Environmentalists hope for ‘sea change’ under Obama administration

by David Frey, Aspen Daily News Correspondent
The Roan Plateau is topping the list of environmental turnarounds the state conservation community is pleading the incoming Obama administration to consider.

Environmentalists said they are approaching President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team to reconsider a number of policies of the Bush administration with direct impacts on local areas. In addition to seeking more protections for the Roan Plateau, they’re hoping for a revamped policy to protect roadless areas, a more cautious approach to gas drilling and a slower approach to developing oil shale.

Prop 8 protesters take to the street

by Zach Ornitz, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
It would have been hard to miss them if you drove along Aspen’s Main Street on Saturday at around noon. About two-dozen protesters gathered on all four corners at the intersection of Main and Mill streets to demonstrate their disapproval of Proposition 8, a California state ballot proposition that amended the state constitution to restrict the definition of marriage to a union between a man and a woman. The recent vote, passed in California on Election Day, overrode law that recognized same-sex marriage in California as a fundamental right.

“The same time Californians elected an African-American to the highest office in the land, they passed a very hateful resolution to deny gays basic rights,” said protest organizer Bryan Gonzales of Aspen. More than 40 people, both gay and straight, gathered at 11:30 a.m. to march through the downtown core to demonstrate their disapproval of the new amendment. Even though the proposition legally affects only those gay couples recently married in California, the Aspen protesters thought it necessary to show their solidarity with Californians.

More layoffs hit Aspen’s luxury market

by Troy Hooper, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Add the landmark Hotel Jerome to the list of local businesses cutting jobs.

Broomfield-based RockResorts International LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vail Resorts, laid off three employees at the hotel — a chef, caterer and a front-desk clerk — to reduce costs, according to new Hotel Jerome General Manager Brendan Carlin, who arrived a week ago from The Mosaic in Beverly Hills.

S’Mass fire district questions Blangsted

by Andrew Travers, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Lawyers for the Snowmass-Wildcat Fire District are asking a federal judge to toss out a judgment against them of more than $500,000 for wrongfully dismissing a firefighter who organized a labor union, alleging he destroyed evidence that would have hurt his case.

Fireman Paul Blangsted was fired in April 2004 after he vandalized a racquetball sign at the Snowmass Club and, according to his superiors, lied about it during the ensuing investigation. Blangsted argued, and a federal jury agreed, that his firing was in fact a result of him organizing a chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters labor union in Snowmass.

C’dale man dies in Highway 133 accident

Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
A Carbondale man died in a two-car accident on Highway 133 on Saturday night.

Abraham Flores-Ramirez, 20, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Colorado State Patrol Sgt. Rich Armstrong.

Coroner: Pilot died of multiple internal injuries

Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
A 51-year-old Utah man piloting a single-engine plane that crashed in the upper Fryingpan Valley died from multiple internal injuries he sustained in the crash, Eagle County Coroner Kara Bettis said in a statement released Friday afternoon.

Michael Loveless was a Mormon bishop from Price, Utah, who reportedly invented a vacuum cleaner for wood-burning stoves and ran his own business.

Gents player chosen for USA team

by Kai Beech, Roaring Sports Staff Writer

Gentlemen of Aspen Rugby Football Club player Alec Parker was recently named to the United States men's national rugby team for its upcoming tour of Japan. The Eagles, currently ranked 19th in the world, will face the Japan national rugby team, the Cherry Blossoms, on Saturday, Nov. 22, at Mizuho Park Rugby Ground in Nagoya, Japan. 

"He's a staple of our team," USA Rugby spokeswoman Sara John said of Parker. "He's been a major leader for our team and obviously his experience speaks for itself." 

THE INTERLOPER'S REPORT — Killing Doc Holliday

by Andrew Travers, Roaring Sports Columnist
Before there was the WWF and NASCAR, the hillbilly territory where sport and entertainment meet was occupied by Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. A rootin' tootin' shoot-em-up tour where Bill and Annie Oakley and other costumed cowboys spun six-shooters and rode horses and staged gunfights for a paying audience in which the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys black ones.

