Below are some of the letters to the editor we have received over the past two decades.
Oct. 21, 1993
Intellectual elitism?
I am writing to applaud you on your success in filling a void in the Boulder and Denver metro areas for a high-quality weekly publication. It’s refreshing to finally see a publication that clearly is striving for journalistic excellence in its writing, advertisements and editorial focus. While I respect and embrace your commitment to avoiding the sensationalistic, aggressive, obtrusive journalism practiced by another regional weekly publication, I am concerned that you are headed toward the opposite end of the spectrum. Many of your articles tend to lack a sense of significance/relevance and, in my opinion, over-represent Boulder’s “granola” community (i.e., the articles on the “grunge violist” and the Nederland woman who talks to animals). … You have a quality publication that is on the verge of taking off and becoming a strong regional influence — in terms of readership as well as journalistic integrity. You’re definitely on the right track. I wish you well, and I will enjoy watching as the future of the Weekly takes shape.
Jackie Robb/Boulder
June 16, 1994
Pomerance missed the point
Who was it that said, “Those who don’t learn from history are bound to repeat it”? It obviously wasn’t your columnist and past City Council member Steve Pomerance.
Mr. Pomerance proposes a number of methods designed to slow growth in Boulder. Not the least of his concerns is the “in-commuting” he attributes to the lack of work force within the city. The fact is, these people live outside Boulder because of the last concerted effort to slow growth in this community.
In the late 1970s, former City Council member Paul Danish managed to push through a limitation of the number of building permits issued within the city, rationalizing that this would clamp down growth via management of development. … Look at Boulder’s post-Paul Danish years before messing with the natural progression of things again, and give Steve Pomerance a lesson on basic supply-and-demand!
Doug Anderson/Fort Collins
May 17, 1995
Kidnapped to Venus
The recent profusion of articles in your publication detailing the rise of the Patriot movement, militias and all the terrible things our government is doing to we the people finally gives me the courage to speak out about something odious that I saw with my own eyes.
About a year ago, while genuflecting near Folsom Stadium, I was apprehended by what at first appeared to be a Black Helicopter, but was in fact a 1983 Chrysler K Car with rotors. The occupants blindfolded me, changed my socks and whisked me (after stopping for a tank of gas and what sounded like a bag of Doritos) to Venus. Imagine my surprise to find thousands of good Christian Americans like myself enslaved in a vast underground cavern, captives of a Liberal Democrat Multicultural Vegetarian International Gay Banking Coterie that really needed a shower. Their diabolical task? They were building replica Wal-Marts out of used pizza boxes and toothpicks, with an attention to detail so precise that the deodorant on aisle 18 was still cheapest to be found anywhere. These ersatz Wal-Marts are to be flown back to the United States, where unsuspecting shoppers will buy Chinese products, thereby bankrolling a communist takeover of the solar system, Boulder included.
Well, I wasted no time in blasting my way out (thanks to the concealed firearm in my hat — kudos to Bob Glass!), climbed to the surface, and took the 7:06 train back to Earth. Please alert your readers to this awful government conspiracy.
Glenn Arndt/Boulder
May 16, 1996
Drop that tooter
What’s it been now? A little over two years since the Weekly made its appearance on the local scene? Long enough, one might say, for it to have begun to settle down somewhat. Undeniably, Boulder (particularly Boulder County) has long been in need of a paper which had the courage to probe into matters which, for whatever reasons, the other print media would not or could not tackle. And admittedly, the new kid on the block had to establish a place for itself, which the Weekly began to do almost at the outset. What could be disregarded even a year ago, namely, a carelessness with detail often coupled with shock-value judgments, is really no longer tolerable. The Weekly has a niche. It need no longer flog the “look ma, I’m dancin’” shtick. … The point I wish to stress is that the Weekly readership, absent a tightening of standards of accuracy and thoroughness on the part of the editors, will continue to be ill-served at precisely the time when, if both Boulder city and county are not left in a shambles in the wake of the flood of colonization across the entire Front Range, hard-eyed, careful investigative journalism is sorely needed. Guys and gals, you’ve arrived. Now put away party hats, the tooters, the shock-buzzers and get to work.
