by Charles Bonniwell | Sep 28, 2022 | Editorials
We now know that Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is planning to leave the City and County of Denver for Miami, Florida, at the end of his 12 years of wreckage. It also appears that large sections of the Denver business community have decided to abandon the city as well. The Denver Post reported on August 23rd of this year that restaurants are leaving Denver due to rent hikes and labor shortages. A report from the Downtown Denver Partnership shows the downtown workers are refusing to return to work, with only half the number of office workers coming to downtown compared to 2019, thereby badly hurting Denver’s business district.
Roughly a quarter of the office building space is empty and there are even proposals to turn office buildings into apartment houses. Denver police report that arrests are down 64% over 14 years but crime is up by 50%. The homicide rate is on track to break Denver’s all time high of 100 homicides set in 1981. According to the real estate firm Redfin (and reported in the Denver Business Journal) one in every four Denver homeowners are looking to relocate out of the Denver metropolitan area. Over half of that relocation was due to concerns over, crime, as well as cost of living, taxes, and quality of schools.
Quality of schools is always a key indicator of the future health of a city. There was white flight out of Denver in the 1970s and 1980s over the school issue. The business community began to becom
e involved in Denver School board races so that the teachers’ union was not the only voice in an election. Denver began to start and implement charter and specialized schools which were highly popular with Hispanic and Asian communities. But several elections back the business community stopped funding races. As a result, the Denver School Board and the Denver schools are a mess as reported by Glen Richardson on the front page of this month’s Chronicle.
Denver’s 710 KNUS radio host Stephan Tubbs has declared that Denver is “irretrievably lost.” We are not quite so pessimistic. But we do believe that the mayor’s race this spring is, however, absolutely critical. The truly horrific Michael Hancock is finally term limited. If the choice is between a destructive social justice warrior or another high-density whore like Michael Hancock, then Denver will be in real trouble. The business community (sans high density real estate developers) needs to coalesce behind a candidate that actually cares about the many wonderful Denver neighborhoods (and not just how to destroy them); cares about downtown Denver (and not just how to make it a homeless encampment); cares about the parks and open space (and not just how to blow them up for high density projects); understands that ever increasing fees and taxes make the city ever more unaffordable to live in; understands that many Denver cultural institutions are worth preserving; and, most of all, will cause all Denverites to feel welcomed and not just always dividing everything into identity politics.
Is there such a candidate in Denver and will the business community support him or her? The future of the city is depending upon it.
— Editorial Board
by Mark Smiley | Aug 26, 2022 | Editorials
by Mark Smiley
Author: Shelly Slocum is the author of Love and Inspiration from Mom.
Shelly Slocum, a former real estate professional turned author, has released her first book, Love and Inspiration from Mom. The book which is available on Amazon reached number one new release in the self-help category.
The book includes inspirational quotes plus Slocum’s practical tips on how to apply that inspiration on a daily basis in order to live a more optimistic and happier life. “My goal is to change the world one inspired person at a time,” said Shelly Slocum, author of Love and Inspiration from Mom. “I do think most people would like to lead a more inspired and optimistic life; it’s hard to do that when you are in the midst of all the struggles we go through. This just gives you some inspiration every day and some practical tips on what you can do today no matter what you’re going through to live that inspired life. I think people are thirsty for a little love and inspiration.”
The inspiration for the book came six years ago when her eldest daughter lived through a torturous experience. “Fortunately, I was in a position with my real estate business that I could drop everything and hand it off to my business partner and she kept my business going,” said Slocum. “I went out to California where my daughter was living and literally helped her get out of bed every day for weeks. It was a very traumatic time but when she was strong enough to go back to work, I would send her an inspirational quote every morning in a text and then I would add a couple of tips on how she could apply that in her day and then signed it ‘Love, Mom.’ I would do that every day for months. She told me I needed to put this in a book because not everybody has somebody that can do that for them when they’re down.”
Life has come with many challenges and blessings. As a non-smoking lung cancer survivor, Slocum believes she has been given the gift of time and has made it her mission to spread more love and inspiration in the world, and to be the spark that helps people change their lives for the better.
So far, reviews have been positive from those who have read it. “I love this book!,” said Cindy Gotchey. “The quotes and Shelly’s insight and interpretation of each are a thing of beauty. I have read a lot of self-help books and daily inspirationals and this is as good or better than any I have read. Shelly’s life outlook is
Self-Help Book: Love and Inspiration from Mom is available on amazon.com and Barnes & Noble and reached #1 for new books in the self-help category.
inspiring!” “I believe everyone who reads these treasures of wisdom and daily gems will find joy, hope, and a deep breath of peace like I did,” said Barb Haines.
