What's up? We got a reverse 911 Evacuation call so moved To a friends house in Snowmass. Happy New Year.
No 8:30PM fireworks. What about the fireworks scheduled for midnight??? Free Concert and bonfire at Wagner Park..cancelled. Most of the downtown restaurants are closed, businesses evacuated. Will cost these businesses plenty. We weren't planning on going out anyway. Hope this doesn't become an annual thing. I don't get what fun it is for someone to do this. speculation that somebody is mad cause they got laid off. somebody is mad at the banks for not lending them money or a foreclosure. just a prank. Well the FBI is here as is the bomb squad from Grand Junction. Meanwhile it was a great ski day. Happy New Year everybody.
Suspect in Aspen bomb threats kills self By Kirk Mitchell and Joey Bunch The Denver Post Posted: 01/01/2009 09:17:27 AM MST Updated: 01/01/2009 10:05:34 AM MST Aspen police officer Bill Linn peers from behind a wall at a sled containing wrapped packages left in an alleyway between Hopkins and Hyman Avenue in Downtown Aspen on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008. (Aspen Daily News | ZACH ORNITZ ) Related Jan 1: Threats shut down AspenDec 31: Bomb threats evacuate downtown AspenAspen cleared by bomb threats; suspect found deadA 72-year-old Denver parolee suspected of sending threatening notes to two Aspen banks shot himself to death, authorities say. The body of James Chester Blanning Jr. of Denver was discovered late Wednesday in a car on a mountain road, according to a law enforcement official. Blanning allegedly sent suspicious packages and threatening notes at two Aspen banks that led to an evacuation of the downtown area on one of this legendary party town's most festive nights. A package with a note was discovered about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at Wells Fargo branch at 119 S. Mill St. Minutes later similar packages showed up at the Vectra Colorado branch at 534 East Hyman Ave. The Aspen Police Department said the packages came with "a note A bank surveillance camera image of the suspect. (Aspen Police Department)(that) indicated a credible threat to the community." Authorities this morning still hadn't said what was inside the packages. They were wrapped in Christmas paper and had pizza boxes underneath them, said police officer Stephanie Dasaro. Surveillance pictures got a clear image of an older man leaving the packages. Blanning was sentenced in Rio Blanco District Court in 1996 to 16 years in prison for racketeering and a series of white collar crimes encompassing forgery of deeds and wills, fraudulent security sales and forged money, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records. He was serving parole in Denver when he killed himself, according to Colorado Department of Corrections records. Some people Wednesday night went to evacuation centers set up at schools, but most visitors were holed up in hotels outside the evacuated 16-block area, said Aspen resident Bridgett Bowers, who lives about five blocks outside the evacuation zone. Witnesses said the evacuation zone stretched from Original Street on the east to Monarch Street on the west, and from Main Street on the north to Cooper Street on the south. "It started as something small, and now they've cordoned off pretty much all of downtown," Bowers A photo of the clear plastic boxes containing holiday wrapped packages and pizza boxes in the bottom of this black sled. (Aspen Police Department)said Wednesday night. She said people are "pretty freaked out" and dismayed about the lack of information from local authorities. "It's pretty frightening because it just keeps going on and on and nobody is saying what's really going on," she said. "Everybody I've talked to is pretty scared." Aspen's expensive clubs and restaurants stand to lose a lot of money because of the evacuations. Venues in the fashionable city are typically packed on New Year's Eve with wealthy and sometimes famous tourists and residents. Thousands turn out each year for the fireworks over Aspen Mountain and the annual bonfire in Wagner Park. Johnathan Dean, a front desk employee, said Aspen Square Condominium Hotel, just outside the zone, was filled with disappointed holiday visitors, but they were getting takeout from outlying restaurants or food from the town's City Market. "This is going to cost millions of dollars to Aspen," he said. "Every restaurant in town was booked; parties everywhere were canceled."
One of the bombs behind Wells Fargo exploded. Police Not sure whether it was set off by the bomb squad or went off as planned by the bomber. The bombs (at least 5) were composed of 5 gals of gasoline and used cell phones as detonation devices. No one was hurt and the fire was put out quickly. The bomb exploded after midnight, we heard it about 12:30 AM. The Jerome and Ruth Chris were jammed as they were outside of the closed zone. All of the restaurants were booked. the closing will cost those businesses millions. It's the biggest night of the year. The bomber definitely had mental problems. Had several run ins with the law in the 80s and 90s. Went to prison for selling fraudulent mining claims in the 90s...he was out on parole. Looks like they were right in closing off the area. He shot himself with a pistol and had a rifle in his car when they found him dead. So he was probably armed when he went into the banks with his packages. the pictures from the cameras in the two banks were identified by the Pitkin Co. Sheriff. And at least one other person identified him. the picture of him was put on local TV and the Internet after 8 PM last night. Why he targeted 4 or 5 banks nobody knows. When the police were asked if the man was mentally ill his reply was "that's safe to assume." A wacko who ruined New Years for thousands of people. Aspen has a full time population of about 6,000 and swells to about 28,000 at the peak. And this doesn't inclued the workers who were in town waiting tables and clerking at the shops. The police estimated it cost between $150k to $200k as all the neighboring police and Sheriff depts were called in as well as the FBI (called in on all FDIC insured bank threats). Maybe we will have the fireworks tonight. There was a herd of Elk playing behind our house when we got up this morning. Happy New Year.
