Fly away

Once again, the peace and quiet of Elk Springs subdivision is disturbed by a low level turbocharged airplane, likely flying out of Glenwood Springs airport. I know it was turbocharged because of the extreme noise it created and how fast the pilot was doing loops. 

This occurred at 10 a.m. and lasted for 20 minutes. Why must the pilots from Glenwood airport choose a populated area to do aerobatics? 

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It is not only a nuisance, it is also an extreme fire risk. If the plane were to experience engine failure and go down, it could create a wildland fire that would take significant resources to deal with.

Can’t the Glenwood pilots convince the lone aerobatic hotshot to fly higher and go somewhere else?

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Philip Maass

Glenwood Springs

Glenwood Springs Middle School thanks

A big thank-you to the staff of Glenwood Middle School for an awesome eighth grade graduation parade and drive-thru passage to high school. 

I was lucky to drive with my family and my grandaughter Sophia Williams from the middle school to the high school, and thank you to all the cool people who honked and waved at the parade. 

It was a special event for these great kids and just one more reason I feel so blessed to be part of this community.

Debby O’Leary

Glenwood Springs

Vote Holy Cross experience

There are more candidates than ever in the upcoming mail-in Holy Cross election, which is a sign of the utility’s growing leadership and relevance at the local and national level. 

Indeed, thanks to board vision and phenomenal staff, the utility, a small rural co-op owned by you, the members, has pioneered a new model for reliable, affordable, renewable energy, with a goal of 100% clean power by 2030. 

To get there, we’ll need continued leadership from the board. That’s why I encourage you to vote for Bob Gardner and Kristen Bertuglia and newcomer but longtime green design and clean energy professional Kristen Hartel. Please mail your ballot (which should be in your mailbox) by June 7. 

Dan Richardson

Carbondale

Need sane gun laws

I am excited to have a gun enthusiast as Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District representative. Rep Boebert is in a good position to bring forward policy that regulates lethal weapons, the same way we regulate lethal cars. 

She could change U.S. standing in the world by initiating a procedure of registration and licensing of all 300 million firearms in the country. 

To be licensed — trained and tested in the safety and use of a firearm — as a requisite of ownership, along with the licensing of each firearm, would ensure the nation is on the same page with the use of lethal weapons. 

When I’m driving, I want to know that every person coming at me has the same capability, mindset and rulebook that I do to ensure both our safety; it should be the same with guns. 

Show us your wisdom, Lauren — make our gun laws sane.

John Hoffmann 

Carbondale

Live music again

Last weekend, the High Country Strings presented a wonderful set of concerts in Basalt, Carbondale and Aspen. With the pandemic keeping us alone, hungry for the arts of all kinds and without live music, the first notes were all the sweeter. 

I found myself emotional throughout the concert, not just for the joy of hearing but for the excellent performance, as well. There is a passion each player adds to the ensemble that enriches the whole sound and the audience’s enjoyment. 

I thoroughly loved the music played and their performance. Any time this group performs, I urge everyone to go hear them.

Deborah Barnekow, musician

El Jebel

Concerned by aggressive, distracted driving

I know many of you are frustrated and concerned, even frightened, by the aggressive driving, speeding and texting/phone use we have been experiencing on Interstate 70 and Highway 82. Instead of complaining, let’s contact our state government and tell them we need help. We need the Colorado State Patrol to be better funded so that we can get more officers on the road. We need better speed limit enforcement with higher fines. Please join me in writing to Rep. Perry Will, Sen. Bob Rankin and Gov. Jared Polis respectfully requesting that they do something about this situation. Our lives are being disrupted, and our safety is in jeopardy. 

Ginny Badger

Parachute

Wrong place for Ascendigo

Two things never surprise me while reading a letter supporting the proposed Ascendigo corporate development in Missouri Heights: The writers of the letters do not live in Missouri Heights, and they never get their facts straight. 

Not living in Missouri Heights is excusable, since 70% of all Ascendigo clients come from out of state. Not getting their facts straight should concern them as much as it does us. Ascendigo keeps changing its story. 

