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KAREN DAY
CO-PUBLISHER is also an interior designer who has created interiors
featured in House Beautiful and Metropolitan Home. Her Aspen
interior design projects have included the Hotel Lenado; the home of architect
Bill Poss and Jayne Poss; homes of Don and Martha Miller at Wyly Ranch,
Little Woody Creek, and in Dallas; two interiors for the homes of movie
actress Sally Field, and one interior forSally's
log cabin.
One of Karen's larger interior projects
for multi-family housing was Marolt Ranch for the City of Aspen. She also
designs furniture and has it built to spec for clients. See link below
for photos.
Karen Day Designer
Photos
KEEP SCROLLING WAY BELOW THE CHAOS OF STORIES UPLOADED FROM ASPEN
FREE PRESS STREET EDITIONS TO WHAT'S BEEN WRITTEN IN OTHER PUBLICATIONS
ABOUT "ASPEN'S WORST NEWSPAPER" SINCE ITS WOBBLY INCEPTION
IN THE THIRD PARKED CAR FROM THE CORNER AT MAIN AND MONARCH IN 1982.
JUNE 11, 2006 UPDATE - - ATTENTION ASPEN
FREE PRESS READERS. Be proud! You can always tell Aspen Free Press
readers by the way they move their lips when they read! Anyway, here's
the announcement: Don't look for the Aspen Free Press on the streets
until late summer and even then only sparingly. Publisher Sterling Greenwood
is applying for Social Security and will be cutting back his schedule.
He has entered a food abuse rebab clinic situated in the mountains of
Central Mexico near the village of Tesquisquiappan (don't even try to
pronounce it). Greenwood, who enjoys "the challenge of the uncertain,"
which Mexico affords, carries 160 pounds on a 5'11" frame and hopes
to be L.A.-homeless-victim thin at 145 pounds when he completes the center's
stringent food abuse therapy program -- daily injections of a centuries-old
Chinese herbal concoction laced with ma juang ie ephedra, a substance
now banned for use as an appetite suppressant in the U.S because it costs
the junk food industry big $$$$ annually in unsold product. (Didn't 300,000
Americans die prematurely of obesity-related afflictions last year? And,
do you ever wonder why any substances, once they're shown to curb food
appetites, become increasingly difficult to get?) "In Aspen,"
Greenwood says, "the only sin is being fat and I don't want to take
any chances."
"Besides," he continues, "I have prostate
cancer and my Uncle Clarence always said that to beat cancer you have
to starve the bastard. You sure as hell don't hand-feed it like a pet.
Treat it like visiting in-laws. Don't keep anything
around they liketo eat." Greenwood emphasizes that he is not a health
care professional, but "just a patient stumbling around in this goat
dance," so readers with prostate cancer or any other kind of cancer
for that matter should be advised to consult their physicians before acting
on any information gleaned here. And the beat rolls on . . . .
ARCHIVED
ISSUES
O..J'S
ASPEN VACATION,
Little Nell Hotel January 11, 2005
ASPEN'S
INNER GONZO -- IN THE NEW YORK TIMES,CLICK HERE.
FOR CUTTING EDGE INFO
ON PROSTATE CANCER (NO PUN INTENDED) GO TO WWW.PSA-RISING.COM,CLICK HERE.
HUNTER
THOMPSON FUNERAL CANNON BLAST -- A PRIVATE SERVICE AT OWL FARM. KEEP
SCROLLING FOR ASPEN FREE PRESS PHOTO.
VERNON
(TX) DAILY RECORD ARTICLE
ASPEN
FREE PRESS/CITIZEN COPE ARCHIVE
MORE
CITIZEN COPE LINKS
BULLETINS -- NOTHING SO
FAR TODAY, THANKFULLY, , KEEP CHECKING.
MOVIES TONIGHT -- NO MOVIE
REVIEWS TODAY. BESIDES, . THIS IS THE KIND OF DAY TO SIT UNDER A TIN ROOF,
EAT PIMENTO CHEESE SANDWICHES AND EAT SNOW ICE CREAM.
BEST BUYS -- HO HUM.THERE ARE
SOME SUPER DEALS IN ASPEN ON RESTYLANE INJECTIONS.AND SOME SPECIALS ARE
EXPECTED SOON, TOO, ON CAVERJET INJECTIONS. KEEP CHECKING HERE FOR UPDATES.
CAVERJET TO VIAGRA IS LIKE A LEAR JET TO A VOLKS. BUT BE CAREFUL. YOU
MAY WIND UP AT THE EMERGENCY ROOM AT ASPEN VALLEY HOSPITAL, PLEADING WITH
DOCS TO "PLEASE JUST MAKE IT GO BACK DOWN." DISCLAIMER: WE ARE
NOT HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS AT THE ASPEN FREE PRESS, BUT WE DO
UNDERSTAND A MAN'S PAIN WHEN HIS MALE MEMBER GETS SO STIFF THAT IT'S NECESSARY
HE BE STRAPPED TO THE CEILING OF HIS BATHROOM WHEN HE PEES IN ORDER TO
HIT THE COMMODE.. BEFORE ACTING ON ANY MEDICAL INFO HERE, CHECK WITH YOUR
PHYSICIAN.
KOBE'S 'TENT CITY' KEEPS EAGLE/VAIL ECONOMY
BOOMING
(uploaded from street edition 10/16/03)
BY STERLING GREENWOOD
EAGLE, CO., Oct. 16, 2003 -- He went out fast, but not
fast enough. There was a lunch break in Kobe's prelim and cat-quick Dan
Abrams of MSNBC lurched for the courtroom door. He was first out of the
courthouse, but ut Fox's Rita Cosby, at near to a gallop in spiked heels,
overtook him and me both once outside on the straight-away. With her apparent
heft, Cosby could have slung the compact Abrams over her shoulder and
still kept on truckin' in this insane foot-race to get out the news.
Abrams is the MSNBC newscaster covering the Kobe case.
He'd been madly scribbling notes all through the hearing.
Then, in a flash, after he gets to the MSNBC tent, he alights
on an elevated makeshift stage. Notebook in hand, Abrams goes on the air
delivering an extemporaneous account of the morning's courtroom drama.
What the TV viewer can't se is the MSNBC crew in the background. They
look like a bunch of grunges -- bottles and other gunk litter the various
tables out of view of the camera as Abrams does his thing on national
TV. In fact if you could see Abrams below the waist, you'd know he was
wearing faded jeans under that fancy blazer.
That's the way it is in all the tents for media bigshots
and commentators.
There are TV news tents everywhere from seemingly everywhere.
If somebody threw in a ferris wheel and and some bumper cars, this place
would look like a carnival. Or a county fair where you go from tent to
tent and sample homemade pies and cakes, on of which will get a blue ribbon.
Across the road is a big lot jammed with satellite dishes aimed at the
heavens, suggesting nothing so much as one of those eerie outer space
flicks of the fifties. The Vail Daily is 62 pages today, plus four multi-page
color inserts. Wow! Eagle/Vail is booming. The Vail Daily is owned by
the same Reno, Nev., concern that owns the Aspen Times which has 36 pages
today. If only the Aspen Daily News and the Aspen Free Press didn't exist,
maybe the Times would be larger.
In downtown Eagle, at a grill which reminds me of Aspen's
Red Onion, the boisterous news hounds at the next table order a pitcher.
"God bless the pharmacy," one yells, holding up
a glass of beer. "Here's to Rush!"
There's a sign in the window, "Welcome Hunters."
Does that mean us?
Much later I find myself in the courtroom alone. The drama
is over for now. The curtain is closed. I am in an empty opera house.
Some of the players are getting vague and unreal. No matter. I'll file
reports again from Eagle/Vail next week. But, let me leave you with this
one thought: Marcia Clark is a helluva lot sexier in person than on TV.
AND THE BEAT ROLLS ON . . . .
YO ARROYO! PART 2
uploaded from street edition 9/19/03
BY STERLING GREENWOOD 9/19/2003
I FIND CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY CHIP MCCRORY IN HIS
OFFICE ON MAIN.
I TOSS ONTO HIS DESK A MULTI-PAGE PORTION OF THE NCIC
RAP-SHEET, DATED 07/25/01, OF PITKIN COUNTY JAIL INMATE MARTIN ARROYO.
MCCRORY, FORMERLY CHIEF DEPUTY DA IN ASPEN, RIFLES THROUGH
IT, LOOKING AT ALL THE CASES LISTED, INCLUDING TWO FOR HEROIN AND ONE
FOR ROBBERY WHICH DREW A SIX-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE IN TEXAS.
'IT COULD BE A DIFFERENT MARTIN ARROYO,' HE SAYS.
HE'S CORRECT.
IT IS A DIFFERENT MARTIN ARROYO. OR RATHER A LOT OF DIFFERENT
GUYS WITH THE NAME MARTIN ARROYO.
AND NOTHING ON THESE PAGES ANYWAY -- WHICH WERE THE ONLY
ONES PROVIDED ME BY ARROYO -- APPLIES TO THE MARTIN ARROYO WHO IS NOW
LOCKED UP ON RECENT DOMESTIC CHARGES INVOLVING AN ASPEN WOMAN AS THE ALLEGED
VICTIM.
NAMES LIKE 'MARTIN,' AND 'ARROYO,' AREN'T UNUSUAL, SAYS
MCCRORY, AND WHEN YOU PUT THEM TOGETHER INTO THE CRIMINAL DATA BANK, ALONG
WITH A DATE OF BIRTH, "MATHEMATICALLY THERE'S GOING TO BE A LOT OF
THEM," HE SAYS, "LOTS OF TIMES A FINGERPRINT COMPARISON DOESN'T
GET DONE." MCCRORY ADDS, "IT EVEN COULD BE A DIFFERENT MARTIN
ARROYO AND THE FINGERPRINTS MATCH UP."
AT THE JAIL, I INTERVIEW ARROYO. HE'S BI-LINGUAL AND
HAS BECOME SOMETHING OF A JAILHOUSE LAWYER. HE RESISTS BEING REPRESENTED
BY THE PUBLIC DEFENDER -- WHOM HE REFERS TO AS 'WRONGWAY' CONWAY -- IN
HIS PENDING DOMESTIC CASE. AND THE ERRONEOUS RAP-SHEET RESTS AT THE HEART
OF HIS INTRANSIGENCE.
ARROYO SAYS HE HAD MISDEMEANORS, BUT NO FELONY CONVICTIONS
PRIOR TO A DOMESTIC BLOWUP WITH HIS THEN GIRLFRIEND AT NEWCASTLE IN JULY
OF 2001. INITIALLY MISDEMEANOR CHARGES WERE FILED AGAINST HIM IN THE MATTER;
HE GOT FREE ON A $1,500 BOND, HE SAYS, AND WAS DETERMINED, HE SAYS, TO
FIGHT THE CHARGES IN COURT. HE GOT A JOB AND A PLACE TO LIVE IN GLENWOOD
SRINGS, HE SAYS, BUT WAS INFORMED LATER THAT HIS BOND HAD BEEN REVOKED.
THE DA, APPARENTLY, HAD FILED NEW FELONY CHARGES IN THE WAKE OF A FOLLOWUP
POLICE INTERVIEW WITH THE GIRLFRIEND WHO TOLD THEM OF AN EARLIER INCIDENT
INVOLVING ALLEGED MENACING BY ARROYO WITH A FIRE EXTINGUISHER.
ARROYO WAS RE-ARRESTED AND COULDN'T MAKE THE NEW FELONY
BAIL OF $6,000, HE SAYS. HE FIGURES THE DA WANTED HIM IN JAIL WHERE HE
WOULD BE FORCED TO COP A PLEA IN ORDER TO GET OUT. ONCE IN JAIL, ARROYO
SAYS, HE WENT BEFORE A JUDGE AND ASKED FOR A BOND REDUCTION. THE JUDGE
SAID NO.
"I KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG WHEN THE JUDGE SAID I HAD A FAILURE TO APPEAR IN MONTE VISTA, AND I'D NEVER BEEN TO MONTE VISTA," HE SAYS. "I WAS IGNORANT AND DIDN'T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON OR WHAT TO ASK."
ARROYO SAYS PUBLIC DEFENDER JAMES CONWAY ENCOURAGED HIM
TO SIGN A PLEA BARGAIN WHICH WOULD INCLUDE A GUILTY PLEA TO FELONY MENACING
(WITH A FIRE EXTINGUISHER) PLUS A DEFERRED JAIL SENTENCE AND PROBATION.
(EFFORTS TO REACH CONWAY FOR THIS SERIES HAVE BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL).
