TV Aspen News Director Jim Laurence has the latest on 40 MPH winds that shut down the Aspen Gondola--and much more on everything from Daylight Savings Time to paving the streets in Glenwood.
"The Two and a Half Men star will return to the set this week – but still spend nights in rehab – following his not-guilty plea Monday on domestic violence charges," reports People magazine. "Charlie is looking forward to going back to work for the final four episodes of Two and Half Men," says the show's executive producer, Mark Burg. "'He's also looking forward to clearing his name, putting all of this behind him and spending time with his kids during his hiatus.' The actor, 44, wore a black suit and tie for his court hearing in Aspen, Colo., where his attorney entered the pleas for felony menacing and two misdemeanors for assault and criminal mischief. Sheen waved to photographers when he arrived at the courthouse, appeared reserved in court and did not speak."
"I don't expect you or others like you to care," writes Post blogger Edward Troy to conspiracy guy infowars.com in comment #18. "I have never experienced that delusion. I am aware that you and those like you care when you are forced to submit, via personal action, law or some other mechanism forcing a response that would have you (collectively) weaseling for a way out of the predicament. Individuals like you generally don't care until their is a concern about the bar of soap on the floor and hearing heavy breathing. I see no philosophical difference from you and the thieves on wall street, mortgage scammers, and insurance companies. You maintain proof of your fifth column affiliation; all your phoney conspiracy 'interests' to the contrary."
A top real estate site tracking the mose expensive homes in the country says Aspen is home to two of the most expensive ten homes in the country.
"Dear Dave," the Con Man writes to Aspen Daily News owner Dave Danforth in an open letter. "You and I have had our differences over the years—too many to count—in part because I have been sliced open with a dirty knife by the Aspen Daily News like so many others before me. But that does not mean I take any pleasure in the mess that your editor, Troy Hooper, finally finds himself in.... In fact, Dave, I disagree with Denise Malcolm—and many others—and sincerely hope you will refrain from firing Troy and will give him a second chance."
The classic play by Tennessee Williams wraps up its run at the Thunder River Theatre in Carbondale.
"The doctoring of Obama and Rice are different [than Dan Rather's watermelon comment]," writes Edward Troy, the Liberal Gladiator, in comment #14.
Glenwood Canyon is half-open, according to TV Aspen Channel 19 News Director Jim Laurence, with one lane of traffic now moving in either direction.
"I wonder where Michael's unapologetic exacerbation of the Joker's mask comes from.," writes Post blogger Mitch Mulhall in comment #13, ""Perhaps from the same place that gave rise to Dan Rather's 'watermelon.'"
Post blogger Ed Troy, a personal trainer in Basalt, continues with his health tips for Aspen Post readers. "I once had some one tell me I could live off 700 calories per day and 50 grams of protein then cited some source that was probably correct," he blogs. "But what would my quality of life be like? Hmmm I thought; I suppose that number of calories would support enough respiration and a pulse to supply my brain with a little oxygen and sugar. I guess if I were hooked up to machines, I might be able to reduce the calories even further. Granted there would be cellular life competitive with a petri dish experiment, but would I have LIFE? The question is nearly rhetorical even silly, but we do have anorexia and various grades of excessive weakness/thiness. We also have the opposite, and this is even more common."
"Info," writes Post blogger Edward Troy, the Liberal Gladiator, in comments#( and #10, "you must be severely deficient. You mistake disgust with boo hoo whining feelings. My feelings as such, are not hurt. Racism does not hurt my feelings. The feelings I get are frustration when the racism is directed towards me and those I care about -- including my wife. The frustration is based on the limitation of having to beg some legal system, to address the issue if it reaches that level, when in all likely hood in almost every instance I can take care of the problem in 1 or 2 seconds.... So just in case you have additional confusion, when you want to man up, and stop hiding behind your nom de plume, and reveal the glory of your grill, let me know."
EatAspen.com remarks upon the sad fate of Noodles by Kenichi, an innovative attempt to diversify Aspen's food scene: "Is this lower level space cursed? It is a common occurrence. For awhile now, no restaurant located in this space has ever done well."
