Two state-of-the-art greenhouses will be completed next month in the midvalley, sure signs that the slow-food movement is on a fast track.
The TCI Lane Ranch development, between the Waldorf School and Blue Creek Ranch subdivision, is building a 36-by-60 foot greenhouse before work starts on 71 single-family homes and 18 duplexes. The greenhouse's vegetable and green beds will eventually be worked by the homeowners once the subdivision is developed.
"They'll be able to have fresh produce in their backyard year-round," said Dave Marrs, an executive in developer Ace Lane's firm.
The 2,160-square-foot greenhouse will be flanked on one side by outdoor gardens and a community center, said Lane's land-use planning consultant, Jon Fredericks. That will be the "hub" of the development, he added.
The complex is expected to attract interest and spur sales despite the sluggish economy, Fredericks and Marrs said. More important, it will be embraced by people who support

Thelma King, longtime postmaster of Basalt, is returning home.

Thelma, 87, who passed away Jan. 10, 2009 in Grove, Okla., will be finally laid to rest alongside her loving husband, Norval King, as interment of her remains will be Monday Aug. 2, 2010 at 10 a.m. at Rosebud Cemetery in Glenwood Springs.

Thelma was especially proud of her 20-plus years of service working at the Basalt Post Office, retiring as postmaster in 1986.

Genius comes in all forms, but probably exists most purely in the minds of teenaged boys. Love and hate, the poets say, are closely related and oft times indistinguishable from one other. Where there is genius, close by is stupidity, creating unintended consequences.
As chemistry students in the red brick Aspen High School, we soon zeroed in on the fact that sodium, in its silvery, metal form, is highly reactive with water. After weeks of careful thought, temptation eventually won out and at lunchtime one day, we stuffed a jar containing 3 or 4 pounds of kerosene-bathed sodium into a backpack and took off on a mission up Independence Pass.
The explosion was quite dramatic, actually treacherous in its beauty. With a deafening blast, water shot high into the air fifty, maybe a hundred feet, with what appeared to be blue and orange flames at the center, near ground zero. Mud from the river bottom joined the soup and we didn't breathe; we just watched and marveled, incongruously, as mis

Editor's note: Each Saturday leading up to the Aug. 10 primary elections, The Aspen Times will publish a point/counterpoint series, produced by local Democrats and Republicans. Today marks the fourth installment of the series, with each side addressing the national deficit from their respective party's perspective.

The central political issue for the November elections currently is the supposed conflict between the need to create more jobs through additional federal stimulus spending and the need to control and reduce the federal deficit. Republican commentators appear to believe that deficit reduction should be the only priority, other than tax reduction. Election ideology and practice offer a dramatic contrast. President Reagan and both Bush presidents ran major deficits compared to past presidents. President Clinton ran a highly successful economy and also managed to turn the deficit he inherited into a major surplus without a single Republican vote for the Clinton budget.
The q

Editor's note: Each Saturday leading up to the Aug. 10 primary elections, The Aspen Times will publish a point/counterpoint series, produced by local Democrats and Republicans. Today marks the fourth installment of the series, with each side addressing the national deficit from their respective party's perspective.

Imagine your child racked up a $42,000 credit card bill (which you have guaranteed), but didn't have the income to pay it off. Would you cancel the card?
As taxpayers, we are in that very situation as the annual budget deficit is projected by the White House to hit this year an all-time high of $1.47 trillion, which is 11 percent of GDP, compared to the 45-year historical average deficit of 2.9 percent. Furthermore, the national debt (not including unfunded and off-balance sheet liabilities forentitlements like Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security which exceed $85 trillion) now stands at $42,751 per citizen. The U.S. Treasury is paying for the dramatic increase in gove

