June 19, 2012

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Obama can't make up his mind about the economy"

James Kellogg:
"There are plenty of headwinds right here at home, too. The president castigates congressional Republicans for blocking his potentially game-changing proposals to give tax breaks to businesses that hire and to provide mortgage refinancing for underwater homeowners. And in the last couple weeks, Obama proclaimed, “The big challenge we have in our economy right now is state and local government hiring has been going in the wrong direction.”

Here's a tip for the president. At this point, the majority of American voters don't care who is to blame for the current crisis. They are demanding solutions. Such solutions will be founded on free markets and private enterprise, not government control.

If Obama is intent on convincing Americans that he is powerless to foster the circumstances for economic recovery, why would we give him a second term?

The November election is looming closer, and voters are already waving goodbye to the president. Who will Obama blame for that? It'll be a tough decision......"  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within news others make since 2010"

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Former defendants in monoxide case oppose grand jury testimony request"

Chad Abraham:
"Two men who once faced felony charges in the carbon monoxide deaths of a Denver family outside Aspen are opposing an effort by relatives of the deceased to get secret grand jury information.

The investigative information was requested on May 18 by relatives of the Lofgren family for use in their civil lawsuit against 10 defendants allegedly involved in the family’s 2008 deaths. The plaintiffs are seeking physical evidence, transcripts of witness testimony and other documents that were used to indict Pitkin County building official Brian Pawl and former city of Aspen inspector Erik Peltonen in 2010.

Criminal charges against the men were dropped last year.

But the release of parts of the year-long grand jury investigation could revive “unwarranted accusations” against them, says the June 1 filing in Pitkin County District Court by Pawl’s attorney. Peltonen’s attorney filed a motion June 4 to join in opposing the release........

........“Although he was indicted by the grand jury, the indictment was deficient on its face,” wrote Pawl’s attorney, Josh Marks of Boulder in the opposition brief.

A critical purpose of grand jury secrecy is to protect “the innocent from disclosure of unwarranted accusations and the embarrassment and exposure that would result from disclosure of the investigatory records ...,” Marks’ filing says. That factor warrants denial of the request to unseal the records, he wrote...."  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within news others make since 2010"

SandBoxBlogs: Watchdog.Org "IA: Secretary of State denies release of emails related to identity theft case"

Good for Iowa Sec of State Matt Shultz.  Who was exonerated from accusations of state ethics law violations.

This was the first case in the judicial history of the United States where law enforcement took charge of the outdated, vague and sorely lacking 'identity theft' laws when it comes to internet crime. 

Because Shultz is a public figure and not a  private citizen made the courage of law enforcement to take on now convicted Zach Edwards and the infamous 'Link Strategies' company he was associated with even more significant. 

Public figures have far less ability to protest attacks on their lives from false allegations or types of viral assaults such as Zach Edwards did.  Private citizens attacked in similar manner are protected more strongly by the 4th amendment.  Even though the act committed against both is the same.

Kudos to Matt Schultz for keeping hands on the reins and not letting media fester what is now a historic ruling that benefits all victims of internet crime and 'high-tech lynchings' by others.    

Sheena Dooley:
"DES MOINES – The Iowa Secretary of State’s Office is refusing to make public emails related to an identity-theft case involving its elected leader Republican Matt Schultz and a former Barack Obama presidential campaign staffer.

Iowa Watchdog asked the secretary of state’s office multiple times for emails related to the case. It also sought access to all documents associated with the former Obama staffer, Zachary Edwards, including written correspondence, emails, police reports, phone logs and written notes to staff......

.......Edwards, 29, committed identity theft when he sent at least one email saying Thomas Schultz received inappropriate payments from former GOP presidential nominee Rick Santorum, court documents show. He sent that email to Matt Schultz’s Secretary of State office from an email address that was almost identical to the secretary of state’s personal address.

Edwards was also behind a libelous blog post that prompted articles in The Salt Lake Tribune and
Politico.com accusing Thomas Schultz and his brother of engaging in unethical or illegal behavior, according to Thomas Schultz’s victim impact statement.

Around the same time, Matt Schultz, 33, faced an ethics complaint for using his office to issue a statement sharply criticizing Jon Huntsman for his failure to participate in the Iowa Caucuses. Matt Schultz received at least $12,500 in campaign contributions from a political action committee Santorum ran. Thomas Schultz was behind the Draft Santorum website urging his candidacy for president.

The Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board later tossed out the complaint, saying Matt Schultz didn’t violate state ethics laws......"  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within news others make since 2010"

SandBoxBlogs: Albany Times Union "America's Highest-elevation Roller Coaster Opens at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Glenwood Springs, Colorado"

How does a viral link bait, tied to a newspaper article (or tied to every keyword contained in the bait actually 'work' on the internet?

The moment anyone clicks on it, it implodes into the web.  Saturating that live link to the  newspaper article it is tied to into the  worldwide web for all time.  Can never be removed and can never be cleaned up.

The only thing one can do is track the keywords.  The bait will appear one time only, until clicked on and then it "implodes" and disburses its content when clicked on. 

Hot stories are trackable only through setting up alerts on every search engine and doing so with the exact keywords located in that one original bait.

One must download the live bait (if you stumble on it before it is clicked and disbursed) to your hard drive  (or) make a hard copy of it.  Either one is able to be subpoenaed to find out source of origin.

Hey!  How about those PR Web tourism marketing  gals hired by GSCRA with public tax dollars and the  mass glut of saturation to newspapers, blogs, twitter, facebook all over the nation on behalf of Steve Beckley's new expansion?  Boy, that's a huge bonus getting that much 'free' to Beckley advertising.

Combined with the flood of alerts from Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask and other engines; those standard practice viral link baits used by GSCRA and contractors  have really done an above and beyond their usual saturation job.

How about you?

How do you feel about the tourism contract dollars for 81601 footing the bill for a select few and their advertising budget?

Come to think of it.  How do you feel about the  new coaster and how it looks perched up there on top of Iron Mountain?

Great photo in this press release from contracted tourism promoter under GSCRA from PR Web.

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within news others make since 2010"

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Glenwood's Fourth of July fireworks may be canceled"

Hooray!!!

Maybe that $20K saved this year will go direct to the local Salvation Army, Catholic Charities and Feed My Sheep!

How soon this community forgets certain scandals brought about by certain powerful individuals.  How long ago was  it that the grant fund was run dry by GSCRA and the city had to step in?  Two years now?

The point, is that fireworks in Glenwood Springs should be privately funded and the city budget not dipped to cover the costs.  This works out, at $20,000 to over $1,200 per minute.

With record unemployment, record homeless and hungry and still struggling after nearly 5 years of a local economy that is still dragging itself back up; the City of Glenwood Springs has no business wasting money on fireworks nor should crucial tourism marketing dollars be used to fund the display.

At least now, in the year 2012, $20,000 will not be wasted.

Say NO fireworks directly to your councilman and be sure to vote NO in the PI's online poll.

John Stroud:
"GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — The city of Glenwood Springs may join Aspen in canceling its Fourth of July fireworks display next month due to the extreme high fire danger.

“As a result of discussions between myself and the fire chief, and an inquiry from the mayor about whether we should have them or not, it is on the agenda for our meeting next Thursday,” Glenwood Springs City Manager Jeff Hecksel said.

Glenwood Springs City Council will formally discuss a possible cancellation of the fireworks display at its June 21 regular meeting.

Meanwhile, Gov. John Hickenlooper on Thursday signed an executive order banning the use of private fireworks and open burning statewide because of the dry conditions throughout Colorado...."
(Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within news others make since 2010"

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Records release reveals more about secret Vernal meeting"

It's rare anymore that SandBox agrees with Republican commissioner Tom Jankovsky.  His  heavy and ham-handed handling of Garfield County needs is just  not setting well with a number of  residents.  And they're conservatives...

But in this case, we'll run alongside Jankovsky.  This craziness over  the Vernal meeting  is nothing but political.

With that said, this controversy is another great reason to say NO to the re-up of Republican John Martin and YES to Democrat Sonja Linman.

We definitely need balance in Garfield County BOCC.  Things like this dust-up  over the Vernal meeting are preventable.

"Save a gas rig.  Vote Sonja Linman (D) for Garfield County  Commissioner".

John Stroud:
"GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — Garfield County commissioners were more than just an idle participant at a special closed-door meeting in Vernal, Utah, in late March to discuss oil shale policy, a Colorado government watchdog group says.

The meeting produced a unified political statement from counties in three states, which was later sent to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The letter was critical of the BLM's plan to reduce the amount of federal lands available in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming for oil shale research and development.

