DPS22 Denver Public Schools Board of Education Mtg is LIVE on Ustream!‏

Candidate interviews now (2:30 pm) going on here.

Denver School Board is a dysfunctional mess

Opinion by Gerald Trumbule

I've signed up to receive an email every time the DPS Board goes live on the internet. It's quite a show, and thanks to live streaming at Ustream (and the team at DPS.tv), we get to experience it in "real" time (although it does seem to drag). The members seem to truly distrust each other (shall we say abhor?) and are constantly bringing up the importance of trust. They go on and on and on. Leaderless, they flounder, trying to reinvent the wheel for even the simplest task. Currently that task is how to choose a replacement for Nate Easley, who is stepping down.

My partner Pat and I are political junkies, but of separate strains. She loves democracy, volunteers to work on campaigns, and participates in local party activities. She comes from a political family and says that it's in her blood.

I think of politics as a sitcom (situation comedy) and as a continuation of the early documentary filmmaking of Frederick Wiseman. He showed that if you leave the cameras up and running (especially without camera people behind them), the inmates (for Wiseman, in an actual insane asylum in Titicut Follies) will eventually forget that they are being filmed and act naturally, thereby revealing themselves.

So it is with the DPS Board. Their insidious way of addressing each other, their body language, their position at the table, even their wandering around the room eating snacks during breaks gives us more insight than we may be able to bear. They seem to forget that they are being watched, and we can't help but watch.

Last night, about an hour into the meeting, Pat jumped up and said "I can't take it any more. Turn it off, please. It's making me sick." 

So we switched over to "House of Cards" on Netflix, using our new Roku. At least the political mess on that show is done by professionals.

And now (oh boy! future meetings will be so much fun) this press release:

Two Denver firms combine resources to offer business classes to local entrepreneurs

Summary: Two Denver-based business advisory firms to meet the need of new entrepreneurs with a series of small business focused “How To” classes.  How to Start Your Own Business, How to Prepare a Business Plan, How to Prepare a Marketing Plan, Easy Accounting (for the non-accountant), and How to Prepare a Business Budget, are designed for start-ups and young expanding companies.  Classes will begin on March 16, 2013.

 

(Denver, CO., February 5, 2013) ---Approximately 543,000 new businesses were created each month in 2011 (the last year of available data) according to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial activity from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.  Over a half-million new businesses created every month.  Entrepreneurship is alive and well in America. One of the needs of new business owners is “real-world” guidance on what they need to know about business ownership and the skills they need to develop to reach success.  This lack of professional training and educational support is made more dramatic by the fact that 60% of start-ups fail within 3 years.  A new joint venture by two Denver firms wants to meet that need. 

 

American Business Resources, LLC and Strait Management Services, Inc. have joined forces and pooled their resources to produce a series of classes aimed at helping small business owners.  Five - four-hour entrepreneurial level classes are being offered beginning on March 16. 

The classes: How to Start Your Own Business, How to Prepare a Business Plan, How to Prepare a Marketing Plan, Easy Accounting (for the non-accountant), and How to Prepare a Business Budget are designed for start-ups and young expanding companies. All material is provided for the classes as well as follow-on assistance.

These courses give entrepreneurs real world knowledge and advice that can be used in practical applications in their business start-ups or existing businesses.  Bill and Ted have had hands-on experience in the business world and can save business owners or new business start-ups a great deal of time and money.  Each course is a stand-alone course, but all of the courses can provide a great base of knowledge in the basics of business ownership.

The classes are being conducted on Saturday mornings to keep the time that participants have to spend away from their jobs or business to a minimum.  ABR’s Ted Clifton, and Bill Strait (SMS), have worked together on similar projects before and decided that now is a good time to provide assistance to this often times overlooked and under served segment of our business community.

For more information call Ted Clifton (303-221-4912) or Bill Strait (303-694-6364) or visit their websites:www.gobizplan.com or www.straitmgmt.com

