50 Cents 
Trinidad 
Colorado 
~ 
Proudly Serving Southeastern Colorado and Northeastern New Mexico • www.thechronicle-news.com 
Thursday 
August 14, 2014 
Vol. 138, No. 162 
The Fine Print 
AUGUST 14 
~Economic Development 
THURSDAY (3 p.m.) Trinidad and 
Las Animas County Board of Directors 
will meet at 134 West Main Street, Suite 
23 (Bell Block). Information: 719-846- 
9412. 
~Water Association 
THURSDAY (3 p.m.) Greetville- 
Carbondale Board of Directors will meet 
at the Century Financial Group, 109 W. 
Main St. Information: Jeni Skalko, 719- 
846-2080, ext. 116. 
~Mt. San Rafael Hospital 
THURSDAY (5-6:30 p.m.) The pub-lic 
is invited to a Provider Open House to 
meet the newest members of the hos-pital’s 
health care staff to be held in the 
hospital lobby, 410 Benedicta Ave. 
Today’s Quote 
“Everything is funny, as 
long as it’s happening 
to somebody else.” 
~Will Rogers 
TRINIDAD LAKE WEEKEND 
Park Office, 719-846-3818 
*FRIDAY (8 p.m.) “Ranger Campfire 
with Harmonica” at the park amphithe-ater. 
*SATURDAY (9 a.m.) Kids Saturday 
Morning Walk-About. Meet at the Visitor 
Center. 
*SATURDAY (7 p.m.) “The Dutch 
Oven and the Horno,” join Park Ranger 
Pat Patrick for a fun evening in the amphi-theater 
exploring cooking methods along 
the Santa Fe Trail. 
*SUNDAY (6 p.m.) NEW THIS YEAR: 
A Ranger Hike every Sunday night thru 
Labor Day. Meet at the Visitor’s Center to 
begin the adventure. 
AUGUST 15-17 
~Search Team Exercise 
FRIDAY (7 a.m. – 5 p.m.) The Trini-dad 
Correctional Facility Search Team 
will be conducting a training exercise 
throughout Trinidad. During this time resi-dents 
will see increased law enforcement 
presence, both in vehicle and on foot. 
This is just an exercise; there will be no 
cause for alarm. 
~Farmers’ Market 
SATURDAY (8 a.m.-Noon) The Trini-dad 
Farmer’s Market is open every Sat-urday 
in Cimino Park until mid-October. 
Information: 719-846-7386. 
~Ave Maria Shrine 
SATURDAY: The Rosary will be re-cited 
(10:30 a.m.) and Mass will be cel-ebrated 
(11 a.m.) in the historic Ave Marie 
Shrine located behind the Mount San 
Rafael Hospital on Benedicta Ave. Follow 
the signage. Visitors are always welcome. 
PUBLIC SERVICE 
~ArtoCade Call for Artists 
*Hubcapalooza at Galerie Vivante 
(214 E. Main St.) Carvelously embellished 
hubcaps—paint, sculpt, collage, glue or 
whatever. All pieces will be for sale for 
under $100. Hubcaps are available at the 
gallery for $4. Entries due Sept. 5-6 — 
show opens Sept. 12. Information: 719- 
334-0087. 
*AutoMotivation at Gallery Main 
(130 E. Main St.) Earthly bound vehicle-inspired 
art in any media. Stop by the gal-lery 
for a prospectus. Completed pieces 
to be delivered to gallery on Sept. 2-3 (10 
a.m.-4 p.m.) Opening reception is Sept. 
5 (5-7 p.m.). Information: 719-846-1441. 
~Call for Kids Car Art 
Need auto-themed kids’ artwork by 
Sept. 1 for Kids Spark Exhibit at the Ar-toCade 
festivities in September. Informa-tion: 
Rich Colombo, 719-846-6435. 
~Trinidad RoundUp Association 
AUGUST 31-SEPTEMBER 1: Mark 
your calendar for the annual Labor Day 
Weekend rodeo, parade, dance and 
festivities. Information: 719-680-0424 or 
go to www.trinidadroundup.homestead. 
com. 
~Low-Cost Spay/Neuter 
The Fisher’s Peak Veterinary Clinic 
(719-846-3211) and the Trinidad Animal 
Clinic (719-846-3212) offer grant-funded, 
low-cost spay/neuter surgeries for all Las 
Animas County resident’s animals. Call 
for information and appointments. 
~SUICIDE/CRISIS HOTLINES: 
*ADULT HOPE: 800-784-2433 
*TEEN: 877-968-8454 
*GLB-YOUTH: 866-488-7386 
*VET-2-VET: 877-838-2838 
“When the world says, ‘Give up!’ 
Hope says, ‘Not today!” ~Unknown 
~ ABUSE HOTLINES: 
*Domestic Abuse Hotline: In Trini-dad 
call 719-846-6665 (24-hours a day). 
National Hotline call: 1-800-790-SAFE 
(7233). 
*Animal Abuse: Do your part and 
help put a stop to animal cruelty. Report 
animal abuse and dog/cock fighting at 
Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line: 720- 
913-7867. 
EDUCATION 
Trinidad native starts TSJC college scholarship fund 
Denver Attorney and Trinidad native Franklin Azar is presented with a miniature bronze Trojan statue by Trinidad 
State President, Dr. Carmen Simone in appreciation for his pledge of $250,000, which will fund the new Franklin 
D. Azar Scholarship Fund. (L-R) Trinidad State Educational Foundation President, Miriam Zappanti, Trinidad State 
President Dr. Carmen Simone, Franklin Azar, Foundation Board Member, Ed Trommeter and Foundation Executive 
Director Toni DeAngelis. 
Weather Watch 
Thursday: A 30 percent chance of show-ers 
and thunderstorms, mainly after 2 p.m. 
Partly sunny, with a high near 88. W-SW wind 
County Sheriff James Casias, left, addressed County Commissioners Mack 
Louden, center and Anthony Abeyta about his department’s budget issues at 
Tuesday’s County Board work session. 
5 to 10 mph. Night: A 30 percent chance of 
thunderstorms, mainly before 8 p.m. Mostly 
cloudy, with a low around 58. West wind 5 
to 10 mph. 
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers 
and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a 
high near 87. West wind 5 to 10 mph becom-ing 
E-NE in the afternoon. Night: A 20 per-cent 
chance of thunderstorms before 1 a.m. 
Partly cloudy, with a low around 59. Calm 
Photo courtesy of TSJC 
Steve Block / The Chronicle-News 
west wind around 5 mph. 
Saturday: A 20 percent chance of thun-derstorms 
after 7 a.m. Mostly sunny, with 
a high near 85. West wind around 5 mph 
becoming east in the afternoon. Night: 
Partly cloudy, with a low around 59. SE wind 
around 5 mph. 
Sunday: A 10 percent chance of thunder-storms. 
Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. 
Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 58. 
River Call 
Purgatoire River Call as of: 
08/13/14. Burns & Duncan ditch: 
Priority # 21 — Appropriation 
date: 01/01/1866. 
Trinidad Reservoir Accounting: 
Release 179.49 AF 
Inflow 171.28 AF -- 81.31 CFS 
Evaporation 9.79 AF 
Content 12,107 AF 
Elevation 6,170.28 
Precipitation 0 
Downstream River Call — Nine 
Mile Canal: 05/07/1877. 
The Chronicle News 
Special to The Chronicle-News 
The Trinidad State Junior Col-lege 
Educational Foundation has 
announced that Denver attorney 
Franklin Azar, has established the 
Franklin D. Azar Scholarship Fund 
at Trinidad State Junior College. 
Azar pledged his support to aid 
TSJC students with their education-al 
expenses by committing $250,000 
to the scholarship fund over the next 
five years. The initial scholarships 
will be awarded starting this fall. 
“His generous spirit to his home-town 
community will provide much 
in the way of aid,” said Foundation 
Board President, Miriam Zappanti. 
