All posts by sentineladmin

2018, Letters

LTE: The Guber Race

Editor;
Well, the election is over, and Republicans are now licking their wounds, while Democrats are gleefully running around Denver plotting what California type policy to foist on the people first. You may likely look forward to many forms of wealth redistribution in the months and years to come. So much for all those taxes you voted down!

“Had the Republican Party been able to put forward a candidate with strength, confidence and presence, they could have given Polis a real run for his money”

Continue reading LTE: The Guber Race →

2018, BOCC Meetings

BOCC: November 14

BOCC: Justice Center Progress, Land Sale,
New Extension Agent, Airport Improvements

Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)
—November 14, 2018
Westcliffe, CO

by Jackie Bubis

The meeting started at 9 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call. (Attorney Smith was not present for roll call but showed up at 9:20 a.m. after having mistakenly gone to Wetmore for the meeting.) Introductions of the public followed.
Commissioner Items:
Commissioner Canda reported that the strategic plan process is ongoing. The survey is in the works and there will be many ways for citizens to participate. He deferred until later for the bids to be opened for the work at the airport. He mentioned a meeting between CenturyLink and the Forest Service that he will be attending. This meeting will address options for getting service back to the Wetmore area people who have lost their phone service. He also believes that the Board should discuss the hours at the landfill due to the number of people needing the landfill
on the weekend.
Commissioner Flower brought up the Underfunded Courthouse grant hearing to be held November 30th in Denver. After discussion, the BOCC meeting for the 30th was changed to the 29th so that all three commissioners can attend to defend the grant.
Commissioner Printz congratulated Commissioner Canda on his victory at the polls. He listed a number of meetings he had attended and asked if anyone had heard anything about the housing study. No one had.
All three commissioners commented on the wonderful job the American Legion did with the Veterans Day dinner.
Commissioner Flower reported that our new County Extension Agent will be Guinevere Nelson. She hails from Creede, Colorado, and has been working for a nonprofit mining reclamation firm for nine years there. He also reported that Commissioner Canda was honored at the School Board meeting for his work getting the new scoreboard.
Attorney Items:
Mr. Smith has been working on the easement for a cistern requested by Fire Chief Kit Shy. He’s worked on an ordinance to protect County property, has worked on several cease-and-desist orders for Jackie Hobby, and worked with the Sheriff on several issues.
Public Comments:
Tthis reporter asked for clarification on the relationship between the Attainable Housing Committee and the County. The answer is that Attainable Housing will have its own budget and is indeed a County Board.
Clerk Kelley Camper asked about the staff Christmas party at the courthouse. After discussion, it was decided that the party would be moved off-site, that each person going would pay $5, and that the county would cover the remainder.
Dawna Hobby presented six resolutions for the supplemental budget. She also brought up the topic of Christmas bonuses for the staff. Since 1995, each department has given dedicated service bonuses (a.k.a. Christmas bonuses) to their staff if they have money left over for it. The Board approved these bonuses but suggested that a new process should be addressed before next budget season.
The Special Use permit for San Isabel Propane (Ed Lyons) was approved unanimously.
Christe Coleman presented an award to Cindy Howard for her service during hurricane Irma.
The bids for the next phase at the airport were opened. The work includes the removal of the berm on the east side of the airport and re-sloping at the south end. Mountain Valley Excavating (Ed Lyons) presented a bid for $97,340. Seifert Enterprises presented a bid for $70,750. A motion to accept the lowest bid passed unanimously. This work will be paid for in full by Aught Six Ranch.

2018, Custer County Kids

Custer County Schools Board of Ed – November 2018

BOE: Construction Update, Bullying,
More Rodriquez, FFA/AG Teacher Selected

Custer County Schools Board of Education
BOE Regular Meeting
—November 13, 2018
WESTCLIFFE, Colo.

by McKenzie Huffman,
Education Reporter

The well attended regular BOE meeting started off with two presentations from 5th Grade students Logan Nameth and Alyssa Gaide showcasing their researching and writing skills. Logan shared how he applied skills he had learned to create his slideshow on Desert Hedgehogs. Alyssa taught us about Reindeer and how to use words to engage your audience in her presentation. Great job kids! Bobcat Pride Certificates were presented to everyone involved with the new scoreboard. Those new and old to the community came together to volunteer time, labor, equipment, supplies and money to complete this project. Dr. Davis presented the certificates and gave the BOE, administration, staff and audience a few moments to walk around to express their gratitude. Continue reading Custer County Schools Board of Ed – November 2018 →

2018

Silver Dome Liquor License Drama

Silver Dome Liquor License Drama
State Patrol Against Renewal

Town of Silver Cliff Board of Trustees Meeting
—Monday, November 5, 2018
SILVER CLIFF, Colo.
by Lisa Frank

The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call. The Mayor and all Trustees except one were in attendance. The attendees were acknowledged by name and residence and it was a packed room. The Consent Agenda (consisting of the approval of October’s regular and special meeting minutes, the Treasurer’s report and approval of bills) was passed. Continue reading Silver Dome Liquor License Drama →

Uncategorized

Colorado Goes Deep Blue, Custer Still Proudly Red

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary

There were no surprises in Custer County’s election results as all the local elected offices were decided in the Republican primaries early this year and ran unopposed. The only two local ballot issues were the School District Board “At-Large Plan” which was defeated 1286 to 1074 and the Wet Mountain Fire Protection District Mill Levy Increase which passed by a margin of 2284 to 1180.

