Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom (CPRF) made an appearance last weekend in Grand Junction to boost the signature-gathering effort to get Initiative 89 on the ballot, the measure that would amend the state constitution to protect abortion from government interference.
Category: Activism
Activism, Conservatives, Crime, Democracy under threat, Domestic terrorism, Ethics, Extremism, Fake patriotism, Freedom under threat, Insurrection, Trump Insanity, Women
Restore the Balance is bringing Cassidy Hutchinson to Grand Junction
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• •Cassidy Hutchinson is a former White House aide who served as assistant to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the Trump administration.
Hutchinson testified at the June 28, 2022 public hearings of the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, providing testimony on President Donald Trump’s conduct and that of his senior aides and political allies before and during the January 6 United States Capitol attack. As a Trump administration member and direct eye witness to the events that unfolded that day, Hutchinson’s testimony received significant national attention, with several media outlets calling it “compelling” and “explosive.”
Activism, City of Grand Junction, Local concerns, Mesa County, School District 51, Weird Grand Junction Stuff
Turn out to help save the much-loved Orchard Mesa Pool at two important meetings this month
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• •The Save the Orchard Mesa Pool Committee asks everyone who wants to save the OM pool from destruction to mark their calendars and attend the next city council meetings about the pool, and wear blue to help show solidarity for saving the pool:
The next meeting is March Monday, 18th at 5:30 p.m. at the downtown fire station at 625 Ute Ave., right by the Grand Junction Police station. This is a listen-only meeting, but the Orchard Mesa community needs to show a big presence. All you need to do is show up and wear blue!
Then after that, on Wednesday, March 20 at Grand Junction City Hall, 250 N. 5th Street, at 5:30 p.m. The Committee needs a HUGE CROWD to attend this meeting because City Council may be voting on the fate of the pool at this meeting. The public can weigh in at this meeting.
Activism, Grassroots advocacy, Homelessness, Housing, Human rights, Local concerns, Poverty, Social Justice
United Way to host Poverty Immersion Experience to increase understanding of what life is like for people living in poverty in Mesa County
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The Poverty Immersion Experience allows participants to spend a simulated month in the life of an individual who is experiencing poverty in Mesa County. It is an interactive event that promotes awareness of poverty in Mesa County, increases understanding of people facing poverty situations and that will inspire local change. The intent is to shift the belief and paradigm about poverty from being seen as a personal failure or character flaw to the understanding that poverty is a systemic and societal issue.
The experience offers a unique opportunity to step into the shoes of a low-income family, navigating life with limited resources, while providing for their children and accessing essential community services.
Activism, City of Grand Junction, Grand Junction City Council, Local concerns, School District 51
The Orchard Mesa Community Center Pool is barely afloat
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• •Guest blog post by Mariann Taigman, co-founder of the Save the Pool Committee, and Nick Allan of Orchard Mesa United
Three different agencies—the school district, the city, and the county—are involved in managing the Orchard Mesa Community Center Pool (OMCCP).
Prior to 2020, a Pool Board was created that was comprised of one official from each of these entities to discuss the pool at joint meetings. In 2020, the pool board convened to discuss the pool’s future, including the possibility of demolition, marking the last “official” meeting of the Pool Board before it dissolved. In response, the Save The Pool Committee emerged as a grassroots effort, championed by concerned community
members passionate about keeping the OMCCP operational. During that final Pool Board meeting, the Save The Pool Committee presented proof to the three entities that the community wanted the pool to remain open. Our efforts included: obtaining 7,000 online petition signatures and 1,000 paper signatures; collecting over 70 letters from school children; encouraged community engagement by distributing flyers as to the fate of the OMCCP, and having groups of community members speak at city council meetings.
Activism, City of Grand Junction, Local concerns
Rally Sat., Feb. 24 at Eagle Rim Park to save the Orchard Mesa Pool
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• •Activism, Grassroots advocacy, Local concerns, Post Office, USPS
Rally for the Grand Junction Post Office Monday, Feb. 19, & find out more about changes proposed to mail service
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• •Local postal employees are inviting members of the community to join them at a rally tomorrow, Monday, February 19, from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. at the Grand Junction Mail Processing Facility at 602 Burkey Street to hear about changes being proposed to local postal services in Grand Junction and show support for keeping mail operations in town.
