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STANDARD
Volume 139, issue 30
ilverton
Weekly Miner
established 1875
IN BRIEF
Rooftop partiers leave
behind mystery ladder
SILVERTON’S PIONEER NEWSPAPER SINCE 1875
MINER
Silverton Standard
established 1889
Crews cling to
cliff to tr y to
stabilize rocks
By Mark Esper
The Standard’s 2014
calendar now on sale
The Silverton Standard’’s
2014 calendar has arrived,
with many spectacular historic
photos of Silverton, the San
Juans and trains.
The calendar is an important fundraiser for the Silverton
Standard newspaper, which is
owned by the San Juan
County Historical Society.
They are $9.95 each, plus
$3 shipping. Send checks to
Silverton Standard, P.O. Box 8,
Silverton, CO 81433.
Or call us at (970) 387-5477
and we can take orders over
the phone.
The Silverton Standard is
operated by the San Juan
County Historical Society.
Dogs — and cats —
need town licenses
See BRIEFS, Page 4
& the
50¢
A battle for Red Mtn. Pass
Jackie and Brent Westlund
had a rude awakening at about
1 a.m. Tuesday morning, Jan.
21, the result of which is the
appearance of a mystery ladder in the alley behind their
1145 Greene Street building.
“I woke up to this racket,”
Jackie explained. “It sounded
like somebody was running all
over the apartment building.”
She said Brent quickly
deduced that someone was on
the roof and he went out to
investigate.
“He threw his clothes on
and called the cops,” Jackie
said.
Law enforcement arrived at
the scene and determined that
five apparently less-than-sober
young adults were indeed on
the roof.
The out-of–town visitors
were sent on their way.
“Now there is this ladder
still in back,” Jackie said on
Wednesday, Jan. 22. “I have
no idea who it belongs to.”
The town of Silverton is
reminding residents that it is
time to get their dog —or cat
— properly licensed for 2014.
Fees are $5 per year for
spayed/neutered pets, and $10
per year for au-natural.
Evidence of rabies vaccination
is required for first-time
license purchasers.
Tags are required to be
worn on the pets’ collars.
Town officials remind dog
owners to please: Keep their
dogs on a leash. Clean up after
their dogs. Monitor and prevent, or at least promptly put
a stop to, excessive barking.
These things are prohibited by
ordinance, and offenders will
be cited, town officials say.
In 2013 the town issued 62
dog and cat tags, down from
72 in 2012.
Januar y 23, 2014
Photo courtesy of CDOT/Dan Bender
This photo from CDOT shows the rock slide area on U.S. 550 about two miles north of Ouray at the Ruby
Walls area.
The longest closure of Red
Mountain Pass in decades has put
Silverton at the end of a long
dead-end road for more than a
week, with no end in sight as
crews continue to try to stabilize
a large rockslide on U.S. 550 two
miles south of Ouray.
The closure is putting a huge
dent in Silverton’s winter economy, with local merchants reporting that business has ground to a
near standstill. But highway officials still have no estimated date
for reopening the road.
A contractor for the Colorado
Department of Transportation is
preparing to anchor 40,000
square feet of wire-cable netting,
with help from the Silverton
Mountain Ski Area helicopter
crew. That work could be under
way today.
Some 47 12-foot by 72-foot
mesh panels are to be placed on
the site, where a football-field
sized chunk of rock 25-feet thick
disintegrated and collapsed onto
the highway and into the
Uncompahgre Canyon early last
week.
The highway has been closed
since the afternoon of Jan. 13.
CDOT officials say the next
step will be to look at areas outside the net, particularly on a
talus slope to determine a way to
safely scale rocks from the precarious heights.
The closure of U.S. 550
between mile marker 90 at Ouray
and mile marker 87 in Ironton
Park has made the usual 23-mile
drive from Silverton to Ouray
into a 201-mile trek through
Dolores, over Lizard Head Pass
and the Dallas Divide.
One of the people most affected by the closure is mail contractor Marv Voehringer, whose normal 121.6-mile route from
See SLIDE, Page 5
School planning summer program
A Theatr e Group’s
camp ends, leaving
a big void to fill
Silverton School officials are
making plans for the summer
program, facing the daunting
task of filling the void left with
the end of A Theatre Group’s
popular summer youth camp.
That program, which
brought theater interns to town
to work on summer productions
with Silverton children, has
come to an end after 20 years.
In October, A Theatre Group
officials said they would have to
drop the program to focus on
their primary mission —
producing plays
and developing
new work.
“The question is whether to step in
and keeping theatre camp
going,” School Superintendent
Kim White told the school
board last week. “What do we
want to do with summer? How
much do we want to provide for
kids?”
School board member Dan
Salazar suggested the school
could “keep the best parts of
theatre camp, and roll in
science and literacy.”
White said
the school
plans to again conduct
its summer school, which she
said was “hugely successful” last
year, along with “Adventure
Mondays,” where students take
field trips to museums or take
part in other out-of-town activities.
And Paul Joyce, 21st Century
Learning Center Grant administrator, said plans are in the
works for a program this summer for what he described as
the exploration of “hands-on,
21st Century student-driven
technology.”
The school board was briefed
on the “Makers Education
Initiative,” which has students
building gadgets such as robots
and creating their own video
games to develop creativity and
foster interest in engineering
and the sciences.
Page 2-Thursday, January 23, 2014
SILVERTON STANDARD
OPINION
Don’t get overly excited ... Counting
By Freddie Canfield
Silverton Standard
& the Miner
A National Historic
Site in Journalism
— Society of Professional
Journalists
Official newspaper of the
Town of Silverton and San
Juan County. The Silverton
Standard & the Miner is published every Thursday by the
San Juan County Historical
Society. Our mailing address
is P.O. Box 8, Silverton, CO
81433
“Now, don’t get overly excited,” cautions my
National Weather Service friend, Becky — who
knows me well.
It is 7:40 a.m. Wednesday and your correspondent can actually see a faint trail of cirrus clouds
coming in out of the northwest, high above the
snow-covered peaks in the early morning sunlight.
“Not overly significant moisture potential,”
continued Becky. “Weak Pacific short wave —
light, perhaps a trace, possible Thursday evening in
the San Juan Mountains.”
“What about ahead?” asks Fred.
“Pattern then reverts back to a northwest flow
— a shallow, dry short wave next Tuesday.”
Who knows? That is way too far out ahead —
even for this excitable boy.
What has us grasping for meteorological straws
is a succession of 10 clear 7 a.m. observations and
no measurable precipitation. Not that we are anything less than grateful for all of the moisture we
have received beginning after that spooky-dry June
with only .08 inches of water.
Since then we have had two dry 7-day periods
in November and two more in December. Waterwise and snow-wise we are truly blessed.
Yet, powder hounds that we are in mid-winter,
we want deep winter, We could settle for less, but
we want more — that’s just the way we are!
