A 12-year veteran of the Denver Police Department faces a felony charge of second-degree assault after accusations that he used excessive force against a 16 year old.
Kenneth Padilla, a lawyer who had visited the 16-year-old in the hospital, said the incident left the youth with a lacerated liver and broken ribs.
MONTROSE — Two residents of a scenic acre of mining claim-turned- pricey real estate down valley from Telluride have fought for more than a quarter of a century to clear up disputes over ownership of the land.
But federal land managers have finally determined that they are trespassers and must go — or pay dearly to stay.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—A Colorado Springs TV station reported that El Paso County District Attorney John Newsome drank eight beers in a little over five hours and then drove home in a county-owned vehicle.
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_9181321
I am sure he drove safe enough just as he claims, but this DA has prosecuted others for the same behavior.
RTD is paying nearly $15 million for about 300 acres of Weld County farmland it doesn't need.
And if that isn't bad enough:
RTD is paying between $28,000 and $83,000 an acre, according to Weld County land records and information supplied by RTD.
Lynne Derby, a real estate agent who specializes in Fort Lupton properties, said the current market value for similar agricultural land in the area is between $10,000 and $15,000 an acre, depending on available water rights.
The state legislative session reached its furious conclusion late Tuesday with a heaping of last-minute work and one final dollop of partisan finger-pointing.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_9175168
At least they cannot do any more damage for a little while.
Some property owners will be forced to pay millions of dollars of additional property taxes unless Gov. Bill Ritter's mill-levy freeze is found to have been improperly imposed without the necessary statewide voter approval, opponents of the freeze said in a Denver courtroom Monday.
Lawyers for a taxpayer coalition are asking Denver District Judge Christina Habas to find that the mill-levy freeze, implemented with a 2007 legislative amendment of the School Finance Act, is both a change in tax policy and a tax increase that Colorado residents should have voted on.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_9163935
Same issue, different story:
State treasurer Cary Kennedy conceded today on the witness stand that a bill passed last year by the legislature alters the way taxes are calculated with the net result that many property owners pay more.
But Kennedy continued to insist the 2007 law, SB 199, does not violate Colorado's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/may/06/tax-receipts-went/
What is it that makes politicians delusional about what a tax increase is and isn’t? It is really simple, does it take more money from the person paying the tax, and does it add money to the state? If the answer to these two questions are yes, then it is a tax increase.
Don't look now, but someone accidentally let a genuine policy disagreement erupt between the Democratic candidates.
And it's telling that the dispute exposes a fact neither candidate will admit: namely, that Americans are overtaxed.
The author of a proposed state budget fix announced Sunday he's bypassing his Capitol critics and making his case directly to voters, in a move sure to ignite a fierce ballot battle over the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights.
...
Taxpayers would no longer receive TABOR refunds, but they would retain the right to approve tax hikes.
State Rep. Douglas Bruce, the Colorado Springs Republican who authored TABOR, testified against Romanoff's plan when it was discussed in a committee.
Lawmakers have started raising fees in lieu of taxes, Bruce said, so leaving intact the part of TABOR that requires voters to approve tax hikes is not much of a concession
After being shot down in 2006 at the ballot box, Foothills Park and Recreation District officials are trying to win approval of a mill-levy increase.
The district, which covers 28 square miles in south Jefferson County and serves about 90,000 people, wants to boost the tax by 3 mills — from 8 mills to 11 mills.
If approved, $2.8 million would be raised beginning in 2009 for equipment replacement; building, pool and golf course repairs and improvements; and park and trail maintenance projects.
...
The all-volunteer Inter-Canyon Fire Protection District also is seeking a mill-levy increase, from 9.1 mills to 10.6.
The money, which would cost the owner of a $250,000 home an additional $30 per year, would be used to replace vehicles and cover operational costs that have risen 93 percent in the past five years.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_9153164
How many of the 90,000 people in the district do you think get any use out of the golf course? How about the swimming pools? What kind of moral justification can be used to force tax-payers to subsidize leisure activities for a small minority of the population? Not to mention that this puts the government in the position of directly competing with private companies offering similar services, but at the disadvantage of paying taxes instead of receiving them.
