1. 50CENTS
TRINIDAD
COLORADO
Proudly Serving Southeastern Colorado and Northeastern New Mexico • www.thechronicle-news.com
~
Vol. 139, No. 35
WEDNESDAY
FEBRUARY18,2015
AREA SPORTS ACTION
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
WED: Primero hosts Kim 5:30 p.m.
FRI: Primero hosts Cotopaxi 5 p.m.
Aguilar @ Moffat 1 p.m.
SAT: Primero @ South Baca 2 p.m.
Trinidad Miners Pigtail games TBD
Hoehne District Tourney TBD
TRINIDAD STATE
FRI: Baseball @ Luna CC Las Ve-
gas, NM12 p.m. DH
Softball hosts Garden City @ Central
Park 1 p.m. DH
SAT: Mens Basketball hosts Otero
JC (RIVALRY GAME) 7 p.m.
Womens Basketball hosts Otero JC
(RIVALRY GAME) 5 p.m.
Softball hosts McCook 12 p.m. DH
SUN: Baseball hosts Luna 12 p.m.
DH
Softball hosts McCook 11 a.m. DH
Today’s Quote
“If you want others
to be happy, practice
compassion. If you
want to be happy,
practice compassion.”
~Dalai Lama
FEBRUARY 18
ASH WEDNESDAY
The beginning of the Lenten
season, which will last for 40 days
until the celebration of Easter on
April 5.
Trinidad Community Coop
FRIDAY (10:30 a.m. & 6:30 p.m.)
Vegan Cooking Class on Friday morn-
ings and Kirtan chanting (Sanskrit
chanting call) on Friday evenings at
the Coop, Corner of Elm and Maple
Streets. Info: communitycooptrini-
dad@gmail.com.
E-911 Authority
WEDNESDAY (3 p.m.) The Board
will meet in the County Courthouse,
201 E. First Street, in the Commission-
ers’ Chambers. Information: Rita Man-
telli, 719-846-4441.
COOKIES FOR READERS!
WEDNESDAY (4:30-6 p.m.) The
adult community is invited to bring
2-dozen favorite cookies and recipe for
a pleasant afternoon Cookie Swap and
fun social time at the Carnegie Library,
202 N. Animas St. Info: 719-846-6841.
Purgatoire Watershed
WEDNESDAY (5 p.m.) The Part-
nership annual meeting will meet in the
NRCS Office, 3590 E. Main. Informa-
tion: Karen Wolf, 303-543-8688.
FP Fire District
WEDNESDAY (6 p.m.) Fishers
Peak Fire Protection District Board
of Directors public meeting will be at
the Starkville Fire Station. Information:
719-846-6077.
Hoehne Fire Protection
WEDNESDAY (6 p.m.) District
Board of Directors meets at the Trini-
dad Ambulance District, 939 Robinson
Ave. Information: Dana Phillips, 719-
846-2080.
NASA & Nighttime Sky
WEDNESDAY (7 p.m.) Informa-
tional presentation “New Horizons
Mission to Pluto” and Star Party by
University of Colorado-Boulder Pro-
fessor and Mission Co-Investigator
Fran Bagenal will be held at the Mas-
sari Theater on the campus of TSJC.
Tickets available at the door. Info: Elise
Russell, 719-846-5725.
FEBRUARY 19
~Dine out for Noah’s Ark
THURSDAY: Dine out all day and
evening at Bob and Earls, Brix, Nana
and Nano’s and Wendy’s to help sup-
port Noah’s Ark Animal Shelter. Infor-
mation: 719-846-8578.
Trout Unlimited
THURSDAY (6 p.m.) Purgatoire
River Anglers meeting will be in Ristras
Restaurant on Elm Street. Info: www.
pratu.org. Meetings are always open
to the public.
THEFINEPRINT
WEATHERWATCH
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near
49. West wind around 5 mph becom-
ing calm. Night: Mostly clear, with a low
around 25. West southwest wind around
10 mph.
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 59.
West northwest wind 5 to 10 mph. Night:
Mostly clear, with a low around 27. West
wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near
57. West southwest wind around 5 mph.
Night: A slight chance of rain and snow.
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 29.
Northwest wind around 5 mph. Chance of
precipitation is 10 percent.
Saturday: A chance of rain and snow.
Mostly cloudy, with a high near 35. North
wind around 5 mph becoming east south-
east in the morning. Chance of precipita-
tion is 50 percent. Night: A 40 percent
chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low
around 22. Northeast wind around 5 mph
becoming east southeast after midnight.
