Friday, April 28, 2006

New Hampshire moves to protect early primary Political Wire: "New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch signed legislation to give the secretary of state authority to set a filing deadline for primary candidates as early as he thinks necessary -- a measure passed in response to other states' efforts to position their presidential primaries ahead of New Hampshire's, the Manchester Union Leader reports." Category: 2008 Presidential Election 7:07:12 AM

Immigration Captains Quarters: "Thomas Joscelyn reports that transcriptions of Guantanamo Bay hearing uncovered plots by two different Islamist terror groups to send its volunteers into the United States through Mexico, exploiting the border we seem unwilling to credibly secure." Category: 2008 Presidential Election 7:04:31 AM

Immigration Denver Post: "Proponents of an initiative to deny state services to undocumented immigrants launched a petition drive today to get the measure on the ballot. A crowd of around 250 gathered on the west steps of the Capitol for the announcement.Fred Elbel, of Defend Colorado Now which is backing the initiative, said the group has more than 1,000 volunteers to gather 100,000 signatures. The initiative would prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving state services and allows citizens to sue institutions they feel are serving undocumented immigrants. But the kick-off comes before the State Supreme Court has ruled on the legality of the initiative under the single subject rule. It was approved by the Secretary of State for the November ballot but challenged in court." Category: Denver November 2006 Election 6:55:51 AM

HB 1344 The Denver Post editorial staff is urging lawmakers to approve HB 1344, The Colorado Domestic Partnership Benefits and Responsibilities Act, for the fall ballot. They write, "This year's session of the Colorado legislature has mostly been devoted to repairing the damage that the recent state budget crisis caused to education and other programs. But lawmakers have also found the time and vision to craft a major human-rights bill that would give same-sex couples some - though far from all - of the rights and responsibilities that married couples already enjoy in Colorado... "House Bill 1344, by Rep. Tom Plant, D-Nederland, and Sen. Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Jefferson County, would not change the state's current ban on same-sex marriages. But it would give gay and lesbian couples the right to make medical decisions for incapacitated partners, provide access to health-care and family-leave benefits, and protect inheritance rights. More important, the bill breaks new legal ground by clarifying both the rights and responsibilities of both partners when a gay couple breaks up - especially in regard to any children in their care. In so doing, the bill simply recognizes that same-sex couples do exist in Colorado and some of them have children, either by a previous marriage, adoption or because one or both partners in a lesbian couple has given birth. "Same-sex relationships are subject to the same strains as heterosexual partnerships, but one that shatters now does not enjoy the same legal guidelines to determine child custody, visitation rights and child support that cover heterosexual couples - even unmarried ones. By providing clear rules for such breakups, the domestic partnership bill will give important new protections to children of same-sex couples. Providing such rights to children is so important that even the sponsors of an initiated constitutional amendment limiting marriage to a union of a man and woman in Colorado specifically drafted it to co-exist with a domestic partnership law." Category: Denver November 2006 Election 6:51:52 AM

Holtzman for governor? It seems controversy stalks Marc Holtzman. According to the Rocky Mountain News Holtzman's campaign staff may have helped with the anti-Referendum C efforts last fall, in violation of Colorado campaign law. From the article, "A former employee of an issue committee that ran TV ads opposing Referendum C last fall testified Wednesday that staffers from Marc Holtzman's gubernatorial campaign were directly involved in running the group, which would be a violation of Colorado campaign finance law. Andy George appeared before Administrative Law Judge Robert Spencer in a case that highlights the bitter division in the Colorado Republican Party over Ref C and the ongoing battle between Holtzman and U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez for the party's nomination for governor. George testified that he was one of two full-time staffers hired to work for the 'If C wins, you lose' committee. That group sponsored an ad blitz that featured Holtzman criticizing the referendum, but made no mention that he was running for governor. "Under provisions of Colorado's campaign finance law, which was approved by voters in 2002, issue committees are required to be independent of other political campaigns. Holtzman could appear in an ad for the group, but his campaign would not be allowed to be involved in the day-to-day operations of the committee. The Holtzman campaign insists it followed the law and calls the case a politically motivated vendetta. But George said that Holtzman campaign staffers were intimately involved in every aspect of the committee's work. He said Holtzman campaign manager Dick Leggitt hired him last summer and made it clear the committee was a part of the campaign." More coverage from the Denver Post here and here. Category: Denver November 2006 Election 6:43:57 AM

Aurora: Prairie Waters Here's an article from the Brighton Standard Blade with details about Aurora's Prairie Waters project. From the article, "The city of Aurora's need for water for a burgeoning population is ready to stretch northward. City of Aurora officials and representatives from engineering firm, Tetra Tech RMC, briefed Fort Lupton City Councilors April 19 on the Prairie Waters Project - Aurora's ambitious plan to use their existing South Platte River water rights and channel river water back to their city for use. Prairie Waters would mean the building of a 34-mile pipeline that would start just west of Fort Lupton near Weld County Roads 8 and 23, travel parallel to U.S. Highway 85 through Brighton then take a left turn along the E-470 corridor where it would reach all the way to a still-to-be-constructed treatment plant at the Aurora Reservoir, the city's primary water storage facility. The price tag for the project is an estimated $650 million... "Binney said, right now, they provide water to about 300,000 customers. Those numbers are only expected to grow but the city's reservoir levels were depleted, Binney said, by the drought in 2003. Prairie Waters, according to city of Aurora data, would initially increase the city water levels by 3.3 million gallons and meet city water demands into the 2020s. The project also would include the construction of 23 alluvial wells along the South Platte River to pump the water. Those wells brought the most concern from Fort Lupton City Councilors - seeking assurance from Binney that other local well users wouldn't see declining well levels because of the Aurora project. Binney said water laws prevented Aurora from doing anything outside of their own water lease that would impact other water-user rights. He also said he didn't think the project would cause a drawdown on local wells. "The other unique aspect of Prairie Waters, besides the circuitous route it will take to Aurora, is what will happen to it along the way. The city of Aurora also is in the process of acquiring a pair of former gravel pits along U.S. Highway 85 - the Wattenberg gravel pit at Weld County Road 6 and the Walker Reservoir near Weld County Road 2. The existing sands and gravels of the pit would act as a filter for the water, holding it for about 30 days, before it is pushed on toward the Aurora reservoir. The amount of land needed to accommodate that biological process will be part of a pilot study, according to Binney, that will take place this summer at WCRs 8 and 23. The study won't measure the effectiveness of the filtering, something that the city has already been working with students from the Colorado School of Mines, but the permeability of the ground to the water." Category: Colorado Water 6:32:49 AM

