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Friday, October 6, 2006
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ToTheRight.org: "It's hard to say if it was brought about by all of the attacks on Bill Ritter[base ']s DA record or if it was brought about by the plans to trot out an African widow that were scapped at the last minute. Whatever the reason is, Ritter's campaign is lashing out at Bob Beauprez today."
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
8:21:18 PM 
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Denver Post: "University of Colorado regents asked voters Thursday not to support state constitutional Amendment 41, which is intended to prevent state employees from using their position in public office to make money unethically. The amendment is so broad and vague that it could prohibit university faculty and staff from exchanging gifts or forgiving loans privately among family members, according to a resolution passed unanimously by regents."
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
7:19:22 AM
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Here's an article about a gubernatorial forum yesterday from the Denver Post. From the article, "Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez on Thursday said his demand for tough enforcement of immigration laws was a matter of his Catholic faith. During a debate sponsored by a group of Catholic business executives, the congressman argued that lax handling of illegal immigrants creates a two-tiered society. 'By allowing that and avoiding strict adherence to our laws ... what we create is an underclass, a permanent second class, and that's not true to either Catholic belief or Christian belief,' Beauprez said. Beauprez said his faith would prompt him to make illegal immigration one of his top three priority issues if elected governor. Education and health care were the other issues.
"Democrat Bill Ritter said schools, health care and economic growth were his priorities. He dismissed Beauprez's claims that he was too easy on illegal immigrants. Ritter said Beauprez was isolating about 150 cases involving legal and illegal immigrants out of 38,000 handled by Ritter's office during part of his tenure as Denver district attorney. 'It's not right,' Ritter said. 'It isolates those cases.' Ritter said prosecutors in his office accepted pleas with those immigrants - knocking down some drug, traffic and other charges to felony trespassing on agricultural land - for many reasons. Often, the prosecutor thought the original charge wasn't provable, Ritter said."
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
7:18:27 AM
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Here's an article about Amendment 42 from the Cortez Journal. They write, "Amendment 42 would change the state constitution to set the minimum wage at $6.85, with yearly raises to adjust for inflation. If 42 were to pass, it could only be changed by another vote of the people. Opponents say the constitution is no place for labor policy, and they even named their campaign Respect Colorado's Constitution. A Cortez businessman shares the same concerns. 'As far as this little hotel's concerned, we think the minimum wage (increase) is long overdue,' said Bruce Lightenburger, general manager of the Holiday Inn Express in Cortez. 'But to write it into the constitution, so it's indexed to inflation - whoa. That could eat the lunch of a lot of small business owners.' Jeannette Galanis, who runs the campaign in favor of the raise, said her group had to go for a constitutional amendment to make sure the law isn't repealed. 'Unfortunately we haven't seen any leadership from either side - from the governor's office or the Legislature or Congress,' Galanis said. 'We've also seen the state Legislature completely gut statutes made by voters.' Thousands stand to get raise The pro-42 campaign estimates 80,000 people in Colorado make less than $6.85 per hour. A full-time minimum wage worker earns $10,700 a year - just above the $9,800 poverty level for a single person but below the line for a two-person household, which is $13,200."
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
7:14:10 AM
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Here's an article about Amendment 38 from the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. They write, "Though the vast majority of the Grand Junction City Council said Wednesday night that they opposed a petition rights amendment on the November ballot, the council split 4-3 in officially opposing the measure. If passed, Amendment 38 will expand Coloradans' ability to challenge laws enacted at all levels of Colorado government: from school districts to city councils, county commissions to the Colorado General Assembly. Interim City Manager David Varley told the council that the city staff was most concerned about parts of the constitutional amendment that would force ballot initiatives to appear on November ballots despite the city's regular April elections. Those provisions, he said, would force the city to hold and pay for additional elections despite the city's spring elections. In addition to funding special November elections possibly every year, Varley said Amendment 38 would delay the actions of the council from taking effect for 91 days. Under current law, the City Council's decisions take effect in 30 days after publication."
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
6:57:00 AM
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Here's a report about the gubernatorial forum in Rifle on Wednesday, from the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article, "Republican Bob Beauprez and Democrat Bill Ritter talked severance taxes, the environment and energy during a gubernatorial debate in this Western Slope town, one of the centers of Colorado's natural gas industry. The debate Wednesday night centered on how energy is changing the landscape and the economy of northwestern Colorado, boosting revenues as well as spurring concerns about lasting impacts on the environment, burdens on government and social services...
"Both candidates agreed that Colorado, with its vast reserves of natural gas, untapped oil shale and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, should lead the nation in balanced energy production. After those agreements, the two agreed on little else during the roughly two hour debate. In response to questions put together by community members, Ritter said he would not rule out raising severance taxes, which are generated by mineral extraction, to help communities offset the impacts of energy development. He said that after visiting counties across the Western Slope, he is concerned about the energy boom's effect on air and water quality as well on roads and highways. Beauprez said, 'hell, no,' to raising severance taxes, and instead pledged to fight any attempted raids on tax revenue earmarked for counties where the energy development is happening. Judith Hayward, a member of the Parachute Town Council, waved a Ritter sign before the debate began...
"Although western Colorado leans Republican, Beauprez has had to contend with fallout from his support in 2003 for Referendum A, an initiative to spend $2 billion on water projects. The plan, which lost at the polls, was seen by western Coloradans as another attempt to divert water from their area to the quickly growing Front Range. During the debate, Ritter said he felt that Republican Gov. Bill Owens, who is stepping down because of term limits, did not provide enough leadership to get a split-estate bill passed. The issue - which involves one party owning the surface rights while another owns the minerals and other resources underneath - has become a priority as energy development has increased."
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
6:45:19 AM
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© Copyright 2006 John Orr.
Last update: 11/1/06; 7:45:08 AM.
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