I thought this was interesting "display" from 1994 involving the same guy: Update: Blanning has been involved a previous weird incident in Aspen. From the Rocky Mountain News, July 29, 1994 (available on Lexis.com): Man With Noose Surrenders on Roof An embittered man with a rope around his neck held off authorities from a perch on the roof of the Pitkin County Courthouse in Aspen for seven hours Thursday. ''One way over the edge or one way walking,'' James C. Blanning, 58, of Carbondale told KSPN radio newsman Rick Weiss, one of several reporters who stretched out an attic window for an interview. ''I don't think he's going to jump,'' Weiss said. ''I think he was happy with the attention he's getting, and we're going to cover this until he's done. '' Weiss was right. Blanning surrendered at 7:03 p.m., said Hilary Fletcher Smith of the Pitkin County Sheriff's Department. No criminal charges had been filed. Weiss said one end of the rope was around Blanning's neck and the other was around an ornament on the landmark courthouse. Blanning fiddled with a pocketknife as he talked, but he never made eye contact, even though they were about 2 feet apart, the reporter said. Blanning said in the interview that he was protesting ''for the working people, the people who actually work eight hours a day, 40 hours a week.'' He said working people ''have been driven out'' of expensive resort communities such as Aspen ''by the elitists or whatever you want to call them.'' He also lamented the June 6 suicide of his friend Stefan Albouy, 34, a miner. Albouy gained notoriety in the 1980s for a proposal to mine marble in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness Area. The project attracted powerful opponents, including Sen. Tim Wirth, D-Colo., and the Sierra Club. Blanning called Albouy ''one of the finest people who ever came down the road.'' ''You reach a certain point where you have to make a statement,'' he said. Blanning also told John Colson of the Aspen Daily Times that he was angry that the Colorado Supreme Court had rejected hearing a mining-claims case that had gone against him. Blanning, who acted as his own attorney, ''was basically told he could represent himself in court but he couldn't represent his mining corporation,'' Colson said. The spectacle, which began about noon, drew crowds of curious locals and tourists, who were kept behind a rope barrier as the courthouse was cleared. Some in the crowd videotaped authorities handing Blanning suntan lotion and water; temperatures were in the high 80s. Some yelled at Blanning to jump. ''About half think he's serious and half think it's a joke,'' said Neil Bishop, manager of the KFC Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant across Main Street from the courthouse. Negotiators had determined that Blanning was ''not a threat to public safety,'' Smith said. Blanning apparently climbed a little-used staircase from the courthouse's second floor to the attic and then made his way to his perch, about 60 feet above the ground. Weiss said he began to broadcast the interview with Blanning live over a cellular telephone, but authorities intervened. So he tape-recorded a 10-minute interview. The radio reporter said Blanning seemed incoherent. ''He said he wanted to stew in his own juices,'' Weiss said.
Police: Four bombs left in Aspen; suspect killed himself Janet Urquhart The Aspen Times Aspen, CO Colorado Email Print Comment Recommend (1) ENLARGE Aspen Assistant Police Chief Bill Linn offers additional details on the bomb threats that forced the evacuation of much of downtown Aspen Wednesday, during a press conference Thursday morning. The sole suspect in the threats, Jim Blanning, was later found dead; he apparently killed himself, Linn said. Janet Urquhart/The Aspen TimesASPEN Aspen police believe Jim Blanning was acting alone when he deposited four bombs around downtown Aspen Wednesday before apparently killing himself in his vehicle east of town. Assistant Police Chief Bill Linn described the events of Wednesday and the wee hours of Thursday at a press conference outside the Pitkin County Courthouse on Thursday morning. A Grand Junction bomb squad disabled four handmade bombs late Wednesday and early Thursday two that Blanning left in a pair of local banks and two he apparently left in an alleyway after discovering police were responding to reports of bombs in the first two banks Blanning visited. Police believe the other two bombs were intended for two other banks, Linn said. We really applaud the banks for their clear-headed response, which was to call police, he said. Authorities arent sure when Blanning shot himself; he was found dead in his Jeep Cherokee in rural Pitkin County, east of town. Highway 82 east of Aspen is gated at the base of Independence Pass, as the pass is closed to travel during the winter months. Linn did not reveal the exact location of Blannings vehicle, but said he was armed with at least a handgun, which he apparently used to take his own life, and a rifle. The bomb squad was checking the vehicle Thursday morning to make sure it was safe, Linn said. In Denver, authorities were searching Blannings residence Thursday morning, Linn said. Blanning, 71, was a former longtime Aspen resident whose family moved to town in the 1940s. In the 1990s, he was convicted of fraudulent land sales in the Aspen area and sent to prison to serve a sentence. An evacuation order on Wednesday, which eventually cleared a 16-block area of downtown Aspen, was lifted at about 5 a.m. Thursday. Wells Fargo Bank and Vectra Bank the two institutions where Blanning actually delivered bombs and threatening