Starting The Year Off With A Bang

There was a time when the suggestion of a plot to blow up Aspen, Colorado would have been blamed on Hunter S. Thompson. The good Doctor certainly did his share of exploding things just up the road, including the moment when his cremated remains were spread far and wide via cannon. But on New Year's Eve 2008, Hunter had been blasted into the next life for nearly four years now.
This time it was James Chester Blanning, a seventy-two year old former resident of Aspen, who left two boxes containing plastic bladders of gasoline in a pair of banks along with notes demanding sixty thousand dollars in cash. The notes threatened "mass death," and included criticisms of Still-President Pinhead. Two more bombs were found in an alley, abandoned by Mister Blanning before reaching their eventual destination.
He was upset by so many things, as suicidal bombers often are, but he seemed especially troubled by the fact that his hometown had become a playground for the rich and famous. It was that same group who, no doubt, were forced to change their New Year's Eve plans when downtown Aspen was evacuated and, in a touch of irony, the celebratory fireworks were postponed as Blanning's threat unraveled.
In the end, James Chester Blanning's story ended up essentially the same as Hunter Thompson: Noted local loon shoots himself. Johnny Depp probably won't show up for Blanning's funeral.