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Today's Opinions

  • Politics infuses health care debate

    When members of Congress left Washington to spend their August recess at home in their districts, pundits predicted they would be bombarded with constituent communication about President Obama’s health care reform proposal. Due partly to public interest in the issue and significantly more by sophisticated grassroots efforts by supporters and opponents of the initiative, the pundits have been right.

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  • What you need to know about 911

    We all know that 911 is the number to call in the United States to get help in a police, fire or medical emergency. A 911 call goes to the emergency dispatch center closest to the caller, and trained personnel send the emergency responders to the caller’s location.

    In Jefferson County, a team of dispatchers answers 163,000 service calls a year and dispatches five law enforcement agencies and 11 fire departments. Our dispatchers are trained in emergency medical dispatching, meaning they can talk a caller through basic medical treatment until help arrives.

     

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  • I, the jury: Service a privilege

    I’m one of those people who can’t help but shift into lecture mode whenever people complain about jury duty. I automatically launch into how jury duty is a privilege and that it and voting make living in our democratic society so special. Despite my civic pride, I hadn’t been called for jury duty since 1994 and hadn’t been on a jury since 1992.

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  • Chimney Rock is an archaeological gem

    Between Durango and Pagosa Springs is a hidden gem of Colorado history. Before prehistoric dwellings were built into the cliffs at Mesa Verde, Ancestral Puebloans created a small settlement on top of a mesa near two dramatic pillars of stone. The place is called Chimney Rock.

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  • Debating Obama’s Iran policy

    By Hannah Hayes

    For 30 years Iran has slowly been staging a rebellion. The recent election and demonstrations may be a turning point for those with legitimate grievances against the repressive mullahs. It is unclear to what degree there was voter fraud, yet students, women and the middle class have certainly raised profound issues while risking everything. Unfortunately, there is not yet a sufficient coalition present that unites these groups of revolutionaries with labor, military, ethnic groups and oil producers.

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  • Sharing the road works for bikes and cars

    Do Colorado roads sometimes feel like the Wild, Wild West? A new law seeks safer roads and happy trails for all, here in Jeffco and throughout Colorado.

    Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law Senate Bill 148, the Bicycle Safety Bill, clarifying our state’s rules on how bicycles and motor vehicles share public roads. Sponsors Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, and Rep. Michael Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs, worked with fellow legislators to find common-sense approaches that enhance road safety for everyone. The new law takes effect on Aug. 5.

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  • Goaltender inspired beyond the game

    In Denver area ice hockey circles, he was known simply as “the goalie in the wheelchair.”

    Kyle Stubbs and his chair stopped pucks for a lot of teams over the years: the Warthogs, the Grinders, Berserk, Spitfire, and Chimney Full of Squirrels, to name a few. And he frustrated the shooters of other teams too numerous to list.

    On a recent Saturday, many of us who played with and against Kyle gathered at the Promenade in Westminster to say goodbye and to remember a man who refused to accept the limits that life imposed.

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  • ‘Halfway to Heaven’ a perfect summer read

    Two years ago, I got a call from my friend Mark Obmascik. Mark, a former Denver Post reporter turned author, was working on a new book, and he needed help.

    His previous book, called “The Big Year,” was about hard-core birders who tried to accumulate as many species sightings as they could in 365 days. It was quirky and entertaining, and compelling enough to get me into birding myself.

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