The Banff Mountain Film Festival is an international film competition featuring the world's best footage on mountain subjects. Thanks to the Ute Mountaineer.
TV Aspen Channel 19 News Director Jim Laurence reports on the boulders that closed down Glenwood Canyon.
"Welcome to the Tea Party, Mitch," blogs the Con Man in comment #7. "What took you so long? The wonderful thing about about apologists for racism is they can always find an example on the other side. Condi Rice? The slurs against Obama have been continuous and egregious. There's no comparison. One other thing, Mitch: how about a moratorium by conservatives like yourself when it comes to pursuing an argument by saying the other side is worse that your side. If the other side is worse, it makes your side no better."
"As I’ve improved as a skier during seven winters in Aspen," writes Post blogger Michael Conniff, "I have looked upon The Bowl as something that I would put in my pocket whenever I was ready. I was (and remain) a fool, completely underestimating what was to come when my name was called. That day came Saturday in celebration of my friend Matt’s birthday. He was 37 and I’m not but neither of us had tried the inevitable. We had never hiked The Bowl.... For me, The Bowl was a place to experience life and death all at the same time, without really feeling up to the challenge of either one. Even so, I hiked the bowl, I skied down to Deep Temerity, and I lived to tell the tale."
Aspen Films has Oscar-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden as the centerpiece of their Oscar-watching festivities Sunday night at the Hotel Viceroy.
"This past Saturday signified the 18th anniversary of the pivotal moment when my life forever changed," writes Post blogger Amanda Boxtel. "Eighteen years ago a freak somersault on Snowmass Ski Area shattered four vertebra splintering bone fragments into my spinal cord and robbing me of the use of my legs. It is almost as if eighteen years ago I took my last breath in one realm as I transitioned into a different body—an ethereal body intertwined with my physical self. My angels looked over me as I settled into a form that felt still, incomplete, imprisoned, and half of the woman that I used to be. Yet as I lay immobile in starched white hospital linens, and while my heart grieved for the loss of my legs, my spirit somehow rose to the occasion, determined to be undefeated and to soar in the imaginings of my mind."
"I think you're stoking the flames of racism by characterizing the Obama image as 'white face,' writes Post blogger Mitch Mulhall in comment #5. "The image is a take-off of Heath Ledger...."
"There is practically no possibility of those in the RNC feeling 'bad' about this," writes Liberal Gladiator and Post blogger Edward Troy in comment #1 of Obama in whiteface. "The lemming legions that adore this stuff are just as unlikely to feel 'bad.' When slavery, Jim Crow segregation and discrimination are considered A OK, and ending them serious inconveniences, how or more correctly, what do we reach in these individuals. They have no moral sense of wrongness to appeal to or they are 'evil' in a classical sense. I have learned to accept this as a reality."
TV Aspen Channel 19 News Director Jim Laurence reports on the latest turn in the socialist plot by the government to take over your life, also known as the Census.
"By contrast," Rick Carroll reports on bad ratings for 'Secrets,' "cable television's most popular program in February, the USA Network's 'Burn Notice,' drew 6.32 million viewers on Feb. 11."'
"A man in blackface in this brave new century would invoke the wrath of our culture writ large," blogs the Con Man. "When the tape of a blackfaced act originating in Australia was seen in the United States, the revulsion was immediate, calling to mind Al Jolson singing “Mammy” in blackface nearly a hundred years ago. But what about seeing a black man in whiteface? What about seeing a black President of the United States in whiteface? And what if that insult emanated not from a meaningless talent show down under but from the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) official fundraising presentation?"
"Due in part to international pressure which included boycott and sanctions," writes Post blogger Sue Gray, "apartheid in South Africa was brought to an end. But today the same system exists in Israeli occupied Palestine...."
