by Charles Bonniwell | Jun 26, 2022 | Main Articles
by Charles Bonniwell
Rich History: The Denver Country Club possesses one of the oldest golf courses in Colorado and the club itself is the oldest country club west of the Mississippi, founded in 1887. It opened in 1905 and was designed by James Foulis, although a number of different golf designers have done renovations to the course over the years. The 18-hole, private course is 7,039 yards at its longest tees with a par of 71.
One of the oldest and most prestigious amateur golf tournaments in the world returns to the Denver Country Club (DCC) for the sixth time on July 6-9, 2022. The Trans-Mississippi Amateur was first played in 1901 and came to the Denver Country Club in 1910. Prior winners of the tournament include Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw, Johnny Goodman, Bryson DeChambeau, and in recent years, Colin Morikawa and Will Zalatoris. This year’s field is to include 102 of the world’s top 200 amateur golfers, according to Gary Potter,
DU Star: Coloradan Cal McCoy tied for seventh place in the prestigious Trans-Miss Amateur Championship in 2021. He will compete in this year’s tournament as well.
local tournament chair and DCC member.
The Denver Country Club was formed in 1887 and is the oldest country club west of the Mississippi River. Originally located at Overland Park as a club focusing on horse racing, it was one of the original 15 clubs that formed the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association. In 1901 the club changed its name from the Overland Park Association to the Denver Country Club and in 1905 moved its location to its present Cherry Creek location.
The Trans-Mississippi is part of the recently formed Elite Summer Amateur Series composed of seven of the oldest and well-known amateur tournaments in the nation representing 680 years of championship golf. The other tournaments include the North South Amateur, the Pacific Coast Amateur, and the Northeast Amateur.
Local Favorite: Jackson Klutznick was the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado Tour Championship winner in 2018. He was also the 2019 Denver Country Club Men’s Champion. He is the son of John and Heather Klutznick, Denver Country Club members.
When the DCC hosted its first Trans-Mississippi championship in 1910 amateurs generally reigned over the world of golf. The DCC also hosted at the same time a tournament for professionals, but it was subsidiary to the amateur championship. Club President Frank Woodward was de-
termined to rule American golf. He felt he had to host the major championships at the DCC’s new course which was touted as one of the best and toughest in the country with The Golfer’s Magazine calling it “one of the best tests of skill and accuracy in the United States.”
Back in 1910, such tournaments were major social occasions with lavish balls held at the club and spectacular parties at private residences. The course proved every bit as difficult as advertised. The Denver Post noted that “players who should have done the course in less than 80 were running up scores of 100 to 120.” Only three holes of that original course remain with parts washed out in a flood in 1912 at the start of the Western Amateur held that year, and partially ruining Woodward’s plans.
The DCC has had a veritable who’s who of golf architects revise the course over the last 100 plus years, the most recent being Gil Hanse, who has also revised various US Open venues such as The Country Club outside of Boston and the Los Angeles Country Club.
One of the highlights of the 1910 Trans-Mississi
Elite Amateur Series: The 118th Trans-Mississippi Amateur Championship will be played July 5-9, 2022 at the Denver Country Club.
ppi was the rise of 19-year-old DCC youth Larry Broomfield who made it to the semi-finals against some of the best players in the country. He would dominate golf at the DCC and in Colorado for decades thereafter.
For the 2022 Trans-Mississippi, perhaps the greatest male DCC golfer since Larry Broomfield will be playing, 20-year-old Jackson Klutznick, the son of DCC members John and Heather Klutznick. A sophomore at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, he is the leading player on the university golf team and a finalist for the Jack Nicklaus Award for top collegiate player in NCAA Division III schools. He is a two-time DCC club champion and Kent Denver graduate. Klutznick has won various golf tournaments across Colorado and the United States. He first made the local papers news when at age 13 he drove a golf ball 357 yards at the DCC.
He will be facing such top players as Travis Vick who won the low amateur medal at the recent US Open at The Country Club outside of Boston, and Texas A&M star Sam Bennett. Locally another strong competitor will be Cal McCoy from Highlands Ranch who played for Denver University for three years before transferring to the University of Arizona. He finished tied 7th at last year’s Trans-Mississippi at the Windsong Farm Golf Club in Minnesota.
The tournament will be a 72-hole stroke play with the final two days cut to the top 54 players. The winner will earn points that will be applied to the PGA tournament in the fall in Bermuda.
by Charles Bonniwell | May 20, 2022 | Main Articles
But Is It Really?
by Charles C. Bonniwell
Who’s The Real King? The Denver Post insinuated that Glendale is the Car Theft Capital of the U.S. in order to hide the fact that Denver by almost all metrics is the title holder.
