Colorado: Douglas County

The Colorado Statesman reports on last week's El Paso County GOP Lincoln Day dinner, laying the scene for a rare treat: press coverage of Dick Wadhams' opponent for Chairman of the Colorado Republican Party.
More than 300 Republicans attended the $80-a-plate dinner at the Antlers Hilton, where they dined on chicken breasts in Marsala wine sauce, sang patriotic songs and nodded their heads in agreement with speeches that ridiculed Obama's economic recovery plan as socialistic voodoo.

As Obama inspired the majority of Americans for "change" in the election last year, the Democrats are inadvertently unifying Republicans in their march toward the next political battle.

* The Senate passed a nonbinding resolution (Senate Joint Resolution 15) requesting that the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management work with state and local officials to identify and find money for projects to reduce the risk of wildfire from beetle-killed trees.

* Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry is headed to Douglas County. The Grand Junction Republican is the featured speaker today at the Highlands Ranch Republican Breakfast Group. The group is meeting at 7 a.m. at its new location, the Cafe Mon Ami at 9579 S. University, between Ace Hardware and Office Max. The breakfast is $8.

Penry, a defender of Western Slope water rights, is in demand on the GOP speaking circuit.

The Colorado Transportation Commission has approved a list of "ready to go" highway projects to be funded with federal stimulus dollars.

Colorado will receive a total of more than $500 million for road, bridge and transit projects statewide. Of that total, the Colorado Department of Transportation will get $317 million for highways and $12.5 million for transit projects in rural areas.

CDOT must have at least 50 percent of its stimulus money for highways committed to projects within 120 days. The remaining money must be allocated to projects within one year.

The following is a list of highway projects to be funded with stimulus dollars by region (a map of the regions can be found online at: http://www.

Education spending would be pared back by nearly $200 million under Gov. Bill Ritter's budget plan unveiled Tuesday — cutting higher education by $70 million and K-12 education by $126 million.

The plan now goes into the legislative process, and officials don't know exactly how money from the proposed federal stimulus package would affect education spending.

Nevertheless, Colorado education officials who are developing their own budgets view the governor's proposal as a guide to what they can expect when the legislature signs off on state funding for fiscal year 2009-10, which begins in July.

"This is not unexpected," said Nancy McCallin, president of the Colorado Community College System.