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THE UPDATE

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers is among 10 attorney gen-erals who may sue the federal gov-ernment over the recently passed Senate health care bill, saying spe-cial deals in the bill are unconsti-tutional.

“I have significant concerns about the legality of the U.S. Sen-ate bill,” Suthers was quoted say-ing in the The Pueblo Chieftain. “This is not a matter of politics. In

fact, it is a clear matter of equity between the states. Under this pro-vision Coloradans would be forced to foot part of the Medicaid bill for Nebraskans.”

Suthers joins South Carolina At-torney General Henry McMaster, who has been the most vocal of the group.

“Why is it that Nebraska pays no taxes, pays no money as a state while the other 49 states do?” he

was quoted saying on NPR yester-day. While he acknowledged federal funds can and are divided accord-ing to the greatest need, he said that wasn’t the case Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, who was able to negotiate extra Medicare fund-ing for his state. “This is based on nothing but a culture of corruption to get somebody’s vote,” he said.

While the group says Nelson got

Health reform clears SenateBill requires nearly everyone to have insurance

December 26, 2009

Arrested in Aspen

SATURDAY

Pacquiao suing Mayweather

Ice music coming to the Beav’

page 28 page 8 page 7 page 22 page 23 page 19

page 9

President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House Thursday after the Sen-ate passed the health care reform bill. AP Photo.

Colo. AG may sue feds over billPresident Obama over the holiday weekend hailed

Thursday’s U.S. Senate’s passage of sweeping health care legislation and said providing coverage to most Americans would represent the country’s most impor-tant piece of social legislation since the 1930s.

But before Obama can sign a final bill, the Senate bill must be harmonized with the version approved by the House of Representatives in November.

There are significant differences between the two measures but Democrats say they’ve come too far now to fail. The 60-39 vote along party lines capped months of arduous negotiations and 24 days of floor debate.

For the first time in American history, the government will require nearly every American to carry insurance,

[See SUTHERS, page 23][See HEALTH CARE, page 23]

Sun Up Bowl opens in Vail ...

Sun Up Bowl, Chair 17 and Chair 5 opened in Vail yesterday, much to the delight of Christmas skiers. Pictured here is Matt Feuer enjoying all he wanted for Christmas, powder turns. Justin Q. McCarty photo.

Skier killed in Breckenridge

A 41-year-old Florida man was killed in a ski accident at Breckenridge.

Investigators say Michael Crim of Temple Terrace missed a turn on an intermediate trail and hit a tree Thurs-day and died at Breckenridge Medical Center.

The Summit County coroner’s office says he was not wearing a helmet and ruled the death an accident.

It’s the second recent fatality at the ski resort. A 14-year-old girl died last month when she skied into a tree.

Colorado DA takes aim at medical

marijuana usersThe Arapahoe County district attor-

ney says she plans to revoke the pro-bation of anyone who smokes medical marijuana.

Arapahoe County District Attorney [See THE UPDATE, pages 16-17]

1

2 Vail Mountaineer Saturday, December 26, 2009

12

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The good folks at Marshall Uni-versity want you to have a great Samhain and Blessed Be. Mar-shall is in Huntington, West Vir-ginia, the buckle of the Bible belt, but that doesn’t stop them from giving students excused absences for pagan holidays.

The students might cut anatomy class so they can party at the two Carmentalia festivals, one cel-ebrating the birth of girls and the other for boys. Or perhaps the stu-dents could be part of the Sacred Rite to Ishtar, the Assyro-Babylo-nian fertility goddess, instead of keeping a chair warm in film class

to study the movie “Ishtar,” the stinker with Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty that’s so bad it makes you want to throw popcorn at Cecille B. DeMille’s tombstone.

Chemistry might get mixed out of the picture in favor of a Druid Feast of Brewing, since imbibing a brewery’s best beverages tends to be one of the early stages of the fertility rites on most college campuses.

Jan. 14 will be a big day in pagan class-cutting, what with the Salem witch-trial jurors confessing

their error on that day in 1696.And who can forget Jan. 5? It’s not only the Kor-

eion festival, dedicated to the Greek maiden goddess Kore, it’s the birthday of astrologer Jeane Dixon, born in 1918, who popularized astrology through her syndicated column in hundreds of U.S. newspapers.

In the Denver City and County building you cannot have your holiday Ho Ho Ho because it might offend the easily offended. Turns out the same is true for shopping mall Santas in Australia, where the spine-less bureaucrats lamely claim Ho Ho Ho frightens small children. The children disagree - it could be that the guy’s huge and dressed in a red suit during their summer.

In Hawaii you have your Ho’oponopono, the pro-cess of letting go of any toxic energies within and allowing a new space for the healing power of your true divine nature.

Apparently this sort of thing is tax deductible in Hawaii, or maybe Ho-waii.

But we have exhausted this subject, arriving at Ho hum — which is not a humming lady of the night — and now bid you adieu.

Uncle Randy Wyrick celebrates all holidays that in-volve celebrating. Send him your crazy holiday ritual ideas at [email protected].

It’s a crazy holiday

Uncle RandyWyrick

RoadScholar

COMMENTARY

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Saturday, December 26, 2009 Vail Mountaineer 3

Continuing storm could bring 10 inches of snow

Santa delivered a sack full of White Christmas to Colorado and other parts of the country this week, causing holiday travel headaches for some.

A winter weather advisory was issued for Eagle County by the National Weather Service in Grand Junction last night, remaining in effect until 6 a.m. this morning.

A deep low pressure system over the central United States is expected to yield five to 10 inches in the north-western Colorado Mountains by today, with higher amounts favoring north facing slopes.

Paul Frisbie, a meteorologist at the NWS Grand Junction said the cold air mass will bring periods of very light, slow and steady snow throughout the last night and into this morning.

