How To Piss Off A County | Part Deux

Originally Posted: 11 May 2011 12:04 PM PDT fore·sight: The ability to predict or the action of predicting what will happen or be needed in the future. Nearly three months ago, on February 19th, I said this about the schools: "Prepare for school closures, and get ready for the fallout folks. The towns' budgets are on the chopping block next." That was right after the 'ad hoc' school funding committee had been formed and $500,000 was in the process of being 'pledged' by the towns, Grand Foundation and county. But the 'community' group saved the schools for one more year. Not so fast people!

Be Part Of The Solution | Run For The School Board This Fall

Originally Posted: 11 May 2011 12:33 PM PDT No More Of This Crap  As you are probably well aware, our school district is flailing madly about as it reacts over and over to fiscal situations that would give the average business plenty of time to prepare. I personally don't believe our current leadership are prepared for the challenges that will continue to confront our schools. To that end, I contacted the district to verify the procedure for getting on the ballot this November.

Standardized Tests | A Breeding Ground For Cheating

Originally Posted: 11 May 2011 12:26 PM PDT There have been numerous accounts of cheating on standardized testing nationwide. A quick Google search revealed a system set up to encourage cheating--not by students but by teachers! In a piece titled Teachers Manipulate Standardized Test Scores, Jenya Godina has this to say: "The problem is particularly pressing in Colorado, where the sweeping legislation ofSenate Bill 10-191 significantly altered the tenure system by placing additional emphasis upon standardized test scores. Colorado's Teacher-Evaluation Bill, according to Stephanie Banchero of the Wall Street Journal, "would make it tougher for Colorado public school teachers to earn tenure and easier for them to lose it."

Blogger Crashed... And Wiped Out My Posts!

For those of you who visit this blog often, you may have noticed a couple of posts missing. Apparently, Blogger crashed yesterday and they've wiped out three days of posts!

I'll try to recreate what I had, and now I'll be much more vigilant about saving my posts separately.

Sorry for the inconvenience,

Reggie

What Do The U.S. Postal Service And Grand County Schools Have In Common?

Promises they can't keep:


"The Postal Service is continuing to hemorrhage money, reporting a loss Tuesday of more than $2 billion over the first three months of the year and warning it could be forced to default on federal payments.


The agency says the $2.2 billion loss covers Jan. 1 to March 31, 2011 — sharply higher than the net loss of $1.6 billion for the same period last year. The post office also said it will have reached its borrowing limit, set by Congress, of $15 billion by the end of the fiscal year.

The Dangers Of Misdirected Youth

From the Boulder Daily Camera:

See the computer in the background? Coal powers it. Don't take responsibility for your own actions: just file a lawsuit.

"An 11-year-old boy whose Gold Hill neighborhood burned in the Fourmile Fire has joined with a friend afraid of losing favorite hiking trails and an 18-year-old student with a growing asthmatic condition in a lawsuit against the state for failing to protect the environment."

Photos | Mother Nature Reminds Us Who's In Charge

Wow! Tonight, the water was much higher than it was this afternoon. In a conversation with a Fraser town official, I was told that the water peaks between 9 and 10 pm at night, so these shots demonstrate how the water looks at it highest for today. 

We're at 150 percent of normal snowpack, so my bet is that Safeway will be be well acquainted with the waters of the Fraser River once the runoff has finished.

Click on any of the photos to make them fill your screen:

Safeway Parking Lot Already Flooding | Runoff Hasn't Even Begun

UPDATE: Click Here For Night Time Photos

Oops! Fraser's Safeway is built smack dab in the middle of the Fraser River flood plain... If this is already happening now, they'll need boats to get to work when the runoff from record-breaking snows begins in earnest:

Colorado Superintendent Pay And Reality Don't Mix

Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't make it right, does it?

From Channel 8 Grand Junction:

"Over the last three years, the six largest school districts in the area have cut a collective total of over $30 million with much, much more on the chopping block. During a time of layoffs, furloughs, and the elimination of dozens of school programs, though, superintendent salaries have done the opposite for the most part.


Haptonstall’s school district in Parachute has lost 21% of its students during that time. Meanwhile, his salary stayed frozen at $127,720 per year. Instead of cutting his pay, the school board went forward with 27 vacant staff positions last year. And, that’s only the beginning.

Ad Hoc Committee Fails | Towns Backpedal | School District Exposed

Ad Hoc's Dinner (Market-Ticker)

From Wikipedia: "Eating crow (archaically, eating boiled crow) is an English-language idiom meaning humiliation by admitting wrongness or having been proved wrong after taking a strong position."

It's official: The ad hoc school funding committee has capitulated, voting 14-2 against placing a sales tax increase initiative on the November ballot. It's all okay though, because they came up with an alternative plan--cue chirping crickets...

Voter apathy, anti-tax sentiment in the community and public relations challenges regarding school budgets were reasons given for not moving forward. (SHDN) It took them three months to figure that out? 

