Brief by Martha Quillen
Regional News – April 2004 – Colorado Central Magazine
Harassment Laws
Now that spring has almost sprung, the Department of Wildlife is reminding Coloradans that it’s illegal for dogs to harass wildlife, and the fine is $274. In addition, an officer can legally capture or kill a dog caught chasing wildlife and pet owners can be billed for any big game injuries or deaths caused by dogs. Game animals are valued at $500 for a deer, $700 for an elk, and $1,000 for a bighorn sheep.
The DOW warns that pets are frisky and well-fed in the spring, whereas game is often expending all of its energy just to stay alive until the snows clear and the plants bloom. Although many pet owners insist that their dogs would never actually hurt wild animals, the department says that game that’s chased, harassed or terrorized often dies later of exhaustion.
Illegal Target Shooting
Since January at least three, and possibly more, homes along U.S. 285 near Conifer have been hit by small-caliber gunfire. According to the Canyon Courier, the sheriff’s department is investigating to see if the incidents are related.
A Living Wage Would Be Nice
Chaffee County Commissioner Joe DeLuca has been talking about local economic problems recently. Ed Quillen heard DeLuca’s presentation at a Merchant’s Association meeting in Salida, and Kathy Davis, a reporter at the Chaffee County Times wrote about a presentation at a Buena Vista Chamber of Commerce meeting.
Davis (who took far better notes than my esteemed co-editor) says DeLuca “cited ‘shocking data'” including: Chaffee County wages are 44% below the Colorado average; the county’s poverty level is 11%; declining school population has resulted in less funding and a lower quality of education; per job income decreases are around 22% while housing costs have increased 300%; earnings for proprietorships have declined 59%.
DeLuca concluded that we needed the old reliables: economic diversity, affordable housing, living wages, and quality planning. To that end he suggested that schools, towns and the county work together, and he concluded that tax abatements for industrial development and historic restorations, more efficient permitting processes, and improved communication systems could help attract new employers to our region and stimulate economic diversity.
Whether DeLuca’s suggestions would work or not, they call for “smart growth.” But many in our community would prefer solutions that keep our small towns small and rural.
Unfortunately, whether we like it or not, virtual bankruptcy may be the driving force saving us from Conifer/Woodland Park style suburban sprawl and/or Aspenization.
Trash Talk
A mini-controversy ensued after a women wrote the Salida Mountain Mail in February to complain about a citation she received for putting a bag of trash in the bin at the Visitors Center operated by the Salida Chamber of Commerce. Bev Littlefield of Indian Hills said there was no signage so she assumed that dumping her trash there was legal. In response, a Salida couple wrote to the paper saying that citing visitors at our Visitors Center for illegal dumping was disgraceful; they felt that any fines should be dismissed and Littlefield should receive an apology.
Although that seemed to be the extent of this particular dispute, it hints at a bigger problem. With hundreds of visitors a week coming through, one suspects that many businesses along Central Colorado’s highways are struggling to pay for trash removal. Tourists, after all, can’t sign up for weekly trash service.
Furthermore, wherever traffic is light and no one seems to be looking, trash tends to end up in ditches. Take a walk along Highway 17 near the Mishak Lakes Natural Area and you’ll likely discover plenty of illegal dumping sites.
So maybe there’s a need for more well-marked public trash receptacles in tourist towns. Presumably, the businesses who house such public receptacles could continue to pay reasonable trash collection fees, but supplemental funds for collecting excessive waste could be augmented by town and county governments, service organizations, environmental groups, free-will donations, and/or charitable collection companies. In which case, local businesses might actually welcome other people’s garbage — since public garbage receptacles could attract extra customers.
Sierra Sickness
In February, a 32-year-old Denver man was rescued by Lake County Search and Rescue after suffering altitude sickness at Skinner Hut, an 11,620-foot shelter above Turquoise Lake Dam. When the man woke up, he had fluid in his lungs, and was spitting up blood and having trouble breathing. Rescue coordinator, Larry Everett told the Leadville Herald Democrat that anyone could suffer from high altitude pulmonary edema. The rescued man, a marathon runner in good health, was transported to a Denver hospital where he recovered.
