The Colorado Switchblade

In today’s episode, we go over the general election here in Larimer County, Colorado, and Estes Park. I bring on special guest Rupa Bhattacharyya, who is Special Litigation Counsel at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP), to speak about the guidance and resources that ICAP has put out leading up to our midterm elections. These fact sheets go over a broad range of timely...

In today’s episode, we go over a new fact sheet on the topic of ‘constitutional sheriffs.’ This fact sheet put out by States United Democracy Center and Georgetown Law’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection does one of the best jobs I have come across when it comes to breaking down what the current myths and conspiracy theories surrounding the rise of the ‘Constitutional Sheriffs’...

In today’s episode, we go over the latest update to the local FLAP (Federal Lands Access Program) project. And the dismal and unexpected state of the bids received on the project. The lowest bid received was approximately 27 million dollars, nearly double the recently projected costs. We also get into an in-depth look at proposition 122, which will be on the upcoming state-wide election on Novembe...

Correction: 11:11 am 10-4-22; According to the Town of Estes Park, the decision-making process will not be completed today. There are several steps that need to be taken before a decision is announced. We will update with more information on the decision as it becomes available. In today’s episode, we hear from the candidates currently being considered in the hiring of the Town of Estes Park’s new...

In today’s episode, I catch up on local news, including a search and recovery in Rocky Mountain National Park. Two separate plane crashes in the local area and speak with comedians Andre Ferrell and Joe Kashnow, who will be performing on the 24th at The Ridgeline Hotel in a benefit show for our local American Legion Riders here in Estes Park. Here is the press release from Rocky Mountain National...

Here is the link to my interview with Michael Cohen on his Mea Culpa podcast (just click the image): Well, it’s been a crazy week for me. I shot footage over three days for two news affiliates and a documentary crew for MS NBC that included Trevor Noah’s Production Company and Time Studio. While I am now down to the final home stretch for completing my upcoming book, I have been doing my best to b...

Correction August 18th, 8:33pm - A mistake was made in our reporting that the victim of the attack was not Diego’s handler but another person at the residence. The Colorado Switchblade recently learned that the retired Estes Park K9 Unit Diego was involved in an attack on a person in his handler’s residence. The incident occurred on August 3rd at approximately 9:28 PM. Medical care was required ho...

In today’s episode, we speak with a new resident of Estes Park that has mobility issues (he uses a powered wheelchair) and has some serious safety issues traveling the mile to his house from his place of employment. He and some close friends (some with their own mobility impairments) spoke out at last night’s Town Trustee Meeting; listen to what they had to say in interviews recorded after the mee...

In today’s episode, we look at the messaging being put out by one of America’s most famous think tanks, The Rand Corporation. I question what their motivations might be and, in the end, the excellent points they make about this largely overlooked or unknown danger. Here are the links to the articles I reference in the podcast: Manipulating the Climate: What Are the Geopolitical Risks? Scientists s...

As promised, this week, I dig back into local news as John Messiner once again joins me to discuss to most recent happenings at this week’s Estes Park Town Trustee’s meeting. The significant points we hit upon deal with revisiting the Short Term Housing fee that passed before our last election and some significant sound issues that will be a fact of life next summer--both day and night. If you mis...

According to the Chicago Sun-Times: Six people were killed and more than two dozen others wounded when a gunman started firing a high-powered rifle from a rooftop 10 minutes after the Highland Park Fourth of July parade kicked off Monday morning, authorities said. Authorities continued to hunt Monday afternoon for the shooter, and “the offender still has not been apprehended so far,” Christopher C...

In today’s podcast episode, we listen to some of the Speeches given at this weekend's first-ever Pride Event in Estes Park and an interview with ‘Ego Death,’ the punk band that played at the Pride and Punk fundraiser for our local skate park. The speeches include Estes Park Mayor Wendy Koenig, Lars Sage, and others. Lars Sage is the gallery manager of the Art Center of Estes Park, President of the...

