What's New at LWVLPC?

League of Women Voters^®
of La Plata County

News

Click here to check out what has been added since the last update Feb 3, 2012
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*All links on this site are provided for your convenience only. The League of Women Voters of La Plata County exercises no control of the information or opinions contained on them. Provision of these links does not indicate an endorsement of their contents by the LWVLPC.

Upcoming Meetings. Legislative Alerts-News. Colorado Legislature/News 2011. The Economy. Voter Services. Healthcare. Environment, Energy and Sustainability. Youth & Families. Global Outreach. League News. from the webmaster.

Upcoming Meetings

*Tuesday, February 7, 2012: La Plata County Republican Party Caucus
Click Precinct Caucus Location to find the location of your caucus.
this event not sponsored by the League of Women Voters of La Plata County
*Tuesday, Feb 14, 2012 & Thursday, Feb 16, 2012: 2012 Great Decisions Session #3, session moderator - John Lyons, entitled Mexico: transborder crime and governance by George Grayson, Professor at the College of William and Mary, Seniopr Associate at the Center for Strategic & International Studies and an Associate Scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute
<<<Special Note: consider attending the Thursday sessions as they are somewhat smaller and could afford you a better opportunity to express your opinions>>>
*Tuesday, 3/6/12: La Plata County Democratic party Caucus
Click Precinct Caucus Location to find your caucus location.
this event not sponsored by the League of Women Voters of La Plata County
*Tuesday, March 6, 2012: La Plata County Constitutional Party Caucus
Click Precinct Caucus Location to find your caucus location.
this event not sponsored by the League of Women Voters of La Plata County
*Monday, 3/12/12: Pine River Valley Bank Community Room - upstairs, 1701 Main Ave., Durango, CO Hydraulic Fracking in La Plata County and Colorado 101
*Saturday, February 25, 2012: LWVLPC Legislative Lowdown 9:30-11:30AM Durango Public Library Program Room
Our state legislators, Sen. Ellen Roberts and Rep. J. Paul Brown, will fill us in on their legislative priorities for the 2012 session and answer all your questions. Mark your calendar!
*5/11-12/12: FIRST CALL TO LWVCO COUNCIL 2012 The League of Women Voters of Colorado Council 2012 will meet Friday, May 11th + Saturday, May 12th in Pueblo. All meetings will be held at the Pueblo Convention Center located at 320 Central Main Street, Pueblo, CO. Click LWVCO 2012 Council for more information.
*6/8-12/12: FIRST CALL TO LWVUS CONVENTION 2012
From LWVUS President Elisabeth G. MacNamara
Join Us for the LWVUS 50th National Convention in Washington DC! at the Washington Hilton Hotel, 1919 Connecticut Avenue on June 8-12, 2012.
Imagine, Commit, Act! "The Power of the Vote!"
Click LWVUS Convention to read more.
*Jan 26 - April 12 (weekly) Fort Lewis Professional Associates: Life-Long Learning Winter/Spring 2012 Series All presentations are in Noble Hall, Rm 130 from 7-8:30pm unless otherwise noted.

What's New: LWV Legislative Alerts-News

*1/23/12 LWVLPC:
LWVLPC members:

LWVCO had just issued the first Legislative Letter of the 2012 General Assembly, which convened Jan.11 and will adjourn May 9, unless a special extension is requested.
Our elected officials to the CO General Assembly are Senator Ellen Roberts (R) and Representative J. Paul Brown(R).

This first LWVCO Legislative Letter provides helpful information about CO Senate and House Committees and deadlines schedules for this Assembly. Note that the "Long Bill" refers to state budget for the fiscal year starting July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013.
The advocacy agenda for the Colorado League this year includes:

Voting Rights and Enfranchisement
Fiscal Stability and Impact on Education and Higher Education
Water Quality/Fracking
Juvenile Justice
Child Welfare
Health Care including Reproductive Health Care

10 of the bills introduced this past week are being followed by the LVVCO State Legislative Action Committee and our lobbyist, and they are summarized on the last page of the Letter. We are supporting 6 of these, including:

SB 002 authorizing Civil Unions for all couples, which failed to reach a House vote last year
SB 015, enabling undocumented students who meet certain qualifications to attend CO Institutions of Higher Ed for in-state tuition, which also failed last year
HB 1003 authorizing the use of graywater (wastewater) under specific conditions
We are opposing SB 032, which is seeking a Federal waiver for Medicaid which, in our view, would lower standards for basic health care for Medicaid and Child Basic Health Plan (CHIP) recipients.

Check out the Letter for more detail.

