The Tributary Where opinions & knowledge flow!
105 Woodward Avenue • PO Box 581 • Keenesburg, CO 80643 303-732-4080 • thetributaryeditor@gmail.com
Volume 10 Issue 41
In This Issue:
October 16, 2019
* Page 2 * Page 4
Available by Subscription
Fort Lupton Boot Scoot Fund Raiser Keene Clinic Polka Fest Fundraiser Pics
Cooke: The Case Against Colorado’s Proposition CC
drawn on our pocketbooks, with zero accountability, that would permaBy Amy Oliver Cooke This November, Colorado voters will decide the fate of a deceptively nently cripple our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. It deserves an overwhelming worded measure — Proposition CC, a blank check for a tax increase “NO” vote. For those who aren’t familiar with our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, also known as TABOR, it’s simple. TABOR promotes transparent, consensual and good, fair government. Ever since voters approved it in 1992, this constitutional amendment has been an indispensable voter check and balance on state government growth. TABOR provides reasonable limitations on revenue collection (population growth plus inflation) and general government debt. The annual Keene Clinic fund raiser was held at the Keene Clinic If government wants to grow, all it has to do is ask voters. Coloradans Fund raiser was held at the SE Weld Fair Grounds. A good turnout for are lucky to live in a state in which we get to decide on the size and scope the excellent food, dancing to the Polka Nuts, and lots of silent auction of government. items. As usual the bake sale had a multitude of things to take home. I First, there is no budget crisis. am not sure calorie free, but a very good variety. A great job by the volTABOR frustrates some legislators because it keeps them from wildly unteers and thank you to the sponsors who donated so much. spending our families’ hard-earned tax dollars without our consent. Nevertheless, legislators do find ways to circumvent TABOR. Even though voters have rejected six statewide tax increases over the last several years, in the past decade our state budget has grown 71% while population is up only 15%. No wonder the Denver Post agrees we don’t have a budget crisis, and no wonder we Coloradans love our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. Polling shows 71% of Coloradans support TABOR. We want to keep some control of our state’s economic destiny, which is one of the strongest in the nation thanks to voters and TABOR. Second, the ballot language claims that Prop CC will help fund Colorado’s roads and schools without a tax increase. That’s false. When the government keeps more of our money and spends it, it’s a tax increase. Current projections indicate that Proposition CC’s passage would cost taxpayers $1.3 billion in refunds over the next three years alone. For some families, that’s hundreds of dollars. Coloradans have repeatedly rejected statewide tax hikes because we want our government to be more efficient with the $32.5 billion budget it already receives. Prop CC would cripple TABOR. There’s no sunset. It would take away our TABOR tax refunds forever and would take away our right to vote on TABOR tax refunds — forever. Make no mistake, despite what proponents and the ballot language says, Prop CC is a forever tax increase meant to destroy TABOR. Finally, Prop CC is also a blank check. State House Speaker KC Becker (D-Boulder) admitted in a committee hearing earlier this year that there is no guarantee that Proposition CC’s money will go toward roads and schools in the future. There’s no real accountability. Legislators like Rep. Becker want to gut TABOR, so they can keep our TABOR tax refunds forever and spend our money however they want. In 2005, Coloradans narrowly approved Referendum C. That money was supposed to fund many of the things that Proposition CC would purportedly fund. But the legislature didn’t abide by the spirit of Ref C because lawmakers didn’t have to. Former State Treasurer Mark Hillman and I wrote “State Budget Scrutiny Reveal Ref C Shuffle” and found that programs NOT identified as beneficiaries of Ref C dollars grew twice as fast as education and health care. Worse still, higher ed got starved in the process. Cont. on Page 4, See Cooke on Proposition CC
Keene Clinic Annual Polka Fest Fund Raiser at the South East Weld Fair Grounds
Postmaster: Send address change to The Tributary Box 581, Keenesburg, CO 80643 Periodicals Postage Pending at Keenesburg, CO
Periodical
PAGE 2
T H E T R I B U TA R Y
Fort Lupton Boy’s & Girls Club Boot Scoot Fundraiser
The room was packed Saturday night for the 5th annual Boot Scoot benefitting the Boys & Girls Club of Weld County-Fort Lupton Clubhouse. The Fort Lupton Clubhouse opened five years ago due to the vision and generosity of the Fort Lupton City, School District RE-8, the FL BGC Community Advisory Board, local businesses and generous community donors. The Boot Scoot is an annual local fundraiser created to thank the community for their support, celebrate the work and contribution of this well-known and respected youth development organization and raise funds needed to continue the programming and experiences provided. The Fort Lupton Youth of the Month for 2019 clubhouse kids were honored guests at the beginning of the program. They were recognized for their contributions to the club culture of contribution and participation underscoring the importance and impact of a Boys & Girls Club to our community. The Fort Lupton was