Sixty Years Ago This Week: Colorado’s Lt. Gov. Robert Knous publicly chastised Gov. John Love for “breaking faith with the Colorado old-age pensioners,” and urged him to make a substantial effort to direct dollars intended for the medical care fund where they ought to be.

At the time in Colorado, the governor and lieutenant governor were elected separately and not as a ticket, allowing a Republican to serve as lieutenant governor and a Democrat as governor or vice versa, as was the case with Knous and Love.

Knous said that pension costs had dropped by almost $5 million since fiscal year 1955-56. The pension act amendment, which created the Medicare fund in 1956, had resulted in a spillover to the general fund of more than $70 million in pension revenues. But the money hadn’t been directed where it should have gone, Knous contended. Instead, Love and the legislature had directed the dollars toward state investments in capital construction for increases in the state education funds and to partially fund other state services.

“In 1961-62 the federal aid contribution was $27.9 million,” Knous said. “If the Republican administration doesn’t take steps to provide the medical care benefits promised to pensioners in 1956, I will lead a drive to lift the $10 million ceiling on the state medical fund.”

Knous argued that pensioners were promised a “100% medical program not a 75% program.”

Forty Years Ago: “Timing isn’t important – it’s everything,” Democrat Steve Leatherman, said quoting Winston Churchill.

The investment officer spoke to The Colorado Statesman about his rumored candidacy seeking the Democratic nomination to represent the state in the U.S. Senate.

“I’m not ready either to declare my candidacy or withdraw from a race I haven’t officially entered,” Leatherman joked. “I’m still very interested in it.”

Leatherman told The Statesman that he’d had an overwhelming amount of support and said he’d also accumulated backing from party activists who didn’t think that Nancy Dick would be able to unseat incumbent Republican Bill Armstrong.

“I’m going to Estes Park next week for a conference for at least one day and will talk to more people up there,” Leatherman said.

Leatherman had toyed with running for the 6th Congressional District seat the previous year, but hadn’t been a registered Democrat for long enough. In the vein of Churchill, Leatherman said that he saw no advantage in getting into the race right away.

“It appears that waiting for a while may be more advantageous in the long run.”

Thirty Years Ago: Jim Tucker of the NAACP and thirty other demonstrators marched to the El Paso County Republican Party headquarters to protest inflammatory comments made by Sen. Mary Anne Tebedo, R-Colorado Springs.

Tebedo had said earlier in the week that promoting sexual abstinence, instead of sex education, was a particularly difficult concept for the Black community because “they don’t frown on sexual promiscuity.”

NAACP protestors carried banners that graphed the number of children born to Black unwed teen mothers compared to their White counterparts and demanded that the Republican Party officially denounce Teredo’s racist comments.

“It’s her own personal opinions,” Bob Gardner, chairman of the El Paso County Republican Party said. “She’s out of touch. It should not be construed as the views of the Republican Party. She’s asked that all calls be referred to her and that’s what we’re doing.”

But callers were unable to reach Tebedo, and were instead directed to a voicemail message saying she was out of town to visit her grandchildren.

Sharon Berthrong, chair of the El Paso County Democratic Party, did not escape criticism, either. Tucker called Berthrong out for not “promptly and publicly chastising” Tebedo.

Berthrong told The Statesman that the local party had immediately issued a press release condemning the racist comments.

Rachael Wright is the author of the Captain Savva Mystery series, with degrees in Political Science and History from Colorado Mesa University, and is a contributing writer to Colorado Politics and The Gazette.