January 26, 2012

SandBox Comments: Denver Post "16 charged in Denver-area pot-growing raids"

They are no longer sending warnings.  They are now here.

The Feds crackdown on all things marijuana is here.

It is not a false warning, it is not a drill, it's not a joke or a test.

Marijuana is illegal on federal levels and Colorado is in non-compliance just about everywhere when it comes to medical marijuana.

The Feds are here and they will come in, bust you, confiscate your business stock and shut you down.

Upset?

Call your local government and give them an earful.  Espcially your city, town or county attorneys.

It is through the negligence of their disregard for federal law when it comes to pot, that you are in the situation you are in now.

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SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "X Games carnage gets started a day early"

Chad Abraham:

"...An Aspen man was arrested Wednesday at the Buttermilk ski area for allegedly speeding through a restricted parking lot with a security guard atop his vehicle.

Martin Horowitz, 66, faces a misdemeanor charge of third-degree assault after the vehicle he was in slammed into a snowbank around 10:45 a.m., leaving the guard with a bloody nose.

Horowitz had spoken with the guard about the parking area, which because of the X Games that start today, is only open to buses and X Games personnel with passes, said deputy Alex Burchetta of the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office.

Horowitz failed to give the guard, who was standing near the front driver’s side tire, any room to escape before driving off. The man ended up on the hood of the defendant’s vehicle when he drove 120 feet before striking the snowbank, Burchetta said. The bloody nose came from the victim’s face hitting the windshield.

Burchetta said Horowitz, who was also cited for reckless driving, did not indicate why he sped away.

“He was on his way to go skiing,” the deputy said, adding Horowitz had a friend with him in the vehicle...."

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SandBox Comments: Colorado Springs Gazette "DA Bob Russel, 82: He left lasting fingerprints"

Lance Benzel:

"Robert L. Russel, whose 20-year tenure as El Paso County’s district attorney launched the careers of powerful attorneys, charmed juries and pioneered new approaches to justice in the Pikes Peak Region, has died at the age of 82.

He was pronounced dead at 11:40 a.m. Wednesday at St. Francis Select Care in Colorado Springs.

The cause of death was lung disease, according to a son, Richard Russel of Colorado Springs. He had been hospitalized since late November.

Funeral arrangements, being handled by Shrine of Remembrance, are pending.

Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/russel-132363-long-year.html#ixzz1kbGPs03b

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "Term limits issue cloud Beeson’s third run for DA"

Note from 'SandBox Nanny':

(Now that DA Beeson has thrown his hat in the ring for district attorney in the 9th, please take note that there will be no special treatment given to any news press surrounding his race.  His articles, if they are SandBox worthy or chosen in the daily agg run-up; will be put up just like anyone else in a political race.  What SandBox Commentators will continue to do, is heavily moderate his articles.  We are the only news media that moderates commentary from the general public on 9th Judicial District articles. )

Chad Abraham:

"..Martin Beeson, 9th Judicial District attorney, announced Wednesday that he will seek another four years in office, but there is debate over whether he is eligible to run again due to term limits.

The prosecutor first took office in late 2005 after a recall election in which voters deposed former District Attorney Colleen Truden and elected Beeson. He was re-elected in 2008 after running unopposed for the job.

Beeson said that, in deciding whether to run again, he first had to study if his candidacy was even possible because of term limits. He served just over three years after first being elected and then a full four-year term.

Amendment 17 to the Colorado Constitution allows only two four-year terms for nonjudicial elected officials such as district attorneys.

But in making his decision, Beeson said he relied on an opinion issued by then-Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar in 2000 about limits on those who have served partial terms.

Salazar concluded in the opinion, which Beeson’s office provided to the Aspen Daily News, “that the term limitations of Amendment 17 apply only to full terms of office.”

“I’m glad to have the opinion from a Democrat,” said Beeson, a Republican, referring to Salazar, who is now the U.S. Secretary of the Interior in the Obama administration. “I came to the same conclusion...”

