I had my first ever lychee martini this week.

In case you didn’t know, this month is Women’s History Month, and Wednesday was International Women’s Day. To celebrate both, I went out to dinner with a few female coworkers to Duemani.

For those of us who enjoyed an alcoholic libation, our boss started the meal off by ordering everyone her favorite drink: a lychee martini.

A typical lychee martini is vodka, lychee juice or lychee liqueur, and vermouth, served in a chilled martini glass with a fresh lychee fruit skewered in it.

While I don’t know the actual ingredients included in the one served at Duemani, from the taste, I imagine it was close to if not spot on with the traditional recipe.

After a heartfelt cheers, I took my first sip of this martini variation.

Immediately, it conjured up a taste memory, one that I still can’t pinpoint, but you can definitely get the lychee flavor. It was sweet but not cloying.

There is a very light liquor aftertaste, but it’s definitely not as spirit forward or strong tasting as other martinis.

I can see why my boss enjoys lychee martinis. They are cold and crisp, nice to sip, and a drink that I believe would pair well with most everything, especially the majority of what’s on the menu at Duemani.

Overall, I enjoyed my first experience with a lychee martini and I would absolutely order one again. But for my second cocktail of the evening, I wanted to try one of the costal Mediterranean restaurant’s specialty cocktails.

I’ve been on a tequila streak recently, so out of the six cocktails on the list, I chose the Wanderlust.

Made with Corazon Tequila, passion fruit, pineapple juice, Cointreau, togarashi salt, and fresh lime juice, the Wanderlust is a drink that literally made my mouth water.

It is served in a rocks glass rimmed with togarashi salt — an assortment of spicy, powdered Japanese dried chili peppers — over one big ice cube.

The cocktail has a nice, light layer of foam on top of the pineapple-yellow liquid and is a balanced mix of sour, sweet, tart, and tangy thanks mainly to the pineapple and passion fruit, but I’m sure also helped by the addition of Cointreau. It’s this flavor profile that left my mouth watering after the first sip, encouraging me to take another quick sip.

The fruits are the dominant flavors of the drink as it’s not necessarily spirit-forward but overall a very enjoyable and full-bodied cocktail.

While I was enjoying my two libations, there were some members of our girl gang who don’t imbibe, so bonus points to Duemani for crafting them some beautiful and flavorful mocktails, so they could join in the festive nature of the meal with something more than sparkling water.

Everyone knows Congress is broken.

For decades, the swamp in Washington, D.C., has embraced corrupt and incestuous policymaking at the expense of hard-working Americans. From passing $1.8 trillion, 4,155-page-long spending bills just before Christmas to secret, backroom deals negotiated by lobbyists and special interests, and passing $500-billion suspension bills without a single member even having to cast a vote ⸺ these broken processes are not what our Founding Fathers envisioned when they established our constitutional republic.   

This sentiment is broadly held across America, where Congress’ approval rating plummeted to just 15% under Nancy Pelosi.

To be clear, it’s not just one party responsible for the lack of trust in the institution. For decades, both Republican and Democrat leadership have worked to consolidate power at the top, leaving little ability for individual members to enact change on behalf of the people they represent.  

It was far past time to fundamentally change the way business is done in Congress.  

I’m proud to report back to you and the people of Colorado’s 3rd District that I helped lead the negotiations to end business as usual in Washington, D.C. Nineteen of my colleagues and I spearheaded rigorous debate about the broken rules and processes in Congress and the importance of taking action to tackle these issues head on as opposed to continuing to kick the proverbial can down the road.

We were successful and made historic, once-in-a-generation improvements to this body. Here are just a few:

• In the 118^th Congress, bills must be single subject. Last session, House Democrats passed a so-called $1.2 trillion “infrastructure bill.” Shamefully, less than 10% of the actual funds in the bill went to roads and bridges, with hundreds of billions of dollars going to Solyndra-style slush funds and Green New Deal policies, a $400 billion kickback to big labor, and even $10 million going to a program to save butterflies and bees. These unrelated topics should have never been lumped together in the same vote. Forty-seven state legislatures have single-subject rules, and I’m proud that Congress will follow suit.
• Members will have time to read the bills before voting on them. Remember the infamous line by Speaker Pelosi, “We have to pass the bill, so that you can find out what is in it?” Well, that’s a thing of the past, as all members will have a minimum of 72 hours to read legislation before voting on it.
• House Republicans will do the hard work and fund the government as Congress intended. That means scrapping the horrific omnibus bills and continuing resolutions and passing 12 individual appropriations bills through regular order. This allows for input, debate, and amendments that will reduce federal spending and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars.
• The Motion to Vacate the Chair, an accountability mechanism written by Thomas Jefferson and implemented in 1837, has been restored.