“Garfield County Commissioner Tom Jankovsky organized the Vernal meeting,” Colorado Common Cause charged Thursday...." (Read more? Click title)

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within news others make since 2010"

SandBoxBlogs: Vail Daily News "May local jobless rate remains unchanged"

Randy Wyrick:
"EAGLE COUNTY — The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment's latest jobless numbers put Eagle County's unemployment rate at 12.3 percent for May, largely unchanged from May 2010.

Colorado's state unemployment rate is 8.1 percent, close to the national rate.

“Colorado is in a similar situation as we're seeing across the nation,” said Alexandra Hall, chief economist with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment......"  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within news others make since 2010"

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times "Grob rises above the rest"

Darryl Grob will be the best Pitkin County Commissioner we have ever had.

Just imagine a world where a PitCo commissioner uses practical, common sense reasoning and thorough research before making a decision. A construction oriented thought process that uses logic and problem solving skills on behalf of the highest good of getting resolution and forward movement for all.

Gosh, we might end up leaving behind the crazy displays of  politics and ego.  Such as the "Great Castle Creek Guardrail Conspiracy" of Rachel Richards.

Go, Grob!  Just vote Grob.  

Willard Clapper:
"Dear Editor:

It is truly rare to see a group of concerned citizens running for any office with the character and integrity manifested by the four men running for Pitkin County commissioner this year! I say that with a real sense of knowing as I have watched a large number of these elections and they typically do not offer the slate of capable candidates that this election does.

I could cast my vote for any one of them but firmly believe that Darryl Grob would be the best choice for county commissioner from the lot. I first met Darryl shortly after he arrived in Aspen as he joined the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department. He rapidly became a superior firefighter, a captain and ultimately the Fire Department's first and only paid fire chief.

At that time it was essential that we hired someone from within to oversee the huge task of building four new fire stations and retrofitting our entire fleet of firefighting apparatus. Darryl fit the bill perfectly and completed those tasks with amazing proficiency — come by and visit our Hopkins Avenue station to see the legacy of his work.

Darryl is the kind of commissioner that I feel fits the bill for Pitkin County, as well. He is meticulous with his attention to detail. He is a tireless worker who will never be unprepared for any meeting, any decision nor any discussion on the street or in the chambers. He is relentless in his research, leaving nothing germane to the issue unattended....."  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within news others make since 2010"

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "CMC sticks with its rejection of compressor station"

Should Pat Chamber run again for CMC Trustee, just say YES.

One has to wonder what defines 'education' in the Trustee's  eyes.  The loss of $12,000 in revenue per year that would pay a lot of overhead on our local CMC campus.

Remember, this is a dispute over a noxious weed infested patch of land that even the donor's families refuse to maintain and our Trustees do absolutely nothing with.

What's on the agenda for this ground  if no revenue is generated off it?

Another few decades of continued neglect or is there some secret campus expansion or learning mecca planned for the spot?

Inquiring minds want to know exactly what  'education' is set for this land.

John Colson:
"News of the lease was met by an uproar among students, faculty members and landowners living near the college, including ranchers who had donated land for the school's campus back in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The furor prompted the trustees to reconsider Jensen's agreement.

Less than two weeks after the May 14 meeting, SourceGas filed a lawsuit asking a judge to force the school to allow the compressor station to be built on campus property. The company also asked the trustees to consider a proposal to put the compressor station at a second site, near the school's water tower.

The majority of trustees this week appeared unswayed by the threat of continued legal action against the school.

“We're here to do education,” said Trustee Kathy Goudy of Carbondale, “and this is not education.”..."
(Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within news others make since 2010"

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Environmental groups oppose new Thompson Divide drilling requests"

Ah, yes.

The spearheads for a few of the same groups that have joined Mary Noone in the push for public tax dollars to purchase private lands and 'preserve' them.

See related stories and public comments in the links below:

http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2012/04/sandboxblogs-aspen-daily-news-garfield.html

http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2012/05/sandboxblogs-glenwood-springs-post_16.html

http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2012/06/sandboxblogs-glenwood-springs-post_08.html

Drill baby, drill.

John Colson:
"An sixth extension request in 2009, according to Hart's letter, prompted opposition from Wilderness Workshop and other groups, asking that the BLM deny the request “based on extraordinary values at risk and a clear failure by the operator to pursue diligent development.”...."  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within news others make since 2010"

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Mediation unable to resolve Encana, Thompson dispute"

Let's hope the outcome on this one is the same defeat as the Strudley family.   Isn't it about time that Colorado passed the same type of frivolous lawsuit laws as Rick Perry has instilled down in Texas?

