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MAGA customer spews racist insults at employees of 5 Guys hamburger restaurant in G.J.; restaurant fires employees


A customer wearing a Trump “Never Surrender” T-shirt hurled racist insults at employees at 5 Guys hamburger restaurant at 2480 U.S. Highway 6 in Grand Junction on the evening of Election Day, Nov. 5, calling them “beaners” and “f*cking invaders.”

Aiden Renova, who worked at the restaurant and was present during the two minute-long confrontation, told KJCT that the man came into the establishment on election night to pick up an order and then asked one of the employees for whom he was voting.

“That‘s kind of a weird thing to bring up to someone [who’s] making your fries,” Renova told KJCT.

The employee replied that he voted for Kamala Harris. The man then called the employee a racial slur under his breath, and that’s when the employee pulled out his phone to record.

The incident was posted to “X” (formerly Twitter) and can be seen here.

A fuller report about the incident was published by The Daily Sentinel on November 7. It says Mario Quijano was one of the employees who video recorded the encounter. The Sentinel also says the woman who accompanied the man who insulted the employees is “associated with [Community Hospital] through their work with one of the hospital’s clinics.” The day after the incident, Five Guys fired the employees who had been harassed, essentially capitulating to their racist attacker who told employees in the video that he was going to get them fired.

Renova posted the following video on Instagram the next day with his account of the incident (WARNING – Profane speech):

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Aiden Renova (@aidenrenova)

Elect a criminal, expect crimes

There will be no one to blame but American voters for what is going to happen next.

After a decade in politics, we all knew Donald Trump was a criminal.

He was found guilty last May of 34 felony counts of fraud and was slapped with a $355 million fine after he and his company were found guilty of engaging in a decade-long scheme to defraud banks and lenders by falsifying the values of his properties. In writing the verdict in the case, Judge Arthur Engoron wrote “The frauds found here leap off the page and shock the conscience.” In 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation.

Trump mimes giving a blow job to his microphone at rally in Milwaukee, WI

[Warning: This post about the Republican nominee for U.S. President is unsuitable for children.]

Upset about a problematic microphone at his Friday, Nov. 1 rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Trump went on an extended rant about microphones that included his miming of giving oral sex to another male while standing behind a podium that bore a sign saying “Trump will fix it.” [The BJ part starts at 3:00 into the 4:05 video]

Comparison of interchange projects elswhere in Colorado shows taxpayers are getting a raw deal in Ballot Issue 1A

With other highway interchanges being built elsewhere in Colorado, the developers who will benefit from these projects kicked in millions of dollars towards their completion, or paid the total cost of construction up front and will get reimbursed from the future taxes generated on the retail development it stimulates on the rest of their property.

That’s not the case with the proposed I-70 interchange at 29 Road. The owners of the land the interchange would be built on haven’t pledged a dime towards its construction, even though their land around it would likely skyrocket in value after it is built, and generate income for them far into the future.

ACLU accuses Grand Junction Municipal Judge Tammy Eret of constitutional violations on the bench

City of G.J. Municipal Judge and School District 51’s in-house legal counsel and Tammy Eret

On September 23, 2024 the Colorado ACLU sent a 5 page letter (pdf) to Grand Junction officials notifying them that Grand Junction Municipal Judge Tammy Eret has been engaging in “blatantly unconstitutional” and “harmful” practices in City court sessions. The letter accuses Eret of “persistently and illegally” denying incarcerated people access to court-appointed counsel, coercing uncounseled guilty pleas, and imposing “lengthy, uncounseled, illegal jail sentences.” The letter gives detailed examples of such instances, even including some of the the in-court dialogue between Eret and the people who were before her in court.

Interactive map shows donors to Harris/Biden and Trump in Mesa County in the 2024 presidential race as of 10/24/24


This fascinating interactive map from the Washington Post shows a surprising number of people in our area are Harris supporters, and that Mesa County has continued to trend more “blue” politically since 2020. 

Voter Guide for the Mesa County Ballot for the Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 election

Are you wondering how to vote in the Tuesday, November 5, 2024 General Election? Are you worried about where you’re going to find the time to research all of the candidates and ballot measures, especially on such a long ballot?

Relax.

AnneLandmanBlog has done all the work for you.

Following is a summary of recommended votes for the 2024 Mesa County General Election on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.

Amendment 79: Constitutional Right to Abortion and Amendment 80: Constitutional Right to School Choice

Amendment 79: Constitutional Right to Abortion

(Numbered amendments, like Amendment 79 Amendment 80, are initiated by citizens.)

Amendment 79 would put the right to obtain an abortion into Colorado’s Constitution and repeal the existing ban on state and local government funding for abortion, so public employees can use their health insurance for abortion care. Amendment 79 will make it harder for Colorado legislators to pass laws in the future to regulate or restrict abortion in any way.

In 2023 Donald Trump openly bragged about his role in ending federal abortion rights and eliminating the long-held human right American women possessed to make decisions about their own bodies and lives.

After the 2022 Dobbs decision by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Christian nationalist majority ended Americans’ federally-guaranteed right to access abortion, Colorado’s legislature enacted a state law to protect people’s right to abortion. But since legislators can amend or repeal existing state laws, Coloradans can easily lose this right again if Republicans gain a majority in the state legislature.

Amendment 79 makes it far more difficult to eliminate the right to abortion, because only a majority of state voters can amend the state’s constitution. Thus Amendment 79 will help preserve Coloradans’ freedom to make their own personal health care decisions regarding abortion and keep the government from interfering in such decisions.

Mesa County Ballot Issues 4A & 4B: School District 51 Bond issue and Mill Levy Override

Ballot issue 4A asks if School District 51 can take out a bond (loan) for $190 million with a maximum repayment cost of $410 million and use the money to renovate, make additions to existing school buildings and upgrade classroom technology. Plans include doing high-priority repairs like roof replacements, adding fire sprinklers, upgrading classroom technology, making schools more secure and making it easier for disabled kids o access all school facilities.

Many of the local public schools were built in the 1950s-1960s and need maintenance and upgrades to keep them functional, up-to-date and safe into the future.

The bond measure won’t raise taxes because it replaces an existing bond that will be fully paid off on December 1, 2024.

Ballot Issue 4B authorizes the school district to extend the current mill levy override so the District keep getting a tax already in place that was approved in 2017 and keep the $6.5 million it generates annually to continue paying for additional student instruction days, updated instructional materials, teacher training and priority maintenance to extend the life of its buildings. (A “mill levy override” is a voter-approved increase in property taxes that provides a school district with additional funding.)