Douglas County News
Douglas County News 2024-07-20
Thank you for joining us for the Colorado Springs Gazette Red by Raymond Wallander. This is being recorded on Friday, July 19, 2024, and today we will be reading the following main articles, front page headlines, local government, and education issues, editorial materials, and following up with miscellaneous articles of local interest. We begin with the Air Force Academy adding leadership training as a review found older cadets who are not sufficiently equipped. Mary Shannon brings us this story. The Air Force Academy is adding more leadership training to help cadets as they take on numerous responsibilities following a report last year that found older cadets were not sufficiently equipped for their roles causing unhealthy power dynamics. Last year's report recommended the school make adjustments to its system for training freshmen to help stop instances of mistreatment and hazing. A rise in sexual assault cases led to a visit by Pentagon officials and the evaluation in a presentation Brigadier General Gavin Marks, comment on of cadets, made to the board of visitors on Wednesday. He said a 2022 survey and the last year's report sparked the changes the board can ask the Academy about morale, discipline, climate, curriculum, and other topics. We needed to adjust the culture of the cadet wing specific to how we go about training cadets, he said. Cadets feel numerous leadership roles such as teaching younger cadets how to parachute and leading summer basic training. The training was going on this week in Jack's Valley, an area at the Academy where cadets push themselves to their physical limits and learn practical skills such as firing pistols. We have always expected our cadets to gain more responsibilities and with those responsibilities come additional privileges. What we haven't necessarily done as well as we should is provide the necessary curriculum, the necessary education to backstop our expectations, Mark said. As part of the training changes, the Academy is no longer going to focus on just the freshmen's recognition in the spring and event where they become full members of the cadet wing. Everyone's trainings will be rigorous, everyone will be held to account for meeting military training objectives, Mark said, and we want to celebrate everyone and promote everyone to that next level assuming they accomplish their objectives. The Academy is starting classes to help cadets learn to be supervisors as they become sophomores, team leaders as they become juniors and commanders as seniors, he said. They will have classes built into their week and they will be assessed during culminating exercises, he said, during the presentation. Traditionally, cadets face their toughest years freshman with a heavy course load and required physical training. At the start, incoming freshmen known as basic cadets face some tough physical challenges during summer training such as the assault course where cadets are in constant motion, high stepping in place with mock M16s in hand while waiting to climb a wall and overcome other obstacles. The cadets spend a day on the course in 10 days total out in the field learning practical skills such as finding and wrapping bullet wounds. For example, cadet Alex Wood was helping to run a training introduced in recent years focused on setting up and learning to defend a forward operating base that is likely to be attacked. This year, the older cadets are staging attacks on the base at all the entry points so all 140 cadets participating each day can practice their defensive skills ahead of possible conflict with China or Russia. It's important we simulate the stress, simulate the procedures now, Wood said, saying the exposure will ensure future officers don't freeze up later. Next year, older cadets and other leaders may extend a few practices associated with setting up a field base through the whole training. For example, cadets may have to patrol the living quarters every night, said cadet Hannah Plu, the basic cadet training cadet group commander. Some of the changes to summer basic training have been informed by recent visits to basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, where enlisted airmen learn to live in deployed environments, he said. In addition to new leadership training, Mark said, he is adding life skills training because young academy graduates he has spoken to felt more than prepared to be officers but were not prepared for life off campus. So the academy also plans to add education around life skills such as movie, budgeting and investing according to Mark's presentation. Well, a federal judge finds no voter intimidation as organizers failed to provide evidence. Michael Karlek of ColoradoPolitics.com brings us this message. A federal judge Thursday concluded three civic organizations failed to provide evidence that the leaders of an election integrity effort illegally intimidated Colorado voters through a door-to-door canvassing project to search for election fraud in the wake of the 2020 presidential race. After three days of testimony, U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte Sweeney granted the motion to end the case after noting both sides seemingly wanted to litigate matters beyond the narrow question she had to decide. It is not about the January 6th insurrection or the history of voter