Welcome to TiddlyWiki created by Jeremy Ruston, Copyright © 2007 UnaMesa Association
The law that governs hard rock mining in America was passed by Congress and signed by President Grant in 1872. That was back when Horace Greeley popularized the command "Go West, Young Man." At the time, the federal government was try populate the frontier; cheap and free land was one of the incentives it used to lure people west.
That's why the mining law is so generous. It's lets people mind federal land for next to nothing; staking a claim costs next to nothing and a claim lets a miner taking minerals from public land without paying a royalty. Even a minimal royalty could have earned us hundreds of millions of dollars over the years. Instead, the law has cost us money. For one thing, we've had to pay tens of millions of dollars to clean up old minesits.
A claim just gives someone the right to mine the land. The mining law also has a process for patenting the claim. That means the claim holder takes title to the land and owns it outright. Once the land is patented, the landowner doesn't have to mine it any more. He can build a home on it, subdivide it or sell it. The cost to patent a claim is between $2.50 and $5.. per acre.
Limits the amount state state spending from the general fund can increase each year to, you guessed it, 6%.'s
It's amazingly arbitrary -- 6% every year. At least [[TABOR]]'s revenue limitations are indexed to inflation and population growth. Not the 6%. If the state's population doubles, we can spend 6% more to handle the increase. If inflation is 8%, is still limited to 6%.
Ironically, the 6% limit wasn't part of TABOR. The legislature put it into law the year before TABOR passed as part of an effort to keep TABOR out of the constitution.
It didn't work. [[TABOR]] passed anyway. And a provision in TABOR prohibits the weakening of any existing statutory limitation on spending. That "constitutionalized" the 6% limit, meaning it can only be changed by a statewide vote.
[[Referendum C]] didn't change the 6% limit. Leaving it in place was part of the compromise between Democrats in the legislature and then Gov. Owens.
The 6% limit is also called "[[Arvescough-Bird]]" after the two legislators who sponsored the bill. (Arvescough is pronounced arh-veh-scow).
Technically, the limit applies to appropriations from the [[General Fund]]. The state can spend money above the limit on capital construction and transportation because it was written into the original statute.
Some money outside of the limit also goes to k-12 education as a result of [[Amendment 23]].
The limit on General Fund spending actually has two triggers: the 6% limit or 5% of personal income growth. The personal income growth limit has never applied.
Comp services help adults with [[Developmental Disabilities]] who need round-the-clock care and don't live with their families. The services help people live as normal a life as possible. They include:
* A place to live with constant supervision
* Help learning life skills, getting a job and participating in a community
* Transportation
* Medical equipment and supplies
* Skilled Nursing help
* Behavioral and mental health services
* Dental and eye care
Agricultural property is assessed differently than other property; it's value is based on the amount it earns through farming or ranching. That's in the state constitution.
The amount a property earns is the landlords average net income over 10 years.
There are three kinds of land that can be assessed as agricultural property:
* Farms and ranches that are working (or in the Conservation Reserve Program) and have been for the last two years.
* Forty acres or more of forest that is producing lumber for sale.
* Eighty acres or more of land that was assessed as agricultural land when it was put into a conservation easement. The parcel can be smaller if it doesn't have any homes or buildings on it.
There are also specific definitions of farms and ranches:
* Farms raise crops for sale
* Ranches raise livestock for sale
* Improvements are things on the land and they fall into two categories:
** Buildings (including homes) are assessed separately from the land
** Other improvements are assessed as part of the land and they include things like fences, irrigation equipment and [[Water Rights]]
Just about every other business in Colorado pays [[Business Personal Property Tax]], which is an odd name for equipment the business uses like computers, furniture, trucks, power plants, etc. Equipment and supplies used in agriculture is exempt from property tax.
Colorado voters passed Amendment 23 in 2000 after watching the state's spending on schools fall for most of the 1990s.
Their goal was pretty straightforward: to get the state's spending on schools back up into the average range nationally and them keep it there.
To achieve the goal, A 23 had to make a few changes to the [[Colorado Constitution]:
* It increases funding for schools by at least the rate of inflation plus 1% every year through 2010-11.
* After 2011 it increases funding every year by at least the rate of inflation.
* It set up the [[State Education Fund]] to help pay for the increases.
* It requires the legislature to increase school funding from the [[General Fund]] by at least 5% every year.
In 1990, Colorado was about average nationally in it's spending on schools. By 2000 it had dropped a lot; some analyses put us at 49th.
The provision in 23 that increases k-12 spending by inflation plus 1% each year was intended to get us back up to that national average. After that, by requiring it to go up by at least the rate of inflation, it's supposed to keep us in average territory.
Specifically, 23 requires the increase for two parts of school funding: [[Base Per Pupil Funding]] and [[Categorical Funding]].
Since [[TABOR]] limits the overall state budget (and largely caused the cuts in k-12) 23 established the [[State Education Fund]] to keep k-12 spending from crowding out all of the other areas of the budget. It collects money each year from outside of the [[TABOR]] limit and reserves it for schools.
The people who wrote 23 saw a possible problem with the Ed Fund: the legislature could have used money from the fund to replace rather than supplement its regular school spending. To prevent that, they included the [[Maintenance of Effort]] provision. It forces the legislature to increase the [[General Fund]] contribution to k-12 by at least 5% each year. That just a little lower than the long-term average of annual increases.
What's an amusement ride? No, you don't necessarily have to be amused while riding it. In fact, you can be downright stick to your stomach.
State law says an amusement ride is "any mechanized device that carries passengers along a restricted course for amusement purposes." That means roller coasters, ferris wheels and even bungee jumping. It excludes things you operate yourself, like the coin-operated mini-carousel outside the grocery store and the see-saw at the playground.
In May of 2007, the [[State Auditor]] released a report on the state's Public Safety Programs. The programs are run by the [[Division of Oil and Public Safety]], which is part of the [[Department of Labor and Employment]].
The report covers five public safety areas:
* The [[Audit of Public School Construction]]
* The [[Audit of Carnivals and Amusement Parks]]
* The [[Audit of Explosives]]
* The [[Audit of Boilers]]
Water augmentation plans let people with junior water rights use water when or where it's convenient for them provided they replace it before someone with senior water right holder needs it.
A typical example would be a farmer a few miles from a river pumping groundwater to irrigate his crops. Even though the water is flowing underground and away from the river, it's still part of the river system. That means the pumping is actually taking water from the river.
If the farmer with the pumps has a junior water right, he's taking water from someone with a senior water rights. That's called an "out of priority" depletion. It's OK under two conditions:
* The farmer has an augmentation plan to replace the water, for example with water he has in a reservoir.
* A Water Court approves the augmentation plan.
Without those two conditions, it's not an augmentation plan — it's just taking water that belongs to someone else. And over the years there's been a lot of that.
Two State Engineers decided they had the tight to approve Augmentation Plans. They didn't. No state law gave them the right and the Colorado Supreme Court has confirmed that.
If the engineers just approved the plans without the proper authority, it would be mostly a technicality. But they approved plans that apparently didn't meet the first condition either -- farmers pumped water out of priority and didn't replace it.
In wet years it wasn't so obvious, although people have had suspicions for quite a while. But when the drought hit, the senior water right holders wanted their water and there wasn't enough in the river to meet their demands.
As a result, the most senior water rights took water from people with rights that were less senior, but still older than the rights held by the farmers with phony augmentation plans. An ugly situation that's still getting sorted out.
Beneficial use is the key qualification to Colorado's prior appropriation system of water rights. Just diverting water first isn't enough to get a water right, you also have to be using it for something useful. Sounds kind of redundant, but it's to keep people from speculating with water, or wasting water.
! The Constitution
The beneficial use provision is in the Colorado Constitution:
> "Prior appropriation shall give the better right as between those using the water for the same purpose...."
The requirement is also refined in the 1969 Water Right Determination and Administration Act:
> "Beneficial use is the use of that amount of water that is reasonable and appropriate under reasonably efficient practices to accomplish without waste the purpose for which the appropriation is lawfully made..."
Even when you have decreed water right, the beneficial use provisions can be limiting. Your right is only good for the amount of water you can use beneficially; not using the right beneficially for a while can cost you the water right.
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But Phelps Dodge wasn't included in the arrangement. Most of the entities involved were cities and water districts.
The settlement, known collectively as the Blue River Decrees, was crafted after the federally owned Green Mountain Reservoir was completed in 1943.
The decrees give Denver, and Green Mountain, the ability to divert water ahead of the mining company. At the time it was seen as a way to incorporate the new federal water project into the state's water rights system.
Now, Phelps Dodge wants its water rights reaffirmed, something the state has refused to do because of its agreement with the U.S. government. Until now, taking the matter to court has not been worth the tens of thousands of dollars it's likely to cost to resolve the question.
The case is being closely watched because anytime the Blue River Decrees are reopened, other arrangements it governs also can be re-examined, something everyone dreads.
"The real concern is the reopening of the decrees and what other things might come along with it," said Eric Wilkinson, manager of the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which is also a party to the decrees.
Ken Vaughn, a spokesman for the mine, said the company doesn't discuss pending litigation. But in a prepared statement, he said the water rights in question are crucial to the mine's long-term success.
"Climax water rights were adjudicated and appropriated in the 1930s, and the company wants to defend its rights."
In Isaiah it says: “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” “And their nuclear bombs into bulldozers, and drilling rigs,” the Atomic Energy Commission added in 1958.
That was the start of Project Plowshare, a plan to use nuclear bombs for peaceful purposes. The plan included blasting open a new harbor in Alaska, developing “clean” nuclear explosions for everyday excavation, blowing open aquifers in New Mexico (Energy Water?) and – in Colorado -- using nuclear explosions to get natural gas out of the ground.
Some of the greatest minds in America were behind Project Plowshare. That's what makes it odd that the meaning of plowshares allusion eluded them so completely. After the bit about plowshares, Isaiah goes on to say: “Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”
Project Plowshare didn't even slow down our development of nuclear weapons. In fact, some cynics saw it as a way to develop nuclear technology for was without letting on. It's just as well. If Project Plowshare has gone according to plan, nuclear exposions would be as common as road repairs (and global warming would be way down on our list of problems). But we're straying from the subject.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch – or potato farm as it happens, Project Plowshare was moving ahead with a plan to increase production from natural gas wells. The gas is locked up in dense rock which keeps it from flowing toward wells. The thinking was along these lines: a 40 megaton blast would crack open the rock creating paths for the natural to flow nicely toward the well.
It kind of worked. Some natural gas seeped out, but it was too radioactive to use. Today the potato field is marked with a plaque. It's not so much for historical interest as warning not to dig in the area.
Failure and unintended consequences didn't stop Atoms for Peace anymore than they stopped Atoms for War. The AEC was so intent on beating it's nuclear swords into plowshares, that it tried the same thing again, but with more bombs.
In San Juan Colorado, they spaced out three nuclear bombs vertically hoping the bigger blast would create a longer path for the gas. It didn't. But it did put a damper on future tests. (A plan to try five, bigger bombs on a gas well in Wyoming died due to public opposition, a lack of funding and a general realization that atoms are for war, not peace).
The Plowshare projects in Western Colorado were supposed to launch a new era in natural gas development. That didn't work out, but they did launch a few other things. One is the environmental movement in Colorado. Another is the political career of a Denver lawyer named Dick Lamm. He fought the Rusilon test, then went on to fight (successfully) the state subsidization of the Winter Olympics, became a state legislator and eventually Governor.
Colorado's budget is just undjuster $18 billion. Or just over $7 billion. It depends on how you look at it.
The $18 billion is the total budget including things like federal money that passes through the state budget on its way to some federally-required spending item. We don't have much control over that money.
It also includes [[Cash Funds]] that are collected from a specific group of people and spend on some service to that group of people. We can set the user fees that go into cash funds, but they can't bring in more money than we need to provide the service.
The $7 billion number excludes all of that. It's the amount we spend from the [[General Fund]]. We control that, so when we refer to the state budget, this is usually what we're talking about.
Actually, we like to think that we control General Fund spending. In reality, a lot of it is also out of our control. Why? Because of various federal laws, provisions of the state constitution and practical matters.
For instance, federal law forces us to offer [[Medicaid]] to anyone poor enough to meet the criteria. The best we can do is try to predict how much it will cost and set aside enough money to pay for it. That often means cutting other areas of the budget to pay for Medicaid.
[[Amendment 23]] to the state constitution sets the minimum amount we have to spend on schools each year. When the budget's tight, that can also force us to take money from other part of the budget.
See [[Community Centered Boards]].
When people talk about [[Greenhouse Gases]], the usually mean carbon dioxide. It's the big one. Why?
For one thing, it absorbs a lot of heat. More specifically, it can absorb a lot of different wavelengths, which means not too much gets past it and back into space.
CO~~2~~ also lasts a long time. It's never a liquid at normal presures, just a gas or a solid. And to be solid s has to be really cold -- it's called dry ice.
We add to the amount of CO~~2~~ in the atmosphere by burning coal and oil. The two activities that generate the most are burning coal and natural gas to generate electricity and burning gasoline and oil to drive.
Improving medical care transitions can help patients get better faster and lower their medical bills.
"Care transition" means moving a patient from one place to another while he or she is still getting treatment or medication. Any any care transition opens up an opportunity for something to go wrong. Dr. Eric Coleman of CU's School of Medicine studies transitions. He's discovered that poor communications between providers routinely cause complications including:
* Conflicting medical advice
* Medication mistakes
* Forgotten follow-up care.
[<img[Eric Coleman, MD, MPH|http://www.uchsc.edu/hcpr/staffpics/coleman_smc.jpg]]Coleman and his colleagues at CU have developed a system for improving the transitions. It's called the Care Transitions Intervention. It lets patients take control of their care so they can avoid the most common complications.
Coleman calls it "truly patient-centered care." A transition coach teaches the patient how to make sure he or she gets the right care at the right time.
Some people were concerned that patients might not be able to take more control of their care. In general, they can. Coleman put the intervention to work in a real hospital with real patients going through a real transition.
“Despite the fact that these older individuals were recovering from their acute hospital stay, were sleep deprived and dealing with changes to their health status, they were able to learn new skills to ensure their needs were met during this vulnerable time,” Coleman said.
Results from the randomized, controlled Trial of the Care Transitions were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Intervention found that it helps patients and reduces hospital bills by preventing problems that would put them back in the hospital.
Once the patients had the skills and the tools to self-manage their treatment, the study showed they were able to improve their care and prevent mistakes.
“We were excited to see the significant reduction in hospital readmissions during the first 30 days while the coach was involved. What was even more exciting, however, was the finding that these patients were significantly more likely to stay out of the hospital up to six months later,” Coleman said. Avoiding trips back to the hospital has two benefits: it's better for patients and it lowers medical bills.
