Coyote Gulch

Thursday, October 28, 2004

15th Street Tavern
Say adios to the 15th Street Tavern. I think my kid's (Beaver's) band played there once or twice.
3:59:06 PM

5280 Magazine Weblog
Daniel Brogan, 5280's publisher, corrected me in the comments on Coyote Gulch. Here's is the URL for the RSS feed: http://www.5280.com/blog/wp-rss2.php. I'm subscribed!
I still think this is way cool. This morning we're reminded to vote by Jeralyn Merritt along with Luis Toro asking Why Drew T. Durham?
7:51:09 AM

2004 Presidential Election
Electoral-vote.com: "Today's harvest is 39 polls in 18 states. In most states the winner didn't change, but we have motion in two key states. The most recent poll in Ohio, Zogby's tracking poll, puts Kerry a tad ahead there, 46% to 45%, well within the margin of error. Other Ohio polls are mixed. Rasmussen's tracking poll puts Bush 4% ahead but the LA Times poll puts Kerry 4% ahead. Let's call Ohio a tie. Which way it goes will almost assuredly depend on the turnout Tuesday, especially among younger voters. Could OSU elect the next president? It is not out of the question."
"The other state where we have a change is Michigan. According to the latest poll there (Zogby's tracking poll) Bush and Kerry are tied at 47% each. However, two other polls (Rasmussen and Mitchell Research put Kerry ahead by 6% and 1%, respectively). All in all, by gaining Ohio and having Michigan be tied, Kerry makes a net gain and now leads in the electoral college, but neither candidate has the required 270 electoral votes it takes to win..."
"Today's Washington Post has an excellent story dealing with the issue of whether the polls are accurate. The basic problem is that the vast majority of people refuse to participate, so the sample is no longer random. Surveying mostly elderly, lonely, or bored people can bias the results. The Post reports that one caller apparently was so fed up with telemarketeers and pollsters that he attached a device to the telephone that made such a loud noise it damaged the pollster's eardrum. Even response rates for exit polls on election day have dropped to 50%. This information goes a long way to explaining why the polls are so erratic this year. But in all fairness, the final 2000 polls weren't so hot either. Eleven of the 15 national polls just before the election predicted Bush would win the popular vote by a margin of 2% to 6%. Ultimately, Gore won it by 0.5%."
TalkLeft: "he Pew Research Center for the People & the Press has re-polled more than 500 voters who were undecided in September. More leaned towards Bush than Kerry. Now, they are evenly split. By a three to one margin, they said John Kerry did better than Bush in the debates."
This flash piece is hilarious but over the line. Warning: The sentiment is anti-administration.
Taegan Goddard: "President Bush 'is wrapping up his reelection bid as he began it, on the attack,' the Boston Globe reports. 'But political scientists note that while Bush's campaign strategy might help fire up supporters in regions of the country where he is popular, it might not be having as powerful an effect in all-important battleground states, such as Florida and Ohio.'"
"Meanwhile, the Des Moines Register notes that Sen. John Kerry 'turned sharply from the bruising attacks on' Bush's 'conduct of the military occupation of Iraq and instead offered a hopeful appeal to independents and Republicans with just six days until the election.'"
7:32:59 AM

Colorado Water
Denver Water has decided to refund surcharges under certain conditions according to the Rocky Mountain News [October 28, 2004, "Water bill refunds OK'd"]. From the article, "Denver Water agreed to refund $7 million in drought surcharges Wednesday, saying the fees were well-intentioned but hit some residential customers too hard. The $7 million represents about half of the $14.4 million the surcharge generated. Denver Water, the state's largest municipal water supplier, will calculate the refunds over the next two weeks, giving full refunds to homeowners who reduced use 30 percent from 2001 levels and partial refunds to others who also conserved."
Here's the coverage from the Denver Post [October 28, 2004, "$7 million to flow back to Denver"].
6:50:14 AM

Denver November 2004 Election
Over a half million Coloradans have already voted early or turned in absentee ballots, according to the Rocky Mountain News [October 28, 2004, "503,246 ballots already collected"].
Voters between 18 and 24 have registered in great numbers across the nation this year. The question now is will they show up to vote according to the Denver Post [October 28, 2004, "Young voters a wild card"]? From the article, "Almost twice as many Coloradans 18 to 24 registered to vote in 2004 than in 2000, according to state records. The 115,000 new young voters this year are mostly without party identity: Those unaffiliated outnumber Republicans or Democrats by a nearly 2-to-1 ratio...The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) shows youth-vote turnout in Colorado has declined by 27 percent since it peaked in 1972 when 18-year-olds were granted the right to vote. Nationwide, it has declined only 13 percent. Presidential elections bring out more voters but not necessarily young voters. CIRCLE reports 68 percent of Colorado citizens 25 and over voted in 2000. Only 36 percent of the 18- to 24- year-olds in Colorado made it to the polls that year. But this year, it may be different. A new national survey found that 83 percent of new voters definitely plan to vote next week. The nonpartisan survey by Pace University and Rock the Vote questioned voters who registered after the 2000 presidential election, many of whom are young voters."
Govenor Owens is still against Referendum 4A (FasTracks) according to the Denver Post [October 28, 2004, "Owens urges voters to nix FasTracks"]. From the article, "The governor said the Interstate 70 and West Sixth Avenue corridors in metro Denver might be candidates for a combination of road improvements and rail. Critics of Owens' alternative say voters throughout the area will never support a tax increase to pay for improvements in only a few transportation corridors. FasTracks, in comparison, promises to deliver new rail lines, or rail extensions, in every direction from downtown Denver, including Golden and Lakewood, Arvada and Wheat Ridge, Boulder and Longmont, north Adams County, Aurora, Denver International Airport, Lone Tree and Highlands Ranch. Owens said a pro-FasTracks vote would raise Denver's sales tax to 8.2 percent. In fact, the city's sales tax would rise to 7.6 percent with passage of the transit tax increase."
For those of you that would prefer pictures with your reading Westword explains FasTracks as a Worst Case Scenario.
Westword has the lowdown on endorsements.
6:46:34 AM

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