Does an Aspen eatery enjoy special privelege among local pols by dint of simple longevity? "A new pathway for the Farmer’s Market in Aspen is supported by the merchants and has been approved," blogs TV Aspen Channel 19 News Director Jim Laurence. "City Council has agreed to try for one year a new way of funneling pedestrians toward the downtown merchants as they make their way through the market, which will see booths down Hyman Avenue from Hunter Street and toward the mall. But Mayor Mick Ireland, responding to complaints by Little Annie’s, says if business declines because of the market then something will have to be done right away to keep the operators of the long time eatery happy."
Four decades into a legendary Met career, tenor Plácido Domingo makes history singing the title role in Verdi's gripping political thriller.
AspenSpin takes a look-see at Pinions Restaurant in Aspen, considered far-and-wide one of the best places in town.
"Sanctions have meant sanctuary for Kim Jong Il. Sanctions on Iran?" writes Post blogger Edward Troy, the Liberal Gladiator. "Black market trade will flourish as it always does, not to mention non-compliance."
"An Aspen police officer who allegedly used her influence to gain access to the Jazz Aspen Snowmass concert series last fall for herself and members of her family is no longer a member of the department."
"Why can’t we be more like Canada?" writes the Con Man. "They host the Olympics like they mean it. They smile. They play hockey and penalty-kill. They honor the indigenous people in their midst without trying to wipe them out. And they have the Canadian Mounties. But most of all what they have is a kick-ass national anthem, a tune that says everything about they are—and about what we, as Americans, are not. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, was bristling with unexpected pleasures for the fan, but nothing compared to the way the Canadian people and their athletes sang “Oh Canada,” the national anthem, on the trips to the podium for the gold medal. They sang it—they really sang it—the way we Americans almost never do with our 'Star-Spangled Banner.'"
Vail Resorts has decided the old "International" trail on Vail Mountain will be heretofore know as a trail named for Lindsey Vonn, the Olympic gold medalist.
Infinite Space, a new documentary feature film at the Wheeler Opera HOuse, traces the lifelong quest of visionary genius John Lautner to create "architecture that has no beginning and no end." It is the story of brilliance and of a complicated life - and the most sensual architecture of the 20th century. As a young man, Lautner broke from his mentor, Frank Lloyd Wright, and went west to California to forge his own unique style. His life was marked by innovation and inspiration, endless battles with building codes, an accidental leap into the epicenter of pop culture, bitterness at lost opportunities, and finally - monumental achievement."
Famously, seven athletes from the valley embarked for the Olympic Games in Vancouver hoping to come with medals. The results are now in. "The fate of athletes from the Roaring Fork Valley at the 2010 Vancouver Games got even worse Saturday when Aspen's Chris Klug was bounced from the Super G snowboarding competition," writes Post blogger Michael Conniff in comment #1. "At first it looked like events would conspire in his favor: the weather was atrocious, pouring rain, and his two qualifying runs stood up when he qualified at #16, the last spot available. From there: disaster...." But all was not lost for Aspen's favorite son: when all was said and done, he did not earn a medal like the one in Salt Lake, but he did come in seventh in the world.
"Heres a rebuttal to the Con Man and the other 16% that think the Tea Partys are a danger to America," writes infowars.com in comments #5 and #6.
"With their signature blend of Latin rhythms, searing guitar leads and impeccable harmonies, the band offers a performance not to be missed."
TV Aspen Channel 19 News Director Jim Laurence is blogging about a missing skier and snowboarder in Colorado, with the skier missing in action close to home.
John Joseph Kelly, a local carpenter and backcountry skier, died in the Ashcroft avalanche. TV Aspen Channel 19 News Director Jim Laurence reports.
The Aspen High School Theatre Department will present The Wizard of Oz February 25-27th at 7:00 pm at the Aspen School District Theater.
"Aspen's ace snowboarder Chris Klug, an Olympic bronze medalist from the 2002 Salt Lake Games, still has a chance this weekend to restore Aspen's honor with an astonishing run in the giant slalom--but no one's expecting a 38-year-old Olympian to magically claim the gold," writes Post blogger Michael Conniff. "Klug will no doubt acquit himself well, as he always does, but a trip to the podium is unlikely if not quite impossible. Should he exit Vancouver without a medal, we can begin to talk about The Aspen Curse at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. How bad did it get for athletes from the Roaring Fork Valley? Consider the fate of snowboard throb Gretchen Bleiler, herself a silver medalist in the 2006 Torino Games. Bleiler--down to her second and final run in the superpipe--clipped and then crashed on the the top of the pipe...."