Bottom line: Republican leadership must follow through on these promises, and we have the accountability in place to ensure that occurs. 

I am proud that we took a little extra time and got this right. The changes we achieved decentralize power from leadership, empower individual members of both parties, vastly improve how Congress functions, and deliver a historic win for the American people.

House conservatives also received commitments to vote on widely-popular initiatives like term limits for members of Congress, the Fair Tax, and ending the outdated COVID national emergency and its expanded abuses.

A lot of folks didn’t think we had a plan, but of course we did. It’s just that, in the middle of a poker hand, you don’t show your cards. We knew what we wanted to accomplish for the American people, and we certainly got there.

We had all 434 members of the House sitting on the House floor debating with each other live on CSPAN, with Americans around the country able to see exactly what was happening. This was honest, open, and transparent governance at its finest.

Not many in power want to give up control, but Speaker McCarthy saw that these changes were about fixing a broken Congress and returning power to the American people. Credit him for working with us on these generational improvements.

Now that we have our rules and leadership, I’m looking forward to getting to work with McCarthy and all my colleagues to deliver for the American people.

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Silt, represents the 3rd Congressional District, which includes Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley.

The referee blows the whistle, the crowd cheers, and the lights shine bright as two soccer teams battle for victory on the pitch. Families gather together to cheer on their countries’ teams, friends do the same — yelling their “expert” suggestions at the TV screen. A player shoots and narrowly misses, and fans scream from the stadium, couches in homes, in restaurants, bars, and stores. The game goes on, and the excitement builds. Players are fouled, others score, penalties are given. Finally, the game ends — 3-1, a solid victory for the winning team. A roar louder than you could ever imagine erupts from the stadium, and the sound seems to travel all over the world. This is the World Cup. 

The FIFA World Cup is an international soccer tournament that occurs every four years; 1930 was the year the first World Cup was held. The World Cup is the second-most televised sports competition in the world, following closely behind the Olympics. This event attracts millions of people from all over the globe — both to the actual competition and the television. The World Cup has allowed some of the best players in the game of soccer to be spotlighted and admired by all fans. 

The 2022 World Cup was hosted in the country Qatar, where 64 international teams battled head to head for the title of World Cup champions. The soccer games were all entertaining, tense, and eventful; there proved to be many notable highlights within the 2022 competition. 

“I think the biggest highlight for me was (Lionel) Messi winning his first World Cup,” Kristine Hvolbeck, an AHS Junior and soccer fan, stated.  

Messi has been declared one of the world’s best soccer players, and, in the 2022 World Cup, he was able to lead Argentina to the finals against France, which ended in penalty kicks. It was a close game, but Argentina was able to pull through winning 4-3 in the shootout. Winning the World Cup is no easy feat. Messi has had a long and successful career, and 2022 was his fifth World Cup appearance. He had never won the cup previously. This was his last appearance at an international competition before retiring after 18 years of playing soccer professionally. It was a great accomplishment and a highlight for many across the globe for him to win. 

“I think that Argentina played great, and I am happy they won, but I was hoping Portugal would pull through,” said AHS junior Ella Pendarvis. 

Portugal played well throughout the cup and made it to the quarterfinal game played against Morocco, unfortunately losing 1-0 . Many fans were cheering for the Portugal team because, like Messi, it was another well-known player — Cristiano Ronaldo — in his final World Cup tournament. Even though the loss against Morocco was devastating for him and Portugal, the team’s previous games against Switzerland and Uruguay, among others, showed the world how dedicated these players are to the game of soccer and how hard they all worked to make this World Cup the most memorable for many.

