SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Morning photo: half-light"

All credit:  Bob Berwyn
"SUMMIT COUNTY — I love shooting in the half-light, trying to catch that moment when there’s balance. Sometimes it takes a little tweaking in the digital darkroom,  but when it comes out right, it’s worth the effort. Other times, it’s just right, straight from the camera....."

SandBoxBlogs: Dept of Defense/Face of Defense "Child chat"

"U.S. Army Sgt. Joshua Smith chats with an Afghan boy during a combined patrol clearing operation in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, April 28, 2012. Smith is assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team."

 

 

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "USA Pro Cycling Challenge becomes presenting partner of the Colorado Mini Classic"

Today's 'prime real estate' (always the last post of the day on a blog as it is the first post seen by viewers) goes to the Town of Silt, Colorado.

Goes to Mayor Dave Moore and his rebels with a cause.

Why, you ask?

Because on June 2nd and 3rd, the itty bitty teeny tiny Town of Silt will hold a chunk of the world stage in bicycle racing.

(lol) Oh my goodness, says, 'SandBox Nanny'.

'Staff Report':
"The USA Pro Cycling Challenge, one of the largest professional cycling races in the United States, has signed on to be the presenting partner for the third annual Colorado Mini Classic, which will run June 2-3 in Silt.

Taking place in the quiet, small town with the same street decal signage as the Pro Challenge, the event provides junior athletes with the opportunity to get a taste of world-class competitive cycling action.

“The Colorado Mini Classic reinforces the unique ability of cycling events to impact communities and peoples' lives in a positive and healthy way, while focusing on sportsmanship, racing lessons, good citizenship, athletic performance and the role of family in the quest for individual achievement,” said Chris McGee, executive director, Bicycle Racing Association of Colorado. “The event is a stepping stone for all involved, and with this year's invaluable partnership with the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, we have made a tangible connection between the stars of today and American's future cycling champions.”

Modeled after the famous Mini Classics in the days of the Red Zinger and Coors Classic, which helped launch the careers of Bobby Julich, Jonathan Vaughters, Clark Sheehan and many other cycling legends, the 2012 Colorado Mini Classic presented by the USA Pro Cycling Challenge is a three-stage omnium, consisting of a time trial, criterium and road race.

Specially designed for junior racers age 10 to 18, the Mini Classic places the focus on juniors and their families.

“Our goal has always been to grow interest and participation in the sport of cycling in the U.S.,” said Brian Farris, chief operating officer of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. “Through this partnership between the USA Pro Challenge and the Colorado Mini Classic, we are fostering growth of the sport, while bringing the experience of a professional race to some of the state's best junior riders. It's just a matter of time before we see one of these very same kids standing on the USA Pro Challenge podium.”

This year's event has been recognized as one of the premier juniors-only events in the country, and is part of the 2012 Lance Armstrong Junior Race Series...."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Fox News "At least 7 killed in blasts in Afghan capital, as Taliban says attacks a response to Obama's visit"

"A suicide car bomber and Taliban militants disguised in burqas attacked a compound housing hundreds of foreigners in the Afghan capital on Wednesday, killing seven people, officials and witnesses said.

The Taliban said the attack was a response to President Barack Obama's surprise visit just hours earlier.
At least 17 people were also wounded in the assault, most of them Afghan children on their way to school, the Interior Ministry said.

The second major assault in Kabul in less than three weeks, the attack highlights the Taliban's continued ability to strike in the heavily guarded capital even when the city is on its tightest security for a combination of events -- the Obama visit and Wednesday's anniversary of the killing of Usama bin Laden in neighboring Pakistan.

The attack started around 6 a.m. in eastern Kabul with a series of explosions and gunfire ringing out from the privately guarded compound known as Green Village that houses hundreds of international contractors.

Shooting and blasts continued for hours later as militants who had stormed into the compound held out against security forces, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information....." (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Pueblo Chieftain "Analysis: Obama has 2 narratives on Afghanistan"

ANNE GEARAN and ROBERT BURNS:
"WASHINGTON (AP) — In President Barack Obama's twin narratives, the United States is both leaving Afghanistan and staying there.

The different messages are meant for different audiences, one at home and one away. As Obama's brief, symbolic visit to Afghanistan on Wednesday made clear, the more important audience is American voters fed up with a war that will be in its 12th year on Election Day this fall.

The president flew in secret to sign a long-awaited security compact with Afghanistan. It was after midnight in Kabul when the signing took place, and 4 a.m. there when Obama addressed

Americans in a specially arranged 7:30 p.m. EDT speech on network television. By the time most Afghans woke up, Obama was gone....."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Iowa Republican "SCC Member’s Refusal to Support Mitt Romney Hurts Iowa Republicans"

Kevin Hall:
"It is the job of the Iowa GOP’s State Central Committee to help Republicans defeat Democrats. Period.

That is their primary task. However, one new member of the committee is publicly refusing to help the likely GOP presidential nominee. Over the past few days, Jamie Johnson declared his distaste for Mitt Romney on WHO Radio and in a national news publication.

“I don’t care for Mitt Romney,” Johnson said on Simon Conway’s radio program last week. “Everyone who knows me knows that I do not care for Governor Mitt Romney. That is a personal perspective that I have.”

Jamie Johnson was the state coalitions director for Rick Santorum’s campaign. Santorum has a meeting scheduled with Mitt Romney on Friday. An endorsement is likely to follow. Another of Jamie Johnson’s former bosses recently became Romney’s national coalitions director. Mike Biundo was the national campaign manager for Rick Santorum. However, Biundo and Santorum’s support of Romney is not enough to sway Johnson to change his opinion of the former Massachusetts governor.

“I am personally not going to help Mitt Romney with his presidential aspirations, because I do not support him personally,” Johnson told the Washington Examiner. “My conscience will not let me help him.....”

(Read more? Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Red State "Barack Obama: A Legend In His Own Mind "

'strieff' Diary:
"In terms of iconography this photo is destined to rival that taken of FDR on D-Day.*

With some trying to turn bin Laden’s death into a campaign talking point for Obama’s reelection, it is useful to remember that the trail to bin Laden started in a CIA black site — all of which Obama ordered closed, forever, on the second full day of his administration — and stemmed from information obtained from hardened terrorists who agreed to tell us some (but not all) of what they knew after undergoing harsh but legal interrogation methods. Obama banned those methods on Jan. 22, 2009.
–Jose A. Rodriguez
The Washington Post, The path to bin Laden’s death didn’t start with Obama"

(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Willits News "Covelo pair gets five years for federal pot crime; supplied marijuana for coast-to-coast ring"

Linda Williams:
"Two Covelo pot growers were among 18 defendants who pleaded guilty at the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012 in a multi-state federal marijuana prosecution originating in Virginia. The defendants received sentences ranging from five to 18 years in federal prison.

 

The operation generated profits estimated at $3 million from 2005 until the June 2011 arrests, according to court documents. The operation mailed packages of boutique California marijuana to individuals and groups in Virginia, Georgia, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

 

The ringleader, Anthony Guidry, 46, of Vallejo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 100 kilos of marijuana or more and possession of a firearm in the furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and is now serving 220 months in federal prison.

