Todd Palin makes the rounds in Eagle
EAGLE, Colo. -- Todd Palin stopped by the Eagle Diner last week for a grip, grin and gripe with the locals. He's the husband of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, and although he often has been appearing with his spouse, last week he was running solo.
He was wearing blue jeans and a black jacket, with an emblem from the Iron Dog snowmobile race pinned to it. Personable and friendly, he went from booth to booth in the small diner, which can hold no more than a few dozen people.
The community of 7,000 people, located a half-hour down-valley from Vail, is contested turf, as is Colorado -- at least in theory. There are official headquarters in Eagle for both Barack Obama and John McCain. For decades, Eagle County was reliably Republican, but beginning in 1992 began drifting blue.
But for many of the local electricians, fishing guides and builders, Obama is an abstraction -- and a feared one. Although none appeared to be the sorts who make more than $250,000, the income bracket targeted by Obama's tax plan, they told Palin of fears that Obama will divert their income to less-deserving people.
As well, they talked to him about hunting and wanted to know about his snowmobile racing.
Women at the diner gushed at the attention of Palin, as handsome in person as he appears on television, reported the Eagle Valley Enterprise.
"Snow blanket" tested in Snowmass
SNOWMASS, Colo. -- The snowpack never completely melted this summer at the Snowmass ski area, where a mound of snow 20 feet high survived even the 80-plus days of summer. The mound is the remnant of a massive jump that was part of a snowboard terrain park built last winter.
Until early October, the snow was covered by a blanket produced by a Swiss company called Landolt. The product is called Ice Protector Optiforce, and it's being used in European ski resorts, which tend to be lower and more vulnerable to the warming climate.
Rich Burkley, general manager of mountain operations for the Aspen Skiing Company, said the snow blanket is expected to be most useful in protecting snow or ice at critical connections or access areas, such as at ramps below chairlifts that get skiers to trails. One goal, he told The Aspen Times, is to reduce the energy consumption needed to make snow.
However, whether the blanket is cost effective is still being evaluated, he said. Also testing the blanket for effectiveness are the Vail and Telluride ski areas.
Ozone violation creeps into Durango
FARMINGTON, N.M. -- While violations of the federal ozone standard have already been registered in New Mexico's San Juan County, they could be ahead for Colorado's La Plata County, where Durango is located.
The ground-level ozone, explains the Durango Telegraph, is the result of tens of thousands of compressors used at oil and gas wells in the San Juan Basin from Durango south to Farmington, plus industrial facilities, the exhausts from two coal-fired power plants, plus the emissions of motor vehicles.
Christopher Dann, of the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division, told the newspaper that non-attainment could also be in store for Colorado's La Plata County, where Durango is located. While the energy industry is partly to blame for the pollution, he said, "the "region's booming population is also coming into play, and you're seeing more cars and more emissions all the time."
Dems make gains in Park City
SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah -- Voter registration has increased substantially in Summit County, reports The Park Record. Two-thirds of new voters have aligned with the Democratic Party, but the Democrats remain the smallest voting bloc.
Nearly 16,200 voters are independent, while 6,845 are Republican, and 3,579 are Democrats. Another 650 align with yet other parties. In addition to Park City, the county includes a place called Snyderville Basin, a bedroom community to Salt Lake City, a half-hour away.