Countless other highlights — such as Brazil’s tough game against Croatia, France’s jawdropping game against England in the semis, and so many others — are all ones that made the 2022 World Cup an event to be remembered for years to come. This tournament spread joy and excitement to many throughout the world and our own community; it was not only a way to celebrate and cheer for the teams that were playing, but also a way to come together as friends and families. Although Messi’s win was incredible, Henry King and Jordan Henderson made England’s teamwork soar, and Neymar’s reactions were top-tier.  The best highlight was seeing the crowd cheer, hug each other, and assemble as one.  

Adeline Christensen is a junior at Aspen High School. This is her first year writing for the Skier Scribbler as a staff writer.

The mission of Roaring Fork Audubon (RFA) is to speak for our wildlife that has no voice, especially our birds. RFA and our 850-plus members support Alternative 1 — the no-action alternative concerning the proposed Redstone to McClure Pass trail.

Habitat required by our native birds and other wildlife is slowly being paved, improved and developed, especially in the valley floors where the majority breeds. Most of these birds are in decline; some are in steep decline. In the past 60 years, more than one-third of our birds have been lost. The largest cause of this dramatic decrease is loss or alteration of habitat, much in the name of recreation.

A common misconception is that if a bird’s habitat is impacted by trail development, the bird will fly to an adjacent area to breed, roost and feed. Birds heavily dispute and defend their territories in winter and breeding season and, with habitat loss, this leaves many birds with nowhere to relocate, breed and survive. Suitable habitat becomes more scarce as recreation is honored over conservation.

If we don’t vigorously guard prime habitat for all of our birds, those in steep decline will not recover, and others will continue to diminish.

Considering habitat loss due to human development and climate change, the greatest threats to our waning bird populations are indifference and lack of education.

RFA’s goal is to overcome indifference by raising awareness of our birds’ plight and providing education about the risk of losing what we do not protect.

We have conducted surveys along the Crystal River corridor, including the trail toward McClure Pass, which is rich in regrowth and abundant with native bird life, elk, bear, butterflies and small mammals. Most of the trail is narrow and quiet and has little impact on the habitat with breeding birds in close proximity. Developing this narrow trail to accommodate bikers and hikers would eliminate breeding habitat up to 3 feet on each side. Bike traffic would affect another 50 meters on each side of the trail and cause an incalculable number of nests lost. There is much scientific evidence documenting that heavily used trails negatively affect bird nesting habitat.

As recreational development pressures mount, this short, narrow trail section becomes more important for wildlife, especially for birds that return to the same patch from as far away as Central America to breed where they have been successful.

RFA’s surveys document an abundance of bird species including 23 that are represented on conservation concern watch lists.

Although Coloradans hold widely divergent ideals about wildlife, the majority values animal welfare and wildlife conservation and protection. Most also embrace a conservation ethic that prioritizes the ecological health of the entire community of life. Many do not realize the importance of protecting seemingly insignificant sections of habitat and how they are connected. This piecemeal type of development causes harm to wildlife and triggers loss of breeding habitat, sending a cumulative impact like ripples in a pond affecting all the species sharing this precious corridor.

Habitat preservation is what conservation organizations and environmentally trained government agencies must work on to ensure that people realize their impacts have consequences. RFA has worked closely with the Forest Service on other projects and would enjoy collaborating on this.

Once people realize the importance of protecting diminishing wildlife habitat, we believe they will support a trail that skirts the highway corridor rather than destroys existing habitat. The proposed trail will cause loss of wildlife and be one more place where quiet strolls to enjoy wildlife are not available to most citizens of our valley.

Mary Harris is chair of the Roaring Fork Audubon Society.

Capitol, Snowmass and the Maroon Bells. You know these mountains, iconic representatives of the mighty Elk Range. This is the backdrop which you have chosen to live your lives, whether you are a skier, hiker, worker, miner, artist or whatever. The value of this mountain kingdom was recognized by inclusion in the very first Wilderness Act of 1964.

That designation has not been sufficient to protect the area from being loved to death. In the Roaring Fork Valley, many policies have since been adopted to reduce visitor impact, which is now concentrated on the wilderness threshold areas. On the other side of the mountains, the Crystal Valley does not have such protection.