Glendale brands itself as “Rugbytown USA,” the capital of rugby in the United States. Forty years ago, a book by Jack E. and Patricia A. Fletcher about Glendale was titled “Colorado’s Cowtown.” Today, thanks to a front-page article on “How did Colorado become one of the worst states for vehicle theft?” by John Aguilar, featuring a picture of Glendale City Hall which went national on MSN, Glendale is being called the auto theft capital of America.
How did a town which has relatively few auto thefts from its residents and even fewer cars stolen by its residents become the auto theft capital of America? Easy, stats. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Colorado is the top state for per capita auto thefts with more than 500 vehicles per 100,000 residents. Glendale, in turn, has more auto thefts per resident than any other city in Colorado.
But Glendale, over the last four months through April, 2022, only had 79 auto thefts total which is not even a good night of auto thefts in metro Denver, which according to the Colorado Metropolitan Auto Theft Taskforce (C-MATT) the Denver metro area has on average nearly 100 vehicles stolen every day.
The article does sheepishly admit that the “unenviable designation is somewhat misleading given Glendale’s daytime influx of office workers and shoppers versus its residential population of approximately 5,200.”
“Somewhat misleading?” Glendale has a massive office and retail base compared to a small population. Pre COVID-19 pandemic, over 80,000 to 100,000 people per day came to Glendale according to Glendale city officials. The car thieves come overwhelmingly from metro Denver and steal cars of residents of metro Denver. As a practical matter since Glendale has only two single family homes, a large number of its residents take public transportation or ride shares and don’t even own cars to steal.
Why then stigmatize Glendale? Denver itself is, in fact, the auto theft capital of the United States by most metrics, but The Denver Post does not want to highlight that fact. It, in fact, can’t since it depends on the City and County government for subsidies to keep it profitable. Thus, talk about Glendale and its 79 car thefts in four months and skip over the thousands in Denver over the same period of time.
“It’s nothing new,” said Glendale Mayor Mike Dunafon. “The Denver Post and other media have at times, for decades, used Glendale as the punching bag to paper over any problems Denver is having.”
The mayor went on to state: “It’s not that we are unconcerned about the increase in auto thefts in Glendale and across the metro Denver area, but relatively speaking, car theft in Glendale happens far less than once per day on average. The changes in the state laws have resulted in car theft being viewed almost like jaywalking by some. Until the state rectifies what it has done, the problem will get worse. In Glendale and elsewhere if you are a person of modest means, having your car stolen means possibly losing your job, and making it hard to find a new job. I wish the State legislature and the justice system would care just a little bit more about the victims of car theft.”
Skyrocketing Thefts: Metro Denver saw a 107% spike in stolen vehicles from 2019 to last year.
Commander Mike Greenwald of C-MATT indicated that “97% of the people who have been arrested in the past three years for auto theft have multiple arrests for auto theft.” Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen told The Denver Gazette that: “We arrested one person six times for auto theft in 2021.” He pointed that Denver judges often release habitual car thieves to “personal recognizance” bonds, meaning they have to put up no funds and they just go back on the street and steal more cars.
An analysis of the “Colorado Crime Wave” by the Common Sense Institute in December of 2021, indicates that in Denver alone, personal recognizance bonds increased by 61% over the last two years and $0, $1 or $2 bonds by an incredible 1,879%.
Moreover, legal analyst Scott Robinson told 9News that “judges are reluctant to send car thieves to prison. Unless it’s fourth or fifth time unsuccessfully stealing cars.”
Glendale Police Captain Mike Gross indicates in Arapahoe County the backlog in the criminal system is so overwhelming that prosecutors will simply dismiss auto theft charges stati
Vehicle Theft Rate: Each of the 12 counties reviewed experienced an increase in their motor vehicle theft rate, although the range varied widely. While the motor vehicle theft rate only increased by 1% in Mesa County, it grew by more than 30% in six counties, including 46% in Pueblo, and 51% in Denver. Information obtained from the Common Sense Institute (commonsenseinstituteco.org)
ng they have more serious crimes to attend to.
Moreover, Captain Gross notes that Glendale, like almost every jurisdiction in metro Denver, has a “non-pursuit” policy where the police will not engage in a car chase for auto theft, so car thieves simply leave in the stolen car at top speed.