 

Guidry could have been sentenced from 40 years to life in prison.

 

He and all the other defendants also agreed to forfeit all assets including guns, property, a motorcycle, banking accounts and cash discovered by federal agents.

 

Agents seized 71 total pounds of weed and about $160,000 in cash from various locations during the arrests.

Guidry purchased specialty bud marijuana from a variety of sources throughout Northern California including Anthony Scott Giuliani, 45, and Annette Marie Ross, 52, both of Covelo..... 

.......One of his East Coast distributors recruited an ever-growing group of friends and family members willing to accept pot shipments to avoid raising the suspicions of postal, Fedex and UPS workers. The group admitted it was "sometimes necessary and prudent to use violence to enforce debts" in court documents.

 

Whenever a bank became too inquisitive, members of the group would open a new account at a different bank or arrange for a courier to fly out to transport the cash.

 

The entire plot began to unravel when Virginia police arrested Moataz Mohammad Masoud in January 2010 with $2,000 cash, three pounds of pot and a sales list of people owing him a total of $20,000. Masoud was still on probation after a 2008 conviction for intent to deliver marijuana for sale.

 

Masoud phoned several members of the network from the tapped phone at the jail asking for help to collect enough money to pay for his lawyer. Detectives from a growing number of state and federal agencies began investigating the people Masoud called. By the time the conspirators were arrested in June 2011, agents had intercepted more than 14,000 calls or texts from across the nation and tracked 38 marijuana packages and 21 bulk-cash packages.

Most of the individual conspirators received five-year prison sentences; the main distributors got 90 months. In exchange for a reduction in the number of counts and charges, all defendants agreed to provide law enforcement with detailed accounts of their operations.....(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: The State/Breaking News "Haley cleared of illegal lobbying by House panel"

Gina Smith:
"In a five to one vote, a House panel cleared Gov. Nikki Haley on Wednesday of charges that she illegally lobbied while a House member.
The six members of the House Ethics Committee have been meeting behind closed doors for more than a month, looking into a complaint that Haley lobbied on behalf of two employers, Wilbur Smith, a Midlands engineering firm that has done state work, and the Lexington Medical Center Foundation.
"We found no evidence that she lobbied," said Rep. Roland Smith, R-Aiken and chairman of the committee..."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: KJCT News 8 "Colo. Exoneration Program to Expand"

A very interesting piece from Don Coleman off KJCT News 8.  Over Grand Junction way.

Sort of sounds like Sheriff Stan Hilkey's  'Evidence Based Decision Making Project'.

Don Coleman:
"GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- Colorado's Attorney General's Office says it has been awarded additional funding to expand the program that exonerated Robert Dewey after 17 years in prison.


Since being convicted, Dewey tried to appeal through the justice system, but nothing ever came about until phase one of the Justice Review Project (JRP) that began in 2010.


It was a process that began back in 2009 when money suddenly became available at the federal level.


"There was a pool of money available for organizations and state offices and we applied for it," Julie Selsberg, Senior Assistant Attorney General for Colorado, said. "We were the only pure prosecution office to be awarded some of that` grant."


A total of 15 organizations from across the country were awarded funds by the National Institute of Justice. Colorado's were aimed at identifying cases in our state where DNA testing could potentially exonerate a wrongfully-convicted inmate.


Nearly 5,000 cases of murder, manslaughter, and sexual assault were screened state-wide without applications for review. Under the strict rules of the JRP, further eligibility would be determined.


First, only the cases of inmates who maintain a claim of innocence without ever admitting any degree of guilt would be screened. Then, someone from the Attorney General's Office would look at any and all court documents related to the case.


If the review passed those eyes, staff would contact the inmate, any witnesses, and all attorneys assigned to the case. Upon further screening, it would be up to a panel of investigators and attorneys to decide if DNA testing was needed to continue the process....." (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times "Troubled by Basalt criminal activity"

A little over a year ago, 'SandBox Nanny' received a thoughtful, appreciative and detailed email letter from a follower. 

This individual has been writing their frequent letters to the editor in the valley for many years.  Long, long before SandBoxBlogs or SafePlaceBlogs ever came to be. (Notice the present tense, yes..they are still at it.)

Their purpose in sending the letter was to share a long laundry list of 'saved' news stories off the (mostly, there were a few other regional media enclosed as well) PI and the Aspen Times.

Amazing (stunning in some cases, actually) how the past that plays such a role in the present has been 'tracked' by area news media, despite their very best efforts to quash a number of issues.  The content of the tracking system in their letter was fascinating reading material!

Lest we 'forget',  let's walk back to the fairly recent past and talk about the old Members Hub for a bit.

Checking in on the comments to Nancy Heard's letter to the editor today up on the Aspen Times would be a good stop for you to head to first.  Click title.

Granted, Nancy may not have communicated her 'snark' as well as she might have, but the point is that Nancy Heard obviously cares about her community and is obviously noticing some patterns that should be concerning to all.  Regardless of your political views, etc. etc. 

Who knows why Nancy decided to try a letter to the editor.  Let's toss a hypothetical out.  Let's say Nancy thought she would give the Times another try because things seem to be better  and more open to unbiased, uncensored channels of communication.  Let's say Nancy is paying attention to her valley wide goings on and thought that just maybe..there was room for her voice too in an environment where she wouldn't be targeted by the old 'bad' or 'predator' style 'trolls' from the old Times members hub. 

After all, they have to login with DNA now.  No 'room to hide' as the Times and PI are so fond of using as an excuse for their own shortcomings in handling responsibility.

Have we now gone full circle for the Times and the PI, folks?

Blatantly obvious from the growing numbers of alternate media and chat forums that it was a huge mistake censoring and banning the voices of the folks.

Acute awareness, given the failure of their new comment system, that they didn't hold as much of a commodity on the market out here as they thought.  Heck, it's doubtful that they will ever get the 'good ones' back on again.  Even if they nix the DNA login.

Keenly aware, that the level of discussion they do get when the sparse few logon, is sorely lacking in both content and attention-grabbing power.

But, the hypothetical today is a blast from the past regarding chats, good trolls, bad trolls, predator trolls and the overall sense of security and wellbeing of the folks when it comes to local news media.  Not the blind eyes of Swift management.

Moderation works two ways. 

The first is the elimination of content that is undesired.  Such as rudeness, swearing or whatever the forum rules and regs do not allow.  

The second is to protect the person whose voice might not be the most popular in content or person.  The concept of a watering hole is that everyone gets to belly up.

What a shame that sitting around the Aspen Times newsroom today are lazy journalists and writers who could care less about Nancy Heard's viewpoint (or) Nancy Heard herself.   Just letting her letter shift for itself and/or not bothering to join in the dialogue.  Gosh, there must be major, attention grabbing goings on in Aspen today and they must be way too busy to participate.

To mimic some of the more dramatic commentators that drop by:  "Are we forever doomed to be stuck in their version of what gets censored and banned...and what does not?"

A shout out today to Nancy Heard of Basalt.  Keep talking.

Nancy Heard: 
"Dear Editor:

Perhaps the city would be a better place to raise my children? We left good jobs in the city for a rural mountain community. “A nice place to raise our kids,” we thought.

The recent events of a foiled murder plot at the park where my children hang out just 100 yards from my house has me rethinking whether this rural mountain community is in fact a good place to raise my children.

In recent years, all within a half-mile radius of our house we have experienced: shooting at 7-Eleven, armed robbery at Clark's market, a sex offender stalking kids as they leave school (yes, my kids walked right past his car), three suicides, two overdose deaths and a felony embezzlement charge. Wow!...."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Customs and Border Protection "San Juan CBP Seizes 102 Kilos of Cocaine in Two Separate Seizures"

"San Juan, Puerto Rico- For the third time this month, the diligence and commitment to duty of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in the San Juan Area Port prevented drug traffickers from using commercial shipments to introduce cocaine through our shores.

 

Yesterday, while performing inspectional duties on MV CFS Paradero, arriving from Rio Haina, Dominican Republic, CBP officers assigned to the San Juan Seaport selected various containers for additional

examination. Using available technology, they detected anomalies in two of the containers.

 

When the containers were physically inspected, two bags, believed to contain narcotics, were found inside each container. On one of the containers the two bags contained a total of 32 packages that when field tested proved positive for cocaine, with an approximate weight of 35 kilograms (77 pounds).

 

On the second container, 60 packages, with an approximate weight of 67 kilograms (148 pounds), also tested positive for cocaine.

 

The container cargo description on one of the containers was “napkins” and on the other “Calcium Carbonate.”

 

Estimated street value for the seizures is $2,224,000.

 

The custody of the duffle bags and the contraband was transferred to ICE Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation.

 

Last Thursday, CBP also seized 28 kilos (61.73 pounds) of cocaine and 5.53 kilos (12.19 pounds) of heroin inside a container on board the M/V Maesk Tarragona arriving from Caucedo, Dominican Republic.

 

On April 4, 28.5 kilos of cocaine (63 pounds) were seized on board the vessel M/V Freemantle Express also arriving from Caucedo.

 

“Every day, our officers work tirelessly to protect our nation from those that intend to do us harm by introducing dangerous drugs that could end up in our streets and communities and harm our families. Customs and Border Protection will not tire in the pursuit of those that break our laws and attempt to use commercial shipments to accomplish their damaging goals,” said Port Director for the San Juan Area Port, Maria Palmer.

 

“We have stepped up our inspection of cargo through a risk-management based, layered enforcement approach closing routes for smugglers,” indicated Marcelino Borges, Director of Field Operations for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

 

CBP uses sophisticated methods to identify and target potentially high-risk cargo, including advanced electronic information about every cargo shipment to the U.S. before it arrives.

 

CBP’s dual mission is to facilitate travel and trade in the United States while securing our borders, our people and our visitors from those that would do us harm like terrorists and terrorist weapons, criminals, and contraband. CBP officers are charged with enforcing not only immigration and customs laws, but they enforce over 400 laws for 40 other agencies and have stopped thousands of violators of U.S. law.

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: Telegraph UK "Chaos at border control deepens as immigration staff announce strike"

Let's do a reverse hypothetical.

After all, with all the posting of patterns she sees between illegal immigration uprisings in the area, demonizing of authority in the area, blanketing through power and censorship of voices in the area, gangs and drugs in the area (and) our culture and lifestyle in the area; it's only fair to give  a voice spot to the 'other side'.

Those that are for wide open borders.

For legalizing all drugs. 

For zero checks and balances in the illegal foreign nationals sectors of our population.

Here's the questions:

What would happen if we just stepped back as a nation, took our hands off all of the above and just let it all run loose and free?

For that matter, what would happen if we all woke up tomorrow and there were no customs, ICE, DEA agents and no cops helping out those agencies? 

Matthew Holehouse:
"The Immigration Services Union, representing 4,500 border staff, will stage industrial action next Thursday as part of a national public sector strike over pensions. It will inform the Cabinet Office today of its plans.

The move could see hundreds of staff at Heathrow and other airports affected, adding to the delays already being endured at passport control.

Home Office ministers yesterday revealed they would draft in an extra 80 border staff at Heathrow in "hit squads" to tackle the immigration crisis after the Home Secretary Thereas May was brought before the Prime Minister to explain the "unacceptable" queues of over two hours.

Lucy Moreton, the deputy general secretary of the Immigration Services Union, today said: "We don't want to cause disruption, but if the Cabinet Office continues to ignore our concerns over pensions then that is what we are going to do. We have hundreds of members at Heathrowso it will have a significant impact."

The dispute is over Government plans to give border staff with a flexible retirement age instead of pegging it at 65. Ms Moreton said that could force her members to work until their late sixties or even 70 as the state retirement age rose...."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Customs and Border Protection "West Desert Task Force Operation Results in Dope Seizure, Vehicle Recovery"

"Tucson, Ariz. – A targeted enforcement operation focusing on transnational criminal organizations operating in the west desert resulted in the recovery of a stolen vehicle and the seizure of 1,867 pounds of marijuana Friday evening, worth an estimated $933,500

The West Desert Task Force is a collaboration between the Tucson Sector Border Patrol, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, and the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office. In this operation, Ajo Station agents responded to detection technology and discovered an abandoned pickup truck containing 82 bundles of marijuana, weighing 1,867 pounds and worth an estimated $933,500. The bundles were transported to the Ajo Station for processing (photo available). The vehicle, reported stolen out of Phoenix, was turned over to the Tohono O’odham Police Department.

 

Partnerships with other federal, state, tribal and local agencies continue to yield significant dividends against transnational criminal organizations attempting to exploit Arizona’s border region.

 

CBP welcomes assistance from the community. Citizens can report suspicious activity to the Border Patrol and remain anonymous by calling (877) 872-7435 toll free.

All CBP assets in Arizona were realigned under a unified command structure in February 2011. Joint Field Command – Arizona unifies the Tucson and Yuma Border Patrol Sectors and Air Branches, as well as the Tucson Field Office, to enhance border security, commercial enforcement and trade facilitation missions to meet Arizona’s unique challenges. Follow us on Twitter @CBPArizona or visit the attached website for more information.

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: Greeley Tribune "Oil and gas companies pick up the property tax bill in Weld County"

One of the things that Sonja Linman could do for Garfield County is help facilitate a middle ground for conservative values and liberal values when it comes to the subject of hypocrisy.


Oh, how these radical extremist groups moan and cry over loss of funding to county needs and citizenry.  Pretty baseless when you think about that.  Since pretty much everything is funded by property taxes.  Who pays millions of dollars per year in property taxes?  Why, it is the oil and gas industry!


Oh, how the vulture capitalists (we do have a few if we would only be open about it) thump their chests and holler when the tax bill comes.  Who is it that generally always pays their taxes on time and is glad to lend a hand bringing jobs to the area?  Why, it is the oil and gas industry!

"Save a gas rig.  Opt for fair representation.  Vote Sonja Linman (D-Garfield County)"

Analisa Romano:
"At the mention of taxes, no one groaned or even flinched Tuesday at the Anadarko Petroleum Corp. regional office in Evans.

Instead, government and community leaders gathered to applaud the largest tax payment Anadarko has made to Weld County — $52 million in 2011 property taxes — with an oversized check and cake.

And Anadarko wasn’t event the largest taxpayer in Weld.

Noble Energy paid $57 million in 2011 property taxes, said John Lefebvre, Weld County treasurer. Together, those two oil and gas companies paid 25 percent of the total property taxes collected by Weld County for last year. The deadline to pay was Monday.

“A payment of this size represents success,” said Travis Holland, senior staff accountant for Anadarko, at the celebration Tuesday....." (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Steamboat Today "State bill would withhold revenues from counties that thwart oil drilling "

Hooray!!

House Bill 1356 is being rewritten.

With the idea that only the counties that unnecessarily harm the oil and gas industry will be penalized.

Just maybe, Coloradans can finally gain some control over baseless, frivolous accusations, lawsuits and protests waged by extremist groups against energy development in Colorado.

"Save a gas rig.  Opt for fair representation.  Vote Sonja Linman (D-Garfield County)

Tom Ross:
"Steamboat Springs — A bill before the Colorado Legislature that appears to threaten hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual revenue to Routt County from energy severance taxes is on hold after a hearing before the House Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee on Monday.

As it stands, House Bill 1356 would have imposed a financial penalty on any local governments in Colorado that “in any way restricted or delayed the ability of an oil and gas producer to” exercise rights to extract oil and gas.

The penalty would come from the withholding of mining and energy-related severance taxes returned to local governments by the state.

County Finance Director Dan Strnad confirmed Tuesday that Routt County received $528,106 in severance tax revenues through the Colorado Department of Local Affairs in 2011. The money goes in the county’s Road and Bridge Department fund, Strnad said.

It appears the sanctions in the bill won’t be as far reaching when it returns to committee Wednesday.

The Durango Herald reported Tuesday that state Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, who co-sponsored the bill and chairs the committee, began Monday’s session by announcing he intends to rewrite the bill so that it applies only to governments that impose moratoriums on new drilling permits....."    (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Group says Vernal oil shale meeting was illegal"

If you have not already checked SandBox Utah out, scroll on over to the right sidebar and click on that gorgeous photo of Utah mountains and desert.

Amazing (stunning, even) how twisted oil and gas (especially oil shale) stories can get just traveling the few miles from Utah to Glenwood Springs...

Utahans, for the majority part, were thrilled that the summit of regional governors, commissioners and other various officials gathered in Utah recently to discuss everything from politics to oil shale to tourism.

Again:

Local democrats should probably not get too excited that they have made two good choices (Linman and Caloia) in their never ending search for political candidates.  Good enough that for the offices in front of them those two candidates have some fairly decent conservative scrappers out here that are voting for them.

Why?

Because  both your candidates are not women who will let anyone steamroll over balance, fairness and justice.

In other words, it's going to be a long, hot summer this political year so maybe distortion of facts isn't the best way to go.

just sayin.

If you would like to read up on the facts and a more balanced look at the recent summit in Vernal, hit google and keyword in.  Shed  some sunlight on the facts.

"Save a gas rig.  Opt for fair representation. Vote Sonja Linman (D-Garfield County)"

John Stroud:
"GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — A Colorado public watchdog group has filed an open records request with Garfield County and several other counties across three states that took part in a closed-door meeting in Utah in late March to discuss federal lands oil shale policy.

“Our local county commissioners shouldn't be traveling across state lines to meet in secret with industry lobbyists and attorneys,” Elena Nunez, executive director of Colorado Common Cause, said in a prepared statement issued Tuesday.

The meeting itself, which was hosted by the Uintah County, Utah, county commissioners in Vernal on March 27, may have been illegal per Utah's open meetings laws because it was held in executive session, Nunez said.

Any other county that had a quorum of its commissioners attending, which would include Garfield County, may also have been in violation of their state's open meetings laws, she said.

The meeting produced a draft version of a joint resolution urging the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to reinstate a Bush-era oil shale policy.

The 2008 plan allocated 2 million acres of public lands for oil shale research and development in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. The BLM is now re-evaluating the policy, and has come up with a new preferred plan to reduce the acreage to about 462,000 acres. It would include roughly 35,000 acres in northwest Colorado, as opposed to 360,000 acres in the 2008 plan.

Garfield County commissioners, at an April 9 meeting, unanimously adopted a slightly revised version of the joint resolution. The statement served as the county's official comment to the BLM's environmental analysis.

The strongly worded resolution accused the BLM, under the Obama administration, of bowing to environmental and wilderness interests in revisiting the oil shale leasing policy.

Garfield County Commissioner Tom Jankovsky confirmed that he and commissioners John Martin and Mike Samson attended the Vernal meeting.

Their intentions to travel to the meeting were disclosed at a March 19 regular Board of County Commissioners meeting, Jankovsky said.

“For our part, we made a few comments, but we were mostly there to listen,” Jankovsky said, characterizing it as an “informational” meeting....."  (Read more? Click here.)


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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Related again takes Base Village reins'

To Related Cos.:   Well done.

There are many in the construction industry who will likely feel same or similar.   While at the same time,  also sending out a little wish that you can future recover, by the major success you will surely be at Base Village, the deep financial loss suffered at the hands of tort interference.

Think those black hearts and unscrupulous, borderline legal sharks that pulled what they did at Base Village  will ever be brought back into the fold of top level Aspen development  again?  Lordy, we all hope not.  Quite a few out here are very weary of seeing the good guys like Pat Smith and Tom Divenere taken such advantage of.

How much money do y'all think those allegedly corrupt scallywags made in their boondoggle?

.....hmmmm....let's speculate.... (in order of event...) a boondoggle done by yanking the cash flow, dangling carrots, upping the game in dollars and cents...yanking the cash flow again, throwing it all into bankruptcy, upping the game again in dollars and cents only this time dragging in homeowners too, dangling carrots, stringing along everyone including the local justice system and owners, yanking any glimmer of cash support but still collecting years of rents, etc. etc. etc.......and then finally...

(whisper...whisper...yes, this is  a "whispering campaign" ......hmmmm....interesting how fast this thing started shaking out as soon as the power of the Crowns and Skico got named in a lawsuit for alleged fraud)

..."allowing" "resolution"?  How much?  A few thousand?  A few hundred thousand?  A few million?  A few billion?

Nice work, if you can get it.  

Funny how these things never, ever get to full trial where the details that clear the good guys can get extracted out from the layers upon layers of spin and lawyers.

Gosh, sort of sounds like our affordable and employee housing boondoggles from certain developers end, doesn't it?  Nothing like generating the same sales over and over again every time there is a "default".  Great work, if you can take it.

Sincere congratulations to Pat Smith and Related Cos.  Whether he is a part of this next life of Base Village or not, there is a priceless value on getting your name and your pride back.

Well done.  Now, all the collateral damaged folks in the area have to do is forget their own losses  and move on.

