The Pueblo Chieftain: Saving firefighting equipment for actual fires
Sometimes, an obvious problem has an equally obvious solution. Kudos to the Pueblo Fire Department for recognizing that recently with regard to how it responds to some of its calls for service. The department gets about 23,000 to 24,000 calls per year, but most of them actually don’t involve fires.
Fire Chief Shawn Shelton said about 73 percent of those are medical calls, about a third of which are classified as “low acuity” cases involving medical problems such as broken bones, lacerations, fevers, emotional problems or minor injuries sustained in accidents. Which means it’s a waste of resources to send a fire pumper truck and a full crew to each one of them.
Thanks to some grant money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the department now is able to respond to some of those calls in a more efficient way. The department has acquired three “focused response” trucks, which together are capable of handling about 30 percent of the total call volume. These trucks are equipped with basic first aid and firefighting tools and are staffed with only two-person crews.
Denver Gazette: When American Indians root for Yuma
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Updated 5 months ago
Yuma Indians (Yuma Athletics) In a fit of orchestrated indignation last spring, our legislature banned the use of American Indian-themed mascots by public schools in Colorado. The Democratic majority at the Capitol deemed all such mascots offensive to American Indians....
Denver Gazette: Missed opportunities on statewide ballot
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Updated 5 months ago
Jefferson County election workers collect ballots in this Gazette file photo.Ernest Luning / Colorado Politics To our disappointment, Coloradans turned down three sound policies proposed on the statewide ballot on Tuesday. Amendment 78, which needed 55% to become part of...
Colorado Springs Gazette: Parents take back their schools
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Updated 5 months ago
110421-cp-web-oped-csgeditorial-1 An uprising by parents in key school board races across the state Tuesday has opened the schoolhouse doors to fresh thinking, needed reforms – and new hope for many Colorado kids. Voters in those districts toppled an elected hierarchy...
Denver Gazette: Tuesday’s tale of two cities
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Updated 5 months ago
Syringes and drug paraphernalia found during the cleaning of an illegal homeless camp in Denver. Photo courtesy of the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment In Denver, it’s not a matter of if, but when. Right next door in Aurora,...
Colorado Springs Gazette: Locally and nationally, ‘it’s education, stupid!’
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Updated 5 months ago
Fountain Councilwoman Sharon Thompson, left, is greeted by Cory Applegate, right, with Brenda Miller, who is running for election for an at-large seat of the Widefield School District 3 School Board, middle, during Thompson’s watch party at IHOP in Fountain...
Colorado Springs Gazette: Trust mama bears to improve public schools
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Updated 5 months ago
Morsa Images Mama bears have awakened from their hibernation, and Big Education knows it. Union leaders, puppeteering public education for decades, are worried and they should be. Colorado in the past year has seen the sprouting and growth of grassroots,...
Denver Gazette: This Halloween, let’s let kids be kids
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Updated 5 months ago
Harleigh Anderson rides a train during a Halloween celebration Thursday at Denver’s Union Station.The Associated Press In an era of American civilization chock full of difficulty, here’s some jubilant breaking news: It’s the best kind of weekend to be a...
Colorado Springs Gazette: Simon says put your masks back on
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Updated 5 months ago
Getty Images It should be a given: Local elected leaders – whether in Pueblo or Aurora or Colorado Springs or anyplace else – are in a better position to contain COVID than are officials who are higher up and farther...
Denver Gazette: Gazette report shows need for Amendment 78
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Updated 5 months ago
The state Capitol building is seen on the final day of the legislative session.The Denver Gazette The wind blew a branch on the roof and caused a leak. Dad obtained emergency aid to fix it. He easily patched the damage...
Denver Gazette: City schools need Jones, Villagrana, Fashaw
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Updated 5 months ago
100521-cp-web-oped-dgeditorial The latest unsettling news about Denver Public Schools reaffirms the need for a change of elected leadership at Colorado’s largest and most prominent school district. It seems the Denver school board’s reigning embarrassment, first-term member Tay Anderson, has stepped...