Articles for Wednesday, July 23, 2008
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by
Troy Hooper, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
The downsizing of the airline industry has turned up in Aspen, where US Airways is canceling a decade-old direct flight to Phoenix and United Airlines has trimmed one of its three direct daily flights to Chicago.
The Aspen-to-Phoenix flight was running at a 61 percent load factor last winter when the average load here is closer to 75 percent, according to Stay Aspen Snowmass President Bill Tomcich, an airline industry expert.
by
Curtis Wackerle, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Aspen City Council turned down an idea Tuesday to create an enclosed area in a public park specifically for small dogs.
In a 4-1 decision, a majority of council members felt that a small-dog park wasn’t necessary and that the onus for good doggie behavior should rest on individual owners.
by
Catherine Lutz, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
An outdoor shower, cauldrons emitting fog lit by LED lights and fake trees shooting fire into the atmosphere are just a few of the exterior features Scott DeGraff envisioned for his Base Village restaurant and bar/nightclub, Junk and Liquid Sky.
The entertainment mogul, who has built 30 or so restaurants and nightspots in places like Chicago and Las Vegas, including the Las Vegas Playboy Club, came before the Snowmass Village Town Council on Monday to plead his case for some exterior changes to the building on the Base Village plaza (next to the red barn) which is expected to open for business this winter.
by
Brent Gardner-Smith, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
The Pitkin County Open Space and Trails Board endorsed a plan Tuesday that will let the public walk through Filoha Meadows near Redstone. But not until the summer of 2010.
Until then, the 192-acre nature preserve will remain completely closed from Oct. 1 until June 30 and open for guided tours only in July, August and September.
by
Andrew Travers, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
A district court judge ruled Monday that an El Salvadoran man cannot reverse his three-and-a-half-year-old guilty plea on cocaine charges.
The convicted man, Isabel Orellana-Santos, entered a motion earlier this month asking to withdraw his plea, claiming his attorney had not properly advised him of the consequences it could have on his immigration status.
Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers hosting clean-up day on Hunter Creek Trail
Close to 80 volunteers are needed for a Hunter Creek Trail clean-up project on Saturday, July 26.
From the From The Associated Press
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
PARACHUTE — A wildfire burning in Mesa County was about 60 percent contained at press time, and firefighters don’t expect the fire to grow any further.
The fire five miles southwest of Parachute was burning on about 150 acres Tuesday.
Aspen Daily News Staff Report
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
The Aspen Music Festival and School continues its brio experimentation with new technologies and programs that allow us to expand outside the United States into Europe, Asia and elsewhere, primarily by streaming many of our concerts. And we are not neglecting the good old technology: radio. Last Friday’s concert was broadcast live throughout the country courtesy of American Pubic Media.
Our international reach includes not only mass audiences, but individuals important in the global world of music. This week sees the first visit to the Aspen Music Festival of director John Gilhooly, of Wigmore Hall in London, described in the Times of London as “the best place for classical music in the world.” (Of course, the Times critic hasn’t yet listened to a concert in our own Harris Hall.) It is as important for us to get distinguished musical visitors to our “sacred place” as it is for our students and faculty to travel the world telling others about the magic of Aspen Music Festival. We are inviting music critics from around the world and have had the senior opera critic, Hugh Canning, of the Sunday Times of London as our guest. And last week the Financial Times reviewed AMFS performances of “La Cenerentola” and maestro Zinman’s brilliant conducting of the Aspen Chamber Orchestra.
Business
by
Catherine Lutz, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
The situation doesn't look good in today's publishing industry — venture capitalists and the likes of Rupert Murdoch are taking over venerable old publishing houses, whose focus is shifting more to bigger profits based on formulaic titles such as sensational memoirs. Digital novelties like Amazon's Kindle e-reader may threaten the paper-and-ink industry, but certainly not more so than Americans' diminishing habit of reading.
It doesn't seem like the best time to launch a publishing company - much less a small, regional press that has no existing model on which to base itself.
by Greg Hunter, Mountain Business Journal Guest Columnist
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
What a difference a year makes.
The Roaring Fork Valley's real estate market has finally hit some extended tough times. And the future looks a bit uncertain, depending on how quickly asking prices are adjusted to find where the buyer interest actually lies.
Aspen Daily News Staff Report
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Aspen Daily News Staff Report
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Editor's note: Each week Mountain Business Journal will take a look at the local stock index (located on the left-hand side of page 1) and compare it to changes in both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ. We will also look at a few local and national industry indicators to comment on potential reasons for positive, negative and neutral changes in all three indices.
Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ saw gains over last week, with the Dow seeing a 3.53 percent increase over last Tuesday's closing and the NASDAQ seeing a 3.01 percent spike. The local stock index, however, more than doubled those numbers with a gain of 6.78 percent.
Aspen Daily News Staff Report
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Vince Lahey
GM/Front of House — The Crystal Palace Grille
Family: My beautiful wife Jessica. I have a daughter named Ella, who is 3 years old, and a son Holden, 6 months.
Aspen Daily News Staff Report
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Columnist
by
Lynn Burton, Aspen Daily News Columnist
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
A concerned citizen left a copy of the July 7 Aspen City Council work session DVD under her doormat for me to pick up in the dark of night last week. She’d more or less hyped the DVD as “The City Council Goes Nuts Again on its Citizens and Ignores Requests for a Clear-the-Air Burlingame Town Hall Meeting.” The GrassRoots TV-produced DVD actually turned out to be more like “Comedy Central, Aspen Style.”
For example, City Councilman Jack Johnson sarcastically joked at one point that Mayor Mick Ireland should “be held responsible” for every decision that’s “ever been made.” Mayor Mick himself later joked, “I know I will be criminally prosecuted” for stating an opinion. Both references alluded to the city’s Burlingame subsidy debacle that if you want to learn more about, just Google “Burlingame” or “debacle” with an “Aspen” in there somewhere.
by David Sirota, Aspen Daily News Columnist
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
In the asylum that is American politics, beware a candidate like Barack Obama when he is lauded for moving to “the center” — because usually that means he is drifting away from it.
Over the last month, the Democratic presidential nominee has backed a measure to permit warrantless wiretapping and protect telecom companies when they violate customers’ privacy; sent conflicting signals about whether he will reform the NAFTA trade model; and threatened to revise his timetable for ending the war in Iraq. Universally, reporters have billed this dance as a move to the middle. As The Associated Press claimed in a typical description, Obama’s shifts are designed “to appeal to the center of the electorate.”
Letter to the Editor
Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Editor:
As the summer baseball and softball season starts to wind down, the Basalt Recreation Department would like to express our thanks to the many volunteer coaches who dedicate so much of their time to help the youth of the Roaring Fork Valley learn not only the game of baseball and softball, but also the sportsmanship and camaraderie of playing on a team.
Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Editor:
What is happening with John McCain? Recently when he was asked if Barack Obama is a socialist, he said, “I don’t know.” If Obama is a socialist, that would come as quite a surprise to his many business supporters. But that’s not the only thing McCain seems confused about
Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Editor:
Your article “Billionaire levels historic Carbondale home” was somewhat of a cheap shot in that Tom Bailey should be credited for what Garfield County taxpayers and many landowners are unwilling to do — preserve open space.
Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Editor:
Burlingame finances get more perplexing with every city ad and newspaper article. Two facts need to be better understood:
Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Editor:
Eisenhower, not Kennedy, committed the first U.S. military personnel to Vietnam, contrary to an assertion made in at least one local letter to the editor. The soldiers who got sent to Vietnam by Eisenhower were called “advisers.”
