Bikers ticketed for skipping stops
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. -- Blowing through a stop sign while riding a bicycle is costing riders money this summer in Jackson. The local police department has ramped up enforcement of the laws. The Jackson Hole News&Guide says 40 percent of cases in traffic court on a recent day were riders charged with failure to stop at stop signs.
"The warnings weren't working," said Alan Johnson, a police officer, who is leading the charge. The fine is $100, plus $35 tuition for an eight-hour traffic school.
John, who is a cyclist himself, says he gives riders the benefit of a doubt. "If somebody gives a worthwhile attempt to stop and look both ways, they're good," he said. "If they don't even come close to stopping and they just look around and go, they'll get a ticket."
The newspaper says Jackson Hole has considerable annoyance with bicycle riders. Four of five people in a recent poll said they found riders more aggravating than either mosquitoes or the smoke from forest fires. Bicycle riders, of course, have their own version of what's wrong with the world.
High elevation no bar to hop growing
TAOS, N.M. -- With its mountainous background, Denver would likely be the first guess of many people if asked to name the state capitol with the highest elevation. It is, after all, the Mile High City.
In fact, Wyoming's state capitol in Cheyenne is higher, and highest of all is the elevation of Santa Fe, the capitol city of New Mexico, which is 6,989 feet. Only a few feet lower is nearby Taos, which now has several farmers who are growing hops, the substance that gives beer its pleasantly bitter taste.
Organic farmers Todd Bates and Steve Johnson have bred wild varieties of hops. The climate of northern New Mexico's higher elevations may be an issue, but the growers have high hopes.
"They said that they wouldn't grow organically at altitude," Bates told The Taos News. "But anywhere apples grow, hops grow. And we've got some pretty good organic apples around here."
LeMond, Blixseth settle over dues
BIG SKY, Mont. -- A settlement has been reached in the lawsuit filed between former bicycle racing star Greg LeMond and Timothy Blixseth, the owner of the ultra-elite Yellowstone Club, a private ski area.
The settlement requires Blixseth pay LeMond and his partners $39.5 million. They had been ousted from the club, where building lots cost upwards of $10 million.
LeMond and his partners had accused Blixseth of diverting more than $420 million of company money into personal bank accounts and unrelated companies, using it to finance a lavish lifestyle, including a 2-seat Gulfstream corporate jet for $44 million, a Hawker 600 jet, two Rolls-Royce Phantoms, and three Land Rovers.
The Times says the agreement coincides with settlement of the contentious divorce between Blixseth and Edra Blixseth, who now controls the club.
Fire resistance vs. bear proofing
CRESTED BUTTE, Colo. -- As happened in Vail and Aspen before them, people in Crested Butte this summer are learning the difference between "wildlife-resistant" trash containers and those that are "wildlife-proof."
The short answer is that it takes a lot of steel to secure trash from the five bears that are believed to be causing all the ruckus. It helps, however, if the lids are latched shut.
The so-called Bear Smart trash bins have been ripped open by hungry bears. "The key word is 'resistant,'" said Tom Martin, the police chief, speaking of the trash containers.
But at nearby Mt. Crested Butte, even heavy metal hasn't entirely succeeded in preventing the more clever and powerful of the bears determined to get into Dumpsters, officials tell the Crested Butte News.
