Opinion

Our first few weeks of the Second Session of the Seventy-Fourth General Assembly have flown by quickly as we prepare for late nights, floor debates, committee hearings and meetings. During these first weeks, every joint committee of House and Senate members met with the Joint Budget Committee members to hear about the fiscal climate and what departments under our purview are planning this year.

Wednesday: 1.4° above at 7:00 AM gentle accumulation during the day and into the following night an up canyon breeze before dark. 29.8° high Thursday: 21.9° was the lowest temperature overnight, with a few flakes still falling at 7:00 AM.

Wednesday: 15.4° at 7:00 AM, 1.4 inches of powder. Lots of wind overnight and into the new day. Arctic twisters- rather than snow devils- they were huge and ran up Cement St. for multiple blocks! Snow blowing up from valley floor hundreds of feet over by the Animas beyond the depot. Lots of wind transport with no new snow. 25.5° high Thursday: 13.4° with 2.6 inches plus whatever was gone with the wind! Occasional flurries. Gusty wind and drifting up canyon. Later, that wicked north wind really kicked up! One cold day! 17.9° high Friday: -0.3° during the dark hours.

Wednesday: -9.4 degrees at 7 am, still and initially clear. Just 0.2 inches of snow! Mare’s tails and then a high, thin overcast out of the southwest.

Wednesday: -0.06 degrees, clear with only a slight waver in the air. No wind until a bitter blast out of the northeast just before sundown.

I wanted to express support for the Wind Phone Nancy Brockman has placed on her plot at the Hillside Cemetery. There has been a good deal of misunderstanding around its origins and intention, and I hope now that the misinformation and assumptions have been cleared up we can see how meaningful it is to have such a monument to help process our grief and loss.

I just want to express my sadness after reading Nancy Brockman’s letter in the paper last week. I have known Nancy for over 25 years and while I was a working but struggling college student, she would take me out for meals and rafting trips I couldn’t afford, while listening and encouraging me in my future goals.

I am writing in support of the Brockman Wind Phone in the Hillside Cemetery. A windphone is a lovely idea and the placement of the booth was compliant with local regulations. I find it an interesting conversation piece in our cemetery and it is likely to be a tourist attraction.

What better place than a cemetery to have a way to connect with lost loved ones. The Wind Phone (the red phone booth) installed is just that, a meaningful way to inspire all of us to connect and remember those that have passed, whether they are family or builders of the Silverton community. It’s a contribution to the community to have it there.

It is refreshing to read Nancy Brockman’s side of this story regarding the Phone Box placed in the cemetery not too long ago. Much of what is written opposes rumors circulating around that do not shed a positive light on Nancy or the Phone Box. The history of Silverton will continue to evolve along with it’s people, and I believe that the Phone Box will be part of that history. Furthermore, I believe it is a gift to all people, residents and visitors alike, which provides an outlet to cope with grief or just to reconnect with those they lost. In any regard, I am happy to see the facts, explanations, and statements out here for everyone to see, and have to say that I am in support of the Phone Box!