At its Friday, May 21, 2021 meeting, the Delta County School Board unanimously passed Resolution 2021-15, blocking students who attend Delta County public schools from being able to access a comprehensive, medically-accurate sexual education. People who attended the meeting reported that the School Board did not give the public any notice about its intent to vote on the resolution at the meeting. According to KVNF Radio, the school board had promised it would circulate a questionnaire and host a public meeting about the topic, but it did not.
Category: Activism
Activism, Children, Education, Embarrassing Republicans, Extremism, Health, Public health, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Weird western slope stuff
Delta County right wingers fight the prospect of teaching medically-accurate sex ed in Delta schools; Gay groups to rally in support this Thursday
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• •Delta County conservatives are in a tizzy over the prospect that their school district may implement a medically-accurate, comprehensive sex education curriculum in compliance with a new Colorado law passed in 2019.
Until recently, the Delta County Schools’ only consistent “sex education” curriculum consisted of presentations by a woman named Shelly Donahue, a Christian abstinence-only speaker whose talk relied heavily on shame, guilt and medically-inaccurate information. Donahue likened girls brains to cooked spaghetti and boys brains to toaster waffles. The slides in her show were sprinkled with crosses, and she told kids that having premarital sex put them “further from God.” Donahue’s $2,000 speaking fee was picked up by a Christian missionary group. One Oklahoma school district has banned Donahue from speaking because students said her talks were demeaning to girls and children from broken homes. (For more on Shelly Donahue and the Delta County School District, search on “Shelly Donahue” in the AnneLandmanblog search box on right side of any page.)
Activism, Democracy, Grand Junction City Council, politics
Learn more about the candidates running for Grand Junction City Council at this online event tomorrow @ 6:00 p.m.
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• •Are you wondering who wants to call the shots on City Council? Are there candidates for City Council that draw red flags?
If you have an internet connection, you can attend this free online event to find out more about the candidates for Grand Junction City Counci. It’s tomorrow at 6:00 p.m.
The event is sponsored by the Western Colorado Alliance of Mesa County, the Western Colorado Latino Chamber of Commerce, Cleantech Business Coalition, and other community organizations.
The link to sign up and get the Zoom link for the forum is here.
The election is April 6, 2021. There are also measures on the ballot to approve the sale of retail marijuana, and if it is approved, to tax those sales. The city’s portal for more information on the election is here.
Get involved, tune in, determine who the over-the-top extremist candidates are (because this is Grand Junction, and you know some of them are), and who the reasonable candidates are who deserve to serve on the next City Council.
Activism, Children, Crazy Republicans, Dangerous Republicans, Education, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethnic/Minority, Extremism, Lies, politics, Propaganda, Public health, Republican lies, Safety, Weird Grand Junction Stuff
Application by Cindy Ficklin to be D-51 Superintendent raises alarm
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• •Who is Cindy Ficklin?
Ficklin is a 40-something GOP firebrand known for her extremist right wing views and her outspoken manner.
In a red-meat speech she gave on July 4, 2020 to a mostly un-masked crowd at the “Stand for the Constitution Freedom Rally” in a local park, Ficklin railed against masking and contact tracing — the only tools available to control the Coronavirus. She said that “CDC guidelines for opening schools … are literally formed of human torture and child abuse,” and spread the false narrative that government was forcing vaccines on people. She railed against public health recommendations to “stay home to stay safe” and whipped up anger at community efforts to control the virus, saying “the new normal” we’re all living with is “an attempt to infringe on our civil rights.”
Activism, Conservatives, Crazy Republicans, Dangerous Republicans, Deplorables, Elections, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, Extremism, Fake patriotism, Hate, Janet Rowland, Lauren Boebert, Propaganda, Ray Scott, Republican lies, Tina Peters, Weird Grand Junction Stuff, Weird western slope stuff
G.J. furniture repair business disses Biden supporters on its web page because “they are okay with stealing elections” and “killing babies”
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• •Bruce Bertram, who owns The Chair Doctor, a Grand Junction furniture repair service, says on his website that he offers a lifetime warranty, he’s “open Sunday through Friday, about 9a to 6p. Closed Saturday. Phone 970-243-2929 for appointment,” and adds “Biden supporters not welcome.”
