Serving the community since 1866
WEEK OF NOVEMBER 7, 2024
VOLUME 158 | ISSUE 45
$2
Edgar Mine opens to the public for ‘Friends and Family’ day
Jeffco inmate votes for the first time thanks to new Colorado law BY SUZIE GLASSMAN SGLASSMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Tour members explore the Edgar Mine in Idaho Springs Oct. 26.
Instead of producing gold, the 150-year-old mine now acts as a one-of-a-kind research and educational facility BY CHRIS KOEBERL CKOEBERL@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The Edgar Mine recently opened the massive steel doors to its main mine shaft to the public as part of its “Friends and Family” days. The mine is tucked into the mountains just above the city of Idaho Springs and has been since 1870. During the gold rush, it was owned by the Big Five Mining Company and produced tons of high-grade
MINSTER
gold, silver, lead and copper, according to Mines. The Colorado School of Mines in Golden acquired the Edgar in 1921 and now owns and operates it as a cuttingedge research facility in fields from chemical, electrical and petroleum engineering to mining technology and explosives, according to Mines. Students like Ray Tsukada say it allows them to take classroom instruction into a real mine for hands-on experience in their field of study. On Oct. 26 the mine was open to the public for walking tours of the winding rocky caverns inside the mine that stays at a constant 54 degrees year round. One group of about a dozen people picked their bright yellow hard hats and tightened them to their heads in prepara-
PHOTO BY CHRIS KOEBERL
tion for the tour led by Tsukada. Several in the group wore School of Mines shirts or jackets and the need for hard hats quickly became apparent as the occasional clunk of hard hat against rock could be heard as the taller members of the group navigated the low rocky ceiling of the mountain above. A chilly breeze was consistent as the air was being sucked into the shaft from the main entrance and throughout the mine without any real ventilation system in place. Although the mine shafts along the tour were well-lit by strings of lights hanging from the rock ceilings, other shafts, without lights, slowly faded into total blackness. Some of those man-made shafts go on for more than five miles underground, Tsukada said.
WESTMINSTER
WINDOW
VOICES: 10 | LIFE: 12 | CALENDAR: 15 | SPORTS: 18
Steel and iron bars were sitting alongside the sledgehammers originally used to pound them into the rock by hand to create circular holes where dynamite was placed. One man held the rod in place while the other hit it repeatedly with the heavy hammer. Tsukada said that trusting your partner is very important. Old pneumatic drills were set in place on display as though they were still piercing into mountain rock. Elsewhere in the mine, massive, mobile and modern drilling machines were parked and waiting for the next time they’re started as operators continue to bore into the mountain creating up to an eight-foot wide tunnel with one drill.
As a heavy metal door opened, Jesus Rodriguez walked carefully through the corridors of the Jefferson County Detention Center, taking deliberate steps toward a room that would become a temporary polling place to take part in a deeply embedded American right — a right that he said felt distant and, at times, impossible from behind bars. For the first time in his life, Rodriguez was about to cast his vote, an act made possible by a new Colorado law aimed at expanding voting access to individuals within the criminal justice system. SB24-072, passed this spring, mandates that county clerks and sheriffs establish at least one day of in-person voting at jails and detention centers for eligible incarcerated voters. Rodriquez, who woke up that morning unsure if he would even attempt to vote, said he decided, “Why not try?” after a security guard passed through a second time to grab inmates waiting to go to the voter registration room. “I’m 29 years old, and I’ve never voted because I never thought it would mean that much. But in votes like today, I guess one vote means everything,” Rodriguez said. “It made me feel really good to know that my opinion matters in this situation.” Rodriguez acknowledged that while he made mistakes in the past, he cares deeply about the community outside. “People would be surprised to know that those of us who are incarcerated do pay attention to what’s going on out there because while we live every day in here, out there is what really matters,” he said.
WINDOW SEE EDGAR MINE, P2
A milestone moment for voting access in Colorado
Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Amanda Gonzalez choked up hearing Rodriguez describe his voting experience as one of the top five in his life. “Voting is so many things,” Gonzalez, who is also a voting rights attorney, said. “It’s the way we express hope. SEE VOTING, P4
GOLDENTRANSCRIPT.NET • A PUBLICATION OF COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA