Brief by Ed Quillen
Regional News – March 2004 – Colorado Central Magazine
Clear Sidewalks
The Westcliffe town board has decided that the town’s sidewalks are getting too cluttered, and plans to pass an ordinance to clear the way. Pop machines will have to go. Other private items on the public right-of-way, such as newspaper racks and planters, will have to be taken in every night. The current permanent sidewalk structures will be grandfathered, but no new ones will be allowed.
We’re of two minds here. One is that the sidewalks should be clear because towns should encourage walking. On the other hand, those cafe tables, benches, pop machines, and newspaper racks make walking more interesting and convenient. Ironically, we suspect Westcliffe’s sidewalks are cluttered because walking is popular there.
School Days
The question: “What happened in school today?”
The answer is usually along the line of “Not much” or “The usual.”
But in Leadville, the school staff is getting some attention from the District Attorney’s office.
Linda Lewis, principal at Pitts and West Park Elementary, already faced child-abuse charges when she was charged on Jan. 23 in connection with another incident.
The first charge came in October. An unruly child was restrained with his arms across his chest when Lewis entered the classroom. The child was trying to head-butt the teacher, and Lewis is accused of swatting him on the bottom, a class 1 misdemeanor. Accounts vary as to how many swats, from one to eight.
On Jan. 23, she was served with a second charge of child abuse, this from an event in September. A five-year-old girl wouldn’t stand in line, so she was taken to the office. There, a witness said, Lewis threw the girl into a chair.
A Feb. 18 court date was set for both charges.
Elsewhere in the Lake County school district, an intermediate school music teacher, Megan Sherwood, has been charged with assault. According to a police report, she had her students marching around in time with a drum she was beating with a mallet. Two students were chatting, rather than marching, and got bopped in the head with the rubber mallet.
Sherwood was charged with third-degree assault.
Family art
The art of Ted Mullings may have been seen by more people than that of any other artist in Central Colorado, since his cartoons and illustrations graced hundreds of publications by Climax Molybdenum years ago. (He was profiled in our June, 2000, edition.)
He’s not the only artist in the family; his wife, Audie, is a noted watercolorist, and daughter Roxanne Mullings Hall teaches art, while working in acrylics and colored-pencil.
The talented family’s art will be on display through March 12 at the New Discovery Building on Colorado Mountain College’s Timberline Campus at Leadville.
Observations
“It’s not every state in the Union that’s got big economic problems. Take the state of Colorado, for instance. Its finances are in good shape.”
— Karl Rove, Republican political strategist, in an interview with Juan Williams of National Public Radio which aired Jan. 23. NPR did not say which planet Rove was speaking from.
“We have chosen to be a tourist economy. There are bound to be some aspects of change that we don’t like, but the only way to keep something from changing is to kill it and stuff it.”
— Rikki Santerelli, former Gunnison County attorney, in the Jan. 29 Gunnison Country Times.
“This is where things get really bizarre…. We in Saguache don’t pay enough [for water and sewer], yet we have too much [money] in reserve [to qualify for a state grant.”
— Riff Fenton in the Jan. 15 Saguache Crescent
“To those who claim they want to keep the ranching lifestyle they are so proud of, I have one thing to say: Don’t give in to greed and sell your ranches, then complain about how things aren’t the same. … The Ohio Creek Valley isn’t about ranching. It’s about real estate and selling for millions of dollars a life they say they don’t want to lose.”
— Sarah Phipps, managing owner of the Inn at Rockhouse Ranch, in the Feb. 5 Gunnison Country Times.
“Crestone is one of two sacred places in Colorado, according to official records.”
— Hob and Kairina Danforth, and Sharon Ray, in the February 2004 Crestone Eagle
Lion Spotted
Mountain lions are usually rather reclusive, but there are exceptions. One came on Jan. 20 when Ralph Abrams saw a mountain lion running across the road in the Baca Development near Crestone.
Their favorite food is deer, and Crestone has plenty of those. So does Salida these days, so it’s probable that there will be more lion reports — preferably ones that don’t involve pets or small children.
