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Thursday, July 20, 2006
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Berkeley Hill
Andrew Sullivan has been running a series of photographs from readers he calls The View from Your Window. Today he featured Porter, Oklahoma.
Here's a shot of the sunset tonight from Berkeley Hill. Not exactly from my window, but close enough.
9:30:46 PM 
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Denver Election Commission reform
From email from City Councilwoman Marcia Johnson: "District 5 Councilwoman Marcia Johnson - working in conjunction with Mayor John Hickenlooper and Council President Rosemary Rodriguez - has convened an eight-person panel and public discussion series to evaluate best practices for Election Commission governance and structure, which may result in a November ballot initiative. 'We've begun the hard work of evaluating the current structure and its level of effectiveness in governing elections,' said Councilwoman Marcia Johnson, who previously served two terms as an elected Denver Election Commissioner. 'It is possible that a better model exists to more effectively serve Denver voters, and this panel will thoroughly examine and evaluate alternatives, working toward a possible ballot proposal for this November's election. Public discussions with the task force will be held on the following dates: July 21, 2006, 12:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., District 2 Police Station, 3921 N. Holly St; July 28, 2006, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m, Savio Community Center, 320 Lowell St; July 29, 2006,10 a.m. - 2 p.m., National Jewish Molly Blank Center, 1400, Jackson St. The panel welcomes and encourages public input throughout this process. Community representatives are invited to make presentations to the panel. Please contact Councilwoman Johnson at (303) 355-4615 or Marcia.Johnson@ci.denver.co.us for more information on meeting times and locations or to schedule presentations."
"denver 2006"
7:06:22 PM
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Stem cell research
Wired: "Members of the U.S. Congress were liberal with the facts of stem-cell science this week -- their political leanings seemed not to matter much...
"Stem-cell science is complicated and it's easy to imagine how tempting it must be for legislators to expect to get away with fabrications, misrepresentations and inaccuracies. But we're not going to let them. Here are the top 10 most egregious manipulations of the truth put forth in Congress on July 17 and 18 during stem-cell research discussions."
"2008 pres"
6:58:30 PM
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Referred Question 1A
Here are two articles about Referred Question 1A from Jerry Kopel. He writes, "The '20 years' in this franchise agreement is the ceiling, and not the floor. The mayor, according to one newspaper article, wanted a 10-year period, but didn't get it. The 20 year franchise bolsters the company's credibility in dealing with suppliers and investors. If the August vote loses, another franchise election will be held in November. If the November vote fails, a separate bill passed will allow an election to be held again before April Ist, 2007. In my opinion, ten words on the minds of voters will defeat the franchise at the August election: Xcel...power loss...rate hike...executive pay...monopoly...20 years. Perhaps voters by venting their anger in August will allow a renegotiated franchise bill to pass in November."
Mr. Kopel's assessment includes, "What choice will Denver voters have? There are no companies presently around to replace XCel. It would be enormously costly for Denver to have what is available in about 20 other cities, a utility actually owned by the city. Most of those started when the towns were incorporated or shortly afterwards. We could have an early election such as when the state wide primary elections occur, vote 'no' and continue to negotiate for better terms with a second election in November."
This election is on August 8th, the same day as the primaries for the fall election.
Category: August 8th Ballot
5:51:19 PM
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Stem cell research
Representative Diana DeGette has vowed to fight on in her quest to further research into embryonic stem cells, according to the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "DeGette, who has spent five years trying to reverse the administration's strict limits on embryonic research, accused the president and his backers of distorting her legislation to appease religious conservatives who equate embryonic stem cell research with abortion. 'I find that appalling because we are not a theocracy in this country. We are a constitutional democracy,' DeGette argued in her last-ditch attempt to override the president's veto. Despite her pleas, a 235-to-193 vote in the House of Representatives left her and co-sponsor Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., short of the two-thirds majority needed to override the veto. 'We're not going to stop here,' Castle pledged. 'We're going to continue to advance research.' The bill's backers portrayed expanded federal funding as inevitable, since scientists consider embryonic stem cell research the best hope of finding cures into a long list of diseases and conditions, including diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and spinal cord injuries. DeGette expects that in about 30 months, after President Bush is slated to leave office, a new president will reverse his 2001 executive order limiting federal funds for research to only those stem cell lines in existence at the time."
"2008 pres"
6:27:01 AM
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Ritter or Beauprez for governor?
From today's Denver Post: "Colorado's gubernatorial candidates released platform statements Wednesday on supporting military veterans. In the morning, Democrat Bill Ritter's campaign announced that the candidate planned to address Colorado Veterans for America, a group that endorsed Ritter earlier this year. Ritter said he would work to improve state-delivered services to veterans and their families. By afternoon, Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez issued his statement, touting his support of federal funding of the new Veterans Affairs hospital at the Fitzsim ons campus in Aurora. Neither candidate served in the military. Ritter, 49, was too young to be considered for the draft during the Vietnam War. Beauprez, 57, was granted a military deferment because of a bleeding ulcer when he was 16, said campaign spokesman John Marshall."
"denver 2006"
6:21:50 AM
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Animas-La Plata at halfway point
The Animas-La Plata project is at the halfway point, according to the Denver Post. From the article, "This summer, the hard-fought, long-stalled Animas- La Plata water project - long a dream for American Indian tribes and farmers and a nightmare for environmentalists - is looking like a reality...
"Lake Nighthorse, named for former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a project proponent, is scheduled to begin filling in 2009. The $500 million reservoir will hold 120,000 acre-feet of water, storing it for the state's two Ute tribes and for towns in the area that choose to buy the water. The compromise reservoir, often called A-LP Lite, will pump about one-third as much water from the Animas River as first proposed. It no longer involves the La Plata River for which it also was named. And farmers, who dreamed of its abundant water supply for generations, were cut out of the project by 1998. But for many environmental groups and taxpayer advocates, local and national, even A-LP Lite was a symbol of all that was wasteful and wrong-headed about federal water policy - another big, expensive dam that would deplete a wild river, flood a wildlife corridor and feed massive residential development in a quiet corner of the West...
"Assistant Secretary of the Interior Mark Limbaugh said A-LP is a critically important project because it satisfied century-old Indian water claims. Eighty percent of the water is earmarked for tribes."
"colorado water"
6:20:18 AM
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Emergency rules on political funding
Denver Post: "The Colorado secretary of state has issued emergency rules requiring nonprofits and some other organizations to reveal who is funding their political efforts. That means groups that buy ads for and against issues on November's ballot won't be able to hide behind their nonprofit status, as some tried to do during last year's Referendum C and D campaigns. 'This is a big issue now that we're in campaign season,' said Deputy Secretary of State Bill Hobbs. 'We want everyone to know about the rules right now.' Still, it appears that groups that want to keep their donor lists secret have at least one loophole. The new rules apply only to groups that are perceived as issue committees, and the definition of 'issue' is unclear, some lawyers say."
"denver 2006"
6:10:36 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 8:23:29 PM.
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