SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Colorado to revamp wildfire response"

Bob Berwyn:
"SUMMIT COUNTY —Scrambling to beef up the state’s response capability at the start of what could be a long, hot fire season, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said Monday he’ll ask the State Legislature to shake up the agencies charged with responding to public safety emergencies.

Based on the recommendations of a review panel, Hickenlooper said he’ll propose legislation that would put the Division of Emergency Management and wildfire resources at the Colorado State Forest Service under the authority of the Colorado Department of Public Safety.

“So often we see turf battles … we didn’t see that … pretty much everyone came to the table and said what is the best thing we can do for the state of Colorado,” Hickenlooper said at a press conference announcing the planned changes.

An initial review of the Lower North Fork Fire found no blame with state agencies, but questions about the management of the emergency response surfaced in the wake of the fire.

Referring to the potential for a dangerous wildfire season, Hickenlooper said the changes could take effect by early summer, with current structures in place until then, along with a “heightened sense of what kind of response we might need,” he said.

The first review board looked at the prescribed fire managed by the Colorado Forest Service that escaped and triggered the destructive Lower North Fork Fire. That review resulted in some specific recommendations for updating prescribed fire policies and management.

The second review team was charged with developing written recommendations to enhance and define accountability and responsibility for firefighting activities by the State of Colorado.

“We need one central point of accountability and responsibility when it comes to state actions in fighting wildfires in Colorado,” Hickenlooper said. “These suggested changes will enhance coordination among all state agencies involved in emergency situations and result in a single point of command when dispatching resources and personnel.”...." (Read more? Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: KREX News 5 "Governor Hickenlooper Congratulates Mesa County"

A special thank you goes out again to Sheriff Stan Hilkey and the Mesa County Sheriff's Dept. for participating in this new training and implementing what you learn into day-to-day law enforcement.

(See related story and public comments here)

Jordan Sherman:
"GRAND JUNCTION, COLO.-Mesa County Commissioners shared a letter from Governor Hickenlooper Monday morning at their county commissioner meeting.

The letter, dated March 30, congratulated Mesa County for being selected in the Evidence-Based Decision Making in Local Justice Systems pilot program........."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Will district attorney Martin Beeson’s candidacy end up in court?"

Mid-morning update:
A 'sort of' thank you goes out to "Beeson Anonymous #41" for the email tip and personal request to post the following update:

Local attorney Sherry Caloia has entered the race against Martin Beeson for the 9th Judicial District Attorney seat.  Caloia was instrumental in getting Beeson petition eligible and elected in his coup over Colleen Truden roughly eight years ago.  Information confirmed  on Sec of State website.

Good luck to both candidates.
____________________________________________________
(See related story here and disclaimer below)

This...is the reason we wait for the higher standard in investigative reporting that comes off the Aspen Daily News.  We do it for the subject content and people.  For the communities that are affected by the report.  We do it so that there is less spin and greater trust.

Comment ability is now open on the news of DA Beeson's candidacy being highly likely challenged and placed before state courts to decide legitimacy.

Thank you to Carolyn Sackariason.  Up on the Aspen Daily News. 

"Ninth Judicial District Attorney Martin Beeson appears to be eligible to run for re-election, based on an opinion from the Colorado Attorney General’s office, but his candidacy could end up in the courts.......

.........Once he is certified, opponents have five days to challenge his place on the ballot in Denver district court.

Tom Silverman, a defense attorney in Glenwood Springs who is a former deputy DA, municipal judge and prosecutor, has considered challenging Beeson’s eligibility but has made no decisions. He added that he expects it will be challenged in court by someone.

Silverman argues that there is no legal precedent regarding the attorney general’s opinion.

“The attorney general opinion is not binding on any court,” Silverman wrote in an email. “It also was not written for this situation, it dealt with appointed DAs and has never been accepted by any court.”

Silverman added that as a conservative, Beeson would typically take a position that courts should strictly construe the law. The state constitution in this case says the top prosecutor is not eligible to hold the office, he said.

“Strict construction is not convenient so Beeson is going with ‘judicial legislation,’ or ‘legislating from the bench,’ hoping the court will say that the two-term limitation strictly stated is not what the constitutional amendment means. ... His first elected term of three years should not count because it wasn’t four years,” Silverman wrote. “That construction is nowhere in the amendment.”...." (Read more?  Click title)

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


Disclaimer:

"Now that DA Beeson has thrown his hat in the ring for district attorney in the 9th, please take note that there will be no special treatment given to any news press surrounding his race. His articles, if they are SandBox worthy or chosen in the daily agg run-up; will be put up just like anyone else in a political race. What SandBox Commentators will continue to do, is heavily moderate his articles. We are the only news media that provides the courtesy of moderating commentary from the general public on 9th Judicial District and Mr. Beeson's articles. )"

SandBoxBlogs: Vail Daily "Civil lawsuit related to Vail Four Seasons construction wraps up Friday"

The criminal acts of tortuous interference and unjust enrichment are all too often casually brushed aside by prosecutors and law enforcement as 'civil criminal' acts.  In so many cases in the elite, custom construction world; there couldn't be anything further from  the truth.

Project after project, no matter what the scale, sees owners, developers and investors clawing over each other in order to add one more dollar to their own personal bottom lines.  The builders, trades, vendors, professionals and workers in their path are discarded as collateral damage.  No matter that their businesses, lives, relationships are often destroyed; their characters, reputations and confidence are often shattered as well.

There is nothing worse than pure, unadulterated greed in an owner or developer.  With the exception of those rare breeds that also combine ego, power and often brute political force on top of their greed lust.

The plans on Four Seasons weighed a combined total of nearly 300 lbs.  It took, for something as detailed and all encompassing as painting and wall coverings both interior and exterior; nearly four months to do full takeoffs on.  And that was for nearly every trade as well and counts as the 'free' time one puts in just to bid the job.

The Four Seasons project was troubled with changing hands from day one.  When Layton stepped in, those who were experienced enough in that kind of rodeo arena knew they could trust that their backs were looked after and many returned to the table to enter bid vetting.

Here's to the men and women of Layton Construction.  You are of stellar character.  Your loyalty, your courage to stay the course and your unwavering support of the difference between right and wrong is unsurpassed in the Colorado resort construction scene.  You are welcome in Colorado anytime.

May you not only prevail and finally get your paychecks on Friday.

May you also be vindicated.

Randy Wyrick:
"EAGLE — After almost a year, this week lawyers will stop dancing the Four Seasons fandango.

The most expensive and extensive case in Eagle County history is expected to end Friday. Like most civil disputes, this one's about money — lots and lots of money. It's a story about great big numbers and a great big hotel, although the hotel itself — The Four Seasons Vail — has nothing to do with the lawsuits related to its construction.......

.........“Layton had hundreds of people and millions of dollars invested. Did it occur to you that they were also at risk?” asked Holt.

Layton says the designers and architects were responsible for changes and, therefore, the cost overruns. Layton made changes without her permission, Baek said.

“It is demoralizing and of great concern to everyone working on the job to have to finance the work we are performing for your benefit,” Layton's attorneys wrote......

.........As for Judge Gannett, who likens the Four Seasons case to James Joyce's “Ulysses” — large and panoramic — he calls it “a very complex epic.”

He's paying close attention to each of the millions of details. He must. Tens of millions of dollars could potentially change hands based on his decision...."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel "Resort ready to show off new look"

Mike Wiggins:
"Gateway Canyons Resort is preparing to lift the curtain on portions of a $20 million renovation just as the weather begins to warm and the busy tourist season appears on the horizon.