Azar’s goal is to help students fi-nancially 
as they begin their educa-tional 
journey at TSJC. He recogniz-es 
the needs of those students whose 
grades may be “average” or whose 
resources may be in the median in-come 
range, yet those students may 
not quality for scholarships or other 
financial assistance. “While a stu-dent’s 
grades may be ‘average’ from 
a traditional academic perspective, 
many talented “ordinary” students 
often are looking for available schol-arships 
for students who don’t have 
Continued on Page 2 ... 
CITY GOVERNMENT 
By Steve Block 
The Chronicle-News 
Local citizens volunteer to serve 
on Trinidad’s various boards and 
commissions, which make recom-mendations 
to the City Council on 
various issues. After Council voted 
to overturn a decision by the City 
Planning and Zoning Commission 
about denying approval of a mari-juana 
application recently, Council-member 
Anthony Mattie said those 
board and commission members 
needed better training, so they could 
do their work more effectively. 
Mattie said he’d asked that the 
issue be put on the agenda of Tues-day’s 
work session. 
“I appreciate the volunteer spirit 
of the people who serve on those 
commissions and boards,” Mattie 
said. “I realize they don’t get paid 
and we appreciate their help in the 
process of governance. At the same 
time I think the people who serve 
on those commissions, particularly 
those with decision-making respon-sibilities 
like the planning and zon-ing 
commission, need to understand 
that they represent the City of Trini-dad. 
By their actions, they can put 
us in positions of liability and litiga-tion. 
Simply stated, I think we need 
to explain to those members who 
serve on those commissions clearly 
what their role is, what their bound-aries 
are and the role of Council and 
staff in guiding and directing them.” 
Mattie said he’d watched the 
video of the planning and zoning 
commission that denied the appli-cation 
of Forever Green, LLC, and 
was frustrated to observe that City 
staff had advised the commission-ers 
about what they should do, but 
the commissioners had not accepted 
their advice and had acted against 
their recommendations. Mattie said 
he knew many people had strong 
opinions on the legalized pot issue, 
but said the commissioners had 
taken an oath to uphold the City’s 
rules and regulations and should be 
expected to do so. 
Mattie spent many years as a 
state patrol officer and he said he re-ally 
didn’t like making favorable de-cisions 
about legalized pot, which he 
personally opposes. County voters 
approved legalized pot, and the City 
passed regulations governing its 
cultivation, sale and use. As a Coun-cilmember 
he felt duty bound to sup-port 
the public’s decision and said 
he felt the commissioners should 
have done the same thing. 
Council should provide infor-mation 
to the commissioners about 
what their responsibilities were, 
Mattie said. Once that was done, the 
commissioners should be expected 
to fulfill their responsibilities and if 
they didn’t want to do so, then they 
should resign from the commission. 
Mayor Joe Reorda said Council 
needed to remember that it’s hard 
to get people to serve on boards and 
commissions and that the planning 
and zoning commission had a tough 
job, with meetings often lasting for 
two hours. Mattie’s point was well 
taken, Mayor Reorda said. 
Councilmember Carol Bolton 
said she thought commission mem-bers 
went through a recent training 
session and asked City Attorney Les 
Downs if that was the case. Bolton 
said that even after receiving the 
training on what they could and 
could not do, the commissioners had 
apparently allowed their personal 
sentiments to influence their deci-sion- 
making process. 
Downs replied that Bolton was 
correct. He had given Councilmem-bers 
copies of the code that governs 
the actions of the planning and zon-ing 
commission. 
“It’s one thing when one person 
and I’m not trying to single anyone 
out, on a board or commission philo- 
Steve Block / The Chronicle-News 
Councilmember Anthony Mattie said that the Planning and Zoning Commis-sion 
volunteer members needed better training to enable them to more effec-tively 
serve the community. 
Council calls for better 
commissioner training 
Continued on Page 2 ... 
COUNTY SHERIFF 
Casias addresses budget issues 
By Steve Block 
The Chronicle-News 
County Sheriff James Casias 
said that the companies provid-ing 
services to the Sheriff’s Office 
and County Jail don’t care that the 
County is going broke. The cost of 
services often increases, and the 
County must pay those costs if it 
wants those services. 
Sheriff Casias gave his report 
as part of a mid-year budget review 
that was presented at Tuesday’s 
County Board work session. All of 
the County department heads gave 
similar reports to the Board. 
The County’s property tax rev-enue 
has been declining for the past 
few years, largely due to the decline 
in natural gas prices on which 
County property values are largely 
based. County workers had to ac-cept 
a monthly furlough day this 
year, due to the negative impact on 
the County budget with a decline 
in revenues. The Sheriff’s budget 
was also cut, but Casias said he was 
doing the best he could with what 
money he has. 
Currently, the yearly budget for 
the Sheriff’s Office is $810,551, while 
the jail has a budget of $1,034,346. 
The County Justice Center has 
some serious maintenance issues 
that will have to be addressed in 
the near future, he said. The depart-ment’s 
two-way radios are also old 
and some are in need of replace-ment. 
“The maintenance that was in 
our budget was taken out,” Casias 
said. “The deterioration of that 
building is getting worse. With some 
of the pods in the jail, the back walls 
are separating from the concrete. 
There’s a two-inch gap in there, and 
if water starts to get in there, mold 
could start to build up in there.” 
Some of the department’s patrol 
cars are getting old and are in need 
of repair or replacement. A few of 
the cars can no longer be used, and 
several cars can only be used within 
city limits. Casias said he’d told his 
deputies not to drive those cars over 
50 miles per hour. The sheriff’s de-partment 
has auctioned off its aging 
vehicles in the past and may have 
to do so again, he said. They don’t 
bring in much money, but it’s more 
than they would bring if they were 
scrapped. 
Law enforcement vehicles often 
have high-performance engines and 
some people will buy the cars just to 
remove the engine and put it in an-other 
vehicle, he said. 
The county jail is changing its 
food service provider to Diamond 
Shamrock, in hopes of saving $3,200 
per year, Casias said. Some of the 
jail’s inmates have special dietary 
needs, and the jail’s food service 
personnel have to meet their dietary 
requirements, which can increase 
costs. 
The sheriff’s department is also 
trying to go paperless as much as 
possible, in an effort to cut office 
expenses. 
County Administrator Leeann 
Fabec told Casias that he couldn’t 
expect the County to pay for any 
new vehicles until the 2018 budget 
year. 
Casias said his department was 
doing all it could to cut its expens-es, 
but because it runs a 24-hour a 
day operation, it was limited in the 
amount of money it could save. He 
said budgetary expenses were on 
track to keep the department within 
its annual budget, as of June 30, 2014.
Page 2 Thursday, August 14, 2014 The Chronicle-News Trinidad, Colorado 
USPS #110-040 
200 West Church Street 
P.O. Box 763, Trinidad, CO 81082 
(719) 846-3311 • Fax (719) 846-3612 
Member: Associated Press, Colorado Press Association 
Periodicals Postage Paid For At Trinidad, CO. 
Published Monday - Friday 
w w w.thechronicle-news.com 
General Manager 
Allyson Sheumaker 
asheumaker@trinidadchroniclenews.com 
Advertising 
Sales-Adam Sperandio 
advertising@trinidadchroniclenews.com 
Classifieds, Memorials, & 
Circulation- Lauri Duran 
classified@trinidadchroniclenews.com 
Design & Legals- Krysta Toci 
ktoci@trinidadchroniclenews.com 
News Room 
Editor: Eric John Monson 
editor@trinidadchroniclenews.com 
Features Editor & Fine Print 
Catherine Moser 
cathy@trinidadchroniclenews.com 
Reporter: Steve Block 
news1@trinidadchroniclenews.com 
Subscription Rates 
Effective Aug. 1, 2013 
Home Delivery Trinidad 
1 Month ................$7.00 
3 Months.............$21.00 
6 Months.............$42.00 
1 Year....................$84.00 
Las Animas County Mail 
1 Month................$12.00 
3 Months..............$36.00 
6 Months..............$72.00 
1 Year...................$144.00 
Outside County Mail 
1 Month................$18.00 
3 Months..............$54.00 
6 Months............$108.00 
1 Year...................$216.00 
Business Hours: 
Monday - Friday 
8 AM - 5 PM 
TSJC college scholarship fund ... Continued from Page 1 
an A average,” said Azar. 
