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News
Adoptive family seeks award for bomb dog that went to war
News Published: Wed, June 19, 2013
Ruby and Wade Ridpath with their combat veteran dog, Carlos, who served five years as an explosive-detecting dog in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Ridpaths nominated Carlos for the American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards in the military dog category. by Erin Prater erin.prater@gazette.com – “Bring him home.” As Ruby Ridpath typed those words into an [...]
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- Bernie Herpin may face Sen. John Morse in recall, if he gets signatures
- FIRE NOTEBOOK: Reception canceled for Waldo exhibit
- Red flag fire warning for El Paso County, dry conditions all week
- Man in custody after traffic stop
- UPDATES: New areas to open temporarily Wednesday morning to Black Forest fire residents
Life
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s ‘gentlest giraffe’ dies at age 32
Life Published: Tue, June 18, 2013
Courtesy of the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo The Gazette – The most recognizable giraffe at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, known for her unique, nearly all-white coloring, died Tuesday morning due to complications of old age. Becky, a 32-year-old reticulated giraffe, had been on a “quality of life watch” for about a year and a half, the [...]
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A&E
DOG DAYS OF SUMMER: The dogs who went Hollywood
Arts & Entertainment Published: Tue, June 18, 2013
by t.d. mobley-martinez tracy@coloradosprings.com – I love dogs. And I’m not alone. Which is probably why they have found themselves pictured or portrayed since men began to walk upright. Cave paintings and Egyptian murals. Those “Blue Dog” paintings. Tin Tin’s Snowy, L. Frank Baum’s Toto in “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” Astro, Scooby Doo and [...]
Sports
Sky Sox use Chris Volstad’s pitching, solid defense to top Tacoma 4-1
Sports Published: Tue, June 18, 2013
by JOE PAISLEY joe.paisley@gazette.com – Colorado Springs starter Chris Volstad got into a rhythm and the Sky Sox defense came up with three big double plays to down Tacoma 4-1 Tuesday night. The first two double plays ended Rainier scoring threats in the second and seventh innings and the final, a line drive grab by [...]
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- Former Rockie Esmil Rogers shuts down former team in 8-3 Toronto victory
- Northern Colorado football camp entry fees given to Red Cross after fire
- Subhead
- KLEE: With limited roster, CSU football must rely on flexibility of coaches
- McBride and Paulsen can’t carry Colorado Springs Sky Sox to victory in 12-7 loss to Las Vegas
Business
New hires, promotions & honors
Business Published: Wed, June 19, 2013
The Gazette – Tom Reiter has been named chief executive officer and president of Rocky Mountain Health Care Services, which provides a continuum of services to people who are elderly, blind, brain injured, disabled or living with diabetes or AIDS. Reiter will start July 1. He has more than 23 years experience in health-care organizations, [...]
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Military
Army show at home base brings a case of nerves for Fort Carson soldier
Military Published: Mon, June 10, 2013
In The Soldier Show, the stars of the show are not only performers, but soldiers. The Soldier Show travels the world to entertain our soldiers and their families. The show came to Ft. Carson on Thursday, May 30, 2013. (Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette) by erin prater erin.prater@gazette.com – hen the Army’s “Soldier Show” rolled into [...]
Nice try Barney but not buying your lame arse excuse.
This is such a NON STORY, Daniel. Really? Having observed Councilman Herpin over the last few years on Council, I think he is being honest. Why not focus on some real news like developers controlling the Mayor’s office ….
Bernie herpin, like me, is very responsive to citizens. He knows the charter better than any Council member, always attens events representing Council, is a great military and staff supporter. Ms. Reed has come in front of Council no less than 6 times, very angry, very emotional. I personally wrote a letter to Housing Authority for her mother months ago. It is frustrating feeling helpless in remedying her situation. Its her mothers health, who wouldnt understand that. I wouldnt read too much into comment.
He should have just accused her of being part of the “Trying to Keep the Elderly Healthy Lobby”. That approach seems to work for other council members.
“When are we going to tell her to stop coming here?”
He’s not sorry his mic was on. He’s sorry that he exposed his disdain for citizens speaking out.
