SandBox Comments: Red State/Cole Grayson "I Am a Real Democrat, Therefore I Now Vote Republican"

A must read classic.  By 'colegrayson'.  Off RedState.  We have now tossed this piece up a number of times since it came out on September 8, 2011.

"...I had the distinct pleasure of watching the GOP candidates debate, and I learned something shocking.  They are not, despite the New York Times propaganda, crazy.  They are diverse, intelligent constructs of a party that allows for free thought, unlike dogmatic liberalism I now renounce.  But fair warning, I am Pro God, which by liberal definition means I force Him into the faces of others.  I am against 12 year olds signing off on their own abortions, which means I despise women.  I believe Herman Cain agrees with my beliefs on minority empowerment, so he too must be a racist.  Even the now wilted specter of Michelle Bachmann, successfully castrated by a viciously sexist question in the previous debate, was not any sort of boogeywoman.  What we had was an intelligent thoughtful exchange of ideas.  Some of these ideas may not work, and others have merit.  Cain’s thoughts on taxation I found intriguing but impractical, but hey, at least it was an idea.  A freaking idea.  But wait, other ideas reared their head as well.  Ideas like using military drones to track illegals, (Governor Perry) support of a guest worker program (Speaker Gingrich) and of course there was Mitt.  Poor Mitt.  He would have been a great 60′s Republican.

 Today he would be better off as a Democrat.  But he is a good fella and a smart man, so he has a place.  Just not in the White House.

As many of you know I am an ardent Perry supporter.  He did well.  Not great, but for first time out, pretty well.  He was attacked constantly and held his own, and he never wavered on his beliefs.  We do need straight talk; no it is not realistic to assume today’s youth will have Social Security, by definition a Ponzi Scheme.  Should we reform it?  Sure.  Will Rick destroy it?  Of course not.  And you know that. He just wanted to make a point about unfunded entitlements.  But sometimes the truth is a despised enemy of the power.  He will err on the side of saving lives, his words, and I believe him.  Lil’ Old Ladies won’t starve and children won’t freeze.  But with the Excuse Maker in Chief?  Who knows about the man who would quote the Koran and refer to it as Holy but mock the Bible and accuse Christians of being bitter.  Where lacks Jesus, lacks love and where lacks love, lacks conscience.  The same people who advocate the murder of 8 month old babies are not the same people who will truly fight for health care, or good jobs.

This I do know.  I know that my whole life I have believed in the power of our people...."

(colegrayson diary)

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SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "DA’s office joins fatal accident investigation"

"The Pitkin County District Attorney’s Office will review the investigation by the Colorado State Patrol into the mysterious death of a Basalt woman who was struck and killed by a bus near Buttermilk on Jan. 1.

Authorities are still unsure how, or why, Joanie Marie Kocab, 29, returned to the upper valley in the early morning of New Year’s Day after she disembarked a bus in Basalt after 12:45 a.m. Authorities have ruled out that she took public transportation.

Kocab, who moved to the valley from Kansas less than three weeks before the accident, was struck from behind by a Roaring Fork Transportation Authority bus around 2:25 a.m. Authorities have said she was walking in the middle of the eastbound bus lane just downvalley from the intersection of Highway 82 and Owl Creek Road.

Arnold Mordkin, chief deputy district attorney for the 9th Judicial District, said he requested a copy of the state patrol’s accident investigation, which has not yet been completed.

“This was a very serious happenstance and I want to see the report,” he said. “It’s important.”

The driver, who the state patrol did not ticket for the accident, remains on administrative leave, which is standard practice, said RFTA CEO Dan Blankenship. The Aspen Daily News is not identifying the driver because she has not been ticketed or charged with a crime...."
(Chad Abraham)
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SandBox Comments: KJCT News 8 "Pete Hautzinger Up For Re-election"

"GRAND JUNCTION, Colo., -- District Attorney Pete Hautzinger announced Wednesday he is running for his third and final term as Mesa County's DA...."
(Janelle Ericsson)

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SandBox Comments: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel "‘Dog’ show leaves out sheriff spat"

Paul Shockley:

"And that’s just fine by Hilkey.

“I didn’t watch it,” the sheriff said, laughing. “It’s a non-issue for me. The fact I didn’t watch it speaks volumes....”

lol.

We wouldn't have given it any blog space......except that our very fav phrase of all time came from Sheriff Stan on this 'spat' with 'Dog':   "profit-driven peacockery"

lol.  Isn't that just the greatest descriptive phrase of all time??!!  Go, Sheriff Stan !

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SandBox Comments: Aspen Times/Letters to the Editor "One-sided civility"

(See related story here)

SandBox sends out a thank-you to Steve Falender.

Surely, we have enough divisive energy floating around the local governments that we do not need more from Mayor Ireland.

Very refreshing to hear someone stand up to him.

" ...I can imagine how quickly and harshly the mayor and council would react to an applicant or member of the public who accused the council or staff of “blackmail” or attempted “extortion,” warning that we are to express disagreement in a civil and respectful manner. How disappointing that not a single council member was willing to confront the mayor for his inflammatory words and tone and to remind him that civil discourse and respect are expected of council as well as the public...."
(Steve Falender, Aspen)

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SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "Herons turned heroes and other wildlife tales from Rio Grande"

It will be interesting to hear comments on this one and SandBox hopes the kids write in.

For years, there has been a cry for educational rest area and interactive tourist draws up and down the Hwy 82 corridor.

With our vast geothermal, extensive offering of wildlife, natural phenomena and beauty there really couldn't be a better fit for building tourist drawing infrastructure.