John Sherman/via Internet
May 29, 1997
You’re not crazy
Having moved to Boulder from a real city seven months ago, I thought it was time to write and thank you for being my link to reality. Every week, the citizens of Boulder and their “civil servants,” be they in the police or government, do something that underscores the inept, moralistic, thinly veiled autocratic nature of the local power structure and of the braindead complicity of most of the residents.
Of all the media available, the Weekly is the only outlet that seems compelled to repeatedly point out that the rulers of this republic are operating outside the bounds of the Constitution and greater public good. That you do that with wit, accuracy and compassion serves as a continual reminder that I am not going crazy.
Neil Feineman/Boulder
Jan. 29, 1998
Zero population woes
(Re “Debunking the saints,” Wayne’s Word, Feb. 11) Thank you for having the cojones to employ a columnist who is willing to bust sacred cows.
I have four children. While some people may see our family as too large, they are missing the joy and responsibility that they are too myopic to understand. It’s interesting that most population freaks are childless, white, upper-class professionals or trustfunders.
As the former chair of the Sierra Club’s national environmental justice task force, I have studied international population issues. Wayne’s Word hit the nail on the head. Greed and distribution of resources are the problem, not children.
Again, thank you Boulder Weekly and Wayne Laugesen.
Brian Andreja/Boulder
July 15, 1999
Check out our spiked collars
Caramba! The Rabid Chihuahua of Boulder’s newspaper biz is really yappin’ and pissin’ on pants legs this week (July 8-14)! Father Wayne’s sermon is even more hysterical than usual. Government handouts just make him see red, unless they’re in aid of his preferred brand of institutionalized superstition, of course. Also, BW makes a ferocious, if tiny, leap for the distant jugular of [Daily Camera columnist] Clint Talbott, this time around showing no mercy and actually spelling his name right. That musta’ hurt. BW helps fill the dreary hours between issues of The Onion, keep it up! But watch out someone doesn’t take a rolled-up newspaper to you.
Peter Aretin/via email
June 15, 2000
Weenies, not weapons
I had to fight the urge to call Boulder High School myself when I read your article about BHS student Erin Fraser being suspended from school for simply wearing a T-shirt (Wayne’s Word, June 1-7). I am disgusted that my tax dollars are going to teachers who are more concerned with what a student is wearing than his safety or education. … I think that Boulder High School owes this kid an apology. His suspension should be wiped off his record and Chris King should be properly reprimanded for his obviously hasty decision. And to the parents and students who are so easily offended by the word “weenie,” I say lighten up! It’s just a word. If you still want to complain, stuff your hole with an Oscar Meyer wiener and choke on it. %u2028 Kristin Black/via e-mail
Jan. 25, 2001
Life in Hell
Let us dispense with the ass-kissing first. I have read your paper religiously for years now, and I really dig it, and never had a reason to go so far as to complain in writing. I don’t even like to write, and perhaps my anger stems from the fact that you are forcing me to write in order to correct a most disturbing situation that has appeared in your rag recently.
The disappearance of “Life in Hell” — no not mine, you morons — the beautifully sculpted, subtly hilarious and insightful comic by Matt Groening. Now, instead of laughing at the small incongruities of life so artfully rendered in said comic, I’m stuck crying at the tripe you chose to replace it. Please, before you ruin another fragile day, put it
Aug. 1, 2002
Fire Wayne
Why does Boulder Weekly insist on printing “Speaking Out” columns from Libertarian loonies like Duncan Philp? Philp ranted on about his arrest for carrying a gun in Denver, even though he had no permit to carry one (“Suck a donut, pig,” Speaking Out, July 18). … Can’t Boulder Weekly actually pay good writers and not rely on hogwash from misfits like Philp? Next to Philp’s column was another dumb right-wing manifesto by Wayne Laugesen, about Rollie Heath’s reasonable proposal to raise cigarette taxes to help fund a health-insurance plan for Coloradoans. Laugesen quotes David Kopel, an Independence Institute hack, to decry Heath’s proposal. When is Boulder Weekly going to get a real editor, one who’s not a right-wing, ex-Soldier of Fortune flunky like Laugesen? Laugesen writes his drivel week after week, promoting his reactionary agenda that supports conservative Catholicism, while ridiculing everything from family planning to recycling. You’re so out of touch with mainstream Boulder, Wayne, you’re pathetic. Meanwhile, Boulder Weekly grinds on as an erratic back in, you soulless jerks, and perhaps we can all be friends again. Those are all the big words I know and now I’m all upset at having to trot out these nasty insults. Thanks a lot, Boulder Weekly.