Ms. Reed is sincerely concerned about her elderly relative who has health issues that are aggravated by 2nd hand cigarette smoke. She has been active in her efforts to have her relative moved to a non-smoking facility per the Doctor’s orders but has been stymied at every turn. She has addressed the Mayor, the City Council and the Housing Authority for months to no avail. If councilman Herpin was indeed concerned, he would assist her with information on how to work the system instead of the “can’t help you” attitude he has repeatedly displayed.
How will all of this play out in if the elderly lady dies due to her living conditions? How will the Mayor, Councilman Herpin and the Housing Authority feel being responsible for not assisting their constituents and not fulfilling their sworn duties?
As mentioned in the previous post, City Council Administrator Aimee Cox has spent a lot of time working with Ms. Reed and trying to rectify the situation. She prepared a memo for council that explains the situation.
Here is a copy:
Summary: Direction is requested regarding Elizabeth Reed’s request for a Council resolution supporting a 100% smoke-free house rule at Senior Heritage Plaza. Council has no oversight of the Housing Authority, and a resolution is not recommended.
Background: Elizabeth Reed’s mother resides at Senior Heritage Plaza, a federally subsidized senior-living apartment building managed by the Housing Authority of the City of Colorado Springs. Smoking is currently permitted in the individual units in the building (not in common areas). Ms. Reed claims her mother’s adverse health conditions are aggravated by secondhand smoke generated by tenants in their units, and supports her claim with a physician’s opinion. Her request to the Housing Authority to establish Senior Heritage Plaza as a non-smoking facility was denied. Ms. Reed subsequently filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Division alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act and with HUD alleging violations of the Rehabilitation Act. In both complaints, the agencies found the Housing Authority was not violating any federal rules with regard to the public housing program by allowing tenants to smoke in their individual units, and neither a nonsmoking policy nor an accommodation was required. Ms. Reed made a request to Steve Cox to intervene through the City’s Housing Development Division, which administers some federal funds for housing programs, and later, came to Council seeking a resolution supporting a change in the house rule.
I have spoken with staff in Housing Development and the Housing Authority and consulted with the City Attorney’s Office about Ms. Reed’s request. The issue is complex. Most of the tenants in the building smoke, and smoking is not illegal. The process for changing the house rules respects the rights of all tenants, and reportedly, 60% smoke. The Housing Authority offered to provide Ms. Reed’s mother with an air purifier and to work toward making a wing of the building smoke-free. Neither alternative was acceptable to Ms. Reed. Staff continues to research the request with a desire to move toward a non-smoking policy in the next three to five years.
The City Council does not set policy for the Housing Authority. The Housing Authority is a separate entity from the City of Colorado Springs, governed by a Board of Commissioners appointed by the Mayor. Though the City provides some support for specific Housing Authority programs, such as the Golden Circle Nutrition Program, funds for the public housing program are from the federal government, and the Housing Authority has been found to be operating within federal guidelines as regards this matter.
Recommendation and Alternatives: City Council has no oversight of the Housing Authority, and therefore, a resolution is not appropriate. If, however, a Councilmember would like to sponsor Ms. Reed’s request, the item can be brought to open discussion at Informal on August 27, and Council can direct staff to prepare a resolution. The resolution would not be enforceable, but would indicate to the Board of Commissioners and to the public political support for a policy change.
This last council meeting Ms Reed was up there being very rude and demeaning toward the folks that she was wanting help from. I understand her pasion for wanting to help her mother but she should been a better person last Tuesday.
The mic is always on. PR 101. Learn it. Live it.
Hey Lisa:
Ever use Spell Check or maybe even proof read your posts?
The headlines reads, “Councilman: ‘I regret that my mic was on’”. No names.
Yet I knew exactly who they were talking about before I clicked.
Bernie Herpin is an embarrassment.
Why is he running for re-election if he thinks so very little of the citizenry?