given the title “Fun Lupton” during its first year. BGC after school and summer programs are proven to benefit children in supporting academics, character and leadership, the arts, and healthy living while also supporting families in employment and security, knowing their child is in a safe environment. The clubhouse strives to create community, belonging and connection-the critical challenge and task of our time. The 2019 Wrangler of the Year award was given to the Tom and Alice Holton, Rosalie and Henry Martinez, and Tom and Gerri Holton families. These families were recognized for their years-long support and commitment to the Fort Lupton clubhouse and their belief in the strengths and lived values of the Lupton community. The evening was highlighted with an amazing steak dinner provided by Halliburton. Special thanks to the cooks, Sam and Charlie for their culinary skills and generosity in supporting our Boot Scoot for several years. Thanks also to the High School culinary class for the decadent cheesecakes! Music and dancing to the magic of Ritchie Law and his band set the mood for celebration. Jerry Bangert, local auctioneer led the special appeal, live auction and auction chicken (you’d have to be there! ) Live auction items were donated by the Fort Lupton Fire Station, Art Samson, Leslie Jewelers and an anonymous donor. Our great appreciation to all the businesses that donated to our successful silent auction. Many thanks to the CAB committee, Isabel Zapien, Amber and Jay Mendoza, Jessica Holbrook and Travis Hitt, the CAB membership and CEO Terry Adams for their planning and executing a successful event. Special thanks to the event sponsors, Bank of Colorado, United Power, Dales Pharmacy, Halliburton, Knights of Columbus, Cureton Midstream, Henry and Rosalie Martinez, Arlen and Julie Engbarth and Helen and Frank Zadel. Without their generosity, Boot Scoot would not have been possible. Every aspect of community life in Fort Lupton has had a hand in providing this opportunity for our young people to grow, learn and belong in a Boys and Girls Club community that cares and values its people.
October 9, 2019
TRIVIA What is the Napa Valley most famed for? WINE What Cole Porter classic promises: “Act the fool, play the calf, and you’ll always have the last laugh”? BE A CLOWN What city was Arthur Fiedler born in? BOSTON What was the first animated movie casted entirely with animals? BAMBI Which did the scenic artists for Bambi use oil or tempera paints? OIL PAINTS What three endurance events make up the triathlon? CYCLYING, RUNNING, SWIMMING What country contains the five highest mountains in Central America? GUATEMALA What Bee Gees biggie wonders: “How can you stop the rain from falling down?”? HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART What Mouseketeer played Alice at the opening of Disneyland’s Alice in Wonderland? KAREN What night was Walt Disney Presents moved to for the 1960-61 TV season? SUNDAY NIGHT How is the binary number 1010 represented in the decimal system? 10 What ship docks at Fowler’s Harbor in Disneyland? THE COLUMBIA What Disney heroine earned her name by sitting next to the fireplace to keep warn? CINDERELLA What lymphatic glands protect the throat from infection? ADENOIDS What pioneering baseball executive was named The Brain? BRANCH RICKEY
October 9, 2019
Also on This Day
ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY 1923 Walt Disney Company is founded SPORTS 1996 A stampede of soccer fans before a World Cup qualifying match in Guatemala City kills 84 people and seriously injures more than 100. 1980S 1987 In an event that had viewers around the world glued to their televisions, 18-month-old Jessica McClure is rescued after being trapped for 58 hours in an abandoned water well in Midland, Texas. WORLD WAR II 1946 At Nuremberg, Germany, 10 highranking Nazi officials are executed by hanging for their crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, and war crimes during World War II. FRANCE 1793 Nine months after the execution of her husband, the former King Louis XVI of France, Marie Antoinette follows him to the guillotine. VIETNAM WAR 1973 Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese diplomat Le Duc Tho are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the Paris peace accords. U.S. PRESIDENTS 1854 An obscure lawyer and Congressional hopeful from the state of Illinois named Abraham Lincoln delivers a speech regarding the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which Congress had passed five months earlier. ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY 1854 Celebrated writer Oscar Wilde is born 1847 Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre” is published in London CRIME 1991 Twenty-three diners massacred at Texas restaurant
T H E T R I B U TA R Y
PAGE 3
This Day in History - October 16, 1934 The Long March