The Denver Post while acknowledging the complaints of law enforcement, gives strong support to the claims of so-called “reformers” such as Director of Advocacy for the ACLU Taylor Pendergrass, and State Representative Leslie Herod under the heading “Problem runs deeper.”
They blame the world-wide pandemic and problems that run deep in society. Herod stated that, “These things need to be addressed at their root cause.”
Mayor Dunafon laughed saying, “If we wait to address the car theft crisis in Denver and Colorado until we have solved all of the societal problems in the world as suggested by the Post we might just as well hand our cars over to the thieves. It would be so much easier and efficient.”
by Charles Bonniwell | May 20, 2022 | Editorials
June 28 is fast approaching which is primary day for both Democrats and Republicans. For Democrats it is no big deal. A few races with more progressives versus less progressives’ candidates, but very little controversy or heartburn. For the Republican Party it is the seismic clash between two wings of the party that has been going on for decades, and may spell the end of the Republican Party as a viable political force in the state, assuming it still is one.
Across the country, the establishment of the Republican Party personified by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and former President George W. Bush, are battling in primaries with former President Donald Trump advocates who believe the 2020 election was stolen. While today’s battle in Republican circles in Colorado has some of the same battle lines, the war is far deeper. The Colorado Republican Party has been controlled for over 50 years, if not longer, behind the scenes by businessmen like billionaire Phil Anschutz. They have always looked down their noses at the grassroots of the party who do almost all of the volunteer hard work for the party but have little money. They view them as crude and unsophisticated but then need them to till the fields like serfs in imperial Russia. To keep them in line, the Colorado Republican establishment uses a small army of consultants to whom no amount of viciousness and corruption is too much. They are always the overseers of the Colorado Republican plantation with bull whips in hand.
Pursuant to the Republican Bylaws, as re-written by the establishment, the party chair is almost all powerful over the state party organization and thus the establishment feels it must control that position. The grassroots have successfully elected the party chair in 2015 with Steve House and 2021 with Kristi Burton Brown over establishment candidates only to find the establishment was able to turn their candidates against them. In 2017 the grassroots appeared to be on the cusp of electing State Representative Susan Beckman as chair so the establishment, in a panic, went to Washington and rushed in Republican Congressman Ken Buck to be party chair. The fight for party chair was a truly dirty one by the establishment in which the grassroots believed the overseers consultants corrupted the proxy voting process and then destroyed dirty work evidence right after the election.
The Republican Party has a hybrid nomination process. You can get on the ballot if 30% or more of the delegates to the applicable assembly vote for you. Alternatively, you can pay a signature gatherer firm to get enough Republican signatures vis a vis a petition to get on the nomination ballot. It’s costly but establishment candidates far prefer it rather than having to talk and convince lowly delegates for their votes. In their view it is so much more civilized.
In this primary season, grassroots candidates won overwhelmingly in the respective congressional and state assemblies, with establishment candidates by and large gaining access to the ballot by petition. Because of a statewide referendum supported by establishment Republicans, unaffiliated voters get both a Republican and a Democrat ballot and can vote either one but not both, and the unaffiliated voters by numbers dwarf the number of Republican voters. Establishment candidates who have all the money hope by a dent of advertising dollars to overwhelm the grassroots with non-Republican voters to win the Republican nominations. If they don’t win a contest, they will refuse to contribute to any grassroots candidates in the general election and when they lose claim they were unelectable anyway in a general election.
The grassroots have indicated they have had enough and if establishment candidates win the positions, they will not do any of the grunt work to get them elected, thereby also dooming their chances in a general election. Phil Anschutz and the establishment are willing to call what they see as a bluff by the grassroots. Thus, even though with President Joe Biden having an approval rating in the 30s in Colorado, and the Republicans having their best chance in a long time, it may not make a difference. Set forth below are the key races in the Republican primary on June 28 with the leading grassroots candidates listed first in italics and the leading establishment ones in regular font so you can see on election night who prevails if you so desire.
