A sampling of recent editorials from Colorado newspapers:
NATIONAL:
The Pueblo Chieftain, April 5, on U.S. Postal Service figuring out which offices to close:
THE U.S. Postal Service is taking the wrong approach in planning to decide which post offices to close based on sales, foot traffic, hours of operation and other volume-related statistics. This is biased in favor of big-city, congested post offices that ironically can be within easy driving distance to other postal outlets in the same vicinity.
Not so rural post offices. If you close one of them down, you deny postal patrons any reasonable access to mail services simply because of their remote locations from the big city.
The postal service announced that as many as 3,000 offices across the country may be reviewed under new criteria that would drop the usual exemptions for small post offices.
“I’m not certain that this is going to lead to wholesale closings,” postal vice president Dean Granholm said. “We still need to make good business decisions.”
The postal service needs to include access as one of the review criteria. After all, big doesn’t necessarily mean better when it comes to providing universal mail services to Americans, urban and rural alike. It’s only fair.
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Loveland Daily Reporter Herald, April 2, on Geraldine Ferraro’s legacy:
More than a quarter-century has passed since Geraldine Ferraro shattered the glass ceiling in politics as the first woman ever to run on the presidential ticket of a major party.
In that time, a generation of American women has grown up with the knowledge that it is indeed possible for a woman to run for the highest offices in the country.
Though no woman has yet become president, a second, Sarah Palin, made a bid in 2008 for the vice president’s job. And that same year Hillary Rodham Clinton made a strong run at the presidency.
In light of 2008, it might be easy to forget what a groundbreaking role Ferraro played.
As Walter Mondale’s Democratic running mate in the 1984 presidential election, she faced popular incumbent Ronald Reagan and his vice president, George H.W. Bush.
Though the Mondale-Ferraro ticket lost, she taught Americans in that long ago campaign that women were worthy contenders.
“By choosing a woman to run you send a powerful signal to all Americans: There are no doors we cannot unlock,” Ferraro said in her acceptance speech at the 1984 Democratic convention. “We will place no limits on achievement. If we can do this, we can do anything.”
Las week, Ferraro was laid to rest, remembered as a political trailblazer and a devoted mother and friend.
During the service, Mondale said she inspired other women to run for office.
There are now six women governors and 88 women in the House. There are 17 women in the Senate; in 1984, there was just one woman in the Senate.
Today, people of either sex can aspire to serve the country in any office.
Though she never became vice president, the woman from New York gave her countrymen and women a great legacy.
As she said at the start of her acceptance speech in 1984, “America is the land where dreams can come true for all of us.”
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STATE:
The Canon City Daily Record, April 4, on the need for the state to save money:
The news on the state revenue front has been decidedly positive over the past month.
First came word that the estimate of a $1 billion deficit had been cut in half by an improving economy.
Then last week came news that an accounting glitch had missed another $75.5 million in fiscal year 2010-11.
There are many who would like to throw the entire $75.5 million at this year’s $500 million deficit. That would be a misguided effort.
Better to use some of the money and save some of the money.
Gov. John Hickenlooper has made a wise suggestion for the newly discovered funds. He is proposing using $23.3 million to help offset cuts to K-12 education. Another $32.2 million would go toward nearly doubling the state’s general-fund reserve from 2.3 percent to 4 percent. The final $20 million would go toward paying back cash into a fund to subsidize phone service to rural areas.
Setting aside some of the revenue is a wise move. It could be argued that this is a rainy day and those funds are needed now. But with the economy seemingly on the mend, it makes more sense to save some of the revenue and continue to press lawmakers to make cuts to balance Colorado’s budget.
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The Journal-Advocate, April 1, on a bill that allows Northeastern Junior College to hire quickly:
Kudos go to two of our local Colorado legislators for the work they did recently on behalf of Northeastern Junior College. Because of State Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, and Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, we now have in effect House Bill 1187 that addresses the problem NJC had with being able to hire employees for the Northeastern 18/Plainsman Grill.
Before the bill, the employees could only be hired on a temporary basis for a maximum of six months, before either being let go or having to become a part of the state personnel system. That posed major problems because of the high turnover in the college-owned golf course and restaurant.
Signed into effect by Governor John Hickenlooper, the bill will give the flexibility needed by the facility to hire quickly and compensate for the high turnover rate in that industry.
The two legislators were responsible for bringing forward the common-sense bill that will be advantageous for both the college and the state.
And as a statement to the two men and the respect they have garnered at the State Capitol, the measure passed with wide support from Republicans and Democrats.
We thank them both for their commitment and tireless effort for the people of northeastern Colorado.
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