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Tuesday, February 5, 2008
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? for President?
Political Wire: "Mike Huckabee won West Virginia's Republican convention on Tuesday, after an apparent deal with Sen. John McCain to prevent Mitt Romney from taking the 18 delegates at stake. Romney led after the first round of voting, with Huckabee second and McCain way back in third place."
Political Wire: "'With the Republican presidential nomination within reach,' Sen. John McCain is 'reshaping his campaign to press on without public financing that could limit his spring spending,' reports The Politico. McCain's 'rejection of the presidential public financing program he once defended is just the latest evidence of how ineffective the post-Watergate reform has become in an era of multimillion-dollar candidacies.'"
Let's see if we have this correct? McCain is dropping out of McCain-Feingold? The new candidate of change? 
Political Wire: "Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said that the campaign had raised 'about $13 million, $13.5 million' last month, according to the Washington Post. In contrast, Sen. Barack Obama's campaign announced last week that it had raised $32 million in the month of January."
"2008 pres"
6:08:44 PM 
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Hellchild and Beaver's excellent Mexican adventure
Beaver left Austin ("Not really part of Texas") today for points south. Hellchild is back in the Guatemalan mountains for the last few weeks of her stay there. Not much else to report, except, "Beaver, you're not calling often enough!" Oops, did we say that out loud?
6:00:55 PM
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Coyote Gulch outage
Comcast is scheduled out this afternoon to install a new cable modem and give us our shiny new static IP number. You will not be able to get to Coyote Gulch using the URL http://coyotegulch.net for a while. Right now we can't predict how long that will be since after the new Comcast setup is complete we have to email our DNS hosting service so that they can change our record. We're also unsure about the network configuration behind their new cable modem. Their tech last Friday assured us that we would have access to the new gear for configuration, etc. We wish he would fly in to do the installation since he was the one that finally had a memory of some business customers getting static IPs on AT&T's (the *old* AT&T) 24 network. With Comcast you sometimes get techs without much training. At this point we don't trust Comcast to actually deliver -- we'll see.
You'll be able to peruse Coyote Gulch at http://radio.weblogs.com/0101170/ of course.
Posting will probably be light this evening owing to the network changes on our side and the fact that today is Super Tuesday and the Colorado caucuses are tonight.
7:08:37 AM
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? for President?
Captain's Quarters: "Eugene Robinson once again takes a close look at the Clinton Restoration, and again decides that he can't abide it. The Washington Post columnist wonders exactly how Hillary can argue that her experience as First Lady somehow included actual governance, and then in the same breath insist that Bill will have nothing to do with running the country as First Spouse."
Check out CQPolitics.com for a rundown on today's caucuses and primary battles.
Political Wire: "On the eve of the Super Tuesday election, the latest Gallup tracking poll shows Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama in a tight national race, 47% to 43%. Drilling down to just the Super Tuesday states shows Clinton leading 49% to 44%. In the GOP race, Sen. John McCain continues to hold a commanding lead over Mitt Romney, 45% to 25%."
Josh Marshall: "SurveyUSA has a final California poll out including calls from Monday night. The tally: Clinton 52%, Obama 42%."
"2008 pres"
6:56:35 AM
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Caucus today
Rocky Mountain News: "Colorado today joins the national stage in picking a president, marking the first time in decades the state has been considered a player. Republicans and Democrats tonight will go to their precinct caucuses and indicate which candidates they prefer for president."
"2008 pres"
6:46:05 AM
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? for U.S. Senate?
Denver Post: "Bob Kinsey, a Denver peace activist who in a 2004 congressional race was able to peel off significant votes from the major parties, says he'll run as a Green Party candidate for Colorado's open Senate seat. Kinsey's entry throws a potential curve into what's shaping up as a close battle between political heavy-hitters -- former Republican Congressman Bob Schaffer and Democratic Congressman Mark Udall. Kinsey declared that he'll focus on a core of issues he says are being skirted by the major candidates -- immediate withdrawal from Iraq and the impeachment of President Bush among them. Both issues are top concerns for a narrow group of progressive voters who otherwise would likely support Udall...Kinsey, 70, declared he'll run a "low-carbon footprint" campaign and is asking supporters who sign up on his website to give $5 each and commit to contacting five friends about the Green Party and its agenda.
