Vail Daily Hits and Misses
Got a quick Hit or Miss about issues, decisions or goings-on in the valley? Send yours to editor@vaildaily.com to be included.
HIT: To the pine beetle infestation and devastation now past its peak, terrible as that has been.
MISS: To other insects damaging the trees in the wild, including pine and spruce scale.
MISS: To campaigns that attack opponents personally and through liberal doses of innuendo while claiming that they’re clean and it’s the other guy or gal who is playing something other than a straight deck. Oh, boy.
MISS: To we voters if we give any of the nasty stuff any credence.
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HIT: To the campaigns, mainly local, that have stayed principled and stuck to actual issues and their own ability to hold the desired public office.
HIT: To the tenure of Vail Fire Chief Mark Miller, who also wrote some very poignant columns for the Vail Daily while here. We’ve told him often that if the day job doesn’t work out …. Meantime, thanks for the service to Vail at a key time in the town’s history and best wishes for his return to Loveland.
HIT: To Anne-Marie Desmond and Emily McCormack starting a program that brings some mindfulness, yoga and relaxation exercises to that hectic, crazy world of K-12 school. The program is called UB.U. (We could use some of this in the newsroom, sales pit and the publisher’s office right about now.)
MISS: Well, to not enough PE in elementary school. Research that shows that exercise makes adults better mentally, emotionally and maybe even spiritually not surprisingly suggests strongly the same and probably more so for the kids. American schools certainly have answered the call for more and tougher academic testing but might have downplayed the human need for physical activity and how that is linked to our mental capacities.
HIT: To the town of Avon’s thoughtful renaming West Benchmark Road to Mikaela Way. Very nice touch that shows a lot of what we think is still the town slogan, “heart of the valley.”
HIT: To Mike Brown’s induction into the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame this month. The homegrown ski racer’s career included competing in the 1989 World Alpine Ski Championships held at his home mountain, Vail. Then he coached the U.S. Disabled Team for seven years.
MISS: To the town of Avon managing to keep an ardent desire to leave their current Town Hall for new digs for about nine months while negotiating a possible purchase of the Skier Building in town. Now, rather suddenly, the old faithful that served just fine is too small and cramped for town staff. Really? Seems there has to be some other options to put on the table besides throwing $5 million at buying and renovating a new building built as a lodge.
MISS: To local governments reaching for a legal and tempting loophole in laws designed to limit spending without taxpayer approval called “certificates of participation bonds.” These require annual votes of town councils and such and neatly avoid pesky elections with that no-nothing public which might just say no again. This manner of governance hamstrings future councils and is a deliberate dodge from the intent of TABOR. The state constitutional amendment certainly does have some major, major flaws. The intent of voter approval before taking on long-term debt, however, is not among them. The flaw here was leaving this loophole.
HIT: To the Underground Sound series returning for the third year on autumn Sundays to the Vilar Performing Arts Center. Ticket prices are modest, the musicians always great and it turns out Sunday is great for a date night.
HIT: To the Eagle Valley High School boys soccer team beating powerhouse rival Battle Mountain for the first time in 15 years. That’s huge for the Eagle Valley program. Meantime, the Huskies will bounce back. As their coach David Cope put it, the victory was more about the Devils’ “attributes than our shortcomings.” Great to see both programs doing well.