monday - Saturday • Conveniently located next to City Market

970-963-3663 8 • THE SOPRIS SUN • FEBRUARY 24, 2011

Community Calendar continued from page 10

old-time jam session every other Monday.

orado Educational Consulting offers six more sessions of an ACT prep course from Feb. 27 through April 7. The cost is $250.

Info: 274-6298.

POETRY NIGHT • The Hotel Lenado in Aspen presents a live poetry night from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Dave Taylor hosts; Australian poet Ron “Pikeyâ€? Pike will also appear. The stage is open to all poets. Info: 970-379-2136.

MONDAY Feb. 28 JAM SESSION • The Carbondale Beer Works in front of the post ofďŹ ce hosts an

WEDNESDAY March 2 NATURALIST NIGHTS • The Wilderness Workshop’s Naturalist Nights series continues at 5:30 p.m. at the Third Street Center with Dr. Dan Tinker discussing beetles, ďŹ re and climate change. Dr. Tinker will make the same presentation at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies March 3 at 7:30 p.m. Info: 963-3977.

LIVE MUSIC • White House Pizza on Carbondale’s Main Street presents Lisa, Gene & Rob (Sheryl Crow meets Jewel) from 7 to 10 p.m.

Further Out

March 5

GALA DANCE • Tickets are on sale for Symphony Swing, the Symphony in the Valley’s gala dance and social event to benefit the community orchestra. The event features the Symphony in the Valley Jazz Orchestra playing top tunes from the Big Band era, with vocalists Jeannie Walla, Lorraine Curry, Krista Espelien, Steve Cole and Kelly Thompson, and solo instrumentalists John Bokram, Steve Cole, Kelly Thompson and Ross Kribbs. The Carbondale show takes place at the Aspen Glen Club at 6 p.m. on March. 5, which includes a dinner dance and live auction. Tickets are available only in advance at symphonyinthevalley.org. Symphony Swing will also be

presented at the Grand River Hospital ballroom in Rifle at 7 p.m. March 4.

March 10-11 GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK • The Carbondale Council on Arts and Humanities presents its annual Green is the New Black fashion extravaganza at the Carbondale Recreation Center. Stay tuned for details.

March 10 BOOK DISCUSSION • A discussion of the book “The Death and Life of the Great American School Systemâ€? by Diane Ravitch takes place at the Gordon Cooper Library at 6 p.m. Books are available through the library. Info: Bonnie Cretti a bcretti@aol.com.

BAGSALE %

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Ongoing VAUDEVILLE • The Glenwood Vaudeville Revue presents its new winter show at 901 Colorado Ave. through April 23. Tickets are $22 for adults and $16 for kids. Info: 9459699 and gvrshow.com.

WOMEN’S BIKE CLASSES • Aloha Mountain Cyclery offers a women’s bike maintenance clinic from 6 to 7:30 p.m. every Wednesday through March 23. Wine and snacks are served. Info: Shawna Brown at (970) 319-0538.

CLAY CENTER SHOW CONTINUES • The Carbondale Clay Center presents “Sensual Ceramicsâ€? featuring seven artists. Info: 963-2529.

VALLEY VISUAL CONCLUDES • The Valley Visual Art Show, presented by the Carbondale Council on Arts and Humanities, concludes at the Third Street Center on Feb. 28. Info: 963-1680.

BRIDGE • Senior Matters in the Third Street Center offers bridge every Wednesday.

Info: 945-7094.

ZINGERS SING • The Zingers singing group gets together at the Third Street Center every Thursday from 2 to 3 p.m. Info: 945-7094.

ACOUSTIC CARNAHANS • Singer/songwriter T Ray Becker hosts an acoustic music night with new musicians every week from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursdays at Carnahan’s Tavern.

Info: 963-4498.

OPEN MIC • Dan Sadowsky hosts open mic sessions at the Limelight Lodge in Aspen from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. every Sunday. Info: 925-3025.

OPEN MIC • Jammin’ Jim hosts open mic nights at Rivers restaurant in Glenwood Springs from 8 to 10 p.m. every Wednesday.

Tacos are a buck.

GUDA SHOW CONTINUES • Roadless area photos by Nelson Guda are being shown in the Calaway Room at the Third Street Center. Info: 963-3977.

PLAY TIME • The Carbondale Recreation Center presents “Run, Jump & Playâ€? for kids 0-4 years old Tuesdays from 10:30 a.m. to noon. The cost is $10 per family.

NOONE SHOW CONTINUES • The Colorado Mountain College Gallery in downtown Glenwood Springs presents a show by painter Mary Noone through March 23.

