The Aspen Times

DENVER - Millions of undocumented people in the U.S. should be given a path to legal status after the country finds a way to stop illegal immigration, business and government leaders said in a report Wednesday. The University of Denver report argues that legalizing as many of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants as possible could strengthen the economy and national security. But it ... Full Story »

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. - Vail Resorts last month withdrew an appeal for Summit County to refund $280,000 in taxes paid over two years on the BreckConnect Gondola. The company had claimed that $6.7 million the town of Breckenridge contributed toward the gondola project, which the county had valued at $15.9 million, to be a subsidy exempt from tax assessment, said Summit County Assessor Beverly ... Full Story »

ASPEN - My annual ritual of skinning up Tiehack at Buttermilk before work on Tuesday got under way yesterday, and I am happy to report my skinning partner and I persevered despite numerous hurdles. First, my trusty old Subaru is in the shop for a cracked head gasket (words you never want to hear your mechanic utter) so we had to take my buddy's newer, nicer Subaru. Second, it puked snow ... Full Story »

GLENWOOD SPRINGS - The first major snowstorm of the season has kept Colorado Department of Transportation maintenance crews busy around the clock trying to clear area highways for commuters and travelers. "With a storm like this, we have about half of our crewmen out for a 12-hour shift, and the other half out for the other 12 hours," CDOT spokesperson Nancy Shanks said. The Glenwood Springs ... Full Story »

EAGLE, Colo. - The numbers are almost crunched on Eagle County's 2010 budget, and there are plenty of zeroes and commas in the big picture. The biggest number, to some, is 32 - the number of county employees who have either been laid off or have accepted early retirement packages. That was the number that brought Carleen Heckendorf and her husband, Robert, to Tuesday's public hearing on next ... Full Story »

DENVER - Federal officials, responding to a complaint by environmentalists, have agreed to review air pollution standards for oil and gas operations to decide if they need to be updated. The proposed settlement of a complaint by WildEarth Guardians and the Colorado-based San Juan Citizens Alliance calls for the Environmental Protection Agency to start the review in January 2011. The settlement ... Full Story »

ASPEN - Plans for a $30 million Wheeler Opera House expansion have come to a halt after members of the Aspen City Council on Monday told the design team to back off on its pursuit to build a second facility. Some council members said the price tag is too high and questioned whether there is a real need to build a new 265-theater on an empty parcel located next to the historic venue. The council ... Full Story »

ASPEN - The snow that blanketed Aspen's ski slopes Tuesday was matched by a PR blitz that blanketed the country. Less than six hours after the slopes opened for the first significant powder day of the season, the Aspen Skiing Co. sent a blast e-mail, which featured still photos and video of skiers and snowboarders flying through the powder, to scores of media outlets. "We're pretty much all ... Full Story »

ASPEN - A marketing dispute between Vail Resorts and a state ski industry trade association has dragged into a second winter with no reconciliation in sight. Vail Resorts pulled Vail Mountain, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone out of Colorado Ski Country USA in 2008. There was no specific attempt to get Vail to rejoin for the 2009-10 season, according to Dave Bellack, chairman of Colorado ... Full Story »

ASPEN - If Crested Butte Mountain Resort appeals the U.S. Forest Service's denial of its expansion plan, it will have a heavyweight partner in its corner. Colorado Ski Country USA's board of directors voted at its last meeting to join in any administrative appeal or court challenge mounted by the Crested Butte owners, according to Dave Bellack, chairman of the Ski Country board as well as senior ... Full Story »

ASPEN - The city of Aspen's sales tax revenues were down in October, making it yet another down month for retailers, restaurants and other industries. According to the city's consumption tax report, sales tax collections were down 4 percent in October from the same month in 2008. While the decline is attributed to the national recession, city finance director Don Taylor pointed out that Aspen's ... Full Story »

ASPEN - A $69 million Pitkin County budget for 2010 won initial approval on a 4-1 vote by county commissioners Tuesday. Commissioner Jack Hatfield cast the sole dissenting votes on a series of resolutions adopting the budget, appropriating funds and setting various mill levies, saying the county didn't do enough to cut spending. The resolutions will come back to commissioners for a public ... Full Story »

GLENWOOD SPRINGS - Robert Taylor began his Tuesday shoveling snow from the sidewalks and steps at the Catholic Charities building on Grand Avenue. "I've been out four times since it started snowing Monday, shoveling snow," Taylor said. And he figured that he'd be out again before the day was through, with the way the snow continued to fall. After clearing snow from Catholic Charities at 10th ... Full Story »

