Denver Direct: April 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
All Things MJ with Jessica LeRoux – April 29, 2013
Hey Now!
This morning at 10am the House will vote on the unfortunately amended Hb13-1317 rules & HB13-1318 taxes… SB13-283 (BHO & Contracts) passed committee this morning. If you can do your emails now it will be a big help. 
Catch up with movement to create a public bank for the State of Colorado
Dear friends,
At some point in the last year or so, you expressed interest in being informed about the effort to create a public bank for the State of Colorado.
This is a link to a short summary of our efforts.
This is a link to the text of the current initiative, which will be reviewed by the Title Board this Wednesday, May 1st, at 9:30 AM, at the Secretary of State's office, 1700 Broadway, 3rd Floor, Aspen Conference Room, Denver, Colorado.
This is a link to the text of the current initiative, with commentary.
This is a link to today's post, which provides some background on the current monetary system of the United States and why a public banking system is needed.
Please feel free to email me with your ideas and comments.
Best regards,
Bob Bows
Colorado Public Banking
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Colorado Mandatory Reporting Requirements Regarding Children
Colorado Mandatory Reporting Requirements Regarding Children subjected to abuse or neglect or [observation of] the child being subjected to circumstances or conditions which would reasonably result in abuse or neglect.
Who Must Report?
• Physicians or surgeons, including physicians in training;
• Child health associates;
• Medical examiners or coroners;
• Dentists;
• Osteopaths;
• Optometrists;
• Chiropractors;
• Chiropodist or podiatrists;
• Registered nurses or licensed practical nurses;
• Hospital personnel engaged in the admission, care, or treatment of patients;
• Christian science practitioners;
• Public or private school officials or employees;
• Social workers;
• Mental health professionals;
• Dental hygienists;
• Psychologists;
• Physical therapists;
• Veterinarians;
• Peace officers;
• Pharmacists;
• Commercial film and photographic print processors;
• Firefighters;
• Victim’s advocates;
• Licensed professional counselors;
• Licensed marriage and family therapists;
• Unlicensed psychotherapists;
• Clergy members (but not if the reasonable cause is acquired through a privileged communication);
• Registered dietitians;
• Workers in the state department of human services;
• Juvenile parole and probation officers;
• Child and family investigators;
• Officers and agents of the state bureau of animal protection
• Animal control officers.
• Worker in a licensed child care facility or agency
Reports should be made to the county department or local law enforcement agency.
Contents of Report
• The name, address, age, sex, and race of the child;
• The name and address of the person responsible for the suspected abuse or neglect;
• The nature and extent of the child’s injuries, including any evidence of previous cases of known or suspected abuse or neglect of the child or the child’s siblings;
• The family composition;
• The source of the report and the name, address, and occupation of the person making the report;
• Any action taken by the reporting source; and
• Any other information that the person making the report believes may be helpful.
If any officer or employee of a local department of health or state department of public health or environment makes a report, he or she shall include only the following information:
• The name, address, and sex of the child
• The name and address of the person responsible for the child
• The name and address of the person who is alleged to be responsible for the suspected abuse or neglect, if known
• The general nature of the child’s injury
Timing/Other Procedures
An initial report must be made immediately. A written follow-up report shall be made “promptly.”
Other • A “victim’s advocate” means a person at a battered women’s shelter or rape crisis organization or a comparable community-based advocacy program for victims of domestic violence or sexual assault and does not include an advocate employed by any law enforcement agency:
o Whose primary function is to render advice, counsel, or assist victims of domestic or family violence or sexual assault;
o Who has undergone not less than fifteen hours of training as a victim’s advocate or, with respect to an advocate who assists victims of sexual assault, not less than thirty hours of training as a sexual assault victim’s advocate; and
o Who supervises employees of the program, administers the program, or works under the direction of a supervisor of the program.
• Anyone who willfully fails to make a required report will be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and shall be liable for damages caused thereby.
Source/Applicable Statute(s) Child Protection Act of 1987, Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 19-3-301 et
seq., 26-6-104 (2009).
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
All Things MJ with Jessica LeRoux - April 23, 2013
Editor's note: Thanks to Jessica for her tireless efforts in organizing and TESTIFYING! We know it's not easy when you are running a business full-time.
Hey Now!
Well I still say there are 16 days in the session, and some of these dickbags have a DUID hard-on so im not doing a victory jig until May 8th, but I am very pleased with yesterday's Vote killing the current version of HB13-1114 
a good day at the capitol, and the best part is that it represents a big victory for the private activists and patients with zero support from any of the alphabet soup cartel of industry lobbyists taking any credit since they bailed on the fight against this bill... Ha! we have some momentum lil people lets keep it up now!
Senator Pat Steadman invites everyone to a town hall meeting.
Monday, April 22, 2013
DPS and Hentzell Park
Hmmm....RSVP and a free continental breakfast and lunch for a public meeting.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
A Drought Update for Denver Water Customers
| Paid for by Aguilar For 32 |
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Denver Post BigPix produces interesting closeups
Close-ups from the Gigapan photo produces some interesting artifacts/situations.
