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Colorado News Miner 136
Dinosaur Ridge, Evergreen, immigration, crazy Libertarians, crazy Republicans, housing, the legislature, free speech, and more.
by Ari Armstrong, Copyright © 2025
More on Dinosaur Ridge
Recently I argued that bureaucratic dithering is getting in the way of timely action to preserve the fossilized dinosaur tracks at Dinosaur Ridge. Following is a comment recently sent by Jefferson County Parks and Open Space to a state legislator:
Thank you for your inquiry about Dinosaur Ridge. As background, Dinosaur Ridge is in Matthews/Winters Park that is owned by Jefferson County. The Friends of Dinosaur Ridge (FODR) is our lessee and partner that provides education programs and tours. We are working on several projects to increase efficiency and capture data for future improvements and preservation efforts. The first effort is to develop a Preservation Plan for Dinosaur Ridge. This plan will be developed by an expert consultant that will work closely with our team, the State Office of Historic Preservation (SHPO), and FODR to identify paleontological and cultural resource preservation priorities and guidance on future visitor amenities. As a part of that effort, we will continue to work closely with FODR and SHPO to create protocols and requirements to address protection requirements while supporting education programs offered at Dinosaur Ridge. We are at the very beginning of this planning effort and expect it to take 12-18 months to complete. Concurrently, we are also collecting annual baseline data using photogrammetry to understand how the tracks are changing over time. This data will support the Preservation Plan and provide detailed information for managers and researchers. Also, about five years ago we completed the Dinosaur Ridge Master Plan that contemplates a new visitor center near the intersection of Rooney Road and Alameda adjacent to Rooney Ranch at the base of the ridge. This plan, which primarily focuses on visitor amenities like parking, a new visitor center, signs, bike, pedestrian, and shuttle management, etc. is being implemented as conditions and funding allow. While the new visitor center is high on FODR's list, it is not feasible until public water and sanitation services are available west of C470 and Rooney Gulch. The cost of bringing utilities to the area solely for the visitor center is cost prohibitive. As such, we will need to coordinate with other private property owners west of C470 to share these costs. This has and will take time to work out and since we don’t have control of their timing, we do not know when this will occur.
Like I said . . .
Quick Takes
Evergreen Heroes: "So many of us owe our safety to you," read a card for Evergreen's Matthew Silverstone. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office posted a note from the family of the other victim (unnamed), stating, "Our 14-year-old son endured the unimaginable: a face-to-face encounter with a violent school shooter filled with anger and hatred. Our child suffered traumatic gunshot injuries and has remained hospitalized and undergone multiple surgeries since the incident. In those terrifying moments, our son showed a level of bravery, strength, and will to survive that no child should ever be asked to display. He and his friend confronted the assailant, which undoubtedly allowed time for more students to flee and the school to lock down."
Cruelty for the Sake of Cruelty: Colorado Sun: "Carolina Suarez Estrada and her 7-year-old son, Luciano, returned to Colorado . . . after nearly one month in immigration detention in Texas. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released the mother and son . . . with orders for Suarez to appear in immigration court at a later date. . . . Suarez was working at a construction company in Buena Vista with a government work permit at the time of her arrest. Luciano was just about to return to elementary school for second grade and to his soccer team's fall season." Shameful.
War on a Greenhouse: Teller County's war on Virginia and Zac Loop and their greenhouse is absolutely shameful.
Libertarian Crazy: Erik Maulbetsch reported September 22, "The Libertarian Party of Colorado’s Executive Director Jim Wiley believes that the Israeli government is responsible for murdering Charlie Kirk. Wiley repeatedly made this claim as well as a series of other antisemitic statements in his public and personal posts on X and Facebook in the days before and after Kirk's death." Example? On September 5, Wiley said the AI system Grok "tried to warn us" when it absurdly said "Israel is a parasite controlling America." In response, Corey Hutchins reports, Wiley created a "parody" account of the Colorado Times Recorder, which published Maulbetsch's piece (and which also publishes a monthly column of mine). Colorado Pols called the "parody" site "wildly racist," and Maulbetsch told Hutchins, "If Mr. Wiley is upset at being characterized as an antisemite, however, I’m not sure how publishing an overtly antisemitic parody website helps his case."
Republican Crazy: Logan Davis: Scott Bottoms, a state representative, pastor, and candidate for governor, said at a recent candidate event: "LGB is a sexual preference, but TQ+ is an ideology. It is rooted in Marxism. It is rooted in Satanism." His remarks are bigoted and absurd. He added, "Right now, the average 14-year-old girl, freshman in high school, is being groomed" into a "transgender mentality." State Senator Mark Baisley said LGBTQ people show "brokenness . . . in their minds" (his words) and "are in rebellion against God" (Davis's paraphrase). These Republicans are doing everything they can to destroy their party's ability to recover politically and challenge the Democrats on real issues.
Anti-Housing: Here's what Regina Hopkins told CBS4 for its absurdly biased report: "My concerns are that this [relaxed zoning rules] will completely change the neighborhood character. People who have spent their whole life savings buying a home in a single-family neighborhood, those protections are gone." What the hell is she talking about? No one is forcing anyone to replace their single-family home with anything else. So what Hopkins is saying, precisely, is that she wants armed local agents to use force to "protect" her from her neighbors who might want, on their own property, to build an accessory dwelling unit or replace their single-family house with a multi-family dwelling. Hopkins's attitude betrays a hatred for her neighbors' property rights and hatred for people who need a place to live.
Housing Gap: Axios: "Gov. Jared Polis says getting government 'out of the way' will help manage Colorado's 106,000-unit housing shortage."
Tariffs: Axios: "Tariffs are straining builders' bottom lines, pushing up costs and delaying projects."