On the Aspen side, the most popular area, the Maroon Bells, is protected during the heaviest visitation season by elimination of cars and provision of bus access. Now even a lower impact method of visitation, e-bikes, is seen to need regulation.

Snowmass Village, a wilderness threshold community, has a similar protection with an intercept lot and bus transportation. The backcountry is now seen as needing to be protected from overuse, whether from an already enacted permit system for Conundrum Hot Springs or proposed quotas for the Four Pass Loop.

On the other side of the mountains, the Lead King Loop is an access point for Capitol, Snowmass and the Maroon Bells. Rather than being seen as a valuable alternative from the crowds on the other side, it is being mismanaged as a racetrack for assault vehicles: ATVs and trail bikes. Lower impact users, both long-term locals and visitors, are discouraged from using this access due to noise, dust, trail erosion and intimidation by aggressive drivers.

Two miles up the Lead King Loop, a moderate hike up North Lost Trail Creek brings you to Avalanche Pass where the spectacular view opens up to the Pierre Lakes basin and Capitol Peak. Further along the Lead King Loop is the Geneva Lake Trailhead. An easy 4-mile hike takes you to the lake at the foot of Snowmass Peak, a much shorter approach than from the other side. Did you know that Geneva Lake used to be known as Little Snowmass Lake? A couple miles further along the Lead King Loop, at Lead King Basin, is the trailhead to the backside of the Bells, through the magnificent uncrowded Fravert Basin.

Shouldn’t these alternative access points to the same mountains be valued more in a management plan than high-impact recreation immediately adjacent to wilderness? History has determined that this area is now managed by a distant county government with much less environmental awareness. But you all have voices, and this is your back yard. It is your same mountains, just the other side.

Alex Menard is a Marble historian and addresses these comments to his Pitkin County friends.

It’s a cold day in March 1958 as we leave Red Butte Cemetery, a blanket of sadness filling the air, but also a certain curiosity as to what lies ahead. “Of the five brothers, only one is left,” my father says. “What do you suppose his thoughts and feelings are?”

My mother, in an attempt to say she understands the significance of the loss, says to my dad, whose father we just buried, the only parent he’s known for the past 14 years, “We never really feel alone in this world until both of our parents have died.”

It’s feels like a Sunday, the usual dinner at my maternal grandmother’s house, the well-tended coal stove sending waves of heat through the house; finally, the door to the dining room is closed to try to keep the warmth corralled in the kitchen. They’ll open the door a few minutes before serving the baked chicken, dumplings, potatoes, gravy, salad, bread, butter, jellies and jams. But it’s not Sunday; it’s a working day for the town folks, and although many of them were gathered at the church to pay their final respects, they’ll soon be back on the job, minding store counters, loaning money at the bank, headed to their own ranches or places of business.

I’m stuck in the cold backseat, ears wide open to hear any conversation there might be about this tragic turn of events in our, in my, life, but there isn’t much to be said. How little we knew at that moment. Last night’s snowstorm left 82 a little snow-covered, although there’s a bit of sand and tiny rocks kicking up under the fenders as we travel along, as though going down a long tunnel, the end of which we cannot see; an unknown path that time, day by day, will be required to reveal.

We’re passing the ranch where my mother grew up, every summer spent there, no matter where her mother was teaching school. The whine of jet engines, like beleaguered dinosaurs trapped in tar sands, stains the air there today. It doesn’t occur to me until much later in life, well after her own passing, to ask what memories share her thoughts as we travel by; does she feel a sense of loss not living there anymore; or maybe there’s relief, or is that a chapter of life she has left behind, or maybe never reconciled?

My father is silent, as though in a dream, which possibly he is, although he’s doing a good job of driving, and my mother is unusually tight-lipped as well, perhaps afraid anything else she might say, a slight unintentional slip of the tongue, will reveal her dislike of the man we just buried. No one asks what I think; the wound is too fresh for my father, although at my age, I’m still naïve enough to hope that in times like these, parents know what to say, what to do to make things all right, but there is an unsettled awakening somewhere deep inside that steers me to realize I’m in this on my own, to deal with this grief in my own way.

