SandBox Comments: Dept of Defense/Face of Defense "Face of Defense: Deployed Sailor Leads Team in Afghanistan"

FORWARD OPERATING BASE JACKSON, Afghanistan, Dec. 29, 2011 – When Kimberly Ryan stepped into the Navy recruiter’s office at age 18, she had no idea what she wanted to do. All she knew was she wanted to get out of Connecticut and broaden her horizon.


“The recruiter said, ‘Do you want to be a corpsman like me?’, and I said, ‘Sure!’” recalled now-Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan, a Norwich, Conn., native. “I ended up loving it.”

Seven years later, after serving overseas in Sasebo, Japan, Ryan now serves as the team leader for Female Engagement Team 8 in the Sangin district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

When she stepped up and accepted the team-leader challenge, Ryan thought she would be the equivalent of a female infantryman during her first deployment, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

“[The team] is actually completely different,” she noted. “The female engagement team is all about counterinsurgency, and I actually like what it ended up not being.”

Ryan’s day-to-day activities vary depending on the mission and support requirements. The team works in direct support of 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, assigned to Regimental Combat Team 8 in 2nd Marine Division (Forward).

Each week, however, Ryan and her fellow team member, Marine Corps Cpl. Brandy Bates, work together with Afghan National Security Forces to plan and host a children’s meeting for local children in the Sangin district in southwestern Afghanistan...."
(Marine Corps Cpl. Meredith Brown)

(Learn more?  Click title. Comment to discuss)

SandBox Comments: Dept. of Homeland Security "DHS Announces "If You See Something, Say Something™" Campaign Partnership with the National Hockey League"

"WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announced a new partnership between DHS' "If You See Something, Say Something™" public awareness campaign and the National Hockey League (NHL) - highlighting the Department's continued partnership with the sports industry to ensure the safety and security of employees, players and fans.

"Every citizen plays a critical role in identifying and reporting suspicious activities and threats," said Secretary Napolitano. "By expanding the 'If You See Something, Say Something™' campaign to the NHL, we are working together to ensure the safety and security of employees, players, and fans..."
(DHS Press Release)

(Read more?  Click title. Comment to discuss)

SandBox Comments: KREX News 5 "Marijuana-Impaired Driving Rises in Colorado"

"Mesa County - A recent study conducted by the Institute for Behavior and Health says over the past five years, the number of drivers who tested positive for drugs, including marijuana, has increased.

"We're seeing a dramatic increase in the number of people that we are contacting and arresting for driving under the influence of marijuana," says Deputy Ben Carnes of the Mesa County Sheriff's Office.

Research shows that those who get behind the wheel within three hours of using marijuana are more than twice as likely to get in an accident.

"It severely impairs somebody's ability to multitask, it has a time distortion effect, it dilates your pupils and impairs your vision," says Carnes..."
(Cori Coffin)

(Read more?  Click title.  Comment to discuss)

SandBox Comments: Summit County Citizens Voice "Marijuana plantations threaten national forest resources"

This is very scary.  Fairly widely known that Colorado has these operations in our forests.  Not so widely known that many of them are tied to the recently exposed infiltration of Mexican drug cartels.

"SUMMIT COUNTY — Outlaw marijuana growers on national forest lands are polluting streams, killing native vegetation and leaving behind trash and dangerous debris that’s difficult and expensive to clean up, the agency’s top law enforcement official said in early December at a U.S. Senate hearing.

“The illegal cultivation of marijuana on our National Forest System is a clear and present danger to the public and the environment,”  said U.S. Forest Service law enforcement director David Ferrell, testifying before the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control.

Ferrell detailed the impacts from sites in in 20 states on 67 national forests across the country, including California, where the Forest Service completed cleanup and restoration on 335 sites, removing  more than 130 tons of trash, 300 pounds of pesticides, five tons of fertilizer and nearly 260 miles of irrigation piping.

