SandBoxBlogs: Colorado Statesman "Romney energizes supporters, mines votes in state"

"Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, energized supporters at a K.P. Kauffman Co. drill site outside Ft. Lupton on Wednesday when he denounced the solar and wind focus of the Obama administration and dug in deep with his call for increased domestic production of oil and gas.

Romney, who four years ago was the presidential choice of Republicans in the state before John McCain won the nomination, was well received at the drill site at a privately-owned local company founded by Kevin Kauffman some 30 years ago “with $100 on the kitchen table, an idea and a dream.”

In a state laden with oil and gas — and a populace split between wanting to see more development but also concerned with environmental hazards — Romney’s comments were interpreted under a political guise. His campaign released a list of press accounts beforehand that sought to prove their point about Obama’s failing energy policies. Headlines from some of the stories they forwarded emphasized that gas prices have more than doubled from when Obama was sworn into office. Other abbreviated media reports jabbed the president for his focus on wind and solar power at the expense of oil and gas production and exploration.

(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Newsmax " Rasmussen Poll: Momentous Breakthrough for Romney"

Martin Gould:
"Mitt Romney surged to his largest opinion poll lead yet in the presidential race on Friday, two days after President Barack Obama came out in favor of gay marriage.

The GOP challenger reached 50 percent support for the first time in the Rasmussen Reports daily tracking poll. That put him ahead of Obama among likely voters by seven percentage points.

The poll, released on Friday, showed a three-point swing to Romney from the previous day, when Romney had a four-point edge over the president in a head-to-head contest..."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Hot Air Blog "New book explains why Hillary won’t be replacing Biden on the ticket this year"

Ed Morrissey:
"Still think that Barack Obama might pull a convention surprise and put Hillary Clinton on the ticket and bounce the human gaffe machine Joe Biden out of his administration?  Edward Klein has a reminder for all of us why Hillary wasn’t on the ticket in 2008.  The title for Klein’s new book for Regnery on Barack Obama, The Amateur, comes from a conversation that took place last summer between Hillary and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, in a passage excerpted by the New York Post today:

“Barack Obama,” Bill Clinton said, according to book excerpts, “is an amateur.”
The withering criticism is incredible, given the fact that Bill Clinton is actively campaigning for Obama’s re-election.
But according to the book, Bill Clinton unloaded on Obama and pressed Hillary to run against her boss during a gathering in the ex-president’s home office in Chappaqua last August that included longtime friends, Klein said.
“The economy’s a mess, it’s dead flat. America has lost its Triple-A rating . . . You know better than Obama does,” Bill said.
Bill Clinton insisted he had “no relationship” with Obama and had been consulted more frequently by his presidential successor, George W. Bush.
Obama, Bill Clinton said, “doesn’t know how to be president” and is “incompetent.”

(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Intellectual Conservative "The Artificial Eight Percent Unemployment Rate Is Immaterial"

Christopher Adamo:
"Liberal media minions are atwitter over the manufactured unemployment statistic which has been steadily lowering in recent months and now approaches the eight percent milestone. Prominent conservatives have also noted the suspiciously timed “drop” in the nation’s unemployment, and are expressing dismay over its blatantly fabricated nature. Yet at the same time they are concerned over its possible effects on the reelection prospects of Barack Obama.

 

Such apprehension is understandable. Historically a sitting president’s chances for reelection are nil when the unemployment rate exceeds the eight percent threshold. More significant to the present situation however is the fact that the ostensible improvement in the nation’s employment debacle is clearly contrived. The books are being juggled to a degree that makes Enron accounting look downright virtuous. Yet nowhere among the nightly news anchors is it suggested that such manipulations coming from the highest levels of the federal government might be a breach of the peoples’ trust, or more accurately, evidence of a political strategy based on total deceit.

 

Lengthy analyses of the raw numbers, combined with “revised” data compiled over the past several months, undeniably reveal a serial pattern of falsified government bookkeeping for the purpose of putting a positive face on the unprecedented disaster of Obamanomics. Key players within the Obama team, abetted by their media lapdogs, ominously foreshadow intentions of buttressing the shameless hoax with those unemployment numbers, their end goal being to present the public with a rosy picture of the nation’s economy on Election Day in order to convince everyone that the bliss of Obama’s America needs to be perpetuated....."

(Read more? Click title)

 

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

SandBoxBlogs: Customs and Border Protection "U.S. Customs and Border Protection Announces Two New Centers of Excellence and Expertise"

"Washington — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Acting Commissioner David V. Aguilar announced today the expansion of the Centers of Excellence and Expertise (CEE), which will create a center for Automotive and Aerospace in Detroit and one for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Minerals in Houston.

 

These virtual centers will provide one-stop processing to lower the Trade’s cost of business, provide greater consistency and predictability, and enhance CBP enforcement efforts. The Centers represent CBP’s expanded focus on “Trade in the 21st Century,” transforming customs procedures to align with modern business. By having the Centers focus on industry-specific issues, CBP is able to provide tailored support to unique trading environments.

 

“I am proud to announce the expansion of this initiative. These centers bring all of CBP’s trade expertise to bear on a single industry in one strategic location,” said Acting Commissioner Aguilar. “They provide tailored support to increase uniformity across ports of entry, facilitate the timely resolution of trade compliance issues nationwide, and strengthen critical agency knowledge of key industry practices.”

 

The CEEs will bring all of CBP's trade expertise to bear on a single industry in a strategic location. They will be staffed with numerous trade positions using account management principles that are able to authoritatively facilitate trade issues. The CEEs will also serve as resources to the broader trade community and to CBP’s U.S. government partners.

 

Center personnel will answer questions, provide information and develop trade facilitation strategies to address uniformity and compliance concerns. They will also serve as a single point of processing for businesses enrolled in CBP’s trusted shipper programs: the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and Importer Self-Assessment (ISA).

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws."

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

SandBoxBlogs: Washington Post "Afghan commanders show new defiance in dealings with Americans"

Kevin Sieff:
"KABUL —Afghan commanders have refused more than a dozen times within the past two months to act on U.S. intelligence regarding high-level insurgents, arguing that night-time operations to target the men would result in civilian casualties, Afghan officials say.

The defiance highlights the shift underway in Afghanistan as Afghan commanders make use of their newfound power to veto operations proposed by their NATO counterparts...."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Kidderminster Shuttle "Plea hearing delayed for Kidderminster murder accused"

(See related story, other related posts and links within posts (and) public commentary on all here)

(See other (local) reporters styles on this latest Bebb-Jones story by clicking here and here) 

Comment abililty is blocked on this post.

 Jennifer Meierhans:
".....On Thursday, Matt Morriss, a deputy public defender, used the Ashworth development as part of an argument for asking Judge Dan Petre to delay the plea decision.

Mr Morriss said it called into question some of what happened at a recent preliminary hearing, which concluded with Petre binding Bebb-Jones over for trial.

Det Ashworth was a key witness in the hearing.

Judge Petre delayed the plea date until June 6 in hopes that a last-minute plea agreement might be reached to avoid a trial that 9th Judicial District Attorney Martin Beeson said could last six to eight weeks.

Attorney Beeson told Judge Petre that Bebb-Jones rejected a previous plea deal and none were on the table now. Attorney Beeson said if the case goes to trial, as many as 200 witnesses might be called to the stand....."  (Read more?  Click title)

(This post is one of the infrequent commentary posts that I give regarding the 9th Judicial District.  Note disclaimer below)

"The Truth Hurts. 

Sometimes, the truth really hurts. 

Not just feuding strategies amongst attorneys and their cases, but lives that seemingly have nothing to do with those cases.  When does this happen?  That others get hurt in the cross-fire?

Sometimes because of power, politics, high ambitions and the funds to fuel super-lawyers that skillfully steer high media attention. 

Quite often 'collateral damage' happens in cases that are seen as 90% circumstantial and 10% possible substance.

Where the truth becomes corrosive to justice and/or outside the confines of ethics and law is in the failure of duty.  The law is absolute.  Duty is bound.  As Americans, in the greatest justice system in the world, we are led to inherently believe that law and duty walk hand-in-hand.  That 'collateral damage' just is not possible to become a factor in the administration of our courts.

The full truth hurts.

Here in the 9th Judicial District over the past couple of years, we have had a flurry of conflicts, accusations, dissent and very high media attention regarding our prosecutors and public defenders. 

Unfortunately coinciding with both historic and high-profile alleged criminal cases. 

A 'Perfect Storm', if you will. 

Of tragedy, politics, conflicting perception of what crimes are being committed and what crimes are not. 

Money, sex, star-filled names and glam, big power and big money walking alongside government officials that are ethic and duty bound.

Major and historic busts and arrests under the heavy- hanging umbrella of alleged public corruption and alleged failures of duty.  So much so, our cops are even in conflict and some agencies share little trust.

And yet, like the story of cases lost and the crazy battle over alleged cop-spitters and douche-bags, irretrievable consequences of the Scott DeGraffs and Daniel Bebb-Jones', we have made progress only in the past few days by finally getting to the core roots of the problems between our prosecutors and public defenders. 