Bernie Herpin is consistently very responsive, gracious and courteous. I have never seen him disrespect or be deliberately rude to anyone, and the way our City Councilors are sometimes treated, that’s impressive. I think he didn’t mean to hurt this lady’s feelings, but she knows the City Council is not in charge of .the Housing Authority and she keeps coming back again and again (I was at a meeting months ago and she spoke during the citizens’ comments then, and got very agitated and monopolized a lot of time while other citizens were waiting to speak to items on the agenda….and she was treated very courteously then, and referred to the proper Housing Authority at that time, ) I’m very sympathetic to her concerns for her mother, but she doesn’t seem to take the information available to her and work with that–she just keeps going to City Council because there’s a microphone handy and anyone is allowed to use it. Her complaints are totally valid–and should be addressed to the Housing Authority. Listening to 20 minutes of complaints about something that is not within Council’s purview to change, is a serious waste of time that should be spent handling other City business.
Hey RJF: It’s a comment on a blog. If all you can do is attack someone’s spelling, your argument is weak. Go home kiddo, the adults are talking.
Two choices in the election Herpin or the covicted murderer
id choose the convict, bernie had his chance.
@weyant- you’re exactly th type of idiot that should not be allowed to vote. If you are even registered.
Hey Mikey:
I’ll not apologize for being educated. Sorry sloppiness is part of your life!
Actually I pointed out spelling errors and poor sentence structure …
Evidently you misconstrued …. (Need a Dictionary for that word Mikey?)
Chacon is such a hard hitting writer…never likes to create drama does he?
Bill,
Shoot the messenger, right?
Any politician who acts arrogant or wants to be in charge of everything, needs to be booted. Herpin yelled at mt shadow residents for commenting on fire department activities week of fire. Total cover up. Dont vote for anyone over the age of 50 years old on Council.
”Recommendation and Alternatives: City Council has no oversight of the Housing Authority, and therefore, a resolution is not appropriate.”
Simply put, this is a dead issue and the city needs to direct Ms. Reed to someone in the federal government to assist her. Someone on Council needs to grow a sack and tell Ms. Reed to move along.
I know how the poor lady feels. I address the Colorado Springs Utility Board about solar energy issues. I fell like Brandy Williams and Lisa Czeltako listen attentively but the rest listen with half an ear.
Hopefully then new council will be more open to citizen comments.
Realist-you hit the nail on the head! Oh connection worse now! Owner Broadmoor and gazette the same – and strange – president of the Broadmoor one of Bachs crony buddies. Think we can count on same one sided “this new developer form of gov the best ever” BS from the gazette as usual! The good ole boys only dig themselves in deeper and HA – we the people voted them in. Guess we get what we ask for!
Guess when your living on the government teet (i.e. your and my tax dollars) you don’t get to pick and choose. Maybe Elizabeth should take care of her mother instead of asking the taxpayers to take care of her – and then complain about it!
they hate it when they GET CAUGHT saying what they really feel. When no one is listening is when the truth comes out but when they get caught they regret what they said. Nothing more then a bunch of self serving ,lying morons.
@mikey and @erine: Gary Flakes and Bernie Herpin are running in separate districts. Flakes is in District 4 and Herpin is running in District 5.
I didn’t even -hear- Herpin say this. And I don’t care if he said this or not. I have pretty good ears, and I didn’t hear this.
Housing Authority can adopt a smoke-free rule with 30 Days notice to residents. It is -not- Complex.
Housing Authority gets found in Compliance because they get -credit- for making offers for accommodating my mom that are ridiculous and ineffective.
The Civil Rights Division said mom should have -tried- the Air Purifiers, .. though she had -tried- air purifiers (3 times more expensive than HA’s) before she even complained.
AP’s don’t -work- on smoke. Even if mfg. claims they do. Mayo Clinic, etc., says they don’t. Experience; and the lady who gave-up her subsidy and left (the same bldg.), says they don’t.
A person stops the investigation by Civil Rights if they accept an offer, even a bogus offer, and they are -blamed- if they -don’t- accept an offer
made by the Respondent in the claim. They don’t win because they “didn’t even -try-” the bogus offer.
I don’t know how long she would have had to have “tried” the AP’s that she’d already “tried” on her own, and that she knew weren’t going to work. I don’t know if then someone would have -refuted- her and made her -prove- that they weren’t working. Incidentally, . . -proof-, is the lady’s oxometer readings – the lady who left. She took them daily.
Proof is the CDC, Mayo Clinic, etc.
Either you go through that ruse, . .then you re-file, which takes months to get anywhere; or, you -don’t- go through that ruse, . .and you -lose- for not “trying” an offer, then you appeal, which takes months to get anywhere.
