As 2021 comes to an end and a new year began, there was little to celebrate for thousands of Boulder County residents. The Marshall Fire, the costliest in Colorado history, had carved a path through swaths of Broomfield, Louisville and Superior leaving as much $1.5 billion in property damages in its wake. Nearly 1,100 homes were turned to ash in a matter of hours.
Around 11:00 a.m. on December 30, 2021, a high wind warning was sounded for Boulder County. Nothing unusual about that. Windy conditions near the Flatirons are common. But this was different. Wind speeds were quickly clocked in excess of 120 mph. Hurricane level begins at 74 mph.
Winds snapped power lines setting off a chain reaction. Sparks, fed by moisture starved brush and fanned by growing winds, would create hundreds of tiny infernos that would dance unpredictably searching out new partners, creating new paths, each more voracious than another.
Firefighters from across the state fought the schizophrenic blaze until early January 1st when the fire was controlled.
Lost in the blaze were two lives along with irreplaceable memories and countless family possessions symbolizing entire lifetimes.
Today, a year after a real-time nightmare, many homeowners remain entangled with recalcitrant insurance companies and often difficult and intractable bureaucracies as they try and piece together their losses and lives.
In February, La Voz Bilingue wrote about the start of a war that pitted superpower Russia against its one-time vassal state, Ukraine. Russia experts say the war was a world class blunder by Vladimir Putin, desirous of piecing back together a 20th century golden age when the then Soviet Union was an empire with control over countries spread across 11 time zones.
It has been reported that Putin was so confident of a quick victory, that he ordered soldiers to take with them dress uniforms to formally celebrate the victory. It’s estimated the war has cost Russia a combined death and injured toll exceeding 100,000. Nearly eleven months since the war’s beginning, Ukraine has shined a light on a badly trained and thoroughly outmaneuvered Russian military. Yet, the war goes on.
The announcement of a new grocery store is usually not headline news. But when it’s the oldest grocery store in Colorado—opened before the first shot of the Civil War—it’s a big deal. In March, La Voz Bilingue wrote about R&R Grocery store in San Luis. The market was ready to shutter until a group of locals stepped in, won grant money to refurbish the property and reopened the landmark store. New management christened it, the San Luis People’s Market. It re-opened late last summer.
The name Wellington Webb is synonymous with Denver. As Mayor, his accomplishments are the stuff of legend. It was under his watch that DIA, the Pepsi Center, now Ball Arena, a new library all opened. In April, a statue bearing his likeness was unveiled inside the building that bears his name.
The following month, Webb’s predecessor, Federico Peña, debuted his biography, “…Not Bad for a South Texas Boy…” Not bad, indeed! Peña’s bio reads like ‘the American dream.’ After law school and a few years of practice in Texas, he came to Denver where his career took off. He served in the state legislature and in 1983 was elected the city’s first ever Latino mayor. He served two terms. He would later serve in President Bill Clinton’s Cabinet as Secretary of Transportation and later as Secretary of Energy.
As the ‘summer of ‘22’ began, gas prices were the topic of conversation across the country. The price per gallon also became a convenient rallying cry for Republican politicians taking aim at President Biden for the surge.
Average June per gallon gas prices were $4.96—the highest ever. While gas prices are market set, Biden was an easy target. Since then, pump prices have steadily fallen and today average $3.23. In Colorado, the average per gallon price is $2.91 for unleaded.
Summer air travel made Denver International Airport the world’s third busiest airport behind only Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth. The airport also had a new General Counsel. Denver native and Harvard Law School graduate, Everett Martinez was named to the position at the end of June. Among Martinez responsibilities will be overseeing real estate transactions, drafting contracts, securing bond financing and defending legal claims.
As the summer wound down, so too did the supply of drinking water for the city of Las Vegas, New Mexico. A catastrophic one-two punch of drought-caused fires and violent summer rains left the city’s water supply filthy with debris caused by nature’s fury. At one point, the city was only thirty days from running dry. A temporary water pre-treatment fix has solved the problem, but a permanent solution must still be addressed.
As summer ended, Pueblo prepared for and executed southern Colorado’s biggest fall celebration honoring the crop the city is best known for. For more than a quarter of a century, Pueblo’s Chili and Frijoles Festival has celebrated the harvest each September. This year, more than 150,000 attended the Union Street event.
Also in Pueblo, the city signed an agreement with a South Korean company that may one day make Pueblo the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbine blades. CS Wind plans to expand in Pueblo and triple the company’s current workforce. The South Korean company hopes to have a workforce of 1,100 when it’s at full tilt.
Republicans expecting to paint the state and country red in November were left not quite empty handed but seriously disappointed. In Colorado, Democrats won every statewide office and, in the state’s newest congressional district, Dr. Yadira Caraveo, became the first Latina and physician ever elected to Congress.
But November was marred, once again, by another mass shooting. This one at Club Q, a Colorado Springs LGBQT nightspot. Five people were shot dead and another 26 wounded. A former Army officer, at the club that night with his wife, daughter and her boyfriend—who was killed—prevented an even higher toll when he wrestled the 22-year-old shooter to the ground.
At year’s end, Denver’s Regis University wrapped up the year with the appointment of Dr. Salvador Aceves as the school’s first Latino president. Aceves will assume the title officially on January 1st.
La Voz Bilingue wishes its readers a safe, happy and prosperous New Year. We look forward to serving you in 2023!
