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Summit Daily letters: The trials, troubles and tribulations of the triathlon

The trials, troubles and tribulations of the triathlon

It is extremely difficult to accept being treated as a second-class citizen after living here and paying taxes for 20 years. We’ve enjoyed Colorado since the 1970s when we came for the summer with two kids and backpacked for 10 days at a time in the wilderness. No one living here had to be denied using their own streets and roads to accommodate our plans. On Saturday, we left our Summit Cove home at 10 a.m.; finally, we were only three cars from turning left at the Highway 6 stoplight 25 minutes later. Then the police made the cars turn around and go over Swan Mountain Road instead. An ambulance with flashing lights had to wait for straggling bikers before turning onto Swan Mountain. Vehicles could be seen lined up east and west on Highway 6 until the line went out of sight around a turn. And think of those disrespected people living on Montezuma Rd. This is not acceptable. No more votes from me for any politician who OKs plans which incapacitate citizens for the pleasures of a few — mostly non-taxpayers from outside.

Barbara Bond



Summit Cover

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I haven’t been to Summit County much in the last few years due mostly to a desire to explore other parts of this beautiful state. Imagine my surprise arriving in Keystone for a three-day weekend on Friday to find signs plastered all over the roadway, warning me to “seek an alternate route” on Saturday due to an event. When I inquired with locals at restaurants and stores no one knew what other alternate routes existed or what was going to happen. Most were unsure how they would even get to work the next day.

Saturday morning arrived with beautiful blue skies and the stark reality that I was virtually trapped on the west side of Keystone. For years I have planned to come and explore the high country Forest Service roads and trails around Montezuma, but I quickly learned that all of Montezuma Road, from Keystone going east, was blocked and reserved for the 700 privileged racers. How nice for them!

Seeking an alternative, I tried to go toward Breckenridge to Tiger Road and access the Swan River trail system, but despite being told by one highway patrolman that I could still access the Swan Lake cutoff south of Dillon Reservoir, that proved not to be the case. I was routed through miles of orange cone mazes all the way to Dillon, onto the Interstate to Frisco, through the busy fall traffic in town transforming a 15-minute trip into an hour-plus of nerve jangling driving. I was almost hit head-on twice when law enforcement people didn’t coordinate intersections safely, was yelled at numerous times by frazzled officers left to bake out in the sun (“Hurry, hurry, hurry; stop, stop, stop!; Go, go, go”). Despite nearly getting killed, I felt sorry for all the law enforcement people who clearly were NOT enjoying the “event.”

I don’t know if the triathlon will become an annual fiasco; I’m sure the tourism bean counters will look at the balance sheets to decide. But I’ve made my decision for next year and it won’t include Summit County. There are too many other great places to see in Colorado where visitors are welcomed, rather than sequestered and banished from local trails for the benefit of a few.

Dante Langston

Canon City, Colorado

Reelect Bruce Brown as district attorney

Four years ago, the people of Colorado’s Fifth Judicial District demanded change in the District Attorney’s Office and voted Bruce Brown as our district attorney. We voted for change; however, we received transformational leadership. The past four years have proven our electoral instincts correct: Bruce Brown not only has held office, but held justice to a higher standard.

For the position of district attorney, Bruce Brown’s office has provided to victims, a listener and a voice, and to defendants, a fair and even-handed approach to prosecution.

Bruce has also taken the DA’s office to a new level of maturity, accountability and results, transforming the community by putting offenders behind bars while making certain that first-time offenders of non-violent crimes are given the opportunity to not only make it right with the community but also to turn their lives around.

Some offenders are our youth, while others are veterans returning from service to our country, each with unique needs qualifying them for programs to turn around their lives. Affecting the lives of others is one of our highest callings as members of our communities.

Take, for example, the Vet Connect program in Clear Creek County. This one-of-a-kind program, launched in Clear Creek County with the cooperation the district attorney’s office, will facilitate cases taking into account a veteran’s positive contribution to our country and community through their military service if they should come into court accused of a crime. This program will positively affect a veteran defendant’s involvement in rehabilitative opportunities, including treatment, that are available through the Veterans Administration, other providers, as well as networking to other available aid and resources. Our veterans will be given the treatment they so deserve and further aid and support their lives.

An elected official’s impact should also serve as a foundation for the future. Bruce has built up a team of prosecutors who, under his direction, are building their prosecutorial and leadership skills so that we continue the vision and the transformation for many elections to come. It is not enough to just meet our current commitments but we must have leaders from the younger generations to meet the needs of our communities.

Thus, my friends in Colorado’s Fifth Judicial District, you have options. One candidate delivers “Just Results” for all citizens. One candidate is taking this position to a whole new level and is building the solutions into the system to provide you with safety, security and a voice. Only one candidate, Bruce Brown, is transforming for the future needs of the community. I fully support Bruce Brown in his bid for second term.

Robert Houdeshell

Findlay, OH


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