The Franklin D. Azar Schol-arships 
are intended for “av-erage 
– ordinary” students 
who nevertheless have the 
desire and motivation to suc-ceed 
at TSJC in pursuit of 
their goals. 
Trinidad State President, 
Dr. Carmen Simone said, 
“The support provided to our 
students by Mr. Azar is deep-ly 
appreciated. His desire to 
assist those who would oth-erwise 
be without support 
speaks to his personal mis-sion. 
Trinidad State is for-tunate 
to have such a strong 
advocate dedicated to TSJC, 
our students, and the com-munity.” 
Twenty five recipients 
have already been chosen to 
receive $1,000 each for this 
upcoming school year. 
For more information on 
the Franklin D. Azar Schol-arship, 
contact the TSJC 
Educational Foundation Of-fice 
by calling 719-846-5649 for 
further details. 
Council calls for better training ... Continued from Page 1 
sophically opposes something 
that the majority of a board 
or commission is thinking 
about doing,” Downs said. 
“The problem comes when a 
majority of the board or com-mission 
opposes something 
that is legal in the communi-ty. 
The answer to your ques-tion, 
Councilwoman Bolton, 
is that we had a work session 
about this. What troubles me, 
as your attorney, is not be-ing 
equal and not having the 
same concerns and the same 
criteria for everyone who 
comes before them.” 
Downs said the most re-cent 
planning and zoning 
commission had lasted far too 
long, and it was his opinion 
that the commissioners were 
searching were searching for 
reasons to deny the applica-tion. 
Forever Green’s lead-ers 
had to hire an attorney to 
place their case before Coun-cil, 
at considerable expense. 
He said that applicant was 
dreading going back before 
the commission for further 
pot application approvals. 
City Planner Louis Fine-berg 
acts as an advisor to the 
planning and zoning commis-sion. 
His opinion is that those 
people who spoke at the meet-ing 
in opposition to Forever 
Green’s application unduly 
influenced the commission. 
Trinidad’s status as a 
Colorado Main Street com-munity 
provides for free 
training sessions for plan-ning 
and zoning commission 
members. 
“They will come down 
here and walk the commis-sion 
members through a 
training session about how 
they’re supposed to properly 
function as a planning com-mission, 
if the commission-ers 
are willing” Fineberg 
said. 
60 Obituaries 
James Dow Brights 
Has gone to join Whitey 
James passed away 
Thursday, Aug 7 
near Exit 11. 
65 Comi Funeral Home 
Carmen L. Beard 
Carmen L. Beard, age 66, 
passed away at home in 
Al b u q u e r q u e , N.M. , o n 
August 6, 2014 after a 
courageous battle with 
cancer. 
Funeral Services will be 
Friday, August 15, 2014 with 
Funeral Mass at 3pm at Holy 
Trinity Church. 
Private inurnment at a later 
date. 
Arrangements made under 
the direction of the Comi 
Funeral Home. 
Diana L. Jones 
Diana L. Jones, age 71, 
passed away unexpectedly 
on August 12, 2014 at 
Parkview Medical Center in 
Pueblo, Co. 
Arrangements are pending 
and will ne announced later 
by the Comi Funeral Home. 
Mary Lousie Mincic 
Mary Lousie Mincic, age 
82, passed away at home on 
August 12, 2014. 
Visitation will be Sunday 
from 2pm-7pm at the Comi 
Chapel. 
Funeral Services will be 
Monday, August 18, 2014 
with Rosary at 9am at Comi 
Chapel followed by the 
Funeral Mass at 10am at 
Holy Trinity Church. 
Interment will follow at the 
Trinidad Catholic Cemetery. 
Complete obituary to 
follow. 
Arrangements made under 
the direction of the Comi 
Funeral Home. 
Orlando Fernando 
Medina 
Orlando Fernando (Fred) 
Medina, age 87, passed 
away peacefully at his home 
on Thursday, August 7, 
2014. 
V i s i t a t i o n w i l l b e 
Wednesday from 3pm-6pm 
at the Comi Chapel. 
Rosary will be Wednesday, 
August 13, 2014 at 7pm at 
Holy Trinity Church. 
Funeral Mass will be 
celebrated Thursday, August 
14, 2014 at 10am at Holy 
Trinity Church. 
Interment will follow at the 
Trinidad Catholic Cemetery 
with graveside services 
conducted by the US Naval 
Honor Guard. 
IN LIEU OF FLOWERS, 
MEMORIALS CAN BE 
MADE IN FRED'S NAME TO 
T H E H A R R Y S A Y R E 
SENIOR CENTER, 1222 
SAN PEDRO, TRINIDAD, 
CO 81082. 
Arrangements made under 
the direction of the Comi 
Funeral Home 
Slade M. Maes 
Slade M. Maes, age 36, 
passed away August 4, 2014 
in Raton, N.M. as a result of 
an auto accident. 
Visitation will be Thursday, 
August 14, 2014 from 2-7pm 
at the Comi Chapel. 
Funeral Services will be 
Friday, August 15, 2014 at 
10am at Faith Christian 
Fellowship with Pastor Andy 
Ohman officiating. 
Interment will follow at the 
Carpio Cemetery. 
Arrangements made under 
the direction of the Comi 
Funeral Home. 
62 Memorials 
In Loving Memory of 
Victor J. Gonzales 
Happy Birthday Daddy!! 
Eight years in heaven 
You are never forgotten, 
greatly missed and 
immensely loved. 
Your daughters, 
Valerie, Tessie, Pearl 
and Annie 
63 Card of Thanks 
The family of 
Alberta Duckworth 
would like to thank everyone 
for the cards, food, phone 
calls and those who attended 
her funeral. 
A special thanks to our 
Mom's caregivers, Marlene 
Mason and Kayla Gutierrez 
who treated her with respect 
and dignity in her last days 
on earth. 
Thanks to all the 
pallbearears and Comi 
Funeral Home. 
From the Editor’s Desk 
By Eric John Monson 
News Editor 
The Chronicle-News 
I’m 15 and rushing reck-lessly 
toward the naive vi-sion 
of the man I wished to 
become. The picture of a 
suave hero that women want 
and men want to be. At this 
time, I believe, I’m playing 
the mischievous, All-Amer-ican, 
slack-jawed jock—but 
in this moment—my English 
teacher is trying to catch me 
cheating. 
She was one of two Mrs. 
Gustafson’s then at Yellow 
Medicine East High School 
in the little river town of 
Granite Falls, Minnesota, and 
she would relate the story 
to my co-workers 10 years 
later when I returned home 
a cripple to resign myself, I 
thought, to being the Sports 
Editor of the Granite Falls 
Advocate Tribune. A broken 
boy crawling back to mom 
and father and home. A place 
that the 15-year-old me want-ed 
nothing more than to leave 
in the rear-view mirror. 
“Have I told you this sto-ry 
before? No? Well I’ll just 
share it with everyone then,” 
began Mrs. Gustafson (who 
had by then remarried to be-come 
Mrs. Velde) addressing 
the ink-stained wretches. 
“So, I had assigned this 
paper at the beginning of the 
semester and when I get his 
back I think ‘there’s no way 
this football player (and very 
middling student) could have 
written this. He’s up to some-thing.’ 
And so I think I’m 
gonna catch the little cheat 
and the next day I assign a pa-per 
to be written in class and 
watch him the whole time. I 
was almost mad when he’s 
the first one done halfway 
through class and asks if he 
can skip out and go to the 
bakery (locally famous Aus’s 
bakery down on our main 
street next to the river). The 
little punk even asks if he can 
get me anything. 
