I HAVE BEEN BLISSFULLY UNAWARE FOR TWO WEEKS And I'm not exaggerating. It's amazing what really bad internet service can do for you in that respect. We will spend a segment so you can bring me up to speed with what I missed.
THE NY POST'S MIRANDA DEVINE JOINS ME AT 2:35 And we're talking Trump. His town hall, his verdict that found him guilty of sexual assault against E. Jeanne Carroll and more. CNN is getting fire from all quarters over the town hall, much of which is demanding that Donald Trump be essentially "deplatformed" by all media during this campaign. Even Anderson Cooper says people should never watch his network again, and you can watch that here.
HOW ABOUT THOSE DEMOCRATIC CREATED PROPERTY TAX BILLS? Remember when I told you not to vote to repeal the Gallagher Amendment? I put this on my voter guide:
AMENDMENT B: REPEAL GALLAGHER AMENDMENT The thing you need to know about the Gallagher Amendment is that is a formula that keeps your property taxes very low. This is a very, very good thing. Gallagher isn't perfect, but it's very, very good. We currently enjoy some of the lowest property tax rates IN THE NATION. I find property taxes to be the most odious of taxes because you can never REALLY own your own property because you have to pay property taxes every year and if you don't they take your home. There are issues with Gallagher to be sure, as the ratio has put a disproportionate burden on businesses (they they pass on to us, the customers) but a full repeal is the wrong move to fix those issues.
NO ON AMENDMENT B
Yes, I was right, as were all the other smart people who saw through the shady language the Legislature purposely used to confuse uninformed voters that they were going to royally screw themselves by repealing this. But they did it anyway, and now property tax bills are in and they are SKY HIGH. I know Krista Kafer and others have talked about how to appeal your property tax bill, but please remind all of your neighbors that this is a Democrat created problem because it is. Krista writes about it here.
THE DENVER MAYOR'S RACE IS STILL NICE And this column seems to be wishing for mud if you ask me. Denver residents, have you chosen yet?
NEVER FORGET WHAT A BOONDOGGLE LIGHT RAIL IS And this column reminds you of the failed promises made to get the giant and inefficient Democrat darling off the ground years ago. We all see the empty trains moving through the city. Oh, empty except for the people sleeping and using them to smoke drugs.
IT'S GONNA BE HARD TO GET A BIG GAME TAG THIS YEAR The tough winter led to too many animal deaths so the Colorado Parks and Wildlife department is going to cut back on the number of tags available for this year. Some of the reductions in certain areas are pretty dramatic and if you hunt, you can find them here.
CHARGES HAVE BEEN DROPPED IN THE YODER RANCHER CASE And I hope this is the beginning of the end of this story but I doubt it will be. The black couple who had been charged with felony charges of stalking and harassment in a dispute with their neighbors has now seen those charges dropped. This story from The Denver Post says the DA couldn't prove the charges, but this action seems to support the Mallory's claim that they are being unfairly targeted by police. That being said, I watched a LOT of the videos released by the sheriff's office that show the Mallorys to play fast and loose with the truth themselves. I hope they go back to their ranch and live happy lives from here on out. We'll see if that happens.
BEING A SANCTUARY CITY IS HARD I'm genuinely sorry for the thousands of immigrants who seem to think that they just need to get to American and everything will be fine, thanks to the lax policies of the Biden Administration. But I have little sympathy for the City of Denver, which has invited illegal immigrants for YEARS with loud proclamations letting them know they will be safe here. Now that the immigrants are coming here to roost, all hell is breaking loose the Mayor, who himself has made such proclamations in the past, is dealing with the humanitarian crisis created by his party. This story about churches stepping up is lovely, but how much money do THEY have to support a steady flow of people that could turn into a torrent this summer? I have little sympathy for those who cry poor now on this issue.
THE LANDLORD ATTACK YIELDED SOME FRUIT There were some HORRIBLE bills directed at landlords in this session, but only a few made it out of the session. Thank Goodness for that. This editorial explains why the three that did make it out will make it more expensive to rent in Colorado. It's not hard to understand math and economics, but our Legislature doesn't seem to at all.
WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON AT CHERRY CREEK SCHOOLS? This article from CPR shocked me, I'm not gonna lie. It details some pretty significant instances of anti-Semitic behavior by students in various Cherry Creek middle schools. Of course we all know middle school is horrible, but this is beyond the pale. Especially this part:
Parent Jennifer Stern told the board two boys performed a Nazi salute in front of her daughter in a Campus school hallway last fall. She said the boys only received a warning because the school said the security camera footage was blurry and said the school was concerned about legal ramification from the boys’ parents. (emphasis mine)
IF you are a parent who protects your kid when they do dumb stuff like this you are raising an ahole. And in this case, you're raising a skinhead. Cherry Creek parents should be deeply ashamed for not talking forcefully about this with their kids. Shame on you.
A WORLD RECORD FISH LIVED TO TELL THE TALE I love this story about a ginormous trout caught in Mesa county which is likely a world record, though because the anglers wanted to save the fish it may never be certified. The 73 pound (!) trout was caught and then released by two men who have lots of photographic evidence, but because they wanted the fish to live they let it go without being able to confirm its weight for record keepers. Good for them.
AND NOW, ORDERING COFFEE AS A CELEBRITIES This made me laugh too hard for some reason.
THIS IS WHY SHOPLIFTING IS OUT OF CONTROL Stores now have a blanket do-not-stop policy when it comes to shoplifters. Five King Soopers workers found this out the hard way when the stopped a man who used a box cutter to take off the security tag of a cellphone. The workers were fired for stopping the man. They are waiting for their appeal to be heard, but this story is RIDICULOUS. One of the women fired had been there for 31 years! This is why people hate corporate America in one story. And why prices will continue to rise as the costs of rampant theft are just shoved onto other consumers.
ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING... Just for fun, watch this video on what ice core samples that go back thousands of years show us about global temperatures in the last eight thousand years.
WHY GEN X IS THE TOUGHEST GENERATION This stuff is really funny to me. Someone gathered up some stories of being raised as a Gen X kid and to read them now they are horrifying, but it was awesome. I probably rode a thousand miles in the back of my dad's truck in my childhood. That would get you arrested today.
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE HAVING LESS SEX And there is good and bad in this. The bad is that it is likely a further extension of the breakdown of in person human-to-human relationships that people need to be fulfilled most of the time. The good is that teen pregnancy is also down, as are teen stds. Why? Lots of reasons discussed here, but the one that worries me the most is that we've infantilized our teenagers when they should be individuating from their parents. As a parent going through this process now, I know how hard it is, but it's a necessary part of becoming a responsible adult.
CORD CUTTING CONTINUES And cable and satellite television services have their lowest rate of subscribers since 1992. As Americans cut the cord for streaming services this is huge issue for networks who get a LOT of their revenue from the fees paid by cable and satellite companies to carry their networks. As subscribes drop, it's going to be harder and harder for premium channels like ESPN and Fox News to continue to demand such high fees. It's going to be interesting to see how this all shakes out in the next few years.
FLORIDA'S MOVES ON GOVERNMENT UNIONS ARE REALLY GOOD And of course we just gave the unions more power in Colorado, which will end up with the unions having way to much power here, as it does everywhere. Florida is taking a different route, by forcing unions to prove their worth every year and forcing them to get union dues from employees themselves. These measures are only anti-union in the sense that if the unions want power, they need to be responsible for running their own ship and proving they are serving their members. Read more here.
ABOUT THE KILLING OF JORDAN NEELY The homeless man who was acting erratically and yelling he was ready to die before being restrained by a former Marine in a chokehold that led to his death had a long rap sheet and was known to authorities well. This column pushes back against the narrative that Daniel Penny should have just ignored the man instead of trying to act. Penny has now been charged with second degree manslaughter. The perception that police aren't doing anything is why this stuff will continue to happen. The perception is correct as demoralized police have been told there is no point in arresting these people as they will simply cycle back out anyway. This story is sad, but I expect it to be repeated unfortunately.
MATT WALSH WORKS IN SARCASM LIKE A MASTER And he's done another video exposing the preposterous nature of the trans debate.
THE DENVER NUGGETS DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR DISRESPECT This is a great sound bite from after Game 6 where they dismantled the Suns.
THE BRONCOS SCHEDULE IS OUT And I know the Sports Zoo is going to dissect it beautifully today at 3. Find the schedule here though.
AND NOW, A COCKATIEL PLAYING PEEKABOO