Luis “Louie” Ibarra, a longtime Pueblo disc jockey who used his warm and inviting voice to share his love for Tejano music with Southern Colorado, died Jan. 2 from COVID-19 complications. He was 74 years old.
Ibarra grew up in San Antonio, Texas, where he developed a love for music that he carried with him the rest of his life.
“My grandfather was a musician, so my dad pretty much grew up around musicians,” said one of Louie s sons, Danny Ibarra.
“He played with some pretty prominent musicians at the time, so that’s how my dad got involved. And then being from San Antonio right when Tejano music pretty much started and got its big boom, my dad was there as a young man and just fell in love with it.”
As World War II was raging in the South Pacific, American soldiers brought war dogs to the island of Saipan – part of what is now the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) – to sniff out bombs and detect enemy forces hiding in the thick jungle.
But after the war ended and soldiers returned home, many of those hero dogs remained on the island.
Their descendants, referred to by island natives as “boonie dogs,” still roam Saipan, contributing to a massive overpopulation of strays, many of which are sick, malnourished, and badly mistreated by humans.
Sisters Aria and Grace Keilbach are trying to change that.
Pueblo leader in agricultural water rights Carl Genova dies
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A successful farmer who knew the value of protecting water rights in the Arkansas River Valley, Carl Genova, died on Dec. 25.
He was 88.
Genova, known for his humility and passion for working in agricultural water rights, made an impact on the Pueblo farming community that can still be felt.
The couple died less than 72 hours apart in their family home earlier in December.
“The concurrent loss of both of these individuals is devastating, but is a testament to their commitment to one another and the incredible way in which life can sometimes work,” Gianna Lisac, the couple’s youngest granddaughter, said.
“My grandparents fostered a family environment where you always felt at home and where you knew you were always loved and appreciated for exactly the person you were, and it’s something our family will always carry with us.”
Josephine’s health was declining, so family had gathered in socially distant shifts prior to their deaths to say their goodbyes.