Federal judge re-opens ICE case

by Troy Hooper, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
New hope for local detainee

One of a number of valley residents hauled off by U.S. Immigrations Customs Enforcement has reason to smile this week, even if he is locked away in a cramped detention facility above Colorado Springs.

Plastering the police lab

by Andrew Travers, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

One bourbon. One scotch. One beer. One Roaring Fork Valley law enforcement training session?

Yesterday afternoon, several municipal employees got snockered on the clock and failed drunk-driving tests before calling it a day. They had been given the hooch of their choice and then were used as boozy guinea pigs for peace officers in training.

Man caught after allegedly stalking teens in Aspen

by Andrew Travers, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

A 29-year-old El Salvadoran man was arrested in Aspen this week allegedly for stalking two local teenage girls.

The man, Fermin Membreno, is in the Pitkin County Jail and unable to post bond until federal authorities determine his immigration status.

Woman on trial for Aspen murder-for-hire

by Troy Hooper, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

A woman accused of plotting to kill her ex-husband in Aspen is on trial in federal court this week.

Gwen Bergman, 52, is charged with mailing money across state lines for the commission of murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit the murder-for-hire of her ex-husband, John LaCouture. She faces a possible sentence of 20 years in prison if she is convicted of both felony counts.

Mudslide on Smuggler leaves gash in hillside

by Brent Gardner-Smith, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

A swath of Smuggler Mountain slid down a gully above North Spruce Street on Wednesday afternoon, leaving a gash in the hillside and muddy water running towards homes.

The mudslide happened at about 4:45 p.m. and left a two-foot-deep crown at its top approximately 50 feet wide and 100 yards long.

Aspen Club timeshare plan passes P&Z

by Curtis Wackerle, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

A plan to build 20 timeshare units at the Aspen Club and Spa received a preliminary approval from the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission this week.

The 4-1 vote, which came at the end of the fifth two-hour session before the P&Z in recent months, laid blessing to the project’s design and massing. Lingering concerns about traffic and open space will be addressed when the plan goes before City Council.

Sealander memorial is May 9

Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
A memorial service for Jon Sealander will take place Friday, May 9, from 4-7 p.m., at the Two Creeks base area in Snowmass Village.

Everyone who knew Sealander is welcome to attend. Contributions will be accepted at the memorial service.

A Picture’s Worth

by Damien Williamson, Time Out Staff Writer

It is quite peculiar that a place like the Roaring Fork Valley — which serves as a playground for some of the most extreme sports and world-class athletes, from World Cup ski racing to X Games, intrepid mountain biking terrain to über-technical rock climbing, envied Gold Medal-water fishing and even unparalleled hiking trails — would lack a film festival specifically designed to showcase such talent.

At least that’s the way it seemed to Carbondale’s 5Point Film Festival Founder Julie Kennedy.

Flash of the Titans

by Jason Hood, Time Out Music Columnist

Like some beguiling, Bronx-bred and wind-driven Ponce de Leon, he set sail into uncharted territory. The land he stumbled upon was dingy and rank with the sweat of the restless. It was at once beautiful and decadent. It was bursting at its ripe underbelly with energy and soul. It was the Garden of Eden and the Book of Revelations. It was an unnamed oasis soon to be christened Hip-Hop.

This virgin continent needed a worthy leader. Indeed, it needed a King, a Pharaoh, a President. It needed a Grandmaster. This land called Hip-Hop needed Grandmaster Flash. The renegade explorer had finally found his ground.

Cleaning Out Your Closets

by Giovanna Dirusso, Time Out Fashion Columnist
Now that is May, and though it doesn’t quite feel like the middle of spring given the continuous cold temperatures and intermittent blizzard conditions, it is time to think about cleaning out your wardrobe, and purge it of those clothes clinging to the recesses of your closets, as they whisper, “I’ll be back.”