When you click the link to find out more, you get the following rant:
Answer 19: Are Biden supporters really not welcome at your business?
Yes. Since Biden supporters are not supporters of the Constitution, we don’t support them. They want to censor anyone that disagrees with them so we censor them. They are okay with stealing elections, like killing babies, defend Burn Loot and Murder riots while lying about legitimate protests at the Capitol, promote communism/socialism/globalism, are trying to destroy our country, and are generally hateful, ignorant people (obviously, if you are a Biden supporter).
Activism, Advertising, Children, Conservatives, Crazy Republicans, Dangerous Republicans, Democracy, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, Extremism, Fake patriotism, Intolerance, Mesa County Republican Party, Trump Insanity, Violence, Weird western slope stuff
Obscene Republican flags across the street from Orchard Mesa Middle School and a day care center draw outrage
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• •Orchard Mesa residents are recoiling at the obscene Republican flags on display at 2737 Unaweep Ave., a house directly across the street from Orchard Mesa Middle School and the Eagle View Learning Center, an early childhood educational center.
The homeowner has three flags: the top one says “TRUMP 2020 – NO MORE BULLSH*T,” a middle flag shows a fantasized Rambo-styled version of Trump holding a machine gun, and the third flag says in big letters “F*CK BIDEN AND F*CK YOU IF YOU VOTED FOR HIM.”
The obscene language and violent imagery — imagery now inextricably linked to the Republican Party after the violent attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters January 6th that left 5 people dead — are drawing outrage from area residents, who are trying to get the flags removed. At least one person has contacted KKCO, KREX and the Mesa County Republican Party’s headquarters at 1227 N. 23rd Street, Unit #103, Grand Junction, 970-261-0778.
Activism, Anti-semitism, Conservatives, Crazy Republicans, Dangerous Republicans, Deplorables, Elections, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, Extremism, Fake patriotism, Hate, Lauren Boebert, Lies, politics, Racism, Safety, Security, Trump Insanity, Violence
68 Elected officials in Colorado House District 3 sign letter to House leadership condemning Boebert’s actions
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• •68 elected officials from cities and counties across Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District have sent a letter (pdf) January 12 to House leaders condemning CD-3 Rep. Lauren Boebert and asking them to open an investigation into Boebert’s actions leading up to, and on the day of the insurrectionist attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6.
The letter was sent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and was signed by elected officials from the counties of Routt, Pueblo, Eagle, Lake, Gunnison, Pitkin, Saguache, Ouray, La Plata, Hinsdale, San Miguel, and San Juan and from the cities of Durango, Bayfield, Crested Butte, Gunnison, Eagle, Lake City, Ophir, Mountain Village, Leadville, Ridgway, Telluride, Glenwood Springs, Avon and Aspen.
Activism, Consumer advocacy, Ethics, Health, Pandemic, Public health
Petition asks the Mesa County Public Health Dept. to enforce mask mandate at Mesa Mall
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• •A Move-On.org petition is asking the Mesa County Health Department to enforce the state-wide mask mandate inside the Mall.
The petition states,
Covid-19 is spreading fast and hard through Mesa County. Many people are still not taking the threat seriously. It is putting [Mall] employees, tenants, and guests at a ridiculously high risk of catching and spreading the virus. The effects are dangerous and deadly and we have a moral and social imperative to do what we can to keep each other safe. The Mesa Mall is responsible for the safety of those who enter it’s walls. If they can’t provide a safe place for people to work, shop, and visit, then they should shut down for the health and safety of our community.
A mask mandate is currently in place throughout Colorado to reduce the spread of the deadly, communicable Corona virus that is sweeping the country. It requires everyone 11 years and older to wear a face mask in enclosed public places. Masks are recommended anywhere people are sharing air.
