The View From Here

NOREEN: Higher taxes, more fees? Sure, that'll raise money

BARRY NOREEN

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A Sustainable Funding Committee has been directed by city hall to explore ways to increase city revenue. Some of the suggestions contained in the panel's 169-page report (see the full report on my blog) might seem outlandish, but remember that part of... Full story

NOREEN: D-12 school board considers drug testing

BARRY NOREEN

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Our society has been trying to stop teenagers from doing drugs for decades, and the Cheyenne Mountain School District board is in the process of finding out just how hard it is.Alarmed by a rash of heroin use revealed late last year at Cheyenne Mountain... Full story

NOREEN: No matter where it is, wedding is easy part

BARRY NOREEN

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It's called "self-solemnizing." It's also called getting married. No muss, no fuss, no preacher or a judge. Just show an ID, fill out a form, pay $10 and raise your hand, pledging to tell the truth. In 10-15 minutes, boyfriend and girlfriend become... Full story

NOREEN: This could be the LandCo smoking gun

BARRY NOREEN

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A meeting in September 2007, as it turns out, was about a bridge to nowhere. Several months later, the Colorado Springs City Council approved a $53 million deal that went nowhere fast. The United States Olympic Committee deal has left City Hall's credibility... Full story

NOREEN: Wipe out coyotes? Good luck with that

OPINION: The View from Here column

BARRY NOREEN

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Yep, we have a lot of varmints in Colorado Springs. But the good thing is we also have plenty of varmintalists to protect us from all those dangerous critters -- if the City Council would just let them do it. Inexplicably, City Hall decided Monday to... Full story

NOREEN: Here's to a real hero: Richard Beidleman

BARRY NOREEN

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One of our community's heroes came back for a brief visit this weekend, a guy newcomers don't know much about.But if you love Garden of the Gods, if you respect someone who will stand up to city hall, if you can dig someone who has devoted his entire... Full story

NOREEN: This time, you CAN fight City Hall

BARRY NOREEN

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If you have paid a fine for parking in the Barr Trail parking lot since 2001, you should go immediately to Manitou Springs City Hall and demand that your money be repaid.Truly, in its bumbling, stumbling foibles over the Barr Trail parking lot, Manitou... Full story

NOREEN: Wilderness can be an economic development tool

BARRY NOREEN

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Some Colorado communities use wilderness designations as an economic development tool, but Colorado Springs is not among them.Decades ago the city could have had its own backyard wilderness -- the 26,000-acre Beaver Creek area managed by the Bureau of... Full story

NOREEN: What's a guy gotta do to have a conflict of interest?

BARRY NOREEN

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What's a guy gotta do to have a conflict of interest around here?Mayor Lionel Rivera, you know by now, had a 34-month broker-client relationship with developer Ray Marshall, then broke it off in December 2007 as Marshall prepared to enter a bid for the... Full story

NOREEN: Pull up a chair at the Marian House soup kitchen

BARRY NOREEN

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As newspaper readers or television viewers, we are bombarded by so many gloomy economic statistics that we can become detached from the human toll.Just this week: an all-time record of 47,000 food stamp recipients in El Paso County. Then the United Way... Full story

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