WEATHER AND OBSERVATIONS
Date
Jan. 15
Jan. 16
Jan. 17
Jan. 18
Jan. 19
Jan. 20
Jan. 21
High
41
37
39
49
43
40
45
Low
0
-4
-4
-3
-6
-12
-12
Precip., conditions
Clear
Clear
Clear
Clear
Clear
Clear
Clear
Warm, dry days, with 37.4 our lowest on
Thursday and 48.7 our highest on Saturday.
This continuing high pressure ridge over top of
us is keeping us on the slopes and out in the backcountry until way after sundown. No complaints
around here.
The big story this weather week isn’t snow-related. Unusual for our January thaw up above Ruby
Walls a massive amount of ongoing and further
potential area of rockfall is occurring.
Ruth Ann Catlin and Penny Moore could tell
you far more about it than anyone else, because
those two longtime mountain women survived a
busted out windshield and tire blowout right there
on U.S. 550.
Living to tell after “most dangerous road” experiences is what counts. We are glad that is their
story. Good going, gals!
Periodicals postage paid at
Silverton, Colo.
USPS #496-880
Postmaster, send address
changes to: P.O. Box 8,
Silverton, CO 81433
Contacting us
In Person: 1315 Snowden St.,
Suite 308 (Upstairs at the historic Miner’s Union Hospital
building)
Telephone:
Editor: (970) 387-5477
Advertising: (970) 387-5477
Mail:
Silverton Standard
P.O. Box 8
Silverton, CO 81433
E-mail:
Editor:
[email protected]
Advertising:
[email protected]
Subscriptions:
silvertonsubscriptions@
gmail.com
Staff
Mark Esper: Editor
and publisher
Subscriptions are $24 per year
for Silverton residents; $48 per
year for all other deliveries by
U.S. mail. Digital e-mail delivery is available at $26 per year.
Our goals
The Silverton Standard & the
Miner is a weekly newspaper
written for people interested in
the issues and news of
Silverton, Colo., and the surrounding San Juan Mountains
region. The Standard voices a
strong sense of community for
Silverton and the San Juans as it
brings you the issues, characters, landscapes, and the talent
of the region. Stressing indepth, balanced, and thoughtful writing, news, photography,
and topical articles on key
issues affecting the region, the
Standard keeps the greater San
Juan community informed,
entertained, provoked, and
engaged in dialogue about the
community and its future.
© 2014, Silverton Standard
& the Miner.
coyotes;
missing
their song
By Tricia M. Cook
Last fall I was conversing with
a longtime Silverton proprietor,
and our conversation turned to
coyotes. I don’t recall why we
went there, but we did and more
specifically, to the apparent
absence thereof.
Turns out, he told me, a certain Silverton resident had taken
it upon himself (gender disclosed, name and occupation
withheld) to rid the greater
Silverton area of its coyote population. To-date, his kill count was
upwards of 70 coyotes, he had
bragged to the proprietor (I did
not ask for timeframe clarification but, it came across as somewhat limited). The coyote killer
told the proprietor of his hatred
for coyotes, that he wanted to see
them gone from our topography
and that he had also been selling
the pelts (hatred apparently not
preventing him from financially
benefitting from the sales).
The Silverton proprietor concluded that he missed hearing
the coyotes sing, that it made
him sad so many had been
killed.
Christmas Eve I walked down
the road to a neighbor’s gathering. There I started up a conversation with another neighbor (we
are all neighbors in Silverton,
after all) and somehow our conversation turned to coyotes, how
he wasn’t hearing them much
anymore and that he missed
their presence. I told him of the
resident coyote killer and that he
could surely count on an increase
in the number of marmots and
various other rodents found in
his woodpile during the fair
months. And I already knew firsthand how much he hated marmots in his woodpile!
See COOK, Page 6
The fears of pot legalization foes
have already gone up in smoke
By Michael Constantine
It’s official. Colorado is the
coolest place on Earth. Perhaps
the coolest place in history. But
more suddenly than anyone
imagined, Colorado is starting to
look like the smartest place as
well.
The rollout of the world’s first
fully legal cannabis market has
utterly disappointed the doomsayers, while richly rewarding
the communities that stood up
to decades of propaganda and
injustice. But despite 65 percent
of citizens, 2 of 3 San Juan
County commissioners, and 5 of
7 town trustees voting to make
us one of only two towns in
Western Colorado to reap the
benefits of freedom, Silverton’s
economy has once again been
left behind.
At last report, nine individuals in the Denver area have been
cited for public cannabis use.
GUEST OPINION
The manager of Arapahoe Basin
Ski Area clipped the passes of
several skiers who were stupid
enough to spark up in the lift
line.
A rumor that the Colorado
Legislature approved the use of
food stamps to buy legal
cannabis turned out to be a hoax
started by a parody news site and
latched onto by conservative
media.
While appearing on NBC’s
Meet the Press, PBS News Hour
anchor Judy Woodruff regaled
that week’s discussion panel with
reports from her “friend in
Colorado” that suggested
cannabis legalization was
“already creating havoc” due to
an increase in stoned driving
and concerns from the state ski
industry that legal pot would
lead to, gasp, stoned skiers!
Judy has obviously never met
your average ski area employee.
Her remarks were unfounded
hearsay, not news. Colorado
skier visits are up 22 percent over
last year so far, up 6.7 percent
over a 5-year average. Hear that
giant sucking sound, Utah? It’s
your ski tourism going to
Colorado. Guess I can scratch
the News Hour off my list of
Edward R. Murrow-approved
newscasts.
The one alleged stoned-driving incident since full legalization was that of a 23-year-old
who slammed his pickup into
the back of an empty Colorado
State Patrol cruiser, causing that
vehicle to slam into another
empty CSP cruiser parked right
in front of it. There were no
injuries.
Both troopers had shut down
one of the two lanes of an exit
ramp that connects two free-
See CONSTANTINE, Page 4
FROM THE STANDARD
MAIL CAR
Don’t take chances;
get fr ee vaccination
for whooping cough
Editor:
An outbreak of whooping
cough has Colorado health
authorities urging people to make
sure their vaccinations are up to
date. Colorado has had epidemic
levels of whooping cough, or pertussis, in the past two years,
including 1,116 cases so far this
year. Last year was the worst year
on record for whooping cough in
Colorado, with 1,494 cases
reported.
Please take this opportunity
for a FREE Tdap vaccine booster,
Friday, January 24th from 2-6pm
at the Silverton Public School
gym offered by San Juan County
See LETTERS, Page 3
SILVERTON STANDARD
Page 3-Thursday, January 23, 2014
QUIET DAY ON GREENE ST.
WINTER
HOURS:
Tues-Fri,
4-close
Sat-Sun,
noon to close
Silverton, Colorado
Montanya
1309 Greene St. (970) 387-9904
[email protected]
Mark Esper/Silverton Standard & the Miner
Dorothy Morton, 82, and Marie Melcher, 3, both of Silverton, enjoy a mild sunny day on Greene Street on
Tuesday, Jan. 21.
LETTERS, from Page 2
Public Health (SJCPH) and the
State of Colorado.