Of all the up-close-and-personal stories at the Vancouver Games, none is better than the tale told by 2002 bronze medalist Chris Klug, an Aspen snowboarder. "Ten years ago," reports Eddie Pells, "Flood's 13-year-old grandson, Billie, was shot and killed in an accident in Colorado. Not far away, snowboarder Chris Klug was dying, on the short list for a life-or-death liver transplant. Because of timing and proximity, Billie's liver went to Klug. Klug has been trying to repay the unrepayable favor ever since..... The story reached an emotional high point at the Salt Lake City Olympics when, 19 months after the transplant, Klug captured the bronze medal in parallel giant slalom. He used duct tape to bind his broken boot to the board for the second race because, well, sometimes you just have to roll the dice and pray."
David Wroblewski is the author of the Oprah Book Club selection.
In comment #4, Post blogger Michael Conniff responds to the dry wit of Mitch Mulhall on the pressing issue of Church v. State--or, if you prefer, God v. Satan.
The F.C.C. cites a report from the Knight Commission and emanating from the Aspen Institute in its findings on the care and feeding of democracy in a digital age.
"Because these exercises use so much muscle mass, when they are done repetitively, one can get exceptional results across the spectrum of fitness components.," blogs Post blogger and personal trainer Ed Troy.
The Con Man is having a grand old time watch the Grand Old Party completely lose its marbles. "Let me see if I’ve got this straight," he blogs. "The Tea Party types hate the Republican Party and the Democrats. The Republican Party is repulsed by the Tea Party but needs them to elect anybody this side of Joe Lieberman. Bill Bennett thinks Glenn Beck is “dangerous”....The Gubernator, a Republican, thinks the Republicans are 98-pound weaklings when it comes to health care reform.... Dick Cheney is in the hospital with chest pains. That should tell you something right there. Who needs a better metaphor than Darth Veepster under the close observation of men and women in white coats?"
"A simple vinyl banner to let the community know where the church gathers to worship while their future, more permanent home is continually being held up in court by Pitkin County. Check the US Supreme Court rulings over the past decades."
"The Red Onion Restaurant in Aspen---in business for over one hundred years---will open again in mid-May," reports TV Aspen Channel 19 News Director Jim Laurence.
"The church, now visible from Highway 82, has seemed on the verge of completion for months, even though building that has yet to sport the telltale sign of the Cross," blogs the Con Man. "Given the inevitability of yet another Christian Church in the valley, concerned locals simply ran out of protests. A church, after all, is far more benign than a McDonald's, or so the story goes. And that was that, from my perspective--until the wife espied the cheerful green banner in front of the Eagle County municipal building Sunday afternoon, with the words: 'Grace Church Gathers Here,' with the times for 'Sunday worship.'"
"I was kind of thinking of the 30s and 40s how radio hosts chanted Nazi Nazi Nazi Nazi Nazi Nazi Nazi or Commie Commie Commie Commie ad nauseam," writes infowars.com in comment # 12.
"It seems as though we as Americans have forgotten or never knew what wealth is," writes Post blogger Edward Troy, the Liberal Gladiator. "So a simple question; Is wealth trillions of dollars stacked to the moon and back or is it factories, bridges, schools, an educated populace, houses, cars, roads, buildings, fields of wheat, sewers, rails, docks, shipyards, airports and power grids? I realize there is a convertability, but what is wealth? One the groups above is essentially paper or digital accounting and the other represents economy or the products of an economy. If any one out there disagrees with this, I surely would like to understand why and what you consider wealth to be. I just want to understand."
Stanton Moore – Drums Robert Mercurio – Bass Ben Ellman – saxophone, harmonica Richard Vogel – Keyboard Jeff Raines – Guitar It’s shaping up to be a stellar year for celebrated New Orleans outfit GALACTIC.
