Gardner swings through Grand Junction, announces airport grant - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Gardner swings through Grand Junction, announces airport grant - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
CMU athletes still working to break down racial barriers - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
With Colorado sports teams in the heart of the action, which team has been most disappointing? - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
Task Force working groups to include K-12 education, law enforcement - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Posted: 29 Aug 2020 11:15 PM PDT

In the midst of the U.S. Senate's recess and a hotly contested election season, Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner's visit to Grand Junction on Saturday wasn't simply his usual campaigning. It was also a celebration.

The Republican member of Congress spoke at a press conference at Grand Junction Regional Airport, assisting Airport Executive Director Angela Padalecki in announcing the Grand Junction Airport Improvement Grant, the largest federal grant in the airport's history. The airport has been granted $12.9 million through the Federal Aviation Administration's Airport Improvement Program (AIP). So far this year, the airport has been awarded a record $20 million in federal grants.

Because of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) stimulus bill signed into law by President Donald Trump in March in response to economic fallout from the COVID-19 coronavirus, Grand Junction taxpayers were not tasked with providing any airport funding of their own.

"Twenty million dollars, 20 for '20 is an incredible feat, and I'm very proud of the work the Grand Junction Airport Authority continues to do to expand opportunities, services and the incredible upgrades that have taken place at the facility over the last several years," Gardner said. "Under normal circumstances, a community is required to put forward a 10% match. Thanks to the CARES Act we passed in Congress several months ago, it's used to meet that 10% match, so not only did the airport get to have the $12-plus million grant, but the CARES Act dollars were used to provide the 10% match, so a match of over $1.3 million to make this project possible."

The goal of the project is to replace the west commercial ramp and add a large engine run-up pad, where planes can test their engines safely after receiving maintenance work.

After the press conference, Gardner spoke with The Daily Sentinel about the state of the GOP, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, and his Senate race against Democrat John Hickenlooper.

Gardner touted the Republican Party's accomplishments for Colorado, including the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act that he sponsored along with Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet that Trump signed into law earlier this month.

"Over the last 6 years, we've moved the Bureau of Land Management headquarters to Grand Junction, we've returned millions of dollars in energy revenue that should have already been given back to the counties but had been held up at the federal level for over a decade, we've protected our water through the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan, and, of course, the biggest land bill in the history of our country in terms of the dollars put into our public lands, the Great American Outdoors Act, was my bill that was signed into law a couple of weeks ago," Gardner said. "I think that's a great sign of the work we continue to do."

The HEROES Act, an additional stimulus bill related to the fallout from COVID-19, was passed earlier this year by the House of Representatives. However, the bill remained on the Senate floor as they adjourned for recess Aug. 13 and will not return to Washington, D.C., until Sept. 8.

Gardner pinned the responsibility for the bill's stagnation on House Speaker and Democrat Nancy Pelosi, saying that negotiations will need to continue before the Senate holds a vote.

"I certainly hope (we get something done after returning)," Gardner said. "Unfortunately, Nancy Pelosi and the House have refused to negotiate. In fact, she said that Republicans were enemies of the state. That's embarrassing. That's not any way to work together in a bipartisan fashion. If she's serious about doing the right thing for this country, she'll stop the name-calling for people across this country and start committing to real work."

Gardner is unsure whether Trump will visit Colorado, and specifically the Western Slope, before November's election. Trump considers Colorado a battleground state, so Gardner believes he would benefit from a campaign visit, not only to appeal to his supporters, but also to see first-hand some of the changes brought to the state under his administration.

Gardner also accused Hickenlooper of potentially wanting to end the BLM's time in Grand Junction should he become a senator.

"I hope that the entire Colorado congressional delegation could come with the president to show him the Bureau of Land Management headquarters," Gardner said. "I'm very worried that John Hickenlooper wants to remove the Bureau of Land Management headquarters from Grand Junction and take it back to Washington, D.C. We want to show the work we've done that points dollars back into western Colorado. We opened up U.S. Space Command in Colorado Springs. The fact you have the largest grant the airport has ever received... I hope they can come and talk about the good things they're doing."

Hickenlooper will be among the Democratic candidates for various offices not participating in the Club 20 debates that are normally held in Grand Junction for significant political races. He told The Daily Sentinel on Aug. 22 that he still had hopes for debating Gardner on the Western Slope, although he offered no specifics on how or when.

Gardner criticized the former Colorado governor, emphasizing how his conservative values align more with the state's rural residents.

"I'm excited about this campaign and I'm excited about western Colorado," Gardner said. "John Hickenlooper has refused to come to Grand Junction and debate. I think that's embarrassing for him because the Western Slope matters. Even though he thinks that rural Coloradans are backwards, I think they're very important. I'm a rural Coloradan and I'm going to fight like heck for Grand Junction every single time."

CMU athletes still working to break down racial barriers - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Posted: 29 Aug 2020 11:15 PM PDT

Their platform as athletes doesn't have anywhere near the reach of LeBron James, Matt Kemp or any of the professional athletes who boycotted games last week to call attention to continuing racial problems in America.

But that doesn't mean Colorado Mesa athletes aren't trying to use their status to make a difference locally.

"I think what's going on is showing true colors," junior quarterback Aaron Howard said. "I think people need to understand that good things in sports are going on. We're not going to boycott, because we're going to show people from different cultures and different backgrounds can come together for one common goal, which the country should be doing."

Howard is involved with CMU's Turning the Corner on Racism committee, and earlier this month met with Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. He's talked several times with Grand Junction Police Chief Doug Shoemaker about issues between Blacks and law enforcement, including after Jacob Blake was shot in Wisconsin. That shooting, and the subsequent protests there, prompted NBA, WNBA and MLB teams or individual players, and then the entire NBA and NHL to make a statement by halting their games and playoffs late last week.

Seeing professional athletes of all races take a stand is gratifying, said the three CMU Black student-athletes who met with The Daily Sentinel on Friday afternoon — Howard, teammate Damar'ren Mitchell and women's basketball player Dani Turner — and they hope it brings not just attention, but action, to solve racial issues.

"There's definitely a level of frustration because we do seem to see things happening over and over again," Turner said of the death of George Floyd, then the shooting of Blake, and the handling of 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who traveled from Illinois to Kenosha, Wisconsin, with an AR-15 rifle and allegedly shot three people during a demonstration protesting Blake's shooting. Rittenhouse then reportedly walked toward police without being stopped or disarmed. He was charged two days later with intentional and reckless homicide.

Howard said he believes had Rittenhouse been Black, officers would have ordered or forced him to the ground instead of driving past.

"We're taught as kids we want to rewrite history, but it's kind of going back on that. We're making history, but for the wrong reasons," Turner said.

What the CMU student-athletes are trying to do is help educate their teammates, classmates and residents of Grand Junction about how Blacks are treated in the U.S.

"I think we know people have our back," Howard said. "We're trying to change a minute group that we're facing the bias that's in people's minds. ... I don't think it's a problem of straight racism any more, someone calling somebody the 'N' word out loud out of their car, you have those people, but it's really the biases that subconsciously are in the back of their head, that's what the fight is against.

"I do think the NBA and professional teams have our backs and I think some people in the community have our backs, but I think we need a little bit more, and more conversations. That's what needs to keep happening, to be honest. I want us to fix this issue, but until we fix it, it's going to keep happening."

It starts, they say, with something as simple as saying hello to someone of a different race in class.

"I'm a leader, but I'm not the kind of leader who goes to clubs (like the Black Student Alliance on campus)," said Mitchell, who is rarely not smiling, unless he's running down a wide receiver on the football field. "When we're on campus, I make friends, with not (only) athletes, with everybody. I'm trying to make friends with everybody. I've got one kid in a class named Tyler, we're always, hey man ... We're all equal; I just want to talk to him, and everyone around us, white, Black, you can be friends with everybody. Everybody can be friends, you can love each other. That's how I touch campus, I go up, fist-bump everybody, how you doing? I take them under my wing."

Those seemingly small acts, plus open discussions with their teammates about race, they hope, make a difference.

Howard is from Chandler, Arizona, Mitchell is from Houston, Texas, and Turner is from Boca Raton, Florida, and all wondered how they would be viewed off the playing field in Grand Junction.

"Sometimes when I'm walking downtown I notice people staring at me because I look different," Turner said, "or (they say) 'Oh, my gosh, how did you get your hair like that, what do you do?' This is just my natural hair, it's nothing I specifically do. I can say that when I got here it was a major shock culturally because there are not many people who look like me around here."

When Tremaine Jackson was hired as CMU's football coach in December, he became the school's first Black head coach, and three of his full-time assistant coaches are Black. Jackson was quick to get involved in the Black Lives Matter movement in town, and having a coach who can relate to what the Black players are feeling has made a difference.

"When all the Black Lives Matter protests were going down, Coach Jack was the first person out there," Mitchell said. "Chief Shoemaker, he asked him, where are we going? He said, we're going back to the station and we're going to talk about this. Most of us on the team went to the police station and talked about it, shook Chief Shoemaker's hand, and Coach Jack even helped a young man who just got out of prison."

Howard said the previous staff was open to helping Black players, but now, players feel they have a staff that understands what they're facing.

"It's definitely helped me by fully understanding where we're coming from," Howard said. "They understand how we were raised, how we were growing up, and how our moms talked to us and their moms talked to them. We're all speaking the same language, so the understanding part is enormous."

With the fall season on hold and practices not starting until next week, several players, Black and white, were huddled in Jackson's office late Friday afternoon playing Madden football, reinforcing what Howard called a culture of being more than coach-player relationships.

The talks they've had with teammates aren't always easy.

