Volleyball coach

50 Centstrinidad Colorado

Proudly Serving Southeastern Colorado and Northeastern New Mexico • www.thechronicle-news.com

~Vol. 138, No. 260

tuesdaydeCember 30, 2014

AREA SPORTSArea Schools are on Christmas

break until January 8.

SPECIAL NOTICE: The Chronicle-News 2014 Col-

lector Mugs you’ve all been wait-ing for are here and waiting for you to come pick them up.

Today’s Quote“Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”

― Neil Gaiman

DECEMBER 30Trinidad City Council TUESDAY (1:30 p.m.) Work ses-

sion in Council Chambers, City Hall, 135 N. Animas St., Third Floor. Infor-mation: Audra Garrett, 719-846-9843.

URBAN RENEWALRepresentatives of the City will be

holding four (4) public information meetings for citizens to attend and learn more about the survey process, Authority, and urban renewal as a re-source for community redevelopment and economic development. All meet-ings will be held at City Hall in City Council Chambers.

n Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 6 p.m.n Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 8 a.m.n Monday, Jan. 5 at 10 a.m.n Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 4 p.m.We urge anyone with questions

or a general interest to attend one of the meetings, the dates of which are provided below. If you are unable to attend, but still have questions, please contact Tara Marshall with the City of Trinidad at 719.846.9843, ext. 131.

DECEMBER 31Diabetic Support GroupWEDNESDAY (6:30 p.m.) Mt. San

Rafael Hospital, in conjunction with the Las Animas/Huerfano County Health Dept., will host this group in the hospi-tal cafeteria, 410 Benedicta Ave. Infor-mation: 719-846-2213, ext. 38. Healthy snacks will be provided.

NEW YEAR’S CLOSURESn The Chronicle-News office will

close at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, New Years Eve, and be closed until Mon-day, Jan 5. The paper will be delivered as usual with no interruption of service.

n The City of Trinidad offices and Landfill will be closed Thursday-Friday for New Years.

n The Las Animas County Courthouse offices will be closed Wednesday-Thursday for New Years. Normal business hours will resume on Friday.

n SCCOG and Affiliates will be closed Thursday-Friday for New Years.

PUBLIC SERVICEDelightful Musical Light ShowEVERY EVENING: A must see for

New Years at 213 W. Colorado Ave. Drive over, turn your radio to 103.1 FM and watch the lights dance to the wonderful music of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Call for ArtistsJANUARY 2-3 (Art delivery is 11

a.m.-2 p.m.) The Spanish Peaks Arts Council in LaVeta is calling all artists for submissions in the SPACe Members’ Show for Jan.-Feb. Info: Kathy Hill, 719-742-5756 or www.spanishpeak-sarts.org.

Trinidad Lake State ParkJANUARY 1 (10 a.m.) Free First

Day Hike with Park Staff and adopt-able furry friends at Trinidad Lake State Park. Choose from three hikes — meet at the Visitor Center and afterwards in the amphitheater for hot chocolate and goodies. Info: 719-846-6951 or http://cpw.state.co.us/

Raton Choral SocietyJANUARY 8, 9 & 10: Auditions for

“Hello Dolly” will be held in the Shuler Theater and the Isabel Castillo Per-forming Arts Center. Materials and in-formation can now be picked up at the Shuler. Info: Bill Crary, 575-445-5682 or [email protected].

SUICIDE/CRISIS HOTLINES:n ADULT HOPE: 800-784-2433 n TEEN: 877-968-8454 n GLB-YOUTH: 866-488-7386n VET-2-VET: 877-838-2838“It is often in the darkest skies

that we see the brightest stars.”

ABUSE HOTLINES:n Domestic Abuse Hotline: In Trini-

dad call 719-846-6665 (24-hours a day). In Walsenburg call: 719-738-0770. Na-tional Hotline: 1-800-790-SAFE (7233).

n Animal Abuse: Report animal abuse and dog/cock fighting at Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line: 720-913-7867.

the Fine Print

Weather WatChTuesday: Snow likely, 60 percent chance,

mainly before 11am. Cloudy and cold, with a high near 7. Wind chill values between

-5 and -15. East northeast wind around 10 mph. Night: A 30 percent chance of snow, mainly before 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -5. Wind chill values between -10 and -20. East northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

NEW YEAR’S EVE DAY: Partly sunny, with a high near 25. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south southeast in the afternoon. Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 11. Southwest wind around 5 mph

becoming northwest after midnight.NEW YEAR’S DAY: Partly sunny, with a

high near 34. South southwest wind around 5 mph. Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 10. Southwest wind around 5 mph.