Catch-and-Release: This is crazy. 9News: "Ephraim Debisa was arrested in April by the Greeley Police Department on suspicion of criminal attempt to commit second-degree murder, first-degree assault with serious bodily injury, [etc.]. . . . But Debisa was found not competent to stand trial, and because there were no services available at the Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Pueblo, he was released into the public, the [Weld] sheriff's office said." Fast forward: "Two weeks after the release from jail of [Debisa] . . . that man is back in custody. . . . He was spotted with a gun inside a student apartment complex." This is the state legislature practically begging for someone to get murdered.
Berg and Kirk: Patricia Calhoun notes the parallels, closing, "Free speech should not pay the price." Hutchins also mentions some writers who discuss Berg. I wrote a column about Berg in December and mentioned him in a previous Miner.
Laugesen: He's out at the Gazette, Corey Hutchins reports.
Students Demand Undefined Action: Several articles covered school walkouts during which students "demanded" "action" on guns and school safety. Which actions, and how would those actions impact school safety? Not a single "news" article that I saw even tried to answer those questions. The closest I saw was an article by KUNC's Kyle McKinnon, which quotes a student as saying, "It's ridiculous that we don't have an assault weapons ban." What's ridiculous is that McKinnon would use such loaded language without indicating that there is no coherent definition of an "assault" weapon, that such a ban blatantly violates the Constitution, that the Colorado legislature already put in place severe restrictions on almost all semi-automatic guns, that the shooting at Evergreen High involved a revolver, or that Colorado already has a safe storage law. I do like one bit from McKinnon's article, though. He paraphrases Rep. Brianna Titone, "The state can't solve the problem alone. She pointed to broader cultural issues, like social media amplifying rhetoric and 'radicalizing' young people, and said meaningful change will require deeper conversations beyond the legislature."
Centennial Institute on Marriage and Gender: The organization announced a panel talk by John Stonestreet, Samantha Kelley, Mark Garcia. ChatGPT indicates at least one of the speakers is anti-trans and against gay marriage.
Xcel Settles over Fire: For $640 million. I don't have an opinion as to whether Xcel employees actually did anything wrong. Obviously the major problem was the extreme wind. Regardless, the people who will pay the money are the energy users through Xcel. If government is going to force Xcel to pay out such huge sums, we have to expect that Xcel will simply shut down power during dangerous conditions. You can't have it both ways.
Expensive Green: Relying on batteries and "green hydrogen" to run Colorado electricity grid would be expensive, at least based on a report of a report. Nuclear would be a lot less expensive. However, it's hard to predict how new technologies and economies of scale might affect prices.
Circumcision: There recently were protests in Denver against circumcision. See also photos. I'm against the routine, non-medical circumcision of children.
Do Better Denver Revised: Denverite first reported it was offline, then added it was back and promising to be "accurate and constructive." Corey Hutchins has more on citizen journalism.
Conservative Candidates' Signs Tagged with Swastikas: This is in the Elizabeth School Board race. CBS has the story. Elizabeth now is infamous for pulling 19 books off school library shelves. Tagging candidates' signs is not an acceptable way to register protest!
Hitlerist: The Oxford English Dictionary drew an example of "Hitlerist" from the work of Dave Kopel.
Caldara on Pugliese: In a September 27 email: Rep. Ryan Armagost's "adolescent behavior took place in April. Leadership of both parties was immediately aware of it, yet Democratic leadership didn't push the idea of a public censure until a special session was called in August. Why did they wait? Could it be because Democratic leadership was sponsoring a bill where he was a key cosponsor? So, they waited until their bill passed and then months later gang-tackled him in absentia as if they just learned about it." Rose Pugliese cited this incident in her decision to leave. I will add that politics always has been a tough game requiring thick skin. Still, legislators should strive to behave professionally. Other Republicans also have been complete jerks toward their Democratic colleagues; the Armagost incident is but one example.
Street Racing: Fox31: "Proposed Colorado bill to seek stronger penalties for street racing." Sounds good to me.
Denver Cops Used to Harass Interracial Couples: As Devin Flores writes for History Colorado, both territorial law and early Colorado state law forbade interracial marriage, specifically between "white" people and "negroes or mulattoes." As the Klan's stooge Benjamin Stapleton sat on the mayor's seat, Denver police arrested one interracial couple three times as of 1941. Shamefully, the Colorado Supreme Court upheld this travesty in 1942. "In 1957, the Colorado State Legislature quietly struck the anti-miscegenation clause from marriage law," Flores writes. There are people alive today who also were alive when Colorado still banned interracial marriage. The Loving v. Virginia case wasn't until 1967.
Caldara Defends Freedom of Speech: September 19 email: "Our government, through the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, pressured Disney to 'indefinitely' suspend Kimmel. This must concern us all. Government must never chill speech, even that of some Hollywood socialist mouthpiece. Let’s remember, Trump isn't king. Even if we like him pressuring companies to can idiots like Kimmel, the next president might be like Kamala Harris and go back to silencing the voice you like." Good for Caldara. But Kimmel is a standard progressive, not a "socialist mouthpiece." Kimmel's return show was excellent.
Drug War Crime: Denver Post: "The people who chased and shot at former Denver Broncos player Josh Reynolds and his two friends last year mistook the trio for people who’d used counterfeit money to purchase $250,000 worth of cocaine in an earlier drug deal, according to court records." As I've been saying for many years, the drug war creates a violent black market, one in which innocent bystanders often are harmed or murdered.
AI Dangers: Denver Post: "Two lawsuits filed in Denver District Court this week allege that artificial-intelligence-powered chatbots sexually abused two Colorado teenagers, leading one girl to kill herself. . . . A 13-year-old from Thornton died by suicide in 2023 after using a Character.AI chatbot." We'll see how the case plays out.