Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Mountain Town News


By ALLEN BEST - MTN TOWN NEWS SERVICE

Gangs relaxing in Banff could become a problem

BANFF, Alberta—Police say members of gangs from nearby Calgary have been relaxing in the bars of Banff. But there could be problems if members of rival gangs spot each other, they say. The gang violence has resulted in one murder this summer in Calgary. Of particular note in a story by the Rocky Mountain Outlook are two gangs among a dozen identified by Calgary police. One is named Fresh Off the Boat and the other is Fresh Off the Boat Killers.

Bears lose out to train, cars and a motorcycle

BANFF, Alberta—The first weekend in August, a holiday weekend in Canada, was a deadly one for bears in the Banff region. Three were killed by trains or vehicles, including a grizzly that died after running in front of a motorcycle. It was the second grizzly to die this year after being smacked by a motorcycle rider, notes the Rocky Mountain Outlook. The rider in this case, a 50-year-old woman from Calgary, suffered injuries, but they were not life threatening.

Fare-based vans eyed for needs of commuters

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.—With gas still more than $4 a gallon in most mountain valleys of the West, there is new talk of subscription-based vanpools between resort towns and outlying bedroom towns.

Such is the case in Routt County, where some workers who live in Oak Creek and Yampa have been spending $300 to $500 a month on gas while commuting to jobs in Steamboat, 20 to 30 miles distant. The Steamboat Pilot & Today reports that a phone survey conducted last spring found that 43 percent were very likely to use transit for trips to jobs in Steamboat.

Town officials in Vail report similar interest in vans. There, a bus service is already in place to outlying towns, but buses have become filled, and there is insufficient money to buy enough new buses to meet the surging demand.

Gunnison County finishes greenhouse gas inventory

GUNNISON COUNTY, Colo.—An inventory of greenhouse gas emissions caused by people in Gunnison County found that transportation is the largest chunk, some 39 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. That does not even count the airline flights and cars used by visitors traveling to the area, which includes Crested Butte ski resort.

Buildings are responsible for more than half of emissions, 30 percent from residential and 21 percent from commercial. Landfill decomposition is responsible for 6 percent, and agriculture and other sources are responsible for 4 percent.

Several of the local governments during the last several years have signed the Mayors' Agreement on Climate Change or otherwise committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. The first step in reducing emissions, organizers say, is to measure your current use, as a way of marking future progress.

George Sibley, of the Office of Resource Efficiency, the group that conducted the inventory, told one town council that he sees greenhouse reduction being a long-term process.

"We're talking about a multi-generational process," he said. "For something like that, having the local governments on board seems absolutely critical."

Aspen Skiing agrees to offer same-sex benefits

ASPEN, Colo.—The Aspen Skiing Co. has decided to offer health insurance and ski passes to domestic partners of employees, regardless of the sex of the partners.

Jim Laing, the company's vice president of human resources, said the decision was made without knowledge of a potential boycott of the gay community, which for the last 12 years has held a Gay Ski Week at Aspen.

"We would not be leveraged or held hostage in this regard," he said. "We're open to feedback, but we're not going to be forced into any action."

The newspaper spoke with John Bagwell, who identified himself as a gay man from New York City. Bagwell said he was prepared to visit another resort instead of Aspen, including Vail.

Vail Resorts began offering benefits to domestic partners regardless of sex in 2002. Intrawest, the third major ski area operator in Colorado, also offers domestic partner benefits.

Russian oil money now owns Aspen mansions

ASPEN, Colo.—The real estate market has slowed, but there are still people out there with oodles of money. The Aspen Times reports that one home in the Aspen area recently sold for $20.75 million, and another one at Snowmass Village for $14.5 million.

The purchaser of the latter property is a Russian, Eugene Shvidler, who was ranked No. 161 on the Forbes richest people list in 2007. He is also a business partner of Roman Abramovich, an oil tycoon from Russian who paid $36 million in April for an estate outside of Aspen.




 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.