Years ago, I started a tradition of giving a gift basket to expecting parents. It was for the firstborn child of couples we knew well. It started out as both practical guide and a source of humor for nervous new parents. I always asked that this letter be read at[Read More…]
Columns
Where did the summer go?
The Rio Blanco County Fair has started and I am not ready. It’s a time change thing. It is not as if I have any real reason to complain, as my only role is to attend. It has always been an end-of summer tradition. The annual event signaled the conclusion[Read More…]
Editor: Prioritizing = putting first things first
“Put First Things First! These four words cover an entire philosophy which can be applied with profit by every business leader, by every executive and by every employee.” ~ Thomas J. Watson (1874 – 1956), Industrialist, Former President of IBM Change is hard, and letting go of things is harder[Read More…]
21st century citizenship: four civic skills we need to keep our democracy
As primaries roll out around the country, we’re tracking voter turnout. Raised on Schoolhouse Rock’s cartoon civics lessons, I know that being a good American means voting. Those 1970’s cartoons weren’t wrong. Voting is the most fundamental act of democratic citizenship. That’s why it has been fiercely contested throughout our[Read More…]
Ditches are a vanishing paradise
Annette Choszczyk lives in rural western Colorado these days, but when she was a kid, the Highline Canal in Denver was her summer paradise. “To us, it was river and a playground, complete with rope swings, swimming holes, crawdads and a trail alongside it that adults and kids could walk[Read More…]
Family reunion brings wisdom for marriage
A few weeks ago, I attended a family reunion. This year, we were encouraged to share with the others how many years we had been married. I don’t know most of these distant relatives on a personal basis, so I was amazed at the number of couples who had passed[Read More…]
A closer look
“Same old, same old” and “It is what it is” may be two of the most annoying phrases that have seeped unnoticed into our daily conversations. So many of our exchanges with family and friends have become laced with cliches, idioms, or all sorts of space fillers. It is an[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Appeals to emotion effective, but not always accurate
Nothing gets folks riled up like horses, especially “wild” ones. We’ve been inundated with letters and comments regarding the BLM gather of wild horses from the Piceance/East Douglas Herd Management Area. Interestingly, none of the letters have come from people who actually live here, or people who see the horses[Read More…]
Big Tech is steamrolling America’s newspapers
Google and Facebook have enormous economic and political power in society – especially over the news industry. Many ask if they have played a role in the misinformation that erodes our free press and plagues our democracy. Google and Facebook have a duopoly of the distribution of digital news content,[Read More…]
What do you get from volunteering with the Historical Society?
We are currently working at the Milk Creek Battlefield Park. Those of you who have been there have seen our accomplishments. We have the only monument in the United States dedicated to warriors of the Ute Nation. Installed by Utes. A couple of years ago we put up signs that[Read More…]
Classic toys tell a tale
Trolls are making a comeback! Toys, in some form or another, have always been a collectible, not because they were fine art or even rare when they were made. They become collectible and valuable because they were loveable. Loveable toys get loved, hard! Well-loved toys rarely survive beyond one or[Read More…]
‘Yer aff yer heid’
You will hear many strange words across Scotland today. You will find English and Gaelic on many signs. What most Scots speak every day is Scottish English. Its many dialects can be very poetic and humorous in describing life, people and insults. I will try to give you a taste[Read More…]
