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From Man to Myth in a Flash
I realized as I tilted back a Flying Dog ale at the Woody Creek Tavern that I had just witnessed a man end and a myth begin.
An Unorthodox Path to Orthodoxy
LEWISTOWN – In an old redbrick church down a winding road, Gregorian chants and incense rise up to the bell tower.
“Kyrie eleison,” the congregants intone, while at the altar, a retired cop-turned-Orthodox priest performs rituals as old as Christianity. When he steps down to face the crowd, he delivers a sermon like a country preacher, sweat beading on his forehead. read more…
Ivory Poaching Rears its Head
Elephants cross Amboseli National Park. David Frey photo.
Uhuru lay in a clearing surrounded by acacias, far from any roads, legs bent as if ready to run. He was headless, and whatever glory he had when he was alive had bled from the open wound.
A Lens on DC’s Underworld
Jordan Brown sees a side of D.C. not everyone does. He points his camera lens in places many of us are afraid to look. His D.C. is the dark underbelly of Washington, a gritty realm of deception and subterfuge, of predators and prey.
Jordan Brown shoots video of bugs. read more…
Terrorism Comes Home
Ruslon Tsarna speaks with reporters at his Maryland home. David Frey photo.
Ruslan Tsarni hadn’t yet brought in his garbage cans when reporters, then investigators, showed up at his home Friday morning. By afternoon, his quiet cul-de-sac in Montgomery Village was echoing with news choppers hovering overhead and reporters swarming the street.
He had been following the tragedy of the Boston Marathon bombing like the rest of the country. Then his wife pulled up images from AOL of the two suspects accused of setting the bombs that killed three and maimed scores of others as it exploded at the finish line. The faces were his brother’s sons. read more…
The Endless Season
Tal Petty is a contrarian. While his friends head to Eastern Shore beach houses on weekends, Petty spirals 60 miles south in his Volvo SUV from his home in Bethesda to the family farm near Hollywood, Md.
On the 300-acre spread his mother named Tranquility Farm, he raises grass-fed Angus beef, a few sheep, a couple chickens—and about a million oysters. read more…
‘A Second Try’
As President Obama took his second oath of office, several Roaring Fork Valley residents were on hand. A group of Glenwood Springs High School students made the trek. So did the chair of the Garfield County Democrats. Aspen Public Radio’s David Frey caught up with Jack Real on his second attempt to see Mr. Obama’s inauguration.
Listen to the story here: Inauguration read more…
Colorado Tree Becomes Capitol Tree
Legislators in Washington now can step back from the “fiscal cliff” and take shelter under a Colorado tree. The lights are lit on the Capitol Christmas Tree, which made a 5,000-mile trek from Meeker, Colorado to the West Lawn of the Capitol. In a city better known for legislative fighting, the so-called “People’s Tree” has made the Capitol a setting for a silent night. David Frey reports from Washington.
Listen to the story here: Capitol Christmas Tree read more…
Smithsonian Museum Director Faces Mammoth Undertaking
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Director Kirk Johnson stands in the museum rotunda with Henry, the Smithsonian’s iconic elephant model. David Frey photo.
Kirk Johnson went from digging up mastodon bones in Snowmass Village to overseeing the biggest natural history museum in the world. Johnson took over last month as director of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. He capped 21 years at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science with the Snowmass dig — one of the most important fossil discoveries in the country. His charge at the Smithsonian is to turn the venerable institution into a 21st century museum. David Frey reports from Washington.
Listen to the story here: Museum Director read more…
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