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Tom Ross

Stories by Tom

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Tom Ross: Carnival tradition changes with time

Having participated in the preparation of a few Winter Carnival special editions over the course of three decades, I decided to dig into the archives to see what I could find.

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77-unit condo building in Steamboat returns to city planning process

A resort condominium project envisioned for Burgess Creek Road in 2007 has returned to the city planning process with plans for 77 units in a building just north of the existing Bronze Tree project.

On the Market: Colorado Group Realty affiliates with worldwide network

Colorado Group Realty recently was awarded affiliate status in Leading Real Estate Companies of the World and its luxury network, Luxury Portfolio International.

Entry-level homes drive average price, unit volume for 2011

Homes priced for less than $200,000 dominated transaction volume in the Steamboat Springs Multiple Listing Service in 2011, but there aren’t as many of those condos available for sale in the first quarter of 2012 as there once were.

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Steamboat Ski Area enters another decade with Vintage Ski Race

Vintage ski races are much more than novelty acts. If you pay attention and ask a few nosy questions, you can observe how throughout the decades, equipment has dictated the technique a skier must use to initiate a turn.

Tina Kyprios announces candidacy for District 2 commissioner

West Steamboat resident Tina Kyprios confirmed Thursday that she is in the process of filing the necessary paperwork to run as a Republican challenger to incumbent Routt County District 2 Commissioner Doug Monger in the fall election.

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New bill would ease sales for local food producers

A new bill working its way through the Colorado Legislature could make it easier for some local food producers to take part in Steamboat’s Farmers Market every summer.

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Snowpack is unlikely to recover

Future powder days won’t significantly impact water content

There remains ample time for Steamboat Ski Area to experience some memorable powder days this winter, but the chances that the snowpack in the surrounding mountains can climb to average levels are dwindling fast.

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Routt County Republicans favor Romney in precinct caucuses

Mitt Romney was the clear winner of the Routt County Republicans’ presidential preference poll in the precinct caucuses Tuesday night.

Steamboat's Bill Stuart likely to fill Local Marketing District board opening

The LMD board is the group responsible for oversight of public tax dollars dedicated to commercial air service at Yampa Valley Regional Airport.

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Tom Ross: Teddy dispatched mountain lion with knife

Theodore Roosevelt may be the namesake of the teddy bear, but he was anything but cuddly when it came to his mountain lion encounters on Colorado’s Western Slope.

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Fannie and Freddie own 39 properties in Steamboat

Most of the inventory is at the low end of the price spectrum

Among the 62 foreclosed homes actively listed on the local real estate market, 39 are offered by the federally sponsored mortgage packagers Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

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Intrawest CEO says company has diverse revenue streams

Intrawest CEO Bill Jensen told an audience at The Steamboat Grand this week that his company is fiscally strong and he expects that measurement of the company’s strength to continue to improve during the next few years.

On the Market: Yazbeck leads Coldwell Banker in 2011 sales

Robert Yazbeck was recently named the top-producing sales associate of 2011 in total sales volume for the Coldwell Banker Distinctive Properties Steamboat Springs office.

Airline baggage fees boost ski rental profits

Faced with the increasing cost of transporting equipment, many vacationers are opting to rent the latest ski and snowboarding gear for their stay at a big mountain.

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Steamboat family kicked out of home by skunk colony

Steamboat residents with wayward dogs are apt to know what it means to get skunked. But few have spent a winter in skunk hell like Old Town residents Mae and Harris Greene and their two children have.

Intrawest CEO: Large on-mountain restaurant will have to wait

Intrawest CEO Bill Jensen said it could be several years before Steamboat Ski Area gets a new $10-million-plus on-mountain restaurant.

Air pollution expert: Ozone not yet a threat in Yampa Valley

State officials speak about air, water quality issues related to energy exploration

A state air pollution expert said Tuesday that he doesn’t think the Yampa Valley currently is at risk for the ozone pollution seen in Utah’s Uintah Basin and the Pinedale, Wyo., area.

Postal Service rejects Phippsburg appeal

South Routt post office among 80 facing closure in Colorado

The Postal Regulatory Commission has denied the appeals of five Phippsburg residents who object to the pending closure of the Phippsburg Post Office.

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Tom Ross: I want my ski TV

I’m an old wannabe mogul monster with one missing knee, but there’s no doubt in my mind that what Shaun White did in the Winter X Games superpipe finals Sunday night was among the most athletic feats I’ve ever seen on snow.

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January thaw in Steamboat Springs was for real

Average temperatures for the month were about 5 degrees above normal

With Monday’s high temperature reaching 38 degrees, Steamboat Springs was on course to finish January with an average daily high temp of about 5 degrees warmer than average. Through the first 30 days of January, the average daily high was 34.3 degrees.

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Tom Ross: Get off your presidential fannies

If you watched Thursday night’s debate from Florida on CNN, you still might be scratching your head and wondering which reality show is more distasteful, “Wife Swap” or “Presidential Fannie Bickering.”

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Peabody Energy gives OK to Sage Creek

Coal contracts are likely to secure hundreds of jobs in Routt County

Peabody Energy ann­ounced this week that it will go forward this summer with plans to move its underground longwall coal mining operation a few miles from its present location in western Routt County to the new Twentymile Sage Creek portal.

On the Market: University of Colorado students scope out town

Forty-two MBA students from the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business were in Steamboat Springs on Friday to check out some of Steamboat’s most recent real estate developments and topped their visit off with a panel discussion by four local real state professionals and a lively cocktail hour (or two) at Carl’s Tavern.

Routt County politics kicks into gear in lead up to primary election

America has been focused on the Republican presidential primary race this month, but the local political process is about to kick into high gear. Routt County Republicans will hold their precinct caucuses Feb. 7, with the local Democratic Party to follow suit March 6.