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

SandBox Comments: Steamboat Today "Talks about Steamboat business improvement district tax to continue"

And the buzz continues to roll through western and northern Colorado.

Folks are just sayin that they think it would be better to reorganize our tourism income from various taxes  Expand to regional as well as locale marketing.

And get moving on setting up some funding, through all types of resources including taxation, for economic development and infrastructure.

Jack Weinstein:

— There was support for and objection to a business improvement district property tax measure this November at the Mainstreet Steamboat Springs Economic Restructuring Committee meeting Wednesday, but everyone agreed that the discussion needs to continue.

Mainstreet Steamboat Springs Manager Tracy Barnett told the group she was encouraged to pursue a tax for the district that includes the area roughly between Third and 13th streets and Yampa to Oak streets because the city’s financial support for the organization that promotes downtown continues to decline. She said the city will provide $40,000 of Mainstreet’s $140,000 overall budget in 2012, down from a high of $63,000.

Barnett said a business improvement district property tax would provide a stable funding source that could pay for the Mainstreet program, marketing and promotion of the downtown district and services for businesses....."

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SandBox Comments: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Barbara Lucks: Could a town run on a corporate model?"

Again, well spotted by Barbara Lucks.  Up on the Snowmass Sun.

Turn Snowmass Village into a model of corporate Vail and break it completely away from the brand of Aspen. 

You betcha  it would work.

"...The only way to preserve things that are important to the locals is to quit acting like the place is Crested Butte.

Let's get real about the impact of major redevelopment projects in dense commercial districts. Yes, they absolutely will affect neighboring businesses. The best anyone can do is minimize the impact.

If Snowmass is fortunate enough to continue to attract investors who have the money and drive to upgrade an aging hotel, least of all revitalize a stalled-out concrete jungle, the locals are going to have to quit whining and learn how to effectively negotiate with the big boys.

Snowmass Village has never been a quiet little mountain town. It was sired by corporations and remains true to its blood — or lack thereof. It may be time for the Vail model. Snowmass is well staffed for it...."

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SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "Winter X Games impact a multimillion dollar question"

Carolyn Sackariason:

"The Winter X Games are all about going big, and Aspen on Saturday will do just that, based on lodging occupancy reports, which suggest town will be 97 percent full.

“Aspen is as close to completely sold out as I’ve ever seen it, although we can still find some rooms and condos in Snowmass, whose occupancy according to this report is peaking around 80 percent,” Bill Tomcich, president of central reservations agency Stay Aspen Snowmass (SAS), said in an email.

He noted that Saturday’s numbers are the highest he’s ever seen since SAS started tracking nightly occupancies in 2006. There are only a “handful” of rooms available in Aspen and the occupancy report is based on a sampling of 65 percent of 2,304 rentable units in Aspen, Tomcich said.

Before ESPN brought the X Games to Buttermilk in 2002, the last weekend of January and the beginning of February were not considered to be peak times for the resort.

From Jan. 21-28, 2001, the year prior to the X Games coming here, occupancy in Aspen was 73 percent, while the week of Jan. 29-Feb. 5 was 69 percent, according to Tomcich. He noted that at the time, there was no ability to track occupancy rates on a nightly basis so the above numbers are not an apples-to-apples comparison.

Neither the city of Aspen nor the Aspen Chamber Resort Association (ACRA) have done any analysis on what the Winter X Games contribute to the local economy since 2007..."

SandBox Comments: Summit County Citizens Voice "Morning photo: First light"

All credit:  Bob Berywn:

"SUMMIT COUNTY — The past few weeks, that magical sunrise light has been coinciding with the time that I need to get my son up and ready for school, so the photography hasn’t been happening, at least early in the morning. But Wednesday, we left for school early so he could catch the team bus for a ski race at Loveland, and I headed from the school straight to shore of Dillon Reservoir to snap a few shots"




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