RIVERCALL
Purgatoire River Call as of:
02/17/15. Elmoro ditch: Prior-
ity # 8 --- Appropriation date:
11/15/1862.
Trinidad Reservoir Accounting:
Release 0.77 AF
Inflow 54.73 AF -- 27.59 CFS
Evaporation 0.39 AF
Content 16,915 AF
Elevation 6,179.10
Precipitation 0.05
Downstream River Call / John
Martin Reservoir: (Conservation
Storage) 05/31/1949.
THECHRONICLENEWS
Continued on Page 2 ...
COLORADOAN TO BE HONORED
2015 marks historic
25th anniversary for
Astronaut Hall of Fame
Kennedy Space Center
Special to The Chronicle-News
Editor’s Note: Rominger is a na-
tive of Del Norte, Colo., received a
bachelor’s degree from Colorado
State University and a master’s
degree from the U.S. Naval Post-
graduate School, and is a current
resident of Salt Lake City, Utah.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER,
Fla. (Feb. 13, 2015) – On Saturday,
May 30, 2015, four space shuttle
astronauts will be inducted into
the United States Astronaut Hall
of Fame during a public ceremo-
ny held at Kennedy Space Center
Visitor Complex’s Space Shuttle
Atlantis SM attraction: John
Grunsfeld, Ph. D., Steven Lindsey,
Kent Rominger, and M. Rhea Sed-
don, M.D.
These astronaut heroes will
join the ranks of well-known space
explorers including Alan Shepard,
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
This year marks the historic 25th
anniversary of the Hall of Fame,
which was conceived in the 1980s
by the six remaining Mercury as-
tronauts as a place where space ex-
plorers could be remembered. Past
Hall of Fame inductees include
Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab
and Space Shuttle astronauts.
This year’s inductees comprise
the 14th group of space shuttle as-
tronauts named to the U.S. Astro-
naut Hall of Fame, bringing the
total number of members to 91.
Among this year’s inductees are
a robotics expert who conducted
three missions to repair the Hub-
ble Space Telescope; two former
military aviators who became
space shuttle pilots and command-
ers on key shuttle missions to
build the International Space Sta-
tion; and a medical doctor and pay-
load commander on life sciences
missions who was one of NASA’s
first female astronauts.
The 2015 Astronaut Hall of
Photo courtesy of Kennedy Space Center
Kent V. Rominger (Captain, USN, Ret.) is a native of Del Norte, in Southcentral
Colorado. Rominger is one of four space shuttle astronauts selected for induc-
tion into the 2015 U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame at the Kennedy Space Center in
Cape Canaveral Florida.Continued on Page 3 ...
NEW HANDICAPPED RESOURCES
County Board
approves ADA
policies
By Steve Block
The Chronicle-News
To better handle complaints
about non-compliance with the
provisions of the federal Ameri-
cans with Disabilities Act (ADA),
the County Board of Commission-
ers unanimously approved a reso-
lution supporting new policies and
procedures designed to deal with
ADA issues. Anyone with com-
plaints about handicapped access
to County facilities, services or
programs will now be able to get
help with those problems under
the provisions of the new policies
and procedures.
County Administrator Leeann
Fabec said she had drafted the res-
olution, and then had it reviewed
by County Attorney Dixie New-
man before it before the board for
its approval.
“Basically what this does is
help us deal with any ADA com-
plaints that come in,” Fabec said.
“We outline how to request rea-
sonable accommodations. We
list our ADA compliance officer,
Kim Chavez, and Kent Robinson,
County land use officer, as points
of contact. We’ve set up a commit-
tee with Kim, Kent, Ken Bowman
and myself to discuss ADA issues.
Kent has also been examining our
facilities to see if any changes need
to be made, and any possible ADA
violations he can note. That’s part
of our process of setting up these
policies and procedures, which
will be available to the public and
will also be on our website.”
Continued on Page 2 ...
Adam Sperandio / The Chronicle-News
Swoop to the hoop
The Miner boys picked up two big wins against Vanguard and Salida over the
weekend, however the team still remains in the No.9 seed going into districts.
Jared Hernandez, above, led the way for the Miners, combining for 40 points
in the two contests. See Page 6 for more . . .
LAS ANIMAS COUNTY
Republican Women to host
Lincoln Day Dinner Saturday
By Eric John Monson
News Editor
The Chronicle-News
“Stand Your Ground” is the
theme of the Las Animas County
Republican Women’s (LACRW)
annual Lincoln Day Dinner this
Saturday at the Holiday Inn in
Trinidad. The guest speaker for
the event will be Senior Field
Representative for the
National Rifle Asso-
ciation (NRA), Pe-
ter Ide.
