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Republican Assembly Custer County

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary

The 2024 Custer County Republican Assembly, sponsored by the Custer County Republican Central Committee (CCRCC) , convened at 1 p.m., Saturday, March 16th at Lange Hall in Westcliffe.
The Assembly was run by the CCRCC’s Chair, Jack Canterbury.

There were 46 elected precinct delegates present and about 15 guests. After some preliminaries, the first item of business was voting for who would run in the primary for County Commissioner in Districts 1 and 2.
In District 1, incumbent Commissioner Lucas Epp received enough votes to be on the primary ballot. Challenger Veronica Nicholson received 12 votes which allowed her to petition on to the primary. The petition deadline is Tuesday, March 19th.
District 2 was a different story. First, a little background: the county voted in Kevin Day for Commissioner four years ago. He was a registered Republican and ran as a Republican. Republicans and a fair amount of unaffiliated voters were behind his victory. After three years as a poorly performing Commissioner, Day, knowing he wouldn’t be nominated to run in the Republican Assembly, switched his voter registration to unaffiliated in December so he could run as unaffiliated. (All you have to do to get on the ballot running as unaffiliated is to get a small number of registered voters to sign a candidate petition.) (So, “Traitor” Day abandoned the people and the party that elected him and is hoping the libs and the moderate unaffiliated will return him to office for more mayhem and disastrous decision making. It’s all about ego; the paycheck, and the power. You wonder why three of them have been recalled in recent years.)
So this left a vacuum for the Republicans in District 2. Fortunately, a well-qualified candidate appeared recently and who is a lifelong Republican and ex-career U.S. Navy veteran Paul Vogelsong. Paul has a long record of accomplishments and has strong management skills. He also has a lot of experience in finance and human resources. Paul has been actively campaigning the last few weeks for the District 2 Commissioner slot and was successful Saturday with a strong favorable delegate vote that put him on the primary ballot.
Ex-Commissioner Lynn Attebury surprised every-body by putting in a bid for District 2 Commissioner. He received just enough votes to allow him to petition on. Again, March 19th was the deadline for his petition.
The Precinct Committee People, who run each precinct were also con-firmed Saturday. They are: District 1: Ann Barthrop, Linda Pollack; District 2: Harald Frank, Joanie Wilcox, and District 3: Nikita Phillips, Dawn Ramsdell.
Eleven delegates were elected/appointed to the Republican State Assembly. They are: Jack Canterbury, Chuck Steigerwalt, Sandra Attebery, Nancy Drummond, Harald Frank, Aspen Baltzly, Lisa Kidwell, Lisa Frank, Ann Barthrop, Jean Canterbury and Nikita Phillips.
The eleven alternate delegates elected are: Bill Canda, Joanie Wilcox, Lucas Epp, Joanne Canda, Linda Pollack, Stephen Wilcox, David Lutz, Gordan Greer, Mark Graner, Judy Greer and Lynn Attebery.

UAACOG’s Home Repair Loan Program

UAACOG Program Offers Help to Homeowners Needing to Improve Energy Efficiency

Press Release
UAACOG’s Home Repair Loan Program can upgrade windows, add insulation, repair or replace furnaces and replace doors. With the sometimes extreme cold weather and heating costs on the rise, these upgrades/repairs will quickly pay for themselves.
The program can also address other homeowner concerns such as plumbing problems, electrical problems and fire mitigation (tree trimming), to name a few. Construction supervision is provided at no cost and payment assistance is available to homeowners who qualify.
To qualify for the program, applicants must:
1. Own and occupy the home as their primary
residence
2. Meet income guidelines
Example: The income limit/maximum for a family of four is $87,000 in Chaffee, Custer, Fremont and Lake Counties, $124,100 in Park County and $93,600 in Teller County.

FLYER SUMMER,   FLYER WINTER

Rehab Winter Flyer 1 REVISED July, 2023

Homeowners needing an application or additional information can contact Shawn or Bryan at:
Upper Arkansas Area Council of Governments
3224-A Independence Road Cañon City, CO 81212 (719) 275-4191 Cañon City
(719) 539-6862 Salida
Fax: (719) 275-2907
E-mail: shawn.snowden@uaacog.com or bryan.ray@uaacog.com Web: www.uaacog.com
On Facebook @ Upper Arkansas Area Council of Governments

March 13 BOCC: OEM Pushing for Taj Mahal

BOCC: OEM Keeps Pushing for a Taj Mahal, Copper Gulch Road a “Train Wreck”, Finance Progress