Dear Editor:
I have asked the county commissioners to give a clear, valid reason for the 1,000-foot runway extension. They have given us vague, platitudinous comments about safety and improved service. I suggest that the commissioners and any interested citizen to Google aspen/pitkin county airport executive summary - wherein lies the answer.
The extension will theoretically (and theoretically only) improve Sky West's load factor from 68 to 71 percent: a little less than two passengers per flight.
But wait! Read page four closely; the flaw in this study is obvious - it confuses supply for demand.
The CRJ 7 can carry 66 passengers.
On an average flight 45 seats are filled - a 68 percent load factor.
Over 80 degrees, and, or tail wind, there are on average 55 seats available to sell but no passengers to buy seats 45 through 55.
Adding the 1,000 feet would, on these special flights, make up to 11 more seats available (seats 55 to 66). The study then identifi

Dear Editor:
As a resident of the Aspen area, I support the work the Thompson Divide Coalition (TDC) is presently doing to protect Aspen and Pitkin County from oil and gas development in the Thompson Divide area. Aspen and surrounding areas will be negatively affected both directly and indirectly by oil and gas encroachment.
The Forest Service maintains a monitoring station on Aspen Mountain and it is currently showing a degradation of our air quality from increase development pressures on the valley. This will only worsen with the influx of oil and gas development in such close proximity to our small community that values clean air. Most of Aspen's weather arrives from the west and Aspen will become the dumping ground for the air pollution caused by the wells.
The gas industry uses a technique called "fracking," which is currently exempt from federal regulation and uses millions of gallons of water brewed with toxic chemicals to unleash natural gas thousands of feet be

Dear Editor:
Before casting your vote in the Aug. 10 Democratic primary I urge you to visit andrewromanoff.com to learn of his past accomplishments and his vision for Colorado and the country.
While Colorado Speaker of the House, he was able to reach across the aisle to then Gov. Owens to author Referendum C, which took the Tabor stranglehold off of the state, saving the state from bankruptcy. Throughout his four terms in congress, he traveled throughout the state, making himself available to listen to and work extensively for the needs of the diverse populace in Colorado.
In this election Andrew Romanoff is the only candidate not taking any Corporate PAC money, making him accountable solely to the people of Colorado.
Michael Bennet, Ritter's politically appointed Senator, speaks of his political inexperience and desire to "clean up Washington." Although he's never been elected to any office and his voting record in his short time in the Senate is not very extensive,

Dear Editor:
On the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, I'd like to share a recent encounter. I was at the Maroon Bells Visitor Center (9,500 feet) and met a young man in a wheel chair who was born with no legs.
He told me he had wheeled himself from the bottom to the top of the road at Maroon Bells using only his arms! Next time you start to feel sorry for yourself, think of this young man who overcame not having legs and wheeled himself to the top of this high mountain with his arms and his will! "Ain't no mountain high enough!"
Susan O'Neal
Aspen

ASPEN - Thirty years ago, Aspen's downtown fountain first danced to life. Since that day, the rising and falling waters of the Mill Street Mall have entertained thousands of locals and visitors alike.
"My fondest hope is that the fountain will become the standard meeting place in Aspen ... that whiling away a little time there will be entertaining," Nick DeWolf, who designed the fountain with Travis Fulton, told The Aspen Times at its 1980 unveiling.
The fountain will be a gathering place Saturday, as a coalition of individuals and organizations concerned with water resource issues will join together for the "Water is Life!" celebration.
"Water is at the front of my mind, and several of us wanted to create an event that would call attention to this important issue," said Greg Poschman, a water-conservation advocate and the event's organizer. "So with the common theme of water, and with this being the 30th anniversary of the fountai