intimidation in this country. It is not about the defendant's collective belief about election fraud. "It's not about the security or lack of security of elections in Colorado," said Sweeney and appointee of President Joe Biden. "It is certainly not about who is paying for this litigation for any party. Those are sideshows and I was trying to reel those sideshows in." The plaintiff groups, the Colorado Montana Wyoming State Area Conference of the NAACP, the League of Women Voters of Colorado, and Mi Familia Vota sued the founders of U.S. Election Integrity Plan, which was organized an organized effort following the 2020 election to visit voters at more than 9,400 homes to inquire about their registrations and past voting behavior. The defendants characterized the canvassing effort as "the equivalent to a high school civics project," but the plaintiffs maintained the purpose was not benign. They pointed to the U.S. Election Integrity Plan playbook published in August of 2021 at the tail end of the doorknocking project, which claimed "they stole our election and warned about the destruction of the greatest nation in the history of earth." Sweeney found nothing intimidating about the documents produced. "Does the manual provide hyperbole or false information, maybe?" "But that is not the question before this court," she said. Testimony established the three defendants, Sean Smith, Ashley Epp, and Holly Kason, were core members of the U.S. Election Integrity Plan. Smith said publicly that those who were adjudicated of election fraud "deserve to hang an app testified that the enemy is nosed and involved in election fraud." There has been no documented existence of widespread election fraud after the 2020 election. Media reports about the 2021 canvassing effort depicted volunteers as planning to take pictures of voters from homes and in some cases carrying weapons. Beth Hendricks, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of Colorado, testified her organization was prompted to file suit largely due to those reports. However, Sweeney explained in her ruling how the plaintiff's case fell apart due to insufficient evidence. She could not find the defendant's liable for voter intimidation based on media articles. She noted, "and the trial featured the absence of any voter claiming the U.S. election integrity plans canvassers threatened them." The plaintiff's key witness, Grand Junction resident Yvette Roberts, spoke about two canvassers with homemade badges coming to her home in June of 2021 to ask how many people lived in her house and how she cast her ballot. She said she felt intimidated and asked the canvassers to leave, which they did. Sweeney said she originally "green lit" the matter for trial in 2023 because she relied on Roberts' written declaration that the plan was responsible for sending the canvassers. But on cross-examination Roberts admitted she did not know whether the canvassers were affiliated with the U.S. election integrity plan. Sweeney also called out the plaintiffs for attempting on the second day of trial to reframe the narrative to allege election workers were actually the intimidated parties. Roberts attempted to broaden the theory of the case mid-stream, "I did not allow that," she said. Sweeney noted that other cases involving voter intimidation contained circumstances unlike the initiative following people into polling places or surveilling drop boxes, for example, which did result in judicial intervention. The court has no doubt that voter intimidation efforts occurred that in this country and continue to occur in this country, but the court cannot conclude defendants were part of that effort without sufficient evidence, she said. There was no evidence of voter intimidation but simply a risk of voter intimidation. This court will not act on risk that was proven unfounded. We are disappointed in this ruling and are exploring all appeal options, said Attorney Courtney Hostetler of Free Speech for People, an out-of-state advocacy group that helped bring the lawsuit. Casein called the ruling a complete and total vindication on her account. Well, you basketball fans, Gisla says the Russell Westbrook gamble could win the Nuggets another championship or drive Nicola Yokek's nuts. Paul Klee tells us, "The final piece of the Nuggets' roster is almost in place. Russell Westbrook is expected to occupy Denver's final roster spot when all the dust settles. The veteran point guard recently opted into his $4 million player option with the Clippers for next season and the second step happened Thursday when the Clippers and Jazz conducted a sign and trade deal that will send Chris Dunn to Los Angeles. Utah, waving Westbrook is all that's left to clear Westbrook's path to Denver. The Jazz would eat a portion of Westbrook's salary for next season reducing Denver's cap hit. The 35-year-old's addition addresses a position of need at backup point guard and spot starter behind Jamal Murray, Jalen Pickett, who struggled at Summer League as the only other point guard on a standard contract heading into next season. Westbrook last season appeared in 68 games, 11 starts for the Clippers and averaged 11.1 points, five rebounds and 4.5 assists. The 2017 most valuable player finished seventh and sixth man of the year voting. Westbrook, who's won triple double away from being the only player in the NBA history to record 200, can provide the kind of aggressive rim attacks Denver's second unit lacked last season following Bruce Brown's departure, despite playing a career-low 22.5 minutes per game last season, Westbrook averaged a 1.1 steals per game in his sixteenth season. That would have ranked him third on last year's Nuggets behind Kentavius Caldwell Pope and Nikola Yokich. There will be questions about his shot after shooting 27.3% from three-point range last season and his most recent playoff performance wasn't inspiring. Westbrook averaged 6.3 points on 26% shooting from the field with as many as turnovers 1.7 as assists per game in the Clippers six-game loss to the Mavericks in the first round. Westbrook has appeared in 55 games against the Nuggets averaging 22.