Bag fee discussion  draws packed house
With arguments on both sides of the aisle, the Durango City Council chose to put the topic of a plastic or paper bag fee on hold.

During a public hearing at the City Council meeting Tuesday night, community members lined up to add their 2 cents to the discussion of a 10-cent fee on disposable bag usage.

The house was packed with locals looking to comment on a possible city ordinance that would ban plastic and paper bags at grocery stores and impose a fee for usage. The ordinance would apply to stores of a certain size, and the fee would be split between the retailer and the city.
Comments from the attendees ranged from support for the fee as a way to promote environmental awareness to opposition as another tax on food.
In the end, the council requested more data from city staff on how the fee would be implemented and planned to invite the managers of the city’s biggest retailers to a council study session.  

The idea for the ban came about from a petition circulated by local citizens and has been a topic on the council for several years. The Plastic Bag Task Force reported to the council last year with several policy options including fees, bans, education and community outreach.

For more information, visit www.durangogov.org.


Colorado Speaker of the House in town
Colorado’s Speaker of the House Mark Ferrandino will be stopping through Durango on Saturday as part of a fund-raiser for the La Plata County Democrats. Rep. Ferrandino, D-Denver, will appear at an event that begins at 5:30 p.m., Sat., June 8,  at the DoubleTree Hotel.

 Rep. Ferrandino, of House District 2, was selected by his peers to lead the house on Nov. 8, 2012. He first served as treasurer of the Colorado Democratic Party from 2005-07 and was elected to the House in 2007.

Although typically the Speaker of the House does not introduce legislation, during the last session, Ferrandino was instrumental in introducing and passing two new laws: HB 13-1295, which requires Colorado residents to pay tax in internet sales; and Colorado’s Civil Unions bill, signed into law in March.

The first openly gay male legislator in Colorado history, Ferrandino has become known for his advocacy of consumer and civil rights, sponsoring legislation that gave homeowners threatened with foreclosure an extra 90 days to work with lenders. He also led a crack down on payday lenders, putting caps on their interest rates, which could run as high as 300 percent.

In addition, Ferrandino served as a senior budget analyst for the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing under Gov. Bill Owens; as an analyst for the U.S. Department of Justice; analyst for the White House Office of Management and Budget under presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush; and as an adjunct professor at Metro State University in Denver.

He was born in Nyack, N.Y., and earned his B.A. in political science and economics and a master’s in public policy from the University of Rochester.

For more information, go to: www.laplatadems.org

City tennis courts can now be reserved
Sick of sitting on the bench waiting for a court to open up? Local tennis players now have option of reserving city courts in advance for a fee of $1/hour.

The reservation system applies to the city-owned courts at Jenkins Ranch and the Mason Center tennis. Courts can be reserved at the front desk of the Durango Recreation Centers or online at durangogov.org.

People with reservations will be given priority over drop-in users. Reservations must be made 24 hours in advance and can be made up to seven days ahead of time.

For more info., call Parks and Recreation at 375-7321 or email rec@durangogov.org

Area sites serving free food to kids
For many schoolchildren in Colorado, school breakfast and lunch may be the only guaranteed meals of the day. And unfortunately, with summer break, comes the risk of increased hunger.

As a result, the state of Colorado has announced Hunger Free Colorado, a statewide summer food program that will provide meals to kids between the ages of 1 and 18 during summer months. Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the free meals will be served at more than 450 sites across the state.

Locally, free meals for kids will be offered at two locations:
- Fort Lewis College’s Upward Bound program, Monday - Friday, June 17 - July 19 (closed July 1-5). Breakfast, 7:15-8:15 a.m.; lunch: 11:30 a.m. 1 p.m.

- Ignacio High School, 315 Becker St., Monday - Friday, June 10 - Aug. 16 (closed July 4). Breakfast, 7:45 - 8:45 a.m.; lunch 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

The program is open to all children; there are no income or registration requirements for participation. The program is supported by the USDA, Hunger Free Colorado, the Colorado No Kid Hungry Campaign, the Colorado Department of Education, and those providing the meals.

For more information, visit www.SummerFoodColorado.org.

– Tracy Chamberlin and Missy Votel