IT'S NOT ALL CONCERTS AND FUN IN THE SPRINGS RIGHT NOW As the new Ford Amphitheater has created quite the mess for neighbors who say their voices were ignored by the City while the permitting process for the new venue sailed through. I've got Jeremy, one of those neighbors, on today at 1:30 to talk about the negative impact the concert venue is having on his family and his home.
ONE SIMPLE WORD IS A JOB KILLER A simple bill about plumbing got high jacked by special interests to change on word and it killed businesses. Peter Boddie is sounding the alarm while he runs for Colorado House District 28 to unseat the person who put lots of people and small businesses out of work in what he calls the The Big Backflow Blunder, which you can read about here. He joins me at 12:30 to discuss.
CHARTER SCHOOLS ARE WORKING IN COLORADO And there is a parental choice ballot initiative that aims to protect them on the ballot this year. How do we know they are working? The Common Sense Institute did a deep dive and came up with some pretty compelling statistics. Some of the high points were shared in this editorial from the Denver Gazette:
Those highlights are impressive — and make a strong case not only for protecting the right to charter schools but in fact for opening more of them. Among the findings:
The academic performance of charter school students last year as measured by the Colorado Measures of Academic Success, or CMAS, standardized test — the state’s official K-12 assessment — was higher than those of non-charter school students at every grade level in both English and math assessments in grades three through eight. This has generally been true in previous years as well.
Charter school students who graduated in 2016 obtained a postsecondary credential like a college diploma at a rate of 41.8% compared to non-charters’ 32.8%.
Students of color have represented a larger percentage of charter enrollment than of non-charter enrollment every academic year since 2015-16.
So not mess with what is not broken. The charter system is working in Colorado and there are forces working daily to undermine it.
THE 8TH CONGRESSIONAL RACE IS TURNING UGLY The race between Gabe Evans and Rep. Yadira Caraveo is going negative as the incredibly close race in a very competitive district is going to see a pantload of money pouring in. I am supporting Gave Evans here, but I did some checking on Rep. Caraveo's voting record and was pleasantly surprised to see that she has been truly moderate as the Rep for that district. Not so much that I want her to win re election because the balance of the House is too important, but I'd love to be able to ask her if she is voting her values, which were very progressive when she was in the Colorado Legislature, or if she's putting her values aside to represent her people. Read more here about how she voted, and then vote for Evans. If you want to know just how much she's changed, just read this interview when she was running for the State House. Hooboy.
AABOUT OHIO The Governor of Ohio is working double time to tamp down all the unflattering rumors hitting the town of Springfield. First off, no one is eating pets. From the blog yesterday:
REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR SAYS ENOUGH WITH THE HAITIANS EATING CATS STUFF And he says it is entirely untrue and is creating problems in Springfield and bomb threats for the Haitian community. The woman who first made the claims on social media says she has zero evidence that this happened and that the story exploded into something she didn't mean to happen. Can we move on from this?
And now this:
So the bomb threats are hoaxes and no one is eating pets. If you want to talk about the impact that a huge number of migrants being shipped into a community can have, do that but no need to exaggerate.
WHY I HATE THE GOVERNMENT, PART #5748585
TRUMP ASKED FOR HELP PROTECTING THE CAPITOL BEFORE the events of January 6th. Read this:
MAYBE KIDS ARE AHOLES This long Denver Post story about the rapid rise in out-of-school suspensions wants to place the blame on everyone but the kids. Not enough paraprofessionals, schools are just lazy, etc without even considering that maybe kids are just jerks sometimes. And it's the PARENT'S responsibility to drill down and find out WHY the kids are aholes, not the school's. You can read it here. They mention a study that showed out of school suspensions do not provide a deterrence for the kid who was suspended, but what about the REST of the kids who then get to learn uninterrupted? What about them?
COULD AIR QUALITY BE CONNECTED TO MENTAL HEALTH? A new study shows a connection between bad air quality and children's mental health and I can believe it. When you can't go outside because it's horrible it makes me crazy too.
WHO IS GIVING THE BIG BUCKS IN COLORADO POLITICS? This is sort of interesting to see which deep pocketed donors are giving to whom. The Democrats have obviously locked up Colorado so the money behind The Blueprint is now more engaged at the national level. Kent Thiry is the most interesting one to watch, as he has run some really impactful ballot initiatives in Colorado and is now running the Ranked Choice Voting initiative.