(Be a good time to remember some related stories from the past, by clicking here and here.  And some current, similar stories here and here. )

Chad Abraham:
"Ending a tumultuous period of multiple lawsuits and uncertainty in Snowmass Village, The Related Companies announced Tuesday that it will reclaim control of the Base Village project from the consortium of European banks that foreclosed on the stalled development last year.

Related Colorado president Dwayne Romero said the “massive” agreement between his company and the banks’ affiliate resolves nearly all of the pending litigation over the project. The deal will transfer to a Related subsidiary, Snowmass Acquisition Co. LLC, the titles for: the Viceroy Hotel, the arrival center and parking garage, retail units, unsold condominium units in the Capitol Peak and Hayden lodges, the Little Nell building and other land parcels, according to a press release.

Town officials said they were cautiously optimistic that construction of the partially finished Base Village — which voters approved in 2004 as a way to transform Snowmass into a year-round resort — will resume sometime after the closing between Related and the banks is finalized. The closing could happen this fall, said Related spokesman Steve Alldredge...."  (Read more? Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Morning photo: Silky skies"

All credit:  Bob Berwyn (Click title)

SandBoxBlogs: Human Events "Nebraska Senate primary a war within GOP"

John Gizzi:
"On May 15, Nebraska Republicans will conclude one of those classic clashes in their U.S. Senate primary that one reads a lot about these days -- between tea party-backed outsiders and the Republican “establishment.”  Such clashes, the punditocracy warns, will lead to lasting intraparty scars and, possibly, a resulting Democratic win in the fall.

But the good news in the Cornhusker State is that it doesn’t matter how hard-fought the primary between State Treasurer Don Stenberg and State Attorney General Jon Bruning is or how incendiary it gets in the next two weeks.  Polls show either Republican front-runner in the four-candidate primary handily winning the open Senate seat over the certain Democratic nominee, former Sen. (1988-2000) Bob Kerrey -- who has lived and voted in New York for many years before returning to Nebraska earlier this year to launch his political comeback.

The seat being relinquished by Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson is considered one of two certain to flip to the Republican column this fall and help the GOP turn the current Democratic advantage of 53-to-47 seats into a Republican majority.  The other seat considered likely to change hands is that of retiring Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota...."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Hot Air Blog "Video: It’s going to be a long summer, isn’t it?"

Ed Morrissey:
"The Washington Post headlines its story about Team Obama’s new campaign ad with “Obama goes negative on Mitt Romney’s wealth with ‘Swiss Bank Account’.”  A better headline would have been, “Got desperation?”  The ad itself is not unexpected, and hits all of the class-warfare buttons one imagines..."

SandBoxBlogs: Town Hall/Chuck Norris "How Romney and Our Republic Can Win (Part 1)"

Chuck Norris:
"Enough talk. The idea is this, and it is not my idea but the action of President Abraham Lincoln.

A book that highlights Lincoln's brilliant action is titled "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," by Doris Kearns Goodwin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and presidential historian. In addition to topping charts and receiving scholarly acclaim, the book itself is political genius and outlines the crucial strategy needed not only to rally the present GOP base but also to win the White House and save our republic. (I also wrote about this unifying strategy in a former column, "The 8th Miracle To Save America," which can be read at http://www.creators.com/opinion/chuck-norris/the-8th-miracle-to-save-america.html.)
Goodwin's prize-winning treatise details how Lincoln brought together his candidate rivals by appointing them to key positions in his administration when he became president.

Let me re-highlight a few critical points from Goodwin's book review in The New York Times:

"The party in the 1860's was a coalition of politicians who only a few years earlier had been Whigs (Lincoln, Seward, Bates), Democrats (Blair, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles and Vice President Hannibal Hamlin), Free Soilers (Chase), or had flirted with the short-lived anti-immigrant American Party, or Know Nothings (Cameron and Bates). In addition, several cabinet members personally disliked each other: Blair and Chase, Seward and Welles, Chase and Seward, Blair and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, who replaced Cameron in January 1862. Lincoln's 'political genius' enabled him to herd these political cats and keep them driving toward ultimate victory.

"How did he do it? Goodwin deals with this question better than any other writer. Part of the answer lay in Lincoln's steadfastness of purpose, which inspired subordinates to overcome their petty rivalries. Part of it lay in his superb sense of timing and his sensitivity to the pulse of public opinion as he moved to bring along a divided people to the support of 'a new birth of freedom.' And part of it lay in Lincoln's ability to rise above personal slights, his talent for getting along with men of clashing ideologies and personalities who could not get along with each other."

Whether you agree with Lincoln or not, his team of rivals worked, propelled his leadership and ultimately unified the country.

Isn't our divided country again ripe for a new "team of rivals," made up of past presidential candidates and other vetted, qualified and esteemed national leaders, rather than merely a dynamic duo fighting the Obama campaign machine?

Lincoln recognized the wisdom of Jesus when it came to collective success: "A house divided against itself cannot stand."

The question is this: Will Romney?

Next week, I will not only elaborate more on this concept of a team of rivals and the people I believe should be a part of it but also share the inspiring dream Gena had, which we both hope comes true."

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

SandBoxBlogs: The Hill "Tuesday Profile: Holtz-Eakin champions conservatism by the numbers"

Sam Baker:
"Douglas Holtz-Eakin learned a clear lesson as the top domestic policy adviser to John McCain’s 2008 campaign: The policy world needed to do things differently.

Holtz-Eakin, a former Congressional Budget Office director, brought a wealth of policy knowledge to the McCain camp. At a low point in the primaries, when many pundits had left the campaign for dead, he worked on a series of detailed policy papers designed to help McCain get a second look from conservatives....."  (Read more?  Click title)


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

SandBoxBlogs: Red State "Norman Ornstein to the Press Corps: Stop Covering the GOP Fairly to Stop Their Success "

Erick Erickson:
"It is a soft form of the liberal fascism about which I’ve been warning. The GOP must be painted as extremist by the press, their point of view must be painted as fringe, and they must be shut up because they are too damn successful.”  (Norman Ornstein)

"Norman Ornstein is the in house pet liberal at the American Enterprise Institute who they let out of his cage once in a while to lament the free market, conservatives, and the like. I’m not sure why groups like the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute ever allow their supposed scholars to team up with the Brookings Institute, but whenever they do it results in intellectual underwear stains for both organizations.

In today’s quasi-bipartisan inane ramblings, Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute and Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institute want the Washington Press Corps to know the GOP is extremist, destroying the country, and they should all stop paying attention to the GOP or treating them with balance.
Nothing says marginal extremism like holding the US House, most statehouses, most governorships, and a plurality of national party ID....."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "How long must Syrians wait? "

Richard Cohen:
"The United States seems to have two plans to deal with what is fast becoming a civil war in Syria. Plan A calls for the full implementation of the U.N. cease-fire and the complete cooperation of Bashar al-Assad, a dictator who would, at the risk of his very life, give up some power to the opposition. Plan B, on the other hand, envisions a military response through air power. For that to be implemented, Plan A must fail and more Syrians must die.

Just how many more Syrians must die no one can say. But it seems pretty clear that the toll — now in excess of 9,000 — must mount before the U.S., NATO and maybe the Turks and the Saudis will move to bring the slaughter to a halt. Bloomberg News reports that “more than 500 people” have been killed since the start of the cease-fire on April 12. This cease-fire is more fire than cease.