Concerned reader/via e-mail
May 30, 2002
Wayne’s right, idiots
The reason I read Boulder Weekly is the refreshment I find in non-mainstream media — a paper unafraid to publish an un-coated pill of reality or opinions that are entirely unpopular. Actually, I shouldn’t say that I read the Weekly, since most weeks I skip to straight to Wayne’s Word and then glance at Panorama for what’s going on that weekend.
In the two years that I’ve been reading Wayne’s column, I have disagreed with him twice. He challenges everything that Boulderites hold dear and gives them reasons to actually think — not that they do. I have never in my life encountered such hypocrisy as I’ve found living amongst the population of Boulder — yes, Boulder, where our shit doesn’t stink and the trash receptacles in the park overflow with little plastic bags of biodegradable material because someone doesn’t want to see it until the next time it precipitates. Or worse yet, get some on the rubber outsole of his shoe! Nowhere else have I seen such a pastime of sniveling! The bleeding hearts failed to see the message in Wayne’s Word: We took the habitat of the prairie dog for our own. … Jamie Black/Boulder
voice of our community, when it could and should be much more. Stewart Sallo, are you even reading your own paper?
Lewis Ford/Boulder
Dec. 4, 2003
Cemex dust clouds
Thank you so much for the Cemex article. You really did your homework and researched this topic from every angle. I am very grateful to you and the Watchdogs, as I am a Cemex neighbor who has been impacted by the Cemex dust clouds for seven years. The kiln dust corroded and ruined the paint job on my Saturn sedan. I can only imagine what it is doing to my lungs and to those who are even more vulnerable than I.
Thank you, Pamela, for your incredible commitment to serving the residents of Boulder County.
Kristin Powell/via Internet
Dec. 2, 2004
Sanctimonious hypocrite
Hey, Wayne, glad to see you’re back, you sanctimonious hypocrite. I agree with Pamela too often, never get excited enough to write. But your little diatribe about people who consider Republicans idiots misses the point about why smart people really detest you. Do a search on your handy computer for pictures and information about the casualties in Iraq, if you have the courage. See the picture of the little girl with her legs blown off? The little boy with his brain blown out? On and on, ad nauseum it goes. Let’s get clear on this, Wayne. There was no legitimate reason to attack Iraq; Shrub did it in order to sell himself as a “great president.” If abortion is murder, then so is bombing civilians, particularly the citizens of a country that has not attacked us.
Why is it so hard for you jingoist slobs to understand this? Is it really legitimate to consider abortion as the only issue worth your concern? Is it OK to kill Iraqi children because they’re already born? And dark-haired and Muslim? I imagine if those kids were Catholics you’d be singing a different tune, wouldn’t you, you morally superior thug? Anyway, hugs and kisses to you and your hypocritical friends. And be sure to write. It confirms my opinion of people like you.
Joe Huggins/Boulder
March 31, 2005
Cannabis helps
(Re: “Putting the kind in kindbud,” News, March 24.) I had to take a minute to write to thank you for the article you wrote about the cannabis club. I lost my mother just months ago, and I, too, now see the awful mistake this country has made in its continuation of the so-called “War on Drugs.” I firmly believe she would have had a better end to her life if she had been given the option to use cannabis as an alternative to the morphine she was given to suppress her pain.
The morphine left her in a total stupor, which kept her from communicating with her loved ones and even her caregivers.
