Friday, August 11, 2006

Coyote Gulch Outage Coyote Gulch is heading down the two-lane blacktop for a little R&R. Posting will be light or non-existent for a few days, since our primary objective is to climb our first 14er since the total knee (August 2004) and total hip (April 2006) replacement surgeries. We're more worried about connecting with the Perseids than we are with connecting to the Internet. We may also apply the rod, reel and frying pan technique for controlling non-native trout populations. 7:16:48 AM

North Side Croquet Club: Game 17 North Side Croquet Club: "It's all about the late season surge. Almost everyone from last nights winners circle has scored the majority of their points in the last few weeks. Actually, the winners circle was almost identical to last weeks with one unfortunate exception." 7:07:08 AM

Ritter or Beauprez for governor? From today's Rocky Mountain News: "Fresh off their primary wins, Republican Bob Beauprez, Democrat Bill Ritter and the third-party candidates for governor meet today for their first debate: 9 p.m., Channel 12; Sponsored by [the] Rocky Mountain News, CBS 4 and KBDI-Channel 12." "denver 2006" 6:54:22 AM

Amendment 40 Term limits for judges will be on the November ballot, according to the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "The Colorado Secretary of State's Office has given the green light to a November ballot initiative that would limit the terms of certain state judges. The initiative campaign, led by John Andrews, former state Senate president, and three Republican state lawmakers, will launch today with a press conference announcing endorsements from three lawyers and a prosecutor. They face stiff opposition from a coalition including Attorney General John Suthers, the Colorado Bar Association, the Colorado Judicial Institute, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and Denver District Attorney Mitchell Morrissey. Andrews said he expects each side to spend about $1 million to publicize their arguments... "The measure would limit how many terms state Supreme Court and state appeals court judges could serve. After each four-year term, those judges would stand for retention in elections. Judges could not serve more than three terms. Currently, state law allows Supreme Court judges to keep office for 10 years and appeals court judges eight years before facing retention. They can serve unlimited additional terms until retirement age. Andrews said the measure, which will appear on the November ballot as Amendment 40, is necessary to address 'widespread concern among Coloradans that our courts are out of control.'" "denver 2006" 6:52:37 AM

Amendment 39 (and Referendum J) The Bell Policy Center is opposed to the proposed constitutional amendment mandating the 65% solution, according to the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "The Bell Policy Center voiced opposition Thursday to a proposed state constitutional amendment requiring school districts to spend 65 percent of their money on classroom instruction. Amendment 39 would force spending shifts in 166 of the state's 178 school districts, according to the liberal think tank in Denver. The amendment, which is backed mostly by Republicans, including Gov. Bill Owens, is intended to cut administrative overhead in schools, forcing more money into the classroom. The amendment is sponsored by the group First Class Education Colorado. Michele Austin, the group's treasurer, said research shows a 'strong correlation' between test scores and classroom spending. The research was based on tests conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, not the Colorado achievement tests. "But Bell senior policy analyst Frank Watrous said some of Colorado's most successful school districts, as measured by achievement tests, spend less than 65 percent of their revenue on direct classroom instruction. Watrous also took issue with what would count as an instructional expenditure under Amendment 39. Included as instructional costs would be both traditional teachers and teachers of the handicapped, as well as tutors, aides, librarians, books, computers and classroom supplies. Also included would be the cost of field trips, music, art and athletics. But administrators down to the principal level would be excluded, as would nurses, counselors, psychologists, social workers and speech therapists. The cost of teacher training is not included... "The Bell center is also opposing Referendum J, a measure put on the ballot by the legislature in an effort to head off Amendment 39. Referendum J requires districts to spend 65 percent of their funds on instruction, but includes most of the expenditures rejected under Amendment 39." "denver 2006" 6:49:28 AM

Dem convention in Denver? Denver officials hoping to land the 2008 Democratic National Convention are pushing Denver's facilities, according to the Denver Post. From the article, "Denver has told national Democrats they can count on close to 19,000 hotel rooms if they choose the city for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau president and chief executive Richard Scharf confirmed Thursday that local hotels have committed more hotel rooms than the 17,000 the Democrats are looking for." "2008 pres" 6:35:56 AM

Beauprez for governor? Jim Spencer writes about U.S. Representative Bob Beauprez in today's Denver Post. From the opinion piece, "Here's a definition of political irony: Congressman Bob Beauprez wants to be Colorado governor so he can lobby his former colleagues and his successor to fix immigration. Beauprez says that if elected, he'll lead a coalition of Western governors to pressure Congress for pragmatic and politically acceptable immigration reform. This, of course, begs the question of why Beauprez believes he can do from Denver what he couldn't do in Washington the past four years. 'I really do think governors have more clout than anyone other than the president,' the Republican candidate said in an interview Thursday... "To his credit, Beauprez sounds more like President Bush than Tom Tancredo these days. He knows that could cost him votes among the party's conservative, anti-illegal-immigrant base. Beauprez wants secure borders and as close to a foolproof ID system as 21st century technology allows. He wants a law that requires employers to use the Homeland Security Department's Basic Pilot program to match workers' Social Security numbers with their names... "He [Beauprez] favors a program that would make undocumented workers leave the country but let them return in a matter of weeks with work visas if they pass a criminal background check, health exam, pay back taxes and have a sponsoring employer. 'Could that be a quick process?' he asked. 'In my mind, yes.' Not only in his mind, but in the minds of Republican Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, both of whom have made similar proposals in Congress. Colorado's current governor, Bill Owens, also backs such a leave-and-return policy." "denver 2006" 6:31:13 AM

GSA: Managing Drought and Water Scarcity in Vulnerable Environments EurekAlert: "Geoscientists from around the globe will gather next month to address 'Managing Drought and Water Scarcity in Vulnerable Environments: Creating a Roadmap for Change in the United States.' The conference, convened by the Geological Society of America, takes place 18-20 September at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, Longmont, Colorado, USA...Conference outcomes will include recommendations for changes in policy and practice. A document will be developed after the meeting for use in supporting congressional visits, letter-writing campaigns, and other efforts to accomplish policy change." "colorado water" 6:13:25 AM

Trout Creek water for conservation? The Mountain Mail: "An Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District plan to purchase land, water and a reservoir at the base of Trout Creek Pass received preliminary support last week from Chaffee County Commissioners. Commissioners held a special meeting Thursday to consider the district request for county support. Formal support enhances the district application for a Colorado Division of Wildlife grant worth as much as $8 million to pay for the project. The project calls for placing about 2,200 acres in a conservation easement to be used in perpetuity for agriculture and wildlife habitat. The land, mostly owned by Paul Moltz, who also owns the water rights and reservoir in the deal, is located east of the Arkansas River Valley near Johnson Village... "Glenn Everett, water district board of chairman, said the project would keep one of the oldest water rights in Chaffee County - the Moltz 1872 right on Trout Creek - tied to land in the county. It would also protect habitat for hundreds of deer and elk that graze on the property. 'One of the main things we've talked about through the years,' Everett, a former county commissioner, said, 'is keeping open space and protecting our water and this does both.' He confirmed this is the first conservation easement the water district has been involved with. Water rights in the deal are enough to irrigate 600 acres, Everett said. But the district hopes to retain the flexibility to occasionally interrupt irrigation and use the water in other ways, such as to complement the Buena Vista supply in dry years." "colorado water" 6:07:28 AM

Oil and gas drilling Rocky Mountain News: "The 14 parcels of roadless Forest Service land leased for energy development Thursday went for premium prices compared with bids on unprotected areas. The top bid on a roadless area was $300 per acre for 1,117 acres in Mesa County near Grand Junction, said Vaughn Whatley of the Bureau of Land Management. The average price on the 118 parcels offered, totaling 139,555 acres, was $32.97 per acre, but the bid on many parcels was $2 an acre - the lowest allowed - Whatley said. The identities of the oil and gas companies that purchased the leases weren't available, officials said. The 14 roadless parcels, about 14,400 acres and 11 percent of the land drawing bids, were promised roadless protections by the Bush administration in 2005. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., and Bill Ritter, Democratic candidate for governor, had asked federal officials to withdraw the roadless parcels from the lease sale, but received no response." "2008 pres" 5:57:43 AM