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.9 assists. The most famous was his 50-point triple double that broke the NBA record for most triple doubles in a season and included a deep game-winning three-pointer that eliminated the Nuggets from playoff contention late in the 2017 season. Many the nine-time All-Star leaves the Denver Nuggets comfortably under the second apron of the luxury tax, giving Denver some flex, some flexibility heading into next season. After Westbrook signing becomes official, all that's left for the Nuggets to complete the roster heading in the next season is signing a final two-way player. Well, I can't help but report on this event of the comedian Bob Newhart who dies at 94. Bob Newhart, the deadpan accountant turned comedian who became one of the most popular TV stars of his time after striking gold with the classic comedy album has died at 94. Jerry Digny, Newhart's publicist said the actor died Thursday in Los Angeles after a series of short illnesses. Newhart best remembered now as the star of two hit television shows of the 1970s and 1980s that bore his name, launched his career as a stand-up comic in the late 1950s. He gained nationwide fame when his routine was captured on a vinyl in 1960 as the button-down mind of Bob Newhart which went on to win a Grammy award as album of the year. Other comedians of the time, including Lenny Bruce, Mort Saul, Alan King and Mike Nichols in Elaine May, frequently got laughs with their aggressive attacks on modern moories. Newhart was an anomaly. His outlook was modern but he rarely raised his voice above a hesitant, almost stammering delivery. His only prop was a telephone used to pretend to hold a conversation with someone on the other end of the line. When the memorable skit, he portrayed a Madison Avenue image maker trying to instruct Abraham Lincoln on how to improve the Gettysburg Address, quote, "Say 87 years ago instead of four score and seven," he advised. Another favorite was merchandising the Wright brothers in which he tried to persuade the aviation pioneers to start an airline, although he acknowledged the distance of their maiden flight could limit them. Well, see, that's going to hurt our time to the coast if we got to land every 105 feet. Newhart was initially wary of signing on to a weekly TV series, fearing it would overexpose his material. Nevertheless, he accepted an attractive offer from NBC and the Bob Newhart show premiered October 11, 1961, despite Emmy and Peabody Awards, the half-hour variety show was canceled after one season, a source for jokes by Newhart for decades after. He waited ten years before undertaking another Bob Newhart show. In 1972, this one was a situation comedy with Newhart playing a Chicago psychologist living in a penthouse with his schoolteacher wife, Suzanne Plachett, their neighbors and his patients, notably Bill Daley as an airline aviator, navigator, excuse me, were a wacky, neurotic bunch who provided an ideal counterpoint to Newhart's deadpan commentary. The series, one of the most acclaimed of the 1970s, ran through 1978. Four years later, the comedian launched another show simply called Newhart. This time, he was a successful New York writer who decides to reopen a long-close Vermont Inn. Again, Newhart was the calm, reasonable man surrounded by a group of eccentric locals. Again, the show was a huge hit, lasting eight seasons on CBS. About out in memorable style in 1990 with Newhart, in his old Chicago psychologist character, waking up in bed with Plachett, cringing as he tells her about the strange dream he had. I was an innkeeper in this crazy little town in Vermont, the handyman kept missing the point of things, and then there were these three woodsmen, but only one of them, talked. The stunt parodied a Dallas episode, where a key character was killed off, then revived when the death was revealed to have been in a dream. Two later series were comp comparative duds, Bob, in 1992-93, and George and Leo, 1997-98. Though nominated several times, he never won an Emmy for his Sitcom work. I guess they think I'm not acting. It's just Bob, being Bob, he sighed. Over the years, Newhart also appeared in several movies, usually in comedic roles, Among them Catch-22, In and Out, Legally Blonde II, and Elf. As the diminutive dad of adopted full-size son Will Ferrell, more recent work included horrible bosses, and the TV series, The Librarians, The Big Bang Theory, which won him an Emmy, young Sheldon. Newhart married Virginia Quinn, known to friends as Jenny, in 1964, and remained with her until her death in 2023. They had four