"I FELT LIKE I COULD BEAT THE CHARGES," ARROYO
SAYS, "BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO SPEND SEVERAL MONTHS IN JAIL WAITING
FOR THE TRIAL SO I SIGNED. I NEVER SAW THE NCIC (FLAWED) PRINTOUT. I NEVER
KNEW IT EXISTED."
MCCRORY SAYS, "THE FIRST THING YOU DO AS A DEFENSE
ATTORNEY, YOU GET THAT (RAP-SHEET) FROM THE DA AND TALK TO YOUR CLIENT.
THE FIRST THING YOU WANT TO KNOW IS WHAT YOUR CLIENT'S DONE. IF THE DA
DIDN'T PROVIDE IT (THE RAP-SHEET), IT'S A DISCOVERY VIOLATION."
THEORIZING THAT THE PUBLIC DEFENDER, CONWAY, SAW THE
FLAWED RAP-SHEET, MCCRORY SAYS, "IF THERE HAD BEEN TWO PRIOR FELONY
CONVICTIONS (AS THE RAP-SHEET INDICATED), A DEFERRED SENTENCE PLEA-BARGAIN
WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOOD DEAL." HE EXPLAINS THAT A CONVICTION AT TRIAL
UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES WOULD HAVE MEANT A STIFF PRISON SENTENCE WITH
NO PROBATION UNLESS THE DA AGREED.
A YEAR OR SO LATER, AFTER ANOTHER BLOWUP AT NEWCASTLE WITH
THE SAME GIRLFRIEND, ARROYO FACED FELONY MENACING CHARGES AGAIN. THIS
TIME THE WEAPON ALLEGEDLY WAS A CLAW HAMMER. ARROYO RETAINED PRIVATE ATTORNEY
KATHY GOUDY WHO CONFIRMED TO THIS NEWSPAPER THAT ARROYO'S 7/25/01 RAP-WHEET
HAD BEEN IN ERROR. ARROYO SAYS HE LEARNED OF THE FLAWED NCIC PRINTOUT
FROM HER.
A JURY ACQUITTED HIM OF FIVE OF THE SIX NEWSCASTLE CHARGES,
INCLUDING THE FELONY MENACING (WITH A CLAW HAMMER). HE WAS CONVICTED OF
A MISDEMEANOR -- HARASSMENT -- 'INSULTS, TAUNTS AND CHALLENGES.' BUT THE
CONVICTION WAS A PROBATION VIOLATION BASED ON ARROYO'S EARLIER PLEA-BARGAIN,
AND HE WENT BACK TO JAIL IN GLENWOOD SPRINGS, BUT NOT BEFORE HIS THROAT
ALLEGEDLY GOT SLASHED IN AN UNRELATED ALLEGED MURDER ATTEMPT. (PART 3
SOON)
late-breaking bulletin -- aspen furrier kathy denson 'not guilty' 8/25/03
BY STERLING GREENWOOD
EAGLE, CO., 8/22/03 -- Writer Jack Kerouac followed Denver
speed freak Neal Cassady everywhere, taking notes.
Coast to Coast they roamed. And even into Mexico.
The novel, "On the road," resulted.
It depicted Cassady as a Dionysian. . . a jazz lover with
an oil-burner drug habit, who drove fast and talked faster, a veritable
heart-break kid for a series of women scattered from hell to breakfast
like so many pieces of discarded tissue paper.
In "On the Road," Kerouac invested Cassady's wild-man
traits into the fictional character Dean Moriarty. Sometimes on the pair's
low-roller trips, Kerouac and Cassady hitch-hiked. Sometimes they'd contract
to drive somebody's car cross-coutry. And sometimes Cassady would hot-wire
a car in Denver for a drive into the Rockies to spend time in towns like
Aspen and Black Hawk.
I couldn't keep Cassady out of my mind this morning as
I sat in the austere Eagle County courtroom and listened to murder trial
testimony recounting the life of drug-addled Texas pretty boy Gerald Cody
Boyd, who wandered into the Rockies, leaving a trail of broken female
hearts, only to wind up with his own heart broken -- by a bullet from
a 44-caliber black powder revolver -- after he showed up coked up at a
former girlfriend's ranch "to pick up something he forgot,"
the saying goes, "and it ran flat-assed over him.
Enter criminal defense attorney Scott Robinson, representing
Kathy Denson, wealthy owner of the Draggin A Ranch, plus several fur stores
in Aspen and Vail, now on trial for alleged second degree murder in connection
with the shooting death of Cody Boyd in her ranch home. She could get
16 to 48 years.
The last time I covered one of attorney Scott Robinson's
trials was a decade or so ago in Denver where he defended James King,
a former Denver police officer accused of killing a slew of security guards
at a bank there and making of with tens of thousands of dollars in a robbery
known as the "Father's Day Massacre."
King, also a former security guard at the bank himself,
didn't have an alibi, in my dim recollection of the trial, other than
that he was driving around Denver looking for his chess club meeting,
apparently unaware that his club had disbanded two years earlier. There
were bank tellers at the trial who had told cops they could identify King
as the robber but, under skillful cross examination by Robinson, seemed
to change their minds. Robinson exuded the image of your ideal next door
neighbor, with JFK hair and youthfulness. He seemed to be on nobody's
side, not even his client's. His attitude seemed to convey, "I just
want to get to the bottom of this and see what really happened. Let's
all put our heads together and figure it out." Within the first ten
minutes Robinson had the members of the jury sewed up, so far as gaining
their trust. It was suposed to be an "open and shut case," against
King. But King never even took the stand and Robinson walked him out of
there a free man after the jury returned a "not guilty," verdict.
One of DA's prosecuting King, in what may have been a post-trial
breakdown, was nabbed a few days later for allegedly trying to steal a
vacuum cleaner from Sears. I don't know the outcome of the prosecutor's
predicament. He may have retained attorney Scott Robinson and got off.
Or the whole thing about the vacuum may have been a big misunderstanding.
Whatever, at least the Denver prosecutor made it through all of King's
trial, which is more than I can say right now for Eagle Deputy DA, Greg
Crittenden, himself pitted against attorney Scott Robinson in the prosecution
of Kathy Denson here. As I sit typing this in the Denny's parking lot
at Avon, where I spent last night, I've just learned that Deputy DA Crittenden
has suffered a seizure this morning, and that closing statements in the
trial, which were scheduled to commence today, have been postponed until
Monday.
Kathy Denson is pleading self-defense in the trial. She
also has testified that Cody (who has described himself on occasion as
a hit man) told Kathy he would kill her son if she didn't give him $300,000.
The day before the murder, Cody who was then living with
Monique Seebacher, approached Kathy for money to open a pawn shop, according
to Kathy's testimony. He also needed Kathy's gun safe, she said. He wanted
her to give him "Dimples," the Peterbilt truck she had bought
for his use. He intimated that someone needed to help him buy a house
in Vail, Kathy testified. "I didn't want to fund the things he wanted
to do," Kathy said. The next day, the day of the shooting, Cody arrived
uninvited, according to Kathy. The two argued as they sat at a glass top
antler table in Kathy's house. The gun, an antique replica revolver, sat
on the table.
"Is your son's life worth $300,000?" Cody asked
Cathy, according to her testimony.
She described the scene: "Cody pushed me back, the
rolled back and tipped over the plant. I grabbed the gun. Mitchell, (a
family friend) called. Kathy told him, "It's OK," and I hung
up the phone. "I set the gun down. Cody grabbed it. I grabbed it
out of his hand." Said Cody, "You're going to hurt yourself
with this." He walked away, then came toward her. "If you won't
give me the money, then we'll start with you first," he said. Those
were his last words. She fired one shot.
"I thought he would kill me if I didn't shoot him,"
she said. "He was falling backwards and backwards, farther and farther.
I thought he was faking. I meant to pull the trigger, I meant to shoot
him, but I didn't mean to kill him. I remember him dead everyday."
When Gerald Cody Boyd's mother, Mary Jo Boyd, took the stand
several days earlier, she said about her son, "He loved the ladies
and the ladies loved him. She said Cody had told her once he was a "hit
man," but she figured it was the "tequila talking. She described
him as even-tempered "like his father," but that drugs broke
up his second marriage. . .that he was a long-haul trucker and he started
taking pills to stay awake in order to make deliveries on schedule. "He
hated the drugs," she said. "He was afraid that without them
he would lose his job." She said he told her once that he had some
grass he wasn't going to smoke because Willie Nelson gave it to him. She
also said he played guitar and jammed one day in her Austin home with
a dark-haired man whom she later learned was Jerry Garcia.
How long was Cody divorced the second time? "Not long,"
she said, "the next wife, Debbie, lived across the street. Mary Jo
Boyd said Cody had known and liked Debbie since fifth grade. On page 1
of today's issue Debbie Griffith is pictured. Debbie married movie actress
Melanie Griffith's father after she and Cody divorced. Debbie, who was
married to Cody nearly ten years, testified that Cody never exhibited
violent behavior with her, even though she had once filed a restraining
order on him. Debbie has filed a suit against Kathy (also pictured on
pg. 1) on behalf of Cody's and her daughter, Callie, age 12. In another
photo on pg 1 is Monique Seebacher, Cody's girlfriend at the time he and
Kathy were breaking up. Monique was also an employee of Kathy's at one
of the fur stores (and resides in a condo owned by Kathy) but Kathy fired
her after the shooting. Monique gave Cody a $1,000 gold chain. Kathy gave
Cody $100,000 cash, a $5,500 Rolex watch, a $600 ring, several guns and
a place to live. In closing, concerning Cody's appeal to women, this excerpt
from "On the Road," comes to mind:
". . . . . . because the only people for me are
the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved,
desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say
a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles
exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the
blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!'"
KEEP SCROLLING FOR ARCHIVES STORIES SINCE
1982, ABOUT THE ASPEN FREE PRESS, WHICH APPEARED IN ROCKY
MOUNTAIN NEWS, THE NEW YORK TIMES, COWBOYS&INDIANS, ASPEN THE MAGAZINE ETC.
. MARTIN
ARROYO RESISTED HELPING DA PROSECUTE THE ATTORNEY DONALD BRANSON ON CHARGES
OF FIRST-DEGREE ATTEMPTED MURDER AND FIRST DEGREE ASSAULT.
BY STERLING GREENWOOD (6/4/03)
IN THE DAYS AND WEEKS FOLLOWING THE
ALLEGED KNIFE ATTEMPT ON THE LIFE MARTIN ARROYO, LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES
REMAINED UNABLE TO SECURE ARROYO'S COOPERATION IN THE PROSECUTION OF THE
DEFENDANT, ATTORNEY DONALD E BRANSON.
THE PROSECUTION NEEDED A BLOOD SAMPLE
FROM ARROYO TO COMPARE TO THE BLOOD FOUND AT THE ALLEGED CRIME SCENE,
A REMOTE AREA OUTDOORS NEAR OLD SNOWMASS.
ARROYO BALKED.
AND AT ONE POINT, JOE DISALVO, PITKIN
COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT CHIEF INVESTIGATOR, PONDERED RETRIEVING FROM
HIS OFFICE WASTE BASKET A BLOODY THROW-AWAY NAPKIN INTO WHICH ARROYO HAD
BLOWN HIS NOSE.
ALL THIS CAME OUT THIS MORNING, JUNE
4, 2003, IN A COURTHOUSE HEARING BEFORE JAMES BOYD ON A MOTION BY DEFENSE
ATTORNEY GARY LOZOW TO DISQUALIFY THE NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S
OFFICE WHICH OVERSEES DEPUTY DAs IN PITKIN, RIO BLANCO AND GARFIELD COUNTIES.
BRANSON HAS PLEADED NOT GUILTY TO
CHARGES HE SLICED ARROYO'S THROAT WITH A KNIFE IN AN ATTEMPT TO MURDER
HIM THIS PAST APRIL 9.
GIVING TESTIMONY TODAY, DISALVO SAID
THE PROSECUTION NEEDED ARROYO'S BLOOD FOR A COMPARISON OF BLOOD FOUND
AT THE SCENE AND ON BRANSON.
WHEN ARROYO MISSED HIS SCHEDULED APPOINTMENT
FOR BLOOD TO BE DRAWN, DISALVO SAID, "I CONTACTED MR. ARROYO AND
ASKED HIM WHY HE DIDN'T SHOW UP."
"DID YOU CALL HIM TO CHANGE HIS
MIND?" LOZOW ASKED.
"YES," SAID DISALVO. "HIS
GENERAL COOPERATION WAS IMPORTANT TO THE FUTURE OF THE CASE."
"YOU KNEW ARROYO WAS A RECALCITRANT OR RETICENT WITNESS,"
LOZOW SAID. "YOU HAD TOLD MR. WILLS (DEPUTY DA LAWSON WILLS)?
"YES."
