Every second counts

I am alive today because the people around me knew what to do when I collapsed during a junior varsity football game. As I was heading to the huddle after a turnover, my heart suddenly stopped.

Thankfully, my team’s athletic trainer started CPR right away and used an automated external defibrillator, or AED, until paramedics arrived. I was brought back to life and given a second chance.

Afterward, I learned I have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition my family and I didn’t even know about. Now I have an implanted defibrillator and a different path ahead than I expected. But I’m here, and that’s because the trainer knew what to do that day.

Only about 1 in 10 people survive cardiac arrest outside of a hospital. In schools that are prepared with AEDs and trained staff, those chances are much higher. The first week of June is CPR and AED Awareness Week, a reminder that being ready saves lives and that Hands-Only CPR is simple to learn and something that most people can do.

Here in Colorado, students, families and schools are already working to improve cardiac emergency preparedness. But we can do more to make sure every school is ready.

In April, I traveled with my mom to Washington, D.C., to join other young survivors, families and advocates with the American Heart Association. We shared our stories with lawmakers and asked them to fund the HEARTS Act. Congress passed this bipartisan law in 2024 to help schools get AEDs, train staff and create emergency response plans. Now it needs funding through the upcoming Labor-HHS appropriations so more students have the same chance I had.

If there is one thing I would ask, it’s this: every school should be ready. When cardiac arrest happens, every second counts.

Jordan O’Connell

Colorado Springs

Protecting public lands

During April I had the solemn honor and privilege of attending an interment ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. “Few images linger in the national imagination as vividly as this hallowed ground,” Robert Poole wrote in On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery. “Almost four million people visit the place each year, to pay homage …”

During a lifetime of public lands hunting, hiking, climbing, and related pursuits, I’ve been privileged to set foot in all 50 states, experiencing a wide swath of our great public lands estate while also paying homage to those who have fought and died for it since our Declaration of Independence in 1776, nearly 250 years ago.

Colorado is home to more than 23 million acres of public lands that provide clean drinking water for communities across the state, support wildlife habitat and sustain a thriving outdoor recreation economy. Recently, the Colorado Senate passed Joint Resolution 26-015, reaffirming our state’s commitment to protecting public lands and opposing federal efforts to sell off public lands or silence public input in their management.

“None of our freedoms are here because they were gifted to us or were sure things; they’re here because those who came before us fought for them,” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers President and CEO Ryan “Cal” Callaghan said.

Veterans, perhaps better than most, understand that our public lands and waters are inextricably linked to our freedom and democracy.

And I haven’t spent a lifetime outdoors hunting, hiking, climbing, camping, and canoeing, plus 15 years of military training and service, just to let a bunch of “Epstein class” billionaire buzzards liquidate our democracy and public lands without a fight. 

David A. Lien

Colorado Springs

Not wise or fiscally responsible

I received a notice from my trash disposal company.  The state is launching a new program to cover recycling fees at residential addresses.  No charge to the customer, except that we will all be paying for it through our taxes. 

Existing recycling customers will also have their charges covered by our state taxes.  With the significant budget shortfalls in Colorado, how can the legislature justify spending more tax money on new giveaway programs?  It doesn’t seem wise or fiscally responsible.

Randall E. Kouba

Colorado Springs

Set data center guardrails

As new, energy-hungry industries like data centers drive up energy demand, fairness demands they pay their share— not leave the costs to everyone else. The overwhelming public support for stronger data center regulations should have made passing SB26-102 an easy decision. Instead, lawmakers postponed action, all while big tech is not hesitating to expand its footprint in our state.

This bill is about fairness and accountability. Right now, Colorado families are already being burdened by rising utility costs and drought-related water restrictions, and building massive data centers will only make these problems worse. Without clear statewide rules, communities could be left footing the bill while tech companies reap the profits.

Smart planning prevents expensive upgrades later, keeping power reliable for everyone. Lawmakers should return next year prepared to put Coloradans– not big tech– first.

Next session, legislators should return to the table ready to craft responsible statewide guardrails before unchecked expansion creates long-term problems.

Chauntille Roberts

Denver