"denver 2008"
6:41:45 AM
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Snowpack news
Here's an update on the snowpack from The Rocky Mountain News. From the article: "Colorado's snowpack, led by the southern mountains, is at 134 percent of average - the deepest early-February snowpack in 11 years. 'Of course, the highest numbers are in the southern mountains - the Upper Rio Grande watershed is at 178 percent of average,' said Mike Gillespie, Colorado snow survey supervisor for the Natural Resources Conservation Service...The South Platte River watershed is at 100 percent of average, the lowest number in the state, Gillespie said."
More coverage from The Summit Daily News "reg". They write:
Deep snow across most of the Colorado high country promises above-average spring runoff in many parts of the state, federal officials said Monday. The Rio Grande watershed in southern Colorado has the best snow in 29 years with mountain snowpack nearly double the 30-year average, the U.S. Agriculture Department's Natural Resources Conservation Service said...
The upbeat prediction was a marked change from November, when some forecasters said their computer models pointed to a dry winter. A series of storms bringing heavy snow in December and January reversed that. Mountain snowpack is closely watched by farmers, ranchers and utility officials because the spring runoff supplies much of the state's water. Even before the runoff begins, water stored at reservoirs statewide is 99 percent of average and is 105 percent of last year's volumes.
Statewide, the snowpack was 134 percent of average on Monday, ranging from a low of 100 percent of the 30-year average in the South Platte Basin to a high of 178 percent in the Rio Grande Basin. The North Platte Basin was at 103 percent, the Yampa and White River 110 percent, Colorado River 127 percent, Gunnison 152 percent, Arkansas 165 percent and San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan 167 percent.
Here's another article from The Summit Daily News "reg". They write:
The January snowfall total was above average for the third straight month at the official National Weather Service site in Breckenridge, where observer Rick Bly measured 31.5 inches of snow for the month. That's about 41 percent more than the historic average, Bly said, but nowhere near the record snowfall of 80.2 inches set in the epic winter of 1899. And as recently as 1996, 71.8 inches of snow fell in January. Bly said that, even with above-average snowfall through the first part of the winter, this season doesn't rank in the top 10. "It's pretty average," Bly said...
For the weather year to-date (beginning Oct. 1), Bly has tallied 108 inches of snow in downtown Breckenridge, compared to the average 77 inches. That melts down to 7.5 inches of water, about 1.5 inches more than the average 5.8 inches for that span. Based on statistics going back more than 100 years, Bly said the average snowfall for February is 23.4 inches. The snowiest February ever was in 1893, with 84.5 inches, and the driest February on record was 1982, with just 2.1 inches. At the Dillon weather station, 18 inches of snow piled up last month, nearly matching the historic average of 18.6 inches. But cold temperatures kept that snow from melting away. The average snow depth for January is eight inches, but this year, there were 18 inches on the ground when the Dillon station reported its monthly totals...
The snowpack in the Blue River Basin is about 120 percent of average for this time of year. That's right about were it was last year on this date, said water commissioner Scott Hummer. Although a few stream gages are frozen, Hummer said streamflows are hovering near historic norms for early February...
If snowfall stays anywhere near average the rest of the winter, runoff and reservoir storage should be in good shape this spring, Hummer said. Hummer said the Bureau of Reclamation recently upped the outflow from Green Mountain Reservoir because water levels were higher than normal for this time of year. Big storms in the southern half of the state have boosted the snowpack readings to well above average, at 143 percent in the Gunnison Basin, 158 percent in the San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan Basin, and 168 percent in the Rio Grande Basin. A wider look around the West shows that the wet winter weather pattern has been widespread, from the Pacific Northwest down to the desert Southwest. The only below average readings at Snotel sites are in northeastern Wyoming and in southwestern Arizona, near the Mexico border.