ASPEN - The dollar volume of real estate sales in Pitkin County soared by 81 percent in June compared to 2009, according to a report released Friday.
The total dollar volume for the month was $115.39 million, said the report by Land Title Guarantee Co. There were 50 transactions during the month, up nearly 6.5 percent from June 2009.
For the first half of the year, dollar volume was $573.8 million, which was an increase of 22 percent from the same period last year, the report said. Transactions in the county were up 4 percent to a total of 344.
Aspen real estate agents have said they are cautiously optimistic that the market is recovering because of the first-half activity. However, many acknowledged there is a long way to go.
Craig Morris, a partner in Morris and Fyrwald, said many of the trends that developed during the recession remain in play: "lots of inventory, nervous buyers" and lots of transactions albeit at 2003, 2004 and 2005 price levels, depending on

ASPEN - The Red Brick Council for the Arts is throwing its annual Art Auction Saturday, at 1 p.m., at Aspen's Red Brick Center for the Arts. Admission is free, and all are invited.
The event includes a community picnic donated by Tim Handley Catering, music by the Smuggler Mountain Boys, performances by the Hudson Reed Ensemble and Dance Progressions, art-making demonstrations, and a sacred dance by a group of visiting Tibetan monks.
Topping the event is the silent art auction, with proceeds benefiting the Red Brick Council for the Arts. More than 100 works of art will be up for auction, including photographs, paintings, ceramics, works on paper, sculpture and more.
Among the artists who have donated works to the auction are James Surls, Alicia Matesanz de las Heras, Tammie Lane, Betty Farson, Dasa Bausova, Elisa Ahmer, Joel & Lily Belmont, Alleghany Meadows, Shelly Safir Marolt, Brad Reed Nelson, Mary Hayes, Sara Ransford, Betty Weiss, Erin Dinsmoor, Virginia Morrow, Charles

CARBONDALE - What could be viewed as "in-your-face" marketing by some in the medical marijuana business may not be very becoming of an industry trying to gain legitimacy and earn respect, according to some who are looking to regulate medical marijuana facilities locally.

Carbondale's specially appointed Medical Marijuana Facility Advisory Group addressed the issue in its report to the Town Council on July 27.

"The group expressed dismay at some recent examples of inappropriate advertising and cautions the industry to treat the business and patients with respect and professionalism," reads one of the group's recommendations.

Downtown store fronts with windows and signs displaying large marijuana leaves and sale specials, and newspaper advertisements listing exotic strains of cannabis and various edible products, or promoting "happy hour," are among the examples cited by officials wrestling with just how far they can go to regulate such

LEADVILLE, Colo. - As Colorado's state fish, the greenback cutthroat trout is a symbol of the Rocky Mountains' natural splendor. The strikingly speckled, red-throated native fish calls to mind the sparkling high-alpine streams and lakes where the trout makes its home along the Continental Divide.

However, just a few decades ago, few would have guessed the greenback cutthroat (Oncorhynchus clarki somias) would come to represent Colorado's wild landscapes. As recently as 1970, the fish was considered to have been extinct for almost half a century.

The greenback - a relatively small member of the trout, salmon and whitefish family - is the only trout endemic to Colorado's South Platte and Arkansas River drainages. The fish favors the icy, clear waters and rocky bottoms of headwaters streams, where it finds its meals of crustaceans, insects and small fish. Greenback cutthroats once thrived in those waters, but by the late 1800s, white settlers had taken a serious to

SUMMIT COUNTY - Local medical marijuana dispensary owners were scrambling this week to keep their doors open.
Sunday is the deadline for the centers - as defined by new state laws - to apply for a state license. The next opportunity will be summer 2011.
"I'm getting ready to deliver a bible of paperwork," said Cory McNeill, owner of the Breckenridge Loft. "The most highly scrutinized license ever given out in American history makes it very nerve wracking."
There's a business application and a personal one. The latter requires a 10-year employment and business association history, detailed personal financial information, fingerprinting, copies of all higher education degrees and more.
Meanwhile local governments are dealing with their own stacks of paperwork. Breckenridge Town Council recently passed an emergency ordinance to allow two of its roughly seven dispensaries to change hands before Aug. 1.
And with another state legislative sessio

COOKE CITY, Mont. - The fourth grizzly bear believed involved in a triple mauling at a Montana campground has been captured, with DNA tests due Friday that could confirm the family of grizzlies killed a Michigan man and injured two other people.