Ellen Park LWVLPC Legislative Chair
*1/12/12 LWVLPC Legislative Alert:
LWVLPC Members: Members who attended our Advocacy and Program Planning meeting yesterday assigned as our highest National priority the issue of Money in Politics. This Action Alert is very timely, coming on the heals of our consensus. I urge you to take this first step, as I have, to begin to address the impact of the Citizens United decision and Super PACs by taking the action described below. Thank you.
Ellen Park
LWVLPC Legislative Chair

*Subj: ACTION ALERT: Fight Back Against Citizens United
Today you have an important opportunity to take an essential first step to fight back against Citizens United and the deregulation of the campaign finance system. Click here to urge President Obama to clean house at the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Already in this important election year, new Super PACs are flooding elections with huge expenditures from million-dollar donors. Because they are supposedly "independent" from the candidates, and with new loopholes from the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, Super PACs can raise and spend unlimited amounts from corporations and individuals, and they can do so with limited disclosure.

While there are different avenues that can be taken to fight back against Citizens United and cut the influence of special interests, you can join us by taking the first step today by urging President Obama to appoint new commissioners to the FEC. Among other duties, the FEC can define what election efforts are "independent" from the candidates.

The FEC is supposed to be the agency that enforces campaign finance laws, but it is dysfunctional. Of the six commissioners at the agency, three of them staunchly refuse to enforce the law, and five of the six are serving despite expired terms. It is time to clean house.

We need real campaign finance reform, and getting President Obama to nominate new commissioners to do their duty and enforce campaign finance laws is a good place to start. In the next 30 days we need to gather 25,000 signatures of support.

Don't just sign it yourself; post the petition on Facebook, Tweet about it and forward this note to all of your friends. Together we can make sure that the citizen's voice is heard.

For extra reading, click here for an interesting discussion of the new Super PACs presented by PBS.

Colorado Legislature/News 2011

*1//29/12 Denver Post: Colorado Legislature News

What's New: The Economy

*2/3/12 NYTimes:U.S. Jobless Rate Falls to 8.3 Percent, a 3-Year Low By MOTOKO RICH
The United States economy gained momentum in January, as employers added 243,000 jobs, the second straight month of better-than-expected gains.
And in a separate measure, the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent, giving a cause for optimism as the economy shapes up as the central issue in the presidential election.
Measured by both the unemployment rate and the number of jobless -- which fell to 12.8 million -- it was the strongest signal yet that an economic recovery was spreading to the jobs market. The last time the figures were as good was February 2009, President Obama's first full month in office...

*1/29/12 Durango Herald:La Plata County gets an A+ rating in finance S&P lauds ample reserves and good management By Heather Scofield Herald Staff Writer

As government entities around the nation and globe struggle to keep their credit ratings from crashing, La Plata County recently saw its credit rating improve.
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services announced this month that it raised the county's rating from an "A" to an "A+."
"I am very pleased that we received an upgrade, especially in light of the current economic environment and the property-tax declines we saw in 2011 and 2012," said Bobby Lieb, chairman of the Board of County Commissioners.
The county's hefty reserves and "good management" practices helped bump the credit rating, the S&P report said.
"The county's financial performance has been very strong in our opinion," S&P reported. "Three consecutive years of operating surpluses increased the unreserved general fund balance to $40.1 million, or 116 percent of expenditures in fiscal 2010."...

*U.S. Dept of Labor Statistics:U.S.Economy at a Glance

*U.S. Dept of Labor Statistics:Colorado Economy at a Glance

What's New: Voter Services

*Tuesday, February 7, 2012: La Plata County Republican Party Caucus
Click Precinct Caucus Location to find the location of your caucus.
this event not sponsored by the League of Women Voters of La Plata County

*Tuesday, Feb 14, 2012 & Thursday, Feb 16, 2012: 2012 Great Decisions Session #3, session moderator - John Lyons, entitled Mexico: transborder crime and governance by George Grayson, Professor at the College of William and Mary, Seniopr Associate at the Center for Strategic & International Studies and an Associate Scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute
<<<Special Note: consider attending the Thursday sessions as they are somewhat smaller and could afford you a better opportunity to express your opinions>>>

*Saturday, February 25, 2012: LWVLPC Legislative Lowdown 9:30-11:30AM Durango Public Library Program Room

Our state legislators, Sen. Ellen Roberts and Rep. J. Paul Brown, will fill us in on their legislative priorities for the 2012 session and answer all your questions. Mark your calendar!

