Brief by Martha Quillen
Regional News – December 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine
Son Accidentally Kills Father
A hunting accident in Gunnison County in late October caused the death of Joseph DiBiasa Jr., 66, of Rankonkoma, New York. Witnesses say his son, Joseph Michael DiBiasa, 41, was carrying his rifle in a sling, when the sling broke.
While grabbing for the weapon, the son inadvertently pulled the trigger and shot his father, who is believed to have died instantly. The Gunnison County Sheriff’s office and coroner deemed the shooting accidental and no charges were filed.
According to the Gunnison Country Times, the last fatal hunting accident in Gunnison County, two years ago, also involved a son and a dropped rifle. In that case, the man grabbed for his rifle and accidentally shot his father in the leg; the bullet hit the femoral artery, and the father bled to death.
Gunnison County Coroner Frank Vader told the Times that hunter safety courses highly recommend the safety be kept on until a target is in sight, and a bullet should not be kept in the chamber (which is illegal if the weapon is in a vehicle).
Unsafe Crossing Will Be Fixed, Too Late
Robert H. Petersen, 85, of Salida, and his dog were hit and killed crossing Highway 50 between Burger King and Loaf ‘n Jug on November 11, right after a contract was awarded to put a stoplight there.
According to the Mountain Mail construction of a stoplight at that intersection was slated for August, but Colorado Department of Transportation officials postponed the job due to right-of-way issues. The project is now tentatively scheduled to start in April.
Petersen was hit by a west-bound Monte Carlo, and the driver fled the scene. But Christopher Lovato, 23, also from Salida, was apprehended in Buena Vista about 30 minutes later, and subsequently charged with hit-and-run resulting in death.
Poncha Springs Slated to Grow
Preparations continue on a subdivision slated to go in two miles west of Poncha Springs. Annexation petitions for parcels one through five of the development were accepted and approved at a Poncha Springs Board of Trustees meeting on November 13th. Eventually the Friends Ranch subdivision is slated to cover 570 acres and include 245 single family lots, 300 multi-family units, and an 18-hole golf course and club house.
Although the process to make this proposed community a reality has began, town attorney William Alderton said there are still some things to be worked out, including who will get the Friends Ranch water rights (the town or the developer).
Yet progress seems to be on track. Poncha Springs Administrator Pat Alderton told the Salida Mountain Mail that after a year of work on the project, reaching this point is exciting, and “It is also big.”
Wildlife Wreckage
The Colorado Department of Transportation warns that auto collisions with wildlife are getting more common and can be fatal to humans. According to the Salida Mountain Mail, “the number of wildlife-vehicle collisions has risen steadily from 1993 to 2004, the most recent year for which statistics are available — from 1,263 to 4,074 transportation records show.”
Most crashes occur between dusk and dawn from mid-October to early November, and in addition to deer, highway fatalities include black bear, mountain lion, sheep, lynx, elk, and other species.
CDOT hopes to reduce fatalities by driver education, wildlife fencing, construction of wildlife underpasses and overpasses, lowering speed limits, using warning signs, installing roadway lighting systems and habitat alteration.
But in the meantime, slow down, look for yellow wildlife highway warning signs, drive vigilantly in the dark (especially near dawn and dusk), expect animals to act unpredictably by bolting, leaping or changing directions, and realize that if you’ve seen one deer crossing the road there are probably many more nearby.
According to the Gunnison Country Times, “The average repair cost of a deer-car collision is more than $2,800 and these crashes add up to an average of $1.1 billion a year nationwide in vehicle damage.”
Special Friends
In “chick flicks” college friends always seem to stay close forever, but it seldom seems to work that way in real life, except for Gunnison resident Susan Ritchey. She’s still close to the friend she made at Southern Methodist University in Dallas forty years ago, when both of them were studying to be librarians. And they still get together every year.
But now it’s at the White House. According to the Gunnison Country Times, Susan goes to the White House yearly to spend a few days with her old friend Laura Bush, and attend one of the First Lady’s Christmas parties — and, Susan says, “We stay up late, talk about books and movies and life and old times.”
Mountain Goats Moving Out
According to a headline in the Leadville Herald Democrat, “South Dakota gets our (mountain) goats.” But according to the story, it might be better to say that they’re getting their goats back.