The highlights include the refurbishing and rebranding of the Dolores River Inn as the Kayenta Lodge, the introduction of a mobile kitchen that will operate out of a remodeled trailer and the conversion of the resort’s gas station into a landscaped, covered entrance to the 225-acre property. The new lodge and mobile kitchen are expected to open May 1.

The project is the first launched under new management company Noble House Hotels and Resorts, although Allison Grassetti, the resort’s director of sales and marketing, said the construction, along with a recent expansion in programs, is tied more to resort founder John Hendricks’ desire to connect guests with the area’s history and maintain a broad public appeal....."  (Read more? Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Steamboat Today " Jimmy Westlake: The Crow and the Cup"

"There’s a single Greek legend that links all three of these constellations together. In it, Corvus is the beloved pet bird of the sun god Apollo, whose day job was driving the fiery chariot of the sun across the sky. One hot summer day, Apollo grew very thirsty and sent his beautiful white-feathered bird Corvus to fetch a drink of water from a nearby well. The bird flew off with the best of intentions, carrying Apollo’s cup, but along the way to the well, Corvus was distracted by a fig tree and stopped to eat his fill of the sweet fruit. Realizing that he had tarried too long and that his master would be angry, Corvus concocted an alibi. He scooped up a scrawny little water snake in his beak, and flew back to Apollo with the empty cup, explaining that the water snake had prevented him from reaching the well. Apollo was furious at this feeble lie and cursed the bird so severely that his white feathers turned jet black. He then tossed all three — the Crow the Cup and the Water Snake — into the sky and transformed them into stars. There, Corvus the Crow suffers eternal thirst as Hydra the Water Snake prevents him from drinking any water from the Crater the Cup.

Jimmy Westlake teaches astronomy and physics at Colorado Mountain College’s Alpine Campus. Check out his website at http://www.jwestlake.com./..."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Morning photo: Landscape studies"

All credit:  Bob Berwyn

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Linman to face Martin for Garfield commissioner seat"

Sonja Linman...is the most absolutely perfect candidate to go up against John Martin.

Sonja is perfect for the job, she is an amazing person of keen perception, high intelligence and the epitome of good 'ol fashioned common sense.  When you know Sonja, it is tough to find words to cover how terrific she is.  Excellent choice, GarCo Dem's. 

'SandBox Nanny' could not be more thrilled (and stunned) that she is diving in to local politics.  Garfield County is very, very fortunate to have such a candidate step up.

Say YES to Sonja Linman for Garfield County Commissioner.


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

SandBoxBlogs: Right Scoop "Bolton: Obama taking credit for killing bin-Laden is like Nixon taking credit for landing on the moon"

Scoop:
"Bolton weighs in on Obama taking credit for Bush’s successes with regard to the killing of bin-Laden, saying that the only thing Obama really did was get out of the way. The intelligence that led us to bin-Laden came from the very thing Obama railed against and thus banned when becoming president, enhanced interrogations. So for him to take credit for killing bin-Laden, Bolton says, is like Nixon taking credit for America landing on the moon...."  (Watch the video?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Summit Daily News "Debra Irvine: A silver lining in politics?"

Actually, Ms. Irvine.

Voters are most likely to put all of your points into the lowest category of priority when choosing a candidate.

What the folks really want is the right person for the job.  Not that person's personality or political skills.  And since character, values and morals are also not part of the job and in this day and age of political enviros nearly impossible to see up front?  They put all that into the category of spin the bottle. 

After doing some digging, I think your campaign would be well-advised to climb down off the moral high-horse and focus on letting us all know what and how you intend to do the job you're seeking. Along that path you may want to go back and revisit what people have actually been saying about you. I think you will see that there has been far less attacks on your 'character' than you think there have been.

just sayin.

Debra Irvine:
"Frequently people remind me, “You have to have a thick skin in be in politics.”

That's not enough — you have to have a strong core.

If you are contemplating running for office, think long and hard. If you want to run because you have a message to get out or for personal gain, think again. In fact, spare us all and forget about it.

I ran for state representative in 2010 because I wanted to make a difference in our district. To offer a different way of helping create jobs, setting our children on a path with quality education and improving the economic landscape of our district and Colorado. My reason for running for state representative for HD61 in the 2012 election remains constant.

Recently there have been public attacks on my character. Some people have said, “That's what you should expect when you run for office.”

No. You should not. Civility should not be a thing of the past. Doing the “right thing” shouldn't be either...."
(Read more?  Click title)

SandBoxBlogs: Right Scoop "Marco Rubio talks illegal immigration on State of the Union"

SandBoxBlogs: Washington Post Politics "Arizona immigration law: Supreme Court again examines federal power"

Robert Barnes:
"The Supreme Court will conclude one of its most significant and controversial terms in decades by taking on one more issue that has divided the nation: Arizona’s crackdown on illegal immigrants.

The court’s final oral argument on Wednesday — Arizona v. United States — provides yet another chance for the justices to confront fundamental questions about the power of the federal government. And the rulings the court will issue between now and the end of June could dramatically alter the nation’s election-year landscape...."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Customs and Border Protection "Gang Members, Wanted Felon Arrested"

"Tucson, Ariz. – Four criminals from Mexico were apprehended by Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents in separate incidents during the past week.

 

Last weekend, Border Patrol agents arrested an 18-year-old Mexican national who admitted to being a Sureno 13 gang member during an interview at the Naco Border Patrol station. The individual faces removal for illegally entering the United States.

 

In separate incidents, Casa Grande agents apprehended a member of the MS-13 gang who, according to immigration records, was deported under a removal order in 2006 from Atlanta. He now faces prosecution for illegal re-entry. The second individual, a male Mexican national, was identified as having an active felony warrant for a controlled substance trafficking charge in Las Vegas. He was turned over to Pima County Sheriff’s Deputies for extradition.

 

Yesterday, Ajo Station agents apprehended a group of illegal aliens north of Blankenship, Ariz. During processing, one male Mexican national admitted to being a Sureno gang member. Criminal history checks revealed several convictions including Carrying a Loaded Firearm and being Illegally Present in the United States. He now faces formal removal proceedings for illegal re-entry.

 

The Border Patrol strives to keep dangerous individuals from reaching local communities. All individuals appended undergo a criminal history check using the Integrated Automated Fingerprints Identification System, allowing agents to quickly identify and classify violent criminals and wanted persons.

 

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

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: Opposing Views "US Soldiers Kevin Corley & Samuel Walker Helped Mexican Drug Cartel"

Well, I guess I'm finally going to have to pick a news source on this story.  It is a difficult one because it is just so hard to put one's arms around members of our military allegedly being part of drug cartel activity. 

Up, down, over and down south on the Colorado Springs Gazette and the Colorado Springs Independent; the coverage on this one has been poor.  Everyone lacking in details, including TV and radio outlets.

'Opposing Views' has a very liberal bent in its avatar community which doesn't aid the dynamic of  this conservative bent forum to have a measure of positive interaction.  We have quite a few liberals who frequent SandBox, but they are rarely what would normally be called extremists. 

With that said, there is often excellent reporting and blogging that comes off 'Opposing Views'.

On the 27th of March, they did the best job I've seen yet on this story.  At best, the interaction between hubs, if dialogue gets started, will be interesting.

Zach Lisabeth:
"The Mexican drug war continues to rage south of the border, and it's drawing in some unlikely participants.
Two U.S. Army soldiers were among three American men busted this week in a drug trafficking sting that targeted one of Mexico's most violent and notorious cartels - the Zetas.