*Tuesday, March 6, 2012: La Plata County Democratic party Caucus
Click Precinct Caucus Location to find your caucus location.
this event not sponsored by the League of Women Voters of La Plata County

*Tuesday, March 6, 2012: La Plata County Constitutional Party Caucus
Click Precinct Caucus Location to find your caucus location.
this event not sponsored by the League of Women Voters of La Plata County

What's New: Healthcare

*1/30/12 LWVLPC: Update on Health Care Issues in La Plata County from Jill Patton, Chairperson for LWVLPC Health Care Committee
Back in 2009, the local Citizens Health Advisory Council (CHAC) was among those instrumental in applying for and receiving a grant from the Colorado Health Foundation (CHF) to hire Julie Thompson to analyze health care needs in La Plata County and to develop recommendations to meet those needs. The main focus was to be on people without access to reliable, quality health care + particularly those with no or inadequate insurance. In 2010, Julie made eight recommendations. Her recommendations can be found on the CHAC website ...

*1/29/12 Durango Herald:More of Colorado's children insured Increase in part because more qualify for subsidized health care By Ann Imse Colorado Public News

A campaign to provide health insurance to children is showing progress in Colorado, where two surveys show the number of uninsured kids is down to 8 to 10 percent. That's a drop from the 13 to 14 percent rates of just a few years ago.
The group All Kids Covered estimates that 112,000 to 124,000 children in the state remain without health insurance.
The counties with the highest number of uninsured children are Jackson, Moffat, Rio Blanco, Garfield and Routt counties. The overall rate of people in Colorado without health insurance is 16 to 17 percent.
One major reason for the rising number of children who are covered by health insurance is high unemployment, which is dropping families into lower incomes that qualify them for free or subsidized insurance from the government...
*1/29/12 LWVLPC: CIVHC: CENTER FOR IMPROVING VALUE IN HEALTH CARE supplied by Jill Patton, Chair of LWVLPC Healthcare Committee

This organization came into being as the brainchild of the 2008 Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform. Originally part of state government, it transitioned to a nonprofit in 2011, and now receives funding from a number of foundations. Local provider Karen Zink is a member of the board of directors, along with representatives of the business community, insurance companies, hospitals, providers and others.

What's New: Environment, Energy and Sustainability

*Monday, 3/12/12: Pine River Valley Bank Community Room - upstairs, 1701 Main Ave., Durango, CO Hydraulic Fracking in La Plata County and Colorado 101
*1/20/12 Wired Magazine: Why the Clean Tech Boom Went Bust By Juliet Eilperin
John Doerr was crying. The billionaire venture capitalist had come to the end of his now-famous March 8, 2007, TED talk on climate change and renewable energy, and his emotions were getting the better of him. Doerr had begun by describing how his teenage daughter told him that it was up to his generation to fix global warming, since they had caused it. After detailing how the public and private sectors had so far failed at this, Doerr, who made his fortune investing early in companies that became some of Silicon Valley's biggest names--Netscape, Amazon.com, and Google, among others--exhorted the audience and his peers (largely one and the same) to band together and transform the nation's energy supply. "I really, really hope we multiply all of our energy, all of our talent, and all of our influence to solve this problem," he said, falling silent as he fought back tears. "Because if we do, I can look forward to the conversation I'm going to have with my daughter in 20 years."...
Just as Solyndra was starting to take off and needed more money for expansion, the venture capital climate began to cool. The 2008 financial collapse erased a quarter of the gains VC firms had made between 2003 and 2007, and the sudden paucity of capital--combined with the difficulty of taking smaller companies public--hit renewable startups particularly hard. Venture investments in clean tech fell from $4.1 billion in 2008 to $2.5 billion in 2009...
There was an additional factor at work: impatience. Venture capitalists tend to work on three- to five-year horizons. As they were quickly finding out, energy companies don't operate on those timelines. Consider a recent analysis by Matthew Nordan, a venture capitalist who specializes in energy and environmental technology. Of all the energy startups that received their first VC funds between 1995 and 2007, only 1.8 percent achieved what he calls "unambiguous success," meaning an initial public offering on a major exchange. The average time from founding to IPO was 8.3 years. "If you're signing up to build a clean-tech winner," Nordan wrote in a blog post, "reserve a decade of your life."...