“So the next day I have 
him sit down and ask what 
his parents do and he tells 
me his mother is an English 
teacher over at Wood Lake. 
Then it clicked. ‘So do you 
read a lot?’ I ask. 
“ ‘Yeah’ he shrugs, ‘stuff 
like Steinbeck, Hemingway, 
Faulkner, Twain and the Lou-is 
L’Amour and Zane Grey 
stuff too’. 
“ ‘And your dad?’ 
“ ‘Oh, he’s retired now. He 
used to be a mechanic and 
parts man at the family car 
dealership. He’s a history 
buff.’ 
“ ‘And do they talk a lot 
about what they’re reading? 
You know, like at supper?’ 
“ ‘I guess, yeah.’ 
“So I decided I’d send him 
down to the newspaper so 
he’d quit screwing around in 
my class and wrecking the 
fine education the rest of his 
classmates were receiving.” 
Thus, I became the first 
student intern at the Advo-cate 
Tribune and worked 
for the paper through high 
school and college; weasel-ing 
what I thought were 
some of the easiest credits of 
my spotted academic career. 
(Sometime later I got to work 
with Mrs. Gustafson after she 
retired from teaching and 
began writing for the news-paper 
where she loved to tell 
that story and how horrible a 
student I was.) 
That teacher set me on 
a path that I would try des-perately, 
at times, to detour 
myself from, but would al-ways 
scramble back to. I ran 
away to South Dakota to be 
a football player and then a 
cowboy. I failed and returned 
to ledes and box scores. I ran 
away to the Black Hills to be 
a music-playing playboy, lost 
a leg and crawled back to 
editorial copy and deadlines. 
Then a jealous man killed 
my beautiful cousin and I ran 
away to the shelter of moun-tains 
and family. Now, again, 
I’m scrambling back to what I 
believe I know and what I be-lieve 
I know how to do. 
Apparently that teacher 
set me on a rutted path that 
would lead to Colorado, New 
Mexico and Trinidad. And 
again I’m comfortable— 
awash in the words and 
pictures of this community 
that comprise The Chronicle- 
News. 
The only edge I feel is that 
the welcome I’ve received 
here seems too good to be 
true. 
All I can do, I guess, is to 
work hard enough to be wor-thy 
of such a welcome. And I 
can’t wait. 
Thank you Chronicle- 
News staff. Thank you Chron-icle- 
News readers. And thank 
you to the communities The 
Chronicle-News strives to 
serve. I’m gonna screw-up 
from time to time, believe me, 
but I promise to do my best by 
you. We’ll talk again, but a lot 
less about me and a lot more 
about you. 
Adam Sperandio / The Chronicle-News 
The best 
and most 
beautiful 
things in 
the world 
cannot be 
seen or 
even 
touched. 
They 
must 
be felt 
with the 
heart. 
~Helen Keller 
By Abigail Van Buren 
DRINKING 
BECOMES 
A PROBLEM 
FOR WIFE 
PRESSURED 
TO IMBIBE 
DEAR ABBY: I’m not 
much of a drinker. I have 
nothing against drinking or 
those who do. I just do not like 
the taste of alcohol. Worse, I 
have a very low tolerance for 
it. After only half a glass of 
wine, I become so sleepy I can 
barely keep my eyes open. It 
makes me feel physically aw-ful. 
My husband takes offense 
to the fact that I don’t want to 
drink. When we’re out with 
friends, he’ll have three or 
four beers and pressure me to 
the point of embarrassment 
in front of them until I finally 
give in and order a glass of 
wine. Of course, I then spend 
the rest of the evening feeling 
terrible. When we get home, 
he’ll want to be intimate, but I 
just want to go to sleep, which 
aggravates him further. 
I have tried for several 
years to discuss this with 
him, but he can’t explain why 
he does this. What can I do? -- 
JUST WATER, PLEASE 
DEAR JUST WATER: 
Your husband is a drinker. He 
may be self-conscious about 
the amount he imbibes and 
feels less so if he has a drink-ing 
buddy (that’s you), will-ing 
or not. To say the least, 
his behavior is inconsiderate 
-- and I mean ALL of it. 
When someone is involved 
with a problem drinker, and 
from your description of his 
behavior your husband is 
one, the place to start looking 
for answers is Al-Anon. To 
find a meeting close to you, go 
online to al-anon.org. Please 
don’t wait. 
DEAR ABBY: My best 
friend, “Cecily,” has just 
come out to me as being a les-bian. 
We are both 15. I have 
tried my best to make her 
feel accepted and 
comfortable. But 
whenever she 
wants something 
from me and I re-fuse, 
she says I’m 
“treating her bad-ly 
because she’s 
gay.” 
I let it go the 
first couple of 
times, but now 
she does this 
every time she 
wants something. When I fi-nally 
confronted her about 
it, she went to her mother 
and said I was bullying her 
because of her being gay. Her 
mother yelled at me and told 
me to “get my act together or 
get out of her life.” Her moth-er 
is like a second mother to 
me. 
Other than this, Cecily has 
been a great friend. This has 
gotten way out of hand. Abby, 
I have tried everything. What 
do I do? -- WAY OUT OF 
HAND IN NEW YORK 
DEAR WAY OUT OF 
HAND: Cecily may react this 
way because she’s newly out 
and hypersensitive 
to being discriminat-ed 
against for being 
gay. (For too many 
gay teens, this is a 
sad reality.) 
Consider asking 
your mother to talk 
to Cecily’s mother 
and explain that 
you’re not homo-phobic 
but feel her 
daughter is being 
manipulative. If the 
woman hears it from another 
adult, she may talk to her 
daughter about it. However, 
if that doesn’t work, you may 
have to decide if it’s worth it 
to continue the relationship 
under these circumstances. 
Dear Abby is written by Abigail 
Van Buren, also known as Jeanne 
Phillips, and was founded by her 
mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact 
Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com 
or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 
90069. 
Dear Abby 
Associated Press 
Air Force coaches 
asked to help curb 
assaults 
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, 
Colo. (AP) — Air Force 
Academy leaders are ask-ing 
coaches to take a bigger 
role in preventing sexual 
assaults by talking with ath-letes 
about the issue. 
Commanders also said 
Wednesday they expect an 
upcoming review of the ath-letic 
department to show 
whether it has a “negative 
culture,” a term the service 
often uses to describe an at-mosphere 
conducive to sexu-al 
abuse. 
The academy was re-sponding 
to recent allega-tions 
that athletes got special 
treatment. Officials deny the 
claims. 
Officials say Lt. Gen. Mi-chelle 
Johnson, the academy 
superintendent, ordered the 
school’s inspector general 
in July to review the athletic 
department, including its 
culture. 
Johnson said she met 
with coaches twice over the 
past year about her expec-tations. 
She said coaches 
hadn’t been fully involved in 
what she called the “broader 
conversation” about the 
school’s standards. 
Finishing touches 
for Colorado Capitol 
gold dome 
DENVER (AP) — The 
state Capitol’s dome $17 mil-lion 
renovation is nearly 
complete. 
On Wednesday morning, 
gilders rappelled down the 
dome to begin touching up 
gold leaf that was damaged 
when the dome was sur-rounded 
by scaffolding ear-lier 
during the project. The 
work is expected to take a 
week. 
It’s one of several remain-ing 
“punch list” items that 
need to be checked off before 
the dome and the observa-tion 
deck is scheduled to re-open 
to the public on Oct. 2. 
The renovation was nec-essary 
because the exterior 
metal surfaces of the dome 
deteriorated and the cast 
iron that supported the dome 
rusted. The observation deck 
has been closed to the public 
since 2006, when a piece of 
iron fell.
Page 6 Thursday, August 14, 2014 The Chronicle-News Trinidad, Colorado COMMUNITY 
Photo courtesy of TSJC 
2014 AYSO Soccer Camp finishes on a strong note 
The 2014 American Youth Soccer Organization Soccer Camp started Monday and finished up on Wednesday. This year’s camp was well attended and seemed to be as much fun for the coaches as 
it was for the young area players. 