You are a true saint among men for seeing well beyond the “fog of war” in this “Drug War,” in that there truly is a benefit to cannabis use for some people. …
Thank you again for your most excellent work in this area and for your courage to publish the truth about one of the most useful plants known to humanity.
David Jones/via Internet
Sept. 21, 2006
Prairie rats
I think the group of rat-kissing wingnuts who call themselves “Keep Boulder Wild” could more accurately be called “Keep Boulder Infested.” An obnoxious, disease-carrying pest with a population three or four times the carrying capacity of the land it overruns doesn’t have much to do with wildness. I recently found that they’ve dug under the fence surrounding the Superior Cemetery; after all, what’s a fence to a prairie rat? Not many people know where the Superior Cemetery is, but for those of us who do, the idea of prairie rats digging into Grandpa’s grave is one more reason to kill as many of the nasty little bleepers as possible.
Anthony Lee/Lafayette
Feb. 1, 2007
Remembering AIDS
(Re: “AIDS: 25 years in Boulder County,” cover story, Nov. 30.) President Bush mentioned the worldwide AIDS epidemic last night in his speech, in particular the United States’ contributions to fight it in Africa. I was pleased to hear him speak of it and hope more effort will be put forth by all wealthy countries to fight AIDS.
Pamela White’s series of articles on AIDS brought back to me the memories of my early involvement in fighting this then-new and very feared epidemic. As an infection control nurse at a rural community hospital, it fell on me to educate the hospital staff and the schools in smaller outlying communities. … I traveled to mountain communities with a box of condoms, a banana, a video and educational handouts to teach the older children. Of course, there was the expected snickering and blushing, but it seemed to me that the kids were interested, and I can only hope I made a difference.
Pamela’s articles, which were so sensitively and thoughtfully written, brought this all back to me. She has a gift for finding the humanity of mankind. The Boulder community is to be congratulated, as well, for its continued work on AIDS.
Thank you, Pamela, and keep up the good journalism.
Mary Roderick/via Internet
Feb. 14, 2008
The spirit of organic
(Re: “The spirit of organic,” cover story, Feb. 7.) I would like to thank Jake Whitney and the Boulder Weekly for the piece about organic milk. It was well written, researched and informative. My thanks is broader than for just this one article, but for the reminder of what journalism can look like in these dark days of corporate infomercial-style non-news that is both insulting and anti-democratic (in that democracy can only survive if the populace is informed). After reading the article, I felt I had learned something that affects me and anyone trying to be a conscious consumer. Isn’t that the point of journalism, whether it is milk or a shrink-wrapped politician? Thanks again.
John Martini/via Internet
March 4, 2010
Shackling is inhumane
Pamela White’s article “Pregnant in Prison” moved me to tears (cover story, Feb. 18). Having a wrist or ankle of a woman in labor shackled is shocking and inhumane. Only people who have never given birth would think such a thing is OK. …
Sept. 17, 2009
Thoughtful coverage
(Re: “Dying to be thin,” cover story, Sept. 3.) Thanks for the thoughtful coverage of eating disorders. Dana Logan did a great job of addressing this terrible problem. So many girls and women waste years punishing their bodies rather than addressing their emotional and physical needs. And many thanks to Paige Doughty for being courageous enough to share her journey to health with the public. One day, perhaps, our culture will focus on nourishment and health both mental and physical rather than weight and appearance.
Michelle Brown/via Internet
I hope the law is changed. It should be written in such a way as to require shackling a woman in labor only if she’s violent and poses a risk to the medical staff. Thank you, Ms. White, for another of your interesting and informative articles.
Karen Graffenberger/Boulder
Dec. 22, 2011
GMO shenanigans
[“Behind the GMO curtain,” Cover story, Dec. 15.] Thank you, thank you, thank you, Boulder Weekly, for the bang up
job of cracking this vastly important story, and bringing it into the light of public scrutiny. … After reading this story, I’m afraid the Farm Bureau’s support of GM crops is sadly misplaced, by putting their own short-term economic gain above the long-term health of the larger ecology; and thus putting them at odds with the citizens of Boulder County, who are quite willing to take them on in political battle.