As painful as it may end up being (and as historic) Chief Deputy Public Defender Tina Fang and Chief Deputy District Attorney Arnold Mordkin are finally getting the real core cards out on the table in front of District Court Judge Gail Nichols.

Unfortunately now, if we are to believe the media coverage,  to apparently have coming along behind them, deputy public defender Matt Morriss and his advisor,  retired public defender James Conway,  giving a toss of jet fuel  "gotcha" to the smoldering embers of District Attorney Martin Beeson's one valid point in his highly controversial 2010 "The Truth Hurts" op-ed column.

Which was that motion after motion that really are stall tactics were being filed. 

DA Beeson then went on in 2010,  to accusatory and inflammatory verbiage claiming such tactics were SOP for all criminal defenders in his district but specifically public defenders. Ironically, defenders fired back with a broad sweep of their own observations with the end result finally narrowing down to what we see now between Fang and Mordkin.

Nobody in the entire 9th Judicial District is more eager than the folks to get this war begun nearly eight years ago now under the control of our judges.  Fang and Mordkin are appreciated.

What a shame, in a case like Marcus Bebb-Jones where there are already questions of case validity for a variety of reasons, combined with the accused and the victim if she could, having serious considerations for the safety and well-being of their surviving son, Daniel; that these two public defenders cannot simply follow the stellar lead of Tina Fang and come from only the validity of facts. 

Rather than the potential of returning us all to the murky world of inflammatory and baiting language that comes from trying a case in the media. "200 witnesses" should be more than enough, one would think. 

Former Garfield County Sheriff Corporal Erik Ashworth's years of stellar reputed work, including his time on the Bebb-Jones case should not be taken away from him because of an as of yet unproven and totally unrelated accusation against him. 

No more than former Glenwood PD Paul Pedersen should be considered untrustworthy as a credible witness because of a human error in judgement that is entirely unrelated to the 40 year problem of the Aspen drug culture of which he has had stellar performances in combating.

This 'gotcha' tactic, if it is attempted by Morriss and Conway,  is sleaze and is also damning towards proving District Attorney Martin Beeson's one valid point in his attack on public defenders in  2010.

For the sake of deceased Sabrina Bebb-Jones and her son Daniel, civilians in the 9th can all be very grateful that Dan Petre is the judge who has his hands firmly on the reins."

"Truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Then it is violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident."

(Disclaimer:  "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 provides the courtesy of moderating commentary from the general public on 9th Judicial District and Mr. Beeson's articles. All 9th Judicial news articles are DA Beeson's articles)

SandBoxBlogs: Newsmax "Rep. Chaffetz: Cut DOJ Funds Now"

Henry J. Reske and Kathleen Walter:
"Eric Holder's Justice Department should not be allowed to use taxpayer funds to lie to Congress about its role in the controversial gun-walking program known as Fast and Furious, Rep. Jason Chaffetz tells Newmax TV.

The Utah Republican introduced an amendment to the Justice Department appropriations bill to cut the money from its budget, which passed the House 381-41 on Wednesday. Also approved was an amendment to cut $1 million from budget for its actions on Fast and Furious.

“You shouldn’t be using federal taxpayer dollars to lie to Congress, Chaffetz said in the exclusive interview. “We still have 40 Democrats or so disagree with that.

"The bottom line is you can’t lie to Congress and when the DOJ sent Congress a letter on February 4, 2011 and then, later — months, months later — had to rescind that because they knew that they had lied to Congress.

"Congress has got to stand up for itself," said the two-term congressman.

“It has to hold the DOJ accountable and they need to fulfill that subpoena. We were trying to reaffirm that the whole notion that the administration needs to come clean on Fast and Furious with that amendment....”

(Read more? Watch the interview? Click title)

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent/Your Letters "It's not attire that attracts the police"

Wendy Hobbs:
"This is in response to Debbie Centeno's letter of May 8. I don't think it's the color of a person's attire at the Strawberry Days festival or their ethnicity that will attract police attention. My suggestion would be to not have an outstanding warrant or possess drug paraphernalia while attending the festival. Also, maybe don't carry a forged instrument — just a suggestion...."  (Read more? Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Customs and Border Protection "U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers Seize Over $1.3 Million in Cocaine at Brownsville Port of Entry"

(Read similar story and the observation of a regional/local cop in Eagle County on the cycles of drug trafficking and cartels and how their 'business' affects the folks from Aspen to Vail by clicking here and meeting 'Tucker, the drug-sniffing dog')  

"Brownsville, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Brownsville and Matamoros International Bridge discovered cocaine valued at over $1,328,000 hidden within a Nissan and concealed under a traveler’s clothing.