letters that indicated Aspen will pay a horrible price in blood if his directions werent carried out remained cordoned off on Thursday morning while Aspen police and FBI agents continued to collect evidence. Blannings notes demanded $60,000 from each bank, to be provided to him in used $100 bills, Linn said. At least one of the banks, Blanning apparently delivered two packages, wrapped like a holiday gifts. He handed one package, containing the note, to a bank employee, and left the other package, containing the bomb, at the bank, Linn said. The bombs were constructed with gasoline, a detonation device made with a cell phone, and an anti-tampering device made with a mousetrap, Linn said. The bomb squad wasnt sure whether or not the devices would actually have worked, he said, but when the squad broke apart one of them, it produced a pretty good fireball outside Wells Fargo. The bomb squad used a high-pressure water cannon to blow apart the bombs, creating what sounded like detonations around town late Wednesday and early Thursday, according to police. The bombs werent actually exploding, though, except for the one outside Wells Fargo, along Hopkins Avenue. On Thursday, Linn also explained the police departments decision to close off downtown Aspen on what would likely have been one of the busiest nights of the winter season in an already-hurting economy. In the interests of safety, we had to do the most prudent and safest thing, he said. Asked to assess the actual danger to the town, Linn said: Its hard to actually quantify that. There were four actual bombs in downtown Aspen. How dangerous is that? Dangerous enough. Police chose not to set up checkpoints for traffic leaving town Wednesday night to search for the suspect, though, and did not prevent traffic from entering town throughout the evacuation, he said. Authorities werent even sure who they were looking for until late Wednesday evening, after Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis identified the suspect as Blanning from a security photo taken at Vectra Bank, Linn explained. And, Linn added, the situation was already severely impacting the town. As for the losses suffered by restaurants and nightclubs that were either evacuated or were never able to open for New Years Eve, Linn said he couldnt put a dollar figure to the impact, but guessed it was in the millions. The law enforcement costs alone, including police agencies from around the Roaring Fork Valley and federal agents, is estimated at $150,000 to $200,000, he said.
From a news account: "Blanning handwrote what he called a 'last will and testament,' leaving three Denver properties to two men. He gave no motive, but he wrote, 'I was and am a good man.'"
The entire City got screwed by that sob. Luckily I did not get evacuated (Little Nell) and got a table at Montagna. Still,would prefer to keep my reservation at Campo. I am a bit shocked to see such a drop in visitors this year though,fewer people on the slopes,fewer in the restaurants.
In all seriousness I was too. Keeping in mind that many made plans way in advance that they couldn't cancel it was very sad. It's very strange seeing empty tables in Aspen at Christmas.
Aspen's feeling the pinch. Real estate is suffering. A friend of mind just finished a $9M spec house a couple of months ago....I know he wishes he had never built it.
Yes, please do explain..what is inaccurate? We wish we were in Aspen over Christmas..we called off our annual trip a few months back and almost made it a new years trip instead. Glad noone was hurt
We had fireworks at 8:30PM on New Year's night. Which were just as good as ever. Did some bar hopping on Jan 2nd. we met several people from out of town...Maryland, Connecticut, North Carolina and L.A. None of them had to move out of their hotel/lodge. All were able to do things on New Year's Eve. Everyone said they had a good time and would come back. The locals are glad it was a crazy guy rather than some kind of terrorist attack...terrorists seem to be an ongoing chronic threat. this appears to just be a lone nut job who didn't have any help...an isloated incident. things seem to be pretty much back to normal. the good looking young models are still showing off the Dennis Basso furs while you imbibe your adult beverage at the Little Nell. We got 13" of new powder last night. Life is good.
Yes,Little Nell was full (as always) but not as crowded as other years,Campo last night was almost empty though (unheard of before).
Maybe Campo needs some good looking girls in furs. I never go in there. Never. Too many other great places to go. We went to Takah Sushi last night. Got our favorite sushi chef (Jake). We always go early to avoid the crowds...it was jammed when we left. Walked by the Crystal Palace and there were only 4 or 5 tables full out of dozens. they can't even pay their light bill with that turnout. I've never dined there since Metcalf sold and they did away with the dinner theater. We better go real soon and try it before they go out of business! Usually you have to make reservations way in advance. Now it seems you can get in the day of most places...good for the customers, not so good for the restaurants.
You got that right about the girls. At that same time at Cache Cache Linda Evangelista was waiting to get a table, while Ivana Trump (not a looker but an attraction of sorts) was "impressing" other diners with her a bit gaudy looking jeans finished with russian Sable... Btw,for lunch Cloud 9 is still my favorite....
Gloria Estefan (sp?) looked pretty good. Of course, I am a geezer myself so she looks young to me. As Einstein said: it's all relative.
