Coyote Gulch

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

BlogHer 2006

Lisa Stone is letting everyone know that it's time to register for BlogHer 2006. She writes, "Last year we sold out. So register now. I think this year's BlogHer Conference will be terrific."

6:21:13 PM

Chock this one up to irony. Joel Hefley is said to be in the running for U.S. House Majority Leader, according to the Colorado Pols. Hefley, of course, was attacked by supporters of Tom DeLay when Hefley's ethics committee admonished DeLay.

Colorado Pols has this quote from the San Francisco Chronicle article, "It would be glorious payback. When Hefley was chairman of the House ethics committee, he stood up to DeLay. In 2004, his committee unanimously admonished DeLay three times -- for offering to trade a candidate endorsement for a vote in favor of the Medicare drug plan, for cozying up to energy lobbyists in a way that 'at a minimum, created the appearance that donors were being provided with special access,' and for asking a federal agency to track a plane carrying members of the Texas Legislature during a political squabble. GOP biggies were miffed -- not at DeLay, as they should have been, but at Hefley. In retaliation, the GOP leadership announced it would change committee rules to make it harder to investigate complaints, and thus shielded DeLay. Hefley complained that the changes threatened 'the integrity of the House.' The GOP leadership kindly dumped Hefley and found a new man to chair the committee. What better man to replace DeLay then the man who lost a committee for standing up to 'The Hammer'?"

Coyote Gulch would love to see a Coloradan in the leadership position but does not believe it'll happen.

6:14:28 AM

Pueblo vs. Colorado Springs

The rift between Pueblo and Colorado Springs is the subject of this editorial from the Pueblo Chieftain. From the opinion piece, "Colorado Springs Utilities officials are engaged in propaganda, trying to convince Pueblo residents that we're in this thing together - this thing of fixing the degradation of Fountain Creek.

"Why didn't they invite us to 'work together' in the 1980s and '90s while they hatched plans to take more water out of the Arkansas Valley to fuel population growth - and prosperity - in Colorado Springs?

"They apparently didn't have time for us then.

"They didn't need our cooperation in 1986 when they got a court decree from then-Water Judge John Tracey to exchange agricultural water rights Colorado Springs had acquired in the Colorado Canal for much better quality water in upstream reservoirs, such as Lake Pueblo.

"That terrible ruling allows Colorado Springs to use good water and send volumes and volumes of the effluent back down the Fountain.

"They didn't ask us when they decided that Pueblo Dam would be the preferred site for taking 78 million gallons of water a day into the proposed new Southern Delivery System pipeline to Colorado Springs. SDS currently is under environmental review by the federal government."

Category: Colorado Water

6:06:48 AM

Holtzman to name Spradley?
The Denver Post is reporting that Marc Holtzman is considering namimg Lola Spradley (former speaker of the state house) as his running mate [January 24, 2006, "Holtzman may tap Spradley to run"]. From the article, "Spradley struck some political observers as an interesting pick because Holtzman has run on an anti-establishment platform, vowing to revolutionize GOP politics in the state. Spradley, who represented Beulah, was voted Republican House majority leader in 2000 and became speaker of the House three years later. 'She's very much an establishment Republican, and Holtzman is having a revolution,' said GOP consultant Katy Atkinson. 'He could be trying to balance the ticket.' However, Spradley did irk some conservatives when she joined with Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Udall to help pass a state constitutional amendment in 2004 that required utility companies to use more renewable energy. House Minority Leader Joe Stengel of Littleton, a member of Holtzman's steering committee, characterized Spradley as seasoned, smart and tough."

Meanwhile Bill Ritter is again being knocked for his pro-life views, according to the Denver Post [January 24, 2006, "Doctor calls Ritter a danger to choice"]. From the article, "A prominent Colorado abortion doctor warned Democrats on Monday that choosing Bill Ritter as their candidate for governor would doom reproductive freedom for women in the state. Dr. Warren Hern, director of the Boulder Abortion Clinic, a private practice, said Ritter, as governor, would sign a law that makes abortion illegal except in cases of rape or incest or to protect the life of the woman." Dr. Hern has been in the news before.

Here's the coverage from the Rocky Mountain News [January 24, 2006, "Abortion provider rebukes Ritter"].

Category: Denver November 2006 Election

5:39:17 AM

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