*updated 5/21/2009 with video*

If you’re curious about what today at the Colorado Capitol Building looked like, see this link for photos.  Around 250 Iranian Americans showed up to show support for the people of Iran, not the government.

Here’s my ten minute long youtube video:

Link to cbs4denver’s report here.

Squee #1 – Amtrak are considering reviving the Pioneer line which used to run between Denver and Seattle (discontinued 1997). Imagine that – Denver Union Station actually serving more than one long distance train route! Wouldn’t that be something? Just four years ago, I heard no common knowledge beyond “Rail travel is dying, enjoy it while you can.” I get wistful looking at those signs in the Union Station tunnel naming and dating all the routes that are no more. The idea of any Amtrak route being raised from the dead fills me with more delight than I can adequately express. And that the route under consideration serves the Denver area? Squee indeed!

Squee #2 – Boulder City Council are urging Amtrak officials to alter that old line a bit. The Pioneer used to run through Greeley, but considering all the local support surrounding FasTracks and the much-anticipated Boulder Transit Village, they suggest the revived Pioneer run instead through Boulder. Direct rail travel from Boulder to Seattle? OMGWTFBBQ!!!1!1!1!!!eleven!

I done saw it in the Daily Camera (also in the Colorado Daily, for more detail, via Twitter feed AmtrakNews) where the sole commenter as of this moment is voicing support for the reinstated line but not for “regular Amtrak trains through Boulder.” I’m not quite sure why. Do they fear the noise and congestion of 20 TRAINS DAY, I SAID TWENTY MILLION TRAINS A DAY, SINGING A BAR OF ALICE’S RESTAURANT– Dude, chill. You got any reason to expect the Pioneer will run more often than the California Zephyr, which is to say once a day in either direction? You think that’ll add any significant hullabaloo to the existing freight traffic that passes daily through town on the BNSF? Or maybe they worry that Boulder will suddenly host a super big amount of car traffic as the new Amtrak Mecca? I am confused. Enlighten me.

As for me, I totally support an Amtrak stop in Boulder. Do you? Squee here! Don’t you? Explain!

Today I spoke with a few of my friends about their property tax assessments.

Jefferson County recently sent out their assessments for this year.  Ours went up by a ridiculous amount and I had to ask a few of my friends whether they had seen similar increases.  They all reported the same thing.  Their assessments were raised by $50,000, $60,000, even $150,000 from the previous year.

Needless to say, we are all going to appeal.

The question is – why?  Given what we all know to be a major drop in real estate values, why would Jefferson County have picked this year to increase our assessments by such large amounts.

We all came to the same conclusion – they need the money….  I think this is also why there are so many police cars out their handing out speeding tickets.  They need the revenue.  And they are taking it out on us.

House Bill 1274 – which would repeal the death penalty in Colorado just passed the House by one vote.  Now it is on to the Senate.

The Denver Post wrote about this here.

For a little background on this bill and the national trend to eliminate the death penalty, please see my previous posting on the the possible repeal of the death penalty in Colorado.

The Colorado legislature is considering the elimination of the death penalty in Colorado.  House Bill 1274, proposed by Colorado House Majority Leader Paul Weissman, would eliminate the death penalty in Colorado in order to save money.  Some of the money saved may be used to solve and prosecute cold cases.

Almost identical legislation narrowly failed in 2007, but may have a better chance of passage this year given the budget challenges and the fact that the Democrats are the majority party in both houses of the Colorado legislature and we have a Democratic Governor.

Colorado currently has only two people on death row and has only executed one person since 1967.

Both the Denver Post and the New York Times have written articles documenting the fact that in addition to Colorado a number of other states (including Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Maryland, Montana and New Mexico) are considering repealing the death penalty to save money at a time when states are facing enourmous budgetary pressure as a result of the recession.  These articles document the fact that death penalty cases cost as much as ten times what it costs to prosecute criminals and keep them in prison for the rest of their lives.  According to California’s Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, California spends an additional $63 Million each year just to imprison its death row inmates.  That expense does not even include the cost of trials and appeals which can be up to ten times as expensive as trials where the penalty being sought by the state is life imprisonment.

