GLENWOOD SPRINGS - Interstate 70 through Glenwood Canyon remains closed to traffic, and Colorado Department of Transportation officials are unsure about when the stretch of road will re-open.
Geologists on Tuesday examined the stability of a 20-foot diameter rock that hangs above the damaged section of I-70.
According to CDOT spokeswoman Nancy Shanks, crews were formulating a plan of attack Tuesday night on how to bring down the boulder without causing more damage to the road surface. She said that bringing the boulder down would likely be the focus Wednesday, and...

BASALT - The Hidden Gems Wilderness Proposal is feeling heat from Basalt firefighters.
The Basalt Fire Protection District's board of directors will consider a resolution March 18 to oppose to the Wilderness proposal. Fire department officials said their ability to protect the town of Basalt from a wildfire would be jeopardized if Basalt Mountain is designated Wilderness as proposed.
But conservation groups promoting the Wilderness campaign said Tuesday the fire department's position is based on erroneous assumptions. Wilderness designation for Basalt Mountain will have no practical effect on the department's firefighting ability or access to terrain, said...

ASPEN - The owner of the Pine Creek Cookhouse has resurrected his effort to sell the longtime mountain getaway and resort in Ashcroft by listing the property with Aspen Business Brokers.
Ashcroft Resort owner John Wilcox said Tuesday he listed the property with the firm in an effort to gain a more national reach for potential buyers.
The property has been for sale since at least 2008, but the right buyer hasn't come forward to carry on the legacy Wilcox envisions for the property and resort. And the Great Recession hasn't helped the effort either.
"The economy...

ASPEN - Aspen is showing some signs of economic recovery but clearly the resort is not out of woods, based on recent sales tax and occupancy report data.
Taxable sales for January show that Aspen was up 4 percent over the previous year during the same month. Consumption-based sales tax revenue for the city in January 2009 was down 21 percent over the year before.
"It's not a huge improvement," said Aspen Finance Director Don Taylor. "Nobody expects to make it all back ... it's going to take a while."
In the city's sales tax report released...

ASPEN - A three-day jury trial has been set for a former Aspen yoga instructor accused of improperly touching some of his clients.
Steven Roger, 48, appeared in Pitkin County Court on Tuesday, during which time a judge set the matter over for trial beginning June 9.
Roger faces two misdemeanor charges of unlawful sexual conduct with two of his students during the spring of 2008.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, after Judge Erin Fernandez-Ely rejected a plea agreement last month. The agreement called for Roger to plead no contest to one of...

ASPEN - In 2005, filmmaker Gabriel Heim watched his fellow Berlin residents commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. Berlin focused on the German suffering that had taken place in the wake of the war, especially the expulsion of millions of Germans from Eastern Europe. Which got Heim thinking that a piece of the post-war story was missing: "I had the question, What happened to the Jewish survivors, the Jewish deported population in this period?" he said.
The answer is presented in "Jewish Transit Berlin," a touching 52-minute...

SNOWMASS VILLAGE - The Chili Pepper & Brew Fest is bringing the funk into Snowmass Village in June. Funk pioneers George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic will headline the annual festival with a performance on June 5.
Also set to appear at the seventh Chili Pepper & Brew Fest are reggae icons the Wailers, who will open for Parliament-Funkadelic, and California singer-songwriter Brett Dennen, who headlines on June 4 in his only Colorado appearance of the season.
Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic - also known as P-Funk - rose to prominence in the 1970s with their operatic, psychedelic take on black...

GLENWOOD SPRINGS - A Rifle woman accused of stealing more than $9,000 in property tax payments from county residents pleaded guilty Tuesday.

Vanessa Lynn Lujan, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement of public property, a felony, and two misdemeanor counts of theft as part of a plea deal offered by prosecutors, according to a Garfield County Court Clerk official. She is due for sentencing in April.

Lujan is a former employee of the Garfield County Treasurer's Office. She was arrested in October on suspicion of stealing $9,375 through her position in the office,...

BASALT - Take advantage of the weather! Looking at this week's weather forecast, there appears to be some inclement weather ahead, be it rain or snow (hopefully the latter).
Either way don't let a little precipitation keep you from stepping out on the river. Cloudy weather regularly produces some of the best fishing conditions. The main reason is the overcast. Overcast days act as a security blanket for fish because they feel more secure and comfortable moving around and feeding during periods of lower light.
Bright, sunny days expose fish to their predators and thus they feel...

ASPEN - Deliveries are late and travelers are scratching their heads, but the closure of Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon hasn't put a discernible dent into life in Aspen.
The rock slide that has cut off the easiest access to two airports that see use by Aspen-bound travelers - Denver and Eagle - hasn't hindered guests with ski vacations on the books, according to local resort officials.
More than half of the winter visitors to Aspen/Snowmass fly directly in and out of Aspen and are unaffected by the closure, according to the...