Well-known Colorado sci-fi writer and Libertarian, L. Neil Smith, takes aim on gun control laws.
Read the full article, "Michael Bloomberg,Serial Killer", at:
http://www.jpfo.org/smith/smith-bloomberg.htm
L. Neil Smith is founder and International Coordinator of theLibertarian Second Amendment Caucus.
Submitted by R Randall
The higher "car tax," as some legislators called it, is dead, at least for this year.
This morning, a bipartisan group of Colorado legislators confirmed what was first reported in the Denver Post: that they would halt efforts to cobble together a roads and bridge funding measure in final days of the 2008 legislative session, which ends Wednesday.
The LPCO State Chair, Travis Nicks, and LPCO Legislative Director, David K. Williams, on Zinna.com, "News and Politics for people who hatenews and politics". Download the PodCast now from:
Rep. Wes McKinley, D-Walsh, and children involved in 4-H and FFA gathered Wednesday outside the Capitol to protest Colorado State Fair board rules that require kids exhibiting animals at the fair this year to register them with a "premise ID" number.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_9113513
This whole “premise ID” needs to be stopped now. The government is going to use this to kill and steal animals from their owners. They are going to use this as leverage to further tax livestock. Plus the regulations requiring the farmers to document their animals, amounts to further enslavement by the government. It is also burdens smaller farmers unfairly.
For more information on premise ID's see http://libertyark.net/
Until last year, Denver's policy for minor offenses was to give the accused a summons to appear in court. But before October's Columbus Day parade, the police changed the policy to arrest and detain protesters, even for minor offenses.
Casinos are working on a ballot initiative of their own that would open the door to raising the bet limit up to $100, as well as expanding casino hours and adding roulette and craps games.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_9096791
The only bad thing about this initiative (that I know of at this point) is that the casinos are not trying to sell it as a positive because it increases adult freedoms, but rather they are trying to sell it as a boon to the government because of all of the new taxes they will raise. At least these are somewhat voluntary taxes as you definitely have a choice in whether or not you wish to gamble and how much you are willing to lose.
Bell faces numerous charges, including trespassing, possession of alcohol and resisting arrest.
Since when is "possession of alcohol" a crime? The rest of the story lacks detail and it is hard to say if he was being violent or what actually happened at the Taco Bell, it is a fairly safe assumption that he was not eating quietly and probably deserved to be tossed out of the restaurant. It seems odd to me he was charged with "possession of alcohol", because last I knew this was not a crime.
AVON — Battle Mountain High School outside Avon may begin random drug testing of students in sports and other activities.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_9077675
What is the real point of this? It seems to me that unless they are noticeably intoxicated, then they should leave these teenagers alone. I would believe my rights would have been violated, if I were in high school and some bureaucrat forced me to take a drug test for no apparent reason. At the very least it would act as a disincentive to participate in any extra curricular activities in which they tested for drugs. The article didn’t say the bureaucrats are going to report any kids who test positive to the police, but that would be the next logical step for any bureaucrat who knows a teen tested positive and refused to seek “treatment”. I expect the policy has more to do with conditioning kids to just accept violations of privacy by the government as par for the course.
LAKEWOOD — The state's fourth-largest city likely will eliminate a sales tax on groceries, an action unanimously recommended by a citizens committee.
An ordinance that would do away with the 2 percent sales tax on Jan. 1 will be introduced Monday night to the Lakewood City Council.
WASHINGTON — Rep. Doug Lamborn sent $135,607 worth of taxpayer-funded mail last year, the highest total of Colorado's congressional delegation and almost double that of the second-place spender.
...
House franking expenditures for calendar year 2007
Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs: $135,607
Diana DeGette, D-Denver: $8,812
FORT LUPTON - When Brad Groff learned he could save at least 30 percent off his electric bill with the help of a turbine powered windmill, he bought one.
"It's free energy, free energy," he exclaimed. "Who would be against that?"
