Changes at community pool

I’m writing this letter on behalf of Manitou Springs Pool and Fitness Center family patrons. The pool facility, previously beloved by all, has brought objectionable changes in recent months specifically regarding young families.

Before their grand reopening in February 2026, the pools most prized amenity was the indoor hot tub where young children went to get warm during open swim or after swim lessons as the pool is kept at a temperature designed for adult exercise and lap swim. Children with parents who came to let their children swim were not charged an entrance fee when supervising only and not using the pool themselves. Or parents could opt to enjoy the hot tub while they watched their children swim. After passing a swim test of course, children jumped off the diving board as they pleased. It was the highlight of their trip to the local pool.

The facility served patrons of all ages ensuring families were having a good time. Ultimately meeting its entire purpose as a community pool.

However recent changes at the Manitou Pool and Fitness Center have devoid families from previous amenities that benefited young families. Now parents are charged an entrance fee even if they are not swimming and not using the facilities. The diving board is closed during open swim. And the most tragic change of all is the removal of the indoor hot tub which made open swim and swim lessons more bearable in a pool with temperatures designed to serve adult exercise lap swimming.

Additionally parents can no longer enjoy the hot tub while watching their children swim. The pool is closed during school holidays such as Preaident’s Day and open swim hours are held 1-4 during weekdays when most children are in school with only small windows available on Saturdays.

It appears the Manitou Springs Pool and Fitness Center is catering to single adults. They have added a sauna for people 18 years and older and they have continued to close off their outdoor hot tub to children under 18 years old- even after removing the indoor hot tub which was accessible to them. There is not much left for young families to enjoy during open swim their previously beloved community pool.

As a parent, I find this absolutely despicable because families with children contribute far more time, money, and resources into the community. The community should reciprocate by ensuring children are not only included but prioritized in their operational decisions.

Altogether the Manitou Springs Pool and Fitness Center, once a hidden gem for families, is now a place catering to single adults. Our children have been disregarded and are in need of someone to advocate for them so they can enjoy all the facility can offer and be included and valued just as much as the adults.

Carlee Andress

Manitou

Fight apathy at caucus

Apathy is the lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern. When citizens stop caring enough to vote, or hold leaders accountable, then power concentrates in the hands of a few, and abuses become easier to sustain. As this amplifies over time, the more numb and disengaged people become making it easier for neglect and inequality to persist.

Colorado is a Constitutional Republic, and within our statutes lies the Caucus, that only a handful of states embrace. Most states go directly into the primary election and generally the candidate with the most money and corporate backing wins. Change the word caucus to “grass roots”, so in a nutshell that sums it up.

Learn about the candidates running within your district, compete to attend the assembly at the county and even at higher assemblies (congressional, judicial, state, and national), and bring your well worded resolutions to be forwarded at the higher level, and most importantly support your candidate going forward. So instead of yelling at your TV saying “why don’t THEY do something”, change one word to WE. Together, with like minded people, sharing time, treasure, talent and values, we at the grass roots level can make a difference.

Contact your Republican or Democratic headquarters to find your precinct location. Next Tuesday, March 3rd is the Caucus. Don’t sit on the sideline.

David Peaslee

Colorado Springs

Some basic common sense

Coloradans should offer a hearty “thank you” to Governor Jared Polis and Attorney General Phil Weiser for their steadfast leadership in rooting out fraud within the state’s Medicaid transportation program.

The numbers tell a fascinating story: the program grew from $70.5 million in 2022 to $211.9 million in 2023, finally ballooning to $303 million in 2024. It takes the keen eyes of taxpayer-advocate detectives like Weiser and Polis to spot potential fraud in a 430% increase over just two years. One might wonder how such a massive spike occurred right under the noses of these two sleuths. You’d think a line item exploding by $230 million would attract some internal attention or even result in a few pink slips.

Not in this administration.

While Weiser’s office is proud to announce they’ve recovered $50 million and prosecuted several defendants, perhaps they’re looking at the wrong suspects. They might want to investigate the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) itself. It was the HCPF, after all, that allowed (or directed) transporters to bill at maximum ambulance rates for non-emergency rides.

That is how you manufacture a budget crisis. To put it in perspective, the roughly $233 million in waste for 2024 equates to $39 for every man, woman, and child in the state, just for non-emergency Medicaid rides.

As Colorado stares down an $850 million budget shortfall, perhaps the solution isn’t more taxes, but some basic common sense in the Gold Dome. Can we buy our leaders some calculators and a quick tutorial on how to use them? We just found nearly a quarter-billion dollars in a single sub-category of Medicaid. Are there any other obvious areas we should look, or should we leave the detective work to these “professionals”.

Duane Johnston

Monument

Pay the Coast Guard

I spoke to my son yesterday, who is in the Coast Guard, to wish him a Happy Birthday and asked him what he had been doing on his 29th birthday which was last Saturday. He said he had been aboard a sinking fishing vessel rescuing the crew off Cape Hatteras just before the bomb cyclone hit the northeast. I said that’s good, at least you earned your pay. He replied “we’re not getting paid.”

So what does a sinking fishing vessel off Cape Hatteras have to do with Colorado? Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper have voted not to pay the Coast Guard. Apparently in a pique over ICE (who is fully funded) the Colorado senators decided not to pay the Coast Guard. So brave young men and women are risking their lives rescuing mariners in distress with no pay. And it’s not just some faraway place like North Carolina. There are many Coasties helping protect the nation serving at NORAD/NORTHCOM in Colorado Springs along with other commands in Colorado. These Colorado Coasties aren’t getting paid either. Pay the Coast Guard, Senators!

Chris Colvin

Colorado Springs