The CU Care Transitions Program has collected stories and video clips that illustrate transitions and the Care Transitions Intervention.
The Care Transitions Intervention teaches medical patients how to take an active role in their own health care. That's especially important during [[Care Transitions]], when patients are moving from one setting to another. During a transition, poor communication between medical providers can cause medical mistakes that hurt patients.
The intervention teaches patients specific skills and gives them tools so they can make sure they're getting the right care. A hospital "transition coach" teaches them and follows them through the transition to make it less of a change and more of a continuation of care. The transition coach monitors the patient for 30 days after he or she leaves the hospital.
The coach concentrates on four "pillars" of transition management:
* Self-managing medication
* Creating a [[personal medical record|http://www.caretransitions.org/documents/phr.pdf]] that the patient uses and maintains
* Making sure the patient gets the right follow-up care at the right time
* Developing a plan to watch for specific symptoms and get care quickly if they develop
A [[Discharge Preparation Checklist|http://www.caretransitions.org/documents/checklist.pdf]] helps the hospital make sure it has prepared the patient for the transition. The coach meets with the patient to go over the patient's medication to make sure he or she knows what to take when. They also work on communication skills -- even using role-playing -- to make sure the patient will be able to tell doctors, nurses and others what care he needs.
Later they meet again at the patients home or the nursing facility. After that, the coach keeps in touch with the patient over the phone until the intervention is over.
The team that developed the intervention has also developed a [[Care Transitions Measure]] to evaluate hospitals management of transitions.
A recent study showed that the intervention works. Patients learn how to manage their own care even when they're frail, elderly and exhausted. And the self-management improves care. Patients who got the intervention were much less likely to suffer complications and return to the hospital.
The Care Transitions Intervention was developed by [[Dr. Eric Coleman|http://www.uchsc.edu/hcpr/staffinfo/coleman.htm]] and [[Care Transitions Program|http://www.caretransitions.org/]] at the [[University of Colorado Health Sciences Center|http://www.uchsc.edu/index.htm]].
The Care Transition Measure helps evaluate how well hospitals are managing the transition of patients from the hospitals to another setting, such as home or a nursing facility. It measures both the hospital's performance and the patient's satisfaction in three key areas:
* The patient's understand of her care after leaving the hospital.
* How well the patient understand what medication he's supposed to take.
* Whether the patient feels her preferences were incorporated into the care plan.
It's all fund and games until the ferris wheel falls over and crushes everyone riding bumper cars. That's why the state sets standards for Carnivals and Amusement Parks.
There's a difference, by the way: both have mechanical [[Amusement Rides]], but an amusement park stays put while carnivals come and go.
Both have to register with the state before taking people on rides. And both are subject to inspection by the [[Division of Oil and Public Safety]]. What exactly does the Division do? Not much, it turns out. An [[Audit of Public Safety Programs]] run by the Division found a lot of problems.
CES helps children who have a developmental disability and children under 5 who are at risk of developing a disability. The services and support help children live outside of an institution. CES also helps families that are caring for a child with a developmental disability.
Services include:
* Help with daily activities like eating and bathing
* Child care
* Counseling and therapy
* Housekeeping
* Modifications to a home
* Community connection services
* Specialized medical equipment
A jump in the price of molybdenum, a metal for hardening steel, has raised the specter that Climax, dormant for a dozen years, could be profitable once more.mine - which once employed about 3,000Climax has sat dormant since 1995, a victim of plunging molybdenum prices. They slid below $2.50 a pound in 2001, having changed hands at $10 back in 1977.Molybdenum is used in everything from airplane parts - where it serves as a strengthener - to computer chips, where it helps prevent overheating.
World economic growth, fueled by China's hunger for construction materials, has sent molybdenum prices up more than tenfold to over $30. A "pre-feasibility" study suggested the open-pit mine could produce 20 million to 30 million pounds of molybdenum a year at a competitive cost. The final study is expected to be completed later this year.Since last summer, about two dozen workers have been piloting excavators, bulldozers and dump trucks doing demolition work at Climax.
Torn down in the process were the No. 2 and No. 5 crushers, as well as a lengthy conveyor-belt system for ferrying molybdenum ore at the mine. A large drying facility that bakes the moisture from molybdenum concentrate is slated for future demolitionSituated on a high pass beneath 13,000-foot mountain peaks, Climax sprawls across 22 square miles of private land.
Since ore shipments began emerging from the mine in 1915, more than 65,000 employees have had a hand in Climax. Miners have recovered 946,000 tons of metal worth about $4 billion.
The mine has weathered a tumultuous history.
From a peak of about 3,000 workers in 1980, employment fell to 2,800 in April 1981. Climax cut its first 600 employees in December 1981 and then shut down production in 1987.
It resumed operations in 1989 for just two years and then reopened for three months in 1995.
[[Clinica Campesina|http://www.clinicacampesina.org/index.html]] is a [[Federally Qualified Health Center]] that offers primary care to people who don't have insurance and can't afford private clinics. The center has three medical clinics and a dental clinic serving Boulder, Broomfield and Adams Counties.
Clinica Campesina was founded in 1977 and today it's the 4th largest FQHC in Colorado.
Ratified by the people of Colorado in 1876. It was the third try.
* 1864 constitution rejected by the voters
* 1865 constitution approved by voters, but vetoed by U.S. President Johnson
* 1876 Constitution drafted by a convention, ratified by the voters and approved by President Grant
Congress created the Colorado Territory in 1861. It covered the same territory the state covers today.
The first territorial governor was William Gilpin, who was appointed by President Lincoln.
Two people are sitting in Colorado's Death Row: Nathan Dunlap and Ed Montor. Their cells are in the [[Colorado State Penitentiary]] in Canon City.
If they run out of appeals, the state will kill them by lethal injection.
Dunlap is the notorious killer behind the Chuck E. Cheese murders in Aurora in 1993. He'd been fired as a cook at the restaurant and went back for robbery and revenge. He shot 5 five people who were working at the restaurant. Marge Kohlberg, Ben Grant, Sylvia Crowell, and Colleen O'Connor all died. The fifth victim survived and identified Dunlap as the killer. Dunlap didn't indicate much interest in the event, let alone remorse, during his trial. The jury sentenced him to death in 1996. He's been appealing his conviction and his sentence every since, so far without much luck.
His life before and after the murders hasn't helped. He'd kidnapped a woman while robbing a Burger King with a gun. That led to 4 felony convictions. He'd also tried to shoot a schoolmate. After the murders he bragged about them in jail and tried to escape.
At one point we had 6 people on death row, but four of them got their sentenced reduced to life without parole. Three of them had been sentenced to death by 3-judge panels that the Colorado Supreme Court later [[found unconstitutional|file:///home/laptop/Desktop/quicktdnotes.html#%5B%5BJudge-Imposed%20Death%20Sentences%5D%5D]]. A fourth had his death sentence overturned because a juror had illegally brought bibles into the deliberations and passed out quotes from the Old Testament.
It's a pretty plain looking room. It's about the size of a doctor's exam room with four, white cinder block walls. As you walk in, you're looking at a white, cinder block wall ahead of you. To your right is a window where the warden watches. To you left is a large curtain covering a window through which the witnesses watch.
In the middle of the room is a steel table on a pedestal. The end closest to you has a vertical steel footrest. The table itself is covered with an inflatable camping pad (the same brand and model as the one I've been using for 30 years). Over the pad are a series of seatbelts. Other than that, the room is empty.
! Lethal Injection
To kill a convict, the prison brings in two sets of IV equipment. The IV bags hang from hooks next to the warden's window. The tubes run from the bags to the convict's arm. Two other tubes drop down from the bags, loop through a port that looks like the dryer vent on a house, and into an adjacent room.
At the end of those tubes are the plungers that push the poison into the prisoner. Two different officers push the plungers and neither knows which one is for poison and which is a placebo.
The execution is a series of three injections: first sodium pentothal to put the person to sleep, then pancuronium bromide to relax his muscles and finally, potassium chloride to stop his heart.
! Execution
So far the system has only been used once. In 1997, the state killed 41-year-old Gary Lee Davis. He'd confessed to kidnapping, raping and killing a woman named Virginia May. He beat her with a rifle butt, then shot her 14 times. It all happened in front of the victim's children. Davis' wife helped with the crime.
! More Information
CU Professor Michael Radelet has written a [[history of the death penalty in Colorado|http://www.state.co.us/defenders/Main_Topics/Topics_Links/Capital_punishment_in_Colorado_1859-1972.htm]]
[[Coloradans Against the Death Penalty|http://www.coadp.org/about.html]]
The Colorado House of Representatives is one chamber of the state's bicameral legislature. The other is the ColoradoSenate.
The House has 65 members each representing roughly the same number of people. Probably about 70,000, but it's hard to say for sure in between reapportionments.
Members are divided up into 11 [[http://www.leg.state.co.us/Clics/Clics2007A/csl.nsf/Directory?openFrameset|committees of reference]]. Committees of reference, like Education or Transportation & Energy, hear bills in specific subject areas, or that's the theory at least. In fact, the Speaker of the House decides which bills go where and his or her decision is final. More about that under [[Bill Assignments]].
The House has some [[http://www.leg.state.co.us/Clics/Clics2007A/csl.nsf/DirectoryHou?openframeset|other committees]] that aren't usually committees of reference. Some, like the Joint Budget Committee and the Capital Development Committee and the Executive Committee are permanent, but others come and go.
CCBs for short. They act like managed care agencies for people with [[Developmental Disabilities]]. They're private, non-profit organizations that serve specific areas. Imagine is the CCB that services Boulder and Broomfield Counties. There are 20 CCBs in Colorado.
The CCBs determine if someone is eligible for public DD services and, if he or she is, then manage the care the person gets. They can hire other agencies to actually provide the services, or provide the services themselves.
CCB's used to negotiate rates with and pay providers, but the federal government didn't like the practice and forced the state to stop it. Now the CCB's manage the care, but any agency that actually provides the care can bill through the CCB or directly to the state. Rates are no longer negotiated, they're set through an actuarial process.
Community Rating is a system for setting insurance premiums. Insurance companies have to charge everyone in a community the same amount regardless of their health and lifestyle.
!! Modified Community Rating
This is the same concept, but it gives insurance companies a little bit of flexibility. They set a rate for a community, but they can vary it a bit based on a few factors, such as a person's age, sex, whether they smoke and things like that.
For a comparison of premium setting systems, see [[Medical Underwriting]].
Conditional water rights recognize that it can take a lot of time to actually put water to beneficial use.
Think about a farmer who wants to irrigate a field that's fairly far from river. He has to survey the land to make sure his ditch is always heading downhill, then he has to build a headgate, dig the ditch and create a network of channels to get the water to all of his crops.
In the time that takes, he could lose his water right to someone with a simpler plan.
To preserve his place in the priority system, the farmer just has to do something to start the process, then ask the water court for a conditional water right. If he gets it, it preserves his place in the priority system. He keeps the right as long as he can show the court he's still working on putting the water to use.
When the farmer finishes and starts using the water, he goes back to court to convert his conditional right to an absolute right. The absolute right is dated back when he began the work.
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To hire and keep good teachers and other employees, districts have to increase their salaries enough to pay for the cost of living in that particular area. The Cost of Living Factor adjusts a district's [[Per-pupil Funding]] to account for that.
Here's how it works: every other year, we survey various parts of the state to see how much things like housing, food, health care and other ordinary living expenses have changed. We use that information to set the cost of living factor for each school district. That factor gets plugged into the [[Total Program Funding]] formula for the district to adjust its budget to the cost of livnig in the area.
See {[Division of Developmental Disabilities]].
This year (2007-08) we're spending a little more than $410 million on services for people with [[Developmental Disabilities]]. Of that, $193 million comes from out [[General Fund]], or about 3% of the overall General Fund. The rest of the money is from the federal government which shares the cost of [[Medicaid]] with states.
That budget covers three aspects of DD services:
* Services offered in communities across Colorado (managed by [[Community Centered Boards]].
* Three [[Regional Centers]] that are managed by the state and offer residential care
* State administrative costs
Our overall DD budget was about $330 million in 2003-04, but it's been going up quite a bit: <<sparkline 332 0 338 0 359 0 392 0 410 >>
There have been some big changes in the way we pay for DD services. We used to have a managed care model that was run locally by the [[Community CenteredBoards]]. The federal [[CMS]] approed the system years ago, then in 2005 decided they didn't like it anymore. The forced us into a fee-for-service system which has cost us a lot. We had to spend nearly $2 million to change the billing system (it was a complicated process), and another $7.5 million because the new system doesn't let us spend money that some counties (like Boulder County) had contributed.
In Colorado, Developmental Disability has a legal definition: a substantial disability from mental retardation (or something similar) that impairs intellectual functioning or adaptive behavior and that develops before adulthood (21 years old or younger).
People with developmental disabilities and their families can get help from a [[Community Centered Board]]. The [[Division of Developmental Disabilities]] is the state agencies that oversees the CCBs.
We have waiting lists for DD services because we don't have enough money to pay for everyone who qualifies for the services.
As of April 2007, here's how many people were on the waiting lists:
* [[Adult Comprehensive Services]] 1,368
* [[Supported Living Services]] 2,324
* [[Children's Extensive Support]] 157
* [[Family Support Services]] 4,178
It would cost nearly $47 million to eliminate the current Comp and SLS waiting lists. The need for services is growing (about 4%/year) so the cost of keeping people of the waiting lists would go up every year. We don't have estimates for CES or FSS.
Some people on waiting lists filed a lawsuit against the state saying that the waiting lists were illegal. They lost. In 2005 a judge in federal district court ruled that the waiting lists are legal. In 2006, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the district court.
The number of people who need DD services has been going up. It's increasing faster than both the state's population and the state's DD budget. (Remember that state population growth is one [[TABOR]] limitation on the overall state budget.
Also called DD. It's part of the [[Department of Human Services]] that handles services for people with [[Developmental Disabilities]]. Since [[Medicaid]] pays for most of the services, the [[Department of Health Care Policy and Financing]] also has a big role in helping people with developmental disabilities.
New America can have my money
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Tamara Miller
Vail CO, Colorado
July 29, 2007
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Eagle County is finally getting a charter school that aims to do what charter schools are supposed to do: help kids who really need the help.
I don’t care what you think about the New America School and who it will serve. I feel a lot better knowing my taxes will be going to help immigrant kids learn English instead of just helping fund white flight.
I’m sure the education at Stone Creek and the Eagle County Charter Academy is great. But I’d much rather see the public money used to fund these schools go back to the main public schools. Or to create another New America School.
If parents want a private school experience for their kids, they can pay for it themselves.