The Daily Sentinel reported:

The money spent on prosecuting death-penalty cases and subsequent appeals, according to Weissman, is a drain on state law enforcement resources. “We spend about $2 million from the state, and about $2 million locally on a death penalty that we never use,” Weissman says.

Add to this the facts that very few death sentences are carried out each year and that a number of death row inmates have subsequently been exonerated through DNA evidence, and there appears to be a strong argument to repeal the death penalty this year when state budgets are so tight.

I have mixed emotions about the death penalty.  As a general matter, I am opposed to the idea of killing anyone.  However, I am a husband and a father and I have read news accounts over the years about gruesome murders by criminals who are so repugnant that I can see where an eye for an eye has an appeal.

I know that many family members of victims disagree, but I have to believe that Colorado can find better ways to spend the money it will save by repealing the death penalty – especially during this recession when all of us have to make difficult choices.

The Colorado House of Representatives is about to pass a bill requiring the installation of carbon monoxide (CO) detectors to be installed in all new construction.  According to the Colorado House Democrats Blog:

House Bill 1091 requires all new homes and apartments to install CO detectors. It also requires installation of detectors in new construction of single or multi-family dwellings, including rental properties. Prior to renting, the bill states that a landlord must replace or repair existing alarms, and permits a local government to set more stringent requirements for the installation of alarms.

While I tend to be fairly liberal politically, this legislation does give me some hesitation.  It does seem to to be an intrusion into our private lives.  (There is an appeal to libertarian thinking….)  That said, according to the Cherry Creek News:

The CDC reports about 500 Americans die each year due to accidental CO poisoning, and another 20,000 end up in the emergency room. Children are especially vulnerable. Although CO poisoning can happen anytime, most incidents happen during the winter months, mainly due to an increased use of fuel-burning appliances.

Six people have died in Colorado since Thanksgiving from Carbon Monoxide poisoning and fifty people have been treated in Colorado emergency rooms.

Last weekend, on Valentine’s Day, our good friends called us in a panic – they needed us to take their dogs for the night.  Their CO detector had gone off – they had just installed it a week before.  The fire department had determined that their stove was leaking gas and they had to leave their house for the night.  Thankfully, they had their CO detector installed or they could have been another statistic….

This morning, I installed a second carbon monoxide detector in our house.  It was our choice and we don’t have the Colorado legislature mandating – yet.  But, maybe it is a good thing to mandate this.  It is relatively inexpensive, it will save lives including a few people who knowingly accept the risk and other unknowing beneficiaries of the pending legislation.

2/20: updated with link to someone who has some experience with Boulder High and race: Alexis Gentry hit this one pretty well on the head.  Read the whole thing.

My issue with this has little to do with Obama and more to do with the blatant hypocrisy exhibited by naming a school where racism, discrimination, and segregation are not only allowed, but enforced by the staff and administration.

To understand why I am so upset about this, you need to know my back story. As a bi-racial student at BHS from 1999-2002, I have first-hand experience with some of Boulder’s infamous hypocritical behavior.

2/12: updated: Students pull plan…

9News reports that Boulder High School students say it’s time for a “Barack Obama High School”.

Well, you have to give them props for going right along with the whole “Yes We Can” motif that has swept the country coast to coast and threatens to drown the rest of us in an overdose of Hope and Change.

All right, maybe that was a little snippy, but I’m just going to come out and say it. This Obama worship that seems to be breaking loose from the far and near corners is a more than a little creepy and embarrassing. In the United States it feels like we’ve suddenly given up hope in ourselves and placed it in the hands of one man. People, he’s the President. He’s not the guy who is going to save America single handily. This whole crisis is not just one guys fault. There’s plenty of blame to go around and Former President Bush is not the only one to put on a pike and dance around gleefully.

Although I suspect some would gleefully suggest such a thing.