 

On Thursday, at the Brownsville and Matamoros International Bridge, CBP officers encountered a 2012 Nissan Tiida being driven by a 25-year-old man accompanied by his sister, identified as a 21-year-old, both Mexico citizens and residents of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. At primary a CBP officer referred the Nissan and its occupants for a secondary examination. In secondary CBP officers discovered 16 packages hidden within the Tiida. CBP officers removed the packages containing approximately 39.3 pounds of alleged cocaine.

 

The second case this weekend also occurred at Brownsville and Matamoros International Bridge. On Saturday CBP officers working northbound inspections came in contact with a male Mexico citizen as he arrived at the port of entry as a pedestrian. The man, identified as a 19-year-old resident of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico was selected and escorted to a secondary inspection. In secondary CBP officers discovered two packages concealed under his clothing. CBP officers removed the two packages which held a combined total weight of 2.2 pounds of alleged cocaine.

 

The alleged cocaine from these two seizures has an estimated street value of approximately $1,257,600 and $70,400 respectively. CBP officers turned the driver, passenger and pedestrian over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations special agents for further investigation. CBP officers seized the narcotics and the vehicle.

 

“These loads of alleged cocaine have been stopped at the border by our CBP officers protecting our homeland. I applaud our officers’ vigilance and thank them for their dedication to our nations’ security,” said Michael Freeman, CBP Port Director, Brownsville Port of Entry.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws."

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

SandBoxBlogs: Citizen Telegram "Voters re-elect Rifle Fire District incumbents"

Congratulations to Rifle Fire Protection District!  Glad to see that incumbents prevailed and will hold their seats.

"In polling on Tuesday, May 8, voters re-elected all three incumbents running for the three open seats on the Rifle Fire Protection District board of directors.

Here is the vote count:

1. Yvonne Long, 52

2. John Sandquist, 48

3. Rex Rhule, 39

Former board member Lee Martens, who was seeking to return to the board after being term limited off the board, collected 32 votes, so was unsuccessful in his bid.

The election brought a turnout of 69 voters, less than 1 percent of the estimated 7,400 eligible voters in the district, said Connie Guerette, the fire district's administrative division chief and designated election official.

The fire district board will hold its next regular meeting on Wednesday, May 16, when the re-elected board members will be sworn in and new officers will be elected.

“It's always a relatively small turnout,” said Connie Guerette, the fire district's administrative division chief and designated election official....."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Summit Daily News "Colorado Chocolate Festival celebrates five-year anniversary this weekend"

Aaron Bible:
"Treat mom this Mother's Day weekend to a trip to Denver for the Colorado Chocolate Festival. Held at the Denver Merchandise Mart tonight and Saturday, the fifth annual event features some of the best chocolatiers and chocolate vendors from the region sampling and selling chocolates of all types...."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Summit Daily News "McAbee: Heartbeats"

Powerful and moving piece from Jeff McAbee today.  Over, up and down on the Summit Daily News.

Jeff McAbee:
".....But the story doesn't end there.

Taylor was an organ donor. After she was declared dead, doctors went to work removing her heart and finding a match among the long list of needy and hopeful recipients.

They found a match in the person of Patricia Winters from Arizona. Ms. Winters, a mother of two, literally got her life back when doctors put Taylor's heart in her chest.

The story got national attention when, through the Internet, Taylor's mother was able to find out where Taylor's heart ended up. A meeting was arranged, and in a powerful catharsis for the Storches, Taylor's parents listened to her young heartbeat in the chest of the woman in front of them...."
(Read more? Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Citizen Telegram "Living: It's all in how you do it"

Mike McKibbin:
"“A long life, lived well” is how I headlined a front page feature story for the Citizen Telegram three years ago. It was about Rifle's Bessie Simonson turning 100 years old.

She was — and still is, I'm sure — a truly interesting and entertaining person to talk to and write about.

This week, I found two more of our senior citizens, Joe Allen and Walt Smith, who brightened my life as well. Their stories, like Bessie's was three years ago, are also on the front page of today's Citizen Telegram. I hope it's as fun reading about them as it was talking to them.

They all show how to learn, grow, mature, and, most importantly, have fun as we go through life. That's something I know I don't always do, caught up in deadline pressure and what not. I suspect most of us are often that way...."  (Read more? Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Morning photo: More spring!"

Bob Berwyn:
"SUMMIT COUNTY — Fall aspen season, when the leaves turn, is rightly hailed as one of the most spectacular times of year in the high country, with splashy colors and crisp air. But the spring transition, when the trees go from bare bones to flickering green in just a few days, is equally stunning, although a bit more subtle. It’s a little harder to capture the tender green of emerging aspen leaves, since the display is not quite as showy....."  (Click title)