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TexasTowelie's JournalAir Force: Two airmen consumed alcohol at missile alert facility
CHEYENNE – Two Air Force airmen from F.E. Warren Air Force Base consumed alcohol while off duty at a missile alert facility May 14, according to a base spokesman.
Air Force security forces found alcoholic beverages belonging to a staff sergeant and senior airman maintainer from the 90th Missile Maintenance Squadron at an F.E. Warren missile alert facility, Joseph Coslett from the 90th Missile Wing said via email.
An investigation, which included admission by the airmen, revealed they consumed the alcohol while in an off-duty status and were not in contact with, nor had any access to, weapons or classified material.
According to Coslett, Air Force Global Strike Command Instruction 13-5301 states, “Possessing or consuming alcoholic beverages is prohibited within the confines of any missile alert facility … while en-route to or from duty in the missile complex.”
Read more: https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/air-force-two-airmen-consumed-alcohol-at-missile-alert-facility/article_46bd8e56-4c12-55b5-a2c4-52f99600b541.html
Wyoming faces big questions on state budget
Whittling down the months to the 2020 budget session, the Wyoming Legislature finds itself at an interesting crossroads.
On one end is the state’s stop-and-go conversations on revenue, which often brim with optimism in the interim session before falling flat once it’s time to vote. On the other end is the fruition of a long anticipated government efficiency study, which state-hired consultants Alvarez & Marsal have estimated could potentially lead to tens of millions of dollars in savings over the coming years.
As both conversations come to a head in a year where tensions over revenues, spending and the state’s financial outlook have begun to flare, how Gov. Mark Gordon’s first budget year will actually shape up – and the budget years to come — is still an open question.
In the executive branch, conversations about government efficiency and cost-consciousness have been going about as expected, Gov. Gordon told the Star-Tribune recently. He has already proceeded with asking agency heads in state government to identify potential cost savings in their departments and bring them forward.
Read more: https://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming-faces-big-questions-on-state-budget/article_dfe8c85e-2660-58f4-a9db-71d6b4b0f30b.html
(Casper Star Tribune)
Grand Teton generates $792M in local economic benefits
JACKSON HOLE WYO – A new National Park Service report shows that visitors to Grand Teton National Park in 2018 spent $629 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 8,620 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $792 million.
“Grand Teton National Park is an iconic national park and hosts visitors from across the country and world,” said Acting Superintendent Gopaul Noojibail. National park tourism is a significant driver in the national economy, returning $10 for every $1 invested in the National Park Service. Noojibail said, “We appreciate the support of all our park partners, neighbors and local communities that contribute to serving the visitor and creating a quality visitor experience at Grand Teton National Park.”
The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas and Egan Cornachione of the US Geological Survey and Lynne Koontz of the National Park Service. The report shows $20.2 billion of direct spending by more than 318 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported 329,000 jobs nationally; 268,000 of those jobs are found in these gateway communities. The cumulative benefit to the US economy was $40.1 billion.
According to the 2018 report, most park visitor spending at Grand Teton National Park was for lodging/camping (38.3 percent) followed by food and beverages (17.4 percent), gas and oil (9.8 percent), souvenirs and other expenses (9.5 percent), and local transportation (6.0 percent).
Read more: https://buckrail.com/grand-teton-generates-792m-in-local-economic-benefits/
Report: Yellowstone brought in local economic benefit of $647.1 million last year
A new National Park Service report shows that Yellowstone and Devils Tower national parks brought a cumulative $647.1 million and $38.2 million, respectively, to their local economies last year.
Yellowstone's 4.1 million visitors in 2018 spent $512.6 million in communities near the park and supported 7,089 jobs in the area. Devils Tower's 468,215 visitors spent $30 million in communities near the park and supported 414 jobs in the area.
“These numbers once again show the enormous positive impacts our national parks have on our local economies,” Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said in an annuoncement. “Our national parks are one of the very best tax payer investments in this country. For many reasons, well beyond economics, it’s essential that we invest aggressively to protect these incredible places in the future.”
Economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas and Egan Cornachione of the U.S. Geological Survey and Lynne Koontz of the National Park Service conducted the peer-reviewed analysis.
Read more: https://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/report-yellowstone-brought-in-local-economic-benefit-of-million-last/article_61a7b56b-4b20-52f8-9786-b0fc4ffb8152.html
Legislator to proceed with effort to ban 'sanctuary cities.'
CHEYENNE – A Casper legislator said he intends to continue his efforts to ban sanctuary cities in the state as momentum behind the issue continues to build amid the crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Although no cities in Wyoming identify themselves as sanctuary cities, Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Casper, said the prohibition he seeks needs to be spelled out as a part of state law.
“I think laws should be followed. I don’t want sanctuary cities here in Wyoming,” Gray said. “The people of Wyoming want us to get ahead of this and ban sanctuary cities; that’s what’s going to help us be successful.”
This month, Florida became the most recent state to pass legislation seeking to ban sanctuary cities – those cities where law enforcement agencies and local governments limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Read more: https://cowboystatedaily.com/2019/05/25/legislator-to-proceed-with-effort-to-ban-sanctuary-cities/
TABOR author Douglas Bruce could wind up in prison
Douglas Bruce was convicted in absentia of five municipal citations in Pennsylvania on Thursday, opening himself up to a new criminal charge and possibly a prison sentence.
