New art museum catches critics

by Curtis Wackerle, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

A downtown facility for the Aspen Art Museum is not likely to come to fruition without a public vote.

Some residents in the community aren’t satisfied that a new building for the Aspen Art Museum is appropriate as the city continues a public process to vet what is now called the Zupancis-Galena (ZG) Master Plan.

Palin energizes local Republicans

by Andrew Travers, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

Republican Vice President nominee Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech Wednesday night electrified her party’s convention in St. Paul, Minn., along with Republicans across the country and in the Aspen area.

“I thought she was absolutely over the top and wonderful,” Carol Brown, a delegate to the convention who lives in Glenwood Springs, said from the convention floor yesterday. “She very clearly outlined the differences between her and the Obama-Biden platform. And I think she connected with normal people in America so well.”

Aspen Street hotels appear to be growing

by Brent Gardner-Smith, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

The two hotels proposed for South Aspen Street at the base of Aspen Mountain appear to be growing.

Conceptual plans for the hotels shared with members of a citizens’ planning group on Thursday revealed that the number of hotel rooms or suites represented by the projects is now larger than a year ago.

Real estate tax revenue continues to fall

by Troy Hooper, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

The real estate transfer tax that helps fund Aspen’s affordable-housing program and the Wheeler Opera House is feeling the effects of a weak national market.

Year-to-date collections for housing through August are $3,983,982 — or 39 percent behind collections for the same period last year and 30 percent behind budget.

POLICE BLOTTER: Rash of arrests for library drinking

by Andrew Travers, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Aspen police made six arrests in three separate incidents of public alcohol consumption at the Pitkin County Library this week.

The benches outside of the library, on Galena Plaza, have long been a refuge for Aspen’s few transients and homeless people. They can often be seen drinking from brown bags in the afternoon, but their brushes with police — who are headquartered just across the plaza — are ordinarily limited to when the men fight or harass passersby.

Fresh for the 'Fest

by Christine Benedetti, Time Out Staff Writer
At first glance, there are a few things wrong with the picture when someone says that Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews will play at Oktoberfest in Snowmass on Saturday.

The obvious being that it's only the beginning of September. But, anyone familiar with one of the world's largest festivals can attest that even Oktoberfest headquarters in Munich, Germany, do indeed host the beer- and food-indulgent event in September.

Flipping Out with Nine Inch Nails

by Jason Hood, Time Out Music Columnist
This is a true story that, in a roundabout way, is also about Trent Reznor and his groundbreaking band Nine Inch Nails: I knew a kid in high school who absolutely worshipped Nine Inch Nails. He was a wee, pasty-faced kid with floppy, blond hair, and light eyes. For the sake of storytelling let's call him Montgomery "Flip" Eubanks because, well, that's what he looked like. His appearance never really met the aspirations of his given name.

Anyway, one day Flip had a mutual friend of ours dye his hair jet black, just like that of his hero Trent Reznor. The result was striking; he looked like a photo negative of Wesley Snipes' character in "Demolition Man." Well, when Mama Eubanks got home later on that afternoon and saw what her son had done to his precious Hungarian-rooted tresses, she became enraged.

Denver vs. Portland

by Curtis Wackerle, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
According to my bus schedule, it is now officially off-season. I am ready     to hibernate - in an abbreviated fashion - like a bear, popping back out of my den inbetween B2 and B3 when there is enough snow to ski back into town.

The old noggin has been spinning with activity over these last few weeks. I had a visit back home to Portland, followed by a layover in Denver for a few days where I witnessed some of the Democratic National Convention before coming home to celebrate the Day of (no) Labor, which actually lasts for five days, and included Widespread Panic.

Wine in These Politically Charged Times

by Drew Stofflet, Time Out Wine Columnist
It is hard to ignore the political climate these days, with the Democratic National Convention just having wrapped up in our lovely Denver, darling of the new West, with its affluence and diversity drawing us all in. The Republicans did not choose Minneapolis, maybe because of all of its urban grit and controversial modern art, but instead are convening this week in its slightly gentler twin side, St Paul.

Everywhere you turn, whether it is the daily newspapers, public radio or the nightly news, you cannot ignore what is going on. Once again our nation is caught up in the battle for change versus the status quo. Some of us were lucky enough to attend in person, the rest must settle for viewing the spectacle as if it were a week-long infomercial, trying to sway us to each party's platform, asking not for money, but for precious popular votes.