Kevin Corley, 29 (left in photo), and Samuel Walker, 28 (right in photo), both of Colorado Springs, Colorado, were arrested by federal Drug Enforcement agents after a firefight that resulted in the fatal shooting of a third American, Jerome Corley. Jerome and Kevin Corley were cousins.

According to the Daily News, a DEA agent shot Jerome Corley on Saturday in Laredo, Texas, where he was working alongside Kevin Corley and Samuel Walker as the Zetas' hired killers.

Kevin Corley previously served in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army and was discharged on March 13, according to a Pentagon spokeswoman. Walker was an active-duty sergeant stationed at Fort Carson in Denver, Colorado.

As incongruous as the employment arrangement sounds, the Zetas are no strangers to military personnel.

Their criminal syndicate was founded by a group of elite Mexican troops that deserted to work on behalf of a Gulf cartel based just south of the Texas border.

Soon after the desertion, the Zetas left the Gulf cartel to begin their own operation that has been classified as well-armed and extremely violent. In the past few years, the Zetas cartel has been responsible for drug trafficking, kidnapping and extortion, according to the Daily News.

The DEA began the sting operation that eventually brought down Walker and the Corleys in January of 2011. Around that time, two men in South Carolina revealed to undercover agents posing as Zetas that Kevin Corley would be able to procure for them illegal automatic weapons for a price...."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Colorado Springs Gazette "Little-known law pays Vietnam vets for ailments"

"When Ralph Bozella came home from Vietnam in 1972, he was happy he’d survived and was ready to get on with life. Because he had escaped any serious wounds in combat, he never gave a thought to disabilities.

Four decades later, his time in Vietnam is haunting his health.

But thanks to a little-known law, he is receiving thousands of dollars a month in disability pay and free health care for a common heart problem that he may have contracted when exposed to Agent Orange and other chemicals used to kill vegetation and expose the enemy....."

Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/vietnam-137341-came-pays.html#ixzz1ssq7xYR2

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

SandBoxBlogs: Coloradoan "Arrest provides Fort Collins man catalyst for leaving gang life"

Robert Allen:
"By age 9, Anthony DiBenedetto was wearing blue and running with Sureño gang members.

At age 22, he was harboring a first-degree murder fugitive when the Fort Collins SWAT team arrived at the third-floor apartment he shared with his six-months-pregnant wife on West Elizabeth Street.

He hung up on the negotiator about 3 a.m. Then there was a flashbang. Then tear gas.

"It was like a war zone," DiBenedetto said of the January 2008 incident. "Glass was breaking everywhere."

Having nowhere to go, everyone surrendered, walking downstairs into an array of riot gear with red, gun-mounted lasers pointing at them.

"I was screaming and yelling, 'My wife's pregnant! My wife's pregnant!' and I heard back, somebody said, 'Well you should have thought about that,'" said DiBenedetto, now 27....." (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Summit Daily News "In Breckenridge, women now lead fire, police departments"

This is wonderful!

I am reminded of Steamboat Springs Cmdr. of the USS Higgins Nicole Shue and her work with women in military. 

Thank you all, ladies!

Caddie Nath with photo credit to Kay Beaton:
"Last year when Lori Miller was named chief of the Red, White and Blue Fire Protection District, she was an anomaly: the first and only female fire chief of an all-career department in Colorado.

But, in Breckenridge at least, she seems to have started a trend as more and more women join her ranks among the town's top leadership.

Last month, Shannon Haynes became Breckenridge's police chief when former chief Rick Holman was promoted to the post of assistant town manager. Haynes is the only female police chief in Summit County.

Just a few weeks later, voters put Wendy Wolfe up alongside Jennifer McAtamney on the town council, giving Breckenridge the most female representation its had since 1994.

“I think it will be great for this town,” Wolfe said of the rise in lady leaders in Breck. “I think it's important to inspire woman to do that, because they do have the skill set.”

They're off to a strong start....."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Mountain Rescue Aspen extracts stranded paraplegic snowmobiler"

Please remember to do an annual purchase of a CORSAR card for you and everyone in your family.  Remembering all of our regional Search and Rescue volunteers when you are looking for someplace to charitable donate your cash to, is always deeply appreciated.

Familiarizing yourself with their experienced advice before you head out there is always the best idea.

These men and women are true heroes and rise far above even our public servants.  They volunteeer their lives and skills to rescue you.  Thank you so much to all the men and women of  Mountain Rescue Aspen for your service.

Two Mountain Rescue Aspen members and Wright left from the base of Aspen Mountain on two snowmobiles around 12:15 a.m. Sunday, according to the press release, which was issued by the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office Sunday morning.

“Due to the risks to rescuers, nighttime search and rescue operations are rare and are usually only taken on in cases of serious injury or illness,” according to the release. “However, due to the potential risk of frostbite or other cold-related injury to Murray, a night time rescue was deemed acceptable.”

By 2 a.m., Wright was able to guide rescuers to Murray’s location, and they arrived back at the base of Aspen Mountain at 3:20 a.m., according to the release.


Both Wright and Murray praised the efficiency, kindness and professionalism of the Mountain Rescue team. They said it was the first and hopefully the last time they will need to call on the agency’s services.

They acknowledged that some might think them foolish to set out on a backcountry snowmobile trip alone, but they said on that particular day, no one was available to join them. With in-town highs in the upper 60s Saturday, most have given up on winter activities, Murray said. They recognized they were taking a risk but set out anyway, as the weekend’s trip in the stunning backcountry scenery was expected to be the last of the year.

“It’s melting fast up there,” Murray said, noting occasional bare spots on Richmond Ridge Road...."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: ABC News "UN: Human Trafficking Victims in the Millions"

Every mass movement has to have at least one "asset" to fuel its course.

Every mass movement leaves "something" behind in its wake.

What "fuels" gangs, drug cartels, bullies and extremes related to both sides of the crime ledger in criminal and civil law?

What are the consequences of the actions of  a gang leader, gang member, kingpin, mule or a bully at any level of society?

The subject of the last question shouldn't be a "what".  It should be "who are".

What do you think, really think, about the culture of society in the Roaring Fork Valley and surrounding area?

(See related stories and public comments here and here)
AP via ABC:
"A senior U.N. official says that as many as 2.4 million people may be victims of human trafficking worldwide at any given time.

Yury Fedotov calls human trafficking "a shameful crime of modern-day slavery."...."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Defense attorney questioning DA's eligibility for re-election"

(sighs...rolls eyes)

Note:  SandBox disclaimer below.

Note:  Because both men in this article are showing absolutely zero regard to the general population they serve, by placing themselves and their flaming controversy(s), (that just so happen to deeply affect the lives of folks in three counties) into the hands of the least trustworthy print news and reporter around (which renders the data they're football tossing around as suspect) 'SandBox Nanny' calls 'Time Out' on both men, blocks comment ability on this post (it would be like sending lambs to the slaughter to let the 'kids' at them in comments)  and sits back to wait patiently on the balanced, firm hand of the Aspen Daily News.  "If" the Daily doesn't report on this new direction for DA Beeson's political race to run, 'SandBox Nanny' will open comment ability and  bless each man as they head into the ring they keep insisting on shoving in the folks faces. Take note of disclaimer below again, please.

John Colson:
"........At issue is whether the three years Beeson served as district attorney when he finished the term of a recalled DA, from 2006 through 2008, counts as his first term in office, or if his first term started when he was elected in 2008. Under state law, district attorneys are limited to two terms in office..........

........Local defense attorney Tom Silverman of Glenwood Springs, a Democrat, contends that the coming four-year term for which Beeson is running would be his third term.