What is Tdap? Tdap vaccine
can protect adolescents and
adults from tetanus, diphtheria,
and pertussis. One dose of Tdap
is routinely given at age 11 or 12.
People who did not get Tdap at
that age should get it as soon as
possible. Tdap is especially
important for healthcare professionals and anyone having close
contact with a baby younger
than 12 months.
Pregnant women should get a
dose of Tdap during every pregnancy, to protect the newborn
from pertussis. Infants are most
at risk for severe, life-threatening
complications from pertussis. A
similar vaccine, called Td, protects from tetanus and diphtheria, but not pertussis. A Td booster should be given every 10
years. Tdap may be given as one
of these boosters if you have not
already gotten a dose. Tdap may
also be given after a severe cut or
burn to prevent tetanus infection.
Why is it so important that
adults get immunized?
If adults are protected against
Whooping cough, then they are
less likely to spread it to children
or the elderly. Also, less time
spent taking time off work or the
ability to care for your family is
important also. Adults may get a
mild form of Whooping cough
and without realizing it and can
unintentionally spread it to
infants and children and the elderly who can have a weaker
immune system.
The Tdap vaccine costs $65 at
the pharmacy. The vaccine will
be free during this event, Friday,
January 24th, 2-6pm.
SJCPH will also have Flu vaccines for $20 (cash or check) or
we can bill your insurance.
Please call SJCPH at 387-0242
for further questions.
Lois MacKenzie, RN, BSN, is
assistant director and emergency
preparedness coordinator for the San
Juan County Public Health Service
and
!
M
A
E
R
ST
UPCOMING
EVENTS:
BASKETBALL:
Jan. 25 — 1:30 p.m., at
Caprock Academy (Grand
Junction) Boys
Jan. 25 — 3 p.m., at
Caprock Academy (G.J.)
Girls
Final home games:
Feb. 1— 1 p.m., Home
v Caprock Academy
(G.J.) Boys
Feb. 1 — 3 p.m. .
Home v Caprock
Academy. (G.J.) Girls
GO
MINERS!
Contact
Paul Joyce:
[email protected],
or 387-5544, or stop by the
STREAM office at the school
for more information and
to get signed up!
Advertise
in the Standard!
Help keep this historic
newspaper alive!
(970) 387-5477
Colo.
officials
warn:
Whooping
Cough
(Pertussis)
is on the
rise!
GET EM VACCINATED!
From October to December 2013 there was more than a
WHAT:
500 percent increase in the number of whooping caugh cases
reported in Colorado.
WHO: All ages groups are at risk, especially children, the elderly and those who are caregivers for either children or elderly.
HOW:
GET A FREE Tdap VACCINATION!
WHEN/WHERE:
Friday, Jan. 24, from 2-6 PM at the
Silverton School Gym. For additional information, visit
www.cdc.gov./features/pertussis, or call (970) 387-0242.
Science, Technology, Math
A program for Silverton
School made possible by a
grant from the 21st Century
The Silverton Standard & the Miner
A NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE IN JOURNALISM
SILVERTON STANDARD
Page 4-Thursday, January 23, 2014
Snowscape Schedule
Light up the Night
for Kendall Mountain
Ski Area’s Golden
Anniversary, Feb. 7-9.
Friday, Jan. 24
• Free whooping cough vaccination clinic, Silverton School
Gym, 2-6 p.m.
ALL WEEKEND
LONG:
• 1964 Ski Lift Day
Pricing: $2 Adults/$1
Kids!
Self guided tours of
local snow sculptures.
Pick up maps and voting cards at Kendall
Mountain Ski Area.
• Durango Cyclery
Snow Bikes for Rent/Demo
• 1964 Ski Lift Day Pricing: $2
Adults/$1 Kids!
• Free Ice Skating & Sledding
• 1960s-themed Photo Booth
Friday, Feb. 7
• 6 p.m. — Snowmobile
Parade to Kendall Mountain
• After Parade — Annual
Christmas Tree Burn
• 6 p.m. — Poker Tournament
| Kendall Mountain Cafe
• 7:30 p.m. — Talent Show:
“Light up Your Talent,” Silverton
School
Saturday, Feb. 8
• 11 a.m. — Cardboard Box
Derby/Theme: 1960s cars
• 12 p.m. — Shovel Race/BYO
Shovel
• 11a.m.-12 p.m. — Winter
Classic Snow Golf, Silverton Train
Depot, 945 Animas Street
• 1p.m. — Broom Ball/BYO
Broom
• 4p.m. — Kendall Mountain
Youth Art Contest Judging
Saturday night
Celebrate Kendall Mountain
Ski Area’s 50th Anniversary!
• 6 p.m. — Kendall’s Ribbon
Cutting & Birthday Toast/Cake/
Grand Prize Drawings
• 6:30 p.m. — Grand Prize
Drawings
• 6-9 p.m. — Night Skiing
with $2 Lift Tickets, Chili Cookoff, Avalanche Brewing Co. Beer
Saturday, Jan. 25
• Silverton Miners basketball game vs. Cap Rock (Grand
Junction), 2 p.m., Silverton
School gym.
Monday, Jan. 27
• Silverton Town Council,
7:30 p.m., Town Hall.
Garden, Live 60s Music w/ Too
Little O2, Prize Drawings &
Fireworks!
• Ongoing — Costume
Contest for “Best Lit” (headlamps, decorative lights, glow
sticks, etc) & “Best Dressed” 1964
Celebrity/Famous Persons (007,
Marlyn Monroe, Kennedys, etc).
• 8:30 p.m. — Big’ns:
Bluegrass/Irish Pub Band,
Montanya, 1309 Greene Street
Sunday, Feb. 9
• 11 a.m. — Horseshoe
Tournament
• 12 p.m. — K-9 Skijoring/
Snowshoe Joring/Snow Bike
Joring, Silverton Train Depot, 945
Animas Street. Awards for speediest & most creatively-costumed
human & canine pair!
• 2-3 p.m. — Guided Snow
Sculpture Tours
• 4 p.m. — Snow Sculpture
Winners Announced
All events at Kendall
Mountain Ski Area unless noted.
Schedule is subject to change
without notice.
For more information about
Events, Contests & Grand Prize
Drawings call 970-759-5557 or
log onto
www.silvertoncolorado.com.
Winter equipment rentals are
available through the Wyman
Hotel at 970-387-5372 | 1371
Greene Street
Please No Dogs allowed on
Kendall grounds!
Youths invited to
enter art contest for
Snowscape 2014
2014 Silverton Snowscape
requests submissions of art
from young people aged 5 to 17
(if 18 must be in high school or
equivalent). Submissions
should be suitable for hanging
on a wall. Photographs, paintings, drawings, and collages are
all acceptable.
Art should celebrate Kendall
Mountain Recreation Area and
its history. If they wish, contestants may price their pieces
to be sold. Artwork will be
shown at Kendall Mountain
Recreation Area during the winter of 2014, then returned to
the owner or buyer. The contest will be judged by local
artists.
