Aspen Highlands extends season

by Troy Hooper, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

It’s not exactly an endless winter, but Aspen’s ski season will go on longer than scheduled.

Confirming one of the worst-kept secrets in town, Aspen Skiing Co. executives on Thursday announced that they will extend the season at Aspen Highlands until April 27. It becomes the fourth ski resort in Colorado that has elected to widen the window of opportunity for lift-access skiing.

Private jets propel big delays at Sardy Field

by Catherine Lutz, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

A major air traffic snafu delayed most flights departing from Aspen/Pitkin County Airport on Saturday by an average of one hour and as many as five hours, frustrating passengers and causing hundreds, if not thousands, of missed connections and snarled travel plans.

Approximately 70 airplanes were en route to Aspen at any given hour that day, according to Jim Elwood, the airport’s aviation director.

Spring brings first bear sighting

by Andrew Travers, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

The first day of spring, in most places, brings flowers, chirping birds and mating bees. But here in the mountains, where the snow is still deep and the temperature still hanging mostly below freezing, ringing in the new season yesterday brought one of the first reported black bear sightings of the year and another mountain lion sighting.

A woman on Pyramid Road called the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office Thursday morning, saying a small bear had been visiting her porch over the last few days, and was peeking in her window.

‘Entrance to’ makes Basalt debut

by Brent Gardner-Smith, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

The first of two campaign pieces encouraging Basalt residents to vote for the purchase of the riverfront Pan and Fork Mobile Home Park landed in mailboxes yesterday.

The piece proclaims that “Basalt’s Future is in your hands” and states that “the Pan and Fork Mobile Home Park is for sale and Basalt has the opportunity to acquire the land at a fair price. A YES vote will mean protecting the river front for an active park and recreation area at our town’s entrance.”

POLICE BLOTTER

by Andrew Travers, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

Vehicle chase ends after Cottonwood Pass dead-end

Shortly before midnight Tuesday, a Glenwood Springs man allegedly led the Colorado State Patrol on a car and foot chase. He was eventually tracked down by the Garfield County Sheriff’s dog-sniffing unit.

Kasey Fleming, 20, exited Interstate 70 in West Glenwood after a trooper attempted to pull him over for speeding, according to the CSP. He allegedly drove through Glenwood Springs, onto Highway 82 and went up Red Canyon Road. On Cottonwood Pass, Fleming reportedly hit an impassable stretch of road and was stopped.

COMMUNITY BRIEFS

Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
KSPN wins awards

The 2007 Colorado Broadcasters Association Awards were issued at the Denver Marriott Tech Center last Saturday night. KSPN-FM won the following awards:

Basalt police search for stolen painting

Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Basalt police are seeking information from the public regarding a painting stolen from the lobby of the Triangle Lofts at Willits Town Center on Feb. 22 or 23. The three-dimensional print is valued at $9,000. If you have seen it or have any information, please contact the Basalt Police Department at 927-4316

Springin' Ahead

by Christine Benedetti, Time Out Staff Writer
It's been a long winter, and with Aspen Skiing Co.'s announcement of a season extension, it's going to be a long spring too.

Break out the tanning oil, bikinis and good-time radar because warm-weather fun starts this weekend and doesn't end until the sun sets on Highlands (second) closing day party at the end of April.

How Not To Carry Your Skis

by Curtis Wackerle, Time Out Music Columnist
When I see it I don't know whether to laugh or cry. But there are so many wrong ways to carry your skis, it's scary.

Carrying your skis correctly is all about confidence and poise, not to mention comfort. Most of the time, when you see someone carrying their skis incorrectly, they have an unpleasant look on their face. Coincidence? I think not.

'Drillbit Taylor' Takes a Step Back in Boys-to-Men Tales

by Michael Phillips, AP Movie Critic
We can't go back to the dear old movie bullies of yesteryear. It's too late. The world is now officially more dangerous and violent teens aren't much of a punch line. The new Owen Wilson vehicle "Drillbit Taylor" knows this. The film's eerily unfunny antagonist skulks around in a hooded sweatshirt, looking like one of the Columbine perps - as much as it's possible to do so and still exist inside some sort of comedy, albeit a queasy and increasingly grim one.

"Drillbit Taylor" makes last summer's very funny "Superbad" look even better in retrospect. In that film, the three marvelously contrasting teen geeks played by Michael Cera, Jonah Hill and Christopher Mintz-Plasse were fully themselves and, at their best, fully hilarious. They didn't need to prove to anyone they could take a punch, or re-enact scenes from "My Bodyguard"; their primary transgressions were trying to grow up too quickly and talking a faster game than they could play. Judd Apatow produced "Superbad," coming off the huge success of his even bigger hit "Knocked Up," and together those films told a more or less continuous story about boy-men learning to become less the boy and more the man.

Aligot⁄: A White Grape that Prevails in Obscurity

by Drew Stofflet, Time Out Wine Columnist
This spring I am doing a series of columns on white wines. It will be those that I have come across lately which possess these qualities: They are bright, crisp, and refreshing; exciting to design meals around and enjoy with; and they are on the more obscure side, offering interesting searches and studies. They are wines for the coming warm season and for all times. Rather than include many different wines in one column I have decided to devote proper attention to each one. This is the second chapter.