"Michael," writes Post blogger Sue Gray in comment # 11, "you accuse Cathleen of having a blind spot, yet you stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the clear difference between motivated and justified. Cathleen didn't use 'justify' or 'justified' anywhere in her comment."
Controversy has erupted over the Newsweek story on moderate Muslims in Newsweek, and the concomitant response by Steve Emerson of The Investigative Reporting Project. "Check out a very interesting article in the Feb. 22 issue of Newsweek entitled, 'The Jihad against the Jihadis: How moderate Muslim leaders waged war on extremists--and won' by Fareed Zakaria," writes new Post blogger MedfordLeake in comment #9. "Zakaria argues that in most Arab nations, excluding Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia, moderates have become disgusted by extremist methods of cutting off fingers of smokers, etc... According to polls, the percentages of persons in most Arab countries who say jihadist actions are justifiable have declined radically in recent years, and vast majorities of people in the street oppose them."
The author or Guns, Germs, and Steel comes to Aspen to show book lovers exactly why he won the Pulitzer Prize.
"The phrase Conspiracy Theory was originally used in the early 1900s as a neutral phrase," writes infowars.com in comment #1.
Post blogger Sue Gray may not have a motivation for correcting the Con Man on jihad, but she is justified. "Michael," she writes in comment #7, "I would’ve thought as a writer you’d have a better grasp of the English language than you display here. Let me help you out with a little excerpt from the dictionary/thesaurus. Motivated: to give somebody a reason or incentive to do something. Synonyms: provoked, aggravated, induced. Justified: having an acceptable reason for the action taken. Synonyms: Necessary, acceptable, warranted, defensible. As you can see, there is a distinct difference between the motivation for terrorism and the justification of terrorism."
From comment #1: This whole affair about Obama standing up to Israel is a farce to begin with, but as usual, the Zionists have their bets covered, so this highly black malleable president is not about to buck them."
"To understand the appeal of the Tea Party movement," blogs the Con Man, "a pundit need go no further than the assassination of President John F. Kennedy—or whomever, dude. The questions over the death of a President are real and present today in the Tea Party movement because they bespeak the basic American belief that the average citizen never gets to throw open the curtain of power for a look-see. Our darkest, most basic instincts as a nation come, often invisible, are invariably inexplicable even as we yearn for the comprehensible explanation. Did Lee Harvey Oswald act alone? Are Wall Street bankers arrayed in a nefarious cabal determined to dominate the world as we know it? And what does all of this have to do with the teabaggers?"
The Colorado state constitution provides “we the people” with the power of the initiative petition so that private citizens can propose legislation to be placed on the ballot. This power extends to the state as a whole, municipalities, and “home rule” counties such as Pitkin, and tax issues are legislative questions which are subject to the initiative process.
So, in Pitkin County, the circulation of a petition on a question of taxation is a state constitutional right.
The first step in the county initiative process is to have the form and content of the petition reviewed by the county clerk. Despite three separate attempts, the Pitkin County clerk has refused to approve the content of a local tax initiative, citing a provision of the Pitkin County Home Rule Charter that prohibits petitions on the “levy of taxes”.
County clerks take an oath of office that they will uphold the state and federal constitutions, and yet we have a letter from Pitkin County clerk Janice Vos Caudill in which she says that “as an elected official, one is sworn to uphold the Home Rule Charter…”!
Continue Reading
March 16th, 2010
Post Staff
Over the past forty years, Palestinians have continuously demonstrated nonviolent forms of opposition to the occupation and theft of their land. Israel's response has been to violently attack the protestors and arrest local leaders of peaceful demonstrations.
On March 16, 2003 Rachel Corrie, an American human rights defender demonstrating against Palestinian home demolitions, was crushed to death by a bulldozer driven by an Israeli soldier.
On March 13, 2009American peace activist Tristan Anderson suffered permanent brain damage from a tear gas projectile shot by Israeli Border Police during a peaceful demonstration against Israel’s apartheid wall in the West Bank.
