A sampling of recent editorials from Colorado newspapers:
The Tribune, Sept. 24, on fixing irrigation infrastructure after the floods:
One doesn’t have to look very far or very hard to find evidence of the devastating damage in Weld County from the Flood of 2013.
The damage to roads and homes and public infrastructure, and the damage to the psyche of an entire community, is staring us all in the face.
But one might have to look hard to find evidence of the extent of damage that has been done to the region’s irrigation infrastructure.
Several irrigation companies and water districts in northern Colorado say they are concerned about the potential millions of dollars of damage that has been to their ditches, dykes, gravel pits, canals, head gates and other diversion structures. Many of them need significant repairs or to be rebuilt.
“In some spots of the river … where we have structures on the banks to divert water … the river is now moved—it’s not there anymore,” said Bill Bailey, who sits on the board of the Farmers Reservoir and Irrigation Co., also known as FRICO.
Added Randy Ray, executive director of the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District, “We still have a lot of assessing to do, but it could be upwards of about $1 million in repairs that we need to do.”
The Central Water district oversees water augmentation and decree administration covering nearly 60,000 acres in Weld, Morgan and Adams counties. “Not only is a lot of work, but then you have to start asking yourself, ‘How do we pay for it?’ ” Ray said.
Many with damaged or destroyed homes in Weld County are asking that same question. Many, however, are also getting reassurances that they will get state and federal assistance to put their lives back together.
We hope our state elected officials and elected congressmen don’t forget the importance of irrigation to the northeastern Colorado farmers and ranchers, and the importance of agriculture to the regional and statewide economy.
Repairing and rebuilding the canals and diversion structures and head gates in our region should be a high priority as we seek to recover from this unprecedented event.
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The Loveland Reporter-Herald, Sept. 21, on fraud after the floods:
One Big Thompson flood survivor contacted a Denver television station this week with the claim a helicopter pilot tried to charge her $1,200 for an evacuation.
While there was more to the story than indicated, it may be just the first report we hear of people trying to take advantage of the disaster to scam both flood survivors and those who want to help them.
With an estimated 19,000 homes in the state damaged or destroyed by floodwaters, many are warning the next deluge could be one of those seeking to further victimize the victims.
Area agencies are warming people to be careful.
Here is a listing of tips compiled from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Better Business Bureau, Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett and U.S. Sen. Mark Udall.
For those whose homes or property were destroyed or damaged:
Government workers, including those with FEMA, will never ask for a fee or payment for services. They should be wearing an official government photo ID. For any concerns about FEMA assistance, survivors can speak to a FEMA employee at a disaster recovery center or call 800-621-3362.
When working with contractors to arrange repairs, get three written estimates for repair work and check credentials before hiring a contractor or business. Contact the Better Business Bureau or chamber of commerce to see if there are any complaints against the contractor or business. Get a written contract detailing the work to be performed, costs, projected completion date and how to negotiate changes or settle disputes, as well as who will obtain the necessary permits for the work.
Be aware that some home-repair scammers may steal from homeowners while “inspecting” the home for purposes of an estimate.
Most insurance companies employ their own adjusters, so be wary of any “independent adjusters” who offer to inspect and make insurance claims on behalf of consumers. Colorado law also allows homeowners to hire their own independent adjusters to evaluate damages and help consumers file insurance claims.
Do not contract with workmen who come to the door claiming they have been hired by a neighbor. Check out their trucks/cars for local addresses or phone numbers and get their license plate numbers.
Use of a contractor who is locally established and recommended by friends or family may be the safest option.
In Larimer or Boulder County, residents can check to see if the contractor is licensed. A license will ensure that the selected contractor is familiar with county building regulations. To check in Larimer County, visit larimer.org/building/contractor—search.cfm. In Boulder County, visit bouldercounty.org/property/build/pages/contractorlicensing.aspx.
For those who want to help flood survivors:
Check out unfamiliar charity groups seeking contributions for flood help, never make cash donations and always make checks payable to the organization and not the individual soliciting money for the charity.
Consumers should be wary of any organization that solicits charitable donations through door-to-door outreach, uses aggressive telephone calls, cannot answer basic questions about the charity — such as how much of each dollar goes to the victims — or is not registered with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. Other sources to check out charities are the Better Business Bureau at give.org or checkthecharity.com.
Also check out any crowd-funding online requests for money to determine if the money will truly go to a victim of flooding. The BBB recommends people reach out to learn more before donating if they have any question about whether the request is legitimate.
And finally, FEMA advises that if you suspect anyone — an inspector, disaster survivor or someone posing as either — of fraudulent activities, you should call the toll-free Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or your local law enforcement officials.
