Good News, Bad News…

Good News:
Crested Butte, Mt. Crested Butte and Gunnison landed a cool event this past week. The Quiznos Pro Challenge road bike race selected our three towns to be highlighted in its inaugural event next August. It will bring some exposure, some excitement and some people to the valley. A communal effort impressed the powers that be and they apparently liked the idea of Crested Buttians dressing up. That shouldn’t be too hard. Hello Dawne!

Good News:
Yeah, Kathleen Curry. She is in a scrap to keep the Colorado House District 61 seat as a write-in candidate. That’s not easy and I’ve talked to several people here who I thought would have voted for her but wanted the assurance of one of their party in the seat. Instead of going out there and sending a message, they played it safe. That’s understandable and a legitimate strategy. But, hopefully more people tried to send a strong political message but neglected to color in the oval by the write-in line. And after a new count of votes, we will be fortunate if Curry is declared the winner and represents us with her knowledge and experience in Denver. I would bet on a recount, however… that’s how close this race will likely end up. We should know more next week.

Bad News:
A longtime public servant was let go in Mt. Crested Butte this week. The director of Community Development, Bill Racek, was a casualty in a poor financial situation. Bill always shot from the hip and wasn’t afraid to challenge developers and even his own council when it came to the town. He challenged them out of respect for the public and the rules of the town. That sometimes rubbed people the wrong way. We always appreciated his honesty at the newspaper and we will miss his straight talk up there.
Unfortunately, that decision could be the first of many similar decisions across the board as the economy in the valley doesn’t seem to be blasting through the roof any time soon. It could be a sign of a new normal and none of us want that… right?

Bad News:
George W. Bush is out there selling his new book. Asked by Oprah Winfrey whether he regretted the decision to invade Iraq based on unfounded intelligence that leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, Bush admitted feeling “terrible” and “sickened” about being wrong on the weapons, but blamed Hussein.
“I’ll tell you what was wrong. Saddam Hussein deceived everybody. He didn’t want people to know he did not have them … which is strange because I made it clear to him to let the (arms) inspectors in or we’ll remove you from power and he didn’t believe me, sadly,” Bush said.
I tell you what’s strange and sad… The apparent diplomatic understanding and sophistication of W Bush. Maybe the fact Iran was “deceived” by Saddam kept that country in check and there was a tenuous balance of power in that tinderbox of a region. “He didn’t want people to know he did not have them…” No kidding?! And perhaps that is part of gamesmanship on a world level and things would have been different if Cheney, I mean, Bush, understood more shades of grey. And perhaps Iran wouldn’t be the nuclear irritant it is today. And perhaps America wouldn’t be squandering its dollars and its young people over there in a bad, ultimately unnecessary war. Sad.

So, as in most of life, there is good news and bad news. We try to touch on both. Hey, it’s starting to look like winter outside. That’s both good news and bad news. Are you ready? The ski area will open in less than two weeks. Here we go…