children, Robert, Timothy, Jennifer, and Courtney. Newhart was a frequent guest of Johnny Carson's and like to tease the trike's divorced tonight host that at least some comedians enjoyed long-term marriages. He was especially close with fellow comedian and family man, Don Rickles, whose raucous insult humor clashed memorably with Newhart's droll understatement. "We're apples and oranges. I'm a Jew. He's a Catholic. He's low-key. I'm a yeller," Rickles told Variety in 2012. A decade later, Judd Apatow would pay tribute to their friendship in the short documentary Bob and Don, a love story. A master of the gently, sarcastic remark, Newhart got into comedy after he became bored with his $5 an hour accounting job in Chicago. To pass the time, he and a friend, Ed Gallagher, began making funny phone calls to each other. Eventually, they decided to record them as comedy routines and sell them to radio stations. Their efforts failed, but the records came to the attention of Warner Bros., which signed Newhart to a record contract and booked him into a Houston club in February 1960. A terrified 30-year-old man walked out on the stage and played his first nightclub, he recalled in 2003. Six of his routines were recorded during his two-week date, and the album, the button-down mind of Bob Newhart, was released on April Fool's Day, 1960. It sold 750,000 copies and was followed by the button-down mind strikes back. At one point, the album's ranked number one and two on the sales charge. The New York Times in 1960 said he was the first comedian in history to come to prominence through a recording. In addition to winning Grammy's album of the year for his debut, Newhart won as Best New Artist of 1960 and the sequel, the button-down mind strikes back one as Best Comedy Spoken Word Album. Long Live is deadpan humor that we all enjoyed. Very good news as a current local employee of Goodwill says, "Goodwill changed saved my life." As a Goodwill of Colorado employees now featured in a national campaign, Odell Isaac reports, "Anthony Martinez takes pleasure in the simple morning ritual of tying his tie as he prepares to go to work. To him, the neckwear is a symbol of respectability, a daily reminder that he is a professional. I found it very pleasurable," he said. Ten years ago, as a recently released prison inmate looking for work, Martinez dreamed of making something of myself. But as an ex-convict, his job for prospects were slammed to none and things looked hopeless until someone suggested that he apply for a job at the Goodwill Store on Kelly Johnson Boulevard. "I was hired on June 24, 2014," said Martinez, 39. "That is a memorable date for me. Today, Martinez is a regional manager for Goodwill, Colorado, one of the faces of Goodwill's national new lives campaign. As part of the launch, Martinez recently spent a whirlwind three days in New York City, during which time he met Grammy-nominated singer and American Idol winner Jordan Sparks. "It's been a long journey," he said. Born in Plattsburgh, New York and adopted by a Colorado Springs family at an early age, Martinez sometimes struggled to fit in with his parents' biological children. As a teen, he began to act out and make what he admits were bad decisions. Several arrests followed culminating in a felony arrest and a 20-year prison sentence. While incarcerated, Martinez resolved to take control of the rest of his life, immersing himself in books about leadership and exhibiting model behavior. In 2014, having served ten years of his sentence, he secured an early release and moved into a halfway house. It was a really good opportunity getting into the halfway house, Martinez said. But at the time I was released, you needed to find a job within three weeks, or you could potentially be sent back to prison for being non-compliant. As is the case with many former inmates, Martinez initially struggled to find work. You can have the best intentions to do good and find yourself looking at barriers that you never could have foreseen, he said. In prison, time seems to stand still, Martinez said. But the outside world is constantly changing. While he was inside, technological advances changed the way many employers accept job applications. When I got out and everything was online, Martinez said, "I was used to paper applications. I really didn't know how to apply for jobs." He also had no car and less than a month to find employment. Martinez was nearly free, but the clock was ticking. He needed a job, any job. Someone at the halfway house suggested I look at Goodwill, he said. The national nonprofit is primarily known for its thrift stores, where people can donate used items or purchase them at affordable prices. But Goodwill also provides job training and placement services through its career development program. In 2023, Goodwill of Colorado placed more than 40,500 residents into jobs, official said. Each year, Goodwill helps thousands of Colorado residents in our local communities gain the skills they need for a job, a better job, a career, said Carla Grayser, president and CEO of Goodwill of Colorado. Within ten days of his release, Martinez had a job at the Kelly Johnson location. The work was part-time and mostly menial, but he was employed. Mostly, I was happy to be out of prison and have a job. After about six months, I started to realize that I really wanted to do more. A manager allowed him to