The intent of charter schools has seemed all but lost in Eagle County. In most parts of the country, charter schools serve a greater number of minority and disadvantaged students than traditional public schools. Nationally, there are slightly more Hispanic students in charter schools than in traditional schools, and far more African-American students in charter schools than the traditional equivalent, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
Kids from low-income families outnumber those from well-off ones in most charter schools. According to the Department of Education, about 54 percent of charter school students are eligible for free and reduced lunches. In traditional schools, that number is about 46 percent.
To be fair, minority and low-income students are just as eligible to attend Stone Creek and the charter academy. Stone Creek founders even put a call out for Hispanic students before they opened last school year.
No such luck.
As such, neither school are as diverse as the traditional schools. Not even close. About 4 percent of the charter academy’s 289 students received a discounted lunch, according to the school’s Web site. The state reports that about 5 percent of the school’s enrollment are Hispanic students.
Meanwhile, at Edwards Elementary — across town from the charter academy — only 39 percent of the kids are fluent in English. Most of the kids who aren’t fluent are Hispanic.
The New America School aims to make these kids proficient in English and to help them earn a high school diploma. Considering the number of non-English-speakers in our county, and how much our economy depends on them, I can’t think of a better way to invest some public school dollars.
It will be up to those students and their parents to make the commitment to get to the school in Gypsum. School Principal Kathy Brendza is expecting as many as 150 kids when the school opens next month. Other New America schools across the state have even larger student enrollments than that.
Historically, disadvantaged kids are the students least likely to get the education they need in a traditional public school. They are the ones who stand to gain the most from a more creative and inventive learning environment.
That’s why I’m more than happy about having some of my taxes thrown New America’s way.
Opinion/Projects Editor Tamara Miller can be reached at 748-2936, or tmiller@vaildaily.com.
By Associated Press
July 29, 2007
PARACHUTE — Federal officials are reviewing a plan by EnCana Oil and Gas USA for a new gas pipeline that would run 26 miles from Collbran to Parachute.
The Bureau of Land Management is starting an environmental assessment of the project. Christina Stark of the BLM said construction could begin sometime next year.
The pipeline, which would require a 75-foot right of way during construction, would end at a compressor station near Parachute. The right of way would be reduced to 25 feet when construction is complete.
The pipeline would ship natural gas from Mesa County to a gas plant in Meeker.
EnCana spokeswoman Wendy Wiedenbeck said the line would be up to 24 inches in diameter and is expected to carry 650 million cubic feet of gas per day.
Stark said the environmental review is on hold until EnCana provides m
I hope this is a glossary, encyclopedia, dictionary and atlas of Colorado, focusing on its [[Government]], [[Policy]], and [[Politics]].
It's a wiki, which means there are a lot of links. That way each entry can contain a minimum amount of information (for speed), but link to a lot of background (for depth).
One way wikis create links is through wikiwords which are two words pushed together with a capital letter in the middle. ColordoHouse is an example of a wikiword. There are other ways to create links, but I occasionally use wikiwords, so don't them them throw you off.
If you want more information or have any comments, please visit [[the main website|http://pommer.us]].
Why Encyclorado? Literally, with a little license, it means "around Colorado." Descriptively it sounds like encyclopedia. Legally it wasn't registered. And Colopedia was taken.
History of Roan Energy
* 1910 [[Naval Oil Shale Reserves]]
* 1977 [[NOSR Transfer to DOE]]
* 1984 [[BLM RMP]]
* 1997 [[NOSR 1 & 3 Transferred to DOI]]
* 1999 [[Oil & Gas ROD]]
* [[Roan Plateau Resource Management Plan]]
** 2000 [[Begin Public Scoping on Roan RMP Amendment]]
** 2002 [[Public Comment on Roan RMP]]
** 2004 [[Roan RMP EIS]]
** 2006 [[Roan Proposed RMP & EIS Released]]
** 2007 [[Roan RMP ROD 1]]
Geography & Geology
* [[Piceance Coal Basin]]
The state started Family Support back before we had all of the [[[Medicaid Waiver Programs]]. It serves some great goals:
* Keep people with
Families make a lot of choices, helps the entire family, keep people with DD at home, needed for the person's entire life (although it's sometimes replaced with Medicaid waiver programs that didn't exist when we started Family Support)
Use existing resources as much as possible
Build on other sources of support
Keep people at home with their families and out of institutions
Prevents problems before they happen
Give families choices
Family Support is funded entirely by the state. That's expensive, but it adds a lot of flexibility. Without federal money we don't have to follow federal rules
Waiting list
"Most in Need" footnote 89 2004
Governor vetoed the footnote, but told the department to carry out the intent
"Of all the people who are eligible for the program, who needs the services most desperately."
These services help families who are caring for a child or an adult with [[Developmental Disabilities]] who lives in their home. Only the state pays for Family Support; Medicaid doesn't chip in.
FFS services are outlined in a Family Support Plan that complements the client's [[Individualized Plan]]. Services include:
* Grants
* Service coordination and educational materials
* Emergency services
* Payment for medical and dental care not covered by insurance
* Child care
* Specialize equipment to help the person get around and adapt
* Therapy and family counseling
* Recreation and leisure needs
* Transportation
* Special food, clothing and household help
The federal government owns a lot of land above oil and gas reserves, and a lot of mineral rights under land owned by other people. (That last pert is a result of the [[Split Estate]].
Much of that land is run by the Bureau of Land Management, but the Bureau's responsibility for oil and gas leasing extends to lannd controlled by other federal agencies like thqt National Forest Service. That makes the BLM's policies on mineral leasing critical to our enviroment, our natural lands and our energy supply.
Any American can lease federal land: you have to be over 18 and a U.S. citizen (or corporation). Land is opened up for leasing if the BLM wants to lease it (or Congress tells it to) or if some asks to lease it. The BLM evaluates potential mineral leases through the [[Multiple-Use Planning Process]].
There are two kinds of leases:
* Competitive leases, when they're available, are auctioned off quarterly by BLM state offices in parcels of 2,560 acres (2 x that size in Alaska).
* Noncompetitive leases are offered when a parcel doesn't sell at auction.
A lease ends in 10 years unless the land starts producing oil or gas, in which case it lasts as there's money to be made pumping it out of the ground.
The person or company that is leasing the minerals can use the surface land for pretty much anything that has to do with drilling and producing, as long as the BLM approves. There are some limitations, though. For instance, holding a lease doesn't give you the right to build a home on the land (or farm it). And, if the [[Multiple-Use Planning Process]] found a need to protect part of the land, the lease may contain some limitations on surface use [[Surface Occupancy]].
A lease costs $1.50 per acre per year for the first 5 years, then jumps up to $2.00. If the company is producing oil or gas, it ha to pay a [[Federal Oil & Gas Royalty]] of 12.5%. (The federal government passes on a portion of the royalty to states).
Some federal land is off-limits for leasing. They include:
* Land in a [[Wilderness Area]] or [[Proposed Wilderness Area]]
* Land inside cities
* Lands the [[government is selling|http://www.fs.fed.us/land/staff/disposal.shtml]]
* [[Patented Mining Claims]]
* Lands in Indian Reservations
FQHCs are clinics that offer health care to people who don't have insurance and can't afford private medical clinics. The awkward name comes from the federal law that funds them through Medicare and [[Medicaid]]. FQHCs in Colorado include [[Clinica Compesina]], the People's Clinic, Valley-Wide and others. Fifteen of Colorado's FQHCs work together under the [[Colorado Community Health Network|http://www.cchn.org/index.asp]].
FQHCs help people with a full array of primary care services. They keep tens of thousands of Coloradans healthy and save the state a lot of money. People who use FQHCs are far less likely to end up an an emergency room, or even in the hospital. That saves everyone money by lowering tax-funded Medicaid costs and reducing the [[Cost Shift]] to private insurance and private payer rates.
To qualify as an FQHC, a clinic has to be non-profit and governed by a board of directors that includes people who use the center's services.
A futile call lets a junior water right holder keep diverting water even if a senior user puts a call on the river. The junior user argues that even if he stops taking water, it won't help the senior user get the water he's entitled to.
It's up to the division engineer to decide if the call would be futile.
The Gallagher Amendment limits the amount of property tax that homeowners have to pay. Voters put it into the state constitution in 1982 to prevent the legislature from shifting the tax burden away from businesses and onto homes.
In the 1970s, actual values were climbing and, as a result, property taxes were going up. Homeowners and businesses pay property taxes, but businesses have lobbyists who were working hard to keep business taxes low. Those lobbyists were doing their jobs well, and the property tax burden was quickly shifting from businesses to homeowners.
That’s why homeowners passed the Gallagher Amendment. It limits residential property taxes indirectly, by controlling the [[Assessed Value]] of homes and business property. It fixed the ratio between the assessed value of homes and businesses, roughly stating that of the overall assessed value of all property in Colorado, 45 percent would be residential and 55 percent would be business.
Gallagher set the assessed value of business property at 29 percent and let the residential value vary (It was 21% in 1982).. That meant if the value of residential property went up faster than the value of business property, the state would lower the assessed value of residential property to keep the 45/55 split. If the value of business property went up faster, the state would raise the assessed value of residential property. As values changed, a county could raise or lower the mill levy to keep its revenue adequate.
Then came TABOR. TABOR lets taxes go down, but won’t let them go up without a public vote. That means if the value of residential property goes up faster than the value of business property, the state has to lower the assessed value of residential property. But if the value of business property goes up, the state can’t raise the assessed value of residential property without a public vote. Also, if revenues go down, counties can’t raise the mill levy without a public vote.
The result? The assessed value of residential property has dropped from 21 percent in 1982 to 7.96 percent today. This is the trend starting in 1983, the year before Gallagher took effect: <<sparkline 30 0 21 0 18 0 16 0 15 0 14 0 13 0 10.4 0 9.7 0 9.2 0 8>>
As far as the original goal, Gallagher has certainly accomplished that. It's saved homeowners about $8 billion statewide since it passed. Some of those savings came out of government budgets, the rest got shifted to non-residential property taxes i.e. businesses. The affect has been exaggerated by TABOR. The residential assessment rate falls when home prices soar, but it can't go back up when they decline.
When we talk about the budget, this is usually what we mean. The total state budget is bigger than just the general fund, but there's a lot of money in the total budget we can't control. So we don't talk about it much.
The legislature decides how to spend money in the general fund and we can spend it on pretty much anything. We do it through the [[Appropriations]] process.
The general fund gets revenue from general taxes, mostly the [[Colorado Income Tax]] and the [[Colorado Sales Tax]].
Those two things, getting revenue from general taxes and the ability to spend it on anything, are what make the general different from [[Cash Funds]] and [[Federal Funds]], which come from a specific source and can only be spent on specific things.
Type the text for 'Global Warming'
Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and trap heat. That process is called the [[Greenhouse]] effect. Basically, the gases let short wave solar radiation pass from space down to earth, but block longer-wave heat from passing back into space. The result is a hotter earth.
That OK, to a point. There have always been greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and they've always trapped heat. If it weren't for those gases, low temperatures in Boulder County would routinely be -50 or -60 degrees Fahrenheit. Summertime highs would be in the 40s.
The problem today is that there are a lot more of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere than ever before. Mostly because of industrialization and burning fossil fuels like coal and oil. Scientists say the additional, man made gases are causing our atmosphere to trap more heat than ever before, and that's causing [[Global Warming]].
EPA lists these as greenhouse gases:
* water vapor
* [[Carbon Dioxide]] (CO~~2~~)
* methane (CH~~4~~)
* nitrous oxide (N~~2~~O)
* halogenated fluorocarbons (HCFCs)
* ozone (O~~3~~)
* perfluorinated carbons (PFCs)
* hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
The list most relevant right now to Colorado is the one in California law. That's because it's the one generally incorporated into [[Clean Car]] laws like the one we're proposing in Colorado. The list includes:
* [[Carbon Dioxide]]
* methane
* nitrous oxide
* hydroflurocarbons
* perfluorocarbons
* sulfur hexafluoride.
Our atmosphere has always had some water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and ozone, although not as much as today. The rest come from things we do. The gases we create, including additions to naturally-occurring gases, are technically called "anthropogenic gases."
Ground water is water that flows underground as opposed to the surface water wee see in rivers, streams and lakes.
Even though it's underground, ground water is closely connected to surface water. First, it comes from the same place: rain and snow. When rain falls or snow melts, some of it runs over the surface until it collects in streams. Some soaks into the ground.
That water that soaks in generally moves straight down for a while, then stops and accumulates. While it's running down, it's in the unsaturated region. Eventually it runs into, and adds to, the saturated region. At the bottom of the saturated region is a layer of bedrock so dense that water can't pass through it. That's why the water accumulates. The top of the saturated region is called the water table. The water table rises and falls with the amount of water in the saturated region.
Ground water falls into a few different categories, both scientific and legal. There isn't necessarily a connection between the scientific and legal categories, which causes some consternation among water users.
! Designated Ground Water
Designated ground water isn't (legally) connected to a surface stream. The (legal) significance of ths is that disputes are heard in regular district court, not in water court.
The problem is that designated ground water (scientifically) can be connected to surface streams. That means pumping water from a designated basin can reduce the amount of water in the stream and hurt a senior water right. Sounds like a case for water court, but that's not how designated ground water is handled. At the moment, no one is quite sure what to do. Under Colorado Water Law, if a senior water right holder isn't getting the water he deserves, someone with a junior right should have to stop using water.
! Nontributary Ground Water
This category brings law and science closer together by way of practicality. It recognizes the scientific relationship between streams and ground water, but applies a practical, human time scale to draw a legal line between the two. Ground water is nontributary if it won't take 0.1% of the amount pumped out of the stream within 100 years.
The High School Graduation Rate is a hard statistic to get a handle on. One big problem is that there are so many different ways to calculate the rate. That makes it nearly impossible to compare the rates for different states. And that murky calculation comes on top of a wide range of graduation requirements even within Colorado.
On Colorado, we calculate the graduation rate with this formula:
> graduation rate =
> number of students graduating/(number of students who began 9th grade 4 years earlier) + (transfers in - transfers out)
It's not perfect. Districts have different requirements for graduation which means it can be harder to earn a diploma in one part of the state than another. Students who earn GEDs are counted as dropouts, but students who home school are not. Transfer also cause some problems; districts have to count a student as a dropout unless they get official documentation that he or she is enrolled in another district or home schooled.
The GED and transfer rules took effect in 2005, which accounts for a big drop in the graduation rate for 2006.
[[Click here|http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=poScryVjlryYH1OGlnvuwIA]] for the latest graduation statistics in Colorado.