Aligot⁄ is a white varietal that comes from Burgandy, France and is known to be the fourth most planted grape in the world. But it isn't that well known, at least here in United States. Perhaps because in Burgandy it grows in the shadows of a similar white grape, chardonnay, which to many is the most compelling white wine on earth. Because of that, aligot⁄ is mostly found planted on the edges of chardonnay vineyards or relegated to lesser sites altogether. Even though in the past two centuries the more acidic Aligot⁄ was blended into chardonnay (in small amounts), French farmers and vignerons have replaced most plantings with chardonnay. The grape carries only regional appellation status granted by law in Bourgogne, thus it seems to carry no local vineyard importance.

Editor's Pick: Early Bird Gets ... Snow

Aspen Daily News Staff Report
It's the earliest Easter since 1913, and it won't happen for another 200 years, so you're not the only one if you feel like time is flying this winter. Er, spring. It changed seasons last Thursday, but it doesn't feel like it around the Aspen area which is still covered in feet of snow

Written Word: 'Turning Tables'

Aspen Daily News Staff Report
"Turning Tables" is written by identical twins who drew on their own experience as waitresses at restaurants in New York City, Nantucket, Mass., and San Francisco. They've distilled those memories into the story of Erin Edwards, 28, who loses her corporate job in a downsizing. Desperate for cash, she takes a waitressing job at a chic Manhattan restaurant. Disasters ensue.

She has zero experience, and it shows in this high-pressure environment, ruled by her demanding and sharp sharp-tongued bosses. Early on, she's flummoxed by the finer points of folding napkins at high speed, and sent sprawling in front of the temperamental head chef because her shoes weren't designed for greasy spots.

Time for a reality check

by Connie Harvey, Aspen Daily News Columnist
When I was a small child, during the Depression years, I saw a newsreel that left a lasting impression on me. It showed farmers pouring milk into a ditch. They were angry because they could not sell their milk at a price that would allow them at least to break even.

City dwellers had it even worse. Photographs of that time show people lined up in hopes of getting their money out of the bank, and later photos show long lines at improvised soup kitchens.  There wasn’t much of a safety net. Social Security, originally part of the Socialist Party platform under presidential candidate Norman Thomas, finally came into being in 1935, followed in 1936 by unemployment insurance.

Winter soldier marches again

by Amy Goodman
Last weekend, in the lead-up to the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, a remarkable gathering occurred just outside Washington, D.C., called Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan, Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations. Hundreds of veterans of these two wars, along with active-duty soldiers, came together to offer testimony about the horrors of war, including atrocities they witnessed or committed themselves.

The name, Winter Soldier, comes from a similar event in 1971, when hundreds of Vietnam veterans gathered in Detroit, and is derived from the opening line of Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, “The Crisis,” published in 1776:

The Wheeler will rock you

Aspen Daily News Staff Report
Editor:

My wife and I had the very wonderful opportunity last Saturday night to attend the Queen tribute band that played at the Wheeler Opera House.

Streaming live

Aspen Daily News Staff Report
Editor:

GrassRoots TV programming streams live on www.grassrootstv.org.

Whitsitt for Basalt Town Council

Aspen Daily News Staff Report
Editor:

We support Jacque Whitsitt for Town Council because she cares about Basalt’s future, has demonstrated leadership skills and uses a common sense approach to problem solving. Whitsitt volunteered countless hours on the Midvalley Trails Committee, pushed for completion of the Rio Grande Trail and other local projects. If you support Basalt’s small-town character, trails and common sense, then vote for Jacque Whitsitt.

About Obama

Aspen Daily News Staff Report

Editor:

I don’t know if I like Obama, or trust him to have enough integrity to be effective as President of the world’s foremost consumers. But I do like his Pastor. What shame we place over the Constitution when we seek to discredit a man with what another man says, when his pastor actually speaks the truth about this country we’ve grown so (complacent) about.

Reward for bike’s return

Aspen Daily News Staff Report
Editor:

On Wednesday afternoon sometime between 4-10 p.m. my bicycle was stolen from outside the Aspen Daily News building at 517 E. Hopkins. I rely on my bike daily to get to and from work and around town. It’s worth nothing monetarily, but worth the world to me personally.

Put parking to a vote

Aspen Daily News Staff Report
Editor:

Let’s see: We’re going to plan our future parking program fashioned after London and Stockholm. That’s understandable and feasible, as London has a population of 7.6 million and Stockholm 800,000 — very similar (counting visitors) to Aspen.

BRT’s hard to comprehend

Aspen Daily News Staff Report
Editor:

It is difficult to comprehend the logic employed by the RFTA Board in considering spending over $180 million to implement a BRT plan that will do little to solve traffic congestion while doubling the number of buses operating in mixed traffic. Does this cost even include the land acquisition costs for all of the necessary parking spaces?

Ashamed and disappointed

Aspen Daily News Staff Report
Editor:

On March 14, I was going to go see Reel Big Fish at Belly Up Aspen (one of my favorite bands). When I bought my ticket I was told I would be allowed into the show. This was an advance purchase.