Constant vigilance required

PCEOC            We all have an opportunity to weigh in on some big decisions regarding Pinon Canyon's future but we   MUST ACT BEFORE FEBRUARY 17TH, 2013. ____________________________________________________________________________________ The Written Comment period for an important Environmental Assessment closes February 17th: An article in the Colorado Springs Business Journal discusses the Programmatic Environment Assessment (EA) for the Army 2020 Force Structure Realignment. This Realignment EA examines two alternatives for Fort Carson.  Alternative 1 calls for the elimination of one Combat Brigade and the loss of 8000 soldiers. Alternative 2 calls for the addition of 3000 soldiers.   The article reports that Colorado Springs interests are working with their lobbyists in Washington to influence the outcome in the direction of the an addition of a Battalion and a net increase of 3000 soldiers. They argue that Pinon Canyon, "provides enough room to train on some of the military's largest weapons systems."   This has huge implications for our regional economy. A shrinking Fort Carson would mean a reduced need for an expanded Pinon Canyon, or even for the continuation of the existing maneuver site. A growing Fort Carson would mean increased pressure on the existing site and a stronger argument for expansion. ____________________________ Colorado Springs is mobilizing defense contractors to influence these two processes; we should do the same. The article urges everyone involved with the Military Industrial Complex to send comments into the Environment Assessment urging that additional troops be sent to Fort Carson for training at Pinon Canyon. We need to send our comments as well. Comments might include the following points:         We would welcome an easing of pressure upon the environment at Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site.       Expert economists in El Paso County encourage a more diversified economy in that region.  We agree.     A reduction of troops training at Pinon Canyon would reduce the negative economic and political impacts upon our region as well.     The DoD should better utilize resources through coordination between branches. There are plenty of training ranges within the DoD real estate inventory.     While the EA identifies El Paso, Pueblo, and Fremont counties as being within the Region of Influence, ROI of the proposed action, it fails to identify or consider the impact upon counties surrounding the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site.     The EA inaccurately identifies the economic impact of Pinon Canyon on the surrounding region as "negligible." This is inaccurate. The direct loses in beef production, the multiplier effect in the surrounding economy, and lost tax revenue has had significant negative impact.     A troop reduction at Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site would have an overall positive public relations effect for the Army in the region.   Comments must be received by February 17th. Once the Army's EA process is completed that document will become an important resource for the BRACC* as they consider further closures (or expansions) down the road. Send (mail) comments to: Public Comments USAEC, Attn: IMPA-AE (Army 2020 PEA) 2450 Connell Road, Building 2264 Fort Sam Houston, Texas 78234-7664 Or....Email comments to: USARMY.JBSA.AEC.MBX@mail.mil  _____________________________________________________ *Another round of Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRACC) is coming: Colorado Springs leaders are jockeying for position for the next round of BRACC.  An article in the Colorado Springs Business Journal titled, "The time is now: Other cities already ahead of Springs before BRAC process" , discusses the potential impact upon Colorado Springs as a result of the next Base Realignment and Closure Commission, BRACC process. In the article, Mike Jorgensen, chairman of the Colorado Springs Regional Business Alliance says, "We need to let the military use the Pinon Canyon space-not expand it, just use it fully. Those are the things that send the right message." The article speculates that Colorado Springs could come out on top if they play their cards right. And "playing their cards right" means sending the right message to the Department of the Army and to legislators:"With Pinon Canyon we have room to grow; Don't down-size us; Utilize our resources to their fullest.".  PCEOC  www.pinoncanyon.org PCEOC  www.pinoncanyon.net

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All Things A64 with Jessica LeRoux - February 3, 2013

Hey Now, 

Well we are 1/2 way through the 9 week A-64 task force process and i have personally witnessed some extremely encouraging developments and some that are so insanely punitive to the voters and industry members that my mind is permanently blown now. Each workgroup seems to be on its own agenda and under its own set of egos. I have some serious doubts that this bunch will be able to fabricate a meaningful and consensus building set of recommendations that actually pass the legislature and end up with Cannabis being regulated similarly to alcohol. Read all about the meetings for the final week of january 2013, and past week in CO cannabis news *** be sure to read the attached scans of meeting templates...  and of course if you want to show us some love, be our valentine... we think it would be really sweet of you to order some of our delicious Love Bites & Kissy Cakes, new valentine flavors to offer your patients! info is at the bottom with the sales data! 

Also a heads up Reminder that this month will be the 6th anniversary of the unresolved murder of my mentor Ken Gorman. Please take a minute to burn a joint in Ken's memory on the 17th, and offer a prayer of thanks, because not one bit of the changes to cannabis laws would have happened in CO with out the ground work Ken laid down...  learn more at kengorman.org

If you can attend the general Task Force meeting on Tuedsday the 5th at 1pm at the new Carr justice center 1300 Broadway please be there and give your two minutes of testimony against vertical integration because we know MMIG & CBA will make a last ditch effort to stack the attendees to defend their unworkable protectionist policy to allow them to continue to be viable businesses when the product the massive warehouses they've leased is mediocre at best. Point out if you can that nobody is taking anything away from these folks, but that if they truly had an amazing crop which everybody in the state was clamoring to stock their shelves with as some of my clients are, these people would be screaming bloody murder to be able to expand their wholesale and increase recognition of their brand rather than spinning their oversized grow down into a ton of cheap poisonous butane infusions. 