In this Father's Day episode, I am joined by a special guest host Wintyr Raven, my youngest daughter. We speak about the growing violent resistance to Pride celebrations being seen across the country, the newest lawsuit filed against the Loveland Police Department, which involved the violent arrest of a 14-year-old girl, and a 60 Minutes Segment on Alden Global, the vulture fund owners of our loca...

In today’s podcast, I interview Jenn Bass who is organizing the first-ever Pride Month Celebration here in Estes Park, about the planned festivities. I then read my next audio essay in my series of ‘Mostly True Tales’ about an adventure I had in the Summer after graduating my senior year in high school. It is entitled ‘Red Boxes and Mafia Kids.’ Here is the essay in written format: Mostly True Tal...

We start this episode with the news of the most recent mass shooting at a medical campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where according to the New York Times: calls of the shooting at a medical building crackled across police radios just before 5 p.m. on Wednesday. As officers rushed inside — following a trail of bullet casings and yelling out “Tulsa police!” — they heard the gunshots end, officials said, th...

In today’s podcast episode, we have discussions about homelessness in Colorado with Cathy Alderman, Chief Communications and Public Policy Officer at Colorado Coalition for the Homeless . Our topics of discussion ranged from the significantly higher chances of experiencing sexual assault as a woman experiencing homelessness to how housing crises like we are experiencing here in Estes Park contribu...

In American usage, "culture war" may imply a conflict between those values considered traditionalist or conservative and those considered progressive or liberal. This usage originated in the 1920s when urban and rural American values came into closer conflict. This followed several decades of immigration to the States by people who earlier European immigrants considered 'alien.' In today’s special...

Today’s episode is packed with updates. Updates on Jacobo Medoza's (Kovo) Disposition Hearing yesterday. The Estes Park School District R-3 Board of Education meeting and talk about new allegations that the School Board may have violated Colorado Open Record laws. We then end the episode by interviewing local Estes Park resident Patty Brown regarding the Big Kahuna memorial project and a quick upd...

In today’s episode, I kick off a new experiment called my ‘Mostly True Stories,’ which are written essays about subjects that tie into my life experiences that I read aloud during the podcast. In today’s installment, I discuss the last week’s Congressional hearing on the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon. The first public hearing on UFOs (now known as UAPs) and then talk for the very first time publi...

Estes Park Mayor Wendy Koenig speaks with us about Going to Highschool in Estes Park and being an olympian in the historic 1972 Olympic Games and then again in 1976. A terrorist attack overshadowed the ‘72 games. According to Wikipedia: The event was overshadowed by the Munich massacre in the second week. Eleven Israeli athletes and coaches and a West German police officer at Olympic village were...

Life for a woman experiencing homelessness can be hard enough just surviving day to day on the mean streets of Denver, Co. According to VAWnet: The National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women : Homelessness is an enormous social problem in the United States. Homeless women — including the 'hidden homeless' — are particularly vulnerable to multiple forms of victimization including for...

UPDATE: I fixed a section of the podcast after the Star Trek audio clip that repeated: 6:45 pm We begin today’s podcast with an update on a former Loveland police officer involved in the violent arrest of Karen Garner being sentenced. I also speak about the choice of a new Estes Park Police Captain. The Town of Estes Park also responded to my ‘Weekend Rant’ episode dealing with transparency and CO...

In today’s episode, we discuss the leaked Supreme Court documents, the Hospital Board election results, and the search for a new Chief of Police in Estes Park (and the appointment of Corey Pass as the interim Chief of Police in the meantime.) Here are the unofficial election results I received last night: We also have a meet and greet for candidates in the Town of Estes Park’s Police Department hi...

In today’s episode, we catch up with the three women we heard from on the first day of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. They give their perspectives as Ukrainian-Americans with family connections back to the country and region, including family and friends who have remained in Ukraine and Russia. Natasha Pleshkova is from the Kirovograd region in central Ukraine. Iryna Irkliienko, from Kharkiv in...

Last night the Estes Park School District Board of Education met for the first regular public meeting after a special meeting was convened last week to execute a ‘Mutual Separation Agreement’ reached between the School District and former Superintendent Sheldon Rosenkrance. Approximately 16 community members spoke during the public comment section of the meeting. Most were very concerned about the...