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary
The March 13, 2024 Custer County Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC) meeting was another romp down the bureaucrat drainage ditch lasting four hours and fifteen minutes. The meeting started at 9 a.m. in the Commissioners building next to the Courthouse. All three Commissioners were in attendance: Chair Kevin Day and members Bill Canda and Lucas Epp.
In Commissioner Items, Epp reported that the company hired to clean the mold in the courthouse basement finished the task and it appears that the leak from the roof is fixed. Epp said he is getting bids to fix the roof. (This has been going on for a decade….)
Staff Reports were next. Road & Bridge said that Copper Gulch Road is a “train wreck” and they are working on it. Excessive speed is blamed for a lot of the damage. R&B plans on doing a lot of work out there this summer. Continue reading March 13 BOCC: OEM Pushing for Taj Mahal

February 29 BOCC

BOCC: Donated Fuel Tanker, Finance Rumblings, UACOG Money Woes,
Late EOM Grant Issues

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary

The February 29, 2024, Custer County Board of County Commissioners regular meeting started at 9 a.m. in their gilded throne room in the building across from the courthouse. All three Commissioners were in attendance: Chair Kevin Day and members Bill Canda and Lucas Epp.

In Commissioner Items, Canda noted that the State of Colorado will be donating a fuel tanker truck to the airport. This can be used to refill rescue and fire helicopters in emergencies. It will be available in April. Continue reading February 29 BOCC

David McConnell Retires from Clinic

McConnell

by Fred Hernandez
“Fading into the sunset” is an appropriate description often used with affection and admiration for someone leaving office. For someone who served well and with distinction. That is the perfect description for the retirement of one who served his country in time of conflict, one who served his community diligently day after day for a long period of time, one who continues to serve his county as a man of God. That man is David McConnell. He will be retiring soon from the local clinic and will be sorely missed. Continue reading David McConnell Retires from Clinic

Custer County Is MAGA Country

Custer County Is MAGA Country
Huge Turnout for Trump, Biden
Takes a Whoopin’

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary
Despite the influx of left leaning migrants to Happy Valley the last decade or so, Custer County is still solid red with a big time Republican turnout in Tuesday’s Colorado primary election. The Custer County Republican vote turnout was FOUR TIMES higher than the Democrat turnout with 1,957 voting Republican and only 477 voting Democrat. (Note results are unofficial as of this date.)
For the County as a whole, there was a 55.45% voter turnout with 2,450 ballots cast out of 4,418 Active Voters.
There were seven candidates on the Republican ticket with Trump and Nicki Haley being the only ones getting significant votes: Trump trounced Haley with 1,434 votes (73.28%) to 474 votes (24.22%). On the Dem side, Biden got 430 votes (90.15%) with 20 votes (4.19%) voting for “Noncommitted Delegate”. (The “Non-committed” vote is a protest vote by democrats saying they want another, unspecified, Democrat to run for President. You can’t blame them. Dementia Joe ain’t gonna make it.)
What will be interesting, if we can find out, is how many Unaffiliated voters voted in the election. In Colorado; if you are registered Unaffiliated in a Primary, you get two ballots: one for the Republican candidates and one for the Democrat candidates. They can either not vote, or vote Republican or Democrat. There has been a LOT of news on how left leaning Unaffiliated who are opposed to Trump, are voting for Haley on the Republican ticket. We asked our County Clerk if it was possible to get that data for Custer County. We will let you know if we can obtain it.
Statewide, voter turnout was a lot lower than
politically-tuned-in Custer County with only 35.98% of Active Voters casting ballots: 1,361,999 ballots cast out of 3,785,419 Active Voters. There were 534,271 votes cast for Democrat candidates against 818,560 votes for Republican candidates. (Showing big time voter interest on the Republican side and low motivation for the Democrats.)
The state results show the minority Republican Party turned out big time to support Trump: Trump got 63.27% (517,884 votes) of the Republican ballots with Haley only getting 33.45% (273,809 votes) of the cast ballots.
On the Democrat side, Sleepy Joe got 83.55% (446,395 votes) of the Democrat votes cast with a significant number of anti Biden protest votes for “Non-committed Delegate”, 8.135 (43,439 votes).
Nationally, Trump put a whoopin’ dance on Haley wining all the state primaries except for wacko Vermont where he barely lost.
(This impressive Trump win nationally will panic the Dems and they will double down on their “lawfare” attempts at civilly suing Trump and trying to put him in jail via bogus charges. Folks, this November’s Presidential election will be the most consequential election in our lifetime. It is the last chance to save our country from the deranged left. It is gonna be some ride….)

