Denver Direct: August 2012
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Friday, August 31, 2012
Moving Sale at Office Depot on Colfax at Pearl
I remember when this was a Safeway. |
Back of new building which faces Colfax. |
The Office Depot is getting ready to move across the parking lot to a brand new building and has all of their stuff marked down from 10 to 30%. I picked up items like a wireless mouse and keyboard, wireless headphones, etc. that I’ve been meaning to buy but hadn’t gotten around to. This is not a paid advertisement, merely a recommendation.
Stock up and save. |
Side trip to Heeney, Colorado
While we were driving around in the mountains north of Silverthorne, we felt a compulsion to drive to Heeney, Colorado when we saw it on a map. We couldn't stop saying the name - Heeney, Heeney, Heeney. Once there, we saw this sign:
Thursday, August 30, 2012
VOTE NO ON 2A (and keep your money)
We give government the ability to charge us money with tax laws. We have the right and the ability to change these laws should we so decide. At the Colorado State level, we have put the Tax Payers Bill of Rights in place, and it is the law of our State.
That law intentionally stops the tax-spenders (govt) from 1. Raising the tax rate without the tax-payers permission (vote) and 2. gives us back some of what we paid as a refund (credit) according to a predetermined formula.
This really bugs the tax-spenders. They want to start new programs and get us to pay for them. They want to grow their government empires. They also often want more money for themselves, as is evidenced by the recent increase in salary voted for by our City Council members. And, I might add, by the Colorado Legislature when they killed Rep. Wes McKinley's bill to cut all state salaries by 7%.
In short, the tax-spenders want to get rid of our Tax-payers Bill of Rights. They always have wanted to get rid of it, and they always will. It limits them in ways they don't like.
The latest attempt (from Councilwoman Kneich's newsletter):
On Monday, August 20th City Council PASSED Bill 12-0566, an Ordinance placing the following measure 2A on the November 6 ballot. The measure will read: Without increasing any tax rate or adopting any new tax, and in order to pay for improvements to police, fire, streets, Denver Public Library, parks, after-school and summer programs for children and such services as specified in City Council Bill 12-566 and published on the city’s web-site, shall the City and County of Denver be authorized to collect, retain and spend all tax revenue derived from the city’s existing gross tax rates to the extent those revenues exceed the constitutional limitation on tax revenue, also known as TABOR, beginning in 2013, provided that in no event shall the city increase the maximum lawful property tax rate without prior voter approval as required by Section 20(4)(a) of Article X of the Colorado Constitution, and requiring specific annual reporting requirements by the Manager of Finance to the mayor, the city auditor and the city council on the disposition of these funds?
So, as usual, they tell us that this does NOT raise our taxes, which is technically true in that it does not change the tax RATE, BUT TAKING AWAY OUR CREDIT HAS THE SAME NET EFFECT - WE PAY MORE.
Hey tax-spenders, listen up. WE CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY MORE. We have lost or are losing our jobs, our houses, our safety-net programs. Now is not the time to be trying to get blood out of our turnips.
We understand that you have a "dream", to grow Denver into a World-Class City. We are tired of your dreams and suggest that you get back down to reality. There are only 600,000 of us in Denver. We already gave you back 5 YEARS worth of our credits (which you said would be around $3 billion but turned out to be more like $7 billion, State-wide Ref. C), and that seemed to evaporate quickly.
So, dear tax-spender, suck it up. Cut your own salaries before you ask us for more. WE DON'T HAVE MORE.
VOTE NO ON 2A.
P.S. Please quit trying to taint the argument by calling it De-Brucing. The old pissant Doug Bruce has come and gone. Our Taxpayers Bill of Rights remains, and we want to keep it that way.
Occupy Sniagrab
Monday, August 27, 2012
Attention All Colorado Voters
Even if you are not worried about your voter status for the upcoming November election, you should go to your own record within the system, check the info there, and make any changes you may need. Correct your address, make a mail-in ballot request, or change to active status. Be sure to save it at the end.
Live Streaming from Tampa with Tim Pool
or go here.
Denver time: 2:28 pm - Cops 4 deep in riot gear stand facing protesters sitting down. Seems appropriate that a religious guy with a megaphone is preaching about being born in the water and the blood. This is history in the making, live.
All Things MMJ with Jessica LeRoux - Aug. 27, 2012
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Labor Day and 3 year anniversary sales!
*s inserted by me to show MMIGs strategy / true colors....