Custer County and State Props  results (on our website)

With regards to the School Board issue, both sides had good arguments but the specter of a totally At-Large Board possibly being controlled by a very small interest group and the loss of geographical representation led to its defeat. Perhaps a better idea is to retain the current five regional board slots and add one or two at-large slots. We will see.

The Fire Mill Levy increase won quite handily despite the Fire District Board’s rather poor and late presentation of the reasons for the increase. The Wet Mountain Fire Protection District’s stellar reputation was, it seems, all that was needed. We think they will use the money wisely.

Of note is the percentage of Custer County voters voting Republican versus Democrat: Around 67% of Custer County residents voted for the Republican state and federal offices versus around 30% for the Democrats.

State wide, Colorado went deep, deep blue with Democrats winning most of the state races by hefty margins. The Democrats were slightly ahead in the vote count versus Republicans but, as expected, the unaffiliated voters broke hard left. With the Colorado State Senate finally going Democrat, the liberals will have a field day with our state. Thank goodness for TABOR. Hopefully, the liberals won’t forget the recalls of several Democrat House Representatives after they passed several unconstitutional gun restriction laws a few years ago.

Of note is that all the state bond issues re: borrowing money for roads or raising taxes for schools (yes, “for the children”), were defeated by respectable margins. Plus, the liberal anti-fracking measure, Proposition 112, went down in flames. What is interesting, is that politically, Colorado voted deep blue (Polis is as hard left as it comes), but fiscally, voted very conservative (no borrowing or tax increases, and no crazy save the planet anti-fracking stuff).

It is very possible, barring a fiscal/financial collapse, that Colorado will be become a solid blue state despite the majority of the counties voting Republican. The continued influx of liberals fleeing their own self-induced liberal state “paradises”, the seemingly endless influx of legal and illegal immigration, and the increasing dependency of more and more people on government handouts paints a bleak picture for our once proud, free state.

But one thing is for sure, folks, we will continue to fight here locally in Custer County to keep our County, Colorado, and America free from liberal tyranny. We have had many great successes locally the last few years, with many more to come.
Molon Labe, libs.

To see all Custer County unofficial election results,
go to http://custercountygov.com/index.php?pg=electionresults

To see all Fremont County unofficial election results,
go to https://fremontco.com/files/elections/results/Fremont4.pdf

Uncategorized

Veteran’s Day: One Hero’s Story

Veteran’s Day: One Hero’s Story
Black Hawk Down Comes to Custer

“We saw the movie, we met the man”

by Fred Hernandez, SDC Sentinel

Twenty-five years ago, future American foreign policy was substantially impacted as a result of an international incident. It was a relatively simple mission that should have taken about an hour.  Instead it stretched out to about fifteen hours and resulted in the deaths of eighteen service personnel and the wounding of another seventy-three. In the bestselling book authored by Mark Bowden and later made into a block busting movie, that incident became widely known as “Black Hawk Down”.  In fact, it was the Battle of Mogadishu, the first in what would be nine such engagements.  It all started as a humanitarian effort on the part of the U.S.A., the U.N. and other countries.

This is the remains of Black Hawk “Super 61” which was shot down in Mogadishu, Somalia in October 1993. This is one of the “Black Hawks Down”.

As a result of turf wars that became a raging civil war, the innocent bystanders, the poor people of Somalia, were the collateral damage.  Wide spread famine, artificially created by controlling warlords, had turned into a veritable death sentence by starvation for the population in general.  To prevent widespread deaths, U.S. troops had to be deployed to insure the equitable and comprehensive distribution of the food supplies earmarked to help the people which were otherwise being high jacked by the warring factions.  As happens many times in complex missions such as these, plans do not always turn out the way originally designed. In this case unplanned combat erupted.

Charlie even responded saying “Okay Lord, but can I have some more ammo?”

Continue reading Veteran’s Day: One Hero’s Story →

Uncategorized

Services for Longtime Resident Jerome Lee DeGree

Jerome Lee DeGree of Westcliffe, Colorado, passed away October 23, 2018, peacefully in his sleep at his home.

He was born February 16, 1941, in Cañon City, CO, to John and Frances {White} DeGree. He met and married on March 27, 1965, Carolyn Barnum while he was stationed in the ARMY in Michigan.
For the two of them it was love at first sight and they would tell you that until the end. Continue reading Services for Longtime Resident Jerome Lee DeGree →

2018, Letters

Amendment Y & Z

by Dan Bubis,
Commentary & Opinion

The State of Colorado is at a crossroad. If you vote yes for Amendments Y and Z, Republicans will never win a statewide race. Like California, which is where this proposal comes from, only Democrats will control the state.

National Socialism and Progressivism have the same goals they just disagree on the method to accomplish the goals.

Continue reading Amendment Y & Z →