Then, when you appeal, HA makes reference to the offer you didn’t “try”, and may make another offer that is wide open and leaves a lot of wiggle-room for themselves to make sub-offers that are ridiculous. Ex. A non-smoking floor or wing. HA doesn’t stipulate what most would assume – ‘to be created -soon’, ‘w/o delay, to solve the problem’. When asked ‘when’, and ‘how’ they stonewall. When pushed, they say, “Can’t do it while we’re being investigated, because we may be told to do something else”. That’s not true. Resolution attempts are to be ongoing, throughout investigations, throughout reviews.
When pushed further, they offer mom a unit on a -Floor- that has no smokers on it, but 1. But that unit is the unit from which the former tenant left for the same reason -the smoke (& gave-up her subsidy). The smoke comes from a tenant below and diagonal to her – the same source that is next to my mom.
Then they offer mom -another- unit on the 3rd FL, the one with just 1 smoker on it. They offer it b/c it happens to be vacant. It has again a smoker diagonal below it, -and- . . it is on the South half of the building, where there are 12 smokers, many on the floor below, and the floor below that. We had pointed out that “A floor only works, if it is the 1st floor, for non-smoking, . .other than that, it must be a wing, . .and -her- wing, since, again, there are 12 smokers on the south wing/half, and 3 on her north wing/half. So moving 2 (we want to make it cheap and easy for HA, so leave the guy in the corner on the 1st FL who smokes, and just move the 2 next to her, so HA doesn’t claim financial hardship, as they fraudulantly did before) to the other side of the building, into, incidentally, -2- units that are sitting vacant and ready-to-go, is cheaper than moving 12 from the South wing, and cheaper than 5 off the 1st FL.
Another component of their wide-open, loop-hole ridden offer, that is a tokenism, when the whole bldg. should be made smoke-free anyway, . . is that, requesting that they fulfill -this-, as opposed to the -100% smoke-free-everyone smoke outside in 30 days- proposal that -we- originally made, does not speed things along, . .because, as you remember, when they made that offer, they never stipulated -when-, and though a reasonable accommodation is to be provided “without delay” to a person for whom otherwise their disability, and the status of the current house-rule, prevent them from successfully using their dwelling; and HA is pretending it takes a long-time to move 2 people down the hall.
If it takes -that long-, which, -it doesn’t-, then . . .the 30-Day notice to change a House-Rule, stipulated in the HUD Occupancy Handbook, to go 100% smoke-free, and quit hokeying around with moving people. Smoke-free House-Rule -SAVES MONEY- ! Moving people is an excuse to . . “Develop a Multi-Step Plan”, and “Assess the Configuration of the Building”, while my mom dies . HA didn’t tell us until we pushed and pushed for an answer as to ‘when’, that one of the smokers to move required a handicapped unit, and that the 2 vacant South units were both non-handicapped accessible. HA was saving this for the -next- time we filed a claim. They could not just tell us that w/o months of us filing, . .then they pull out this excuse, was their plan. But, we got them to tell us this, so now we can say – - alright then – -’Looks like you have to do what you should have done all along -and- what you should have done 19 months ago, that you didn’t do simply b/c you didn’t -want- to do, and -hadn’t- done 10 -years- ago, b/c you simply didn’t -want- to, in -any- of your bldgs. Looks like you have to tell people to smoke outside, and save -yourselves- and the taxpayers 10′s of thousands per building per year’ Uh oh, . .does that not offset your bribe from some tobacco company affiliate, or whatever your motive was for this Holocaust on Springs elderly and disabled ?
When HA moves to act, by choosing to manage 9 senior/disabled buildings, they must act without harm. They have maintained polluted, hazardous, guaranteed harmful, class-A carcinogens for low-income, economically-trapped, elderly, and elderly-disabled to live in. They must aid those they have harmed. They must do this without delay.
Perhaps someone at an oversight agency to which our appeal went, assumed HA was going to -keep- making offers, or that they were going to fulfill the “wing” offer, and not turn it into something that would not work, . .like the -floor- part, and then, hold to their chest, the fact that the -wing-, the only part of the offer that would have worked, is not easily do-able b/c of the handicapped-accessible factor. -This- is something -they- knew when they -constructed- this offer more than a year ago, . .and then made us fight and fight for their fulfillment of it, to save my mom’s life, without telling us this key info.