Lake County to join SECWCD? Lake County can expect a pretty hefty ante to join the Southeastern Water Conservancy District, according to the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article, "Lake County might have to pay as much as $3.45 million to join the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District. However, the amount could be far less if only some parts of the county were to be included in the district. It still would be a hefty burden for the county that is struggling financially after the decimation of the local mining industry, said Ken Olsen, chairman of Lake County commissioners... "Formed in 1958, the Southeastern District does not incorporate all of the land within the counties it now serves. Portions of those counties have annexed into the district over the years - Lamar in 1968, Pueblo West in 1971 and Rolling Hills Ranch near Widefield just this year. The issue of Lake County joining Southeastern was broached at a committee meeting Tuesday, in which a representative from Lake County demanded its inclusion in the service area envisioned by the Preferred Storage Options Plan. Lake County wants to join in order to address concerns about recreation and fisheries at lakes in the county. To join, the county most likely would have to at least pay back taxes - 48 years worth. That will be a struggle in a county which has seen its tax base erode... "The district formed to promote the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, which became a reality in 1962. Supporters sold golden fryingpans, signifying the Fryingpan Watershed which would supply transmountain water, to promote the project, urging people up and down the valley to support it. Lake County declined, largely because its largest employer, Climax Molybdenum, balked at the added taxes. Many local officials through the years worked for Climax and followed suit. Last fall, Lake County voters asked commissioners to study whether to join the Southeastern District, the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District or both. Commissioners have approached the task warily." Category: Colorado Water 6:12:19 AM

Immigration Immigration is causing a split in the Republican party, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. From the article, "Religious conservatives bared their internal struggles over immigration Thursday at an unusually frank public debate, demonstrating that the most powerful faction of the Republican Party is as divided as the party itself on the issue. "Torn between the values of Christian compassion and a disapproval of lawbreaking -- with an undercurrent of angst about cultural change -- social conservatives and their political allies squared off in the face of internal polls that show their "values voters" overwhelmingly prefer strong border security. "The Family Research Council, which sponsored Thursday's debate, surveyed its members earlier this month and found that by a ratio of 9 to 1, they believe illegal immigrants should be 'detected, arrested and returned to their country of origin.' "The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez of Sacramento, head of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, said he was concerned by a new Pew Hispanic Center poll released Wednesday that found two-thirds of white evangelicals consider new immigrants to be a burden and a threat to American culture... "As with the larger national immigration debate, evangelical leaders could be more willing than the public they represent to offer earned citizenship to the 12 million illegal immigrants now in the country. Dr. Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest non-Catholic denomination representing millions of white evangelicals, announced at the meeting his endorsement of a bipartisan immigration plan in the Senate that is backed by most Democrats, some Republicans and President Bush. The program includes a way for many illegal immigrants living in the country today to become permanent residents and ultimately U.S. citizens." Category: 2008 Presidential Election 6:01:02 AM

CloudSat launches finallly After a week of delays CloudSat launched this morning, according to Reuters. They write, "NASA on Friday launched two research satellites to help scientists refine computer models that forecast the weather and chart global climate change. CloudSat and CALIPSO blasted off aboard an unmanned Delta rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 6:02 a.m. EDT (1002 GMT) after a week of delays for weather and technical issues. The Boeing-built booster originally had been slated to fly last year, but a machinists' strike forced several months of delays. CloudSat has powerful radar instruments to peer deep into the structure of clouds and map their water content. Although only about 1 percent of Earth's water is held in clouds, it plays a crucial role in the planet's weather, scientists working on the mission said... "Using instruments 1,000 times more powerful than common meteorology radar CloudSat was designed to render three-dimensional maps of clouds that will identify the location and form of water molecules. Complementary and virtually simultaneous studies by sister probe CALIPSO will pinpoint aerosol particles and track how they interact with clouds and move through the atmosphere. CALIPSO is an acronym for Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations. Aerosols are formed by natural phenomena like forest fires and human activity such as driving cars. Aerosols are considered a key factor in understanding why the planet is growing warmer and if anything can be done to stem or reverse the change. Computer models predict average surface temperatures on Earth will increase between 3.5 degrees Celsius and 9 degrees F over the next 100 years. The uncertainty stems from the role clouds play in moderating heat. Aerosols in the clouds can either cool the planet by reflecting solar energy back into space, or increase temperatures by trapping heat in the atmosphere." Category: Colorado Water 5:54:39 AM

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