The federal [[No Child Left Behind Act]] set sort of a standard for measuring graduation rates. It says the graduation rate equals:
> the percentage of students, measured from the beginning of high school, who graduate from high school with a regular diploma (not including an alternative degree that is not fully aligned with the state's academic standards, such as a certificate [of attendance] or a GED) in the standard number of years.
If a [[Community Centered Board]] determines that someone is eligible for services, it develops an individualized plan describing the services the person will get. It also explains what support it will offer to the person's family.
The IP is very specific. It not only lists the services and supports, but when they'll start and how the person and the person's family will benefit.
The services include:
* [[Adult Comprehensive Services]]
* [[Supported Living Services]]
* [[Children's Extensive Support]]
* [[Family Support Services]]
[[Medicaid]] pays for most of the services. The funding comes through [[Medicaid Waivers]] for home- and community-based services.
There are two ways to amend the Colorado Constitution: Referendum and Initiative. A Referendum starts in the state legislature, but an initiative starts with the public -- or at least it's suppose to.
The initiative wasn't in the original state constitution. It was added in 1912 as part of the progressive movement that was spreading across the states. People believed legislatures were controlled by special interests and they wanted a way to fight back. With an initiative, they could change state law or the constitution themselves.
The process is fairly simple. You decide what language you want in law or the constitution and register it with the Secretary of State. Then you go out and collect signatures on petitions to put the language on the ballot. You need signatures from a number of registered voters equal to 5% of the votes cast in the last Secretary of State election. These days that's about 70 thousand.
If you change the constitution, it stays changed unless voters undo it in another statewide election. If you change statute, the legislature can undo it. That's why so many initiatives put odd things into the constitution.
Not all states have an initiative process. Of those that do, Colorado ranks 3rd in the number of times it's been used to change the constitution. Since 1912, [[Initiatives]] have changed the constitution 67 times. It happened a lot in the early years, then tapered off. In the 1990s initiatives resurged. We've passed 19 of them in the past 15 years.
Ironically, what started out as a tool to let the voters fight special interested and boomeranged into a method for special interests to get their way if they can't convince the legislature. Instead of individual citizens collecting signatures in support of an issue they're passionate about, companies, organizations and rich individuals pay people to collect signatures, then pay for the expensive media campaigns for and against initiatives.
A couple of good examples have to do with gambling. Casino companies put the [[Gaming]] initiative on the ballot, paid to get it passed, and set up a sweet deal for themselves in a few Colorado towns. A few years later, the casinos took the other side on an initiative. It was a proposal to allow video gambling in Colorado. That would have been competition for the casinos and they successfully fought it in the most expensive initiative battle ever.
Here are some initiatives that have changed the Colorado Constitution:
;1972
:Prevented Colorado from paying for the 1976 Winter Olympics
;1982
:Limited residential property taxes
;1984
:Banned state funding of abortion
;1990
:Imposed term limits on state and local political offices
;1992
:TABOR limited state revenues among other things
;1996
:Outlawed leg trapping of animals
;1998
:Put regulations on commercial hog farms
;2000
:Legalized medical marijana
;2004
:Imposed renewable energy standards on commercial electric utilities
Type the text for 'InterfaceOptions'
! Other States
The Nebraska Supreme Court recently noted Colorado's long-held position on the science of tributary groundwater, citing the 1893 case between McClellan? and Hurdle:
>Colorado long ago recognized the science of hydrology as being conclusive with regard to the relationship between ground water and surface water. As a result, Colorado eliminated any legal fiction distinguishing the two, and treats them as one resource.
The Nebraska court contrasted Colorado's position to what it called Arizona "nonsensical 'subflow' doctrine."
In 1995 the legislature decided to let a panel of three judges decide if a person should be sentenced to death. Before that, sentencing had always been up to a jury.
! Ring v Arizona
In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that having a judge or judges sentence people to death violates a provision in the 6th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That provision requires juries to decide the facts of a case. The death penalty law said there had to be aggravating factors in order to sentence someone to die. The justices determined that those factors are the kind of facts that can only be decided by juries.
! Colorado's Case
Once the U.S. Supreme Court decided that having judges sentence people to death is unconstitutional, Colorado's law was as good as dead. In 2003 the Colorado Supreme Court applied the Ring reasoning and struck down our judge sentencing scheme. The justices invalidated any death sentences handed out by panels of judges and ordered the convicts resentenced to life without parole.
! More Information
[[Ring v Arizona|http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&q=Ring+v+Arizona&btnG=Google+Search]]
[[Welcome]]
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[[Encyclorado|http://pommer.us/tiki/tiki-index.php]]
[[Budget]]
[[Environment]]
[[Health Care]]
[[Taxes]]
Medicaid pays medical bills for people -- mostly children and chronically-ill -- who otherwise couldn't afford health care. The cost is shared by the federal and state governments. The share varies, but in Colorado it's 50-50. The state's total Medicaid bill comes to just under $2 billion; the state share takes up 20% of our budget, making it the second biggest cost after education.
People have to qualify for Medicaid. In general, they have to be low-income pregnant women, low-income children, elderly, or disabled. People are also eligible if they're on [[Colorado Works]], our version of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (what used to be welfare).
Medicaid is an entitlement program, which means anyone who qualifies gets the services. Since we have to pay our share, we estimate how many people will qualify in the coming year and budget accordingly. If our estimate is low, we have to find the additional money.
People who qualify for Medicaid get a Medicaid Authorization Card and ID number. They use it line and insurance card at the doctor's office or hospital. Medicaid covers the entire cost of care for children and pregnant women, but other people may have a co-pay.
! Paying the Bills
The state and the federal government share the cost of Medicaid services. The portion the feds pay is called Federal Financial Participation (FPP). It's different for every state. In Colorado the split is 50-50, which happens to be the minimum federal contribution the law allows. Some states pay a little over 20% themselves and get nearly 80% covered by the federal contribution. The split (bureaucrats call it the FMAP, for Federal Medical Assistance Percentage) is based on a state's per capita personal income. We earn a lot in Colorado, so we get the lowest possible federal match.
In order to use managed care under [[Medicaid]], states have to get out of the federal requirement that Medicaid beneficiaries get to choose their health care provider. Until recently, that meant applying for a [[Medicaid Waiver]]. In 1997, Congress came up with another option: and amendment to the [[Medicaid State Plan]].
Some [[Medicaid]] funding comes through special waivers granted by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Medicaid is an entitlement program which means that anyone who meets the financial qualifications gets services no matter how much it costs. Medicaid waivers let the state offer services with a limited budget, which means that not everyone who qualifies actually gets services.
The [[Developmental Disabilities Waiting List]] is a result of Medicaid waivers.
Medical [[Underwriting]] is one way insurance companies decide whether to cover you and how much to charge you for coverage. They try to figure out how healthy you are so they can predict how much you're likely to cost them in benefits.
!! The Process
Before issuing you insurance a company examines your medical history, your health and your habits. They're assessing the risk they're taking in promising to pay your medical bills. If the risk is too high, the company might not offer you a policy, or it might raise the premium you have to pay so it's getting more for the higher risk. of When you fill out an insurance application, the company asks questions like whether you smoke, They compare that information (or lack of it if you leave blanks) to your physical to figure out your health risks. The less healthy you look, the higher your premiums.
!! Rate Banding
Most states that let insurance companies use medical underwriting put some limits on the amount premiums can vary. For instance, no matter how unhealthy you seem, your premium could be more than 125% of the state average. The reverse would be true if you seem especially healthy. It's called "rate banding" and it's usually described as something like: medical underwriting with a rate banding requirement of plus or minus 25%.
Compare medical underwriting to [[Community Rating]].
A Mill Levy sets the tax paid on a property's [[Assessed Value]]. It works like a percentage, but one mill is equal to one thousandth of a dollar, or one-tenth of a cent. That means a one mill levy on property with an assessed value of $1,000 would be $1.
Why are property taxes expressed in mills? Tradition, I guess. At one point we did have a unit of money called a "mille." The Continental Congress defined it as a thousandth of a dollar. I don't know what it looked like or how heavy it was, but you'd need a couple thousand of them today to buy a cup of coffee.
In most states, and in Colorado before [[TABOR]], mill levies could float. If the taxable value of property went up, the mill levy would go down to keep a local government's budget constant. If the taxable value went down, the mill levy could go up. As a result, property taxes were a pretty stable source of revenue that helped governments offer services even if the economy declined. That's why so many local governments use property taxes to support essential services.
TABOR changed that. Mill levies can still go down, but they can't go back up without a public vote.
Many could not find coverage at any price
Source: [[Mythbuster! How the Insurance Industry creates "crises"|http://www.centerjd.org/free/mythbusters-free/MB_ins_ind_creates_crises.htm]]
In addition Mare Island Naval Shipyard built the first U.S. warship (1859) and the
first drydock (1872-91) constructed on the Pacific shore, converted a coal-burning vessel into the
Navy's first oil-burning ship (1905-8),Early in the 20th century, the U.S. Navy started building a fleet of oil-burning ships to
"Keep full of coal," was the last line in the telegraph Assistant Navy Secretary Roosevelt sent to Commodore Dewey on February 25, 1898. It was good advice and it signaled how serious Roosevelt was about getting the U.S. into a war with Spain.
At that time, the U.S. Navy ran on coal. Coal carrying ships called colliers kept the fleet fueled. In battle it took a collier to keep four warships fighting. When Roosevelt said to keep full of coal he meant "There's going to be a war and you're going to fight in it."
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1998/spring/naval-activities-in-spanish-american-war.html
Petroleum and the United States Navy before World War I
John A. DeNovo
The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. 41, No. 4 (Mar., 1955), pp. 641-656
doi:10.2307/1889181
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1998/spring/naval-activities-in-spanish-american-war.html
Roosevelt was right, of course. He had a lot of company in the campaign to fight Spain. A few months later the U.S.S Maine exploded in Havana Harbor, publisher William Randolph Hearst told his reporters in Cuba "You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war," yellow journalists screamed "Remember the Maine," and we went to war with the Spanish Empire.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/ac.htm
Roosevelt quit his dull day job and led the Rough Riders up San Juan Hill, the Commodore blasted a squadron of Spanish ships to the bottom of Manila Bay and America became a world power.
The Spanish American War was the end of a lot of things in America. It was the end of cavalry charges. It was the end of coal-fueled naval battles. And it was the end of our isolationism.
It was also the beginning of a lot of things. We emerged from the war a world power with small empire and a soon-to-be-announced "big stick" diplomacy. The big stick started out as a big, modern navy with a fleet of faster, more flexible oil-fueled warships, but it would become the world's most powerful standing (mostly oil-fueled) military. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_stick_diplomacy Our small empire would morph into superpower status. And, ironically, all that power would both come from and need more oil.
Did Congress see all of this coming? Hard to say, but they certainly saw that our future would be fueled by oil. In 1910 they passed the Pickett Act. It let the president set aside some government-owned, oil-producing land to supply the U.S. Navy. President Taft took the authority and put it into action.
"As not only the largest owner of oil lands, but as a prospective large consumer of oil by reason of the increasing use of fuel oil by the Navy, the Federal Government is directly concerned both in encouraging rational development and at the same time insuring the longest possible life to the oil supply." President Taft in 1910 http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/reserves/npr/npr-90years.html
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When you patent a mining claim on federal land, the land is yours; the government turns over the deed. At that point you can continuing mining, build a home, subdivide it, or sell it.
To patent the land, you technically had to prove to the federal government that the land had enough minerals to be worth mining and that you were in fact mining. Then you have to pay the people of the United States up to $5/acre for the land. I say technically prove the land's for mining because I've seen land that got patented even though the minerals weren't worth mining and were never mined.
A few years ago I toured some land in Keystone that had just been patented. It was 160 acres that a guy named Mark Hinton essentially bought for about $5/acre. Land in Keystone for $10/acre? Yup. He had a mining claim, put an old bulldozer on it and convinced the feds it was a legitimate gold mine. After the got the patent he lost interest in being a gold miner. He sold the land to Keystone which a few year later valued it at $3 million.
Why would the federal government sell off valuable land for $5.00 an acre? Because it's in the law. Of course that law was passed in 1872 Washington wanted to populate the west. Cheap and free land was one way it encouraged people to "go west, young man."
Why hasn't Congress upped the price since the 19th century? Why would it subject 1/4th of the U.S. to being sold to mostly foreign mining companies for a laughable price? If the government charged more than $5/acre nobody would mine on federal land. or so the argument goes.
In 1994 Congress did take a small step in the right direction. A Canadian mining company patented a thousand acres with more than $10 billion (yes, unfortunately that b-billion) worth of gold for just over $5 thousand (yes, unfortunately, that's t-thousand). Some left-leaning, tree-huggers argued that someone would have paid more than $5 grand for the $10 billion in gold. Congress considered it a point worth considering, so it passed a one-year moratorium on patents so it could [[study|http://www.ncseonline.org/nle/crsreports/mining/mine-1.cfm]] the issue.
Congress has renewed the moratorium each year since 1994, but hasn't had the guts to change the [[1872 Mining Law]].
This is the amount of money a district gets for each student in its schools. It's designed to meet our constitutional reuirement that the school system be [[Thorough and Uniform]] across the state. It's pretty good at getting it uniform; we don't talk much about thorough.
The basic idea is this: we should spend a similar amount educating each student in Colorado. We aim for a "similar" amount instead of the same amount because money goes farther in some districts than others, just like the same salary buys more in rural Kentudky than in Manhattan.
We start with [[Base Funding]] an amount that serves only as the starting point for the calculation. No district actually gets the base funding -- they all get more.
How much more depends on various [[Factors]] that we use to account for differences among districts:
* The [[Cost of Living Factor]] accounts for variations in the price of things like food, clothing, housing and other ordiary living expenses.
* The [[Personnel Costs Factor]] varies with the amount districts have to pay to hire teachers and other employees.
8 The [[Size Factor]] is generally higher the smakller a district is. It helps them make up for their lack of purchasing power compared to bigger districts.
There are two other things that affect how much a district gets per pupil, but they're technically not factors. The factors are all multiplied by the number of students in a district. These final two items are added to the per-pupil amount after the factors:
* [[At-Risk Funding]] recognizes the extra resources that are often needed to education less-affluent students and students who don't speak English.
* [[On-line Funding]] pays for students who are attending a districts on-line education program, if a district has one.
Regardless of the result of the calculation, there is a minimum amount per-pupil that a district gets. In 2007-08 it's 94.3% of average per-pupil funding. For the 2008-09 school year and thereafter it will be 95% the of average
In case you're wondering, it's pronounced PEE-aunce, or something like that. There's not general agreement.
The coal is interesting because of the [[Coalbed Methane]] that's in it, possibly as much as 136 trillion cubic feet. Right now companies are pumping out about (how much) a year, but that number is going up quickly.
