Climate disasters: Personal loss connects us all
Re: “Healing power of storytelling,” August 3 commentary
Years after the Marshall Fire, the embers of personal loss call out for remembrance. Listen also to the stories of those who endured the Guadalupe River flood in Texas Hill Country, the wildfires of Pasadena and Altadena, Calif., and the prolonged 100-degree heat of Phoenix.
One sentence in this report stood out to me: “Others mentioned the relevance of local stories as they apply to a global context of climate change.” We need more “others” to make that link to the cause of their personal loss to the ever-increasing floods, wildfires, and heat.
When the others become us, then we will see action. When climate change is perceived as a personal affront, along with the loss of Grandmother’s rings and pet turtles, then we will see action. When our personal stories become global stories, then we will see action.
Phil Nelson, Golden
DoBetterDNVR exposes the ugly truth
Re: “Who is the anonymous DoBetterDNVR?” August 3 news story
Your Sunday article is a blatant, misguided attack on the citizens documenting the unfortunate degradation of our once-lovely city. The reason DoBetterDNVR has struck a chord is that they’ve exposed the results of Denver City policies and the effects on the average residents of Denver.
I live in east Denver and work downtown. I often ride my bike to work on the Cherry Creek bike path and have seen the filthy growth along this corridor — increased homelessness, open drug use, loitering, and mid-day napping. This has resulted in a trashy and increasingly dangerous environment. For just our family, our home, garage, and car have been broken into in three separate incidents. My wife has had two instances of being threatened and accosted on the streets by crazed individuals. As a native Denverite, I’m concerned about the trajectory of our city. Where are we going to be ten years from now? Do you think that the citizens posting on DoBetterDNVR have a point? Why isn’t The Denver Post doing its job of reporting the effects of intolerable city policies?
Jerry McHugh Jr., Denver
Post right to hold DoBetterDNVR accountable
This was an incredibly brave act of journalism that your paper engaged in. People related to this organization have been incredibly toxic, and it’s good that we have people like you keeping them accountable. I just subscribed to The Denver Post today after hearing about this, and I plan to keep it renewed after the introductory rate is over.
Keep up the good work!
Standard Duong, Denver
Equal coverage doesn’t necessarily equal balance
Re: “Denver Post, consider some conservative leaders,” Aug. 3 letter to the editor
I try to consider rational ideas from a conservative point of view. I was a big fan of Barry Goldwater, “Mr. Conservative.” I met the man when my family lived in Phoenix. So I started to read the letter, hoping for some new insight. Until I encountered the phrase “second-rate politician.” Whatever a person has to say after that is irrelevant.
Neither Mr. Goldwater called, nor the Post’s own Krista Kafer calls, people names, because it kills one’s credibility.
Greg Albrecht, Aurora
To the letter writer: Just be patient. One day, newspaper coverage will be handled by AI, and The Denver Post and other major dailies will be able to provide an identical word count in both conservative articles and liberal articles.
But it won’t matter. Why? Because conservatives inherently distrust the media and see anyone with a journalist’s integrity as the enemy. Yes, integrity. I trust (the majority of) journalists more than my own mother.
Seeing it as it really is, without the blinders of the extraordinarily destructive beliefs and behaviors of the current administration, is, seemingly, an impossibility for the right. Naturally, when The Post, The New York Times, et al, point this out, it’s bias.
AI will take care of it. Heck, AI wrote this letter.
Craig Marshall Smith, Highlands Ranch
Championing the Pregnancy Resource Centers and the care they provide
Re: “Abortions are still available to Colorado patients with Medicaid,” Aug. 3 commentary
These physicians point out that abortion access in Colorado has not been affected by federal budget considerations. In fact, abortion access is free to both those privately insured and through our low-income Medicaid program. By free, I mean that our insurance premiums and our tax dollars pay for elective induced abortions in Colorado.
Sadly, the physicians don’t publicize the options for women who don’t choose to pursue abortion. Medicaid will continue to provide free prenatal care, birthing services, and post-partum care to enrolled women who continue their pregnancies. Unfortunately, for women who give birth and are privately insured, the cost of their pregnancy care can be in the thousands of dollars.
It is a shocking abdication of our state responsibilities to prefer one “choice” over another through selective insurance mandates. This is especially disturbing since we know that many women and their families report financial pressure to abort (see reference). A “choice” is only a choice if women feel they have more than one option.
Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRCs) provide millions of dollars of uncompensated care to women who choose to continue their pregnancies. It is a sad commentary that the Cobalt Abortion Fund is often cited in these pages, but references to the generous private funding from PRCs for women facing financial and social obstacles to childbirth are fastidiously omitted.
Tom Perille, Englewood
Dear Boomers,
I’m asking this on behalf of everyone born after 1965, particularly those in their 30s and 40s. Please downsize and sell your homes. Please sell your second homes to working families. Don’t continue to add to the housing inequality crisis. You are most likely still living in a large home, with lots of bedrooms and too many stairs. The majority of you have paid off your mortgages. If you’re over 60, most of you are decreasing your travel and home spending.
The current reality is this: Home prices have risen dramatically, outpacing inflation by a considerable margin. If home prices had only grown with inflation since 1970, the median home price today would be $177,788. Instead, the median home price in the United States is $462,000. According to U.S. Census data, the median income of families in 1970 was about $10,000. In 2023, it was about $78,000. This means the median home price is nearly six times the median income, while in 1970, the median home price of $23,400 was just over double the median income. This makes home ownership impossible for many working Americans.
You can flip the script. Sell your home for below market value, without a realtor commission, to a local family. Meet your buyer, and verify they will use it as their primary home. You will still take a healthy profit. Millions of younger Americans feel the American Dream is dead. But you can change the system. Flood the market with homes, do it in an ethical way, and give them the opportunity you had when you were young.
Sincerely,
Gen-X, Millennials, and Gen-Z
Abby Loberg, Granby
Seven ‘awestruck’ days in Colorado
I can barely imagine what it must have been like for the early explorers who came upon Colorado. Perhaps, they were as awestruck as I during my late July visit.
From our first lunch at the Wynkoop Brewing Company to our last lunch at Westbound and Down in Idaho Springs, our family spent seven enjoyable days in your state.
With Keystone as our base, we hiked, biked, fished, and learned about your priceless and precious land. Though altitude sickness wore on me, it didn’t keep me from admiring majestic mountains, forests thick with evergreens and aspens, wildflowers along the banks of creeks flowing with cold, clear water, and the unexpected sighting of moose.
One afternoon, we witnessed the extremes in Colorado weather. A furious hailstorm pounded on the Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway as the train crept back down the famous peak.
No matter where we ventured — steep trails, rocky creeks, pristine lakes, and assorted retailers — we were met with friendly, patient people who were always willing to answer questions and provide guidance.
On our return from Pikes Peak into Keystone, we avoided the interstates. I will never forget the grand openness and splendor of endless pasturelands that unfolded along those back roads.
Zebulon Pike once said: “May Heaven be propitious, and smile on the cause of my country.”
I hope that heaven will be propitious and continue to smile on the people of Colorado with the will to persevere and preserve their irreplaceable land.
William Avery Pike Jr., Richmond, Va.
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