Tuesday, February 28, 2006

The Spice of Life

Things are getting interesting….

...at Sams Club.

Tone’s and Sams Club seem to be teaming up on special projects in spice. Over the last several of months I’ve noticed that they’ve been adding an interesting series of mixed spices.

There’ve been things like Louisiana Cajun, Chipotle, Lime Pepper and others. Last weekend I got two new ones; Salmon & Seafood Grill and Asian Stir-Fry Grill. I used the Salmon Grill on some salmon fillets. And the Asian Stir-Fry on some leftover penne pasta. Both were superb.

If you like to cook and you’re not a member of Sams Club, I highly recommend considering finding a friend who IS.

Spring Is Here

The sounds are around us….if you pay any attention.

This morning, I thought I heard a song-bird. I know I heard a gaggle of geese.

However, this evening as I was working about the yard, I definitely heard a warbler and a finch declaring their turf.

I suppose the next sound I’ll hear is probably the lawn service thatching the yard.

Well…it was 80°F today…..

Monday, February 27, 2006

It Looks Good Now…

...but wait until they start putting up ugly, suburban ranch houses and “modular” homes.

We got a flyer in the mail a couple of days ago for something called “Cedarwood Station” with a return address of 7600 Hatchet Ranch Road. I’m not sure where that is, but judging from the full color photos, it’s in the southwest part of the Pueblo County. The brochure advertises “large ranch acreage tracts ranging in size from 35 to 60 acres,...”

Uh, who imagines that 60 acres is a “large” ranch? Turns out it is someone called Redstone Properties and they are (are you ready?) located in MASSACHUSETTS! That accounts for the “large” adjective.

Another line in the flyer assures the potential buyer, “each property comes with a warranty deed.” Whoo-hoo! Suitable for framing, no doubt.

The flyer also promises that “All properties have easy access to county roads, power, and telephone.” Please note, those of you from Back East somewhere, that there is no mention of WATER. Back East (I lived there for almost a year) the problem with water is a lack of processing plants. Out here, it’s a lack of water itself. Plan on digging a well, and it won’t be cheap, and there is no guarantee that there will be water to drill to, or that it will be water you’ll want to consume, once the well is dug.

And, let’s also note, that in this day and age, “access to telephone” does not necessarily mean a land-line. Telephone service will vary depending on how well your cellular service covers the area.

And “power?” The brochure makes a big deal about how there’s 300 days of sunshine at Cedarwood Station, so maybe you’d better plan a house with lots of solar panels and big storage batteries for the cloudy days.

Speaking of houses, the brochure promises “spectacular mountain views.” Out in Massachusetts, which is fairly heavily wooded, and has quite a few hills, it’s easy to shield yourself from your neighbors on 35 acres. However, out here on the Great Plains, which is where you have to be in order to see the spectacular view of the mountains, you’ll be able to see every ranch home, modular home (trailer), storage shed and lean-to that your neighbors put up for about, oh, 30 or 40 miles, at least. That view you’re buying with its sense of solitude won’t stay the same. And if you think all your neighbors will put up beautiful McMansions, well, they don’t look so good, either, sticking up like warts on Paris Hilton’s cheek.

And if you’re a potential buyer imagining a working ranch, one where you can earn a living, plan on buying about 50 of the properties. Just pay attention that it is apparently zoned, and taxed, as residential property.

If the owners want to develop their property this way, that’s fine. But don’t try to fool people into thinking they’ll have a “ranch” or that the view will stay the same.

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Old Buildings Never Die…

...they just get wrecked to pieces.

Today’s Chieftain carried an article about a school in Las Animas that was demolished this past week.

This is a prime example of why Pueblo has an Historic Preservation Ordinance and why it needs to be enforced. This school, Columbian Elementary, was on both the State and National Registers for historic landmarks. It was demolished by the owner, the local school district, because the land “may need to be used in the future for expansion.” Being listed on the State and National Registers does not prevent demolition. Pueblo’s ordinance, however, WOULD prevent demoliton in a case like this, if all the officials are paying attention and doing what they’re supposed to do.

What is surprising is that this school building has almost assuredly belonged to the school district ever since it was built, which means it was owned by the school district when it was added to the Historic Registers and the school district had a part in applying for the listings. What made the district change its mind? What was once a source of pride, something that was a major landmark in the community, suddenly lost its value for unknown reasons and was torn down.

What is also a little surprising is that the school district presumably teaches history and civics. If they’re teaching students to value what has gone on before, to learn from it, to develop from it, they just destroyed a major piece of realia for that process. And if the accusations mentioned in the article are true, the demolition also gave students a sad civics lesson.

My final comment is that studies have shown that students aren’t just learning as well as they used to. Are new school buildings part of the problem? I went to school in an important looking building (Carlile Elementary) and learning seemed important. Are the new, shapeless, pod buildings part of the learning problem?