“This book helped me feel the intricacies and depths of love, from the love of a daughter to the love of one’s self,” said Karen Grimm. “Shelly’s interpretation of these meaningful quotes filled a gap in my heart where I’ve been missing my mom’s guidance and encouragement since she passed away. I can’t wait to share this treasure with my own daughters!”
Jack Canfield, co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series wrote the foreword for Love and Inspiration from Mom and describes it as a “warm hug in a book!” “When we wrote Chicken Soup for the Soul, our mission was to change the world one story at a time,” said Jack Canfield in the Foreword. “That’s the power of Love and Inspiration from Mom; together we are making the world a better place one story and one inspired person at a time.”
Having Canfield write the Foreword gave the book a definite boost in sales and the two-hour book signing at Barnes & Noble in Glendale the weekend of July 16 was a success.
Slocum has been married to her high school sweetheart for 39 years and has two daughters. She now savors the ultimate reward for parenting which is being MiMi to her three grandchildren. To connect with Shelly, please visit her website: www.love andinspiration.org.
by Charles Bonniwell | Jul 22, 2022 | Editorials
Phil Anschutz
The extraordinary party primary season wrapped up on June 28, 2022. In Colorado, practically only the Republican Party continues to hold contested primaries. When a political seat opens many Democrats will enter but by the time of the primary only one candidate runs in the final primary. There are exceptions of course. In Congressional District 3 there was a battle to take on Republican and current Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, which was won by Adam Frisch, and in State House District 6 radically progressive Elizabeth Epps nosed out run of the mill progressive Katie March.
But the Republican primary is the only contested game in town for many positions, so everyone plays in it from Republicans to Democrats to unaffiliated voters and donors. If you are an unaffiliated voter in Colorado, you get both Republican and Democratic primary ballots but can only vote one.
The unaffiliated voters are the biggest group in the state, dwarfing Republicans and Democrats. It used to be that the unaffiliated voted more often in the Democrat primary but in 2022, with few actual choices in the Democrat primary, they flooded into the Republican primary. In some counties there were more unaffiliated voters in the Republican primary than Republicans. In the 3rd Congressional District over 3,000 Democrats re-registered as unaffiliated so they could vote against Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, and for teacher union’s favorite Republican, State Sen. Don Coram.
Earlier in the primary season at the assembly level, grassroots Republicans routed the establishment Republicans funded by Colorado’s richest man, billionaire Phil Anschutz. Republican leaders like Congressman Ken Buck and State House leader Hugh McKean almost didn’t make the ballot. Other leading establishment Republicans simply paid canvassing firms to petition to get on the final primary ballot as allowed by Colorado law.
The Republican grassroots candidates seldom have any money while the establishment candidates have the millions of dollars Phil Anschutz is willing to contribute. But this year, money poured in for grassroots Republicans from national Democratic groups on the theory that the Republican grassroots candidates would be easier to beat in the general. Never in the history of Colorado politics had so much money been spent for primaries.
On primary day with unaffiliated voters flooding into the Republicans, it was a Phil Anschutz wave. Virtually every establishment candidate won, and every grassroots candidate lost, often by narrow margins. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert who was endorsed by Former President Donald Trump won but she had long made peace with the establishment when she went to Washington.
Normally Republicans must depend on their volunteers to help get out the message and the vote, but many of those people are grassroots. For Anschutz no problem. He has indirectly gotten Victor’s Canvassing out of Colorado Springs to hire people at $15 to $30 an hour to go door to door this election cycle.
Where does that leave grassroots Republicans? Up the creek without a paddle as usual since Phil Anschutz started playing in Colorado politics decades ago and probably well before. In the general election you can vote Democrat or Anschutz Democrat light or go third party. The choice is yours.
by Mark Smiley | Jun 26, 2022 | Editorials
by Mark Smiley
Air Force Memorial: Paul Smiley, who served in the Air Force from 1968-1972, enjoyed visiting the Air Force Memorial on the 101st Honor Flight Chicago on May 11, 2022. The Memorial is located in Arlington County, Virginia, on the former grounds of the Navy Annex near The Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial: One of the highlights of the trip was the visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the most visited memorial on the National Mall. Most of the veterans on Honor Flight Chicago 101 were Vietnam veterans so this stop was especially important to them.
F-100: The last stop on the tour was the Udvar-Hazy Center, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport. Paul Smiley poses in front of one of the planes he worked on while serving in the Air Force in Clovis, New Mexico. The F-100 Super Sabre was developed from the F-86 and was the world’s first fighter capable of supersonic speed in level flight.
Honor Guard: The U.S. Marine Corps Honor Guard performed for the veterans near the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
This July, we celebrate Independence Day. I had the opportunity to celebrate a day of patriotism a little early as I accompanied my father to Washington, D.C., on the 101st Honor Flight Chicago. It was one of the most memorable and rewarding experiences of my life.