"ON APRIL 23, YOU RECEIVED A CALL FROM MR. ARROYO THAT
HE WASN'T GOING TO GIVE BLOOD OR COOPERATE?" ASKED LAZOW.
"OVER THE COURSE OF THE PAST TEN DAYS HE HAD CHANGED
HIS MIND SEVERAL TIMES," DISALVO RESPONDED.
"DID YOU CALL MR. WILLS ABOUT THE BLOODY TISSUE EPISODE?"
LOZOW SAID.
"I TALKED WITH HIM FACE TO FACE," DISALVO REPLIED.
"WILLS WAS DIRECTLY INVOLVED WITH PRELIMINARY ISSUES
IN THE CASE?" LOZOW SAID.
"THIS WAS IDEA SHARING OR BRAIN-STORMING," REPLIED
DISALVO.
ONE DEFENSE THEME THIS MORNING WAS TO SUGGEST THAT ARROYO
ACQUIESCED TO A BLOOD TEST APRIL 30 ONLY AFTER BEING THREATENED WITH LOSS
OF 'VICTIMS COMPENSATION MONEY,' IF HE REFUSED TO COOPERATE.
"HE (ARROYO) NEGOTIATED WITH YOU," LOZOW SAID
TO DISALVO.
"YES," DISALVO AGREED.
"YOU TOLD MR. WILLS?"
"POSSIBILY," SAID DISALVO.
DEPUTY DA LAWSON WILLS THIS MORNING ELICITED TESTIMONY FROM
DISALVO TO THE EFFECT THAT ARROYO DIDN'T WANT TO GET BLOOD DRAWN BECAUSE
HE HAS HAD A LONG-STANDING FEAR OF NEEDLES SINCE CHILDHOOD.
ARROYO LOOKS LIKE A MOVIE STAR, WITH A DEEP RESONANT VOICE.
HE OUGHT TO BE IN HOLLYWOOD DOING SCREEN TESTS INSTEAD OF BEING MIRED
IN THESE GRIM PROCEEDINGS.
ARROYO, AFTER BEING SWORN IN TO TESTIFY, DEPICTS ATTORNEY
BRANSON AS ONE WHO RAN UP BILLS AT EX-WIFE PAMELA BRANSON'S HOUSE, WHERE
ARROYO RESIDES. ARROYO'S VICTIM'S COMP MONEY -- SOME $1,600 -- WENT FOR
PAYING BILLS THAT BRANSON RAN UP, HE SAYS.
"DON (BRANSON) HAD BORROWED A LOT OF MONEY, AND A LOT
OF BILLS WEREN'T PAID," ARROYO SAID.
"YOU PAID THEM," DEPUTY DA WILLS SAID.
"YES," REPLIED ARROYO, "CAME OUT OF MY POCKET.
HE'S RIPPED OFF QUITE A FEW PEOPLE WILLING TO TESTIFY."
ARROYO, IN WHAT INITIALLY APPEARED TO BE AN APPARENT CONTRADICTION
OF DISALVO'S EARLIER TESTIMONY, SAID HE HAD NEVER FEARED BRANSON. WHEN
QUESTIONED FURTHER BY WILLS, ARROYO INDICATED THAT PAMELA BRANSON, WITH
WHOM HE RESIDES, , HAD FEARED FOR HER LIFE.
"YOU HAD FEAR FOR MRS. BRANSON," WILLS SAID.
"YES I DID," SAID ARROYO.
SOME QUESTIONING OF ARROYO BY LOZOW FOLLOWS:
"YOU HAVE TWICE BEEN PROSECUTED BY A DA IN GLENWOOD
SPRINGS?"
"YES," SAID ARROYO.
"SHE SAID YOU WERE A LIAR. IS THAT CORRECT?"
"YES."
"OBJECTION," SAID WILLS. "I DOUBT SHE USED
THAT WORD."
"OVERRULED," SAID JUDGE BOYD. "THE WITNESS
IS GIVING HIS IMPRESSION."
"WAS SHE SAYING TO THE COURT THAT YOU SHOULD BE INCARCERATED,"
LOZOW CONTINUED.
"CHECK THE TRANSCRIPT," SAID ARROYO.
"DO YOU KNOW MR. WILLS AND MISS LACEY WORK FOR THE
SAME BOSS?"
"I DON'T KNOW WHO WORKS FOR WHO," SAID ARROYO.
"DID YOU TALK WITH DISALVO ON AN ALMOST DAILY BASIS?"
"I DON'T KNOW IF I TALKED TO HIM ON A DAILY BASIS.
I DIDN'T JOT IT DOWN -- AS TO THE DAY, HOUR, MINUTE."
"WAS HE CALLING YOU FAIRLY FREQUENTLY?"
"WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER FAIRLY FREQUENTLY?"
"HOW MANY TIMES DID YOU TALK WITH MR. WILLS THE FIRST
WEEK AFTER THE ASSAULT?"
"I DON'T RECALL."
"DID YOU TELL MR. WILLS YOU DIDN'T WANT TO COOPERATE?"
"I DON'T RECALL."
"DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT YOU TALKED TO MR. WILLS ABOUT?"
"NO."
"HAVE YOU TALKED WITH MR. WILLS ON THE PHONE?"
"WHEN?"
"YOU GOT MONEY FROM VICTIM'S COMPENSATION. BEFORE OR
AFTER THE BLOOD TEST?"
"AFTER."
DEPUTY DAs IN PITKIN COUNTY, SUCH AS LAWSON WILLS, WORK
UNDER SUPERVISION OF THE NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT ATTORNEY, MAC MYERS OF
GLENWOOD SPRINGS WHO IS ELECTED.
ARROYO IS SCHEDULED TO BE SENTENCED IN GLENWOOD SPRINGS
JUNE 12, ON A FELONY MENACING CONVICTION, APPARENTLY UNRELATED TO THESE
ASPEN PROCEEDINGS IN WHICH ARROYO IS THE ALLEGED VICTIM AND CRUCIAL TO
THE DA's CASE AGAINST DONALD BRANSON.
IT'S THE CONTENTION OF BRANSON'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY, GARY
LOZOW, THAT THERE IS A CONFLICT OF INTEREST FOR DEPUTY DAs IN THE NINTH
JUDICIAL DISTRICT TO BE PROMOTING ARROYO AS AN INNOCENT VICTIM IN THE
CASE AGAINST BRANSON -- WHO, IF FOUND GUILTY, COULD RECEIVE A PRISON SENTENCE
OF UP TO FORTY-EIGHT YEARS --ALL THE WHILE CASTING ASPERSIONS ON ARROYO'S
CREDIBILITY IN THE GLENWOOD SPRINGS CASE.
EVEN THOUGH THE CASES INVOLVE DIFFERENT DEPUTY PROSECUTING
ATTORNEYS OPERATING IN DIFFERENT OFFICES OF THE DISTRICT, THE DEPUTY PROSECUTORS
HAVE TWO THINGS IN COMMON, THE DEFENSE THEORIZES -- BOTH GET THEIR PAYCHECKS
FROM THE SAME PLACE AND THEY HAVE THE SAME BOSS, MAC MYERS.
DEPUTY DA LAWSON WILLS VEHEMENTLY DISAGREES. HE CONTENDS
THE OFFICES IN GLENWOOD AND ASPEN OPERATE IN EFFECT AUTONOMOUSLY. JUDGE
BOYD IS EXPECTED TO DECIDE THE MATTER LATER THIS MONTH.
STAY TUNED.
STROKE VICTIM BLAMES
'THE PILL' IN ASPEN TRIAL BY STERLING GREENWOOD 5/28/03
I GRAB A 35-CENT SENIOR COKE AT MCDONALD'S, THEN RUN TO
THE COURTHOUSE FOR THE PRELIMINARY HEARING OF DONALD BRANSON. HE'S THE
ALLEGED KNIFE-WIELDING LAWYER ACCUSED OF TRYING TO MURDER THE BOYFRIEND
OF HIS EX-WIFE WHOM FUGITIVE DOUG MICHALOWSKY GAVE AN ASPEN HOUSE TO BEFORE
HE WENT ON THE LAM, BUT THAT'S ANOTHER STORY.
ON THE STAIRS AT THE COURTHOUSE, I BUMP INTO A PLEASANT
GUY IN A NICE SUIT. "HAS IT STARTED?" I GASP.
"THERE'S A TRIAL GOING ON, IF THAT'S WHAT YOU MEAN,"
HE REPLIES. I RUSH INTO COURT TO SIT IN THE FIRST PEW. NO OTHER SPECTATORS,
YET. NO BRANSON. HE'S A 6'5" POOR MAN'S WILLIAM HURT, HARD TO MISS.
NO DEPUTY DA LAWSON WILLS, EITHER.
WHAT'S GOING ON?
A GLAMOROUS WOMAN WITH CASCADING STREAKED BLONDE HAIR
SITS AT THE 'DEFENSE' TABLE. SHE'S WEARING A DARK PANTS SUIT, ALL BUSINESS.
MUST BE BRANSON'S LAWYER. THEN THE GUY I TALKED WITH ON THE STAIRS COMES
IN TO SIT NEXT TO HER. IT TURNS OUT HE'S DR. LAWRENCE R. MENCONI AND HE'S
A DEFENDANT, ALONG WITH ASPEN CENTER FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH; AND I'M NOT AT
BRANSON'S PRELIM. I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF A FULL-BLOWN MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
TRIAL.
THE HEAVY COURTROOM DOOR OPENS AGAIN AND THEY ROLL IN THIS
WOMAN IN A SQUEAKY WHEEL CHAIR AND PARK HER AT THE PLAINTIFF'S TABLE WITH
HER ASPEN ATTORNEY, MARTIN FREEMAN.
LATER IN THESE PROCEEDINGS I SEE HER EXTEND HER FINGERS
TO INTERMINGLE WITH FREEMAN'S.
HER NAME IS COLLEEN DALY. SHE'S CLAIMING SHE TOOK SOME BIRTH
CONTROL PILLS AND HAS BEEN IN A WHEEL CHAIR DUE TO A STROKE BECAUSE OF
IT FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS.
SOMETIME DURING ALL THIS, THE DEFENSE LAWYER IN THE PANTS SUIT TELLS ME HER NAME IS LISA LEASURE. SHE'S
WITH THE DENVER FIRM OF COOPER AND CLOUGH. THERE ARE A LOT OF MEDICAL
TERMS BEING BANDIED ABOUT -- LIKE "ABSOLUTE CONTRA-INDICATIONS"
-- IN THIS ROOM TODAY. I DIVIDE MY TIME BETWEEN THIS TRIAL AND BRANSON'S
PRELIM WHICH I EVENTUALLY FIND DOWNSTAIRS.
BRANSON'S ATTORNEY GARY LOZOW WANTS TO DISQUALIFY THE DA.
HE SAYS HE'S GOING TO FILE A MOTION TO THAT EFFECT. IT SEEMS BRANSON'S
ALLEGED VICTIM, MARTIN ARROYO, WHO HAS ACCUSED BRANSON OF COMING UP BEHIND
HIM WITH A KNIFE AND CUTTING HIS THROAT, IS GOING TO BE SENTENCED HIMSELF
SOON ON A FELONY MENACING CONVICTION BEING HANDLED BY THE NINTH JUDICIAL
DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE THAT IS IS PROSECUTING BRANSON.
BRANSON'S LAWYER DOESN'T LIKE IT THAT THE DA'S OFFICE WILL
BE DESCRIBING ARROYO AS A BADASS IN ONE CASE, WHILE PROMOTING ARROYO AS
AN INNOCENT VICTIM IN THE CASE AGAINST BRANSON.
BRANSON'S LAWYER IS ALSO PISSED BECAUSE ARROYO'S ATTENDING
PHYSICIAN, IN THE WAKE OF THE ALLEGED KNIFE INCIDENT IN A REMOTE AREA
OUTDOORS NEAR OLD SNOWMASS, WON'T TALK TO DEFENSE INVESTIGATOR DAVE OLMSTED
IN CONNECTION WITH ARROYO'S ALLEGED "SERIOUS BODILY INJURY."
BRANSON'S LAWYER WANTS ARROY'S PHYSICIAN TO ELABORATE. ARROYO DIDN'T CHOOSE
TO GO DIRECTLY TO ASPEN VALLEY HOSPITAL AFTER THE ALLEGED KNIFING BY BRANSON,
BUT INSTEAD WENT FIRST TO THE HOME OF BRANSON'S EX-WIFE PAMELA BRANSON,
AT 1230 COOPER AVE., WHERE BRANSON ALSO RESIDED.