“I think this
year we wanted
to get some ex-
citement and
motivation be-
hind this event
to get us roll-
ing this year…
and [Ide] is such
a great speaker.
We’ve known his work
through the NRA. He really
grabs you and I think he has some
information that people will be
interested in and probably will be
surprised to hear,” said LACRW
President and local business own-
er Shelly King.
King explained this is an annu-
al event for local republicans and
this year they tried to avoid the
normal politician-led discussion.
“We wanted someone who could
really bring us something new
instead of the regular politician
speech,” said King. “We’re a small
group and since I was elected Pres-
ident, it’s really been our goal to
invigorate this group. So, we’re re-
ally expecting a great crowd. And
you don’t have to be a republican
to come. It’s just a night
full of fun—and we’re
always looking for
converts.”
A photogra-
phy and print
professional
by trade, Ide
is currently
responsible
for managing
NRA fund-
raising efforts
and promoting
NRA programs
and services as a
New Mexico representa-
tive. His presentation will include
an informative history of the Sec-
ond Amendment and the Bill of
Rights.
The event begins at 5:30 p.m.
with a social hour that features a
silent auction, wine, beer and ap-
Continued on Page 3 ...
Representative for the
National Rifle Asso-
ciation (NRA), Pe-
and [Ide] is such
a great speaker.
We’ve known his work
through the NRA. He really
grabs you and I think he has some
full of fun—and we’re
always looking for
converts.”
A photogra-
phy and print
professional
by trade, Ide
is currently
responsible
for managing
NRA fund-
raising efforts
and promoting
NRA programs
and services as a
New Mexico representa-
tive. His presentation will include
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
Trinidad State
student to be
honored at ACAT
awards luncheon
By Greg Boyce
Special to The Chronicle-News
The 17th annual All-Colorado
Academic Team Luncheon and
Awards Ceremony that honors the
top high-performing community
service oriented students from 14
Colorado community colleges will
be held Wednesday, March 11, at
the Denver Athletic Club’s Grand
Ballroom. These students belong
to their college’s chapters of the
Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) honor so-
ciety and have been selected as
being the “best of the best” from
their respective institutions. Rec-
ognizing the academic achieve-
ment of two-year college students,
PTK is the largest honor society in
American higher education.
Twenty-seven outstanding
community college students will
be recognized and the highest
rated of those will be presented as
Colorado’s “New Century Schol-
ar” award honoree and given a
$2,000 scholarship from the Coca-
Cola Scholars Foundation and the
Coca-Cola Foundation. The New
Century Scholar will be invited to
represent Colorado at the annual
American Association of Commu-
nity Colleges national convention.
Additionally, all 27 students
will receive scholarships from
Johnson & Wales University and
Regis University.
Trinidad State’s honoree is
Mary Carpenter. She’s an active
sophomore from Albuquerque
and at 6’4” tall, plays on the Wom-
en’s Basketball Team. She’s the
oldest of six children and says her
Continued on Page 3 ...

2. Wednesday, February 18, 2015 Page 3The Chronicle-News Trinidad, Colorado
2015 marks historic 25th anniversary for Astronaut Hall of Fame ... Continued from Page 1
Fame Induction will take place at 2 p.m.
on Saturday, May 30. Admittance into the
ceremony is included in admission to Ken-
nedy Space Center Visitor Complex; how-
ever, seating is limited and is available on
a first-come, first-served basis. For more
information, visit www.KennedySpace-
Center.com.
Kent V. Rominger (Captain, USN, Ret.)
was selected by NASA to become an astro-
naut in 1992. A veteran of five space flights,
he has logged more than 1,600 hours in
space.
Rominger first launched as the pilot of
STS-73 Columbia in October 1995. He re-
turned to space as the pilot of STS-80 Co-
lumbia in 1996 and STS-85 Discovery in
August 1997. Rominger’s first mission as
commander was STS-96 Discovery, which
launched May 1999. During this 10-day mis-
sion, the crew successfully completed the
first docking of a space shuttle to the Inter-
national Space Station and delivered four
tons of logistics and supplies in prepara-
tion for the arrival of the first crew. During
training, he helped discover and optimize
the ISS orientation maneuver to save hun-
dreds of pounds of propellants.
During his final mission, STS-100 En-
deavour, which launched in April 2001,
Rominger commanded a diverse interna-
tional crew, representing the United States,
Russia, Canada and Italy. Together they
installed the Canadian-built Robotic Arm
and Rafaello Logistics Module to the ISS.
Endeavour was docked eight days on the
most complex robotics flight in the history
of the Space Shuttle Program.
During his time at NASA, Rominger
served in the Astronaut Office Operations
Development Branch, as Deputy Director of
Flight Crew Operations, and as Chief of the
Astronaut Office. He retired from NASA in
2006 to accept a position with ATK Launch
Systems.
Each year, a committee of Hall of Fame
astronauts, former NASA officials, flight
directors, historians and journalists se-
lects inductees. The Astronaut Scholarship
Foundation administers the process. To be
eligible, an astronaut must have made his
or her first flight at least 17 years before the
induction. Candidates must be a U.S. citi-
zen and a NASA-trained commander, pilot
or mission specialist who has orbited the
earth at least once.
Trinidad State student to be honored
... Continued from Page 1
Republican Women to
host Lincoln Day Dinner ... Continued from Page 1
petizers. The dinner will be-
gin at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for
the event are $25. Tickets
can be purchased by calling
(719) 845-0300, (719) 845-9544
or can be picked up at C&S
Outdoors on Main Street.
Ide’s biography recounts
his employment history be-
ginning with a run at the
Medical College of Geor-
gia where he was Chief of
Medical Photography and
Assistant Professor of Pho-
tography. He then moved to
Albuquerque where he became
General Manager of Kurt’s
Camera Corral and owner of
Print Professional where they
do commercial offset printing.
Outside of photography and
printing, Ide’s passion has been
guns and shooting sports. He
counts his affiliations, along
with the NRA, as being with the
New Mexico Shooting Sports
Association and a number of
other gun clubs.
goal in life is to be a positive
role model for her younger
siblings. She’s a second year
member of the acclaimed
Trinidad State Robotics
Team and will graduate in
May with an Associate of
Science Degree. Mary hopes
to get a four-year degree in
electrical engineering and
eventually merge her love
of robotics with the develop-
ment of prosthetics.
Invitees include all mem-
bers of the Colorado General
Assembly, the State Board
for Community Colleges and
Occupational Education,
senior staff of the Colorado
Community College System,
community college presi-
dents, community college
PTK advisors and student
guests.
To be eligible to belong
to the PTK honor society,
students must complete at
least 12 hours of associate
degree coursework and earn
a minimum 3.5 grade point
average. Colorado’s first
PTK chapter was chartered in 1932 and to-
day there are nearly two dozen active chap-
ters in the state. More than 51,000 Colorado
Community College students have been in-
ducted over the last 83 years.
COMMUNITY
Photo courtesy of NASA
Houston, we have lift off — from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida
Photo courtesy of NRA
Peter Ide
Photo courtesy of Trinidad State
Mary Carpenter
HIGHWAY SAFETY REPORT
Colorado State Patrol
Special to The Chronicle-News
In 2014, the Colorado State Patrol saw a
new era of impaired driving enter into our
state. In an attempt to document the trends,
Colonel Scott Hernandez, Chief of the
Colorado State Patrol ordered the specific
tracking of marijuana related citations. A
summary of the 2014 DUI/DUID data is as
follows.
■ 5,546 citations were issued for DUI/
DUID driving actions.
■ 354 citations were issued for DUID
driving actions where marijuana was the
only indicator.
■ 674 citations were issued for DUI/
DUID driving actions were marijuana was
one of the indicators.
■ The 12-month average for citations re-
lated to marijuana was 12.2 percent of the
total DUI/DUID citations.
■ January, April, and December were
the three highest months for citations in-
volving marijuana usage as a percentage of
the overall DUI/DUID citations issued.
■ 75 percent of the 2014 DUI/DUID cita-
tions issued were the result of proactive mo-
torist contacts.
When asked about the 2014 data Colonel
Hernandez said, “The efforts made in 2014
highlight the Colorado State Patrol’s com-
mitment to the citizens of Colorado to make
the safe travel along all roads a priority. I
am proud of these efforts and will continue
to work with our troopers to ensure the
safety of all citizens and visitors of our won-
derful state.” To date, the CSP has over 540
Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving En-
forcement (ARIDE) trained troopers and 61
Drug Recognition Experts (DRE).
