Author: Barry Noreen
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After 36 years in the saddle, time for happy trails
Deep into the last century, February 1982, I started working at the Gazette, covering the Colorado Legislature. Now, after almost 36 years working at Colorado newspapers, I am hanging it up. It has been a great ride. When you do this job for decades you start thinking of yourself as a Forrest Gump figure, not…
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Voice of the Reader: Plastic or real trees? Does it matter?
Assertion No. 1: Plastic Christmas trees are better for the environment, because while they might consume some petroleum products when they are made, they last forever, avoiding killing live trees every year. Assertion No. 2: Using real trees as Christmas trees is better for the environment because tree-thinning helps reduce fire danger in wild areas…
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Voice of the Reader: Turkey day is a special day to be thankfulTurkey dayis a specialday to bethankful
Some like Thanksgiving because they think it is less materialistic than Christmas. Some like it because it can be viewed in a nonsectarian way – it’s not linked to a single religious faith. Some love shopping on Black Friday; others wouldn’t consider shopping on that day. There’s no right or wrong on this. If you…
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Voice of the Reader: Hey, didwe losean hour orgain one?
Have you adjusted to the change from daylight saving time? Some people don’t like the notion of springing forward or falling back. We have trouble agreeing about the definitions: When you wake at 7 a.m. and it’s really 6 a.m., did you lose an hour or gain one? Perhaps that depends upon whether you are…
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CDOT: I-25 and Cimarron project critical for safety
It might be a stretch to say the segment of Interstate 25 between Cimarron and Bijou streets is Dead Man’s Curve, but many accidents there over the years prove it’s a dangerous spot. Motorists were provided with another annoying reminder Tuesday morning, when a flatbed truck overturned near the Cimarron Street exit, spilling a load…
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Kentuckywon’t helppay forour water
It raised eyebrows last week when it became known that as part of the deal that ended the federal government shutdown, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell was able to negotiate a nearly $3 billion plum for his neck of the woods – a project to upgrade locks on the Ohio River. The project will help commerce…
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Voice of the Reader: Brown needles natural, says forester
You may have noticed that some of the needles on conifers have been turning brown, and you may have presumed that has occurred because of the early-season drought this year, or because some kind of insect is attacking the trees. But the truth is that conifers are not really EVERgreens. The Woodland Park office of…
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Flooding?In 1965,Coloradogot nailed
Has it really been that wet? As often as it has rained this summer and as much tragedy and damage have been wrought by flooding, precipitation for Colorado Springs for the year to date is about 11 inches. On average, 12.4 inches of precipitation fall by this date. In 1965, it rained more than 12…
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A fort, aford, a river and melons
In a secondhand way you can thank the Bent brothers for Rocky Ford honeydew melons. William and Charles Bent and Ceran St. Vrain built Bent’s Fort in the lower Arkansas River Basin in 1833. They built it there because just across the river was Spanish territory. Of course this was long before any dams were…
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HdyhdyhdyhdyRockyroadsI
If you’re in Colorado for very long, you’ll discover there are far more than five must-see places. In limiting that list, there is a temptation to advise a visitor to tour the state’s four national parks, then spend an evening in Denver’s LoDo neighborhood. Let’s be more incisive and assume that you can find your…