A sow and two of her three cubs had been trapped by Thursday, with a year-old cub found in a trap early Friday. The bears - crying and scratching at the steel sides of traps - were taken from the Soda Butte campground in a three-truck convoy.

Their departure brought relief among residents and visitors in Cooke City, an old mining town just outside Yellowstone National Park that was jolted by the Wednesday attacks on three people as they slept in separate tents.

"They captured them? All of them?" asked Linda Olson. The 60-year-old nurse from Minnesota let out a sigh when she learned the answer was yes.

The cubs will likely go to a zoo, said Chris Servheen, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grizzly bear recovery coord

ASPEN - The dichotomy was palpable Thursday night between the two Pitkin County sheriff candidates who have expressed their desire to change many things in the department, Rick Magnuson and Rick Leonard, and Joe DiSalvo, who wants to maintain the status quo engineered by longtime sheriff Bob Braudis.
During the first debate of the race, Magnuson and Leonard said they would step up drug and DUI enforcement in the county, while DiSalvo defended the practices of the department under Braudis, for whom DiSalvo serves as undersheriff.
"That [Magnuson] says the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office hasn't changed drug policy [in several decades] is pure fiction," DiSalvo said, adding that the sheriff's office has been involved in several high-stakes drug investigations in the past few years and is currently partnering with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in two.
Much of the debate focused on Magnuson's touted campaign platform to actively enforce drug laws, which he sai

ASPEN - Candidates for the District 1 Pitkin County commissioner seat managed to differentiate themselves with their views on the Entrance to Aspen and the potential for rail during a cordial forum Thursday at the Paepcke Auditorium.
Those were among the few issues on which all five candidates were asked to offer their views, though the entrance is more of a city issue than a county one, and rail isn't really on the radar screen.
For the most part, questions submitted by citizens were fired at one or two candidates at most during the event, hosted by the local Democratic and Republican parties.
Both Brian Speck, a consultant in the title insurance industry, and Rob Ittner, owner of Aspen restaurant Rustique Bistro, stressed that their business experience would lend itself to elected service. Self-employed political newcomer David Weiss appeared the most ill at ease, calling himself a regular citizen who wants to get involved. "I'm a little nervous about this thing. I've

Two days before the tax return filing deadline this past spring Tommy Clapper was having dinner with his wife at Little Annie's. After Patti excused herself to use the restroom his heart locked up, he passed out, and landed face down on the floor. This cinched it for me. No, no. Of course I still eat there. You can't beat the pot pie special. What I meant is that this is why I am voting for Clapper to be our next county commissioner.
I know a lot of people don't think that being resuscitated by another man in public, packed in ice, and airlifted to an intensive care unit in Denver, where they induce you into a coma for several weeks, are qualifications for being on the board that runs Pitkin County. I beg to differ.
Before I get to that, though, I have to tell you that before all this happened I was already in Clapper's camp. I've know the guy since he coached my T-ball team, the Cardinals, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. The name of the town was the same, but back in 19

ASPEN - A grassroots effort by residents to save the Given Institute from a potential sale and demolition is planning to canvass the community for donations from nonprofits, public institutions and private businesses.
Sara Adams, vice chair of the Historic Preservation Commission and a member of newly formed committee, said the group would also seek voter support for a possible November ballot item.
The institute's owner, the University of Colorado's School of Medicine, announced that it would sell the property to an unnamed buyer earlier this year to alleviate a series of drastic state funding cuts.
CU administrators have said the university can no longer sustain the building, which it operates at a net loss of up to $200,000 a year. The buyer CU was courting, officials said, would not purchase the property unless the building as demolished. The only other usage of the land allowed in zoning rules is as a residential property, Adams said.
The school tentatively agreed by dr