Dear Friends

WELCOME, SARAH GILMAN She’s baaaa-aaa-ck! We’re pleased to welcome former HCN intern Sarah Gilman as our new assistant editor. A Colorado native, Sarah was born and raised in Boulder. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and studio art at Whitman College in Washington state in 2004. The pull of the Rocky Mountains was too […]

HILLMAN AWARD FOR RAY RING Senior editor Ray Ring has won the prestigious 2008 Sidney Hillman journalism award in the magazine reporting category for his cover story “Disposable Workers of the Oil and Gas Fields,”April 2, 2007. Since 1950, the foundation has recognized “journalists, writers and public figures whose work promotes social and economic justice.”Past […]

VISITORS The snow may have kept some folks from visiting us here, but Rob and Annie Edward stopped by between storms and gray wolf education presentations. Rob is the director of carnivore restoration for the nonprofit carnivore advocacy group Sinapu, which recently merged with Forest Guardians to create WildEarth Guardians. Annie’s “day job” allows her […]

WELCOME, NEW HCN INTERNS New winter interns Evelyn Schlatter and Francisco Tharp will be the last set of interns to spend a four-month stint at High Country News. We’ve found that most interns spend the first month or so just figuring out what HCN is all about and where we keep the coffee. So, starting […]

WELCOME, LILY JEAN The latest addition to the HCN family, Lily Jean Massart Isaacson, arrived on Thursday, Dec. 20, to proud parents Denise (our office manager) and her husband, Bob. The 6-pound, 7-ounce girl is doing well; no word on how much sleep mom and dad are getting. GREG HANSCOM SPOTTED … IN MARYLAND? Former […]

DECKING OUR HALLS AND TAKING A BREAK Dozens of friends attended our open house on Dec. 12; thanks to all of you who came by. For the last two weeks of December, we won’t be putting out a news magazine; instead, we’ll be catching up around the office and enjoying a bit of holiday cheer. […]

COLORADO, CALIFORNIA AND ENGLAND We enjoy each of our visitors but we’re a bit behind in writing about them; we’re still catching up on the folks who came to see us in late September and early October.  Nancy and Dennis Johnson dropped into the office while on a Western Slope leaf-peeping trip. Since moving to […]

HCN HAPPENINGS The staff of High Country News cordially invites all readers and friends to a holiday open house at our Paonia, Colo., office (119 Grand Ave.) on Wednesday, Dec. 12, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. We’ll provide refreshments. Some fresh faces now grace the office, including Ryan Foster, our director of digital media. A […]

THE CHANGING EDITORIAL GUARD With this issue, we bid a fond farewell to Editor John Mecklin, who is headed to California and the challenge of starting up a new, policy-focused magazine. Since coming to HCN a year ago, John has implemented a long-needed revamp of our editorial and copy-flow processes, significantly broadened the scope of […]

A FORESTER, A FARMER, AND A FAMILY REUNION Sara Mattes, a selectman from Lincoln, Mass. (“where Paul Revere was caught”), came in while visiting the Western Slope. She noted that a lot of HCN’s reporting filters down to her advocacy work – including opposing anything that was supported by former Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif. Penny […]

WELCOME, MARTY AND LISA HCN’s new online editor, Marty Durlin, is glad to be back home in Delta County. She grew up in the nearby town of Delta, where her father was a state representative and her mother taught school. Marty holds a B.A. in humanities from Colorado Women’s College, and studied music and creative […]

WELCOME, NEW HCN INTERNS Fall intern Christine Hoekenga is happy to be back home in the West. The Boulder City, Nev., native earned a double major in environmental science and rhetoric and media studies from Willamette University in Salem, Ore. While there, her passion for scuba diving led her to a semester abroad in the […]

MEET US IN SALT LAKE HCN invites Salt Lake City area readers to join us for a dialogue on Thursday, Sept. 13. We’ll help the Utah Science Center kick off a series of discussions on “Choices.” Several panelists, including David Nimkin, National Parks Conservation Association chair; Dianne Nielson, energy advisor to Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman; […]

AMERICAN BIKERS, IRISH DOGS, BRITISH WALKERS Jay Bagley came to town for the “Top of the Rockies” BMW motorcycle rally, held in Paonia every year. Jay says he’s fallen in love with this part of Colorado and might move here from Sacramento, Calif., where he works in Medicaid fraud reduction. Another biker, Vern Holm of […]

PARTY WITH HCN AND REP. MARK UDALL If you happen to be in western Colorado Thursday, Aug. 23, please join us for an HCN summer celebration. Our special guest will be Colorado Democratic Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall, who will discuss the key issues facing the region and Congress’ role in addressing them. […]

Summertime, and the visitin’s easy

SUMMER BREAK As we do every June and December, we’ll be skipping an issue. Our staff plans to spend the last two weeks of June catching up on the long-term projects that we never quite find time for, enjoying family and friends, and battling the bindweed that’s overtaken our gardens. Look for the next HCN […]

WELCOME, NEW HCN EMPLOYEES Shaun Gibson, HCN’s new designer and production assistant, designs pages and promotional materials, finds photos and artwork, and helps post each issue on the Web. Shaun has spent most of his life in small towns in Colorado. His great-grandfather was a miner in Crested Butte, and his grandfather was one of […]