begin taking on more responsibility at the store. He has attacked every task with determination and resolve and was eventually promoted to store manager. I started realizing that there was a way of living that was much better than I was ever accustomed to, he said. Along the way, Martinez began to see his employment at Goodwill as a career, rather than just a job. He had found a true meritocracy, where hard work paid off and his past no longer mattered. When Goodwill of southern and western Colorado merged with Denver branch to become Goodwill of Colorado, he moved to Denver where he was eventually promoted to regional manager. Now I go around and help support store managers and directors give accurate assessments as to whether stores are profitable and viable, he said. Last year, Goodwill International reached out to Martinez and asked if he would be interested in helping launch its national "New Lives" campaign. The initiative demonstrates how donating items to Goodwill can help change lives for the better. Martinez' smiling image is featured on a poster that reads, "My future is back on the right path thanks to a donated bike." Last week, Martinez flew out to New York for campaign's kickoff event, hosted by Sparks. Jordan Sparks was fantastic and so down to earth, he said, and I got to share a stage with two other individuals who have remarkable stories as well. He is happy in his work, but Martinez said he is open to doing even more. For himself, his nine-year-old daughter and the organization that gave him a second chance. If you're willing to put in the work, that is necessary, and you want to do better in life, there are organizations out there, specifically Goodwill, that will believe in you and help you succeed," he said. Goodwill not only changed my life, it saved my life. Well, it looks like health insurance premiums are going to increase as Colorado ranks 12th for the highest cost in the nation. Marissa Vintrelli of Colorado Politics tells us, "Color audons will see their health insurance premiums increased by up to 5.5% next year, according to forecasts from the state's insurance department. Governor Jared Polis' administration said that increase could have been more than four times higher if it hadn't implemented a reinsurance program four years ago. In the 2019 legislative session, lawmakers passed the House Bill 1168, which allowed the state to file for a federal-state innovation waiver to fund a reinsurance program aimed at stabilizing the market and lower premiums. The application was approved, and the program officially began in 2020. While color audons might be paying less than they would have without reinsurance, health insurance premiums in the state remain among the highest in the nation. According to a Ford's study, Colorado ranks number 12 in the nation for highest insurance premiums. A study by consumer research company Value Penguin found Colorado had the sixth highest premium increase in the nation from 2023 to 2024 with rates increasing by 9% for a 40-year-old with a mid-range silver plan. According to the Department of Regulatory Affairs Department of Insurance, reinsurance will save the state $477 million on premiums and help avoid a nearly 23% premium increase. Some areas on the western slope could have faced increases of over 40% official said. Making that, since the program began, reinsurance has saved color audons and estimated $2 billion on insurance premiums. Reinsurance savings help make health care more affordable for all color audons, keeping more of their hard-earned money in their pockets to save or spend policy it. Colorado is leading the nation in saving people money on health care and the $477 million Colorado will save on premiums in 2025, proves that what we are doing in Colorado is starting to work and that we need to continue pushing hard to save people money on health care. Rates for plans through Colorado option, the state run insurance program that requires insurers to offer standardized plans and make premium reduction targets are expected to increase by 4%. According to the Division of Insurance, 34% of people who chose a plan on the state's insurance marketplace connect for health Colorado pick Colorado option. Officials touted it as a 188% increase from the previous year. The reinsurance in Colorado option programs continue to deliver for color audons, said Colorado Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway. By the end of 2025, the reinsurance program will have reduced payments by over $2 billion. I couldn't be prouder that the cheapest Colorado option is more than 10% cheaper than the cheapest non-Colorado option plan in many places throughout the state. Now the DOI team will dig deeper into these filings to find even more savings. The final approved plans and premiums will be made available in October. The state's insurance division will be holding a virtual public meeting at 9.30am July 25th to share preliminary information regarding health insurance for next year. Well, the breakfast of champions is to feature two standouts in the U.S. Olympics as Mackenzie Bodell reports. Peek Vista's 20th anniversary breakfast of champions will feature four-time Olympic gold medalist Janet Evans and longtime advocate William J. Hibble who presented her with her first gold. Peek Vista Community Health Centers, Peek Vista, host this annual fundraising event to