Fountain Creek management The increased flows in Fountain Creek have changed the uses of the stream in Pueblo, according to the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article, "Ask someone on Pueblo's East Side their opinion of the Fountain Creek, and they're likely to tell you it stinks - literally and figuratively. In the past 10 years, Colorado Springs has averaged 10 spills a year releasing millions of gallons of untreated sewage into Fountain Creek. The continuing flood of sewage has pushed the condition of the creek to the forefront of residents' and politicians' attention. The spills are the impetus for federal lawsuits against Colorado Springs brought by Pueblo District Attorney Bill Thiebaut and the Sierra Club, and have galvanized some East Side residents by giving them two things that community activists say are long overdue: a cause and a pulpit. In the city of Pueblo's 2003 survey of almost 400 East Side residents, storm water drainage was rated 19th out of 29 problems confronting the neighborhood. Ross Vincent, senior policy adviser to the Sierra Club says that today drainage would probably rank much higher on the list of East Side priorities, given the attention that has been brought to the Fountain by the spills... "Experts close to the Fountain Creek issue said E. coli readings in the waterway have been relatively static for years, and the water quality downstream from Colorado 47, including the East Side, is actually better than it is upstream from there. Over the long term, the greater concern, some experts say, is the potential for flooding on the East Side from increased runoff in the Fountain Creek if the astronomical growth projections for Colorado Springs over the next two decades are accurate. Although they say the quality of water in Fountain Creek is no worse today than it has been historically, health officials still say it's unsafe for anyone to have direct contact with the water in the creek. Sources of E. coli bacteria, which is not a pathogen itself but an indicator of other possible disease carrying bacteria in the water, are naturally present in the Fountain. They include runoff from upstream and pockets of wildlife living along the river. When rain or increased flow kick up bacteria in the creek bed, concern over bacteria increases, according Scott Cowan, an environmental health specialist with the Pueblo City-County Health Department's environmental health division... "Vincent of the Sierra Club said the stigma associated with the condition of the Fountain has further isolated the East Side from other parts of town. He said the division already exists in the sense that Interstate 25, U.S. 50 Bypass and the physical barrier of the Fountain Creek create borders for the neighborhood. However, he said there's a silver lining in the Fountain headache. 'It's created an opportunity for a table large enough and broad enough to hold all of us who are interested in the future of the Fountain Creek,' he said. 'The first step is to ask ourselves what it is we want this stream to look like in 10-15 years.'" "colorado water" 5:54:20 AM

Global warming? Is the planet getting warmer? Scientists are trying to do the science around that question. Here's an article about warming and the Greenland Ice Sheet, from the San Francisco Chronicle. From the article, "The vast ice cap that covers Greenland nearly three miles thick is melting faster than ever before on record, and the pace is speeding year by year, according to global climate watchers gathering data from twin satellites that probe the effects of warming on the huge northern island. The consequence is already evident in a small but ominous rise in sea levels around the world, a pace that is also accelerating, the scientists say. According to the scientists' data, Greenland's ice is melting at a rate three times faster than it was only five years ago. The estimate of the melting trend that has been observed for nearly a decade comes from a University of Texas team monitoring a satellite mission that measures changes in the Earth's gravity over the entire Greenland ice cap as the ice melts and the water flows down into the Arctic ocean... "Next to Antarctica, Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory, is the largest reservoir of fresh water on Earth and holds about 10 percent of the world's supply. The increasing flow of fresh water -- most of it from glaciers melting on Greenland's eastern coast -- is already beginning to change the composition of the ocean's salt water currents flowing past Northwestern Europe, the scientists say. The result could be a critical change in the composition of the main ocean current that flows past Europe's northern edge, blocking off warmer waters that normally flow there and -- ironically -- making Northern Europe's weather colder than normal, at least temporarily, while the rest of the globe continues warming. The report on Greenland is being published today in the on-line edition of the journal Science by the University of Texas scientists at Austin, including Chen, aerospace engineer Byron Tapley and geologist Clark Wilson. According to the researchers, surface melting of Greenland's ice cap reached 57 cubic miles a year between April of 2002 and November of 2005, compared to about 19 cubic miles a year between 1997 and 2003... "If the Greenland ice cap ever melted completely -- a highly unlikely event, at least in the foreseeable future -- the scientists estimate it would raise world's sea level by an average of 6.5 meters, or about 21 feet, more than enough to drown all the world's low-lying islands and even some entire nations, like Holland... "Only last March two University of Colorado physicists used the same satellite system to measure melting of ice on the Antarctic continent. Although earlier evidence using other techniques appeared to show that the East Antarctica ice sheet was actually thickening, satellite data gathered by Isabella Velicogna and John Wahr at Boulder found that melting -- primarily from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet -- had turned at least 36 cubic miles of ice to fresh water each year from 2002 to 2005... "Both the Texas and Colorado groups have been obtaining their data from two satellites known as GRACE, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, which fly in orbit 137 miles apart and determine with extraordinary accuracy just how the mass of even small regions of the Earth change as ice melts and flows away from the land to the sea. The GRACE satellite mission is due to end next year, but the Texas team is awaiting NASA approval for a new and improved satellite system to continue the work, using laser beams rather than microwaves to measure ice cap melting, Chen said." "2008 pres" 5:41:07 AM

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