THE Alamosa School Board was caught off guard by a survey pushed out this week by the Alamosa Education Association asking for input on a four-day school week for Alamosa schools.
At the end of Monday’s special school meeting, school board member April Gonzales asked for a school board discussion on a 4-day school week. She said she wasn’t aware that the Alamosa Education Association, a union for teachers, was sending out their survey and wanted the school board to discuss where it is with the idea of a 4-day school week.
The survey went out Monday to parents of Alamosa students asking for input on a 4-day school week. Alamosa is the only school district in the San Luis Valley that is not a 4-day school week.
The school board met in a special session to work out its negotiating position on property that is under discussion with Alamosa County.
Alamosa ARTscape accepting
artist applications
The city of Alamosa is accepting entries for the sixth annual Alamosa ARTscape outdoor public exhibit. Alamosa ARTscape is open to professional and amateur artists. Follow this link to apply: https://bit.ly/36iJ6IP. The application deadline is Feb. 21, 2022. For more information email dcortez@ci.alamosa.co.us.
Artscape Alamosa
Adams State targets adults over 50
with Next Fifty Initiative
Shake off the winter cloak and grab a paintbrush, hammer, dancing shoes, or your appetite and sign up for free workshops through the Adams State University Next Fifty Initiative for adults over 50. See the list of options below:
Dance and Core strengthening classes
- Yula Cisneros Montoya is teaching dance and core strengthening classes. She has a BFA in dance from Cornish College of the Arts. She has more than 20 years of experience as a dancer, performer, and educator who teaches specialized dance techniques in ballet, modern, African, and Afro-Latino dance aesthetics. Pilates: Feb. 15, March 1 and March 15; dance class mixing Cuban and Africanist: Feb. 25; Kwassa Kwassa dance: March 9; Passada dance: April 8; Fandango dance: April 22.
Orient Land Trust field trip
- Chayan Lahiri, Adams State assistant professor of geoscience, has planned a field trip through two billion years of geologic history of the San Luis Valley on April 2. Participants will take a one-mile hike north of the Orient Land Trust. Throughout the hike, stops will be made to look at geologic features/landforms and view glacial and fluvial features.
Art and cooking classes
- Local artist Coni Grant is offering two painting classes, February 28 and March 12.
- Woodworker Jim Relyea will help participants build a house for birds or bats or construct a step stool on March 4 and 5.
- Retired science teacher Barbara Kruse will lead a class in sauerkraut and cheese making at the new food lab on Feb. 25. On March 9, she will share her experience working at the USDA National Seed Storage Lab and will demonstrate seed purity and germination tests. If you have a home remedy you would like to share and learn about others, sign-up for Kruse’s class on April 1.
- Robin Wolfe has taught art education classes at Adams State. Her fast and fun printmaking class will cover drypoint etching on February 21 and 28. She will present a course on creating art that can calm your soul on March 7.
Dancing classes
- Oneyda Maestas has been teaching salsa dance classes for over a decade. She will get participants moving on March 11, April 1 and 29. Zumba classes are scheduled for March 2, 16, 30 and April 13 and 27. She will also host essential oil courses on Feb. 22, March 8 and 29, and April 5.
Gardening classes
- Bonnie Belle will get your garden started early on April 20 with her class, transplanting seedlings. Whether or not you are a Shakespeare aficionado, Brain Underwood will spark conversation and engage his participants on April 22.
To register for a workshop or for more information follow this link: https://www.adams.edu/academics/professional-continuing-education/nextfifty/.
If you need assistance with registration, please contact Savannah Torres, NextFifty Initiative activity coordinator, at storres@adams.edu or 719-587-7686. The program is funded with a $129,959 grant from NextFifty Initiative, a private Colorado-based foundation that supports projects benefiting people age 50 and older.
CDOT continues
work on US Highway 160
The Colorado Department of Transportation will continue to perform crack sealing operations on US Highway 160 just east of Monte Vista, mile points 217-222. Work will take place weekdays, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., through the end of February. Allow for extra travel time as intermittent closures will be enforced to allow crews to work on the highway.
Traffic Impacts: Drivers will encounter full stops. Flagging personnel will guide traffic through the work zone. Up to 15-minute delays are anticipated. A reduced speed of 40 MPH will be in place and drivers should slow down and use extreme caution when approaching and driving through the work zone. Motorists are urged to be aware of crews working on the highway with heavy equipment.
Formal complaint filed
against district attorney
Rocky Mountain Victims Law Center has filed an official complaint with Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office against the 12th Judicial District Attorney. RMVLC is “requesting a formal investigation into the deliberate indifference and pattern of repeated violations of crime victims’ rights” by District Attorney Alonzo Payne and his office.
The RMVLC claims that “Mr. Payne and his office have engaged in a consistent and repeated practice of denying crime victims their constitutional and statutory rights.”
Lawrence Pacheco, director of communications for the Colorado Attorney General, said that “the attorney general’s office is aware of complaints that the District Attorney’s Office in the 12th Judicial District violated crime victims’ rights under the Colorado Victim Rights Act. We’ll have more to say on this matter soon.”
The 12th Judicial District Attorney’s Office couldn’t be reached for comment at this time.
In the complaint, nine court cases are listed that highlight alleged violations against the Crime Victims Rights Act. RMVLC states that this is the first time in 30 years a complaint of this nature has been submitted to the Colorado AG’s office.