Silverman cited the Colorado Constitution, which states that district attorneys are restricted to two, four-year terms in office.

Beeson, however, maintains that he has yet to serve two full terms in office.

“He is simply wrong,” Beeson said of Silverman's position.

According to his reading of state law, Beeson said, “a term for a district attorney is a full term, and a full term is four years.”

He cited a 2000 legal opinion issued by then-Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar, which concluded that DAs can serve no more than two full terms.

The opinion did not specifically address the issue of how partial terms count toward the term limits allotment. The opinion states that term limits “have no application to partial terms of office, but rather apply only to full terms.”.....

......Silverman, however, cited a section of the state Constitution, which states that anyone elected “to fill a vacancy ... and who serves at least one half of a term of office shall be considered to have served a term.”

Although that section specifically addresses term limits on U.S. senators and members of Congress, Silverman maintained that the same limitation applies to district attorneys.

“He was elected to a three-year term,” Silverman said, referring to Beeson's initial time in office. “It was more than half a term, so it does count.”.........

.........Silverman questioned why Beeson did not, as state law allows, ask the voters to allow him to serve more than the two-term limit.

In 2009, for example, Mesa County voters decided that those holding the offices of sheriff, DA and coroner could each serve three, four-year terms, rather than the two-term limit imposed by the state..........

.........“Saying I should go to the voters to get permission to run for a second term is like saying I should go to the voters to get permission to drive the speed limit while I'm already driving the speed limit,” Beeson said in an email to the Post Independent. “I am going to the voters. This November.”........

.........Beeson contends that Silverman's questioning of his eligibility to run again stems from courtroom conflicts.

“Let's be clear. Mr. Silverman's issue is not with the law or with the fact that I am in full compliance with the law. His issue is with me,” Beeson wrote in an email. “He is a criminal defense attorney who simply does not like the fact that my office does not coddle his clients, does not accede to his wishes in cases, and does not treat his clients with kid gloves.”

Beeson questioned why Silverman didn't seek another candidate to run, or run for the office himself.

“His failure in this regard speaks volumes,” Beeson wrote. “The adage ‘put up or shut up' is an apt one here.”........"
(Read the rest of this?  Click title)

Disclaimer:

"Now that DA Beeson has thrown his hat in the ring for district attorney in the 9th, please take note that there will be no special treatment given to any news press surrounding his race. His articles, if they are SandBox worthy or chosen in the daily agg run-up; will be put up just like anyone else in a political race. What SandBox Commentators will continue to do, is heavily moderate his articles. We are the only news media that provides the courtesy of moderating commentary from the general public on 9th Judicial District and Mr. Beeson's articles. )" 

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Banned"

(whisper...whisper...yes, this is a "whispering campaign"....whisper...whisper...shucks, Galvis is starting his career in editorial writing the same way Bruno Kirchenwitz did....whisper...a little off mark and shocking, then hitting his stride....whisper...wanta bet he keeps improving on getting his points across?...whisper...whisper....shh...and he's from woody creek...yikes!....whisper...whisper..here's to the little guy....whisper...whisper....) 

Michael Galvis:
"Editor:

Regarding Jeremy Madden’s column, “Beware the Banned Wagon” — now, if the Aspen City Council would just “ban” its own stupid and idiotic behavior....."
(Read the original letter?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times "School: Only one suspect in kidnapping plot attends Basalt High"

And the adults in this Valley wonder why they keep getting sandbagged by kids valleywide bringing forward very serious issues.  From drugs to gangs to inappropriate sex crimes, to now alleged attempted murder.

Could it possibly be that the trickle down effect of corruption, power abuse and the most entrenched social hierarchy in the region (all the problem of adults, BTW) has oozed its way all the way down to the kids?

The only new news for them is the escalation of violence and still yet more intimidation to perform.

Wonder what the kids have on their minds?  All their minds and not just the outside perceptions being stroked and cultivated by adults who are placed into their lives.

Wonder how important it is to local investigative reporters to start rattling some cages and getting the real, the tough and the hard questions asked?

One way or the other, for sure we can count on the kids and the parents/adults who refuse to back down to those same pressures will be the ones eventually letting us all know.

From 'SandBox Nanny's' perspective and experiences with Basalt High School, it doesn't sound like much has changed in the past aprx. 15 years.  The same social serving, rather than student serving positions of trust seem to still be in place.

Scott Condon:
"BASALT — Four boys facing possible criminal charges in an alleged kidnapping and beating plot against another youth live in the Basalt area, but only one of them attended Basalt High School, authorities said last weekend.

Adriana Hire, assistant principal of Basalt High School, said Sunday she had learned that only the young man identified by police as the prime suspect in the kidnapping plot was attending the school.

“That was a very short period of time,” Hire said.

Hire said none of the other three suspects in the case is currently a student. She said she was prohibited by school policy from discussing if any of the three students previously attended Basalt High School. Authorities could offer limited information about the suspects because they are juveniles.

A Basalt Police Department spokesman said Friday that all four kids attended Basalt High School. Hire said she wanted to correct that information because it could affect perceptions of the high school...."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Eagle County Times "EC School District’s–Legal Trouble with your Tax Dollars?"

ECT’s Investigative Reports and Clayton Moore:
"It was time to check in:  The ECT wanted to know more about where the Eagle County School District is spending your Tax Money today – so we looked.

A review of Open Records can be an enlightening experience.

Background:  In November 2006 Eagle County Voters rejected a ballot issue (1A) that would have caused County Taxpayers to pay more in Taxes on what is collectively known today as “Early Childhood Development”.  (Click Here)  Their Ballot Issue/plan was to collect then spend new Taxes on/for children not old enough to attend Public School in Kindergarten.  Recall that Colorado State Statute provides for a “free” and legal Public School Education for children once old enough to attend K-12.  Their (1A) Ballot issue (it didn’t pass) would have LEGALLY allowed your Tax money to be spent on children before they were old enough to attend Public School Kindergarten.

Eagle County Voters overwhelmingly rejected (1A) in 2006.

The ECT chooses to describe the District’s rejected Ballot Issue 1A as “Taxpayer funded Daycare”.

According to Public Tax Records – soon after that 2006 vote, Eagle County saw the creation of a new 501(c)3 local non-profit known today as – “Early Childhood Partners”.

Your Eagle County School District (the President – of our Elected School Board) Jeanne McQueeney is listed as that non-profits “paid – Executive Director”....."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "County demand for food stamps continues on its four-year climb"

Andrew Travers:
"Demand from Pitkin County residents for federal food assistance has increased more than five-fold in recent years.

The number of low-income locals using the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) continued its dramatic rise in 2011, demonstrating continuing economic hardship for some area residents. Since 2007, the number of clients has gone up 558 percent, while the funds used have risen 836 percent.

A total of 171 county households took part in the program in 2011. They were granted a total of more than $453,000 in food vouchers.

“We are deluged,” said county health and human services director Nan Sundeen. “The demand for public assistance has grown, and staying on top of it is our biggest challenge.”

The SNAP program — which no longer uses actual stamps, but debit cards instead — allows participants to purchase bread, vegetables, meat and other food products. It blocks purchases of non-food items like vitamins, tobacco and liquor.

Due to the historically scant number of Aspenites using food stamps, the county has not typically devoted many resources to the program. The county partners with Eagle County to oversee food cards for the mid- to upper-Roaring Fork Valley. Demand has stretched both governments’ resources thin. Pitkin County paid to add a new staff position in 2010 to meet the unprecedented demand.