Our Woody Creek house is warm, but after a death like that, a long, tedious life drain, it lingers; we have to walk past the room where he died, and for now, life has been sucked out of the house. It always is. We’ll have to reinvent how we live there without his presence, but there is no choice. We’ll get through. I quickly change clothes and get ready to go with my dad to check the cows below our house, in the pasture down by Grandpa’s.

Newborn calves, licked shiny clean by their mothers, nursing and standing strong, fresh green hay chucked out by the hired man to the replacement heifers, and things look good with the cattle as we walk through them. We go up to the corner and into Grandpa’s house, the house where he was born, where my dad was born, and where I spent so much time. No one has lived there for months due to Gramp’s illness and it’s ice cold inside, but neither of us mentions it.

My dad lights the gas heater in the kitchen and as it kicks out its promising warmth, we sit side-by-side in wooden table chairs, watching the flickering blue flame and looking out the windows, not talking, thinking our own thoughts, afraid maybe to share. The short-lived, wonderful gray light cast upon the snow by approaching dusk stirs us to fidget a bit, shift our chairs.

Finally, my dad gets up, turns off the stove and says, “I’ll come down around midnight and check them again, but it doesn’t look like there’ll be any trouble tonight. Let’s go home, son, it’s a long walk.”

Tony Vagneur writes here on Saturdays and welcomes your comments at ajv@sopris.net.

If what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, what about Basalt? We deserve a (slightly less seedy) slogan. How about: “What happens in Basalt is happening everywhere else?”

This is certainly true around housing development. Understanding what’s going on, and how it’s consistent with other mountain-town experience, informs how we ought to set policy, and pressingly, what could happen at the proposed new development on the Clark’s parcel. Which is another way of saying: As a washed-up town councilman, I couldn’t help but weigh-in. (Sorry!)

We all know that rents and real-estate prices have exploded. Good luck even finding a house if you want to buy; if you do, prices will be astronomical. The same is true for rentals. Local businesses have always struggled to house lower-wage workers. But now, even newly hired executives can’t find a place to live, with rates often three times what they can afford. Why?

Most of us understand the COVID-related exodus from cities. But Basalt has other factors at play. One is Airbnb, which distorts the market in three ways: It increases rents across the board and makes long-term rental contracts far less attractive; it takes seasonal or longer-duration housing off market, further increasing rents through scarcity; and it increases sales prices because the potential revenue from Airbnb gets baked in.

Another factor is the second-home market. A house that’s occupied only during holidays is off the market for the pod of twenty-something snowboard instructors who used to live in ski towns. The price of what’s left goes up — Economics 101.

This is not to blame second-home owners or those who choose to list on Airbnb—these folks, who are our friends and neighbors, often add more community than full-time residents by hosting gatherings, populating the streets with happy kids, patronizing our shops, and eagerly building community. They’re just doing what’s sensible for their own financial security and quality of life. This is really about how a town like Basalt chooses to govern itself; it’s about the policies we pass, and the nature of the developments we approve.

Good policies abound. Limits on short-term rentals are the most obvious solution, already in place in Killington, Vermont, and under discussion in Vail, Boulder, Frisco, Steamboat, Aspen and Telluride. Such policies allow homeowners to Airbnb their homes, but not all the time, ensuring that aggregate short-term revenues are equal or less than income from long-term rentals. By leveling the playing field, this approach addresses housing scarcity, plus the fact that residential neighborhoods are becoming commercial ones, altering town zoning unintentionally. Communities can address high rents by creating incentives for affordable leases — a commensurate property tax break, for example. Fee waivers for mother-in-law apartments or policies that limit, tax, or encourage rental of second-homes are other wins.

This brings us to the proposed development at Clark’s. P&Z approved it, and most comments were about look and community fit. But this shouldn’t be about size or shape or massing — indeed, that location is exactly where we should add height and density.

Instead, the conversation should be about what sorts of units we need for the good of the community. Yes, a supermarket would be a major amenity, while also reducing traffic. But above it, the developer proposes mostly free-market condos. The selling point for the units: more vibrancy.

