Spotlight

SHORT TERM RENTALS IN ESTES VALLEY - VOICE YOUR OPINION

One of the hot-button issues in Estes Valley (and the rest of Larimer County) is the proliferation of Short Term Rentals (“STRs”) in our residential neighborhoods. Areas zoned residential are especially subject to being significantly impacted by STRs popping up in our neighborhoods.

When persons are staying in a neighborhood and have no long-term responsibility to respect the character and safety of the neighborhood, they can cause major issues for residents -- traffic, parking, noise, impacts to our property values, and wildfire risk, among other concerns.  In fact, over the past 5 years STRs have caused 60% of our fire department calls.  

STR regulations in Estes Valley (and Larimer County) are currently under review.  This article has links to voice your opinion.  Even after the original deadline for response (August 28, 2022), use these links to keep track of what is happening in YOUR neighborhood.

Irresponsible Attacks by Republicans Endangering the Lives of Law Enforcement

Trump posted an irresponsible and inflammatory press release about the August 8 search warrant to recover sensitive government records.  Immediately, many Republicans lined up to blindly smear Attorney General Merrick Garland, the DOJ, the FBI, and anyone connected with law enforcement -- before knowing any of the facts.

Very soon after Trump's press release, an armed man attacked an FBI field office in Cincinnati.  The man had a nail gun and an AR-15 type weapon.  Unsuccessful at forcing his way into the FBI office, the man fled, ultimately ending up dead in an Ohio corn field.  

On Thursday, August 11, AG Merrick Garland made a rare appearance on national television to counter disinformation about the warrant and to strongly support law enforcement.

Recovering National Security Documents - U.S. Code Citations - The Trump Warrant

Significant Criminal Code citations supported the search warrant served on Trump's property in Florida on August 8.  This included a citation for the Espionage Act covering national defense documents.  The warrant was released to the public on August 12.

The search warrant was seeking Presidential records illegally taken from the White House when Trump left office.  More than 20 boxes of documents were recovered for the National Archives under the Presidential Records Act, including 11 sets of documents that were Classified -- at least one set at the highest national security classification of Top Secret/SCI, requiring secured compartmentalized review only.  

ONLY DEMS CARE ABOUT YOU & THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT

As noted above, passing the Inflation Reduction Act involved only Democratic Senators and House members. NO Republicans voted for this significant landmark legislation.

That says a lot about the Republicans -- they really don't care about YOU or --  Energy Security, Climate Change, Healthcare, or Economic and Tax Fairness.  

Don’t be fooled, the Republicans are NOT the party of fiscal responsibility.

Dems Pass the Inflation Reduction Act

The Dems’ Inflation Reduction Act (the “Act”) -- addressing major progress in climate change, healthcare savings, and tax fairness -- passed the Senate on August 7 and passed the House on August 12. President Biden will be signing this Act very soon!

It supports $437 Billion of Funding for Energy Security/Climate Change and Healthcare -- with $737 Billion of Revenues and Savings.  So it pays for itself and pays $300 Billion toward the deficit of the Trump years.

This move by Democrats is historic in its scope to help the American people. It also was a masterful way to finally make real progress on climate change, economic relief and tax fairness for 2022 when only Democratic votes are available.

Democrats Lead the Way for the CHIPs Act

The COVID lockdown in 2020 pointed out the national security exposure of the U.S. not manufacturing its own semi-conductors. We were left without many essential products, severe damage to our economy and spikes in the cost of living.

The Democrats, with strong support from President Biden, and heavy lobbying by industry passed the bipartisan CHIPs and Science Act for subsidizing and incentivizing domestic manufacturing of semi-conductors. This was signed into law by President Biden on August 9.