Eleven years ago, a weekend tradition began in Astoria, Ore., the coastal town at the mouth of the Columbia River that once boasted scores of busy salmon canneries. It’s called the annual Fisher Poets Gathering, and this time participants in what one observer called “the blue-collar school of poetry” were given just 24 hours to […]
Heard Around the West
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Prickly P.R.
Porcupines have gotten such a bad rap lately — and yes, some of them do girdle and kill backyard trees in pricy subdivisions — that it’s time to make amends to these thorniest of large rodents, says Colorado Outdoors, the colorful publication of the state’s Division of Wildlife. Porcupines are handsome in an outlandish way, […]
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Kraut, morels and moose
Writer Ari LeVaux went to an unusual swap meet in Missoula recently, only he called it a “meat swap.” Here were the rules: Any food that was acquired or “put away personally” was fair game. Deer steak, moose meat, dried morel mushrooms, organ-meat sausage, pickled peppers and sauerkraut were some of the food stuffs on […]
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Kills the Unconventional
Facebook just doesn’t get it: Native Americans don’t always have names like Dick Jones or Jane Smith. In fact, something like Robin Kills the Enemy is not only OK, it’s traditional. Not understanding that, Facebook disabled the site account of 28-year-old Robin Kills the Enemy, a Lakota woman from the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South […]
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Man’s best… hen?
Dogs become friends and cats purr perfectly, but can either lay eggs with golden yolks that stand upright at attention? No, and maybe that’s why more and more homeowners are choosing chickens as pets. “Enthusiasts have been pecking away at multiple local laws,” reports USA Today, persuading officials in Fort Collins, Colo., Portland, Ore., Seattle, […]
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Ode on a glue factory?
A giant statue of a rearing blue horse has welcomed drivers to Denver International Airport for about a year, and nobody made much of it — until now. Rachel Hultin, a Denver real estate broker, thought the sculpture a dud and started a Facebook page, byebyebluemustang.com, to vent her criticism. She also asked for comments […]
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The death of No. 6
A bull elk famous for his magnificent set of antlers — and his nasty temper — died recently in Yellowstone National Park after a freak accident. The animal (known as No. 6 because of his ear tag) apparently tripped crossing a fence and somersaulted onto his back, reports the AP. “Pinned between large rocks with […]
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The burning billboard
Grand Junction in western Colorado has long had a problem separating state from Christian church. County commissioners keep trying to pray before public meetings, and public officials approve of nativity displays on public property. Now, a Wisconsin-based organization, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, is striking back with an in-your-face message for drivers. The Associated Press […]
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Cactus carnage
YouTube.com recently fired up people who love the Southwest’s iconic saguaro cactus. All it took was a startling video of a tractor chowing down on a 15-foot-tall plant in the desert near Phoenix, reports the Arizona Republic. Within seconds after the tractor’s mower grabs the cactus at the top, it smashes it down until nothing […]
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7-Eleven: the Final Frontier
Who was that masked man? Wearing a black mask, a black jacket and jeans, a man wielding what appeared to be a Klingon sword held up two convenience stores in Colorado Springs recently. According to a surveillance camera, the first 7-Eleven clerk handed over some money at 1:50 a.m. A half-hour later, the clerk at […]
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Bullets, bomb threats, cowgirls and the blues
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which may soon be mourned as a shuttered daily, attracted top-drawer talent in the mid-’70s, writes Jean Godden in Crosscut.com. Novelist Tom Robbins was on staff, as was legendary science-fiction writer Frank Herbert, creator of the Dune series. During that tumultuous decade, bomb threats became routine and there were regular anti-war demonstrations […]
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Aquatic invasive: $29.95
It’s no hassle to get on the Internet and buy a kit containing adorable tadpoles from the Florida-based Grow-a-Frog company. But this is something the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks hopes you’ll never, ever do. The company may say that the animals merely morph into baby froglets that only hop around in the […]
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“But enough about you…”
Former Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said goodbye to his employees with a slide show, reports Washingtonpost.com. He showed about 600 slides, “each picturing the distinguished secretary, many of them taken at a national park.” One staffer who sat through the presentation commented, “It was special. That’s all I should say.”
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The dangerous, dusty trail
Lest it be outdone in the attacking-animal category, Boulder, Colo., can report that a “bitter bovine” attacked a Boulder biker. NewWest.net said a cow “charged a woman” on a trail and knocked her down. Fortunately, she wasn’t injured. “The cow had left the scene by the time rangers arrived, but hikers coming down the trail […]
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Those cantankerous locals
Visitors to a museum don’t usually expect to be attacked by wild animals, but then, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum close to Tucson is a very different kind of institution — outdoors, interactive and endlessly fascinating. Unfortunately, reports the Arizona Republic, a pig-like, tusked javelina that “did not belong to the museum” took a dislike to […]
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Behold, a pale horse…
There may be nothing new, perhaps, about a drunk guy on horseback in Wyoming, but Benjamin Daniels, 28, created a traffic hazard at 4 p.m. in Cody just by “riding a white horse during a snowstorm.” Slow-moving horse and snowflakes were blending in, reports the Associated Press, and motorists told police they feared there would […]
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Anyone want some wolves?
Not to be outdone in the oddball department, Idaho State Sen. Gary Schroeder, R, has introduced a bill requiring his state to gather up its wolves and give them away, preferably to another state, reports the IdahoStatesman.com, though so far none has stepped up to tell Idaho that it’s wolf-short. The bill unanimously passed the […]
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Boozing with big brother
Not infrequently, state legislators who think of themselves as conservative come up with extraordinarily intrusive laws. In Utah, Senate President Michael Waddoups, R, has a proposal that would treat social drinkers as potential criminals. Distressed because he thinks restaurants are becoming too much like bars, Waddoups has urged managers to keep all offending booze out […]
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Parking is primo in Vail
Ah, Vail, where big money still gets spent on a crucial item like a parking space. The Vail Daily says a treasured spot within Vail’s heated indoor Founders Garage is now on offer for $500,000. “Parking is going up in Vail,” said Buzz Schleper, the spot’s owner. “There’s always somebody out there who has money […]
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A blaze of bullets
Twice a year or so, says a fire chief in Medford, Ore., a blaze breaks out in somebody’s house and bullets start banging as well. “Actually, it’s not uncommon for us to deal with ammunition during fires,” says Medford Battalion Chief Ken Goodson. A recent Jacksonville fire was a doozy, though, because James Frings sold […]