Boebert’s antics are unacceptable
Re: “Boebert escorted out of musical,” Sept. 13 news story
I read with great dismay about Lauren Boebert’s behavior at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts the other night. I’m not sure how many “ordinary” citizens are escorted out of the theater due to bad behavior. However, when one is elected to represent a portion of a state’s population, you might expect that, that representative would be able to handle herself in public in a manner that did not detract from the event that her fellow attendees paid for, let alone draw attention to her self such that she is asked to leave.
How sad is it that a large portion of the State of Colorado is represented by someone who has so little respect for others that she carried on in a public setting where decorum is enforced to assure the attendees benefit from the experience?
Unfortunately, this is just another example of her public behavior. Most of the time she is in the news, it is because she interrupted a speaker during a session of Congress, made some outlandish claim about a member of the opposing party, or flagrantly tried to violate rules intended to assure the safety of her fellow representatives. I challenge anyone to provide a list of her positive accomplishments during her time in Congress. I sincerely hope that the voters in her district comprehend exactly who and what she is before they engage in the voting process next fall.
— David Thomas, Denver
Please go to the internet and watch the entire performance on security camera footage of our 3rd Congressional District representative in the U.S. House being escorted out of the Buell theater. Rep. Lauren Boebert is twirling and dancing around as she’s walking away from the theater after being kicked out. Refusing to leave and making a spectacle of herself is Boebert’s brand, and being warned that she was to be trespassed if she did not comply with security … really?
Nothing to say for the fact that taking photos at a performance which is announced at every performance I have been to at the Buell and to say that she was not aware that photos could not be taken is absurd. She is quoted as saying something to the effect of “do you know who I am”? Unfortunately, we do know who you are, Boebert. Your performance at the Buell is just an extension of your performance as a Representative for the citizens of the great 3rd District in Colorado whom you represent, a disgrace.
— Curtis Urban, Pueblo
Who gets what share of the roads?
Re: “Growing conflicts around bikes are a sign something isn’t working,” Sept. 3 editorial
I found the opinion regarding bike infrastructure conflict to be informative. I would like to see the post cover more about the groups that ride the streets to show cars it is everyone’s street. Denver Cruiser Rides etc.
I find it very interesting how the public has been trained to think streets equal cars and no one else is welcome. Some people care about climate change and will use our streets to bring a more sustainable future for everyone’s children.
— Ari Zack Snow, Denver
Help! It’s LoDo. We are where this whole Denver thing started in the first place. We are the first view hundreds of thousands of visitors have of our city, getting off the train or the bus. We still have narrow sidewalks and most of our buildings don’t have garages. It wasn’t necessary when they were built as there were plenty of stables around to take care of their transportation needs. We offer the “authentic” experience so coveted by travelers these days. We play host to brave and true baseball fans, win or lose, who come out to enjoy the day and the game ( sometimes). We are the starting point or ending point for most parades with our streets lined with enthusiastic fans or freshly minted Irishmen or cowboys. We embrace them all. Welcome them to our tiny part of the downtown that still has spunk, character and hope. We are friendly, open to outreach, and willing to learn and adjust. Just call us, email us, include us in the decision-making process … please
We are civic-minded.. proud of our city and proud of our people. We dedicated a bench to Kenneth, an unhoused resident of Lodo, whose passing was noted by the community and whose life was honored. We are absolutely part of team Denver … put us in coach and we will continue to raise money for showers, barbeque and birthday parties at the Barth, correct the history about “China town” and drive along streets named for the leaders of the native peoples upon whose land we stand.
But how do people get to us? Mostly via the new dirty word in Denver “cars.” Cars are now the evil spoiler of downtown. It was decided it was time to make the move on cars. The plan, genius in its simplicity, “choke off their parking options.”
Of course, the fact that most of our small businesses rely on customers being able to drive to their location didn’t matter. Nor did the fact that the public transit system, apart from being scary and unsafe, also has huge gaps in areas of service. Or the fact that more people, aka customers, live outside of LoDo ( and downtown ) than live in LoDo and must have some way of getting to our shops, restaurants, and hospitality venues. All this is not important.
Cars were the enemy and had to give way to other modes of transportation, and certainly, let’s not get delayed by that silly convention of talking to the people most impacted to see what they think about these ideas. Let’s just do it. Pat ourselves on the back for the miles on new bike lanes, go home and park our cars in front of our houses, and watch the exodus of small businesses from LoDo. It’ll make more room for those biking and scootering through.
Let’s use that space, formerly filled with tax-paying customers ( aka general fund contributions) of LoDo’s small businesses and hospitality venue, for scooters and bicycles. So armed with the might of right, the on-street parking resources are being gobbled up, strangling our streets with miniature Jersey barriers and white sticks, confusing corner crossing with painted directions, loading zones now located in traffic lanes creating confusion, gridlock, and frustration. You can hear in the night as the customers flee, after having driven and driven around looking for a place to land and been caught in gridlock waiting light after light to make it to the relative freedom of Speer.
Farewell LoDo it was nice to have known you.
Cherry Creek never looked better.
— Fabby Hillyard, Denver
Editor’s note: Hillyard is a member of the LoDo District board.
Unemployment insurance isn’t getting paid
Re: “Out-of-work Coloradans with legitimate claims waiting months for benefits — if they receive them at all,” Sept. 6 news story
Colorado Departure of Labor and Employment requires that you were a traditional employee whose employer taxed your paychecks on a W-2 tax form, yet even people that fall under these requirements are not obtaining benefits. The Colorado Regular Unemployment Insurance Benefit Amounts Paid went from an average of $49.2 million a week in 2020 to a weekly average of $21.8 million in 2021. It is challenging to isolate fraud claims from real claims when the weekly average of Unemployment Insurance Initial Claims has gone from the average of 1,900 a week in 2019, to a weekly average of 14,300 in 2020. The major holdup has caused unemployed Coloradans to drain savings accounts and take out loans to cover bills.
The CDLE is advising people to call in or seek limited in person help. These calls aren’t any help considering that people are repeatedly put on the line with robots, and even when they reach an actual person. They are not very helpful.
— Oliver Matthews, Colorado Springs
Suncor, clean up your act
Re: “Suncor must pay more than $700k,” Sept. 7 news story
Suncor needs to be a better neighbor (putting it mildly). These repeated violations should not be tolerated by the EPA. People who live in Commerce City and Northeast Denver have been forced to live with Suncor’s negligence for years, and some have suffered life-long health consequences. In fact, all of us in the metro area are impacted by poor air quality, so don’t we all want Suncor to do more to clean up its act? Those fines need to be ratcheted up with every violation. It seems like Suncor will only be good neighbor if the alternative is painful.
— Catherine Welch, Denver
Preventing rising sea levels like tilting at windmills
Re: “Climate crisis: What we can do,” Jan. 10 letter to the editor
The letter writer laments the erosion of western U.S. beaches, quoting a UC-Santa Cruz coastal science expert:”…in the long run, there’s absolutely nothing we can do to hold back the Pacific Ocean. Everything we do is short term.”
Stewart dismisses that bit of harshly assessed reality. Instead, he offers his own solution, namely, “…keep the ocean from rising so much that it washes away everything.” How, you might wonder, can we get the Pacific to stay on its side of the street and quit picking on the beaches? First, accept his thinly veiled hustle to sign up with the Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Next, dust off your favorite medieval lance and join the letter writer in tilting at windmills. (P.S. You won’t even have to go to Holland.)
— Bud Markos, Grand Junction
Xcel Energy needs a carbon fee
The Colorado Sun recently presented an article about Xcel Energy, Colorado’s largest electricity and gas provider, capitalizing on building power plants and consumers who have to pay more. There is a clear connection to climate change as their products sold encompass burning fossil fuels.
The state of Colorado has mandated a transition to clean energy, but Xcel Energy makes its money by building new pipelines and power plants. Its investor-owned utility framework seeks returns that depend on an age-old “regulatory compact” model.
A currently applicable solution is a carbon fee and dividend. The ongoing format originally served to create a fair rate of return, but affordability, environmental justice and transitioning from coal aren’t being upheld.
An initial fee of $15 per metric ton of fossil fuel emissions, applied as near as possible to the mine or well, leads to a 5-10% rise in the cost of electricity from suppliers like Xcel Energy. Fellow companies will want to switch to cleaner sources of energy to avoid this escalating cost of $10 per metric ton each year. Citizens also benefit from fees that are returned to them as a monthly dividend.
— Sara Eyassu, Aurora
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