In January, Grand Junction postal employees warned of changes being proposed that could further slow mail delivery and eliminate postal jobs in Grand Junction.
The national Post Office is considering moving the sorting of local mail to Denver. This means local mail would be collected, put on trucks, driven to Denver, sorted at a processing facility in Denver, then put back on trucks and driven back to Grand Junction for delivery. With I-70 being closed more often due to inclement weather, accidents, rockslides, mudslides and other calamities, this could cause further unexpected and unpredictable delays in mail delivery in Grand Junction.
The change could also eliminate anywhere from 12-20 jobs at postal facilities in Grand Junction.
Activism, Extremism, Firearms, Grassroots advocacy, Gun violence, Safety, Security, Women
“Thoughts and Prayers” PSA by Mothers for Democracy
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This is the debut video of the group “Mothers for Democracy,” a grassroots group that started as a protest group of Texas mothers who oppose Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s extreme agenda.
Activism, Local concerns, Post Office, Worker advocacy
Local Postal workers warn of changes coming that will further slow mail delivery
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• •Local Postal Service workers shared a memo distributed to employees at the Burkey Street Sorting Facility on January 10 that warns changes are likely coming to the Burkey Street facility that will threaten jobs and further slow mail delivery by moving mail processing and distributing (PD&C) out of these facilities to Denver.
The 6 page memo, called a “Stand Up Talk” (pdf), warns of an impending facility review that will likely lead to consolidation of plant operations here in Grand Junction and the relocation of parcel operations from here to Denver. It indicates Trump-appointed Postmaster Louis DeJoy will likely take steps that will further erode mail service in Grand Junction and mountain towns. A veteran postal worker said the plan “will definitely slow down mail processing and probably cost some jobs in our areas,” adding that “They seem to cut service then lower their standards so it looks like they are ‘fixing things’.”
Abortion, Activism, Democracy under threat, Elections, Extremism, Freedom under threat, Health care, Safety, Separation of Church and State
Signature-gathering effort for ballot initiative to guarantee abortion rights in CO kicks off 1/23 in Grand Junction
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• •The effort to get Amendment 89, a constitutional amendment to protect the right to an abortion from government interference in Colorado, onto the November ballot will kick off on Tuesday, January 23 at an event in Grand Junction from 6:00 – 8:00 pm at The Mesa Theater, 538 Main St, Grand Junction, CO 81501. Currently abortion is protected in Colorado, but only by a statutory law enacted in 2022 called the Reproductive Health Equity Act, which confers only weak protection that could easily be changed by a vote of Republicans trying to further restrict women’s rights.
Amendment 89 will assure that all Coloradans, regardless of occupation or source of health insurance, have access to reproductive healthcare. Currently, teachers, firefighters, other state and local public employees and people enrolled in state health insurance plans lack insurance coverage (pdf) for abortion care, an inequity that
Amendment 89 aims to address. As a constitutional amendment, Amendment 89 will also be a stronger buffer against future attempts by politicians in Colorado to limit abortion access in our state.
Abortion, Activism, Elections, Freedom under threat
CO Ballot Initiative #89 seeks to enshrine abortion rights in Colorado’s Constitution
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• •Western Colorado is organizing to protect abortion rights, for real.
In 2022, Colorado enacted a statute to protect access to contraception and abortion, but because it’s just a statute, Republicans can still try to undermine the law by introducing bills and ballot measures to try to limit abortion access. So groups that support reproductive freedom are working to put Initiative #89 on the 2024 state ballot.
Activism, Atheism, Separation of Church and State
Western Colorado Atheists and Freethinkers to run holiday billboard
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• •Western Colorado Atheists and Freethinkers (WCAF), the western slope’s longest-established secular organization, will run a holiday billboard to commemorate the 2023 winter solstice.
The digital billboard will be up from 12/20-12/26 on the northeast corner of First Street and Ouray Ave., across the street from Bicycle Outfitters and Thai No. 9. There is plenty of free parking on the street so people can stop, get out of their cars and admire the billboard, and plenty of sidewalk space to stand on to take pictures of it.
Activism, Diversity, LGBT issues, Local concerns, Social Justice
Locally-made short video about social justice and the LGBTQ community in Grand Junction
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• •The 8 minute, 46 second video about social justice and the LGBTQ community in Grand Junction was created about a year and a half ago by Rachel DeWeber of DeWeber media in Grand Junction. The funding for the video was gathered by Caleb Ferganchick.
