Posts tagged right
Fourmile Canyon Fire aerial mulching to begin Thursday, April 7 (weather permitting)
Apr 5th
Aerial mulching treatments will consist of certified weed-free straw and WoodStrawÓ being dropped in pre-determined areas from helicopters. Target areas were determined by a set of criteria that includes slope, burn severity, flood/debris flow risk, and values downstream (including human life, safety and property). In total, approximately 1,960 acres will be aerially mulched inside the fire boundary.
Aerial operations will begin on April 7 (weather permitting) in the vicinity of Sugarloaf Road and Fourmile Canyon Drive and move to areas within Sunshine Canyon on or after April 12. Flights will operate for about two weeks (up until April 23) depending on weather conditions throughout the mulching period.
Helicopters will be flying during daylight hours only beginning as early as 7 a.m., and residents can expect temporary road closures as helicopters fly overhead. Additionally, heavy truck equipment will be used in the vicinity of Sugarloaf Road and Sunshine Canyon to deliver straw and support equipment for the aerial flights.
Hand seeding is taking place along roads and driveways in areas that were moderately to severely burned, and with less than 60 percent slope. Roads and driveways are targeted because vehicles are a common way that weed seeds are transported. In total, approximately 500 acres will be seeded utilizing the help of volunteers.
Call the Fourmile Rehabilitation Hotline at 303-413-7010 for the latest updates on seeding and aerial mulching activities. Message boards or flaggers will be located in the vicinity of work being performed to alert residents of any delays or modifications to traffic patterns.
Safety issues
Due to safety regulations and FAA requirements, no one can be in the immediate areas where mulch is being dropped.
Residents and workers in the mulching areas for Gold Hill, Four Mile Canyon, Sugar Loaf and Sunshine Canyon will be asked to leave the area for the day, and bring in pets/livestock while their specific block or neighborhood is being mulched.
Boulder County Sheriff’s patrols will be active in the area to maintain public safety for the duration of the treatments. The Sheriff’s Office asks everyone to be mindful of the following privacy and public safety rules:
- Motorists must not block traffic on any public right of way.
- Everyone must stay at least 200 feet outside of the perimeter of active aerial mulching treatment areas at all times so as not to impede operations.
- No trespassing is allowed on private property including driveways, turn-offs, private roads or other private property.
- Cyclists are asked to avoid Sugarloaf Road, Fourmile Canyon Drive, and Sunshine Canyon Drive while helicopter flights are occurring (April 7-23).
Information resources
For additional information and maps showing the treatment areas go to: www.bouldercounty.org/fourmilefire.
WHO WANTS TO DELIBERATE WITH POLITICIANS? MORE THAN SOME EXPECTED, STUDY FINDS
Apr 4th
Given that, the thinking goes, it’s reasonable to conclude that citizens want less, not more, involvement in politics.
But that widely accepted theory does not survive empirical scrutiny, a team of researchers that includes a University of Colorado Boulder political scientist found.
Rather than rejecting political discourse, most people express strong interest in deliberating with real politicians, the team found. Further, when citizens are offered the chance to discuss political issues with their legislators, significant numbers do.
The view of the American public as desperate to avoid politics is “deeply misleading,” the team wrote in a recent edition of American Political Science Review. The work joins a growing number of studies applying empirical analysis to political theories of deliberative democracy.
The team was led by Michael Neblo of Ohio State University and included Kevin Esterling of the University of California, Riverside, Ryan Kennedy at the University of Houston, David Lazer of Northeastern University and Harvard University, and Anand Sokhey of CU-Boulder.
Sokhey and his colleagues suggest that some political theorists reached an erroneous conclusion because they started with the wrong question, namely, “Who actually deliberates?”
The answer, of course, is that few people engage in deliberative democracy.
But Sokhey’s team essentially posed a different question: “Who is willing to deliberate?” The team found that large majorities of citizens, even those disgusted by politics, are willing to participate—and, when given the chance, many do.
Sokhey puts it this way: “If people perceive politicians to be more responsive and less corrupt … would people be more willing to be involved?” The answer is yes. “They’re happy to be involved.”
That was surprising, he says, adding that the kinds of people who wanted to participate also was unexpected. The traditional view is that people who are older, wealthier, well-educated and white are more likely to become engaged in politics.
“We don’t find that a lot of that holds here,” Sokhey says.
The team found that younger people and non-whites were willing to join political deliberations.
