BASALT - Starting Sunday, Keith Ikeda won't leap out of bed at 3 a.m. to turn on his police radio or scramble to his patrol car when he hears sirens. After 30 years as a lawman - most recently as Basalt police chief - he's turning in his badge.
Ikeda is retiring Saturday, Sept. 11. He didn't intend any special significance by picking that date. It's the end of a pay period.
Basalt Sgt. Roderick O'Connor was selected as his successor.
Stepping down will be a bit bittersweet, Ikeda said, because he...

CARBONDALE - Like other local governments and special districts in Colorado, the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority stands to be adversely impacted if any one or all of a trio of tax-cutting and debt-limiting state ballot initiatives passes Nov. 2.
The RFTA board of directors, meeting in Carbondale on Thursday, agreed to consider a resolution next month formally opposing Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101, due to the likely cuts in local public transportation services that would result if approved.
"For me, the argument is not how it affects government ... who cares? That's exactly their point,"...

GLENWOOD SPRINGS - This has been anything but the trail less traveled.
Since the reopening of the Hanging Lake trail on Aug. 16, hikers have gone to the area in droves.
"It's been overwhelming," said Pat Thrasher, public affairs officer for the White River National Forest. "This is more than we anticipated. It's the consequence of the trail being closed for three months."
He said that officials from the U.S. Forest Service and Colorado Department of Transportation can't remember the trail and the Hanging Lake rest area being so jam-packed.
The Forest...

ASPEN - Joe DiSalvo is far ahead of opponent Rick Leonard in campaign contributions and spending in the race for the Pitkin County Sheriff's seat, according to campaign finance reports filed on Thursday.
Thursday was the deadline for campaigns to file expenditure reports.
DiSalvo brought in $3,300 to add to a surplus of $3,410 he had at the beginning of the reporting period, which began on Aug. 2. But he spent $8,099, meaning his campaign account was $1,388 in the red.
Dwight Shellman III, Pitkin County's election manager, said a negative account balance is not unusual and...

ASPEN - Clay Dahlman has seen this before.
Saturday, his Aspen volleyball team won the first game in Olathe before dropping three straight, running its losing streak to 21 matches dating back to the start of last season.
The Skiers were clicking early again Thursday against rival Basalt. Then, they unraveled.
"This is very disappointing. ... It's like they give up hope or lose focus," a visibly frustrated Dahlman said. "It's like they win Game 1 and settle in and think they're cruising.
"The challenge for me is to help them keep...

BASALT - Brian Blair doesn't want Coal Ridge to get ahead of itself. After all, this is just one victory - it will not even count toward the conference standings.
Still, the Titans' head soccer coach could not help but smile after Thursday's hard-fought win at Basalt.
"I think this is the first time we've ever beaten them," he said. "In one way, this means nothing. ... But in another, psychologically, this is huge. They're such a good program and are always organized and always dangerous.
"It was nice to see us...

ASPEN - A former yoga student of Steven Jon Roger told a Pitkin County jury Thursday that he touched her inappropriately during an open class, leaving her "scared and embarrassed and shocked and pissed," while a defense attorney spent nearly 45 minutes trying to discredit her testimony.
The alleged victim's statements came during the first day of testimony in the trial against Roger, a former O2 Aspen yoga teacher who is charged with two misdemeanor counts of unlawful sexual conduct. Prosecutors allege that Roger - once on April 12, 2008, and once on May 12, 2008,...

ASPEN - An inmate. A diner at an upscale Carbondale restaurant and another at a Basalt taco stand. A troubled youth. A shopper in a high-end Aspen boutique. Seemingly different people from different walks of life, but they all have one thing in common: a secret.
On Saturday, those secrets will be shared onstage at the Wheeler Opera House in a benefit for the new Aspen Hope Center.
"These are real secrets from real people; they represent a true cross-section of our community and the things they are feeling right now," said Arna Einarsdottir-Ross, associate director of...

9/11 ceremony on Saturday
The Aspen Volunteer Fire Department will hold an observance ceremony in memory of those lost in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks at 7:45 a.m. Saturday at the fire department, located at 420 E. Hopkins Ave.
The gathering is open to emergency response organizations as well as the general public. The 9/11 attacks claimed the lives of nearly 3,000, including 343 firefighters. The tolling of the bells will be at 7:59 a.m. to correlate with the time the first World Trade Center tower collapsed.

Aspen Hall of Fame nominees sought
The...

BASALT - Eagle County Sheriff Joe Hoy wants to arrest some rumors about his alleged plans for paring back patrols in the Basalt-El Jebel part of his territory.
Hoy said he shared concerns this summer with some homeowners in the Roaring Fork Valley about tough decisions he must make because of budget cuts. "From there it kind of took on legs of its own," he said.
Various e-mails have circulated among midvalley residents, some merely saying that Hoy will hold a meeting in El Jebel on Sept. 27. Others sounded an alarm that deputies will stop patrolling...