News across Custer County
15 days in slammer for trapping beaver, slowing traffic with a wooden barrel, Rally car race kicks up dust and other historical tidbits in Peaks of the Past
(Information was gleaned from copies of the Wet Mountain Tribune, all from the last week in September.) 110 Years Ago – 1916 The case of the State of Colorado versus Fred Mench, who was arrested on the charge of trapping beaver, was tried in the county court on Tuesday and…
Seeing the oldest galaxy in history“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”
I suppose one of the compelling aspects of science fiction is that it allows us to attain a kind of comfort level with the otherwise imponderable. Of course, space scientists deal with the “imponderable” as the everyday working tools of their craft. The long reaches of the…
Letters: Why can’t we change after a hundred years, POW MIA Recognition Day
Why can’t we change? Theo Cockerell arrived in “West Cliff” by train in July 1887, and for the next three or so years he recorded his observations in letters that he posted to friends, colleagues, and family back home in England. And almost 140 years later, evidently, the…
Scams galore: FCC alerts grandparents, again
There are a lot of grandparents in our aging community, this writer among them. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has recently updated its online warning to vulnerable elders under the heading “‘Grandparent’ Scams Get More Sophisticated” (fcc.gov). Years ago,…
Westcliffe based home insurance education resource now available for locals after many receive non-renewals
It is now an expected pattern following a huge wildfire summer: first, the fires sweep over the hot, densely forested mountains; firefighters’ bravery makes headlines as lives are saved and homes are skillfully protected from the inferno; then comes the notice of non-renewal, as…
Schedule of the peak of leaf viewing season in the region
The brutally hot, dry summer has begun to fade across the Wet Mountain Valley region, and many are asking how the dry conditions will affect the fall colors in the Sangre de Cristo and Wet Mountain Ranges. Experts with the Colorado Forest Service have indicated that in dry years,…