Lethal avalanche may have caught Fort Collins men just as it began to dissipate

The avalanche that claimed the life of 24-year-old Tyler Lundstedt, of Fort Collins, on Saturday night or Sunday morning started well below the tree line, fell 140 vertical feet and was of moderate power.

State health official to discuss oil, gas with Routt County commissioners

Kent Kuster, the oil and gas liaison for the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment, will give a presentation Tuesday in a public meeting with the Routt County Board of Commissioners.

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Tom Ross: When is a book epistolary?

I plucked a book of Western fiction I hadn’t opened in a decade off the shelf during the weekend and learned a new word. Epistolary fiction is a piece of creative writing based upon actual historical letters and diary entries.

Avalanche danger near Steamboat considerable

Wild weather produces tender backcountry snowpack

Officials of the Medicine Bow and Routt National forests and the Colorado Avalanche Information Center issued strong cautions Monday about the tenderness of the snowpack in the Steamboat zone.

Sustainability director for Aspen to speak in Steamboat on Tuesday

For people wondering how their own small efforts toward living more sustainably will ever save the planet, Auden Schendler has some answers.

Hayden airport adds baggage carousel

Yampa Valley Regional Airport improvements to be celebrated at ribbon cutting Feb. 15

Airline passengers arriving at Yampa Valley Regional Airport are retrieving their luggage more easily this winter thanks to a second baggage carousel, airport Manager Dave Ruppel said Monday.

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Tom Ross: Singing like a lion

The grassy park where the Green and Yampa rivers reach their confluence in Dinosaur National Monument once was known to settlers and cattle rustlers as Pat’s Hole.

Market shows signs of stabilization

Jon Wade, of Colorado Group Realty, sees signs that the market is stabilizing but isn’t ready to say the overall market has turned the corner.

On the Market: Colorado Realty Group hosts annual Roundup

Colorado Group Realty hosts the fifth annual Steamboat Springs Real Estate Roundup and Expo from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Sheraton Steamboat Resort ballroom.

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Architects follow different paths to success in tough climate

Keith Kelly, of Kelly & Stone Architects, told an audience of business people last week that he and his partner, Tim Stone, are fortunate to have a growing list of clients outside Colorado during the economic downturn.

Local Marketing District comes under scrutiny in wake of sales tax

The board of the Local Marketing District began a new era Friday by promising increased transparency and public outreach.

Quicksilver’s plans for Camilletti well tabled

Uneasy about the fact the Routt County Board of Commissioners is in the midst of revising the conditions of approval for oil and gas drilling permits, the Routt County Planning Commission voted unanimously Thursday night to table Quicksilver Resource’s request for a permit to drill on the Camilletti and Sons ranch.

Ski season flights to Steamboat on sale

Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. is trumpeting the news of this week’s 11-inch snowstorm and working with airline partners to offer discount programs to prospective vacationers.

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Quicksilver finds oil in well on Wolf Mountain

Quicksilver Resources confirmed their first horizontal well on Wolf Mountain in Routt County has demonstrated it is capable of producing 500 barrels of oil per day.

Routt County commissioners hear pitch for ATVs on roads

The Moffat County commissioners invited Routt County to join them and the Rio Blanco County Board of Commissioners in allowing ATVs to travel on county roads.

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Moffat, Routt counties discuss regional broadband

Moffat County Commissioner Audrey Danner told her counterparts from Routt County on Monday that she is encouraging economic development officials in the region to look to the private sector in the ongoing effort to increase the telecommunications broadband pipeline into and out of Northwest Colorado.

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Tom Ross: Single-engine adventures

I felt completely secure and safe during my flight over the Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area with pilot Bob DelValle on Friday, but I spent a portion of the weekend recalling some semi-hairball flights I’ve made in light aircraft through the years.

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Tom Ross: The great Big Agnes flyby

One of the things I look forward to on my outdoor adventures is filling the gaps in my mental geography of the Northern Colorado Rockies. Every time I find a vantage point that gives me a fresh view of a familiar landmark, it helps me connect the dots.

On the Market: Commission denies Xcel an interim rate increase

Howard Pankratz, of the Denver Post, reported this week that the Colorado Public Utilities Commission had denied Xcel Energy’s request for an interim rate increase of $100 million that the power utility wanted to tide it over until it wins a permanent rate increase of $141.9 million.

Short sales equal 9 percent of 2011 dollar volume

The number of distressed single-family homes that changed hands through the short-sale process more than doubled here to 29 in 2011 from a dozen in 2010.

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Routt County building permits for single-family homes get boost in 2011

The valuation of building permits issued in Routt County in 2011 was down $3.8 million despite a slight increase in the number of permitted single-family homes in Steamboat Springs and elsewhere in the county.

Arrivals at YVRA up from same month in 2010

The number of passengers arriving at Yampa Valley Regional Airport in December increased by 1,515 passengers from December 2010.

Routt County commissioners divided on water strategy

Diane Mitsch Bush and Nancy Stahoviak disagreed on strategy but not on the ultimate goal of protecting streams and rivers from contaminants Tuesday as the Routt County Board of Commissioners began reviewing oil drilling permit conditions.

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No issues with snowmaking water supply at Steamboat Ski Area

Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. hopes to complete snowmaking operations for the season sometime this month, Vice President of Mountain Operations Doug Allen said Tuesday, but not because it has consumed its available water.

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Shopping center ownership restructured as Walgreens arrives in Steamboat

The new Walgreens at Steamboat Crossings is targeting a quiet Jan. 27 opening date with a grand opening in late February, store manager Jared Aylor said Thursday. He also wanted to put out the word that he is looking for more local vendors whose products he can sell in the new store.

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