Montrose - Daily Press

Stephen Woody

Publisher’s Notebook

Politicians and media folk share a common bond, that of unpopularity. Our approval ratings are sort of like that personal-injury lawyer fella from Georgia who recently traveled the world with a rare form of tuberculosis, sitting back in coach and asking for extra peanuts.

Advertisement

The Notebook’s been asked of late about all these DMEA letters, from elected politicians, supporting this person or that person for the utility board. How do “sitting” county commissioners, like Gary Ellis and Allan Belt, “get away with” endorsing Kathy Welt and Ken Byers, for example. City Councilor Noelle Hagan chimed in with an endorsement for Tony Prendergast and Ed Marston.

One rationale was the “it’s-a-free-country” nostrum, which was essentially supported by an attorney who did the research into statutes about this sort of cheerleading. Yes, Belt and Ellis jumped on the Welt and Byers bandwagon; commissioner Bill Patterson did likewise with incumbent Ed Marston and Tony Prendergast.

The DMEA race is certainly astir with politics. Candidates Welt and Byers sent a recent letter warning voters to beware of “radical, left-wing environmentalists” like Marston and Prendergast. Marston called them on it with a rebuttal at last week’s county GOP forum for DMEA candidates. Given his engineering and teaching background and Ph.D, Ed’s a formidable debater and quite knowledgeable. He knows where to find the light switch.

I don’t know Tony Prendergast all that well. He’s taken the time to come in and talk about the issues. I’ve known Ed for awhile. He moved to Western Colorado in 1974, and published for many years the High Country News, an influential environmental publication with a worldwide circulation. He’s also a Paonia businessman and landlord. You’d think that after 32 years of meeting a payroll, publishing, paying taxes and surviving cancer, that he’d finally earn a pass from the broad-brush of “green.” But no.

I’m thinking if Ed’s elected next week, we’ll be watching pro wrestling on the cable via wind power.

Yet the best moment of the campaign, win, lose or ethanol, was when Ms. Welt winked at Prendergast, which we published on our front page as part of our coverage of the candidates at a forum. Not quite the Adlai Stevenson hole-in-the-shoe photo, but nonetheless, a good election photo.

The DMEA election this year perhaps illustrates why there are few light switches in the middle of the wall.

The Links at Cobble Creek will have its annual junior golf program starting Monday, June 11. The week-long instruction is broken into two age groups and there are days of instruction, “play” days, and an awards banquet. Good place to drop the future Michelle Wies, and young Tigers.

Call Troy Youngren, the PGA professional at Cobble, (240-9542) for more info.

Of golf…..

The British Open returns this year to Carnoustie. In 1999, no golfer ever puked on himself like Jean van de Velde did that year, coming to 18 and needing only a double-bogey to win and be the first Frenchman to hoist the Claret Jug since 1907. As most golfers know, he butchered it, and lost in a playoff to Paul Lawrie. While Lawrie has disappeared pretty much from competition, van de Velde plays, and even poked fun at his disaster in a couple of self-effacting, and funny, TV commercials.

Since the tournament is back at Carnoustie and van de Velde is back in the news for the wrong reasons, he agent is telling media that if you want to interview him, bring $300,000.

Question: When the Colorado Symphony Orchestra comes to Montrose July 20 at the Montrose Pavilion, what will be performed?

Answer: Beethoven (Symphony No. 4), Copland (Letter from Home), Gershwin (An American in Paris), Sousa, (Stars and Stripes Forever), classics all.

So says, Tricia Dickinson, who’s doing a lot of the heavy lifting for this special concert.

Quotable

“A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s birthday, but never remembers her age.”

—Robert Frost, poet

Comments