Hot thoughts

Let’s start with Cash Lamar. The eight-year-old kid left his hometown last January in an ambulance and a flight-for-life plane. He gets back in town Thursday. There will be a parade in his honor Friday afternoon. He won’t be in an ambulance. He will be riding in a sweet convertible. That’s hot.

There is a town in Australia by the name of Coober Pedy. It is a major opal mining community in the desert outback. Many of its residents live underground because it is so dang hot there. Walking the dog along Gibson’s Ridge Tuesday afternoon, I wondered if that was the future of all humans. If it is this hot here at 8,880 feet above sea level in June, what’s our destiny? Crispy.

No one can emphasize enough the fire danger out there. The days are absolutely gorgeous but with no rain and too much wind, one little ash from a cigarette can change everything. So, be aware and be careful out there. We don’t want to find ourselves on 9News every night for being the latest wildfire hot spot in the state.

The recent idea of all the local governments pitching in to help subsidize the local air program is a bit of a heated issue. I understand the need for the planes flying in here. I appreciate the show of community cooperation to address a need. But it is a tricky situation when governments spend public monies on something that already has a public taxing entity to address the situation. I covered some of the old RTA meetings and frankly, it seemed to me that the previous executives at the ski resort pushed and pushed until the local politicians on the RTA at the time folded and didn’t just dip but drained the reserves to fund what appeared to be over-priced contracts negotiated by the ski resort.
And Monday I learned at a Town Council meeting that the ski resort was surprised that it wouldn’t have to pay the entire $1.3 million guarantee from last season. In fact, they got a “surprise” $736,000 back. That’s great news but should have shifted the discussion at the council meeting last Monday. That “surprise” is eight times the shortfall. Good news for the resort. Congrats. But, if I had been on the council Monday night, I’d be offering the win-win solution of taking $89,000 out of that three-quarter of a million dollar surprise and covering the “shortfall.” It’s still not a bad “surprise.”
The horse seems to have left the barn on this one but the biggest thing at this point is to make sure it is a one-time deal for the local governments.

Can’t wait to see the Chainless. Both of them?

Love the combo of warm nights and outdoor seating on Elk. Kudos to David Leinsdorf for pushing the idea.

The USA Pro Challenge bike race is coming back August and it was announced this week that this year the event is being covered by NBC Sports. This means more coverage to a broader audience for everyone in the valley. And that is pretty cool.