Few people in Washington have much faith in the U.N. plan, advanced by former Secretary-general Kofi Annan. He has been doing what he has been trained to do — go through the motions of peacemaking. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but there is a protocol to these things that has to be honored. Yet as each ticket is punched, more people die. ...."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Customs and Border Protection "CBP Officers In Southern Arizona Arrest Agua Prieta Man For Smuggling Pot"

"Douglas, Ariz. — A 40-year-old male resident of Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico was arrested Saturday for attempting to smuggle more than 265 pounds of marijuana through the Douglas port of  entry.

 

Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the Tucson Field Office referred the man for a secondary inspection of his Dodge van when he attempted to enter the United States. After a CBP narcotics detection canine alerted to the presence of drugs, officers located 194 packages of marijuana throughout the vehicle, worth nearly $133,000.

 

The drugs and vehicle were processed for seizure. The subject was arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

 

Individuals arrested may be charged by complaint, the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity, which raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless and until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

The Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within Customs and Border Protection tasked with an anti-terrorism mission at our nation’s ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the United States while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Their mission also includes carrying out border-related duties, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration and trade laws, and protecting the nation's food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases.

 

All CBP assets in Arizona were realigned under a unified command structure in February 2011. Joint Field Command – Arizona unifies the Tucson and Yuma Border Patrol Sectors and Air Branches, as well as the Tucson Field Office, to enhance border security, commercial enforcement and trade facilitation missions to meet Arizona’s unique challenges.

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.

SandBoxBlogs: KKCO 11 News "An incredible story of Adversity, Hope, and Survival"

Rob Hughes:
"The Monument Inn is one of the places Troy stayed. He didn't know where he would sleep next, or where his next meal would come from; but with positive mentors and a belief in himself, he's graduating high school and joining the Marine Corps."

"Our kids have seen some tremendously difficult times, and are really persevering regardless," says Cathy Haller, Prevention Services Coordinator with School District 51. Haller works with students like Troy.

"They're in school every day; they have wonderful attendance; they really know that education is their way out," says Haller. Haller says homeless teens aren't bad people. "Our teens are out of the home because it's not safe to be there, or they're throwaways, they've been kicked out by families," she says. Yet sometimes they have no choice. "It's not about easy money, it's about survival," says Haller.
People in the community will take advantage of them. "I sleep in a park and risk some kind of violence or at I at least have a roof over my head and food to eat, in exchange for drugs or sex," explains Haller.

But Troy chose to be an amazing success story, not a statistic. His advice for others in his shoes. "Look for help; because it's really hard to try and do it by yourself. The only reason I made it this far was because there was help," says Troy...."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Pueblo Chieftain "1 year on from OBL raid, no answers from Pakistan"

ZARAR KHAN and CHRIS BRUMMITT:
"ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan (AP) — One year since U.S. commandos flew into this Pakistani army town and killed Osama bin Laden, Islamabad has failed to answer tough questions over whether its security forces were protecting the world's most wanted terrorist.

Partly as a result, fallout from the raid still poisons relations between Washington and Pakistan, where anti-American sentiment, support for Islamist extremism and anger at the violation of sovereignty in the operation can be summed up by a Twitter hashtag doing the rounds: 02MayBlackDay.

The Pakistani government initially welcomed the raid that killed bin Laden in his three-story compound, but within hours the mood changed as it became clear that Pakistan's army was cut out of the operation. Any discussions over how bin Laden managed to stay undetected in Pakistan were drowned out in anger at what the army portrayed as a treacherous act by a supposed ally.

That bin Laden was living with his family near Pakistan's version of West Point — not in a cave in the mountains as many had guessed — raised eyebrows in the West. The Pakistani army was already accused of playing both sides in the campaign against militancy, providing some support against al-Qaida but keeping the Afghan Taliban as strategic allies.

A week after the raid, President Barack Obama said bin Laden had a "support network" in Pakistan and the country must investigate how he evaded capture.

Pakistan responded by announcing the formation of a committee to investigate bin Laden's presence in Pakistan as well as the circumstances surrounding the U.S. raid..." (Read more? Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Craig Daily Press "Parks and Wildlife puts down bear sighted in Craig"

Read the story behind these photos?   (Credit Craig Daily)
Click title.

SandBoxBlogs: Kidderminster Shuttle "Son of murder accused harassed by internet stranger"

• (Read the heart of the problem in this current story posted today and related stories with public commentary here and here.)

Today's story out of the UK is one that 'SandBox Nanny' was unaware of until the 'Google Alert' popped up in her inbox this morning. 

I am not sure whether to feel outrage, just anger or hopeless sadness on behalf of Marcus Bebb-Jones' family, including his son with Sabrina Bebb-Jones,  Daniel.

Judge Petre's gag, if there is not one, should be placed immediately on everything to do with Bebb-Jones.   If only for the sake of the family but more rightly for the sake of a fair trial on both sides of the table.

That action would be like a sparrow trying to travel a hurricane, thanks to the viral linking, baiting and press releasing done for (obviously) years now to both sides of the justice table. 

But, it would at least be an effort on the part of the 9th Judicial District to gain control for both sides of Sabrina Bebb-Jones' family.  

With that said, if the only thing that can be done for the sake of everyone, but especially Daniel Bebb-Jones as he watches himself  and his father he loves once again  viral blasted all over the internet, is to block comment ability on this one post, then that is now so.

• Note disclaimer here: "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. )"

Jennifer Meierhans:
"THE teenage son of a Kidderminster man awaiting trial for murder in America suffered years of internet torture at the hands of an obsessive stranger, who called himself the Crime Doctor.

Daniel Bebb-Jones, 18, watched at Kidderminster Magistrates Court today, as Peter Gordon, 28, of East Lothian, admitted harassment through anonymous emails.

Daniel’s father, Marcus Bebb-Jones, 49, is currently in Colorado, charged with the murder of his wife - Daniel’s mother, Sabrina Bebb-Jones.

Daniel was brought up in Kidderminster by his grandmother, from the age of three and was told his mother had died in a car crash.

Between 2008 and 2011, Daniel received 27 emails with titles including “Your dad is a scumbag”, “Murder accused could face death penalty” and “Marcus beaten to a pulp in jail”. They were sent under names such as George Orwell and the Crime Doctor.

Daniel, who was just 14 when the offences began, also received emails from his father’s address, seemingly admitting to and apologising for his mother’s murder. Gordon admitted hacking into Marcus Bebb-Jones’ email account and writing the messages. Magistrates saw a sample of the emails, some of which used sexually graphic and offensive language.

“I was shocked and upset - I didn’t believe it,” said Daniel in a statement read by Claire Linehan prosecuting. He said he felt he could not get away from the harassment and withdrew from social networking and internet activity.

“He is the scumbag - not my dad,” he added, “He is the one causing all the misery and upset and I hate him for it.”

A statement from Daniel’s grandmother, Pamela Weaver, detailed the emotional and physical stress the harassment had caused her: “How dare he be the judge, jury and executioner,” she said.

