JOIN KATHLEEN'S CITIZENRY CLASS AT THE INDEPENDENCE INSTITUTE Click here to find out more and rsvp for the class January 14th!
BRITA HORN WANTS TO TRY TO RIGHT THE SHIP As she has put her name into the hat to be the next Colorado GOP Chairperson. I'm talking to Brita today at 1pm.
THERE IS AN INAUGURAL BALL IN DENVER! If you want to celebrate the win of Donald Trump as he is once again inaugurated you should do it with a great group of Republicans! Lynn Cottrell joins me at 2pm to talk about the ball and you can buy your tickets here!
WHY DIDN'T DOUGCO CALL OFF SCHOOL? I have no clue what the rest of the metro was like this morning but we got a BUNCH OF SNOW in Douglas County this morning the roads were an absolute mess and they didn't call off school. I've got Douglas County Superintendent on for a minute to talk about the how and why of how these decisions should be made at 12:30.
THESE CALIFORNIA FIRES FEEL APOCALYPTIC In more ways than one. As they continue to rage finger pointing is already happening by residents furious that this is the case right now:
There is not water to put out the fights partially because the state did not refill the reservoirs that feed them. At least that's the story on social media, but water officials say that is not accurate at all. The issue is the fires are so big that they are using all the available water in hydrants that they can't fill them up fast enough to replace it. There is a lot being made of the LA Mayor, who finally got back from Ghana, cut a TON of money from firefighting services so she could spend it on illegal immigrants or says the internet. It's not clear where that money actually went so I think that's putting the blame in the wrong place frankly. California has done a horrible job managing the brush that is now spreading these fires like crazy, they've done a lousy job managing water, they've done a lousy job planning for a catastrophe like this and I'm wondering if this could be the thing that turns Hollywood red? If not this, what? This is so much government incompetence creating a massive tragedy that will change California for years, maybe decades, to come. What a sad state of affairs and Colorado needs to pay attention.
DON'T BLAME STATE FARM FOR CANCELLING POLICIES The word it circulating that State Farm cancelled thousands of policies last fall in Palisades and everyone is trying to be mad at them, but they asked for a significant rate increase because of the rising rate of wildfires and the skyrocketing cost of construction in California and California told them no. As a for profit business with a promise to cover the losses of shareholders State Farm has a responsibility to make sure it has enough money to pay out claims when they are made. They did not feel they could continue to do that without a rate increase in Cali so they left. California has a state run insurer of last resort and I'm guessing these claims could further push California into insolvency. I hope the federal government provides the same amount of aid they provided to Florida after massive hurricanes. Spoiler alert, that wasn't much.
GOVERNMENT DOES HAVE A ROLE IN PREVENTING WILDFIRES And it's significant and it sure doesn't involve wasting money trying to force people out of their cars to stop climate change. That is a complete fool's errand. They need to manage brush that can catch fire, make sure there is enough water to fight fires in an emergency (that is hard one but they've had plenty of time to figure it out), they need to work with insurers to streamline the cost of rebuilding to bring construction costs down, and they need to bury power lines in high fire zones. They can't prevent storms, or fires, or other natural disasters, but they can make sure they've done the most possible to prepare.
DENVER RESTAURANT LICENSES DROP BY 22% Denver is driving restaurants out of the city with their ridiculous minimum wage and the high cost of doing business these days. Now the number of restaurant licenses has dropped by 22%, which seems like a pretty big number to me. I was reading this article about how people are not eating in restaurants anymore and I wonder if there is going to be any place left downtown before long. What a tough business to be in during good times and a brutal business to be in now.
THE STOCK SHOW PARADE WILL START AT 1PM TODAY That's an hour late because the steer don't like to parade in snow apparently. JK, read more here.
REI IS HAVING TROUBLE And they are ending their "Experience" division that lead classes and adventures for outdoor enthusiasts. The company says it was never profitable so they've cut it, as they've faced two years of losses. I shop at REI when I need something specific that I am not knowledgeable about because I find their staff to have the knowledge I don't, but DAMN they are expensive. I feel like REI should work better here than anywhere else but I'm wondering if you shop there and if not, why not? The CEO says 2024 may have taken them back into the black, so we'll see if they can right the ship.
THE COLORADO LEGISLATURE IS IN SESSION And the agendas of the Democrats and Republicans say they want the same things but only one agenda will actually accomplish that. Read about the comments from the Senate leadership here and here you can see that Colorado Democrats aren't actually proposing bills that would significantly reduce the cost of living here or doing business here. Talk is cheap. Oh, and Democrats are focused like a laser on getting rid of TABOR, the one thing standing in their way of completely Californicating Colorado.
