ASPEN - The Aspen City Council voted Monday to give three architectural firms vying for the design work at a city-owned housing development another crack at the bid.
The council voted 3-2 to allow Boulder-based Oz Architecture, and two Aspen firms, Poss Architecture + Planning and Charles Cunniffe Architects, to clarify their proposals and possibly adjust their rates to design the final phases of Burlingame Ranch. The affordable housing development is located off Highway 82 across from Buttermilk.
Giving finalists an opportunity to adjust their bids after the city's Request for Proposals (RFP) process has closed appears...

ASPEN - The number of passengers riding buses operated by the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority fell nearly 12 percent in recession-racked 2009, according to a preliminary report.
RFTA had 4.29 million riders last year compared to 4.85 million in 2008, according to a report released Monday. The decline was steep because 2008 was a record year for RFTA, and ridership in 2009 was probably affected by several factors related to the recession, RFTA Chief Executive Officer Dan Blankenship said.
The ridership in 2008 was boosted by an "epic snow year" and gasoline prices topping $4 per gallon.

ASPEN - A former Aspen police officer pleaded not guilty to three sexual-related felony charges Monday in Pitkin County District Court.
The case against Joe Holman, who resigned last year from the Aspen Police Department in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct, appears headed to trial.
Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Pototsky and Holman's attorney, Lawson Wills, indicated that negotiations have broken down. Judge James Boyd scheduled the trial for July 13. It's expected to last up to five days.
Holman, 38, faces the class-four felony charge of criminal attempt to commit sexual exploitation of children,...

ASPEN - Jazz Aspen Snowmass is celebrating its 20th season this summer by bringing in musicians who haven't played the Aspen area in ages, a combination of horn players that hasn't been together locally in years, and a contemporary rock band - perhaps the best rock band of its time - in its local debut.
Harry Connick Jr., whose last local appearance - in 1991 at the Wheeler Opera House - caused a run on tickets, kicks off the Jazz Aspen summer season with a June Festival concert on June 25. JAS@20!...

ASPEN - Aspen's classical music fans will have to wait a bit longer than usual for the music to begin this year. The Aspen Music Festival summer season has been cut by a week, with that week being chopped off the front end of the festival season.
But fans can start getting excited about what they will hear once the festival gets under way. The Music Festival has released a preview look at the schedule for the 2010 summer season, which features eight weeks - instead of the usual nine - of...

ASPEN - The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority's plan to significantly upgrade its bus system is getting a boost from President Obama, the agency recently learned.
The president's fiscal year 2011 budget includes a $24 million grant to RFTA through the federal Very Small Starts Program. That money would be dedicated to RFTA's expansion plan known as bus rapid transit, also known informally as "RFTA on steroids."
"If this amount is retained in the Senate and House versions of the fiscal year 2011 Department of Transportation appropriation bill, and ultimately signed into law by the President, RFTA will...

Local Coverage

Aspen Times Sports Reporter Nate Peterson and Vail Daily Marketing Consultant Mark Bricklin will be on-site covering our local Olympians and reporting on the circus that is the Vancouver Olympics 2010.
Featured content includes:
- Colorado Olympians' bios
- Complete event schedules
- Reader correspondents' blogs
- Olympic Twitter feed
- And much more!

We're excited about our Local Olympians' sections that have each athlete's bio, photos, articles and links to their website, Twitter and Facebook pages. Note: This section will be finalized with late additions, deletions on Friday, February 12, but check...

ASPEN - Small-town pride trumped Aspen's customary glitz Monday, as a few hundred spectators crammed into Gondola Plaza to cheer on seven local athletes who will head to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver later this week.
Snowboarders Gretchen Bleiler and Chris Klug, and skiers Casey Puckett and Alice McKennis took their turns waving to the crowd. Three other Winter Olympians - figure skater Jeremy Abbott, cross country skier Simi Hamilton and alpine skier Jake Zamansky - were out of town, competing or training, but their parents took the stage to thank the...

DENVER - Biologists working with the owners of a western Colorado ranch are trying to determine if wolves have settled there.

Biologists consulting for the High Lonesome Ranch north of DeBeque, about 200 miles west of Denver, said they have seen signs of wolves. They have sent animal droppings for DNA tests to the University of California-Los Angeles.

Colorado Division of Wildlife spokesman Randy Hampton said Monday that state officials are talking to owners of the High Lonesome Ranch, which offers hunting and fishing excursions, about the reports of wolves.

DENVER - U.S. Forest Service officials in Colorado are getting $30 million to deal with the aftermath of the bark-beetle epidemic that have killed about 3.6 million pine trees in the state and southern Wyoming.

U.S. Democratic Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet said Monday the funds are a sign federal officials recognize how severe the bark-beetle problem has become since the infestation started more than a decade ago. Udall calls it "one of the West's biggest natural disasters."

The funding Colorado is getting is part of $40 million that federal officials have allocated to...