Why are the very limited time and resources of the Denver City Council (the intention baring quote comes from Downey's email to City Council members) being wasted on writing custom tailored laws to assist MMIG in their quest to eliminate all fair competition?
Why did the council people vote unanimously to support a bill when the narrow intent is obvious to even a lay person like me when reading Mr Downey's email?
Why does the City Council continue their failed relationship with MMIG, when there are many independent businesses who actually pay their retail taxes as well as City of Denver, and MMED state licensing fees, that the city should be supporting instead?
For Shame....
Sunday, August 26, 2012
The Third Presidential Candidate
This election there is a choice other than "the lessor of two evils". The other candidate is Gary Johnson. He'll be on the ballot in all 50 states. At least listen to what he has to say.
It could happen. Go here
Friday, August 24, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
CRIME ALERT
From the Denver Police Dept. District 6
Denver police are asking for the community's help in finding a man who attempted to abduct two women yesterday afternoon just blocks from Uptown. The suspect is described as a Hispanic male in his 20's.
The first incident happened Tuesday afternoon at East 5th Avenue and High Street. A woman says she was approached by a man wearing a baggy white T-shirt and long baggy shorts. The man fled in a black Nissan Maxima with tinted windows and shiny rims. There was orange tape covering the license plate.
A few minutes later, just a block away, another woman says she was grabbed by the same guy and described the same car.
The Denver Police are asking that women in our neighborhood to stay alert and call 911 if they see someone acting suspiciously or driving a vehicle that is similar to the one described.
If you have any information on where the suspect may be, call Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP.
Yesterday I wanted to get as high as possible...
Opinion by Gerald Trumbule
...so we drove to Mt. Evans for a day trip above 14,000 ft (no drugs involved). |
The mountain goats were very accommodating.. |
the mountain sheep a little less so. |
We found a little picnic spot off of CO 103, and although it was raining hard, we had a nice lunch in our van. |
Living in Denver, it's very easy to forget where you are on the planet, and a trip like this, with the scent of the pine forest in the rain, can bring you back to your center. Highly recommended.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
News from StopWalmartColorado, Congress Park
Image from Denver Business Journal:
An artist's rendition of the proposed Walmart off Colorado Boulevard. |
Congress Park Neighbors gathered for a neighborhood assembly on the night of Weds. Aug. 15th, to discuss and vote on the proposed Walmart at the 9th Ave and Colorado Blvd. redevelopment. Over 200 people packed the Molly Blank conference room for the presentation.
160 votes were cast. The results are as follows
Do you support TIF (Tax Incremental Financing) by the city of Denver for the 9th & Colorado redevelopment project?
No 109 68%
Yes 51 32%
Do you support the 9th & Colorado redevelopment project as proposed to include a Walmart in the tenant mix?
No 142 89%
Yes 18 11%
Do you support the proposed Walmart as part of the 9th and Colorado redevelopment project if there were limitation of size, hours of operation , etc?
No 139 87%
Yes 21 13%
Diana DeGette’s Denver Office
600 Grant Street, Suite 202
Denver, CO 80203-3525
Phone: (303) 844-4988
First contact Mayor Hancock’s Neighborhood Liaison Michael Sapp:
Tel: 720-865-9024 or 720-865-9016
Michael.Sapp@denvergov.org
City Council Contact info here:
http://stopwalmartcolorado.com/who-to-contact-to-stop-walmart/
Walkabout - Aug 16, 2012
The original Jewish congregation took the cornerstone with them. Church in the City (16th and Gaylord) put in this new one. |
After sitting empty for many years, this house on Gaylord finally got the attention it deserved. |
On Colfax, the So All May Eat (SAME) Cafe - pay what you can or work it off. |
Mama's Cafe - used to be an IHOP. |
Home-grown business on Vine St. |
I'm not sure why, but the renovation of the "new" condos at 17th and Gaylord is extensive. |
Apartment dwellers at 17th and Gaylord never can keep their dumpsters straight. They are not supposed to use the City dumpsters. |
Code? What is that? |
Not very artistic. |
Some flair. |
Methadone dispensary at 18th and York is closed... |
and the intake facility on Gaylord no longer has a steady stream of female clients. I think they lost their funding. |
And in my own backyard, I'm doing it the hard way. |
Monday, August 13, 2012
All Things MMJ with Jessica LeRoux - Aug. 13, 2012
Hey Now,
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Friday, August 10, 2012
Irony Run Amok in Fairplay, Colorado
Ever since I attended a trial in Fairplay, Colorado, located in Park County, there have been times when I awake at four in the morning, unable to sleep, as I catalog the injustice done there to an old rancher, Vern Wagner. I'm not going to reiterate the litany of injustice through which Vern has suffered here, because it makes me sick to do so, but you can search "Vern Wagner" on this site to read it for yourself.