celebrate individuals who have overcome physical and mental challenges on their way to achieve extraordinary feats throughout their life. This year's keynote speaker, Evans, is considered to be the greatest female distance swimmer in history. She serves as the chief athletic officer for the LA-2028 Olympic Games. Prior to stepping back from competing in the games, Evans was the one to watch. At just 16, Evans single-handedly broke the strangle hole of the Eastern Block on women's swimming at the 1988 Seoul Games. His feet won her the first of four gold medals and set the first of her seven world records. During these games, the soon-to-be champion of community health, Hibble was the one to present her with her first gold. At the October event, Hibble will be presented with Peek Vista's 2024 Champion of Community Health Award. This award is given to those who serve as advocates and change makers in community health. It was first presented to Bishop Richard Hannifen, one of the key founders of Peek Vista during the original fundraising event in 2005. Early in Hibble's long history with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee, serious health complications during the Seoul Games led Hibble to recognize Peek Vista and the important role it plays for thousands in Colorado Springs and beyond. Peek Vista has a long history of inviting Olympians to speak at its annual fundraiser. Last year, Olympic gold medalist and retired BMX racer Connor Fields spoke at the event. In 2022, Peek Vista invited Olympic diver Greg Lagannis, who spoke about seeing the whole person. Lagannis had received an HIV-positive diagnosis during the time he was competing, but never let it stop him. He went public about his diagnosis back in 1995 and has since traveled the country as an author, LGBTQ+ activist, coach and speaker. This year marks the 20th annual Breakfast of Champions with this year's event planned at 7 a.m. October 16 at the Broadmoor Hall. Proceeds from the event will go to support Peek Vista's uncompensated care fund. This fund provides medical, dental and behavioral health care to individuals who cannot afford it otherwise. In 2024 alone, Peek Vista plans to provide more than $14.8 million of uncompensated care to his patients, according to a recent news release. In 2024 is a milestone moment for the Breakfast of Champions celebrating its 20th year of bringing our community together to ensure health care is available to all states, Dr. Emily Satsak, president and CEO. While Peek Vista has evolved over the years, the spirit of the occasion is unchanged to raise funds to break down barriers to good health. Sponsorship and donation opportunities, seating information and more, are available at peekvista.org forward slash BOC 24. Turning to the editorial pages, we get to say, plaintiff abuse the Ku Klux Klan law editorial by the Gazette editorial board. Feeble-minded Politico's pounding on keyboards in their mama's basements avoid debate by invoking Hitler. Disagree with these pundits on school choice or a local sewage bond, and they'll compare you to a monster who murdered more than six million Jews. The phenomenon is best described by Godwin's law, written in the 1990s, by a claimed author and lawyer, Mike Godwin, it says. As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one. In a slight twist on this disturbing trend, three otherwise credible organizations, the League of Women Voters of Colorado, the regional chapter of the NAACP, and Mi Familia Vota, essentially compared a small group of pro-Trump Republicans to the Ku Klux Klan. This wasn't a throwaway quip on Instagram, instead these groups filed a federal lawsuit that epitomized the fashionable new practice of political lawfare. The organization sued three leaders of the obscure organization in the U.S. election integrity plan, asking a federal judge to convict them of voter intimidation under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. The lawsuit accused the defendants of doing exactly what they did. They visited Colorado neighborhoods after the 2020 election to conduct a survey of anyone willing to participate. They knocked on doors of more than 9,400 homes to ask questions about voter registration and past voting behavior. Americans have the right to conduct surveys. They have the right to decline answering questions. They have the right to rudely reject anyone who knocks on the door with a clipboard in hand. Their right to claim Russians stole the 2016 election from Hillary Clinton or that fraudulent balance elected President Joe Biden. In this country, we have no legal protection from people we find ignorant, repulsive, insulting or evil. Each person has a right to associate or disassociate with individuals, groups and ideas. We also have the right to compare others to Hitler or the KKK, yet the right doesn't make it right. The plaintiffs in this case did no lasting harm in the defendants because U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte Sweeney on Thursday ended the trial early and basically left the plaintiffs out of the courtroom. Incredibly, lawyers for the plaintiffs, as explained by the judge, brought no evidence suggesting intimidation. Quite possibly, the plaintiffs and their counsel thought the Biden appointed judge would convict anyone with a conspiracy theory questioning Biden's election. They were sadly disappointed, as