“Many marijuana sites found on national forests are under cultivation by drug trafficking organizations that are sophisticated and include armed guards, counter-surveillance methods, logistics support and state-of-the-art growing practices,” he said. “It is incumbent on the agency to do what is necessary to ensure that the resources we manage are protected and visitors as well as employees are safe....”
(Bob Berwyn)

(Read more?  Click title. Comment to discuss)

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "Police arrest alleged Ecstasy buyer"

(See related story and comments here)

This is the guy, Michael Dufresne, 30, of Woody Creek, who was trying to buy the "Molly" off Max Brandon Puder, age 18 outside of Aspen nightclub 'Belly Up' the other night.

The one who ran away.

"....He was arrested Tuesday night at his Woody Creek home after a series of serendipitous circumstances led authorities to him, according to police.

Aspen police officer Adam Loudon on Monday night reviewed surveillance tape from the Belly Up Aspen, outside of which the alleged drug transaction took place.

Loudon retrieved photographs of the man he recognized as the suspect who ran away from him when police observed the drug transaction on the stairs outside Belly Up.

He returned to the police station and showed the photos to Pitkin County Sheriff Deputy Parker Lathrop. Fifteen minutes later, a 911 hang-up call came into the communications center from a Woody Creek residence, to which Lathrop responded.

When Dufresne opened the door, the deputy recognized him as the suspect in the photos, which showed distinctive tattoos on his right forearm, according to police. Dufresne was shirtless and his tattoos were visible to Lathrop.

Once identified as the suspect, Loudon wrote a warrant for Dufresne’s arrest and had it signed by a judge Tuesday.

Dufresne is being held in Pitkin County Jail on a $10,000 bond, which was upped from the original $8,000. The increase was approved by Chief Judge James Boyd of Pitkin County District Court on Wednesday, said Aspen prosecutor Arnold Mordkin.

Mordkin said he plans to file an additional charge of assault on a police officer because when Dufresne allegedly ran from police, he already had one handcuff placed on his wrist and violently pulled it away.

When confronted by officers, Dufresne allegedly held up a baggie of a white powdery substance and gave what turned out to be Ecstasy to police before he successfully ran away...."
(sack@aspendailynews.com)

(Read more?  Click title. Comment to discuss)

SandBox Comments: KKCO 11 News "Loomis the dog rescued after falling through ice "

Thank you to our Grand Junction Fire and Rescue team, 'Loomis' isn't the only one who appreciates you.

"GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - A Grand Junction man experienced some tense moments after his beloved dog Loomis fell through the ice at the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife pond near Rimrock.

It happened just before 4:00 o'clock Wednesday afternoon.

Tor Larson was hanging out at the pond with his dog Loomis, when the retriever mix ran onto the iced-over pond and fell into the water...."

(Andrew Reid)

(Read more?  Meet Loomis?  Click title. Comment to discuss)

SandBox Comments: Mountain Valley News "Is it complete incompetence or outright lying? - 12/28/11 "

Mountain Valley News:

"Because we feel so strongly about the entire constitution and because we have very personal reasons to believe that the Second Amendment is squarely in the sights of those who want to weaken that great document, we have tried to monitor what is going on with the so-called hearings regarding “Fast and Furious.”

In a nutshell, the Fast and Furious operation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was supposed to be a sting operation involving the shipping of guns to Mexico. It was conducted completely outside the normal law enforcement undercover operations procedures.

First, we have a real problem with the three people who should have been aware of this operation telling us (the people) that they did not know about it until early this year. Attorney General Eric Holder, President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are at best incompetent, and at worst, outright liars. Either way, the public has a right to better inquiries into this fiasco...."

(Read more?  Click title. Comment to discuss)

SandBox Comments: Washington Examiner "Fast & Furious AG laments cop deaths, illegal guns"

SandBox agrees with Texas Governor Rick Perry.

Any AG that did not know about Fast and Furious should resign on the spot or be fired.

This kind of statement tin this article, from Attorney General Holder, was near nauseating the first time he gave a speech like this.

