GLENWOOD SPRINGS - Interstate 70 through the Glenwood Canyon reopened at about 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon, more than three days after a massive rock slide punched holes in the pavement and left all four lanes strewn with boulders.

Colorado Department of Transportation crews had been working to get one lane of traffic open in each direction since Monday morning. The slide occurred at about midnight Sunday.

One lane is open in each direction with a 14-foot width restriction; the speed limit is reduced to 40 mph through the canyon.

CDOT maintenance crews began clearing snow in the canyon early Thursday morning and making the final repairs necessary to get traffic moving again on the interstate, the main east-west thoroughfare through the Colorado mountains. It had been closed between Gypsum and Glenwood Springs, forcing motorists on a roughly 200-mile detour.

On Wednesday, a crew blasted a large, unstable boulder still perched 900 feet above the interstate. The blast bro

ASPEN - Violinist James Ehnes has a notably massive repertoire - around 100 concertos alone, from the core pieces of the literature to the fairly obscure, and he adds works to his arsenal each season.
The 34-year-old credits the large repertoire first to his upbringing in small-town Manitoba. Brandon, where he grew up, is the second largest city in the province, but that translates to a population of just 40,000 or so, and Brandon is 100 miles north of North Dakota, and 150 west of Manitoba's capital, Winnipeg. Ehnes has good things to say about the local college, Brandon University, where his father still teaches trumpet, but the town was not exactly teeming with classical music and musicians. Which meant plenty of opportunity to dig deep into violin compositions.
"Growing up in a small town gives you a lot of time to practice," Ehnes said from Bradenton, Fla., his home for the past decade. "I developed an appetite for learning new pieces. And the more

Vampire Weekend, "Contra" (XL)
Can we put aside the worry that Vampire Weekend is a group of Columbia University preppies borrowing the sounds of Kingston and Soweto and, as much as anything, the foreign aesthetics of the Bronx and downtown Manhattan? Because Vampire Weekend, led by singer-guitarist Ezra Koenig, sure don't seem stuck worrying about the authenticity of their efforts. They're too busy actually distilling something original out of their iPod influences - and having tons of fun in the process. Yes, Paul Simon's "Graceland" continues to echo, but "Contra" adds touches that Simon either didn't have available or didn't think of. "Cousins" drives maniacally forward on ska-punk guitar and drums - more Elvis Costello than Paul Simon - several songs feature strings that add another texture to the sound, and the techno idea of chopping up the beats for an ever-shifting rhythm runs thro

SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. - A snowboarder died Wednesday afternoon in a backcountry avalanche, mile west of Arapahoe Basin on the south side of Highway 6.

The 20-year-old man was riding with two other male snowboarders in the Steep Gullies area, a popular backcountry spot outside the A-Basin ski boundary.

The three snowboarders triggered the avalanche at about 2:50 p.m. The slide carried the victim an estimated 1,000 feet, almost completely burying his body. It took the two friends 20 to 25 minutes to reach the victim and make a 911 call.

All three men were from Spring Grove, Ill., and two of them, including the victim, have lived in the Summit County area since November. The third had arrived for a visit two days before the incident. No one in the party was carrying avalanche rescue gear (a beacon, avalanche probe and shovel).

The victim's name is being withheld, pending notification of family members. The cause of death is also being withheld, pending further investigati

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - Authorities say the strange odor seeping into a western Colorado Census Bureau office came from more than 1,000 marijuana plants growing next door.

Grand Junction census workers say the smell was coming through the vents. Police got a search warrant Tuesday and found the plants next door in the same building.

Police say the building owner told them he was growing the plants for medical marijuana patients. Officers found state registration cards for medical marijuana users and are reviewing them.

No one's been arrested.

State law permits medical marijuana use but federal law does not. Last month, federal agents found 224 pot plants in the home of a suburban Denver man who said he was a medical marijuana provider. He's been charged with possession.