The researchers set out to test two competing theories of political involvement. One theory, dubbed “stealth democracy,” holds that people are often disgusted by politics, believe politicians are generally corrupt, and that when they do join the political process, they do so largely to thwart political corruption.
If politics were less corrupt, the theory holds, citizens would happily retreat to their private lives and let government run quietly and efficiently in the background.
But the theory of stealth democracy contradicts one of the deliberative theory’s central claims: that citizen apathy is actually caused by frustration and disempowerment in the system. “If the political process could be rendered more rational and responsive in their eyes, then they would be moreinclined to engage in it robustly,” the authors write, adding:
“The disagreement between the stealth thesis and the deliberative thesis could hardly be clearer, and the stakes on which is right could hardly be higher.”
The research team began with hypothetical questions posed to 404 subjects.
For instance, they asked the following: “If politics were [less/more] influenced by self-serving officials and powerful special interests, do you think that you would be more or less interested in getting involved in politics?” Respondents indicated their interest on a 1-5 scale.
Those who would participate less if politics were less corrupt fit the stealth-democracy thesis. Those who would participate more fit the deliberative thesis.
The results were significant. Eight times more people fit the deliberative profile than the stealth profile, suggesting that the “stealth” view is not widely held.
But that was just the response to items about stealth vs. deliberative attitudes. When the researchers made a real offer to deliberate with a real member of Congress, 65 percent agreed.
The study’s participants were offered the chance to deliberate online with their congressional representative. The members of Congress came from 12 congressional districts spread across four major geographic regions. The politicians included five Republicans and seven Democrats who were ideologically diverse.
Most surprisingly, the authors note, both those holding “stealth” and “deliberative” views were eager to discuss politics with real politicians. But according to the stealth thesis, such eagerness should have been found mostly among deliberative democrats.
The explanation, the authors conclude, is that “People do not really hold stealth democracy as their first preference. Instead, they will settle for stealth democracy if the civics-textbook version of deliberative representative democracy is not achievable.”
The work of Neblo, Sokhey and the rest of the team was funded by a grant from the Digital Government Program of the National Science Foundation.
Read more on this story soon in Colorado Arts & Sciences Magazine at http://artsandsciences.colorado.edu/magazine/.
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APRIL FOOLS JOKE SPOOF ON CITY I Love Boulder Campaign elicits hate, Illiterate Rancher hippies , Censorship board
Apr 1st
City of Boulder News
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NEWS BRIEFS
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Contacts:
Alisa Lewis, City Clerk/Director of Support Services, 303-441-3013
Patrick von Keyserling, Communication Manager, 303-441-4959
CORRECTION: Open Comment Sign-Up for City Council Meetings goes Electronic.
The city has abandoned the idea of Electronic Sign-up because it overlooked several problem areas which would give computer savy people an advantage. Some people in Boulder are illiterate and can not write. They have a difficult time as it is when speaking and or signing up to speak. They usually require the help of the city clerk to fill out the blue form which requires their name, address, topic of comment and a signature. It is not often that the city has illiterates who come to speak before council. The last was a rancher turned artist named Father Rainbow.( previously Harold Geer Folsom) He had legally changed his name in 1994 where the clerk had to help with the forms. So for now electronic sign-ups are on hold.
I Love Boulder campaign provokes some
The cities I love Boulder Campaign has produced one video so far produced by the city. It has played hourly on Channel 8 and channel 22. The idea was to promote ‘brand loyalty’ to our town and attract tourism. It seems the reverse has happened. Right wing talk show hosts in Denver started making fun of Boulder calling the campaign a self absorbed love fest of the smartest prettiest people. This led to Bill O’Reilly of Fox News to create a contest naming Boulder the most narcissistic city in America. The city is now looking at other opportunities to promote Boulder in a positive light.
Board of Decency and Community Standards being formed
The city is now accepting applications for the newly formed Board of Decency and Community Standards syn BOD-ACTS. The T doesn’t stand for anything but we needed it to convey a message about any bodily acts that are deemed indecent. The board came about by people who think it is funny to run around Boulder naked with pumpkins on their heads. We realize it is only Halloween but the city feels this practice might spread to other Holidays such as Easter which will be coming up at the end of the month. Easter is a Christian Holy day and we didn’t want to leave anything to chance. BOD-ACTS will also take into account appropriate dress at city sponsored functions including planning meetings and Band on the Bricks . The city wants to set a good example of proper attire.
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