-I- have some -key- info. My -mom- has a -Respiratory- Handicap that requires a Handicap accessible unit too – A unit that has breathable air – a unit that is not so full of pollutants from smoke-incursions that she risks respiratory arrest and another bleeding stomach ulcer that could kill her.
By the way, I have a lot to say, and that pesky little thing called Freedom of Speech says I can say it whether City Council is interested or not. “Never” is when you are going to tell me to -stop coming here-, because you -can’t- tell me that.
You all can sign a letter of support or you can choose not to. I can choose to raise public awareness of -every- aspect and -facet- of this experience.
Not b/c of any comment accidentally uttered, or not uttered, but b/c of Laura Neumann’s parroting of Chad Wright’s (of HA) statements, e.g., “-Despite- Elizabeth’s going to the media and going to City Council, and helping her mom file with Civil Rights, . .-despite- all that, . .we (HA) are working with her mom to accommodate her . .” (it’s just a multi-step process that will take 3-5 yrs., and her mom will die in the profuse pollution in the meanwhile, and we -could- do it in 30 days, and we -could- have done it years ago, even before her mom ever moving-in, at least when HUD strongly encouraged us and all HA’s to go smoke-free), at the last meeting, along with other lies straight from Chad Wright, like, “Been to Civil Rights 4 times (or something like that, which is not a bad idea, . .and we may -do- that, that may be what it takes, hopefully only 1 more time since it is time consuming)”, and some incomplete truths, that, City Council -has- to know, since they are from the party whom we are trying to make -do- something that they -don’t want- to do, have a good chance of being false or incomplete, is why I opened with, “I am sorry I am here. I know some of you don’t want me here”.
It is sad that seemingly council members are so indifferent, claiming they can do nothing, and not signing support letters (only Lisa signed one, that she wrote herself, and actually, did not -sign- my copy, and -my copy- had no letterhead either, . .so, . .if I wanted to “re-send” it to HA, to be sure it got sent, there’s no distinguishing that I didn’t myself type it, . .oh, but I guess I wouldn’t have put the big disclaimer in the middle – “Though I know that city council has no (agency) over HA ” [nudge, nudge, wink, wink, this is just perfunctory, so we don't look 100% complicit in your crime against this community's elderly, HA, so go on ahead])
It is -because- of all my and my mom’s actions that HA has been -compelled- to make their fraudulant, fake offers, and tell their lies in their own defense, as opposed to what they did -before- we took action, and -between- the times we were taking action. In other words, no action = HA’s landslide of lies and malfeasance. Hateful discrimination, and planned, willful, deliberate defiance of their tenants’ well-being and quality of life = HA. Chad Wright said, “That’s not gonna move the ball”, in response to my stating I needed to make an appt. w/him to talk about why he hasn’t fulfilled that “wing” offer (that HA made 15 months ago, . .and then 9 months ago when Steve Cox was inquiring, both times, when the “heat” was on, but never fulfill). It warms my heart to hear Chad make reference to my mom’s living in a torture chamber, as a ‘sport’ or a ‘game’. Chad knows how bad it is, has my mom’s doctors letters for more than a year, knows my mom has had 2 deteriorations of condition – 1. A 2nd bleeding stomach ulcer Jan. 2012 (linked to smoke) 2. A diagnosis of COPD in July (hypoventilatory changes, and artifacts in the base of the lungs). He knows that she acquired respiratory disability in HA’s -other- bldg. from which they had to do vast emergency remediation on the bottom floor and the entire crawlspace, and had to -move- her due to vomiting blood from the nauseating spores, from years long of ignoring a burst water-heater and many leaking pipes. He knows that she collapsed the day the 2 Men & A Truck were moving her, . .and almost DIED! He knows she had to have that first ulcer cauterized, and that the 2nd, Jan. 2012, was too BIG to cauterize! And that they had to put her on strong prescription stomach-acid blocking drugs and sedation to get her to heal! And that she was in a Nursing Home rehabbing for 6 weeks. And that she couldn’t pay the last 2 weeks of her Nursing Home bill, b/c, ironically, she could either pay -that- . . -or- her rent! She paid the -rent- where the poison