1. 50Cents
Trinidad
Colorado
Proudly Serving Southeastern Colorado and Northeastern New Mexico • www.thechronicle-news.com
~
Vol. 139, No. 66
Thursday
April2,2015
APRIL 2
Continuum of Care
THURSDAY (8 a.m.) Group will
meet at Fisher’s Peak Soup Kitchen,
308 Church St. Info: Charlene Tor-
torice, 719-846-9159.
Network Council
THURSDAY (8 a.m.) Regular
meeting will be held in the Bell Block
Building’s Trinidad Community Foun-
dation room. Info: Margaret Apodaca,
719-846-3943.
SPPRCD Meeting
THURSDAY (7 p.m.) Spanish
Peaks Purgatoire River Conservation
District meets at the District Office. In-
formation: 719-846-3681 Ext. 117.
PRCWD Water District
THURSDAY (7:30 p.m.) The Pur-
gatoire River Conservancy meets in
City Hall Council Chambers, 135 N.
Animas. Information: Thelma Lujan,
719-846-7285.
Today’s Quote
“Joy is what
happens to us
when we allow
ourselves to
recognize how
good things
really are.”
~Marianne Williamson
APRIL 3-5
AREA HOLIDAY CLOSURES
n The Chronicle-News offices
will be closed Friday for the Easter
Holiday. The paper will be delivered as
usual without interruption.
n SCCOG and affiliates will be
closed Friday for the holiday.
SPECIAL EASTER SERVICES
n Zion’s Lutheran Easter Ser-
vices will be held as follows at 613
Prospect St. Info: 719-846-7785.
•THURSDAY: Maundy Thursday
potluck (6 p.m.) and Worship Service
(7 p.m.) with communion.
•FRIDAY: Good Friday Service (7
p.m.)
•SUNDAY: Sunrise Service (7 a.m.)
followed by brunch and Easter Wor-
ship (10 a.m.)
n EASTER PAGENT
FRIDAY (7 p.m.) “They Took
Him,” a dramatic play by Mary Sue
Mangino that portrays the Last Supper,
betrayal and crucifixion of Jesus Christ
will be presented at the First Christian
Church, 200 S. Walnut. No admission
– all are welcome. Info: 719-846-3843.
n EASTER CONCERT
SUNDAY (11 a.m.) & APRIL 10 (7
p.m.) “A Celebration of the Resur-
rection” musical presentation by the
Choir and TUMC Gospel Combo will
be held at the Methodist Church, 216
Broom St.
OTHER WEEKEND ACTION
LIGHT IT UP BLUE!
FRIDAY(10a.m.-2p.m.)Afundraiser
luncheon and seminar for Autism Aware-
ness Day will be held at the Mt. Carmel
Community Center, 911 Robinson Ave.
Info: Linda Thompson 719-680-2638.
RIBBON CUTTING
FRIDAY (Noon) Tee’s Me Treat
Me official opening ceremony with the
Chamber of Commerce, 105 W. Main
St. next to Fabilis Wings.
TEEN OTAKU CLUB
FRIDAY (4:30-6:30 p.m.) Teens
age 13-18 are invited to join the fun
at the Carnegie Public Library, 202 N.
Main St. Info: Felicity Boepple, 719-
846-6841.
American Legion
FRIDAY (6 p.m.) PLEASE NOTE:
THERE WILL BE NO American Le-
gion meeting this month at the Sayre
Senior Center, 1222 San Pedro. Info:
John Garduño, 719-680-1277.
SPRING CRAFT FAIR
SATURDAY (9 a.m.-3 p.m.) The
community is invited to the annual
event at Eckhart Elementary to be held
in the school gym, 1021 Pierce St. The
fun will include a jumpy house, games
and great food. Info: Principal Olivia
Bachicha, 719-846-6995.
Easter Egg Hunt
SATURDAY (10 a.m.) Annual Agu-
ilar American Legion Post 42 Bake Sale
and Egg Hunt (Noon) fundraiser with
free lunch for kids at the Town Park
and Community Center. Info: 719-941-
4678.
TheFinePrint
WeatherWatch
Thursday: A 10 percent chance of show-
ers and thunderstorms after 4 p.m. Mostly
sunny, with a high near 66. Breezy, with gusts
as high as 30 mph. Night: A 30 percent
chance of rain or light snow. Partly cloudy,
with a low around 28. Breezy with gusts as
high as 30 mph.
Friday: A 30 percent chance of snow be-
fore 7 a.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 50.
North wind 5 to 10 mph. Night: Partly cloudy,
with a low around 30. East wind 5 to 15 mph.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near
65. South southwest wind around 15 mph.
Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 38.
