Brief by Marcia Darnell
San Luis Valley – February 2009 – Colorado Central Magazine
Old is New Again
The Costilla County Courthouse has a new look. Funds from the Department of Local Affairs, the state historical fund and the county have given the state’s oldest courthouse a $1.9 million renovation. The project began in 2000, and the courthouse is scheduled to open for business in late January 2009.
The La Jara Town Hall has received a state historical fund grant for restoration of the building, built in 1911 as a railroad depot.
And the old K-Mart in Alamosa is changing hands. A Mississippi-based company is planning to subdivide the building into retail suites. The city is negotiating with the developer over financial incentives.
In Memoriam
Alamosa lost one of its greats in December with the death of Lloyd Jones. In his nearly 90 years, Jones practically built the town. As the first land leveler in the area, he did the prep work for many of the local landmarks, including the airport, the Sand Dunes road off Colorado 17, the levees along the Rio Grande, and most of the buildings at Adams State College. He also built Splashland as a public service.
Jones served in WWII and worked as a dairyman, pilot, and did construction for the state, BLM, and Fish and Wildlife Service. He built the reservoir at what is now the Alamosa Wildlife Refuge.
His biography, From the Horse and Buggy to Walking on the Moon, can be seen at the Alamosa County Chamber of Commerce.
Enviro Stuff
Ecology groups in the Valley are celebrating the new rules set by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. The new regs include the reporting of chemicals used in drilling; protection zones around streams that deliver drinking water; and reduction of pollution and erosion during precipitation and runoffs.
The scandal involving Julie MacDonald has touched the Valley. MacDonald, formerly a mucky-muck with the Fish & Wildlife Dept., is being investigated for improperly influencing decisions around the Endangered Species Act. One of the cases being scrutinized is the approval of Lexam Exploration’s drilling in the Baca Wildlife Refuge. The investigation is ongoing.
Brief Briefs
The Community Christmas dinner set another record, with 1700 diners partaking of the volunteer-produced feast in Alamosa.
The Adams State landscape looks different. The old, crummy buildings that housed the campus cops and KASF radio were torn down in December.
Monte Vista octogenarian Ernie Wilkinson has published Colorado Outdoor Living, Eighty-plus Years. The autobiography details his life as a trapper, trekker, outdoorsman, and teacher.
Adams State College will offer an MBA program beginning this summer. It’s the sixth master’s program offered by ASC.
Alamosa author Carol Guerrero-Murphy was honored for her collection of poems, Table Walking at Nighthawk. The chair of the English, Theatre and Communications Department at Adams State College earned the WILLA award from Women Writing the West.
It was a banner year for Creede Repertory Theatre. The company garnered 10 nominations for Denver Post Ovation Awards, winning for “Billy Hell.”
Hew Hallock, former managing editor of the Valley Courier, is the new southern regional representative for the Governor’s Energy Office. His job is to work with local governments and utility providers to promote energy efficiency and renewable programs.
Casie Ratzlaff of Monte Vista and Brian Ford of Alamosa were appointed to military academies by the Salazar brothers.
Kynlei Curtis became Alamosa’s first baby of 2009, arriving at 3:15 a.m. New Year’s Day.
RuthAnn Woods is retiring as president of Trinidad State Junior College Valley Campus.
Captain John Michalke retired from the Alamosa Police Department, as did Sgt. Leroy Chacon.
The Alamosa County Nursing Service was ranked in the top 25 percent of home health care providers nationwide.
Mary Griffin of Boulder and Ann Rice of Greenwood Village are the newest trustees of Adams State College. Marguerite Salazar of Alamosa was re-appointed to the CSU Board of Governors.