Tim Keller/The Chronicle-News 
Shuler Theater to host annual free concert 
Music from Angel Fire presents its annual free concert at Raton’s Shuler Theater Tuesday, August 
19, at 7 p.m. This year’s program features a pair of string quartets by Young Artist Composer-in- 
Residence Andrew Hsu, plus two concertos by Vivaldi and a saxophone performance by the 
Donald Sinta Quartet. Local foundations and businesses underwrite the event so that the public 
can enjoy the concert for free. 
Photos courtesy of The Legacy 
Elvis rocks the house 
The residents at The Legacy Assisted Living Facility in Trinidad recently enjoyed an afternoon on 
the patio with Elvis impersonator, Paul Hurtado and a cold refreshing snow cone. The King, in his 
blue suede shoes, serenaded the crowd with his renditions of Elvis songs. The crowd swooned 
and were thrilled as Elvis transported them back in time. Marcia Lackey, right and Veronica 
Mosher watched as Elvis brightened the summer afternoon. 
Photo courtesy of TSJC 
TSJC College for Kids program gives away backpacks 
College for Kids, a free six-week summer educational program sponsored by Trinidad State Junior 
College, gave each of the students in attendance a backpack loaded with school supplies at the 
end of the course. Items included were markers, crayons and notebooks — just in time for the start 
of the new school year. 
ARCHERY 
CPW offers intro 
to arrow building 
LA JUNTA, Colo. - Colorado Parks and 
Wildlife is offering a one-day introduction 
to arrow building on Sat-urday, 
August 16, from 
6 p.m. - 8 p.m. at the La 
Junta Senior Center. The 
La Junta Senior Center is 
located at 114 E. 2nd St. La 
Junta, CO 81050 
The workshop, Arrow 
Building 101, will provide 
information for new and 
experienced archery en-thusiasts 
on how to build 
a complete arrow from 
start to finish. The pro-gram 
is free and open to 
the public. 
“This workshop will give archers an 
opportunity to learn about the necessary 
equipment and materials needed to build an 
arrow, in addition to techniques for custom 
decorative work and arrow tuning, “ said 
Mike Brown, District Wildlife Manager for 
Colorado Parks and Wildlife. 
Anyone interested in learning about all 
of the benefits of arrow building and how to 
repair or make their own arrows is encour-aged 
to attend. 
For questions, further information, and 
to register for this workshop please contact 
Colorado Parks and Wild-life 
District Wildlife Man-ager 
Mike Brown at (719)- 
980-0025. 
Colorado Parks and 
Wildlife manages 42 state 
parks, more than 300 state 
wildlife areas, all of Colo-rado’s 
wildlife, and a vari-ety 
of outdoor recreation. 
Like us on Facebook 
at https://www.facebook. 
com/ColoradoParksand- 
Wildlife 
Follow us on Twitter @ 
COParksWildlife 
For more news about 
Colorado Parks and Wildlife go to: http:// 
cpw.state.co.us

Azar

  • 1.
    50 Cents Trinidad Colorado ~ Proudly Serving Southeastern Colorado and Northeastern New Mexico • www.thechronicle-news.com Thursday August 14, 2014 Vol. 138, No. 162 The Fine Print AUGUST 14 ~Economic Development THURSDAY (3 p.m.) Trinidad and Las Animas County Board of Directors will meet at 134 West Main Street, Suite 23 (Bell Block). Information: 719-846- 9412. ~Water Association THURSDAY (3 p.m.) Greetville- Carbondale Board of Directors will meet at the Century Financial Group, 109 W. Main St. Information: Jeni Skalko, 719- 846-2080, ext. 116. ~Mt. San Rafael Hospital THURSDAY (5-6:30 p.m.) The pub-lic is invited to a Provider Open House to meet the newest members of the hos-pital’s health care staff to be held in the hospital lobby, 410 Benedicta Ave. Today’s Quote “Everything is funny, as long as it’s happening to somebody else.” ~Will Rogers TRINIDAD LAKE WEEKEND Park Office, 719-846-3818 *FRIDAY (8 p.m.) “Ranger Campfire with Harmonica” at the park amphithe-ater. *SATURDAY (9 a.m.) Kids Saturday Morning Walk-About. Meet at the Visitor Center. *SATURDAY (7 p.m.) “The Dutch Oven and the Horno,” join Park Ranger Pat Patrick for a fun evening in the amphi-theater exploring cooking methods along the Santa Fe Trail. *SUNDAY (6 p.m.) NEW THIS YEAR: A Ranger Hike every Sunday night thru Labor Day. Meet at the Visitor’s Center to begin the adventure. AUGUST 15-17 ~Search Team Exercise FRIDAY (7 a.m. – 5 p.m.) The Trini-dad Correctional Facility Search Team will be conducting a training exercise throughout Trinidad. During this time resi-dents will see increased law enforcement presence, both in vehicle and on foot. This is just an exercise; there will be no cause for alarm. ~Farmers’ Market SATURDAY (8 a.m.-Noon) The Trini-dad Farmer’s Market is open every Sat-urday in Cimino Park until mid-October. Information: 719-846-7386. ~Ave Maria Shrine SATURDAY: The Rosary will be re-cited (10:30 a.m.) and Mass will be cel-ebrated (11 a.m.) in the historic Ave Marie Shrine located behind the Mount San Rafael Hospital on Benedicta Ave. Follow the signage. Visitors are always welcome. PUBLIC SERVICE ~ArtoCade Call for Artists *Hubcapalooza at Galerie Vivante (214 E. Main St.) Carvelously embellished hubcaps—paint, sculpt, collage, glue or whatever. All pieces will be for sale for under $100. Hubcaps are available at the gallery for $4. Entries due Sept. 5-6 — show opens Sept. 12. Information: 719- 334-0087. *AutoMotivation at Gallery Main (130 E. Main St.) Earthly bound vehicle-inspired art in any media. Stop by the gal-lery for a prospectus. Completed pieces to be delivered to gallery on Sept. 2-3 (10 a.m.-4 p.m.) Opening reception is Sept. 5 (5-7 p.m.). Information: 719-846-1441. ~Call for Kids Car Art Need auto-themed kids’ artwork by Sept. 1 for Kids Spark Exhibit at the Ar-toCade festivities in September. Informa-tion: Rich Colombo, 719-846-6435. ~Trinidad RoundUp Association AUGUST 31-SEPTEMBER 1: Mark your calendar for the annual Labor Day Weekend rodeo, parade, dance and festivities. Information: 719-680-0424 or go to www.trinidadroundup.homestead. com. ~Low-Cost Spay/Neuter The Fisher’s Peak Veterinary Clinic (719-846-3211) and the Trinidad Animal Clinic (719-846-3212) offer grant-funded, low-cost spay/neuter surgeries for all Las Animas County resident’s animals. Call for information and appointments. ~SUICIDE/CRISIS HOTLINES: *ADULT HOPE: 800-784-2433 *TEEN: 877-968-8454 *GLB-YOUTH: 866-488-7386 *VET-2-VET: 877-838-2838 “When the world says, ‘Give up!’ Hope says, ‘Not today!” ~Unknown ~ ABUSE HOTLINES: *Domestic Abuse Hotline: In Trini-dad call 719-846-6665 (24-hours a day). National Hotline call: 1-800-790-SAFE (7233). *Animal Abuse: Do your part and help put a stop to animal cruelty. Report animal abuse and dog/cock fighting at Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line: 720- 913-7867. EDUCATION Trinidad native starts TSJC college scholarship fund Denver Attorney and Trinidad native Franklin Azar is presented with a miniature bronze Trojan statue by Trinidad State President, Dr. Carmen Simone in appreciation for his pledge of $250,000, which will fund the new Franklin D. Azar Scholarship Fund. (L-R) Trinidad State Educational Foundation President, Miriam Zappanti, Trinidad State President Dr. Carmen Simone, Franklin Azar, Foundation Board Member, Ed Trommeter and Foundation Executive Director Toni DeAngelis. Weather Watch Thursday: A 30 percent chance of show-ers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 88. W-SW wind County Sheriff James Casias, left, addressed County Commissioners Mack Louden, center and Anthony Abeyta about his department’s budget issues at Tuesday’s County Board work session. 5 to 10 mph. Night: A 30 percent chance of thunderstorms, mainly before 8 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58. West wind 5 to 10 mph. Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. West wind 5 to 10 mph becom-ing E-NE in the afternoon. Night: A 20 per-cent chance of thunderstorms before 1 a.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 59. Calm Photo courtesy of TSJC Steve Block / The Chronicle-News west wind around 5 mph. Saturday: A 20 percent chance of thun-derstorms after 7 a.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 85. West wind around 5 mph becoming east in the afternoon. Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 59. SE wind around 5 mph. Sunday: A 10 percent chance of thunder-storms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 58. River Call Purgatoire River Call as of: 08/13/14. Burns & Duncan ditch: Priority # 21 — Appropriation date: 01/01/1866. Trinidad Reservoir Accounting: Release 179.49 AF Inflow 171.28 AF -- 81.31 CFS Evaporation 9.79 AF Content 12,107 AF Elevation 6,170.28 Precipitation 0 Downstream River Call — Nine Mile Canal: 05/07/1877. The Chronicle News Special to The Chronicle-News The Trinidad State Junior Col-lege Educational Foundation has announced that Denver attorney Franklin Azar, has established the Franklin D. Azar Scholarship Fund at Trinidad State Junior College. Azar pledged his support to aid TSJC students with their education-al expenses by committing $250,000 to the scholarship fund over the next five years. The initial scholarships will be awarded starting this fall. “His generous spirit to his home-town community will provide much in the way of aid,” said Foundation Board President, Miriam Zappanti. Azar’s goal is to help students fi-nancially as they begin their educa-tional journey at TSJC. He recogniz-es the needs of those students whose grades may be “average” or whose resources may be in the median in-come range, yet those students may not quality for scholarships or other financial assistance. “While a stu-dent’s grades may be ‘average’ from a traditional academic perspective, many talented “ordinary” students often are looking for available schol-arships for students who don’t have Continued on Page 2 ... CITY GOVERNMENT By Steve Block The Chronicle-News Local citizens volunteer to serve on Trinidad’s various boards and commissions, which make recom-mendations to the City Council on various issues. After Council voted to overturn a decision by the City Planning and Zoning Commission about denying approval of a mari-juana application recently, Council-member Anthony Mattie said those board and commission members needed better training, so they could do their work more effectively. Mattie said he’d asked that the issue be put on the agenda of Tues-day’s work session. “I appreciate the volunteer spirit of the people who serve on those commissions and boards,” Mattie said. “I realize they don’t get paid and we appreciate their help in the process of governance. At the same time I think the people who serve on those commissions, particularly those with decision-making respon-sibilities like the planning and zon-ing commission, need to understand that they represent the City of Trini-dad. By their actions, they can put us in positions of liability and litiga-tion. Simply stated, I think we need to explain to those members who serve on those commissions clearly what their role is, what their bound-aries are and the role of Council and staff in guiding and directing them.” Mattie said he’d watched the video of the planning and zoning commission that denied the appli-cation of Forever Green, LLC, and was frustrated to observe that City staff had advised the commission-ers about what they should do, but the commissioners had not accepted their advice and had acted against their recommendations. Mattie said he knew many people had strong opinions on the legalized pot issue, but said the commissioners had taken an oath to uphold the City’s rules and regulations and should be expected to do so. Mattie spent many years as a state patrol officer and he said he re-ally didn’t like making favorable de-cisions about legalized pot, which he personally opposes. County voters approved legalized pot, and the City passed regulations governing its cultivation, sale and use. As a Coun-cilmember he felt duty bound to sup-port the public’s decision and said he felt the commissioners should have done the same thing. Council should provide infor-mation to the commissioners about what their responsibilities were, Mattie said. Once that was done, the commissioners should be expected to fulfill their responsibilities and if they didn’t want to do so, then they should resign from the commission. Mayor Joe Reorda said Council needed to remember that it’s hard to get people to serve on boards and commissions and that the planning and zoning commission had a tough job, with meetings often lasting for two hours. Mattie’s point was well taken, Mayor Reorda said. Councilmember Carol Bolton said she thought commission mem-bers went through a recent training session and asked City Attorney Les Downs if that was the case. Bolton said that even after receiving the training on what they could and could not do, the commissioners had apparently allowed their personal sentiments to influence their deci-sion- making process. Downs replied that Bolton was correct. He had given Councilmem-bers copies of the code that governs the actions of the planning and zon-ing commission. “It’s one thing when one person and I’m not trying to single anyone out, on a board or commission philo- Steve Block / The Chronicle-News Councilmember Anthony Mattie said that the Planning and Zoning Commis-sion volunteer members needed better training to enable them to more effec-tively serve the community. Council calls for better commissioner training Continued on Page 2 ... COUNTY SHERIFF Casias addresses budget issues By Steve Block The Chronicle-News County Sheriff James Casias said that the companies provid-ing services to the Sheriff’s Office and County Jail don’t care that the County is going broke. The cost of services often increases, and the County must pay those costs if it wants those services. Sheriff Casias gave his report as part of a mid-year budget review that was presented at Tuesday’s County Board work session. All of the County department heads gave similar reports to the Board. The County’s property tax rev-enue has been declining for the past few years, largely due to the decline in natural gas prices on which County property values are largely based. County workers had to ac-cept a monthly furlough day this year, due to the negative impact on the County budget with a decline in revenues. The Sheriff’s budget was also cut, but Casias said he was doing the best he could with what money he has. Currently, the yearly budget for the Sheriff’s Office is $810,551, while the jail has a budget of $1,034,346. The County Justice Center has some serious maintenance issues that will have to be addressed in the near future, he said. The depart-ment’s two-way radios are also old and some are in need of replace-ment. “The maintenance that was in our budget was taken out,” Casias said. “The deterioration of that building is getting worse. With some of the pods in the jail, the back walls are separating from the concrete. There’s a two-inch gap in there, and if water starts to get in there, mold could start to build up in there.” Some of the department’s patrol cars are getting old and are in need of repair or replacement. A few of the cars can no longer be used, and several cars can only be used within city limits. Casias said he’d told his deputies not to drive those cars over 50 miles per hour. The sheriff’s de-partment has auctioned off its aging vehicles in the past and may have to do so again, he said. They don’t bring in much money, but it’s more than they would bring if they were scrapped. Law enforcement vehicles often have high-performance engines and some people will buy the cars just to remove the engine and put it in an-other vehicle, he said. The county jail is changing its food service provider to Diamond Shamrock, in hopes of saving $3,200 per year, Casias said. Some of the jail’s inmates have special dietary needs, and the jail’s food service personnel have to meet their dietary requirements, which can increase costs. The sheriff’s department is also trying to go paperless as much as possible, in an effort to cut office expenses. County Administrator Leeann Fabec told Casias that he couldn’t expect the County to pay for any new vehicles until the 2018 budget year. Casias said his department was doing all it could to cut its expens-es, but because it runs a 24-hour a day operation, it was limited in the amount of money it could save. He said budgetary expenses were on track to keep the department within its annual budget, as of June 30, 2014.
  • 2.