While the feds pay for the benefits, local governments pay to administer the program...."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel "Foreclosures give rise to evictions"

Amy Hamilton:
"This is a scene playing out with increasing regularity around the Grand Valley as Mesa County remains in the grip of the state’s highest foreclosure rate. By law, the Sheriff’s Department carries out evictions, and this year has been especially busy with 66 completed in the first three months. That amount is nearly 40 percent of the 172 evictions the Sheriff’s Department handled all of last year, putting Mesa County on pace for 264 evictions this year.

“I used to make someone’s bad day a better day,” said Sgt. Rich Acree, who was transferred from patrol to the Sheriff’s Department’s civil division, overseeing two deputies in charge of evictions. “Now we’re making someone’s bad day a worse day. It’s a job you have to perform. All you can do is make the best of the job and try to be compassionate.”

Evictions occur if landlords boot out renters for not paying rent or through foreclosures, but most evictions in Mesa County lately tend to be from foreclosures, deputies said. And, compared with the past couple of years, fewer homeowners appear to be getting last-minute stays that allow residents to remain in their homes at least until homeowners are able to work out an agreement with their bank.

By the end of next week, Mesa County will have logged 402 foreclosures this year. The number is higher than last year at the same time, but fewer than 2010, Mesa County Public Trustee Paul Brown said...."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Town Hall "Rationally Green"

Paul Jacob:
"Environmental laws are very human constructs. They are not examples of divine intervention set to doing one thing and one thing only, “saving the environment.” (Indeed, it's a truism of ecology: “You cannot do just one thing.”) There’s been a problem with the laws that came into being right around the first “Earth Day” in 1970. And this original “sin” is getting more and more obvious.

The trouble with environmental legislation in the U.S. has been the will to micromanage. Instead of setting standards (cleaner water, cleaner air) or procedures (property rights, tort rules, standing in pollution cases) the federal government, along with the bulk of the states that piled on, has prohibited some activity or technologies, and mandated others.

This cleaned up some of the worst abuses. But it did so at great cost, and it set up bureaucratic rules doomed to obsolescence. As economist Bruce Yandle puts it,

Students of regulation know there are three types of regulatory instruments that may be used when governments choose to regulate: performance standards that set limits or goals without mandating how the outcomes must be achieved, technology standards that specify how the goal will be achieved, and incentives such as fees, prices, and taxes that put a price on the activity to be limited. . . . Any one of the three can generate a desired outcome, but it is generally agreed that technology standards — the approach mandated by our basic environmental statutes — are the most costly and therefore least effective regulatory choice."

(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Global positioning network is mapping Earth's interior"

This...is very interesting.  Did you know west Garfield county was home to the Plate Boundary Observatory?

Marian Lyman Kirst:
"RIFLE, Colorado — On a chilly morning, Fred Jenkins strides across the West Garfield County landfill. Past hunkered-down dumptrucks and mountains of appliances alive with chattering magpies, he stops at what appears to be a tripodal alien spore.

It's a global positioning system (GPS) monument that Jenkins helped install in this sage-speckled swath of western Colorado five years ago. With practiced hands, he replaces the monument's antenna and receiver box, which have stopped transmitting data.

“Probably a lightning strike,” he muses, scratching his cinnamon-sugar goatee.

Dubbed P031, the station is one in an array of more than 1,100, scattered around the country from wilderness peaks to airports to prison yards.

Together, they comprise the National Science Foundation's nine-year-old Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO), a project overseen by the nonprofit UNAVCO, which facilitates geoscience research in the U.S. The PBO is the second-largest global positioning network in the world, right behind Japan's GPS Earth Observation Network.

It's also one of the largest efforts to survey and map the Western U.S. since the Lewis and Clark expedition, said David Kasmer, a PBO field engineer working the Eastern Sierra and the Rocky Mountain states.

“Except that we are focused on mapping the interior of the Earth, its inner workings. It's the evolution of surveying,” Kasmer said...."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Morning photo: Morning glory"

All credit Bob Berwyn:

SandBoxBlogs: LA Times "From a Mexican kingpin to an FBI informant"

Update:  Sunday April 22, 2012:

A mass reply to emails, IM's, etc:

It is a really well done story.  I think it's hitting home to Coloradans in our area because of the past couple years of increasing problems here in our own front yards.  A place where we never thought we would ever see such activity.  Colorado, as we all know, is a dream place to live and has so much to offer in natural beauty, major commerce and the kind of lifestyle you wish to raise family in.  I've always wondered why people seem so surprised that people with ill-intent are also drawn to Colorado.  Are Aspenites, Basaltines and BoneDale natives,  really so naive that they have talked themselves into an alternate reality where bangers, traffickers and dopers don't go on Sunday sightseeing drives to see the fall colors and stop for a burger at a world famous diner like Boogies?  Of course they do.  Is it really so far-fetched to think that they won't conduct their own brand of business while doing so and if they see the way paved to?

This kind of reporting from the LA Times is not a rarity, folks.  The rush of links you all have sent me since posting it and earlier with some other posts have been encouraging.  It tells me that you are thinking on your own and checking out information that impacts you and your nucleus within the world.  Thanks for sending in some I had not yet seen.  Here are two of them.  I especially recommend surfing through all links on the NY Times piece.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/mexico/drug_trafficking/index.html

http://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/Mexican-crook-Gangsters-arrange-fights-to-death-1692716.php
___________________________________________________
This is a must read.

A fascinating look at the inside operations of one of the most powerful and deadly Mexican Drug Cartels there is.

I'm not sure how anyone, can read something like this piece and still have any thoughts whatsoever that legalizing drugs has validity or as an officer of law look the other way to illegal drug use.

Thank you to all of our Customs and Border Protection officers including K-9.  All of our DEA, ICE, FBI, every drug task force, every agent, officer and deputy that keeps to the best of their ability and power, these cartels on the outsides of our borders.

Richard A. Serrano:
"WASHINGTON — Police and federal agents pulled the car over in a suburb north of Denver. An FBI agent showed his badge. The driver appeared not startled at all. "My friend," he said, "I have been waiting for you."

And with that, Jesus Audel Miramontes-Varela stepped out of his white 2002 BMW X5 and into the arms of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Over the next several days at his ranch in Colorado and an FBI safe house in Albuquerque, the Mexican cartel chieftain — who had reputedly fed one of his victims to lions in Mexico — was transformed into one of the FBI's top informants on the Southwest border.

Around a dining room table in August 2010, an FBI camera whirring above, the 34-year-old Miramontes-Varela confessed his leadership in the Juarez cartel, according to 75 pages of confidential FBI interview reports obtained by The Times/Tribune Washington Bureau.

He told about marijuana and cocaine routes to California, New York and the Great Lakes. He described the shooting deaths of 30 people at a horse track in Mexico, and a hidden mass grave with 20 bodies, including two U.S. residents....."  (Read more?  You should.  Click title)

(Photo credit: Maggie Ybarra, El Paso Times / November 30, 2010)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Fox News "Republicans say new study belies Obama claim US has 2 percent of world oil"

"Republican senators are accusing President Obama of pushing a "less-than-honest" claim about the scarcity of domestic oil, after a U.S. Geological Survey study showed the United States might actually hold a quarter of the world's untapped, undiscovered supply.

The president often uses a much different statistic in speeches.

He said Tuesday, as he has before, that "the problem is we use more than 20 percent of the world's oil and we only have 2 percent of the world's proven oil reserves."

"Even if we drilled every square inch of this country right now, we'd still have to rely disproportionately on other countries for their oil," Obama said, while pitching a plan to crack down on oil market speculators.