“That’s just enough with our cold air mass for our roads to become snow packed and icy,” said Frisbie. “There are wind gusts over the passes up to 30 mph, so allow time if your going over the mountain passes and expect icy snow packed roads, we expect the snow to let up tomorrow but its not going to anywhere very quickly.”

Temperatures will range from mid 20s in Eagle, to highs in the single digits over Vail Pass today, said Fris-bie.

Christmas travel became treacherous across the Mid-west and the plains, as the holiday storm pelted the na-tion’s midsection.

A portion of U.S. 287 in northern Colorado was closed for several hours Friday because of bad weather in Wyoming. U.S. 287 northbound had been closed from Ted’s Place to the state line Friday afternoon be-cause of blowing snow and high winds in Wyoming.

Blowing snow and iced roads there also prompted the closure of Interstate 80 between Laramie and Chey-enne. The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory through Saturday afternoon for much of eastern Wyoming.

The Nebraska Department of Roads has closed large portions of Interstate 80, including at the Iowa and Ne-braska border.

A Colorado woman was killed Tuesday when her SUV apparently hit black ice and slid across a median in western Nebraska.

In Nevada, multiple wrecks were reported in and around Reno as snow blanketed the area Tuesday eve-ning. No serious injuries were reported, the Reno Ga-zette-Journal reported.

The storm made several highways in western Iowa impassable. The Iowa Department of Transportation says many roadways are impassable and officials are advising against travel on several Interstates.

Slippery roads have been blamed for at least 21 deaths this week as the storm lumbered across the country from

the Southwest. Ice storm warnings and winter weather advisories were issued for parts of the East Coast on Friday, but the region was largely spared.

Travelers scrambled to adjust their plans before the worst of the snowstorm hit.

Sarah McAnarney and her husband, Jeff, planned to leave Denver on Wednesday to visit family in Ozark, Missouri, with their springer spaniel, Olive. But the forecast caused them to skip a day of skiing in the Rockies and start driving a day early.

McAnarney said she was caught in a blizzard two weeks ago in the Rockies and needed four hours to drive 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Vail to Denver. She said she didn’t want to repeat the experience.

“I was driving through a whiteout,” she said Tuesday at a truck stop east of Topeka, Kan. “You couldn’t see over your headlights.”

—The Associated Press contributed to this report

Holiday weather yields powder, treacherous travelBy Dawn Witlin

Special to the Mountaineer

NEWS

Local skier Andrew Couperthwait enjoys some new snow in the Vail area Thursday afternoon. More snow is in the forecast. Jeff Cricco photo.

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In a statement from the Colorado-based horse advo-cacy group Cloud Foundation, Sheryl Crow and other wild-horse advocates on Thursday called on President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to block a major roundup of mustangs set to begin Monday in Nevada.

The request came a day after a federal judge denied a request to block the government gather in the Calico Mountains Complex, saying opponents failed to dem-onstrate that removal of the horses would violate fed-eral law.

In urging Obama and Reid to intervene, Crow and other horse defenders said U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman did side with them in one aspect of his rul-ing.

The judge said federal officials likely were violating federal law by stockpiling tens of thousands of horses in long-term holding facilities in the Midwest. Fried-man invited both sides to offer more legal arguments on the issue but said Congress ultimately may have to get involved.

“I’m asking President Obama and Senator Reid to stop the Calico roundup of the Ameri-can wild mustangs in Nevada now un-til Congress decides how to manage our living legends of the West,” Crow said in the statement. The Grammy-winning singer has campaigned for both Obama and Reid.

Reid spokesman Jon Summers said the Nevada senator believes it’s the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s responsibility to ensure the viability

of wild horse herds and to protect rangelands and wild-life.

“Sen. Reid has long been critical of the BLM’s wild horse and burro program, as they regularly fall short on their obligations,” Summers said. “In this situation, the BLM has failed to properly manage these herds for many years, requiring the large (Calico) gather.”

Kendra Barkoff, a spokeswoman for Interior Sec-retary Ken Salazar, said the roundup will ensure high quality habitat for the wild horses and burros while protecting public rangeland from overuse.

“Secretary Salazar believes that this is once again another clarion call to develop and implement a long-term solution to the challenges we face concerning wild horses and burros on our public lands,” Barkoff said.

BLM officials have said they are moving forward with the plan to round up about 2,500 wild horses in northern Nevada, and place them for adoption or send them to long-term holding facilities in the Midwest.

They said the population in the five Calico herd management areas is three times what the range can handle.

The state’s wildlife agency sides with the BLM, say-ing the mustangs have “severely degraded” the range

and adversely affected native wildlife.Elliot Katz, president of California-based In De-

fense of Animals, said Obama should grant the Nevada horses a holiday reprieve until the legality of long-term holding facilities is determined.

“While the president is enjoying the holidays ... (we) ask him to think of the horse families who are about to be torn apart forever in the BLM roundup,” Katz said. “With the stroke of a pen, he can stop the terror that is about to befall the majestic wild horses of the Calico Mountains in Nevada.”

Katz’s group had sued to block the roundup, saying the use of helicopters to drive horses to corrals is inhu-mane and exposes them to the risk of injury and death. Opponents also contend winter roundups expose horses to the risk of respiratory illness.

The mustang roundup in Nevada is part of federal land managers’ overall strategy to remove as many as 25,000 mustangs from public lands across the West and ship them to greener pastures in the Midwest and East.

The BLM estimates about half of the nearly 37,000 wild horses live in Nevada, with others concentrated across the West. Another 34,000 horses and burros are cared for in government-funded corrals and pastures in Kansas, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

Sheryl Crow joins Colo. group in appeal for horses to ObamaCloud foundation wants mustang roundup stopped

In this June 28, 2002, file photo, a helicopter used by the Bureau of Land Management rounds up wild horses near Cold Creek, Nev. An animal protection group asked a federal judge Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009, to block a plan to round up about 2,500 wild horses to remove them from a Nevada range. The mustang roundup planned for Dec. 28 would be one of the largest in Nevada in recent years. Federal officials plan to use helicopters to force the horses into holding pens before placing them for adoption or sending them to long-term holding corrals in the Midwest. AP Photo.