My dad, Paul Smiley, served in the Air Force from 1968-1972, during the peak of the Vietnam War. He was stationed in Clovis, New Mexico, and although he never went to Vietnam, he served our country honorably for four years. And for this, he was treated to a day of patriotism, appreciation, and honor on May 11, 2022.
Honor Flight Chicago’s mission is to honor, thank, and inspire by building awareness and appreciation of the debt of gratitude America owes its veterans for their service and sacrifice for our nation. “A lot of veterans come into the day thinking it is just a sightseeing trip but when they come back, they realize that was the sixth most important thing about the day,” said Doug Meffley, Co-Director, Honor Flight Chicago. “It’s really about our eternal gratitude from a grateful nation.”
The day starts early. Veterans and their guardians are asked to arrive at Chicago Midway by 4 a.m. the day of the flight. The entire morning is well organized and a team of volunteers are deployed in every corner to make check-in smooth. A special streamlined TSA line, Southwest Airline’s chartered flight, and other surprises along the way made the morning seem to fly by. All told, over 1,000 volunteers are in Honor Flight Chicago’s rolodex with 200-300 helping each flight.
The centerpiece of the programming is the day of honor in Washington, D.C., visiting the memorials built in tribute to the service of veterans from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. This trip is provided at no cost to the veteran and is intended as a heartfelt thank you for their service and sacrifice from a grateful nation.
“All that we hear from our Vietnam veterans is thank you for this healing and closure, righting this wrong, when I was welcomed home with open animosity 50 years ago,” said Meffley. “That gratitude factor is the future of our movement.”
“Honor Flight Chicago brought many emotions to me as I shared the experience with my son [Chronicle Executive Editor Mark Smiley] who served as my guardian,” said Paul Smiley, Air Force Veteran, 1968-1972. “Visiting the memorials throughout Washington, D.C., paying homage to our fallen heroes, and to those traveling with us who served our country was awe inspiring and memorable.”
The emotions that filled me were profound and will last a lifetime. The chance to be able to spend the day with my dad and over 110 other heroes who served our country was one of the best experiences of my life. And that emotion is something Meffley experiences for a living. “I say thank you as a profession,” said Meffley. “It is the most rewarding and fulfilling work that I’ve ever had. For me, it feels like a stronger connection to my own family’s history in the military. I never served but this is my way of giving back to my family members who did serve.”
The typical waiting period after applying to go on the flight is two to three years for a Vietnam veteran. World War II and Korean War veterans go to the front of the line. Some veterans such as my dad who did not see conflict, initially felt they didn’t deserve this day of honor. “Our firm stance is that if you served during a period of war, you deserve our thanks,” said Meffley. “By and large, you did not choose where you were assigned. You went into the service during a time of war, you were just as eligible as the next person to end up as a grunt on the ground in Vietnam. Our view is that all of them deserve our thanks and honor. It does take some convincing. We are not always successful to get veterans to fly but we find once they come back, we often hear I never thought I was a hero or I never did anything worth thanking but my view has changed after this day.”
I can attest that each of the 111 veterans on our flight was treated the same and with the honor and respect they deserve. And when friends of mine learned of me coming to the city where I grew up to experience this with my dad, they wanted to send their own message to my dad who they have known for 35 years.
“Thank you for your service to our great country,” said Andrew McKenna, family friend of Paul Smiley. “It is the sacrifices and challenging work that patriots like you and your fellow servicemembers made and continue to make that allow us to have this precious freedom.”
“This is a special honor for you to not only reflect on your experiences,” but to also celebrate your accomplishments,” said Robert Paetsch, family friend of Paul Smiley. “Your dedication to our country, your community, the church, your students, and your family have lifted us all.”
A little-known fact is that every flight, they travel with a flag box full of photos of veterans who did not live to exper
WWII Memorial: Paul Smiley, left, and Mark Smiley at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. The WWII Memorial opened in 2004 and honors the 16 million who served in the armed forces of the U.S., the more than 400,000 who died, and all who supported the war effort from home.
ience their own Day of Honor. Some of those veterans never came home from battle. As Honor Flight Chicago 100 alum Glenn Taras said, “This is for those who didn’t make it home … to keep their memories alive.”
With the welcomed support of generous donors and a caring public, Honor Flight Chicago intends to continue its mission to include veterans of wars — past, present, and future — as they recognize the bravery, determination, and patriotism of our veterans.
There are 130 HUBs around the country. Honor Flight Chicago will fly any veteran from the country so long as they can arrive at Chicago Midway Airport by 4 a.m. the day of the flight. For more information, visit www.honorflightchicago.org or to find an Honor Flight near you, visit www.honorflight.org.
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