February 24 BOCC: Money “For the Children”, UAWCD Manager Drama, Audit Cavalry Coming

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary
The Custer County Board of County Commissioners meeting held on February 24, 2024, occurred at that Wetmore Community Center. All three Commissioners were present: Chair Kevin Day and members Bill Canda (via Zoom from France) and Lucas Epp. From the Zoom video, it appeared that only one meeting spectator was present.
In Commissioner Items, Epp mentioned that the accounting consulting firm they selected (Redlands Consulting) will be starting next week and will work Monday through Thursday on the audit and adjusting entries issues.
Old Business was next: Epp talked further about what Redlands was going to do next week. They will put in 40 hours of work analyzing the issues and put a plan together to get the mess fixed. This includes the audit issues plus a bunch of accounting problems we are having. They will then present the plan and the cost to the Commissioners hopefully in two weeks’ time. Epp gave a shout out to our IT guy, Vernon Roth, who is putting a lot of time in at Finance to keep the ship from sinking.
In New Business, Day presented his Agenda Item, Money for Playground Equipment for Wetmore. Day said Ruth Roper has been working for years trying to get a playground built in Wetmore “for the children”. She has found a piece of playground equipment from a company that is on sale for $9,281. Day said we have money in the LATCF fund and
the CTF fund that can be used for this. Day said there are around 30 children in the area.
Epp wasn’t too happy with the timing of this request. He said we just turned down two department head’s requests for a vehicle so they can do their jobs two weeks ago and giving money away for playground equipment now is not right. Epp said the state of the LATCF AND CTF funds is unknown, and it would not be wise to tap into those now. He said he will look into their status. Epp concluded saying we have several purchases that have to be made and we need to prioritize them.
Canda then piped up from the Riviera in southern France and said he agreed with Epp, that the timing for this is bad. He requested that we “table this until we understand how much money we really have.” He continued, “We had issues with the LATCF stuff. Can we wait a few weeks?”
Day, trying to salvage the spending “for the children”, said “we don’t have to move on it today.” But he added that this price is special and if that equipment is sold, we have to pay more for it down the line. (Day should have pulled this Agenda Item. Absolutely the wrong time to ask for money when we can’t even provide a crucial vehicle for county employees. But Day lives in Wetmore and this is gravy for his homies.)
Canda responded, “We need to make sure we have the money for priorities.” Canda ended with, “I think we ought to wait.”
Epp noted that he will “look into” the LATCF slush fund and see what is left.
They then decided to hold off on this until a later date.
The next item was Consideration of Signing a Letter of Recommendation for Greg Felt. This letter is a recommendation for Mr. Felt to become the next General Manager of the Upper Arkansas Water Conservation District (UAWCD). (This is a big deal. UAWCD is the big water player around here and very powerful.) Canda put this Item on the Agenda. Canda does a love minute dance for Felt saying he knows the guy, blah, blah, blah. Felt is also on the UAWCD Board.
But Epp smells a rat. He asked Canda, “Is there anybody else running for the same job?” Canda responded, “There are several others. I know one other that is qualified is a Mr. Jord Gertson.”
Epp turns the screws with, “This letter carries a lot of weight. If we are going to endorse someone else, we need to know about the other candidates. I don’t know the other candidates.” Canda replied, “I will send you Jord’s resume.” Day then chipped in, “We need to reach out and get information on the other candidates.” Epp finished with we need to put it on the Agenda “before the deadline.”

(Here is the skinny on this UAWCD Manager opening. The current Manager Terry Skanga, who helped start UAWCD is stepping down. Our very own ex Board Chair of UAWCD, local Bob Senderhauf’s choice is one Jord Gertson. Jord is a professional water guy who has worked for UAWCD for a long time (he’s their resident hydrologist) and even has his own water consulting business. He also has a B.S. in Watershed Science from Colorado State University. His resume is astounding. His has done everything you can think of re: water management. Bottom line, if Senderhauf wants this guy, HE IS THE ONE. Canda’s boy, Felt, has very limited actual water management experience and no degree. He owns a rafting company on the Arkansas River and with him on UAWCD there could be conflicts of interest. Plus, and I can hear the snowflakes whining already, he is supposedly a Democrat and the last thing you want is someone with that lib orientation running a locally powerful organization controlling our water.
Canda should not have recommended this guy without giving out the resumes of the other candidates. In fact, the BOCC doesn’t know jack about water and the UAWCD and should probably not endorse anyone. If they insist on it, they should definitely invite Senderhauf in and let him educate them on the candidates.)
At the end of the lovefest, Epp said the February 29 BOCC will be on Thursday so that Day can attend some meeting on Wednesday.

Obituary: Michael John McCarty

Obituary

Michael John McCarty

Michael John McCarty, a cherished father and resident of Westcliffe, Colorado, passed away on November 17, 2023.
Michael found serenity in retirement, living peacefully in his log cabin alongside his loyal dog, Shadow. His memory will be lovingly honored by his daughter and son, who reside in Denver. Michael’s kind spirit and warm presence will be deeply missed
by all who knew him.