The methane is in a layer of rock called the Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group. The Upper Cretaceous Period ended just before the dinosaurs, about 67 million years ago. At that time the great Western Interior Seaway was just drying up. Just a few millennia earlier it had stretched from the middle of Utah to the Appalachians and from the Arctic Circle to the Gulf of Mexico. But the sea was shrinking. By the Late Cretaceous the beach front property was in Colorado, up bo Rio Blanco County. But the shoreline shifted a lot; it was a battle between sediments from the west (flowing down rivers) and seawater from the east. As the area alternated between beaches and swamps, it laid down what are now the sandstones and
People close to the formation call it the Cameo-Wheeler-Fairfield coal zone. People trying toreach it call it deep. Most of the methane is more than 5,000 feet down. And a lot of that 5,000 feet is coal, which is solid enough to keep the methane from flowing easily through it. The depth and the lack of permeability of the coal make it hard to get the gas. Gas producers prefer shallow wells in permeable rock where gas can flow in from a wide area around the well.
To help the gas get through, producers fracture the rock. They blast high-pressure water mixed with sand down the well. The water cracks open the rock and the sand (called proppant) keeps it open.
The methane bearing layer covers more than 7 thousand square miles. At the west end near ( ) it's 2,000 feet thick, but it grows to more than 6,000 feet at its easternmost edge.
This is the doctrine that governs water law in Colorado. It basically means that whoever started using water first has the most senior right. From then on the later someone started driverting water, the more junior the right.
The system matters most when there's not enough water to satisfy everybody. People with senior rights can require people with junior rights to stop using water until the seniors have what they need.
I said "basically," because there are some conditions. For one thing, you only get a right if you're diverting the water for "beneficial use." And even if you're using the water, you can't waste it or claim more than you actually need.
The doctrine is also called "first in time, first in right." It's pretty common in dry, western states. Back east, where there's more water, water rights are often tied to land ownership with state oversight. That's called the riparian system.
Property taxes are the taxes we pay on, well, property. Most of us think of them as the tax we pay on our homes. Businesses pay what's confusingly called the [[Business Personal Property Tax]]. Its a tax on all of the things a businesses uses, like tools, desks, computers and the like.
Property taxes are based on a few factors:
* The [[Actual Value]], which is what the property is worth.
* The [[Assessed Value]], which is the portion of the actual value on which you pay property tax
* The [[Mill Levy]], which is the rate of tax you pay on the assessed value of your property
Got it? Here it is in formula form:
Assessed Value = Actual Value X Assessment Rate
Tax = Assessed Value X Mill Levy
So lets say your home is worth $100,000. Right now, the residential assessment rate is 7.96%. To calculate the assessed value of your home, you would multiply:
$100,000 X 7.96% = $7,960
If your mill levy is 5 mills, to calculate your tax you would multiple:
$7,960 X .005 = $39.80
Counting the number of students in a school is critical since the amount of money a district gets depends on how many kids it's teaching.
Districts tally students each year on the October pupil count day. They encourage every student to show up, but if a student is absent they can add him or her later in the month.
A district's total number of students is based on a full-time-equivalent number. Most students are full-time, some (like preschool and kindergarten) are half-time.
High school students taking college classes as part of the [[Fast College, Fast Jobs]] program are counted as 0.85 FTE if they're taking at least 12 credit hours in higher ed.
In order to even out finances for districts that add and lose a lot of students, they can average out their student counts over 2, 3, or 4 years.
Colorado has 178 school districts that range in size from 60 students to more than 80 thousand students.
Signed in 1943. Under the agreement, each state got a share of the river's water.
! It Started with a Lawsuit
In 1998 Kansas sued Nebraska. The suit accused Nebraska of taking too much water from the river, mostly through wells that pump up groundwater that's connected to the visible river. Colorado got dragged into the suit in 2000.
The court appointed a Special Master to oversee the case. He's a retired retired chief justice of the Maine Supreme Court named Vincent McKusick. Maine doesn't have much in common with Colorado when it comes to water (unless you take the name Mt. Desert Island literally), but McKusick had a distinguished career. He clerked for Learned Hand and Felix Frankfurter, then went to work on the Manhattan Project.
And it could be that he spent time on the beach in Maine and noticed that the tide determined how deep you had to dig on the beach to reach water. In any case, his first report as Special Master recognized groundwater as a part of the Republican River system, at least "to the extent it depletes Republican River Basin streamflows." That finding was laster affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
! The Settlement
The three states reached a settlement in 2002. It resolved the issues on the Republican River and created some legal and scientific ripples that are still spreading out across the states. Here are some highlights of the settlement:
* Cleared away claims from 1992 and earlier.
* Set up more specific accounting procedures.
* Created a dispute resolution process.
* Based compliance on a multi-year average of streamflow amounts rather than a single year measurement.
* Required the states to develop a model to measure how groundwater affects the river.
That last point is a big one. It recognizes that groundwater is connected to the river and that it can both deplete and add water. Pumping well water eventually depletes the river, but importing water from another basin (specifically the Platte) recharges the system.
The settlement forced Nebraska for the first time to recognize the relationship between surface and groundwater.
Colorado gets just over 54 thousand AF per year. The Republican River Basin covers nearly 25 thousand square miles in Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska. Just under 8,000 sq. mi. of that are in Colorado.
Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska signed the compact in 1942. The Compact is administered by a three-member panel, one member representing each of the three states.
Residential assessment rate right now is 7.96% of a home's actual value. That's pretty low. It's been pushed down by the odd interaction of two provisions in the Colorado Constitution: [[TABOR]] and the [[Gallagher Amendment]].
The rate is set by the legislature based on a study done by the [[Department of Revenue]]'s [[Division of Property Taxation]].
By Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News
July 21, 2007http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/energy/article/0,2777,DRMN_23914_5639055,00.html
Residents who live near a 1969 underground nuclear blast site want to block all drilling within a three-mile radius until scientific studies prove it would be safe to pump natural gas to the surface.A nuclear device was detonated underground at the Rulison site in 1969 as a test in hopes of freeing up natural gas from oil shale. A well at the site produced gas, but it was too radioactive.
Companies cannot drill within a half-mile radius of Rulison Field.
The U.S. Energy Department is reviewing safety issues in the area and will recommend a new buffer when it releases its study in September, according to Tom Pauling with the department's Office of Legacy Management. "I wish it was a 50-mile buffer," said Brady Weldon, whose parents live within the half-mile buffer in Rulison. "But I will be glad if there is a three-mile moratorium on drilling."
The move by the Weldons and their neighbors comes after a Texas company started drilling near the blast site and then abruptly left, leaving a string of environmental violations.
Woodlands, Texas-based Presco Inc. sold its property and gas wells near the blast site to Noble Energy Product
Colorado colleges and universities sometimes build things without using any state money -- a football stadium, for instance. The money comes from things like gifts, grants or student fees.
SB 92-202 set up a quick review process for projects the schools are going to build and operate without state money. It saves them the time and trouble of getting full approval from the [[Colorado Commission on Higher Education]], the [[Joint Budget Committee]] and the [[Capital Development Committee]].
The CCHE still has to approve the projects and, during that time, the JBC and CDC can make recommendations. Why are involved at all? A couple of reasons. First, it's always possible that a non-state-funded project would become our responsibility at some point. And second, we like to know what schools are doing with their own money as we make decisions about how much state money to give them.
Type the text for 'SaveBackups'
Here's a list of items you may see on a Settlement Statement:
* Real estate agent’s commission is what (usually) the seller pays for the agent’s work in selling the home.
* Loan costs are what the lender charges for approving and making your loan
* Loan origination fee is what the buyer pays the lender for processing the loan
* Loan discount is the points you pay to buy down the interest rate on the loan
* Appraisal fee
* Credit report fee
* Lender’s inspection fee covers the cost of an inspection of the home
* Mortgage insurance application fee covers the cost of processing mortga insurance if your lenders is forcing you to buy it.
* Assumption fee pays the buyer for “assuming,” or taking over the responsibility to pay the seller’s existing mortgage
* Mortgage broker fee pays your broker for getting you the loan
* Costs you have to pay in advance
* First interest payment covers interest from the say you settle until your first actual payment is due
* Premium for mortgage insurance
* Premium for other insurance against things that could damage your home
* Deposits to the escrow account so your lender can start earning extra interest right away
* Title charges
* Closing fee pays the settlement agent for handling the details
* Cost of the title search
* Document fees pay the cost of preparing legal papers like the deed
* Notary fee pays for getting the documents notarized
* Attorney’s fees
* Title insurance
* Recording fee pays for legally recording the deed and the mortgage at the county clerk and recorder’s office so the next buyer can pay an abstractor to make a copy of them
* Survey
* Inspections for bugs (insects, not Homeland Security), lead paint, etc.
* Paid outside of closing is stuff you already got nicked for
* Then there’s a final box that tells you how much money you should bring to the closing, excluding tip.
Quick facts about Colorado policy and politics
Bigger districts can buy in bulk; that purchasing power saves them money. The Size Factor puts that advantage (or disadvantage for smaller districts) into each districts [[Per-pupil Funding]].
The factor recognizes a districts size: Tall, Vente ... no, wait -- that's coffee. Districts come in a lot of different sizes ranging from 60 students to more than 80 thousand. The Size Fact benefits small districts -- those with fewer than 4,000 students -- the most. But it boosts funding for bigger districts as well.
The factor ranges from just over 1 to more than 2.
--Charter School Cost--
Districts that have fewer than 500 students get an even higher size factor if they have a charter school draining money from their budget. It's odd, because larger districts don't get an increase no matter how many charter schools they have.
Since district don't have any say in the number of charter schools they have to support, and a lot of big charter schools can hurt a larger district as much as a single small charter can hurt a small district, the factor doesn't make much sense. I an't say for sure, but this was probably added to get a few specific legislators to vote for some charter school bill.
These were supposed to temporarily let people pump water out of priority by proving to the state engineer that the well water was being replaced. The engineer had to approve them each year. A series of engineers did just that, re-approving 4000 of the “temporary” plans each year for 25 years.
People with senior water rights were always leery of the substitute plans; they suspected the substitute supplies were coming up short – leaving less water in the river for senior users. The engineers kept the supply plans secret, increasing suspicion that something wasn't right.
The state's budget is based on estimates of how much money will come in and how much things will cost over the next fiscal year. Both change. We use supplementals to adjust the budget to those changes.
Our budget bill is a law and it has to be passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor. That means supplementals have to passed and signed into law too.
! Types of Supplementals
A positive supplemental (or just a supplemental) increases the amount we're spending on something. A negative supplemental (yeah, it's an odd term) reduces how much we're spending. (Departments don't have to spend all of the money we budget for them. We use negative supplementals when revenues come in lower than we expected and we have to force departments to spend less).
The term supplemental is short for supplemental appropriation.
! Emergency Supplementals
Some changes have to happen quickly and can't wait for the next legislative session. To handle those situations, the Legislature has granted the [[Joint Budget Committee]] authority to approve overexpenditures when the full assembly is out of session. (No, if we're reducing spending it's not called a negative overexpenditure; it's a recision). These are called emergency supplementals. They're authorized by HB 98-1331 and we often refer to them as 1331s.
An emergency supplemental has to be approved by the Governor's [[Office of State Planning and Budgeting]] and the JBC. The result is a letter to the [[State Controller]] telling him or her to pay (or cut) the expense.
At the beginning of the next legislative session the JBC has to introduce any emergency supplementals it approved as regular supplementals so they can formally pass and get signed by the governor.
What happens if the bill dies? The Controller has to stop the spending.
SLS are less than round-the-clock services that help people with developmental disabilities live in their own home or with their families. They help keep people from having to live in an institution.
The services offered include:
* Medical equipment and supplies
* Counseling, therapy
* Dental, hearing and eye care
* Modifications to help them live in their homes
* Help with bathing, eating and other daily activities (including help for relatives who care for them)
* Speech therapy and other communication services
* Transportation
* Help learning a skill and getting a job
The Taxpayers' Bill of Rights is pages and pages of dense rules, but two of it's provisions have the biggest affect on the state's budget:
* It requires a public vote on any increase in a tax rate.
* It limits any increase revenue from existing tax rates to inflation plus population growth.
The revenue limits works this way: add the rate of inflation to the rate of population growth. The total is the amount revenue can increase from the previous year.
TABOR specifically defines inflation as the [[Denver-Boulder-Greeley Consumer Price Index|http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/servlet/SurveyOutputServlet?data_tool=dropmap&series_id=CUURA433SA0,CUUSA433SA0]]. We get projections and than final numbers each year from the [[U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics|http://www.bls.gov/cpi/]].
Population growth is a little trickier. Every 10 years the [[U.S. Census Bureau|http://www.census.gov/]] counts everyone and we know the state's population. But TABOR requires a number every year. In between official counts we use [[estimates|http://www.census.gov/popest/states/NST-ann-est.html]]. It gives us a number, but that number is likely to be wrong. On a year to year basis, we just use it, but at the end of the decade, when we get a real count, we try to true it up. The last (and only) time we did that, it turned out that the population estimates had been low. That meant that we limited revenue more that TABOR required, so the state got some additional money. And we call the [[Growth Dividend]].
If the 2010 census shows our estimates have been high, we'll have to change the name to something like the Growth Penalty.
TABOR also includes a lot of other rules and restrictions:
* Requires a 3% [[Emergency Reserve]]
* Prohibits any state property tax, local income tax and real estate transfer tax
* Requires tax-related elections to be held at specific times
Under TABOR, governments can use the revenue from existing tax rates, or increase tax rates if the voters approve. That's led to a lot of elections, including [[TABOR Statewide Elections]] and [[TABOR Local Elections]].
Local governments from counties to school districts have frequently asked voters to opt them out of TABOR restrictions. The voters have been pretty agreeable, at least compared to their votes on [[TABOR Statewide Elections]].
In all, there have been more than 12,000 local TABOR elections, including nearly every school district in Colorado.
We've voted in 7 statewide TABOR elections. Here's a list:
;1993
:State tourism tax: Failed
;1994
:Tobacco tax increase: Failed
;1997
:Gasoline tax increase: Failed
;1999
:Borrow money for transportation projects: Passed
:2000
:Cut state and local taxes: Failed
;2001
:Borrow money to buy open space: Passed
;2004
:Tobacco tax increase: Passed
;2005
:5-year timeout from TABOR revenue limit: Passed
:Bond issue to pay for highways, capital construction and police & fire pensions: Failed
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config.shadowTiddlers.StyleSheetTiddlersBar = "/*{{{*/\n" + "#tiddlersBar .button {border:0}\n" + "#tiddlersBar {padding : 1em 0.5em 0 0.5em}\n"+ "/*}}}*/";
store.addNotification("StyleSheetTiddlersBar", refreshStyles);
Having title to a piece of property means that you own it. But there's a catch. A title can be "clouded," which means you think you own it but, for some reason, you really don't.