South southwest wind 10 to 15 mph.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 70. West
southwest wind 10 to 15 mph. Night: Mostly
clear, with a low around 40. West southwest
wind 10 to 15 mph.
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near
69. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 10
to 15 mph. Night: Mostly clear, with a low
around 37.
RiverCall
Purgatoire River Call as of:
04/01/15. Hoehne ditch: Priority
# 20 --- Appropriation date:
10/07/1865.
Trinidad Reservoir Accounting:
Release .56 AF
Inflow 131.75 AF -- 66.42 CFS
Evaporation 9.19 AF
Content 19,846 AF
Elevation 6,183.43
Precipitation 0
Downstream River Call / John
Martin Reservoir: (Conservation
Storage) 05/31/1949.
TheChronicleNews
Steve Block / The Chronicle-News
TRINIDAD STATE
Robotics Team ready for Challenge
Mary Carpenter of the Trinidad State Robotics Team with the circuit board
she learned how to design on a computer and later soldered its components
into place on the board. The Robotics Team will be among 32 teams vying for
first prize in the state competition at the Great Sand Dunes National Park on
Saturday. This year’s robot is called the Beacon Electronic Kinect-Explorer, or
BEK-E for short. See the whole story on Page 3.
CITY GOVERNMENT
Marijuana license
limits is topic for
council discussionBy Steve Block
The Chronicle-News
Six marijuana-related business-
es are fully licensed to do business
in Trinidad, with three of them
already open for business and the
others expected to open in the near
future. The issue of whether or not
to declare a moratorium on grant-
ing licenses to even more marijua-
na businesses in the City was dis-
cussed at some length at Tuesday’s
City Council work session.
The general consensus of Coun-
cil was not to have a moratorium
on new licenses, but instead to let
the marketplace determine which
marijuana businesses would suc-
ceed and which ones would fail.
Council member Joe Bonato said
putting a limit on the number of
marijuana businesses that could
operate in Trinidad was an issue
that should be decided on by voters
in an upcoming election.
CouncilmemberMichelleMiles
said she was concerned about the
growing number of homeless peo-
ple she’d seen in the city recently,
and asked whether that increase
was related to legalized marijuana.
Miles said Colorado Springs had
also an increase in the numbers
of younger homeless people, and
it had put a strain on that city’s
social service agencies. She ex-
pressed concern that unrestricted
marijuana licensing could damage
Trinidad’s Victorian charm.
Mayor Joe Reorda said Trini-
dad had always had some home-
less people, saying he thought
the City should put any talk of a
moratorium “on the back burner.”
Reorda urged those citizens who
Continued on Page 2 ...
COMMISSIONERS’ MEETING
Las Animas County Medicaid caseloads continue to grow
By Steve Block
The Chronicle-News
Medicaid caseloads in Las Animas
County continued to grow during the first
two months of 2015. That information was
shared by Arlene Lopez, executive director
of the County’s Department of Human Ser-
vices (DHS) at a Tuesday meeting of the DHS
Board of Directors, which also serves as the
County Board of Commissioners.
Lopez said there were 2,869 Medicaid
cases by the end of February, many of them
from people the DHS caseworkers had never
encountered before.
“It just seems steady,” Lopez said. “The
number of applications coming in, I mean,
one day we had 20 new applications come in,
and that’s on top of all the other correspon-
dence that comes through the department.
These are from people we’ve never heard of
before.”
Most of the new clients are renters, she
said, but some have purchased homes here
and are applying for additional benefits.
“One young man, in particular, came
here with a good job and apparently he got
here and within a couple of months his em-
ployer had to downsize and they began trim-
ming their workforce and he got laid off. He
had just bought a house, and had to come
in to apply for benefits to get through,” she
said. “He did get a severance package from
his employer, but once his resources ran out
he became eligible for benefits.”
Lopez said there’s an ebb and flow in the
numbers of people applying for benefits,
with some folks moving away from the area,
some getting jobs so they no longer qualify
for benefits and some just failing to reapply
for benefits even though they’re eligible.
Leeann Fabec, county administrator,
noted that January and February were an
enrollment period for people applying for
health insurance through the federal Afford-
able Care Act (ACA), and the recent increase
in Medicaid applicants might partially be
because of recent ACA applicants who found
they could qualify for Medicaid benefits in-
stead.
“You can see that there were 70 new Med-
icaid cases in January and 48 new cases in
Steve Block / The Chronicle-News
Arlene Lopez, executive director of the Department of Hu-
man Services (DHS), reported a big increase in the num-
ber of people seeking Medicaid benefits so far this year.Continued on Page 4 ...