On December 10, 2009 Abdallah Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of the Bil'in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements was handcuffed, blindfolded and taken from his home in Bil’in to an Israeli military prison where he awaits trial for his “crime.”
On December 16, 2009 Jamal Juma'a who founded the Stop the Wall Campaign was arrested, as was his colleague Mohammad Othman after returning from Norway where he was advocating for divestment against Israeli business interests.
These are not isolated incidents, but represent the all too common reaction by the Israeli occupation forces to peaceful civil demonstrations by Palestinian and international activists. Six people have been killed and several hundred injured in Bil'in and the neighboring village of Na'alin in five years of weekly protests against the apartheid wall.
Continue Reading
March 15th, 2010
Sue Gray
Monday March 15th, 2010
Daylight Savings Time kicked in on Sunday which means more sunshine in the late afternoon. The sun will set today at 7:05 p.m. St. Patrick’s Day is this Wednesday; the first day of spring beings next Saturday.
High winds on Sunday forced an all day closure of the Silver Queen Gondola on Aspen Mountain. 40 mph gusts required skiers and snowboarders to use the various lifts to gain access to the top of the mountain. No one was stranded on the gondola.
Paving on Grand Avenue in Glenwood Springs begins today and will another 30 minutes to the commute. The 23rd street intersection will be closed and several bus stops have been relocated as the paving work, which will take about one month to complete.
The Aspen Skiers boy’s basketball team was defeated over the weekend for the state title by Faith Christian. It was the third consecutive state title for the school. Final score: 57-47.
Send your news tips and opinions to news@aspenglenwood.com, and stay in touch with TV Aspen, Comcast Cable Channel 19 and our sister stations KUUR and KSNO radio!
March 15th, 2010
Jim Laurence
An Open Letter To Dave Danforth, Owner and “Publisher/Mascot,” Aspen Daily News
Dear Dave:
You and I have had our differences over the years—too many to count—in part because I have been sliced open with a dirty knife by the Aspen Daily News like so many others before me. But that does not mean I take any pleasure in the mess that your editor, Troy Hooper, finally finds himself in.
Continue Reading
March 12th, 2010
Michael Conniff
Friday March 12, 2010
Interstate Seventy through Glenwood Canyon is open in both directions.
One lane east bound and one lane west bound at an area near Hanging Lake Tunnel is the situation now, so while it may take a bit longer to take the trip through the canyon, the main route to Denver is open again.
A rock fall wrecked a section of roadway, and it took most of this week to make the area safe from more rocks falling onto the highway.
Repairs to the highway will take three months and cost more than 1.5 million dollars.
A massive rock slide last Sunday night at midnight forced the nearly week-long closure.
If out imbibing this weekend keep an eye out for suspicious behavior. Several incidents of drinks being spiked with powerful sedatives have occurred over the last few months. Most of the cases occurred in bars in Aspen, but investigators are not revealing the names of the businesses until more information can be gathered. There are no suspects at this time.
Aspen Mayor Mick Ireland this week rode his bicycle to Aspen Valley Hospital for some scheduled blood tests. He hasn’t been feeling too well.
After he arrived, doctors determined that Ireland’s appendix need to be removed, and so it was!
The mayor is resting comfortably at home and expected to make a full recovery.
Daylight Savings Time begins Sunday. Be sure and set your clocks ahead one hour on Saturday before heading off to bed.
Send your news tips and opinions to news@aspenglenwood.com, and stay in touch with TV Aspen, Comcast Cable Channel 19 and our sister stations KUUR and KSNO radio!
March 12th, 2010
Jim Laurence
Thursday March 11, 2010
The work continues to re-open Glenwood Canyon, after a rockslide last weekend nearly destroyed a section of Interstate 70, just west of Hanging Lake Tunnel. There were no injuries.
Huge boulders weighing more than 60 tons crashed on to the interstate at midnight on Sunday.
Engineers with the Colorado Department of Transportation have secured the surrounding cliffs from more rock falls.