JON CALDARA CALLS OUT THE SMOKE FILLED ROOM OF THE LEGISLATURE That image of a bunch of fat cat politicians doing deals behind close doors and out of the public eye should annoy you because when the "people's business" is done in secret you can bet the people doing the business are doing things NOT in the public's best interest. Jon writes about the new law passed solely by Democrats to exclude the legislatures work from public record. Seriously. Read it here.
ABOUT TRUMP AND GREENLAND This story seemed kind of silly to me at first but it's gaining steam and I'm wondering what the actual end game here is for Trump. I know that Greenland is extremely important strategically militarily for us and that it has massive stores of rare earth minerals, but are we really gonna fight Denmark for it? I am leaning towards the view that such saber rattling is just a negotiating tactic to lean on Denmark to prevent them from giving China the keys to the kingdom as it were. But you never know with Trump. Read more here.
LOOKING FOR ROMANCE? A new bookstore in the River North Arts District can help. It's a bookstore full of romance novels and some naughty surprises, find out more here.
SHOOTING UP IN DENVER IS EASIER THAN FILLING UP And the Denver Gazette writes an editorial about two setback changes that show exactly how screwed up the Denver City Council is.
LOTS OF ANIMALS EAT POOP And if you've had a pet that does this it's gross, but there may be actual biological reasons for it. Read more here.
GERMANY HITS 62.7% OF ITS ENERGY FROM RENEWABLES And they have the most expensive energy in Europe because of it. Read this about how they use solar and wind to generate power. Germany also has the highest energy costs in Europe, as explained here:
Nowhere in Europe is electricity more expensive than in Germany. According to the Federal Statistical Office, a family of three to four had to pay just under 40 cents per kilowatt hour in 2024. In Hungary and Bulgaria, on the other hand, where electricity is subsidized by the state, consumers only had to pay 10 cents per kilowatt hour.
I'd really like the chance to ask people like Jared Polis why he continues to say green energy is affordable, because where it is already being done it clearly is not. The other side of this renewable energy price issue is Spain, which created 60% of its energy from renewable sources but has some of the LOWEST prices in the EU. What is different between these two states? We should probably find out and do what works instead of what doesn't. The problem is the answer seems to be that Spain has more sun and wind than Germany. We should probably take that into consideration.
APPARENTLY THESE MEN GOT OUT OF THIS HOME But my GOODNESS why were they just there filming??? Some people are incredibly stupid and incredibly lucky. Watch below or click here.
MORE MEL ROBBINS WISDOM Watch below or click here.
BEING IN SHAPE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN BEING SKINNY If you want to live a longer life focus on having good cardiovascular health. That is the result of a massive study of studies which showed that fit people, regardless of weight, were FAR LESS likely to die from any cause than skinny unfit people. Read this:
Obesity, as expected, was strongly associated with mortality. Men and women with obesity, if they also were unfit, were about three times more likely to have died prematurely than fit people whose BMI was normal.
But poor fitness had its own hazards. In fact, people of normal weight who landed in the bottom 20 percent of fitness were about twice as likely to have died young as people with obesity who qualified as fit.
“From a statistical standpoint, fitness largely eliminated the risk” of early death from obesity-related conditions, Angadi said.
A daily walk is enough to improve your cardiovascular fitness as long as you are moving at a brisk pace FOR YOU. You don't have to be a speed walker, but you do need to increase your heart rate. You can do this, start today. More in the video below about OTHER benefits to moving your body.
ANOTHER GREAT REASON TO MOVE YOUR BODY Watch below or click here. This is why I weight train to be honest.
I'D LIKE TO REPORT A MURDER Because this reporter absolutely SLAUGHTERED the incompetent mayor of Los Angeles who could say NOTHING. What a horrible Mayor she is.
VON MILLER STILL LOVES BRONCO FANS And how can we not love him back.
GAVIN NEWSOM SHOWS JUST HOW INCOMPETENT HE IS. And the only good news so far is that these fires have ruined his chances of being President.
HOLLYWOOD IS ABOUT TO FIND OUT ABOUT THE RED CROSS And to be clear, I am not anti-Red Cross, but the Red Cross supplies NO long term help. Just ask the people in North Carolina how much help they've gotten recently from the Red Cross. And here, an understandably emotional Jamie Lee Curtis urges people to donate to the Red Cross. Watch below or click here.