IN the Monday Briefing for April 4, 2022, you’ll find news on San Luis Valley Regional Airport, the Francisco Maestas Case, Main Street Alamosa, and get an introduction to the people behind the Frontier Drive-In development off Highway 285 near the town of Center.
Commissioners want Denver Air Connection
Alamosa County Commissioners are recommending that Denver Air Connection become the Essential Air Service provider at San Luis Valley Regional Airport. The commissioners have submitted their recommendation to the U.S. Department of Transportation and are asking key businesses in the Valley to support the recommendation with their own letter of support.
Denver Air Connection and Boutique Air met a March 10 deadline for DOT Essential Air Service proposals. DOT will select one of the two to replace SkyWest. The commissioners recommendation carries significant weight with the Department of Transportation. Boutique Air previously operated out of San Luis Valley Regional Airport before SkyWest.
In its proposal Denver Air Connection, a subsidiary of Key Lime Air, says it will provide scheduled passenger service with its 30-seat Dornier Jet, 50-seat Embraer EMB-145 aircraft or 9-seat Metroliner. “As directed by the RFP, we will offer the Alamosa community 12 non-stop round-trip flights per week in a Jet or 24 round-trip flights per week in the Metroliner for a new 2-year term with a 4-year option.”
Martin Gonzales will present the Francisco Maestas Case
An unveiling of a bronze relief “Cruzando Los Traquest,” which commemorates the school segregation case of Francisco Maestas, will be unveiled April 12 when retired District Court Judge Martin Gonzales presents the case as part of the Adams100 Speaker Series at Adams State.
An unveiling of the monument will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, in McDaniel Hall, northwest entrance. The presentation by Gonzales will follow in McDaniel Hall room 101. A lifelong resident and fifth-generation to the San Luis Valley, Judge Gonzales, chair of the Maestas Case Committee, has served the San Luis Valley for the entirety of his career. He retired from the bench on April 1. Ronnie Mondragon will join Gonzales for the presentation. Mondragon is a research attorney for the 12th Judicial District and an Alamosa native.
Gonzales talked about the Maestas Case as well as his career on a recent episode of The Valley Pod, a podcast by AlamosaCitizen.com. Read more here about Gonzales and listen to him talk about the Maestas case.
Artist Reynaldo “Sonny” Rivera
Downtown Pedestrian Safety Zone proposal
for Alamosa gets public hearing
The city of Alamosa’s recommendation to establish a Downtown Pedestrian Safety Zone gets a public hearing before city council Wednesday evening. This is part of Alamosa’s ongoing efforts to create a pedestrian-friendly downtown. The proposal would double fines for speeding along Main Street. To assist with pedestrian crossings on Main Street, the city is installing beacon crossing lights downtown at Main Street and San Juan and Main and Hunt. Alamosa also has worked out a plan with the Colorado Department of Transportation on lane striping.
Ahead of the 7 p.m. City Council meeting, Alamosa will hold a public workshop at 6 p.m. on short-term rentals. You can find the full city council agenda here.
Meet two of people behind the Frontier Drive-In project
“The Valley, in terms of Colorado, is still somewhat of an undiscovered gem. We want this to be a way to share that.” Luke Falcone and Adam Gildar are talking about the new Frontier Drive-In off Highway 285 near Center. They are two of the brains behind the project. It’s Luke Falcone’s family that is behind the development and Gildar is the on-site project manager who also brings a film background to the project.
We have future stories and podcast episodes in the works to explain more. Stay tuned.
Luke Falcone and Adam Gildar
OMS students helping in the community
Nanci Saxton Torres sent along photographs of Ortega Middle School students who are part of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) participating in a clean up day at Carroll Park in Alamosa. We appreciate receiving the photographs. If you have photos of students and groups doing good things in your community, send them along to info@alamosacitizen.com. We’d be happy to share.
OMS students
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