The Roundup | With eyes wide open

Hello, and welcome back to The Roundup. In our last edition, we looked at local issues affected by federal decisions; in this edition, Aspen Journalism’s reporting looks at what has become “normal” and what is being done to improve the baseline. Stories have been flying off the Social Justice Desk as Eleanor Bennett and Kaya Williams cover important stories spanning New Castle to Aspen, and Laurine Lassalle writes for the Connie Harvey Environment Desk. If you see Connie, her birthday was Monday! Wish her a happy one. 

As the pandemic fades into the past, many still live within the fallout

Kaya Williams takes both a micro and macro approach to investigating the post-pandemic topography in the Roaring Fork Valley. In her story about socioeconomic changes ushered in by COVID, Williams writes, “The pandemic didn’t just exacerbate cost-of-living challenges of the Roaring Fork Valley. It exposed them, in stark contrast, accentuating the economic disparities that have long defined life in this community.” 

Interviews with local residents living with long-COVID, the ‘invisible illness’ changing the fabric of the Roaring Fork Valley with more than 200 possible health effects, illuminate how many are suffering debilitating symptoms that many don’t consider to be real. Long COVID is common — “extremely common,” according to Dr. Todd Davenport. In fact, it’s “probably the most common thing you (have) never heard of” estimated to be affecting hundreds of thousands of Coloradans. Thanks to Williams for illuminating this ongoing and isolating issue affecting our neighbors. 

Opening the eyes of the community to fentanyl

Another story by Eleanor Bennett for the Social Justice Desk follows El Jebel resident and founder of Aperture of Hope Cath Adams as she visits schools to raise awareness among teens and parents about fentanyl. Adams lost her daughter in 2020 to a fentanyl overdose. According to the CDC, overdose deaths from drugs like fentanyl remain the leading cause of death for people aged 18 to 44. In Pitkin, Garfield and Eagle counties, 30 people died from fentanyl-related overdoses between 2020 and 2023, according to Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment statistics. Many students shared the loss of friends and loved ones, wishing this kind of education was offered to them and their peers sooner.

There’s more traffic – but who’s driving?

We all feel the impacts of traffic, and amidst calls for solutions eight new artificial intelligence-enabled traffic counters provided by Rekor, a Maryland-based company specializing in roadway AI technology, have been set up across Pitkin County. The goal is to provide officials with a more detailed picture of traffic flows in the upper valley, as previously, the county’s only permanent traffic counters were located on Highway 82 at the entrance to Aspen and in Snowmass Canyon — and only provided raw data on the number of vehicles that passed by. The new counters, which use cameras, can differentiate between 13 vehicle classifications based on size and are deployed at multiple locations on the highway and along other roads used by commuters. The counters can provide an estimate of emissions based on the vehicle categories. A test sensor setup in 2023 near the airport showed that 30-40% of traffic consisted of heavier pickup trucks and large-panel vans — vehicles that are typically associated with construction and service trades.

New library trustee Tony Hershey selected amidst book-restriction controversy

The Glenwood Springs seat on the Garfield County Libraries board has been open since Jan. 1 after commissioners Tom Jankovsky and Mike Samson were unable to agree on whether to reappoint incumbent trustee Susan Use, a former librarian and teacher who served on libraries board for the past four years, or another of the nine applicants. After the latest round of candidate interviews, conducted Feb. 27, the library board once again recommended that the commissioners reappoint Use out of the four recent applicants. Although the commissioners thanked former trustee Use for her service, they also expressed disappointment that she and other members had not made certain changes in response to a citizens petition led by two local residents to restrict or remove books with parental advisory warnings. In their third appointment of a new library board trustee since late 2024, commissioners chose Tony Hershey, a long-time prosecutor with the district attorney’s office who is no stranger to local politics, having served on both the Glenwood Springs and Aspen city councils.

Cook Inclusive Company brings new resource center to New Castle

Carbondale-based LGBTQ+ and disabilities advocacy nonprofit Cook Inclusive launched a new resource center in New Castle with the intent to bring more inclusivity and acceptance to western Garfield County amid a rise in legislation targeting transgender and nonbinary people across the country and instances of local discrimination.

Thank you, as always, for reading and supporting the valley’s only nonprofit, investigative news origination.

– Curtis Wackerle
Editor and Executive Director
Aspen Journalism

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