Friday: A 10 percent chance of snow. Mostly sunny, with a high near 32. North wind around 5 mph. Night: A 20 percent chance of snow. Partly cloudy, with a low around 10. West northwest wind around 5 mph.

river CallPurgatoire River Call as of: 12/29/14. Johns Flood ditch: Pri-ority # 5 --- Appropriation date: 03/20/1862.

Trinidad Reservoir Accounting:Release .02 AFInflow 28.02 AF -- 14.13 CFSEvaporation 0 AFContent 14,758 AFElevation 6,175.42Precipitation 0

Downstream River Call / John Martin Reservoir: 12/31/1948.

the ChroniCle neWs

Artwork by Trinidad artistPaula Little is featured on the

2014 Collector Mug Series from The Chronicle-News

DENVER TELEVISION KOAA

Report: Trinidad Police hasty with drug bustsBy Steve BlockThe Chronicle-News

Late last year Trinidad police,

after a months long investigation, arrested 40 people on felony drug charges in one of the biggest drug busts in the City’s history. Now all drug charges have dropped

against 39 of the 40 defendants, and a report by a Denver TV sta-tion said that the City could lose the millions of dollars in legal fees and litigation because of its inves-tigation and the tactics that were used in it.

The report by KOAA TV’s Eric Ross said “police made arrests

with virtually no evidence, no video surveillance and no eyewit-nesses other than the informants and the few details they provid-ed.” Mark Silverstein, legal direc-tor for the American Civil Liber-ties Union (ACLU), was quoted as saying that there were problems with the affidavits seeking arrest

warrants for the people who were busted. The story said “Silverstein is reviewing several of the drug ar-rest cases for possible legal action, but neither he nor the ACLU’s spokesperson could elaborate at this point in time beyond telling

Photo courtesy of Tim Keller / The Chronicle-NewsA frozen Cimarron River runs through Cimarron Canyon State Park west of Cimarron, New Mexico, and can be seen basking in the winter sunshine.

Continued on Page 2 ...

US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY3.4-magnitude earthquake rattles City in early hours SaturdayStaff ReportThe Chronicle-News

At 2:23 a.m. Saturday morn-ing Trinidad residents reported hearing a loud bang followed by a 3.2 to 3.4-magnitude tremor and after shocks that woke some from their beds. As of Monday, no damage was reported to The Chronicle-News.

The earthquake is the first of the month in Colorado and the second biggest of the 30 (magni-tude 1.5 or greater) earthquakes that have occurred this year, ac-cording to the U.S. Geological

Survey (USGS). The location of the quake was

recorded by USGS as 37.006 de-grees north latitude and 104.866 degrees west longitude, or 23 miles west-southwest of Trini-dad. The depth of the quake was recorded as 0.8 miles.

Saturday morning’s earth-quake was similar in size and location to a 2.8-magnitude quake that was reported in September of last year. At about that same time last year, federal researchers re-ported their claim that quakes in the Raton Basin were caused by the injection of wastewater from the oil and gas industry into wells deep inside the earth.

“Between 2001 and 2013, 16 earthquakes of a 3.8 magnitude or greater were “induced” by the industry’s disposal of wastewa-ter, according to Justin Rubin-stein, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey. That com-pares to one earthquake of simi-lar strength in the region in the three decades preceding 2001,” says a report from Michael de Yo-anna with Colorado Public Radio (CPR).

That same reported quoted The Colorado Oil and Gas As-sociation, or COGA, which rep-resents the energy industry, and says that wastewater wells are overwhelmingly safe. “In Colorado, we know that oil and gas development activity can be conducted safely, without fear of earthquakes,” a “Mythbusters” document from COGA states.

“We think that some of these injection wells -- the fluids from these wells are finding their way into faults in the area and, in some senses, lubricating them, making it easier for there to be earthquakes,” Justin Rubinstein, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geo-logical Survey, told CPR trying to explain the earthquakes in the Raton Basin.

