I have eaten many times at Zane's Steakhouse (and their predecessor -- Mason Jar -- still same owners, just a new name) and I have NEVER gotten sick. They have great steaks and they are the best in the state at fried chicken. You will not be disappointed.

Re: “Wasson's champions stay true to their school”

Most of the facts in this article are facts that the superintendent tried to suppress. There were secret meetings between the school board and the superintendent. (violations of the Sunshine Law?) But the decline and fall of Wasson came because the school board allowed the gerrymandering of the district boundaries to favor Palmer.

Most of the students now at Palmer are bussed in from old Wasson boundaries, including the Garden Ranch area. Thats right. They drive miles past Wasson to go to the school with the most street bums per person, and a superb drug distribution center there at Acacia Park. It is an excellent environment for high school students. Particularly when there are 25 police car responses to the street riots on Tejon.

Since it is now very easy for students to change school districts, and I am expecting 400 - 500 students to change districts because it is obvious the SD 11 board likes an urban slum (Palmer High School) better than the peaceful home owners around Wasson. But remember, all those home owners around Wasson vote. All the businesses around Palmer have very few voters. The superintendent would be wise to freshen up his resume.
Special congratulations to Sandra Mann, who filed her finger nails through the entire board meeting.

Re: “Lamborn lets us down”

Lamborn's salary has doubled since he got into office. I assume he is refusing his paycheck because of the deficit spending. If we pay him what he is worth... well, then I think he owes us. Betcha he takes the bloated pension payments too. He should move to Kansas, so he can be with his people.

Re: “Looking into the city's future”

Great comments, John. May I suggest you consider some of the old rapids that have capsized our genius city council(s) since 1967.

I. Growth Rapids (class 5) How do you grow tourism here? Our vaunted Utilities department has caused a dramatic and savage drop in the potential tourism in this area. As old timers like you will remember, in 1967 the voters of Colorado Springs passed (by an overwhelming margin) that Pikes Peak should be open to fishing and recreational use. Public votes have never bothered Mr. Forte. Less work and more pay is his fundamental policy. With your help Mr. John Hazlehurst, the three North Slope reservoirs were opened several decades ago, mostly against the will of the "leadership" of the Great Screwtilities. That opening has been the single best recreational resource opened to Colorado Springs tax paying citizens in the last fifty years. For two decades since the opening the of the North Slope facility, City Council and the CSU tourism squandering policies have succeeded. There is no tourism on Pikes Peak when you compare the results to other tourist attractions in this state. About eight years ago, the Utilities convened a committee to get the south slope open. It has been a complete failure. The official tourism visits at the Rocky Mountain National Park are over two million people a year. The presence of that facility makes it far easier to recruit major corporate facilities into the northern half of Colorado. Visit Broomfield, Boulder, and Loveland for proof. It is a lot more interesting than visiting Oklahoma City.

II. The I'm Glad CSU doesn't have control over Niagara Falls, Chapter II: People like to visit water falls. Green Mountain Falls used to have a water fall. Guess who closed it? (I am positive that CSU would close Niagara Falls, if they had control.) If city council wants to improve tourism, here is how to quickly, and at no cost, increase tourism all up and down Ute Pass. Order the Utilities Department to restore the water fall. Cost? What does it cost to open a valve? Oh, excuse me. I forgot. They will have to convene a committee and think about it. Probably for ten years. Meanwhile, millions of tourists go to Buffalo NY every year.

III. The Great Coal Caper. Did you know that the great Neumann Coal system was offered to utilities companies all over the United States? Guess how many utilities decided to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity? My sources tell me it is one. Hmm. I wonder who that one utility is?

Meanwhile, ALL the coal fired electrical plants in the greater Denver area are going to switch to natural gas. This means the demand for coal from the coal mines that supply CSUtilities is going to fall dramatically. The surprise is that the fixed costs in those coal mines are fixed. Declining revenue versus fixed costs means the price of coal is going to go up over the next five years.