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| Knee-deep. |
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| Going all the way green. |
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| Hmmm... |
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| Twins with man who lost the top of his head. |
Walkabout at the Capitol for the annual Cowboy BBQ - April 19, 2013
Although he is no longer in office (term-limited after four 2-year terms in the House) and is not running for anything, Wes McKinley (D - Walsh) continued his tradition of a cowboy BBQ east of the Capitol on Friday. The legislators and staffs lined up for the Kirkwell Cattle Co.'s delicious free hamburgers.
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| McKinley looked relaxed. |
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| The sibling team of Random Notes provided both classical and western music. |
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| I walked south of where the BBQ was being held to talk to the workers. These are the guys responsible for putting up the scaffolding around the dome and they are rightfully proud of it. |
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| I hope to get up there to film before they put the rest of the wrapping up. BTW, they didn't raise enough in donations to pay for this project so, we, the taxpayers, are footing the bill. It is necessary maintenance and it's going to look real nice. |
Monday, April 15, 2013
Its Colorado's 1st legal 4/20 - from Jessica LeRoux
Now please celebrate in a limo, a taxi, a bus or on foot!
On monday April 22nd the Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee will be meeting to discuss proposed bill HB13-1114 the "THC DUID" bill. The timing is not lacking in irony. Whether you are a long time resident or a visitor to Colorado during this awesome and exciting week, please please please be responsible if you choose to drive. We anticipate increased stops of motorists for minor infractions such as headlights and windshield cracks during the entire "holiday weekend". Please make sure your entire vehicle is in proper working order, from bumper to bumper and most importantly do not smoke while behind the wheel. The last thing we need is for law enforcement to walk into the hearing monday with a stack of alleged THC impairment encounters from the 4/20 weekend. Please do not engage in any behavior to contribute statistics to justify a knee jerk reaction to A-64 at the capitol on Monday morning.
Here's hoping you have a fantastic 4/20 in Colorado. Please do your part to set a shining example of what is possible if adults are given the right to responsible use of Cannabis.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Archdiocese Breaks Vow with Denver Dems
The Democratic Party of Denver (“DPOD”) House District 8’s annual spaghetti dinner fundraiser to be held Saturday, April 13 at 6:00 P.M. has been moved to the Assistance League of Denver at 1400 Josephine due to the Archdiocese of Denver's last-minute cancellation of their contract to rent space at St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church for the event. While the DPOD had a signed contract in place for several weeks to use the space at St. Ignatius—which had hosted the spaghetti dinner for the previous four years—the DPOD was informed only on Monday, April 8 that the contract would not be honored.
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| JD Flynn |
NOT EXACTLY WHAT THE VOTERS HAD IN MIND
Update: See Westward article:
Marijuana clubs: Mayor's call for a ban blatantly unconstitutional, advocate says
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
FREE THE POT PRISONERS
Opinion by Gerald Trumbule
If you've followed the marijuana legalization story as we've tried to do here over the years, you will have seen Rob Corry's name many times. He participated in the creation of A64 in the first place, and is a very active activist attorney. Now he has created a line-by-line commentary on the results of the A64 Task Force Report that you can read here. I recommend that you take the time to read it all. Corry brings up an important topic that I haven't seen elsewhere regarding the prisoners of the drug war:
The Drug War is Over, Prisoners of War Should be Released
The State should consider amnesty, pardon, or commutation of sentence for all individuals in Colorado currently serving a sentence of prison, jail, parole, or probation for any previous “crime” related to marijuana that is no longer a crime under Amendment 64, Article XVIII §16of the Colorado Constitution. Recently, Governor Hickenlooper appeared on public radio to agree that it was unjust for any person to serve a sentence for a previous marijuana “crime” that is no longer a crime, but claimed that his office and the Executive Branch lacked the resources to consider and issue gubernatorial pardons for individuals applying for said pardons under the pardon process. See Colorado Constitution, Article IV § 7; C.R.S. § 16-17-101 et seq.
Since the “War on Marijuana” is now over and Prisoners of War must released when any war is over, this law firm will donate our staff time--with no expense to the State or its taxpayers--to review and evaluate any pardon application and underlying criminal court file provided from the Governor’s office and provide a recommendation to the Governor as to whether the underlying criminal offense is no longer an offense, and whether a pardon should be issued to a particular POW. If the Governor is unwilling to work with us in the pardon process, the legislature could still pass an amnesty bill automatically commuting any marijuana-related sentence.
Brilliant.
And we can start saving money as we defund the insane, racist war on drugs. How much could be saved at the City, County and State level? No one seems to know exactly how many people are in our prisons right now for possession, but it's time to let them out.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
All Things MJ with Jessica LeRoux - April 7, 2013 - 8 truths about vertical integration
Hello,
I am taking the pre-emptive step of sending this email to every member of the legislature as the issue of vertical integration will impact marijuana issues for every voter in the state. I hope that you will read these bullet points and if you identify any issues that resonate with the voters in your district and the vote they cast last november regarding A-64 please direct your concerns to the Joint Select Committee on implementation of A-64 on Monday before the issue is enshrined in any bill. We have too few days left in the session to make a protectionist mistake now.
