Day of Service
I want to thank the entire community for supporting High Country Volunteers’ first ever 9/11 Day of Service. We had 354 community members and 1,795 students volunteer that day for a total of 5,285.75 hours of service. Through our community-wide events we packaged and delivered 1,250 pediatric activity kits to 13 hospitals nationwide and we packaged 95,040 meals that were delivered to the Food Bank of the Rockies. It was such an amazing day!
Our 9/11 Day of Service would not have been possible without our amazing sponsors. A special thanks to: AmeriCorps, Youth Service America, Alpine Bank, Holy Cross Energy, Grand River Health, Glenwood Springs Parks and Recreation, FirstBank, Bethel Party Rentals, DJ Benny, Walmart and Target. We’re already looking forward to hosting the event again next year. Thank you!
Mary Moon
Carbondale
Who you gonna trust?
While the internet has long allowed misinformation to proliferate, the problem is even worse now with the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) generating misinformation that is starting to overwhelm the internet. This misinformation is coming from both the right and the left. This is all tied to the ability to inspire fear in the readers (something that AI-generated content is particularly good at), prompting them to click on links to get even more fear and validation of that fear. The constant clicking of links can up the advertising revenue of social media providers, or it could serve the purpose of foreign powers seeking to destabilize our democracy. In either case, the outcome is bad.
So how do you break this cycle and get accurate information? By getting your news from reliable news sources, not social media.
What are reliable news sources? Sources that actually check the factual accuracy of content before publishing it. How do you know which sources do that? Newsguardtech.com is an organization (founded by journalists) that provides that service by vetting the factual accuracy of news sources. Before you think this is a left wing ploy, please note that they do it for both left and right leaning news sources and there are good and bad ones on both sides. They are rated on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being the best.
Here are some credible news sources with scores of 85 to 100: Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Denver Post, NBC News, The National Review, Christian Science Monitor, CBS News, New York Times and The American Conservative.
Some not so reliable news sources with scores between 65 and 80: ABC News, New York Post and Fox News
And some unreliable news sources with scores under 50: MSNBC and Breitbart.
I urge you to unplug from your social media accounts and go to these news sources with scores of at least 80 or better instead. And sample both sides (I regularly read the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal).
Jerome Dayton
Carbondale
Will’s record
Have you wondered why Perry Will is not talking about his voting record?
“I don’t want to get into the whole library thing; that’s a huge issue,” Will, Garfield County District 2 commissioner candidate, said in a recent interview with The Sopris Sun. Apparently he doesn’t want to get into this huge issue because his position is not popular with voters here.
Will voted against the recent bill to protect Colorado’s libraries against partisan book bans (SB24-216). He also agreed with the county commissioners’ decision to take control over the process of selecting trustees for our library board.
Will has a boatload of unpopular and extreme votes that he would probably prefer we not know about. He voted against a bill to ensure that contraception and abortion remain legal in Colorado (HB22-1279) and against a bill to protect Colorado doctors from criminal prosecution if they provide reproductive healthcare to people from other states.
He voted against protecting the rights of mobile home park residents (HB24-1294), against allowing graduates to wear a sash of cultural significance at their graduation ceremony (HB24-1323), against aid to homeless higher education students (HB24-1403) and the list goes on and on.
To top it off, Will voted in favor of formally thanking those who participated in the January 6 attack on our country.
There’s no better way to evaluate a candidate than reviewing their past actions and votes. Will would prefer that voters “not get into” his voting record. I urge you to do so anyway.
Caitlin Carey has a strong record on New Castle Town Council of listening and responding to her constituents, including fighting for affordable housing for families and essential workers, supporting local law enforcement and taking action to preserve Garfield County’s water rights.
The choice is clear. Will is not in tune with Garfield County residents. Caitlin Carey is.
Debbie Bruell
Carbondale
Eighteen and voting
In my freshman year of high school one of the first things I was taught was how to examine a website for factual inaccuracies and bias. I learned to read between the lines and analyze potential biases to uncover the truth behind the content. However, this is often challenging. Confirmation bias and the pandering of certain media outlets to specific viewpoints have become alarmingly prevalent and hard to escape. This is why libraries and unrestricted access to books are more important than ever.
