Statements from NPR and Ron Schiller about Project Veritas' Video

March 8, 2011 Statements from Ron Schiller & Vivian Schiller

"While the meeting I participated in turned out to be a ruse, I made statements during the course of the meeting that are counter to NPR’s values and also not reflective of my own beliefs. I offer my sincere apology to those I offended. I resigned from NPR, previously effective May 6th, to accept another job. In an effort to put this unfortunate matter behind us, NPR and I have agreed that my resignation is effective today." Ron Schiller, Former SVP of Development and Former President of the NPR Foundation – March 8, 2011

“Ron Schiller’s remarks are contrary to what NPR stands for and deeply distressing to reporters, editors and others who bring fairness, civility and respect for a wide variety of viewpoints to their work every day.” Vivian Schiller, President & CEO, NPR – March 8, 2011


NPR Corporate Statement – provided to media March 8th

The comments contained in the video released today are contrary to everything we stand for and we completely disavow the views expressed. NPR is fair and open minded about the people we cover. Our reporting reflects those values every single day -- in the civility of our programming, the range of opinions we reflect and the diversity of stories we tell.

The assertion that NPR and public radio stations would be better off without federal funding does not reflect reality. The elimination of federal funding would significantly damage public broadcasting as a whole.

Ron Schiller tendered his resignation on January 24, well before the lunch meeting occurred. His resignation was announced last week. He was intending to stay with NPR through May 5. We have mutually agreed that Ron is leaving NPR effective today.

Colorado's resort region continues to get hit hard by foreclosure

This morning listen for a story on the latest foreclosure numbers in Colorado. The state's foreclosure rate is flattening out. But the numbers are not a pretty picture for the rural resort region. Tune in -- an economist and spokesperson for the Colorado Division of Housing will explain why.

In the meantime, if you want to read the report for yourself, head here.

It's a Bear's Life

I went on a memorable reporting trip recently to a black bear's den, on the East side of Aspen Mountain. A group of Colorado State University Students, Division of Wildlife officials and a few others used snowshoes and skies to get to the den, 1200 vertical feet up a snowy, steep mountainside.

The students were wrapping up a multi-year study on the movement of black bears, particularly in urban areas. About 50 bears were outfitted with GPS collars and their feeding habits were tracked. The scientists discovered the bears prefer natural foods like service berries and acorns, over peoples' trash. But, the bears did resort to feasting on trash during bad food years. The study was meant to help City of Aspen officials and others make moves to prevent bears from getting into trash and potentially having dangerous run-in's with humans.

The students had been to this bear's den before, but this time they were removing the GPS collar that had been on the female bear for about one year. Once at the den, the group quietly loaded dart guns with tranquilizers. They squeezed into the small den to pull out the momma bear so they could check her health by taking her temperature and blood. A cub was curled up in the den too, and its health was checked.

The report by the CSU students will likely be released in one year. Then local officials can choose whether to use the information in dealing with bears in urban areas.

How Much Water Will Colorado Need?

This morning, I reported on the Statewide Water Supply Initiative, the latest in a decade-long effort to figure out how much water Colorado will need over the next several decades -- and whether the state's on the right path to supply users with all that water.

Check out the Executive Summary for yourself here.

Here's a shorter summary of the findings for municipal and industrial use -- basically the water we use everyday at home. The need is expected to skyrocket. I bolded a few facts of particular interest to the West Slope.

The following are the major conclusions from
Colorado's 2050 M&I water use projections:

-Colorado's population is expected to nearly
double to between 8.6 and 10 million people
by 2050.

-The Front Range will continue to be the most
populous place in Colorado with over
80 percent of the state's population residing
in the Arkansas, Metro, and South Platte
Basins. The Front Range is expected to grow
by approximately 70 percent.

-The West Slope will grow at the fastest rate
of any area in Colorado between now and
2050. Population on the West Slope is
expected to more than double in the next
40 years with some growth rates as high as
240 percent.

-Statewide M&I water usage rates have
decreased by 18 percent. This decrease is due
to a combination of drought response,
conservation savings, and additional data
collection efforts. Additional data collected
during this effort has improved the original
SWSI water usage information.

-Because population growth is the driving
factor in water use across the state, water use
is also expected to nearly double by 2050.

-Passive conservation will save approximately
150,000 AFY by 2050 or an 8 percent savings
relative to baseline 2050 M&I water demands.

-The basins with the largest SSI water usage in
2050 are projected to be the Yampa‐White,
Arkansas, Metro, and South Platte Basins.

-Colorado will need approximately
600,000 AFY to 1 million AFY of additional
M&I and SSI water by 2050. These estimates
incorporate new water demands from
population growth, energy, and other SSI
needs (including oil shale), and replacement
of nontributary groundwater.

-An oil shale industry producing
1,550,000 barrels of oil/day could use between
0 to 120,000 AFY depending upon what
technologies and other factors are
implemented. Due to ramp up rates, by 2050
projected water use ranges from 0 to
44,000 AFY for an industry providing
550,000 barrels of oil/day p16

Bente Birkeland Interviews Statehouse Leaders

The new legislative session begins next week.





In anticipation of the new session, Rocky Mountain Community Radio's Bente Birkeland interviewed the House and Senate Minority and Majority Leaders.



You can listen to her interviews here:


Republicans hold the minority in the state senate, but say they’re looking forward to having more leverage now that Republicans control the other chamber. Mike Kopp from Littleton is the Senate Minority Leader.




The state senate remains firmly in Democratic hands. Senate President Brandon Schaefer of Longmont is the only legislative leader who is not new to the position this session. And he has a specific vision for the months ahead.


Control of Colorado’s State House of Representatives, has changed this year, with Republicans now in control. New House minority leader Democratic representative Sal Pace talked about what it means and the role of his caucus.


Colorado has a new Republican Speaker of the State House, Frank McNulty. He talked about his plans for leadership and how he intends to work with the Democratic controlled senate and the Democratic Governor.

More on Secure Communities

Today I reported on Governor Ritter signing onto Secure Communities, a fingerprint check program with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Now, anyone booked at their local law enforcement will have their prints and other identification scanned through the immigration database with ICE.

Click here for more details on Secure Communities, from ICE.

Take a look at the state's agreement with the feds:

Secure Communities MOA - Colorado Final-1

Here are some thoughts from immigration rights' activists who oppose Secure Communities, from the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition in a press release yesterday:

ColoradoImmigrantRightsCoalition-SecureCommunities

Citizens and members of the city of Aspen Historic Preservation and Planning and Zoning Commissions were generally appalled at an anonymous developer's application to redevelop the Given Institute property.



I reported on it on our local news, but there is never enough time to include everything, or even part of everything.



At last night's meeting the general comments were that the proposed development lacked sensitivity because it asked for nearly $2 million in exemptions from the city as well as height, setback and size limit exemptions and would require cutting down many of Aspen's oldest and tallest trees.



Citizens were irked that there was a development being proposed at all and some mentioned trying to create a consortium of people to buy the property. The anonymous buyer (he's buying the 2.25 acre property and buildings from the University of Colorado for $15 million) is proposing to save the Given Institute building on one lot and subdivide the property into three more for private residential development. Representatives of the buyer said this application was rushed and they wanted to get feedback from the commissions, staff and citizens and go back to the drawing board.



Here's what some various members said during the meeting:



Neighbor Jonathan Lewis

Former neighbor Al Dietsch

Aspen Deputy Parks Director Stephen Ellsperman

Aspen Community Development Director Chris Bendon

Attorney for the buyer Bart Johnson

Planner for the buyer Mitch Haas

Aspen citizen and ACES board member Michael Fox