More coverage from The Telluride Daily Planet. From the article:
In the past two months, Telluride's seen 229 inches of snowfall, according to Telluride Ski and Golf Co. Of that, 105 inches came in January, up from the 95-inch December. The 105-inch January is the second-snowiest month in resort history, according to Telski, next to March in 1990, when 121 inches blanketed the area. The month began with a squall that left 67 inches in its wake followed by periodic snowfalls and capped with the most recent 32-inch storm. The previous January record snowfall was 85 inches in 1996. More powder to ski? What gives? "We have been in a really progressive pattern," said Brian Avery, a hydrologist at the National Weather Service's Grand Junction Branch. "We just have system after system moving through, and that pattern's going to continue next week."
"colorado water"
6:03:21 AM
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HB 08-1161 and HB 08-1165
We'll be that Powertech would like to avoid getting involved in state politics around HB 08-1161 but on Monday they were at the legislature looking for ways to change the compliance section of the proposed legislation, according to The Greeley Tribune "reg". From the article:
A company that wants to mine for uranium near Nunn proposed changes to a state bill in the Colorado Legislature on Monday that would change how the company complies with proposed rules governing mining. The bill, House Bill 1161, would require that companies such as Powertech -- the Canadian company proposing the Nunn mine -- clean groundwater to pre-mining quality after it finishes mining the radioactive material.
Powertech could use one of the amendments to get a pre-mining water quality waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency that some say is a way of circumventing certain water quality regulations at the state level, though other regulations on water quality would still apply from other agencies such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In addition, the bill as introduced would require companies such as Powertech to provide evidence of five successfully cleaned mines before its permit is approved. Powertech proposed a change to the bill Monday that would allow mining companies to give only a "comprehensive history" of mining techniques and the risks involved in them. State Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins, said the bill as it currently stands is aimed at stopping companies from getting that waiver from the EPA, which sometimes allows companies to do with the water quality what they want. "Local communities have the right to know what mining companies are doing," he said. Richard Clement, president of Powertech, said the amendments were worked out with the Colorado Mining Association to clarify what legislators are asking of the mining industry.
A companion bill, HB 1165, would give local governments more control over what sort of mining is allowed in their communities. Jeff Parsons, senior attorney with the Western Mining Action Project, said current mining law doesn't regulate the in-situ leaching method of mining. The bills are necessary because mining companies industrywide don't have the best track record at cleaning water, Parsons said. "They regularly contaminate aquifers and don't clean up the messes they make," said Parsons, who added that he thinks Powertech will be able to clean up the water. "It's a pretty high hurdle, but it's an appropriate one, I think."
Opponents and proponents of Powertech's proposed uranium mine in Weld County will have several opportunities in February to voice their opinion about the operation according to The North Forty News. From the article:
The Larimer County commissioners have scheduled a public hearing on the issue for Feb. 25, 6:30 p.m., in the first-floor hearing room of the Courthouse Offices Building. While Larimer County is not a decider for the project, the commissioners could choose to pass along comments and concerns to Weld County, as well as state and federal regulatory agencies. In addition, hearings on two mining-related bills before the state legislature are planned. The bills seek to change requirements in the mining permitting process under the Mined Land Reclamation Act. They're designed to "raise a new standard of protection for scarce groundwater resources in rural Colorado communities," said Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins, who co-sponsored the legislation with Rep. John Kefalas, D-Fort Collins. HB-1161, the bill dealing with groundwater quality and in-situ leach uranium mining, was scheduled for a hearing on Jan. 30. HB-1165, which allows the public to access more information about prospecting activities, will be heard Feb. 6. Fischer noted that Colorado is one of only a few states that maintain confidentiality around prospecting. Mining states that already require more openness include Montana, Utah and Wyoming. HB-1165 also affirms the authority of local governments to control mining operations within their jurisdictions. Both bills have been assigned to the House Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.
"2008 pres"
5:57:55 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 10:07:03 PM.
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