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Friday, August 25, 2006
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North Side Croquet Club: Game 19
North Side Croquet Club: "Poops Again! Can [he] be stopped? With his stunning win last night people have started asking if he can live up to his name and come from behind. With a total of five points now, four of which have come in the last two weeks, he moves into the upper bracket. Is it too little too late?"
7:16:42 AM 
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Oil and gas drilling on Grand Mesa
From today's Denver Post, "The town of Palisade has decided not to appeal the Bureau of Land Management's decision to allow oil and gas drilling in Palisade's watershed. In a 5-2 vote this week, town officials opted instead to work with Genesis Gas & Oil to try to develop a drilling plan that will ensure Palisade's drinking water is not harmed. 'The board is still very concerned,' said Palisade Town Manager Tim Sarmo. 'We don't feel like the vote is some kind of giving up. We feel like the best way to protect the town's water is to sit down with Genesis.' Sarmo said the vote came after town officials met with Genesis representatives and toured the watershed on the nearby Grand Mesa with them. The town had considered an appeal or legal action after the BLM overrode town concerns this year and put most of the land in the town's 14,000- acre watershed up for bid."
"colorado water"
7:01:25 AM
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Ritter or Beauprez for governor?
Bill Ritter and U.S. Representative Bob Beauprez faced off yesterday on the issue of children's healthcare, according to the Denver Post. From the article, "Ritter told the crowd of doctors and invited guests that Beauprez voted in Congress to slash $9 billion in Medicaid spending. The money, he said, would have been used to screen children for disabilities and provide basic care for poor children, including immunizations, at a time when Colorado ranked 50th in the nation in that area. 'Just examine the record,' Ritter said. 'When you're listening to people talk about health policy, make sure you look at the things that back it up as well because this is an issue that's critical to the state.'[...]
"The two-term congressman shot back: 'I think they should examine the record. I actually have one.' Ritter is a former Denver district attorney with no voting record on health care issues. Beauprez said he has supported local hospitals and the Medicare prescription drug benefit. He also touted a Medicaid reform bill that he is sponsoring. It would create a pilot program to allow states to spend federal money as they see fit...
"Ritter criticized Beauprez's plan to tap into tobacco settlement money instead of supporting Referendum C, saying the revenues pay for valuable programs such as visiting nurses. Beauprez said, 'I have proposed securitizing the undedicated portion of the tobacco proceeds, not pulling the rug out from under breast and cervical cancer and the nurse help line.' Both men agreed that the next governor must reform how the state reimburses doctors for care of Medicaid patients. Ritter said the state must reduce the administration cost. Beauprez said he would assess the rates and suggested that health care officials who provide care to those who can't pay be eligible for a tax credit or a tax deduction."
"denver 2006"
6:55:54 AM
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Fountain Creek management
Pueblo Chieftain: "Colorado's U.S. senators pledged Thursday to continue working to include money in next year's budget to finish a study on Fountain Creek, and expressed hope that through cooperation the troubled waterway can become an amenity rather than a problem. Sens. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., and Ken Salazar, D-Colo., met with mayors, commissioners, councilmen and water officials from Pueblo and El Paso counties in an effort to review an Army Corps of Engineers study on Fountain Creek. They also encouraged local officials to work together in developing projects to improve the watershed...
"During the first part of the meeting, Allard and Salazar received a progress report on the Army Corps of Engineers Fountain Creek Watershed Study from Lt. Col. Bruce Estok. Estok, who has been commander of the Albuquerque office of the Corps for just one month, said the study so far has mapped the physical causes of flooding, sedimentation and erosion on Fountain Creek. However, the Corps will not be able to complete its identification and evaluation of future projects until December 2007, even if it gets a $449,000 allocation in next year's budget. Allard explained the request for the money is in the Senate version of the bill, but not the House bill. Typically, the conference committee cuts the appropriation in half. He asked Estok how far the study could advance with only half the funds. The Corps would be able to formulate projects, but not analyze them, Project Manager Gary Rutherford answered...
"Pueblo City Councilman Mike Occhiato said the sale of farm water to cities, cutbacks in wells caused by the Kansas v. Colorado case and exchanges on Fountain Creek have changed the basic nature of the Arkansas River. 'The Fountain has become the basic source of water supply for the Arkansas River in the lower valley,' Occhiato said. Occhiato said water quality is already an issue, and could get worse as more water is channeled through Fountain Creek. He reiterated his opinion that a state or federal solution may be the only way to accomplish timely action on Fountain Creek."
"colorado water"
6:40:30 AM
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South Platte audit?