But a U.S. Geological Survey released Wednesday paints a seemingly different picture. The analysis showed the world outside of the U.S. holds 565 billion barrels of undiscovered conventional oil -- it was the first such study in 12 years. The study did not address U.S. resources, but a prior analysis by the Energy Information Administration pegged the country's supply at 198 billion barrels. That works out to 26 percent of the world supply.

Sens. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, suggested Thursday that the 2 percent stat is becoming obsolete.

"Well, there goes President Obama's favorite talking point," Inhofe said in a statement....."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Intellectual Conservative "The Decline of Greenism"

Bruce Walker:
"An April 9^th Gallup Poll shows that since 2006 radical environmentalism has been losing influence  in America. Gallup results are even  more dramatic when viewed over the last couple of decades: worry about water pollution has dropped from 72% of Americans in 1989 to 46% in March 2011; worry about air pollution since 1989 has dropped from 63% to 36% in 2011. When Gallup asks Americans to prioritize environmental concerns or economic concerns, the same pattern emerges. In the latest poll on the subject, 54% favor economic growth and 36% favor the environment. 

 

Pew Research polls on global warming show a similar loss of trust in radical environmentalism. In 2006, the percentage of Americans who believe that there is “solid evidence” of global warming was 77% in 2006, but in 2011 only 63% believed that. Pew also shows that the percentage of Americans who do not believe in global warming or feel that there is not enough evidence rose in those five years from 33% to 43%. Pew shows that even among Americans who believe in global warming, fewer and fewer Americans attribute that rise in temperature to man. In 2006 47% of Americans believed that we were experiencing manmade global warming, but by 2006 only 38% of Americans believed in manmade global warming, a distinct minority of America. 

 

Rasmussen last August published a poll which indicates a serious credibility gap that the scientific establishment has with America: 69% of Americans believe scientists have falsified global warming research. Gallup two years ago published a 12 year trend which showed that the percentage of Americans who believe that the seriousness of global warming has been exaggerated has grown steadily to an all time high of 48% in 2010

 

What has happened to environmentalism?...."  (Read more?  Click title)

 

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

 

SandBoxBlogs: Washington Times "Battlegrounds established for Hispanic votes"

Stephan Dinan:
"Dream Act students rallied outside Mitt Romney’s campaign speech in North Carolina on Wednesday, accusing him of forsaking Hispanic immigrants and vowing to make him pay in the November election — even as President Obama’s campaign announced its own outreach efforts to try to shore up his support among Hispanic voters.

The Obama campaign also launched its first set of Spanish-language ads, airing in Colorado, Nevada and Florida, that tout his expansion of federal funding for education.

The moves are designed to try to hold on to Hispanic voters, who backed Mr. Obama 67 percent to 31 percent over John McCain in 2008, and whom the president’s campaign deems critical to a repeat win this year. The campaign laid out a plan to get to that point by attacking Mr. Romney on his immigration stances, while highlighting the federal spending the president has directed at programs important to Hispanics.

“President Obama believes that when we prosper, that all of us must prosper and that we recognize all of us are in this together,” said San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, a national co-chairman of Mr. Obama’s re-election campaign. “Mitt Romney doesn’t believe that. His words and his actions make that clear.”

At stake is the fastest-growing bloc in American politics...." (Read more? Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: CNS News "Still the Land of Dreams: 150 Million Want to Immigrate to U.S."

Terence P. Jeffrey:
"CNSNews.com) - It has become a cliché for politicians who want to provide some sort of pathway to U.S. citizenship to the estimated 11.2 million illegal aliens living in the United States to say that these illegal aliens will need to “go to the back of the line” first.

However, there are already about 150 million adults living in countries around the world who would migrate to the United States if they could, according to a Gallup survey released on Friday.

That does not count any children these 150 million would-be immigrants might want to bring with them to the United States.

To arrive at this figure, Gallup interviewed 452,199 people at least 15 years or older in 151 countries around the world from 2009 and 2011. Gallup asked: “Ideally, if you had the opportunity, would you like to move permanently to another country, or would you prefer to continue living in this country? To which country would you like to move?”

The 150 million people whom Gallup estimated would like to come to the United States includes 22 million Chinese, 15 million Nigerians, 10 million Indians, 8 million Bangladeshis, 7 million Brazilians, 5 million Filipinos, 5 million Japanese, 5 million Mexicans, and 3 million each from Vietnam, Kenya and the United Kingdom.

In Liberia, 37 percent of all adults want to leave their homeland and move permanently to the United States of America. In Sierra Leone, it’s 30 percent. In Dominican Republic, it’s 26 percent. In Haiti, it’s 24 percent. And in Cambodia, it’s 22 percent.

By far, according to Gallup's survey, America is still the No. 1 land of dreams for would be immigrants...."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "ZG: Big Brother and, um, modern-historical art "

"Because ZG likes a good party, he was at Aspen Highlands’ closing fête on Sunday.

Taking a short break from tippling and glancing up-slope, he was a bit startled to see three local cops on the hillside above the party, one with a video camera.

Were they taping to find scallywags? Letting their presence be known to prevent a riot? Or was it a major step in the direction of Big Brother-esque surveillance?

None of the above, said Blair Weyer, the always-pleasant public information officer for the Aspen Police Department.

She said Chief Richard Pryor “requested that an officer record video footage from the Highlands closing party to help determine the scale of the event for future consideration in the [city’s] special events permitting process.”

Police were not looking to record any specific criminal activity (like freeloaders trying to muscle in on the Daily News’ tab, for instance).

“This is a practice that we have also used during other special events — X Games and the Pro Cycling Challenge, for example — so we can better understand the type of crowd that attends these events and how we can best maintain a safe environment for them,” Weyer said.

ZG approves, because if there’s something you need when you’ve rearranged your mental chemistry with John Barleycorn and god knows what else, it’s safety....." (Read more?  See what else ZG sees? Click title.)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Teen in alleged murder plot arrested"

It is true that the Basalt Police Dept. is not the 'same' as Aspen and Pitkin County law enforcement.  There is an aura of community and some similar beliefs.  But Basalt is more pro-active and not as 'blinders on' tolerant.

There is also the need, the same as there is for any of our community forces, for more bodies and more training to look deeper into some areas.  But overall, SandBox has to agree with Curry on the point that gang activity is not out of control and that Basalt PD is on top.

Where he falls short in his perception is that there is just a 'beginning' of gang related activity in the Basalt jurisdiction that includes so closely El Jebel and Blue Lake which are partially in Eagle County.

Since 1995, which is as far back as my own memory can take me where kids and gang activity are concerned, there have been a majority of parents who realized how closely the gang problems in Carbondale relate to Basalt kids.   

For at least the past 17 years it has not been fully safe to let your kids out at night past a certain hour anywhere between Basalt and Carbondale.  But especially Carbondale.

For at least the past 12 years, there has been gang activity at Basalt High School, Arbaney Park, the middle school and certain pocket points downtown and on the Pan.

What a mistake it is, for Basalt law enforcement to be so casual in reporting this to the public.  You see, the parents out here will see right through the press release for the falsity it is.

What a tough wake up call this is for the Town of Basalt to have the second/third warning bell be one of such severity.  Now, the question is.  What, exactly, is the Basalt P.D. and Eagle S.O. going to do to step up their game? 

Chad Abraham:
"...Curry said authorities were taken aback by the amount of detail in the alleged scheme, which he said also involved the use of walkie-talkies.

“I’ve never seen this level of planning for any crime, whether it’s an adult or a juvenile,” he said Friday. “This is very unique to our valley.”

