DRC Brown remembered

Aspen Daily News Staff Report
More than 300 people rode up the Silver Queen Gondola on Friday afternoon to pay tribute to D.R.C. “Darcy” Brown, Jr., who died March 10 at the age of 95.

    As friends, family and former employees of Brown’s were riding over the top of Bell Mountain toward the Sundeck restaurant, ski patrollers down below were sweeping the mountain and yelling “Clear!”

Diffendaffer returns to job at Rodney’s Clinic Pharmacy

Aspen Daily News Staff Report
Rodney Diffendaffer of Rodney’s Clinic Pharmacy on Main Street in Aspen has regained his pharmacy license from the Colorado State Board of Pharmacy.

    “Rodney Diffendaffer’s pharmacy license is once again active — with conditions,” said Chris Lines, public information officer for the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, which oversees the Colorado State Board of Pharmacy. “So yes, he can practice pharmacy, but he is under probation.”

AVH goes to E-Verify

Aspen Daily News Staff Report
The Aspen Valley Hospital, one of the Roaring Fork Valley’s largest employers, is in the process of enrolling in E-Verify, a program requiring that the Social Security numbers of new employees be checked against a federal database.

    Enrollment in the program could make it harder for the hospital to find qualified employees.

Go Green

Aspen Daily News Staff Report
Being “green” has become mainstream.

    It’s cool to be green. I love the green movement. I think people should be rallying around the cause. After all, we’ve got only one earth. Yet, with so many people revealing their greener sides, it makes me wonder whether some are green because they care, or for its newfound social status. 

Into the den of Bear Stearns

by Ellen Goodman, Aspen Daily News Columnist
I don’t know too many economists who get confused with preachers. But there are times when they talk about virtue and temptation as if they were free-market holy rollers.

Consider the phrase that has been popping up all over the Bear Stearns debacle: “Moral hazard.” No, Moral Hazard is not the name of a country and western singer. It’s the phrase economists use to explain why people shouldn’t be protected from the consequences of their actions. In The Wall Street Journal’s definition, moral hazards are “the distortions introduced by the prospect of not having to pay for your sins.”

Thanks for the ads

Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist
Editor:

    I read with horror the latest advertisement from the Dancing Bear fractional ownership residences/timeshares (chicken/poultry). It bluntly urged potential owners to come dance on the rooftop like no one is watching.

GrassRoots thanks

Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist
Editor:

GrassRoots TV12 would like to give a big thanks and congratulations to all of the fabulous high school winter sports athletes and coaches. A big pat on the back to the Aspen Skier boy’s hockey and basketball teams and the Basalt Lady Longhorn basketball team for their tremendous efforts at this years state tournaments. Congratulations to you all on an amazing season.

Whitsitt is a power house

Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist
Editor:

    I plan to vote for Jacque Whitsitt for Basalt Town Council on Tuesday, April 1, and I hope you will join me.

E-mail the USOC

Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist
Editor:

    Hear the sound of freedom’s ring o’er the purple mountain majesty of high Tibet.  See the “Free Tibet” banner in the photo in the Aspen Daily News (March 14). Watch the horsemen with their lassos surround the occupiers and chant for a free Tibet. See the occupiers drag the protesters out of their homes and march them off at gunpoint. See the journalists expelled from Tibet so the genocide can continue in secret. See the bodies lying in the streets. Hear the Chinese obfuscate and blame the “Dalai Faction.” The Dalai Faction is all Tibet. They want their country back.

Given the kerfluffle

Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist
Editor:

    Given the kerfluffle that’s erupted over my letter to Basalt Chamber of Commerce President David Fiore — including a response from the Basalt Chamber in the form of a letter to the editor — I figured I should briefly explain to the public why I wrote to David in the first place.

Whitsitt for Town Council

Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist
Editor:

    I hope everyone in Basalt will join me in voting for Jacque Whitsitt for Town Council.