The Good News
2017 April/May
Pg 4 - The Sunshine Express
Would You Recognize Elder Abuse If You Saw It?
Region 10 Community Living Services and our community partners are committed
to educating the public about elder abuse and exploitation. YES, it does happen in
Western Colorado, hundreds of times a day!
In an effort to shine a bright light on this problem, we will begin an aggressive 4
month campaign to inform, educate, and protect our older adults.
Beginning in March, we will host community education events, post informational
flyers, bulletins, and brochures in public places, and provide resource links wherever
we are invited to do so. We would also like to have public service announcements,
scam alerts, and editorials with local media outlets.
The event finale will be a region-wide celebration of World Elder Abuse Awareness
Day on June 15th. All events will be free and open to the public; the target audience
is older adults and anybody who cares about them.
Elder Abuse Awareness Campaign Begins
The new David Starr EP ¡®The Head And Heart¡¯ now available!
My new six-song ¡®The Head And Heart¡¯ EP features new original and
co-written songs, as well as a re-imagined arrangement of a 1960¡¯s
Mama¡¯s and Papa¡¯s classic.
Produced and arranged by John Oates of Daryl Hall & John Oates,
this release features some of Nashville¡¯s finest session players, as
well as myself and Mr. Oates.
I¡¯m really excited about this new release!
The CD¡¯s with credits and full lyric sheet are available at: www.
starrsguitars.com/collections/concert-tickets/products/david-starr-
the-head-and-heart-cd for $9.99 with free shipping in the US.
California and United Kingdom Tours Planned
I will be touring California in April for a couple of weeks. Then it¡¯s
off to England and Scotland in May where I¡¯ll be playing house con-
certs, radio shows, showcases, concert halls and perhaps a castle
or two along the way.
Check out my website for upcoming tour dates:
www.davidstarrmusic.com/tour_dates
Producer Oates with
David Starr at Addiction
Sound Studios in Nashville
during the sessions for the
new EP. Photo: Jeff Fasano
News From Local Phenom David Starr
Please join us in this effort to prevent elder abuse.
*10% of older adults are abused or exploited each year in the
United States. *4 of every 5 cases go unreported. *Scams are at
an all-time high with older adults being the primary target.
Anyone interested in hosting an event, telling their own story of
victimization, or assisting with this project should call Region 10.
Experts in the topic will also be available for interviews.
For more information about the Elder Abuse Awareness Campaign
contact Madison Fowler at Region 10: 970.765.3125, madison@
region10.net
With a predicted white-water season from April to early June, this is a rare chance
to raft this bucket list river. The Dolores River is a bit of a ¡°jewel in the desert¡±. It
has such a controversial history and the release of water from the McPhee Dam is
so infrequent.
It is predicted that the Dolores River will have 60 days of river flow over 800 cubic
feet per second (CFS). Thirty nine of those days above 2000 CFS! Four of those
days at 4,000 CFS. In layman¡¯s terms, that means the river will be flowing furiously
at full blast! This is not only beneficial for boaters and rafting companies, but is also
a great opportunity for the river to restore its native habitat.
It is currently predicted that 255,000 acre-feet of water will be released into the
Dolores River. Making it a raging whitewater adventure with a few powerful Class IV
rapids! There is rarely enough water to navigate a kayak, let alone a raft, down the
waterway. We hope you are as excited as we are to return to a rare Dolores River
rafting season!
(source: mild2wildrafting.com/rafting-blog/dolores-river-rafting)
[Dolores River rafting tours available now at: mild2wildrafting.com or call Mild to
Wild at: 970.247.4789 or 800.567.6745]
Dolores River Rafting Is Back!
A New Perspective from the Beautiful Dolores River via Rafting
By Molly Mickel, March 16, 2017: For the first time in over a decade the Do-
lores River will receive consistent flow releases from McPhee reservoir. That
means consistent rafting on this extremely special and unique river.
A true classic western river, the Dolores is on par with the greats: the Grand
Canyon, the Salmon River and then there is the Dolores River! Winding
through slick rock canyons, remote wilderness, and towering ponderosa for-
ests, the river reaches terrain rarely touched by humans.
The Dolores is damned near the headwaters at McPhee Reservoir. For many
years the droughts in Colorado in conjunction with farmers using the water as
a means of irrigation have prohibited any ability to run this river. The Dolores
is a classic emblem of the struggle to balance agriculture and recreation in the
west. Since the water levels have been dangerously low, the Dolores River has
been largely inaccessible to boaters. The McPhee Dam now holds the water
that was once flowing down the Dolores River Canyon.
The River has been considered ¡°dead¡± since the drought struck Southwest
Colorado in 2000. The river hasn¡¯t been consistently raft-able since the McPhee
Dam was suddenly forced to release water during a rainstorm in the fall of
1999. Flowing at a less then raging one cubic foot per second, the Dolores
river hasn¡¯t flowed much higher than ankle height in years. Occasionally the
river has gotten a few days of water released. It has not received a full season
in close to a decade.
Dolores River Rafting Controversy
Deemed to be one of the mightiest white-water rivers in the West, the Dolores
River drops over 6,500 vertical feet over 50 miles. Since 1984, the McPhee
Dam has held back the water flow to this river to be diverted to irrigate farms
in Montezuma Valley and Ute Mountain Indian Reservation. Farmers in this
area pushed hard to get the McPhee Dam to be used for their irrigation pur-
poses. In their eyes ¡°water not used is water wasted.¡±
Dating back to the 1800¡¯s, there have been constant battles between envi-
ronmentalists and farmer regarding what the precious river water should be
used for. Environmentalists and rafters are in favor of letting the water run its
course naturally. Those with a vested interest in agriculture and forestry want
to keep the water in the region, rather then flowing out of state. With such an
arid climate, the water is a valuable resource for agriculture in the Southwest.
The fact that snowpack is finally high enough to allow for releases from the
McPhee Reservoir is rare and end exciting news!
Dolores River Rafting Makes it¡¯s Return
Dolores River rafting is something you won¡¯t want to miss out on this season!