CROW

NEWS


Actor Charlie Sheen was arrested Friday in Aspen on charges related to domestic violence, police said.

The star of CBS’ “Two and a Half Men” was taken into custody on suspicion of second-degree assault and menacing, both felonies, along with criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, Aspen police spokeswoman Stephanie Dasaro said.

Police arrested the 44-year-old actor after responding to a 911 call regarding a report of domestic violence at 8:34 a.m. at a historic house up for sale for $7.5 mil-lion. The alleged victim in the case, whose name was withheld, did not have to be taken to the hospital, po-lice said.

Sources told TMZ.com that the alleged victim is Sheen’s wife Brooke Mueller, who gave birth to the couple’s first children, twin boys, in March. They mar-ried in May 2008 following Sheen’s bitter divorce from Denise Richards.

“Do not be mislead by appearance.” Sheen’s publi-cist Stan Rosenfield told TMZ. “Appearance and real-ity can be as different as night and day. It would benefit everyone not to jump to any conclusion.”

Police said Sheen will be held without bond in Pitkin County Jail until his first court appearance. The court was closed for Christmas, and no date for his appear-ance has been set.

Jail officials said Sheen wasn’t available to comment. Dasaro said Sheen would be advised of any bond con-ditions when he appears in court. Colorado law requires protection orders between people arrested in domestic violence cases and their alleged victims.

Sheen is the son of actor Martin Sheen. Charlie Sheen’s screen credits include “Platoon,” ‘’Wall Street” and the “Hot Shots!” movies. He nearly died of a drug overdose in 1998 but received court-ordered rehabilita-tion.

—The Associated Press contributed to this report

Charlie Sheen arrested in AspenCharges related to domestic violence, Police said

This picture provided by the Aspen Police Depart-ment yesterday shows Charlie Sheen. AP Photo.

NEWS

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State appeals court: Ritter cell phone bill not public

The state Court of Appeals says Gov. Bill Ritter doesn’t have to release bills from his private cell phone

bills even though he uses it to make most of his official calls.

The court ruled Thursday that the bills don’t have be released because call logs on the bills have been pro-duced and because Rit-

ter pays for the phone.

He has another phone paid for by the state that’s used mostly for e-mail.

Chief appeals court Judge Janice Davidson said that if the possibility of some future official use made a private document public, then almost any document kept by a public official could be subject to Colorado’s open-records law.

The Denver Post sued to get the bills, arguing they would reveal information about the workings of state government. The newspaper could appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.Gov. Bill Ritter talks on his cell

phone in 2006. AP photo.

NEWS

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The giant igloo-looking thing at the top of Chair 6 in Beaver Creek is definitely worth checking out.

They’re calling it the Crystal Grotto, and it opens to-morrow. It’s a mountain music hall constructed entirely of snow and ice with enchanting ice instruments and weekly concerts.

Artists and couple Tim and Birgitta Linhart, who have been working hard to create the frozen music hall, bring their extensive ice sculpting experience to The Beav’.

Both have spent years working at the Ice Hotel in Sweden and have commissioned other pieces around the globe in addition to creating ice sculptures for Bea-ver Creek.

This year, the Crystal Grotto music hall includes two large seating areas that can accommodate 150 people. The orchestra pit sits in the center of the igloo, which will be intricately designed with ice lighting, garland and wall carvings.

Professional musicians from the Vail Valley will play the violin, cello, viola, guitar, standard fretless base, xylophone, rolandophone, mandolin, banjo and drums – all made of ice.

Graham Olson is a classically trained cellist. He per-forms with many local and regional ensembles, ranging from classical to rock and roll.

Jake Wolf, the talented drummer from Laughing Bones and the Grateful Dead tribute band Shakedown Street will play ice percussion. He’ll play alongside Dave Perron, guitarist and founder of local bluegrass mainstay Laughing Bones.

KT Holmes plays guitar in the Minturn duet, Box-car Daisies. The duo’s sound is timeless and yet cutting edge.

Ken Carpenter has played the Cello and Banjo with many groups ranging from Bluegrass to Classical. He has also served as Beaver Creek’s resident caricaturist.

And, Justin Allison plays the 6 and 12-string guitar. He specializes in Jazz, Jazz standards and Flamenco. He’s also the house entertainment for The Wildflower Restaurant at the Lodge at Vail and Timber Hearth Grill at Cordillera.

Caragh McLaughlin, director of marketing for Beaver Creek Resort said the Crystal Grotto is a truly unique experience.

“The music emanating from the ice instruments amazes and inspires everyone who experiences it,” she said.

Performances begin tomorrow and take place at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays now through April. Tickets are $10 per performance (cash only). The Saturday children’s performances at 3 p.m. are complimentary for kids 12 and under each week.

Concert tickets may be purchased at the Beaver Creek Information Kiosk located near the ice rink up until noon on Fridays. If additional tickets are still available for any of the weekend concerts, they will be sold at the Ice Bar located at the Crystal Grotto.

Guests are required to have a valid lift ticket or ski pass to attend performances at the Crystal Grotto. Foot pass lift tickets are required for non-skiing guests and these individuals should go to the Beaver Creek Ticket Office with a valid ID to obtain foot passes.

During the holidays, foot passes will be compli-mentary. Coffee, hot chocolate, water and sodas will be available for purchase (cash only) outside of the Grotto.

For more information about Crystal Grotto perfor-mances and tickets visit www.beavercreek.com or call 970-754-4636.

Music made from iceFEATURE

Beav’ Crystal Grotto opens tomorrow with live musicBy Geoff Mintz

Mountaineer Staff Writer

7

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At the Crystal Grotto in Beaver Creek, musicians play music on instruments made entirely of ice. The first performance of the year, featuring some of the best musicians in the valley, is happening tomor-row. Geoff Mintz photo.


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In Eagle and Gypsum, they understand that building a bonfire with Christmas trees is better than making mulch.

Both communities are hosting their annual 12th Night festivities, including their popular Christmas tree bon-fires at 7 p.m. Jan 6 in Gypsum.

Drop off your used and abused Christmas trees at the vacant lot across from Gypsum’s Stop N Save. In Eagle, they go to the town park.

The Gypsum and Eagle fire departments will be on site to make sure everything goes as it is supposed to, and the fire stays where it ought to.

Public Works crews will make regular sweeps through Vail and Avon collecting Christmas trees from curbsides from Saturday, Dec. 26 through Sunday, Jan. 31.

Trees should be placed at the side of the road so as not to block the roadway. Also, trees must be free of lights, tinsel, ornaments, stands and plastic wrapping, and left whole; do not cut trees into sections.

If your tree isn’t picked up within a few days, please notify the Public Works Department in Vail at 479-2158. Avon’s Public Works Department will check for trees on a frequent basis, but residents may schedule a pick up with Avon’s Public Works Department with their address and phone number. For more information or to schedule a pick up, please contact Maggie Lach at 970-748-4100 or email [email protected].

Trees also may be dropped off in Vail from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Public Works shops on Elkhorn Drive north of the Vail golf course. The trees are chipped and turned into mulch for the town’s summer landscaping program.

For more information, call the town’s Public Works Department at 479-2158.

Eagle Valley Alliance’s free drop-off recycling site on East Beaver Creek Blvd in Avon is a great place to drop off your holiday “leftovers” for recycling.

For the holiday season a large dumpster has been placed at the site to handle all the cardboard waste

the holidays typically produce. Please take advantage of these when the regular bins fill up. Use suggested guidelines by flattening every single box, as well as omitting packing material, wrapping paper and trash of any kind.

Visit www.eaglevalleyalliance.org for more informa-tion.

Snapping out of the holiday spirit?Towns offer tree recycling options beginning today

NEWS

In Eagle and Gypsum, they understand that building a bonfire with Christmas trees is better than mak-ing mulch. Both communities are hosting their an-nual 12th Night festivities, including their popular Christmas tree bonfires at 7 p.m. Jan 6 in Gypsum.


6

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Tonight’s local music scene

The Laughing Bones at Main Street Grill, Edwards

This local bluegrass mainstay keeps their sound fresh by incorporating several different styles into their mu-sic. Band member Patrick Padgett says, “When we do acoustic shows, it’s straight-up bluegrass and country, but when we plug in and go electric, it turns into Amer-icana-folk rock.”

The Bones have played with The Del McCoury Band, Bill Nershi & Honkytonk Homeslice, The Drew Emmitt Band, Dark Star Orchestra, Great American Taxi, The Young Dubliner’s, The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash, and many more - not mention hundreds of headlining show’s throughout Colorado. Music starts at 10 p.m.

René Heredia at the Marketplace on Meadow

Drive, Vail VillageContinue celebrating the joy of the season with the

world-renowned Flamenco guitarist and Spanish Gyp-sy dance master René Heredia. Heredia will perform two shows in the intimate setting of the Café and Bistro at Marketplace on Meadow Drive.

Heredia is at the forefront of his craft and is no stranger to Colorado. He has performed at scores of concerts and appearances both public and private. He has performed Alborada Gitana, his own symphony composition and Flamenco suite for guitar and orches-tra at Red Rocks Amphitheatre with the Denver Sym-phony Orchestra.

Heredia is also a recipient of the Colorado Gover-nor’s and Denver Mayor’s awards for excellence. His list of recognition, acclaim and international and na-tional accolades and achievements span his long im-pressive career.

“The guitar playing of René Heredia is in the finest tradition of flamenco, creating a flaming intensity that cannot fail to arouse,” said The Denver Post. Shows begin at 7 and 8:30 p.m.

Compiled by Geoff [email protected]

ENTERTAINMENT


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Home for theHolidays!

Steve Meyer followed by The WMDs at The Club,

Vail Village“Don’t know if it was the snow or the snow bunnies,

but the Good Times Man finally decided to make a commitment of sorts, and, since 1986, has been per-forming at ‘The Club’, which is THE place to be in Vail,” Meyer says. Music kicks off at 5 p.m.

Then, “Despite their self-imposed “modern rock” tag, (The) WMDs don’t stack their songs with heaps of over-compressed distortion… The WMDs favor melo-dies (actual fresh ones!) You can easily spot the influ-ences, such as Tom Petty, but the band wears them well and does them proud,” wrote Rochester City News. They go on at 10 p.m.

Dave Perron followed by DJ Lito at Samana,

Vail VillageThe Laughing Bones founder Dave Perron plays

guitar from 8 to 10 p.m. No cover, two-for-one drinks

from the green menu. Then, DJ Lito brings a new twist to Samana Lounge “with his skillful mix of Latin fla-vored dance music and the best in positive hip-hop and house. He hypes up the crowd consistently. He’s rising fast and drawing a fun dance heavy crowd,” Samana says.

The Velcro Sneakers at Agave, Avon

Comprised of Ben Koelker, Justin Ernest and Pete Haugh, formally of Hustle, The Velcro Sneakers will be debut their new arrangement with local Eric Whir-ley on vocals. They’ll be playing covers from Wide-spread Panic, The Dead and AC/DC. Music at 10 p.m. No cover.

Jonny Mogambo at Finnegan’s, Avon

Mogambo has been playing throughout Colorado, na-tionally, and internationally for over fifteen years. You can always catch Jonny Mogambo in the wintertime slopeside performing his high-energy solo acoustic act from Vail and Telluride to Aspen and Summit County. Music starts at 6 p.m.

Tony Gulizia at Grouse Mountain Grill,

Beaver CreekJazz musician Tony G is an all-around entertainer and

an all-around great guy. He’ll be keepin’ it cool tonight at Grouse Mountain Grill starting at 6 p.m.

Born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, Tony Gulizia started his music career early at the age of 8 working with his father and, later, with his brother Joey. Tony studied music at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. It was there that The Gulizia Brothers were formed. In 1979, the talented musical duo began working in con-junction with the Nebraska Arts Council in the Artists in Schools program.

His passion is his music and, of course, working with young people. “Viva la Musica!!!” sums up Tony’s en-thusiasm for making people happy.

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Pacman has had enoughManny Pacquiao to sue Floyd Mayweather for defamation

Manny Pacquiao will sue Floyd Mayweather for defamation according to a report by ESPN’s Dan Rafael.

The pair were to face off for a megafight on March 13 in Las Vegas, but Mayweather refused to fight unless Pacquiao agreed to a drug test to be administered as close as 48hrs prior to the fight. This request has caused a disagreement in the two camps that could put the potentially big-gest money fight in boxing history was in serious jeopardy.

Pacquiao, maddened by accusations from the Mayweather camp that he uses performance-en-hancing drugs, said he would file a defamation lawsuit against Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions.

“Enough is enough. These people, Mayweather Sr., [Mayweather] Jr. and Golden Boy Promo-tions, think it is a joke and a right to accuse some-one wrongly of using steroids or other perfor-mance-enhancing drugs,” Paquiao, who denied that he has ever used any banned substance and who has passed all of his drug tests, told ESPN. “I have tried to just brush it off as a mere prefight ploy, but I think they have gone overboard.”

Pacquiao does not have a history of trash talk-ing but he’s taking the gloves off when it comes to Mayweather.

Magic coach feels sorry for people who watch NBA on Christmas

Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy has a request for the NBA: no more Christmas games.

“I actually feel sorry for people who have nothing to do on Christ-mas Day other than watch an NBA game,” Van Gundy said.

The Magic were playing Boston on Friday, one of five NBA games on Christmas.

Van Gundy said he understands the high-priced TV contracts gen-erate money for the league and it would be difficult to stop such

games. He said at the very least he wishes the league had fewer games on the holidays.

The Magic play games on Thanks-giving, Christmas and New Year’s Day this season.

Manny Pacquiao will flex his might on the Floyd May-weather camp by sueing Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions for defamation according to an ESPN re-port. Pacquaio is angry at the Mayweather camp after accusations that he uses performance-enhancing drugs. Pacquiao has denied that he has ever used any banned substance and who has passed all of his drug tests. AP Photo.

ATHLETIC STUFF


Fans litter Christmas gifts after Cavs down Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers’ fans showed their disgust by throwing their foam hands onto the court after the Cleveland Cavaliers made the defending champions look ordinary.

Mo Williams scored 28 points, LeBron James added 26 and the Cavaliers beat Los Angeles 102-87 Friday in a game that ended with angry Lakers fans throwing dozens of giveaway foam hands onto the court.

Shaquille O’Neal had 11 points in his latest Los Angeles return with the Cavaliers, who dominated the Lakers with sharp shooting and physical defense, prompting several technical fouls and retaliation hits in a one-sided matchup of title contenders.

The Lakers’ crowd lost its holiday spirit with 4:04 left when Lamar Odom’s ejection and another T on

the Lakers’ infuriated bench prompted many fans to throw their pregame presents onto the court. After an-other foul with 3:45 left, several more foam hands were thrown along with a full water bottle, which skittered between players without hitting anyone.Kobe Bryant scored 35 points for the Lakers, who had won 16 of 17 before Cleveland’s decisive victory behind Williams, James and the Cavs’ impressive interior play, which ne-gated the Lakers’ usual advantages down low.The foam hands weren’t the usual No. 1 finger normally found at sports events, but a representation of two puppet hands making the “LA” sign in a connection to Nike’s adver-tising campaign featuring puppets of James and Bry-ant.

Russia announces Olympic hockey squadAlexander Ovechkin, Evgeni

Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk are among the 14 NHL players on the 23-player Russia squad for the Van-couver Olympics.

Forwards Pavel Datsyuk of De-troit and Alexander Semin of Wash-

ington, defensemen Sergei Gonchar of Pittsburgh and Andrei Markov of Montreal, and goaltenders Ev-geni Nabokov of San Jose and Ilya Bryzgalov of Phoenix were also se-lected.

Coach Vyacheslav Bykov says his

team should be considered among the favorites as the reigning world champions.

Russia last won Olympic gold at the 1992 Albertville Games.

ATHLETIC STUFF

LeBron James reacts after Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, right, of Lithuania, was called for a block-ing foul on Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol during the second half of a game on Christmas day. The Cavaliers won 102-87 and Laker fans threw their Christmas presents onto the court in disgust. AP Photo.

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value of the first day’s ad.©2008 Vail Mountaineer. All rights reserved.

No animals were harmed in the production of this paper.

Locally owned and operated since 2008

PUBLISHER: Jim Pavelich ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Erinn Hoban

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Carol Chambers made her comments in an e-mail Dec. 14 to Chief Probation officer Robin Leaf.

A voter-approved Colorado law allows the use of small amounts of marijuana to treat certain medical conditions, as long as the user is registered with the state. The drug is still illegal under federal law.

Chambers said in her e-mail that people who use medical marijuana while on probation are violating federal law and must have probation revoked.

Pope assaulted at Christmas mass

Pope Benedict XVI delivered his traditional Christ-mas Day blessing Friday, looking tired and unsteady but otherwise fine hours after being knocked down by a woman who jumped the barrier at the start of Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Vatican said the 82-year-old Benedict was un-hurt in the fall and that his busy Christmas schedule would remain unchanged.

Lombardi identified the woman who toppled Bene-dict as Susanna Maiolo, 25, a Swiss-Italian national with psychiatric problems. He said Maiolo, who was not armed, was taken to a clinic for necessary treat-ment.

She was the same woman involved in a similar in-cident at last year’s Midnight Mass, Vatican officials said. In that case, Maiolo jumped the barricade but nev-er managed to reach the pope and was quietly tackled by security.

In both cases she wore a red sweat shirt.

‘The most important thing is good shape’

Scientists in Denmark are studying the genomes of coniferous trees, hoping to breed the perfect Christmas tree, reports Der Spiegel.

“The most important thing is good shape,” said Jens Iver Find, a scientist at the Zoological Museum, Den-mark’s natural history museum, a whole armada of co-nifer clones are stored in liquid nitrogen. “But it is also important that the tree can withstand frost. It would also be good if it had fewer needles.”

The biologist is trying to ascertain which ones will produce the best Christmas trees. “A mere 15 percent of the trees in Denmark’s Christmas tree plantations grow up to become such glorious specimens,” reports Spiegel. “Using his method of genetic selection, Find believes that that percentage of perfect Christmas trees could go up to 60. The first trials of his clone trees are already underway and, during the coming year, Find will plant another 15,000 small trees.”

The Danes are the leading exporters of Christmas trees, delivering around 10 million to neighboring countries each year.

The government has handed its ATM card to belea-guered mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Another failure in DetroitA Northwest Airlines passenger from Nigeria, who

said he was acting on al-Qaida’s instructions, set off an explosive device Friday in a failed terrorist attack on the plane as it was landing in Detroit, federal officials said.

Flight 253 with 278 passengers aboard was 20 min-utes from the airport when it sounded like a firecracker had exploded, witnesses said. One passenger jumped over others and tried to subdue the man. Shortly after-ward, the suspect was taken to a front row seat with his

pants cut off and his legs burned.The White House said it believed it was an attempted

act of terrorism and stricter security measures were quickly imposed on airline travel, but were not speci-fied.

“It sounded like a firecracker in a pillowcase,” said Peter Smith, a passenger from the Netherlands. “First there was a pop, and then (there) was smoke.”

Smith said the passenger, sitting opposite the man, climbed over passengers, went across the aisle and tried to restrain the man. The heroic passenger appeared to have been burned.

Kerry mulls mullah visitSen. John Kerry is pondering becoming the first

high-level U.S. emissary to make a public visit to Teh-ran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Mass protests against Iran’s regime are resurfacing, as a U.S.-imposed deadline nears to broach international sanctions against Iran.

“This sounds like the kind of travel a chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee would -- and should -- un-dertake,” a White House official told WSJ, adding it would be at Sen. Ker-ry’s own behest.

The White House hasn’t expressed opposition to Kerry’s trip, but whether Iran would welcome the visit remains unclear.

“The wrong message would be sent to the Iranian people by such a high-level visit: The U.S. loves dicta-torial regimes,” Hossein Askari, a professor at George Washington University and former adviser to Iranian governments told WSJ.

Be careful what you say about communists in China

China sentenced the co-author of a daring call for re-form to an unprecedented 11 years in prison Friday in what rights groups called a direct slap at international pressure — and a warning that the treatment for dis-sidents will be increasingly harsh.

Diplomats from more than a dozen countries were shut out of Liu Xiaobo’s trial on subversion charges, and the United States called for his immediate release.

Liu, a 53-year-old literary critic, co-wrote an unusu-ally direct appeal called Charter 08, asking for increased freedoms in China and the end to the Communist Par-ty’s dominance. More than 300 people, including some of the country’s top intellectuals, signed it before it was made public.

Liu was detained a year ago, a day before Charter 08 was released. His verdict came after a two-hour, closed-door trial Wednesday in which prosecutors ac-cused him of “serious” crimes. China calls the case an internal affair.

Liu plans to appeal, his wife, Liu Xia, told The As-sociated Press.

“When he decides to do something, he doesn’t regret it,” Liu’s wife Liu Xia said shortly after the verdict. “He said he hopes to be the last person punished for practicing freedom of expression. He thinks the gov-ernment is aware that this is illegal and wrong.”

World’s largest totalitarian economy

China, the world’s third largest economy, Friday re-

vised upward its economic growth for 2008 to 9.6 per-cent after a nationwide census but said the change had little impact on this year’s growth rate.

That raised China’s gross domestic product to 31.4 trillion yuan ($4.6 trillion), compared with an earlier estimation of 30.1 trillion yuan ($4.4 trillion), the na-tional statistics agency said. The original data reported 9 percent economic growth year-on-year for 2008.

The release confirmed China as the world’s third-big-gest economy after the United States and Japan. The country surpassed Germany for the first time last year after the government revised its estimate of 2007 eco-nomic growth to an eye-popping 13 percent to 25.7 tril-lion yuan, or $3.5 trillion by that year’s exchange rate.

Is Chavez setting stageto steal Toyota plant?

President Hugo Chavez, the guy who owns Citgo, told foreign automakers to share their technology with

local businesses or they will be asked to leave the country.

Chavez gave the ultimatum to Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Fiat dur-ing a public ceremony in the Venezu-elan capital. There was no immediate response from the companies, which all have assembly plants in Venezuela.

If his demand isn’t met, Chavez said, “I invite you to pack up your belongings and leave. I’ll bring in the Russians, the

Belorusians, the Chinese.”Chavez’s government has recently nationalized major

companies in the metals, cement, oil, coffee and elec-tricity sectors as it aims to build a socialist economy.

Fiat-controlled Chrysler, GM, Ford, Toyota, Mitsubi-shi, Mack and Iveco all produce vehicles in Venezu-ela.

Freddie and Fannie execs to get fat paychecks

The government has handed its ATM card to belea-guered mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Treasury Department said Thursday it removed the $400 billion financial cap on the money it will pro-vide to keep the companies afloat.

“The companies are nowhere close to using the $400 billion they had before, so why do this now?” said Bert Ely, a banking consultant in Alexandria, Va. “It’s pos-sible we may see some horrendous numbers for the fourth quarter and, thus 2009, and Treasury wants to calm the markets.”

So far the government has provided $60 billion to Fannie Mae and $51 billion to Freddie Mac. The assis-tance is being provided in exchange for preferred stock paying a 10 percent dividend. The Bush administra-tion first pledged up to $100 billion in support for each company, an amount that was doubled to $200 billion for each by the Obama administration in February.

Fannie’s CEO, Michael Williams, and Freddie CEO Charles “Ed” Haldeman Jr. each will receive $900,000 in salary, $3.1 million in deferred payments next year and another $2 million if they meet certain performance goals, according to filings with the Securities and Ex-change Commission.

It’s OK to getpregnant in Iraq

A controversial policy that put pregnant soldiers in war zones at risk of discipline will be rescinded under

KERRY

CHAVEZ

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [From page 1]THE UPDATE

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an order from the top U.S. commander in Iraq.Gen. Raymond Odierno has drafted a broad new pol-

icy for the U.S. forces in Iraq that will take effect Jan. 1, and that order will not include a pregnancy provi-sion that one of his subordinate commanders enacted last month, according to the U.S. military command in Iraq.

Odierno said the policy was intended to emphasize the problems created when pregnant soldiers go home and leave behind a weaker unit.

U.S. military leaders in Iraq conducted a full review of all existing orders as part of the ongoing transition in Iraq, and a new general order has been drafted. The or-der would consolidate several general orders from the U.S. commanders across Iraq. That policy, the military said Thursday, will not include the pregnancy provi-sion.

Build-A-Bear and bloggers clash over climate

The toy company Build-a-Bear has removed a “we-bisode” complimenting their toys from its Web site about climate change.

During one segment of the “Polar Bear” story, Santa and Mrs. Claus learn that due to global warming, the North Pole is in danger of disappearing in 48 hours.

Children playing the game fight to win back to North Pole, are warned “the North Pole will be gone before Christmas.”

After parents complained of the video, Build-A-Bear founder Maxine Clark said in a statement:

“Our intention with the Polar Bear story was to in-spire children, through the voices of our animal charac-ters, to make a difference in their own individual ways. We did not intend to politicize the topic of global cli-mate change or offend anyone in any way.”

The webisodes concluded this week with Santa suc-cessfully leaving on his journey to deliver gifts around the world, added Clark. The webisodes will no longer be available on the site.

Burkas may be banned from Pairs runways

The French ruling party of President Nicolas Sarkozy has moved a bill to ban burqas, or full-length Islamic veils in all public places in France, reports the Christian Science Monitor.

“A nationwide identity debate, engineered by the rul-ing UMP party last month, has evolved into an embar-rassingly unruly discussion about Muslims and north-ern Africans in France,” CSM reports. “And it comes on the heels of a surprise vote in neighboring Switzerland last month to outlaw the construction of new minarets at Muslim worship sites.”

UMP party leader Jean-François Cope told CSM that veils covering a woman’s entire face are a “violation of individual liberty” and a “negation” of one’s identity and that of others in a public milieu.

Under the proposed law, women would not be able to move in public with their faces fully covered. Voting on the bill is expected in early January.

Did unions force out Whole Foods CEO?

Whole Foods Co-founder and CEO John Mackey is voluntarily giving up his chairmanship, a position he’s held since the Austin, Texas, company’s inception in 1978, according to a Thursday filing with the Securi-ties and Exchange Commission. Mackey will remain on the board.

At Whole Foods’ annual shareholders meeting in March, CtW Investment Group, a shareholder activ-ist group that works with union pension funds, unsuc-cessfully proposed that the CEO and chairman roles be separated. The grocer said it has been receiving these proposals for three years.

But in August, CtW raised the stakes by calling for the CEO’s removal. The activist group said an editorial by Mackey opposing President Obama’s health care plan damaged the company’s reputation, especially among its left-leaning customers.

The group said Mackey “attempted to capitalize on the brand reputation of Whole Foods to champion his personal political views but has instead deeply offend-ed a key segment of Whole Foods consumer base.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [From page 1]

—Update stories, unless otherwise cited, appear courtesy The Associated Press

17


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Real-life Grinch robsKristmas Kringle store

FOND DU LAC, Wis. (AP) — This isn’t Whoville, but a real-life Grinch has targeted Kristmas in Wiscon-sin.

Fond du Lac police responded to a burglary call Thursday morning at Kristmas Kringle Shoppe.

The store sells ornaments and everything else Christ-mas. The Reporter in Fond du Lac says it’s a popular year-round attraction for holiday-inspired shoppers.

Police say someone apparently forced open a back door and stole an undetermined amount of money.

A telephone call to the store rang unanswered Friday afternoon. A message left with Fond du Lac police was not immediately returned.

Moving along ...

FLETCHER CELEBRATED HIS FIRST CHRISTMAS Lionshead style! Thanks to Ali Katz of the Lionshead Patagonia store for the photo.

DR. CASEY WOLFINGTON of Bright Future Foundation was lookin’ her finest at a recent staff lunch at Te Amo.

JOHN PACKER from Fly Fishing Outfitters says Ho Ho Ho just like someone we all know.


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YVONNE AT JUST CUTS would like to wish Piper and Fischer and the rest of the families in the valley a safe and prosperous holiday season.

YOUR MAY PALACE STAFF wishes you and yours a Happy Holiday Season and be sure to stop by if you need your Asian food cause it’s the best in the valley.

VENDETTA’S WAS THE MOST RECENT winning bar of the pigskin hustle and gets to carry the torch for all of next week. Vendetta’s is stop number one on your tour of Vail Villages’ best bars to visit while in Vail.


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HAPPY HOLIDAYS from Vicki and Mark at Chicago Pizza and congratulations on placing first in the country within their category in tennis.

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE to stop by Los Amigos and have a hot toddy or two to warm the bones. Let the Los Ladies take your chills away.


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THE THREE AMIGOS at Old Forge salute the U.S with happy holidays and Happy New Year’s all around.

SULLY THE SUPERMAN at the Red Lion says come on down and have some fun. Whether is for lunch, apres, dinner or late night mischief, the Red Lion is the hot spot in Vail this holiday.

TWEET TWEET! Let the ladies of the Nest in Avon excite you with new home furnishings and décor all the time. They are dressed for the holidays and all 10,000 feet of the store is loaded up to make your shopping experience a pleasure. Have a great holiday everyone from everyone at the Nest.


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KENDRA NICHOLSON stomped the hustle this week with her eyes closed, crushing the rest of the field by being the only person to get three teams wrong! Happy holidays and may this $500 help pay off your Visa bill this month.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS from your Baileys Irish Crèam Crew at Beaver Liquors in Avon. Your wine, liquor and cigar headquarters here in the valley.


and subsidies would be provided to help low-income people to do so. Employers would be induced to cover their employees through a combination of tax credits and penalties. The legislation costs nearly $1 trillion over 10 years and is paid for by a combination of taxes, fees and cuts to Medicare.

Republicans were unanimous in their opposition to the bill. House Minority Republican Leader John Boehner assailed the plan, saying the “Democrats’ gov-ernment takeover of health care” would increase health coverage costs for families and small businesses, raise taxes during a recession and cut into federal health care benefits for the elderly. Republicans also accused Democrats of “buying off” certain Senators who were hesitant on the bill, such as Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, who was able to negotiate $100 million in extra Medicare funding for his state. Republicans and some Democrats said this violated Article 1 section 8 of the constitution, which states “... all duties imposed and excises should be uniform throughout the United States,” saying that applied to benefits, as well.

Some Democrats were not enthusiastic about the Sen-ate bill, either, because there are no plans for a govern-ment-run national health care system that would cover all Americans. Even a more modest proposal to have a government-run health plan compete with private in-surers had to be stripped from the Senate bill in the face of opposition from moderate Democrats. Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman is credited with killing the pub-lic option, saying he would not vote for a bill that con-tained a such a provision. Nicknamed the “Insurance Capital of the World,” Hartford, Connecticut, is home to many of the world’s insurance company headquar-ters, and insurance is the region’s major industry.

Former Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean was quoted in the Washington Post saying “Any mea-sure that expands private insurers’ monopoly over health care and transfers millions of taxpayer dollars to private corporations is not real health-care reform.”

Nevertheless, the bill’s passage offers Obama a bright end to an often rocky year that began with huge hopes following his election victory. His public approval lev-el now hovers around 50 percent as he copes with high unemployment, increasing violence in Afghanistan and the divisive health care debate.

Obama delayed his Christmas vacation in Hawaii until the Senate vote, a sign of its importance to his presidency. The legislation will likely shape the 2010 congressional elections and possibly Obama’s 2012 re-election bid.

Obama repeated his theme that the bill will help end long-criticized insurance industry practices, such as de-nying coverage for pre-existing conditions.

The Senate bill “includes the toughest measures ever taken to hold the insurance industry accountable,” Obama said.

Negotiations between the House and Senate to rec-oncile differences between the two bills are expected to begin as soon as next week.

Liberal advocacy group applauds Bennet’s voteAmericans United for Change, a liberal advo-

cacy group, applauded U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D – CO) for ushering through the Sen-ate passage of the Patient Protection and Af-fordable Care Act Thursday.

Tom McMahon, Acting Executive Americans United for Change, said “Today, thanks to the support of Sen. Bennet, we are another step closer to guaranteeing quality, affordable health care for all Americans … Seniors will have ex-panded prescription drug coverage and young adults will have easy access to health insur-ance. Colorado residents from every corner of the state will have a reason to be thankful for the Senate’s action …”

McInnis criticizes billScott McInnis, the leading candidate for gover-

nor of Colorado according to the latest Rasmus-sen poll, criticized the U.S. Senate’s passage of the current version of the health care reform bill this week, calling it “harmful for Colorado families and the budget.”

“There is no question that we need health care reform, but a bill forced through by a par-tisan effort on Christmas Eve that aims to ex-clude solutions outside of the Democrats’ nar-row ideological focus will do more harm than its intended good,” McInnis said.

“Real healthcare reform will modernize both Medicaid and Medicare formulas to ensure that benefits are protected for those who truly need them. And currently, under the bill that Bill Ritter so blindly supports, none of these things will happen, and it will hurt the people.”

a $45 million-a-year break for his state in exchange for his vote, Nel-son says it wasn’t a money grab for the state of Nebraska. “This was a recognition that we have an under-

funded federal mandate that will shift the cost of that program to the states in 2017,” he was quoted say-ing on NPR. “The Nebraska provi-sion opens the door to other states’

trying to do the same thing. So it’s a fair deal, not a special deal,” Nelson said in the report.

HEALTH CARE CLEARS SENATE –---------------------------- [From page 1]

COLO. AG SUTHERS MAY SUE FEDS –--------------------- [From page 1]

Letters to the Editor - The Vail Mountaineer accepts letters. To be consid-ered for publication, letters must be concise, timely and relevant to the work at hand; overly cranky, whining, self-serving, racially offensive, and/or libel-ous missives will be rejected without further adieu, while caps lock-happy text shouting will be lowercased or dismissed altogether. Subject to approval and editing by the Mountaineer staff, letters that include full name and home town for publication, along with mailing address and phone number for veri-fication, should be submitted via e-mail to: [email protected].

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