DEPUTY DA LAWSON WILLS SAYS ARROYO'S PHYSICIAN WILL BE INTRODUCED
AT TRIAL AS AN EXPERT IN FORENSIC MEDICINE AND WILL SHOW THAT THE ALLEGED
ATTACK ON ARROYO CAME FROM BEHIND, LEAVING HIM WITH A SLICED THROAT. WILLS
SAYS THE PHYSICIAN'S REFUSAL TO SPEAK WITH BRANSON'S INVESTIGATOR IS HIS
"RIGHT," THOUGH WILLS SAYS HE ENCOURAGES ALL OF HIS WITNESSES
TO TALK TO BOTH SIDES. NOT CONCEDING AN IOTA ON ANY ISSUE WITH THE DEFENSE,
WILLS SAYS THE DOC'S TESTIMONY WILL DEAL WITH MORE THAN THE DEFINITION
OF "SERIOUS BODILY INJURY." A NEW LAW IS IN EFFECT THAT MAKES
DOCS SQUEAMISH ABOUT DISCUSSING THEIR PATIENTS' MEDICAL HISTORY, AND ARROYO'S
PHYSICIAN DID NOT FEEL HE HAD SUFFICIENT CLEARANCE FROM ARROYO TO DISCUSS
ARROYO MEDICALLY WITH INVESTIGATOR DAVE OLMSTED. INVESTIGATING FOR THE
DA IS JOE DISALVO. IT LOOKS LIKE JUDGE JAMES BOYD WILL GRANT A CONTINUANCE
HERE.
MEANWHILE BACK AT THE MEDICAL MALPRACTICE TRIAL, SOME SCATTERSHOT
SNATCHES FOLLOW:
-- FREEMAN SAYS DALY WAS ON ORAL BIRTH CONTROL PILLS AS
A TEENAGER, BUT "THEY GAVE HER MIGRAINES."
--JUDGE THOMAS OSSALA SAYS, "YOU KNOW HOW YOU USED
TO GO TO THE RESTROOM AT A GAS STATION AND THEY'D GIVE YOU A KEY WITH
A BIG THING ATTACHED TO IT SO YOU WOULDN'T DRIVE OFF WITH IT? THAT'S WHY
I WANT BINDERS ON THESE EXHIBITS.
-- I ALSO HEAR THE FETCHING ATTORNEY LISA LEASURE ASK TERESA
ON THE STAND IF SHE OWNS FIFTY PERCENT OF THE STOCK OF ASPEN CENTER FOR
WOMEN'S HEALTH.
-- I SEE A MEMBER OF THE FIVE-WOMAN, TWO-MAN JURY TAKE A
SWIG OF BOTTLED WATER.
-- IN REFERENCE TO ALL THE COMPLICATED MEDICAL TERMS, I
HEAR JUDGE OSSALA SAY, "THE JURY DOES NOT GET EVERYTHING BOTH ORALLY
AND IN WRITING. IT'S ONE OR THE OTHER."
-- I HEAR ATTORNEY FREEMAN SAY TO TERESA HALL ON THE STAND,
"WILL YOU PLEASE READ PARAGRAPH 5 TO YOURSELF."
-- THERE'S A BIG SCREEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOM FOR SLIDES
OF MEDICAL RECORDS AND OTHER TRIAL-RELATED DATA. THE BATTLE SEEMS TO BE
JUST HOW MUCH OF ALL THIS THE JURY IS GOING TO UNDERSTAND.
-- THEN FREEMAN ASKS ABOUT SOME BIRTH CONTROL PILLS AT ASPEN
CENTER FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH: "DO YOU RECALL THEY WERE MARKED 'SAMPLE
NOT FOR SALE?'"
-- I HEAR LEASURE ASK HALL, "IS THERE A MESSAGE FROM
JUNE OF '98 THAT DALY CALLED TO ASK WHEN TO START TAKING HER BIRTH CONTROL
PILLS?" HALL ANSWERS, "NO." LEASURE CONTINUES, "IS
THERE AN OVERHEAD CUPBOARD WHERE SAMPLES ARE KEPT?" THEN LEASURE
HOLDS OUT TO HALL A PACKAGE OF BIRTH CONTROL PILLS. "DO YOU RECOGNIZE
THIS PACKAGE?" LEASURE ENTERS THE PACKAGE AS EXHIBIT B-2. THE NAME
OF THE MEDICATION IS ORTHO-TRICYCLEN.
-- FREEMAN TO JUDGE OSSALA, "IS EVERYTHING IN THAT
PACKAGE ADMITTED AS EVIDENCE?"
-- "THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION," RESPONDS THE JUDGE.
-- "I'D LIKE TO OPEN THAT PACKAGE AND SEE WHAT'S IN
IT," FREEMAN SAYS.
JUDGE OSSALA RECESSES THE JURY. HE TURNS HIS GAZE TO ALL
THE LAWYERS IN THIS GOAT DANCE. A JUMBLED ACCOUNT OF WHAT HE SAYS FOLLOWS:
-- "WE ARE PLAYING OUT KING LEAR WHEN THE ACTORS ARE
IMPROVISING TO IMPROVE THEIR LINES."
-- "I DIDN'T FALL OFF A TURNIP TRUCK."
--"I WANT A BETTER HANDLING OF EXHIBITS."
--"I'M WORKING WITH A VERY SHORT STICK
--"SOMEBODY'S GOING TO HAVE TO ACCEPT THE CUSTODY OF
EXHIBITS."
--"YES, YOU CAN CUT THE PACKAGE OPEN."
MORE LATER.
GOT PROSTATE CANCER QUESTIONS? GO TO www.psa-rising.com
TEXAS ATTORNEY DON BRANSON, ACCUSED OF TRYING TO MURDER
THE BOYFRIEND OF HIS EX-WIFE WHOM FUGITIVE DOUG MICHALOWSKI GAVE AN ASPEN
HOUSE TO BEFORE HE WENT ON THE LAM, WAS ARRESTED FOR ALLEGED BAIL VIOLATION..
CONFUSED? IF SO, READ TODAY'S STREET EDITION OF THE ASPEN FREE PRESS.
6/13/03
BY STERLING GREENWOOD 6/13/03
Twenty four hours a day somebody is running, somebody else is trying
to catch him Raymond Chandler.
I knew we'd won when we got that last bigot seated on the jury.
Racehorse Haynes
There was a big commotion on the Mill Street Mall outside. They had
Texas attorney Donald Branson, all six feet, five inches of him in cuffs
as revelers at the food and wine thing looked on in stunned disbelief.
It was at that point that I gave up my marathon haggling with the Discover
Card people. I phoned attorney Paul Taddune who loves to represent clients
in credit card bill disputes. He loves it about like Donald Branson, accused
of trying to murder his ex-wife's boyfriend, liked being shackled yesterday
in the midst of families with kids frolicking about on the mall.
"They're filming a TV series here," an onlooker commented.
"Do you owe $6,000, Attorney Taddune asked me me on the phone.
"Not that much," I said. "And if I do, there's no way
in hell I can pay it."
Taddune agreed to give them a call and from then the Discover Card bill
began falling. First to $4,492.76. Then to $3,200. . .just to get me out
of their lives.
Thanks Paul.
MEANWHILE, BACK TO BRANSON, far more interesting.
In telephone interviews with the Aspen Free Press, Martin Arroyo
said that attorney Donald Branson had prepared a will for his ex-wife,
Pamela Branson, to sign. According to Arroyo, Pamela signed the will,
which was notarized at Holland and Hart , on April 8, one day before a
knife-wielding Donald Branson allegedly attempted to slash Arroyo's throat
in a remote area outdoors near Old Snowmass. The will, according to Arroyo,
leaves Pamela's house to Donald Branson's son by a previous marriage.
More later, there's somebody weird at my door.
KNIFE VICTIM GETS
JAIL, PROBATION
Unrelated case snags DA's star witness against attorney
Don Branson
UPDATE: BRANSON MAKES BAIL 5/7/03
By Sterling Greenwood, 4/25/03
Alleged knife victim Martin Arroyo whose crucial testimony could send
attorney Donald Branson to prison for forty-eight years on attempted murder
and assault charges, was himself sentenced to sixty days jail and six
months probation yesterday in an unrelated Glenwood Springs case.
Arroyo, 37, who police say suffered a sliced throat by a knife-wielding Branson in a grisly incident which unfolded in a remote area outdoors near Old Snowmass on April 9, will face more sentencing still in Glenwood Springs, June 12, on a felony menacing conviction in yet another case. read entire story...
UPCOMING: WHERE IS DOUGLAS MICHALOWSKI? MEET MARTIN ARROYO, BORN IN
BROOKLYN AND REARED ON LONG ISLAND.
|
 Aspen
Free Press
publisher Sterling Greenwood with Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis
at Elevation Bar in Aspen
JULY 16, 2007 -- TODAY'S QUOTE: "Perhaps more than any other
small town, the whole world comes to Aspen." Michael Flanagin
JUNE 12, 2007 -- TODAY'S QUOTE: "Sometimes back then I got so
damn desperate I'd go out into my own neighborhood and panhandle."
Henry Miller
BUMPER STICKER: KEEP ASPEN WEIRD!
UPCOMING -- TB -- HOW WIDESPREAD IS IT IN COLORADO? STAY TUNED FOR
A MULTI-PART ASPEN FREE PRESS SERIES.
MAY 24, 2007 -- TODAY'S QUOTE: "There ain't no clean way to make
$100 million bucks. Maybe the head man thinks his hands are clean but
somewhere along the line guys got pushed to the wall, nice little businesses
got the ground cut from under them and had to sell out for nickels,
decent people lost their jobs, stocks got rigged on the market, proxies
got bought up like a pennyweight of gold, and the five per centers and
the big law firms got paid hundred-grand fees for beating some law the
people wanted but the rich guys didn't." Raymond Chandler in "The
Long Goodbye."
APRIL 27, 2007 -- Nationally-renowned artist Tom Benton, who also was
an architect and sometime law enforcement officer during his more than
forty years of residence in Aspen, died today of cancer. Tom had also
co-published the one-sheet newspaper, The Aspen Wallposter, for
a time with friends including the late gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson.
More on Tom Benton later.
APRIL 23, 2007 -- Today a quarter-century ago we published the first
issue of the Aspen Free Press. Back then, I was living in a car
parked behind a gas station downtown and showering at the Aspen Athletic
Club. A disbarred attorney, resided in the vehicle adjacent to mine.
In one of the first political campaigns covered by the Aspen Free
Press, Bill Stirling, a political novice, ran for mayor.
He bought a full-page ad in the Aspen Free Press which began, "This
is my only ad." And, indeed it was. But this same ad also appeared
in the Aspen Daily News and the Aspen Times. Stirling
won the mayoral election in a landslide against several better-known
candidates, two of whom were serving terms on Aspen City Council at
the time.. . . .Stirling went on to be re-elected at least twice and
is considered one of Aspen's most popular mayors ever. Or at least in
recent history. Stirling was mayor when the "straight-shot,"
concept was first introduced as a possible new entrance to Aspen,
designed to supplant our current s-curves entrance which has
a small-town feel. Stirling's eyes got wide when he saw a drawing of
the proposed straight-shot now called the preferred alternative.
Seemingly incredulous, Mayor Stirling pointed to the drawing, "It
looks like a speedway," he said. The controversy-riddled entrance
to Aspen issue remains an unresolved hot topic still, but the s-curves
live on so far. And the beat, as it must, rolls on.
BULLETIN 4/6/07--Disregard the drivel below about the Aspen mayoral
election because there's a brand-new candidate now to run against Torre,
Mick Ireland and Tim Semrau. Her name is Bonnie Behrend. Stay
tuned.
TODAY'S QUOTE 4/5/07: I ate between battles, I slept among murderers,
I was careless in loving and I looked upon nature without patience.
Thus the time passed which was given me on earth.-- BRECHT
THE ASPEN MAYORAL ELECTION BY STERLING GREENWOOD
4/5/07
I'm disappointed that both Mick Ireland
and Tim Semrau are running for mayor of Aspen. They will
split the straight-shot vote; then Councilman Torre, God forbid,
a small town entrance proponent, could carry the day.
With both Tim and Mick wanting to be mayor, neither
may win and we risk losing a huge new entrance development ie the "straight-shot"
at the edge of town.
And sadly, too, I fear there are precious few
straight-shot votes to split.
In the last entrance to Aspen election four or
five years ago, despite valliant efforts by both Mick and Tim to sell
us the straight-shot, only some twenty percent of registered Aspen voters
came out for the thing.
Even county voters balked at the straight-shot
proposal,, preferring to retain those silly s-curves.
And the s-curvers weren't gracious in victory
either.
Some got ugly about it all, yelling out quotes
from the late Dr. Hunter S. Thompson like, "THERE IS SOME SHIT
WE JUST WON'T EAT!"
But worst of all, Colorado construction interests
missed a $60-$80 million public money gravy train.
