issue. So going into 2010, we are embarking on our seventh year as a weekly paper by, for and about the Colorado Springs Westside. Wow! I won't say that I never
expected that to happen; it's just that I never really thought about the future that way. Starting with that first issue, our goal was to provide as complete (and even
entertaining) an account as possible of the Westside's vital activities at that point in time... and then to do it again the next issue, and then the next, and so on. It's kind
of like the advice my high-school cross-country coach once gave me about running hills: Never look up, because you might think it's too hard. Well, this is the time of
year when, I suppose you could say, we do look up. It's kind of a nice view, really, even if the "hill" called 2010 looms ahead. And I have to say, much as I wrote at
this time last year, the inspiration to keep going stems from all you loyal readers who have come to view the Westside Pioneer as a trusted news source for the
community you live in. We value that of all things, we welcome your comments and suggestions and we will continue to seek ways to do our job better in the year
ahead.
Speaking of 2010, the expression by "Winnie the Pooh's" Piglet character comes to mind: "What a, what a, what a mess." The city as we once knew it, with flowers in the medians and grassy parks and a working-ranch historic site and community centers that gave opportunities to people regardless of income, seems to be fading in our rear-view mirror. It's been presented by people who voted against 2C and for 300 that the election was a message to those who like such niceties that they should start paying for them. Fair enough, but how far we seem to have come from the vision of William Palmer - the 100th anniversary of whose death was noted this year - who donated so much land, started so many institutions, planted so many trees and tried so hard to make Colorado Springs a unique and special place.
- K.J.