It's not the Climax of yore, which kept thousands on the payroll, but leading local citizens expressed their enthusiasm to the Leadville Herald Democrat. State Representative Carl Miller (who recently announced his retirement from public office) worked in the mine for 27 years, and said that Freeport-McMoRan is a "great mining company," and welcomed them.

Mayor Budd Elliott told the local paper he was excited about the prospects for the local economy. Former State Senator Ken Chlouber, who also put in years working at Climax, called the news fantastic, and Stephen Voynick, author of Climax and other books about mining, and also a one-time Climax employee, concluded that the moly market has been strong and the future looks good.

Over in the Gunnison Country, however, Crested Butte citizens continued to organize to fight the prospect of a molybdenum mine opening there.

Golf courses aren't the only thing turning up in Chaffee County these days.

On December 6, Venture Media showed up to film a segment about the country's best burgers for the Armed Forces Network, which will feature Salida's First Street Cafe and Scanga Meat. According to the Mountain Mail, restaurant proprietor Wayne Louch identifies the secret of his burgers as freshness, and the film will include footage of grazing cattle at Scanga's to show just how fresh the First Street Cafe's meat is.

Then, on December 14, F Street was temporarily closed to film a Coors commercial at the Victoria Tavern.

And this fall, Kurt Boucher, formerly a chef in Aspen, opened the Butcher's Table on F Street, and he was also featured in a cooking challenge on the Food Network.

And our art community now includes several well-respected novelists. . . .

Many in Salida believe that our small town has finally (or unfortunately) been "discovered," while others insist that this, too, shall pass.

And, of course, the arrival of two film crews in two weeks may not mean much, since photographers are not exactly strangers in our region, which is more than passably photogenic.

All Charges Dismissed Against Hartsel Fire Chief

All charges against Hartsel Fire Chief Jay Hutcheson were dismissed on December 11. According to the Fairplay Flume, Colorado Springs Special Prosecutor Elizabeth Reed, advised the court, "My professional opinion is that the district attorney has no reasonable expectation of success if this goes to trial."

Hutcheson was accused of wrong-doing due to statements by Deborah Eakle, a former bookkeeper for the Hartsel Fire Protection District who pled guilty of class 3 felony theft in connection with the embezzlement of more than $100,000 from the district. Class 4 felony theft charges were subsequently brought against Hutcheson, but he maintained his innocence.

After the charges were dismissed, Hutcheson celebrated with friends, family, and members of the fire district's board at the Fairplay Hotel. He told the Flume: "We have spent the last eight months of pure hell because of allegations made that could not be substantiated, and the fact that other people believed the allegations without substantiating them has caused me, my family, my friends, my fire department eight months of pure hell."

Chaffee County Gets Holes by the Dozens

If things go as planned Chaffee County will soon have not just one, but two new 18-hole golf courses. Work on the Friend Ranch Golf Course in Poncha Springs is already underway, and the first nine holes are expected to be playable by the fall of 2008.

Over in Salida, plans for the Vandaveer property are more preliminary, but Courageux Development proposes an 18-hole golf course along with 440-450 living units, including 140 single family homes and 140 town homes, 70 - 80 homes near the golf course, and 250,000 square feet of commercial space, according to the Mountain Mail.

Lake County Schools Doing Better

The Lake County School District was one of six districts removed from academic watch by the State of Colorado in November. Lake County has been struggling to make mandated improvements since the inception of national No Child Left Behind standards. Now, Lake County High School's graduation rate has increased, and West Park Elementary School was deemed as having made adequate progress this year. But according to the Herald Democrat, the high school and fourth and fifth grades still failed to make adequate progress.

The school board has finally gotten some encouragement, but members were quick to assure the newspaper that they recognized that there's still much to do and are not about to rest on their laurels.

Leadville's problems are thought to stem from a high level of poverty in the district, a higher than average percentage of children who speak English as a second language, and the area's position as a bedroom community for the wealthy resort communities along I-70 -- which means long commutes, latch-key children, and that many residents shop elsewhere (which translates into not enough tax money for education and public services).

Hopes are high, however, that hard work and the reopening of Climax can reverse the situation.

Shorts

*Jeannie Sweeten Culpin purchased the historic Wetmore Post Office and is fixing it up as a "meeting place and future repository for Hardscrabble artifacts." According to the Wet Mountain Tribune, Culpin and several other Wetmore residents started the Wetmore-Hardscrabble Historical and Genealogical Society in 2004 and plan to make the building their headquarters.

* According to the November 23 Fairplay Flume, an attorney for Moises Carranza-Reyes affirmed that Carranza-Reyes's case against the Park County Jail had been settled with no admission of negligence, but few details were available. Carranza-Reyes accused the Park County Jail of medical inattention and alleged the facility offered "filthy and inhumane conditions" after his leg was amputated following a stay in the jail in 2003.

* A former miner at the West Elk Coal Mine in Gunnison County returned to the mine with a loaded Ruger .45 revolver on November 22. The miner had been fired a week earlier due to a "hot urinalysis." Although officials say the miner never threatened anyone, he was charged with first-degree kidnapping, felony menacing, and false imprisonment -- among other things.

* A Gunnison County pit bull was euthanized after killing a domestic goat on November 29. After the incident, the owner offered to pay for the loss of the goat and have his dog euthanized.

* Round Mountain Water and Sanitation District has a new chief executive officer, Josh Chichocki; he replaces Bud Piquette, who is retiring.

Quotes

"And what a coincidence I had the other day at the Peace Corps office in Kyiv. Someone asked where I was from. I said, `Buena Vista, Colorado' and to my delight a young man sitting at the computers said, `My dad lives in Buenie.'"

Norma Cady, who's currently with the Peace Corps in Kreminna, Ukraine, in a letter to the Chaffee County Times, November 15, 2007.

"To everyone who prayed, did snow dances or invoked Mother Nature in some other manner, nice work!

"... Our only suggestion is that next time you might consider adding a caveat to your prayer that the snow be spread out over a slightly longer period of time. There was a lot of shoveling involved."

Marcia Martinek, editor Leadville Herald Democrat, December 6.

"This gives us our identity back as a mining community."

Ken Chlouber in reference to Climax opening, Herald Democrat, December 6.

"No fish is worth the possibility of breaking through unsafe ice."

Jim Aragon, area wildlife manager, Mountain Mail, December 12.

"They [coconut trees] live to 120, but their prime is from 15 to 45 (sort of like us)."

Virginia Woodard, "Adventures In India," Saguache Crescent, December 13.

"Sheriff to wintertime motorists: slow the heck down!"

Headline in Wet Mountain Tribune, December 13.

"It's beginning to look a lot like ... Leadville?
Snowstorm dumps two feet on BV."

Headlines in Chaffee County Times, December 13.