the judge stuck to the law. Aside from the preposterous claim of voter intimidation, this lawsuit should offend Coloradans who understand the KKK, a terrorist organization the Klan did not conduct surveys among voluntary participants about an election gone by. Post-Civil War and after Republicans secured voting rights for liberated slaves, the Klan intimidated voters by killing them. The Klan's activities expanded across the South using threats of violence, beatings and worse to intimidate Republican voters, explains the Bill of Rights Institute. In Kansas, there were more than 2,000 politically motivated murders. In Georgia, the number of threats and beatings was even higher, and in Louisiana, 1,000 freed people were killed. Pre-election race-based murders aren't the same as a peaceful post-election survey, shame on the plaintiffs and their counsel for conflating the two in illegal complaint, kudos to the judge for tossing it out, and again, that comes from the Gazette editorial board. Well, today in history, you might find a couple of these stories interesting as in 1848, the first quote, "Convention to discuss the social, civil and religious condition and rights of women, women, convened at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, New York, or in 1969 Apollo 11 and its astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins went into orbit around the Moon. And then more recently, in 2022, Britain shattered its record for the highest temperature 104.5 degrees Fahrenheit, registered amid a heat wave that seared Europe. Then in local history, in 1974, two large clumps of lavender are near the entrance to the fragrance garden section of the H.A.S. demonstration garden, a very fragrant sweet-scented lavender blue and wove-pointed flowers bear labels marked in braille. Next to the lavender is a large spreading plant labeled heliotrope, an old-fashioned flower of the pink and white blossoms have long been used for their delightful fragrance. And again, that was in '74. Go back 50 years over that, though, in 1924, 1924, tomorrow afternoon at four o'clock, there will be another sacred community scene held in Soda Springs Park at Manitou. This will be directed by George L. Miller, who will see in Victus, Hoon. The Cliff House Quartet will give several selections, and there will be several impromptu solos by the audience. And in 1949, a room clerk at the Bruce Arms had a couple of distinguished names on the register this morning, the names Kay Kaiser and Fred Allen, no less. However, they were not the famous musician and the comedian who bear the same names. Big shots wouldn't stay there anyway. Bruce Arms is known more prosaically as the city jail. On the business front, $2.5 million are okayed in expansion incentives as the recipient companies represent aerospace, engineering, and renewable energy industries. Bernadette Bertichowski tells us that the Colorado Economic Development Commission approved more than $2.5 million in tax incentives Thursday for three companies looking to expand or move into the state, including one looking at Colorado Springs. Most of the tax incentives went to an unidentified renewable energy company based in the UK looking to set up a headquarters and factory for its North American operations. The EDC approved $1.8 million for project to tuniper over eight years if the company adds at least 137 jobs anywhere in the state. The company manufactures renewable energy generation systems and is also considering Texas, Delaware, and California according to the EDC. If the company chooses Colorado, it aims to establish itself in golden to be near the National Renewable Energy Lab and Global Energy Park. The state hopes the company's expansion will help Colorado's goals of growing the renewable energy economy and getting to 100% renewable energy by 2040. The EDC voted to give a second company, an engineering firm, under the code name Project Cypress, nearly $300,000 in job growth incentives over eight years to add at least 42 jobs. The company represented by WMD-squared engineering co-founder Willem Mast at the EDC meeting is considering expanding to Colorado Springs as well as Mizzoule, Montana, and Portland, Oregon. We've done a lot of research for quite some time and I think this is going to be a great fit for us, Mast, total EDC. The company was attracted to Colorado because of its workforce and supply chain. Project New Vernon, an aerospace and defense company, was third company to get awarded state incentives. The company wants to build an electric propulsion thruster factory in the United States as considering opening in the Denver metro area as well as Irvine, California. It's likely the company is Safran Space and Defense Incorporated, a Virginia based aerospace company as the company's president here, Michelle Rivera, spoke to the EDC ahead of its vote. The company is interested in Colorado because its workforce and its large aerospace ecosystem. We think Colorado would be a very good fit for us both in terms of partnership and the talents that we can find in that area, if they are upset. So we are really looking forward to moving as fast as we can. The company was awarded $371,000 and is expected to create 20 jobs. Turning to the upcoming Olympics, the next story is entitled Ready for Redemption as Hildebrandt recalls of anguish after bronze finish in Tokyo but keeps her