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SUNDAY, AUGUST 2, 2009
VOLUME 123, NUMBER 3 • STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, COLORADO • www.steamboatpilot.com
Aigner e-mails agitate Organizer accuses developers, officials of malfeasance Brandon Gee
PILOT & TODAY STAFF
Buoyant in battle Jason Sear never gave up during 18-month fight with cancer Margaret Hair
PILOT & TODAY STAFF
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
Jason Sear already had a hat with antlers and a nose that lit up red. It was Christmastime, and Sear — then a patient at Yampa Valley Medical Center and a MATT STENSLAND/FILE PHOTO Jason Sear sticks out his tongue while walking with, from left, Sandy Jenny, near-constant presence in the Bev Engel and Keith Leifer during the Steamboat Springs American Cancer Society hospital’s infusion therapy Relay For Life Survivor Walk on Aug. 8, 2008, at Steamboat Springs High School. room — was ready to make the Sear died May 11 after battling adrenocortical carcinoma. rounds.
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
When Steamboat Springs City Council debated affordable housing in January, the Community Alliance of the Yampa Valley was given a seat at the table, along with representatives from the local development community and the Yampa Valley Housing Authority. It was a deciAigner sion Councilman Walter Magill and others didn’t seem to understand. “Who are you guys?” Magill asked Community Alliance organizer Steve Aigner. Aside from revealing its board members and its mission statement, the Community Alliance has closely guarded its membership, declining requests for a list of members because of a fear of retribution from employers and others. It claims about 200 members. While that only represents about 1 percent of Routt County’s population, the organization also claims to represent the majority of residents against special interests. The nonprofit group was created in 1999. Growth and development always have been the Community Alliance’s major focus, and throughout the years, group leaders frequently have spoken out about issues of importance to members such as Triple Crown and gravel pits. The organization also hosts lecture series, presentations and candidates’ forums and once a year honors its New Pioneers of the Yampa Valley for practicing sustainability. In its early years, Community Alliance board members often spoke publicly on behalf of the
The infusion room nurses who had worked with Jason through round after round of chemotherapy helped him decorate the hat, hanging ornaments from the ears and accompanying him through the hospital lobby, cafeteria and administration offices, said Jan Fritz, director of cancer services at YVMC. “We went over to the hospital cafeteria — and of course he See Relay, page 7A
Stepping up for support The fourth annual Steamboat Springs Relay For Life starts at 6 p.m. Friday at Steamboat Springs High School. Participating teams will walk through the night to show their support of the battle against cancer. Registration for the event is open, and donations can be made to team members or online at www.steamboatrelayforlife.com. Those who wish to form a team can call Kassandra Collins at 871-4652. For more information, call event co-chair Linda Jackson at 819-1859.
Wine Festival a hit Crowds enjoy tastings amid changing weekend weather
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tewart Vandenberg, of Alexander Family Vineyards, comes to the Wine Festival at Steamboat each year for the educated patrons, steady traffic, and the lovely weather — which can change often. About 500 people had STORY BY in for MARGARET HAIR checked the Stroll of BRANDON GEE Steamboat Grand Tasting, one of three main events of the sixth annual Wine Festival at Steamboat, by about 5:30 p.m. Friday. They were greeted with hundreds of wines to sample, appetizers from local restaurants, one short rain shower and one complete downpour. Colorado Springs residents Lori and Brad Curtis have been coming to the wine festival for three years. “We just like to come and enjoy different types of wines … and taste different foods from around the town,” Lori Curtis said. Participants in the wine stroll had a chance to sample food, wine, beer and spirits at mostly outdoor stops throughout downtown. Raina Severinghaus, a server at Cottonwood Grill who has worked at the restaurant for the past nine
SUNDAY FOCUS
See Wine, page 2A
See Aigner, page 8A
MATT STENSLAND/STAFF
Dave Singer, of Lone Tree, and Denise Baumbach, of California, share a kiss Saturday during the Toast of Steamboat Grand Tasting at Torian Plum Plaza. Wine Festival at Steamboat Producer Doug Larson said about 1,200 to 1,500 attended the annual event.
DeVincentis will not seek re-election 2 Steamboat Springs School Board seats up for grabs in November; Connelly to run Jack Weinstein
PILOT & TODAY STAFF
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
Only one of the two Steamboat Springs School Board seats up for election Nov. 3 will have an incumbent running in its place. Board member John DeVincentis, who has represented District 1 since 2005, won’t seek re-election, he said this week. However, board member Denise Connelly, also elected that year, PAGE DESIGNED BY NICOLE MILLER
said she plans to run again for her District 3 seat. “I really think the board and district are on the right track, and I would just like to continue that,” Connelly said. DeVincentis — a former longtime principal of Strawberry Park Elementary School — said after his term ends this year, he will have spent 40 years in education. “I think that’s enough,” he said. “I’ll continue to volunteer in schools, but as far as having
some working function, I think 40 years is enough for me.” DeVincentis’ tenure on the School Board wasn’t without controversy. An effort to recall DeVincentis began in spring 2007, after the public release of e-mails he wrote about a former Steamboat Springs School District superintendent in 2004-05, while still principal at Strawberry Park. A petition to place a recall vote on the 2007 ballot fell 154 signatures short.
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An afternoon storm. High of 82. Page 2A
COUNTY’S
Human Resources Director Ann Muhme, who also acts as the district’s election official, said candidates can pick up petitions to run for one of the two seats beginning Wednesday. According to the petition, candidates must be registered voters of Routt County for 12 consecutive months before the election. And they must live in the district they’re seeking elecMATT STENSLAND/FILE PHOTO tion to represent. Steamboat Springs School Board Vice President Denise Connelly, right, camSee School Board, page 2A
VIEWPOINTS LAST WEEK: Are you dissatisfied with the state of health care in America today? Results/5A THIS WEEK: Is it a good decision for city officials to delay hiring a finance director?
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paigns in October 2008 for the renewal of the city’s half-cent sales tax for education. This fall, Connelly will campaign for re-election to her School Board seat.
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