Election - The Durango Herald

Colorado election reformers face conservative critics in Proposition 131 debate

Polls show GOP opposition to ranked choice voting as red states move to enact bans

DATE: Oct 26, 2024 | CATEGORY: Regional News

State PAC spends $150K in House District 59 for Katie Stewart

Colorado Way Forward has backing from unions, environmental groups and outside corporate interests

DATE: Oct 25, 2024 | CATEGORY: Local News

Scheme to cast votes on stolen mail ballots thwarted by Colorado election officials

Effort was blocked by state’s voter signature verification process

DATE: Oct 24, 2024 | CATEGORY: Regional News

How CD-3 candidates are fundraising this quarter

Adam Frisch raised more money with most individual contributions outside Colorado

DATE: Oct 24, 2024 | CATEGORY: Local News

Cortez man who threatened to kill Democratic election officials pleads guilty

Teak Ty Brockbank, 45, said his comments were made ‘out of fear, hate and anger’

DATE: Oct 24, 2024 | CATEGORY: Local News

Durango School District board member seeks to clarify issues around $150 million bond issue

Language about affordable housing left intentionally vague

DATE: Oct 21, 2024 | CATEGORY: Local News

Diverging grassroots, super PAC funding shaping Colorado’s 2024 congressional races

Races in three of Colorado’s eight congressional districts are attracting campaign contributions by the truckload in 2024, especially from Democrats. But outside spending figures suggest a s...

DATE: Oct 20, 2024 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Colorado officials encourage voters to be wary of intimidation, election disinformation

Two top state officials in Colorado recently shared information to ensure voters are informed on their right to vote free of intimidation and how to avoid election disinformation ahead of th...

DATE: Oct 19, 2024 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Spending in support of Proposition 131 eclipses $9 million

About $26 million has been spent so far by groups supporting and opposing 14 statewide measures on the ballot

DATE: Oct 18, 2024 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Cleave Simpson, Senate District 6 incumbent, leans into local control

Republican is fielding a challenge from Vivian Smotherman in critical race

DATE: Oct 17, 2024 | CATEGORY: Local News

Vivian Smotherman, Senate District 6 candidate, considers TABOR and balance of local control

Democrat is challenging Sen. Cleave Simpson in critical race

DATE: Oct 17, 2024 | CATEGORY: Local News

La Plata County political party leaders oppose ranked choice voting

Prop. 131 would apply to state, congressional elections in Colorado

DATE: Oct 16, 2024 | CATEGORY: Local News

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Photos: Running up an appetite on Thanksgiving

Photos: Durango High School footballDHS football takes a loss in the second round of playoffs

DHS football takes a loss in the second round of playoffs

Photos: Veterans Day Parade on Main Avenue in Durango

Photos: Fort Lewis College football defeats NM HighlandsFLC wins its last home game of the season against New Mexico Highlands on Saturday at FLC

FLC wins its last home game of the season against New Mexico Highlands on Saturday at FLC

Final phases of project underway at Camino del Rio and Main Avenue

Photos: Marching for women’s rightsDurango Women’s March on Saturday starts at Buckley Park, continues down Main Avenue

Durango Women’s March on Saturday starts at Buckley Park, continues down Main Avenue

Photos: Durango High School football DHS beat Vista Ridge 20-14 at home Friday night

DHS beat Vista Ridge 20-14 at home Friday night

Gallery: Animals, super heroes and other creatures take over Main Avenue

Photos: A fun and spooky day at school

Haunted house northeast of Durango gets bigger every yearCody Petersen’s Halloween hobby is his escape from the daily grind

Durango resident Cody Petersen said when he moved into his home at 15 Edgemont Way several years ago, his house on the corner looked lonely and spooky.Today, it’s a madhouse. Halloween decorations are splayed practically on every inch of his lawn, in the trees and up and down his home.

A group of school-aged kids stop in front of his house every day to pose with a little gothic doll in the lawn, he said. It’s the favorite attraction amongst hundreds of decorations Petersen bought locally and online as early as July in preparation for Oct. 31, Halloween.He said he doesn’t want to think about how much money he’s spent on fog machines, animatronics and Christmas lights, but the bill easily totals several thousands of dollars.