The city government for one. Only they are not against you putting up a wind generator, as long as you pay their extortion fees you are probably good to go, but here is the rub, even if you pay the extortion fee imposed by the government it is no guarantee that you will be “given permission” to use your own property in a way you see fit. They don’t care, even though it is your property, and your loss if they reject your request to put up a windmill, they suffer no consequences.
"We're not trying to make this a burden for this individual, we want to help make it work," said City Administrator Mike Konefal.
For not trying to be a burden, you sure are a burden to this man. What gives you the authority to tell someone how they can use the property they paid for? Bureaucrats like Konefal make me sick.
The fee to apply for a special use permit is $900, and would still require final approval from the city council.
A team of Colorado legislators introduced a bill Thursday that would hike annual registration fees by $25 per vehicle and $15 per trailer to raise tens of millions of dollars for a state bridge-safety trust fund.
The measure, Senate Bill 244, also adds a $6-a-day fee to all rental-car transactions in Colorado to raise additional money for a "transportation infrastructure preservation fund."
A review of FasTracks finances by the Denver Regional Council of Governments warns that the cost of the transit expansion is likely to escalate, and it urges RTD to use more cautious financial forecasting in the future.
Last year, the Regional Transportation District said the cost of FasTracks, which will add six new rail lines in the Denver area, had ballooned to $6.1 billion from the estimate of $4.7 billion in 2004.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_9050933
This is hardly any consolation for those of us opposed to FastTax in the first place, to now know that by the end of this thing it is likely to cost twice as much as originally anticipated. Every year since this abomination passed, FastTax has increased their projections and I expect that trend to continue. Of course they had to push it through during the T-Rex construction so it distorted the traffic problems.
WOLF LINKED TO DELTA COUNTY CORRUPTION
Wayne Wolf, Republican candidate for the 3rd Congressional District, has been serving on the Delta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) for the past 7 years. What few people realize is the history and level of corruption within the Delta County BoCC. Most recently County Commissioners, County Planners, and Area Planning Committees have been revising the counties subdivision regulations. However, Engineers, Realtors, Surveyors, mining companies, developers, and ordinary citizens have been forbidden to see the document, let alone have a copy of the drastically changing rules that will deeply affect their personal and professional lives. New regulations regarding working from home have also been included in this document... hidden in the "definitions" section! The chair of the Libertarian Party of Delta County, Debbie Schum, was able to obtain a copy of the document that all but government officials are forbidden to see, and the Libertarian Party of Colorado (LPCO) has posted this document on our web site at: http://www.lpcolorado.org.
Working in collusion with the District Attorneys office, the BoCC has routinely shown a blatant disregard for Colorado law. When the BoCC of Delta County was caught "red-handed" illegally transferring funds in direct violation of state law, the District Attorneys office refused to prosecute the case. A similar legal action was sought by citizens when the BoCC used taxpayer monies to purchase and improve "select" subdivision lots - at taxpayer expense. This case also was brushed off by the District Attorney. Delta County is a statutory county, and therefore must abide by, and not supersede, Colorado state law.
However, many of the counties ordinances (e.g., junk ordinances, sewage/septic requirements) supersede state law by far, and citizens are routinely penalized for non-compliance with illegal and/or non-existent ordinances. Citizen confrontations of the BoCC with legal actions have had no effect.
The LPCO State Chair, Travis Nicks, commented that "Hopefully posting this document to our web site will bring greater transparency to local government in Delta County - and help expose the corruption that has for so long existed there".
For more information, contact:
Debbie Schum
Chair of the Libertarian Party of Delta County
Cell: 970-234-8056
E-Mail: smudgesticks@juno.com
A proposal to charge a $5 toll on Interstate 70 in the mountains is dead
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/apr/24/sponsor-hits-brakes-i-70-toll/
A bipartisan compromise to solve Colorado's perennial tug of war between the ballooning education budget and strict state spending caps ran into trouble Tuesday.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_9019725
Good, if the legislator wants to “fix” the budget, they need to spend less. It is really that simple. They don’t need to change TABOR, or raise taxes, or do anything else. They simply need to spend less money.
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