Think....Two Rivers Park and that intersection of the Colorado River and Roaring Fork River to be environmentally engineered and turned into an interactive wetlands, geothermal study ground, state-of-the-art visitors center and a tied-in kid's whitewater park for entertaining families while down the lane at the Whitewater Park world champion games are going on.

Same thing up at Pan and Fork.

There are elk study stops that could happen between Glenwood and Carbondale.

All the way up to the top of Independence Pass we have natural oppportunities to encourage interactive tourism draws.

The Rio Grande Trail is a great example of what we hear the folks just sayin.

"Young herons, unlike their more meek parents, were for the first time last year observed fighting off an eagle attacking a heron nest along the Rio Grande Trail outside Carbondale.

That anecdote is included in a five-year monitoring report that says wild critters have mostly adjusted well to the paved section of trail between Rock Bottom Ranch and Catherine Store Road.

And the winter closure from Nov. 30 until April 30 of that section is “the most significant” management tool in balancing recreational and environmental protection goals, wrote Basalt wildlife biologist Jonathan Lowsky.

He prepared the report for the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority, which manages the former railroad corridor. RFTA’s board will get its first look at the report today during the directors’ monthly meeting at Carbondale Town Hall.

During the winter, the section of trail “has essentially become a wildlife refuge,” Lowsky said Wednesday. “Every species that I expect to be there are, indeed, there....”
(Chad Abraham)

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SandBox Comments: Eagle Valley Enterprise "Biomass power plant is taking shape in Gypsum"

Approvals are nearly there!

The first woody biomass power plant in western Colorado.

"A woody biomass power plant is one step closer to becoming a reality in Gypsum after Tuesday's town council meeting.

Members of Eagle Valley Clean Energy LLC presented their plans and asked the council to approve an annexation for a 94-acre parcel directly east of the American Gypsum wallboard plant along the Eagle River.

With council members Dick Mayne and Tim McMichael absent, the rest of the group passed a resolution to initiate the annexation but tabled a vote on the final proceedings until Feb. 28.

If everything goes as planned, the relatively small power plant would only occupy the west end of the property, potentially leaving the rest for open space, and would be operational by 2014. A woody biomass plant burns a variety of wood — “forest waste, agricultural waste and clean urban wood” — to create electricity.

“Colorado has needed something like this for a long time and this plant would be among the first in the state, maybe the first,” said Bill Carlson of EVCE. Carlson is the principal of Carlson Small Power Consultants, and has started biomass plants all over the country. He said the west coast is currently the heaviest user of biomass energy, with about 45 in California.

Per year, Gypsum's plant would produce a gross of 11.5 megawatts and be able to sell 10 megawatts to Holy Cross Energy after using 1.5 megawatts to power itself. A 20-year electricity sales agreement with Holy Cross is already worked out, said Dean Rostrom of EVCE.

“So far, we have a power purchase agreement completed, a site secured and fuel supply studies finished,” Rostrom said...."
(Derek Franz)

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SandBox Comments: Summit County Citizens Voice "Environment: Bats and wind farms don’t mix"

Have you ever thought of this possibility?

That wind farm technology could be harmful and life-threatening to bats, birds and airborne wildlife?

This is one of the reasons Bob Berwyn, up and over on the Summit County Citizens Voice is the most trusted 'enviro-pen' journalist in the region.

Very interesting piece.

"...This suggests that there may be ways to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of mitigation measures. PSW ecologist Ted Weller and statistician Jim Baldwin developed an interactive tool that allows users to visualize how changes in date and weather conditions affect the probability of bat presence. The tool can be found at: http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/topics/wildlife/bat/batprob.shtml.

“Increasing the wind speed at which turbines begin to spin and produce energy to the grid has proven to be an effective way to reduce bat fatalities. However, bat activity levels depend on more than just wind speed,” says Weller, who led the research. “Our work demonstrates the use of a decision-making tool that could protect bats when fatality risk is highest while maximizing energy production on nights with a low chance of fatalities....”
(Bob Berwyn)

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SandBox Comments: KKCO 11 News "Paonia residents riled up at possible land exchange "

Thank goodness.

Within a matter of a few weeks, Bill Koch gets his deal with the locals and can go live in peace.  We end this ludicrous grandstanding by environmentalists.

"A second mountain bike trail would also be built in the exchange, and opposition says this is destructive to the forest.

But those for the exchange say it would actually help the public, and improve the land they already have access to.

"We've tried to enhance that opportunity by moving up north to an area we can provide OHV access, ATV, equestrian and all users," Bear Ranch manager Rob Gill said.

Koch also just wants to have his property all in one piece.

"There's very few people I think that if they owned this ranch, they wouldn't want to consolidate it," Gill said.

The meeting gives the town council to take sides on the matter, but nothing was decided Wednesday because there weren't enough council members in attendance to make it a regular meeting.

It should all be settled at the next meeting in a few weeks.

11 News will keep you posted on what happens next....."

(KKCO)

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SandBox Comments: Hill Aevium Blog "Proud to launch the Ski 7 campaign for the Glenwood Springs Tourism Board"

The latest press release from Hill Aevium titles itself well, with accuracy and with grace.

Thank you for acknowledging the new Glenwood Springs Tourism Board is the entity doing the hiring of your expert firm. 

SandBox will leave comment ability open on this post as a result and again, send out our best wishes on the success of this phenomenal idea and marketing campaign.  Our guess is that the local folks will meet the release with positive enthusiasm.

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"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBox Comments: Aspen Times "Aspen hosts its 61st Wintersköl"

Whew!

We made it to Winterskol without blood loss.

Here's the schedule and as usual, we'll be watching the amazing creations in the annual snow sculpture competition.


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