Deadline for submissions is
Feb. 5, and winners will be
announced on Saturday, Feb. 8,
2014, at 4 p.m.
Though there is no entry fee
for the contest, a voluntary
donation of $5 or more will be
MOUNTAIN HAPPENINGS
used to defray the cost of prizes
and possibly provide cash prizes
for First, Second and Third
Place Winners.
Checks can be made out to
Margot Early. Contestants, sign
your work.
Please attach the registration
form to your entry and deliver
your submission to the box in
the Silverton School office or to
Margot Early’s house, 1725
Cement Street. There is a box
on the table in the mudroom
for that purpose. (The dog cannot enter that part of the mudroom.)
• Submission deadline:
February 5, 2014
• Winners announced:
February 8, 2014 at 4 p.m.
• To get registration forms or
for more information, call
Margot Early at (970) 387-0664
or (970) 316-1887.
There will be cash prizes: 1st
- $100, 2nd - $50, 3rd - $25
Feb. 7-9
• Snowscape Winter
Festival, Kendall Mountain Ski
Area. 1964 prices! Lift tickets $2
for adults, $12 for kids.
Monday, Feb. 10
• Silverton Town Council,
7:30 p.m., Town Hall.
Feb. 15-16
Fifth Annual Skijoring
Festival, Blair Street.
Ongoing
• San Juan County
Historical Society Archive —
Regular hours on Fridays, 10
a.m. to 4 p.m. (starting Nov. 8).
• Silverton Movement
Center: Mondays — Pilates,
8:30 a.m.; full body workout,
5:15 p.m.;; Tuesdays — Yoga
with Elizabeth, 8:30 a.m.; Belly
Dance III, 6 p.m., Kendall
Mountain Community Center;
CONSTANTINE, from Page 2
ways. A pretty dangerous place to
be pulling someone over on a
Saturday night. In fact a similar
accident occurred during a similar CSP exit ramp lane closure
just a week earlier, though no
one was charged. Did the 23year-old cause the accident
because he was high?
Or did some State Troopers use
poor judgment and create a traffic hazard? Was the kid even
high? After all, under Colorado’s
new DUID law, he could have
puffed with his friends a week
before crashing into those dangerously-parked patrol vehicles
and still be hit with a druggeddriving charge. Even if he was
stone cold sober at the time of
the accident. No new facts have
been released.
So there’s the bad. Sorry to disappoint those who were expecting a social meltdown. Now for
the good:
Since Amendment 64 passed
in November 2012, all marijuanarelated cases in the state court
system, both big and small, have
dropped 77 percent — a huge tax
savings that frees up the justice
system to focus on more important things.
There were over $1 million in
sales on January 1 alone,
although only 24 shops were
Wednesdays — All Level
Kettlebells, 8:30 a.m.; Core
Fitness Roller (limited to 10 students), 5:15 p.m.; Thursdays —
Yoga with Katie, 5:30 a.m.;
Pilates, 8:30 a.m., Belly Dance
Troupe, 7:25 p.m.; Fridays —
Kettlebell etc. workout, 8:15 a.m.
• Blair Street Historic
District Association, 10 a.m.,
first Wednesday of each month,
Empire Street Bunkhouse.
• Alcoholics Anonymous
meets in Silverton every
Wednesday at 7 p.m. For locations, questions or help, call
(888) 333-9649.
• American Legion
meetings, 7 p.m. first Thursday
of the month, Legion Post.
Silverton Youth
Center activities
Winter schedule:
Monday-Thursday, 5-9 p.m.;
Friday-Saturday, 4-10 p.m.;
Sunday 3-9; Thursday, 6 p.m. —
elementary movie night
Spiritual events
• Church of Christ, Sundays:
Bible class, 8 a.m.; service, 9
a.m.; and Sunday Bible discussion, 5 p.m., (970) 946-7648.
• St. Patrick’s Catholic
Church, Father Nat Foshage,
Mass, 5 p.m. Saturdays and
open, it was an unusually cold
day, and inventories quickly went
dry. Long lines, dwindling supplies, and exemplary behavior by
all were the theme of every news
report.
Although a Colorado State
University study projected $130
million in combined tax revenue
this upcoming year from recreational cannabis sales alone, the
largest producer of edible
cannabis in Colorado reported
that their planned one-month
supply was sold out in three days.
They are now limiting customers
to two goodies per visit. As I suspected, all revenue projections
are being completely blown
away.
Even the president of evangelical group Focus on the Family
acknowledged last Thursday that
cannabis actually does have
medicinal value.
So what have we learned?
Right now, thousands of
respectable people should have
been flocking to Silverton, one of
only two towns in Western
Colorado to embrace this historic
new freedom. The surge in visitors from Durango alone would
have made a noticeable difference in our economy by now,
not to mention Albuquerque and
Phoenix. They wouldn’t come
here just looking to score some
legal bud. Almost all would have
Wednesdays, 1005 Reese St., 3254373.
• Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints, President
Duane Eggett, Sunday services: 9
a.m. priesthood, 10 a.m.; sacrament, 11 a.m. Sunday school,
727 Greene St., 387-5338.
• First Congregational
Church of Silverton, Sue Kurtz,
moderator. Sunday service 9 a.m.
All are welcome. 1070 Reese St.
(970) 387-5759. e-mail: [email protected] Website: silvertonchurch.org Look for us on
Facebook!
• Silverton Church on the
Hill, 11th and Snowden, Pastor
Mark Lawson, (970) 387-5215.
Sunday KSJC (92.5 FM) 8-10
a.m., Christian music, devotional and sermon; Bible study, 9
a.m.; Children’s Sunday School
at 10:15; 10:15 a.m. regular service; Wednesday night prayer/fellowship, 7 p.m.
• Word of Life Fellowship,
Pastor Jim Greenfield, Sunday
service starts at 9 a.m., 1706
Empire St. 387-5893.
What’s happening?
Got somethin’ goin’ on?
Contact the Standard.
Phone 387-5477 or e-mail
editor@
silvertonstandard.com
at least bought lunch and done
some shopping. Many would
have spent the night and made a
weekend or more out of it. Some
of them might have discovered
Silverton for the very first time
and made a point of returning for
a real mountain vacation.
But instead of coming to the
poorest town in Colorado to
spend their money, those same
people will be going to Telluride,
the richest, which already has
three stores up and running.
Durango will surely be one of the
first towns to lift their moratorium on recreational stores, leaving
Silverton to pick up their economic scraps, just as we do with
the train. Thank the 70 members
of our local Flat Earth Society
whose signatures overturned
supermajority rule for that the
next time you see them.
What have we learned here?
There has been no marijuana
apocalypse. Revenues are exceeding projections. Supplies cannot
meet demand. Register and vote
on April 1, or forever allow a
superminority of misinformed
fear mongers to keep this town
on its knees. Oh, and if your state
legalizes pot — you’re going to
the Super Bowl!
Bowl. Huh huh.
Michael Constantine is a resident
of Silverton.
FOR THE RECORD
San Juan County
Sheriff’s Office blotter
Jan. 13 — Two motorists were
assisted.
Jan. 14 — A warning was
issued for impeding traffic. A
warning was issued for failing to
place the current expiration sticker on a license plate. A motorist
was assisted.
Jan. 15 — A warning was
issued for defective vehicle. Two
warnings were issued for speeding. A warning was issued for
parking in the fire lane by the
gym.
Jan. 16 — Assisted CDOT by
contacting the subject who drove
through the barricade to the
rockslide and was turned around.
The driver information was
relayed to the Colorado State
Patrol. A warning was issued for
disregard of a stop sign. A warning was issued for parking in the
fire lane at the gym.
Jan. 17 — Two warnings were
issued for speeding. A warning
was issued for harassment.
Jan. 18 — A warning was
issued for using fireworks in
town. A warning was issued for
speeding.
Jan. 19 — Routine patrol and
office work.
SILVERTON STANDARD
Page 5-Thursday, January 23, 2014
Photo courtesy of Silverton Mountain Ski Area
ABOVE: a 12-foot by 72-foot web of wire mesh to keep unstable rock in place is spread out on U.S. 550 in
Ironton Park on Tuesday, Jan. 23, one of 47 that will be lifted into position by the Silverton Mountain Ski Area
helicopter.
RIGHT: The Silverton Mountain helicopter slings supplies to a work crew on a ledge above the highway on
Tuesday, Jan. 23.
SLIDE, from Page 1
Montrose to Silverton and back
has become a 440-mile haul each
day.
“They (highway crews) are
doing everything they can and
we’re doing everything we can to
get it through,” he said
Wednesday just before departing
Silverton for Montrose.
Voehringer recalled when
Silverton was cut off for a couple
of weeks in the 1990s by
snowslides.
“CDOT flew me in with the
mail, bread and cigarettes,”
Veohringer said. “That’s what
they brought.”
With Silverton’s access to the
north cut off, nonlocal U.S. 550
traffic has come to a screeching
halt.
Pete Samson, at San Juan
Services, the convenience store
and gas station on U.S. 550 at the
wye, said business is down at
least 50 percent.
“Most of our business is drivethrough,” Samson said. And that
traffic has gone from an average
of 2,200 vehicles per day to zero.
Claudia Moe, business manager at San Juan Services, said
restaurants, motels and other
businesses in town are all suffering.
“It’s really hard on all the
businesses,” she said.
Bill MacDougall, owner of the
Triangle Auto Repair and the
Triangle Motel, also said business
is down by about half.
Cindy MacDougall noted that
much of their business is from
business travelers on their regular
routes.
“None of that business is happening now,” she said.
Darlene Watson, who operates
the Silverton Grocery with her
husband Mark, said the highway
closure “really hurts. Especially
this last weekend, it was supposed to be a good holiday but it
was quiet.”
She was grateful that at least
none of the store’s deliveries are
affected since those already come
up from Durango.
Melissa Gillon at the
Lookout Shop on Blair Street
said business has been “worse
than awful.”
Silverton Area Chamber of
Commerce Director Rose Raab
said the agency is trying to get
the word out that Silverton is
still open and informing visitors how to get here.
Silverton old-timer Gerald
Swanson recalled when Red
Mountain Pass was closed for
eight or nine days in the early
1950s, when all the snowslides
ran.
Swanson said he only
remembers minor rock and
mudslides over the years. Never
anything like this one in his
time.
Jen Brill, co-owner of
Silverton Mountain Ski Area,
the town’s largest winter
employer, said the highway closure “is obviously affecting the
community and economy of
Silverton.”
Brill said Silverton
Mountain approached CDOT
last Friday to offer our assistance to help expedite the reopening.
“On Monday, Jan. 20, we were
enlisted by CDOT to rappel off
300-foot cliffs to get to the rockslide worksite this week,” Brill
said. “The Silverton Mountain
helicopter will fly in rock netting
and place them on a 40-degree
slope above the highway at the
toe of the 300-foot cliff.”
Brill said the location is
exposed above a second cliff
face another 600 feet feet above
the highway.
Silverton Mountain will also
be assisting in explosives work
on the cliffs.
“The daunting location has
proven to be a challenge so
far,” Brill said, “and since
Silverton Mountain’s staff is
uniquely experienced in severe
mountain terrain and alongside
CDOT photo
helicopters they were asked to
assist. Silverton Mountain has
several of their guides working
on the unstable slope to help
drill and place the rock nets.
“The Silverton Mountain
team is accustomed to these
types of exposures so we are
hoping this familiarity will
assist CDOT in getting the road
open as quickly as possible at
this stage.”
SILVERTON STANDARD
Page 6-Thursday, January 23, 2013
COOK, from Page 2
Simple fact: coyotes help
control rodent populations. In a
BIG way. Nature’s checks and
balances.
Another neighbor and I were
having a sit-a-spell in the toodang-warm January sun. She
lamented about not having
heard the Silverton coyotes sing
in a very long time and that she
missed them terribly. I shared
with her what I had learned
about our local coyote killer and
she became distraught. Reality is
often a bitter pill.
A while back I lived in far
Northwest Montana, snuggled
in betwixt the Cabinet
Mountains and the Clark Fork
River. I lived in an old log cabin
plunked into stretch of breathtakingly gorgeous inland rainforest. Every day I watched myriad wildlife activity right outside
the old creaking door, sometimes right there on the splintered porch. Like the time I
awoke at 4 a.m. to a gangly,
young moose literally tap-dancing on the porch’s weathered
wood, ‘Hello my baby, hello my
honey, hello my ragtime gal…’
During my time in far
Northwest Montana, I watched
–and sometimes this was faceto-face-awfully-close-for-comfort
watching– black and grizzly
bear, cougar and coyote, elk,
moose and deer, fisher and pica.
I listened to a particular wolf
pack sing in the wee hours.
Heaven!
But I will tell you what,
around those parts folks are really into killing things.
I did a little substitute teaching at the all-ages schoolhouse
the next town over, and I quickly grew weary of listening to
kids talk about killing critters.
Talk of shooting crows just to
watch other crows land and
scavenge the dead crows, and
then shooting those crows too.
During rifle season, talk of trying to give away an animal they
had just shot because their freezer was already full. Talk of not
being able to give away the
meat because everybody’s freezers already seemed to be full.
And yet folks just kept right on
killing things. Late season tags,
aka poaching, was big there,
too.
At this point, these folks were
not trying to feed their families,
they were bored and didn’t
know what else to do. Here, hiking the phenomenally scenic
trails and majestic mountains
without a gun and without the
sole purpose of killing something is unthinkable.
After my wolfish looking dog
Wolfgang (a white shepherdhusky mix) was nearly shot on
three separate occasions for
looking wolfish while hiking in
USFS with me, I knew I needed
to leave while we were both still
intact: too much intent on
killing.