Today one lane is expected to open which will allow traffic to flow both east and westbound, but that is being hampered by the new snow fall.
We will continue to track the situation and let you know when I-70 through Glenwood Canyon has re-opened.
The most often used detour around the canyon has been to head north from Rifle to Steamboat Springs, and from there to the Front Range.
A woman using U.S. 40 on Wednesday was killed when her car was hit by a rock that dislodged from a small cliff face.
The accident occurred about 70 miles north of the interstate in an area where rock slides are rare, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
It’s not over till its over, says political activist Marilyn Marks.
A lawsuit against the city of Aspen, filed by Marks to make public the ballot images from last May’s IRV election, was dismissed on Wednesday in Pitkin County District Court. Marks says she’ll appeal the decision
Send your news tips and opinions to news@aspenglenwood.com, and stay in touch with TV Aspen, Comcast Cable Channel 19 and our sister stations KUUR and KSNO radio!
March 11th, 2010
Jim Laurence
Wednesday March 10, 2010
Interstate 70 through Glenwood Canyon is still closed this morning, after a rock slide on Sunday night heavily damaged the roadway near Hanging Lake Tunnel.
The Colorado Department of Transportation engineers say that a route through the canyon might open later today, but the first priority is to stabilize the surrounding cliffs.
Until then, repair work continues and travelers to the Front Range will have to take a five to six hour trip around the area.
Stay with local news. We will let you know when I-70 through Glenwood Canyon is open again.
Joe DiSalvo, Undersheriff for Pitkin County, says several incidents of drinks being spiked with strong sedatives have occurred in Aspen over the past few months. Authorities are asking the public to keep a watchful eye.
If you see someone passing their hand over a drink, notify the owner. Men and women have been targeted.
Send your news tips and opinions to news@aspenglenwood.com, and stay in touch with TV Aspen, Comcast Cable Channel 19 and our sister stations KUUR and KSNO radio!
March 10th, 2010
Jim Laurence
In my fit tip on sleep, I wrote about how people need to get more sleep. It has been programmed into our DNA for 35M.Y., yet many try to show they can live off the least amount of sleep possible. What for? Why not reduce the amount oxygen and test yourself. Although truly foolish, this isn't the only foolish thing we as humans come up with.
I once had some one tell me I could live off 700 calories per day and 50 grams of protein then cited some source that was probably correct. But what would my quality of life be like? Hmmm I thought; I suppose that number of calories would support enough respiration and a pulse to supply my brain with a little oxygen and sugar. I guess if I were hooked up to machines, I might be able to reduce the calories even further. Granted there would be cellular life competitive with a petri dish experiment, but would I have LIFE? The question is nearly rhetorical even silly, but we do have anorexia and various grades of excessive weakness/thiness. We also have the opposite, and this is even more common.
People gobbling in gluttony every form of garbage that has ever been called "food." We see those who have been engaging in 7000+ calories a day, where the chief burning of calories can be reduced to metabolic functions and feeding.
So we have many who indulge themselves in rapturous rationalized extremes, at the edges of theoretical survival. I have often asked; why not seek individual harmony, resonance and vital rhythm as optimums for life? Most of you watch plenty of television (maybe not for those of you reading this) and have more entertainment than Caesar, preoccupied with tabloid twittle, multi thousand calorie meals and wonder why you are not healthier. I wonder in amazement how your bodies keep you alive, despite these fitness horrors. I often wonder why people in the health professions from doctors on down including personal trainers won't say the reason you are unhealthy is you are too LAZY to do something about it, too undisciplined to modify eating in a healthy way and yes procrastinators. Well there I said it. I will be honest, and I have 2 reasons.