When I started this blog 7 years ago, I envisioned a kind of easy-going, fun activity which would provide me with some entertainment during my declining years. Instead, I found rampant corruption, evil, and malfeasance under every rock. In my estimation, no other place equals Fairplay, Colorado as a representation of how far wrong things can go. With the name "Fairplay", the irony could not be more complete.
And so it was this morning that I found myself unable to sleep and turned to The Flume, Fairplay's online newspaper, for my dose of Irony Run Amok. First off was the banner ad, reproduced above, and the following article:
Six Park County suicides in 2012 already more than 2011 totalPosted: Friday, August 3, 2012 3:30 pmMike Potter, Staff Writer | 0 commentsSix suicides have been reported in Park County in 2012 through July 31, outpacing the previous year’s total of four. Park County Coroner David Kintz Jr. said the six suicides as of July 31, puts Park County on pace to near the totals from 2009 and 2010.In 2010, 14 people lost their lives to suicide in the county. In 2009, that number was 15.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Obama - Live stream from Pueblo now
Go here - http://www.9news.com/video/player_live_2.aspx Thanks to 9 News.
Real-time Police Scanner
Check out www.RadioReference.com for a very good and complete police/fire/EMS scanner. You do have to register but there is no charge for the free scanner. Keep yourself on edge at all times!
Monday, August 6, 2012
All Things MMJ with Jessica LeRoux - August 4, 2012
Our Colorado neighbor Ashley Moser who lost her 6-year-old daughter in the Aurora Theater shooting and suffered a miscarriage is expected to be paralyzed as a result of her injuries. Veronica Moser was the youngest victim of the theater shooting.
Please join us to help this family overcome the impossible task of rebuilding their lives after this tragedy.
There will be a silent auction and 20% of all drinks and food purchased will go to the family. If you cannot make it to this event you can always donation @ www.helpash.org/fundraiser.html
Date: Monday August 5
Place:
10661 Westminster Blvd #900
Westminster, CO 80020
(720) 214-3300
Local local news - Free Food on the Street
by Gerald Trumbule
I headed over to 22nd and Marion to take pictures of the Cleeves Memorial Church street fair because my partner Pat volunteers there. Despite the heat, there was a good turnout. The Cleeves Church is a "food ministry", i.e. they give away food to needy people and prepare a free hot meal for the homeless every Saturday.
In addition to having a chance to dunk one of the Pastors (see picture below), you could help yourself to free fried chicken, hamburgers, and corn on the cob. Free bags of groceries were available to families in need, and voters were being registered.
Pat on the serving line |
Trying to catch some shade |
Dunk a Pastor, even if he is praying |
Colorado State Patrol, with new patrol cars, very fast, |
and very high tech |
Officer did not know how much they cost, but said they got 10 |
Free groceries for families in need |
and voter registration. |
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Don't blame it on Bruce
Opinion by Gerald Trumbule
Mayor Hancock with staff and cabinet |
Denver's Mayor Handcock is planning to ask City Council to place a referendum on the up-coming November ballot asking us to raise the property tax on the properties we own in Denver. It's got some carrots along with a big stick - you can read the details here. I just want to make one point: QUIT CALLING IT DE-BRUCING.
Yes, we know that nobody likes Doug Bruce, that he went to jail and that he acts like a jerk, but we voted for TABOR, regardless of who created it, and we are glad we did. If it wasn't for TABOR, you wouldn't even have to ask us to vote to raise our taxes, you could just do it, and the increase would probably be much bigger.
So quit trying to use Bruce's name to taint TABOR. This has nothing to do with Bruce and everything to do with our Taxpayers Bill of Rights, the one we voted for, the one that controls how you tax us.
Mayor Hancock, please have the balls to ask for your tax increase straight up, if you must. It's hard to be honest especially when you started your tenure by hiring too many "assistants" and giving out a whole bunch of salary increases to your bureaucrats. It makes it look like you get the presents and we get the pain.
