Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Marci's Favorite 2010 Stories

My reporting assignments in 2010 varied from land use to bear problems to kids playing rock and roll. Four of my favorite stories aired on our local news this morning and they are listed below.

The first is a story on the Pitkin County Commissioners voting in support of the Hidden Gems plan. I liked this story because the Hidden Gems plan was front and center for a lot of people in the Valley this year. There were vocal opponents and proponents. Bumper stickers can still be seen plastered on cars, revealing how the driver feels about this issue. The Hidden Gems plan was divisive but it brought the Valley together in a way, because everyone had an opinion.

Another big news maker was the discovery of mammoths, mastodons and more at a dig site in Snowmass Village. The story I picked out regarding this discovery, focused on Snowmass Village's efforts on marketing the huge find. The discovery and the excavation that followed, received national news attention...The trick now is for Snowmass to hang onto to that public interest.

A heartwarming story I enjoyed reporting on in 2010 focused on a Basalt family's efforts to adopt two young boys from Haiti. The Ketchum family decided to adopt the children after they had been brought to the United States following an earthquake in Haiti in January. When I reported on the family in March, they thought the boys would be living with them by Summer. It turns out, the Ketchums are traveling to retrieve their new children THIS WEEK because of hold-up's between the U.S. and Haitian governments.

My final favorite story from 2010 focused on science and a threat to Aspen's water. In May, officials at Aspen's Water Department were using more chemicals to get dust out of the water supply. The dust, from desert areas in nearby states, also causes snow to melt faster, which water officials feared could lead to a water shortage. I liked this story because it brought out a new threat to water which is often overlooked in the face of other threats like climate change and water distribution.

Hidden Gems story

Mammoth Marketing story

Ketchum Family story

Dust in Water story

No comments: