New DNC host chief looks to rally quickly
There is the money. The Denver committee charged with raising $55 million in private donations to bring the 2008 Democratic National Convention to town needs a lot of money. But there are also the people. The newly installed top officer of Denver's host committee stressed Thursday that he wants to organize quickly enough to manage the thousands of volunteers asking to help. "It's a big task," said Mike Dino, who was formally announced as the host committee's chief executive at a news conference Thursday. "Everybody knows this is the biggest thing to come to town in a heck of a long time." The Denver native and longtime Democratic strategist said he wanted the expected 10,000 volunteers to find a place.
Other news about the convention comes from chief of operations, Paul Lhevine at the recent Denver Young Dems meeting:
- will be building a 220k foot media complex next to the Pepsi center.
- only some of the volunteer position will actually get to work inside the event
- still don't anticipate closing any streets, but the Secret Service may have it's own ideas.
- the dirty, smelly hippies won't be fenced away like in NY. Lhevine expects they will be given space to be heard and seen - hopefully not downwind.
BTW, the Denver Young Dems just elected two people to act as the liaison between DYD and the host committee. Signing up as a volunteer through them might get one a better job - if you're under 35.
Bob Beauprez is back - the blogxygen is warranted in this case especially when you look at this on his events page:
Thursday, January 18, 9:00 am - 850 KOA. His co-hosting with Craig Silverman must have gone well, because Clear Channel has invited Bob back to the studio, this time to fill in for Mike Rosen on 850 KOA...
Notice they don't say it DID go well, but MUST have. Did they forget how he sometimes sticks his foot in this mouth on the air? Or is the difference that NPR listeners can sniff out when they're fed a load of bullcrap, but KOA listeners swallow with abandon?
Speaking of Beauprez,
ICE agent under investigation returns to job
The federal immigration agent at the center of an ongoing investigation into allegations of illegal use of a government database has returned to work. The case stems from last fall's race for governor. Republican candidate Bob Beauprez launched a series of TV attack ads alleging that Governor Bill Ritter had given plea bargains to illegal immigrant drug dealers when he was Denver district attorney. Much of the information for those ads apparently came from an FBI database that is supposed to be used only for law enforcement purposes. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Cory Voorhis has been investigated as a suspected source of the information. The U.S. Attorney in Wyoming, who is overseeing the case, is awaiting the conclusion of an investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the FBI before deciding whether to file criminal charges in the case.
Who needs ethics in Jeffco? Apparently not Jim Congrove.
A nonprofit watchdog group wants a criminal investigation to determine whether Jefferson County Commissioner Jim Congrove and former County Attorney Frank Hutfless broke the law by investigating county employees and private citizens. The group, Colorado Citizens for Ethics in Government, announced Thursday it has asked District Attorney Scott Storey and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office to "launch an immediate investigation" into the use of taxpayer money for the employee investigations. "I have not found any legitimate reason authorized by law for conducting these investigations," said Chantell Taylor, director of the citizens group. "Using taxpayer dollars to pursue personal vendettas is a serious crime and an egregious abuse of the public trust," Taylor said. "Law enforcement officials should immediately investigate whether these or other Jefferson County officials misused public funds."
Must be something in the ... peanut-butter?
Government scientists struggled Thursday to pinpoint the source of the nation's first salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter, the kid favorite packed into millions of lunchboxes every day. Nearly 300 people in 39 states have fallen ill since August, including 10 in Colorado. Cases were confirmed in seven counties: Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, El Paso, Fremont, La Plata and Weld, said Mark Salley, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Public Health.
Morgan Carroll's HB-1234 to provide a 30 day disclosure period before companies raise insurance rates passed committee.
Suck it, Competitive Enterprise Institute:
Mountains warming faster than plains
Mountainous areas of the western United States have warmed faster than plains regions over the past two decades, new research at Boulder's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration labs shows. Areas such as Colorado's Front Range that depend on mountain snow pack for water supplies, are especially vulnerable, as snowmelt is beginning earlier with high elevation warming, according to the analysis by Henry Diaz of NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory. "Our high mountains are like the third pole of the planet," Diaz said in a statement. "It's the world's coldest regions that are the most susceptible to warming."
More legislators are "getting it" on
Amendment 41
First-term state Sen. Steve Ward gets it. The ex-Marine and "recovering lawyer" gives things "plain meanings" until simplicity leads to "absurd results..."There is a lot of crying wolf about (41) in the name of throwing mud at Jared Polis," Ward said. "I don't like Jared Polis. But it's wrong to put a fight with Jared Polis over kids. But for the fact that Jared Polis sponsored this, we'd already be looking at an enabling law."
Ohhhh, was that a swipe at Joan Fitz-Gerald?
Cross posted at SquareState.