School district exploring options to garner input, goodwill on 2021-22 calendar aspentimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from aspentimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
However, for others with lingering symptoms of the coronavirus, that light is harder to see.
“Well, it feels like I’m living a nightmare,” said Clay Shiflet, an Aspen Middle School teacher and valley resident who’s been suffering the effects of COVID-19 for a year. “Literally, it’s hard to wrap your head around feeling like you have something that’s become chronic, essentially.”
Shiflet and others are known as “long-haulers,” and studies across the country are showing that more and more people afflicted with the virus report symptoms that just won’t go away. The number of long-haulers appears to vary, with a recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association and a study by British scientists estimating that 10% of COVID-19 patients belong to that group, though others have suggested the number is much higher.
Collage of the Aspen City Council candidates 2021. Top row from left: Sam Rose, Erin Smiddy, Casey Endsley, John Doyle; second row from left: Ward Hauenstein, Jimbo Stockton, Mark Reece, Kimbo Brown-Schirato.
Editor’s note: The Aspen Times has posed five questions to each of the eight Aspen City Council candidates running for two open seats in the March 2 election. We will run answers (200-word limit) to one question each day this week, beginning Monday with some background and the first question:
What can you do as an Aspen City Council member to improve the average citizen’s quality of life?
Arlo Duncan, 4, left, Jeremy Duncan, Willa Duncan, 2, and Lyssa Duncan play in the snow outside of their home in Basalt Vista behind Basalt High School on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. The family of four moved into their home in September. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Jeremy Duncan, left, stands with his son Arlo, 4, wife Lyssa, and daughter Willa, 2, outside of their home in Basalt Vista on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
The third phase of construction is underway in the Basalt Vista neighborhood behind Basalt High School on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Jeremy and Lyssa Duncan were determined to figure out a way to settle in the Roaring Fork Valley despite the usual and formidable housing obstacles.
Students and teachers in Aspen and Shimukappu, Japan meet via Zoom for a virtual Aspen Sister Cities exchange on Jan. 27, 2021.
It was 6:30 p.m. on a Wednesday and eight middle school students four in their homes in Aspen and four in a classroom in Shimukappu, Japan, plus a few teachers and translators on both ends were practicing their greetings over Zoom: Hellos and konichiwas all around.
Students thanked each other for gifts they sent in December (hats sent to Shimukappu, candy and pens to Aspen). They presented slideshows about holiday traditions. They discussed winter sports (some were bigger fans than others) and tasty treats (mochi was a big hit).