TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2011 Vol. 131, No. 182 The Voice of Salida and the Upper Arkansas Valley 50 cents

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Sunny and mild west wind 5-10

mph.

Owning a home is still part of the American dream

See page 8

Local mountain biker rides Trans Andes

See page 9

Forecast

Efforts to streamline pro-cessing of building permits and inspections were dis-cussed by Chaffee County offi-cials during the commission-ers’ work session Monday.

Chief building official Bill Paradise explained “fast track” processing and creat-ing a new, part-time position in the building department.

In response to complaints

about turnaround time for building permits, department officials created a list of “fast track standards” to help build-ers ensure permit requests are complete and eligible for faster processing.

Paradise predicted fast track processing could reduce permit turnaround time as much as 50 percent.

He said department officials are seeking to hire a part time employee to help with resi-dential and commercial plan

review and inspections. Paradise said applicants

have been screened and “two good candidates” are available for the job.

The department has two full-time employees. Para-dise said he is worried the department won’t have ade-quate personnel to meet sum-mer and fall building season demands.

He cited the new high school and the hospital expansion project, among others.

County discuses building department processby Jessica Wierzbinski Mail Staff Writer

A $1 per ton increase for waste disposal at the Chaffee County Landfill was approved by Chaffee County Commissioners Monday.

The increase will become effective April 1. The action came during the landfill committee meeting preced-ing the commissioner’s work session.

During their presentation, landfill committee personnel told commissioners the state is increasing rates charged to the landfill by $1.06 per ton and 32 cents a cubic yard.

Landfill supervisor Shan-non Wilcox recommended those rates be passed on to landfill consumers and “rounded up.” He proposed increasing rates by $1.25

a ton and 50 cents a cubic yard.

Committee members said they wanted to avoid “count-ing pennies” because of the increase. They said the dumping cost hasn’t been increased for three years.

Commissioners, however, voted to “absorb” part of the state increases, rejecting the committee recommenda-tion to raise the consumer rate by more than the state increase.

April 1, dump rates for individual consumers will increase from $30.25 to $31.25 per ton and from $33 to $33.25 per cubic yard.

Commissioner Dave Potts said the increase highlights the importance of recycling. He said he hopes it will encourage citizens to use recy-cling programs available.

by Jessica Wierzbinski Mail Staff Writer

Commissioners approve landfi ll per ton increase

Photo by Cailey McDermott

Torch Club gives valentinesFlorence Naccarato received a heart-filled Valentine’s Day card from a Torch Club member while awaiting dinner Monday evening. Torch Club focuses on community outreach, lead-ership and character building. See more photos page 5.

A rockslide including a 20-foot boulder and deep bro-ken rock about a mile west of Cotopaxi buried U.S. 50 about 5 p.m. Monday.

Bob Wilson, Colorado Department of Transportation public information officer, said the slide also knocked down power lines.

Sangre de Cristo Electric personnel confirmed “signifi-cant power outages” in How-ard, Coaldale and Cotopaxi.

By 7:45 p.m. at least some residents in the Coaldale area reported power was restored, but Cotopaxi res idents remained in the dark.

As darkness fell, officials said little could be done to clear the slide until after rock stopped falling. They indicat-ed assessment of clearing U.S. 50 will begin today.

A witness headed for Coto-paxi School was stopped by the slide moments after it happened. He reported rock covered the highway “almost to the (Arkansas) River.

He said there was at least

one rock the size of a small to medium size house on the road among a large quantity of broken rock.

Officials allowed local traf-fic only from east and west approaches via U.S. 50 to near where the road was blocked.

Ves Gulliford, a Cotopaxi resident who works in Salida, lives about a mile east of the slide site.

He used the alternative route north and east from Sal-ida and Colo. 9 through Guffey to reach U.S. 50 atop Parkdale Hill and continued west to his home.

The detour took about two hours, he said.

At 5:30 p.m. officials at the scene termed the slide “active” because rock and debris con-tinued falling intermittently.

Westbound traffic on U.S. 50 was detoured to Hartsel via Colo. 9, to U.S. 24/285 to Johnson Village and to Pon-cha Springs by way of U.S. 285.

Eastbound traffic from Sal-ida was advised to use U.S. 285 to U.S. 24/285 via John-son Village and Hartsel, to Colo. 9 toward Cañon City.

