Historic photo of the original Valley View Hospital building

This week, Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs broke ground on its new cancer center. This is the old building that's coming down -- it is the remaining portion of the original hospital building built in 1954.

The new Calaway & Young Cancer Center is scheduled to open in mid-2012. It'll include nearly 30,000 square feet of dedicated space for cancer treatment.

Valley View Hospital has been treating cancer for years, but this new space will allow patients in the Roaring Fork Valley to receive radiation treatment locally. Before, they had to drive to Grand Junction or Edwards for treatment weekly, even daily at times.

Click here for an Aspen Public Radio story about the groundbreaking.

Aspen Public Radio & KDNK Produce "The Issue" Together

Aspen Public Radio's Kristina Tabor and KDNK's Mat Katz teamed up for the weekly podcast, "The Issue." Today's topic: Congressman Salazar's recent decision to draft legislation that could protect the land known as Thompson Divide near Carbondale.

Also, check out news director Mitzi Rapkin's report on the plan.

Aspen City Council and Aspen Art Museum

Last week, Aspen Public Radio reported that some people who are against the new Aspen Art museum were considering filing recall papers against everyone in city council except Steve Skadron (because they say he supports their view). What do you think of this? What are recalls for?

State Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101

Today, Aspen Public Radio reported on these three ballot questions that experts say will cripple government. My story focused on how the measures will impact RFTA. It is hard for the finance staff at RFTA to get a good estimate of how much the measures would cost the transit authority if passed because there is no precedent to use as a comparison when calculating the numbers. Still, financial officers there estimate that RFTA will lose 9.7% of its operating budget in 2011 and will have to cut service by nearly 70 hours a week. That will likely affect workers from around the valley and perhaps their employees too. If there is no bus service to Aspen for workers that have no other way to get up valley, it will be a struggle for some to maintain their jobs.

Certainly, there is also a major mistrust of government. Many people would rather save and spend their money than giving it to the state in the form of taxes and fees. Both political parties are against these measures and the big mystery right now is who put them on the ballot.

It is interesting to see local governments and both political parties in agreement over these issues, it doesn't happen that often.

A Dry Future?

On Friday I interviewed local author Jonathan Waterman about his new book, "Running Dry." He says it's a public awareness campaign about how the river is being overused and will eventually fail to sustain the 30 million people who rely on it. Waterman ran the river from its headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park to the Mexican Delta, where he had to walk because the river dried up before it reached the sea. He says if things don't change, there could be a 10% percent reduction in water by 2050. That would likely impact cities like Denver, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

From the beginning of his book, there is adventure. He and a few colleagues start by snowshoeing up to 9000 feet where they use a pack raft to start the journey. He flips his boat a few times along the way and loses a paddle at one point. Throughout his travels, he talks to ranchers, farmers and other water users about what the River means to them.

The Colorado River and its tributaries run through seven states and Mexico. It feeds 3 million acres of farmlands along the way and supports over 100 dams. You can listen to a news story about the book and Waterman at www.aspenpublicradio.org.

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Shortsfest Extravaganza

Starting tomorrow, film lovers in the Roaring Fork Valley will have a chance to watch nearly 100 "shorts" at theaters in Aspen and Carbondale. The films are all under 30 minutes in length and vary from documentaries and short comedies to animations and dramas. This is the 19th year Aspenfilm has put on the festival which is an International Oscar qualifying event.

I watched the trailer for one of the films that's scheduled to screen in Aspen on Saturday night. It's called "Cigarette Candy," and a preview can be seen at www.cigarettecandy.com. It's about a marine returning home and attending a family reunion.

Several of the films are created by young filmmakers who often go on to have big careers in the film business. Aspenfilm Executive Director Laura Thielen says filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, Walt Disney and Francis Ford Coppola started with shorts. Shorts started being produced in the late 19th century because technology didn't allow for feature-length films.

A full schedule of the films is listed at www.aspenfilm.org. Tickets can be purchased at the Wheeler Opera House or at www.aspenshowtickets.com. The films will be screened at the Wheeler and at the Crystal Theatre in Carbondale.