Rob Douglas: The decline of patriotism
If you’re looking for a flag-waving commentary about the U.S. Armed Forces as we honor our war dead this Memorial Day, you’ve come to the wrong column. It is time to challenge the decline of American patriotism.
Rob Douglas: The blame game of politics
It’s an axiom of American politics that our political parties, candidates and elected officials attempt to divert the attention of the electorate away from their own record or platform by slinging mud at their opponents.
Rob Douglas: Has America grown comfortably numb?
If America is to remain an economically vibrant world leader, we must not become numb to our economic reality.
Rob Douglas: Our national cancer is growing
While many factors contribute to the declining economic health of our country, the largest contributors are our burgeoning federal retirement and health care entitlement programs.
Rob Douglas: Falling prey to the United Nations?
The Obama administration is not moving fast enough to thwart a threat, and the American people seem tragically unaware of a pending loss of freedom and security.
Rob Douglas: The right thing to do
Sometimes easy decisions are difficult. Today's column is my last. Starting Sept. 12, I will launch a radio show discussing national politics. My co-host will be Cari Hermacinski. The show will initially air Saturday mornings on KBCR 1230 AM from 8 to 10 a.m.
Rob Douglas: Health care responsibility reform
The health care reform debate - pitting President Barack Obama and liberal Democrats on one side against Republicans and conservative Democrats on the other - is wildly misnamed.
Rob Douglas: Bear killing appears senseless
According to the Steamboat Pilot & Today, at about 10 p.m. July 20, Towny Anderson heard a gunshot. Anderson looked out his window and saw a slain bear lying on the ground next to an overturned garbage can. Anderson didn't see who shot the bear.
Rob Douglas: Automatic annexation votes would be unwise
Amendment to Home Rule Charter unnecessary
Most Tuesday evenings, the 7 p.m. public comment period during Steamboat Springs City Council meetings passes with little consequence. Often, no one steps to the podium to address the council. This week, Steve Aigner provided a notable exception.
Rob Douglas: Justice delayed is justice denied
The expression "justice delayed is justice denied" is a cliche, but it's nonetheless proving true with the glacial pace of the prosecution of Eduardo and David Capote for their suspected roles in the death of Richard Lopez.
Rob Douglas: Goodbye, 'quaint little ski town'
On the timeline of our lives, we tend to mark events that signal significant turning points. For residents of the Yampa Valley, Tuesday presented one of those moments when Steamboat Springs officially ceased to exist as a quaint little ski town.
Rob Douglas: What would the founders think?
This Fourth of July, consider the freedoms we are surrendering to the federal government and what our founding fathers would think if they could see their nation now.
Rob Douglas: Social media and the 'Angel of Iran'
Revolution does that to me. The pro-democracy Iranian Revolution - fueled by outrage about the sham re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as dictated by Iran's "supreme leader" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - captured my attention.
Rob Douglas: 1 developer stands up to naysayers
Lately, given the economic headwinds and increased sniping from those seeking to derail any construction, I find myself pulling for the development community to succeed against the odds.
Rob Douglas: Small hole causes larger concern
When financial times get tight, citizens rightly expect their government to carefully manage every penny. Sometimes, even a hole in a freshly paved road raises questions. That was the case this week concerning a hole in the middle of a street in Steamboat Springs.
Rob Douglas: Supreme consequences
Throughout the run-up to last year's presidential election, there was little attention paid outside of legal circles to whom candidate Barack Obama might select to sit on the Supreme Court if given the opportunity.
Rob Douglas: Vigilant press improves government
By defending the rights of the citizens of Steamboat Springs to be informed about what members of a previous Steamboat Springs School Board were illegally discussing in secret in January 2007, the Steamboat Pilot & Today upheld the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in the manner envisioned by the founders of our country.
Rob Douglas: Addition by subtraction
Two days ago, the Colorado Legislature called it a wrap for 2009. Unfortunately, as our lawmakers packed their bags and headed home, they left my fantasy unfulfilled for yet another year. I dream of a day when elected officials will remove laws from the books instead of adding them.
Rob Douglas: Wanted: 1 objective assessment
Independent expert needs to look at Sheriff's Office funding
Camouflaged by the personality conflicts between the Routt County Commissioners and Sheriff Gary Wall is a question that deserves an answer. Is the Sheriff's Office adequately funded to protect Routt County? The commissioners say it is. The sheriff disagrees.
Rob Douglas: Practicing gutter politics
By threatening the health care benefits of county employees in a transparent attempt to gain political leverage against Sheriff Gary Wall, the Routt County Board of Commissioners is practicing gutter politics.
Rob Douglas: It's time to question everything
In a recent column examining the Routt County Board of Commissioners' April Fools' Day decision to cut county employees' pay by 10 percent, I questioned why we need full-time commissioners.
Rob Douglas: Atira's call to Quinn raises thorny issues
The Atira Group - developers of Ski Time Square, Edgemont and Thunderhead - acted inappropriately by contacting Steamboat Springs City Councilman Jon Quinn at a critical moment in the council's review of Thunderhead.
Rob Douglas: Why no manslaughter charge?
The question being asked throughout the Yampa Valley this week is: Why wasn't Eduardo Capote Jr. charged with manslaughter, instead of assault, for his role in the death of Sgt. 1st Class Richard Lopez?
Rob Douglas: Obama wisely performs an about-face
As a young boy in the 1960s, I learned to ride horses on the Hancock farm in rural New Jersey. Our family's friendship with the Hancocks resulted in my first meaningful exposure to the Vietnam War when their youngest son, John, was drafted.
Rob Douglas: Bigger isn't always better
This week marks the start of my eighth year in the Yampa Valley and my second year writing a column for the Steamboat Pilot & Today. Unbeknownst to City Council members, they gave me an anniversary present.