"Some people on our team try to say, all lives matter, cops' lives matter," Mitchell said. "Some guys on the team say that because they're from Grand Junction, they haven't seen what most of us have seen with public brutality.

"When they finally saw this last video of Blake being shot in the back seven times, 'OK, now we understand where you're coming from.' But they still won't be able to understand what we go through as Black athletes. They won't be able to understand, but they try to understand. That's what's bringing us all together, closer."

Keeping the conversations from escalating into shouting matches is crucial toward making progress, Howard said.

"I've had some great white people who have helped me get to where I am and help me get a seat at the table to make the change," Howard said. "President (Tim) Foster, John Marshall (CMU's vice president of student services), where I get to go talk to the senators, talk to the attorney general, to make changes for this.

"That example of being with those people who sometimes not many people of color get to talk to, is one way of change I can show Black kids, you can go and talk to these people and they'll listen, actually make change."

Howard talked about his experience getting to know white co-workers at his summer job, and how one told him by doing that, Howard became "not just a cool Black person; he has a name. He's Aaron, not just a Black guy."

And there's one more thing that can bring about change, Howard said:

"The third (way) is love, just loving each other. If you see somebody struggling, just go over and help them."

With Colorado sports teams in the heart of the action, which team has been most disappointing? - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Posted: 29 Aug 2020 11:15 PM PDT

The Denver Broncos don't kick off their season for another couple weeks. Still, the Nuggets, Avalanche and Rockies are in the heart of the action as their respective seasons come to a close.

For the latest web poll at gjsentinel.com, we want to know which team has disappointed you most this summer.

Is it the Avalanche, who have given up 14 goals in three games and trail the Dallas Stars 2-1 in their playoff series?

Or is it the Nuggets, who despite their No. 3 seed are one game away from elimination against the Utah Jazz?

We can't forget the Rockies, either. They've lost seven of their past 10 games.

Let us know your opinion by finding the poll in the right rail of the home page. There's also an option available for those who don't watch sports.

You may also vote below.

Of the three Colorado professional sports teams competing this summer, which has been the most disappointing?

POLL RESULTS

A large majority of respondents said they coped with the smoke from nearby wildfires over the past few weeks by staying indoors, according to the latest web poll at gjsentinel.com.

Just shy of 80% said they stay indoors, while 10% said they left the area. Only 7.7% said they wore a mask and 2.4% used a heavy duty air filter.

Daily Sentinel web polls are self-selecting and therefore not true scientific polls.

NEWS QUIZ

Every Friday, The Daily Sentinel Q&A News Quiz appears in our email newsletter.

The quiz will have four questions about local news — three concerning recent events and one from the archives.

Answers will appear in the paper on the following Sunday.

Here are this week's questions and answers:

Q: What downtown Grand Junction building is slated for demolition?

A: C. Mesa Pawn & Loan.

Q: Mesa County COVID-19 tests had to get prepped for shipment earlier than usual in recent weeks because of what?

A: D. The Interstate 70 closure through Glenwood Canyon.

Q: Defense contractor Capco won a $13.3 million contract from who?

A: B. The Navy.

Q: Why were farmers on Orchard Mesa without water five years ago?

A: C. A 54-inch pipe broke under 38 road.

Task Force working groups to include K-12 education, law enforcement - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Posted: 29 Aug 2020 11:15 PM PDT

The task force that has been formed to address systemic bias in the Grand Valley agreed at its Thursday meeting to seven areas it will be focusing on including education and law enforcement.

The group voted to form working groups that will identify how bias impacts these systems, research how to address it and assist the community leaders in evaluating their organizations. Those groups will be looking into K-12 education, mental health, community/society, business/commerce/jobs, law enforcement, criminal justice and human services.

The group also voted on a set of eight objectives for those working groups that included ways to engage the community and provide better access to information for everyone in the community.

"These are the product of what was brainstormed last time, what people said was important to this group for us to be trying to accomplish as a task force," Grand Junction City Council Member Anna Stout said. "These are the checkboxes that we have to check off to accomplish our mission and achieve the long term vision."

Members of the task force, as well as some community members who came to observe the meeting, split up into those seven working groups based on which issue interested them. They voted for interim chairs and discussed other members of the community that should be invited to participate. Ultimately, each working group hopes to have between nine and 11 members.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The task force elected a four member executive committee made up of leaders from across the valley.

Stout, along with David Combs of Black Citizens and Friends of Mesa County, Colorado Mesa University student representative Jasmin Tellez and Palisade Town Trustee Jamie Somerville will serve on the executive committee.

Combs said he envisioned the role as a short term interim type position that would provide guidance as the group continued to grow. He said he was glad to be a part of it.

"It's really ironic that we're all here today because it's something that a lot of us have envisioned for maybe 25 or 30 years and it took a very tragic incident for us to come together," Combs said, referring to the killing of George Floyd.

The task force will meet again Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. at Orchard Mesa Middle School.

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