Admitting error or fault is never easy or comfortable, no matter how old you are or how often you get to do it, but it’s part of becoming a responsible, trustworthy adult. It’s “character-building,” as parents like to say when they force their kids to endure uncomfortable things. Here’s the[Read More…]
Columns
Editor’s Column: Personal responsibility includes being considerate
My grandkids are at that age where they understand there are rules for cohabiting the same space, and they get very angry when one of their siblings is not complying with those rules. Every parent has heard the tattlers… “Susie ate two cookies. You said we can only have one[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: ‘Small’ is in the eye of the beholder
“I live in a small town. The population is just 10,000.” It’s a conversation we kept overhearing while we were in Denver this month. Apparently the definition of “small” is quite subjective. For example, the television show “Twin Peaks” (which some of you remember from 20+ years ago, and some[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Mulligrubs
I fell in the mulligrubs this week. Last Friday I had to put down a dog. She’s been declining, but I thought we had more time. Isn’t that always the case? Then I tried to do Ethan’s final tax return. He did his own taxes for the first time last[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: The politics of fear
Fear is a terrible—and terribly effective—way to manipulate people. If you can make a people group afraid, you can make them react, and if you can make them react, you can control them. If there’s a divisive or contentious topic on the table for public debate, it’s sure to be[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Strawgate
As long as the clock is ticking, the pendulum swings from one extreme to the other. Politics are no exception. Whichever side takes power, there’s a reaction from the other side. It’s almost always a lot of drama without a lot of substance. Take, for example, the latest bit of[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Cautiously optimistic
Although I remain a grateful pessimist (I still need to read the book about optimism the nice Australian author sent me as a gift after that column and see if it changes my mind), I am exercising cautious optimism about the new county attorney, Todd Starr. His first “lunch with[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Aging is a privilege
‘ll be 49 this year (Lord willing), putting me smack dab in middle age territory. The AARP mailings aren’t arriving yet, and I rarely “feel” my age (thanks, I assume, to reasonably good genes), but I’m starting to notice little changes to which I’m learning to adapt. 1. I need[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Anonymous returns
It’s been nearly a year since I lambasted the author of an anonymous flier distributed just prior to the rec district board election. I still believe if you want to share your opinion you should put your name on it, whether you’re stuffing future litter under windshield wipers in the[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Open meetings demand open discourse
Are the commissioners, returning and new, abiding by Colorado’s Open Meetings Act, aka the “Sunshine Laws”? Based on video and audio recordings, and comments from all three commissioners after Monday’s meeting, it would appear that two of our county commissioners made a decision about the future of the county attorney[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Got the mid-winter crankies? Please don’t share.
A quote from one of my all-time favorite novels reads: “…while golf and fishing are Scotland’s most popular outdoor sports, gossip is the most popular indoor sport. And when it rains as much as it does in Scotland, people spend a lot of time indoors.” That quote reminds me of[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Ten easy ways to make our communities even better in 2019
1. Read the newspaper. Informed citizens make better community members. (FYI: an in-county subscription to the print edition will save you almost 25 percent off the single copy price and you get the online edition for free.) 2. Attend public meetings and participate in community events. Hold your elected (and appointed) leaders[Read More…]