The bad blood between the main suspect and the potential victim allegedly involved drug dealing and a relationship with a girl, the release says....

....Much credit for disrupting the plot, Curry said, should go to Brian Lemke, the Basalt Police Department’s school resource officer.

Lemke “spoke with a juvenile who told him that the event at Arbaney Park was actually a planned assault and abduction, and not a drug deal,” the release says. “The juvenile informed officer Lemke that the map and description was for a plan by local gang members to beat, kidnap and potentially murder a rival gang member by luring him to that location.”

The juvenile who spoke to Lemke might have been approached to take part, Curry said.

Basalt police are not releasing the name of the purported gangs to protect against potential future violence. The possible victim is in police custody for an unrelated case.

Besides the diagrams, police recovered a BB gun pistol that Curry said was spray-painted black to look like a real handgun.

“It looked exactly like one of our guns,” he said.

Multiple messages left with 5th Judicial District prosecutors were not returned Friday. But Curry said the boy could be charged with conspiracy to commit assault, kidnapping and, possibly, homicide....."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Steamboat Today "Highway Commissioner Kathy Connell decries revenue crisis"

Tom Ross:
"Steamboat Springs — State Highway Commissioner Kathy Connell, of Steamboat Springs, said Thursday that she’s feisty enough to press home on Front Range officials an important point about Western Slope highways. However, dwindling state funds for road maintenance and capital highway projects will make it difficult to steer a path to the future until new funding sources materialize.

Connell, a former Steamboat Springs City Council member, said Front Range government officials and her colleagues on the highway commission need to be reminded that the highways on the west side of the Continental Divide play a vital role in generating Colorado sales tax receipts.

“The Front Range needs numbers from us to help them understand the economic hit” the area will take if mountain road networks branching off the Interstate 70 west mountain corridor are allowed to decline, she said.

“About 30 percent of tourism and visitor spending in Colorado occurs in the mountain resort region,”

Connell told an audience attending a Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association economic forum this week. “If tourists find it difficult to travel through the mountains, it will cost a lot of money in state sales taxes.”

Connell was appointed in June 2011 to represent Colorado Department of Transportation District 6 comprising Clear Creek, Gilpin, Grand, Jackson, Moffat, Rio Blanco and Routt counties...."
(Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Council inclined to let bridge process play out"

Set aside the press coverage from one newspaper.

Set aside the awareness of the shill.

Set aside the good 'ol boys club from downtown and the power brokers from town.

Set aside the background manipulations playing all sides against the middle for self-interests gain.

Set aside the political needs of current council to try to hang on to their seats. 

All everyone needs to do, is recall that not too long ago, the Grand Avenue Bridge Project came to a decade or more head.  At that time, everyone broke open the festering wound, rattled all their sabres and stood either opining or bloviating at the podium in front of council.

The decision (and resulting public support) was that it was time.  Time to fix the problems of the bridge.  

Since that time, all the highly proficient at pushing marketing points guru's started manuevering the chess pieces.  With the predictable outcome  of everyone being back at each other's throats wanting their own special interest to alter the course.

Been here. Done this.  That is all everyone has to recall.  Carry on, CDOT.  Stay the course.  

John Stroud:
"“This is not some great conspiracy against the city,” Mayor Matt Steckler said in response to recent criticism suggesting the bridge planning effort pits CDOT's interests against those of city residents and businesses....."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times "Just one Pitkin County commissioner race"

Say YES to Grob.

"ASPEN — No new candidates for any of the three Pitkin County commissioner seats up for election in November stepped forward by Friday's deadline to file nomination petitions.

That means incumbents George Newman and Michael Owsley will run unopposed on the general-election ballot.

In District 4, where Commissioner Jack Hatfield cannot seek re-election because of term limits, four candidates who had previously announced their plans to seek the seat will face off in a June 26 primary. The two top vote-getters will advance to the November ballot.

The contenders in District 4 are: former Aspen Fire Chief Darryl Grob, Snowmass Village Town Councilman John Wilkinson, Capitol Creek rancher Steve Child and former Snowmass Village Town Manager John Young....."

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Garfield County coalition pushing for an open space program and tax"

Update May 26, 2012:

Read the unfortunate turn this proposal has taken and what they general public now has to say by clicking this link:

http://sandboxcommentators.blogspot.com/2012/05/sandboxblogs-glenwood-springs-post_16.html 
______________________________________________
On a couple of points, what wonderful news this is!

First, with regard to the sage wisdom and keen perception of  Mary Noone. For the debut  on the new venture via the Aspen Daily News.  The only way to give true credibility first to press coverage in our area.  Well done.

Second, for the content of that news.  Hooah!  If Noone is part of the effort, this shift in focus for the coalition just might be the role model that finally sets a tone between 'right and left' political beliefs.  Open Space really can be achieved with a happy everybody.  Maybe this new group will accomplish that.

On a final commentary note, Noone has been chatted up out in avatar land, on multiple hubs for a long time as one of those Garfield County residents that folks feel they could trust.  Yakked at, chatted up, jostled and sometimes near shoved, Mary Noone has been urged to dip more than a toe into local and regional politics. By taking on the topic of raising taxes in GarCo, she has just jumped right in.

Could this be the start of her political career?  Stay tuned to the Aspen Daily. 

(whisper...whisper...maybe she'll use the daily and danforth first in everything she does....whisper...whisper.... Mary Noone for President!....whisper...whisper...do you think she can pull along some of the other wise women?... whisper...whisper...wonder what the PI thinks about getting scooped on this one....whisper...whisper...)

Andrew Travers:
"A coalition of Garfield County residents wants to create an open space program funded by a new countywide sales tax.

The group, the Garfield Legacy Project, is aiming to place the new tax on the November ballot.

Formed in 2009 with funding from a state conservation grant, they have been gauging support for the idea and attempting to spread the word about potential benefits of an open space program.

“Our hope is to get the program put together, get it voted on, and get it passed in November,” said Mary Noone, co-chair of the Legacy Project.

They are eying an additional quarter-penny sales tax, which they estimate would produce $2.5 million in annual revenue. A sales tax may be more popular with voters than a property tax, Noone said, citing statistics that show non-Garfield County residents pay a majority of the county sales tax when they visit or are passing through.

The county commissioners would have to clear the question to go on the ballot. The Legacy Project is now polling residents on their support of the idea. They’re hoping poll results will be strong enough to sway the commissioners to put a tax question to voters.

Commissioners have expressed interest in seeing polling data on the sales tax. Noone said they plan to present results from the poll to the board this summer....." (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Jankovsky elected to Colorado Ski Hall of Fame"

  'ab22' says:
"I would like to first say congratulations to Tom.  The path of Sunlight and all it has represented to him personally over the years, is a journey that I believe will someday bring him the balance he privately seeks.

It does not matter, for the purposes of the award and what it means to Tom Jankovsky, who nominated him for it. 

In the end of that journey of his, the gain will still be his alone and at his hand.  No one else, no matter who they are and how they use methods to further their own desires has the power to control that.

Sunlight Ski Resort is one of our crown jewels in the Valley.  Tom Jankovsky is directly responsible for that and deserves the honor of public acclaim.

My comment moves on to the real problem that exists in this article. One that unfortunately will now do exactly what the intent behind it likely wants it to.  It will splatter out into public view through association by content and sources. 

It is both sad and troubling to watch John Stroud turn acclaim for Tom Jankovsky, into a canned press release spotlighting Marianne and using Tom's acclaim to do so.  Tom Jankovsky's worth and achievements are enough to fill many pages of the Glenwood Springs Post Independent.  There can be no excuse for filling over 50% of this piece with spotlight press on another when the honoree is Tom.

