Gas boom hits Garfield County

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. – For decades Glenwood Springs was the place you went from Aspen and Vail for deals. Everything from hamburgers to gasoline was cheaper.

Burgers may still be cheaper, but in the last year gasoline at Glenwood Springs actually became more expensive than at stations in the Vail area. Glenwood Springs is having a boom of its own, mostly because of the natural gas drilling to the west.

The epicenter for that drilling is about 30 miles west in Rifle. Not long ago it was home base for many of the construction and service workers for Aspen. But the oil and gas sector is growing rapidly, offering wages that are at least comparable and often better than those in the resorts.

Scott Condon ofThe Aspen Times reports that the workforce in Garfield County – which includes Glenwood Springs, Rifle and several other communities – grew 7 percent last year. Eagle County – which includes Vail – is still bigger, but grew 4 percent. Pitkin County was static.

These numbers are somewhat deceiving, notes Condon, as people don’t always live in the same places they work. But these numbers do jibe with the more anecdotal observation that Garfield County is growing out of its position as a stepchild to the neighboring resort-based counties.

The natural gas boom is still expanding, with an increase of 38 percent last year for drilling permits. More than two-thirds of all property taxes now come from the oil and gas sector.

Labor Department statistics show that the number of people employed in construction – such as cutting roads and scraping well pads – increased 12 percent last year in Garfield County. Those directly involved in gas extraction grew more modestly.

Wages have also been rapidly increasing. In Garfield County, the average weekly gross pay increased 9 percent, and down valley in Mesa County (Grand Junction), average pay increased 11 percent.

Those wages are still less than in Pitkin County, but now more than those in Eagle County. Plus, for a lot of workers, the commutes are shorter, meaning saved time and gasoline.

Female embezzlers nail Jackson Hole

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. – Men predominate in nearly every criminal activity. One of the few exceptions is embezzlement. There, an overwhelming number of the offenders are women.

That’s true nationally, and it’s also true in Wyoming’s Teton County, where women were the accused in 80 percent of embezzlements, 75 percent of forgeries, and in 100 percent cases of obtaining property by false pretenses.

You might think it’s just a case of women stealing from male bosses, but theJackson Hole News&Guide’sAmanda H. Miller cites several cases of women working for women. The experience of the thievery devastated their former employers.

“I loved Molly,” said one business owner, a woman, speaking of her embezzling former employee and seeming friend. “I really loved her as if she were my sister. She just devastated me. She ruined my life.”

In another case, a woman at a hotel had worked up from a position as housekeeper to a supervisor, and was celebrated the day she gained her U.S. citizenship. But on the sly she was filling out timecards for an employee who no longer worked at the hotel and cashing the checks herself. Upon discovery, her employer felt betrayed.

“Victims of embezzlement, especially in small businesses, are some of the most harmed people I see, emotionally,” said Clark Allen, deputy prosecuting attorney for Teton County.

Allen told the newspaper that female embezzlers often spread rumors that the owner or employer, if a female, is on drugs or crazy. When the owner is  male, they often say he sexually harassed her. He advises against pursuing charges in the interest of revenge. The process is very painful for victims, and “they’ll never get what they’re looking for.” Many don’t press charges, he says.

Why are embezzlers more often women? Sociologists have been asking that for years. Mark Pogrebin, a professor at the University of Colorado in Denver, says his studies suggest that embezzlement is a crime of opportunity. In other words, women are more often in positions where it’s easiest to steal from an employer. For example, most bank tellers are women. They have the lowest-paying job in the company yet the most access to cash.

High court hears cyanide ban

DENVER – Summit County’s ban of cyanide heap leach gold mining went before Colorado’s highest court this week.

The ban has been challenged by the Colorado Mining Association, which argues that state government, not county governments, has the expertise to regulate mining. Summit County responds that is not is attempting to regulate mining, only to establish land use rules.

The Denver Post notes that this is just one of a string of cases in which counties are pushing to gain some control over mining and energy development.

The broader background for these attempts was a case in the mountains of Southern Colorado in which cyanide heap-leach mining methods were used at two mines, Battle Mountain and Summitville, from 1984-1992. In 1993, an accident at the site poisoned 17 miles of the Alamosa River. The Vancouver-based mining company paid $30 million in cleanup costs before going bankrupt, and another $200 million has been paid by the federal government since then.

