Come together to mourn Kirk

My fellow Americans, if you don’t turn off the news media that aren’t playing Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, and Gavin Newsom condemning the killing of Charlie Kirk, we are doomed as a nation. These three people came out condemning this shooting. All Washington knew him as the one person in America that was trying to pull this country back together in a civil discourse about our differences. Dave Rubin, an openly gay talk show host, called Charlie a friend. Kirk was open about what he believed, that the Bible should guide our lives, but always respected anyone who had a differing opinion.

The deranged person who shot him needs to be condemned by the nation as a whole, unless of course, dividing the country is your goal. If you keep forth on a dialogue of contempt for this young father, and pure American who loved everyone he met, then we will know that your motive is destroying this nation if you don’t come together to mourn a real countryman, in Charlie Kirk. Remember, we all sink together or we continue to float as a free nation, depending upon how you either can or can’t unite as countrymen.

Marcena Springer

Colorado Springs

Freedom of speech

“Compelled speech is propaganda with better branding,” is a good summation from Hadley Heath Manning’s writings in her Guest Opinion on Wednesday: “Gender ideology’s attack on Colorado’s free speech.” She enlightens us to a relatively unknown aspect of the First Amendment, i.e., the government cannot compel you to utter speech that is against your personal creed, morals or religion.

The majority of Americans understand the First Amendment to guarantee us freedom of speech, religion, peaceful protest, etc. But embedded in the rights of the First Amendment is something called the Compelled Speech Doctrine. That is what Manning is referring to. As she detailed, Gov. Jared Polis recently signed HB 1312 to compel transgender speech from those who reject the utterance of anti-biological references to cross-gender individuals. I predict the Colorado Supreme Court will be weighing in on the legal matters that arise from the edict of Polis versus the Compelled Speech Doctrine.

A case in point comes from the Virginia Supreme Court that ruled in favor of the Compelled Speech Doctrine in Vlaming v. West Point School Board in 2024. It took six years for the school teacher Peter Vlaming to prove that he has that right not to be forced to express speech that violates his sincerely held beliefs.

Daniel Pryor

Peyton

Unique challenges for military kids

My family recently moved to Colorado Springs with the Air Force. As a 15-year-old, I found myself in a frustrating situation because of how driver’s permit rules change between states. In Ohio, where I lived before, I was not yet eligible to apply for a learner’s permit. When we moved to Colorado, I suddenly was six months behind my classmates, who had started learning to drive.

Military families move often, and teenagers like me don’t get to choose when or where those moves happen. It would make a big difference if states had a law allowing military kids who move from out of state to complete only six months with a learner’s permit, instead of starting the full year over. This change would recognize the unique challenges military kids face, help keep us on track with others our age and allow kids like me to seek out a job as soon as they turn 16.

Charlotte M. Martin

Colorado Springs

Council has its head in the sand

How did the city auditor, Natalie Lovell, even know to apply for a position she was not qualified for? It gives the appearance of cronyism and deceptive hiring practices. Lovell did not meet the minimum job requirements, whereas qualified internal and other qualified candidates were ignored. The person hired to fix the mess left by Lovell when Lovell was the (CSU Controller) ( Colorado Springs Utilities) is an actual “CPA” with years of relevant experience. Lovell had none and is not a CPA!

Why is Lovell being advanced through Utilities and city ranks without merit? She has demonstrated no leadership abilities. What does the City Council really know about her “leadership” ability except what she is telling them?

The biggest and most obvious concern with this is that the City Council (which is also the utility board) is a very captured group — used by Utilities to do their bidding. Which includes hiring an unqualified Utilities employee to now tear down the City Auditor’s office by not allowing it to do an independent and objectively done audit of Utilities. Corruption and misdirected funds must be present for everyone to be redirected with agendas. This is a coup d’etat at the local government level. The council has its heads in the sand, a complete travesty for sure!

Clo Overcast

Fountain

Mounting crisis at national parksThe Gazette’s recent editorial suggests that Colorado’s national parks are “business as usual” despite the deep staffing shortage at the National Park Service. This is what we feared when we sounded the alarm. We knew the damage might not be visible on the surface this summer, but it’s a facade.

Since February, the Park Service has lost 1 in 4 staff. To maintain appearances, parks were ordered to keep parks open despite dangerously low staff and prioritize visitor-facing services. This has pulled staff from roles in science, maintenance, education and long-term planning.

At Black Canyon of the Gunnison for instance, staff size has been cut by a third. The custodial staff is gone, meaning higher-grade maintenance employees are stuck cleaning bathrooms instead of repairing infrastructure. Rangers are so scarce that a sign warned visitors to “self-rescue” in an emergency because there was not a ranger on site. This is not business as usual. It’s a mounting crisis.

National parks are one of our country’s greatest investments, representing less than one-fifteenth of 1% of the federal budget. Yet, for every dollar we invest, national parks return $15 to local economies and generate billions for businesses. But the Trump administration’s proposed $900 million cut could eliminate staffing and funding for roughly 350 national park sites.

Our national parks were set aside to be protected forever, not just for a summer or for our next visit, but for our children and grandchildren to experience many years from now.

Priya Nanjappa

Lakewood