Watch for a week of normal late-winter weather for the Great San Luis Valley – daytime temps in the 60s with a bit of afternoon wind. The overnight temperatures will barely hit freezing. It’s calving season in the ranching fields. The official start to spring is March 20. More below:
1. Early women of the San Luis Valley
Maria Dolores Ballejos; Florence McIntire; Lizzie and Emma Hansen; Chipeta, wife of Ouray, the great Ute chief. Barb Kruse tells the stories of these extraordinary women in her latest monthly installment of 150 Years in the Valley. “These women had all the dreams and hopes for life as women today; however their main efforts were focused on survival. They maintained households and livestock despite danger and starvation or the deaths of spouses and children, supporting their families through sheer determination.” It is a compelling read as we mark 150 years of Colorado statehood.
2. The Valley Pod: John Mestas
John Mestas is definitely one of the most interesting young people in the San Luis Valley. The 17-year-old grandson of the cattle rancher John Mestas will graduate in May from Antonito and is headed to Fort Lewis College in the fall. In this episode of The Valley Pod, young Mestas gives a master class on the archeological wonderments of Colorado’s oldest territory. Listen in. We think he’ll amaze you.
3. Groundbreaking tech grant
Scott Schweizer is the tech magician behind a major federal grant Alamosa School District landed through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Distance Learning and Telemedicine program, which targets rural populations of 20,000 or less. The USDA grant for $711,000 will help pay for a joint tech venture between Alamosa School District, South Conejos, Sierra Grande and Moffat school districts. “This is breaking new ground. This is opening up new possibilities,” says Schweizer, chief information officer for Alamosa Schools.
4. Local building codes for wildfire mitigation
Alamosa City Council has scheduled a work session for Wednesday, March 11, to discuss how Colorado’s wildfire resilience codes affect local municipal building codes. The city must adopt the state codes by April 1. The city “highly encourages” anyone who has an opinion or questions on this topic to attend this public meeting either in person or via Zoom. Alamosa is trying to understand how the codes will apply to new construction and exterior renovations of properties, and whether an expanded part of the city limits is subject to the wildfire code.
5. Open house on highway access plan postponed
Alamosa and the Colorado Department of Transportation have postponed a joint open house the two governmental entities had scheduled for March 26 on the Highway 160 and 285 access control plan. Local businesses along the highway corridors through Alamosa have been up in arms over CDOT’s initial draft of how motorists would access local stores. Alamosa said a new date and time will be announced “after more property-specific public outreach is completed.” In other words, CDOT and Alamosa are having more direct confabs with local businesses to hear directly from them on how to adjust the plan.
6. Big crowds for Crane Fest
Monte Vista saw big crowds for the 43rd annual Crane Festival. The Outcalt Event and Conference at Ski Hi Complex was teeming with people participating in the crane tours and nature work sessions. The retail vendors reported healthy sales. The sandhill cranes themselves didn’t disappoint. The majestic long-legged creatures were in the tens of thousands in the fields around the Monte Vista Wildlife Refuge. The cranes will stick around a bit longer. The crowds will be back for Stampede in Monte Vista.
7. From The Sports Page
- Great Eight matchups
Six high school teams from the Valley made it to the Great Eight of the Colorado High School state basketball championships. Alamosa girls will play University on Wednesday at the Denver Coliseum in a Class 4A matchup. On Thursday, Sargent girls take on Sedgwick County and Sanford plays Plateau Valley in Class 2A girls; Centauri and Salida square off in Class 3A girls; Sierre Grande plays Nucla in Class 1A boys; and Sanford against Limon in Class 2A boys. Good luck to all the teams.
- Grizzlies head to wrestling nationals
Adams State is sending six wrestlers to this week’s NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships in Sioux Falls, S.D. Isaiah Gamez at 125 pounds enters as the top seed in his bracket. Also on the mat for Adams State will be Jakob Romero at 133 pounds, Kieran Thompson at 141 pounds, Angel Flores at 149 pounds, Aaden Valdez at 157 pounds and Ben Tonnessen at 197 pounds. Opening round matches are Friday, March 13, at the Denny Sanford Premier Center.