Associated Press file photoRecorded seismographic activity of the 5.3-magnitude earthquake that hit the Trinidad, Colorado area in November, 2011. It is Trinidad’s largest recorded earthquake in recent history.

TRINIDAD STATE ATHLETICS

TSJC Women’s Volleyball coach to move up to NCAA DIIStaff ReportThe Chronicle-News

According to reports out of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP), Trinidad State Junior College (TSJC) volleyball coach, Ellen McGill, has accepted an offer to take over as the head volleyball coach at UNCP, making the jump from the junior college ranks to NCAA Division II.

McGill’s tenure with TSJC has been considered very successful.

McGill inherited an 11-33 club in 2009 and quickly helped tran-sition TSJC into a regional pow-

erhouse. TSJC posted at least 19 wins in each of the last four sea-sons and took three trips to the Re-gion IX Tournament. The Trojans completed a remarkable 21-game turnaround this past season when they registered a, program-best, 25-12 record.

During her time at TSJC, Mc-Gill mentored 15 all-region, 12 all-region tournament and 25 aca-demic all-region players, as well as eight academic all-Americans. Her 2011 and 2013 squads were both decorated with national academic

Continued on Page 2 ...

File photo The Chronicle-NewsTrinidad State’s Taylor Mansfield, above left, and Rylee Abert, right, joined by Coach Ellen McGill, center, recently signed to move on to the next level. McGill will also be moving on to the next level at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014 The Chronicle-News Trinidad, Colorado

General ManagerAllyson Sheumaker

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AdvertisingSales-Adam Sperandio

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Classifieds, Memorials, & Circulation- Lauri Duran

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Design & Legals- Krysta [email protected]

News RoomEditor: Eric John Monson

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Features Editor & Fine Print Catherine Moser

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Reporter: Steve [email protected]

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TSJC Women’s Volleyball coach to move up to NCAA D II... Continued from Page 1

Report: Trinidad Police hasty with drug busts... Continued from Page 1

us to check back with them in a few weeks.”

“The affidavits seeking the arrest warrants I think were so defective and so deficient, the warrants for ar-rest should never have been issued,” Silverstein said.

City Attorney Les Downs said in a Monday phone call that none of the people charged in the drug cases had filed any legal action against the City at this point. Other than that, Downs said, he had no comment on the failed drug bust cases.

Police Chief Charles Glorioso said Monday that he couldn’t comment on the drug cases, on Downs’s advice.

Two confidential informants were used to make drug purchases that led to the arrests. Crystal Bachicha, one

of the informants, later testified in court that she wasn’t a confidential informant, and she was convicted of perjury, because there was plenty of evidence suggesting she had worked for the police as a confidential infor-mant.

The KOAA story said Bachicha’s criminal record, which included a prior drug charge and numerous oth-er arrests, should have warned Trini-dad police that she might be unreli-able as an informant, but the police didn’t seem to be worried about that. Bachicha was paid more than $2,500 for her services. She may have had personal reasons for going after some of the defendants in the drug cases.

In an earlier article in The Chron-icle-News, District Attorney Frank

Ruybalid said, “The police have done well with operations like this in the past, but the last three confidential sources that have been used have had credibility issues. These last two op-erations have been a waste of money and time.”

The use of confidential informants in drug sting operations is a contro-versial subject. Such operations can end badly.

“It should not come down to one person’s word against the accused,” Ruybalid said, though he defended the use of informants. “I don’t know how else we can expect police to enter that world. Especially here in a com-munity like this. One of our officers can’t just put on a different pair of clothes and enter the drug world.”

honors from the National Junior College Associa-tion of America, while the 2011 club was also decorat-ed with the Sheila R. Wor-ley Sportsmanship Award. Her student-athletes were also responsible for 11 school records.

McGill stepped into the coaching world as an assis-tant at Western Carolina for both the 2007 and 2008 seasons. While in Cullo-whee, according to UNCP, she played an integral role in the recruiting efforts of the Catamounts, while also assisting with the pro-gram’s strength and con-ditioning efforts. She has also served as instructor at several team camps, in-cluding the Colorado and North Carolina volleyball camps.

She has also served the last three seasons as an as-sistant coach for the TSJC women’s basketball pro-gram.