If you are anything like me, I’m always afraid that a few months after giving away that vintage Anne Klein suit, Ralph Lauren skirt or whatever, I’m going to bolt up in the middle of the night in a hot sweat (no, not menopause), and whimper, “Say it isn’t so! Don’t tell me I really gave away that classic camel hair coat dress now that it is in perfect style!”

Wine n' dine: Steak and Asparagus

by Dava Parr, Time Out Chef-at-Large
Spring weather! What a treat, huh? Snow, rain, sun, wind, hmmmm. I guess we had better hold off on planting up that vegetable bed for another week or so. I am still contemplating a quick trip to perma-warm Mexico, so it is just as well I can’t don those kneepads and rubber boots just yet.

It is a little difficult planning spring menus in the Rocky Mountains. The safest bet right now, vegetable-wise, is asparagus. Those hearty little rhizomes will grow out of any condition when spring tells them to rise. We have been eating them fresh from the picking for a couple of weeks now and we should see them well into June with luck.

‘Speed Racer’ Just Spinning its Wheels

by Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic
★

The Wachowski brothers have tumbled into a matrix of their own with “Speed Racer,” one which has rendered them completely out of touch with the outside world.

Four Stories and a Beautiful, Quiet Wine Life in the West Elks

by Drew Stofflet, Time Out Wine Critic

On a shimmering, sunny day earlier this week I traveled west over McClure Pass toward Paonia, to the North Fork Valley, for a meeting with West Elk area winemakers to tour their vineyards and wineries, to taste their wines and to hear their stories.

Through my assistance at the Woody Creek Winery for the past few seasons, and through tasting some of the area’s wines, I already had a lay of the land and a sense of things. I’ve heard that before the Great Depression, the North Fork Valley had the highest concentration of grapevines in the world. And I have heard that there are 135-year-old Portuguese vines growing on hillsides somewhere. But this tour put things into a much clearer picture. I was able to see the continuity and community that the area winemakers share. They all have an attachment to storied properties with stunning views. It is quiet. And they have small, modern wineries that produce wines to match that spirit.

Book review: ‘Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA’s Spytechs From Communism to Al-Qaeda’

Aspen Daily News Staff Report

by Robert Wallace, H. Keith Melton, Henry R. Schlesinger

Review By CARL HARTMAN, AP Book Critic

Editor’s Pick: One Last Kiss

Aspen Daily News Staff Report

Transit tax will have tough time

by Jeremy Madden, Aspen Daily News Columnist
Today the RFTA board is meeting in Carbondale. One of the issues they will be discussing is whether or not to put a transit tax question on the upcoming November ballot.

RFTA is looking for more money so they can maintain and increase the services they provide. They are wondering if they should ask voters from Aspen to Rifle for an increase in their sales tax levels, with the additional funds going to help fund RFTA’s ambitious goals.

Secret law: Is this America?

by Nat Hentoff
On April 30, the Senate’s subcommittee on the Constitution held a vitally important hearing on “Secret Law and the Threat to Democratic and Accountable Government” chaired by Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis.

At issue, ignored by the presidential contenders, is a profound change in the very core of our laws. Said witness Steven Aftergood, secrecy expert at the Federation of American Scientists, growing use of secret law “is implicated in fundamental political controversies over domestic surveillance, torture and many other issues directly affecting the lives and interests of Americans...Secret law excludes the public from the deliberative process, promotes arbitrary and deviant government behavior, and shields official malefactors from accountability.”

Thanks to GrassRoots

Aspen Daily News Staff Report
Editor:

We are so lucky to have GrassRoots TV in this valley. The station broadcasts the show “Democracy Now” five days a week so this political addict can get his fix of alternative media.

Oil’s going higher

Aspen Daily News Staff Report
Editor:

I do understand that you cannot publish every letter, as my last letter was not published.

Thanks to Gail

Aspen Daily News Staff Report

Editor’s note: This letter was addressed to state Sen. Gail Schwartz.

Editor:

Give ethanol a chance

Aspen Daily News Staff Report
Editor:

I am responding to Jeremy Madden’s May column in the Aspen Daily News, as well as other news concerning corn-based ethanol fuels.