RAILROAD MUSEUM • The Glenwood Springs Railroad Museum, located at 413 7th St., is open Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Exhibits include historic photos, artifacts and toy trains. Admission is $1 adults/free for kids. Info: 928-8721.

FOOD EDUCATION • Eco-Goddess hosts a food education series at the restaurant every Wednesday from 6 to 7 p.m. It’s free.

Info: 963-7316.

MAYOR’S COFFEE HOUR • Chat with Carbondale Mayor Stacey Bernot on Tuesdays from 7 to 8 a.m. at the Village Smithy, located at 26 S. Third St.

HISTORIC TOURS • The Aspen Historical Society offers free historic ski tours of Aspen Mountain Fridays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (a lift ticket and intermediate skiing ability is required). Meet at the information kiosk on top of the mountain. Info: 925-3721.

MEATBALL Mondays $13

Sat - APRÉS SKI 35

(spaghetti & meatballs with house salad)

(Choice of two domestic beer and/or house wine plus appetizer - $10)

Tue – PRIX FIXE for $15

(choice of appetizer or salad plus pasta dish)

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Wed – ½price WINES

Sun – FAMILY Night (one complimentary kids menu item with purchase of one adult entree)

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A neighborhood Italian Restaurant ~ Lunch 11-3 (M-F) Brunch 10-3 (Sa-Su) Dinner 5-close HAPPY HOUR 5-6 p.m. everyday & 9-close (Sat Night)

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Saturday, February 26

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For Information & Reservations call 970-945-0667 Â&#x2039; `HTWHOZWH JVT 6WLU +HPS` HT WT Â&#x2039; 4HQVY *YLKP[ *HYKZ Â&#x2039; .PM[ *LY[PĂ&#x201E;JH[LZ (]HPSHISL THE SOPRIS SUN â&#x20AC;˘ FEBRUARY 24, 2011 â&#x20AC;˘ 9

Photos that didn’t fit Every month, The Sopris Sun ends up with photos that didn’t fit into the paper due to space limitations. Here are a few of the photos that didn’t fit in February.

Mark Fischer (shown here) and Lari Goode recently opened the Pullman restaurant to great reviews in Glenwood Springs. They also own Six89 and Phat Thai in Carbondale. Photo by Jane Bachrach

Bryan Bowers is probably the world’s best-known autoharp player. He also plays other stringed instruments, sings and tells funny stories. He brought his whole game to the Third Street Center for an intimate concert in the Round Room earlier in the month. Lynn Burton photo

10 • THE SOPRIS SUN • FEBRUARY 24, 2011

Beware of snow sharks. This one was found lurking in an irrigation ditch. Photo by Julie Albrecht

Little dancers at Aspen Santa Fe Ballet School (left and above) are livening things up at the Third Street Center these days. Photo by Jane Bachrach

Giving the children a backyard – and beyond When I was kid, 8 or catalpa leaves were Barbie 9 years old, we lived for clothes. A hole in the ground two years in a small became a Smurf swimming house with a huge yard. pool, and empty jars made perThe front was long and fect homes for fireflies and wide with a shaggy uncaterpillars. kempt lawn and four or I think of all this having refive gigantic trees. Many cently read a call to action,“Reof these we could climb, connecting the World’s Children including the catalpa tree To Nature” (worldforumfounwith its long weird pods, dation.org/wf/nacc/call_to_ and the old maple tree. A action.pdf). It calls on our teachbroken chair wedged at ers, leaders and parents to make the base of her trunk let “developmentally appropriate little peeps like us reach nature education a sustaining that first branch. Once

by Geneviève Joëlle and enriching, fully integrated up on it, we had a stairpart of the daily lives and eduVillamizar way of thick limbs all the cation of the world’s children.” way to the top, where another old chair was Back then, it seemed the outdoors was how tied and lodged in the leaders. From that sky- we played. Seeing children nowadays I wonhigh aerie we could survey our kingdom. It der. And worry for them and our planet. was one of my favorite places on the planet.

The charter goes on to propose how key My other favorite place was in the back- these relationships to nature are in a child’s yard, where we had a real live apple tree with realization of their own humanity. It stresses real live apples we could eat. And we had a the importance of contemplative play in navegetable garden where my dad taught us to ture (as opposed to solely organized sports), grow cucumbers in a bottle next to Brussels which helps to develop within kids a sympasprouts we hated and sweet corn that we thetic understanding of their environment loved. Along the side of the house were and their place in it. It also influences the bushes, Great Big Tall Ones that were myste- adults they’ll become, as well as the decisions rious. Within this bushiness (through which I they’ll make as consumers and contributors. would crawl) was another world where the Despite how far anyone may live from a light was soft green, sound was muffled and trailhead or park, despite whatever the local it was deliciously cool. Back then, in that school programs may or may not have, we place, in those moments, a praying mantis can cultivate these opportunities in our own eating its prey was pretty cool too! Collected yards, balconies or even kitchen windowsills,

Getting Grounded

Welcoming by design...