Has anyone been downtown lately? You have to enter a lottery to get a Manhattan at Tempranillo. And there’s more to come at the Tree Farm, the Fields, and the river park. This is great!

But vibrancy requires not just customers, but also a place to house the people who serve them, take them fishing, and provide basic service like firefighting and policing. We’ve tipped too far in the other direction. What we need are affordable rental units that backfill the needs of local workers. If done right, these new units won’t represent growth as much as a rebalancing of valley housing in a way that reduces traffic and fosters community.

Basalt should require that at least half — and preferably far more — of the proposed units are deed-restricted affordable rentals. Minimum lease requirements of six months or more would address the Airbnb problem — otherwise, for better or worse, we’re approving a hotel, not a residential project. In short, the town should work with the developer so that they make a profit, but still allocate far more than the minimum number of affordable units (15%) that they’ve proposed. If they walk, fine.

This is the best parcel in town. It’s true that few have even looked at the thing in over a decade, and undoing the blight that it has become would be beneficial. But times are changing, and residential projects are much more valuable. We shouldn’t default to the least creative cash crop. I’d like to see housing for people working in the community. Gonzo at the liquor store dreams of a European Mercado. But what’s proposed currently isn’t worth it. Even an abandoned supermarket is, at least, a painful reminder that we can do better.

Auden Schendler is a former Basalt town councilman and lives in town.

A thorn goes to Aspen police officers who continuously do laps around the downtown core in their patrol cars, morning, noon and night. It adds to congestion, pollution and does not embody the environmental ethos that the city of Aspen touts. How about park it and walk around and talk to people while patrolling? You know, the old school, Aspen way.

*****

The local Starbucks took a pubic beating for its abysmal service after it opened the Cooper Avenue mall in September 2018, but they deserve roses these days for having a smooth-running machine. Even the canines of The Aspen Times can attest — the complimentary Puppuccinos are the crack cocaine of dog treats. So Roses for Starbucks and its hardworking crew, and a howl of approval from the dogs.

****

A rose to the city of Aspen and its elected officials for allowing temporary structures to be placed in the right of way this summer. It’s really nice to dine al fresco during these warm nights and gives tourists and locals some extra room to enjoy the scene. It also gives local restaurants a boost, and after the crap they’ve had to endure with COVID-19 restrictions, they deserve it.

****

Roses to the folks in Snowmass Village who were able to really kick off the summer season with the return of the Thursday night concert series. Talk about a turnout. It was almost like we’ve been pent up in our pads for the better part (or is it worse part?) of the past year and a half.

As the restrictions have eased, the concert organizers kicked into high gear and set up the stage, secured the bands and put in a few new features to help the crowds, … and the crowd Thursday night was totally into it.

We are jazzed for the Snowmass gondola and lift as well as the bike park to open June 21 and rodeo to saddle up June 23. Great to have those and the host of other events that make Snowmass the quaint place we all know and love. Heck, Thursday’s opener was such a big-time event a larger contingent of Aspenites made the bus/drive over.

****

Thorns to Colorado Ski Country USA for a confusing approach in recent years to releasing information about how its members fared the prior ski season. Colorado Ski Country has been quick to trumpet successes when there have been record or near-record seasons. The trade association clammed up after last season’s abrupt closure of ski areas because of COVID-19. The public never learned how bad the resorts were collectively hit by the pandemic. National Ski Areas Association announced this week that the U.S. ski resorts recorded their fifth best season ever in 2020-21. Aspen Skiing Co. said its numbers fell about 4%. Colorado Ski Country has its annual business meeting, via Zoom this year, on June 22. Let’s hope they share how their members fared this year so the public can assess how one of the state’s most important industries is faring.

****

Thorns to the two hikers who got themselves into a jam last Saturday afternoon at Lost Man Lake. While we certainly acknowledge that nature can be unpredictable, these two women didn’t do themselves any favors. They put themselves in a position where they needed help at Lost Man Lake at an elevation of 12,457 at 4:45 in the afternoon. We don’t know if they got a late start or got lost or otherwise sidetracked. Nevertheless, they should have been aware that rain and thunderstorms were in the forecast starting mid-afternoon and they should have acted accordingly. The news release from the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office said the women were “inadequately prepared for the hike and changing conditions.”

