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Your Morning News - November 26th, 2014

Ski Co and the 2015 Season

With the lifts already cranking on Aspen Mountain and a scheduled opening day Thursday at Snowmass, the Aspen Skiing Company is positive about the season ahead.

The Aspen Skiing Company is opening new terrain and new family amenities on three of its four mountains. Buttermilk may see the most change with a reconfigured base area, a remodeled Inn at Aspen and a new children’s center called “Hideout.” Mike Kaplan is President and CEO of the Skiing Company.

“It’s pretty much a total rejuvenation of Buttermilk. And, I think it’s going to be great for everyone to experience, especially local families and the terrain park kids. It’s going to be a more seamless X Games.”

Snowmass will see a new tubing hill near the Elk Camp restaurant and additional trails at Burnt Mountain, near Long Shot. Crews added expert terrain near Canopy Cruiser at Aspen Highlands. With visitation, Kaplan says hotel bookings are pacing ahead of last year, during this time.

Colorado to Consider Physician Assisted Suicide

Colorado is one of several states that will take up the issue of physician assisted suicide. The topic is once again in the national spotlight with the recent death of Brittany Maynard. The terminally ill 29 year-old moved to Oregon to take advantage of that state’s Death with Dignity law.

Non-Profit Targets Youngsters with Climate Lectures

The Aspen Skiing Company is hosting a lecture series in downtown Aspen this winter. The first is tonight. And it features an organization focused on kids and climate change.

The non-profit is called Our Children’s Future. Based in Oregon, they’re trying to combat rising sea levels and unusual weather by working with younger generations. Lou Helmuth is Program Advisor. He says the group is trying to change how government officials think about the atmosphere.

“We know what the health condition of an atmosphere is, and we know that we are beyond that healthy condition. So what do we need to do, our own governmental operations, to bring us to a point of atmospheric health?”

The series starts tonight at the Limelight Hotel in Aspen.

BLM Closes Several Trails for the Winter Season

The Bureau of Land Management is getting ready to close certain trails for the winter season. That includes spots in the Roaring Fork Valley area.

Starting December 1st, motorbikes and snowmobiles will not be allowed up Light Hill and the Crown in Pitkin County. East Elk Creek in Garfield County will also be closed to motorized travel. That’s to protect important winter habitat for big game… as well as to prevent road damage. All are still open to hiking, horseback riding, and other ways of getting around. The trails will reopen to motorized vehicles at the end of April.  

Pitkin Co. Commissioners Back EPA’s Anti-Carbon Emissions Plan

The Pitkin County Commissioners are formally supporting a national push to bring down carbon emissions. The elected leaders discussed their support during a meeting yesterday.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced a plan this summer that would cut out a third of pollution from burned fossil fuels. That would be by 2030. The agency is taking comments on the proposal, and the Pitkin County Board of Commissioners has agreed to write a letter in support.  The plan has raised some concerns nationally by formally including natural gas as a way to cut coal power pollution. Commissioners wanted to make clear they support doing that with renewable energy instead. Commissioner Rachel Richards.

“Fracking is disruptive to individual homeowners and public lands as well. So it’s just worth mentioning that it’s just not the silver bullet.”

Under the EPA rule, each state would have to decide how to cut carbon emissions in the next sixteen years.

Aspen Ends “Free Parking” This Morning

Free Parking ends today in Aspen. After putting in new meters over the past week… parking rates go back into effect at ten o’clock this morning. The new meters follows a parking scam, where people used pre-paid debit cards to bilk the city out of several hundred thousand dollars. Eighty one new meters are now in place. The Aspen Times reports the City Manager’s office will begin the search for a new parking director after the first of the year. Parking Department employee Blake Fitch is currently the interim director.

Bonanza Lives On

The State of Colorado says the tiny town of Bonanza lives on. The Secretary of State’s office says under Colorado law, towns that fail to hold elections and operate a government for five years can be dis-incorporated. But, a recent election in Bonanza asked voters if they wanted to disband. The majority of the votes cast, eleven, were in favor. But, the measure fell short of the two-thirds needed under state law. According to the secretary of state’s office, Bonanza only has one full time resident. It’s a former silver mining town in south-central Colorado.

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