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Articles for Wednesday, October 29, 2008Homeby Curtis Wackerle, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Rep. John Salazar, who represents Aspen and the rest of Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District in Washington, D.C., sounded a note of caution about the economy and the national debt during a meeting with Aspen City Council on Tuesday.
When a new Congress comes back in session in January, Salazar, who voted against both recent bailout packages, predicts a tough road for those seeking real reforms of the financial system. Such is the climate in Washington, where powerful interests such as Wall Street and oil and gas keep up the pressure on elected officials to see things their way, Salazar said. by Kai Beech, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer Wednesday, October 29, 2008
A new line of snowboards is getting plenty of attention in Aspen and around the country.
Burton, the world’s leading manufacturer of snowboards, recently collaborated with Playboy, the world’s leading gentlemen’s magazine, to create a line of snowboards dubbed “Love” which feature risqué photos of 1980s Playboy pinup girls. The sexual images have created quite a controversy for the Burlington, Vt.-based company, with six ski resorts so far joining in the protest.
by Curtis Wackerle, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer Wednesday, October 29, 2008
In what the mayor called a “Band-Aid” approach to the problem of excessive traffic volume in town, Aspen City Council agreed to try an experiment next summer banning left turns from Power Plant Road onto Cemetery Lane.
The move, driven largely by pressure from West End residents fed up with commuter traffic speeding down their streets, aims to quash the practice of bypassing afternoon traffic heading out on Main Street by driving through the West End and up Power Plant Road, rejoining Highway 82 at Cemetery Lane.
by David Frey, Aspen Daily News Correspondent Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Four Garfield County mayors are criticizing outside groups for pouring money and messages into the two county commissioner races.
Mayors from Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, New Castle and Rifle held a press conference in Glenwood Springs on Tuesday to criticize what they see as improper influence from outside organizations, including one that has taken in major contributions from the energy industry and two others that haven’t disclosed their contributors.
by Andrew Travers, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer Wednesday, October 29, 2008
The Pitkin Board of County Commissioners kicked around an idea yesterday on how to pay for expanded affordable employee housing: dramatically raise a fee on building or rethink its implementation.
Just three years after it was added to the county’s land-use code, the employee housing impact fee has been rendered inadequate by the skyrocketing price of local construction and land.
Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Burn, man, burn
The local Burning Man community is holding a meet-and-greet at the Woody Creek Tavern tonight from 6 to 9 p.m. Businessby Damien Williamson, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Repo men, grocery stories and alcohol vendors have traditionally done well during economic slumps. But this year's recession has brought about major sales increases for a different type of business: second-hand stores.
The trend that has been occurring nationally can finally be seen locally as several valley thrift and consignment shops have been reporting some of the best sales months in years. And the reasons, store owners and customers say, are simple - financial hard times means more people are looking for a bargain, and the quality of second-hand goods in the Roaring Fork Valley means people who otherwise wouldn't shop in discount-type stores are flocking to them in record numbers. by Catherine Lutz, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Entrepreneurial ingenuity often arises from a problem that needs to be solved, and this year's rapidly escalating baggage fees are no exception.
At least one new local business has cropped up in the wake of increasingly frustrating travel hassles. And two of the area's top tourist-based businesses - the Aspen Skiing Co. and Stay Aspen Snowmass - have also recognized the need to get into the baggage shipping business. by William Smal, Mountain Business Journal Guest Columnist Wednesday, October 29, 2008 The question I'm asked most often these days is whether this a good time to buy Aspen-Snowmass real estate. The second most frequently asked question is whether we are going to see property values in Aspen drop substantially like they have in other markets before this real estate downturn will run its course. These are two great questions on the minds of Aspen's property owners, prospective buyers and brokers.
Nationally, home prices have fallen an average of 18 percent from their peak in the first quarter of 2006. Prices are expected to fall an additional 10-15 percent between now and mid-2009. What's important to note is that these are national averages, which mean some areas of the country have seen declines greater than 18 percent and some have seen less. by Tim Paradis, Mountain Business Journal Columnist Wednesday, October 29, 2008 In a bruising stock market, placing a bet on a small company rather than a behemoth might seem like a foolish move. But that's the point for investors looking to scoop up a bargain others might have overlooked.
Analysts have been watching the recent path of small-capitalization stocks, which can be among the first to recover when a market rebound is at hand. Last month, investors largely held on to small-caps even as they dumped other types of stocks, hinting that some could be expecting the market to turn higher. by Curt Brandao, Mountain Business Journal Columnist Wednesday, October 29, 2008 In the 1969 hit song "My Way," the legendary Frank Sinatra admits he's had a few regrets, "But then again, too few to mention."
No disrespect to the former Chairman of the Board, but that was easy for him to croon. Sinatra didn't live in the Digital Age. Aspen Daily News Staff Report Wednesday, October 29, 2008
VAIL: SEASON BOOKINGS 'SIGNIFICANTLY' DOWN
Gloomy prognostications and sluggish bookings are at the forefront of officials' and business owners' minds in the Vail area, the Rocky Mountain News reported. In a town meeting about the economy, they told the community that the upcoming winter is going to be very different from previous years. Hotel bookings are down "not just 1 or 2 percent," but "significantly," for the season, said Rob Katz, CEO for Vail Resorts Inc. And the people who are still visiting are expected to spend less, they added. The company's stock is down 60 percent, something Katz noted as better than most resorts. But, even with the outlook, officials advised owners to capitalize on the opportunity by bolstering customer service to keep people coming back.
