When I sat down this morning to type up a column, I followed my usual practice of reviewing the Colorado Politics page for interesting news that is either about Colorado or somehow is related to our lovely state, as well as reviewing the various national news sites that report on what’s happening.

In doing so, I recall an old muckraking “journalist,” Walter Winchell, who was a powerful voice on the radio – the national media of the time – in the 1930s and 1940s. His work was a mix of journalism and gossip, keeping some people’s secrets and exposing the secrets of others. His famous open for his radio show, delivered with a sharp staccato, “Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. America from border to border and coast to coast and all the ships at sea. Let’s go to press!” was world famous.

And for a while, much of the nation listened to him. But his habit of seeing news as flexible caused him to twist the truth more often than the public could ultimately stand. By the time of his death in 1972 he had become a recluse, and by the end, could occasionally be found on the street corner outside the hotel he called home, attempting to pass out mimeographed pages of his “column” to strangers passing by. When he died, by family intent, only his daughter came to the funeral of a man once loved and feared by the elites of the nation – very sad.

I bring up Winchell because of one powerful quote attributed to him in his prime that, in spite of his yellow journalism, rang true then and rings true today: “the job of a free press in a free society is to inform. Not that it will do so at any one time or from any one source.” That is why it is vital, dear reader, that you consume media from a number of sources, and to then consider what truths can be drawn from those multiple sources.

So, as I said, that’s how I start my day.

And one of the many great things about Colorado Politics is the degree to which it covers a wide range of Colorado-related news stories. My regular reader (Hi, Jeff!) will recall I tend to dive into these smaller stories, especially when they point to times when government works for people and results are achieved, or the opposite, as both can be newsworthy.

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Thus was my attention drawn to a story on CoPo about, of all things, a new courthouse in Moffat County, a truly lovely county that contains the equally lovely city of Craig. It seems until recently, justice in Moffat County was dispensed from an old building built in 1917. At 105 years old, the courthouse was not able to handle the needs of the modern judiciary. Just getting a drink was to experience water drawn through lead pipes going back decades. Additionally, they were unable to do such basic judicial functions as keeping prospective jurors and witnesses in upcoming cases apart, which seems like a pretty important thing.

Experts estimated it would cost $45 million to fix the old courthouse and to bring it up to code. Then some smart folks in Moffat County remembered there was an abandoned Kmart in Craig that was just, well, sitting there. A review was conducted which indicated the abandoned Kmart building could be retrofitted as a courthouse for only $23 million, roughly half what the old place would cost.

And so, an effort was put forward to secure funding for said new courthouse. My old boss, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, was again the champion of local communities and lower levels of government in that he obtained $4.6 million for the retrofit. The county commissioners were able to raise the rest without raising taxes, an impressive feat in a county that has long relied on oil and gas revenues, which are decreasing there and across the nation.

A bipartisan effort was able to retrofit a place, Kmart – where “bluelight specials” once indicated bargains – into a new and state-of-the-art courthouse (if you are too young to understand the “bluelight special” references, please consult an old person).

As Colorado Chief Justice Brian D. Boatright walked the halls recently, he kept repeating “wow, this is nice.” He further stated, “I really think that this building is gonna be a game changer around the state in terms of how we look at what we do with different justice centers and courthouses in the future. This is really gonna be a model for innovation and creativity.”

Now, to be clear, there are more important stories out there than a new courthouse in an old Kmart in Craig. But even small stories like this can illustrate a point I have repeatedly made over the six years or so my kindly editors have allowed me to publish my musings, which is that government, mostly, works. Though our attentions are often drawn to a certain former president, who spouts lies about the entire electoral system being compromised just to defeat him (while other GOPers elected at the same time had, apparently, just fine elections), I’d urge you to also read some of the smaller stories about when government did, in fact, work.

And though the current situation is far from perfect, in general if your home catches fire, you can call 911 and firefighters will streak to your aid. If you fall ill, an ambulance can be summoned (though, of course, we can argue about the costs of health care), and if you need a permit to build, say, a new front porch, your local county office will have a person there ready to help.

Simply put, and perhaps a bit naively put, I believe that most of the time, most of the government works for most people. My aforementioned old boss, Senator Bennet, is a great example of a government servant who works every day for what he thinks is in the best interest of his constituents.

Given Moffat County is one of the reddest of red areas in Colorado, the chances are on many issues the elected leaders there and I don’t agree on much. Heck, in the last presidential election, the Republican candidate got 80.7% of the vote. But even in that political landscape, Bennet was able to work with local leaders to secure vital funding for an important project. And that’s how things are supposed to work.

So good job, Moffat County. It is nice to see that governance can work for the betterment of all, even when disagreements exist.

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.