Bruce, a Colorado felon, former state representative and author of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, owns dozens of blighted properties around the country. One of them sits in Pittston, a small city in northeastern Pennsylvania.
That Pittston property — an old bar — is so decrepit that Bruce was cited by the city’s code enforcement for a failure to demolish the Main Street building. In April, The Gazette reported that Bruce faced six municipal citations for a failure to demolish the building. Since then, additional citations have been filed against him.
Bruce has denied wrongdoing while lobbing insults at Pittston officials and indicating he had no intention of attending his court hearing, further angering city officials. True to his word, the anti-tax advocate remained in Colorado instead of heading to Pennsylvania for the hearing.
Read more: https://gazette.com/news/tabor-author-douglas-bruce-could-wind-up-in-prison/article_2e8de1cc-7d8c-11e9-9c54-cbab459ee6bd.html
A "South Park"-themed escape room is coming to Littleton this summer
If you’ve ever related to the boredom and prickliness felt by Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman — the co-stars of Comedy Central’s long-running, potty-mouthed series “South Park” — Escape the Room’s newest offering might be for you.
The New York-based company, which runs escape-room businesses in 19 different cities, debuted a “South Park”-themed escape room at its Chicago-area location on May 15, with additional versions planned for Denver, New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Dallas this summer.
“This unique experience is part escape room, part immersive episode of ‘South Park.’ You have just one hour to solve a series of maddeningly challenging puzzles directly from the twisted mind of Eric Cartman,” according to Escape the Room’s website. “You are about to enter the most diabolical and evil place ever invented: SKOOOOL! Many go in, but few come out alive.”
The room began as a “prototype” at San Diego Comic-Con and New York Comic-Con, according to slashfilm.com, and “it was one of the most popular installations at each convention. Now it’s debuting officially in Chicago, at 60 Oakbrook Center, in Oakbrook, Ill., and it will be part of Escape the Room Chicago’s roster of escape rooms for at least one year.”
Read more: https://theknow.denverpost.com/2019/05/24/south-park-escape-room-littleton-colorado/215876/
Colorado's drought is at its lowest level in at least 19 years
The drought outlook in Colorado is the best it has been in at least 19 years, with the smallest area of the state being listed under some kind of dry status since June 5, 2001.
That’s according to nearly two decades of U.S. Drought Monitor data, which has been recorded since 2000.
“This is the lowest amount (of dryness) we’ve ever had since the Drought Monitor was put in place,” said Taryn Finnessey, a senior climate change specialist with Colorado’s Department of Natural Resources, who first pointed out the milestone. “I recognize there were certainly periods of time in the last 19 years where there have been areas of no drought. But in terms of the whole state, this is the least dry we have ever been.”
The U.S. Drought Monitor released a report Thursday showing that just roughly 8 square miles in Colorado are under abnormal dryness, or just 0.01% of the state. That little sliver could be just from a map-drawing error, according to Richard Heim, who drew the map and works for the National Centers for Environmental Information.
Read more: https://coloradosun.com/2019/05/23/colorados-drought-level-is-the-lowest-is-has-been-at-in-19-years/
Michael Hancock Sent Me N-Word Text, Says Leslie Branch-Wise
Denver Police Detective Leslie Branch-Wise, who came forward last year to share what she saw as inappropriate texts sent to her by Mayor Michael Hancock during the 2011-2012 period when she was assigned to his security detail, has released another message she received from Hancock during that time. The text, seen below, juxtaposes a meme of what appear to be nearly naked African children dancing and the phrase "It's Friday Niggas."
Asked about the text, Hancock's campaign offered the following statement: "Mayor Hancock has no recollection of sending or forwarding this meme to anyone. His record on civil rights and racial equity is well known, and anyone who knows him well will attest to that."
According to Branch-Wise, she decided to share the image after the Hancock campaign attempted to make race an issue in the mayoral runoff by taking advantage of challenger Jamie Giellis's failure to remember the words represented by the letters NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), as well as the surfacing of a decade-old tweet in which she expressed curiosity as to why so many American cities have a Chinatown.
Giellis fired back in a news conference during which she accused the Hancock administration of fostering a culture of sexual harassment. Branch-Wise's name was mentioned at the press event, and it was also seen in a graphic showing city payouts: The detective received $75,000 related to alleged offenses committed by onetime Hancock aide and friend Wayne McDonald, who later settled a separate suit with the city for $200,000.
Read more: https://www.westword.com/news/michael-hancock-sent-me-n-word-text-says-leslie-branch-wise-11356197
Former lawmaker Rochelle Galindo cited for giving alcohol to underage intern
GREELEY, Colo. – A Colorado state lawmaker who resigned following what she called false allegations against her has been cited for providing alcohol to a person under the age of 21.
The Greeley Tribune reports 29-year-old former Rep. Rochelle Galindo is accused of giving wine to an underage college intern multiple times during her 2018 campaign. A former House legislative aide also was cited.
Galindo resigned May 12, saying she wouldn’t put her constituents through a recall campaign “based on political smear tactics and false allegations.”
Police investigated allegations of sexual assault but closed the case at the request of the reporting party and because they couldn’t find evidence to support the claims.
Galindo, who was a first-term Democrat, did not answer her phone Thursday night, and her voicemail box was full.
https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/local/colorado/2019/05/24/former-lawmaker-rochelle-galindo-cited-giving-alcohol-underage-intern/1225586001/
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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