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Science Fun with physics (for kids)ASPEN Area youngsters interested in science are invited to The Aspen Science Center’s weekly “Physics is for Kids” barbecue on July 11, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., on the grounds of the Aspen Center for Physics.The topics being discussed this week include the impending activation of the Large Hadron Collider, which ASC’s Kevin Ward described as “the biggest, most powerful particle accelerator in the world.” The speaker is professor Edward Farhi, director of the Center for Theoretical Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.For more information, call 309-3390.Vail Pass bike path to close for brief timeVAIL A one-mile segment of the Vail Pass Bike Path will be closed to bike and pedestrian traffic through Tuesday for sediment removal operations. The trail is closed on the west side of the pass between mile 185 (about five miles east of the East Vail exit) and 186 (about four miles west of the Vail Pass exit) from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Bicyclists are discouraged from traveling through the area during closure hours since there is no detour. However, if cyclists arrive at the closure points, they will be required to dismount and wait (up to one hour) to be escorted through the work zone by project personnel. (Summit Daily News)Rifle population at or near Glenwood’sRIFLE Since 2000, Rifle’s population has grown about 24.5 percent compared to 13.3 percent for Glenwood Springs, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.The bureau’s annual population estimate was released in late June. It’s the best guess for how many people lived in the cities as of July 1, 2006. The estimate is not as comprehensive as the full-blown census survey conducted every 10 years, nor does it include other types demographic information.”The census is an enumeration of every household. This is based on things like births and deaths, using the census year as a population base. It’s our best guess as to what the population is,” said Jerry O’Donnell, one of the bureau’s public information officers.For July 1 last year, Glenwood Springs’ population was estimated at 8,765, while Rifle was estimated at 8,446 people. As of the 2000 census, Glenwood Springs was at 7,736 and Rifle was at 6,784. In that time period, Glenwood Springs grew by about 1,029 while Rifle grew by 1,662.In 1990, Glenwood Springs’ population was about 6,561 residents compared to Rifle’s 4,636 residents.Rifle’s growth is projected to continue taking off. According to preliminary results of a BBC Researching & Consulting study released last fall, Rifle and its surrounding area will have nearly twice the population of Glenwood Springs by 2030. By that year, it projects the Glenwood Springs area to be at about 22,215 people and the Rifle area to be at 43,859.Garfield County grew to 51,908 by July 2006 compared to 49,772 in July 2005. In 2000, it was 44,236, according to census bureau estimates.Rifle has been growing at a faster rate than Glenwood Springs, in large part, because of growth in area oil and gas development. People in the oil and gas business also are living – at least temporarily – outside of city limits in facilities known as “man camps.”One example is EnCana USA recently winning Garfield County approval to operate up to 31 temporary facilities housing nearly 750 natural gas development workers north of Parachute. (Glenwood Springs Post Independent)

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