Coyote Gulch

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Gay marriage ban?
Tom Ehrich: "If there is any document that needs to be preserved from religious squabbling and moralizing, it is the Constitution. The Constitution doesn't exist to resolve religious disputes. It exists to provide a just and equitable environment of laws and rights in which citizens can address religious issues, along with equally thorny issues involving human rights, property rights and competing claims for power."

Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for the link.
"2008 pres"
6:27:04 PM

Initiative 55
Denver Business Journal: "Gov. Bill Owens said Tuesday he will likely call a special session if the Supreme Court does not reconsider its recent decision regarding illegal immigration. On Monday, the Colorado Supreme Court threw out a ballot initiative that would bar many tax-funded services for illegal immigrants, saying it addressed more than one subject. It is a technical violation that could keep the issue, called Initiative 55, off the November ballot. Owens called the Colorado Supreme Court's decision 'inappropriate' and 'arrogant.'"

Coyote Gulch wonders what Dick Lamm said about the decision - in private.

Denver Post: "The court, Owens said, ignored years of legal precedent and decided the case based on its own feelings, which denied the voters 'a say in one of the most important public policy debates of our time.' Proponents of the ballot question and Republican Attorney General John Suthers said they plan to ask the court to reconsider their decision."

Mt. Virtus: "It is contorted decisions like the one the Colorado Supreme Court made yesterday regarding the anti-illegal immigration initiative that undermine citizens' respect for the judiciary. As has been proven again and again, naked partisanship no longer ends at the courtroom door."
"denver 2006"
6:14:05 PM

Internet neutrality
ZDNet: "And you net-neutrality-fighting telcos who are complaining that it can't be done, it needs to be done. If your stock price takes a hit and your institutional investors want your CEO's head, well then, it isn't my problem. But if you are going to slow down some content and retard new content creators from coming into being and prominence, I am a content guy. And it is my problem."
"2008 pres"
6:09:51 PM

State Senate and State House District maps for Denver County
If you live in Denver, and are unsure whether you should be voting this summer, or fall, for anyone for state legislature, here's the scoop. Denver voters get to choose a representative for House District 1 and a senator for Senate District 32. Here's the link for the Denver County State Senate districts (pdf) and here's the link for the Denver County State House districts (pdf).

Pick a candidate, get active, win elections.
"denver 2006"
6:06:55 PM

Immigration
Shmuel Rosner (via Slate): "Here's one lesson Americans can definitely draw from the Israeli experience of building a fence to separate them from the Palestinians: High fences don't always make good neighbors. It didn't happen in the West Bank, and it probably won't happen in Texas. The country that builds the fence buys a sense of security, but the people prevented from getting to work, or shopping, or marrying someone on the other side will not be thankful for it. And the reason is pretty obvious: Fences work.

Thanks to Bruce Schneier for the link.
"2008 pres"
5:41:33 PM

Senate 32 and House District 1 debate
The Cherry Creek News: "Please join the Denver Young Democrats' for the first (and only scheduled) debate amongst the candidates for House District 1 and Senate District 32. This promises to be a very exciting and informative event for these contested races! Please join us on Thursday, June 22 from 6-8pm at Swallow Hill at 71 E. Yale Avenue, Denver, Colorado. If you know of an organization interested in being a co-host, please have them contact Cindy Lowery at cynthiadlowery@yahoo.com. Also, the DYD's are looking for a few young Dems willing to help us market this event and also help out on the night of the debate. If you are available, please email Cindy at the above address. Finally, but MOST important, the DYDs are taking suggestions for questions for the candidates. Please send your questions by June 11, 2006 to Cindy as well."
"denver 2006"
6:18:42 AM

