Residents and visitors to the San Luis Valley will celebrate the return of the cranes with the 27th annual Monte Vista Crane Festival March 12-14. Each year more than 20,000 north-migrating sandhill cranes stop off, beginning in late February, at the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge. Thousands of waterfowl, bald eagles and other raptors also are on hand. The festival attracts photographers, artists, bird watchers and other nature lovers with bus tours of the refuge each day, including sunrise and sunset visits, and workshops at the Monte Vista Middle School March 13.

Most workshops are free and open to the public, with topics including outdoor photography, bluebirds, San Luis Valley ceremonial sites, raptors and waterfowl. A field sketching and journalism workshop, limited to 12 people, will be offered from 9 a.m.-noon March 13. Cost is $30. A birders breakfast and a dinner with live entertainment March 13 are planned. Breakfast costs $6 for adults and $5 for children. Dinner is $25 per person with reservations required. For information and reservations, call (719) 852-3552, 10 am.-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday, or visit www.cranefest.com.

Supporters and critics of a proposed transmission line from Pueblo to the San Luis Valley completed their arguments before the Public Utilities Commission this week, with parties on both sides calling for the utilities to do more studies.

U.S. Congressman John Salazar announced that $72,910 in federal funding has been allocated to the Costilla County Senior Citizens Club. The funding comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and will be distributed through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Community Facilities Program. According to Costilla County Senior Citizens Club officials the funding will go to purchase equipment and furniture for the senior citizens facility.

A snowboarder who survived three days in the Colorado backcountry with a single energy bar for food said he feels well and is ready to return to the slopes Sunday. Wayne Alexander Brown, 42, of Alamosa, said Friday he'll be more careful next time and will take along his new avalanche beacon and an extra energy bar.

A letter, mailed June 10, 1928, by Norm Chapman is a special cancellation celebrating the opening of the Legion Air Port and the first flight made by plane in the San Luis Valley. Air mail postage was a dime.

With Chelsea Starley from KENYTV [ watch ]

In 1823, King Ferdinand of Spain granted Don Luis Maria Cabeza de Vaca 400,000 acres for services faithfully rendered. This grant was broken up after the Mexican American war in 1848, and the 100,000 acre northeast section, kept the de Vaca name as well as the unusual natural formation called the Sand Dunes.

March 11, 2010, 9:00 a.m. - Noon at the Kavleys Business and Tech Center. Cost is $30.00 and you must bring your own laptop. RSVP to Donna Wehe at 587-5151. A blog, short for weblog, is a frequently updated on-line journal. It can be an effective and easy way to communicate more casually one-on-one with your customers as a small business owner. You can respond to timely events and let your customers know about sales and new products. This is a hands-on workshop and we will use blogger.com which is owned by Google.™ If you are looking for ways to drive traffic to your web site, a blog can be very helpful. When you leave this workshop, your blog will be created! SLV Dweller is a blog!

Authorities pulled off another helicopter rescue in the San Juan Mountains Tuesday, plucking a married couple who was cross-country skiing near Cumbres Pass. Donald Bonney, 58, and his wife Carrol Bonney, 60, were scheduled to ski out seven miles back to Colorado 17 Sunday where a friend was supposed to pick them up, said Conejos County Undersheriff Justin Harlan.

U.S. REP. John Salazar, D-Colo., is trying to find common ground with various interests regarding the proposed Village at Wolf Creek, a development that would be near the Wolf Creek Ski Area.

Alex Brown at the rescue station, after 72 hours of roughing it in the San Juans (from his facebook page).

Alexander Brown, missing after a snowstorm on Wolf Creek Pass, was found alive in an abandoned shack on the back side of the mountain. He was well enough to flag down the helicopter that had been searching for him, say local sources.

Details are still coming in on the rescue of Alex Brown, 42, from Alamosa, who had been missing from Wolf Creek Ski Resort for over 72 hours. What is confirmed is that he is alive and was in a shack on the back side of the mountain when he flagged down a rescue helicopter. His injuries and health are unconfirmed, but the fact that he managed to survive extreme temperatures for such a long time is amazing.

A search is underway for a missing snowboarder at Wolf Creek Ski Area. Authorities say 42-year-old Wayne Alexander Brown hasn't been seen since Saturday.

On the west side of the San Luis Valley, heavy snows in the San Juan Mountains led to high avalanche danger. Road crews closed U.S. 160 on the west side of Wolf Creek Pass for avalanche control work but had the road open by mid-morning. Wolf Creek Ski Area reported 17 inches of snow in the 24 hours prior to 9 a.m. and 45 inches since the storm hit earlier in the weekend. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center estimated similar amounts fell in the southern San Juans. Drivers on both U.S. 160 over Wolf Creek and Colorado 17 over Cumbres and La Manga passes faced chain restrictions for semitrailers and passenger vans. The SLV floor saw much less snow with most areas getting between 1 and 2 inches of snow. Blowing snow delayed the start of school in Creede by two hours. All of the valley's remaining 13 school districts operated on a regular schedule. [ Pueblo Chieftain ]

A Fort Garland woman died Saturday after losing control of her sport utility vehicle on Colorado 142 four miles west of San Luis.

What are the core teachings of your tradition? How did you become a Jew, Christian, Muslim, or Buddhist and why do you remain one? How does practicing this tradition affect your everyday life? These are some questions for tonight's panelists. There will be time for spontaneous questions from the audience. Come to Adams State College, Student Union building, Student Life Center tonight, Feb. 22, at 6 pm. Pizza will be served. This event is free and open to the public.
http://portal.adams.edu/index.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=11250

This unidentified video from an 8mm handheld camera is of an unveiling of some sort of memorial marker located at what is now the picnic area 2 miles east of Fort Garland. A small crowd consisting of State Patrol, some military or Colorado National Guard equipment/personnel, and a few well dressed civilians are present. Im is thought that the memorial was in honor of a fallen WWII soldier, but this is speculation. A rough guess of the date is mid 1950s none of the cars in the tape look newer than say 1956. If anyone has any information about the contents of this video, please write SLV Dweller at info@slvdweller.com. Video submitted by Neal Newman and filmed by his father.

Monte Vista and Manassa, like nine other valley communities, had operated their domestic water systems for decades with a disinfection waiver from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. But now the state is ordering them to chlorinate.

Adams State college is proud to be screening two amazing documentaries about undocumented youth, particularly Hispanic youth, over the next couple of days. As a highlight of GAB's diversity month, we will be hosting the move 'Papers' on Tuesday, February 16th at 6pm in Carson Auditorium, with an appearance by the movie's soundtrack artists to follow. On Wednesday, February 17th at 6pm in Carson Auditorium, we will host "800 Mile Wall", and have a brief presentation by a LaPuente volunteer who spent some time in the border area this past year. Please pass this vital information on, and we look forward to seeing you there.