Just think how glum Haliburton might feel financially
now if we hadn't gone to Iraq and they'd missed their bonanza -- then
figure that's akin to how the big road construction concerns DID feel
when they were poised to build us that spiffy new grownup entrance into
Aspen with tunnelsr and all and then we went and voted the whole mess
down, sinking the straight-shot like a led zeppelin.
We've got to get real in Aspen, wake up and smell
the coffee!
The curves must go.
There must be another election.
With our puny s-curves entrance, Aspen will never
actualize its potential to bloom into an industrialized city like Detroit,
that is our destiny.
You ever see a giant tractor-trailer rig struggle
to negotiate our s-curves?
It takes the hulking thing fifteen to twenty
minutes to shudder and screech and lurch through. Plus a driver with
the patience of Job. And cops have to halt traffic in both directions
during this truck opera because when the big rigs turn through the curves
they need room to veer into oncoming lanes.
Reminds me of my aunt Mozelle trying to twist
into her girdle, rest her soul.
Anyway, I love my new "S-CURVES SUCK"
bumper sticker. And here's a motto suggestion for all of us who want
the straight-shot: "THERE IS SOME SHIT WE MUST EAT."
C'mon guys, let's do it for Mick and Tim -- win a new entrance for Aspen,
I mean.
No matter which of the three candidates gets
to be mayor.
From Aspen Free Press street edition archives. HUNTER
S. THOMPSON SHOOTS SELF TO DEATH THIS AFTERNOON -- ASPEN, Co.,
(Feb. 20, 2005) -- The Aspen Free Press published a late bulletin
"extra," street edition today informing Aspen locals that
gonzo writer Hunter S. Thompson, 65,had shot himself to death in the
kitchen of his farm home at nearby Woody Creek. Click here for more.
Aspen Free Press ----Page 1 | Page
2. WE GOT HUNTER'S AGE WRONG IN THE FIRST PRESS RUN. HE WAS 67,
NOT 65.
SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2007 -- I'm sitting on a barstool at the Red Onion,
typing this. The place is jammed and there's a line outside waiting
to get in. There is so much noise I can't hear myself think. I just
interviewed a woman here at the bar who said she operates an Aspen shelter
for overfed cats. Maybe I didn't understand her correctly what with
the band cranking up "Mustang Sally," and all. Got to run!
More later.
FRIDAY FEB. 9, 2007 -- This "preferred alternative"
entrance proposal sounds a whole lot like the thing Aspen voters defeated
by about 300 votes in the last entrance election three or four years
ago. Only then it was called the "modified direct,"
or some such. But no matter the handle, locals pretty much called it
what it was -- the "straight shot." Anyway, all this
talk now of a "preferred alternative" route into town
with its gravy train for road construction interests has spurred a rallying
of those in favor of leaving Aspen's s-curves entrance alone.
Die-hard s-curvers don't want the "preferred alternative,"
any more than they wanted the "modified direct." Their
attitude brings to mind words of the late Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
years back when successfully battling airport runway expansion: "There
is SOME shit we just won't eat." And the beat rolls on . .
.
FRIDAY JAN. 19, 2007 -- Brad and Angelina in Aspen? Well, not now but
maybe last week? The Aspen Free Press is checking out an unconfirmed
tip received this morning at Starbucks that the couple not only was
here last week, but plans to spend more time in Aspen in the future.
Maybe they'll dash up from New Orleans on weekends. Stay tuned!
SUNDAY JAN. 14 -- Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Just saw the guy
on Cooper strolling down that sidewalk in front of the Aspen Square,
close to where photograhers chased J-Lo the week before Christmas and
right across from Mezaluna where Nicole Simpson met Kato Kaelin here
in 1992. Jerry Jones was one of the few people we saw on the streets
this morning. He was with a woman in a long mink coat. And the beat
rolls on . . .
By Sterling Greenwood
Today is Jan. 8, Elvis's birthday. Below is an excerpt about Elvis
from my novel in progress, "No-Problem Bridge and The Aspen
Free Press."
". . . . Or when I was thirteen and saw Elvis in Wichita Falls
before they cleaned him up and he tore into "Baby Let's Play House,"
in a wild fit of hiccups like somebody possessed, raving in tongues
-- WUP, BABYBABYBABY HIC, BABYBABY HIC --and the bass player flailed
the strings of a giant gold-colored fiddle, and in one fluid move sank
to his back, pulling the 6-ft.-high instrument over on top of him, and
he started humping the thing during his solo like it was a woman --
THUMPA,THUMPA,THUMPA,THUMPA --and I thought the roof of the auditorium
would lift off its hinges and into the heavens from sheer teen hysteria."
Jan. 1, 2007
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! It was fantastic on Ajax today.
OFF THE TANGENT: What follows in is an "open letter" to Francilynn
Singleton, which was previously published in the Aspen Times.
Ms. Singleton, I'm sorry you don't like the Aspen newspapers. You were
off the mark, though, linking the Aspen Times with O.J. coverage.
It was the Aspen Free Press which broke the "O.J. in Aspen"
story. The Aspen Daily News did a next-day followup.
As editor and publisher of the Aspen Free Press, I ran the O.J.
story because when a famous personality comes to our town, whom much
of the public feels got by with a double homicide, it's news. In your
letter to the Times, you wrote, "Today in Aspen, O.J. and
you are warmly received. The president, howewver, would not be treated
as well." I disagree, Ms. Singleton. We at the Aspen Free Press
drew criticism from Bush bashers when we published a special inauguration
issue featuring photos of our President's boyhood home in Midland, Tx.
Much of the public apparently feels President Bush stole the 2,000 election
and that people are dying every day now as a result. According to the
U.S. Supreme Court, though, the election wasn't stolen.
And, according to a jury, O.J. didn't murder anyone. Both President
Bush and O.J. are innocent in the eyes of the law and we are a nation
of laws.
Sterling Greenwood
SWITCHING GEARS TO SADDAM HUSSEIN. Some questions from the media to
public officials are ticklish and require tact by a journalist when
presented. But that doesn't mean difficult questions should never be
asked, right? In Hunter's words, "After all we are professionals."
Anyway, here's today's question that you will never hear on "Meet
the Press:"
Now that the former president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, has been convicted
and put to death for his part in the killing of 148 Shiite men and boys
in the town of Dujail in 1981, is there any chance that former U.S.
President Bill Clinton will be tried for his part in the killing of
74 Branch Davidian men, women and children in the town of Waco in 1993?
Answer: NO*
*Except in the unlikely event Congress ever comprises a majoriy of
Branch Davidians.
TODAY'S BUMPER STICKER -- KEEP ASPEN WEIRD
TODAY'S QUOTE: "My life was no life. It was sort of a long, confused
drive." Larry McMurty in his novel, "All My Friends Are Going
to be Strangers."
And the beat rolls on . . .
TOUTS DEPT -- No way anyone's going to sleep through the new album
of RCA pop recording artist Citizen Cope. Entitled "Every Waking
Moment," the new record got released Sept. 12. Our favorite cut
on the CD-- "Brother Lee."
The second anniversary of Hunter's death is coming up soon. Meanwhile,
below is a link to the "extra" the Aspen Free Press published
the day Hunter died.
HUNTER S. THOMPSON SHOOTS SELF
TO DEATH THIS AFTERNOON -- ASPEN, Co., (Feb. 20, 2005) -- The
Aspen Free Press published a late bulletin "extra," street
edition today informing Aspen locals that gonzo writer Hunter S. Thompson,
65,had shot himself to death in the kitchen of his farm home at nearby
Woody Creek. Click here for more.
Aspen Free Press ----Page 1 | Page
2 The Aspen Free Press wouldn't have had the story about
Hunter alone on the streets, but we're the only Aspen newspaper with
a local in-house press. The other Aspen rags print out of town. The
Aspen Free Press can get late-breaking news out in less than twenty
minutes! But in a scramble to get out the Thompson "extra,"
we got Hunter's age wrong in first press run. The error, which we regret,
was corrected in subsequent runs, but our mistake got picked up online
unfortunately and thirty minutes later we were getting phone calls from
as far away as London concerning verification of Hunter's age. Hunter
was 67, not 65 as we initially reported. Sterling Greenwood, who received
Aspen the Magazine's "Hunter S. Thompson Student Journalism
Award" in the "Best of Aspen" category wrote the story.
Hunter S.. Thompson Friends Say Hollywood
Hijacked his 'funeral'
THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2006 -- We're hoping for a candlelight vigil
for Ken Lay, with Karl Rove, who is in town for an ideas festival, giving
the eulogy. Next week Michael Milken arrives in Aspen.
LATE BREAKING BULLETIN 7/5/06-- Ken Lay or somebody dies early today
in Aspen Valley Hospital after massive heart attack.
MONDAY JULY 3, 2006 -- RUMOR ON THE SUNNY STREETS OF ASPEN THIS
MORNING: BILL CLINTON AND KARL ROVE ARRIVED IN TOWN TOGETHER. REALLY?
STAY TUNED! WE'LL FIND OUT! WE DO KNOW THIS MUCH. BOTH CLINTON AND
ROVE ARE SCHEDULED TO SPEAK AT THE ASPEN IDEAS FESTIVAL which kicks
off tonight and The Aspen Free Press will be there. We wonder
if Rove will be, though. We figured he'd be in Mexico about now helping
officials down there steal a presidential election "in the interest
of national security." The Free Press has covered Clinton in his
previous trips to Aspen (see "With Bill Clinton in the Hippy Years"
below). And remember that time Bubba visited Aspen when he was President
and someone festooned a banner across the road into town, "INHALE
TO THE CHIEF."Aspen Free Press publisher Sterling Greenwood
wrote about that incident in Vanity Fair. But, back to the Aspen
Ideas Festival. Others scheduled to speak include Wolf Blitzer, Colin
Powell, Queen Noor, Katie Couric, many many more, blah, blah, blah.
. If the Aspen Ideas Festival had any balls it would throw a wildcard
into the mix such as that screwball Dr. Ward Churchill, just to liven
things up, maybe get a real dialogue going. "I may disagree
with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
Who made that remark? Nobody in Congress today, we'd bet. Meanwhile,
is trouble brewing over the estate of the late Dr. Hunter S. Thompson?
Deborah Fuller who used to work for Hunter claims she is due $100k
and some locals say she deserves it. The Aspen Free Press
broke the news of Thompson's alleged suicide on the streets of Aspen
with an "Extra," edition Feb. 20, 2005. Copies of that
collector edition have sold for as high as $800, we've been told. Horseshit!
Have a safe 4th! And the beat rolls on.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALICE GREENWOOD who just received a degree
in strategic communication from the journalism school at University
of Kansas, Lawrence.
TODAY'S QUOTE: An Aspenite who warmly extends a hand usually
is sinking. Aspen Free Press.
TODAY'S BUMPER WATCH: FOOD ABUSE KILLS 300,000 AMERICANS ANNUALLY.
IT'S ALL A WORD GAME 6/12/06
BY STERLING GREENWOOD
Feds now are pushing journalists to incorrectly describe illegal immigrants
simply as "immigrants."
I guess the Bush administration is embarrassed about all these people
called "illegals," seemingly being everywhere on TV, running
around loose on President Bush's watch, particularly in light of the
emphasis on increased warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens "in
the interest of national security."
Or maybe President Bush fears his political base may get the notion
that while we've been invading Iraq we ourselves got invaded.
Before going into Iraq, President Bush only rarely if at all described
the worrisome nuclear arsenal in North Korea as "weapons of mass
destruction." The chilling "WMD" designation pertained
mostly to Iraq, remember?
It's all a word game.
Are the undocumented residents in the U.S. to be crudely dubbed "illegal
aliens" or just improperly referred to as "immigrants,"
implying legal status?
Is there "civil war" in Iraq now or just an "insurgency?"
One thing's for sure. It's silly to even discuss deporting ten to twenty
millions of the undocumented here, no matter how they're called. Such
an attempt would result in "civil war," or at least one hell
of an "insurgency. They're here, more are coming, live with it.
And the beat rolls on . . .
SENATE PASSES IMMIGRATION BILL -- The measure includes a provision
for illegal immigrants in the U.S., for more than two years to become
guest workers and register with the Selective Service in the event of
a military draft. Others, who have been here less than two years, would
return to their countries of origin for processing back to the U.S..
The House of Representatives has already passed a bill calling for deportation
of all illegals, estimated to number between 11 and 20 millions. For
more click on your TV. If you don't have a TV, , there's some stolen
ones making the rounds for peanuts. See Ralph Don who lives in the bicycle
locker next to the bus depot.
LOST IN A DENVER IMMIGRATION MARCH, 50,000 JAM STREETS.
Part nine of an eleven-part Aspen Free Press illegal immigration
series 4/10/06
by Sterling Greenwood
I don't mind President Bush's warrantless wiretap policy. (This
is a lie)
Or that feds can now probe my library records. (Another lie).
Nor do I mind taking off my shoes to be searched when boarding at commercial
airlines. (Liar, liar, pants on fire).
Or even Homeland Security's monitoring my purchases of over-the-counter
cold medications. (Sure).
It's all for our nation's security. Right? (With three-fourths of
Americans fat, aren't several hundred thousand of us more likely to
die of food abuse next year than from terrorism?)
But several months ago I bought low-cost cancer meds in Mexico and
my Jeep got searched coming back into the U.S. (This is true)
I got through okay, but started feeling like a fool just a short time
later on seeing illegals crossing the Rio Grande into the U.S., seemingly
easy as pie. (Strange is a more accurate description of how
i felt)
Illegal immigration doesn't bother me, though. I'm an open borders
advocate. (True)
I enjoy the border's "no one's minding the store," ambiance.
Reminds me of Aspen decades ago. (True)
And I never even think about our porous U.S. borders except when I'm
being demeaned by a search at one, ostensibly "in the interest
of national security."
The words of Ben Franklin come to mind: "They that can give up
essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither
liberty nor safety."
And the beat, as it must, rolls on . . . .
Most illegals are from Mexico, Central America and Brazil, according
to The Denver Post citing Border Patrol data, but others caught trying
to enter the U.S. between 2002-05 came from "countries of interest."
They include Iranians (95), Iraqis (74), Pakistanis (660), Syrians (52),
Yemenis (40), Egyptians (106), Lebanesse (91) and Saudis (13). Non-Mexican
illegal immigrants caught coming from Mexico, according to the Post,
include Pakistanis (113), Egyptians (41), Jordanians (55), Iranians
(39), Iraqis (22), Yemenis (15) and Saudis (13). For every illegal caught,
according to the Border Patrol, another two or three get through.
Part 10 soon in a street edition.
OFF THE TANGENT -- There's two-year waiting list now in Aspen to take
the course on how to develop your own eating disorder, a bulimic affliction
which enables so many movie stars to stay thin. . Just a one-year wait
though for how to contract wasting disease. Our latest poll indicates
nine out of ten Aspenites fear gaining weight more than terrorism.
And the beat rolls on. . .
WINTER QUOTE -- "My dad, he starts a family in a new town about
every six years. This isn't so much like a family as it's like he sets
up a franchise." This jewel comes from the novel "Fight
Club." Fantastic tome, not really about what the title may indicate.
G-G-GOOD GAWD THERE'S A LOT OF SNOW OUTSIDE. Have you looked? Took me
thirty minutes to dig out my Jeep parked over on Monarch. It would have
taken longer if the guy living in his car parked next to my Jeep hadn't
helped. Thanks Charlie! Meanwhile another quote comes to mind. This
one from Susan B. Anthony. "I distrust those people who know so
well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides
with their own desires." And the beat rolls on in Aspen, Co., --
City Council meeting at 5. And don't forget to pick up today's street
edition of the Aspen Free Press for our special snow ice cream recipe
dubbed "depression ice cream" in the south -- fresh snow,
whipping cream, vanilla and lots and lots of sugar. Uhmmmm, good! Tastes
like homemade. Seriously. Later. SJG
March 10, 2006-- There are 37,869 registered voters in the 9th Judicial
District. Some 6,734 -- less than twenty percent --voted to recall DA
Colleen Truden. But that's all it took because voter turnout sucked.
Wag the Dog. She's been recalled. Today the answering machine at the
Aspen Free Press offices says "Food abuse arrests, DA recalls and
other pissing contests are our news focus."
Having blown into Aspen in 1980 after
a divorce., Sterling Greenwood, a former investigative reporter/columnist
for Scripps-Howard in Memphis, covered Hunter S. Thompson's 1981 DUI
hearing for Scripps-Howard's Denver newspaper, the Rocky Mountain News.
Click here for story.. Greenwood also worked for the Aspen Daily
News during this period, variously as a contributor, distributor, associate
editor and editor. Eventually, he saved enough to move out of his car
and into an apartment building occupied by a host of other social marginals,
many of whom he had met at the courthouse while covering their criminal
trials. . And the beat rolls on
FOR ARTICLES WRITTEN ABOUT THE "ASPEN'S WORST NEWSPAPER"
IN DENVER NEWSPAPERS AND IN ASPEN MAGAZINE, JUST KEEP SCROLLING . FOR
COMMENTS ABOUT THE ASPEN FREE PRESS AND ITS PUBLISHER IN THE
NEW YORK TIMES SEE "ASPEN'S INNER GONZO," IE SCROLL UP
IN THE FAR LEFT COLUMN.
TOUTS -- 10/24/05 -For a sizzling, erotic romp through Key West,
shot through with mystery and intrigue, read "Metro Girl,"
a novel by Janet Evanovitch. click
here
GETTING ALL THE GOOD BREAKDOWNS DEPT. -- PICTURE THIS: YOUR LONGTIME
FRIEND WHO IS A PSYCHIATRIST TELLS YOU YOU'RE NOT JUST SOME SICK TWIST
AFFLICTED WITH PARANOIA. . . THAT YOU HAVE VERY REAL ENEMIES WHO HAVE
EVEN C-C-CONTACTED HIM! YIKES! THAT'S . . . WELL. . . WHEN YOUR HEARTACHES
BEGIN! STAY TUNED FOR ONE BIZARRE STORY! HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND AND MINIMIZE
MULTI-TASKING! THE BEAT ROLLS ON . . . .10/21/05
HUNTER S. THOMPSON 1981 ASPEN DUI HEARING
for more, click here.
OCT. 8, 2005 -- Today's Aspen Free Press quote: "The most stolen
item in all of criminal history has been public money." Jimmy
Breslin. Scroll past the chaos of stories uploaded from street editions
to see what's been written about "Aspen's Worst Newspaper,"
in other publications over the decades.
SEPT 30, 2005 -- Do recall the name of the female movie star who stripped,
then got into a hot tub with Jack Nicholson in "About Schmidt?"
Well she's in Aspen. Just saw her fifteen minutes ago walking past Under
Armour toward Boogie's. Hint: Her last name is Bates. And the beat rolls
on. . .
HUNTER S. THOMPSON 1981 ASPEN DUI HEARING
click here.
SEPT. 27, 2005
WOULD-BE
BUILDERS AND OTHERS HOPEFUL OF BENEFITTING FINANCIALLY FROM CONSTRUCTION
OF A PROPOSED STRAIGHT-SHOT ENTRANCE INTO ASPEN REMAIN HUNGRY FOR THEIR
$80 MILLION PAYDAY WHICH IS WHAT SUCH A PROJECT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED TO
COST. BUT ASPEN LOCALS PUT UP A ROADBLOCK TO THESE DREAMS AND VOTED
TO DEFEAT THE STRAIGHT SHOT PROPOSAL AND RETAIN ASPEN'S SMALL-TOWN S-CURVES
ENTRANCE BY A 56 PERCENT TO 44 PERCENT MARGIN. STRAIGHT-SHOT PROPONENTS
DREW ONLY ABOUT 22 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL REGISTERED VOTE, BUT THE ISSUE
PROBABLY WILL REMAIN UNDER OUR NOSES UNTIL WE VOTE ON IT AGAIN - NOBODY
WALKS AWAY QUIETLY FROM $80 MILLION.- CLICK HERE FOR STORY .THE
ASPEN TIMES, OWNED BY A NEWSPAPER CHAIN HEADQUARTERED IN RENO, NEVADA,
ENDORSED THE STRAIGHT-SHOT. AFTER ALL, WHY WOULD A BIG NEWSPAPER CHAIN
BUY INTO A TOWN IT DIDN'T EXPECT TO BOOM? THE LOCALLY-OWNED ASPEN DAILY
NEWS, ENDORSED THE S-CURVES. THE ASPEN FREE PRESS, ALSO LOCALLY OWNED,
NEVER ENDORSES OR CONDEMNS DICK AS A MATTER OF POLICY. SPEAKING OF
MONEY DEPT. --, OUR CHARGE FOR NOT PRINTING NAMES IN CONNECTION
WITH LOCAL DRUNK DRIVING ARRESTS HAS JUST JUMPED FROM $75 TO $100 PER
NAME EFFECTIVE OCT. 16, 2005-- SAME DAY THE NEW BANKRUPTCY LAW KICKS
IN. AND THE BEAT ROLLS ON . . .
LATE-BREAKING 9/21/05 -- San Francisco 49'ers
lineman Thomas Herrion, who weighed more than 300 pounds, died of heart
disease. Some health quacks claim heart disease in an overweight person
should be attributed to "food abuse." Herrion died in Denver
after a pre-season game with the Broncos. No ephedra or anything else
weird was detected in the post-mortem report so maybe he was just too
fat for football. Ephedra got banned after an overweight baseball player
with an enlarged heart died last year while working out in the heat.
Ephedra, shown medically to combat obesity, is derived from the herb
ma huang, Ephedra was detected in the baseball player's autopsy but
docs declined to link the appetite depressant to the death.
Soulful Coverage
of New Orleans Disaster click here for Nancy Grace
Hunter S.. Thompson Friends Say Hollywood
Hijacked his 'funeral'
Photo coverage of gonzo writer Hunter S.
Thompson fiery funeral blastoff by Karen
Day/Aspen Free Press click here.
Dr. Thompson
will be missed-
The
Aspen Free Press published
a Hunter S. Thompson 'EXTRA' edition when Hunter died on 2/20/05
-- the only Aspen newspaper with the story on the street that Sunday
(click below). Apres skiers slumped on barstools read the story in stunned
disbelief. Tourists descended on Aspen Free Press distribution
points in a frenzy for copies like so many hungry birds at winter feeders.
In a mad scramble to get out this special edition which included two
press runs, we put Hunter's date of birth at 7/18/39 which is incorrect.
The date came from Paul Perry's biography, "Fear and Loathing,,
The Strange and Terrible Saga of Hunter S. Thompson," which has
the year wrong in our copy of the book anyway. The
date we should have run is 7/18/37. Hunter was 67 when he died, not
65 as stated in the our 'extra.' The Aspen Free Press regrets
the error which got corrected for Monday's street edtion. And the beat
rolls on . . .
,
DR. FAYETTE COPELAND, FOR WHOM THE JOURNALISM BUILDING AT OU IS NAMED,
WROTE A BOOK "KENDALL OF THE PICAYUNE" ABOUT NEW ORLEANS AND
ITS NEWSPAPER CLICK HERE FOR MORE.
Bill
Greenwood and his historic British Spitfire
HUNTER S. THOMPSON SHOOTS
SELF TO DEATH TODAY -- ASPEN, Co., (Feb. 20, 2005) -- Bulletin!
"Extra" street edition. Gonzo writer Dr. Hunter S. Thompson,
65, shot himself to death this afternoon in the kitchen of his farm
home near this Rocky Mountain resort town. Click here for more.
Aspen Free Press ----Page 1 | Page
2
THE
END OF THE AFFAIR WITH HUNTER S. THOMPSON?
Dr. Thompson spent the afternoon of his last birthday celebrating with
two longtime friends -- John Van Ness, a neighbor and criminal
defense attorney who represents NORML, and Ed Bradley of CBS's
"60 Minutes," who resides in Aspen part-time. You may recall
the Aspen Free Press's stumblebum coverage of Ed Bradley's wedding
last summer. You also may recall that several years ago -- when Dr.
Thompson got cited for trying to shoot a golf ball with a shotgun --
he was playing golf with Ed. VANNESS HAD YET TO RECEIVE A FORMAL
WRITTEN INVITATION TO HUNTER'S SENDOFF LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON. SO IF
YOU'RE A LOCAL AND HAVEN'T RECEIVED ONE EITHER YOU'RE IN GOOD COMPANY.
VANNESS WAS TOLD BY ANITA THOMPSON HE SHOULD ATTEND, THOUGH.
AUG. 16, 2005 -- ELVIS DIED ON THIS DATE TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO. THE
FOLLOWING, EXCERPTED FROM "NO PROBLEM BRIDGE AND THE ASPEN FREE
PRESS,"
BY STERLING GREENWOOD, IS ABOUT A YOUNG AND THIN ELVIS.
". . . . Or when I saw Elvis in Wichita Falls before they cleaned
him up and he tore into "Baby Let's Play House," in a wild
fit of hiccups like somebody possessed, raving in tongues -- WUP, BABYBABYBABY
HIC, BABYBABY HIC --and the bass player flailed the strings of a giant
gold-colored fiddle, and in one fluid move sank to his back, pulling
the 6-ft.-high instrument over on top of him, and he started humping
the thing during his solo like it was a woman -- THUMPA,THUMPA,THUMPA,THUMPA
--and I thought the roof of the auditorium would lift off its hinges
and into the heavens from sheer teen hysteria."
AUG 15, 2005-- A SMALL GROUP OF US LISTENED TO THOMAS FRIEDMAN'S
ANIMATED RAP ABOUT HIS LATEST TOME, 'THE WORLD IS FLAT'' AT EXPLORE
BOOKSELLERS THE OTHER NIGHT. I DON'T KNOW WHETHER THE BOOK'S ANY GOOD,
BUT I BOUGHT A COPY JUST BECAUSE OF OF FRIEDMAN'S CONTAGIOUS ENTHUSIASM.
EXPLORE BOOKSELLERS, HOUSED IN AN OLD VICTORIAN ON MAIN, HAS A COFFEE
HOUSE/HEALTH RESTAURANT UPSTAIRS AND IS OWNED BY. KATHERINE THALBERG,
DAUGHTER OF THE LATE IRVING THALBERG. I'VE MET A LOT OF FAMOUS
PEOPLE AT EXPLORE OVER THE YEARS, THANKS TO KATHERINE, MOST MEMORABLE,
ERICA JONG WHO WROTE 'FEAR OF FLYING.' WOW!
WITH BILL CLINTON IN THE 'HIPPIE' YEARS 7/25/03.
"BUBBA'S" ASPEN VACATION STARTS NEXT WEEK
BY STERLING GREENWOOD (uploaded from Aspen Free Press street edition.)
I opened Time magazine to the politics section and there she
was.
It was a color photo of a beautiful blonde, captioned "Who Is
Marsha Scott?"
I nearly fell out of bed.
This was in the late nineties, during the Clinton and Monica goat dance,
and Marsha was described in Time as Clinton's "girlfriend
from his hippie days," now "Deputy Assistant to the President."
I hurried onto the internet to access "Marsha Scott."
There was a blizzard of references:
-- The Deposition of Marsha Scott.
-- Ex-campaign Chief David Watkins says Marsha Scott is Clinton's White
House Mistress, a power in Washington.
-- All the President's Women, Marsha Scott.
-- Scott Marsha, The Secret Life of Bill Clinton.
-- Marsha Scott, The Last White House Staff Member to See Vince Foster
Alive.
-- Marsha Scott, Chief of Presidential Correspondence.
-- Marsha Scott, Chief of Staff in the Presidential Personnel Office.
Reading through all this internet stuff, I didn't know what to believe.
I saw stories about Marsha chairing meetings in Bill's absence, her
attending Vince Foster's funeral with the President.
Who is Marsha Scott?
I thought to myself, "Hell, I know Marsha Scott. Or I used to
anyway. And I'd wondered at times what happened to her.
I stayed at Marsha Scott's in DC decades ago, when I covered anti-war
riots at the University of Maryland for a Scripps-Howard newspaper in
Memphis, where I was based. My previous "out of town," assignment
had been the world premiere of the movie "Woodstock," in Miami.
That week in DC included dinners with Marsha and "attending,"
the riot where overturned charred police vehicles littered the Maryland
campus -- a Fellini movie somehow run amok.
I had met Marsha during my college years when visiting a roommate from
Arkansas. I also crossed paths there with names like Jim Guy Tucker,
Jack Tom Friar, Chet "The Jet" Storthz, John Findley, Poindextar
and countless others, maybe even Bill Clinton I wondered.
Jim Guy Tucker had such a zeal, both political and journalistic that
he smuggled himself into Tucker Prison Farm as an inmate and later penned
a series of newspaper articles exposing that Arkansas penal institution
for the toilet it was.
Tucker was going to be President someday, we thought. And so did everyone
else in Arkansas then, it seemed, except maybe Bill Clinton. As it turned
out Tucker succeeded Clinton as governor or Arkansas before somehow
getting snagged, too, in the Whitewater controversy.
Anyway, I had spent a lot of time in Little Rock, so I phoned up Marsha
Scott, whom I had met there, when I went to DC as a journalist. She
was an aide to U.S. Senator William Fulbright from Arkansas, the most
outspoken dove on the Vietnam War in congress.
There were swirls of people in and out at Marsha's when I stayed there.
. Articulate, animated, exciting people who lived and breathed politics.
Lots of longhairs.
I left the Arkansans long enough to attend a steeple chase in Virginia.
At a party on a guy's farm after the race, I asked the owner what he
raised. "Anything I can smoke," he said.
I drove back to DC that night full of whiskey, one eye closed to avoid
seeing double
As much fun as the Virginia party was, I missed the Arkansas crowd.
Most political types bored me back then, but they didn't.
They were sophisticated hell-raisers, wild and fun-loving -- to say
nothing of idealistic.
I actually had withdrawal when I left them in DC.
I can understand how news types get addicted to living in our nation's
capital where you feel like you're in the world's nerve center and nothing
really happens anyplace else even when it does. Like driving by the
White House the night of the Kent State Massacre to see Dan Rather there
on the lawn in a floodlight, giving his report on President Nixon's
reaction to the deaths of the Kent State student war protesters cut
down by National Guard troops.
Anyway, after I saw Marsha's Scott's photo in Time, I got in
touch with her through a reporter for The Washington Post.
She wrote me a letter on White House stationery, and we've continued
an email correspondence since.
"Did I ever meet Clinton?" I asked Marsha. "I don't
know," she said. "When he's in Aspen, go up and introduce
yourself." I never have. But next week, if I see Clinton strolling
on the mall downtown or something, I just may.
I can tell him about having breakfast with Monica Lewinsky at Main
Street Bakery a couple of years ago.
Or about interviewing Vernon, Tx., native Ken Starr two weeks ago at
The Aspen Institute.
I can ask "Bubba" how gratified he must feel to have had
such capable and loyal staffers, like Marsha Scott, who stood by him
through "High Noon."
Probably, though, I'll ask whether he gets PSA tests.
. Anybody who loves pussy like he's been reported to is bound to have
a lot of testosterone which starts turning into prostate-cancer-fueling
dihydrosterone as men get into their fifties.
Anyone want to try and guess former President Clinton's current
PSA score?
"Inhale to the Chief."
Nominated for Quote of the Year, is a statement made by Texas
Congressman Dick Armey when asked, "If you had been in President
Clinton's place would you have resigned?"
Armey's reply: "If I had been in the President's place I would
not have gotten the chance to resign. I would have been lying in a pool
of my own blood and listening to my wife ask, 'How do you reload this
son of a bitch?'"
XXX
FOR ARTICLES WRITTEN ABOUT THE ASPEN'S WORST NEWSPAPER" IN DENVER
NEWSPAPERS AND IN ASPEN MAGAZINE, JUST KEEP ON SCROLLING DOWN. FOR COMMENTS
ABOUT THE ASPEN FREE PRESS AND ITS PUBLISHER IN THE NEW YORK TIMES SEE
"ASPEN'S INNER GONZO," IE SCROLL UP IN THE FAR LEFT COLUMN.
UPLOADED FROM ASPEN FREE PRESS STREET EDITION 2/5/05
AARON
RALSTON, TRIBUTE TO ONE ARM --
BY STERLING GREENWOOD --I was reared
by an uncle who lost an arm in a cotton gin accident. His name was Clarence.
I named my son after him. With
one arm, uncle Clarence built my daughter a playhouse, complete with
hardwood floors, a tin roof and grownup windows and doors. He taught
my son how to fish.
During the depression, before I was born,
uncle Clarence's cotton gin got destroyed by fire. The insurance company
refused to pay. They went to court. Uncle Clarence's lawyer told him
he could bolster his case by fudging on a report -- in effect falsely
claiming that a gin manager was on the premises when the fire started.
Uncle Clarence said, "If you can't win it without lyin', just drop
it." Leon Douglas told me that story back when he was Texas State
Prosecutor. He said, "I'd take that man's word on anything,"
Uncle Clarence told the truth and won his lawsuit.
When I left Aspen in the late eighties for
a time, it was because my uncle was sick. I wrote a column in the Aspen
Free Press about it then which began, "I drove a long way from
the Rockies this week to an ugly place to watch a man die." My
son and I took shifts and stayed with uncle Clarence in his hospital
room. "What is that old man to you two?" a nurse asked us,
indignant at our criticism of his care. We couldn't have begun to explain.
The first time I came to Aspen it was because
my uncle and my aunt Odessa,brought me. I was five. We came because
they were worried about a runaway relative, another aunt, who had moved
to Colorado and married some guy from Montana, who nobody knew, then
became a Bahai. There was a dirt road to Aspen over Independence Pass
then -- euphemistically dubbed a short-cut. And it was scary, even in
summer. We were in a new Buick which uncle Clarence had bought for my
aunt as a surprise after her hemorrhoid operation. My aunt tried not
to appear nervous going over Independence on that skittering, rutted
road, more suited to goats than
to Buicks with slip-o-matic Dynaflow transmissions.
There were hairpin turns through cloud banks
and no guardrails. And at really
high elevations the Buick nearly got bogged in snow. From my back window
perch, I peered over the road's edge into a bottomless fog. We
inched along, never seeing another human. I sensed somebody had read
the map wrong but kept my mouth shut. Uncle Clarence, thankfully, had
both hands then, and he kept them locked to the steering wheel. He kept
his narrow-brimmed Open Road Stetson pulled low over his eyes while
an unlighted Roi Tan cigar bobbed up and down in his mouth like Groucho
Marx. When I told him I smelled something burning, he said it was just
the brakes and for me to be quiet and not look out the window if I didn't
want to get scared.
Once in Aspen, it was a whole different world.
There were tourists everywhere. I got to go swimming in a sunny pool
somewhere downtown. I think it was where the nightclub Double Diamond
is now. If so, somebody built a building on top of the old pool and
rock bands now play in the deep end. What's now Boogie's was a bowling
alley, with kids about my size hand-setting the pins. I don't remember
much else except the weather was mercifully cool compared to Texas summers.
Losing an arm put uncle Clarence in a decline
for a time. He got depressed, started drinking mornings. He sold his
cotton gin and cottonseed delinting plant on the Red River. He suffered
for a time from "phantom limb syndrome." I think that's what
it's called. He could still feel the part of his right arm he had lost
as if it were still connected to his body. It would itch and everything,
nearly driving him crazy. One time, after his cattle got rustled, he
got so upset he started trembling, and he had never been the trembly
type. I had to grab him by the shoulders and pull him to me for him
to get calm.
After about two years, he got used to one
arm, and became his old self...and even better in some ways. He developed
an expanded perception, it seemed. For instance, when my son would go
into the livingroom and plunk on the piano, I hardly noticed it. The
two-armed Clarence wouldn't have noticed it either. But one-armed, he
told me, "I think that child wants to play the piano."
"No way," came my response. Piano
had been forced on me for five years as a child and I still had nightmares
about riding my bicycle over to this scary white-haired woman's house
early mornings before school. I'd arrive sleepy-eyed with frozen fingers
-- unable to run the scales in synch with her metronome. Later as part
of a teen dance band, I got where I could play nearly any musical instrument
I picked up, but to this day I recoil from the piano.
After college, I got married and when we had
a son I wanted to name him after uncle Clarence. My wife, back then,
was all for it but she didn't want him to be called "Clarence."
She said it sounded like he was a chauffeur. So we called him "Cope,"
an abbreviation for his middle name, Copeland. I called him "Cope,"
anyway. His mother preferred "Copey. After
uncle Clarence died of aplastic anemia, my son grieved more than any
of us. He started going by the name "Clarence." The other
night when I saw him perform on the CBS Late Late Show with Craig Kilbourne,
playing and singing the music he wrote, I wished like everything that
uncle Clarence and aunt Odessa were alive. When my son's Dreamworks
CD, "Citizen Cope," came out I took one out to the lonely
dust-blown cemetery in Texas where they are buried and played it beside
their graves. I yelled into the wind, "Sis, Dah, this is Copeeeee
singing."
"Tribute to One Arm" is written
for mountain climber Aaron Ralston, who used a knife to cut off his
arm in order to get out from an 800-pound boulder. This column also
is written for Aron's family and for uncle Clarence, aunt Odessa, and
in special remembrance of my pianist mother, Lois Copeland Greenwood.
The Housing Board story below, "Millionaire Aspen Employees
Occupy Government-Subsidized Housing" is the first installment
in an occasional Aspen Free Press series. The original version
of the updated story below appeared in our street edition on Feb. 8,
2003.