Governor: Greg Lopez – Heidi Ganahl
U.S. Senator: Ron Hanks – Joe O’Dae
Secretary of State: Tina Peters – Pam Anderson
U.S. Rep (C.D. 3): Lauren Boebert – Don Coram
U.S. Rep (C.D. 5): Dave Williams – Doug Lamborn
U.S. Rep (C.D. 7): Laurel Imer – Erik Aadland
U.S. Rep (C.D. 8): Lori Saine – Barb Kirkmeyer
U.S. Rep (C.D. 5): Bob Lewis – Ken Buck
— Editorial Board
by Charles Bonniwell | Apr 21, 2022 | Editorials
Citizen Kane
When John L. Kane first donned the black robes of a federal court district court judge and climbed the steps of the judicial pulpit in 1977, most Colorado residents had not even been born. He was appointed by President Jimmy Carter who became known for idiosyncratic judicial picks. Eight years ago, this Editorial Board praised Judge Kane over him taking to task the Denver City Attorney’s Office over the torture case of Jamal Hunter in the city jail. He had been compared to film hero Sheriff Will Kane in the western High Noon. While Will Kane knew when to retire, apparently Judge John Kane does not. The octogenarian jurist is being compared more these days with another film protagonist, the megalomanic John Foster Kane in the film Citizen Kane.
Federal judges have, according to the U.S. Constitution, a lifetime tenure which some judges such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg took literally. It appears octogenarian Judge Kane appears to take a similar view to Justice Ginsburg for his position as a District of Colorado federal judge much to the detriment of the people Colorado. His judgement and acuity appear substantially diminished over the years and it’s getting worse. In the fall of last year, he issued an injunction stopping parents in Douglas County from exempting their children from wearing masks in public schools. The public officials and people of Douglas County had spent months fighting to free themselves from the dictatorial mandates of Tri-County Health and its somewhat crazed executive director Dr. John Douglas who singlehandedly destroyed the oldest and largest health department in the state with his mask mandates.
In September of last year, the duly elected Douglas County commissioners voted to finally be freed of Tri-County and set up its own Douglas County Health Department. The new health department issued a ruling allowing a parent or guardian to sign a written declaration exempting their children from school mask mandates.
Free at last, free at last! The children who have the least risk from COVID-19 were liberated from mask oppression at least with the consent of their parents. But while Douglas County was liberated from the malicious hands of Dr. Douglas they were unfortunately delivered into the hands of germaphobe Judge Kane. The School District with teacher union board members and nine students claimed the health department could not make health decisions for the county; that was up to an 84-year-old federal judge. He issued a highly quixotic ruling claiming under the Americans with Disabilities Act children must be masked. Once the governor declared the COVID-19 pandemic to be over it mooted the bizarre ruling but in theory Judge Kane could become his own health department.
What was pathetic about the ruling was Judge Kane’s apparent inability to even understand the federal courts’ own declarations about mask requirements. A statewide declaration had been issued saying those entering federal courtrooms in Colorado could, but were not required to wear masks, except in high COVID areas of the state. While Grand Junction was considered a high-risk, Denver was not. Directives posted on the courtroom doors of federal judges in Denver, other than Kane, correctly indicated that masks could be worn but were not required. On Kane’s courtroom door, it announced masks must be worn. A judge who cannot read and understand orders on masks probably should not be issuing mask mandates.
Kane’s most recent outrage, and there are many others, was his ruling on the effort of five Republican plaintiffs not to have their nominating process overwhelmed by unaffiliated voters who do not share their political beliefs. Kathryn Murdoch and various other Democrats has been pouring money into Colorado Republican primaries to elect ever more left leading Republicans.
“Rosebud”
In theory, in federal court the judge assigned to your case is random so that plaintiffs cannot forum shop. Whether federal judges can try to get certain cases assigned to them is less clear. The plaintiffs in the open primary challenge case were assigned to President George W. Bush appointee Chief Judge Philip A. Brimmer, considered a favorable draw. But then all of a sudden, Brimmer had a conflicting criminal trial and “abracadabra,” up pops Carter appointee Judge Kane who was generally considered the worst pick the plaintiffs could have gotten.
The Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold through the attorney general’s office filed a motion to dismiss for “lack of standing” of the plaintiffs because the Republican Party itself was not a party.
Normally a motion to dismiss for lack of standing is considered first as if granted everything else is moot. The plaintiffs had to know that Kane was itching to get them when he combined the motion to dismiss with the request for a temporary preliminary injunction on what appeared to be specious grounds. It was obvious that Judge Kane wanted to get his pound of flesh from plaintiffs’ attorney Dr. John Eastman, a bete noire to Democrats like Kane for advising Trump and speaking on January 6th at the Capitol.
Kane’s 32-page Memorandum and Order was every bit as biased as expected. On the dozens of issues, law, and fact, Kane found every one in favor of Jena Griswold and then some. It was so one-sided that a 710 KNUS radio personality leeringly read out parts of the opinion on his morning radio show (replacing Peter Boyles) various parts of opinions calling it a “b**** slap” to the plaintiffs and their counsel.