Friday, February 24, 2006

This Situation Really Stinks

And we can ALL learn some interesting lessons from it.

Another interesting article in today’s Pueblo Chieftain.

This one on the sad story of a couple who have, as of an earlier report, about $30,000 of damage to their home and possessions as a result of a backed-up sewer system.

It wasn’t their own fault, as it was the main line that served their house and another house, that had the same experience, only less costly.

According to what I understand from the initial report in the Chieftain, neither the city nor the insurance company want to own up to full compensation for the damage done.

Based on that, and THIS, I’m suspecting there’s going to be a law-suit SOMEWHERE in all of this. I say this because I know that if MY insurance company would not pay for the damage realized in such a disaster, I’d be suing THEM. And if they need to sue the city, that’s THEIR problem. Not mine.

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Growth and Revitailization

Plans within plans within plans….and codifcation thereof.

Interesting article in today’s Pueblo Chieftain.

All about how the City Fathers are looking at getting their act together vis-a-vis critical issues; Growth and Revitalization.

I’m a big fan of going about things like this in an organized manner. Heaven knows the town is something of a hodge-podge of helter-skelter planning and management of growth. All you need do is drive around a bit to notice that. So planning for growth and for revitalizing should be very high on their list of priorities. It would probably help if they followed through on plans as well. But even more important, it would be good if they got good advice. The question comes to mind as to whose advice they are heeding.

But let’s look at the article. I think there are some interesting things in there we should all pay attention to.

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Thursday, February 23, 2006

New Commenting Rules

New technologies. New opportunities.

Added a new technology to the blog that will help prevent the nefarious activities of some particularly vile spamming bots.

With this technique, anyone is not allowed to comment here without registering as a member. However, they’ll have to enter a special password to get their comment posted.

If you DO decide to register, you will no longer be required to enter said special password in order to comment.

Enjoy….

UPDATE “Password Disabled” [231522 Feb 06]: There’s a small problem with the password system. I’m working on it. In the meantime, you can post anyway.

Foreclosure Forum

Pueblo NeighborWorks doing it’s thing….helping people in the hoods.

Got a notice from this excellent group about a seminar they are planning to run as part of their continuing effort to help people to improve and protect their homes. In this instance from the unscrupulous….

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A Train Wreck In the Making

Most politicans don’t think beyond their term limitations. And most people all to often rely on them to do the long-term thinking.

As an old adage about politicans goes…

They only hope that their world should last just beyond their departure from it.

That seems to me to be an accurate report, from what I’ve seen of history. And it seems to be the sort of mentality behind HB 1124, Water Judge Approve Fallowing Contracts [HODGE—OWEN]. This bill will, as I understand it, allow people who own water rights to lease those rights to another individual or entity for an agreed period of time.

I’m not exactly sure WHAT the current state of affairs is with respect to water rights and non-useage of such is. I’m not a water lawyer. However, based on what this bill proposes, I get the distinct impression that the current state of affairs is that the holders of water-rights can either use them or sell them. No leasing is allowed. With that understanding, allow me to go into why I think this bill is a VERY BAD IDEA….

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Sunday, February 19, 2006

Chieftain, My Chieftain IV

Coming up to the Twenty-First Century. Or maybe not….

There’s an interesting article in today’s Pueblo Chieftain’s Business section. It’s by Barbara Rose who, according to what I’ve searched out on the web, is a regular at the Chicago Tribune.

This article is titled Jobs Abundant: Skills Not. Unfortunately the Chieftian does not provide a direct link to that intelligent article. I’d like to hear the reason they don’t provide such a electronic link to items they provide in their hard—let’s kill some trees—copy.

One would think that a really ‘savvy’ newspaper would be more interesting in disseminating information than in withholding it. And, if they’ve got it one way, why can’t they ‘get it’ another?

Monday, February 13, 2006

Save the District!

What a waste….

According to the Pueblo Chieftain the Union historic district is having serious problems with maintaining buildings. This is not only appearance sake, but probably structural integrity as well.

They had a good picture of the BIG building across from City Hall, as an example of how some of the buiildings are detrioriating.

I have a question for the City Fathers. If the Puelbo Police Department is cramped for room, why don’t we get THAT building for them.

The key questions would be:

[1] How much room does Pueblo Police Department need?
[2] How much room is in that big old building?
[3] How much would it cost to fit the building to the police department need?
[4] Is the total cost less than the $11M that the police department said it needed for a new building?

Meanwhile, at the other end of Union, there’s the old Holmes Hardware store that is vacant.

It looks like the perfect site for a good anchor store.

Personally, I think we need another good book store in the city. Someone to compete with Barnes and Noble up in Big Box Land. Something to attract people to the area. We’ve already got pubs and restaurants and ice cream parlors in the area. We’ve already got Kohl’s and JC Penny and other department stores in town. They compete with each other fairly well.  What we need is more stores with good things to buy that can’t be found elsewhere in town; except for one place. For books, it’s Barnes and Noble. For DVDs and music, it’s Circuit City. We need some more competition and in different locations. Downtown’s Union district would be a great place to be.