The rising costs of heating our homes, gas prices and all needs every American has when it comes to using energy sources daily deserve to not be forced even higher because of ridiculous lawsuits like  this  one.

Good wishes to EnCana USA that their winning streak on this one continues.

John Colson:
"RIFLE, Colorado — A court-appointed mediator has been unable to resolve a dispute between Porcupine Creek landowner Thomas Thompson and Encana Oil and Gas (USA), a drilling company operating on Thompson's land.

As a result, according to spokesmen for both sides, the matter appears headed for trial.

Thompson and Encana disagree about the cause of a 2011 flood along Porcupine Creek, which flows through Thompson's 40-acre property south of Rifle.

Thompson maintains that the flood, which he says caused $700,000 in damage to his property on both sides of the creek, happened because EnCana did a poor job installing a culvert/bridge over the creek for an access road to its drilling sites. The flood damage is uphill from the culvert.

EnCana, however, has said that its culvert had nothing to do with causing the damage, and that repair costs should be more like $75,000.

Thompson ordered the company off his property in March, and Encana won an injunction to force Thompson to let its crews resume work on the drilling rigs. But Garfield District Judge James Boyd's ruling did not grant the company legal permission to start fixing the creekside damage unless it obtains Thompson's permission....." (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within news others make since 2010"

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Just what Snowmass needs"

Johnny Boyd:
"I began writing columns in 1995 after listening to the consternation about the business climate in Snowmass Village, or the lack thereof. My first column proposed the idea of moving all the businesses in the Snowmass Mall to the then unconstructed Base Village, and my second column was about replacing the mall businesses with casinos. It was sheer arrogance and brilliance — a great way to start a writing career — and everyone hated it. Go figure.

I remain convinced that casinos are the best idea to transform the economy of Snowmass Village into a sustainable year-round resort. For some reason this bright idea is resisted by the politicians, the second homeowners and the citizenry. Something about attracting the wrong clientele.

I submit that if we can entertain the titan thieves of Wall Street, we can surely put up with a few skuzzy dudes ripping off cigarettes at the liquor store. My original column even mentioned the darker aspects of casinos by using the line, “If the Mafia gets involved, it will give a whole new meaning to ‘family resort.’” A thief is a thief, whether by briefcase or gun...."  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within news others make since 2010"

SandBoxBlogs: Craig Daily Press "Officials comment on Hayden, Dinosaur casino projects "

See related story here:  http://www.steamboattoday.com/news/2012/jun/12/plans-casino-near-hayden-airport-move-forward/

Joe Moylan:
" A group of Yampa Valley business partners announced in March their interest in developing a venture new to Northwest Colorado.

After more than 50 meetings with a variety of entities the past six months, Steamboat Springs resident Steve Hofman said Monday the time to present to the public information for an Indian gaming facility in Hayden is approaching.

“We have understood from the very beginning that not only would the opportunity for public comment and input be appropriate, but essential,” Hofman said. “We fully anticipate having those discussions and having the public ask questions we believe we have answers to, and if they ask questions we don’t have answers to, then we’re going to be obligated to get them answers.

“That’s been our approach through this entire process.”......"
(Read more?  Click title)


"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within news others make since 2010"

SandBoxBlogs: Note from Nanny " Moderation trust, bones that mend and back to the future"

You've been terrific 'kids' while I have been laid low with my fractured wrist and surgery.

Yes, I know I have a mailbox full of your comments to moderate and post.  I promise I will get to those very soon. 

The other issue many of you know has been a factor over the past month is that I now live in a mountain area that  has limited cell and internet signal.  That issue has now been remedied thanks to the kindness and aid of 'chirkers' (bless his welding guy happy soul) who has put together a sturdy 'directional' antenna that attaches to my wireless.  What a talented guy and so appreciated. 

Because you have been so good and not bombarded me with 'Nanny...when will you get back? (and) 'Nanny', hurry up!'...I am going to take the blog off the global moderation only posting safeguard I've had it on.  You can go back to direct posting and I'll get caught up with your moderated comments as quickly as I can.

Thank you to all who've sent 'old bones' jokes, you're really hilarious.

Let's get caught up on some of the action that affects Coloradans and get some new posts up.  


"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within news others make since 2010"