Rock slide blocks U.S. 50by Dick DixonMail Copy Editor

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2011 Vol. 131, No. 183 The Voice of Salida and the Upper Arkansas Valley 50 cents

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Partly sunny, 30 percent chance of p.m. snow.

County pledges $500 to philanthropy event

See page 3

Buena Vista Demons scorch Salida Spartans

See page 5

Forecast

CDOT estimates 3-4 days cleanupPhoto by Bruce Dunavin

Fremont County Sheriff Deputy stands in the road on the east side of the rock slide between Coaldale and Cotopaxi Monday.

Photo by Cailey McDermottFreshly exposed rock is scratched white by boulders as they fell from this rock face near Coaldale. Work crews will begin scaling the rock today. Colorado Department of Transporta-tion public information director Stacey Stegman said this is among the largest scale slides she has seen.

Photo by Cailey McDermottBoulders and rubble block U.S. 50 Tuesday. The cliff face on the right slid loose, falling across U.S. 50 and into the Arkansas River. This view on the west side of the rock slide shows boul-ders 20 feet in diameter. The boulder on the far left is estimated to weigh 60 tons, CDOT junior foreman Gene Hapl of Salida said.

Although U.S. 50 may remain blocked three-four days while workers clear a major rockslide, electric ser-vice to nearly 1,200 area resi-dents was restored within about 14 hours.

Gene Hapl of Salida, junior foreman with the Colorado Department of Transporta-

tion, said at least three 60-ton boulders and thousands of tons of broken rock fell from a 200-foot cliff face, burying mile post 244 about 4:12 p.m. Monday.

He described the slide as about 100 feet wide with debris spanning the width of the highway and spilling into the Arkansas River.

Stacey Stegman, director of public information for the Col-

orado Department of Trans-portation, said Yenter Com-panies, Inc. of Denver arrived about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and personnel began climbing the slide to assess the situation.

Stegman said the specially trained workers were sched-uled to start scaling the cliff face to remove loose rock early today.

Hapl said, “I won’t put my men and my equipment in

there (to begin debris removal) until it’s definitely safe.”

By late Tuesday afternoon, Stegman said department per-sonnel were selecting a con-tractor to begin cleanup oper-ations. She said rock from the site would likely be removed to sites along the highway where it will be out of the way.

Mike Miller, chief opera-tions manager for Sangre De Cristo Electric Association,

said the slide interrupted ser-vice to about 1,200 customers in Howard, Coaldale, Cotopaxi and several subdivisions.

Association workers restored service within two hours to about 800 customers in the Howard and Coaldale areas.

They worked until 6 a.m. Tuesday to reroute the power line before restoring service to the remaining 400 customers

by Cailey McDermott Mail Staff Writer

Please see COTOPAXI, back page

PAGE 16 — THE MOUNTAIN MAIL — SALIDA, COLORADO — WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2011

in and near Cotopaxi.Hapl reported some tele-

phone lines remained dead by 4 p.m. Tuesday, but said many people were using cell phones.

Chuck McKenna, Cotopaxi school principal for student services, said the school was closed Tuesday and it will remain closed through Thurs-day. The slide cut the school district roughly into east and west halves.

Hapl reported children from Cotopaxi School who live in Coaldale were bussed about

180 miles via a looping detour to reach their homes Monday night.

Rockslides aren’t common, Hapl said, but they do hap-pen. He recalled two other slides that temporarily closed Bighorn Sheep Canyon dur-ing the past five-six years.

Hapl said he believes the slide was triggered by normal freeze-thaw cycles of snow water in rock cracks.

Hapl said road surface damage under the rock fall may require temporary patching.

Continued from FRONT page

Cotopaxi schools remain closed following slide

A $50 ,000 geothermal energy grant for the city-owned Poncha Hot Springs was unanimously approved by Salida City Councilmen Tuesday.

The grant from the Gov-ernor’s Energy office will be

used to explore the site for geothermal potential.

Grant money was award-ed in August 2010, but the National Environmental Policy Act process stalled state authorization, city administrator Jack Lewis said.

Jim Miller, of Salida, who helped develop a small geo-

thermal electric system in the San Luis Valley, said he would like hydroelectric possibilities to be investi-gated.

