City News
This is news from the city of Boulder, about the city or any of its departments
Mark Beckner: Outstanding
Mar 30th
Mark Beckner
Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner retires today. He held the job longer than anyone. He worked for BPD for over a 1/4 century. He is educated, smart , thoughtful and epitomizes a modern day chief of Police. We were lucky to have him.
BEST POLICE CHIEF BOULDER HAS EVER HAD
As a TV talk show host and personality Mark Beckners’ police department always treated me fairly even when the majority of the Boulder city council and mayor wanted my head. Beckner would not budge and protected my right to free speech both on TV and in this column. On multiple occasions he backed a free press here in Boulder. Boulder has been a place where my brand of talk was able to flourish because of the Boulder Police department and in spite of prevailing “nanny nation politics” of the 2000 -2007 Boulder council. Boulder police also worked with me and us here at Boulder channel 1 to ensure the safety of our staff from crazed fans of a multitude of colors. Boulder should appreciate just what a great chief Mark Beckner was. I did not always agreed with him and voiced my disapproval at times and he was nothing but professional and courteous to me when I did not deserve it.
MARK BECKNER DID SOLVE THE RAMSEY CASE AND HE IS A HERO
The Ramsey case had blown up in 1999. Commander John Eller had been removed as the lead investigator .. The DA Alex Hunter and Eller were fighting. ” Can you imagine having someone like Eller leading this murder investigation” Hunter once told me. The DA’s office had blown up too. Hunter had just fired Trip Demuth for publicly going with the intruder theory. “Intruder my ass” Hunter said. ” What’s going to happen when Burke Ramsey comes of age and want to tell the story?”
Then Police Chief Tom Koby assigned Commander Mark Beckner to head up the investigation. And that he did. Quietly and diligently Beckner and his detectives went through the entire case and came up with one conclusion.
That Patsy Ramsey had murdered 6 year old JonBenet Ramsey Christmas night when Patsy was high and drunk. Patsy grabbed Jonbenet and smashed her head into the bathtub after Jonbenet had wet herself. The rest of the night was spent covering up the crime with her husband John by concocting an elaborate horrific crime scene. Then Police chief Tom Koby told me: “What appears to have happened is generally what has happened in cases like this and only the facts prove that out”.
Mark Beckner became a hero when he followed the facts, the case evidence and put a bullet proof murder case together for the Grand Jury. Alex Hunter refused to indite John and Patsy because he ” wanted Burke Ramseys’ testimony”.
Well, now Mark Beckner is retiring and Alex Hunter is dying from Cancer in Hawaii. I fully expect that current DA Stan Garnett will drop a bomb shell on the Ramsey case by arresting John Ramsey for the murder and indict Burke Ramsey for covering up little JonBenets murder. ( lets just hope he does not mysteriously die before then)
Garnett is clearing all of the murder cases his office has and JonBenet Ramsey is next.
We have not seen the last of Mark Beckner, either. He may say he wants to teach or umpire baseball. But he will be back to finish that case I assure you. Look for him to be a paid consultant during the trial. Look too for the trial of the century to take place here in Boulder and look for a conviction. I will also predict that after that Stan Garnett will become out next attorney general and Mark Beckner will be heralded as the detective who solved the Ramsey case.
from
idyllic Boulder Colorado
Jann Scott
Boulder Chamber – Boulder Business After Hours with John Tayer – February 19th 2014
Mar 15th
John Tayer at Boulder Chamber Business After Hours event February 19th 2014 – Boulder Chamber’s CEO talk with Jann Scott about the Chamber’s involvement in the Boulder business community including: Start-Up businesses, business services, capital investments, young professionals, Innovation Blueprint, community involvement, protecting the environment and having a thriving business community in the city. John also talks a little about his background and his role as CEO of the Boulder Chamber.
Fee makes big dent in disposable bag use
Mar 10th
Reduces grocery checkout bags by 68 percent
After six months in effect, estimates show that the disposable bag fee has reduced use of paper and plastic checkout bags at grocery stores in Boulder by 68 percent. This reduction means the community has kept nearly 5 million disposable bags out of the waste stream since the fee went into effect on July 1, 2013.
“This is very positive news,” said Jamie Harkins, City of Boulder business sustainability specialist. “The bag fee arose from community concerns about the negative environmental and economic impacts of disposable bags in Boulder, and this progress report shows that we are addressing those concerns and doing so effectively.”
The disposable bag fee is one of several city initiatives aimed at bringing Boulder closer to its goal of becoming a zero waste community and diverting 85 percent of the waste stream away from the landfill and into recycling, composting and reuse facilities.
Of the approximately 22 million disposable checkout bags Boulder uses each year, 60 to 70 percent come from grocery stores. A study conducted by consultant TischlerBise in 2012 projected a 50 percent reduction in disposable bag use by the end of the first year of the fee, with approximately 3.6 million disposable bags subject to the fee (i.e. purchased) in the first six months. In actuality, Boulder shoppers have reduced disposable bag use by 68 percent and have purchased significantly fewer bags, approximately 2.3 million in total.
Of the 10 cents collected for each bag, 4 cents goes directly to retailers to defray fee implementation costs. The remaining 6 cents is remitted to the city to support education and outreach efforts about the bag fee as well as to cover expenses associated with providing bags to portions of the population that might be disproportionately impacted by the fee. No revenue collected as part of the fee program can be used to support General Fund services or programs.
The disposable bag fee does not apply to bags used inside stores for items such as produce, bulk food, or meat and fish, and does not apply to pharmacy prescriptions or newspapers.
–CITY–