Rob Douglas: Stolen laptop brings identity theft risk
Because of the theft of a laptop containing the Social Security numbers of 1,300 past and present Steamboat Springs School District employees this week, I'm changing hats to identity theft consultant.
Rob Douglas: Obama's visit a failed opportunity
On Tuesday, while signing the stimulus, President Barack Obama failed miserably at his campaign promise to govern with transparency.
Rob Douglas: Steamboat sails into uncharted waters
If you wander down to Citizens Hall in the near future to attend a Steamboat Springs City Council meeting, you'll witness what happens when a city and nation drunk on out-of-control spending awaken to the migraine headache of a monumental fiscal hangover.
Rob Douglas: Suspend the affordable housing ordinance
The Steamboat Springs City Council meets next week to debate and decide the future of the city's affordable housing ordinance. The council should compromise between the ideologies entrenched on opposite sides of the issue.
Rob Douglas: Citizenship in the age of Obama
Given the resounding electoral victory of President Barack Obama, how should good citizens behave in light of that mandate for change?
Rob Douglas: Commander in Chief or law professor?
By ordering the closure of the Guantanamo Bay terrorist detention camp and ordering a review of methods used to hold and interrogate terrorist suspects, President Barack Obama has reignited a critical national security debate.
Rob Douglas: Affordable housing ordinance unjust
This week, the Steamboat Springs City Council finally began to rethink the city's ill-conceived affordable housing ordinance.
Rob Douglas: Tell council president, 'I'm with you, Loui'
On Wednesday, the Steamboat Springs City Council voted to offer Victorville, Calif., City Manager Jon Roberts the city manager's job in Steamboat.
Rob Douglas: One question for Jon Roberts
I suspect most readers saw the above headline and thought, "Jon who?" So, let's begin 2009 with a trip down memory lane.
Rob Douglas: Council has some 'splainin' to do
As we prepare to turn the calendar from 2008 to 2009, the Steamboat Springs City Council is poised to hire our newest new city manager. Before doing so, the council should - as Ricky famously said to Lucy - do some 'splainin.'
Rob Douglas: Rolan's first and last impressions
It's true that first impressions count, but last impressions are the ones that folks remember. Steamboat Springs Finance Director Lisa Rolan looked promising as she entered City Hall last March, but she will not be remembered fondly by some as she exits.
Rob Douglas: The people hidden behind the numbers
We all should make it a priority to ensure none of our neighbors goes hungry or cold
On Tuesday evening, the Steamboat Springs City Council members born with Y chromosomes outvoted the council's sisters of fiscal sanity and passed a 2009 budget with numbers even Miss Whittier would decry as excessively Pollyannaish.
Rob Douglas: Will Obama bail out Steamboat?
Last Friday, in an effort to assure the country he'll solve the nation's fiscal woes, President-elect Barack Obama stated during his first press conference, "Immediately after I become president, I'm going to confront this economic crisis head-on by taking all necessary steps to ease the credit crisis, help hardworking families, and restore growth and prosperity."
Rob Douglas: It's time to temper Obama expectations
In the spring of 1968, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy were slain by assassins' bullets, igniting a summer of discontent marked by riots and the burning of American cities.
Rob Douglas: Steamboat remains calm as Vail panics
Just as proposed federal solutions to the tightening national economy differ based on competing economic and political philosophies, so do official local reactions to projected fiscal downturns in Steamboat Springs and Vail.
Rob Douglas: Is this downtown Steamboat or downtown Newark?
It's long past time somebody says out loud to Monument Oil - and the Brown clan of Grand Junction that runs Monument - what we've all been whispering for months.
Rob Douglas: 'We're going to have to cut things'
No matter where we live in Routt County, we'll all have to do without things we like from government as our communities confront a difficult economy for the foreseeable future..
Rob Douglas: City Council should balance the budget
Given that our nation's current fiscal morass, is it any wonder most citizens feel helpless as their financial health is threatened?
Rob Douglas: Rethink affordable housing
The Wall Street Journal recently published an article examining a policy question facing the presidential candidates titled "Homeownership Push Is Rethought." The question posed in the article is, "How aggressively should a new administration promote homeownership?"
Rob Douglas: Fiscal challenges bring opportunity
As the possibility becomes a probability that Routt County will not escape the national economic downturn, the deadlines for local government budgets loom.
Rob Douglas: What, when and why
Six months ago, Steamboat Pilot & Today published my first weekly column. During that period, I've received hundreds of comments and questions about the opinions I've expressed and the topics I've selected. Today, I'll attempt to address the most frequent inquiries.
Rob Douglas: Chief issues gag order, threats
In a move that soils representative democracy, Oak Creek Police Chief Russ Caterinicchio issued a gag order to the Oak Creek Town Board Trustees and threatened criminal charges for violations of his command.
Rob Douglas: Rookie chief needs oversight
Oak Creek officer agrees with himself on appropriate actions
On Monday, Oak Creek Police Chief Russ Caterinicchio announced he had concluded his internal investigation of the arrest and tasing of former town Mayor Kathy "Cargo" Rodeman by Sgt. Erik Foster. And - no surprise here - the chief agrees with himself.
Rob Douglas: A not so hot pursuit
Former Oak Creek Mayor Kathy "Cargo" Rodeman has no living peer in Routt County as a woman of controversy. Ms. Rodeman has amassed a public and private record exhibiting a bottomless capacity for good judgment and bad - sometimes within the same nanosecond.
Rob Douglas: Does one box trump the other?
There are two paths we follow when we seek the official judgment of our fellow citizens. The first path ends at the ballot box. The second concludes at the jury box.
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