In other business council:

• Unanimously approved mutua l a id agreements with Northern Saguache Fire Protection District and Northwest Fire District.

• Adjourned to executive

session to seek legal advice from c i ty attorney Karl Hanlon regarding medical marijuana, the wastewater treatment plant and Unique Theater.

by Cailey McDermott Mail Staff Writer

City council approves geothermal grant

Salida fi re chief explainsmutual aid agreements

WHO-O-O-O CAN HELP YOU!

Call Classifieds @ 719-539-6691

The Classifieds Can!

CLASSIFIED ADVENTURES!Arkansas Valley Publishing’s

Mutual aid agreements among fire departments were explained to Salida City coun-cil members during a work ses-sion Tuesday morning.

Salida Fire Chief Don Tay-lor said the agreements were requested by Salida Fire Department, Northern Sagua-che Fire Protection District and Northwest Fire District.

Northwest Fire District is the regional hazardous mate-rial team. Northern Saguache Fire Protection District has off-road water tenders “that could be very helpful,” Taylor said.

“For huge incidents, it helps to have an outside resource,” Taylor said. “(Mutual aid) provides the legal backing to support other agencies. It also supplies written guidelines.”

Mayor Chuck Rose asked if there would be additional costs for the city.

Taylor said, “Day-to-day there will be more mutual aid going out than coming in, but it’s reciprocal and in the past, mutual aid hasn’t impacted our overtime hours.”

Both agreements were approved unanimously by council members during the regular meeting Tuesday night.

by Cailey McDermott Mail Staff Writer

Rock scalers started about four hours ahead of schedule Wednesday dislodging loose rock from a 200-foot cliff beside U.S. 50 and expected to finish by dark.

With loose rock removed from above, Gene Hapl, junior foreman for the Colorado Department of Transporta-tion, predicted rockslide clean-up could begin today.

He told The Mountain Mail four specialized scalers from Yenter Companies, Inc. of Denver began about 10 a.m.

“They were definitely ahead of schedule,” he said.

Scalers suspended from ropes and harnesses worked from the top down, moving back and forth across the cliff face which spawned the slide that closed U.S. 50 about 4 p.m. Monday.

They stabbed steel scaling bars into cracks behind rocks, prying boulders and smaller debris loose to fall free to the rock pile below.

By about 1 p.m. Wednesday, Hapl predicted scalers would clear the cliff face by the end of the day.

He said Kiewit Construc-tion Co. of Colorado Springs has the contract to clear thou-sands of tons of slide debris.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2011 Vol. 131, No. 184 The Voice of Salida and the Upper Arkansas Valley 50 cents

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Mostly cloudy, 40 percent

chance of snow.

Bride injures herself after Monarch wedding

See page 9

Gnomes, flamingos are garden pop-culture

See page 8

Forecast

Funding cuts for Salida public schools could be near-ly twice as much as district officials anticipated, based on state budget numbers unveiled by Gov. John Hick-enlooper Tuesday.

As early as November, school-board members said they anticipated budget cuts of more than 6 percent, but the budget proposal Hick-enlooper revealed Tuesday amounts to an 11.1 percent cut for Salida, district busi-ness manager Yvonne Little said Wednesday.

If Hickenlooper’s revised budget gains the approval of the Joint Budget Committee, it would result in a $332 mil-lion net reduction in funding for public schools.

Salida’s share in that reduction would amount to $806,911, Little said.

However, the district has some federal money to off-set a portion of that amount, bringing the cut felt by the district closer to 7 percent, or about $513,179.

T h e d i s t r i c t n e v e r spent the one-time sum of $211,298.04 in educational job funding it received as a result of a bill President Barack Obama signed in August 2010.

“We weren’t sure what the future looked like,” Little said, explaining that district officials made a “proactive” decision to hold onto that money.

The district is also slated to receive an additional one-time sum of $81,372.88 in federal money for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stabilization funding.

However, that money has not yet been received and could end up being rescind-ed, Little noted.

“The bottom line is this means an 11.1 percent cut to our total program funding,” Little said.

Discussions about how to handle budget cuts have been ongoing among district officials for several weeks, but those talks will become more specific in light of revised budget plans, super-intendent Darryl Webb said.