Defending, Mike Rainford said Gordon befriended Marcus Bebb-Jones on the internet. “It is quite clear that Mr Gordon looked upon him as some sort of mentor, some sort of father figure and opened up to him over a period of time,” he said, as his client burst into tears.

“It later came to Peter’s attention that there was an investigation under way by US authorities in relation to Marcus Bebb-Jones...according to his mother [Gordon] is obsessed with ‘the truth’ and took it upon himself, quite wrongly, to send emails to Daniel.....”  
(Read more?  Believe it or not, there is more.  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Denver Post/Breaking News "Colorado lab tech blames boss for mistakes on DUI blood sample tests"

Felissa Cordona:
"A state toxicology lab tech fired for mistakes made on DUI blood samples is fighting to keep his job and blaming the supervisor who signed off on his work.

The state is retesting 1,700 driving-under-the-influence blood samples after Mitchell Fox-Rivera failed to follow standard operating procedures in the lab, which resulted in incorrect readings, according to an e-mail written by his supervisor that was obtained by The Denver Post.

Defense lawyers and DUI defendants who had bloodwork processed through the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's lab are challenging the tests in court.

In an e-mail to The Post, Fox-Rivera says he was a recent college graduate and a relatively new employee and that a review of his lab data was supposed to be overseen by supervisor Cynthia Silva Burbach...."
(Read more? Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Customs and Border Protection "San Luis CBP Officers Arrest Murder Suspect"

"San Luis, Ariz. — A 20-year-old California man with an outstanding arrest warrant for attempted murder/obstructing justice out of Riverside County, Calif., was arrested Friday by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers.

 

Officers at the San Luis Port referred the driver and passenger of a Dodge truck for a secondary inspection when the two applied for entry into the United States. When officers ran a routine records check, they discovered the warrant and arrested the passenger, identified as Jose Alfredo Rodriguez of Riverside. The San Luis Police Department was contacted and took custody of Rodriguez for extradition. The driver was released without further incident.

 

The Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within CBP tasked with an anti-terrorism mission at our nation’s ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the United States while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Their mission also includes carrying out border-related duties, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration and trade laws, and protecting the nation's food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases.

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: In These Times "In Aspen, Privileged Class Pits Immigrant Workers Against Environment"

What happens when you put controversy, problems, issues, concerns and questions behind closed doors and let only a few control the outcome?

Same thing as what happens when you censor, ban and quash the human voice and spirit.

The 800 lb. gorilla in the room gains tons more weight and your "secret" becomes the worst kept secret in the land.

Funny how that works. 

How many more media outlets listening in to all news chatter is it going to take to get the folks transparency issues in all regional counties dealt with properly?

Good take on the 'other side of paradise' by Kari Lyderson.  Somewhere out there on the very popular and well followed publication 'In These Times'.

Kari Lyderson:
"The Slums of Aspen details the controversy over a proposed immigration detention facility in the town of Glenwood Springs 40 miles east of Aspen, a relatively more affordable area where many immigrant workers live. (In Glenwood Springs the median home value is a still pricey $400,000, compared to $4.3 million in Aspen.)

The debate over the detention center highlighted the fact that many ski resorts employ large numbers of young European, Australian and New Zealand immigrants who come on work visas but frequently overstay them – becoming "undocumented" like their Latino counterparts. Yet they draw little scrutiny or antipathy from native residents or government officials, and resorts often highlight their internationalism by listing European and Australian/ Kiwi employees’ home country on their name tags....."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Summit Daily News "Summit's building scene could be on the mend"

Kathryn Corazzelli:
"“The general consensus is that building is up this year, but I think if you look at the nature of the business, a lot of it is production homes (like the Valley Brook development),” said Craig Campbell, general contractor at J&E Development in Breckenridge.

The custom home market still seems to be lagging a little, he said.

“From my perspective, the availability of financing is an issue,” Campbell said. “Over the last three years, I have not had one bank-loan customer.”

The shift is a dramatic one considering that before, nearly all of his clients had a bank loan. Now, it's all people who pay in cash.

“I've sensed a dramatic shift in the marketplace,” Campbell said....." (Read more? Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "News in brief"

Hey, how about the local Democrats?

What do they think this is?  A tea party?  An occupy the spotlight?  A revolution for independence?

Arab spring, maybe.

Lordy, lordy.  The Aspen Dem's/liberals/moderates/?  are taking on the media.

Suggestion?  Tweet it in a live stream so that everyone can participate without those pesky ink barrels being able to identify them in a 'media line up'.....

Aspen Daily News staff:
"A panel regarding Aspen’s unique media environment..(lol..."unique"...(sbn))  on Wednesday kicks off an off-season discussion series produced by the Aspen Democracy Initiative.

Aspen Daily News managing editor Curtis Wackerle, Aspen Times editor Ryan Slabaugh and Aspen Public Radio reporter Luke Runyon will take part in a panel discussion moderated by Steven Wickes of the Aspen Community Foundation. The event is scheduled from 6-9 p.m. at BB’s Kitchen, 525 E. Cooper Ave. in Aspen.

Panelists will share their insights on the local media, discuss how they develop stories and how they approach covering local politics and policy. They also will take questions from the audience.

Wednesday’s discussion, titled “The News Media in Aspen,” is the first in the Democracy Dialogues series that will take place each Wednesday in May at BB’s.

Future topics include “Building Schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan” with Silbi Stainton of the Marshal Direct Fund, May 9; “The Business of Environmental Policy” with Auden Schendler and Matt Hamilton of the Aspen Skiing Co., May 16; “What the Heck is a SuperPac” with Reagan White House counsel Peter Wallison, May 23; “Happy Hour with Sen. Gail Schwartz,” state senator for the Aspen region, wraps up the series on May 30......"  (Read more?  Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel "Powderhorn saw bump in business in 2011-12"

Congratulations to Andy Daly and company!  Well done.  It pays to be bolder.  We're looking forward to seeing what you have up your sleeves in the years to come.

Mike Wiggins:
"As most Colorado ski areas sloshed through a tough season of historically low snow levels, Powderhorn Mountain Resort received a boost in business this winter and is working to secure funding to enhance both winter and summer activities.

That was the positive report issued by Andy Daly, a member of Powderhorn’s new ownership group looking to build upon a series of upgrades it made upon acquiring the resort last August.

“The last two or three owners, their focus has been on real estate. Our team has a passion for skiing,” Daly told Mesa County commissioners Monday during a segment of their meeting when business owners are invited to share the status of their industry with the board.

Daly, one of four managing partners along with Ken, Tom and John Gart, told commissioners Powderhorn’s total skier days grew 7 percent during the 2011–12 season over the previous year. That bucked the statewide trend of a 7 percent decline, according to Colorado Ski Country USA.

Coming off that strong showing, Powderhorn has turned its focus to enhancing what it has to offer in the next year or so. The resort has received a Colorado Housing and Finance Authority grant and is contemplating other ways to obtain financing to expanding its snowmaking capabilities and upgrade its lifts....."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "BREAKING NEWS: X Games to remain in Aspen through 2014"

Hooray!!!

Curtis Wackerle:
"ESPN and the Winter X Games have signed on for two more years in Aspen.

