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Colorado News Miner 121

Racist attacks, gangs of Aurora, overregulated Colorado, Putin's useful idiot, minimum income, banned books, Republicans gone wild, school performance, and more.

A Hate Crime: Max Levy: "A man chased down and choked a journalist working for Grand Junction broadcasters KKCO and KJCT in front of the news stations' offices after berating them about their nationality, police say." The perpetrator allegedly said, "Are you even a U.S. citizen? This is Trump's America now! I'm a Marine, and I took an oath to protect this country from people like you!" This is reminiscent of the rhetoric of the KKK of a century ago. Absolutely shameful.

More on The Order: In my article about the film The Order, based on the 1989 book by Kevin Flynn and Gary Garhardt, I mention that Alan Berg was the only political victim of the terrorist gang. But a member of the group later murdered a police officer during a traffic stop. History Colorado has a 2019 podcast episode about Berg. 9News has more on the film.

Gangs of Aurora: Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain did an interview about a couple that was kidnapped and beaten by around 15 people. The gang problem in Aurora is real. Paolo Zialcita reports for Denverite: "Aurora police arrested 14 people early on Tuesday at the Edge at Lowry, the apartment complex at the center of an immigration controversy amplified by President-elect Donald Trump. . . . The suspects and victims are all immigrants from Venezuela, police announced at a press conference. The incident was '100 percent gang related,' said Chief Todd Chamberlain, but APD has not confirmed if there is a connection to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua." KDVR has more. Kyle Clark and Jon Caldara further discuss the story. Obviously, government needs to do what it can to keep violent people out of the country and to arrest and prosecute (or deport) immigrants in the country who commit acts of violence. Yet we should recognize that most immigrants come here to work and build a better life for themselves, and we should not demonize them on account of the violent gangsters. Compare: Homegrown gangs of bikers or Black youth should not lead us to demonize riders of motorcycles or Black people.

Overregulated Colorado: "Over-regulation, over-spending, and over-taxation" are dragging down Colorado's economy, argues Nash Herman. The Colorado Chamber of Commerce adds, "Colorado is the sixth most regulated state in the nation for business, with approximately 45% of these regulations being deemed excessive or duplicative."

Putin's Useful Idiot: Piers Morgan asked Lauren Boebert how Republicans could support the brutal, murderous dictator Putin, who has violently assaulted a neighboring country. Boebert replied, "Putin is asking us for a heck of a lot less money than Zelensky is."

Giving People Money Increases Their Funds: Apparently it takes a tax-funded study to show that giving people money causes them to have more money. That is the thrust of a CPR article by Molly Cruse about a federally funded Boulder program that "offered 200 Boulder households $500 per month" for two years. "Participating households were better able to pay housing and utility costs by paying them on time and not accruing debt, were more food secure, and gave them more flexibility," Cruse informs us. This is all based on survey data. Doesn't this go straight into the "No Shit Sherlock" file? Cruse does not mention that the study in question does not include a control group, so there's no analysis of how the recipients of the funds stacked up against people who didn't receive the funds. Cruse claims that the study shows results for "upwards of 90% of participants," but the study points out that only 128 of 200 participants filled out both a baseline and a follow-up survey, while 139 completed the second survey. It's hard to say, but my guess is that results for people who filled out the survey are not representative for people who did not fill it out. Regardless, nothing in the CPR article or in the tax-funded study gets to the fundamental questions: Should government be doing this in the first place, and is the program more important than what the government otherwise could be doing with the money (including tax cuts)?

ACLU Sues Over Banned Books: CPR: "The ACLU of Colorado filed a federal lawsuit . . . against the Elizabeth School District over banning books, alleging that the district's actions violated federal and state free speech protections." I'm not sure about the merits of the case, but the book bans definitely are completely stupid, as I've written.

Strossen on Free Speech: Nadine Strossen sat down with Jon Caldara.

YIMBY Now: The fundamental cause of high housing costs is government regulation that restricts the building of new housing. Therefore, politicians, including Colorado AG Phil Weiser, perhaps the most consistently anti-business politician in Colorado, scapegoats realtor services.

Republican Circular Firing Squad: Colorado Republicans under Dave Williams have set up a new so-called anti-corruption committee. Kyle Clark has details. Jimmy Sengenberger reviews GOP infighting. Michael Karlik has more on newly minted attorney Matt Arnold, set to lead the new GOP committee, and how allegedly "Arnold failed to disclose on his bar application that he was recently involved in a child neglect case."

'Wildly Important Goals' in Education: Chalkbeat: Among other things, the Colorado Department of Education declares as a goal, "60% of third graders will meet or exceed state expectations in literacy by 2028." Okay, and, when that doesn't happen, what will be the consequences?

Schools Failing Low-Income Kids: Keystone: "More than half of Colorado students are not meeting grade-level expectations in literacy, and over 60% are not mastering grade-level math. . . . Only 40% of DPS [Denver] students are reading at grade level . . . with fewer than one in four low-income students in DPS achieving grade-level proficiency in literacy." Melanie Asmar has more.

Fencing Public Lands: Colorado Sun: "A group that fenced off about 1,400 acres of U.S. Forest Service land outside Mancos after claiming ownership over it is now being sued by the federal government."

Police Standards: CPR: Currently someone can be a police officer despite a conviction for "child abuse, animal cruelty, theft, fraud, invasion of privacy for sexual gratification. . . . The Peace Officers Standards and Training Board voted unanimously this month to ask the state legislature to add another 31 misdemeanor crimes to the existing list of 44 as 'decertifying to be a peace officer.'"

More Felonies: Colorado Politics: Some people want to turn more crimes into felonies. I'd probably be on board with this regarding auto thefts, but definitely not for drug possession (two of the examples listed).