Distr ict o f f ic ials have almost finalized their dis-cuss ions o f “phase one trims,” Webb added. Phase one refers to cuts that do not directly affect employees or operations.

Results of those discus-sions will be presented at accountability meetings that are tentatively scheduled for Feb. 28.

The meetings will be open to the public, and specific times and locations will be announced when they are determined.

Phase two cuts will be the subject of discussions in the coming weeks, Webb said, and could include things like staffing cuts and converting to a four-day school week.

Other budget cutsHickenlooper’s budget plan

for the 2011-12 fiscal year (which begins in July) is a revision of one proposed by Gov. Bill Ritter in November 2010.

Hickenlooper’s plan adds approximately $570 mil-lion in budget cuts on top of those originally proposed by Ritter.

In addition to public school funding cuts, Hickenlooper’s revised plan includes cuts to higher education funding, a reduction in take-home pay for state employees and the closure of four state parks and one prison.

The revised budget would decrease funding for high-er education by $36 million compared to the amount pro-posed in Ritter’s plan.

It would also raise the amount taken from state workers’ paychecks to go t oward pens i ons . That amount has been 2.5 percent during the current year, and the revised budget would increase the amount to 4.5 percent.

The new plan would also close Bonny Lake State Park near Burlington, Harvey Gap State Park near Rifle, Paonia State Park near Pao-nia and Sweitzer Lake State Park near Delta.

The plan would also close the 485-bed Fort Lyon Cor-rectional Facility east of Pueblo and relocate Fort Lyon inmates to other prisons.

by Jessica Wierzbinski Mail Staff Writer

Salida public schools face funding cuts

Rocks loosened by a scaler from Yenter Companies, Inc. fall from the cliff face to clatter and crash onto boulders below in Bighorn Sheep Canyon Wednesday. Loose material from the 200-foot high face had to be removed before cleanup of thou-sands of tons of debris on U.S. 50 could be cleared.

Photos by Cailey McDermottAfter rappelling from above, a scaler uses a bar to pry a loose rock chunk free from the cliff face. Scalers worked while suspended from ropes and harnesses.

by Cailey McDermott Mail Staff Writer

Scalers dislodge rock from 200-foot cliff

Please see FRIDAY, back page

PAGE 16 — THE MOUNTAIN MAIL — SALIDA, COLORADO — THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2011

The Kiewit crew and their machinery arrived Wednes-day on the east side of the slide. Hapl said scaling must be complete before they could start.

Before scalers began work, a remote-control helicopter photographed the entire rock face to locate problem areas for scalers.

Hapl said electronic moni-tors were placed in rock gaps to detect rock movement as a safety measure for scalers and personnel on the ground. Monitors will issue warning of any rock motion.

Hapl said Friday remains the target to reopen U.S. 50, but added, “I don’t think it will (be ready).”

Continued from FRONT page

Friday opening remains target

Photo by Cailey McDermottA scaler checks below himself seeking the safest route before rappelling lower on the cliff face to pry loose more rocks.

Bypass of rockslide opens TIME TO RENEW

YOUR SUBSCRIPTION?Call Sandra at 539-6691 Today!

A four-wheel-drive bypass of the rockslide blocking U.S. 50 was opened Wednesday by crews working jointly from Chaffee and Fremont coun-ties.

The route connects Salida on the west side of the rock-slide with Cotopaxi on the east side.

Because of areas of mud and snow, only four-wheel-drive vehicles will be allowed to use the route.

Chaffee County Road and Bridge Department person-nel opened Ute Trail, CR 175, north and east to the county line. Fremont County work-ers opened Fremont County Roads 2, 11 and 12 from the county line to Cotopaxi.

For people traveling to Cañon City from Salida, offi-cials said U.S. 285 to Johnson Village, U.S. 24/285 to Hartsel and Colo. 9 south to U.S. 50 remains the best route.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2011 Vol. 131, No. 185 The Voice of Salida and the Upper Arkansas Valley 50 cents

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Partly sunny, 10 percent chance

of rain.

‘Jailbirds’ raise $13,000 in ‘bail’ money for MDA

See page 3

Tenderfoot Climb kick-off attracts 200 supporters

See page 8

Forecast

Commercial rafting num-bers increased 3.4 percent from 2009 to 2010 according to the Colorado River Outfit-ters Association annual report to the state released earlier this month.