Officials with the television network announced Tuesday morning that Aspen will continue to be part of an expanded X Games lineup. Beginning in 2013, the action sports extravaganza will also host events in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil; Barcelona, Spain; and Munich, Germany. Existing X Games franchises in Los Angeles and Tignes, France will also stay put.

Tuesday's announcement, keeping the winter's largest event in town through 2014, marks the fourth time ESPN and Aspen Skiing Co. officials have extended the games' stay in Aspen since they first came to Buttermilk in 2002. The last contract, from 2009, expired after this year's event with no extension announcement, leaving many to speculate that the Winter X Games would be leaving Aspen, perhaps for Whistler, British Columbia, which had put in a bid to host the games.

“ESPN is thrilled to extend its relationship with Aspen Skiing Co., the city of Aspen, Pitkin County and town of Snowmass Village for two more years,” Scott Guglielmino, senior vice president of programming and X Games, said in a press release. “After 11 fantastic years of world-class competition and progression in Aspen, we’re delighted to move into the new phase of X Games growth towards a global youth and lifestyle brand with one of our most long-term and valued relationships.”...."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Op-Ed: Global warming denial a dangerous course"

*Bob Berwyn:  Editor’s note: This op-ed was written in response to letters to the editor in the Summit Daily News, published in Frisco, Colorado. The newspaper frequently publishes letters by Hertzberg that are full of scientific inaccuracies and misleading statements.

By Howard Hallman and Brad Piehl

"Sunday April 22 was Earth Day. The Summit Daily celebrated by printing a full page feature spread about climate change denier Marty Hertzberg. Marty has anointed himself as a climate change expert, but in fact he spent much of this career doing mine safety work for the coal industry. Given his background and apparent lack of research experience it is hard to see him as a fair minded credible expert on global warming.

Much of what Marty states as fact is naïve and untrue. The earth’s temperature has increased dramatically over the past 50 years, by all reasonable accounts the direct result of rapid population growth and a significant increase in carbon dioxide emissions into Earth’s atmosphere.

Contrary to Marty’s assertion, small increases in any number of substances including carbon dioxide and fluorocarbon derivatives do have a large and long-term impact on weather. In fact, that’s how cloud seeding works; a relatively tiny quantity of substance is blown into the air triggering the formation of ice crystals and subsequent snowfall.

The global warming controversy in the United States is not really a public policy discussion; rather it is one more political straw man for those who seek to generate hate and divide us....."

(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Steamboat Today "Jimmy Westlake: May’s magnificent ring eclipse"

Jimmy Westlake, all credit for story and photo: 
"Get ready, because here it comes.

Not since May 10, 1994, has a central eclipse of the sun been seen from the 48 contiguous United States. It has been a long eclipse drought, but come May 20, folks living in the southwestern U.S. will have a ringside seat for a spectacular annular eclipse of the sun. This eclipse is an annular, or ring eclipse, because the moon will be a little too far from Earth in its elliptical orbit to completely cover the sun. Instead, a thin annulus — or ring — of sunlight will surround the moon when it is centered on the solar disk...." 
(Read more?  Click title)

SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Morning photo: Water!"

All credit:  Bob Berwyn. (Click title.)

SandBoxBlogs: Vail Daily News "Riding the age wave"

Randy Wyrick:
"This is the first part of a three-part series on aging in the high country and the opportunities and challenges that come with it.

EAGLE COUNTY, Colorado — Baby boomers have moved through America's economy and culture like a pig through a python — and now they're retiring.

“Baby boomers have changed everything. They changed elementary school, junior high and high school, and they'll change retirement,” said Elizabeth Garner, Colorado's state demographer. “It will impact us across our society — the labor force, health care, almost everything we touch.”

Colorado is aging, especially in mountain-resort communities. The state will see a more normal age distribution than the mountain communities are accustomed to.

“We're becoming more normal. Our economy is becoming more like the rest of the U.S.,” Garner said.

“It's not good; it's not bad. It's just different,” Garner said. “If we don't plan for it, it could be bad.”

For the near future, the number of people between ages 60 and 70 will increase, at least partially from second-home owners retiring and making this their primary residence, Garner said.

Will they stay?

“Who knows what's really going to happen,” Garner said....."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel "Siblings sentenced for roles in Colorado shootout"

Next in line this afternoon we have the final segment of the 'Dougherty Gang' saga.  From the Associated Press via the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.

All three siblings being sentenced today ends Colorado trials and they will now be sent  to Georgia where they will stand trial again for firearms and other charges.

Read the story?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel "Convicted killer who lived ‘down the street’ eyed in Taylor slaying"

(To read a nice May 1st update from the Sentinel to the Robert Dewey side of the story, click here.)

It has been a somewhat 'heavy' day in the world of Colorado crime news.  Tossing these stories up at the tail end of the day keeps the posting a little lighter tomorrow...maybe.

In this story, we've been following the path of Robert Dewey.  A free man, after 16 years wrongly accused, convicted, sentenced and imprisoned in the death of Jacie Taylor.  The Sentinel has put up the most detail and background on the story.  Good job by  Paul Shockley.  Over on the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.  Click link above.

Arrest warrant issued for Douglas Thames Jr. currently serving life in prison for the rape and murder of  Susan Doll in Fort Collins.  Identified by the DNA that cleared Dewey, Thames will now be placed on trial in Jacie Taylor's murder.

Again, Paul Shockly over on the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel covers the story best. 

(Read the story? Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Contentions "Rubio and the Mexican-American Vote"

Alana Goodman:
"...Mexican immigrants aren’t so fortunate. So when Cuban-Americans do what Rubio has done since arriving in the Senate 16 months ago and take a hard line against illegal immigration, Mexicans and Mexican-Americans have been known to cringe. After all, that’s easy for them to say. …

What good does it do the ticket for Rubio to be popular with whites and Cuban-Americans? Republicans are likely to get the majority of those votes anyway. His value is all wrapped up in how well he plays with Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. And right now, the answer is “not well.”

Navarrette’s point on the Cuban-American vote is important. While Obama swept the Hispanic vote in 2008, John McCain still won with the conservative Cuban-American community. The Romney campaign’s big electoral argument for choosing Rubio as VP would be that he could deliver Florida, and in that scenario, winning the Cuban-American vote by a landslide is redundant.


Rubio is a strong candidate and there are plenty of other reasons for Romney to consider him....."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: The Hill "Opinion: Condoleezza Rice would be game changer as Romney VP pick"

Juan Williams:
"Washington’s favorite gossip game — speculating about the vice presidential pick — now gets serious.

Following last week’s five-state primary sweep, Mitt Romney has forced even the last hold-out, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, to acknowledge reality: Romney has a lock on the GOP’s 2012 presidential nomination.

The next step for Romney is to introduce himself to America as a general election candidate. It will be tough. He begins with negative favorability ratings — especially compared to President Obama.


The ABC News/Washington Post poll shows 47 percent of Americans holding an unfavorable opinion of Romney with just 35 percent viewing him favorably. Obama has a 21-point advantage with a 56 percent favorability rating....."  (Read more? Click title)


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