Columns

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Teachers deserve respect, appreciation for their compassion and hard work

By Tyra Clinkingbeard I didn’t initially choose to become a teacher. My thought out of high school was a pre-med degree with the goal of thoracic surgery. I had grand dreams but small hands and still remember when a surgeon, who was a ...

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Creativity is crucial, not only for culture, but for our survival

This weekend is all about celebrating the arts here in the Grand Valley, marked by our wonderful annual Art & Jazz Festival. There’s live music and dance and fine arts everywhere you look. Eager to get a sneak peek at this ...

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Lugar’s loss shows incumbency just isn’t what it used to be

The old expression, “Everybody loves their congressman and hates Congress,” is quickly becoming a relic that’s headed for the bone yard where old truisms go when suddenly they aren’t true anymore. Witness the Hoosier ...

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Marijuana DUI bill would have offered safeguards for accused

If nothing else can be said about State Sen. Steve King’s bill to set permissible blood levels of marijuana while driving, it certainly has received quite a bit of attention. Iconic websites such as, tokeofthetown.com, puffingtonpost.com ...

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Romney presidency would threaten public lands in Western states

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney poses a real threat to the public lands that are essential to the economy and quality of life in the West. When asked by the Reno Gazette-Journal editorial board last January if he would sell ...

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One size fits all for gas drilling, until it doesn’t

The whiplash must be painful.  When Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced last Friday a proposal to require public disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells drilled on public lands, the industry ...

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Could the driving-while-high bill cause a case of moral panic?

Grand Junction Sen. Steve King claims there has been “a drastic increase” in fatal accidents involving people under the influence of marijuana. “We are well on our way to an adult driving epidemic that will match the DUI ...

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Will the French wave the white flag on fiscal austerity?

A far-reaching plan to curb Europe’s continental government debt crisis by imposing strict caps on government borrowing and spending will face its first major political test in the form of the French presidential election this Sunday, an ...

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Boulder’s energy plan is a leap toward socialism

I’ve been following the story of a possible government takeover of an energy company recently and I thought it might be useful to share with our readers. Most will assume we are referencing a occupation occurring in some faraway ...

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The mystery, riddle and enigma of the North Fork Valley leases

The BLM plan to lease 30,000 acres of land in the North Fork Valley of Delta and Gunnison counties is, for many of the local inhabitants, “a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma.” BLM hearings, community sponsored meetings ...

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