The Commercial River Use in the State of Colorado report said the number takes into account all commercial user days on each of 17 commer-cially rafted rivers in Colora-do.

The increase is more than the 2.5 percent increase reported by Arkansas Head-waters Recreation Area in its preliminary December count.

Recreation area numbers, however, included commercial river guides and safety kayak-ers while the Colorado outfit-ters total didn’t.

Neither report represents private river users. The outfit-ters association report refers to a user-day as the number of paying guests on a river for any part of a day during the rafting season.

T h e A r k a n s a s R i v e r from Buena Vista to Pueblo accounts for more than 40 percent of all commercial traffic in Colorado. Adjusted association figures reported a jump from 205,876 in 2009 to 211,150 in 2010.

The increase of 5,274 user days is comparable to the approximate 2.5 percent increase.

The out f i t ters ’ report showed the number of com-mercial user days throughout Colorado was up from 490,795 in 2009 to 507,392 in 2010.

Within that count, com-mercial rafting companies in Colorado realized a 16,500

user-day increase accounting for the 3.4 percent jump from 2009.

Information showed the Colorado and Arkansas riv-ers experienced the largest increases from 2009 to 2010 and demonstrate excess capac-ity to allow for more visitors.

Many other rivers in the state have limits on increased use and the report indicated those numbers stabilized.

The report estimated com-bined economic impact of com-mercial-river rafting in 2010 at $150.3 million, up 4.9 per-cent or about $7 million from the 2009 season.

Economic impact figures were the second-highest total recorded by the outfitters association since it began cal-culating impact in 1988.

The $150.3 million recorded in 2010 was behind the record $154.5 million year in 2007.

Association chairman John-ny Cantamessa said, “Rafting has always been a cost-effec-tive way for outdoor enthu-siasts to indulge themselves in nature and for families to vacation together.

“(And it’s) a great venue for team-building outings by everyone from corporate groups to scout troops. When times and budgets are tight, the thrill-per-dollar ratio becomes more important, as evidenced by the industry in 2010.”

Commercial rafting figures exceeded 500,000 user-days for four years from 2005-08 before taking a temporary dip in 2009.

Cantamessa said diversity offered by Colorado rivers means most state residents and many from neighboring states are within an easy day-drive of a rafting location.

Commercial rafting volume increases by Kevin HoffmanMail Staff Writer

A $3.6 million grant from the Federal Aviation Admin-istration was awarded in August to Harriet Alexander Field for upgrades to the run-way, taxiway and apron inte-rior.

Jack Lewis, Salida admin-istrator, said during the city

council work session Tuesday the city-county jointly owned airport, is the only small air-port in Colorado this year receiving federal money for a large paving and rehabilita-tion project.

Lewis said upon review-ing upgrades necessary to get Harriet field “off the radar” of the Federal Aviation Admin-istration, it was learned $3.6

million wouldn’t be enough to cover more than repaving the runway and portions of the taxiway.

Lewis said aviation adminis-trators told him they thought they could find an “extra mil-lion” to complete the project.

“Based on my history with the FAA,” Lewis said, “when they say ‘we’ve got an extra million,’ you can pretty much

count on it.” He said the $4.6 million proj-

ect will cost Salida $27,600. “We budgeted $46,000.”

Council members asked about future maintenance. Mayor Chuck Rose said with every new capital improve-ment, council should deter-mine long- term cost o f upkeep.

New light-emitting diodes

are a lighting upgrade the fed-eral administration believes is important, Lewis said.

Although the new lights are more expensive to replace, he said there is no option when the federal administration wants them.

Councilman Keith Baker mentioned merging the air-port at Buena Vista with Har-riet Alexander Field to boost activity for both.

by Cailey McDermott Mail Staff Writer

Workers from Kiewit Con-struction Thursday removed about 20 percent of the rock debris that fell Monday after-noon from a 200 foot cliff, burying about 100 feet of major east-west U.S. 50.

Gene Hapl, junior foreman for Colorado Department of Transportation, told The Mountain Mail during a tour of both sides of the slide that the road is expected to reopen Sunday or Monday.

Hapl said work slowed mid-day Thursday when dynamite necessary for blasting a num-

ber of massive boulders failed to arrive when expected.

