100 years ago
Taken from SUN files of
October 22, 1926
When Senator Billy Adams takes over the job of governor he can be relied up on to cut down the expense of state government, but his task will be easier if the people elect a senate and house that will back him up in his retrenchment policies. Voters in this section can to their part by electing Edw. E. Wheeler to the senate and J.B. Patterson to the lower house.
Miss Lillie May Toner of Pagosa Springs, a sophomore at Aggies, is one of the fourteen co-eds who have finished their requirements necessary to the awarding of their American Red Cross Life-saving certificates.
Before the American Red Cross Association grants the life-saving certificate, each candidate must pass both a written and a practical examination. The latter includes swimming, diving, carrying, methods of breaking holds and of administering artificial respiration.
The young women who received their final points this fall completed their examinations last spring when Captain Law, National Red Cross examiner, was on the campus.
75 years ago
Taken from SUN files of
A light plane, piloted by George Holtcrew, of Lubbock, Texas suffered heavy damage Sunday as it flipped over in a landing attempt, just east of the Pine Grove Hall. None of the plane’s occupants suffered any injuries, other than light bruises. The pilot was bringing three women from Lubbock to Pagosa to join their husbands when the accident took place.
According to Mr. Holtcrew, his air map showed the Sunetha strip but didn’t give its exact location. He circled looking for it and then decided to land in the pasture to the east of the Pine Grove hall. He made the landing all right but hit a stump as he was stopping. This caved in the nose wheel and flipped the plane over on its back. A jeep and trailer came up and hauled the wrecked plane back to Texas.
Air travel is rapidly becoming one of the main means of transportation and a town the size of Pagosa Springs certainly needs a large, well marked landing field.
50 years ago
Taken from SUN files of
October 21, 1976
No fatalities have been reported in this area as the 1976 big game season nears the end of its first week. The number of hunters is down quite a bit from a year ago, hunting is hard, but many hunters have been successful. There have been some cases of trespass, one hunter had to be airlifted out of the Upper Blanco Basin after being injured in a fall from a horse, but no real major accidents have been reported.
Seven automobile accidents in this area were reported by the Colorado State Patrol this past week. There were no serious injuries to drivers or passengers. One horse and one cow were killed. The cow was struck twice within a matter of minutes.
The thermometer really popped down Tuesday morning of this week with a ten degree above zero reading at the U.S. Weather Station. Night time lows were in the low 20s the rest of the week, but the Tuesday morning chill froze hard ice on small ponds and puddles.
25 years ago
Taken from SUN files of
October 18, 2001
Reconstruction of a Stevens Field taxiway serving 30 hangers has been completed, even as crews launch work on Phase I of a $3 million project calculated to upgrade the county airport over the next few years.
In a project originally estimated by County Commissioner Alden Ecker to cost $200,000 plus the use of county crews and equipment, the old runway at Stevens Field has been rebuilt from the ground up as a taxiway.
The final cost of the project with under $5,000 yet to be counted is about $288,000, according to Kevin Walters, the county road superintendent. Costs include $129,000 for Strohecker’s paving; $65,000 to purchase, lease, rent equipment and other hard costs; and $94,000 for county labor and equipment.
County commissioners decided to rebuild the taxiway after receiving complaints from hangar owners that potholes and loose debris threatened damage to their aircraft. Because the county owns the taxiway and leases space for the privately owned hangars, the commissioners decided county liability could be mitigated only by rebuilding. Much of the work was done by county road and bridge crews and equipment.
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