A few points on gun control
To the editor,
We urge you to support the strongest possible gun control legislation. In so doing, keep in mind that:

1. When the Second Amendment was adopted the only guns that existed were muzzle-loaded, single-shot weapons. The most skilled needed at least one minute to load, aim, fire, swab the barrel, reload and aim again. In contrast, the Newtown murderer fired 156 rounds in five minutes. It does not violate the Second Amendment to prohibit that.

2. The Declaration of Independence, adopted July 4, 1776, states in its second paragraph that we, the people, are endowed by God, our Creator, with the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Our government was founded to secure these rights.

High capacity magazines mounted on military style automatic weapons in the hands of civilians do not help to secure these rights.

3. The Colorado Legislature has just adopted some of the strongest gun control legislation in the country. The NRA and gun manufacturers are not your only constituents, even though they have the most money.

– Reid and Sari Ross, Durango

Brodsky will keep the lights on
To the editor,
Herb Brodsky seems the obvious choice for LPEA director from District 4. Having been a director in the past, he is familiar with LPEA’s business. The same cannot be said of his opponent. When I was chair of the LPEA Round Up Board, we were all sorry to see Herb go as he lost his last election.

Two good reasons to re-elect Herb Brodsky: the LPEA Board asked him back as soon as they could, and the Round Up board welcomed him back with relief.

Herb Brodsky’s engineering and management backgrounds prepared him well to help oversee the 4  importantfunctions of the Association. His experience as an involved community citizen has helped him really know the people whom he will represent. He respects the needs and diversity of the members and speaks with clarity, logic and kindness. Herb is always willing to answer questions or listen to a member’s concerns.

This does not seem a good time for a huge change in our electricity provider’s board, so we are fortunate we can elect Herb Brodsky, an experienced person ready to get right to work. Ballots are out, so I urge you to vote for Herb and return your ballot before May 10.

– Sheryl Ayers, Hesperus

Going to the dogs
To the editor,
Ah, spring is at last in the fairest of Colorado airs! Which, in Durango, seems to indicate several separate happenings: the mass slaughter of countless fruit trees by their hapless and clueless homeowners; the unveiling of hordes of ridiculously attired bicyclists training for some imaginarily important race; and as always cowboys in large hats and larger trucks and blue jeans tight enough to rival even the tightest of tight pants adorned by the yoga-teers prancing about. And, of course, the unveiling of little to massive doggie droppings.

Allow me to digress. I am 26 years old and but for four months of that time, I have lived in Colorado. Born and raised. There are those who say that Idalia, Colo., where I grew up and located only 16 miles from the Kansas border, is not actually part of Colorado but merely an extension of Kansas. I say nothing to such nonsensical nonsense. Idalia is located firmly 152 miles east of Denver, well within the borders of the greatest state in the union. I am a rabid Broncos fan, an avid Nuggets fan, an indifferent Avs fan, and a reluctant Rockies fan. I consume brews of a micro mode, partake in occasional to often recreational reality-altering activities, and climb trees for a living. Needless to say, I am a Colorado native.

What I have not understood since I have moved to Durango is its obsession with dogs. Non-native friends of mine have informed me of the misconception that upon arrival to Durango, everyone must own a dog. In fact, they must own more than one dog. In fact, they must own a minimum of three untrained, obnoxious and most likely ugly, and perpetually smelly, dogs. I resent this maliciously spread illusion of ordained canine possession. We natives of Colorado do not all own dogs. It is in Durango that this false notion has been self fulfilled. To compound the calamity, the owners do not clean up after the mess their “companions” make twice a day if regular. Instead, said owners happen to conveniently be looking the other direction in blissful ignorance and hope that through feigned indifference, it will take care of itself and disappear on its own. Dogs in this town seem to indicate a form of higher status. The more dogs yipping about your friendly tree trimmer’s ankles and doggie presents littered haphazardly and seemingly more plentiful than grass, the higher their owner’s status. Needless to say, I do not own any dogs.

I am without a doubt, indubitably that is, a dog person. As a child, my best friend was my dog, and I still prefer dogs, and indeed all animals, to humans. It is for this reason that I have grown so embittered by humans in this town and their mistreatment of our proclaimed best friends. It seems an overwhelming melancholy, or at least loneliness, has driven the majority of Durangoites to possess enough dogs to equal the moments spent in abject suffering living in truly one of the most beautiful places on the planet. It is tainted, and what suffering is hoped to be alleviated by your friend the dog, is surely only surpassed by that same dog’s suffering at having to live in a cage reeking of its own feces. Along with three fellow captives.

Here is what I propose! Since Durango is already overrun with the species of the canine variety, why not stop pretending we, the people, are top dog, and allow our quadrupedal captives to run the show for a while? They outnumber us, their captors; have vastly more unique personalities and interests; and in all probability, are better drivers. I have begun the uprising already, through the proliferation of “Release the Leash” pamphlets to all of your pets, so you may as well relent and accept the end of our domain is only the beginning of a much more prosperous one. I for one am very excited to see what the dogs can do for this town. I will watch from the trees as the dogs unite with the deer and bears and birds and eventually eradicate the invasive species of man from the area, and perhaps finally, harmony and equilibrium will reign again. And who knows? Maybe it will even rain again.