That "some reason" can be anything from a bad legal description of the property to a lien against the property because a previous owner didn't pay his taxes.
If you're buying a home, you (or your lender), will want to know that the seller has clear title to the property, so he or she can legally transfer ownership to you. Otherwise you could pay and wind up without the property.
How do you know the title is clear? The state real estate division lists three ways:
* A [[Title Abstract and Opinion]], which show clouds if there are any
* [[Title Insurance]], which should cover the costs of any title problems that pop up
* A Torrens Certificate, which has something to do with Britich ships and doesn't seem to be used very much
An abstract is a legal and financial history of your home. That history is sometimes called the "chain of title." The abstract lists everyone who has owned it, all of the loans, liens and legal issues that have affected it and evidence that they've been settled. The abstract is the result of a [[Title Search]], preferably done by an experienced professional.
An abstract can show that there are no "clouds" on the title, meaning someone owns the property "free and clear." It can also discover a cloud, which means the owner has to clear it before he or she can sell the property. One common cloud is lack of evidence that a previous mortgage has been paid off. It's often a paperwork problem, but could be serious.
The abstractor will usually make copies of any document that affects a property. And all of those documents should be filed with the clerk. But the abstract isn't absolute proof of ownership. For one thing, some document in the record could be a forgery.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the abstract is just a history; it shows what documents are on file. An abstractor can't necessarily determine of those documents prove ownership. The state real estate division recommends that after you get the abstract, you turn it over to an attorney for a legal opinion on what the documents actually show.
Title insurance covers the cost of any problems that result from a clouded [[Title]]. In the wost case, the seller didn't really own the property and couldn't legally sell it. That's a big claim against the title insurance. A smaller claim might come from a bad legal description that shaves a few feet off the lot.
There's no law in Colorado requiring title insurance, but if you're buying the home with a mortgage, the lender will want it. Typically, the seller will buy title insurance for the buyer and the buyer will pay for the lender's policy.
There are a couple of things to keep in mind about title insurance. First, it covers the person (or entity) named in the policy. Just because your mortgage company required title insurance doesn't mean you're covered. You need your own policy.
Second, just like any other insurance, title insurance covers certain things up to a certain amount. If the [[Title Search]] turned up a problem, that particular problem will likely be excluded from the insurance. Title insurance can also exclude coverage for things that aren't in the county records for some reason.
If you're buying property through a real estate agent, the agent will usually recommend a title company. You can also choose your own. The rates vary and so does the level of service and professionalism. It's worth asking your agent if he or she has a financial relationship with the title company.
The Colorado [[Division of Insurance]] keeps a list of the title insurance companies that are licensed to issue policies in Colorado. Go to [[this page|http://cdilookup.asisvcs.com/Disclaimer.aspx]], click on Search for Colorado Authorized Companies, then under "Company Type" choose Title from the dropdown menu. You can also [[compare rates|http://www.dora.state.co.us/pls/real/Ins_Survey_Reports.Process_Report_Selection]] on the web.
Before an insurer actually issues a title policy, it may give you a commitment to issue the policy. This helps a home sale move along while the insurer prepares the actual policy.
A title search is a thorough review of all the records that affect the ownership of a piece of property. The searcher, usually an abstractor, title company or lawyer, may have to go through decades of records at the county courthouse looking for anything that could cloud the title.
Under Colorado law, a deed for a property and any documents that affect the deed have to be filed with the County Clerk and Recorder. Someone doing a title search goes to the county clerks office and digs up all of the records for the property in question. It takes experience, because you have to look for records that are there and records that are not there, but should be. That's a big job if it's an old home that's had a lot of owners.
If a less than honest title company is trying to cut corners, the title search is a good place to do it. A bad search can save time and money and the title company can home someone did a good search the last time the property sold.
/%
|Name|ToggleRightSidebar|
|Source|http://www.TiddlyTools.com/#ToggleRightSidebar|
|Version|0.0.0|
|Author|Eric Shulman - ELS Design Studios|
|License|http://www.TiddlyTools.com/#LegalStatements <<br>>and [[Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License|http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/]]|
|~CoreVersion|2.1|
|Type|script|
|Requires||
|Overrides||
|Description||
%/<script label="show/hide right sidebar">
var show=document.getElementById('sidebar').style.display=='none';
if (!show) {
document.getElementById('sidebar').style.display='none';
var margin='1em';
}
else {
document.getElementById('sidebar').style.display='block';
var margin=config.options.txtDisplayAreaRightMargin?config.options.txtDisplayAreaRightMargin:"";
}
place.innerHTML=(show?"Need More Room?":"Need the Sidebar?"); // SET LINK TEXT
place.title=show?"hide sidebar":"show sidebar"; // SET TOOLTIP
document.getElementById('displayArea').style.marginRight=margin;
config.options.chkShowRightSidebar=show;
saveOptionCookie('chkShowRightSidebar');
var sm=document.getElementById("storyMenu"); if (sm) config.refreshers.content(sm);
return false;
</script><script>
if (config.options.chkShowRightSidebar==undefined)
config.options.chkShowRightSidebar=true;
if (!config.options.txtDisplayAreaRightMargin||!config.options.txtDisplayAreaRightMargin.length)
config.options.txtDisplayAreaRightMargin="15em";
var show=config.options.chkShowRightSidebar;
document.getElementById('sidebar').style.display=show?"block":"none";
document.getElementById('displayArea').style.marginRight=show?config.options.txtDisplayAreaRightMargin:"1em";
place.lastChild.innerHTML=(show?"Hide Sidebar;":"Show Sidebar;"); // SET LINK TEXT
place.lastChild.title=show?"hide sidebar":"show sidebar"; // SET TOOLTIP
place.lastChild.style.fontWeight="normal";
</script>
The amount of money a school district gets through the [[School Finance Act]] is called Total Program.
Budgets are based on the number of students in a district and the amount that district gets per student. The formula for a districts Total Program is:
Total Program = [[Pupil Count]] x [[Per-Pupil Funding]] + [[At-risk Funding]] + [[Online Funding]]
The [[Per-pupil Funding]] a district gets is calculated by the state each year according to the rules in that year's [[School Finance Act]] and conditions in the district.
Ground water that's linked to a river system. It's an important designation because a well that uses tributary ground water is part of the river's prior appropriation system.
"Surface water and ground water are intimately connected," is how University of Nebraska Hydrologist James Goeke puts it. He adds that understanding the relationship is "essential for the future of water use and development."
Water moving down a stream is easy to see. Water moving underground is hidden, but just as important.
Groundwater in Colorado comes from the same place as surface water: the sky. When rain falls or snow melts, much of the water flows downhill into streams which join together into rivers. Some of the water soaks into the ground. It moves through open spaces in soil and rock until it runs into an impermeable barrier of bedrock. At that point it starts to fill up the permeable ground forming the water table.
As long as the mater is filtering downward, it's in the unsaturated zone. The water table marks the beginning of the saturated zone.
If the bedrock slopes (and it usually does) the groundwater starts moving laterally (although, of course, still downward). Water can move through the ground for miles, but most of it eventually comes to the surface. It flows right into a river, or starts its own by bubbling up into a headwater stream.
Groundwater flow is a lot like stream flow, but a lot slower. Instead of using feet-per-second like they do for rivers and streams, hydrologists measure groundwater flow in feet-per-year. Yeah, that's slow.
Of course there's slow and slower. Groundwater doesn't always move at the same speed. It's controlled by two key factors:
* The slope of the bedrock
* The permeability of the saturated zone
Obviously a steeper slope will help groundwater moving along faster. But once you hit the plains, there's isn't all that much variation. That leaves permeability as the main speed regulator.
When the saturated layer is made up of big rocks and coarse sand, water moves through it relatively easily. As the materials get finer, the space between particles gets smaller and that slows the water down. In general, the materials that make up the ground get finer the farther they are from the mountains.
You can see the general trend just by traveling along a creek. Up high, where weathering breaks up the mountains into rocks, they topple down into streams with sharp, irregular edges. When they pile up, they don't fit together very well, leaving lots of open space between them.
That changes as the stream water starts washing them down a natural lapidary. As the rocks tumble along the stream bed they batter each other, breaking off the sharp edges until they take on the rounded shape of river rocks. Then the start diminishing; slowly abrading away into gravel, granules, sand, silt and clay. Each step down in size eliminates some of the gap between particles, reducing permeability.
This process doesn't just affect the riverbed. From the moment the water leaves the mountain canyon, it starts to spread out over the landscape. It mostly meanders, slowly spreading sediment across a relatively narrow channel. But occasionally it floods, pushing its sediments far out from the stream. The whole process produces an alluvial plain; a broad stretch of sediments that match the material of the stream bed.
It's through this alluvium that the water table moves. And it's into this alluvium that wells are drilled. And it's strangely backward that these sentences are written.
When it comes to conserving water, that slower speed can be useful. But it can cause problems too. In fact, it's at the heart of the fight between surface users and well users.
/***
Contains the stuff you need to use Tiddlyspot
Note you must also have UploadPlugin installed
***/
//{{{
// edit this if you are migrating sites or retrofitting an existing TW
config.tiddlyspotSiteId = 'encyclorado';
// make it so you can by default see edit controls via http
config.options.chkHttpReadOnly = false;
window.readOnly = false; // make sure of it (for tw 2.2)
// disable autosave in d3
if (window.location.protocol != "file:")
config.options.chkGTDLazyAutoSave = false;
// tweak shadow tiddlers to add upload button, password entry box etc
with (config.shadowTiddlers) {
SiteUrl = 'http://'+config.tiddlyspotSiteId+'.tiddlyspot.com';
SideBarOptions = SideBarOptions.replace(/(<<saveChanges>>)/,"$1<<tiddler TspotSidebar>>");
OptionsPanel = OptionsPanel.replace(/^/,"<<tiddler TspotOptions>>");
DefaultTiddlers = DefaultTiddlers.replace(/^/,"[[Welcome to Tiddlyspot]] ");
MainMenu = MainMenu.replace(/^/,"[[Welcome to Tiddlyspot]] ");
}
// create some shadow tiddler content
merge(config.shadowTiddlers,{
'Welcome to Tiddlyspot':[
"This document is a ~TiddlyWiki from tiddlyspot.com. A ~TiddlyWiki is an electronic notebook that is great for managing todo lists, personal information, and all sorts of things.",
"",
"@@font-weight:bold;font-size:1.3em;color:#444; //What now?// @@ Before you can save any changes, you need to enter your password in the form below. Then configure privacy and other site settings at your [[control panel|http://" + config.tiddlyspotSiteId + ".tiddlyspot.com/controlpanel]] (your control panel username is //" + config.tiddlyspotSiteId + "//).",
"<<tiddler TspotControls>>",
"See also GettingStarted.",
"",
"@@font-weight:bold;font-size:1.3em;color:#444; //Working online// @@ You can edit this ~TiddlyWiki right now, and save your changes using the \"save to web\" button in the column on the right.",
"",
"@@font-weight:bold;font-size:1.3em;color:#444; //Working offline// @@ A fully functioning copy of this ~TiddlyWiki can be saved onto your hard drive or USB stick. You can make changes and save them locally without being connected to the Internet. When you're ready to sync up again, just click \"upload\" and your ~TiddlyWiki will be saved back to tiddlyspot.com.",
"",
"@@font-weight:bold;font-size:1.3em;color:#444; //Help!// @@ Find out more about ~TiddlyWiki at [[TiddlyWiki.com|http://tiddlywiki.com]]. Also visit [[TiddlyWiki Guides|http://tiddlywikiguides.org]] for documentation on learning and using ~TiddlyWiki. New users are especially welcome on the [[TiddlyWiki mailing list|http://groups.google.com/group/TiddlyWiki]], which is an excellent place to ask questions and get help. If you have a tiddlyspot related problem email [[tiddlyspot support|mailto:support@tiddlyspot.com]].",
"",
"@@font-weight:bold;font-size:1.3em;color:#444; //Enjoy :)// @@ We hope you like using your tiddlyspot.com site. Please email [[feedback@tiddlyspot.com|mailto:feedback@tiddlyspot.com]] with any comments or suggestions."
].join("\n"),
'TspotControls':[
"| tiddlyspot password:|<<option pasUploadPassword>>|",
"| site management:|<<upload http://" + config.tiddlyspotSiteId + ".tiddlyspot.com/store.cgi index.html . . " + config.tiddlyspotSiteId + ">>//(requires tiddlyspot password)//<<br>>[[control panel|http://" + config.tiddlyspotSiteId + ".tiddlyspot.com/controlpanel]], [[download (go offline)|http://" + config.tiddlyspotSiteId + ".tiddlyspot.com/download]]|",
"| links:|[[tiddlyspot.com|http://tiddlyspot.com/]], [[FAQs|http://faq.tiddlyspot.com/]], [[announcements|http://announce.tiddlyspot.com/]], [[blog|http://tiddlyspot.com/blog/]], email [[support|mailto:support@tiddlyspot.com]] & [[feedback|mailto:feedback@tiddlyspot.com]], [[donate|http://tiddlyspot.com/?page=donate]]|"
].join("\n"),
'TspotSidebar':[
"<<upload http://" + config.tiddlyspotSiteId + ".tiddlyspot.com/store.cgi index.html . . " + config.tiddlyspotSiteId + ">><html><a href='http://" + config.tiddlyspotSiteId + ".tiddlyspot.com/download' class='button'>download</a></html>"
].join("\n"),
'TspotOptions':[
"tiddlyspot password:",
"<<option pasUploadPassword>>",
""
].join("\n")
});
//}}}
Underwriting means taking on risk in return for money. Investment banks find people to underwrite the risk of starting and growing a corporation.You pay insurance companies to underwrite the risk that you'll get sick, crash your car or , if you're Betty Grable, break a leg.
I mentioned Betty Grable because Lloyd's of London underwrote the possibility that something would go wrong with her legs. More recently, it insured Keith Richard's fingers (because someone apparently believed his fingers will be worth something even after his liver, heart and brain have wasted away).