“I want to thank athlet-ics director Dick Christy, Dr. Thompson and the UNC Pembroke family in welcoming me to #Brav-eNation,” McGill said in a statement to a Pembroke newspaper. “It is an honor to have the opportunity to lead the volleyball pro-gram into the next chap-ter. I am excited about the team, the relationships and the community, and I am eager to begin building on the foundation that has been laid for the program.”

File photo The Chronicle-NewsEllen McGill coaching Trinidad State’s Lady Trojans.

65 Comi Funeral Home

Judy Cusimano

Judy Cusimano, passedway after a lengthy illness onDecember 25, 2014, atParkview Medical Center, inPueblo, Colo. She was 83.

Judy was born in Trinidad,Colo., on January 27, 1931to Josephine(Cook) andJohn Reid.

In her younger years, Judyspent time with her sisterand brother in law Helen andG e o r g e J a m i s o n , w h ointroduced Judy to the worldof horses. They taught Judyhow to ride and care forhorses, which she loved todo

On June 19, 1946, Judywas united in marriage toLouis B. Cusimano in Raton,N.M.

Together they worked onvarious ranches in SouthernColorado and Northern NewMexico including VermijoPark for 33 years.

Judy was the cook for theranch hands.

S h e a l s o d r o v e t h eBranson school bus for somet ime and was an Avonrepresentat ive.

Judy loved country music.Since Louis as a member ofthe Frisco Canyon Ramblers,Judy would listen to andwrite lyrics for the group. Sheand her sister Maxine wouldsell tickets for the band'sperformances.

Judy was a member of theS o u t h e r n C o l o r a d oC o w b e l l e s .

Preceding her in death areparents, Josephine and JohnR e i d , s i s t e r H e l e n(George)Jamison, brothers,Harry, John and Paul Reid,brothers and sisters in law,Jack Morrow, Tom Conder,John (Lucille)Cusimano, VicCus imano , Joe (Mary )C u s i m a n o , M a r y(Earl)Turner, Pete (Ollie)Cusimano, and George(Jess ie) Cusimano.

Survivors are her husbandLouis of home address,s o n s , J a y ( V i r g i n i a )Cusimano, Trinidad, ChuckCus imano , Sp r i ng town,Texas , g randch i l d ren ,Deborah, Charla, Bobbie,Christina, Shelley, Shanna,several great grandchildren,s is ters Maxine Morrow,Tr in idad, Edna Conder,Pueblo, sister in law, JeanCusimano, Aguilar, nieces,nephews, and friends.

Memorial Services wil lbeheld Friday, January 2,2015 at 2 p.m. at the ComiChapel with Jack Waltonofficiating.

Private inurnment at a laterdate.

Persons wishing to do somay make contributions tothe charity of their choice.

T h e f a m i l y m a y b econtacted at the homeaddress.

Arrangements made underthe direction of the ComiFuneral Home

61 Deaths Elsewhere

Alfred Eugene Vigil

Alfred Eugene Vigil diedpeacefully with family by hisside on December 22, 2014in Loveland at the age of 73.

Alfred “Gene” is survivedby his wife Roseanne Vigil;his mother Della Vigil threechi ldren Mikki Tye, herhusband Tom Tye; Gina Vigiland Gene Vigil. He is alsosurvived by two grandsonsNathan Tye and Simon Tye.He leaves 3 bro the rs ,Richard Vigil, David Vigil andEric and wife, Cindy Vigil asister Elaine Trujillo withh u s b a n d B o b T r u j i l l o .Surviving in-laws include:A n n i e R o m e r o , L o r aRomero, Arlene Niccol i ,Lanny Romero Jr. , FrankRomero and numerousn ieces and nephews.

He is preceded in death byhis father, Claude Vigil andbrother, Gary Vigil. MemorialMass 10 :00am Fr iday ,January 2, 2015 at St. Johnthe Evangel is t Cathol icChurch in Loveland. Rosarya r r a n g e m e n t s t o b eannounced on the website.Inurnment at Loveland BurialP a r k . P l e a s e v i s i twww.al lnutt .com for ful lob i t ua ry and s ign thegues tbook .

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. ~Helen Keller

Associated Press

DELTA, Colo. (AP) — Scotty Cal-houn saw the handwriting on the long-wall years ago and opted out of full-time work at the Elk Creek Mine.