On monday there were no Task force meetings, but on Tuesday there was a legislative children's causus on marijuana. We went down to represent, but they did not let the public speak. the presenters were a grab bag of prohibitionists with an array of financial incentives to find new ways to criminalize the citizenry. the presentations included an exploitative slide show of dead abused children set to cheesy rock music sone about angels. a presentation of the risks of childhood exposure to the molds in home grows which the Dr presenting admitted that no known cases of children being hospitalized over were currently known but that is simply because the doctors arent sure which symptoms to look for and pin the blame on. Studies had been done of mold counts in grow operations that were quote "quasi legal" ie two operations were owned by alleged MMED licensed business owners who claimed the residence was their legal OPC??? these mold counts were only done inside the home, no comparative study of levels outside the home nor of homes in the neighborhood. Thus it was determined that these children are "drug enadngered children" and the proposed solution was to screen every family in the state and remove children "at risk" from their families.. there was some modest traction against this proposal, but Jim Gerhardt the Metro Denver Drug Task force cop says that the testimony rings true to him re the worries of discovering too late that a child should have been removed from the home before they were killed or worse... and that law enforcement needs an automatic triggering mechanism (ie cannabis use or cultivation which is now legal, but still a "big risk")  to report substance abuse  because they currently rely on officer discretion, but he would prefer that any officer called to the scene be forced to report cannabis in a home with kids.  If you can, please take a minute to call your representative to say that you support the rights of parents to safely use a substance approved by the voters. Try to mention this link where children in canadian investigations of grow homes were evaluated and determined to be healthy and well developed http://www.medizinkongress.com/iatdmct2011/ws/WS3_GideonKoren.PDF

Wednesday there was a meeting of the Criminal Working Group, (shockingly these cops and cronies are only the 2nd most offensive bunch of the workgroups)  they discussed a number of templates, but none was fully completed. The first up was a report from the definitions working group on what the parameters of enclosed locked space meant, and the parameters of Open & Public.  

proposed definition of enclosed/locked is fully enclosed permanent or semi permanent structure with walls and a ROOF, or ceiling and an engaged locking mechanism w a combo or key lock. with all access points locked allowing for ordinary time for egress and ingress. (that means coming and going with supplies etc) big debate about use of ordinary vs reasonable... why is a roof needed? locked fenced yard ok? dictionary says enclosed is within walls or a fence... does that include a split rail fence? from Chief Jackson. Larry Abrahamson says that due to "peculiar nature" of product being regulated they have the right to define encloure how ever they would like. This spilled to a discussion of how open and public applies to a grow, as in can it be visible to passers by in a fenced locked yard, can it be visible on a private balcony of a locked 3rd/4th floor apartment, can smoke drift from the apartment be reasonable grounds for child endangerment charge in cases of drifting to a nearby residence with kids,  can it be seen in a backyard from persons in a nearby apartment block or hot air balloon (alright i interjected the balloon comment, and it wont be my only insertion of hot air today) Rachel Obrien wants a total ban on outdoor grows, and double locks inside every home whether there are kids or not...Brian Conners good retort asking if the goal is to criminalize cultivation by statute to the point of making it prohibitively expensive? not one mention by all these front rangers that many parts of our state have residences on 2 to 200 acres and trespassing there is grounds to shoot a person... nor that any trespassing into a persons home is a greater crime than possessing a legal pain relieving substance in an unsecured manor in your residence.  

Read more »

Candidate Forum for Denver School Board Vacancy Appointment

Nate Easley is stepping down from his position on the DPS Board to spend more time with The Denver Scholarship Foundation. Thanks to DPS.tv for livestreaming the candidate forum and for providing the complete video of the proceedings last night. Ultimately, this will be an important appointment on a evenly divided Board. (When you are watching a livestream, you can see how many people are watching with you. Last night, only 5 of us were watching the parade of 23 candidates live, so the following should help you catch up if you missed it. Warning: because DPS.tv is using the free version of Ustream, there are unavoidable ads. I wish they would upgrade to the Pro version.)



Video streaming by Ustream



Video streaming by Ustream

ACTIVE SHOOTER

from Dave Felice

The most recent edition of the Security Guide booklet for the Auraria Campus now contains a section called “Active Shooter.”  The section advises students, faculty, and staff on what action is appropriate when confronted with gunfire.

ACTIVE SHOOTER
An active shooter scenario on campus is probably the most difficult situation to
predict, and the events will happen very quickly. Please be aware that if we are
faced with an active shooter scenario, that ACPD may implement several types of
activities, such as campus lockdown, shelter in-place and protect, AND
evacuation.
• Seek sanctuary by proceeding to a room that can be locked, close and
lock all windows and doors and turn off all lights OR exit the building if
safe conditions exist.
• Get down on the floor and ensure that no one is visible from outside the
room.
• Call 9-1-1 from a campus phone or dial (303) 556-5000 from any other
phone to access the Auraria Campus Police Department (ACPD) and
advise the dispatcher of the events.
• Inform him/her of your location, and remain in place until the police give
the “ALL CLEAR” signal.
• If you are in a room that cannot be locked, place large, heavy objects in
front of the doorway to impede the path and vision of an intruder.
• If an active shooter enters your office or classroom, try to remain calm.
Call 9-1-1 from a campus phone or dial (303) 556-5000 from any other
phone, and if possible, alert police of the shooter’s location. If you can’t
speak, leave the line open so the dispatcher can listen to what’s taking
place.
• If the shooter leaves the area, proceed immediately to a safer place and
do not touch anything that was in the vicinity of the shooter, as these
items could be POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS to you and others.

The Naysayer by Phil Goodstein - February, 2013

Heads up!