Coyote Gulch

Thursday, January 6, 2005

Colorado Water
The January 1st snowpack is OK but not enough to quell the fears of a continued drought, according to the Rocky Mountain News [December 31, 2004, "Snows are packing promise, perplexity"]. From the article, "The storm and others like it have boosted Colorado's statewide snowpack to 96 percent of average - 106 percent of where it stood at this time last year...Front Range residents rely on three major mountain river basins for their water supplies: the Colorado, South Platte and Arkansas. All three basins are showing some improvement over last year, but only one, the Arkansas, has seen above-average snows to date. It stands at 107 percent of average, while the Colorado River Basin registered just 90 percent of average and the South Platte 92 percent, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service...Basin Percent of avg. Percent vs. 2003: Gunnison 116 106; Colorado 90 102; South Platte 92 143; North Platte 95 98; Yampa and White 88 79; Arkansas 107 154; Rio Grande 106 116; San Miguel, San Juan, Dolores, Animas 110 117; Statewide 96 106."
7:20:04 AM

Colorado Politics
Here's a new weblog, Colorado Politics. From the about page, "Colorado Pols is: Alva Adams, James Peabody, and Jesse McDonald." ARRGH! I can't find an RSS feed. Come on people.
Thanks to TalkLeft for the link.
6:47:31 AM

2004 Presidential Transition
The grilling of Alberto Gonzales starts today, according to the Denver Post editorial staff [January 6, 2005, "Gonzales on a griddle of his own making"]. They write, "If Gonzales is to be the nation's next attorney general, he should show a grasp for civil liberties that eluded John Ashcroft and strongly renounce the legal defense of torture. A report late yesterday said that Gonzales planned to do just that. He must show that he is capable of making the transition from the White House, where he has been fiercely loyal to his client, George Bush, to the Justice Department, where his job will be to protect the rule of law."
TalkLeft: "The confirmation hearings for Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General begin today. Alan Berlow, who authored the Atlantic Monthly article on Gonzales' role as clemency advisor to President Bush when he was Governor of Texas recaps Gonzales role as Facilitator in Chief in Salon."
Ms. Merritt is also pointing to John Ashcroft's rendition of Let the Eagles Soar.
6:29:18 AM

Denver May 2005 Special Election
A new Justice Center is the first item we'll get to vote on in May. Mayor Hickenlooper is hoping tours of the current jail will help get the issue passed, according to the Denver Post [January 6, 2005, "Mayor: Tours of jail will show need for new justice center"]. From the article, "The ballot question will not include a property tax increase. Instead, rates will remain steady until the center is paid off. Currently, the jail is designed for 1,500 inmates but houses more than 2,000. Experts have warned that Denver is ripe for a federal lawsuit if conditions don't change. A new justice center downtown would consolidate about 41 courtrooms, a jail with 1,500 beds and a parking lot with 684 spaces. The county jail on Smith Road would be overhauled to include a few hundred new beds as well. Preliminary project costs for the justice center last month were $355 million. A new cost estimate unveiled on Wednesday was $364 million. Project manager James Mejia said that he and the task force are still reviewing escalating construction costs and the need for a juvenile court building. They are also trying to find a way to cut anything not considered a necessity. A final price tag is expected to be announced between Jan. 16 and 26, said mayoral chief of staff Michael Bennet."
6:24:50 AM

DeLary Rule
Denver Post: "U.S. Rep. Joel Hefley expects to be ousted today as the top ethics cop in the House after forcing Republican leaders to back down on their efforts to dilute ethics enforcement...But he has been in the spotlight lately for his increasingly vocal criticism of the way his own party has handled ethics matters. It started when he objected to Republican leaders' "pizza rule" - letting lobbyists provide catered meals to lawmakers and staff members working late. It built up over the course of the last year when Hefley and his committee three times admonished House Majority Leader Tom DeLay over ethical issues. And it culminated this week as he lashed out against a plan by leaders to limit ethics investigations - a plan inspired by the enforcement against DeLay, R-Texas." [January 6, 2004, "Hefley set for ethics ouster"].
Hefley is quoted as saying, "We did make a bad mistake. You can't have a majority party cramming ethics rules down the throat of the minority party."
You did the ethical thing Congressman.
6:11:07 AM

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