Brief by Marcia Darnell
San Luis Valley – February 2004 – Colorado Central Magazine
Hot Winter Nights
Firefighters are getting slammed in the Valley, as a series of fires destroyed homes, garages, and an historic theater. Several house fires in the Alamosa area were the result of heating problems, a not-uncommon occurrence in the winter. Two vacation homes were burned in South Fork, cause yet unknown.
Another blaze hit the heart of downtown Alamosa, destroying the Rialto Theater on Main Street. City crews had been thawing pipes behind the wooden stage, where the fire later started. The 77-year-old theater had been rented by a church for several years. Adjacent structures were also damaged.
PCs Meet Past
If only Kit Carson were here. Fort Garland now has computers, a printer and a fax machine, courtesy of the federal GSA. The computers will be available to museum-goers in the new visitors center next spring.
The Fort also got a new flagpole recently. The old wood pole was damaged in a storm and was replaced.
La Sierra Success
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the final appeal of the owners of the Taylor Ranch, aka La Sierra. The heirs to access to the historic property have the legal right to use the land for grazing, firewood, and timber gathering, according to the ruling of the state Supreme Court.
The refusal of the appeal ends a 40-year dispute over access to the 77,500-acre ranch. The Taylors and the new owner of the property, Lou Pai, must now settle with those who were denied access since 1960.
Merciful Mission
Theresa Archuleta wants to save lives. Her son, Adam Sanchez, was killed at the intersection of U.S. 160 and the Wal-Mart parking lot west of Alamosa. His death, one of many since the store opened, has prompted Archuleta to urge the city to lower the speed limit on that section of highway by 10 mph.
The city of Alamosa, while sympathetic, has no authority over the state highway outside of town, but has pledged support for Archuleta to take her case to CDOT.
Developing Idea
The Rio Grande Conservancy District is developing a proposal to put a buffer zone along the banks of the river, to protect homes from flooding and heal the riparian areas. The board stressed that this is not a done deal, and is seeking input. Some fear the measure would limit development and property rights.
Sand Suit
Tell it to the state, said U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn. AWDI and Peter Hornick asked the feds to intervene in their case against Vaca Partners, Farallon Capital Management and Jason Fish over their action in the foreclosure sale of the Baca Ranch in 2002. AWDI and Hornick had interests in the water on the property and feel that it was grossly undervalued in the sale.
The ranch is being sold to The Nature Conservancy, which will then sell it to the federal government to expand the Great Sand Dunes National Monument and Preserve.
Brief Briefs
Two earthquakes struck Blanca. Measuring 3.5 and 3.1, they caused no reported damage.
The Del Norte Rotary Club presented all town third-graders with dictionaries.
The snowpack of the Upper Rio Grande Basin is 114 percent of normal. We could still use more wet stuff, though, say water engineers.
Alamosa City Clerk Judy Egbert was a finalist for state City Clerk of the Year, an award given by the Colorado Municipal Clerks Association.
Lewis and Clark Expeditions, a company planning to build a bottling works near Alamosa, announced it will not distill whiskey, but focus only on bottling water.
Creede’s Stephen Quiller won the Philadelphia Watercolor Prize at the National Watercolor Society annual exhibition in California.
The Hunt House was demolished, sacrificing a 125-year old historic structure for the sake of a parking lot.
Tanya Mares Kelly-Bowry, an Alamosa High graduate, was named assistant vice president for federal and state relations at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Dorothy Steele has given Mineral County a conservation easement of the Upper Wright Ranch, an 820-acre site between Bristol Head Mountain and the Weminuche Wilderness Area.