 

Why we like Herb
To the Editor:
We are LPEA customers, and we are pleased by its mission statement, which you may find on p. 1 of the Annual Report: “…the Association provides its members safe, reliable electricity at the lowest reasonable cost while being environmentally responsible.”

Because of his progressive viewpoint, and his years of proven devotion to this mission, we enthusiastically endorse Herb Brodsky for another term on the LPEA Board of Directors. We feel that as new members join the board, his incredible depth of knowledge of the workings of our association becomes ever more valuable. There is much more to the efficient management of this $115 million enterprise than unspecified promises of community-based decisions and energy self-sufficiency. Herb was the first in our organization to be nationally recognized as a Credentialed Cooperative Director, and we feel that his years of service compare quite well to the two hours of one board meeting attended by his opponent.

Herb Brodsky also has put his money where his mouth is. He purchases only green energy, and his goal is local renewable energy while holding true to our mission statement. We encourage your vote for him.

– Sincerely, Robert Chaput, George Richardson, Walter Dear, Chris Isensee, Durango

Hug a nurse this week
To the editor,    
Guardian Angel Home Health would like to recognize National Nurses Week, May 6-12.  We would like to personally thank our team of nurses, as well as the nurses in our communities; all who provide excellent care and service each and every day.  You truly make a difference.

– Erin Youngblood, Durango

Fuzzy nostalgia at Bush library
Dear Editor,
When President Bush’s documents and artifacts were being unloaded at the new President G.W. Bush Library, which opened recently, I happened to be standing nearby, and, swept up in a misty haze of nostalgia, I managed to get a close look at some of these relics. Let me share:
- Copies of Mad magazine (of significance is the uncanny resemblance between Bush and Alfred E. Newman)
- Dog-eared copies of Golf Digest

- Souvenir T-shirt from the Texas Rangers after the election, wishing him better luck as U.S. President

- Letter from Karl Rove telling Bush not to worry his pretty head about the election, saying “Just leave it to me!”

- Letter from the new President Bush to the U.S. Supreme Court declaring “I owe you one!”

- Memo from Vice President Cheney that WMDs do exist in Iraq, with postscript advising him not to worry, Congress will believe it if you say so

- Air Force bomber jacket worn by President Bush as he landed on a U.S. aircraft carrier in 2002, with accompanying video of his speech declaring “The war is over!”

- Letter from the Haliburton CEO commending Bush for a job well done, and noting that “We got the oil!”

- Medical bill from the doctor of Cheney’s duck hunting companion (not covered by insurance)

- A crock pot filled with gumbo, a gift from the victims of Katrina (leftovers from a picnic at Kennebunkport)

- Student test scores after implementation of No Child Left Behind, with a smiley face declaring them “Classified”

- AK47 rifle from NRA, including 30 rounds of ammo and an “America Love It or Leave It” bumper sticker

- Notes from a Bush speech (which fell out of a box labeled “Memorable quotations of President G. W. Bush: What I am against is quotas. I am against hard quotas, quotas they basically delineate based upon whatever. However they delineate quotas, I think vulcanize society. So I don’t know how that fits into what everybody else is saying, their relative positions, but that’s my position.”

- Framed copy of Texas Gov. Ann Richardson’s statement: “Poor George, he can’t help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.” (George does appreciate a good joke from a fellow Texan. We miss you, Ann.)

Contemplating President Bush’s legacy, I could only give a wink and a nod, and a sigh of relief, and leave it for future generations to decide.

– Sincerely, Mary Benson, Durango

Ned was sickly, cruel, and angry with the world.
He beat his wife, son, and dog, Arney.
Mother and son finally left that spring,
leaving Arney the victim of Ned’s drunken rages.
Clifford lived next door.
He was shy, mysterious and kept to himself.
When we could,
Cliff and I used to sneak
across the street after midnight,
to feed scraps to a whimpering Arney.
One day,
that same August,
I went across the alley to see if
Cliff wanted to go fishing.
I found him methodically pounding coins
with a bleeding, bare hand.
“You know if Arney was our dog,
we would name him Isaac,”
He murmured chin to chest, sobbing.
That evening, Cliff was running  
across the street and up the hill
with a plate of hot dogs to Ned’s.
He yelled over to me
that he challenged Ned to an “eating contest”
worth five bucks!
Ned hated to lose at anything
and took Cliff’s allowance.
That evening an ambulance drove up to Ned’s;
It was a Saturday and neighbors watched
from the curb.
Dinner gossip rumored that
Ned bled to death from a ruptured ulcer.
Sunday morning Cliff and I carried a boney
and shivering Isaac down the hill.

– Burt Baldwin, Ignacio