How to effectively complain about businesses that aren’t enforcing the mask order:
Activism, Deplorables, Ethics, Extremism, Fake patriotism, Health care, Intolerance, Public health, Safety, Stupid Republicans, Trump Insanity, Weird Grand Junction Stuff
Mesa County Facebook group aims to undermine public health, sicken more people
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• •A Facebook group called “Free Mesa County” has been created to encourage people to undermine public health and advance the spread of the novel Coronavirus in Mesa County by openly disobeying Colorado’s mask mandate and demanding full occupancy for indoor venues like churches.
The group’s latest event is an “en masse” maskless shopping event to be held this Friday, January 1, New Year’s Day. The group is urging its followers to go out and swarm local businesses without wearing face masks. Wearing of face masks is currently a requirement in all indoor public places designed to stop the spread of the deadly Coronavirus, which causes Covid-19.
Activism, Elections, Lauren Boebert, Pandemic, politics, Racism, Trump Insanity, Women
Women: post signs at home to celebrate the 2021 inauguration from now until January 20, 2021
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• •Amid the pandemic, the Mesa County Democratic Party Womens’ Group is expanding on the annual Womens’ March by asking people to display posters and signs in their front yards and windows from now until January 20th, 2021 celebrating the return of the country to American ideals with the inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President Elect Kamala Harris.
Throughout his time in office, Trump has made life more difficult for all Americans, but especially for women, in innumerable ways, through cuts to child care assistance, stalling federal action on paid family and medical leave, making student debt harder to pay off, cutting nutrition assistance, increasing bullying, racism and anxiety in the country, slashing health care benefits, tearing families apart, putting kids in cages, weakening protections against gender-based violence and much more.
Activism, Education, Ethnic/Minority, Pop culture, Racism, Weird Grand Junction Stuff
Central High’s team name may be in for a change
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• •The Cleveland Indians baseball team announced yesterday that they will be dropping their team’s name after 105 years, because it has long been considered racist.
Cleveland’s move follows the NFL team, the Washington Redskins’, announcement last July 23 that after 87 years they are changing their name for the same reason: the name is outdated and racist.
What of our local schools’ racist athletic team names?
Activism, Economics, Ethics, Health, Public health, Safety, Security
Commissioners publicly urge Mesa County residents to wear masks
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• •The unchecked community spread of Coronavirus, high number of hospitalizations and rising deaths from Covid-19 in the county has led the Mesa County Commissioners to finally issue a press release Nov. 13 urging all Mesa County residents to wear masks whenever they patronize local businesses, avoid close contact with others and avoid indoor gatherings. The release is headlined “Commissioners encourage community members to wear a mask.”
The Commissioners are now putting their support behind an all-out effort to raise awareness of the public health emergency the virus is causing in our community, get people to take the situation seriously, keep local businesses afloat and help our area avoid more mandatory closures.
Here is the Commissioners’ statement:
Activism, Crazy Republicans, Diane Schwenke, Economics, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, Fake patriotism, Health, Health care, Inept Republicans, Pandemic, Public health, Republican incompetence, Safety, Stupid Republicans
RN literally begs Mesa County Commissioners to urge public to wear masks, distance, avoid gatherings
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• •A registered nurse openly begged the Mesa County Commissioners to make a statement telling people they need to wear masks when patronizing local businesses, maintain physical distancing and strictly avoid gatherings, to help rein in the area’s skyrocketing Covid-19 infection rate.
Benita Phillips, R.N., B.S.N., a retired Veterans Administration nurse, spoke to the commissioners in the public comment period of their Monday, 11/9 meeting (video, @ 1:02). Phillips spoke after Mesa County Public Health Department Executive Director Jeff Kuhr told commissioners about the dire situation the county faces from the ongoing uncontrolled spread of the novel Coronavirus. Dr. Kuhr told commissioners that last Saturday the county reached its highest new Covid case count in a single day: 180.
Activism, Democracy, Ethics, Extremism, Fake patriotism, Harassment, Religion, Secularism, Separation of Church and State
Election worker at Clifton Christian Church polling place tells voter he should “attend church on Sundays”
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• •This is what we were afraid of when it became known that Mesa County was using churches as polling places.