Aspen Daily News Staff Report Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Hard hats off to Limelight
Colorado Construction magazine recently named the Limelight Lodge its recipient of the Silver Hard Hat Award, a competition of the best Coloardo projects during the last year. Limelight received the designation as "Outstanding Engineering Design Project" for its resourceful use of materials, which reduced construction time but did not increase costs. A couple of these features were the use of premanufactured stairs and elevator cores.
Time to join the club
Aspen Daily News Staff Report Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Kelly Wade
Heidi Hat / Heidi Bottom (heidihat.com) Columnistby Lynn Burton, Aspen Daily News Columnist Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Barack Obama is probably chugging down the right track when he says he wants to restore America’s reputation in the world.
For one thing, when the New Madrid fault goes “boom” in Missouri and sends the Mississippi River flowing in the opposite direction like reports said it did in 1812, maybe other countries will rush to our aid and airlift some Spam, blankets and bottled water to the stricken area. Letter to the EditorAspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Editor:
I encourage all citizens to vote for environmental candidates in the upcoming election. Most of these candidates will be Democrats. We cannot continue to give Republicans a blank check to destroy and pollute our beautiful state of Colorado by pushing gas drilling and oil shale development. Bush, Cheney, and Haliburton have already had that blank check. It is time to shut off the gas drilling industry in Colorado. They already have too many permits and too many cheap leases. This is the best example of special interest greed at its highest level and it is right here in Garfield County. The gas companies are polluting our air and water supplies as we breathe. This is why the Garfield County commissioner race is so crucial. The gas companies have a blank check to do anything that they want with the current commission members Martin and McCown. Let’s stop giving blank checks to the polluting gas companies. Vote Democrat and vote for Steve Carter and Stephen Bershenyi for Garfield County Commissioner. Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Editor:
The Construction Experts Group, a group of construction, development and finance community members assembled by the city of Aspen to identify ways to improve the development of affordable housing, recommends and endorses a vote for up to 300 units on Referendum 2G, Burlingame Ranch affordable housing density. The Construction Experts Group has determined that approximately 293 units can be accommodated on the Burlingame Ranch site within the spirit of the existing design and without materially compromising the livability of the site. This number of units would remain well below the 330 units permitted by the voter-approved annexation agreement and recommended by the 2004 COWOP process. Based on the cost of the city of Aspen’s four 2008 affordable housing site property purchases, and without considering additional costs for planning, carrying costs or infrastructure that will likely be required on these other sites, increasing Burlingame Ranch density by 57 units will result in a savings of millions of dollars to the affordable housing program. Based on Burlingame Phase 1 costs, the land cost savings would permit the city to house additional families. Permitting a Burlingame Ranch density increase will also facilitate the completion of additional affordable housing units without many more years of planning and approval. Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Editor:
I was told countless times by the election staff in Pitkin County that a paycheck with my address on it would suffice to vote. On Oct. 27, seven days into early voting is the first day the Pitkin County staff found out from the state that a paycheck with your address is not enough identification to vote. I would like to know how many voters who thought their votes were being counted are now not being counted or how many votes that are being counted should actually not be counted. Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Editor:
It’s time to early vote. Colorado voters can early vote at the Pitkin County Courthouse annex building (building next to the courthouse) on Main Street in Aspen until Friday. Wednesday hours are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Thursday and Friday hours are 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. this week. Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Editor:
I am supporting the RFTA tax question this fall because RFTA represents our best and most realistic chance of resolving traffic congestion in both the short and long run. Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Editor:
I would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to Susan Ebert-Stone, Norma Barr, Carolyn Spence and Berne Mitton from the Church at Carbondale for organizing and holding the Advocate Safehouse housewarming shower on Oct. 10. Because of their generosity of time and energy, the Safehouse received so many wonderful and beautiful household items as well as checks to purchase the items still needed. I also want to thank all of the individuals who attended the shower and/or who gave us a shower gift. Because of all of you, the Safehouse is ready to welcome families in need. Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Editor:
A postcard sent from my opponent in state Senate District 8 claims that, if elected, I will increase health care prescription drug costs, reduce your options for health insurance and promote higher taxes. Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Editor:
The Aspen Daily News stated it best when they endorsed Peter Runyon and Jon Stavney. “Do you think the county should invest in its future, build affordable housing and make development pay its way? Or do you want to rewind the clock back to the Reagan years?” Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Editor:
Here is one more reason to vote early. If you become part of a line on Tuesday, the line might discourage others from voting. Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Editor:
A short time ago I was talking with my neighbor, George Newman, about our neighborhood. I had an idea and I thought George would agree with me. He did, yet he quickly said, “Let’s take this to the Emma Caucus (which George and his wife Liz founded), we’re more likely to succeed with the consensus of the caucus.” George is smart enough to think for himself and wise enough to know the importance and value of getting the whole community behind a good idea. I thought, that’s real leadership, George will make a great county commissioner. Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Columnist Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Editor:
The top 10 reasons to vote for Stephen Bershenyi: |
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