What’s your plan?

starting at any age.

For Juniper, our new little one, we’ll encourage many parts of our property to naturalize around the native trees and shrubs we have so far. Through the years, family projects may include cultivating her little plots of nature by adding colonies of wildflowers we see on outings, or perhaps planting a species of plant that she has provides habitat to a res-

ident creature. Whether we are able to “take her to the woods” or not, outside playtime will include spontaneous, natural experiences to spark her curiosity and wonder.

In the arc of Juniper’s youth, as she discovers her connection to this living, physical world, I hope she also encounters the magic and mystery my sisters and I found in our own yard.

Medical marijuana continued om page 7 the stress of school, it’s part of what they do when they hang out.

“In a lot of respects unfortunately they’re really getting benefits from it,” she said. Kids self-medicate because “it’s easy and it works … definitely there’s some gain for them.”

But nonetheless, Mueller said it is “absolutely” a problem when teens use marijuana. It can mellow them out too much, leading to bad grades; it can cause conflicts with parents who may not want them using the drug; it can cause them to run afoul of the law; but most importantly, Mueller said the strength of the drug these days can impact the way a teenage brain develops, changing the way someone behaves in the long term.

“It has lifelong impacts,” she said.

Carbondale Police Chief Gene Schilling says that like Mueller, he is concerned young people are being given the opportunity to try the drug while they are still

developing, and before they are old enough to make informed decisions about its effects.

“My feeling is that we should educate and restrict as much as possible the influence of marijuana on our youth,” Schilling said. “I think it makes the marijuana appear to be a more acceptable item to our youth when you have storefronts that are down on the first floor of town and facing Main Street and kids are walking by and saying ‘Hey, I can go in there and buy it so it must be OK.” Terry Wilson, the Glenwood police chief, shares his concerns.

“I haven’t heard anyone that’s promarijuana present an argument in favor of it enhancing the ability to learn in the juvenile stages of youth development,” he said. “I’m not seeing a big benefit for 15year-old kids to have easy access to a substance that does not help them develop as young adults.”

Ackerman Log & Timber Carefully Crafted for the Highest Quality Construction and Design SAWMILL • HOMES • ACCENTS

Conveniently located in Carbondale 970-963-0119

Land Officer for Pitkin County Open Space and Trails (OST) program.

Full-time salaried position will administer post-acquisition assets including conservation easements (CE) in compliance with State and Land Trust Alliance standards. Duties include conservation easement monitoring and reporting, property file management and GIS mapping.

Geneviève Joëlle Villamizar www.evolvinglandscape.com 963.7055

To view a full job description and to apply visit www.aspenpitkin.com/countyjobs THE SOPRIS SUN • FEBRUARY 24, 2011 • 11

Community Briefs

Unclassifieds

Response offers a series of weekly financial seminars for women at the El Jebel Community Center on Tuesdays throughout March at 6 p.m. Seminar topics include organizing, budgeting, banking and credit, taxes, mortgages and insurance. “Financial freedom and independence are key,” said Lauren Mbereko, executive director of Response. “It is extremely important for all women to understand their finances and how to control their money no matter their circumstances in life.”The cost is $50 and limited scholarships are available.

To enroll or for more information, call Response at 920-5357 or visit the Website responsehelp.org.

Go plan a playground

Green is the New Black fashion show queens, from left to right: Amy Kimberly, Katrina Byars and Ellie Davis work with volunteers during their first rehearsal last weekend.

The show is March 11-12 at the Carbondale Recreation Center. Photo by Jane Bachrach

Letters continued om page 2 Congratulations to all the participants as the preliminary amounts raised appear to be on track to our goal of $5,000.

Thank you to all of those who pledged, participated and to our sponsors.

Greg Fitzpatrick Ski for Sisu Coordinator Carbondale

Let’s be more civil Dear Editor: Recently, my husband and 8-yearold daughter attended a Carbondale Board of Trustees meeting. Upon her return from the meeting, she told me she needed to tell me something. “Mom,” she said,“a man told daddy he was not a part of the community because he didn’t know what ‘CC-something’ meant.” Apparently, early in the meeting, my husband had asked for clarification regarding the reference to CCAH, the Carbondale Council on Arts and Humanities. To say that my husband is not of an artistic leaning would be an understatement, and so I think it is forgivable that he did not know what organization was being referred to.