But before there was the Wild West show there was, well, the wild west. The legends of which any Coloradoan or westerner ought to know well. John Wesley Harding, Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, Wild Bill Hickock - their fingerprints are still all over us out here.

Fantasy endurance: navigating the week 12 doldrums

Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Roaring Sports Columnist
Division races are heating up, running backs are dropping like flies and the San Francisco 49ers have hit a new low. Anyone who says the NFL isn't more dramatic than a soap opera isn't paying attention.

I've been predicting all year that Clinton Portis' heavy workload would spell doom in the form of injuries, and his MCL has proven me right. No human being can withstand the kind of punishment he was taking on a weekly basis, making the case once again that owners don't care about their players, just their players' numbers. From a fantasy perspective, it will be interesting to see where the Redskins turn to replace Portis' productivity, and where his owners (myself included) turn to replace his 20-plus points a week. Ladell Betts is likely to get the bulk of the carries, but throwing Shaun Alexander into the mix makes me wonder if either of them will produce viable numbers.

Athlete Profile — Chris Baumann

Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Roaring Sports Columnist
Age: 21

Team: Gentlemen of Aspen Rugby Football Club

Peak performances

Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Roaring Sports Columnist
Bikram's College of India owners and yoga enthusiasts Bel and Emily Carpenter recently took first place in the 2008 State Bishnu Ghosh yoga championship. The placing qualified them for the 6th annual International Bishnu Ghosh Championship in Los Angeles, which takes place in February. Ixchel Muniz placed second for the second year in row in the junior championship in October in Fort Collins. College of India is a Birkam's yoga studio in Basalt. The Carpenters have been teaching in the valley for 12 years.

Aspen High School boys tennis brought home a second place finish from the regional tournament in Steamboat Springs this year. Taylor Lambert, Michael Williamsky, Paul Young, Cole Green-Smith, Nic Broeking, Alex Smith, Luke Pratte and Kyle Feuer all qualifed for the state championships in Pueblo.

Finding themselves

by Kai Beech, Roaring Sports Staff Writer
It sounded like an indoor stampede.

Twenty-five high school boys basketball players were dribbling two balls at once up and down the length of the court in the Aspen High School Skier Dome. The sounds of bouncing basketballs echoed off the hardwood floor and amplified throughout the high school's hallways. As a blinding early winter snow fell outside, it was clear to see inside the old gymnasium that high school hoop season in the Roaring Fork Valley would soon be tipping off.

Demons advance to semis

by Kai Beech, Roaring Sports Staff Writer
Two explosive offenses, a pair of hard-hitting defenses and a game that went down to the wire on a goal-line stand; this is what playoff football is all about.

Glenwood Springs High School quarterback Dakota Stonehouse tallied 506 total offensive yards and six touchdowns, four passing and two rushing, as the Demons football team defeated Berthoud High School 50-39 during Saturday's Class 3A state quarterfinal playoff game at Marr Field.

Gents player chosen for USA team

by Kai Beech, Roaring Sports Staff Writer
Gentlemen of Aspen Rugby Football Club player Alec Parker was recently named to the United States men's national rugby team for its upcoming tour of Japan. The Eagles, currently ranked 19th in the world, will face the Japan national rugby team, the Cherry Blossoms, on Saturday, Nov. 22, at Mizuho Park Rugby Ground in Nagoya, Japan. 

"He's a staple of our team," USA Rugby spokeswoman Sara John said of Parker. "He's been a major leader for our team and obviously his experience speaks for itself." 

THE INTERLOPER'S REPORT: Killing Doc Holliday

by Andrew Travers, Roaring Sports Columnist
Before there was the WWF and NASCAR, the hillbilly territory where sport and entertainment meet was occupied by Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. A rootin' tootin' shoot-em-up tour where Bill and Annie Oakley and other costumed cowboys spun six-shooters and rode horses and staged gunfights for a paying audience in which the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys black ones.

But before there was the Wild West show there was, well, the wild west. The legends of which any Coloradoan or westerner ought to know well. John Wesley Harding, Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, Wild Bill Hickock - their fingerprints are still all over us out here.