sights set on Paris gold. Marcus Hill reports, "An array of accomplishments displayed at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum once brought Sarah Hildebrandt to tears, unfortunately not tears of joy." Hildebrandt moved Colorado Springs in 2015 and said she's visited the museum several times. But ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics, which begins August 5th for wrestlers, Hildebrandt recalled her anguish at the museum following her bronze medal finish at the Tokyo Games. "I came here afterwards and I just remember it made me sad because there was a gold that I had that I didn't achieve," Hildebrandt said, "but it also motivated me. I remember walking out of the door, ready to go and get back to work," Hildebrandt nearly clinched a spot in the gold medal round in the 50 kilogram bracket in 2021. She wrestled China's Yanan Sun and built a 7-0 lead early in the bout. Hildebrandt earned a pair of tech falls earlier in the day and hoped for a third. But Sun cut the deficit to 7-6 in the final 9.7 seconds of the match. Then Sun scored four points on the throw in the final five seconds to draw Hildebrandt to the bronze medal match. Sure, Hildebrandt returned home with an Olympic medal but the loss mentally scared the two-time Olympian, scar, excuse me, the two-time Olympian. "On that match alone, I've had to put a lot of work in with therapy," Hildebrandt said. "It was a mental lapse and it wasn't anything to do with my wrestling. In some instances, you have to look at your mistakes and have a lot of gratitude because it exposed a hole in my wrestling and in my life. I knew I had a direction for the next three years that I needed to pour into. We focused on things like that and being president in my wrestling, which is the opposite of how I felt at that match." Hildebrandt said she spent several hours with sports psychologists working to tame random and unhelpful thoughts during matches. She understands erratic thoughts will always exist, especially during the Olympics, but I think I'm ready to handle them, she said. So does Terri Steiner, Team USA Women's and National Team Coach, Steiner called Hildebrandt, a special athlete, and believes the 50 kilogram competitor has cleared the mental hurdle from Tokyo. "She's a two-time Olympian for a reason," Steiner said. "She's on track and motivated to have another shot at this gold medal. We expect good things, but I know her expectations are way higher than anything we could put on her. Since 2021, Hildebrandt has compiled a 31-4 record and during the U.S. Olympic team trials in state college, Pennsylvania, in April, has demonstrated her renewed focus. In the finals, Hildebrandt needed to defeat Audrey Hemmanaz twice to clench back-to-back spots on the Olympic team. Hildebrandt defeated Hemmanaz in their first meeting with a 10-0 win. It was rants and repeat in their final showdown. Hildebrandt took the 18-year-old Hemmanaz to school as she used Hemmanaz's left leg to continually knock her off-balance to score. With one minute and 10 seconds left in the second period, Hildebrandt took a final at shot at Hemmanaz's leg and scored two points to give her the 10-0 victory. As she realized she secured another spot in the Olympic roster, Hildebrandt cracked a smile that exposed her blue and white mouthpiece and pointed to the crowd as she celebrated her victory. She has an Olympic medal to her name, and those things don't happen by accident, Steiner said. That happens because they put years of their life away toward a goal and trying to accomplish something greater than themselves, and she showed that over the years. Hildebrandt recognizes her goal to capture Olympic gold as dwindling but won't obsess with the opportunity. As much as she hopes to win in Paris, Hildebrandt said, "She's learned to balance her passion." "It's like a bar or so. You don't want to grab it too hard, otherwise it'll slip out of your hands," Hildebrandt said. "I feel like that's what I've been doing. This is a radical acceptance of who I am, and stepping on that mat and trusting the process, the rest will take care of itself." That being said, we now look at some news and features leading up to the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. The founder of the Modern Olympics and Modern International Olympic Committee President, Dier de Cobertun, once said women competing in the Games would be impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic, and improper. Over a century later, the 2024 Paris Olympic Games are targeting gender parity in the same city where women made their Olympic debut in 1900. The IOC set a goal of 50/50 split among the more than 11,000 men and women, including backups registered to compete from July 26 to August 11. However, the latest numbers from the IOC suggest organizers might fall short just barely of that target. Slightly more medal events for men than women. There is still a slight edge towards men among the 329 medal events at the Paris Olympics. The International Olympic Committee has said there were 157 men's events, 152 women's events, and 20 mixed gender events. Of the 32, sports, 28 are fully gender equal. Well, thank you for joining us for the Colorado Springs Gazette, read by Raymond Wallander. If you enjoyed this program, please register for our free services at www.aftersight.org or by calling 303-786-7777. [BLANK_AUDIO]