Gazette, The; Colorado Springs, Colo.

Officials Forced to Mind the Gap

The city's Stormwater Enterprise may have to absorb up to $3.6 million in costs next year to add more capacity to a decades-old drainage channel, an unforeseen expense that would bump previously scheduled capital improvement projects from a priority list. The alternative, however, could prove even more costly, not only to city government but also to thousands of residents and business owners whose property lies in a flood zone.

Heroes Remembered On the Wall, in Hearts This Week

As thousands converge on Colorado Springs this weekend for an annual ceremony honoring the nation's fallen firefighters, members of the Colorado Springs Fire Department will be behind the scenes, attending to the families of the fallen. On Saturday, 122 names will be added to the International Association of Fire Fighters' black granite wall in Memorial Park.

Falcon's Quick Actionto Fill Seat Was Legal

The Falcon School District 49 board's recent decision to fill an empty seat without giving others a chance to apply is not standard operating procedure at several other area districts, but it was legal. The board voted Sept. 10 to accept the resignation of Kent Clawson, who left to take a job in another state. Board members then immediately voted to replace him with Andy Holloman, who had been recommended by board member Mark Shook.

Senate Still has Opportunity to Fix Lawed Cap-and-Trade Bill

As the United States Senate reconvenes following its August recess, it is poised to take up the American Clean Energy and Security Act legislation, which seeks to impose a mandatory CO2 cap- and-trade regime on the American economy. I agree that Congress should work to develop an appropriate policy to mitigate causal factors contributing to the changing global climate. However, ACES is a hodgepodge of unrelated policies cobbled together in back room deals that collectively do not present a co...

The Lefts Unseemly Obsession with Race Jimmy Carter, Not Wilson, Is the Bigot

Racists piled into Acacia Park on Thursday for yet another racist Tea Party (joking). Racist Jon Caldara, chairman of Colorado's libertarian Independence Institute, kicked things off: "Good morning, fellow racists!" (joking). It should be unseemly to make light of racism, but suddenly it can't be. That's because ranking lunatics on the left have trivialized the serious scourge of racism. Activists on the right, who oppose the policies of a president who happens to be biracial, can do nothing ...

Cruisin' for Bruisin': Used Cars Hit a Wall

Several car dealers in Colorado Springs are reporting sharp price increases and a drop in availability of affordable used cars on the wholesale market in the wake of the federal government's Cash for Clunkers program and the financial turmoil in the new-car industry. The dealers said the effects are - or soon will be - visible on a car lot near you in the form of slimmer selections and higher prices.

School Halts Classes Over Widespread Illness

Cesar Chavez Academy of Colorado Springs closed Thursday afternoon with nearly 55 percent of its students and nine of its teachers absent in an apparent H1N1 outbreak, a spokesman said. Jose Garcia, a board member and spokesman for the school, said Chavez is scheduled to reopen Wednesday.

Team Helps the Helpless When Things Turn Sour

An 85-year-old woman with mild dementia awakens in the morning to find out her husband died overnight. Other than calling 911, she doesn't know what to do. After seeing no signs of foul play and calling the coroner, police leave to handle more pressing calls.

Minority Coalition Quizzes D-11 Leader

Minorities must stand together and demand that public schools close the achievement gap and ensure that their children have an equal opportunity to succeed, a Denver activist told about 40 people Thursday at a forum of the Black/Latino Coalition of Colorado Springs. "We all know that the one factor that's leveling for us is education," said Nita Gonzalez, president and chief executive officer of Escuela Tlatelolco, a private school born in 1970 out of turbulent civil rights protests at Denver...

Man Who Killed His Dad Found Not Guilty

A judge Thursday found Sean Alden Fitzgerald was so delusional that he could not tell right from wrong Nov. 20 when he stabbed his father to death in his bed. After a half-day, nonjury trial, 4th Judicial District Judge David A. Gilbert ruled that Fitzgerald, 37, was not guilty by reason of insanity in the first-degree murder of Edward Fitzgerald.

Friday Folder

Charter Academygets $35,000 grant Colorado Springs Charter Academy has received a $35,000 grant from the Daniels Fund, a Denver-based nonprofit that promotes community partnerships and issues millions of dollars in grants and scholarships annually.

Even Dissension Needs Banner Day

"Good morning, fellow racists!" Jon Caldara crowed Thursday as he opened Colorado Springs' second anti-tax "Tea Party" in Acacia Park. Caldara was kidding. The talk-radio host and president of the Independence Institute, a conservative think tank in Golden, was referring to an accusation leveled by former President Jimmy Carter against defenders of U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, the South Carolina Republican who yelled, "You lie!" during President Barack Obama's Sept. 9 health care address to Congress.

Letters

Culbreth-Graft a good addition Let's give City Manager Penelope Culbreth-Graft a chance. She is the first qualified individual in the office in more than 25 years I have lived in Colorado Springs. Her first day on the job, she started taking steps to correct major problems which had built over years of mismanagement.

Deaths

Robert Bergeron Born July 9, 1942.Died Sept. 14, 2009.

Services

Rose Mary Allmendinger Wake, 3 p.m. today, Edelweiss Restaurant, 34 E. Ramona Ave. Cappadona Funeral Home.