IT'S TIME TO BOUNCE SOME JUDGES And attorney Dan Maes does a deep dissection into the corruption and the Colorado Supreme Court and the resistance of the judiciary to clean up it's own ranks. It's long, and you need to read it.
DIDDY DO IT? The rapper known as Diddy has been indicted and it's some pretty serious stuff. We already knew he was a scumbag caught on camera assaulting his then girlfriend, but the indictment alleges far worse crimes than that. Read it here, I don't think I can really talk about it on the radio.
A SERIES OF EXPLOSIONS ROCK HEZBOLLAH This is very interesting. Apparently members of Hezbollah use pagers to communicate (how 1991 of them) and the pagers just started exploding all over Beirut. Hmm, I wonder what could have happened. I wonder.
CHEMICALS FROM FOOD PACKAGING END UP IN OUR FOOD And this is why I'm glad I'm not a scientist who studies such things because this stuff freaks me out. Out of the some 14,000 different chemicals found in food packaging, about 25% of them have been found in the human body. Gross. What are all these chemicals doing to us? We have no idea.
THE REAL ESTATE MARKET IS PRETTY SLOW RIGHT NOW With listings soaring and closings dipping, it is definitely a buyer's market but sellers are not willing to lower the price to get things done. That being said, there are some BIG bargains in the condo market right now if you're looking to buy a rental. Call Ed Prather if you need to sell fast.
AMAZON SAYS EREBODY BACK IN THE OFFICE Next year Amazon is requiring that all workers be in the office five days a week. I'm guessing more and more companies will do the same thing. I'm not going to lie, I have enjoyed seeing my coworkers again. I told you remote work wouldn't last.
THE MOST GEN X BAND STORY EVER Jane's Addiction, one of my longtime favorites, has cancelled their tour after fisticuffs broke out between lead singer Perry Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro. Or course they did. Of course.
ICE CASTLES IS COMING BACK TO CRIPPLE CREEK At least the Mayor says they are finalizing the agreement. I've never been to this and dang it, this is gonna be the year for me.
THE CASA BONITA NEW RESERVATIONS SYSTEM HAD A DAY And it wasn't a good one as 50,000 people tried to get reservations from the new system at the same time. Reservations sold out the same day, so good luck when the next window opens. I want to go, but not THAT bad.
THE TIME FOR SPIDER LOVERS IS NOW As the annual tarantula migration is on. Read about fun ways to enjoy it, or where to avoid until it's over, here.
HILLARY CLINTON WANTS HER HUSBAND JAILED Because she seems to be suggesting that someone who lies should be put in jail. Remember "I did not have sexual relations with that woman"? Does that count, Hillary? She's obviously uncomfortable with the First Amendment.
THE FBI IS NOW CHECKING FREE SPEECH TOO Because Democrats hate anyone who disagrees with them. There is bad language in this but it's important.
So why did the FBI show up in the first place? Well they had a reason after this tweet:
That being said, showing an id shouldn't be cause for retreat. If there is an issue, find out what's going on, don't shy away because there is a camera if you're doing the right thing.
NOW GANGS ARE SHAKING DOWN TRUCK DRIVERS IN AURORA? I have no idea if this is accurate but I sure as hell hope the Aurora PD is checking it out.
TEACHERS NOW BRIBING KIDS ON GENDER IDENTITY This is the kind of thing that makes me crazy. If I'm this mom, I'm not putting this on social media, I'm making an appointment with the health teacher and the principal immediately.
BEST POTATO GUN EVER Dude Dad does it again.
CRASH DAVIS DIDN'T GET FIRED FOR THIS A minor league pitcher who told teammates he was "ready for the season to be over" decided to help the process along by telling opposing batters what pitch he was about to throw. The Minnesota Twins, who drafted him in 2024, have released him from the singe A franchise team.
SHEEPDOGS GETTING IT DONE This is a super cool video of a sheep dog working.
HOW TO SAVE YOUR CHOKING DOG I've had a lot of dogs but never thought about one choking before. Watch below or click here.