The embattled Chinese Communists break through Nationalist enemy lines and begin an epic flight from their encircled headquarters in southwest China. Known as Ch’ang Cheng—the “Long March”—the retreat lasted 368 days and covered 6,000 miles, nearly twice the distance from New York to San Francisco. Civil war in China between the Nationalists and the Communists broke out in 1927. In 1931, Communist leader Mao Zedong was elected chairman of the newly established Soviet Republic of China, based in Jiangxi province in the southeast. Between 1930 and 1934, the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek launched a series of five encirclement campaigns against the Soviet Republic. Under the leadership of Mao, the Communists employed guerrilla tactics to resist successfully the first four campaigns, but in the fifth, Chiang raised 700,000 troops and built fortifications around the Communist positions. Hundreds of thousands of peasants were killed or died of starvation in the siege, and Mao was removed as chairman by the Communist Central Committee. The new Communist leadership employed more conventional warfare tactics, and its Red Army was decimated. With defeat imminent, the Communists decided to break out of the encirclement at its weakest points. The Long March began at 5:00 p.m. on October 16, 1934. Secrecy and rear-guard actions confused the Nationalists, and it was several weeks before they realized that the main body of the Red Army had fled. The retreating force initially consisted of 86,000 troops, 15,000 personnel, and 35 women. Weapons and supplies were borne on men’s backs or in horse-drawn carts, and the line of marchers stretched for 50 miles. The Communists generally marched at night, and when the enemy was not near, a long column of torches could be seen snaking over valleys and hills into the distance. The first disaster came in November, when Nationalist forces blocked the Communists’ route across the Hsiang River. It took a week for the Communists to break through the fortifications and cost them 50,000 men—more than half their number. After that debacle, Mao steadily regained his influence, and in January he was again made chairman during a meeting of the party leaders in the captured city of Tsuni. Mao changed strategy, breaking his force into several columns that would take varying paths to confuse the enemy. There would be no more direct assaults on enemy positions. And the destination would now be Shaanxi Province, in the far northwest, where the Communists hoped to fight the Japanese invaders and earn the respect of China’s masses.
SUDOKU
PAGE 4
The Tributary
Our Mission Statement The Tributary is a weekly publication and was created to provide the community with a forum where ideas, opinions and knowledge can be shared. All submissions become the property of The Tributary. Our goal is to provide a forum that is as fair and balanced as possible. We reserve the right to exclude material that we do not feel is appropriate to print and material that is too lengthy. We encourage everyone to participate in this forum and use it as a tool to bring awareness to issues that affect the well being of the community. It is not a resource to vent angry ranting. We believe that each member of our audience is mature and therefore capable of discerning what is valuable to them as an individual. We hope to provide a place where a variety of information is available, and that by creating that connection, we can help make our lives a little richer.
Contact us at 303-732-4080 or
editor@lostcreekguide.com
We look forward to hearing from you.
The Tributary is published each Thursday and mailed to subscribers. Periodical Postage Paid at Keenesburg Post Office USPS Periodical Number 025461. Postmaster send address change to The Tributary PO Box 581, Keenesburg, CO. 80643. If you wish to advertise, submit content for consideration or order a subscription, contact us at 303732-4080 or at TheTributaryEditor@gmail.com. The yearly subscription rate is $12.00. At this time, advertising rates are available upon request. The editor reserves the right to edit or decline the use of content submitted for publication. The opinions expressed in this publication do not reflect those of The Tributary staff unless expressly stated otherwise. All original content becomes the property of The Tributary and cannot be reprinted without permission. Our deadline for each issue is Monday, one week before the desired date of publication. The earlier the better. editor@lostcreekguide.com Editor/Tributary Adviser · Bob Grand - Publisher
T H E T R I B U TA R Y
October 9, 2019
Cooke on Proposition CC
Cont. from Page 1 We shouldn’t be fooled again, and neither will Ref C supporter, former senator and University of Colorado President Hank Brown, who has joined the “No on CC” coalition. No on CC Co-Chair and University of Colorado Regent Heidi Ganahl said, “There are two problems with this proposition. There is no sunset. It’s forever. And they did not put guardrails in to assure where the money is going to go. So, in a year, they can switch it up … There are no guarantees higher ed will get any money out of this.” Ganahl suggested that the current legislature could fund higher ed if it chose to, but that the majority of lawmakers “don’t understand the value of investing in higher education.” The legislature doesn’t have a revenue problem; it has a prioritization problem. If Colorado’s legislators were truly interested in funding roads and schools without a tax increase, they could fund them now. Since TABOR passed, the state’s budget has grown 306% and yet, the legislature is unwilling to prioritize what our families need — well-paid teachers and roads. Even though education spending is up 20% since 1990, teacher pay is actually down 20% when adjusted for inflation. Voters shouldn’t reward bad budgeting. That’s why I’ll be a NO vote on Prop CC. Amy Oliver Cooke is the executive vice president of the Independence Institute, and part of the No on CC effort.
Keene Clinic Annual Polka Fest Fund Raiser at the South East Weld Fair Grounds