1) A friend who was exceptionally smart, knew who every person was in the House and Senate and most of those who held the seats before. He could track legislation like nobody's business and I miss him. He's dead. Died of a heart attack at age 37. For 7-8 years before dying, I gave him crap about his lunches; gargantuan affairs, usually oversize wider and bigger than your "footlong" subs, stuffed with an inch and a half of cold cuts, bolognas and salamis and the like. Day after day, I gave him a hard time about it because I cared, and he would remind me that he was OK, that one of these days he would get fitter and lose weight. After a couple of years of my daily questioning of his eating and lack of fitness habits, I stopped, deciding that just doing it seasonally would suffice. Whatever I did was not effective. He died. I learned I can't make someone understand when they are filled with rationalized delusions. If you are 150 lbs. overweight I don't need to tell you that you are OK; you're not. You might be ok for the next ten minutes, but what about 5-10 years from now. Other than the inheritance, how would your loved ones feel? (this is supposed to be humourous).
2) Another friend, gone. Age 39 heart attack; I hadn't seen him in ten years and when I did he had gained well over 100 pounds topping the 3 century mark, no small achievement. I did ask, "what are you doing with yourself?" Just living and working. Years of fast food crap and multi thousand calorie meals and no exercise led him to a very premature death -- just senseless.
These reasons rival drug O.Ds. in what I call stupidity. I want to smack both of these guys upside the head, New York style and wake them. It won't happen. If you are in a situation where you are not healthy, someone should tell you. While I won't smack you upside the head, I hope this serves as your wake up call.
March 9th, 2010
Edward Troy
Noodles by Kenichi has closed it's doors. What was welcomed as a good addition to the Aspen cheap eats dining scene this past October never got off the ground. Reports of the closing where confirmed by a visit to the empty noodle shop last night when we found a closed sign posted on the door. Truly unfortunate that they couldn't squeak out till the end of the season but articles in both the local papers mention that they where bleeding money which left them behind in rent.
Is this lower level space cursed? It is a common occurrence. For awhile now, no restaurant located in this space has ever done well. From Chequers restaurant, which after what seemed like years of renovations and never opened for business, to Texas Reds BBQ, which operated for a little more than a year then transformed into the comedy club and then evaporated. You would think however that the new medicinal marijuana dispensary next door to Noodles by Kenichi would have generated a steady stream of hungry patients but to no avail. With the rent at $5,500 a month for the small corner space we may see another Aspen restauranteur try another eatery here but can they break the curse?
Is this the wrong time to open any new Aspen restaurant? The cocky assumption that Aspen is recession proof has proved to bite us in the ass. Lower numbers of visitors and lower spending among those visitors has left many Aspen restaurants hungry and it's no surprise that what has traditionally been a tough market to prove yourself in has become even tougher for any new restaurant in Aspen.
The rumor mill is also flush with tales of restaurants that aren't so new not being able to make the cut, perhaps up to 4 more casualties this spring. The rumors also state that some Aspen landlords may be more prone to let their space sit empty for "years" than re-negotiate leases with restauranteurs for fear of lowering that monopoly like rent ceiling that a bulk of their properties still generate.
It's always been a changing landscape in the Aspen restaurant scene and we just hope that ultimately it is for the best. Good luck to whomever attempts to break that curse.
View Aspen Restaurants that are still alive.
March 9th, 2010
EatAspen.com
Tuesday March 9, 2010
Glenwood Canyon remains closed, and there is no specific date when the highway will be open.
A rock slide on Sunday night at midnight sent boulders weighing several tons crashing into Interstate 70. The rocks fell on a section near Hanging Lake Tunnel, at mile marker 125.
There were no injuries, but officials with the Colorado Department of Transportation estimate that it will take three months and more than 1.5 million dollars to fix the damage.
Geologists say the surrounding cliffs at the site hold more boulders about to fall. Those rocks will have to be stabilized before repair work can begin.
Local news will keep you informed of any updates, but it looks like a five to six hour drive around the canyon will be required to reach the Front Range.
U.S. 40 north and then back toward Denver is one route.
If heading south, U.S. highways 285, 50 and 160 are possible, but it’s best to check the conditions online at the CDOT website. Just Google COTRIP, and stay tuned to local news.
Send your news tips and opinions to news@aspenglenwood.com, and stay in touch with TV Aspen, Comcast Cable Channel 19 and our sister stations KUUR and KSNO radio!
March 9th, 2010
Jim Laurence
Previous Posts
