Solar project is just plain ugly
What a blight on the landscape of our high plains! The Grazing Yak Solar Project is just plain ugly. Perhaps it can have a nice surround of Colorado ponderosa to hide the drab solar panels.
And, guess what? The project provides electricity for approximately 13,000 homes. There are over 240,000 homes in El Paso County so will there be more than 20 more solar farms created the size of Grazing Yak to sustain power to those homes? And then how many additional farms to sustain industrial needs will be built?
I think the Martin Drake Plant is looking better everyday!
Dale Rothberg
Colorado Springs
Sad event made worse with red paint
Kudos to Jean Brewer for graciously stating the obvious. Many in this community are thinking and feeling along those same lines, but are not able to profess them as succinctly as did Ms. Brewer. Sad event made worse with red paint.
Jim Mack
Colorado Springs
The escalating drug cost crisis
It’s been three years since our family welcomed my daughter Sophia into this world. But her young life has already been shaped by a brain injury that she suffered when she was 7 months old. Sophia went into septic shock after getting a severe infection that stemmed from a cyst in her gallbladder and now requires daily support, respite care, and has over 19 medical prescriptions and therapy treatments.
At the same time, nothing has been done to lower the price of prescription drugs in Colorado. As the costs of some daily prescriptions increase each year, Colorado families, including our own, are being forced to make hard decisions.
We were excited when we heard that the Lower Drug Cost Now Act (co-sponsored by our state’s Rep. Diana DeGette and Rep. Ed Perlmutter) will be voted on this month in Washington. It’s an important and common-sense solution that families need to know about. This bill will give Medicare the power to negotiate with drug companies and make sure lower prices apply to people on private insurance, as well. It will strengthen Medicare for seniors and people with disabilities by creating a $2,000 out-of-pocket limit for prescription drugs.
Our family stands behind this bill because we believe negotiating with drug companies is the only way to address our escalating drug costs crisis. Families shouldn’t have to choose between paying for life-saving drugs and everyday costs. Please contact your elected officials and urge them to support this crucial bill.
Sandra Lugo Curry
Colorado Springs
Addressing child sexual abuse
I am grateful that The Gazette has recently reported on the attorney general’s investigation of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, as well as the abuse scandals within the Olympic community and other institutions.
The reported grooming and the silencing of victims rings true with me because, as a child growing up on a farm, I was violated within my birth family and “shared” with minister, neighbors, and co-workers. I tell of my experience in: “Beyond Aftershocks: Reclaiming Self after Sexual Trauma”, a memoir endorsed by Marilyn Van Derbur.
Marilyn, renowned motivational speaker and former Miss America, was one of the first survivors to call attention to child sexual abuse within the family. I heard Marilyn speak at Calvary United Methodist Church in Colorado Springs in 1993 and standing with other survivors that night began my healing. Witnessing Marilyn’s advocacy inspired me to start a nonprofit, Finding Our Voices, that has supported adult survivors in the Pikes Peak region for more than a decade.
Monday, at Penrose Library, you have a rare opportunity to see a new documentary on Marilyn’s extraordinary life. Wings Foundation and other survivor organizations are presenting the public showing of this film followed by a panel discussion and survivor information.
As a survivor working with other survivors, I urge you to attend this event and become informed. You will benefit from this film whether you are a survivor, a supporter of survivors, or citizen concerned about preventing this crime against children.
Attendance is free, please register online. More information at: www.wingsfound.org/miss-america-by-day.
Joyce Aubrey
Colorado Springs
Faith community behind ADU ordinance
Along with over two dozen other ecumenical and interfaith leaders who have signed this letter, I am deeply concerned about the growing housing crisis here in Colorado Springs. We see it manifested in individuals and families facing homelessness and in the displacement of veterans, seniors and small-business owners to the outskirts of the city. This is quickly becoming a test of our morals as a city — if we truly wish to embody the values of compassion and justice as a community, then we must take action.
We support the Accessory Dwelling Unit ordinance before the City Council because we believe that without loosening restrictive zoning laws, we will be unable to solve this crisis. The ADU ordinance will begin to do just that, providing opportunities for new housing citywide. Though some may have objections to ADUs, the moral imperative to provide affordable housing to our neighbors in need should outweigh concerns, valid or not, about parking, traffic or views.
We want you to know that we in the faith community stand behind the ADU ordinance and the statement it makes about the kind of city we want to live in. By addressing this issue now, we can move toward making our city accessible to all, and truly embody our shared values of dignity, community, and opportunity to work and contribute to our thriving city.
The Rev. Daniel Smith, Ascension Lutheran Church and Colorado Springs Faith Table
Colorado Springs
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