WELCOME to Monday and the return of warm Fall days and cool nights. Good to see the Grit of the Grizzlies show up in Durango on Saturday. It was important both for the university and the football program to see Adams State rebound with its first win of the young football season after an embarrassing loss the week before against the engineers from Mines.
Here are a few more news items to get the week started:
1. Alamosa County Commissioners, La Puente and Atencio’s Market
La Puente’s purchase of Atencio’s Market will be the subject of an Alamosa County Board of County Commissioners public hearing this week. It’s odd for the county to be conducting the public hearing since the transaction is occurring in the city of Alamosa. But it’s Alamosa County that has applied for Community Development Block Grant funding to help La Puente acquire Atencio’s Market located at 8th Street and State Avenue, not the city of Alamosa.
Hence Wednesday morning’s public hearing at the Board of County Commissioners meeting. The grocery market was slated to close whether it sold to La Puente or someone else. Junior Atencio, the proprietor of the store, was moving on one way or another. He told The Citizen he had a few people interested in purchasing the market. Here’s our original storyon the deal. We also discussed the development with La Puente Executive Director Lance Cheslock on this Valley Pod episode.
2. Alamosa City Council, Redistricting and the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census has the city of Alamosa moving forward with a redistricting process to ensure each city council ward has fair representation based on neighborhood populations. Now here’s where you come in. The city needs community volunteers to be on the redistricting committee that will review neighborhood populations and demographic information.
The redistricting committee will make a recommendation to the city council on how the ward boundaries should be drawn. Alamosa residents can apply here to serve on the redistricting committee. The deadline to apply is Oct. 5. The city council will select three residents from each of Alamosa’s four wards to serve on the committee. The committee is expected to meet for approximately six months. For more information, reach out to city planner Deacon Aspinwall at 719-589-6631.
3. The Francisco Maestas Case Commemoration
This Saturday, Oct. 1, a host of dignitaries will gather at the Alamosa County Judicial Center for a public dedication of a bronze relief to commemorate the first education desegregation case in the nation – the case of Francisco Maestas et al. v. George H. Shone et al. Retired District Court Judge Martín Gonzales (above) will speak to the historic significance of the case. He’ll be joined by a host of others, including academic researchers who helped bring the Maestas Case to light. You can hear Judge Gonzales talk about the historical significance of the case in the next episode of the Valley Pod, which streams beginning Tuesday.
4. SLV Foods Coalition, Frontier Drive-Inn and the town of Center
Lisa Marron, the dynamic leader of the San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition, has teamed up with the new Frontier Drive-Inn and its ringmaster Adam Gildar for what looks like an amazing lineup to celebrate the annual harvest in the SLV and all the cool art happening in and around the town of Center. The events are Friday and Saturday, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.
Billed as Local! +Scenaria Annual SLV Harvest Festival, this year’s celebration showcases a commissioned piece built by Ronald Rael at the Frontier Drive-Inn as well as a panel discussion of artists and filmmakers hosted by The Dish SLV and held at the long-shuttered Ford Motor Garage in Center. “The harvest celebration will be an extravaganza of food, film, music and art,” says Marron. It’s another coming out party for the Frontier and a look at the art houses coming together in Center. Need more information? Here’s a preview by The Citizen’s Madeleine Ahlborn.
5. Mark your calendar for Nov. 12 and the Alamosa Veterans Memorial Park Project
The good-hearted people behind the Alamosa Veterans Memorial Park Project will stage a 5K-10K run or walk to help raise money for this important effort. The fundraising event is scheduled for Nov. 12. Registration is here. Makes sense to appeal to the avid running and walking community of Alamosa and the greater San Luis Valley to help drive both awareness and needed dollars to make the project a reality. Here’s hoping for a full house to benefit the Alamosa Veterans Memorial Park Project.
6. ICYMI: DA candidate profiles
One of the core reasons Alamosa Citizen came to life a year ago was to help San Luis Valley voters receive as much information ahead of elections as possible. An informed electorate is the most powerful tool there is in the great experiment we call America, and voting is the core value behind the meaning of citizenship. To that end we offer these candidate profiles of Anne Kelly and Robert Willett in the 12th Judicial District Attorney’s race. Whether it’s hosting podcast episodes with candidates, presenting profiles, or answers to candidate questionnaires, we hope you’ll check in periodically with our Election 2022 coverage.
PHOTO by Madeleine Alborn: Autumn day on Middle Frisco Trail, Sept. 24