Engendered Species
In an era when mailmen have become letter carriers and firemen are firefighters, not to mention the chairmen who are now chairpersons or mere chairs, it’s almost refreshing to encounter some job titles that haven’t changed.
One is in Westcliffe, where Town Man Larry Becker retires on Feb. 18. His duties were varied; as the Wet Mountain Tribune explained, he’s “the guy who takes care of the town’s streets and parks, and can be spotted driving the grader on snowy days, installing new signs, or performing any one of a variety of other activities.”
If memory serves, Poncha Springs also used to have a town man on the payroll, but the town’s current personnel roster shows titles like “maintenance supervisor.”
Now to the private sector, specifically Pat’s Screen Printing in Gunnison, which just moved from an alley address to a Main Street front. It is owned by (very occasional) Colorado Central contributor T.L. Livermore, and managed by Jennifer Tomsic. Her official job title is Woman in Charge, which doubtless covers as many duties as the town man’s.
Cottonwood Pass Redux
If anyone wants the secret of eternal life, try this: Projects proposed in Colorado. They may fade for a while, but they always seem to come back.
This time around, it’s paving the west side of 12,126-foot Cottonwood Pass, which runs from Buena Vista to Taylor Park in Gunnison County. With some federal money, the east side was paved in 1990.
The pavement stops at the Continental Divide (and county line) because Gunnison County opposed road improvements and mounted a major campaign to prevent paving in 1997.
Now the Federal Highway Administration is asking Gunnison officials if it’s time to talk about paving again. Traffic has climbed from 333 vehicles per day in 1991 to 750 in 2003, and the county spent $129,000 maintaining it last year — a cost that might go down if the seasonal road were paved.
The Gunnison City Council is at least open to reconsideration, and the county government is expected to consider the idea, rather than dismiss it out of hand.
The Cottonwood Pass controversy was examined in the October, 1994, edition of this magazine; you can find the articles on the web at:
www.coloradocentralmagazine.com/archive/cc1994 /00080000 .htm.
Put up a Parking Lot
Much to the dismay of everyone who ever ate, drank, or stayed there, the Cattlemen’s Inn in Gunnison burned down on Jan. 6, 2003 after an electrical malfunction started a fire in the basement.
The Main Street property, which has been vacant since the ruins were razed, will be purchased by John Roberts Motor Works, which will display new and used vehicles there. We hope there will be room for a small plaque that honors the site’s history.
Wet stuff
Late last year, the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District received a recreational instream flow right for the Gunnison Whitewater Park, just west of the city. As expected, the Colorado Water Conservation Board has appealed the decision, so it’s bound for the state Supreme Court. The Conservation Board argues that the in-stream flow could limit diversions out of the basin.
Gunnison’s whitewater park will host the first Colorado Cup Kayak Championship from June 25 to 27. The Cup is a championship series that includes Salida’s FIBArk, as well as competitions in Vail, Golden, Durango, Steamboat Springs, Buena Vista, and Lyons. It seems safe to predict that this will be bigger than pack-burro racing.
In Custer County, the Round Mountain Water and Sanitation District has stood with its decision to withdraw its support of an augmentation plan proposed by the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District. UACWD has refused to exclude nine square miles from the plan, and Round Mountain fears that a proposed development in that area could deplete or pollute its wells. (There was quite a bit about this controversy in the “Letter from the Editors” in our February edition.)
A plan which would protect nearly 100 miles of the South Platte River in Park, Teller, Douglas, and Jefferson counties is under consideration by the U.S. Forest Service. Generally, it would prevent development while maintaining streamflow. Comments are due by April 2. You can call 719-533-1400 and find out where to find a printed copy or the information is available at: www.fs.fed.us/r2 / psicc/projects/wrs.
The Colorado Department of Natural Resources has issued its recommendations for streamflows in the Arkansas River this year. They vary seasonally: 250 cfs all year to protect the Brown Trout fishery, 250-400 from April 1 to May 15 for good fish hatching, 700 minimum from July 1 to Aug. 15 for river rafting. DNR also wants day-to-day fluctuations to be less than 15%. ยจ