AREA POT
Walsenburg
approves
marijuana
retail sales
Staff Report
The Chronicle-News
Last week the Walsenburg City
Council voted 6-1 to approve re-
tail/recreational marijuana sales
within the City of Walsenburg.
Recent Ward II appointee, John
Salazar II, a Walsenburg Police
Sergeant, was the lone dissenting
vote. Two councilmembers failed
to appear at the meeting. Mayor
Pro Tem Craig Lessar and coun-
cil member Silvana Lind, both
consistent ‘no’ votes against recre-
ational marijuana sales, according
to the Huerfano World Journal,
missed the council meeting. Rick
Jennings, Charles Montoya, Nick
Vigil, Troy Reeves, Clint Boehler,
and Mayor James Eccher, voted in
favor of the ordinance.
Ordinance 1057, the ordinance
approved last week, allows retail
Steve Block / The Chronicle-News
Sayre Senior Center celebrates Easter
It was a packed house and a fine time for the Sayre Senior Center’s members to meet, greet and have a great meal
for Easter at noontime on Thursday. In the foreground, clockwise from bottom are Lee Mehsling and Sterling Zufelt, on
the left, and Mary Woodie and Michele Mehsling on the right. Any senior who wants to join in the fun at the Center is
encouraged to call Mrs Anna Risley at 719-846-3336 or email annarisley@gmail.com for more information on all activi-
ties available at the facility, which is located at 1222 San Pedro Street in Trinidad. See more on page 6Continued on Page 4 ...
Sports Bar & Grill
NowServingLunch
Friday - Saturday - Sunday at 11 a.m.231 E. Main St.
Trinidad, Co

2. Thursday, April 2, 2015 Page 3The Chronicle-News Trinidad, Colorado
EducationTRINIDAD STATE TECHIES
College Robotics Team
prepares for Challenge
By Steve Block
The Chronicle-News
Getting through sand dunes is one thing
but getting over and around sharp rocks
is quite another. That’s what the Trinidad
State Junior Col-
lege Robotics Team
found out at last
year’s statewide ro-
botics challenge at
Great Sand Dunes
National Park, and
they’ve been plan-
ning how to cope
with their rocky
problem leading up
to this year’s chal-
lenge at the Park on
Saturday, April 4.
The Trinidad
State team fin-
ished first among
19 competitors at
last year’s chal-
lenge, and this year
will be among 32
teams vying for the
first place prize.
This year’s robot is called the Beacon Elec-
tronic Kinect-Explorer, or BEK-E, and uses
more advanced technology than last year’s
version. The team members include lead
programmer Hayden Alworth, electron-
ics magician Mary Carpenter, the team’s
co-captains, solid works designer Alfonzo
Barandiaran and lead builder Marissa Es-
quibel. Faculty Robotics Advisor Cindy Cle-
ments is also a Trinidad State mathematics
professor, while electrical advisor Earl Nes-
bitt and building advisor Karen Howl are
the other key leaders for the Robotics Team.
“They’re very well suited to one anoth-
er,” Clements said of the team members.
“Mary Carpenter wrote
the project paper, and it
took Hayden Alworth a
lot of work to get the Ki-
nect controller system
to work effectively in
the field.”
The students have
added eight more sen-
sors that are more com-
plicated than last year’s
and they’ve taken off
the bump sensors.
They’re now using ul-
trasonic sensors, which
have to be protected
from blowing sand.
Infrared sensors help
BEK-E detect depres-
sions in the ground and
avoid them, along with
a compass and beacon
for guidance. There’s
noremotecontrol,asthestudentsturnBEK-
E on and let it find it’s way past obstacles on
the test course. The robot consists of four
wheels, a ping sensor, a flexiforce bump
sensor, a Kinect sensor and Sharp infrared
sensors, along with a tilt sensor, all work-
ing in unison using a highly sophisticated
computer language installed on a computer
chip designed by Parallax, Inc., the Rocklin,
Calif. technology company that’s working
with the Trinidad State robotics program.
BEK-E’s designed to be able to solve its own
problems in the field, basing its decisions on
its computer programming. Its sole circuit
board is more stable this year because all of
its components were designed and soldered
into place by team co-captain Carpenter,
rather than being hot-glued as they were
last year.
“I started learning how to design the
circuit board last year and worked on it all
through Christmas break,” Carpenter said.
“I finally got it put together in late January.
There were a lot of little fixes that had to be
done, so I had to be pretty creative. It weighs
less and it’s a lot smaller than last year’s
board, which has a lot
of advantages.”
The Kinect sensor
took Alworth several
months to adapt from
an Xbox and apply to
the robot’s controller
system, so he could
communicate with the
robot through a com-
puter. The students
designed the robot on
computers and printed
everything except the
sidewalls on a three-di-
mensional printer that
the college acquired
last year.
Power is critical to the robot’s effective-
ness, and as the team adds more sensors, the
power tends to drain from its battery, reduc-
ing its effectiveness. The team was working
to overcome that and other problems during
Friday’s testing run at the sand pit and rock
field just outside of the Davis Building on
campus.
Clements said it’s difficult to find stu-
dents who are so highly motivated that
they’ll put in countless hours outside the
classroom working to develop the highly so-
phisticated robots.
Several of the former students in the
Trinidad State robotics program have
moved on to internships at high technology
robotics programs at four-year schools, Cle-
ments said.
Clements said she’d been very pleased by
the robotics team’s continued progress year-
to-year.
“Last year we won first place and they
gave us a little trophy,” Clements said. “We
were the best robot over 1.5 kilograms, and
we were the first
and only college to
complete all six ob-
stacle courses. So
there’s a lot more
stress on this team
because they have
a lot to live up to.
Last year, their pa-
per won first place
and they won Peo-
ple’s Choice Award
again at Boulder.
So there’s another
set of stress, but
they love it. I think
they’ll do well
again, but there are
more things that can go wrong because it’s a
much more sophisticated robot we’re using
this year.”
Facing difficult technical challenges and
overcoming the obstacles along the way are
the hallmarks of Trinidad State’s robotics
program.
Steve Block / The Chronicle-News
Hayden Alworth, above, of the Trinidad State Robotics Team monitors the progress of BEK-E, the
computer-controlled robot that was maneuvering around the obstacle course in a sandpit built for
testing purposes. The Trinidad State Robotics Team, below, consists of (L-R) Hayden Alworth,
Mary Carpenter, Marissa Esquibel and Alfonzo Barandarian.
The team works to prepare their robot, BEK-E, for the statewide robotics challenge on Saturday
at Great Sand Dunes National Park. Clockwise from left are Hayden Alworth, Mary Carpenter,
Marissa Esquibel and Alfonzo Barandarian.
Photo courtesy of Greg Boyce / Trinidad State
A study in fine oil painting
Art Professor Vilas Tonape sits patiently demonstrating his skills in the oil painting arts to an interested audience on Wednesday
morning in the Berg Building art studio on the Trinidad State Junior College campus. Two students from India also took the oppor-
tunity to join the session via Skype. The morning’s volunteer model was city employee Lee Hadaway. Anyone interested in taking
art classes at the college are encouraged to follow their intuition and contact Greg Boyce at 719-846-5530 or email greg.boyce@
trinidadstate.edu for more information.
Sheriff’s
scholarship
available to
County
students
By Steve Block
The Chronicle-News
A$500scholarshipisnow
availableforadeservingLas
Animas County student,
as County Sheriff James
Casias has announced that
the County Sheriffs of Colo-
rado, Inc. (CSOC), would
award a scholarship to a
County student next spring.
CSOC established the schol-
arship program in 1978, and
has continued it in the years
since then as a meaningful
expression of the Sheriffs’
confidence in and respect
for education and training.
Sheriff Casias said that
scholarships have been
made available in more
than 30 Colorado coun-
ties in this 36th year of the
CSOC scholarship program,
with scholarship announce-
ments having been mailed
to all high school offices in
the eligible counties and all
higher education institu-
tions in the state. Applica-
tions are available at the
website: www.csoc.org, or
at the County Sheriff’s Of-
fice, which is located at 2309
E. Main St., in Trinidad.
The members of a local
citizens committee, whose
members will be appoint-
ed by Sheriff Casias, will
review the applications.
CSOC establishes the crite-
ria for the scholarships, and
they include leadership,
character, merit, communi-
ty involvement and career
purpose.
Eligible applicants in-
clude any permanent resi-
dents of Las Animas County
who are enrolled in, or ap-
plying to, any vocational
training program or insti-
tution of higher learning
in Colorado as full-time or
part-time students. No re-
strictions apply as to the
course of study or training
the student will pursue, and
no restrictions are placed
upon applications due to
race, creed, age, sex or na-
tional origin. For more
information, contact any
county high school, the
County Sheriff’s Office at
719-846-2211 or CSOC.
“This is a great pro-
gram that has helped a lot of
Colorado students over the
years,” Casias said Thurs-
day. “We had to stop the
scholarship program for a
few ears, because we didn’t
have enough money. Now
that we’re solvent again,
we’re very proud to be able
to offer the scholarships
again. Half of the counties
in the state are funded each
year, and this happens to be
our year. It’s a great way to
help our students further
their education, because
we know that well-educated
students will be of great ben-
efit, both to their own com-
munities and to the country
as a whole.”