And now don’t even get me
started on New Mexico’s recent
coyote killing contests: cruel
and unconscionable.
I don’t feel this way about
Silverton and San Juan County.
Thankfully, I haven’t experienced that same culture of
killing for killing’s sake, and I
want to believe it doesn’t exist
here. Legally and ethically taking an ungulate for meat and
participating in the entire, often
arduous process should be celebrated. It certainly bests the misery inflicted on factory farmed
animals. But taking it upon
yourself to wipe out an area’s
population of coyotes (in this
case) just because you like to see
them die and want them gone?
No!
Killing coyotes is not an act
borne of duty or heroism, it is
senseless and cruel and selfish. It
is an act that neither benefits a
balanced San Juan ecosystem
nor the soul of Silverton, nor
anywhere else for that matter.
Coyotes play an important role
in supporting healthy ecosystems and their haunting yodels
accompany our dreams.
Last night I looked out into a
darkness lit from a nearby streetlight and a waning moon. I
looked out just in time to watch
as a coyote darted off into a
nearby snowdrift. This morning
as I walked my dogs, I listened
to coyotes yodel. I stopped and
yodeled back. I watched as one
coyote and then a second,
moved off cautiously into the
beyond. They sometimes slowed
and posed as shadows, other
times as things ancient and
mysterious. I had neither seen
nor heard coyotes in Silverton
for a very long time; these sightings felt like a sign.
“Stay safe! Live long!” I
called out to them, remaining in
place and watching until like
ghosts they vanished.
Tricia M. Cook is a resident of
Silverton.
SKI SCHOOL
Mark Esper/Silverton Standard & the Miner
Silverton School teacher and ski coach Sally Barnie bends over to show students some features of their skis on
Friday, Jan. 17. The ski team is now practicing every Friday at Kendall Mountain Ski Area.
BAD DAY FOR THE MINERS
TOP: Silverton players Talitha Gallegos (24) and Hannah deKay (1) head
upcourt.
BELOW, RIGHT: Ernesto Saldana (33) and Levi Lokey (40).
BELOW, LEFT: Martin Torres(21) fights for the ball, with Alexis
Gallegos (24) behind him.
David Emory/Silverton Standard & the Miner
The Silverton Miners high
school basketball team’s
The 2-7 Miners’ trip to
Dolores ended strong on a 9-5
run but on the short end of a 2743 score.
Right from the jump, the
Bears’ press defense flustered
Silverton (2-7) into turnovers
and bad decisions. The effort was
good and the Miners held strong
and went to halftime down just
seven points, 18-25.
When senior Will Custer
fouled out early in the third period, it led to a 0-13 run for the
bears which put the game out of
reach.
Coach Salazar felt that the
kids, “put forth a great effort and
but got very frustrated with how
the game progressed. And once
we lost control of that emotion,
we started making poor decisions. That frustration shows that
we are beginning to expect better
from ourselves.”
The Miners will have two
more chances for victory this
weekend as they travel to Grand
Junction to play at Caprock
Academy.
CLASSIFIEDS
SILVERTON STANDARD
NOTICE OF PURCHASE OF
REAL ESTATE AT TAX SALE
AND OF APPLICATION FOR
ISSUANCE OF TREASURER’S
DEED
To Every Person in Actual
Possession or Occupancy of the
hereinafter Described land, Lot or
Premises, and to the Person in
Whose Name the same was
Specially Assessed, and to all
Persons having an Interest or
Title of Record in or to the said
Premises and To Whom It May
Concern, and more especially to
Lance Mac Donald
You and each of you are hereby
notified that on the 16th day of
November, 2010, the then county
Treasurer of the County of San
Juan, in the State of Colorado,
sold at public tax sale to San
Juan County the following
described real estate situate in
the County of San Juan, State of
Colorado, to-wit:
BLK 7 LOTS 3-4 & N 1/2 OF 5
San Juan County, State of
Colorado.
and said County Treasurer issued
certificates of purchase therefore
to San Juan County. That said tax
sale was made to satisfy the
delinquent taxes assessed
against said real estate for the
year 2009;
That said real estate was taxed or
specially assessed in the names
of Bonanza Gold Corp for the
year 2009;
That Vernon Bridgewater, the
present holder of said certificate
NOTICE OF PURCHASE OF
REAL ESTATE AT TAX SALE
AND OF APPLICATION FOR
ISSUANCE OF TREASURER’S
DEED
sold at public tax sale to San
Juan County the following
described real estate situate in
the County of San Juan, State of
Colorado, to-wit:
To Every Person in Actual
Possession or Occupancy of the
hereinafter Described land, Lot or
Premises, and to the Person in
Whose Name the same was
Specially Assessed, and to all
Persons having an Interest or
Title of Record in or to the said
Premises and To Whom It May
Concern, and more especially to
ASTOR NO 5 lode mining claim
U.S.M.S. -1202
EUREKA MNG DIST SAN JUAN
COUNTY, COLORADO;
Loren Cross
You and each of you are hereby
notified that on the 16th day of
November, 2010, the then county
Treasurer of the County of San
Juan, in the State of Colorado,
EXHIBIT A
NOTICE OF ELECTION
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
and particularly to the electors of
the Hermosa Cliff Fire Protection
District, La Plata County,
Colorado.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that
an election on the question of dissolution of the Hermosa Cliff Fire
Protection District shall be held on
February 11, 2014 between the
hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
The Board of Directors of the
District has designated the following polling place: 142 Sheppard
Drive, Durango, Colorado.
The purpose of this election is to
determine whether the Hermosa
Cliff Fire Protection District (the
“District”) should be dissolved.
The District has filed a Petition for
Dissolution with the District Court,
La Plata County, Colorado. The
Petition provides that all the
assets and obligations of the
District will be transferred to and
assumed by the Durango Fire
Protection District which will continue to provide fire protection and
BRIEFS, from Page 1
Business licenses
are up for r enewal
Officials at Town Hall are
reminding Silverton business
owners to apply for 2014 business licenses.
All persons or entities receiving revenues for goods and/or
services within the Town of
Silverton must obtain a Town
business license, which must be
renewed each year. Nonprofit
entities must also obtain a business license, however no fees
apply.
The deadline for year-round
businesses to obtain licenses is
Jan. 31.
The deadline for seasonal businesses is May 1.
Commodities to be
distributed Jan. 28
Commodities distribution will
occur on Jan. 28, from 1-3 p.m.
And said County Treasurer issued
certificates of purchase therefore
to San Juan County. That said tax
sale was made to satisfy the
delinquent taxes assessed
against said real estate for the
year 2009;
That said real estate was taxed or
specially assessed in the names
of Trust for Public Land for the
year 2009;
That Kent Taylor, the present
emergency services for all property within the District. All outstanding financial obligations and
bonds of the District have been
paid in full. A copy of the Petition
is available for inspection at 142
Sheppard Drive, Durango,
Colorado at any time during normal business hours.
The following question shall
appear on the ballot:
Shall the Hermosa Cliff Fire
Protection District be dissolved?