We hope this isn’t a sign of things to come during what is anticipated to be a busy summer. Regardless, it is a good reminder to locals and visitors to purchase their Colorado Outdoor Recreation Search and Rescue Card, also known as CORSAR. They are $3 for one year or $12 for a five-year card.

There are zero studies that prove that 5G is safe for our health. During a federal Senate hearing, the representatives of the telecom industry also communicated that there were no future plans to conduct any independent 5G safety studies.

Currently there is a federal case against the Federal Communications Commission charging that the safety standards that were tested for 1G are still being applied 24 years later to 5G without being updated.

The facts are, more than 10,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies demonstrate harm to human health from radio frequency (RF) radiation. Some effects include: insomnia, headaches and head pressure; ringing of the ears; nausea, stomach pains, digestive problems and fatigue; learning and memory deficits, brain fog, and dizziness; depression, anxiety, and mood changes; skin rashes, aches and pains; obesity and diabetes; heart palpations and cardiovascular disease; and cancers.

Effects in children include autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and asthma.

Organs that may be affected are the eyes, kidneys, heart, and immune system.

Unfortunately, the majority of medical doctors are unaware of the effects of EMFs, and EMS (electromagnetic sensitivity) and some may misdiagnose their patients as having a mental problem or other illnesses. Because of this, it is imperative that the public take responsibility for their own health and become educated about EMFs and 5G.

The impact of EMFs and 5G go well beyond humans. There is massive evidence of harm to diverse plant and wildlife and laboratory animals, including birds, honeybees, mammals, mice, plants and trees. Messing around with nature is dangerous.

Our food supply may also be affected because insects, microbes and other components of the soil may be disrupted and/or damaged.

Some people say the millimeter wave technology of 5G is not that dangerous because it does not generate a lot of heat. However, research shows that this technology alters the cell membrane and is damaging.

International scientific professionals have taken a stand on 5G. As of May 3, 2021, there are 300,544 signatures from 214 nations and territories that have signed an International Appeal to STOP 5G on Earth and in Space. This appeal has been sent to the UN, WHO, EU, Council of Europe and governments of all nations.

The signatures to this appeal are scientists, medical doctors. health professionals, and environmental organizations that have been working tirelessly for many years to call the world’s attention to an invisible assault on our biosphere. That assault can no longer be ignored.

They stated: “The 5th generation of wireless technology must not be built on Earth or in space. The notion that radio-frequency radiation, commonly known as radio waves, is somehow not real radiation and is harmless, was disproven by the 1970s in laboratories all over the world, and the harm to humans, animals and plants has since been confirmed in over 10,000 peer-reviewed studies. If 5G is built, radiation levels will increase 10- to 100-fold, virtually overnight, everywhere. There will literally be no place on Earth to hide from it.”

In 2015, 215 scientists from 41 countries communicated their alarm to the United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization (WHO). They stated that “numerous recent scientific publications have shown that EMF (electromagnetic fields) affects living organisms at levels well below most international and national guidelines.”

These scientists have called for a moratorium on the roll-out of 5G until there has been a full investigation by independent scientists to find out what the full impacts of this technology will have on our environment and humans.

One of the biggest challenges is that it seems the FCC is a captured agency by the telecom industry. This agency exists to protect us, but unfortunately, it appears the FCC has been infiltrated and is now controlled by industries who are more concerned about profit than they are about our health.

As of this date, there are no safety studies addressing the impacts of what 5G technology will have on us 24 hours per day, seven days per week, 365 days per year.

This could be one of the biggest health disasters of all time.

More information at:

• Environmental Health Trust, EHTrust.org

• International Appeal: Stop 5G on Earth and in Space,

• 5gspaceappeal.org/the-appeal

• Colorado for Safe Technology, CO4SafeTech.com

Tom Lankering and Kathleen Fors are local health professionals doing a monthly series on 5G networks for The Aspen Times. They also are members of Colorado for Safe Technology. For more information, go to http://www.Co4safetech.com.