Colorado School District Gives $50,000 Bonus To Superintendent

From Denver's Channel 7:


"The superintendent for the Garfield No. 16 School District received a large bonus this year. Ken Haptonstall received $50,500 in January, according to KJCT-TV. The TV station reported that everyone in the district got a bonus -- full-time staffers got $1,000 and part-timers got $500. The bonuses came despite the district cutting $1.5 million from its budget for the 2010-2011 school year."


The public education model we've grown accustomed to over the last few decades is clearly broken. It's time to wipe the slate clean and get back to the process of educating children and away from the business of education.


Later in the story, it is mentioned that the current administration of this district has brought in $1 million dollars in grants. Who gives these districts this money?

Voter Poll | Want Grand County Uncensored In Print?

Many people have expressed an interest in seeing the 'Scoop in print. To that end, I'd like to initiate a poll to ask readers just that: "Would you like to see Grand County Scoop in print?"

I'll place a poll on the right side of the blog, and you can vote there.

Thank you!

Unemployment Claims Surge | Welcome To 1932

From Yahoo:

"While the surprise jump in initial claims for unemployment benefits was attributed to factors ranging from spring break layoffs to the introduction of an emergency benefits program, economists said it corroborated reports this week indicating a loss of momentum in job creation.

New claims for state jobless benefits rose 43,000 to a seasonally adjusted 474,000, the highest since mid-August, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists had expected claims to fall to 410,000."

In 1932, the U.S. was three years into The Great Depression... We didn't get out until about a year after the onset of World War II in 1941. Things are in many ways much worse than they were back then. Think about that...

Remember That Double Dip I Mentioned?

From CNBC:


"It's official.

Home prices have double dipped nationwide, now lower than their March 2009 trough, according to a new report from Clear Capital.

Sales of bank-owned (REO) properties hit 34.5 percent of the market, according to the survey, resulting in a national price drop of 4.9 percent quarterly and 5 percent year-over-year. National home prices have fallen 11.5 percent in the past nine months, a rate not seen since 2008. Add short sales, where the bank allows the borrower to sell for less than the value of the mortgage, and prices have nowhere to go but down."

If you bought a house after the market collapsed, thinking you were getting a good deal, you didn't. Prices will continue to decline for some time, and housing must be treated as a consumable good; much like an automobile or any other depreciating asset.

President Obama, I Have Something For You

This morning, I read a very unpleasant article about your plan to tax Americans based on the number of miles they drive. Your administration wants to test out the idea by installing location monitoring and tracking devices on cars to ascertain the viability of the idea.

You already have the TSA sexually assaulting passengers, including small children, on a daily basis. Tracking people's movements are a logical next step, no?

Here's what the TSA, an artifact of the Patriot Act, did recently with the full blessing of the Obama Administration:



Mr. President, since you seem hell bent on tracking and logging my every move with your latest idea; I have something for you:

How long will the American people stand for what is obviously a blatant police state?

School Ad Hoc Committee | Where Did You Go?

I've been hearing things about the ad hoc committee and the school district that aren't too favorable for any of the entities participating. It looks as though my initial assessment of the shenanigans of the ad hoc committee and school district was spot on.

I'll address this more in the future, but don't you remember we were suppose to have been presented with the committee's recommendation a couple of weeks ago? I wonder what's keeping them?

Perhaps they realize they were duped by the district! In fact, this is most likely the case, and now there's some serious infighting and face saving underway.

Like A Great Neighbor, Alco Cares

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the new light sign installed at the Fraser shopping center where Alco is located. In a post titled, 'Like A Bad Neighbor, Alco Is There,' I pointed out how I saw the sign light up the valley early in the morning as I headed toward Denver.

That day, the manager of the center responded with a very heartfelt apology, and even wrote a letter to the editor in that regard.

Tonight, I was driving through the intersection where the sign is located, admiring the stunning alpenglo on the snow covered peaks above town; when I glanced at the sign... It was turned off! As can clearly be seen in the photo above, it was still light out, and the sign would not have been too much of a nuisance had it still been on, but it wasn't.

After my post, to my dismay, I learned in the newspaper that the owner of the Rocky Mountain Chalet across the street has hired an attorney to fight the town's decision allowing the sign. Given the measures the sign's management have taken already, I would say this is rather brash and inappropriate. I think the Fraser center's management have proven to be more than good neighbors, and there's no bad situation an attorney can't make worse.

Videos | An Empire Out Of Control

First, this story regarding our own U.S. Attorney General running illegal guns into Mexico:

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4676808/attorney-general-under-fire-for-project-gunrunner/

Next, this story about the Bin Laden raid:



We've lost control at the top... People need to be aware that the United States cannot remain on its current path without crashing headlong into a cesspool of its own making.

Update | 1 in 7 Americans On Foodstamps

From The Wall Street Journal:

"Growth in the food stamp program appeared to reach a plateau in February — with 14.3% of the population relying on the safety net program.

Click the image for a map of food stamp use by state.

The number of food stamp recipients was essentially flat in February, the most recent month available, with 44.2 million Americans receiving benefits, according a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. (See a sortable breakdown of the data here.)"

$4 Gas | An Explanation

I've been posting charts of the dollar index and articles relating to the price of gasoline. Some of you may not know the implications of such a move, so I thought it would be helpful to explain what this all could mean in the coming days, weeks and months.