Forty Years Ago This Week: The Colorado insurance industry, along with Western Insurance Information Services, awarded Senate President Ted Strickland, D-Westminster, Rep.William Artist, R-Greeley, and Dr. Philip Lewis the Human Concern Award.

The award was traditionally given annually to a group or individual each year in recognition of service beyond the call of duty. The three men were being honored for their central role in the passage of that year’s Mandatory Child Passenger Restraint Law, House Bill 83-1070.

The new law required that children under four years of age and under 40 pounds to be secured in an approved child safety seat and was set to go into effect on January 1, 1984. At the time, traffic accidents were the number one preventable cause of death in children in the United States. Supporters of the bill argued that it would help prevent needless tragedies.

Lewis, a pediatrician, was the chairman of the Colorado Coalition for Child Protection Legislation and had worked for more than four years to pass the measure through the state legislature.

In other news, David Daniels said he was running to unseat incumbent Wilma Webb, D-Denver, from HD 8 because the United States was amid a new American Revolution.

“Once again, we are discovering that nations, states and individuals cannot survive by spending more than we can take in,” Daniels said at his campaign announcement. “Once again we are discovering that liberty is not obtained or maintained by the goodness of government, but rather by the hand of God.”

Originally from Connecticut, Daniels had moved to Denver in 1980, establishing a Gospel Outreach Ministry in the city.

Webb, the wife of the former state Rep. and future Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, had handedly beat her 1982 Republican opponent, Douglas Nusbaum, by a large margin and was expected to run for a third term.

Thirty Years Ago: A calm, ordered Lincoln Club “Elephant Corral” luncheon turned for a moment into a raucous shouting match – and illuminating divisions within the party – when Adams County Republican chairman Hal Shroyer stood and yelled to state Republican Party vice-chair Barb McTurk, who had just finished her speech, “What’s this I heard about Mike Hesse … saying that the state party isn’t going to give money to candidates next year?”

McTurk silently handed the microphone to Hesse, the executive director of the Colorado Republican Party, who was still chewing his meal.

“That’s not what I said at all, Hal,” Hesse said. “What I said was, we want candidates to do all their own research, and we’ll be there to help them with that; and prepare a campaign strategy statement, which we’ll also help with; as if they wouldn’t get any money from the state party.”

“But it’s always given money,” Hal said in retort.

Hesse went on to explain that candidates would make their own plans, which would be supplemented by opposition research, phone bank volunteers, mailing volunteers from the state party – like every other election year.

“Once we see the plan, then we’ll decide how to allocate our contributions,” Hesse said flatly. “That’s the only change.”

Shroyer seemed to be placated but then demanded to know when the next state party executive committee meeting would be, and grumbled that there hadn’t been near enough of them that year.

McTurk answered that the executive committee would likely meet in December.

In other news, “In Your Face,” National Democratic Party chairman David Wilhelm said to Colorado Democrats at the party’s issues conference in Breckenridge: “That’s going to be our slogan for ’94.”

“There’s only one way to do it: get in the face of those who would impugn our party.”

Wilhelm said that the slogan had been chosen because the party was tired of being labeled anti-family and anti-religion.

“Whether we like it or not, and whether they like it or not,” Wilhelm said. “God is not a Republican or a Democrat – God is an independent.”

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.