Calhoun instead signed on at TK Mining in Delta and promptly went to work in Colorado, Canada and Mexico.

He’s stayed busy since, and now he’s getting calls from some of the min-ers who stayed on at the mines in the North Fork Valley and who have since been laid off.

“They want to know if I can put in a good word for them” at TK, Calhoun said.

TK, founded in 2004, has grown from a contract coal-mining business to one that has picks and shovels in al-most every kind of mining, from coal to copper to marble. Another arm of the company, TK Industrial, supplies contract help to the natural gas and oil patches.

At one point, TK had 400 people em-ployed at sites scattered around North America and most recently had 160 working in mines or other locations, officials said.

TK also has contract miners work-ing in Australia on gigs lasting a year.

About the only place that TK doesn’t have anyone working right now, said Scott Buhrdorf, a co-owner of TK Holdings Ltd., is the North Fork. TK Holdings has had offices in the for-mer Delta Implement building since April.

“We’re just trying to keep guys em-ployed,” Buhrdorf said. “That’s what it comes down to.”

Plenty of laid-off miners and others are looking for exactly that, witness the company’s experience of last week, when it posted job openings at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 16.

Within minutes, the company had 12 applicants and by 2:30 p.m. employ-ment offers had been extended.

By Wednesday morning, two new employees were on their way to a job site in Wyoming, said Erik Groves, vice president for personnel and gen-eral counsel.

TK had some 30 trucks owned by

employees parked in its lot on Wednes-day, but none of the owners worked there, Groves noted. All of them were on job sites elsewhere.

“The reality is that the demand for jobs exceeds the amount of work,” Groves said.

TK’s business amounts to export-ing miners and their expertise while importing cash from the jobs they work. “It has a huge multiplier effect” on the Delta economy, Buhrdorf said.

Theirs is a competitive business, competitive enough that the company owns airplanes that can deliver a crew in half a day, Buhrdorf said. Flying commercial could take a day and a half or longer, or worse.

“We would never get those jobs without those airplanes,” Burhdorf said, noting that some customers have said TK’s ability to deliver miners to sites on time was key to being awarded a contract.

For Calhoun, the seeming insta-bility of working as a contract miner has paid off with reliable work for a decade. That reliable employment has paid off even as the North Fork coal-

driven economy has faltered.That’s translated into a comfort-

able home on Garnet Mesa with his wife, Kersea, and their son, Tristan, 2, and daughter Tatum, 4 months.

“It’s a good place to raise a family,” Calhoun said, looking from his yard toward the spruce-studded slopes of Grand Mesa as the first-of-the-season snow turned the mountain white.

His wife, who studied international relations at the University of Colora-do, and he had agreed that she would remain a stay-at-home mom, Kersea said, holding Tatum on her lap.

“I’m a firm believer in energy in-dependence and a diversified energy portfolio,” Kersea Calhoun said. “I’m all for alternative energy, but if the coal industry shuts down, I don’t know what we would do.”

Her husband’s employment has been more regular than many of his contemporaries in the mines, Kersea said.

“I feel bad for those guys, laid off, hired on and laid off again,” she said.

Her husband’s seven-days-on, sev-en-days-off routine has plenty of chal-lenge to it, Kersea said.

“Yes, he’s gone, but when he’s here, he’s here,” she said.

Miners’ wives everywhere wait to hear that their husbands have emerged safely from the earth.

Calhoun calls every night by 6:15, and if she hasn’t heard from him by 6:30, she starts to worry, and was fran-tic when he didn’t call until 11 p.m. re-cently.

Turned out that was a telephone-system problem, not one with the mine.

Calhoun has worked in Canada and Mexico, as well as Trinidad, Colorado, where he’s dealt with a variety of min-ing issues.

“Look what I’ve done. It’s made me well-rounded as a miner.”

As much as he’d like to insulate himself from the local economy, Cal-houn, who also runs an outfitting busi-ness, can’t entirely escape it.

He’d like to sell his house and buy another place with some acreage, but, “The market’s so bad, I can’t sell it.”

Living through layoffs, mining — Just trying to keep guys employed

FIRST PERSON PERSPECTIVE

Associated Press

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