I am deeply concerned about the Garfield County commissioners’ decision to take control of selecting library trustees. Previously, the library board itself selected new members, but now the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) has made it so they are the authority in choosing trustees. This change is troubling and the BOCC has not provided a clear explanation as to why they altered the process, raising concerns that the shift could be politically motivated.
I strongly believe politics should not play a role in our libraries, as it risks leading to polarization and censorship through government interference. With book banning on the rise, we should be focusing on safeguarding universal access to information. Yet it seems the commissioners disagree, as they sent a directive to the library board last fall to begin restricting access to certain books.
As an 18 year old, I now have the opportunity to influence issues I care about by voting. I hope you will join me in supporting the two county commissioner candidates who oppose censorship and value free access to information in our libraries: Caitlin Carey and Steven Arauza.
Isla Brumby Nelson
Glenwood Springs
What would JC do?
I wonder …
Would he be okay with a local nonprofit organization called Habitat for ‘Humanity,’ the City of Glenwood Springs, the County of Garfield, the Village of Snowmass and the Roaring Fork School District being a part of displacing current residents in Glenwood Springs?
I wonder.
I wonder why the apartment building in Glenwood Springs has not been publicly named by Habitat for ‘Humanity’ … hmmm? Is it because the tenants of this unnamed apartment building have not been told that they may be displaced at the end of their leases?
Hmmm … I wonder?
I wonder … What would JC think about this?
What will these tenants do, who, for a plethora of reasons, may not be able to purchase their units at the end of their leases? How will they feel as they are being displaced by their local city and county governments, their local school district, their local nonprofit organization, a nearby village and, perhaps, Aspen itself?
I wonder what JC would think about that.
And I wonder how many of you think that tenants will not be DISPLACED based upon some quotes in the local papers without basis?
Because, the truth, the real truth and nothing but the truth, is: If current tenants cannot purchase their units at the end of their leases … they will be DISPLACED.
What would JC think about that? Of course I mean Jimmy Carter … or Jim Callaway … or, well, you fill in the initials.
There is a better way.
K. M. Greenwood
Glenwood Springs
Hearing Hurd
I don’t usually write letters to either Post Independent or The Sopris Sun as I feel everyone has an opinion on most things. I happen to have been in contact with one of the candidates who is running in place of Lauren Boebert. There is a person running for her replacement in the Third Congressional District. This man is a family man and he has stated that he believes in Colorado. His Name is Jeff Hurd.
He has stated over the phone and on his placards that he believes in America, he believes in the Citizens of Colorado and he has not said much about Aspen-based opponent Adam Frisch. He believes in healthcare for Colorado citizens. He believes in children and teachers who will stand up to some of the people in Congress who are okay with changing children’s identity. He is against this horrible inflation we have been subjected to. He wants the country’s gas and oil turned back on.
Frisch has put on a TV show of Hurd being a terrible person. I have come to believe that people will lie about someone and know that what they are saying is a lie. If that is the only way Frisch can get there, then vote for someone else. Thank you for your time. Let’s send someone that is honest and will try to make things better in Colorado.
Audrey Jane Spaulding
Carbondale
Trump the hypnotist
An important fact to be aware of, as the election looms, is when Donald Trump commented in 2016 that “I could shoot a person on 5th Avenue and not lose a single supporter,” he was letting us know that he is using hypnosis to influence Americans. Hypnosis also explains his exhausting, 11-year schedule of in-person rallies. Research the words “Trump hypnosis” and find that experts know Donald Trump as a master hypnotist! The description of the book “Comply With Me” by Lisa Morgan, reads: “We must acknowledge the power of hypnosis and make everyone aware of how it works.”
His beauty contest in Moscow in 2013 and meeting with Putin was special. FBI Director James Comey wrote, “Trump had seemed obsessed with the idea of meeting the Russian president.” In June 2013, Trump tweeted, “Do you think Putin will be going to the Miss Universe Pageant in November in Moscow — if so, will he become my new best friend?” Donald returned from the Russia pageant a changed man. That Sunday, Oct. 10, 2013, Trump tweeted, “I just got back from Russia [—] learned lots [and] lots. Moscow is a very interesting and amazing place!” Putin had two days to hypnotize Trump and teach him how to hypnotize the masses. Consider our Democracy and Independence. Vote for Kamala Harris — a gal that can make Putin eat his words.
John Hoffmann
Carbondale