“Clearly this
arrest data under-
scores the need
for CDOT’s Drive
High, Get a DUI
campaign in 2015,”
says Amy Ford,
CDOT spokesper-
son. A CDOT study
last year found
that 43% of mari-
juana consumers
in Colorado said it
was okay to drive
high. After our education campaign, a new
CDOT study showed that 21% of recreation-
al marijuana consumers still didn’t know
you can get a DUI and 57% of those who
used marijuana drove within 2 hours after
consuming it. “We won’t be satisfied until
everyone in Colorado takes driving high se-
riously so the need for awareness and edu-
cation is paramount,” says Ford.
As the Colorado State Patrol enters 2015,
we are encouraged by the efforts made
throughout the state by every law enforce-
ment officer to reduce the number of im-
paired drivers making the decision to drive
on Colorado roadways. In 2015, the Colora-
do State Patrol will continue to collect data
and investigate trends that will enable our
agency to better adapt to the rapidly chang-
ing impaired driving attitude in Colorado.
State Patrol logs see increase
in drug-related impaired driving
DEARABBY
COLLEAGUE’S TEXTS SUGGEST
SHE HAS MORE IN MIND THAN WORK
By Abigail Van Buren
DEAR ABBY: My husband is a handsome
executive who works out of town. I’m a pro-
fessional with a responsible job that limits
my ability to travel.
I needed to borrow his phone recently and
noticedthatoneofhiscolleagueshasbeentex-
ting him after hours. She asks if he has trav-
eled safely, tells
him she misses
him, how much
she enjoys work-
ing with him --
all with roman-
tic emoticons.
I’m concerned
that the flattery
and emoticons
indicate she
wants more
than a work-
based relation-
ship. She’s mar-
ried with kids.
How should I
approach this?
-- WORRIED WIFE IN KENTUCKY
DEAR WORRIED WIFE: Because there
have been more than one of these flirtatious,
unbusinesslike communications, assume
that your husband hasn’t discouraged them.
Confronthim.Tellhimyoufeelwhatshe’sdo-
ing is a threat to your marriage, and you want
it stopped. But before you do, make copies of
the texts so you can confront the woman with
them if she doesn’t stop.
DEAR ABBY: Is it OK for a man to talk
on his cellphone at the urinal in a public re-
stroom, or for a woman to talk on the phone
while using the toilet in one of the stalls?
Also, please remind everyone to wash
their hands after using the restroom. -- RUS-
SELL IN RICHLAND, WASH.
DEAR RUSSELL: I can think of few things
more unpleasant than conversing with some-
one with the sound of “running water” (or
worse) in the background and toilets flush-
ing. Why anyone would do this is beyond me.
It’s very rude.
And, while I can remind people about
hand-washing until the cows come home, I’ll
suggest instead that men and women who use
public restrooms not touch the door handle
without a paper towel -- when available --
firmly in hand.
DEAR ABBY: I grew up in the ‘90s in a
neighborhood where the kids respected their
neighbors. I now live in a different state and,
obviously, a different era. Neighborhood kids
constantly use my steep driveway to ride
their bicycles, tricycles and scooters without
asking permission.
Am I right in thinking this is rude, be-
cause in my opinion, they are trespassing?
Not only could I be held responsible if one of
them gets hurt on my property, but they also
are extremely loud and do this while my chil-
dren are trying to nap. They have been asked
to stop, and I have threatened to talk to their
parents, even though I don’t know where they
live. What do I do? -- FRUSTRATED HOME-
OWNER
DEAR FRUSTRATED: Discuss this with
your insurance broker. You are correct that if
one of the children gets hurt on your property
you could be liable. You also need to be more
proactive than you have been. Tell the kids
they are disturbing your children who are
trying to nap, and if the kids don’t go away,
find out where they live and talk to the other
parents. It would be cheaper than having to
install a gate in front of your driveway.
DEARABBY:OnceagainIhavefoundthat
one random act of kindness begets another.
Today, I had a hankering for one of those
great salads from my favorite fast food chain.
It was noon, and the line from the main high-
way to get into the driveway was long.
When I finally was able to turn in to the
ordering section, I noticed a man in his work
truck trying to get into the line. We were face-
to-face. I looked back, saw all the cars behind
me and knew none of them were going to let
him in, so I motioned for him to go ahead of
me.
When I reached the window and started to
pay for my order, the cashier said, “You are
already paid for.” I said, “What?” The man in
front of me had paid for my order.
The message? Be kind -- it’s good karma.
-- LINDA IN ORANGE, CALIF.
DEARLINDA:Iagree.Likeastonethrown
into a pond, a good deed can create ripples
that extend far beyond the initial splash.
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also
known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her
mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.
DearAbby.comorP.O.Box69440,LosAngeles,CA90069.