When a local man went to the polling place in the Clifton Christian Church and mentioned he preferred that the county use non-religious locations as polling places, the poll worker pulled out the snark and told him he should “attend church on Sundays.”
Government is strictly prohibited under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment from promoting specific religious beliefs, like this poll worker did while she was representing County government.
The poll worker violated the voter’s right to be free from religious coercion in a polling place.
But we knew this would happen.
Activism, Ethnic/Minority, Local scut, Racism, Safety, Secrecy
32 year old Black man found hanging in carport in Grand Junction
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• •In an alarming case that has received little to no attention, Deandre H. Rogers (pdf), a Black man aged 32, was found hanging in a carport in Grand Junction, Colorado on September 21, 2020. He had participated on June 1, 2020 with a group of local Black Lives Matter activists who met with G.J. Police Chief Doug Shoemaker in the lobby of the Grand Junction Police Department to protest unjust treatment they had experienced at the hands of local law enforcement. The discussion took place about a month after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police on May 25, 2020.
Activism, Crime, Ethics, Firearms, Police brutality, Public health, Safety
March planned to draw attention to police murder of Fruita man, Gage Lorentz
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• •A peaceful march will be held Saturday, October 17, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. at Stoker Stadium to demand justice for Gage Lorentz, a 26 year old Fruita man who was shot and killed March 21 by a Carlsbad Caverns National Park National Park Ranger after the ranger pulled him over for speeding on a dirt road.
Lorentz was unarmed and had no drugs or alcohol in his system at the time he was pulled over.
Lorentz was driving home from Pecos, Texas, where he worked on drilling rigs, to see his family in Fruita when he took a short detour to meet a friend in Carlsbad Caverns National Park. While in the Park, Ranger Robert Mitchell pulled Lorentz over for speeding on a dirt road near the Rattlesnake Springs area of the park, a type of traffic stop that typically results in a warning or a ticket.
Body cam video shows Lorentz, clearly nervous, complying with the officer’s orders to get out of his truck and keep his hands visible, but he refused the officer’s demand to turn around and put his back to the officer. Mitchell started a scuffle with Lorentz and ended up shooting and killing Lorentz. No one has been charged in Lorentz’s murder.
Activism, Conservatives, Elections, Ethics, Extremism, Fake patriotism, Grassroots advocacy, Mesa County Republican Party, politics, Trump Insanity, Weird Grand Junction Stuff
Anti-Trump sentiment emerging in Grand Junction
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• •Note: Comments are back! Thanks for your patience during the fix.– Anne
The body politic in Mesa County used to be in lockstep with the Republican Party, but no more. An increasing number of area residents are proudly displaying signage opposing Trump, and for good reason.
It’s becoming extremely difficult for anyone, even Republicans, to continue supporting the President, especially after the past week.
On September 3, Trump urged North Carolina voters to commit felonies en masse by trying to vote twice.
On September 4, the Trump Administration ordered an end to programs aimed at promoting racial sensitivity among government workers (pdf), calling them “un-American propaganda.”
Abortion, Activism, Education, Health care, Human rights, Public health, Religion, Women
New online resource map shows real and fake abortion clinics in Colorado
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• •
KeepAbortionSafe.com now offers a Pregnancy Resource Map that shows which “pregnancy clinics” throughout the country are real, and which are fake.
Offices that bill themselves as “crisis pregnancy centers” or “pregnancy clinics” often are not actual medical clinics, but religiously-based anti-abortion operations that lure in women struggling with unexpected pregnancies. They intentionally withhold information from women about their full complement of reproductive options. Such “clinics” steer women away from abortions and offer “information” that casts abortion as debilitating, dangerous and frightening.
Finding true reproductive health services clinics in Colorado, that is, ones that offer a full range of medically-accurate sexual health information, contraceptives, information and treatments for sexually-transmitted diseases and infections, and all legal and safe reproductive health options can be tricky because in Colorado fake “pregnancy resource” clinics and outnumber real abortion and medical information providers by almost 3 to 1.