(more…)

I didn’t think I’d be back here with National Blog Writing Month, but I am.  Not by choice.  But by requirement to vent.  Without the ventilation, I’d be bum rushing every parking attendant I see in my area. And believe me when I got my mail late this evening, I’d blew a gasket.

Much like I’m going to now. Let me ’splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

About a month ago on the 25th of September I was leaving my house at about 12:30pm intent on going to my second shift job. I recently moved into the DU area in June. Because there are five people living in the house, there is limited parking in the garage. Which means I’m the odd man out. Therefore, we were issued “guest” permits since there are only so many resident permits allowed.

I have one of those guest permits. I have hung it faithfully since I received it. I even had it renewed last week because I knew I’d get the ticketing ticketers on my tail if I didn’t.

Anyway, on the 25 of September I found my car had been ticketed. I was upset. Then the meter person (maid is probably offensive) honked at me and apologized, said he hadn’t seen my pass and if I could give him the ticket he’d take care of it. I said, “Oh, cool. Thank you very much” and was as pleasant as Pooh Bear on a honey buzz. I smiled, thanked him again and was on my way to work with nary a thought to the ticket.

Until today.

(more…)

I headed out into the early (9am) morning winds to the 16th st mall, hopped on the mall ride to the end, walked about a mile and a half to the end of a line that turned out to go nowhere, and finally landed in a pretty good spot in the park, where I saw an Obama shaped spec in the distance.

Rumor has it, we had about 100,000 people turn out. I believe it. The entire park was jammed with people, as well as the lawn of the capital. I was shoulder to shoulder with my fellow Colorado Dems, and it was pretty damn cool!

Obama rally snippet

I took a bunch of pics (which are stuck on my iPhone until my main laptop is back from the shop, short of emailing each one to myself), and 16 clips of video. This is one of them. I woulda done his whole speech, but my arm wouldn’t have made it.

Wow, this place certainly…hasn’t changed much since I last posted. Well, Mr. Wilker’s kept the light on. Props to the boss for the CPR. There, I think I sucked up enough.

Oh hai Denver!  How are you?  I am fine.  It’s finally October and the countdown until the first snow of the year is here.  Isn’t that exciting?  Not really.  In all honesty, Denver’s weather patterns are 1) unpredictable and 2) really not worth talking about (you hear that Dicker?) because in reality people who’ve been in the city for more than ten years know exactly what every fall will bring and what happens on Halloween. Unless Doomsday comes, every kid from Aurora to Westminster will be wearing winter coats over and under their pretty pretty princess costumes. It’s just the way it is.

Let’s see. Nuggets are not even in play. Avalanche, nothing special there. Broncos? The Choking Donkey’s are still doing what they do every year. Rockies? Don’t even get me started. I’m not up on the whole CU/CSU whole sports situation.

So for the most part Denver’s just the same ole’ same ole’. The DNC glow is finally faded and compared to the RNC, our city came out like Angels singing in the Heavenly Choir. Nobodies starting the controversies lately. I mean, there are a few ex-Broncos making headlines, but that’s pretty normal. The (Non) Recreate-68 crowd has faded into the background again. Columbus Day went without a hitch, cry or complaint. Usually there’s screams, yells and all kinds of straw man arguments hoisted from both sides that by the time the event comes around it’s like the North and South have reignited their storied Hatfield and McCoy war all over again.

So, Denver’s back to being the one horse cow town we’ve been known as every since the first DNC here in 1908. To be honest, part of me is glad things are calmer and quieter. Mind you, the nationwide political scene is bubbling over. I mean in the house I share with five others I’m the lone (R). On our lawn is a Obama and Udall yard sign. And in my window is a McCain 2008 shirt. So it’s not really quiet in that sense.

Plus I wore that shirt around my DU neighborhood today and got so many crusty looks I lost count.

I’ve got more posts, photos and things to come. Hows the Denver Fall going for anyone? Those leaves are a changin’…and it’s beaautiful.