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Valley Roundup, Feb. 3, 2017

Welcome to a Valley Roundup.

The Aspen community lost a veteran newspaper columnist this week. Su Lum embodied watchdog journalism and never held back. Her co-workers and loyal readers remember her as a no-nonsense Aspen icon.

Longtime Aspen Times columnist Su Lum, known for acerbic wit, dies at age 80

And that veteran columnist who writes for two newspapers in the valley sees Aspen and Snowmass as completely different worlds and wonders why.

Marolt: Fierce independence could still save our butts

Marolt: So, we’d rather be remembered as a pile of mammoth bones?

ESPN’s X Games came and went last week without too much trouble. While law enforcement touts it as a success with only five arrests and 11 detoxes, some community members are starting to think that the sporting event has become a venue for young people to party … too much.

Authorities were busy at X Games venue and in town

Meanwhile, the 2016 report from the Aspen Police Department suggests that crime is down. Except for bike thefts, Aspen is a fairly safe place to live.

Arrests by Aspen police plummeted in 2016

However, there was one very violent crime that occurred last year in which a crazed man held three people hostage at gunpoint up Independence Pass.  A judge this week dismissed two charges, saying if the defendant wanted to kill his hostages he could have. But he didn’t.

 

Man bound over for trial following hearing, but ruling is mixed

And further west, Garfield County experienced its third earthquake in as many months. This time it was in Silt and the largest one felt in decades. Whether it has to do with oil and gas extraction is up for debate.

Yet another earthquake, Garfield County’s biggest in decade, hits Silt

 

Also in Garfield County, the Glenwood Springs City Council is asking voters this spring to approve a tax on pot sales to pay for things like a new detox center.

 

Glenwood Springs marijuana taxes could reopen detox talks

Finally, there are plans in the works to have a shuttle taking people to Hanging Lake in Glenwood Canyon and not allowing any more parking. It’s gotten so crowded that the Forest Service may start limiting how many people can hike the popular trail.

 

Options to fight Hanging Lake overuse may include shuttle, reservations

Valley Roundup is a production of Aspen Public Radio news.