Hearing them repeated as more has come to light, including the fact that he has not even bothered to pick up the phone to the family of the agents we have lost is heart wrenching it is so out of line.

To hear him continue that path of denial and self-justification as he heads toward Congress winding down their investigation is infuriating.

Fire, impeach or better yet save the folks the money and have him resign immediately.


(Read the article?  Click title. Comment to discuss)

SandBox Comments: Summit Daily News "Writers on the Range: A forest management structure that can't cope"

"When my East Coast-based parents came to Breckenridge, Colo., for our family vacation in June this year, my dad couldn't stop exclaiming over the dead trees. Scores of rust-colored lodgepole pines, killed by the bark beetle epidemic, lined pretty much every road we drove down or bike path we pedaled on.

My father, who attended college on a scholarship for pulp and paper mill technology, wondered why the trees weren't being logged and used. One answer is that most of Colorado's lumber mills have been shut down for a long time. But the inability to deal with dead trees is just one in a line of management obstacles facing agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, as it struggles to cope with forest management in this age of disturbance...."
(Stephanie Paige Ogburn)

(Read more?  Click title.  Comment to discuss)

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News/Jeremy Madden "Welcome 1 percent"

lol.

(Read more "Classic Madden" here)

"Give me your sired, your lords, your well-healed masses just yearning to spend freely, the weary wealthy of your teeming town. Send these, the second homeowners, tempest tossed to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden parachute.      

Never before in modern history has the burden of big bucks weighed so heavily on the backs of the well-off. Not only have the 99 percent been occupying and protesting in our parks and streets, but they have been bashing, brow beating and blaming the 1 percent for all the woes of the world.

Not since the French Revolution has the Bourgeoisie been more hated and hunted. Truly, it is a trying time for those trying to celebrate their success. Fortunately, all is not lost. High in the Rocky Mountains there is still a place where the 1 percent are always welcome. That place is Aspen.

Like a posh port in a stormy sea of sour grapes, Aspen awaits the wealthy with open arms of exclusivity, opulence and outrageous prices. Comfier than Russian sable and tastier than a bucket of Beluga, Aspen is here for the highest rollers, and has all the amenities and activities that money can buy. It is a place where the well-to-do are good to shop, spend, and separate themselves from the absolute awfulness of the other 99 percent...."    
(Jeremy Madden)

(Learn more?  Click title. Comment to discuss)

SandBox Comments: Steamboat Today "Steamboat businesses report strong Christmas sales"

Great news, Steamboat Springs!  Keep up the good work, we're betting the airport expansion has a great deal to do with having crowds for the holidays.

"...In fact, most Steamboat Springs businesses reported a strong holiday week, even those that weren’t open Sunday. Many even surpassed last year’s sales, when record early season snowfall led to a big ski season.

“The 24th was the best Christmas Eve day we’ve ever had,” said Zirkel Trading owner Steve Hitchcock, who attributed the day’s record sales to it falling on a Saturday when many locals were off work and finishing their holiday shopping.

But Hitchcock, whose shop wasn’t open Christmas Day, noted that sales at his men’s clothing store since the weekend before Thanksgiving exceeded the same period from a year ago.

Steamboat Ski & Bike Kare also reported record sales this holiday shopping season.

“Our sales for the Christmas week were a little bit better than last year,” said Ski & Bike Kare co-owner Harry Martin. “And last year was our best ever....”
(Jack Weinstein)

(Read more?  Click title. Comment to discuss)

SandBox Comments: Crested Butte News "CBMR makes the most of sunshine and bluebird days "

“....The grooming team is doing everything in their power to keep the snow as well-manicured as possible. Honestly, they have done a phenomenal job and I would argue that our surface is one of the best in the state right now, from what I’ve heard about other areas,” said Erica Reiter, CBMR’s public relations and communications manager...."
(Alissa Johnson)

(Read more?  Click title. Comment to discuss)