Tag: inside the halls of power
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Web site adds up finances of lawmakers, candidates
How much is a politician worth? No, this is not a joke or a trick question.According to OpenSecrets.org, the richest House member, Jane Harman, D-Calif., is worth $409.4 million; the wealthiest senator is John Kerry, D-Mass., $267.8 million.The average net worth of all House members is $5 million and more than twice that for senators.So…
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When couples split, we all foot the bill, study shows
Perry Swanson, The Gazette’s demographics reporter, dug up a study that shows the cost of divorce and unwed moms to taxpayers. He says a recent study by the Institute for American Values, a self-described nonpartisan organization promoting marriage, and other advocacy groups found that when a couple divorces or an unmarried woman gives birth, taxpayers foot…
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Stage is set for artwork at city’s new fire station
For the first time in Colorado Springs, artwork will grace the grounds of a fire station. A fire station? Why not, city officials say. Some kind of piece – sculpture, mural or other medium – will be erected at Fire Station 8, near the southwest corner of Academy Boulevard and Airport Road. The new…
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Utilities buys city land for $1.2M to build fleet center
Colorado Springs got a windfall last week when city-owned Colorado Springs Utilities agreed to pay $1.22 million for 4.3 acres.That’s $283,720 per acre for land a Briargate developer gave the city in 1982 for use as an electric and fleet service center.Five acres at 7710 Durant Drive northeast of Powers Boulevard and Woodmen Road were…
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No jumping through hoops to get this business done
Record timeIt took the Colorado Springs City Council just 192 hours to race the U.S. Olympic Committee’s five-ring logo onto business cards and stationery.After voting Tuesday to allocate $1.5 million from reserves – the first of $27 million taxpayers will pay to keep the USOC here for 25 years – the council got its cards.…
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The Spyglass: Area colleges aren’t so rah-rah over everything
Reporter Brian Newsome has worn a path in the carpet from his newsroom mailbox to the recycle bin from tossing a profusion of announcements from the higher education beat.He explains why:After nearly two decades of child-rearing, parents are understandably proud when a son or daughter succeeds in college.But the general public? Not so much. Newspapers…
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Memorial CEO gets a pricey parting gift
TootlesMemorial Health System CEO Dick Eitel packs it in Monday, with a big check in his pocket.Eitel, 55, retires after 33 years at cityowned Memorial, the last five as CEO with a salary of $444,412 a year.Eitel stepped down after the hospital spent $250,000 to sponsor the upcoming U.S. Senior Open golf tournament, while the…
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Names in the news often pop up again in new locales
People in the news may fade from the scene, but they often resurface. Here’s an update on a few of those faces:Reporter Perry Swanson was on the beat at the El Paso County Republican Assembly when he ran into a guy some called the sixth county commissioner. After his long reign as a commissioner and…
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City’s fleet department a well-oiled machine
Colorado Springs’ mayor is front and center, mobbed by cameras, when big economic development news happens.A top commander, or the police chief himself, takes the podium to announce a key arrest.But some workers, turning a wrench in the snow at 3 a.m., make the city run day to day.They ensure snowplows make it down Academy…
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County spent taxpayers� money on secret deals
The El Paso County Attorney�s Office made secret deals with taxpayer money and then convinced a judge to hide the court cases from the public. That sounds like a Third World despotic regime, not the United States of America. The cases involve questionable actions by a sheriff�s deputy, later fired, but the public isn�t being…