Natural gas now sells for 50% less per BTU than coal. And natural gas costs have fallen from $15 per thousand cubic feet down to $3 per thousand cubic feet. Forward supplies of natural gas are basically unlimited. These prices will continue to decline. Did you get a price reduction lately on your "cheap" utility bill?

Re: “The way of the gun”

Thank you Rich. This one is a class act.

Re: “Fifty shades of green”

PS: I forgot to mention that the trout in Bear Creek were stocked there in the 1880's. That means Greenback Cutthroat are NOT NATIVE to Bear Creek. This is where the researchers get to say, "Oops."

The most interesting part of this report is that trail motorcycle riders have access to the South Slope and the East Slope of Pikes Peak, which is not open to the general public.

Re: “Fifty shades of green”

It is interesting to compare the local claims about Greenback Cutthroat Trout being endangered or threatened. The below is from the Division of Wildlife's own website.

"Recovery efforts for the greenback cutthroat have focused on establishing new populations and locating additional historic populations [1]. Starting in 1977, captive broodstocks were established for reintroduction (typically following the removal on nonnative trout species) into streams and lakes [1]. By 1978, a third genetically pure population had been discovered and five translocation attempts had taken place [2].

This led to the 1978 downlisting of the greenback cutthroat to threatened (a status that allowed for sportfishing) [2]. To date, six additional historic populations have been discovered for a total of nine historic populations [1]. Greenback cutthroat trout have now been found or introduced in 68 waters with over 639,000 fish distributed between 1985 and 1996 [3]. Introduced fish were reared or produced primarily by three hatcheries: the Bellvue Fish Research Hatchery in Colorado, the Bozeman Fish Technology Center in Montana, and the Saratoga National Fish Hatchery in Wyoming [3]. At eight of the 68 sites, recovery efforts have been abandoned or greenback cutthroat populations extirpated because of invasion by nonnative salmonids, unsuitable habitat, or lack of reproduction by greenback cutthroat trout [3]. As of 1998, greenback cutthroat occurred in 61 sites totaling 166 ha of lake and 165 km of stream habitat (this includes the nine historic sites) [1].

Forty-seven of these sites were open to catch-and-release fishing [1].

In 1999, 21 greenback cutthroat populations were reported to be stable and self-sustaining (18 in the South Platte River basin and three in the Arkansas River basin) [2].

This was close to meeting the delisting goal of 20 stable populations with at least five populations in the Arkansas River basin, presented in the 1998 recovery plan [2]. The recovery plan proposed that the greenback be delisted when two additional stable populations were created in the Arkansas River basin and a long term monitoring plan was completed [1].

Concern has been expressed, however, about the adequacy of recovery criteria (specifically the thresholds set for minimum biomass, abundance, habitat size, and year-class success) for securing populations from demographic instability or loss of genetic variation [2]. Although the status of the greenback cutthroat has certainly improved, they still face significant threats due to their inhabiting waters that are small, isolated, unproductive, in close proximity, and at risk of extirpation by natural events [2]. In addition, eight of the 14 stable introduced populations are in high elevation lakes that are outside the native range of greenback cutthroat and where they cannot develop the highly mobile life histories that were historically common [2].
In 2005, Colorado Division of Wildlife reported that greenback cutthroat occur in 58 streams and lakes with 23 populations meeting the population criteria required by recovery goals [4]."

I find this article to be disingenuous. With 23 reproducing populations throughout Colorado, three hatcheries actively raising these fish, and 58 streams and lakes harboring active populations, it is scientifically obvious that the extinction of the Greenback Cutthroat has been greatly exaggerated in this article.

Re: “Obama's missed opportunity”

The assumption that 51% of the public is against all abortion will be tested at the election. Not long ago, a personhood amendment was on the ballot in Mississippi. The anti abortion crowd thought they had a winner. It lost 75% to 25%. We will see what happens.