Brief by Marcia Darnell
San Luis Valley – December 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine
Election Ear
In Alamosa, voters narrowly defeated a one-percent sales tax that was to be split between the city and county. Republican Frank Maestas was re-elected Alamosa County Commissioner, and the county voted to “de-Bruce” the fire district by a wide margin. Alamosa County had no long lines or crashing machines, according to County Clerk Melanie Woodward, who ran unopposed. With over 6,000 ballots cast in the county, over 2,700 were early or absentee ballots, and the results were tallied by 9:30 p.m.
Conejos County elected a new sheriff, Democrat Robert Gurule, and a new commissioner, Robert Mestas, Democrat. Democrat Lawrence Gallegos is the county clerk.>
Costilla County’s new sheriff is Democrat Gilbert Martinez. Mineral County has a new sheriff, Fred Hosselkus, and a new county clerk, Eryn Follman.
In Saguache County, Linda Joseph is the first woman commissioner, and makes it an all-Democrat board. Democrat Melinda Myers is the new county clerk. Valleywide, Rafael Gallegos, Democrat, won re-election to the state house.
Gilmores Give More
Tom and Pat Gilmore are the recipients of this year’s Fassett Award. The award, given by Adams State College, honors those who benefit the ASC Foundation. The couple received their degrees at ASC; Tom taught business there and eventually became the college president. The two created a scholarship endowment to enable needy students to attend ASC, and both serve their community as volunteers.
School Daze
Fourth-graders at Evans Elementary School in Alamosa formed a committee with parents, teachers, and others to repaint their playground equipment. The results are encouraging: the kids now aim for more equipment.
The Alamosa School District is applying for a grant to build a new elementary school. The school would replace the three schools that tots attend now.
A bomb threat was called in to Ortega Middle School, leading to an evacuation. The culprits, two brothers who attend the school, were arrested.
The school districts in Saguache, Del Norte, and Antonito were taken off academic watch for low CSAP scores by the state department of education.
Brief Briefs:
Alamosa County sold the old depot, which houses the social services office.
The Valley Courier celebrated its new digs with an open house. The newspaper moved to south State Avenue earlier this year.
The two railroads ended their seasons with good numbers. Whether they had a synergistic effect is unknown, but the Cumbres-Toltec line saw 20 percent more riders than expected.
The American Legion parking lot in Alamosa is now a public lot. The Legion agreed to the designation in exchange for the city repaving the lot.
The Forest Service is being sued over its approval of roads to the proposed Wolf Creek Village. The San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council is one of the plaintiffs.
The SLV Regional Medical Center welcomed three newbies: Ted Heckmann, director of materials management; Alicia Hugg, director of education; and Diane Gutierrez, director of the rehab unit.
The state veterans home at Homelake has built a gazebo and is building a greenhouse.
Alamosa County is being asked to donate five acres for a substance abuse treatment center, Crossroads Turning Points.
Blanca will get a new fire truck, thanks to a $25,000 USDA grant.
Tu Casa, the shelter for victims of domestic violence, can now buy a permanent facility. A $190,000 grant from the USDA means the 25-year-old agency will have its own home for the first time.
The SLV Animal Shelter was named for Elizabeth Conour, who worked on behalf of animals much of her life.
Mike Maestas is the new vice president of Trinidad State Junior College — Valley Campus. Michael Bork is the new parks & rec director of Monte Vista.
Mike Blenden, manager of the Alamosa-Monte Vista Wildlife Refuges, reported that the late summer rains generated a lot of irrigation water and made the dry land much healthier.