Get firefighter help with controlled burns
Upper Pine and Los Pinos Fire Districts can provide help with burning fields, ditches, or debris piles to keep fires from getting out of control.
Call Upper Pine at 884-9508, and Los Pinos at 563-9501 during business hours. With several high wind days this week, anyone considering burning should find out whether or not a burn ban has been imposed for that day.
Draft EIS open house set for big power line
An open house is scheduled for April 8 at the Sky Ute Casino Event Center for Ignacio area residents to review a draft Environmental Impact Statement on a 230 kV regional transmission line to be built from west of Farmington to the LPEA Iron Horse substation northwest of Ignacio, just south of County Road 315. The open house will be from 4 to 7 p.m.
This is a Tri-State Generation and Transmission project that started several years ago to determine the route for the transmission line. It is referred to as the San Juan Basin Energy Connect Project.
According to information presented at a route refinement open house in September 2010, the transmission towers will be 100 to 150 feet tall, with towers 800 to 1,200 feet apart. All the towers in Colorado will be wood H-frame. The typical right-of-way is 150 feet wide. Efforts are made to put transmission lines in already disturbed corridors such as pipeline routes.
Information including the Draft EIS is at www.SJBEnergyConnect.com. Copies of the EIS also can be reviewed at the Ignacio or Durango libraries.
April 28 is the deadline for comments on the Draft EIS. Submit those on-line to blm_nm_ffo_comments@blm.gov or mail to BLM Farmington Field Office, re. San Juan Energy Connect Project, 6251 College Blvd Suite A, Farmington NM 87402.
Library holding kids' book events
One Book 4 Colorado will be held at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Ignacio Community Library, with a party for the community's four-year-olds. The event includes a special story time, snacks and a free book! Sign-up online through the library's events calendar, in person, or by calling 563-9287.
The next day, the library will host a special story time with author Melanie Milburn and her book I Love You More Than Chocolate. The reading starts at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 9. She will read the book and entertain the children with stories and songs.
4H club holding dance tomorrow
Bayfield Pine River 4H club will host a family dance from 8 p.m. to midnight on Saturday at the Pine River Senior Center in Bayfield. There will be a bake sale and cake walk. Admission is $5 per person, $20 for a family, and kids 5 and under are free.
Backcountry Horsemen holding tack sale tomorrow
The Four Corners Backcountry Horsemen will hold its annual tack sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow at the La Plata County Fairgrounds.
Items to consign can be brought to the fairgrounds today until 7 p.m. For more information, visit www.4CBCH.org
Vermicompost lecture to be held Thursday
The Ignacio Community Library will host a vermicomposting lecture at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 9. Worm castings are an excellent fertilizer for garden and house plants.
Grange hosting chili cookoff Saturday
La Plata Pomona Grange is hosting a community chili cook-off at 6 p.m. Saturday April 5 at the Florida Grange Hall at 656 Colorado Highway 172, near Elmore's Corner. There will be a red and green division. Entry fee is $10 with prizes dependent on the number of entries. Each entry is to provide one gallon of ready-to-serve chili.
Free legal clinic set for April 11
A free legal clinic will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. on the second Friday of each month at the Ignacio Community Library. By computer link, volunteer attorneys will answer questions, help fill out forms, and explain the process and procedure for all areas of civil litigation, including family law, property law, probate law, collections, appeals, landlord-tenant law, small claims, and civil protection orders. Walk-ins are welcome, and everyone will be helped on a first-come, first-served basis. Upcoming 2014 dates are May 9 and June 13.
PRCLC offering photography class
Pine River Community Learning Center is offering a beginning photography class taught by a professional photographer. This class will meet from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 17 at PRCLC in Bayfield at 54 Mill Street. The fee for this class is $25. Participants need to register on or before April 17. For more information and to register, call 563-0681.
Southern Ute Cultural Center announces new hours
The Southern Ute Cultural Center and Museum will be open weekdays only from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday until Memorial Day weekend. School groups can call to book tours at 563-9583 for April and May. The permanent gallery exhibits just underwent upgrades and repairs with all interactive videos now fully operational.
Great Strides for Cystic Fibrosis set for April 26
Great Strikes, a 5K walk/run benefitting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, will be held starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 26 at Santa Rita Park in Durango. Registration starts at 10 a.m., and walkers and runners can depart anytime after they register. Local teams are hoping to raise $10,000 at this event. There is no fee to enter, but walkers are raising funds to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Cystic Fibrosis is a fatal genetic disease that causes life-threatening lung infections and premature death. Great Strides raises funds to support research for a cure.
To register a team, visit greatstrides.cff.org. The Colorado Chapter of the foundation can be reached at breck@cff.org.
CDOT bike/ byways map now is mobile app
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Bike and Byways Map is now available as a mobile application to provide instant information to cyclists, as well as in hard copy.
The hard copy currently provides roadway data such as shoulder widths and traffic volumes, but the new electronic version will significantly expand the amount of information of interest to cyclists, such as locations of bike shops, restaurants, and welcome centers, also directional information allowing cyclists to request point-to-point directions.
In addition, the new app also has the ability to show street views, so users unfamiliar with an area or road can see the actual road and determine if it fits their cycling abilities. It will also provide alerts such as road closures and available detour routes.
Further improvements to the app are planned and might be on-line this fall. The app is available to download from a desktop, tablet, or mobile phone at http://dtdapps.coloradodot.info/bike.
CDOT pushes awareness of distracted driving
April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month" as designated by the National Safety Council. Colorado Department of Transportation is launching a campaign against texting while driving, likening it to wearing a blindfold for five seconds.
Drivers are urged to put their phone out of reach and to recognize that hands-free devices are still a distraction. CDOT urges people to speak up about this with family, friends, and co-workers.
CDOT cites statistics that for each text sent, a driver's eyes are diverted from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds - enough time to drive the length of a football field at 55 mph, blindfolded.
CDOT communications director Amy Ford said, "There is no greater distraction than texting and driving, which is why it is the focus of this year's campaign."
One suggestion is the Red Thumb Reminder. Color the thumbnail red on the thumb you use for texting as a reminder to put away the phone while driving.
"We challenge everyone to paint their thumbnail red and try it out for the month of April," Ford said.
CDOT will promote the no texting campaign with brochures, posters and other materials using the five second blindfold theme.
More information about texting and distracted driving is at www.coloradodot.info/programs/distracteddriving.
