50 C ENTS T RINIDAD C OLORADO Proudly Serving Southeastern Colorado and Northeastern New Mexico • www.thechronicle-news.com ~ Vol. 139, No. 69 T UESDAY A PRIL 7, 2015 APRIL 7 THE SAMARITAN CLINIC TUESDAY (9 a.m.-4 p.m./1st and 3rd each month) Here to serve the un- der-insured and non-insured communi- ty with free health care and low-cost lab work, 1st and 3rd Tuesday each month at 413 E. Frost. Info: 719-846-3536. Las Animas County TUESDAY (9 a.m.) Board of County Commissioners meeting is in the Las Animas Courthouse, 200 E. First St., Room 201. Information: 719-845-2568. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS: Gary Hill (719-845-2595), Mack Louden (719-845-2592), and Anthony Abey- ta (719-846-9300). Trinidad City Council TUESDAY (7 p.m.) Regular ses- sion will be held in Council Chambers, City Hall, 135 N. Animas St. Informa- tion: Audra Garrett, 719-846-9843. CITY COUNCIL: Mayor: Joe Reorda and Council Members: Carol Bolton, Joe Bonato, Pat Fletcher, Anthony Mat- tie, Michelle Miles, and Liz Torres. Today’s Quote “Destiny is not a matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for. It is a thing to be achieved.” ~Epitaph APRIL 8 Piñon Water Sanitation WEDNESDAY (8:30 a.m.) District meeting will be in the Century Financial Building, 109 W. Main. Information: Dana Phillips, 719-846-2080. Tourism Board WEDNESDAY (9 a.m.) Commit- tee meets in the City Hall Third Floor Conference Room, 135 N. Animas St. Information: City Clerk, Audra Garrett, 719-846-9843. Stonewall FPD WEDNESDAY (5:30 p.m.) Board of Directors meets in the Stonewall Fire House. Information: Dana Phillips, 719-846-2080. VFW Post 984 WEDNESDAY (7 p.m.) Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 984 will meet in the Elks Club Banquet Room, 120 S. Maple St. New members need to bring their DD214. Information: Post Com- mander John Rios, 719-846-6094. PUBLIC SERVICE TRINIDAD’S GOT TALENT THURSDAY (6:30 p.m.) Singing and dancing talent with acts to amaze — fun for the whole family at this annual event at the Trinidad Middle School Auditorium, 614 Park St. Info: 719-846-4411. FLEA MARKET & BAKE SALE FRIDAY (8:30 am.) Sayre Senior Center will be hosting their annual Flea Market and Bake Sale fundraiser at the Center, 1222 San Pedro. Info: Anna Ris- ley, 719-846-3336. Proceeds help sup- port the Center. GREAT GATSBY MYSTERY FRIDAY (5-7 p.m.) Wear your 1920s costume and join the effort to solve the murder that’s happened at the Carnegie Public Library, 202 N. Animas St. Info: Felicity Boepple, 719-846-6841. ART SHOW OPENING GALA FRIDAY (6-8 p.m.) Trinidad Area Arts Council’s opening reception for “Primal Dance: Movements in Color,” an exhibition of art by Roxanne Regan- Briggs will be held at Gallery Main, 130 E. Main St. Info: 719-846-1441. EASTER CONCERT FRIDAY (7 p.m.) Second perfor- mance of “A Celebration of the Resurrection” musical presenta- tion by the Choir and TUMC Gospel Combo will be held at the Methodist Church, 216 Broom St. SPRING FLING SATURDAY: Come out for the an- nual Holy Trinity Academy Flea Market and Craft Sale fundraiser for the school. Call for vendor info: 719-846-4522. LOVE & LOGIC SATURDAY & APRIL 18 (9:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.) This outstanding parenting program will be held at the Mt. Carmel Community Center, 911 Robinson St. Registration & Info: 719-845-4894. ALL ABOUT GIRLS SATURDAY (11:30 a.m.- 1:30 p.m.) An exciting musical luncheon will be held at Mt. Carmel’s Primero Café, 911 Robinson St. Tickets and info: 719-845-4822. Stonewall FPD Auxiliary SATURDAY (2 p.m.) A general membership meeting will be held at the Stonewall Fire Hall. Info: 719-868- 2249. T HE F INE P RINT W EATHER W ATCH Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 73. Breezy, with a southwest wind 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph. Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 38. Breezy, with a southwest wind 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 68. Windy, with a southwest wind 10 to 20 mph increasing to 20 to 30 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 40 mph. Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 32. Breezy, with a west wind 20 to 25 mph decreasing to 10 to 15 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph. Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 58. West wind around 10 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. North northeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west after midnight. Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 64. South southwest wind 5 to 10 mph. Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 36. South- west wind 5 to 10 mph. R IVER C ALL Purgatoire River Call as of: 04/06/15. Hoehne ditch: Priority # 20 --- Appropriation date: 10/07/1865. Trinidad Reservoir Accounting: Release 37.31 AF Inflow 127.28 AF -- 64.17 CFS Evaporation 10.97 AF Content 20,271 AF Elevation 6,184.02 Precipitation 0 Downstream River Call / High- land Canal: 05/31/1866. THE C HRONICLE N EWS Work begins Bright and early Monday morning the construction work to rebuild Com- mercial Street began. Funds for the project came from a DOLA grant and matching City funds. Look for partial road closings, a block at a time, over the next several months. Photos by Eric John Monson / The Chronicle-News COMMERCIAL ST. ADVANCED & UPDATED PROGRAMING Computer Kernel offers technology solutions, service for area users By Steve Block The Chronicle-News Many people are only too fa- miliar with that dreaded moment when their computer freezes up, crashes or just runs too slowly. Computer Kernel is one of Trini- dad’s newest businesses, and of- fers a complete package of soft- ware programs to fix computers and keep them running smoothly. It derives its unique name from a computer kernel, which inter- faces between the three major computer hardware components, providing services between the ap- plication / user interface and the Central Processing Unit (CPU), memory and other hardware In- put / Output devices, according to the website: www.techopedia. com. The team at Computer Kernel includes Kris and Paula Alworth and Billy Robb, but the key player is Hayden Alworth the 16 year-old, home-schooled tech whiz who has developed a software program called “PC Popper,” that prevents unwanted programs from opening automatically when the computer starts up. They can work on, and if necessary replace, any of the components of a computer’s hard drive. “We can do the hardware re- placements,” Kris Alworth said. “Our main focus is speeding things up and making the operating sys- tem function more smoothly.” The team concentrates on the various Windows operating sys- tems, though they will have a look at Apple computers and see what they can do. Computers get dirty when too many software programs are downloaded onto them and they can get so slow it isn’t even worth turning them on. It took young Hayden about 2.5 years to develop the PC Popper program, which he started when he was try- ing to fix the Alworth’s own home Steve Block / The Chronicle-News The Computer Kernel opened in January at 827 Arizona Ave. Billy Robb, left, and Kris Alworth of Computer Kernel work to make computers run more smoothly and effectively. Continued on Page 3 ... Staff Report The Chronicle-News WALSENBURG — Contempt of court charges filed against Third Judicial District Attorney Frank Ruybalid were dismissed Thurs- day, March 19, after a brief hear- ing in District Court, reported the Huerfano Journal last week. Last week was also the first week attor- ney Terry Ruckriegle began his monitoring of Ruybalid’s office as part of an agreement, after sanc- tions, with the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel. Ruybalid faced the charges of contempt when no attorney from the DA’s office appeared in court for three criminal hearings on Thursday, December 11, 2014. The court dismissed the three separate criminal cases against defendants Noah A. Graf, Jodie Howard and Michael Montez when they were called due to the lack of a pros- ecutor in the courtroom. District Judge Claude Appel had to dis- miss the cases and cited Ruybalid for contempt of court. Ruybalid later, as way of explanation, cit- ed a misunderstanding between he and fill-in Deputy DA, Steven Jones. Graf had faced 10 local charges including: two counts of posses- sion of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture or distribute, one count was a class 2 felony, the other a class 3 felony; first degree aggravated motor vehicle theft, class four felony; second degree criminal trespass, a class four felony; criminal mis- chief, a class four felony; vehicu- lar eluding, a class five felony, obstructing a peace officer, class two misdemeanor, driving under restraint, eluding a peace officer and speeding. Howard, in a companion case with Graf, had been charged with theft over $20,000, a class three felony, possession of a schedule II controlled substance with intent to manufacture or distribute, a class three felony and vehicular eluding, a class five felony. Montez had been charged in association with an assault at the Huerfano County Jail in late November 2014. The charges dis- missed against him were retalia- tion against a witness or victim, a class three felony and assault in the third degree, a class three mis- Contempt of court charges against DA Ruybalid dismissed OFFICE MONITORING BEGINS Continued on Page 2 ... P AGE 6 O VER THE P ASS