And by the way folks, be sure to let your City Council person know what you think of this tax increase we can't afford (which could allow the city to keep an additional $44 million in 2013). They'll be voting to put it on the ballot on Aug. 13. Tell them you'll be watching. That's our Rights they are messing with.
Squandering opportunity in North Denver
By Tom Anthony
I-70 severed Globeville, Elyria and Swansea from the fabric of urban Denver in 1960 and they have struggled ever since. While CDOT has recently introduced a new option for a sub-grade I-70 after 9 years of studying the current viaduct, these three neighborhoods have additional challenges in being re-woven into Denver. From a planning perspective, a zoning map of our neighborhoods will immediately show the problem: we are historic islands of residential zoning in a sea of industrial.
While avant garde ecospeak has identified us as a "food desert" the real problem isn't lack of water or food. It's lack of people. Retail business 101 counts "rooftops" as identifiers of fallow opportunities, and the north neighborhoods don't have enough rooftops for a grocery store; not to mention a restaurant. Since FasTracks is placing a new commuter rail station at 48th and Brighton Blvd., our neighborhoods have the chance to overcome the "lack of rooftops" obstacle to convenient living: nearby grocery stores, restaurants and other retail. However, broad brush-strokes aren't going to suffice in a constricted urban zone.
With I-70's footprint expanding, I-25 always looming, the Stock Show looking to expand, densities looking to increase with Transit Oriented Development (TOD) around commuter rail stops, and a finite Platte River Greenway growing more significant with each day of drought, the north neighborhoods present a pretty planning puzzle. Yet, what is the official position of the City and County of Denver in regards to this? The City has begun a piecemeal plan for Globeville, virtually excluding residents of Swansea and Elyria from the process. In addition, the City has committed to helping bury 80 acres of toxic waste at the Globeville ASARCO site, deed-restricting the property to exclude any new residential uses adjacent the 200-unit Globeville Townhomes and the 600-enrollee Laradon Hall. Downgradient, the old ASARCO slag heap over 100 acres in size has been covered with dirt and called a "Natural Area:" permanently off-limits to virtually any human use, adjacent to the Platte River Greenway.
Nobody has asked the question of where a new school will be built to accommodate all the children of the new residents from River North and the other nearby TOD developments at 41st and Fox, 38th and Blake, and 48th and Brighton, not to mention 41st and Colorado Blvd. Garden Place and Swansea Elementary already deal with highway issues. Wouldn't it be nice to locate a learning facility adjacent the Platte River Bike Path, where children could access it safely via bicycle, and the daily classroom experience is augmented by river, lake and park far from arterial streets and interstate highways? Yet this land is in the process of being permanently compromised by the City and County of Denver.
Where will the 600 children attending Swansea Elementary School attend classes during the 4-year construction period for the new I-70? Will they be expected to sit quietly and learn while bulldozers and jackhammers construct the new infrastructure in their playground, 70 feet from their school?
Will the Stock Show and Purina continue to dominate the planning conversations for our neighborhoods? How much of the currently existing and mostly vacant industrial property will grow into residences and mixed uses? With the I-70 East Corridor DEIS and the RTD North Metro station project already underway, isn't it past time to provide some comprehensive answers?
Editor's note.
BLOG ARCHIVE
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2012 (274)-
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August (27)- Moving Sale at Office Depot on Colfax at Pearl
- Side trip to Heeney, Colorado
- VOTE NO ON 2A (and keep your money)
- Occupy Sniagrab
- Attention All Colorado Voters
- Denver Rules Governing Political Signs
- Live Streaming from Tampa with Tim Pool
- All Things MMJ with Jessica LeRoux - Aug. 27, 2012...
- The Third Presidential Candidate
- Early live streaming of Republican National Conven...
- The Naysayer by Phil Goodstein - September 2012
- USA Pro Cycling Challenge Road Closures
- CRIME ALERT
- Yesterday I wanted to get as high as possible...
- Dyno-mite!
- News from StopWalmartColorado, Congress Park
- Walkabout - Aug 16, 2012
- All Things MMJ with Jessica LeRoux - Aug. 13, 2012...
- Viva Streets - 23rd Ave - Park Hill, Denver, Color...
- Irony Run Amok in Fairplay, Colorado
- Obama - Live stream from Pueblo now
- Real-time Police Scanner
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President Obama at Auraria Campus, Denver, CO, A...
- All Things MMJ with Jessica LeRoux - August 4, 201...
- Local local news - Free Food on the Street
- Don't blame it on Bruce
- Squandering opportunity in North Denver
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