One only has to look at all other award organizations and celebrations in the region and see that no one else touts the one doing the nominating.  Rarely are they mentioned by more than just name, possibly that is something known as the virtue of humility.  

This is a pattern of news reporting that is blatantly transparent as being self-serving to the publication and an individual.  In this case of Jankovsky, as likely to spark similar outrage as other recent press and awards have recently done. 

All human life has vulnerability.  We each find the answer within ourselves on how to deal when those vulnerabilities are preyed on by another.

Maybe this one more straw of a comment, spoken in defense of a very deserving man who had a long, long personal journey of self to get to this point in his life; will be the straw that reminds John Stroud that the focus is on the subject of the story and verified, proven, substantiated facts. 

That is a standard in journalism that he and his employer have forgotten.

It doesn't matter if one has metaphysical beliefs or orthodox beliefs.  Again and as I have publicly stated once before where Tom is concerned; epiphany can come in as easily on a solitary ride, in the dark of night on a chair lift in Telluride (or) in a seemingly coincidental event in daily life.  It is what we do when forced to make a choice on the next stage that is what ultimately matters.

Congratulations to Tom and Nancy.  The honor is richly deserved." 

Comment ability on this post will be closely monitored as to keeping with the spirit and tone of this post.

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

SandBoxBlogs: Vail Daily "Teva Mountain Games free Vail concerts announced"

"VAIL — While some of the world's foremost adventure athletes tackle the mountains and rivers of Vail during the 11th annual Teva Mountain Games, some equally prominent musical artists will take to the main stage for a pair of free concerts when the Mountains of Music series rocks Vail Village May 31 and June 2.

Both free shows will be on the main Teva Mountain Games stage at Checkpoint Charlie in Vail Village and both will get underway at 7 p.m. The May 31 performance with Williams will be held in conjunction with the event's opening ceremonies....."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times "Who we are in Aspen"

Beautifully done by Vagneur.  Up on the Aspen Times.

Tony Vagneur:
"“You must have seen a lot of changes,” comes the almost-guaranteed remark after people realize I'm an Aspen native, and I guess that's true to a certain degree. My birth happened to coincide with the opening of “The World's Longest Chairlift” in 1946, and I suppose I've been most fortunate, through luck of the draw, to witness the metamorphosis of Aspen from a quiet mountain town into a world-class powerhouse of skiing and culture.

I don't know how it goes out at the music tent, but I do know that every winter some young hotshot comes along, thinking his turns are the best anyone's ever seen on Aspen Mountain. Fantasy is probably good in any venue, for it gives us all the impetus to stay in the game and make something stick.

We are continually given a reliable thread of “boiler plate” history, vignettes of people such as Jerome B. Wheeler, B. Clark Wheeler, Walter and Elizabeth Paepcke, D.R.C. Brown, Friedl Pfeifer and other looming icons. The “Quiet Years” (to which many of us refer as the “Golden Years”) has become a convenient term for describing a large chunk of Aspen's history.

Most of this is correct and interesting, but it is a superficial rendition devoid of the passion, tragedy and brilliance that make up our antiquity......

.......Point well taken, sir, but there have been other businessmen with as much hubris who didn't fare as well. Unfairly, Guido (one-time justice of the peace) likely is best-remembered for the sign in his window, “No Beatniks Allowed,” a reference to the influx of “hippies” in the '60s. Always a sign man, he put up a marker on Highway 82 near his downvalley ranch, trying to encourage motorists to slow down, which read merely “Nudist Crossing.”...."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Cash cow"

Lorenzo Semple:
"Our town heritage is deeply rooted in blowing things up, particularly from the mining days of yore. The sound of explosions has an oddly soothing effect on me — among other things it reminds me that it’s a powder day. The sound of a loud explosion also reminds me of my troubled youth, blowing up just about anything imaginable.

Boys are fascinated with explosives. It’s an almost primordial instinct to blow things up. My oldest sister had this incredibly annoying collection of plastic horses that were among her most prized possessions. I was always tempted to blow them up. If I found one now I still might. If you’re a guy and you don’t like to blow things up, check your pulse.

Growing up here, the wild West End was a testing ground for our various explosives: M-80s, Molotov cocktails, bottle rockets, match-head bombs, spice jars filled with black powder with a sparkler rammed into them, and French quarter-sticks of dynamite. It’s a miracle I still have all my fingers. Some local kids made a deadly pipe bomb that almost killed an innocent bystander — a half-mile away.

I’ve been real tempted to skin up to Conundrum (not so) Hot Springs and take a look at the cow situation up there — it’s what all the locals are talking about lately. Even the national media has gotten a hold of this story.

As far as we can tell from news reports, there are several dead cows stuck inside the old cabin up at Conundrum. The quandary is what to do with them. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if someone trapped them in the cabin intentionally with the sole intent and purpose of blowing them up.

Some want to dig a hole and bury the cows, with dignity. I heard there’s someone on the local force that digs a mean hole, maybe they could help? An environmentalist recommended sprinkling pheromones on them and letting the pine beetles devour the carcasses. Someone suggested a predator drone strike, raining hellfire missiles onto the already grotesque cabin scene.

Another freak suggested hiring a few Colombian coke dealers — as in the movie “Scarface” — and sending them up there with chainsaws to get the job done. No can do, I say. Way too macabre, and it clearly violates the stringent USFS Wilderness Area rules — Section 7, Article 12: No Colombian coke dealers with chainsaws allowed in the backcountry..."  (Read more?  Click title)
 
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: KKCO 11 News "Congress begins uphill battle to pass farm bill "

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate will begin laying the groundwork on a $1 trillion farm and food bill that would end direct payments and redesign safety nets that help farmers weather hard times. But with the bad political climate now gripping Washington, not many are predicting they’ll see a bill produced this year...."  (Read more?  Click title)

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

SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Oceans: Feds start recovery plan for right & blue whales"

'SandBox Nanny' is stunned almost speechless!

It's like environmental journalist Bob Berwyn has a hidden cache of tantalizing headlines that exist just for her perusal.

Today, we discover the politics of whales.  They have 'right' leanings and they have 'blue' leanings!

Amazing. 

In his stunningly brilliant expose',  Berwyn also reveals that the 'right' leaning whales are an "endangered species".

Who knew?

"Back from the brink?"
By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The National Marine Fisheries Service last week announced it will prepare a recovery plan for endangered North Pacific right whales, one of the most endangered animals on Earth.

Bringing the cetacean back from the brink of extinction won’t be easy (lol on the word play..says, 'Nanny')— by most estimates, there are only about 30 right whales in the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska and perhaps several hundred in the Sea of Okhotsk.

Right whales are so named because during the whaling era, they were a prime target, considered the “right” whale to hunt. Unlike other cetaceans, they haven’t been able to bounce back yet from the whaling slaughter. Collisions with ships is one of the biggest threats facing the whales.

The decision to develop a recovery plan came after the Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice of intent to sue. At the same time, the federal agency said it will update an outdated recovery plan for endangered blue whales, the largest animals on Earth....." (Read more?  Click title)

To prove 'right' whales do exist, here is a photo from NOAA:

SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Morning photo: Sunrise … sunset"

All credit:  Bob Berwyn
"SUMMIT COUNTY — Bookending the day with some sunrise and sunset shots around Dillon reservoir. And yes, I am slightly obsessed with the iPhone, though I regretted I didn’t have my DSLR with me when the Pine Cove sunset turned fiery....." (See more?  Click title)