Northern Colorado residents must pull together to get through this natural disaster.
With some cautionary behavior, it does not have to become a worse disaster.
Editorial:
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The Gazette, Sept. 24, on funding—or defunding—the health care overhaul:
Despite impassioned efforts by House Republicans, Sen. Ted Cruz and others who want to spare Americans the looming pain of Obamacare, Democrats control Washington. The plan to economically starve the horrific health care law is destined to fail.
Here’s the good news for Republicans. As full Obamacare implementation begins next month, their prospects to regain control of federal government should only improve by the day.
Obamacare is so ill-conceived and poorly written that Americans may quickly resent all who voted for it. The electorate may finally listen to Republicans on a meaningful scale for the first time since 2010, when the tea party put conservatives in control of the House.
A Sunday Gazette story reminded us of just one unintended consequence of Obamacare that’s already in effect. The law is a jobs killer our delicate economy cannot afford.
The story, by Gazette business writer Wayne Heilman, told of impediments to a brisk economic recovery in Colorado Springs. Though job growth is slowly accelerating in the Springs, the story explained, wages are stagnant “because employers are replacing full-time jobs with part-time ones to get around requirements of Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act.”
That’s a story told throughout the country, not just in the Springs. Employers are reducing full-time employment to avoid Obamacare.
Once the mandate kicks in, requiring all Americans to buy health insurance, healthy young people may do just as employers are doing. They may avoid the mandate in droves. They may opt to pay a small fine rather than buy expensive health care policies on Obamacare exchanges. In doing so, they would undermine any hope of the health care law’s economic viability.
Trying to help the uninsured with a law that says “buy insurance” makes little more sense than helping the homeless with a law that says “buy a house.” The mandate, an exercise in force, does nothing to address the complex issues that have left nearly 50 million Americans uninsured in the first place.
Obamacare’s detrimental effect on full-time jobs will only make it more difficult than ever for individuals to buy insurance. The fine for avoiding the mandate is a fraction of the cost of a health insurance policy. Even the highest fines possible under Obamacare are only about half the cost of a low-end health insurance policy that meets minimal Obamacare standards.
“Obamacare is a house of cards just waiting to fall of its own weight,” wrote Linda Chavez, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity and a former presidential nominee for secretary of labor. “As unhappy as Americans are now at the prospect of Obamacare, just wait until they have to live under it. Even Democrats will be pushing to rewrite the law once their constituents feel its full effects. Patience will pay off for the GOP.”
Efforts to stop implementation of this law are rooted in good intentions. Politicians understandably do not want to see their constituents endure this looming public policy nightmare.
It is sadly too late to keep the law from taking effect. As a result, more Americans will lose their full-time jobs. Insurance may become less useful and even harder to afford. In the likely event Obamacare makes a flawed system considerably worse, Republicans will have a crisis to solve. It will be a nationwide problem invented and carried out by their opponents. Political opportunity doesn’t get much better than that.
Editorial:
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The Denver Post, Sept. 23, on mass shootings, gun laws and the new normal:
We know some people will say it’s wrong to draw parallels between the mass shooting last week at Washington’s Navy Yard and those in Aurora, Columbine, Newtown or elsewhere.
After all, Aaron Alexis, the shooting suspect whom police killed after the bloody spree, had security access to the facility where people were killed, having passed a background check despite a spotty history in the military and a disturbing record of run-ins involving firearms.
And police say he used a shotgun, not an assault-style rifle, to carry out the carnage.
But President Barack Obama, speaking at a memorial service for the 12 people gunned down at Navy Yard, got it right Sunday when he said he feared a “creeping resignation” that mass shootings “are just somehow the way it is. That this is somehow the new normal.”
Even the horrifying murders of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., last year did not disconcert Americans to the point of demanding action from Congress.
“It ought to be a shock to all of us, as a nation and as a people,” Obama said of the Navy Yard massacre. “It ought to obsess us. It ought to lead to some sort of transformation.”
But the mildest transformations on gun laws are met with apoplectic fits by opponents of gun control. In Colorado this year, lawmakers passed two extremely modest gun laws requiring background checks for all firearms sales and limiting gun magazines to 15 rounds.
To be sure, Colorado’s background check law—which also applies to shotguns—may not have stopped someone like Alexis from buying the gun he purchased two days before the shooting.
What is evident, though, is that even after mass shootings that might have been averted through modest gun control measures, those sensible laws will encounter implacable opposition.
The new normal? Maybe that’s exactly what it is.
Editorial:
