Coyote Gulch

Thursday, April 15, 2004

2004 Presidential Election
Josh Marshall: "Falling back on such meaningless statements is precisely what people do when they find themselves unable to reconcile their expectations with what their eyes are showing them."
Blogs for Bush: "Peggy Noonan over at Opinion Journal has her usual excellent insight in discussing how President Bush's press conference went. Highly recommend the whole thing to all and sundry."
7:20:33 PM

Denver November 2004 Election
FasTracks Yes! has collected nearly $170,000 in their quest to have voters pass an increase in the metro area sales tax to fund FasTracks, according to the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "The bulk of the money for the proposed rapid-transit network was donated by engineering firms, contractors and developers. Smaller contributions have come from home builders, civic leaders, transit advocates and other individuals. The political committee - FasTracks Yes! - expects to spend up to $3 million on the campaign. Nine contributors gave a total of $130,000, including the largest single contribution, $50,000, from Union Center LLC. Union Center owns property behind Union Station. That's where six of nine rail lines would converge. All but two of the contributions were raised in March. There is no organized political campaign opposing FasTracks yet, and there has been no fund raising reported by any opponents of FasTracks so far. FasTracks Yes! opened its offices at West 11th Avenue and Osage Street, in a building owned by Mayor John Hickenlooper. The mayor is a strong supporter of the measure, which asks voters to raise the metro transit sales tax by 0.4 cents to a full penny per dollar. It would help pay for a 12-year construction program of six new rail lines, extensions of three existing ones and an expanded metro bus network." Here's the coverage from the Denver Post [April 15, 2004, "Developers backing FasTracks campaign"].
Mike Miles will stay in the race for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate despite an earlier promise to drop out if he didn't get 30% support in Tuesday's caucuses, according to the Rocky Mountain News [April 15, 2004, "Miles falls short but remains in race"].
Update: The latest Rasmussen Reports.com poll in the Colorado U.S. Senate race shows Ken Salazar leading Peter Coors by 47 to 42. Thanks to Taegan Goddard for the link.
5:46:41 AM

Colorado Water
Denver Water decided yesterday to restrict lawn watering to two days a week for this summer, according to the Rocky Mountain News [April 15, 2004, "Board imposes water restrictions"]. From the article, "Along with two-day-per-week watering, the Denver Water Board also approved a 20 percent surcharge on new home taps, effective immediately. Homeowners may use up to 18,000 gallons of water in a two- month period before surcharges kick in. Then the surcharges increase as water use rises. They start at 82 cents per thousand gallons on use of 19,000 to 22,000 gallons bi-monthly, and jump to $12.25 per thousand for those who use 61,000 gallons or more in a two-month period. Similar surcharges apply to commercial and industrial customers. (Kerrly) Kuykendoll said Denver Water's average customer consumes about 21,000 gallons in a two-month period. If that same customer reduces use by 30 percent - a target built into the restrictions - then average use should drop to about 14,700 gallons." Here's the coverage from the Denver Post [April 15, 2004, "Denver Water sets limits, fees"].
Here's an article about Aurora and Douglas County sitting down to talk about constructing a new water pipeline from the Denver Post [April 15, 2004, "Aurora, Douglas set pipeline talks"]. From the article, "If built, the pipeline would reach more than 500,000 people in 10 years and deliver more water to Aurora, parts of Centennial, Douglas County and unincorporated Arapahoe County. The pipeline would stretch from the Barr Lake area south to Douglas County, near the E-470 corridor, Binney said. Aurora officials have talked recently about building their own pipeline from the lower South Platte River, (Peter) Binney said. That was estimated to cost $250 million. Aurora wanted that pipeline completed by 2009, but the timetable may change depending on talks with Douglas County."
5:37:34 AM

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