The city of Aspen has many responsibilities to its citizens, but being a developer is not one of them. This doesn’t mean the city doesn’t build plenty. It does, but it shouldn’t.

The capital asset management department is currently up to its eyeballs completing the Taj Mahal City Hall and has just broken ground on Burlingame Phase 3. City-as-developer is likely the most hypocritical yet most cherished of all city functions, primarily because the city can build what it wants, where it wants, with your money and without responsibility.

Today, Burlingame Phase 2 is mired in legal wrangling as the subsidized housing development literally crumbles. Built between 2014 and 2017, the 82 units were developed under a city contract with Haselden Construction and R.A. Nelson as builders. Problems started immediately when the exterior stain on the buildings started coming off, exposing the bare wood to Aspen’s extreme elements. Turns out, the exterior wood used was not to code and resulted in insufficient protection for the application.

To its credit, for a time, under a four-year warranty deal with the builders, the city began addressing the reported issues. However, with three city representatives on the five-member HOA board, the cost of re-staining the entire complex with proper material was abruptly shifted from a city-funded capital improvement to a yearly operating expense for the new homeowners.

In response, the homeowners got an independent analysis that concluded that the wrong wood and materials were indeed utilized for the project. This prompted the city to offer a quick $125,000 for fixes, as long as the city could dictate how the money was used and it was released from all future liability. Wisely, the homeowners declined. Due to the makeup of the board, however, there was no will to go after the city-as-developer for comprehensive construction defect damages. The city-dominated board refused to approve a claim against itself.

When the right of the city to control the HOA expired, the board was restructured and assumed the right to proceed independently. This is when the HOA hired a renowned construction defect attorney who brought in Denver counterparts to pursue the mounting construction defect issues as claims against the city of Aspen. Multiple forensic analyses of myriad construction defects, some known and others discovered, were compiled, and the resultant estimate to address the construction defects at Burlingame 2 approached $8 million, including the lawyers’ fees. (The case was taken on contingency because the subsidized housing HOA is in no financial position to retain counsel.) The city has recently offered the HOA $175,000, ostensibly to go away.

In addition to the exterior stain issues, which subject the exteriors of the buildings to fading and deterioration, other major quality of life and life safety problems exist, including the installation of an “open-loop” system where domestic drinking water and fan coils is one and the same, which is not NSF rated, the solar heating system was widely installed on low-slope roofs, creating twice the heat thereby melting the system, causing leaks and ice dams, and has resulted in numerous ceiling collapses, and the water pressure regulation valves (PRVs) are designed for “constant flow” commercial use but were installed in a residential, low-flow environment. The decks were designed and constructed with bolts that make for flimsy connections (unsafe for children) and the exterior fire alarm pull stations outside of every unit feature modules specifically rated for inside use, causing regular false alarms and widespread malfunctioning. And to add insult to injury, the coaxial cable was so damaged upon its installation that Comcast has indicated that it will, at some point, no longer provide service to Burlingame 2 unless this is replaced. The list is extensive.

Claiming “governmental immunity,” the city is seeking to avoid all responsibility for the massive problems at Burlingame 2 despite being the developer. The construction defect case is currently on hold while the courts determine whether or not the city-as-developer can be held responsible for the countless problems the forensic auditors identified. Last fall, Pitkin County District Court Judge Denise Lynch sided with the city in its immunity claim, but that case is now in Denver on appeal.

There is no legal precedent for challenging a government entity acting as developer in a construction defect case, so this is likely to go on for years. Regardless of whether the city has a legal case, this is an outrage and so patently wrong. We all know that the city is a lousy developer. Everything they build is a disaster, and not just a financial one. But for our local government to build defective housing and sell it to local workers and working families, and then claim immunity from responsibility for blatant construction defects, is shameful, unconscionable and a community embarrassment.

How can Aspen continue to support elected representatives who condone both the mismanagement and oversight of public construction projects and the resulting mistreatment and disrespect of its affected citizens? It’s time for city council to direct the city manager and city attorney to settle this case, and to cease all future city-as-developer activities.

When non-builders build, the results are predictable.The BG2 fix won’t be pretty, but it’s the right thing to do. Contact TheRedAntEM@comcast.net