For trick-or-treaters on Halloween, whom he encourages to visit, jumpscares abound at Petersen’s home, featuring animatronic spiders, growling wolves and other monsters, he said.He’s working on his own animatronic coffin, which shakes and rattles, and a pulley system that will push and pull a ghost up and down the yard, but neither will be ready for this year’s Halloween.He said he has fond memories of his parents decorating for the holidays during his upbringing and he’s a huge horror genre fan. So he enjoys going all out on decorations for the spooky season. He justifies his hobby with the logic his kids will only be in high school a few more years, and it isn’t as cool to decorate the lawn for Halloween when one doesn’t have children living at home.But the neighbors enjoy his haunts as much as the rest of the community. He said his Halloween scene has gradually grown larger every year; at least 50 trick-or-treaters turned up at his home last year.“I'm a home inspector, so I do have a lot of tools and no fear of trying things out,” he said.

He said typical Halloween animatronics cost $400 a piece, but they only last one year or so without breaking. That’s frustrating, he said, and he believes he can do better by building his own.He said this year’s display and experience is more organic than past years thanks to his handiwork. Among his myriad decorations, trick-or-treaters can spot easter eggs referencing “Beetlejuice,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Pet Sematary.”Among the horror props are real animal bones Petersen said he’s found on hikes across the countryside.“I've got ghosts and spiders and witches and that kind of thing,” he said. “Here in Edgemont, we have giant spiders for real. ... We get these huge wolf spiders that are bigger than my hand. I mean, huge, bigger than tarantulas.”

Petersen said he was motivated to make his first decorations within the first month he and his wife moved into the home on the corner at 15 Edgemont Way.A lone pine tree, a typical Christmas tree that would be strung up with lights and ornaments in December, stood out to Petersen in the yard, he said. He just felt compelled to decorate it and light it up.He said he thoroughly decorated the tree and left it lit year-round. Within a month of moving into the house, his neighbor died. The man was old and suffering from Alzheimer's.

Months later, the man’s wife approached Petersen and told him she and her husband’s last salient moments together were spent looking out at Petersen’s lighted Christmas tree, pretending it was Christmas. In the following hours, the man succumbed to delirium. He died several days later.“I don't know why I had that tree, why I lit it, but that's why that tree, even when Halloween is over, all year round, that Christmas tree always stays lit now,” he said.Petersen is a horror movie fan, and in particular he’s always enjoyed the sinister character Michael Myers of the “Halloween” franchise.

He said every year, after thrilling trick-or-treaters at his home, he takes to downtown and East Third Avenue in his Michael Myers costume, bearing a giant bowl of candy, to continue the fun.The highlight of his yard, the creepy doll neighborhood kids like to pose and take pictures with, is Petersen’s “elf on the shelf,” he said. He likes to move the doll around the house, sometimes propping her up to hold animal bones.“I have a real busy and pretty stressful job,” he said. “I just love the fall so much. And to come home, it's just a good way to wind down and, you know, de-stress, just go out and work in the yard.”cburney@durangoherald.com

Cody Petersen’s Halloween hobby is his escape from the daily grind

Colorado election reformers face conservative critics in Proposition 131 debate

State PAC spends $150K in House District 59 for Katie Stewart

Scheme to cast votes on stolen mail ballots thwarted by Colorado election officials

How CD-3 candidates are fundraising this quarter

Cortez man who threatened to kill Democratic election officials pleads guilty

Durango School District board member seeks to clarify issues around $150 million bond issue

Diverging grassroots, super PAC funding shaping Colorado’s 2024 congressional races

Colorado officials encourage voters to be wary of intimidation, election disinformation

Spending in support of Proposition 131 eclipses $9 million

Cleave Simpson, Senate District 6 incumbent, leans into local control

Vivian Smotherman, Senate District 6 candidate, considers TABOR and balance of local control

La Plata County political party leaders oppose ranked choice voting

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