February 23, 2012

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News/Jeremy Madden "A cop car for the civilian"

Jeremy Madden?  Priceless.


"Just the sight of it sitting on the side of the road can slow even the speediest of cars. Viewing it in a rearview mirror can cause fear and panic. The rumble of its engine can make the ground shake.

It’s real and it’s all mine. It’s my new car and I’ve never driven anything like it.

Over the years I’ve had a plethora of pretty cool cars. Most notable are a 1973 Volkswagen Thing, my grandfather’s 1991 Buick Park Avenue, a precious 1984 American Eagle we called Smeagol, and the classic 1979 Dodge Aspen which is the car that made the town famous. However, as fun, dependable and historic as those vehicles may be, they aren’t anything like my new ride.

That’s because my newest ride is a 1999 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, aka CVPI or P71. And like Dan Aykroyd said in the classic 1980 film, “The Blues Brothers,” when describing the new Blues mobile which also was a former cop car, “It’s got a cop engine ... it’s got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks.”

But Elwood Blues was only covering the basics. It’s also got a cop transmission, cop frame, cop radiator, cop brakes, and perhaps the coolest feature of all is the cop spot light mounted on the driver’s door.

For decades, because of its dependability, handling, toughness, powerful engine, spacious interior and giant trunk, the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor has been the preferred vehicle for police forces around the country. These same features have also made it one of the most sought after cars for cab companies as well. The car is a hybrid that was built long before Toyota ever dreamed up the Prius. The only difference being that the Toyota hybrid combines an engine that uses an electric battery with a conventional gas motor, and the Ford combines a tank with a sports car.

The first thing one notices about the interior of the car is that it is extremely spacious. There’s room for at least three perps in the back seat and several dozen donuts in the front.

The car is also very basic. Other than the ballsy V8 4.6 liter engine the cars has no frills. It’s completely utilitarian. And I like that. One of the more appealing features is that it has gauges for everything. There are no mystery lights that suddenly spring on and tell you too late that your car is overheating or losing oil pressure. However, the most appealing aspect of the interior is the speedometer. It goes to 140 mph.

The real fun comes while driving the beast. The car is smooth, stable and accelerates like a rocket. When some German coined the term “fahrvernugen,” loosely translated as driving joy, he might as well have been talking about the Ford Crown Vic Police Interceptor. It truly is a joy to drive. But the greatest pleasure of being behind the wheel is seeing how other folks react when they see me coming...."  (Read more?  Click title)


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

SandBox Comments: Glenwood Springs Post Independent/Community Briefs "Food vendor and exhibitor applications available for 115th annual Strawberry Days "

Unfortunately, not a thing has been done about Strawberry Days issues by our city administration or city council.


Given this week's climate in our forum of open commentary; 'SandBox Nanny' opts for simply tossing up the PI's reporting of some details for the 115th  Strawberry Days celebration and reminding the 'kids' they are moderated:


via Glenwood Springs Post Independent:
"The Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association invites interested food vendors and exhibitors to apply for the 115th annual Strawberry Days to be held June 15, 16 and 17. Applications are available at strawberrydaysfestival.com or by calling the chamber at (970) 945-6589. The deadline to apply is April 15.

The theme for the 2012 event is Glenwood Springs — “America's Most Fun Town.” This year's festival features a FamilyFest area with interactive, entertaining and creative experiences for the kids; an arts and crafts fair and food court, an old-fashioned carnival; a parade down Grand Avenue and a full entertainment lineup.

For more information, call the Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association at (970) 945-6589 or visit strawberrydaysfestival.com...." (Read original announcement? Click title)

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

SandBox Comments: Eagle County Times "Cordillera Resolution? The letters are Here"

Things may be moving toward positive resolution up in Cordillera.  Today's Vail Daily gives a look into the details and those wonder kids 'Paul Drake and Della Street' over on the Eagle County Times give us some interesting links.


'Paul Drake and Della Street': 
"Letters from the Club at Cordillera & Litigation Update from CPOA

"To all Cordillera Property Owners:

The CPOA Board has received two letters regarding the litigation which we want to share with the community. The first is from Dr. Jeffrey L. Rush describing the restructuring of the Club at Cordillera. The second is from David Wilhelm offering to settle the lawsuit against the CPOA and the CTC. The letters are attached and speak for themselves.

As always, we welcome the opportunity to resolve the turmoil in the community and will be taking all appropriate steps to do so. In the meantime, the lawsuit proceeds. We are at the first stages of discovery. Written discovery has been propounded and depositions are being scheduled. We have a trial date of April 2013.

Thank you for your support and continued patience,
Lois M. Van Deusen, President,  Cordillera Property Owners Association"

CLICK ON each letter below to read them!


Letter from Dr. Jeffrey L. Rush


Letter from David Wilhelm

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

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "Right Door will remain independent"

Andrew Travers:
"A planned merger of The Right Door and the Aspen Valley Medical Foundation has fizzled due to an improved financial footing of the substance-abuse treatment organization, as well as philosophical differences between the nonprofits.

The Right Door, a nonprofit that provides counseling and services to treat substance abuse, had been slated to close last year due to financial difficulties. To keep it afloat, the medical foundation last fall began attempting to integrate The Right Door under its management.

