Last week was great for Colorado football teams. Every team won, including Cherry Creek high school that appears to be heading towards another state championship. CSU defeated Air Force for the first time in years with a vastly improved team. They look very good.
The CU Buffs are doing great and drawing huge media attention across America. Coach Prime is doing his magic once again. The games are very exciting and on major stations. And our Broncos are on track to make the playoffs. I think Bo Nix is showing his talent and I like it when he starts passing the ball more.
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Regarding sports… readers should be enjoying the work of our local resident sports columnist Denny Dressman, 43 years in the newspaper business, and 25 years at The Rocky Mountain News. He has stories he can relate about the historic newspaper war between The News and The Post. He was executive sports editor at the newspaper for 25 years and has written 16 books; nine are sports books and he is almost done with his tenth book. I enjoy lunch often with Denny, along with some other newspaper legends such as Barrie Hartman, former publisher of The Boulder Daily Camera, Roy Robinson past president of the Colorado Press Association and Texas Press Association. Roy started his newspaper career at The Lamar Daily News decades ago. He became editor and publisher of Dean Singleton’s hometown newspaper in Graham, Texas. Joe McGowan, Associated Press State Manager joins us along with Harrison Cochran, retired publisher of The Aurora Sentinel. Other great writers join the monthly group as we discuss Colorado news, past, present, and future.
Denny and I both think that the New York Yankees will win the World Series, remember the slogan, “Never bet against the Yankees.”
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Word arrived at press time Tuesday of the death of former State Representative Paul Schauer who served in the state legislature from Arapahoe County for 20 years, first elected from Littleton in 1979. He also served as a University of Colorado Regent from 2002 to 2008. Paul was an expert on supporting public education and was a highly respected leader in the legislature and by his constituents. We have not heard about funeral arrangements but will have a full obituary and tribute to Paul next week. He was a giant in the development and success of public education from kindergarten to universities.
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There is quite a controversy raging in Cherry Hills Village over the status of Quincy Farm, a large parcel of land donated to the city by owner Cat Anderson, about 10 years ago. Many different opinions on what to do with development, costs, and maintenance. Three ballot issues in this issue are well covered by governmental reporter Freda Miklin. Voters will decide, we’re the messengers, that is the historic role of newspapers since the days of Benjamin Franklin. If you believe in the Constitution you must believe in the value of local newspapers, transparency, and news not produced by government sources. Newspapers work for the good of the public interest and it will be a sorry day if we all disappear from the scene.
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Had dinner at Zane’s, down on Hampden and Yosemite Monday night and really enjoyed the Chicken Alfredo. Zane’s was the creation of Ed Novak and Zane Anderson in Marina Square on Belleview Ave. With the development of the property, Zane’s had to move, and they found Tom and George at Citron Bistro in the old Marie Calendar building. The Citron partners were growing weary from operating a great restaurant after they exited Marina Square decades ago. So Zanes moved to the Citron location that has been very successful. Zane’s is prospering with great food and service and have expanded the dining room and bar area to accommodate even more happy patrons. The “Happy Hour” specials are unique and the chicken wings have always been great from the old location. We had a great meal and had many memories of the Novak family success story.
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The 2024 State Ballot Measures would make a great college exam. There are so many choices to make and some hard decisions. Some are just personal choice; others have long-range impacts on the state.
One ballot measure is messing with our veterinarians and allowing master’s degree graduates to become pet care specialists. CSU already has a Vet Assistant degree in place and the staff at Vet hospitals now become very experienced in assisting the highly trained doctors. I’m told that the measure is being pushed by the pet store industry to allow one store veterinarian to have many assistants, kind of like pharmacies that only have one pharmacist and many assistants. When I take my dog or cat to the Vet, I want a doctor to trust with my pets. A strong “No” on this ballot measure.
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I have never seen more beautiful trees in our county than this year. The late fall and summer rains have really turned our cities into green gardens. I only hope that we have a freeze to drop the leaves before the heavy snow arrives to protect these trees so late into the fall. It seems that the trees can communicate with each other. Have you noticed that in the spring they all blossom together? Amazing grace at work.