*1/29/12 Durango Herald:"`F' is for `frack'"<+http://www.durangoherald.com/article/20120129/NEWS04/701299978/`F'-is-for-`frack'> Energy industry is not backing term for hydraulic fracturing By JONATHAN FAHEY AP Energy Writer

New York:A different kind of F-word is stirring a linguistic and political debate as controversial as what it defines. The word is "fracking" + as in hydraulic fracturing, a technique long used by the oil and gas industry to free oil and gas from rock.
It's not in the dictionary, the industry hates it, and President Barack Obama didn't use it in his State of the Union speech + even as he praised federal subsidies for it. The word sounds nasty, and environmental advocates have been able to use it to generate opposition + and revulsion + to what they say is a nasty process that threatens water supplies.
"It obviously calls to mind other less socially polite terms, and folks have been able to take advantage of that," said Kate Sinding, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council who works on drilling issues...
*1/24/12 CO Dept of Public Health and Environment: State identifies Winnable Battles to improve public health and the environment

DENVER + The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment today identified 10 Winnable Battles that are key public health and environmental issues where progress can be made in the next three-five years.
Chris Urbina, executive director and chief medical officer for the department, said, "We selected these 10 Winnable Battles because they provide Colorado's greatest opportunities for ensuring the health of our citizens and visitors and the improvement and protection of our environment. All partners and stakeholders are needed and welcomed in helping address these Winnable Battles. With collective efforts, we can make a difference."...

*Colorado Environmental Coalition Colorado's Voice for Conservation since 1965

What's New: Youth & Families

*1/29/12 Education News Colorado:Find your school's 2011 CSAP results

State test results released Aug. 3 show little change in student progress in reading, writing, math and science for grades 3-10. About two-thirds of Colorado students are reading at grade level and just over half are proficient in writing and math. Slightly under half scored proficient or advanced in science.
2011 marks the 15th year of the Colorado Student Assessment Program + and the last. The Transitional Colorado Assessment Program begins next year as the state moves to new tests aligned to new academic standards.
These results show how your school or district performed on state exams, a "snapshot" on a given day. To see how they're progressing over time, check the EdNews database showing your school and district's 2011 academic growth numbers.

What's New: Global Outreach

*Tuesday, Feb 14, 2012 & Thursday, Feb 16, 2012: 2012 Great Decisions Session #3, session moderator - John Lyons, entitled Mexico: transborder crime and governance by George Grayson, Professor at the College of William and Mary, Seniopr Associate at the Center for Strategic & International Studies and an Associate Scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute

What's New: La Plata League

* 1/31/12 LWVCO: LWVCO Legislative Letter #2:11 is now available for your viewing.
* 1/31/12 LWVLPC: The February 2012 VOTER is now ready for your on-line viewing.
Topics include:

February - May Calendar
Status of the LWVLPC Privatization Study
Thanks for meeting the Public Address System Challenge
LWV Action and Advocacy
Results of the LWVCO Legislative Conference January 23
Status of Health Care Progress in La Plata County
Second Anniversary of U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission
Are Ballots Public Records?
IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Resourcesand Climate Change Mitigation
2011 LWVLPC Accomplishments
Email Charter
*1/30/12 LWVLPC: POLICIES OF THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF LA PLATA COUNTY REVIEWED AND ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS JANUARY 30, 2012
*1/27/12 News from the LWVCO Legislative Day:
Subject: "Rethinking Colorado's Government" links Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:49:12 -0700
At the LWVCO Legislative Conference on Jan. 23, James Griesemer spoke about the DU Strategic Issues Panel report on Rethinking Colorado's Government. The report is available online at Report of the Strategic Issues Panel on State Government, and Professor Griesemer also said he could have paper copies sent to anyone who requested it by emailing him at jgriesem@du.edu. There may be other League members who couldn't attend the Legislative Conference who would be interested in the information, too, so Presidents, please pass this on to your local League members.
Thanks, Julie Leonard Executive Director League of Women Voters of Colorado League of Women Voters of Colorado Education Fund
*IT IS NEVER TOO LATE to consider a membership in the League of Women Voters of La Plata County (LWVLPC). Click 2012 membership renewal form and print a copy of the 2012 form. Annual dues for individuals remain at $50 and $30 for students and additional household members. Kindly complete one form per household and mail it with your check to our treasurer, Nadine Ancel, 358 West Los Ranchitos Dr., Durango, CO 81301. If you have any questions or comments, please contact our membership chair, Suzanne Becker at esmbecker@aol.com.

If you would like to donate to the League of Women Voters of La Plata County, please click LWVLPC Donation Form All donations are very much appreciated!

If you would like to view an informative brochure for the League of Women Voters of La Plata County, please click LWVLPC Member Brochure

What's New: From the Webmaster

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If you are a user of Google Search tools, you may find it very useful to use the Google site-specific search option to search the lwvlaplata.org site.
to use this option just enter the keyword(s) you are searching for and follow this with the words site:lwvlaplata.org. This will display in a new page all of the references on the lwvlaplata.org site that contain your keywords. For example, if I wish to find the 2011 CALENDAR on our site, I just enter the words 2011 calendar site:lwvlaplata.org in the search bar, hit the search icon and VOILA, the link to the 2011 calendar is displayed. One more click and I am there. It's that simple!

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: February 3, 2012 11:28 PST.