SandBox Comments: The Citizen Center/Marilyn Marks "Citizen Center Sues Secretary of State to Stop Unconstitutional Elections"

Do you know what Marilyn Marks is really up to?

Seriously.

Why, she's up to good works again.  This time with her new organization, 'The Citizen Center":

Federal Lawsuit Seeks to End Colorado's

 Unconstitutional Election Practices

Denver Press Conference Monday, February 13, 1:00 p.m.

Telephone Participation Available

"Denver, Colo. February 13--Citizen Center, a nonpartisan group of Colorado voters, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado today seeking an injunction and declaratory judgment requiring Secretary of State Scott Gessler and the county clerks of Boulder, Jefferson, Larimer, Mesa, Eagle and Chaffee counties to immediately halt practices that violate voters' constitutional rights to vote anonymous, untraceable ballots.

Today's legal action seeks to correct election practices in order to restore voters' federal constitutional rights-the fundamental right to vote, freedom of expression, freedom of association, right to due process, and right to equal protection-and the state constitutional right to vote a secret (anonymous) ballot without which those federal constitutional rights cannot be freely exercised.

"The right to a secret ballot is a revered principle of American democracy. No one, most particularly government officials, should have access to information that can connect ballots with voters," said Marilyn Marks, founder of Citizen Center, citing the urgent need for remedies in advance of Colorado's 2012 elections.

Citizen Center has found that many Colorado counties employ procedures that collect information making it possible to identify the individual who voted a specific ballot. The Citizen Center's legal action comes months after the Secretary of State failed to enforce compliance in response to voter complaints filed with his office.

Press Conference Today
A press conference will be held at 1:00 p.m. at 303 E. 17th Avenue Suite 565 Denver, CO 80203. The press kit is available on Citizen Center's website. The public, press, and government officials are welcome to attend. Telephone participation is also available by calling 916-233-0790  PIN  code 792395#.   The press conference presentation slides are also on line. Marilyn Marks, Founder of Citizen Center, and attorney Robert A. McGuire will be presenting the conference and available for questions.

About Citizen Center
The Citizen Center is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that uses public advocacy and high-impact legal tools to ensure greater transparency and accountability in government and public oversight of government and elections."  (Learn more?  Click title)

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

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News/Johnny Boyd "SkiCo, AAM: Stop picking on the little guy"

Because it's the right thing to do.

That could be one of the reasons that Dave Danforth and the Aspen Daily News make certain the hidden stories and broader opinions of the general population get told.

There are those of us who have no intention, ever, of broadcasting our lives via news media.  Really, you say?  huh.

It's true.  Just because we seized the opportunity to use mass communication to finish a job we didn't want in the first place and then expanded that into a means to make a meager living when nothing else was available (one that's become a closet guilty pleasure for many and wildly popular with quite a few); doesn't mean that we are 'self-aggrandizing'. 

We're simply capitalizing on a niche market.  You won't see us lending neon lit arrows pointing to 'read here' as truth starts rolling out for all to salivate over.

Are we proud to see and interested to observe the continual unfolding of broader awareness to 'the other side of Paradise'?  That place where the majority of the folks in the region actually live in normal, day-to-day existence with a good portion of their lives ruled by the few and powerful?

You betcha.

A shout out of thanks goes once again to respected opinion columnist, Johnny Boyd.

Up on the Aspen Daily News.

Johnny Boyd:
"...The ongoing saga of Lee Mulcahy versus the Aspen Skiing Co. has become something of a comic story in the otherwise lofty sophistication of Aspen and its environs. As the standard that all other ski towns are measured against, Aspen’s methods and actions are scrutinized and emulated by impressionable resorts that will imitate their role model. Will these smaller resorts take notice and single out community members to sanction for actions the corporation doesn’t like?

I can’t imagine that smaller resorts would act with such petty retribution for disrespecting the will of the local corporation. In smaller, less company-minded towns, the backlash might be severe. I can, however, imagine that the little resorts would take note of SkiCo’s actions to remove trouble-making pro-union employees from the equation. The message is clear: Don’t try to unionize ski employees or you will never ski again.

Thuggish tactics used on one person to assure that pro-union employees are sent a message make big headlines in a small town. The SkiCo obviously doesn’t care that its methods keep the issue in the news long after it should have faded. The bad publicity is nothing when compared with paying employees a wage that people need to live on. It’s the bottom line that counts.....

.....It is neither glamorous nor sophisticated of the SkiCo and the museum to be seen as picking on the little guys. Truthfully, the pettiness of the SkiCo and the Aspen Art Museum isn’t so much a “comic story” as it is a joke.

If word gets out, that might affect the bottom line...."  (Read the rest of Johnny's column?  Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBox Comments: Town Hall "The GOP Can Add 10 Million Jobs and $15 Trillion to US Economy without Spending a Dime"

John Ransom:
"There are many contrasts that the GOP can use to go after Obama on the economy.

None present such a black and white contrast as the dispute about the black, tar-sands crude that Canada would like to ship through the US to refineries on the Gulf via the Keystone XL pipeline. The dispute isn't about the environment, is about creating 10 million U.S. jobs.

The State Department gave preliminary approval to build the Keystone pipeline late last summer, saying that it posed no significant environmental risks. But like a lot of things with this administration, it was a case of the left hand not knowing what the left-wing was doing.    

Instead of allowing the project to go through, along with the hundreds of thousands of jobs it would create, Obama sided with whack-job environmentalists who raised bogus fears that oil spills could pollute the aquifer that lies underneath its path.

Ok, he only apparently sided with them....." (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBox Comments: Glenwood Springs Post Independent/Your Letters "Criticism of Silt economic development is divisive"

He sure has smoothed out the rough edges, hasn't he?

Now an icon to the common man, Silt Mayor Dave Moore once again delivers a stunningly succinct analogy of recent criticism from the extreme political factions of Garfield County, Colorado.

Hip, hip Hooray for Dave!!!  (cue sound of cheering crowds, marching bands and general chaos and mayhem)

Town of Silt Mayor, Dave Moore:
"...I am very impressed with the overwhelming interest outsiders have given to the revitalization of Silt. Most have been very positive. However there are a few who are not.

The urban renewal authority meeting proved to be very encouraging. Approximately 80 people attended seeking satisfaction from unfounded rumors relative to blight and eminent domain. After two hours of discussion and explanation, they left very content with a greater understanding about the issues.

Many thanked us for the explanations and expressed their support.

However there are those who are uninformed and did not take the time to research the truth. They openly blast the efforts of Silt to get a grocery store, bank and pharmacy, as many have read in the Post Independent the last two weeks.

Neither did they visit with us, research or come to the meetings. Their comments are divisive, and baseless.

Example: Karen Foster wrote in her Feb. 6 letter, “a nifty takeover of property taxes through a sleight (trickery) of hand machination (plot) that uses ‘blight' to downgrade property.” She then accuses Silt of “… insidious undertow of devastation to the communities it purports to be helping is nothing short of a crafty (devious) ruse (scam).”

It sort of makes us look like we are the disciples of Al Capone....."  (Read the rest?  It's brilliant! Click title)

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

SandBox Comments: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Garfield County wins national finance award for third time"

Gosh, wouldn't it be nice to have this kind of prestige story for Garfield County be brought to the front page of the PI instead of harvested filler from the Summit Daily News and the Aspen Times?

Or maybe instead of (what is it now...the 4th or 5th time we've had the same story said in different ways on the public opinion group for the Grand Avenue Bridge Project??)

After all, Garfield County and the way it is run by our BOCC and county staff is one of the most respected counties in the state with many other counties using GarCo as a role model.

Now that...is news.

(Read the press release buried in the far back pages?  Click title)

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

SandBox Comments: Summit Daily News/Summit Outside "How to love a dead tree"

Dr. Joanne Stolen:

"We bemoan all the dead lodgepole pines killed by the fungus introduced by the beetle in our area, but where there is death there is also life and sustenance. Dead trees provide vital habitat for more than 1,000 species of wildlife. Dead wood contributes to biological richness as substrate, cavity sites, foraging sites, shelter and cover. Last week I wrote about a lichen species (Usnea) that prefers to grow on dead trees. This lichen provides food for deer and nesting materials for birds.

There are terms used by wildlife biologists for dead wood. A “snag” is the name for dead trees that are left upright to decompose naturally. When a snag (or part of a snag) falls on the ground it becomes a “log.”

Who uses dead wood? Birds are the most obvious creatures, as they use limbs, branches and logs for perching, foraging and nesting materials. Birds, such as ruffed grouse, will use logs for drumming and courtship displays.

In many forests, 30 to 45 percent of the bird species are cavity nesters. In North America alone, 55 avian species nest in cavities. Birds that use cavities in trees are divided into several categories. Cavity-nesting birds are classified as “primary excavators” — those which can excavate hard wood; “weak excavators” — those species which can excavate soft, dead wood; or “secondary cavity-users” — those which can utilize existing cavities. Another 80 animal species depend upon previously excavated or natural tree holes for their nests..." (Read more?  Click title)


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

SandBox Comments: USMCZen "An accident at the time"

All credit:  Kevin McIntyre