Planning Magazine, in its June issue, explains that state regulations were tightened in the wake of that disaster. Sanderson, of the state mining group, said such a problem could never happen now.

Still, in 2004, Summit County took no chances, banning the use of cyanide and other topical agents. Several other county governments in Colorado adopted similar regulations.

Well-known wolf meets her end

BANFF, Alberta – A 5-year-old female wolf, the alpha of the pack that loped in the Banff and Canmore area, has been killed in traffic on the Trans-Canada Highway. Although the highway has wildlife overpasses, with fencing along the highway to prevent wildlife from crossing, the fence had a hole in it.

Parks Canada says 38 wolves have been killed on the roads and railways in Banff, Yoho and Kootenay national parks since 1998, and another 12 have been killed just outside the boundaries of Banff.

The killing of this wolf was more personal than most, because it had been friendly to people, or at least curious. For that reason, the wolf was well-photographed and also well-known otherwise. Its photograph was pasted on the side of a public bus in Banff.

The wolf, named Delinda, was described by one long-time wolf watcher as “very extraordinary, very focused and very gentle and supportive,” reports theRocky Mountain Outlook.

Vail hospital looks down valley

VAIL – In the 1990s, Vail lost the headquarters for the ski company, which is now based in suburban Boulder. It also lost all of its newspapers bearing the name Vail, which are now based farther down the Eagle Valley.

Now, it may lose its hospital, or at least many functions of that hospital, which is called the Vail Valley Medical Center. Hospital officials are studying several scenarios, including the potential for building a major medical campus down-valley at Avon or Wolcott.

The Vail Daily says the current hospital has 58 hospital beds and 175,000 square feet. A new hospital could have 125 beds. Some services, such as physical therapy, might stay in Vail, but others, such as obstetrics, would move down valley, where the broader population of the Eagle Valley is located.

Rogue snowmobilers given warning

KREMMLING – Two men will be given warnings, but no citations, for snowmobiling last winter in the Eagles Nest Wilderness Area. One reason for the restraint by federal law officials, reports theSummit Daily News, is that the two had been following a third man, who ended up dying of hypothermia in an area called Elliot Ridge, located above Green Mountain Reservoir. Wilderness protectors say that snowmobilers often ride onto Elliot Ridge, despite the ban.

Frisco gets first solar array

FRISCO – The first solar collector on a commercial building in Frisco is now operational. The array cost $80,000 to install, but with tax credits and grants, cost the property owner only $35,000. The owner, Rob Phillippe, estimates the array will pay for itself in eight to nine years. However, he told theSummit Daily News he was greatly annoyed by a county review process that he said was too troublesome. “They’ve got to make a smoother process.” The precise source of his aggravation was not explained.

Gas boom hits Garfield County

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. – For decades Glenwood Springs was the place you went from Aspen and Vail for deals. Everything from hamburgers to gasoline was cheaper.

Burgers may still be cheaper, but in the last year gasoline at Glenwood Springs actually became more expensive than at stations in the Vail area. Glenwood Springs is having a boom of its own, mostly because of the natural gas drilling to the west.

The epicenter for that drilling is about 30 miles west in Rifle. Not long ago it was home base for many of the construction and service workers for Aspen. But the oil and gas sector is growing rapidly, offering wages that are at least comparable and often better than those in the resorts.

Scott Condon ofThe Aspen Times reports that the workforce in Garfield County – which includes Glenwood Springs, Rifle and several other communities – grew 7 percent last year. Eagle County – which includes Vail – is still bigger, but grew 4 percent. Pitkin County was static.

These numbers are somewhat deceiving, notes Condon, as people don’t always live in the same places they work. But these numbers do jibe with the more anecdotal observation that Garfield County is growing out of its position as a stepchild to the neighboring resort-based counties.

The natural gas boom is still expanding, with an increase of 38 percent last year for drilling permits. More than two-thirds of all property taxes now come from the oil and gas sector.

Labor Department statistics show that the number of people employed in construction – such as cutting roads and scraping well pads – increased 12 percent last year in Garfield County. Those directly involved in gas extraction grew more modestly.

Wages have also been rapidly increasing. In Garfield County, the average weekly gross pay increased 9 percent, and down valley in Mesa County (Grand Junction), average pay increased 11 percent.

Those wages are still less than in Pitkin County, but now more than those in Eagle County. Plus, for a lot of workers, the commutes are shorter, meaning saved time and gasoline.

– Allen Best