Yes_______
No________
Notice is further given that an eligible elector of said District for the
purposes of this election is a person registered to vote pursuant to
the “Colorado Uniform Election
Code of 1992", and (i) who has
been a resident of the District for
not less than thirty (30) days; or
(ii) who, or whose spouse owns
taxable real or personal property
within the District, whether said
person resides within the District
or not. A person who is obligated
to pay taxes under a contract to
in the basement of the Miners
Union Hospital.
Eligibility for this service must
be determined prior to receiving
the commodities.
Any interested family needing
an eligibility determination may
stop by the Social Services office
at the courthouse from 9 a.m. to
noon on Jan. 28. Call Deanna
Jaramillo at 387-5631 for more
information.
(In accordance with Federal
law and U.S. Department of
Agriculture policy, this institution
is prohibited from discrimination
on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability.)
Help available to
pay heating bills
The LEAP Program started on
11/1/13 and runs through
4/30/14, applications are available at the Social Service Office.
Residents must meet eligibility
criteria for this program which
has made a request upon said
county for a deed to said real
estate;
That a Treasurer’s Deed will be
issued for said real estate to
Vernon Bridgewater at 9:00 a.m.
on the 12th day of March, A.D.
2014, unless the same has been
redeemed.
Said property may be redeemed
from said sale at any time prior to
the actual execution of said
Treasurer’s Deed.
Witness my hand this 30th day of
December 2013.
Beverly E. Rich
County Treasurer of San Juan
County
Published in the Silverton
Standard & the Miner on Jan. 9,
Jan. 16, and Jan. 23, 2013.
holder of said certificate has
made a request upon said county
for a deed to said real estate;
That a Treasurer’s Deed will be
issued for said real estate to Kent
Taylor at 9:00 a.m. on the 12th
day of March, A.D. 2014, unless
the same has been redeemed.
Said property may be redeemed
from said sale at any time prior to
the actual execution of said
Treasurer’s Deed.
Witness my hand this 26th day of
December, 2013
Beverly E. Rich
County Treasurer of San Juan
County
Published in the Silverton
Standard & the Miner on Jan. 9,
Jan. 16, and Jan. 23, 2013.
purchase taxable property within
the District shall be considered an
owner of taxable property for the
purpose of qualifying as an eligible elector.
NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN
that applications for and return of
mail-in voter ballots may be filed
with, and replacement ballots may
be received from: Trudy O’Brien,
Designated Election Official of the
Hermosa Cliff Fire Protection
District at 862 Main Avenue, suite
215, Durango, Colorado, 81301,
telephone 970-259-2612,
between the hours of 9 a.m. and
5 p.m. by appointment, until the
close of business on the Friday
immediately preceding the regular
election (Friday, February 7,
2013).
Hermosa Cliff Fire Protection
District
Trudy O’Brien, Designated
Election Official
Published in the Silverton
Standard & the Miner on Jan. 23,
2014.
are available with the applications. Anyone interested in this
program may come by the Social
Services Office or call Deanna
Jaramillo at 387-5631 with questions.
Energy Outreach Colorado has
awarded San Juan County with a
$16,000 grant to help cover costs
of coal, electric, firewood, natural
gas, oil, propane, and solid fuel
pellets.
Residents must meet the eligibility criteria to be considered for
this program, which includes
applying for the Low-income
Energy Assistance Program first if
you are LEAP eligible.
If you are not LEAP eligible
you can just apply for the EOC
grant.
This program runs through
Sept. 30. Anyone interested in
this program may come by the
Social Services office or call
Deanna Jaramillo at 387-5631
to get an application.
Page 7 — Thursday, January 23, 2014
PLACE AN AD
Silverton Standard
classifieds are just $7 a
week for the first 20
words, and 30 cents
per word after that!
Call 387-5477, or email editor@Silverton
Standard.com
Metal Prices
Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014
Gold
1240.10
Silver
19.88
Platinum
1456
Palladium
747
Copper
3.3257
Nickel
6.6723
Zinc
.9427
Lead
.9845
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REAL ESTATE
Own a summer silver mine
(good road access) and a winter
ski cabin site (with all permits) 20
minutes on skis from Highway
550: www.SilvertonGold.org
(3-27)
FOR RENT
580sf very new Greene and
11th Street second floor office
space above garage structure for
lease. Office has views, ground
floor entrance, mudroom and
bathroom, and interior stairway to
second floor. Unit also has good
solar gain, radiant heat, automatic skylights, and is hard- wired for
modern data needs. REDUCED
RENT — $500 per month plus
separately metered propane and
electricity. Garage is not included
with rent. Please contact Guy
Grover at [email protected]
with questions and Nicole
Bellman 970-387-0133 for showings.
FOR LEASE OR SALE — 1260
Blair Street, formerly Stellar
Restaurant. Call 970 375-0452.
E-mail [email protected]
(RE: 1260 Blair St.)
(ind.)
MISCELLANEOUS
WANTED
Want to purchase minerals and
other oil/gas interests. Send
details to: P.O. Box 13557,
Denver, CO 80201
(d)
“Death notices for delinquent
subscribers will not be inserted.”
— an extract from the Gladstone Kibosh,
January 5, 1901
Subscribe to the Silverton Standard!
Name: _________________________________
Mailing address: _______________________
City, state, ZIP code: ____________________
_________________________________________
Clip and fill out this form, enclose a check and
mail to:
Silverton Standard & the Miner
P.O. Box 8
Silverton, CO 81433
Or call us with credit card info: (970) 387-5477
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E-mail subscription, $26 a year. Donations to
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Help this historic newspaper survive!
Silverton Standard & Caboose
“The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past.” — William Faulkner
Thursday, January 23, 2014, Silverton, Colorado
1917 OR 1918: BURRO IN THE ALLEY
From the February 5, 1876 edition of the (Colorado Springs)
Gazette:
FROM SILVERTON.
January 22, 1876.
To the Editor of the Gazette:
The mail facilities of our town
have not been nor are they now
such as we have a right to look
for, and last night, at the store of
R.C. Luesley, a meeting of citizens
was held to take some action
towards improvement. Mr. J.M.
Hanks presided, and J.L. Ufford
acted as secretary.
The following preamble and
resolutions were adopted, viz:
“WHEREAS, we, the citizens of
Silverton and vicinity, have been
shamefully wronged by being
deprived of our mails, through
no fault of the government, but
through and by the misrepresentations of persons interested in
competing points, and through
those representations causing the
government to discontinue the
postal route to Silverton from Del
Norte via San Juan City, and
known as route No. 38,141. A
route that has been our only
source of supply since the country has been opened to settlement. A route that is passable the
year round to man or beast. A
route even which wagons can go
nine months of the year from Del
Norte to San Juan City, from
thence to Silverton on pack animals or on foot, the year around.
A route that has in the past, as it
can in the future, give us mail
privileges with safety, promptness, and dispatch, and at less
cost to the government.