ASPEN - A funeral mass for Cheryl Ann Lurie will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. at St. Mary Church in Aspen. A gravesite service will follow. After the conclusion of the services, a reception will be held at the Elks Lodge in her honor. An account has been established in Lurie's name at Wells Fargo Bank. Lurie passed on Nov. 15 as a result of injuries received from a fall at the Library Plaza. She ... Full Story »

ASPEN - Etown, the Boulder-based, nationally syndicated live radio program with an environmental message, will make its Aspen debut in January. The 18-year-old program will host a concert Jan. 17 at the Wheeler Opera House featuring singer-songwriters John Hiatt and Brandi Carlisle. The event, presented by KDNK, will include an onstage interview with the artists conducted by Etown hosts Nick and ... Full Story »

DENVER - The U.S. Forest Service will funnel an additional $40 million to Rocky Mountain states where a tiny bug has killed more than 2 million acres of pine trees in what has been called one of the West's biggest natural disasters. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, whose agency oversees the Forest Service, said Tuesday the funds will help address the growing threats from the devastated stands ... Full Story »

DENVER - A state lawmaker from Denver is proposing stricter regulations on medical marijuana providers and patients. Sen. Chris Romer says about half of Colorado's dispensaries could be driven out of business by the legislation he's drafting. The bill would allow dispensaries and growers to be licensed by both the state and local jurisdictions. The Denver Democrat says they should have to show ... Full Story »

ASPEN - A winter storm pummeled the Colorado mountains Monday night, dumping more snow in the lower Roaring Fork Valley than it did in Aspen and Snowmass Village. Sunlight Mountain Resort near Glenwood Springs reported 10 inches of new snow over the previous 24 hours early Tuesday morning and schools in Basalt, Carbondale and Glenwood were closed. In Aspen, ski area snowfall totals ranged from 2 ... Full Story »

EDWARDS, Colo. - The Colorado Mountain College board of trustees, meeting at the Vail-Eagle Campus in Edwards Monday, decided to maintain the college district's current mill levy of 3.997 for the coming 2010-11 budget year. The board also approved a 9 percent student tuition increase for the academic year beginning next fall, including a $4 per-credit-hour increase for in-district students, and ... Full Story »

GLENWOOD SPRINGS - Garfield County agreed Monday to go ahead and pay up to $614,000 to keep the troubled "Hogback" bus service running through the end of 2010. But the members of the Board of County Commissioners are hoping the city of Rifle will kick in at least $20,000 toward the route, which is part of the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority's scheduled bus system between Aspen and Rifle ... Full Story »

CARBONDALE - The Carbondale Board of Trustees will get its first look at the latest plan for a 120-unit teacher housing project proposed for 12 acres of school district property near the center of town, at its regular meeting Tuesday. In November, the town's Planning and Zoning Commission voted 4-1 to recommend approval of the site plan, plus an amendment to an earlier approved Planned Unit ... Full Story »

ASPEN - Lift ops toting hand-held scanners have disappeared at the entrance lifts at all four Aspen-Snowmass ski areas, but anyone thinking they can sneak through the new automated gates with someone else's pass stowed in their pocket should think again. The Aspen Skiing Co. has installed radio-frequency identification turnstiles at all of the lifts where skiers and boarders can gain access to a ... Full Story »

ASPEN - An Aspen man was sentenced Monday to four years in state prison for assaulting a police officer. The sentencing of Landin Smith, 45, by Judge James Boyd of Pitkin County District Court came despite efforts by his attorney for a more lenient sentence. Public defender Stephen McCrohan argued that the second-degree assault of a police officer was a trumped-up charge, and said resisting ... Full Story »

ASPEN - The Aspen City Council voted unanimously Monday to give the chamber of commerce $100,000 in the form of a grant and a $400,000 loan to market the resort in 2010. The council approved a one-year agreement with the Aspen Chamber Resort Association, which also includes its marketing plan for 2010. The $500,000 allocation is designed to make up for lost revenue as a result of a proposed ... Full Story »

ASPEN - Aspen firefighters scrambled to a manhole on Maroon Creek Road on Monday morning to rescue two men who were working in a water pipe, unaware water was rising inside it. "They were fine," said Fire Chief Darryl Grob. In fact, he said, the men didn't know they were the focus of a rescue until a couple of firefighters yelled down the pipe to them from an Aspen Water Department hydro ... Full Story »