Obituary Tyrese Von Dale Moore,

 

Tyrese Moore

Tyrese Von Dale Moore, 24, passed away on Saturday, February 17, 2024, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Tyrese was born in Hutchinson, Kansas, on January 6, 2000, the
son of Dawn Markel and Daniel Moore, Jr.
Throughout Tyrese’s life, he loved many things but above all his biggest accomplishment was being a full-time father to his beautiful daughter, Zayla Michelle Moore. In his free time, he enjoyed gardening and working out. He had many hobbies and businesses including Sangre De Cristo Locksmith and Moore Spore Store. He was a mycologist and had developed alternative therapies to help those struggling with mental and physical issues as well as people struggling with addiction. Tyrese was a loving and kind man with many friends and family from every walk of life. He loved without judgment or prejudice.
He was proceeded in death by his father, Daniel Moore Jr. (2023); his grandmother, Tina Moore (2013,) and his brother, Artadius Moore (2024).
He is survived by his daughter, Zayla Michelle Moore; his mother, Dawn (Montgomery) Markel; his brothers, DeAndre (Carissa) Hedrick, Ethan Moore, Daytryan Moore and Lyrik Ruane; sisters, Tesa Moore (Arlo Garner), Holly Dilbeck, Madison Atkins and Sawyer Barkley; grandparents, Dexter and Brenda Hedrick and great grandmother, Audrey Hedrick along with many aunts, uncles and cousins.
There will not be a public visitation as cremation has been chosen. Services will be held at New Resurrection Church, 1500 Forrest St., Hutchinson, KS 67501 on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at 1 p.m. with Pastor Charles R. Crumble Sr. presiding. A butterfly release will be held at Memorial Park Cemetery following the service. Please bring your bikes and cars. Wear casual clothes, or whatever is comfortable. Let’s do it big for Tyrese’s final ride to paradise. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations be made to the “Zayla Michelle Moore Trust Fund” and can be sent to Hutchinson Funeral Chapel, 300 E. 30th Ave., Hutchinson, KS 67502.

Custer County Deputy Arrested and Fired

by George Gramlich
On Tuesday, February 26, 2024, an Arrest Warrant was issued by the Custer County Court for Custer County’s Sheriff Deputy, Jason Ryan Salbato. He was charged with violating two Colorado Revised Statutes:
19-3-304 Persons required to report child abuse or neglect (M2) and
18-3-208 Reckless Endangerment (M2).
Both are second degree misdemeanors.

According to the Affidavit for Arrest Warrant issued by 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Investigator, Andrew Corey.  Corey was
requested by District Attorney Linda Stanley to investigate “possible criminal charges on Sgt. Jason Ryan Salbato of the Custer County Sheriff’s Office.”
The Affidavit states that Sgt. Salbato was contacted by an individual on January 23, 2024 by a Custer County resident and that the individual wanted to talk to a Deputy. Salbato contacted the individual and the individual informed Salbato that he had been told that a certain father of a minor female “had been beaten on the back with a belt.” Salbato told the resident that “he would look into this matter and contact the Department of Human Services.”
Sgt. Salbato actions after the contact are described in the Affidavit:

Per Sgt Salbato’s report 24-0065 at approximately 1l:57a.m on January 24, 2024, he contacted Alexis Enslow a DHS Supervisor via telephone and while discussing another matter he was called away and unable to report this incident.
Per Sgt Salbato’s report 24-0065 on January 29, 2024, He went to Ms. Enslow’s office, she was engaged in another matter. He was again dispatched to another matter.
Per Sgt Salbato’s report 24-0065 on January 30, 2024, at approximately 9:26 a.m. He contacted Ms. Enslow via telephone. Ms. Enslow informed him she was contacted regarding child abuse involving. XXXXXX. Sgt Salbato informed Ms. Enslow Mr. Vandeusen had reported the information to Sgt Salbato on January 23, 2024.
It was later found that XXXXXX had taken. XXXXXX with him to California.
Sgt Salbato had many opportunities to send a text. message, email, phone call or voicemail to the Department of Human Services over the entire seven-day period from the day it was originally reported to him. Sgt Salbato also could have opened a case and investigated the information he had received.
Based upon the foregoing information, your Affiant is requesting that a warrant be issued for the arrest of Jason Ryan Salbato (DOB XXXXXX), for the offense(s):

CRS 19-3-304 Persons required to report child abuse or neglect

(M2) CRS 18-3-208 Reckless endangerment (M2)

Sgt. Salbato was arrested in Custer County on February 26th. Bail was set at $500 on a Personal Recognize Bond.
Custer County Sheriff Rich Smith declined to comment as it is an “HR issue”.  However, he did state that Sgt. Salbato was no longer employed by the Sheriff’s Office. Smith noted that the Sheriff’s Office is an “at will” employer. This status allows the Sheriff to remove a person from employment immediately and that is an important tool for law enforcement agencies.
(Our thanks to the Custer County Sheriff’s Office for their transparency, accountability and concern for the public)