is that causes the increase in her stomach-acid, that causes the stomach ulcers. (Cigarette smoke increase stomach acid, and causes stomach ulcers and delays their healing.) Chad -KNOWS- this, . .and still uses words like “That’s not gonna move the ball”, and, . .he chuckled through the conversation. .the conversation that consisted of my 1 1/2 sentences, and his, 48 or so sentences consisting of talking-over me and laughing like some sadistic sociopath, carving a path of monologue that avoids accountability and justifies delay indefinitely while my mom dies. HA has said more than once that they intend to have a smoke-free in -5- yrs. Since my mom is dying, and since it takes 30-Days to implement, . . HOW ABOUT RIGHT NOW?!!! Oh, . .and since Section 504 of the ADA says you have to put into habitable repair a place that is not just hazardous to everyone, but particularly hazardous to disabled persons, disallowing them the intended -use- of their apt. , which is to breathe normally in it, with an expected sense of safety, not, a -knowing- that between this time and that time everyday and every night, they are going to have to evacuate, or, be stuck in the one pocket of air they can find in a certain room. And, because HA’s own d*mn motto is: We Give Quality to Life. And because HUD requires that HA meet their Voluntary Compliance Agreement of 2008, that gets reviewed again this year, or be debarred. Safe, Decent, Habitable Housing, does not equal 50% of the tenants smoking, where 50% of the air is shared from unit to unit, and tenants have heart disease and respiratory handicaps.
I could go on forever about this, . .and I may.
I can understand after reading your comment\s why Bernie is tired of hearing from you.
There is a simple solution to your problem put your mother in a private assisted living facility. If this is such a health hazard for your mother then there is no excuse not to do it and cost should not be a consideration.
Not just my mom, dying. Others, approx. 250 non-smokers in all 9 bldgs. harmed as well.
Look at Independent article. Cortisone shots to stop persistant coughs; Prescription to stop bleeding nose (probably from burning ammonia in cigarette smoke); Heart stents; Diabetes worsened by smoke; Smoke coming from underneath; Why don’t they make it smoke-free like casinos and restaurants(?); Lots of statements from tenants in just the one building.
Asthma; shortness of breath; heart pains; I hear at -other- buildings during Resident Advocacy Group (RAG) meetings, a group that I started, consisting of 4 tenants from 2 different bldgs., my mom, and myself. Anyone reading, join – elrco07@yahoo.com, and, get on the RAG, . .so yu don’t have to breathe into one !
We’ll file another Reasonable Accommodation request, . .without waiving our rights in the first. A nice lawyer, though not retained currently, is kind enough give limited critiques.
Jake, if that’s your name, -She does markedly better when we get her out of Housing Authority’s Senior Heritage Plaza for a day or two. So, we’d like, and she’d like, to maintain her independence, . .that she -could- maintain if she could rebound her health in a smoke-free environment/building.
I’m sure HA would like tenants to just go into assisted living after they’ve been debilitated by HA’s maintained toxic environment, and just chalk it up to inexplicable acquiring of disease, and grossly accelerated aging for no reason. My grandpa, her dad, was independent till 96, and lived healthfully till 103 yo. She . .-herself- was -vibrant- till her foray into Colorado Springs Housing Authority’s housing.
Is that what all 250 or so non-smoking Housing Authority residents should do who are harmed by the smoke and have disabilities that make them particularly vulnerable to poison, moreso than others are vulnerable to poison? Is that what -they- all should do too, . . Jake?
Thanks for your comments, Jake.
City council should ban this woman for their own safety she could go postal on them at anytime.
herpin has been afraid of discussion for for 30 years in Co springs
Andy, If you are Andy Koen, the City should ban you from doing inaccurate newscasts like the one you did on our issue. Dave Randall and Evan Pappas are still trying to fix it.
Dear Ms Reed;
If my mother was treated as badly as you say your mother has been treated, I would take care of her myself. That you have chosen to leave her where she is and blame the Housing Authority for her ills speaks volumes.
You are an example of all that is wrong with our ungrateful, welfare-loving nation.