State high court affirms state engineer's limits on pumping groundwater

Pueblo Chieftain: "The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday upheld a ruling that allows the state engineer to set limits on pumping groundwater, a key issue for farmers around the state who are struggling through drought. The ruling comes in a case that involves about 1,000 well owners in the South Platte River Basin and it means they can continue to pump groundwater as they long as they replace it. The court upheld a ruling that the state engineer can approve augmentation plans and set limits, even when there is no evidence well owners are violating water rights. State law requires well owners to submit augmentation plans outlining how they expect to restore water to the river basin after they use it on their land. The Harmony Ditch Co. and others appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court for review of the water court's decree approving an application for an augmentation plan that was filed by the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District. The water court, in its decree, imposed a curtailment against the well owners to limit the amount of water that could be pumped if they didn't own the water rights. Harmony Ditch said the water court erred, arguing that curtailment of out-of-priority diversions is authorized only when the augmentation plan is not being operated in compliance with other terms and conditions of the decree. The state's high court disagreed."
"colorado water"
5:56:58 AM

Fountain Creek management

Ray Petros made a presentation last night the Pueblo City Council about the management of Fountain Creek, according to the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article, "Pueblo City Council Monday considered a plan that would combine flood control, recreation and water reuse on Fountain Creek, raising questions about the feasibility of the project and how it affects a 2004 intergovernmental agreement. Pueblo County land-use consultant Ray Petros, a Denver water lawyer and former Puebloan, presented an integrated plan that he said encompasses the visions of several efforts to improve Fountain Creek water quality...

"Petros first introduced the concept of incorporating flood control with a Colorado Springs Utilities plan to recycle water during hearings on the proposed Southern Delivery System last fall. Colorado Springs Utilities included recycling return flows from water imports into its 1996 water supply plan, but has opted to pursue SDS, a 66-inch diameter, 43-mile diversion directly from Pueblo Dam. Petros wants Colorado Springs to recycle first, and build a pipeline later. He also wants to tie the problems on Fountain Creek to SDS...

"Dam sites on Fountain Creek are identified in a 1970 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report drafted in response to the 1965 flood, but were never built because of funding, Petros said. Meanwhile, the problems of erosion, sedimentation and water quality have remained unsolved, and more flooding has meant more studies. Now, Colorado Springs and surrounding areas have grown, turning Fountain Creek into a river whose year-round flows are largely treated sewage. Building in the area, paving more surface area, means future flooding could be dramatically worse, Petros said. Petros' idea is to bring efforts like Peak to Prairie and the Colorado Front Range Trail Project into a unified planning process for Fountain Creek...

"Petros could not answer all of the technical questions, but compared the flat terrain to similar sites of Denver flood control dams - Cherry Creek, Chatfield and Bear Creek reservoirs. All were built by the Corps of Engineers primarily for flood control, but now are prime recreation and multiuse sites. Bear Creek, in particular would be a model for a Fountain Creek Dam, with a low permanent pool, but the capacity to hold back a big flood."
"colorado water"
5:53:38 AM

Good Samaritan bill hearings tomorrow

The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee plans to review the "Good Samaritan" bill on Wednesday, according to the Rocky Mountain News. The bill is a joint effort from U.S. Senator Wayne Allard and U.S. Senator Ken Salazar. From the article, "The legislation will encourage companies, community groups, environmental agencies and others to volunteer and use their own resources to help clean up inactive, abandoned noncoal mines with a permit issued by the Environmental Protection Agency. It will also release the good Samaritans from any liability for the pollution. Now, full responsibility for a mine site's contamination rests with those in charge of cleaning it up. According to Salazar communications director Cody Wertz, one of the most common tasks will involve the tailing piles - mounds of dirt and debris left behind from mining activity - which may hold chemicals that can leach into and contaminate nearby streams and other water sources. Mining companies, river conservation coalitions, land groups and communities have vested interests in the environmental safety of the old mine sites, Wertz said. The senators hope Congress will pass the act this year. The proposed legislation is not designed to replace the EPA's Superfund program, which uses federal money to contract companies to clean up large, hazardous waste mining sites, Wertz said. The mines covered by Salazar and Allard's proposal include those that do not qualify for Superfund status but still need to be cleaned up."
"colorado water"
5:37:10 AM

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