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,...

ASPEN - Pitkin County commissioners announced Wednesday they would modify the county's counter proposal for a land swap involving two Carbondale-area properties by eliminating public access in an area identified as sensitive from a wildlife perspective.
Commissioner George Newman announced the move during the commissioner comment portion of the board's agenda, but no broader discussion took place. The decision came after a closed-door commissioner discussion about the controversial land swap on Tuesday, Newman said.
Commissioners convened in executive session again Wednesday at the close of their public deliberations, identifying the land swap as one of the topics...

BASALT - Turning Basalt Mountain into Wilderness wouldn't prohibit firefighting there but it would eliminate opportunities to reduce dead trees and fuels that have built up for decades, the top official in the White River National Forest said Wednesday.
Basalt firefighters and Wilderness activists disagreed with parts of the assessment made by Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams, showing how difficult it is to sort through some implications of the Hidden Gems Wilderness Campaign.
Fitzwilliams said the Forest Service assesses and makes an appropriate response to every fire in the national forest, regardless of whether or not it is...

CARBONDALE - Rio Grande Trail guardians received unexpected help keeping intruders out of a section of the path that was closed for the winter to benefit wildlife.
A female mountain lion and her juvenile have prowled the section between Catherine Store and Rock Bottom Ranch throughout the winter. They have been captured on motion-sensor cameras erected by the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority to track activity in the closed stretch.
Jonathan Lowsky, a wildlife biologist who is helping RFTA monitor wildlife conditions along that sensitive stretch of the Rio Grande, saw tracks that...