Mountain goats were imported to Colorado in the 1940s and ’50s, eight of them from Montana and six from South Dakota. And now there are about 1,965 here, but only about 100 goats left in South Dakota.
Wildlife experts aren’t entirely sure why the Dakota goats have been in decline, but it’s hoped that some genetic diversity will improve their herds. Thus fourteen goats captured in the Mount Elbert/Massive area are making their new home in South Dakota. According to the Mountain Mail, the goats arrived safely and were released in four different locations in the Black Hills.
Odds and Ends
* Several trees alongside the river in and near Salida’s Riverside Park have been removed. After two trees were discovered missing in Riverside Park and two behind Bongo Billy’s, it was determined that the culprits were beaver, but wildlife officials thought it best not to try to remove them (since new ones were bound to move in). So the city’s public works department and Salida Tree Board are trying to protect trees along the river with wire wrappings.
* The old White Pine and Double Heart ranches near Waunita Hot Springs are being sold at auction (right as I write as a matter of fact). The ranches were combined into a single operation in 1999, but are now being sold as 55 parcels, which has people in Gunnison County worried (about a proliferation of housing in the area, too much fencing, a consequent impact on the land, the elk, other critters, and what it will mean for local ranchers and cattle drives).
* Chaffee County’s RICD water right was finalized October 20th. Minimum RICD flows (in drought recovery years or to accommodate limited future exchanges will be: 1,500 cfs for eight event days in June; 1,200 to 1.000 cfs for rest of June; 700 cfs July 1 to August 15; and 250 cfs from August 16 through November 15 and March 15 to late May.
* Count Custer County among those places that had more than nominal problems due to new voting equipment. Because of long waits at the polls in the morning and early afternoon, Custer County Clerk Debbie Livengood realized that the way things were going, would-be voters would still be waiting in line for hours after the polls closed. So she contacted the Secretary of State’s office and at 4:30 p.m. received permission from the state to hand out paper ballots.
* Also due to frustratingly long lines on election day, Chaffee County Clerk and Recorder Joyce Reno announced that she would like a second vote center in Buena Vista.
* The Balloonatics gallery on F Street in Salida shut after proprietor Michael Wiegand was found guilty of 25 misdemeanor and two felony counts in connection with charges that he’d inappropriately touched and photographed a local child and also downloaded sexually exploitive pictures of children on his computer. The artist is known for his intricately-detailed renditions of hot air balloons which incorporate light bulbs of all shapes and sizes.
Quotes
“The desire to look back over the past is a sign of age and weakness. We need to look forward and develop into what we are capable of becoming.”
Dorothy Roman, Buena Vista resident, teacher, musician, hiker, birder, gardener, and traveler, who died October 27, 2006 at the age of 101; Chaffee County Times, Nov. 9
“Here’s one more reason Flume readers should vote Yes on Amendment 44 that doesn’t get mentioned; it is Biblically correct, since Christ God Our Father indicates He created all the seed-bearing plants, saying they are all good, on literally the very first page (see Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30). The only Biblical restriction placed on canabis is that it be accepted with thankfulness (see 1 Timothy 4:1-5).”
Stan White, Dillon; Fairplay Flume, Oct. 20.
“I talked with a few people around town … They all said that the speed trap goes on most of the time.
“I believe that Fairplay should be known for great hospitality and not for writing tickets. You see, your man, when he gave me my ticket, told me to be careful and I quote, `there is another speed trap in Alma.'”
Steve Macke, Georgia; Fairplay Flume, Oct. 20
“Censorship from within one’s heart is a courageous act.”
Steve Bort, chastising the Flume for running an editorial cartoon; Fairplay Flume, Oct. 27.
“My killer of choice was the snapper — quick and dead. I bought several packages, set my traps and forgot the whole thing.
“A day later, I got one dumb mouse and the other one got away with the trap and peanut butter….
“Our local psychic told me there are some smart ones out there. This one especially….
Tree Ravenwolf; November Crestone Eagle in Mouse Tales (a feature the Eagle started due to the proliferation of mice with the return of rain, which seems to be a problem throughout our region).
“We need to work with nature when the conditions are right or nature will take it all.”
Forester Mike Smith explaining “let it burn” plan for the Sangres; Wet Mountain Tribune, Nov. 16