Fantasy endurance: navigating the week 12 doldrums

by Austin Gardner-Smith, Roaring Sports Columnist
Division races are heating up, running backs are dropping like flies and the San Francisco 49ers have hit a new low. Anyone who says the NFL isn't more dramatic than a soap opera isn't paying attention.

I've been predicting all year that Clinton Portis' heavy workload would spell doom in the form of injuries, and his MCL has proven me right. No human being can withstand the kind of punishment he was taking on a weekly basis, making the case once again that owners don't care about their players, just their players' numbers. From a fantasy perspective, it will be interesting to see where the Redskins turn to replace Portis' productivity, and where his owners (myself included) turn to replace his 20-plus points a week. Ladell Betts is likely to get the bulk of the carries, but throwing Shaun Alexander into the mix makes me wonder if either of them will produce viable numbers.

Athlete Profile: Chris Baumann

Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Roaring Sports Columnist
Age: 21

Team: Gentlemen of Aspen Rugby Football Club

Finding themselves

by Kai Beech, Roaring Sports Staff Writer
It sounded like an indoor stampede.

Twenty-five high school boys basketball players were dribbling two balls at once up and down the length of the court in the Aspen High School Skier Dome. The sounds of bouncing basketballs echoed off the hardwood floor and amplified throughout the high school's hallways. As a blinding early winter snow fell outside, it was clear to see inside the old gymnasium that high school hoop season in the Roaring Fork Valley would soon be tipping off.

Peak performances

Aspen Daily News Staff Report, Roaring Sports Staff Writer
LOCAL:

Bikram's College of India owners and yoga enthusiasts Bel and Emily Carpenter recently took first place in the 2008 State Bishnu Ghosh yoga championship. The placing qualified them for the 6th annual International Bishnu Ghosh Championship in Los Angeles, which takes place in February. Ixchel Muniz placed second for the second year in row in the junior championship in October in Fort Collins. College of India is a Birkam's yoga studio in Basalt. The Carpenters have been teaching in the valley for 12 years.

Demons advance to semis

by Kai Beech, Roaring Sports Staff Writer

Two explosive offenses, a pair of hard-hitting defenses and a game that went down to the wire on a goal-line stand; this is what playoff football is all about.

Glenwood Springs High School quarterback Dakota Stonehouse tallied 506 total offensive yards and six touchdowns, four passing and two rushing, as the Demons football team defeated Berthoud High School 50-39 during Saturday's Class 3A state quarterfinal playoff game at Marr Field.

It pays to be an idiot

by Sheldon Fingerman, Aspen Daily News Columnist
It really pays to be an idiot. With all these government bailouts, I keep wondering where mine is. I mean, what do I have to do to get a check from Uncle Sam?

First off, I made the mistake of buying a home I could afford with a loan  that had a fixed rate. Yes, I know what an adjustable rate mortgage is, but  it appears a lot of people don’t. Hey! It says “adjustable” right in the  name of the loan.

Men and women: What if?

by Gene Weingarten, Aspen Daily News Columnist
Behold this week’s “What if” column, in which I respond to supposedly unanswerable hypothetical questions framed by my editor, Tom the Butcher.

What if all men, and all women, were physically identical?

Those shady 527s

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

As a long-time citizen and voter in Garfield County, I am amazed and appalled with the involvement and “investment” by questionable outside political groups. Their extreme attempts to influence the vote (and perhaps by extension the candidates) in our recent county commissioner elections merits further investigation.

Zealots are taking over

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

Without regard to the hundreds of thousands of Americans who gave their very lives so that theirs’, us, and they too if they were lucky enough to return from distant shores alive, a corrupt and socialist and an individual has been elected as our president by an ignorant majority.

The demise of capitalism

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

For many a belief that life will improve under the leadership of president elect Obama. For the same people an unconscious and unknowing election to participate in unjust, unlawful plunder. Obama brings a messianic message of new jobs, better schools, universal health care, economic improvement, a redistribution of the wealth.