ASPEN EMPLOYEE HOUSING CHEATS WHO ILLEGALLY OWN
LOCAL FREE MARKET REAL ESTATE, TOO -- GET AMNESTY -- BY
STERLING GREENWOOD -- Since the employee housing program's inception
here more than twenty years ago, a rule has been in effect barring owner/occupants
of affordable, government-subsidized housing from also owning local
free-market residences (the average price of an Aspen free market
home runs some $2.7 million). Why then, was an amnesty (ie exemption)
extended to certain violators of this guideline? An amnesty which renders
a huge free market real estate windfall to the non-compliant. In effect
the amnesty allows owner/occupants of deed-restricted employee housing
to also own at the same time posh free market Aspen residences which
they theoretically can rent out for a king's ransom to the new dumb?
Confused? So are we. Please read on.. FROM THE OFFICIAL 1996,
ASPEN/PITKIN COUNTY AFFORDABLE HOUSING GUIDELINES THIS IS THE WAY THE
AMNESTY GOT PHRASED. . . "NOTE: PERSONS OWNING IMPROVED RESIDENTIAL
PROPERTY (MEANING FREE MARKET, ACCORDING TO CINDY CHRISTENSEN,
OPERATIONS MANAGER OF THE HOUSING OFFICE) RESIDING IN AFFORDABLE
HOUSING PRIOR TO MAY 1, 1994, WILL BE ALLOWED TO RETAIN OWNERSHIP OF
THAT RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY AND STILL BE ELIGIBLE TO RESIDE IN (and own,
according to Cindy) AFFORDABLE HOUSING." PLEASE READ ON. .
. . .The telephone rang at twenty to seven this morning in my room at
the Cortina. I reached for the thing without looking at it. A girl's
voice said, "This is me. Remember?" I shook loose a Winston
from a pack on the floor. "Yes," I said. There was silence
at the other end of the line. Then she started talking. "Don't
say my name, just listen. I've left a page from the Employee Housing
Guidelines taped under a table at the Red Onion. The first table on
the right after you get inside. In that first circular booth. Go over
there now and get it. The cleanup crew might let you in. Then please
contact Cindy Christensen at the housing office for an interpretation.
I'm not sure, but I think. . . that because a housing board member screwed
up . . .I'm home free."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" I said. Her voice quavered. "You,'ve
been to my condo in town where I live?," she said. "You've
also been to my house here that I rent out to tourists? You've never
seen my other condo which I rent out, too." "So what"
I said. "Well, the condo where I live is employee housing and I'm
not supposed to own local free market dwellings, too." There was
a click and she was gone. I tucked the cell phone into a pocket of a
parka hung on the bed post, then sat up on the side of the bed and stared
out the window for a minute or two. I stood up and finished the drink
left from last night. I'd slept in my clothes so all I needed to do
was grab the parka and my laptop and step outside to greet the day.
It was ten below. I walked down Main and got into the second taxi in
front of the Jerome. "McDonald's," I said. That's where I
am now, with my computer, putting together today's edition of the Aspen
Free Press, "Aspen's Worst Newspaper," The Red Onion won't
open until 11:30. There's a guy there, too, named Tom who may give me
grief for scraping around under one of their tables.
But 11:30am does roll around and, suffice it to say, I do manage
to get the document taped under the table. And it looks familiar.
I check my notes from several months back. Hmmm. It seems I've already
talked with Cindy Christensen about this so-called "amnesty"
clause. Just never got around to running anything on it. According to
Cindy, there was this Housing Board member who
realized that he was out of compliance for owning and residing in
affordable housing while also owning free market housing at the same
time. This was in the mid-nineties just before the Board went after
the employee housing unit of Barney Oldfield because Barney allegedly
failed to work enough hours a week. Barney, in response to the charge,
said he'd been convalescing from ski injuries. But back to the Housing
Board member who should have had his butt out of the government-subsidized
housing program. The board didn't do anything. Well, the Board did quietly
write into its guidelines then a clause which allowed the board member
to keep both his free market and his employee housing. It's an amnesty
clause, as it were, to include all employee housing owner/occupants
at the time, who, on the sly, owned free market before May 1, 1994.
This time frame covers my female caller. The one who phoned early this
morning. , And I know now what she meant exclaiming, ". . . . I'm
home free." All these years she's lived a nightmare of being discovered.
Why did she not know about the so-called amnesty? Because like a lot
of locals in employee housing she doesn't read the literature sent by
the housing office. The '96 Guidlines comprise 29 pages. Anyway, today's
edition of the Aspen Free Press, is the first time ever that
the amnesty clause has appeared in the public prints locally.
Even Attorney David Myler, who represents Cathleen Tripodi, (a Bush
apointee) whom the Housing Board ordered to sell her employee unit
because of allegedly spending too much time away from Aspen, seemed
surprised. "I think they're singling out my client to be the poster
child of housing violations," Myler told the Aspen Free Press.
He said he may appeal the Board's ruling. "We haven't seen
the written order so it's premature." In case you're interested
in knowing the identiy of the Housing Board member who "screwed
up," and got all this rolling, , phone up Cindy Christensen at
the Housing office, 970-920-5050. She never told me his name. .(To be
continued)
THIS NEWSPAPER IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THE REV. FOREST
K. WHITWORTH --- DR. ANDREW EDDINGTON --- LENNY BRUCE -- DR. ROLAND
JONES
DIET
MAY REVERSE PROSTATE CANCER. CLICK ABOVE for this Newsweek
story.
COLLECTOR ISSUES
A SPECIAL THANKS TO THE ASPEN DAILY NEWS FOR COMPING OUR BREAST CANCER
RESEARCH ADS
CADMIUM -- CONTAINED IN THE STREET DE-ICER MAGNESIUM
CHLORIDE -- LINKED TO HUMAN CANCER
BY STERLING GREENWOOD
Cadmium, contained in the street de-icer magnesium magnesium chloride,
is a human carcinogen, according to the Tenth Annual Report of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. There is no safe level of cadmium
-- a soft, silver-white metal -- upgraded from "Reasonably Anticipated
to be a Human Carcinogen" to "Known to be a Human Carcinogen."
Cadmium has been linked to both breast cancer and prostate cancer. It
has a polmonary toxicity and cause lung cancer. Cadmium is the principal
killer in cigarette smoke. According to a summary chapter from the Toxicological
Profile for Cadmium released by the Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry (ATSDR), "Most of the cadmium that enters your
body goes to your kidney and liver and can remain there for many years."
The report goes on to say that cadmium can enter your body from the
food you eat, the water you drink, from particles attached to the air
(noteworthy: An Aspen Times series on mag
chloride said Aspen air has elevated levels of both cadmium and arsenic)
or from breathing cigarette smoke. Dr. Stephen Strum,
found of the Prostate Cancer Research Institute (PCRI) in Marina del
Rey, Ca., told the Aspen Free Press. "Cadmium is definitely
associated with prostate cancer risk." When told that Aspen had
used the street de-icer magnesium chloride containing both cadmium and
arsenic, he said, "This is certainly cause for alarm."
In 1982 a medical study showed that the cadmium levels
found in tissue of removed prostate tumors were eight times greater
than the cadmium levels in normal prostate tissue. Another study found
a 25-fold increase in cadmium levels of prostate tumors. A 1997 medical
study has found an increased risk for lung cancer in cadmium-exposed
workers. "but the association was significant only with the cadmium-exposed
workers had also been exposed to arsenic," also contained in the
street de-icer magnesium chloride. According to a report by the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), "Because of the body's
ability to accumulate and store cadmium over long periods of time, the
loss of kidney function may evelop even after a reduction or cessation
of external cadmium exposure" OSHA goes on to say, "exposure
to cadmium causes cancer, kidney dysfunction, reduced pulmonary function,
and chronic lung disease indicative of emphysema." Of course these
conditions don't occur overnight and most people can't tell by smell
or taste that cadmium is present in air or water. . . .water which flows
into rivers and streams from roads coated in cadmium-laced magnesium
chloride to keep ice melted. Federal guidelines continue to call for
less and less cadmium exposure in the workplace, according to OSHA,
"because a number of studies of workers suggest an association
between occupational cadmium exposures and increased deaths from cancer,
most notably prostate cancer." When I was diagnosed with prostate
cancer, the first question a physician asked me was, "Have you
been around cadmium?" I didn't know it then but I had been wading
through cadmium in mag chloride applied to the streets of Aspen for
several winters. Aspen City Council has an on-again-off-again history
with mag chloride. The last winter that I recall the de-icer on local
streets to any extent was, for a time, during the winter of 2001. The
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry says, "There are
no good effects from taking in cadmium. Breathing air with high levels
of cadmium can severely damage the lungs and may cause death. Breathing
air with low levels of cadmium for long periods of time (for years)
results in a buildup of cadmium in the kidney and may result in kidney
disease." Other effects that could occur after breathing cadmium
for a long time, besides cancer, are lung damage and fragile bones.
Cancer statistics indicate that the prostate cancer rate in Aspen has
been climbing. It seems like a lot of men here, in their late forties
and early fifties (young for prostate cancer), are getting it. It's
difficult to pinpoint the cause when one gets cancer. Usually it's a
multiplicity of factors, including genetic predisposition, age, exposure
to environmental carcinogens and general health. And, according to studies,
it's not that cadmium necessarily creates prostate cancer from scratch.
Most men, as they age, develop prostate tumors, but they are held
in check by tumor suppressor genes and remain latent, ie harmless. If
these tumor suppressor genes somehow get mutated, a harmless prostate
tumor becomes "clinical," ie needing cancer therapy. One tumor
suppressor gene is the p-53. Clinical tests indicate that cadmium --
contained in the street de-icer magnesium chloride -- even at non-toxic
levels, "impairs p-53 function," not only for prostate cancer
but also for lung cancer and some lines of breast cancer.
ASPEN DAILY NEWS EARLY DAYS RECALLED
--BY STERLING GREENWOOD
ASPEN PRINCESS AND THE SKI --THE SAGA OF ALISON BERKLEY
Uploaded from Jan. 23, 2004 street edition
BY STERLING GREEENWOOD
IT WAS COLD IN ASPEN AND THE WIND CAME DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINS. THE
REAL WORLD WAS ALWAYS THERE BUT WE DIDN'T GO TO IT ANYMORE.
I HUNG OUT AT A BREAKFAST JOINT CALLED THE VILLAGE PANTRY AND DRANK
COFFEE AND STARED AT THE WAITRESS.
(DON'T WORRY, I'LL GET TO THE PRINCESS -- ALISON BERKLEY --WHO
GOT FIRED BY THE ASPEN SKICO AFTER ONE OF HER "THE PRINCESS PALATE"
COLUMNS APPEARED IN THE ASPEN TIMES.)
ANYWAY, DOCTOR DEATH SCAVENGED DUMPSTERS IN ALLEYS AROUND TOWN FOR
HIGH-TICKET ITEMS ABANDONED BY RICH FOLKS ON THE MOVE.
NEARLY EVERY NIGHT HE'D STRAGGLE HOME UNDER THE HEFT OF SOMETHING LIKE
A STEREO OR COLOR TV OR GOLF CLUBS. I KNOW BECAUSE HE WAS MY NEIGHBOR.
WE LIVED IN ADJACENT PARKED CARS BEHIND THE TEXACO STATION AT MAIN AND
GALENA DOWNTOWN -- A CAPPUCCINO-FREE ZONE KNOWN THEN AS 'LOCALS CORNER.'
ONE TIME, WHILE POKING ABOUT IN A DUMPSTER NEXT TO MCDONALD'S, HE FOUND
A HAND-CRAFTED WEDDING GOWN STIFFLY PERCHED ATOP A MOUNTAIN OF SEE-THROUGH
PLASTIC BAGS CONTAINING HAMBURGERS, CHEESEBURGERS, CHICKEN NUGGETS AND
BIG MACS THEY DIDN'T SELL THAT DAY. ENOUGH TO FEED ME AND HIM AND TWO
DOGS FOR NEARLY A WEEK.
AS FOR THE WEDDING GARB WE HEARD IT CAME FROM A TEXAS HEIRESS WHO PAID
$25,000 TO GET IT MADE SOMEWHERE OVERSEAS, PARIS MAYBE; THEN TOSSED
IT INTO THE DUMPSTER LIKE A SHOT FROM A WINDOW OF A FAST-MOVING FORD
PICKUP AFTER SHE CAME DOWN OFF DRUGS LONG ENOUGH TO SEE IT WAS A WEENIE
SHE WAS ABOUT TO MARRY A |
This website is being remodeled again, so everything's jumbled. Plus our
press, which we bought years ago in Oklahoma City and hauled to Aspen, is
being rebuilt with parts scattered from hell to breakfast all over the office.
So no phone calls please now unless you have money for me and/or good news.
And keep in mind that Im a recovering jerk. PART NINE TODAY IN ASPEN
FREE PRESS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION SERIES