The organizations held numerous meetings throughout the fall and the beginning of this year, crafting a management agreement. But both sides decided recently to scrap the plan. They had been attempting to merge the medical foundation’s Aspen Hope Center, which focuses on suicide prevention and mental health services, with The Right Door’s substance abuse treatment.

“Once we got more involved in their approach and ours, that’s when we decided it wasn’t a good match,” said medical foundation director Kris Marsh.

She said the differing treatment approaches of the organizations proved too different. While the Hope Center relies primarily on professional counseling, The Right Door’s case management services focus on counseling and transitioning clients with drug and alcohol problems into 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous.

Marsh and Right Door board president Michael Campbell said that attempting to mesh the approaches would be ineffective.

“We both came to the conclusion that we work better as complementary organizations,” Campbell said. “Bigger is not necessarily better....” (Read more? Click title)


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

SandBox Comments: KREX News 5 "Montrose Movement to Improve Veterans' Quality of Life"

Danielle Kreutter:
"Montrose -The city of Montrose is no stranger to paying special attention to welcoming home troops, but one night while watching a CBS story about a triple amputee veteran finding happiness again in kayaking, Melanie Kline was inspired to do something more.

"We want Montrose to be the first city in America, the only city in America and maybe a model for a lot more cities in America, to become a 'no-barriers' environment," said Kline.

She created a grassroots effort to get Welcome Home Montrose off the ground, an organization that is centered around a vet's quality of life and what the city can do to help better it.

"Whatever barriers are in their way, whether they're physical barriers in our infrastructure or whether it's barriers to getting jobs and careers or services getting their needs met, we want to make sure those barriers are removed," said Kline..." (Read more? Click title)


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

SandBox Comments: Glenwood Springs Post Independent/Readers Say Thanks "Thanks for support in film presentation"

This is a great turnout. A special thank you goes out to all supporting officers, agents, agencie and prosecutors who lent their time, caring and expertise to Childhelp's presentation.

"On Feb. 15, Childhelp River Bridge showed a screening of the film “The Playground: The Child Sex Trade in America” at the Glenwood Springs Community Center. The response from our community was overwhelming. More than 140 people attended the event, packing the room.

Human trafficking is not something any of us want to believe exists in our community. The reality of it breaks our hearts. It took courage to view a film about the exploitation of children, and I applaud all who attended.

As Amy Marsh stated in her interview on KDNK, “In order to protect our children, we must know what can harm them.”

We thank our panelists Anne Darr with the FBI, Emma Douglas with COVA, Chris Carter with ICE, Jeff Chaney with the 9th Judicial District Attorney's office and Gayle Embrey, executive producer of the film.

So many local agencies and businesses helped pulled this event together, providing food, lodging for our guests, press coverage and more.

We gratefully thank the Glenwood Springs Police Department, Garfield County Sheriff's Department, The Residence Inn, The Citizen Telegram, the Glenwood Springs Post Independent, KDNK and KMTS radio stations.

Thanks to all for investing their time and willingness to learn more about how we can keep our children safe."
(Lee Martin, victim advocate, Childhelp River Bridge, Glenwood Springs)



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

SandBox Comments: Aspen Times "Related loses appeal"

(See related story here)


Brent Gardner-Smith, Aspen Journalism:
"A lower court judge, Judge Charles Ramos, dismissed Related's claims for monetary damages in its initial lawsuit during oral arguments in January 2011, but he did not rule on Related's motions for declaratory or injunctive relief.

Related then appealed the judge's dismissal of monetary claims. Oral arguments in the appeals case took place Jan. 26.

With its decision last week, the appeals court dismissed all of Related's claims against the banks and leaves the company on the defensive in the three loan-guarantee lawsuits, which are being heard by Ramos, as well as several other ongoing lawsuits from Hypo.

Officials from Related declined to comment on the court's decision or other ongoing litigation, as did Michael Tande, an executive with Lowe Enterprises, which is now managing Base Village on behalf of the banks...." (Read more? Click title)


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

SandBox Comments: Summit County Citizens Voice "Colorado Dead forests could affect the weather"

Here's a very interesting piece from Bob Berwyn. Up and over on the Summit County Citizens Voice.

Bob Berwyn:

"SUMMIT COUNTY — Researchers who set out to study whether deforestation on the slopes of Kilimanjaro is affecting the mountain’s ice cap concluded that large-scale climate changes have much more of an impact on the glaciers. But they also documented that clear-cutting the mountain’s forests is having a distinct effect on precipitation at the mid-level elevations, where rainfall has been reduced.

The findings could have implications for Colorado, where some forest landscapes are experiencing wholesale changes after the pine beetle epidemic. Both scientists said that, depending on the scale of changes in Colorado and the rest of the region affected by the outbreak, the changes in land cover could have an effect on summer rains by changing the amount of moisture available for convection in the lower atmosphere.

After reading about the Kilimanjaro research, I corresponded with two scientists who have studied how land-use changes can affect mesoscale weather, including Thomas Mölg (University of Innsbruck, Austria), who conducted the study at Kilimanjaro, and Roger Pielke, Sr., of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES).

Since both researchers were kind enough to give detailed written answers to my email questions, I’m posting the Q & A rather than shortening or paraphrasing their quotes...."
(Read more? Click title)


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

SandBox Comments: Summit County Citizens Voice "The fringes of Antarctica"

All Credit: Bob Berwyn