Author: Morgan Smith
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? Smith: Next steps in Latin America: A role for the US and Colorado
In a stunning setback for Juan Manuel Santos, the president of Colombia, Colombian voters narrowly defeated a referendum to approve a treaty between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Oct. 2. The margin of votes was 53,893 out of 12,808, 858 counted so it was a razor-thin loss. The leader of…
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Smith: Bill Armstrong was courteous, thoughtful and a true statesman
“Bill Armstrong is going to be your co-chairman,” Joe Shoemaker said. “Oh no,” I thought. “Not Bill Armstrong.” It was 1998 and former state Sen. Joe Shoemaker had asked me to co-chair a campaign to build an endowment for the Greenway Foundation called the Greenway Preservation Trust Foundation. He had an excellent relationship with then-Denver…
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Influential lobbyist Wally Stealey is a much beloved figure in Colorado’s political world
I wanted to invite you and Julie to his 80th birthday party. There will be lots of people there you know… It will be a SURPRISE,” wrote Sharon, Wally Stealey’s wife of 57 years. Well, it was a surprise, a wonderful one. For me, as well as for Wally, the legendary lobbyist from Pueblo who…
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The recent capture of Mexican drug cartel leader El Chapo was muy importante
On Saturday, Feb. 22, Mexican officials with help from various U.S. law enforcement agencies captured the notorious leader of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. In what seems like a tremendous coup, it took place without a shot being fired. Even though there are questions like – “Was this too easy?” or “Will the…
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Lauen’s efforts to reform prison sentences in Colorado ended up being right after all
Roger Lauen was a man before his time. Back in the 70s he was one of the few to stand up against the growing movement to pass harsher sentencing laws, build more prisons and expand Colorado’s prison population which had increased ten-fold from about 2,000 prisoners to over 20,000. Those were the years of “getting…
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My brief, but memorable, experience seeing JFK
It’s November 22, 2013 and I’m staring at an odd shaped black and white photograph, a photograph I haven’t looked at in years and wasn’t aware I still had. It’s four feet long and 10 inches high and says, “President John F. Kennedy reviews his guard of honor, the 82nd Airborne Division, Fort. Bragg, NC,…
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Eldon Cooper was a tough, hard driving legislator
“I just shook hands with a good man,” a patient named George says, pointing to Eldon Cooper. It was May, 2012 and we were at the Colorado State Veteran’s Home in Aurora. Even though Eldon was in a wheelchair then, he would visit once or twice every week, bringing friendship to older veterans, many of…
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Our presidential election elicits impassioned responses from citizens abroad
“Unemployment brings misery,” says José Luis Galván. He’s a fisherman and we’re at the edge of the Guadalquivir River near the town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda in southern Spain. Columbus sailed from here on his third voyage and in 1519 Magellan left Sanlúcar to circle the globe. Now it’s a small town known for seafood…
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Straight talker Medill Barnes dies
“Morgan, I have some bad news.” It was former District Judge Susie Barnes on the phone. I knew immediately what she was going to say. Her husband, Medill Barnes, my friend of some 60 years had died.We met in the early ’50s when his family moved to the Aspen area. His father, Courtland Barnes was…
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On the road with Mark Udall
“Does Jim Rizzuto still smoke his pipe?” U.S. Senator Mark Udall asks. It’s Friday, the 13th of January, we’re in La Junta and, yes, Jim Rizzuto, former Joint Budget Committee member and now the president of Otero Junior College, still smokes his pipe. This is a day on the road with Mark Udall, a day…