What has PEDCo been doing to promote getting a high-profile/high-quality retailer into Union district? Nothing?

I eagarly await hearing the answers to these questions.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

PEDCo and Pilots and Planning, Oh My!

Lessons learned in development?

The Pueblo Chieftain trumpets Finalizing Plans for Air Force Pilot School.

That’s interesting news. Especially, as the article reports, 

In Pueblo, the city’s decision to join the bidding was never reported publicly. Economic development leaders now say they think the quiet approach was another of the keys to the city’s winning bid.

I suppose this was, at least in part, due to the interesting results of the failed PEDCO effort to attract a Wal-Mart distribution center to Pueblo West, last year. All the public discussion would seem to have driven Wal-Mart away. So now, it appears, that the City Fathers feel they need to negotiate deals ‘in the proverbial dark’, without the benefit of public input.

It’s not that I’m opposed to the US Air Force. Cripes, I was raised in the Strategic Air Command (SAC). I did the Cuban thing at Offutt “ground zero” AFB. Looking Glass’ midnight engine run-up sang my lullabye, for cry’n out loud.

What concerns me is that the City Fathers feel they can’t trust the honest opinions of the citizens who elected them. At least that is what I preceive of this sudden announcement after secret negotiations.

And this from Mr. Marvin Stein,

“The only noise military leaders like is the sound of soldiers at work”?

That’s rather indicative of a sense of paranoia I think unbecoming of someone supposedly working in the best interests of the community. I’m a military leader, retired. That statement is totally bogus. It gives little credit to the military and even less to public representatives who believe it. Not to mention newspapers that accept it. It gives the impression that the military is NOT under the control of civilian authorities, if you read it in a particularly ‘dark’ manner.

THIS is not, in my honest opinion, the way to do business; especially that conducted by a government. It smacks of closet agreements and under-the-table exchanges. This is not a precedent that should be established and accepted by the people who live here. It may have worked out THIS time, but there is another time to come where it could be VERY bad. That’s why open negotiations are best. They help preclude anything going horribly awry.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Bad Manners on Display

It seems there is no depth to which some liberals will not sink.

I don’t care who you are, sniping at the living when you are supposed to be memorializing the dead at a funeral is just plain bad manners. It detracts from where the focus should be. Those remarks cheapened a solemn religious ceremony. I do NOT think Mrs. King would have approved, even if she agreed with the sentiments.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Government Bargain Hunting

Should paper clips and plumbing parts really be put out to bid in a formal process?

I was in a conversation yesterday with a public official who shall remain nameless because he was not warned that he might be quoted. I was getting the nitty-gritty about how something works in the City.

“Then,” he said, “the fire department puts it out to bid and [the job] is done.”

“How much does [the job] usually cost?” I asked. “$500?”

“That would be about right,” he agreed.

“So, with the bid process, the City is spending, what? $200 or $300 so they can spend $500?” I asked.

“Well, how would you know what the lowest price was without going through the bid process?” he asked.

“You call them up and ask,” I replied.

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The Power of the Blogs

Interesting observations on how the blogs are changing the way politicans are having to answer questions.

Glenn ‘Instapundit’ Reynolds, a.k.a. the BlogFather, has an interesting insight into a recent exchange between Paul ‘Powerline’ Mirengoff, another blogger, and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL). In it he calls upon, i.e., links to, an article by Stephen Spruiell of National Review Online (NRO), which is another blog, albeit more like an online magazine.

The thrust of all this is that politicans are being kept on their toes by bloggers, who are more and more turning out to be people who know more about the subject they are asking questions about than your run-of-the-mill reporter, who has to be something of a jack-of-all-trades. The bloggers who are asking the questions tend to be more like subject-matter-experts. Not only that, but they are not particuarly beholden to any publisher, so they’ll more than likely speak their mind on the matter at hand.

This has its advantages as well as its disadvantages. The advantages are obvious; no higher-level management censoring their work so it’s more likely they’ll write exactly what they feel. Meanwhile the disadvantages are lurking in the wings. If they can’t write well, they’ll not get their point across. They could well irritate people to the point that very few will pay much attention to what they are saying. But that’s what anyone can expect in any situation. Another threat is that of misinformation. It’s true that many are working without the benefit of ‘editors’, such as traditional news organizations enjoy. However, over the last few years we’ve all seen some really outstanding examples of how having editors doesn’t seem to help much either. The Rathergate ‘fake but accurate’ scandal is one that springs immediately to mind. There have been several others since then that are equally interesting, albeit not as widely known.

Still and all, the Mirengoff v. Durbin incident is an interesting indicator of what I hope will be another tool to help people know what their politicans are up to and keep them accountable, as they should be, to the voters.