Re: CATS
CATs (Cats Aren’t Trophies) seems clueless. You know the CATs people. They put a question on the November ballot asking voters to ban mountain lion hunting in Colorado.
In a letter to the editor on Aug. 22, one CATs supporter wrote: “It is essential for citizens to exercise our democratic rights to ensure that our wildlife policies reflect our values.” Let’s see, what should Colorado Parks and Wildlife use in setting policy? Science, experience, observation and research, or community values?
Lynn “Jake” Burton
Glenwood Springs
GarCo endorsements
A small fringe group is pushing for censorship in Garfield County’s libraries — and I’m appalled that some current elected officials have jumped on the bandwagon! In light of their current election bids, please consider the following:
At a commission meeting, would-be book banners attacked the highly-respected American Library Association, claiming it has a “climate agenda” and “all the Marxist agendas.” Commissioner Mike Samson responded, “You have your facts down. May God bless you for saying what you said today.” The three commissioners then seized power over the selection of library trustees.
State Senator Perry Will (now running for the county commission) voted AGAINST a common-sense proposed state law to protect libraries from partisan book-banning battles. The law PASSED. It requires that libraries establish and follow professional standards for deciding what books should be in collections. Why would Will have opposed this new law?
If you want to ensure that the commission does not fill the library board of trustees and other boards with people who would limit our reading and other of our personal choices, elect Caitlin Carey and Steven Arauza to the Garfield County Commission. Carey and Arauza believe that government officials should not be in the business of telling people what they can and cannot read, and they will propose and support other measures that encourage a civil society. Vote for Carey and Arauza this November.
Sue Edelstein
Carbondale
Bears
Bear activity has increased dramatically this summer in Carbondale. Just take an early morning walk around town and you just might happen to see what I and others have been noticing: overturned trash containers with contents spilled out, along with piles of scat. For the past month I have repeatedly taken photos of trash spilled onto the sidewalks and in the streets. I have sent these photos to the Town’s ordinance officer. He assured me he would contact the owners and/or put orange stickers on the cans, citing a violation that could result in a hefty fine.
But the Town is only able to finance one ordinance officer and it’s a hefty job to try to enforce it. Carbondale uses a single-hauler trash company, Waste Management and Recycling. According to our mayor, “Part of the reasoning behind this was to make sure everyone had access to bear-resistant containers with no excuses.”
Homeowners who chose not to purchase one were advised to keep their containers in a secure area such as a garage or shed and not put their trash out before 6am on trash day. If you live within the city limits, trash day is every Tuesday. When I emailed the mayor about this problem he responded with, “It sounds like the issue you’re identifying is that people put their trash out on pickup day and then the trash gets knocked over. I’m not sure how we can prevent this.” I responded back that it wasn’t pickup day. It was Thursday!
I believe that we all have a responsibility to let our friends and neighbors know the consequences of not adhering to the ordinance. Please educate them in a non-threatening way to keep their trash inside until pickup day. Landlords, please let your tenants know and if possible purchase a bear-proof container if trash can’t be contained. If this doesn’t work then take a photo with the address and text it to the ordinance officer at 970-987-6503 or let one of the police sergeants know. You can also contact someone on the Town’s staff. The ordinance is a great idea but difficult to enforce, and the bears are only going to continue to return to trash as their food source. Unfortunately, the consequences of not adhering to the rules may cost you some dollars but for the bears the cost will be a death sentence.
Amy Krakow,
Carbondale
DNC delusions
Joy and hope, fairy dust and unicorn farts. What a perfect message to captivate low-information, sound-bite voters. The Democratic National Convention was full of generic platitudes but glaringly anemic on specific policy substance.
Kamala’s fixation on ignoring the past and joyfully hoping for change is in fact a damnation of her past 1,300-plus days in the White House. Crime, illegal immigration and cumulative inflation are the direct result of Harris/Biden policies.
Kamala blames Trump for squashing a sham border bill that would have codified 1,800,000 “migrants” to invade our country annually. She was the border tsar who kept spewing a false tale of security that abetted the unlawful entrance of over 10 million foreigners. She was the deciding vote that greenlighted the excess spending fueling inflation. And on crime, she released felons in California who later raped and murdered while supporting Soros-backed district attorneys that routinely release criminals who reoffend.
So, I guess if I had Kamala’s record of failure, I’d also want folks to forget about the past. Let’s hope voters remember in November and vote on reality instead of hopeful fairy dust and joyous unicorn farts.
Bruno Kirchenwitz
Rifle
Climate films
The Carbondale Library was the location of our first Climate Change Documentaries and Film Festival. In many ways it was a real eye-opener showing and telling us things about Mother Earth that are affecting us… not just the USA, but the entire world. We must find peace and work together to stop global warming. We need to educate everyone about global warming. We can do things that will positively affect the vast majority of people alive today and those not yet born. We can all help in some way. Some may be able to do small things, some huge.
Dr. Seuss wrote “The Lorax,” a children’s book, many years ago. He gave us all a great message:
Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better.
It’s not.
I know we care. We must learn and put what we know, learn and care about into action.
If you missed our first session on Saturday, Aug. 24, where we learned a lot about our earth and the causes of global warming, I want you to know the name of the main documentary we saw at our last meeting. It will help you understand why the things we do will do so much to help the situation. The name of the documentary is “The Science of Our Planet” and it can be found on Netflix or YouTube. You can sit for an hour in awe of what you experience.
In case you misplaced your schedule:
Aug. 31 will cover transportation and climate change
Sept. 7 will cover energy and climate change
Sept. 14 will cover food and climate change
Sept. 21 will cover militarism and climate change
Sept. 28 will cover activism, politics and climate change
The program will be from 4:30 to 6:30pm each week at the Carbondale Library, and we really look forward to action through education.
Wendy Draina
Carbondale
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