Activism, Children, Christian nationalism, Conservatives, Education, Extremism, Local concerns, Religion
People concerned about D-51 Social Studies Forums Nov. 15 & 16
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• •School District 51 is holding forums today and tomorrow (Wednesday, 11/15 and Thursday, 11/16) to discuss the state’s new social studies standards. The forums are today at Redlands Middle School and tomorrow at Orchard Mesa Middle School, from 5:30-8:30 p.m. each day.
So, what’s up with these forums?
Activism, Children, Christian nationalism, Conservatives, Education, Elections, Extremism, Freedom under threat, Homophobia, Intolerance, LGBT issues, Mesa County, politics, Propaganda, Separation of Church and State
Woodland Park-based Christian nationalist group working to influence Mesa County District 51 School Board election
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• •High-quality, multi-colored, bilingual fliers created by the front range Christian dominionist group Truth & Liberty Coalition are showing up at businesses around town. The fliers use right wing culture war rhetoric targeting gay and transgender students in an attempt to influence the outcome of the November 7 District 51 School Board election. The fliers appear to endorse CynDee Skalla, Jessica Hearns and Barbara Evanson.
The fliers were found at La Milpa Tortilla Factory in Grand Junction and are bilingual in English and Spanish.
Activism, Anti-vaccine, Conspiracy theories, Coronavirus pandemic, Crazy Republicans, Cringeworthy, Dangerous Republicans, Embarrassing Republicans, Extremism, Immigration, Intolerance, Janet Rowland, LGBT issues, Propaganda, Public health, Republican incompetence, Vile Republicans
Newly-appointed Board of Public Health member is anti-vax, anti immigrant, anti-gay extremist
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• •A person the Mesa County Commissioners appointed to the Board of Health yesterday, Stephen D. Daniels, is a strong supporter of anti-vax conspiracy theorist and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (RFK), according to his social media accounts. Posts on the same sources also reveal Daniels is anti-immigrant, anti-gay, anti-Disney, and a climate change denier who opposes Colorado’s new family and medical leave law, which gives workers paid time off to care for a new baby or a loved one who has a serious health condition.
Presidential candidate RFK, whom Daniels supports, opposes vaccines that prevent dire illnesses in children and adults, like polio, measles and smallpox. In 2017, Scientific American wrote that “For more than a decade, Kennedy has promoted anti-vaccine propaganda completely unconnected to reality,” and if his anti-vax advocacy “leads to even a small decline in vaccine rates across the country, it will result in the waste of untold amounts of money and in all likelihood, the preventable deaths of infants too young to be vaccinated.”
Activism, Andrea Haitz, Democracy, Education
Andrea Haitz Recall Committee calls off signature-gathering effort
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• •The committee to recall District 51 School Board President Andrea Haitz has stopped gathering signatures for the recall.
The Committee issued a statement at 7:52 p.m. on June 29:
Sometimes we win. Sometimes we win, regardless.
The Recall Andrea Haitz Committee has decided to suspend collecting signatures. We are close to our goal, but the D51 board’s decision to include Marillac Clinic in Grand Junction High School was a major factor for starting the Recall. We celebrate the board’s decision to give our D51 students accessible and needed health care. We believe our Recall effort is a success by acting as a “6th member of the board” and keeping community attention on the actions of the board while important decisions are being made.
Recalls rarely succeed. But we have shown that non-violent, democratic action can positively move the needle, and galvanize voters before the election of two new board members in November 2023.
Folks have spoken clearly – No more political agendas in our schools. No more charter schools that siphon off public school students. No more secret committees deciding how many additional neighborhood schools will be closed.
We hope that Recall supporters know that while the Recall committee is turning a page, community attention remains squarely on board decisions. Our students are worth the time and energy of a 100-strong coalition of signature collectors has devoted to the attempt to peacefully and constitutionally effect change. We continue to Sign for D51 Kids.
Sarah Lester, Eric Rechel, Ricki Howie
The Recall Andrea Haitz Committee and D51 Stakeholders
Activism, Andrea Haitz, Education, Elections, Ethics, Extremism
Text of the Petition to Recall District 51 School Board President Andrea Haitz
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• •Some people have asked where they can read the text of the petition to recall District 51 School Board President Andrea Haitz.
You can read the entire petition here.