ASPEN - A conversation with Woodrow Blagg hits on numerous touchstones of art, architecture, cinema, and loads of literature, as he references Walt Whitman, Jack Kerouac, Thomas Merton and James Agee.
"I read a lot," Blagg said, and it's clear that his survey of books runs deep. He brings up the Argentinean writer Macedonia Fernndez, and confidently places him in historical context: "He was truly the father of 20th century Spanish literature. He was that powerful. Borges followed what he did," Blagg said.
Blagg's interests have in common a heavyweight quality....

SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. - Summit County Coroner Joanne Richardson has identified the victim of Wednesday's avalanche near Arapahoe Basin Ski Area as 20-year-old Daniel Michelotti, from Spring Grove, Ill.

Michelotti was snowboarding with two friends in the Steep Gullies area, just west of A-Basin, when an avalanche carried him about 1,000 feet and killed him. According to Richardson, suffocation was the cause of death.

It took the two friends some 20 to 25 minutes to descend the slope and dial 911.

About 37 rescuers from Summit County Rescue Group,...

GLENWOOD SPRINGS - Interstate 70 through the Glenwood Canyon reopened at about 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon, more than three days after a massive rock slide punched holes in the pavement and left all four lanes strewn with boulders.

Colorado Department of Transportation crews had been working to get one lane of traffic open in each direction since Monday morning. The slide occurred at about midnight Sunday.

One lane is open in each direction with a 14-foot width restriction; the speed limit is reduced to 40 mph through the canyon.

ASPEN - Violinist James Ehnes has a notably massive repertoire - around 100 concertos alone, from the core pieces of the literature to the fairly obscure, and he adds works to his arsenal each season.
The 34-year-old credits the large repertoire first to his upbringing in small-town Manitoba. Brandon, where he grew up, is the second largest city in the province, but that translates to a population of just 40,000 or so, and Brandon is 100 miles north of North Dakota, and 150 west of Manitoba's capital, Winnipeg. Ehnes has good...

SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. - A snowboarder died Wednesday afternoon in a backcountry avalanche, mile west of Arapahoe Basin on the south side of Highway 6.

The 20-year-old man was riding with two other male snowboarders in the Steep Gullies area, a popular backcountry spot outside the A-Basin ski boundary.

The three snowboarders triggered the avalanche at about 2:50 p.m. The slide carried the victim an estimated 1,000 feet, almost completely burying his body. It took the two friends 20 to 25 minutes to reach the victim and make a 911 call.

All three men...

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - Authorities say the strange odor seeping into a western Colorado Census Bureau office came from more than 1,000 marijuana plants growing next door.

Grand Junction census workers say the smell was coming through the vents. Police got a search warrant Tuesday and found the plants next door in the same building.

Police say the building owner told them he was growing the plants for medical marijuana patients. Officers found state registration cards for medical marijuana users and are reviewing them.

No one's been arrested.

State law permits medical marijuana...

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany - Lindsey Vonn crashed and bruised her right knee during the World Cup giant slalom Thursday, but is expected to compete Friday in the super G in an attempt to win her third straight overall title.

Vonn fell in first run of the giant slalom when her skis locked, she spun in the air and crashed into the safety netting. She skied down the slope and was taken away from the race area for medical evaluation.

"I'm going to race tomorrow," Vonn said. "I'm not going to back...

ASPEN - A judge Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Aspen resident Marilyn Marks against City Clerk Kathryn Koch, which attempted to force Koch into releasing ballot images from last May's city election.
Judge James Boyd of the 9th Judicial District Court dismissed the case, citing the state constitution, which requires the city clerk to keep ballots secret.
The city's central argument in the legal wrangling that has occurred since last summer has been that it's against state law to release ballot images.
"We believe it was appropriate to rule in this...

ASPEN - Valerie McFarlane's employment as an Aspen police officer ended last month after she failed to file charges against an Aspen newspaper editor for allegedly drinking and driving, officials said.
Instead, McFarlane, who was on work-related probation at the time, gave Aspen Daily News Editor Troy Hooper a ride to a residence on the outskirts of downtown during the early morning hours of Feb. 19.
Prior to the encounter with McFarlane, Hooper, who covers cops and courts for the Daily News, had written two articles related to McFarlane's September...

ASPEN - Tommy Clapper, husband of Pitkin County Commissioner Patti Kay-Clapper, will be a candidate for the seat Patti will relinquish, but Hawk Greenway won't be allowed to seek election to the seat.
Patti Kay-Clapper announced her husband's intention to seek the District 1 seat in the course of recusing herself from a discussion about Greenway's eligibility as a candidate.
Greenway owns a home east of Aspen, but considers his cabin on Little Annie Road on the back of Aspen Mountain his residence. He has been a registered voter in District 1 since the last county redistricting,...