Ear to the ground

“Just who are they trying to protect anyway?”

-A Four Corners Folk Festival attendee questioning the tight security and removed location of the festival’s beer garden

Billy Joe in Palestine

Billy Joe “Red” McCombs is getting inked all over the world. Though the Village at Wolf Creek front has been largely silent in Durango in recent months, thePalestine Chronicle, a publication devoted to the Arab-Israeli conflict, has picked up the story.

Joshua Frank, author ofLeft Out! How Liberals Helped Reelect George W. Bush, recently passed through the region and picked up the Friends of Wolf Creek banner. In a column for thePalestine Chronicle, Frank gives background on the proposed 10,000-person village, remarks that McCombs is one of the 400 richest Americans and then lets it fly.

“McCombs’ vision, not unlike that of Pete Seibert and Earl Eaton who built the township near Vail, is sustained by greed and a rampant disregard for the wild,” he writes. “Like most capitalists, McCombs is in it for the money and status. Nothing more.”

Frank goes on to explain a late August hearing before the Colorado Court of Appeals and the fact that road access is dominating the legal argument. He then notes that the court of appeals will likely take a few months to issue a decision and concludes, “So the battles rage on by a courageous few to protect the freedom of the wild in these desolate, iconic parts of the Rocky Mountains. If the courts don’t side with the legally inclined environmentalists who want to preserve this wilderness for black bears and not for vacationers, Red McCombs and his investors can be certain that other radical activists will take to the Forest Service roads to confront the development of our untrammeled public lands.”

The BMX big time

Durango BMX rode out the 2007 season in fine form last weekend. The State Championship Race Final was held Sunday in Montrose, and local riders came home with nine State Championship titles, up from last year’s seven.

Riley “The Raptor” Wanzek took home a championship title in the cruiser class. Faythe “The Pink Flame” Gillam, Miranda Gallegos, Alisha “The Reel Deal” Reel and “Adios” Ashley Grubb took titles in the girl’s class. For the boys/men’s class, “Insane” Shane Ellis, “Hart Attach” Zach Thorsheim, Jordan “Rockstar” Rupe and John “Crash Daddy” O’Riordan were all crowned the best BMXers in Colorado.

In addition to those individual titles, Team Durango BMX brought home the Team Trophy from the race with a perfect score and registered a total of 26 top-10 finishes.