Massive boulders, estimated at about 60 tons each, were blasted before 3 p.m. Larger pieces were moved to the side to accommodate a Caterpillar 980G front-end loader and a parade of tractor-trailer end-dump trucks.

The loader filled each truck with broken rock in about 10 minutes as another backed into place beside the pile.

When the loader dumped rock into an empty trailer, the rumble of rocks hitting metal and the roar of diesel engines echoed through Bighorn Sheep Canyon. West wind whipped

dust over the rock pile, creat-ing almost zero visibility.

Hapl said Kiewit work-ers planned to work into the night Thursday using lights on equipment. He said light-plants would arrive today and be set up to allow operations, possibly around-the clock, to continue.

Walking around the north point of the slide, beside the Arkansas River, offered views of both sides for the first time. Walking was treacherous on loose rock, but close to the river footing was better.

It appeared about a half dozen rocks from the slide made it into the river.

Photo by Cailey McDermottGene Hapl, Colorado Department of Transportation junior foreman of the Alamosa office and Chuck Klien, department junior foreman of the Pueblo office survey progress a Kiewit front-end loader scoops broken rock into a waiting truck. Blaze orange paint in the foreground marks remains of at least two 60-ton boulders shattered by dynamite Thursday afternoon and pushed aside.

by Cailey McDermott Mail Staff Writer

Workers expect U.S. 50 to reopen Sunday-Monday

Harriet Alexander Field receives $3.6 million FAA grant

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2011 Vol. 131, No. 186 The Voice of Salida and the Upper Arkansas Valley 50 cents

H 41 L 19

Mostly sunny, becoming partly

cloudy.

Mountain Mail wins four press association awards

See page 3

Spartan boys basketball team repels Savage attack

See page 7

Forecast

DENVER – The Demons claimed two state crowns and the Spartans fell shy in the finals at the wrestling State

Championships held Feb 17-1 in Denver.

Buena Vista senior Corbin Bennetts won his third consec-utive championship and team-mate Oliver Reed claimed his first.

Salida senior Clint Myers lost his final round at 215-pounds by one point settling for second.

Spartans placed ninth as a team last season, but of five wrestlers competing at state

this year, Myers was the only competitor to place.

In the championship Myers experienced his first defeat in two high school seasons to

Bennetts wins title

U.S. 50 between Cañon City and Salida reopened at 12:20 p.m. Sunday after workers finished removing rockslide debris that buried the high-way west of Cotopaxi Valen-tine’s Day.

Kiewit Construction fin-ished loading trucks about 11 a.m. Chuck Kline, Colorado Department of Transporta-tion maintenance supervisor of Pueblo, said.

The road was inspected and found in good shape before reopening.

“There was nothing we could patch but a few scrapes in the road,” Kline said. “We will come back over that (later) with an asphalt over-lay.

Cold prevents application of asphalt during the win-ter. Kiewit Construction will do the work when it’s warm enough, Kline said.

“We didn’t realize there were so many large rocks in the slide,” Kline said.

A hammer drill and dyna-mite were used to break large boulders. The biggest rock was more than 20 tons – “big-ger than a pickup truck,” Kline said. “A lot of 2-8 ton rocks we had to break. On the big ones our hammer drill wouldn’t break we had to use dynamite.”

Rock from the slide was hauled about 12 miles east of the site and stored on state property. Kline said the slide had no effect on the Arkansas River.

He said the department and Kiewit made a decision early not to attack the rockslide from east and west sides. Because equipment arrived from Colorado Springs and Pueblo, cleanup was worked from the east side.

“It may have been faster (to work on it from both sides) but we were using dynamite and safety was a concern,” Kline said.

“Overall it went well. I know it was an inconvenience to everyone. But there were no incidents or accidents during the work. Thanks for being patient with us while we got it done.”

U.S. 50 opensby Paul J. GoetzMail Managing Editor

Photo by Kevin Hoffman Buena Vista senior Corbin Bennetts embraces his coach, Jared Todd, after winning his third consecutive wrestling title at the 3A Wrestling State Championships Saturday at the Pepsi Center. Bennetts and teammate Oliver Reed won championship titles; however, the victory eluded Salida senior Clint Myers who lost a 3-2 decision to Berthoud’s J.T. Pickert.

by Kevin HoffmanMail Staff Writer

Please see PICKERT, back page