I mentioned Lloyd's because that's where the term underwriting originated. Lloyd's managers would lay out the risk of insuring a ship and its cargo. Then they would walk around Edward Lloyd's coffee shop assembling a syndicate of people to take on some of the risk. To join he syndicate, a person would write his name under the amount of risk he was willing to take on. Get it? Write his name under to underwrite the risk. It gets better. The "Name" (LLoyd's slang for an underwriter) would be paid a "premium" for taking on a risk.
| !date | !user | !location | !storeUrl | !uploadDir | !toFilename | !backupdir | !origin |
| 26/08/2007 12:50:18 | Jack | [[/|http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/]] | [[store.cgi|http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/store.cgi]] | . | [[index.html | http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/index.html]] | . | ok |
| 26/08/2007 13:01:38 | Jack | [[/|http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/]] | [[store.cgi|http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/store.cgi]] | . | [[index.html | http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/index.html]] | . |
| 10/09/2007 20:23:19 | Jack | [[/|http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/]] | [[store.cgi|http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/store.cgi]] | . | [[index.html | http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/index.html]] | . | ok |
| 11/09/2007 00:19:44 | Jack | [[/|http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/]] | [[store.cgi|http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/store.cgi]] | . | [[index.html | http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/index.html]] | . | ok |
| 11/09/2007 00:23:27 | Jack | [[/|http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/]] | [[store.cgi|http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/store.cgi]] | . | [[index.html | http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/index.html]] | . |
| 15/09/2007 13:34:22 | Jack | [[encyclorado.html|file:///home/laptop/Desktop/encyclorado.html]] | [[store.cgi|http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/store.cgi]] | . | [[index.html | http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/index.html]] | . | ok |
| 15/09/2007 13:43:48 | Jack | [[encyclorado.html|file:///home/laptop/Desktop/encyclorado.html]] | [[store.cgi|http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/store.cgi]] | . | [[index.html | http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/index.html]] | . |
| 15/09/2007 13:54:39 | Jack | [[/|http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/]] | [[store.cgi|http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/store.cgi]] | . | [[index.html | http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/index.html]] | . |
| 02/10/2007 13:33:49 | Jack | [[/|http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/]] | [[store.cgi|http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/store.cgi]] | . | [[index.html | http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/index.html]] | . | ok |
| 02/10/2007 13:51:06 | Jack | [[/|http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/]] | [[store.cgi|http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/store.cgi]] | . | [[index.html | http://encyclorado.tiddlyspot.com/index.html]] | . |
/***
|''Name:''|PasswordOptionPlugin|
|''Description:''|Extends TiddlyWiki options with non encrypted password option.|
|''Version:''|1.0.2|
|''Date:''|Apr 19, 2007|
|''Source:''|http://tiddlywiki.bidix.info/#PasswordOptionPlugin|
|''Author:''|BidiX (BidiX (at) bidix (dot) info)|
|''License:''|[[BSD open source license|http://tiddlywiki.bidix.info/#%5B%5BBSD%20open%20source%20license%5D%5D ]]|
|''~CoreVersion:''|2.2.0 (Beta 5)|
***/
//{{{
version.extensions.PasswordOptionPlugin = {
major: 1, minor: 0, revision: 2,
date: new Date("Apr 19, 2007"),
source: 'http://tiddlywiki.bidix.info/#PasswordOptionPlugin',
author: 'BidiX (BidiX (at) bidix (dot) info',
license: '[[BSD open source license|http://tiddlywiki.bidix.info/#%5B%5BBSD%20open%20source%20license%5D%5D]]',
coreVersion: '2.2.0 (Beta 5)'
};
config.macros.option.passwordCheckboxLabel = "Save this password on this computer";
config.macros.option.passwordInputType = "password"; // password | text
setStylesheet(".pasOptionInput {width: 11em;}\n","passwordInputTypeStyle");
merge(config.macros.option.types, {
'pas': {
elementType: "input",
valueField: "value",
eventName: "onkeyup",
className: "pasOptionInput",
typeValue: config.macros.option.passwordInputType,
create: function(place,type,opt,className,desc) {
// password field
config.macros.option.genericCreate(place,'pas',opt,className,desc);
// checkbox linked with this password "save this password on this computer"
config.macros.option.genericCreate(place,'chk','chk'+opt,className,desc);
// text savePasswordCheckboxLabel
place.appendChild(document.createTextNode(config.macros.option.passwordCheckboxLabel));
},
onChange: config.macros.option.genericOnChange
}
});
merge(config.optionHandlers['chk'], {
get: function(name) {
// is there an option linked with this chk ?
var opt = name.substr(3);
if (config.options[opt])
saveOptionCookie(opt);
return config.options[name] ? "true" : "false";
}
});
merge(config.optionHandlers, {
'pas': {
get: function(name) {
if (config.options["chk"+name]) {
return encodeCookie(config.options[name].toString());
} else {
return "";
}
},
set: function(name,value) {config.options[name] = decodeCookie(value);}
}
});
// need to reload options to load passwordOptions
loadOptionsCookie();
/*
if (!config.options['pasPassword'])
config.options['pasPassword'] = '';
merge(config.optionsDesc,{
pasPassword: "Test password"
});
*/
//}}}
/***
|''Name:''|UploadPlugin|
|''Description:''|Save to web a TiddlyWiki|
|''Version:''|4.1.0|
|''Date:''|May 5, 2007|
|''Source:''|http://tiddlywiki.bidix.info/#UploadPlugin|
|''Documentation:''|http://tiddlywiki.bidix.info/#UploadPluginDoc|
|''Author:''|BidiX (BidiX (at) bidix (dot) info)|
|''License:''|[[BSD open source license|http://tiddlywiki.bidix.info/#%5B%5BBSD%20open%20source%20license%5D%5D ]]|
|''~CoreVersion:''|2.2.0 (#3125)|
|''Requires:''|PasswordOptionPlugin|
***/
//{{{
version.extensions.UploadPlugin = {
major: 4, minor: 1, revision: 0,
date: new Date("May 5, 2007"),
source: 'http://tiddlywiki.bidix.info/#UploadPlugin',
author: 'BidiX (BidiX (at) bidix (dot) info',
coreVersion: '2.2.0 (#3125)'
};
//
// Environment
//
if (!window.bidix) window.bidix = {}; // bidix namespace
bidix.debugMode = false; // true to activate both in Plugin and UploadService
//
// Upload Macro
//
config.macros.upload = {
// default values
defaultBackupDir: '', //no backup
defaultStoreScript: "store.php",
defaultToFilename: "index.html",
defaultUploadDir: ".",
authenticateUser: true // UploadService Authenticate User
};
config.macros.upload.label = {
promptOption: "Save and Upload this TiddlyWiki with UploadOptions",
promptParamMacro: "Save and Upload this TiddlyWiki in %0",
saveLabel: "save to web",
saveToDisk: "save to disk",
uploadLabel: "upload"
};
config.macros.upload.messages = {
noStoreUrl: "No store URL in parmeters or options",
usernameOrPasswordMissing: "Username or password missing"
};
config.macros.upload.handler = function(place,macroName,params) {
if (readOnly)
return;
var label;
if (document.location.toString().substr(0,4) == "http")
label = this.label.saveLabel;
else
label = this.label.uploadLabel;
var prompt;
if (params[0]) {
prompt = this.label.promptParamMacro.toString().format([this.destFile(params[0],
(params[1] ? params[1]:bidix.basename(window.location.toString())), params[3])]);
} else {
prompt = this.label.promptOption;
}
createTiddlyButton(place, label, prompt, function() {config.macros.upload.action(params);}, null, null, this.accessKey);
};
config.macros.upload.action = function(params)
{
// for missing macro parameter set value from options
var storeUrl = params[0] ? params[0] : config.options.txtUploadStoreUrl;
var toFilename = params[1] ? params[1] : config.options.txtUploadFilename;
var backupDir = params[2] ? params[2] : config.options.txtUploadBackupDir;
var uploadDir = params[3] ? params[3] : config.options.txtUploadDir;
var username = params[4] ? params[4] : config.options.txtUploadUserName;
var password = config.options.pasUploadPassword; // for security reason no password as macro parameter
// for still missing parameter set default value
if ((!storeUrl) && (document.location.toString().substr(0,4) == "http"))
storeUrl = bidix.dirname(document.location.toString())+'/'+config.macros.upload.defaultStoreScript;
if (storeUrl.substr(0,4) != "http")
storeUrl = bidix.dirname(document.location.toString()) +'/'+ storeUrl;
if (!toFilename)
toFilename = bidix.basename(window.location.toString());
if (!toFilename)
toFilename = config.macros.upload.defaultToFilename;
if (!uploadDir)
uploadDir = config.macros.upload.defaultUploadDir;
if (!backupDir)
backupDir = config.macros.upload.defaultBackupDir;
// report error if still missing
if (!storeUrl) {
alert(config.macros.upload.messages.noStoreUrl);
clearMessage();
return false;
}
if (config.macros.upload.authenticateUser && (!username || !password)) {
alert(config.macros.upload.messages.usernameOrPasswordMissing);
clearMessage();
return false;
}
bidix.upload.uploadChanges(false,null,storeUrl, toFilename, uploadDir, backupDir, username, password);
return false;
};
config.macros.upload.destFile = function(storeUrl, toFilename, uploadDir)
{
if (!storeUrl)
return null;
var dest = bidix.dirname(storeUrl);
if (uploadDir && uploadDir != '.')
dest = dest + '/' + uploadDir;
dest = dest + '/' + toFilename;
return dest;
};
//
// uploadOptions Macro
//
config.macros.uploadOptions = {
handler: function(place,macroName,params) {
var wizard = new Wizard();
wizard.createWizard(place,this.wizardTitle);
wizard.addStep(this.step1Title,this.step1Html);
var markList = wizard.getElement("markList");
var listWrapper = document.createElement("div");
markList.parentNode.insertBefore(listWrapper,markList);
wizard.setValue("listWrapper",listWrapper);
this.refreshOptions(listWrapper,false);
var uploadCaption;
if (document.location.toString().substr(0,4) == "http")
uploadCaption = config.macros.upload.label.saveLabel;
else
uploadCaption = config.macros.upload.label.uploadLabel;
wizard.setButtons([
{caption: uploadCaption, tooltip: config.macros.upload.label.promptOption,
onClick: config.macros.upload.action},
{caption: this.cancelButton, tooltip: this.cancelButtonPrompt, onClick: this.onCancel}
]);
},
refreshOptions: function(listWrapper) {
var uploadOpts = [
"txtUploadUserName",
"pasUploadPassword",
"txtUploadStoreUrl",
"txtUploadDir",
"txtUploadFilename",
"txtUploadBackupDir",
"chkUploadLog",
"txtUploadLogMaxLine",
]
var opts = [];
for(i=0; i<uploadOpts.length; i++) {
var opt = {};
opts.push()
opt.option = "";
n = uploadOpts[i];
opt.name = n;
opt.lowlight = !config.optionsDesc[n];
opt.description = opt.lowlight ? this.unknownDescription : config.optionsDesc[n];
opts.push(opt);
}
var listview = ListView.create(listWrapper,opts,this.listViewTemplate);
for(n=0; n<opts.length; n++) {
var type = opts[n].name.substr(0,3);
var h = config.macros.option.types[type];
if (h && h.create) {
h.create(opts[n].colElements['option'],type,opts[n].name,opts[n].name,"no");
}
}
},
onCancel: function(e)
{
backstage.switchTab(null);
return false;
},
wizardTitle: "Upload with options",
step1Title: "These options are saved in cookies in your browser",
step1Html: "<input type='hidden' name='markList'></input><br>",
cancelButton: "Cancel",
cancelButtonPrompt: "Cancel prompt",
listViewTemplate: {
columns: [
{name: 'Description', field: 'description', title: "Description", type: 'WikiText'},
{name: 'Option', field: 'option', title: "Option", type: 'String'},
{name: 'Name', field: 'name', title: "Name", type: 'String'}
],
rowClasses: [
{className: 'lowlight', field: 'lowlight'}
]}
}
//
// upload functions
//
if (!bidix.upload) bidix.upload = {};
if (!bidix.upload.messages) bidix.upload.messages = {
//from saving
invalidFileError: "The original file '%0' does not appear to be a valid TiddlyWiki",
backupSaved: "Backup saved",
backupFailed: "Failed to upload backup file",
rssSaved: "RSS feed uploaded",
rssFailed: "Failed to upload RSS feed file",
emptySaved: "Empty template uploaded",
emptyFailed: "Failed to upload empty template file",
mainSaved: "Main TiddlyWiki file uploaded",
mainFailed: "Failed to upload main TiddlyWiki file. Your changes have not been saved",
//specific upload
loadOriginalHttpPostError: "Can't get original file",
aboutToSaveOnHttpPost: 'About to upload on %0 ...',
storePhpNotFound: "The store script '%0' was not found."
};
bidix.upload.uploadChanges = function(onlyIfDirty,tiddlers,storeUrl,toFilename,uploadDir,backupDir,username,password)
{
var callback = function(status,uploadParams,original,url,xhr) {
if (!status) {
displayMessage(bidix.upload.messages.loadOriginalHttpPostError);
return;
}
if (bidix.debugMode)
alert(original.substr(0,500)+"\n...");
// Locate the storeArea div's
var posDiv = locateStoreArea(original);
if((posDiv[0] == -1) || (posDiv[1] == -1)) {
alert(config.messages.invalidFileError.format([localPath]));
return;
}
bidix.upload.uploadRss(uploadParams,original,posDiv);
};
if(onlyIfDirty && !store.isDirty())
return;
clearMessage();
// save on localdisk ?