Candidate for governor Chuck Sylvester is calling for an audit of the South Platte River, according to the Greeley Tribune. From the article, "Chuck Sylvester of La Salle took his write-in candidacy for governor to the steps of the state capitol Thursday and demanded an audit of the South Platte River. Surrounded by a handful of farmers from Weld, Morgan, Logan and Washington counties, Sylvester said he sent a letter to Gov. Bill Owens five weeks ago requesting an audit of the South Platte, but he has not received a response. Owens is term limited and cannot seek re-election...
"Dan Hopkins, Owens' press secretary, said the letter had not been logged in at the governor's office, but said an audit of the river would not reveal anything more than have several studies which have been conducted by the Colorado Department of Agriculture and Department of Natural Resources. 'The fact is drought has more to do with the problems farmers are having than anything an audit would show. The river is just over-taxed,' Hopkins said. The audit request comes as several farmers along the river, such as Elmer Kobobel of Weldona, are fighting for their livelihoods after the state shut down 440 irrigation wells along the South Platte stating pumping those wells was reducing the flow of the river and damaging senior water right holders...
"But Leaf, Sylvester and Chuck Miller of the Property Rights Foundation of the West, said water is being taken from farmers by cities, developers and growth demands without paying compensation, driving land valuations down. Leaf said the South Platte has an average 200,000 acre-feet of water a year now than it did in the driest years of the 1950s due to transmountain diversions, and claimed a senior ditch in the Sterling area had almost two times more water in 2002 than it has had this year. In addition, there is an estimated 10 million acre-feet of water in the river's alluvial that farmers are not being allowed to use, he said."
Here's the coverage from the Rocky Mountain News. They write, "A coalition of northeastern Colorado farmers called on Gov. Bill Owens Thursday to order an audit of the South Platte River to ensure water laws are being enforced and water is not being stored illegally. More than 25 farmers and ranchers gathered at the state Capitol and urged Owens to respond to a letter sent to him July 17. Chuck Sylvester, a prominent Weld County farmer and write-in candidate for governor, said rumors are rampant in Weld, Morgan and Washington counties that water laws are being ignored and water is possibly being hoarded upstream by Front Range cities with senior water rights."
"colorado water"
6:30:57 AM
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Colorado Cimate Project
Here's an article about the kickoff of the Colorado Climate Project from the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "Colorado is joining a growing number of states and cities that have taken it upon themselves to fight global warming locally. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and others on Thursday kicked off efforts to develop a statewide plan to reduce emissions of pollutants that contribute to global warming. The initiative puts Colorado in step with dozens of state and local governments across the country - from small towns such as Aspen to the entire state of California - that are tackling concerns about climate change on their own, in many cases because they complain that the federal government hasn't shown leadership on the issue. The Colorado Climate Project will try to reduce the state's contributions and vulnerability to climate change, said Stephen Saunders, president of the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization. In 2000, based on carbon dioxide emissions, which are responsible for about 80 percent of all so-called greenhouse gas emissions, Colorado was the 39th largest polluter in the world if U.S. states were included in a comparison to countries...
"Hickenlooper is also among the six project directors who will appoint a blue-ribbon panel in coming weeks that will come up with a proposed action plan. The effort is expected to take a year. The proposal will then be presented to Colorado decision-makers, including the next governor. The Colorado project is modeled after other existing or unfinished plans of other states, including Arizona, New Mexico and Montana. While the others have been initiated by governments, Colorado's is the first effort to come from both the public and private sector. 'With those we already engaged in this process - Democrats and Republicans, public sector and private sector, Front Range and Western Slope - we have started a process that represents the entire state of Colorado,' Gail Klapper, director of the Colorado Forum and another project director, said Thursday during a morning news conference."
Here's the coverage from the Denver Post. They write, "Colorado officials announced the first step Thursday in developing a plan to reduce the state's emissions of pollutants that contribute to global warming. The plan is slated to be presented to Colorado's new governor next year. It will include a set of recommendations the state can adopt to reduce greenhouse gases. The buildup of so-called greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, which is linked to the burning of fossil fuels, is trapping more of the sun's heat. Scientists project that by the end of this century, average global temperatures will rise 2 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit. More than a dozen states have already adopted climate- change plans - which advocate steps such as low-sulfur diesel school buses, hybrid fleets and limits on nonfarm fertilizer use...
"The project leaders include the mayors of Denver, Lakewood and Fort Collins, as well as Summit County Commissioner Tom Long. Gail Klapper, director of the Colorado Forum, a statewide business group, and Al Yates, former president of Colorado State University, are also on the panel...
"Saunders said Colorado will be the first state to launch a plan through a private initiative made up of businesses, nonprofit groups and municipalities. Other plans were driven by state government, he said. Among the states with climate- change plans are Arizona, California and Oregon."
"colorado water"
6:13:35 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 8:30:02 PM.
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