First, they said there would be an additional 400-plus cars added to our dirt roads, then 220, then 210 and then they realized last week they must do a county road survey all over again because their traffic numbers are not correct. 

They are not an “educational facility” — those words do not appear anywhere on their website. They proudly claim to be a recreational camp with “campers.” According to CEO Peter Bell, the education misnomer was added by Garfield County planners trying to shoehorn Ascendigo into a category that wasn’t a corporate commercial business. 

The claim to have a “robust fire management” program based on past fire evacuation experience is frightening. Granted, they had a small group during COVID-19 to evacuate from Colorado Mountain College with the Grizzly Creek Fire, but they had hours to do so. Up here in Missouri Heights, neighbors had minutes to leave their homes in the middle of the night with the Lake Christine Fire. Their water person admitted their robust fire mitigation program plan is sprinklers located inside the buildings. Good luck getting kids and horses out of the burning fields driven by 40- to 60-mph winds with only one road in and the same road out. If I were the parent of an autistic child, I’d be thinking really hard about that factoid. 

Ascendigo’s extra water rights to use irrigation water to supplement fire protection is now a fairy tale. Due to the 21-year drought, there will be no extra irrigation water for Ascendigo to use this year and probably many more to come. 

Commendable idea? Yes! It’s just the wrong place for it. “It’s as simple as that” say 576 neighbors living up here. We know Missouri Heights, … sadly, Ascendigo does not.

David Aguilar

Missouri Heights, Carbondale

Bell using deception

After reading Peter Bell’s guest column (May 26 Post Independent), I am saddened by the continued deception as Ascendigo tries to make its case to the community. There are many inaccuracies in his post, and the facts will bear this out when all evidence is presented to the Garfield County Board of County Commissioners. 

But I must call out one obvious point that Mr. Bell knows to be false. I had a private conversation with Mr. Bell a few weeks ago during which he acknowledged that the original proposal for homes to be built on the site was for 15, not 21 homes, as is frequently misstated. In his recent column he wrote “more than 20 homes.” Was this an attempt to move closer to the truth? It is still intentionally deceptive.

Mr. Bell, no one in our organization has, as you stated, “pushed back on your vision.” We have and always will support continued efforts to improve the lives of children and young adults on the autism spectrum. But those who are moved to support the Ascendigo proposal simply based on its admirable mission should recall a shrewd statement by the famous philosopher Kierkegaard: “Even what appears to be the purest feeling could still be a deception.” 

As the process moves forward, do not forget the wise Roman proverb: “He who has once used deception will deceive again.”

Joe Nuzzarello

Missouri Heights, Carbondale

Excuse me?

This letter is in response to Nancy Williams’ letter on May 28 in the Post Independent called “Taking Offense.” She states, “I believe Ascendigo will bring a better class of people to the neighborhood.” Wow! What does that mean? How discriminatory and classist is that? 

How does she know what class of people live in that neighborhood? Who cares that she has lived in the valley since 1968? She doesn’t live in Missouri Heights, she lives in Glenwood Springs. She has no right to tell the residents of Missouri Heights how their neighborhood should be developed. 

None of the people outside of the direct neighborhood have any right to decide how the Missouri Heights neighborhood should be developed. I live in Pitkin County, so I have no vested interest other than directly impacted neighbors having a say in their future. Garfield County commissioners need to listen to the directly impacted neighbors and tune everyone else out.

Melissa Waters

Carbondale

Equity or equality?

The Roaring Fork School District is apparently considering a “student equity committee” next year (May 31, Glenwood Springs Post Independent).

Has anyone Googled equality versus equity? One definition says “Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome” (Nov. 5, 2020, from onlinepublichealth.gwu.edu).

Onlinepublichealth goes on to say in part, “It is critical to remember that social systems aren’t naturally inequitable — they’ve been intentionally designed to reward specific demographics for so long that the system’s outcomes appear unintentional but are actively rooted discriminatory practices and beliefs.”

Question: Are Roaring Fork School District residents to assume the district is embracing equity over equality? I don’t recall the district board having this discussion.

Lynn Burton

Glenwood Springs