if (document.location.toString().substr(0,4) == "file") {
var path = document.location.toString();
var localPath = getLocalPath(path);
saveChanges();
}
// get original
var uploadParams = Array(storeUrl,toFilename,uploadDir,backupDir,username,password);
var originalPath = document.location.toString();
// If url is a directory : add index.html
if (originalPath.charAt(originalPath.length-1) == "/")
originalPath = originalPath + "index.html";
var dest = config.macros.upload.destFile(storeUrl,toFilename,uploadDir);
var log = new bidix.UploadLog();
log.startUpload(storeUrl, dest, uploadDir, backupDir);
displayMessage(bidix.upload.messages.aboutToSaveOnHttpPost.format([dest]));
if (bidix.debugMode)
alert("about to execute Http - GET on "+originalPath);
var r = doHttp("GET",originalPath,null,null,null,null,callback,uploadParams,null);
if (typeof r == "string")
displayMessage(r);
return r;
};
bidix.upload.uploadRss = function(uploadParams,original,posDiv)
{
var callback = function(status,params,responseText,url,xhr) {
if(status) {
var destfile = responseText.substring(responseText.indexOf("destfile:")+9,responseText.indexOf("\n", responseText.indexOf("destfile:")));
displayMessage(bidix.upload.messages.rssSaved,bidix.dirname(url)+'/'+destfile);
bidix.upload.uploadMain(params[0],params[1],params[2]);
} else {
displayMessage(bidix.upload.messages.rssFailed);
}
};
// do uploadRss
if(config.options.chkGenerateAnRssFeed) {
var rssPath = uploadParams[1].substr(0,uploadParams[1].lastIndexOf(".")) + ".xml";
var rssUploadParams = Array(uploadParams[0],rssPath,uploadParams[2],'',uploadParams[4],uploadParams[5]);
bidix.upload.httpUpload(rssUploadParams,convertUnicodeToUTF8(generateRss()),callback,Array(uploadParams,original,posDiv));
} else {
bidix.upload.uploadMain(uploadParams,original,posDiv);
}
};
bidix.upload.uploadMain = function(uploadParams,original,posDiv)
{
var callback = function(status,params,responseText,url,xhr) {
var log = new bidix.UploadLog();
if(status) {
// if backupDir specified
if ((params[3]) && (responseText.indexOf("backupfile:") > -1)) {
var backupfile = responseText.substring(responseText.indexOf("backupfile:")+11,responseText.indexOf("\n", responseText.indexOf("backupfile:")));
displayMessage(bidix.upload.messages.backupSaved,bidix.dirname(url)+'/'+backupfile);
}
var destfile = responseText.substring(responseText.indexOf("destfile:")+9,responseText.indexOf("\n", responseText.indexOf("destfile:")));
displayMessage(bidix.upload.messages.mainSaved,bidix.dirname(url)+'/'+destfile);
store.setDirty(false);
log.endUpload("ok");
} else {
alert(bidix.upload.messages.mainFailed);
displayMessage(bidix.upload.messages.mainFailed);
log.endUpload("failed");
}
};
// do uploadMain
var revised = bidix.upload.updateOriginal(original,posDiv);
bidix.upload.httpUpload(uploadParams,revised,callback,uploadParams);
};
bidix.upload.httpUpload = function(uploadParams,data,callback,params)
{
var localCallback = function(status,params,responseText,url,xhr) {
url = (url.indexOf("nocache=") < 0 ? url : url.substring(0,url.indexOf("nocache=")-1));
if (xhr.status == httpStatus.NotFound)
alert(bidix.upload.messages.storePhpNotFound.format([url]));
if ((bidix.debugMode) || (responseText.indexOf("Debug mode") >= 0 )) {
alert(responseText);
if (responseText.indexOf("Debug mode") >= 0 )
responseText = responseText.substring(responseText.indexOf("\n\n")+2);
} else if (responseText.charAt(0) != '0')
alert(responseText);
if (responseText.charAt(0) != '0')
status = null;
callback(status,params,responseText,url,xhr);
};
// do httpUpload
var boundary = "---------------------------"+"AaB03x";
var uploadFormName = "UploadPlugin";
// compose headers data
var sheader = "";
sheader += "--" + boundary + "\r\nContent-disposition: form-data; name=\"";
sheader += uploadFormName +"\"\r\n\r\n";
sheader += "backupDir="+uploadParams[3] +
";user=" + uploadParams[4] +
";password=" + uploadParams[5] +
";uploaddir=" + uploadParams[2];
if (bidix.debugMode)
sheader += ";debug=1";
sheader += ";;\r\n";
sheader += "\r\n" + "--" + boundary + "\r\n";
sheader += "Content-disposition: form-data; name=\"userfile\"; filename=\""+uploadParams[1]+"\"\r\n";
sheader += "Content-Type: text/html;charset=UTF-8" + "\r\n";
sheader += "Content-Length: " + data.length + "\r\n\r\n";
// compose trailer data
var strailer = new String();
strailer = "\r\n--" + boundary + "--\r\n";
data = sheader + data + strailer;
if (bidix.debugMode) alert("about to execute Http - POST on "+uploadParams[0]+"\n with \n"+data.substr(0,500)+ " ... ");
var r = doHttp("POST",uploadParams[0],data,"multipart/form-data; boundary="+boundary,uploadParams[4],uploadParams[5],localCallback,params,null);
if (typeof r == "string")
displayMessage(r);
return r;
};
// same as Saving's updateOriginal but without convertUnicodeToUTF8 calls
bidix.upload.updateOriginal = function(original, posDiv)
{
if (!posDiv)
posDiv = locateStoreArea(original);
if((posDiv[0] == -1) || (posDiv[1] == -1)) {
alert(config.messages.invalidFileError.format([localPath]));
return;
}
var revised = original.substr(0,posDiv[0] + startSaveArea.length) + "\n" +
store.allTiddlersAsHtml() + "\n" +
original.substr(posDiv[1]);
var newSiteTitle = getPageTitle().htmlEncode();
revised = revised.replaceChunk("<title"+">","</title"+">"," " + newSiteTitle + " ");
revised = updateMarkupBlock(revised,"PRE-HEAD","MarkupPreHead");
revised = updateMarkupBlock(revised,"POST-HEAD","MarkupPostHead");
revised = updateMarkupBlock(revised,"PRE-BODY","MarkupPreBody");
revised = updateMarkupBlock(revised,"POST-SCRIPT","MarkupPostBody");
return revised;
};
//
// UploadLog
//
// config.options.chkUploadLog :
// false : no logging
// true : logging
// config.options.txtUploadLogMaxLine :
// -1 : no limit
// 0 : no Log lines but UploadLog is still in place
// n : the last n lines are only kept
// NaN : no limit (-1)
bidix.UploadLog = function() {
if (!config.options.chkUploadLog)
return; // this.tiddler = null
this.tiddler = store.getTiddler("UploadLog");
if (!this.tiddler) {
this.tiddler = new Tiddler();
this.tiddler.title = "UploadLog";
this.tiddler.text = "| !date | !user | !location | !storeUrl | !uploadDir | !toFilename | !backupdir | !origin |";
this.tiddler.created = new Date();
this.tiddler.modifier = config.options.txtUserName;
this.tiddler.modified = new Date();
store.addTiddler(this.tiddler);
}
return this;
};
bidix.UploadLog.prototype.addText = function(text) {
if (!this.tiddler)
return;
// retrieve maxLine when we need it
var maxLine = parseInt(config.options.txtUploadLogMaxLine,10);
if (isNaN(maxLine))
maxLine = -1;
// add text
if (maxLine != 0)
this.tiddler.text = this.tiddler.text + text;
// Trunck to maxLine
if (maxLine >= 0) {
var textArray = this.tiddler.text.split('\n');
if (textArray.length > maxLine + 1)
textArray.splice(1,textArray.length-1-maxLine);
this.tiddler.text = textArray.join('\n');
}
// update tiddler fields
this.tiddler.modifier = config.options.txtUserName;
this.tiddler.modified = new Date();
store.addTiddler(this.tiddler);
// refresh and notifiy for immediate update
story.refreshTiddler(this.tiddler.title);
store.notify(this.tiddler.title, true);
};
bidix.UploadLog.prototype.startUpload = function(storeUrl, toFilename, uploadDir, backupDir) {
if (!this.tiddler)
return;
var now = new Date();
var text = "\n| ";
var filename = bidix.basename(document.location.toString());
if (!filename) filename = '/';
text += now.formatString("0DD/0MM/YYYY 0hh:0mm:0ss") +" | ";
text += config.options.txtUserName + " | ";
text += "[["+filename+"|"+location + "]] |";
text += " [[" + bidix.basename(storeUrl) + "|" + storeUrl + "]] | ";
text += uploadDir + " | ";
text += "[[" + bidix.basename(toFilename) + " | " +toFilename + "]] | ";
text += backupDir + " |";
this.addText(text);
};
bidix.UploadLog.prototype.endUpload = function(status) {
if (!this.tiddler)
return;
this.addText(" "+status+" |");
};
//
// Utilities
//
bidix.checkPlugin = function(plugin, major, minor, revision) {
var ext = version.extensions[plugin];
if (!
(ext &&
((ext.major > major) ||
((ext.major == major) && (ext.minor > minor)) ||
((ext.major == major) && (ext.minor == minor) && (ext.revision >= revision))))) {
// write error in PluginManager
if (pluginInfo)
pluginInfo.log.push("Requires " + plugin + " " + major + "." + minor + "." + revision);
eval(plugin); // generate an error : "Error: ReferenceError: xxxx is not defined"
}
};
bidix.dirname = function(filePath) {
if (!filePath)
return;
var lastpos;
if ((lastpos = filePath.lastIndexOf("/")) != -1) {
return filePath.substring(0, lastpos);
} else {
return filePath.substring(0, filePath.lastIndexOf("\\"));
}
};
bidix.basename = function(filePath) {
if (!filePath)
return;
var lastpos;
if ((lastpos = filePath.lastIndexOf("#")) != -1)
filePath = filePath.substring(0, lastpos);
if ((lastpos = filePath.lastIndexOf("/")) != -1) {
return filePath.substring(lastpos + 1);
} else
return filePath.substring(filePath.lastIndexOf("\\")+1);
};
bidix.initOption = function(name,value) {
if (!config.options[name])
config.options[name] = value;
};
//
// Initializations
//
// require PasswordOptionPlugin 1.0.1 or better
bidix.checkPlugin("PasswordOptionPlugin", 1, 0, 1);
// styleSheet
setStylesheet('.txtUploadStoreUrl, .txtUploadBackupDir, .txtUploadDir {width: 22em;}',"uploadPluginStyles");
//optionsDesc
merge(config.optionsDesc,{
txtUploadStoreUrl: "Url of the UploadService script (default: store.php)",
txtUploadFilename: "Filename of the uploaded file (default: in index.html)",
txtUploadDir: "Relative Directory where to store the file (default: . (downloadService directory))",
txtUploadBackupDir: "Relative Directory where to backup the file. If empty no backup. (default: ''(empty))",
txtUploadUserName: "Upload Username",
pasUploadPassword: "Upload Password",
chkUploadLog: "do Logging in UploadLog (default: true)",
txtUploadLogMaxLine: "Maximum of lines in UploadLog (default: 10)"
});
// Options Initializations
bidix.initOption('txtUploadStoreUrl','');
bidix.initOption('txtUploadFilename','');
bidix.initOption('txtUploadDir','');
bidix.initOption('txtUploadBackupDir','');
bidix.initOption('txtUploadUserName','');
bidix.initOption('pasUploadPassword','');
bidix.initOption('chkUploadLog',true);
bidix.initOption('txtUploadLogMaxLine','10');
/* don't want this for tiddlyspot sites
// Backstage
merge(config.tasks,{
uploadOptions: {text: "upload", tooltip: "Change UploadOptions and Upload", content: '<<uploadOptions>>'}
});
config.backstageTasks.push("uploadOptions");
*/
//}}}
You'll usually hear people refer to this simply as the “1969 Act.” It made some big changes in water law and people are still arguing over what it was supposed to do.
One of the changes (the one at the heart of the current Platte River Pumping Predicament) was a recognition that there's more to rivers that meets the eye. Pumping up tributary ground water sucks water out of the system just a surely as diverting surface water from the main stream. It's true if the well is 100 feet from the river and it's true if the well is 100 miles from the river.
For some time, hydrologists had known that the water in a river spreads out underground across the alluvial basin. A well dug miles from the actual river can tap into tributary ground water that's a part of the river system. The well sucks water from the system just as clearly as diverting surface water from the stream; it's just that the effect can be slower to show up.
In Colorado, water rights are sold like property (although they're often sold separate from property). The county clerk records the sale.
Encyclorado Concise is a dictionary of terms, concepts and programs related to Colorado policy and politics. For more detailed information, please see the full [[Encyclorado|http://pommer.us/tiki/tiki-index.php]] and for more timely information, please visit the [[Colorado Capitol Report|http://pommer.us/tiki/tiki-index.php]].
This is a wiki, meaning that information is linked so that you can build an explanation with as much information as you want (assuming it's in here). Just click on links to expand the amount of information.
<<list all>>
By Associated Press
July 23, 2007
GRAND JUNCTION - The populations of communities in western Colorado have grown by as much as 66 percent since 2000, putting stress on local infrastructures.
The Daily Sentinel said recent U.S. Census Bureau data showed that New Castle in Garfield County, a hotbed of energy development, led the region in growth. New Castle grew from 1,984 in 2000 to 3,294 in 2006.
New Castle Town Administrator David Blanchard said the biggest factor is energy industry workers who commute down valley, and service industry workers who commute to Aspen, Carbondale and other mountain communities with high costs of living.
"Our connection to Interstate 70 is the problem," Blanchard said. "Right now we have a real problem with what amounts to an outdated overpass, outdated interchange in and out of New Castle. That amounts to a real strain."
Rifle, once a distant bedroom community for Aspen, has grown so fast that people who work in the community have had to relocate as far west as Grand Junction. Rifle grew from 6,784 in 2000 to 8,446 in 2006.
Vail Daily Editorial Board
Vail CO, Colorado
July 28, 2007
CommentComments Print Friendly Print Email Email
Every town in the Eagle Valley is experiencing growing pains: little affordable housing, clogged streets and too few employees to keep our communities running as smoothly as we’d all like.
Growth is inevitable, they say. Growth also never, ever seems to pay for itself.
Even in Vail, a relatively tiny town bursting with a $44 million budget, can’t seem to glean enough money from the millions upon millions of new buildings going up.
Some Town Council members want to tax new construction, saying they can’t keep up with all the town’s shiny, new hotels, condos and shopping buildings.
Edwards residents have long complained about traffic on the Edwards Spur Road. Turning left out of the Riverwalk shopping center seems virtually impossible at times.
Eagle and Gypsum have more than doubled in population in the past 10 years. So has the traffic. Traffic heading to I-70 backs up all the way toward the south part of Eagle most weekday mornings, and that that half-hour upvalley commute nowadays is taking more like 40, 45 minutes. Gypsum has similar problems on its main roads.
And the Ginn Co. can throw all the money, new water plants, sidewalks and rec centers it wants at Minturn residents. But if that development comes in, and it’s looking likely, you can bet Minturn residents will be left wondering why they didn’t ask for more.
So let local politicians be warned, when they are lured by promises of more sales tax revenue, new traffic circles and money to hire more cops: make sure they can get as much for their town as they can get.
And then ask for a little bit more.
Even then, it won’t be enough.
— Tamara Miller for the Editorial Board
config.macros.box = {counter: {}};
config.macros.box.handler= function(place,macroName,params) {
if(params.length<2){return;}
var number;
if(!place.getAttribute('counting')) config.macros.box.counter={};
place.setAttribute('counting',true);
var env=params[0];
var text=params[1];
if(params.length==3) number=params[2];
var p = createTiddlyElement(place,"div",null,env);
var header = createTiddlyElement(p,"div",null,env+" envHeader");
if(!number){
if(!config.macros.box.counter[env]){
config.macros.box.counter[env]=0;
}
number=++config.macros.box.counter[env];
}
wikify( env+" "+number, header);
wikify( text, p);
}