Auto Thefts: Axios: "A yearlong investigation into an auto theft ring plaguing the Denver metro has led to the indictment of 17 suspects tied to Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, one of the world's most powerful criminal mafias." We have created a hydra monster through our drug war. Let's hope we can figure out how to slay it.

Tough on Crime: Newly elected DA George Brauchler warns, "If you come down here with the intent to victimize us or to steal from us, your expectation should be incarceration."

Kroger: Apparently judges and lawyers know how to run grocery stores better than the owners of the stores. Judges have killed the merger of Kroger and Albertsons. My prediction: This will screw consumers by preventing economies of scale. Regardless, the owners of the stores have a moral right, if not a legal one, to conduct business and to associate as they choose. As a practical matter, Kroger faces tons of competition from Walmart, Amazon (and Whole Foods), etc. Do not let anyone tell you we have a capitalist free market in the United States.

Mobolade Hoax: CPR: During the mayoral primary "news outlets in Colorado Springs received an email with a video of a burning cross in front of a [Yemi] Mobolade sign defaced by a racist slur. . . . The video, [federal] investigators allege, was a hoax intended to aid Mobolade's electoral chances." Mobolade says he had no knowledge of the planned hoax and cooperated with the FBI in the matter.

Pet Sale Ban: This Westminster proposal is genuinely stupid. Cracking down on bad actors is one thing; imposing a blanket ban is quite another. Not to mention that this would be largely unenforceable.

Denver Green Mandates: Michael Booth has the story (with his characteristic anti-business bias). Look, don't complain about high costs of living and then impose expensive mandates on builders and business owners. Some good news: Denver might remove minimum parking requirements.

Abandoned Properties: Denver has a problem dealing with this, Westword reports. Although governments easily can abuse their ability to take over properties, in cases of genuinely abandoned property government should facilitate title transfer.

Federal School Funding Drop: Chalkbeat: "Fewer students at some Colorado schools are being counted as at-risk because pandemic-era rules for Medicaid left many families suddenly unenrolled by spring 2024," which could also lead to federal cuts in school funding.

Governor Race: I glad to see that Joe Neguse and Ken Salazar are outperforming Phil Weiser in early polling.

Polis Shreds Old Orders: CPR: "Polis literally took a power saw to 208 old executive orders." Senate Republicans responded by listing various regulations the governor has signed into law.

Birthright Citizenship: Owen Swallow: Rep. Matthew Soper has come out against it. I fear that in not too many years we'll be begging immigrants to come but they won't want to. Anyway, I think the Fourteenth Amendment clearly endorses birthright citizenship.

Tobacco Nannies: CBS: "Denver City Council approves ban on sales of flavored tobacco products." Jon Caldara has some thoughts on that.

Schools as Jericho: "Conservative Christian activist group Forging Pueblo held a “Jericho Walk for D70 Schools” in Pueblo Saturday," Heidi Beedle reports. This is bizarre because, as Beedle notes, the point of the Biblical march around Jericho was to destroy the city. The group says it wanted wisdom for school staff and safety for students.

Pueblo Halts Failure-to-Appear Sentencing:CPR: "The City of Pueblo has stopped a controversial practice of handing down inflated jail sentences for missing court dates for minor offenses. . . . [M]inor offenders—such as those being ticketed for standing in a median—would be given long jail sentences—sometimes hundreds of days—if they missed their court date." Throwing people in cages for no good reason is a serious violation of their rights.

Air Force Academy Sued over Admissions: CPR: Students for Fair Admissions is suing the academy, claiming that its race-based admissions policies are unconstitutional.

Falsified Environmental Data: Sam Brasch: "Colorado regulators haven't found a clear motive or pattern to explain why two environmental consulting firms allegedly falsified soil and water quality results on behalf of the state's largest oil gas operators." Assuming the data really were falsified, was that due to sloppiness or intent? Anyway, the state is rechecking wells.

James Coleman: Judging from his interview with Get More Smarter, Coleman, president of the Colorado senate, seems like a stand-up fellow. One issue he mentions is how property taxes can drive people from their homes. Interesting discussion, and a great insight into the thinking of Democratic leadership.

Missing Cows: Ag Daily: Around 180 cows, mostly calves, have gone missing from Colorado's Uncompahgre Plateau, more than usually go missing. Some suspect theft, and that's possible, but I suspect the losses are due to natural causes (weather, injury, predation).

Strong Arm: 9News: "According to [Frank] Azar's law firm, [Azar] secured a $1.55 million settlement from Alabama personal injury attorney Mike 'The Alabama Hammer' Slocumb. In the now-settled lawsuit, Azar's attorneys argued the Alabama Hammer was part of a click-to call scheme that confused potential clients."

Evans's Bedfellows: As I've written for the Colorado Times Recorder, newly elected Republican congressman Gabe Evans is a member of Heritage Defense, which, among other things, legally defends parents accused of beating ("spanking") their children. Erik Maulbetsch points out that another suporter of that organization is Kevin Swanson, "best known as the far-right pastor who says LGBT people should be executed." A founder of Heritage Defense, Bradley Pierce, has called for "bringing our civil government under the subjection of Christ."

Racist Cartoon: Owen Swallow: State house candidate Caleb Waller posted a cartoon on Facebook showing a military helicopter dumping brown-skinned people, presumably representing immigrants, onto the rooftop of a flooded house owned by a white couple. The cartoon obviously is racist. Thankfully, Weller apologized for posting it. Notably, the seat in question is held by "Elizabeth Velasco (D-Glenwood Springs) . . . the first Mexican-born state representative in Colorado," Swallow writes.

Nuclear: Xcel is looking at possibly bringing a nuclear reactor online by 2037.

Let It Snow: Medical doctor Jason Persoff also photographs snowflakes.

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