Ahhh, for the Good Old Days
In case you haven’t seen it, The Saguache Crescent is an old-fashioned paper — ordinarily four tabloid pages still produced on a linotype, with three pages devoted to advertisements, subscription information, public service announcements and an occasional poem or school menu. The Crescent is too small to have a reporter or news editor, and publisher, Dean Coombs, has his work cut out for him maintaining and using vintage equipment.
Dean is the son of the late Marie Coombs who edited the paper for more than fifty years. As a child, Marie worked for her father at the Crescent and developed staunch opinions about what newspapers should and shouldn’t cover. When Marie became editor, she spurned rudeness and controversy, and generally ignored stories about political disputes, scandal, and tragedy. In fact, some pundits called the Crescent the newspaper that avoided news. But it became nationally known for its old-fashioned equipment and content.
In recent years, however, more people have sent letters about political disputes to the paper. And lately Roger Fenton started writing articles about Saguache Town Board meetings.
In a Crescent article last month, Fenton expressed his indignation about the town’s hasty adoption of a motion to initiate a moment of silence and recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance at town meetings. “The motion was seconded and passed right-then-and-there without discussion 4 to 2,” he wrote. “Everyone was requested to stand, right-then-and-there, and participate. All rose.”
The following week, Mayor Elvie Samora objected to Fenton’s sarcasm in a letter to the Publisher of the Crescent. “…Mr. Fenton does not work for the town, he does not report on behalf of the town,” she said. “And from my discussions with you, he neither works for you nor is paid any stipend for his contributions to your paper….
“This isn’t news, it’s editorializing and it belongs on the editorial page or column and should be headlined as such….
It seems to have escaped Mayor Samora’s notice that the Crescent has no editorial page or column, and all of the paper’s news — from announcements, to museum reports to Church bulletins — is written by interested participants rather than objective reporters. Samora’s point, however, seemed to be that the paper should give editorial preference to people who work for the town (or who approve of what the council is doing).
And this strikes us as a novel and very cost-effective idea. From now on Martha Stewart’s staff can report on her appeal; Michael Jackson’s employees can write about his custody problems; and Kobe Bryant’s law firm can cover his trial. Imagine how much time and money could be saved.
But it won’t work. Because in the end, nobody will report the whole story. Yet people in the public eye need to understand the whole story, including what the public thinks, be it good or bad. And that’s especially true for people in public office.
Gunnison Gut-wrencher
Several months ago we reported on thirteen Gunnison youngsters who were taken to the hospital and treated for nausea, dizziness, and headaches after becoming ill at a dance. The kids claimed that their canned sodas had a bitter taste, but preliminary tests revealed nothing unusual in the five soda cans that have been tested.
Police also ruled out carbon monoxide and toxic fumes in the Gunnison Multi-purpose Building where the dance was held. So the investigation continues….
Grousing About Grouse
WSC biologist Jessica Young, and the High Country Citizen’s Alliance recently requested that the Gunnison Sage Grouse be listed as endangered.
Gunnison Sage Grouse populations have shrunk by 30% in the last two years. The bird is threatened by predators, drought, West Nile virus, and habitat changes caused by development and grazing.
But the Gunnison County Commissioners don’t want the bird listed as an endangered species because they’re worried about possible negative impacts on ranchers and other residents. Currently, the commissioners are discussing the matter with a Sage Grouse Working Group, and hope that habitat restoration, changes in grazing, and other projects can make listing unnecessary. The working group meets again on March 26.
Medical Mishaps
The Denver Post recently ran a series of articles about problems with the Colorado Board of Medical Directors, who oversee physician licensing in Colorado.
According to the article, the board doesn’t go easy when physicians neglect paperwork, but they don’t seem as diligent about penalizing malpractice and grievous errors. The medical board had revoked no licenses in the last year, and they generally dismissed about 80% of complaints.
The paper reported on several gruesome cases which resulted in death and disfigurement which the board has dismissed, and pointed out that the board has a small budget, a lack of investigative help, too many members with conflicts of interest, and a penchant for secrecy.