I am a bit unworried for Poppy’s and Mama Rose’s

The owners had a private meeting with Sen. Bennet and apparently started crying about how this may be their last year of business because two former employees of RMNP lost their jobs. You can of course see the direct connection. I will do my best in the coming months to eliminate some of their uncertainty by promising not to dine at either of their establishments, so they won't have to wonder whether I will be doing my part to save them from the uncertainty of who, if anyone, will vacation or eat in Estes Park this summer, or whether the Uneed Piepers will have to start selling tumbleweeds online. Cry me an onion. Meanwhile, a number of businesses in Estes Park closed already this winter furreal, and it had nothing to do with the federal government and all to do with local landlords wanting to grow richer than they already are. The real problem might be better examined by looking inward, and shaming landlords who extort their tenants by making outrageous demands and charging exorbitant rents. I know the Village Voice steals most of their story ideas from this blog, and I wish they exhibited any interest in stealing this one. But I've told their editor and one of their writers twice that minority-owned businesses are being forced to close because of landlords not honoring signed leases, and they continue to comfort the comfortable and ignore the afflicted. Barbo will find out soon enough, though, how stable her employment down the way is, and will bounce back regardless to start an heirloom tomato cooking monthly printed in crayon that no one asked for, or reads.