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– Way of the World –
Lost Creek Guide
by Bob Grand Is civility so bad? I put Chris Scalia’s article about the relationship between his dad, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the front page of this issue of the Lost Creek Guide. No question those Supreme Court justices were often at odds on many issues, but they were still friends. We could all learn something from that. The hate for the President is so great among many that it blinds them to the issues. Listening to John Hickenlooper, Cory Gardner’s greatest sin is that he supports the President. Hickenlooper is entitled to his opinion, this is America, but Cory Gardner is one of the hardest bipartisan working United States Senator in Washington. A fact that is not disputed by very many. When we decide who to vote for, we should be looking at the issues and basing our decision on who will best represent us, all of us, with the hope that things will get accomplished. Emotions are running high this election, especially those who are beginning to realize that the President might in fact be reelected. My Trump sign mysteriously disappeared last night, but that will not stop me from voting. I have a couple of grandkids at the 3 to 5-year-old range and two daughters who have been working at the at the home teacher role. Listening to them it is clear that remote learning is not the ultimate solution. It was/is a stopgap measure. Children need the interface with their peers. That is an important part of their education. I understand the concept of concern about COVID 19, but I also understand the need to educate our children. Our educators need best address that and worry less about the political aspects of COVID 19. Many of our teachers are not thinking that way but I believe that many of the teacher union leadership groups have focused this as an opportunity to poke a stick at the President. Be careful that you have not successfully poked a stick in the eyes of many of the soccer moms you are trying to influence. The difficulties caused by COVID 19 will have long term impact on the hospitality and transportation industries. Conservatively, this will be a several year recoveries for those industries. The government needs to address that in a sensible way to help people transition through this time. At the same time, you have to be aware that COVID 19 has already cost the government more than all the expenses of World War II. The impact on the revenue streams to our major cities is going to be horrific and they have not begun to figure out what to do about it. Expecting the federal government and ultimately the rest of Americans to bail them out is not realistic. This is going to be painful as jobs are going to disappear. Not just a week or two furlough, the jobs will disappear. Union pension obligations, dependent on ongoing cash flow from city/state revenues that were at a much higher level, will default. Nobody seems to be talking about this ugly issue. An even more concerning issue for all if us is the level of federal debt already incurred and about to be increased further by another stimulus program. How are we going to repay this, and probably not we but our kids, their kids, and their kids. Actions have consequences. It is kind of like forest fires. We do not have effective forest management programs in place. Things like clearing brush and road cutting to provide fire breaks etc. It might put a whole bunch of people to work. More importantly all our insurance rates would not go up to pay for all the homes lost to the fires. In Colorado how many millions of dollars have been spent fighting the fires, not counting insurance losses, that could have been spent more productively? When will we learn? I look forward to the election ending, hopefully that will allow us to focus on what we need to do and get over the politics of hate. We have some real issues to deal with. Speaking of real issues one of favorites is RTD. We now see that RTD is laying off more people and cutting service. When will somebody ask if it would not be more cost effective to shut down RTD and give free transportation vouchers to people to use one of the rider providers services? But that might be a commonsense approach and we cannot do that. Please, whatever your party affiliation or non-affiliation, vote in this election. It is important. As always, your comments and thoughts are appreciated: publisher@lostcreekguide. com
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October 7, 2020
Weld County Regional Communications Center Earns Top Honor
WELD COUNTY, CO — The Weld County Regional Communications Center (WCRCC) has been recognized as the nation’s best public safety answering point (PSAP) by NICE Public Safety. The 2020 PSAP’S Finest Award is the second consecutive national recognition the WCRCC has earned in as many years from a public safety agency. “The effort our dispatchers put in every day to serve our residents in their time of need is critical,” Weld County Commissioner Chair Mike Freeman said. “This award exemplifies our county’s commitment to providing the quickest and best emergency response possible, and we couldn’t be prouder of our public safety communications personnel.” PSAP’s Finest Awards are given to nominees based on their accomplishments, skills and dedication to public safety. Award winners are selected by a panel of judges consisting of public safety professionals from throughout the country. According to Mike Wallace, WCRCC Director, several accomplishments in the past year were mentioned in the nomination for the award including staff’s assistance in saving six lives, the delivery of one new baby and exceeding professional standards in coordinating emergency response to two officerinvolved shootings. Training and quality improvement, the ability to handle increased call volume, improved response times and reaccreditation in 2019 by the by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED) as an Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE) also made the WCRCC stand out. “2020 has been challenging on everyone for many different reasons,” Wallace said. “For our staff to not only meet expectations but exceed them and earn this award speaks to the dedication we have as a team to continually improve in emergency response. We are honored to be recognized.” The WCRCC will be honored virtually on NICE’s Facebook Page at a later date. More information about Weld County Public Safety Communications can be found by visiting, https://www.weldgov.com/departments/public_safety_communications.
Justice Ginsberg
Cont. from Page 1 Judge Jeffrey Sutton, one of my father’s former clerks, tells a story about visiting my father at the Supreme Court on what happened to be Justice Ginsburg’s birthday. My dad had bought his old friend two dozen roses for the occasion, and Judge Sutton started teasing him, joking that there was no point to a gift like that when Justice Ginsburg had never sided with him in an important 5-4 case. My father replied, “Some things are more important than votes.” The point of this story isn’t that my father or Justice Ginsburg changed their votes to please the other, or that they pulled any punches when writing differing opinions – indeed, they are both known for their strong dissents. The point is that they didn’t let those differing and deeply held convictions undermine their dear friendship. This has already been one of the most difficult and divisive years in living memory; with Justice Ginsburg’s passing, it will become more so. Reasonable people of good faith will disagree about important issues. You and your friends will likely hold very strong, very different opinions about what course our country should take and who should lead us there. A healthy republic requires citizens to debate those issues forcefully and peacefully; a healthy society needs citizens to remember that political disagreement need not turn friends into enemies. My father and Justice Ginsburg mastered this balance. We’ll all need to do the same in the difficult months before us. It is appropriate to give the last words over to my father, words that he delivered to celebrate Justice Ginsburg’s tenth anniversary on the D.C. Circuit many years ago. My father was on the Supreme Court by then; she wasn’t yet, so he ended his roast with some sincere thoughts about their time working together. I imagine that what Dad said then is close to what he’d say today, were he here to mourn her passing: “She was the best of colleagues, as she is the best of friends. I miss her.”
