Plain Talk by Chief Glyn Ramsey - Huerfano World - August 30, 2001 We have had some bears in Walsenburg lately and as fall comes on, we will have some more. I have spoken with Wildlife Officer Lonnie Brown and here are some suggestions in dealing with the bears. The bears are coming into town because they are hungry. Don't leave car windows open and try to keep the doors and windows of your house as closed as much as possible, especially at night. Bears are opportunists and will try to get in wherever they can. Keep your trash cans or bags indoors until trash pick-up day. Keep dumpster lids locked. Don't leave bird feeders or pet food outside, especially at night. If you have fruit trees, the bears will come to them. The choices you have are to remove all the fruit from and around the trees, put an electric fence around the trees or let the bears have the fruit and they probably will tear up the tree in the process. If you get a bear on your property, it will usually leave when it sees you or you make a lot of noise. Sometimes, bears are conditioned to human activity and will not leave. Leave those bears alone and they will wander away. Bears will show "agitation" by growling and popping their jaws. If they are in a tree, there is no immediate danger. Leave them alone and they will move on. If a bear is on the ground and growling and popping its jaws, get away from it and call us immediately. We will notify the wildlife officer we have an aggressive bear. About the first of September, bears go into an intensive feeding mode in preparation for hibernation. Therefore, we can expect to see more bears in town, looking for food, over the next two to three months. Officer Brown said the state has ceased to pay personal property damages caused by wildlife, effective Aug. 7, 2001. Your police department will respond to all bear calls. If the call comes in after dark, the best we can hope to do is push the bear away from the immediate area. If the call is during the daylight hours, we will handle it as follows: If the bear is in a highly populated area and in a tree, We will put caution tape around the area to keep people away and monitor the area, for compliance; if the bear is on the ground, we will attempt to run it out of city limits and, if that fails, we will run it up a tree and put caution tape around the area. Usually, a bear in a tree during the day is trying to sleep. This time of year, they are constantly looking for food and may stay in the tree for just a short time. Your police department wants everyone to be safe, so please follow these few suggestions and the bears will be a minimum of trouble.
2002
Huerfano World - August 29, 2002 - Photo - HUERFANO FIRE TRUCK --- The
Huerfano County Fire Protection District has purchased a new fire truck, being shown
off above by Fire Chief Gerald Jerant. The 2002 Ford F350 dualie powerstroke
diesel 4x4 was put together by Mile-Hi Fire Apparatus, of Denver. The truck
has a 250-gallon water tank, wildland pump, front bumper sprayers, 250-foot hose
reel and a 1½ inch pre-connected attack line. The unit also is foam capable.
The truck, which was purchased for $49,000 from funds in the annual budget,
including all equipment, was custom built to the Fire District's specifications.
That includes the tool compartments to carry all the necessary gear for
wildland fire containment. The new truck will give the District an effective means
of controlling the many grass, brush and vehicle fires which normally occur
and allow for a rapid, safe response. The new fire truck will be housed at Fire
Station I on Main Street in Walsenburg.
Huerfano World - August 29, 2002 - HONORED -- Ray Harriman, Extraterritorial
Water Superintendent for the City of Walsenburg was honored by family, City
Council members and fellow employees at a retirement dinner at the Rambler
Restaurant for forty two years of service, twenty two as Water Superintendent,
Friday evening. Harriman received a plaque from Walsenburg Mayor Maurice Brau for
his years of service and an ovation from the crowd.
Huerfano World - September 12, 2002 - MEDALS AWARDED -- Photo - Cecil Heckman
recently received a special honor delivered by the postman. He received
medals stemming from his service in World War II - Honorable Service, Army
Infantry; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign set; WWII Bronze Star set, WWII Victory Medal set;
American Campaign set, and Good Conduct set. The medals arrived late because
Heckman's army records were destroyed years ago in a government building fire,
but that wasn't discovered until Heckman began looking into VA services
several years ago. Heckman, who served in the Seventh Infantry Division, mortar
group, was shipped out of the United States in April 1943 and was in the invasion
of Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands. From there, he was in the invasions of
Kwhaalein of the Marshall Islands group, Layte in the Philippines and
Okinawa. After Okinawa, Heckman was sent to Honolulu on a ship carrying Japanese
prisoners. While in Honolulu, the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, ending the war in
the South Pacific. He and another soldier flipped a coin to see who got to
come home. Heckman won and returned to the states at Fort Bliss, TX, where he
was discharged in September 1945. He never had a furlough during in time in the
army. Heckman didn't bother to apply for the medals after getting out of the
service. "When I got out, I didn't ask for anything," he said. Now, almost 60
years later, the medals have arrived.
Huerfano World - December 19, 2002 - GASTON SANTI, 92, of Denver, was
recently selected as a member of the Grinell College Athletic Hall of Fame. Santi
graduated from Grinell in Iowa in 1933, where he played and was selected as an
all-conference player in football and basketball. Upon graduation, he moved to
Walsenburg, where he started his coaching career in 1935 at Huerfano County
High School. He coached in Walsenburg until 1940 when he moved to Denver,
coaching, respectively, at the University of Denver, Regis College, Denver West
High School and Thomas Jefferson High School, where his team won the state
championship in basketball. Santi previously has been selected as a member of the
Colorado Coaches Hall of Fame and the Denver Coaches Hall of Fame. Santi is the
uncle of Don Santi of Walsenburg.
2003
Huerfano World - June 5, 2003 - AFTER 35 YEARS as a bus driver for
Re-1 School District, Richard Bailey was Presented with a Certificate of
Appreciation, in front of the old #5T-Bus, from the Colorado Department of
Education for his 35 years by Re-1 Transportation Director Jake Pino. Bailey's
final run was Thursday of last week. (See Letter to the Editor from Pino in the
May 8 edition about Bailey).
2005
Huerfano World - August 4, 2005 - New Signage - A new sign has been installed in the garden at the entrance to the Parkway on Highway 12 in Cuchara, welcoming travelers to the village. The sign was hand carved by Trinidad Artist Manny Sanchez and donated by Bruce and Dixie Gordon in memory of their mothers, Joan Gordon and Phyllis Dale. Sanchez is also creating street signs for Cuchara to assist tourists and emergency services in finding Cuchara residents. Also helping make the project possible with delivery equipment and installation were: Ron Amato of Amato Lumber in Trinidad; Buddy Camp, Joe Cordova, Art and Bill Pierce, Mike Moore and Bruce Johnson. Hermosa Society, Cuchara, maintains the gardens at the Parkway through the volunteer efforts of Cleon and Carolyn Flanagan.
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