    Page 2 Thursday,August 14, 2014 The Chronicle-News Trinidad, Colorado USPS #110-040 200 West Church Street P.O. Box 763, Trinidad, CO 81082 (719) 846-3311 • Fax (719) 846-3612 Member: Associated Press, Colorado Press Association Periodicals Postage Paid For At Trinidad, CO. Published Monday - Friday w w w.thechronicle-news.com General Manager Allyson Sheumaker asheumaker@trinidadchroniclenews.com Advertising Sales-Adam Sperandio advertising@trinidadchroniclenews.com Classifieds, Memorials, & Circulation- Lauri Duran classified@trinidadchroniclenews.com Design & Legals- Krysta Toci ktoci@trinidadchroniclenews.com News Room Editor: Eric John Monson editor@trinidadchroniclenews.com Features Editor & Fine Print Catherine Moser cathy@trinidadchroniclenews.com Reporter: Steve Block news1@trinidadchroniclenews.com Subscription Rates Effective Aug. 1, 2013 Home Delivery Trinidad 1 Month ................$7.00 3 Months.............$21.00 6 Months.............$42.00 1 Year....................$84.00 Las Animas County Mail 1 Month................$12.00 3 Months..............$36.00 6 Months..............$72.00 1 Year...................$144.00 Outside County Mail 1 Month................$18.00 3 Months..............$54.00 6 Months............$108.00 1 Year...................$216.00 Business Hours: Monday - Friday 8 AM - 5 PM TSJC college scholarship fund ... Continued from Page 1 an A average,” said Azar. The Franklin D. Azar Schol-arships are intended for “av-erage – ordinary” students who nevertheless have the desire and motivation to suc-ceed at TSJC in pursuit of their goals. Trinidad State President, Dr. Carmen Simone said, “The support provided to our students by Mr. Azar is deep-ly appreciated. His desire to assist those who would oth-erwise be without support speaks to his personal mis-sion. Trinidad State is for-tunate to have such a strong advocate dedicated to TSJC, our students, and the com-munity.” Twenty five recipients have already been chosen to receive $1,000 each for this upcoming school year. For more information on the Franklin D. Azar Schol-arship, contact the TSJC Educational Foundation Of-fice by calling 719-846-5649 for further details. Council calls for better training ... Continued from Page 1 sophically opposes something that the majority of a board or commission is thinking about doing,” Downs said. “The problem comes when a majority of the board or com-mission opposes something that is legal in the communi-ty. The answer to your ques-tion, Councilwoman Bolton, is that we had a work session about this. What troubles me, as your attorney, is not be-ing equal and not having the same concerns and the same criteria for everyone who comes before them.” Downs said the most re-cent planning and zoning commission had lasted far too long, and it was his opinion that the commissioners were searching were searching for reasons to deny the applica-tion. Forever Green’s lead-ers had to hire an attorney to place their case before Coun-cil, at considerable expense. He said that applicant was dreading going back before the commission for further pot application approvals. City Planner Louis Fine-berg acts as an advisor to the planning and zoning commis-sion. His opinion is that those people who spoke at the meet-ing in opposition to Forever Green’s application unduly influenced the commission. Trinidad’s status as a Colorado Main Street com-munity provides for free training sessions for plan-ning and zoning commission members. “They will come down here and walk the commis-sion members through a training session about how they’re supposed to properly function as a planning com-mission, if the commission-ers are willing” Fineberg said. 60 Obituaries James Dow Brights Has gone to join Whitey James passed away Thursday, Aug 7 near Exit 11. 65 Comi Funeral Home Carmen L. Beard Carmen L. Beard, age 66, passed away at home in Al b u q u e r q u e , N.M. , o n August 6, 2014 after a courageous battle with cancer. Funeral Services will be Friday, August 15, 2014 with Funeral Mass at 3pm at Holy Trinity Church. Private inurnment at a later date. Arrangements made under the direction of the Comi Funeral Home. Diana L. Jones Diana L. Jones, age 71, passed away unexpectedly on August 12, 2014 at Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo, Co. Arrangements are pending and will ne announced later by the Comi Funeral Home. Mary Lousie Mincic Mary Lousie Mincic, age 82, passed away at home on August 12, 2014. Visitation will be Sunday from 2pm-7pm at the Comi Chapel. Funeral Services will be Monday, August 18, 2014 with Rosary at 9am at Comi Chapel followed by the Funeral Mass at 10am at Holy Trinity Church. Interment will follow at the Trinidad Catholic Cemetery. Complete obituary to follow. Arrangements made under the direction of the Comi Funeral Home. Orlando Fernando Medina Orlando Fernando (Fred) Medina, age 87, passed away peacefully at his home on Thursday, August 7, 2014. V i s i t a t i o n w i l l b e Wednesday from 3pm-6pm at the Comi Chapel. Rosary will be Wednesday, August 13, 2014 at 7pm at Holy Trinity Church. Funeral Mass will be celebrated Thursday, August 14, 2014 at 10am at Holy Trinity Church. Interment will follow at the Trinidad Catholic Cemetery with graveside services conducted by the US Naval Honor Guard. IN LIEU OF FLOWERS, MEMORIALS CAN BE MADE IN FRED'S NAME TO T H E H A R R Y S A Y R E SENIOR CENTER, 1222 SAN PEDRO, TRINIDAD, CO 81082. Arrangements made under the direction of the Comi Funeral Home Slade M. Maes Slade M. Maes, age 36, passed away August 4, 2014 in Raton, N.M. as a result of an auto accident. Visitation will be Thursday, August 14, 2014 from 2-7pm at the Comi Chapel. Funeral Services will be Friday, August 15, 2014 at 10am at Faith Christian Fellowship with Pastor Andy Ohman officiating. Interment will follow at the Carpio Cemetery. Arrangements made under the direction of the Comi Funeral Home. 62 Memorials In Loving Memory of Victor J. Gonzales Happy Birthday Daddy!! Eight years in heaven You are never forgotten, greatly missed and immensely loved. Your daughters, Valerie, Tessie, Pearl and Annie 63 Card of Thanks The family of Alberta Duckworth would like to thank everyone for the cards, food, phone calls and those who attended her funeral. A special thanks to our Mom's caregivers, Marlene Mason and Kayla Gutierrez who treated her with respect and dignity in her last days on earth. Thanks to all the pallbearears and Comi Funeral Home. From the Editor’s Desk By Eric John Monson News Editor The Chronicle-News I’m 15 and rushing reck-lessly toward the naive vi-sion of the man I wished to become. The picture of a suave hero that women want and men want to be. At this time, I believe, I’m playing the mischievous, All-Amer-ican, slack-jawed jock—but in this moment—my English teacher is trying to catch me cheating. She was one of two Mrs. Gustafson’s then at Yellow Medicine East High School in the little river town of Granite Falls, Minnesota, and she would relate the story to my co-workers 10 years later when I returned home a cripple to resign myself, I thought, to being the Sports Editor of the Granite Falls Advocate Tribune. A broken boy crawling back to mom and father and home. A place that the 15-year-old me want-ed nothing more than to leave in the rear-view mirror. “Have I told you this sto-ry before? No? Well I’ll just share it with everyone then,” began Mrs. Gustafson (who had by then remarried to be-come Mrs. Velde) addressing the ink-stained wretches. “So, I had assigned this paper at the beginning of the semester and when I get his back I think ‘there’s no way this football player (and very middling student) could have written this. He’s up to some-thing.’ And so I think I’m gonna catch the little cheat and the next day I assign a pa-per to be written in class and watch him the whole time. I was almost mad when he’s the first one done halfway through class and asks if he can skip out and go to the bakery (locally famous Aus’s bakery down on our main street next to the river). The little punk even asks if he can get me anything. “So the next day I have him sit down and ask what his parents do and he tells me his mother is an English teacher over at Wood Lake. Then it clicked. ‘So do you read a lot?’ I ask. “ ‘Yeah’ he shrugs, ‘stuff like Steinbeck, Hemingway, Faulkner, Twain and the Lou-is L’Amour and Zane Grey stuff too’. “ ‘And your dad?’ “ ‘Oh, he’s retired now. He used to be a mechanic and parts man at the family car dealership. He’s a history buff.’ “ ‘And do they talk a lot about what they’re reading? You know, like at supper?’ “ ‘I guess, yeah.’ “So I decided I’d send him down to the newspaper so he’d quit screwing around in my class and wrecking the fine education the rest of his classmates were receiving.” Thus, I became the first student intern at the Advo-cate Tribune and worked for the paper through high school and college; weasel-ing what I thought were some of the easiest credits of my spotted academic career. (Sometime later I got to work with Mrs. Gustafson after she retired from teaching and began writing for the news-paper where she loved to tell that story and how horrible a student I was.) That teacher set me on a path that I would try des-perately, at times, to detour myself from, but would al-ways scramble back to. I ran away to South Dakota to be a football player and then a cowboy. I failed and returned to ledes and box scores. I ran away to the Black Hills to be a music-playing playboy, lost a leg and crawled back to editorial copy and deadlines. Then a jealous man killed my beautiful cousin and I ran away to the shelter of moun-tains and family. Now, again, I’m scrambling back to what I believe I know and what I be-lieve I know how to do. Apparently that teacher set me on a rutted path that would lead to Colorado, New Mexico and Trinidad. And again I’m comfortable— awash in the words and pictures of this community that comprise The Chronicle- News. The only edge I feel is that the welcome I’ve received here seems too good to be true. All I can do, I guess, is to work hard enough to be wor-thy of such a welcome. And I can’t wait. Thank you Chronicle- News staff. Thank you Chron-icle- News readers. And thank you to the communities The Chronicle-News strives to serve. I’m gonna screw-up from time to time, believe me, but I promise to do my best by you. We’ll talk again, but a lot less about me and a lot more about you. Adam Sperandio / The Chronicle-News The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. ~Helen Keller By Abigail Van Buren DRINKING BECOMES A PROBLEM FOR WIFE PRESSURED TO IMBIBE DEAR ABBY: I’m not much of a drinker. I have nothing against drinking or those who do. I just do not like the taste of alcohol. Worse, I have a very low tolerance for it. After only half a glass of wine, I become so sleepy I can barely keep my eyes open. It makes me feel physically aw-ful. My husband takes offense to the fact that I don’t want to drink. When we’re out with friends, he’ll have three or four beers and pressure me to the point of embarrassment in front of them until I finally give in and order a glass of wine. Of course, I then spend the rest of the evening feeling terrible. When we get home, he’ll want to be intimate, but I just want to go to sleep, which aggravates him further. I have tried for several years to discuss this with him, but he can’t explain why he does this. What can I do? -- JUST WATER, PLEASE DEAR JUST WATER: Your husband is a drinker. He may be self-conscious about the amount he imbibes and feels less so if he has a drink-ing buddy (that’s you), will-ing or not. To say the least, his behavior is inconsiderate -- and I mean ALL of it. When someone is involved with a problem drinker, and from your description of his behavior your husband is one, the place to start looking for answers is Al-Anon. To find a meeting close to you, go online to al-anon.org. Please don’t wait. DEAR ABBY: My best friend, “Cecily,” has just come out to me as being a les-bian. We are both 15. I have tried my best to make her feel accepted and comfortable. But whenever she wants something from me and I re-fuse, she says I’m “treating her bad-ly because she’s gay.” I let it go the first couple of times, but now she does this every time she wants something. When I fi-nally confronted her about it, she went to her mother and said I was bullying her because of her being gay. Her mother yelled at me and told me to “get my act together or get out of her life.” Her moth-er is like a second mother to me. Other than this, Cecily has been a great friend. This has gotten way out of hand. Abby, I have tried everything. What do I do? -- WAY OUT OF HAND IN NEW YORK DEAR WAY OUT OF HAND: Cecily may react this way because she’s newly out and hypersensitive to being discriminat-ed against for being gay. (For too many gay teens, this is a sad reality.) Consider asking your mother to talk to Cecily’s mother and explain that you’re not homo-phobic but feel her daughter is being manipulative. If the woman hears it from another adult, she may talk to her daughter about it. However, if that doesn’t work, you may have to decide if it’s worth it to continue the relationship under these circumstances. Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069. Dear Abby Associated Press Air Force coaches asked to help curb assaults AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) — Air Force Academy leaders are ask-ing coaches to take a bigger role in preventing sexual assaults by talking with ath-letes about the issue. Commanders also said Wednesday they expect an upcoming review of the ath-letic department to show whether it has a “negative culture,” a term the service often uses to describe an at-mosphere conducive to sexu-al abuse. The academy was re-sponding to recent allega-tions that athletes got special treatment. Officials deny the claims. Officials say Lt. Gen. Mi-chelle Johnson, the academy superintendent, ordered the school’s inspector general in July to review the athletic department, including its culture. Johnson said she met with coaches twice over the past year about her expec-tations. She said coaches hadn’t been fully involved in what she called the “broader conversation” about the school’s standards. Finishing touches for Colorado Capitol gold dome DENVER (AP) — The state Capitol’s dome $17 mil-lion renovation is nearly complete. On Wednesday morning, gilders rappelled down the dome to begin touching up gold leaf that was damaged when the dome was sur-rounded by scaffolding ear-lier during the project. The work is expected to take a week. It’s one of several remain-ing “punch list” items that need to be checked off before the dome and the observa-tion deck is scheduled to re-open to the public on Oct. 2. The renovation was nec-essary because the exterior metal surfaces of the dome deteriorated and the cast iron that supported the dome rusted. The observation deck has been closed to the public since 2006, when a piece of iron fell.
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    Page 6 Thursday,August 14, 2014 The Chronicle-News Trinidad, Colorado COMMUNITY Photo courtesy of TSJC 2014 AYSO Soccer Camp finishes on a strong note The 2014 American Youth Soccer Organization Soccer Camp started Monday and finished up on Wednesday. This year’s camp was well attended and seemed to be as much fun for the coaches as it was for the young area players. Tim Keller/The Chronicle-News Shuler Theater to host annual free concert Music from Angel Fire presents its annual free concert at Raton’s Shuler Theater Tuesday, August 19, at 7 p.m. This year’s program features a pair of string quartets by Young Artist Composer-in- Residence Andrew Hsu, plus two concertos by Vivaldi and a saxophone performance by the Donald Sinta Quartet. Local foundations and businesses underwrite the event so that the public can enjoy the concert for free. Photos courtesy of The Legacy Elvis rocks the house The residents at The Legacy Assisted Living Facility in Trinidad recently enjoyed an afternoon on the patio with Elvis impersonator, Paul Hurtado and a cold refreshing snow cone. The King, in his blue suede shoes, serenaded the crowd with his renditions of Elvis songs. The crowd swooned and were thrilled as Elvis transported them back in time. Marcia Lackey, right and Veronica Mosher watched as Elvis brightened the summer afternoon. Photo courtesy of TSJC TSJC College for Kids program gives away backpacks College for Kids, a free six-week summer educational program sponsored by Trinidad State Junior College, gave each of the students in attendance a backpack loaded with school supplies at the end of the course. Items included were markers, crayons and notebooks — just in time for the start of the new school year. ARCHERY CPW offers intro to arrow building LA JUNTA, Colo. - Colorado Parks and Wildlife is offering a one-day introduction to arrow building on Sat-urday, August 16, from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. at the La Junta Senior Center. The La Junta Senior Center is located at 114 E. 2nd St. La Junta, CO 81050 The workshop, Arrow Building 101, will provide information for new and experienced archery en-thusiasts on how to build a complete arrow from start to finish. The pro-gram is free and open to the public. “This workshop will give archers an opportunity to learn about the necessary equipment and materials needed to build an arrow, in addition to techniques for custom decorative work and arrow tuning, “ said Mike Brown, District Wildlife Manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Anyone interested in learning about all of the benefits of arrow building and how to repair or make their own arrows is encour-aged to attend. For questions, further information, and to register for this workshop please contact Colorado Parks and Wild-life District Wildlife Man-ager Mike Brown at (719)- 980-0025. Colorado Parks and Wildlife manages 42 state parks, more than 300 state wildlife areas, all of Colo-rado’s wildlife, and a vari-ety of outdoor recreation. Like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook. com/ColoradoParksand- Wildlife Follow us on Twitter @ COParksWildlife For more news about Colorado Parks and Wildlife go to: http:// cpw.state.co.us