When a radio jock finds your legal opinion so biased as to be entertaining, it’s probably time to retire as a judge. Unfortunately, Judge John Kane appears to enjoy pushing Coloradans around so much they will get to carry him off the bench only after expiring and whispering “Rosebud.”
— Editorial Board
by Charles Bonniwell | Mar 18, 2022 | Editorials
The Harlem Globetrotters were just in town for a game against the Washington Generals entertaining and delighting thousands of men, women, and children. The Globetrotters won the game, something which they have been doing for 60 years. In fact, they have played the Generals close to 20,000 times and have lost on only three occasions with the last Generals victory coming in 1971. That fact has not impinged on the fun everyone has.
Why not implement a Harlem Globetrotter system for election contests in Colorado? Ever since the Democrats implemented the “Blueprint Colorado” program 20 years ago, they have through legislation or ballot initiatives manipulated the Colorado electoral process so they almost can’t lose on a statewide level. It appears (absent WWIII with Russia) a Republican red wave will be sweeping the country in 2022, at a scale not matched since the mid-terms of 1866.
If the Colorado Republicans cannot take back a single statewide office or the State Senate or House in the upcoming 2022 elections, it will prove that the Dems have controlled the system so they will never lose. So why not adopt the old Soviet system where there is only one candidate to vote for on Election Day? It could be followed by a big celebration with music, dancing, and increased rations for all. The Republicans in Colorado won’t mind, as they have let the Democrats turn the state blue without a pip of protest.
Take for example the statewide race this year for secretary of state. The present Secretary of State, Democrat Jena Griswold, is acknowledged by all as an autocratic, partisan hack who must check in with Planned Parenthood for responses to inquiries from the press. When Republican Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters took images of the Dominion voting machine for an audit of the 2020 election before it was to be wiped clean for an “update” by Dominion, Griswold had her indicted with the help of the FBI, Democrat Attorney General Phil Weiser, and Republican Mesa County District Attorney Daniel Rubinstein. Griswold then had her replaced by the former Secretary of State Wayne Willi
ams who is a Republican establishment hack.
Of course, taking images of the voting machine is not a crime so they had to come up with a bizarre 10 count indictment which apparently claims it is illegal to call the Secretary of State’s office to ask for help on election matters. Luckily, such legal jujitsu will not be needed next time a county clerk has the temerity to challenge the Secretary of State. Griswold had State Senate President Steve Fenberg introduce Senate Bill 22-153 which is rushing through the state legislature at a breakneck speed.
The bill will, inter alia, make it illegal to make images of voting machines, stop lots of classes of people running for election positions, and make it a crime for a local election official to make “knowingly false” statements about election matters. Who gets to decide in the first place if it is knowingly false? That, of course, will be your lovely government. That particularly hideous violation of the First Amendment does not apply, of course, to the Secretary of State herself.
Your remedy is at the ballot box, right? While the State Republican Party, the Denver County Republicans, and Tina Peters howled about these unconstitutional provisions, the one Republican who did not was the leading Republican candidate for the Secretary of State position Pam Anderson, who declared: “I don’t have a problem with the bill as a whole ….”
What kind of Republican is Pam Anderson? Well, the right kind, that is a Republican working to get Democrats elected. Until she took a “leave of absence” she was a Director for the Center for Technology and Civic Life. That is the Zuckerberg funded ($350 Million) organization which has been accused of bribing officials in various states including Wisconsin, Georgia, and Arizona to get Democrat Joe Biden elected President.
The only other person in the race who could possibly win, Tina Peters, was stabbed in the back by the Chairwoman of the Republican Party Kristi Burton Brown. After the partisan indictment of Peters, she sent a press release demanding that Peters withdraw from the race. The Bylaws of the Republican Party require strict neutrality by the Chair in any Republican Party primary but apparently that does apply to this Secretary of State race.
Your likely candidates for the Secretary of State race will be Jena Griswold, a Democrat, and Pam Anderson, a Republican who cheats to get Democrats elected. Why bother with an election at all? Just flip a coin and have only one candidate run. Better yet, revise SB 22-153 so that the Democrat Governor, in consultation with the Democrat Attorney General and Democrat Secretary of State, picks the one and only candidate for all elected positions in the state. Then change “Election Day” to “Soviet Celebration Day” and take the tens of millions of dollars that would have otherwise been spent on rigged elections for the greatest statewide party ever. Yes, go Globetrotters!
— Editorial Board
