Coyote Gulch

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Giuliani for president?
Josh Marshall: "Perhaps this is something of an existential question. But do we really have to pretend that Rudy Giuliani has more than a snowball's chance in hell of getting the Republican presidential nomination? Or can we all just stipulate that a multiple adulterer, who supports gay civil rights and choice, has deep and on-going ties to mobbed-up and now-disgraced Police boss Bernie Kerik, has a largely unscrutinized (outside of New York) resume, and had the bright idea of locating the NYC disaster center in the already-once-bombed World Trade Center probably will have some rough sledding in Republican primaries?"
"2008 pres"
7:07:26 AM

Wayne Vaden resigns
Wayne Vaden has fallen on his sword and resigned as Denver's Clerk and Recorder, according to the Denver Business Journal. They write, "Denver Clerk and Recorder Wayne Vaden announced his resignation Tuesday in the wake of problems a week earlier with voting in the midterm election. Vaden's resignation is effective Dec. 31. The Clerk and Recorder's Office wasn't involved with the election, which was marred by computer problems and hours-long waits to vote, but Vaden is one of three election commissioners for the city. Hickenlooper accepted Vaden's resignation and released a statement praising his work at the Clerk and Recorder's Office."
"denver 2006"
7:04:13 AM

Gerrymandering backfires in Texas?
Josh Marshall: "I sunk a lot of time three-plus years ago into reporting on Tom DeLay's corrupt, but ultimately successful mid-decade redistricting in Texas. So we shouldn't get too far past the 2006 election without noting that DeLay's work has turned out to be a pretty big disaster for his state of Texas.

"The whole gambit was intended to solidify the GOP majority in the House. And it accounted for the meager Republican House pick-ups in the 2004 election. But now that the GOP House majority is no more, the 2003 redistricting plan has left Texas with virtually no one with much seniority in the new majority party.

"As this piece in the Star-Telegram explained on Sunday, Texas would have been in line to have three committee chairman in the 110th Congress. Now it will probably have none."
"2008 pres"
7:01:01 AM

Coffman: The election in Iraq went better than the election in Denver and Douglas counties
State Senator Ken Gordon sent email to supporters yesterday informing them that Mike Coffman won last Tuesday's election. The race was impacted by the counting of votes in Denver county. Here's an article about the race from the Rocky Mountain News. They write, "Republican Mike Coffman accepted victory Tuesday in the race for secretary of state at a news conference where he and his Democratic opponent pledged to work together to unsnarl election problems. 'The election in Iraq went better than the election in Denver and Douglas counties,' said Coffman, who took a 10-month leave of absence from his state treasurer job last year to serve with the Marines. He helped supervise elections in Al Anbar province."

6:55:03 AM

Global warming?
Aspen is taking on global warming in a big way, according to ABC News. From the article, "Under [John] Worcester's quiet leadership, Aspen's city government has already cut its planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions by 10.5 percent in only 18 months - a rare achievement. It was two years ago that Worcester, disgusted by a talk radio host calling global warming a hoax, set out to educate himself on the subject. What he learned worried him, and he asked a few neighbors for help. He gathered a local climate science analyst, an alternative energy executive, a ski slope manager, and a young resource efficiency expert. They called themselves and their nascent effort the 'Canary Initiative.' From Day 1, the goal of the initiative was to get Aspen on the road to being 'carbon neutral.' All homes, buildings, streetlights, water pumps, vehicles, even airplanes, would be powered with energy that was not created by burning coal, oil or gas. The burning of coal, oil and gas releases planet-warming greenhouse gases (GHGs), especially carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air."

Read the whole (longish) article.
"2008 pres"
6:43:00 AM

Lake Powell pipeline

Hurricane Valley Journal: "With Washington County's rapid growth appearing not to be slowing anytime soon, St. George and the surrounding community will begin to feel pressure on its water supply by 2012, according to Water District estimates.

"With this in mind, the plan is to build a water line from Lake Powell, tapping into Utah's unused portion of its Colorado water rights. Currently, Utah is using 74 percent of its annual allocation of 1,369,000 acre feet, states the project Web site.

"The Pipeline will deliver approximately 70,000 acre feet of water annually to Washington County, 10,000 acre-feet to Kane County and 20,000 acre-feet to Iron County. Developers hope the pipeline will allow the county, with over 125,000 people today, to grow to the nearly 500,000 people projected over the next 30 years.

"The pipeline will extend 120 miles from Lake Powell to Sand Hollow Reservoir and another 30 miles to Cedar City. The approximate cost of the Pipeline project is expected to exceed $494 million in current dollars, according to the project Web site, and take some 10 years to complete. Various engineering and feasibility studies, rights of way, permits and agreements need to be obtained, as well as an environmental review of the project. Actual construction is projected to take three years."
"colorado water"
6:34:50 AM

Springs' council approves stormwater fees

The Colorado Springs City Council approved new stormwater fees last night, according to KKTV.com. From the article, "Starting early next year, expect to see another bill in the mail if you live in Colorado Springs city limits. City Council agreed Tuesday to assess property owners a storm-water enterprise fee to pay for a back-log of drainage projects. It won't be as bad as once predicted. Instead of about $7.50 a month, it'll be closer to $5.00 for most home-owners. City leaders say they've tried to make the fee as painless for everyone as possible. You see the problem when it rains: swollen creeks and flooded streets. A storm-water system in need of a 300 million dollar fix. Starting early next year, residents, non-profits and business owners will start footing the bill."

Here's the coverage from KRDO.com. They write, "The new plan would take into account how much impervious surface your property has compared to the total area of land. If you have a lower percentage of impervious area to total area, you would pay less than neighbors with bigger homes and more drveway. The new plan also seperates every property into one of three categories. Businesses would pay the most per-sqaure-foot of impervious surface with homes and other dwellings in the middle, and schools, non-profit organizations and other educational entities paying the least. There will also be caps on how much the storm water fee can take out of customers checking accounts each month. Stormwater leaders say 80 percent of homeowners would pay around $5 a month or less. Large businesses that would have paid between $50,000 dollars to $100,000 a year under the old plan can now expect to budget closer to $10,000 in storm water fees. Non-profits and schools can also expect deep discounts compared to original projections.

"The changes mean less revenue for capital improvement projects and utilities maintenance. The original plan would have brought in 66 million dollars over the next five years, the new plan scales back the amount to 44 million dollars according to storm water enterprise leaders. The money is earmarked for utilities maintenance and capital improvement projects including a six million dollar improvement for the Fountain Creek and Monument Creek confluence."
"colorado water"
6:27:52 AM

South Boulder Creek floodplain meeting tonight

If you're interested in potential flooding on the south side of Boulder there is an informational meeting tonight to discuss the subject, according to the Colorado Daily. From the article, "Most of the time, South Boulder Creek waters are shallow and non-threatening, but many Boulder citizens and people affiliated with CU-Boulder also need to understand its potential for flooding. The City of Boulder and consultants have been studying the Creek's (SBC) floodplain characteristics for years, and the city will hold a public meeting tonight to discuss new information. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Spice of Life Catering Center, 5706 Arapahoe Avenue. Bob Harberg, the city's Utilities Project Engineering Coordinator, said Wednesday's format will include verbal and PowerPoint presentations, a question and answer session, and plenty of visual data from the SBC Flood Mapping project to date."
"colorado water"
6:24:06 AM

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