“And there has been established a route via Saguache, Los
Pinos Indian Agency, and Lake
City to Silverton, known as Route
No. 38,134. A route — particularly from Lake City to Silverton —
that no one has ever attempted
to travel in the Winter months
until this new route was established. A route that is known to
be dangerous and impassable on
account of snow slides. A route
over which these slides occur for
more than six months in the
year. A route over which, hardy,
experienced men were afraid to
risk their lives — particularly
when they had carried the mail
for three months and received no
pay for services so dangerous,
from a contractor in whose financial ability they had not the
utmost confidence — and finally
threw up their contract on the
13th of the present month, thereby abandoning the route, and
leaving us without the least show
of getting a mail during the balance of Winter. A route that was
and is intended to make
Saguache and Lake City points of
importance, as being principal
towns on this postal route,
regardless of the inconvenience
of the citizens of the valley of the
Animas, and
“WHEREAS, That for reasons
hereinbefore set forth, we have
had but two mails during the
present month, and missed eight
Photo courtesy of San Juan County Historical Society
Denny McNaughton with a burro in the alley between Greene and Reese streets, with the San Juan County Courthouse behind them in 1917 or 1918.
mails during the month of
December, when the government
has, by contract, provided for
three mails each week, which
contract could have been fulfilled
easily via Del Norte and San Juan
City, without danger to man or
beast; therefore be it
“RESOLVED, That we, the citizens of Silverton and vicinity, do
pledge ourselves to raise the sum
of fifty dollars for the purpose of
hiring Theo. Schoch to take out
and mail a memorial to our
Governor, J.L. Routt, setting forth
our grievances, and such other
mail matter as our citizens may
wish to send, and bring in the
mail for Silverton, inasmuch as
this is the only means we have to
get our grievances before the
proper authorities.”
Our people want these resolutions and the condition of affairs,
made public, and knowing that
the Colorado Springs Gazette has
a large circulation all over the
country, I take the liberty of asking you to give them space in
your paper. Yours truly, U.S. Mail
110 YEARS AGO
From the January 23, 1904
edition of the Silverton Standard:
BIG BLAST AT
THE LITTLE MAUD.
Last Sunday nine sticks of
powder — just the ordinary powder used in blasting granite —
were being softened by the heat
of a cook stove in a room 12 x 16
at the Little Maud mine. Luckily
all three miners were at work on
the outside as now there are three
who tell the story in three different ways. The one story is probably true, viz: That the powder in
some manner ignited. A new
building will be erected on the
site of the old one, immediately.
Moral: Don’t thaw powder on
Sunday.
Baptist Matties and Frank
Anezi (sic) came together in an
unfriendly encounter at the
Dance hall, northwest corner of
Blair and 12th Streets. Nothing
would have been known of the
scrap had it not been for the
yelling of a kid and the barking
of a dog. The disturbers, when
brought into court, were fined
$19.65 a piece by Magistrate
Hodges.
The huge pile of stone recently
placed at the corner of Tenth and
Blair streets is no more or less
than a small portion of the material to be used in the building of
a two story business block next
summer on the vacant lots and
adjoining the present store of O.F.
Sherwood.
80 YEARS AGO
From the January 20,1934 edition of the Silverton Standard & the
Miner:
SCHOOL NOTES.
The past week the
“Nineteenth Nationwide every
Pupil Scholarship Tests” were
given at Silverton school. These
are sponsored y the Kansas State
Teacher’s college.
Below are a list of tests given
and the Silverton students making first and second higher scores:
… History: (sixth grade), Elvin
Gallagher 1st, Walter Augesten,
Tommy Drenan 2nd. … Spelling,
(sixth grade), Elvin Gallagher 1st,
Tommy Drenan 2nd. … Silent
reading, (sixth grade) Eldo
Gallagher 1st, Elvin Gallagher
2nd. … Geography, (sixth grade),
Elvin Gallagher 1st; Tommy
Drenan 2nd. Arithmetic, (sixth
grade), Eldo Gallagher, 1st.
60 YEARS AGO
From the January 22, 1954
edition of the Silverton Standard &
the Miner:
PRIDE MILL CLOSES.
The Pride of the West mill
shut down this week after every
possible source of ore to keep it
going had been exhausted. The
mill was capable of treating better
than 125 tons per day.
With the closing of the Pride
mill the county’s only operating
reducing plant has been idled.
50 YEARS AGO
From the January 24, 1964
edition of the Silverton
Standard & the Miner:
NEW SNOW BRINGS
SKIING TO KENDALL .
The official opening day for
Silverton’s Kendall Mountain
ski tow may have been January
4, but backers of the facility
were busy this week preparing
for what they expect to be the
first full weekend of operation.
There just wasn’t any snow
for the January 4 grand opening. And there wasn’t any
snow here until this week
Looking
Back ...
20 Years Ago
January 20, 1994
Silverton Clerk-Treasurer Marj
Gregory told the trustees that she
had found some judges for the
upcoming recall election.
“The wonderful people who
have agreed to act as election
judges are Lynn Hutson, Lynn
Pense, Alva Gallegos and Toni
Gonzalez. Evelyn Archuleta and
Rose Raab agreed to be alternate
judges”
School Superintendent Dan
Salfisberg presented a chart showing a mine closing in 1985 lowered the student population from
180 to 121. ... There are currently
100 students and 12 teachers.
25 Years Ago
January 19, 1989
At a special meeting Friday
night the board of education
decided to hire substitute teacher
Kim White for the remainder of
the school year. White will be
assigned to teach the fourth
grade.
Special education teacher Julie
Delap, who currently shares
teaching responsibilities with
Ernie Batson, will be moved to
media services in the mornings.
when the first major storm of
the winter — a couple of
months late in putting in its
appearance — arrived in the
high San Juans.
But with nearly 18 inches of
snow on the four Kendall runs,
the skiing was expected to be
excellent this week.
Silverton youngsters got a
chance to do their bit in promoting the community’s new
facility Thursday afternoon
when Ward Barlow had the
tow operating with free rides
for skiers who would also help
pack the slopes.
30 Years Ago
January 19, 1984
The Silverton Chamber of
Commerce will once more be in
communication with the outside world as soon as telephone
connections are made to the
chamber office in town hall.
Since the closure of the booth
at the wye last fall, there has
been no regular telephone service to the chamber.
40 Years Ago
January 17, 1974
Allen Fecht, who made local
headlines last summer by first
announcing that the Galena
Queen and Silver Picture properties would be reopened and
by then actually reopening the
Silver Wing Mine, is currently
resisting extradition from Las
Vegas, Nev., to Durango to
stand trial for allegedly passing
a hot check.
A Durango juvenile has been
been charged with assault with a
deadly weapon , and the same
day charges against three adults
were mailed to Silverton
Municipal Court for filing in connection with a New Year’s Day
stabbing and fight in Silverton.
The 17-year-old youth accused
of stabbing Terry Rhoades, 18, of
Silverton, will appear in the
Court of District Judge William
Eakes under rules for juveniles.