His lack of knowledge of CCAH struck a cord with another attendee at this particularly contentious meeting.At the end of the meeting, a man approached my husband abruptly and told him that because he did not recognize what CCAH stood for, he was not

Crystal River Elementary School (CRES) in Carbondale will hold an all-school meeting, open to the public, to provide information about the upcoming volunteer project to build a new playground on the campus. The meeting will be at 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 25, in the CRES gym at 160 Snowmass Drive.

The Parent Teacher Organization is recruiting volunteers for the construction of the playground from April 27 to 30, as well as organizational duties leading up to and during the project workdays. In addition to volunteers, the school is seeking food donations/support from local restaurants and assistance with organizing tools and food for the project workdays.

For more information or to get involved, contact PTO President Mandy Brennan at 379-4987.

a part of the Carbondale community (expletives withheld). Sadly, my daughter witnessed this exchange. In an attempt to end their heated discussion, my daughter thrust her stuffed frog between their faces.

It is unfortunate that my daughter had to witness this. We work hard to teach our children to respect others and to realize that it is OK to disagree. This basic lesson needs to be shared with those who seem unable to avoid personalizing issues when they are faced with conflicting opinions. I commend all of the members of the community who take the time to serve on the board of trustees and those who take the time to attend these meetings and share their opinions in this public debate.

I make up for my husband’s lack of artistic passion with my own. Ironically, my business donated $1,000 in support of CCAH in 2009-2010. I suppose, by association, that might give him a free pass to consider himself a member of the Carbondale community.

Julie Warren Carbondale

Way to go Dear Editor: You go, Sister Perry! I too have had enough corned beef hash and the abortion issue for a lifetime. Although I feel we have not had enough abortions. In

Education continued om page 2 If you are amazed at all the money some of our country’s very wealthiest are contributing to education, wait until you read Chapter 10: The Billionaire Boys’ Club. But I don’t want to give away all the good stuff.

I hope these words entice you to find a copy of this important book, read it, and join the discussion on Thursday, March 10. The library has

several copies available and so do many people in the community.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact the Gordon Cooper Branch Library at 9632889 or myself. _______________________________ Bonnie Cretti is a retired Roaring Fork RE-1 schoolteacher.

12 • THE SOPRIS SUN • FEBRUARY 24, 2011

the United States since Roe v Wade, the 50 million babies aborted since 1973 is simply not enough.

But your column got me thinking.

Somehow your artful reference to corned beef hash reminded me of all the total nut cases in history who have disagreed with you. How about those stupid suffragettes we learned about in history that ushered in women's voting and legal rights? Those historic first feminists – Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Statton – were actually dumb and dumber! They were publicly and passionately feminist but publicly and passionately anti-abortion.

Surely you know of Dr. Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King?

Dr. King has devoted her public civil rights life to trying to stave off what she calls "black genocide." There is an overwhelming disproportionate number of black babies aborted: 41 percent of all abortions in New York are in the black community.

What a joke, right dear Sister Perry?

Your morals rise above these women, these feminists, these lovers of life.Thank goodness you are speaking out with your reasoned, well documented, "scientific" opinions. And I love your sense of humor. Moral equivalency – corned beef hash – abortion; so darned cute.

Mona Klinger Carbondale The Sopris Sun encourages commentaries on local issues from those who live and care about them – that’s you, our readers.

Remember: Keep your commentary local and keep it to 700 words, then dispatch it to news@soprissun.com or P.O. Box 399, Carbondale, CO 81623. Don’t forget to tell us your name, phone number, where you live and any other pertinent information about yourself.

Submit Unclassifieds to unclassifieds@soprissun.com by 12 p.m. on Monday. $15 for up to 30 words, $20 for 31-50 words.

HELP WANTED: The Sopris Sun seeks volunteer columnists and a volunteer copy editor. Support your community newspaper and make your voice heard! Call (970) 5103003 or email News@soprissun.com.

GET THE WORD OUT IN UNCLASSIFIEDS! Rates start at $15. Email unclassifieds@soprissun.com. *Credit card payment information should be emailed to unclassifieds@soprissun.com or call 948-6563. Checks may be dropped off at our office at the Third Street Center or mailed to P.O. Box 399, Carbondale, CO 81623. Call 618-9112 for more info. ........................................................................................

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Response offers financial seminars