Friday, April 5, 2013
BENNET'S BOND BOONDOGGLE BITES BACK
Opinion by Gerald Trumbule
See Denver Business Journal article here
Remember when U.S. Senator Michael Bennet was Superintendent of Denver's Public Schools? Remember the ill conceived bond/swap deal he got us into then? That's right, the one we had to pay $42,000,000 (in 2011) to the banksters (JPMorgan Chase) in termination fees to get rid of half of it?
Well, here comes the second half.
It's now going to cost us (DPS) $124,000,000 to get rid of the last half of this steaming pile of groat cakes. So it looks like Bennet, brain-child of Billionaire Anschutz, cost DPS $166,000,000 so far (and that's to say nothing of the interest that will be paid over the years). That's a big bite in our collective ass.
Didn't we just vote to raise our property taxes to give more money to DPS? (My personal tax liability went up $1,000 this year as a direct result.) I guess I see now why they needed the money. Bennet, the Bagman, had arranged to deliver more money to the banksters.
Bennet beat Andrew Romanoff to win his current Senate seat. Why did we elect a Bagman? Oh, that's right...Obama's boy.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
CAMPING BAN PROVES COUNTERPRODUCTIVE AND CRUEL
- 59 percent of respondents said it has become more necessary to avoid police after the ban; 4 percent report police being more helpful.
- 53 percent said they feel less safe in Denver since the ban; 6 percent feel more safe.
- 79 percent who used to sleep downtown regularly now avoid the area far more; 69 percent said they now seek more hidden places to sleep at night.
- 50 percent their sleeping habits have been negatively affected.
- Though there has been a reduction in outdoors sleeping, the decline is minor. Before the ban, 72 percent of survey respondents said they sometimes or always slept outside in Denver, as compared to 64 percent reporting outdoor sleeping after the ban.
- No arrests have yet taken place under the ordinance, though citing and arresting people for other code violations and moving homeless people along through oral and written warnings are very common.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Denver City Council's "disgraceful vote" on Hentzell Park
Opinion by Cathy Donohue
Ed. Note: Cathy Donohue is a former Denver City Council member and the first female City Council President.
In their disgraceful vote on allowing the Hentzell Park trade scheme to go forward, several council members "deferred" to Councilwoman Peggy Lehmann, in whose district the park land is located. The suggestion is that as long a Councilwoman Lehmann approves, nobody else should object.
Although there has been a system called "Courtesy Zoning" operating within the Denver City Council, for many years that "courtesy" vote was limited to re-zoning of private land. The rationale for this practice was that zone changes were often made after unrecorded contributions were given to certain council members in order to influence their vote. This "Courtesy" system has now morphed into decisions on Parks land. I can see some rationale for "Courtesy Zoning" on a parcel of privately owned land; after all, the owner requests a change, but I fail to see how this system fits into our parks. The Parks are owned by all of the citizens of Denver. It is not private land! Does Councilwoman Lehmann have the right or duty to represent just her constituents? Or should she and the rest of the members of Council represent each and every citizen of the city--who do own the all of the parkland in the city?
Re-zoning at the request of the landowner at least embodies the wishes of the person who owns the land. I do not accept that Councilwoman Lehmann possesses some kind of personal power over any piece of publicly owned land. Councilman Lopez stated that he supported her wishes to remove this land from free public access because she "speaks for a lot more people than this room could ever hold". Maybe she does, but the rest of the Council had a duty to represent all of the citizens, also. Simply, stated; "Courtesy Zoning" should not be used for publicly owned land. I also question whether it is still necessary to continue the practice of "Courtesy Zoning". I doubt that any member of Council has ever been offered or taken unrecorded contributions.
Council also made a serious mistake with continued comments about the exact address of the "consolidated" shelter for abused people. I worked with a number of shelters for abused women and children, and no address for these facilities was ever published. This is one rule that is always applied when shelters are established. The people who spoke in support of a new consolidated facility seemed unaware that they were insuring that everyone in the greater Denver area will now be able to locate the major center for abused citizens. Their abusers will know for certain where to find their prey. The most common trait of an abuser is to stalk their prey in order to force them to "come home" or to even kill them. Let us hope that this new super center will be able to hire a competent and large number of guards in order to protect the clients. No one that spoke in support of a shelter displayed any awareness of just how important it is to keep addresses of shelters a secret.
The 10-to-3 vote shows serious errors in judgement. Council should not participate in "Courtesy" voting when it involves land that is owned by the citizens. Both Councilman Paul Lopez and Councilwoman Susan Shepard spoke with passion about their use of Hentzell Park. They expressed clearly how they used a piece of land that was not in their Council District. Unfortunately, Lopez did not have the courage of his conviction and voted to transfer the land.
Now, everyone knows for certain where abused people must go to get services. The cat is out of the bag. Too bad. The abused are in great danger.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Felice to City Council: Write a better story.
Editor's note.
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