Movie Review: 'Elegy's' Mediocre Writing is Carried by Charismatic Acting

by Michael Phillips, AP Movie Critic
"Elegy" is a curious example of misplaced good taste. Spanish-born director Isabel Coixet's film, adapted by Nicholas Meyer, recasts into softer, more palatable material the 2001 novella "The Dying Animal," the third in Philip Roth's stories driven by the sensual obsessions of Roth alter ego David Kepesh. He's played here by Ben Kingsley, an actor with an uncanny way of looking outlandishly intense and wryly detached in the same instant. You try that sometime.

That dichotomy, with Kingsley, is a question of when and how often (usually not often) he looks his scene partner in the eye. He's a remarkable actor, but an island. In various recent parts, from the Polish-American hit man in "You Kill Me" to the bong-addled shrink in "The Wackness," Sir Ben has been enormously resourceful and never dull. But Kepesh is a man eaten up by jealousy while his much younger ex-student, played by Penelope Cruz, is consumed by a different sort of predator. The role demands real, vital craziness, and neither Kingsley nor the film is into that sort of thing - the narcissistic mess of a horndog in winter.

Editor's Pick: And All That Jazz...

Aspen Daily News Staff Report
If your inner Velma Kelly, Roxie Hart or even Billy Flynn has being dying for some time in the spotlight, then Aspen Community Theatre's "Chicago" auditions are for you. The play-turned-Tony-winning-musical-turned-Oscar-winning movie explores the themes of celebrity and scandal in jazz- and Prohibition-era Chicago. Auditions for the musical will be held Friday and Saturday, Sept

Bastian Says Goodbye

by Jonathan Bastian, Roaring Sports Staff Writer
Roaring Sports founding editor steps down and reflects on one year of sport in the Roaring Fork Valley

In 1969, Ed Bastian, my father, arrived into Aspen in a beat up truck he had been driving across the country. He still remembers pulling into town on a summer evening — the sun hanging low, the cross-light casting shadows against the brick buildings, a breeze flooding down from Independence Pass, Aspen trees flickering. He set up a tent in Conundrum for the summer, living a few feet from a creek, drinking its soft sound in the evening — mornings drenched in dew, late afternoon storms, air that chills your chest with every breath. After years of wandering through Asia, living in Tibetan monasteries, backpacking around the world, and seeking adventure after adventure, he had found home.

Colorado wilderness legislation could happen pretty soon

by Connie Harvey, Aspen Daily News Columnist
That possibility drew environmental activists and legislators to a reception in Grand Junction this week with Colorado Congresswoman Diana De Gette and West Virginia Congressman Nick Rahall, Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. Nobody’s counting chickens yet, but a huge milestone was passed when the previous chairman of that committee, Richard Pombo, was voted out of office last year.

You might recall that Pombo is the man who wanted to sell off some of our national parks, and sell a right to rename others to the highest bidder. An implacable foe of wilderness, endangered species, and other environmental protection, Pombo was in a position to block any attempt to add to our wilderness system.

Sarah Palin, queen of the nobodies

by Ted Rall, Aspen Daily News Columnist
Until four years ago, no one had heard of our current Democratic nominee.

“Who is Barack Obama?” asked CBS News after he was picked to deliver the keynote address at the Dems’ 2004 confab. “Not exactly a household name.” Four years later, that speech remains his biggest achievement. No landmark legislation bears his name. His claim to fame is his gift of gab.

Please reinstate Crowley

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

We were distressed to read in several recent articles and letters to the editor that Aspen patrol officer Jim Crowley has been fired from his position with the Aspen police force after 18 years of service, for his first violation that was not a deliberate act and that caused no harm to anyone.

We lost with Crowley’s firing

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

I read about Jim Crowley’s firing in the Boulder Daily Camera over the weekend. It seems a bit much to air our dirty laundry with this dismissal in other papers.

Krabloonik protesters understand

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

In true self-righteous fashion, James Breasted points out that Krabloonik protesters are nothing more than ignorant, newly arrived urbanites who don’t understand the difference between working dogs and pets.

Snowmass needs leadership

Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist
(Editor’s note: This letter was originally addressed to ADN Managing Editor Catherine Lutz.)

Editor: