An attorney for a woman accused of killing, dismembering and cannibalizing her ex-boyfriend says she's ashamed for doing a "horrible thing." Jane Lynn Woodry was found not guilty by reason of insanity after the 1993 slaying of 51-year-old Peter Green of Alamosa.

She was committed to the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo but has gradually won more freedom since then. In 2005, she was allowed to move into an apartment off the state hospital campus in Pueblo. Woodry, who changed her name from Carolyn Gloria Blanton in 1999, was in court last week seeking conditional release.

Orlando Lujan Martinez

The green tinted popular tree in the yard was full of singing birds. when woke up in morning. After several cups of coffee I decided too take few days off to pay a visit to San Acacio, in El Grande Valle de San Luis in Colorado, where I scattered the ashes of my parents. I packed a few clothes into a suitcase, jump into my car and rode off into the morning sun. It was San Mateo Boulevard to 1-25 and out of Albuquerque.

Old familiar towns drifted by, Santa Fe the home of the Anglo gentry and the notorious Española, where an offended Native American chopped off the foot of the statue of Juan Onate, the conquistador, Ojo Caliente and Tres Pietras. Then along the base of San Antonio, the last mountain before entering El Valle. The last miles of my journey rolled by and then Antonito , the first town in the San Luis Valley, appeared just around a sharp curve in the highway. It is a half worn out town, with boarded up stores, but still glowing with the memories of the past and had me wondering why happiness is sometimes touched by sadness.

Back in the fifties, the last time the good times were rolling for that town, Antonito was a Friday and Saturday night Boggie town. Rancheros and canciones bounced out of five taverns and dance halls and the large Rainbow Ball Room a mile on the other side of town.

I rented a room at the Palace Hotel, an old stone two story structure built in 1902 with none of the toilet in each room and the air conditioning that the tourists demand. This relic from the past had the toilet down the hall, wallpaper, and in the tall lobby there was a mural of a pine forest on a wall and a large statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe and a holy shrine. A little touch of comfort for the weary catholic traveler. It was just the place to escape the institional feeling of the modern motel and the suspicion that the sheets hadn’t been changed since April, May, June and July.

The Alamosa River-La Jara Creek Water Conservancy District wants to know if the state is planning to expand the Rio Grande River Compact between Colorado, Texas and New Mexico. Now, the Alamosa and La Jara Conservancy District is concerned that Colorado is trying to include their streams as part of the compact.

Workshops focus on helping ag operators with disabilities. The next workshop in the San Luis Valley will be held in Monte Vista: Jan. 28, San Luis Valley Information Center at 947 1st Ave., with Eleanor West 719-852-7381.

A pair of San Luis Valley environmental groups will host a forum Jan. 17 on the future of solar energy in the region. The keynote speaker will be William Brown of Sage West Consultants in Taos, N.M. Brown is a former scientist with the U.S. Geological Society and adviser to the Department of the Interior, Council on Environmental Quality and Al Gore's Climate Project.

There also will be a discussion panel, including viewpoints on the topic from landowners, water users, economic development, government, utilities and the conservation community. Ceal Smith, director of the San Luis Valley Water Protection Coalition, said the panelists have not been finalized. The coalition is hosting the event along with the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council. The San Luis Valley already is home to an 8.2-megawatt solar plant built by SunEdison in 2007, but more could be on the way. The state has identified the valley and a portion of southeastern Pueblo County as the most likely spots for a utility-scale solar plant.

In October, Xcel Energy and Tri State Generation and Transmission Association announced plans to build a new transmission line from the Walsenburg area into the valley. In addition to improving existing service, the utilities said the line would also allow for the import of solar-generated power out of the valley. State law has required Xcel Energy to supply 20 percent of its power from renewable resources. Four percent of that amount must come from solar-generated power. The event will run from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Hospice del Valle community room, 514 Main St., in Alamosa.

The state engineer issued a formal order Wednesday, addressing the makeup of a groundwater rules advisory committee for the San Luis Valley that could include as many as 40 members.

Waste Management Fee Hike

The Monte Vista City Council voted to wait on deciding whether to give Waste Management (WM) the go-ahead on a 3.4 percent increase, requested by Site Manager Rick Stoeber.

City Seeking Planning Commission Members

The city of Monte Vista is seeking volunteers to serve as members on the Planning and Zoning Commission. There are two vacancies on the commission. There is an opening for a two-year term and a one-year term. The one-year term is a vacancy that will be served out, ending Dec. 31, 2009. The two-year term ends Dec. 31, 2010. The Planning and Zoning Commission considers and makes recommendations to City Council regarding land use applications, such as rezoning requests, subdivision plats and special review use applications. The commission meets at 6 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month and sometimes for study sessions on the third Tuesday of the month. Interested volunteers should submit a letter of interest to City Council. Send letters to: City Council, Attn: Boards/Commissions, 4 Chico Camino St., Monte Vista, CO 81144 or alishaj@ci.monte-vista.co.us. City Council will make the appointments. For more information, call Alisha Reis at (719) 852-2692.

Youth Advisory Council

A youth advisory council was created Dec. 18; approved by the Monte Vista City Council, following the dissolution of the partnership of Boys and Girls Club (of Alamosa) and the Monte Vista branch of the Valley organization, announced by the Alamosa club earlier this month.

La Zozobra, or Old Man Gloom, awaits his fate, which is then realized on New Years Eve in the San Luis Valley.

Costilla County officials say the bodies of 67-year-old Gerrit Maureau of Calgary and his 65-year-old wife, Sheila Malm, will be recovered when it is safe to send a recovery team to Vermejo Peak. That's where the couple is presumed dead in a plane crash on Dec. 20 while heading to Santa Fe, N.M., to spend the holiday.

One of the most amazing natural wonders (if you ask me) is just 35 miles north of us here in Alamosa; that being the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Mosca, Colorado. Known as the tallest dunes in North America, they were formed by none other than mother nature, and sculpted by the mighty winds that blow east across the San Luis valley from the San Juan Mts. causing the sand to butt up against the mighty Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the east.

For some years, the Rocky had printed a growing "sporting" section. It began with a focus on boxing and horse racing. A 1913 edition included football, baseball, billiards, polo and pistol shooting, and a tradition of printing "motor news" - a new model or a big race, it didn't matter - had begun. But on July 5, 1919, Colorado had its first legitimate, home-grown, big-time world champion. Jack Dempsey, born in Manassa, took the heavyweight title from Jess Willard in a lopsided fight. Once again, boxing was front-page news:

The first female president of Trinidad State Junior College will retire today. RuthAnn Woods has been president of the college since 2005.

Can one womans tragedy turn into happily ever after? Claire Caspian is a firstrate professor, teaching even the most cynical student to find beauty in literature. But with her own personal story, she isnt as successful. Having recently lost her husband, Claire returns with her young son to the tiny desert town of Romeo, Colorado, where she grew up. There she settles in with her feisty old Abuelita, the richest woman in the county and attempts to rebuild her life. But love comes searching for Claire in the form of attractive local doctor Stephen Reyes. Will another tragedy prevent her from accepting love the second time around? Or will she embrace her new Romeo and finally find a happy ending?

Love Finds You in Romeo, Colorado by Gwen Ford Faulkenberry is a series of fulllength romance novels that give readers a peek into the flavor of local life across the United States. The novels are uniquely named after actual American towns with quirky, interesting names that inspire romance and are just plain fun! This means that each fictional story draws on the compelling history or unique character of a real place. Our fresh, original love stories will feature everything from romance kindled in small towns, to old loves lost and found on the high plains, to new loves discovered at exciting vacation getaways.

Imagine a day when the water that came out of the tap couldn’t be used for drinking, bathing or cooking. That was the case for the San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center which, along with the rest of the town, went 24 days without tap water while city and state officials cleaned out the municipal water system blamed for March’s salmonella outbreak.

SLV Big Band - "In Their Honor" Veterans appreciation concert. Monte Vista Colorado