As stewards of the land, these farmers need to take their responsibility to the land more seriously, instead of acting like loyal lapdogs to the big ag corporations that are pulling at their emotional and economical heartstrings.
For if they were to closely examine the scientific data, and the evidence from the experience of their agricultural brethren, the organic farming community, I think they would be forced to admit their position on GM crops is wrong.
I applaud the community service that Boulder Weekly has done by allowing an open public debate on this critical issue.
Rick Casey/via Internet
Aug. 9, 2012
Danish on another planet
I fail to understand how you can allow and possibly even pay someone like Paul Danish to state opinions as if they are facts.
I am not sure what planet he is on, but it is certainly different than the rest of us. … I will not accept turning over a world to my grandchildren that is a desert due to billions of gallons of water permanently removed from the hydrologic cycle permanently by fracking. Put the fracking money into solar and wind energy, and I guarantee there will be plenty of jobs. And they will be jobs that will still exist in 25 years, unlike those that will be gone as soon as we run out of oil.
But then, in Mr. Danish’s universe, maybe gas and oil are as infinite as his ignorance. In my universe those things are finite. Give me a fracking break here. Mr. Danish has about as much intelligence as his namesake pastry.
Jim Wilson/Boulder
Aug. 9, 2012
Thanks for Longmont piece
I am writing in response to your article “State of Colorado bullies Longmont …” (commentary, Aug. 2).
I literally shed tears reading this article. I could not possibly, no matter how I tried, more accurately summarize my thoughts and feelings about what is happening in Longmont. … If I have to hear about how Colorado has the most transparent and rigorous guidelines for drilling in the country, I will scream. And I’m sure that all of the out-of-work software engineers in town can’t wait to snatch up all the jobs provided by O&G out on the oil rigs.
Sorry, I digress, and I’m preaching to the choir. But your voice and ability to call out the bullshit publicly has made me feel ready to take on the next level of the fight that we’ve found ourselves in. It’s so worth it.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Lindsay Gahn/via Internet
Joel [Dyer], if I had you right here with me, I would give you the biggest kiss and hug of your life. (Excuse me if you have a wife!) The Longmont community owes you a debt of gratitude for the article. And Gore Vidal is smiling on you right now, saying, “Pretty good job, kiddo”!
I thank you for the clarity you bring to the issues, and together “we can/will change the outcome.”
Gerri Bradford/Longmont
Oct. 25, 2012
Useful vote guide
(Re: “Vote 2012,” cover story, Oct. 4.) You have finally made yourself useful by publishing your Vote Guide 2012. Now I know to vote the exact opposite way on every issue and candidate you socialists have endorsed.
Thanks! John Wilson/Boulder
March 15, 2012
Valmont series is great
(Re: “The Ghosts of Valmont Butte” series.) That is the best local reporting on any topic that I’ve seen in years. I hope you’re submitting the series to the Pulitzer judges because it’s that good. Thank you for your service to the community.
I can’t fathom why the Camera and Post haven’t picked up on your story!
Thank you. Gail Promboin/via Internet
Dec. 12, 2013
Greenwashing, revisited
[Re: “Hickenlooper’s new oil and gas regulations: Real substance or fracking greenwash?” Cover story, Nov. 28.] Thanks for the great article on Hickenlooper’s new fracking regs. You put it all together. In my limited time, I did similar but far less extensive research as you, reading the regs, thinking about enforcement, examining the process by which the draft was developed and looking at EDF’s money trail.
I came up with similar though far less detailed observations. Unfortunately, your article was very helpful in confirming what I suspected. You and Jeff do a fabulous job bringing the facts to bear on important issues — a thousand times better job than the Post and 10 thousand times better than the Camera.
Ken Bonetti/Boulder
I’ve worked on issues related to Valmont Butte going on a decade now. Boulder Weekly — its staff — has been a beacon of journalistic light and illumination on a topic for which local governments and the local “mainstream” media have had no real intellectual curiosity or, for that matter, integrity. The prevailing sentiment has seemed to be — if it takes more than the attention span of a TV commercial, we really are not interested in it, or willing to do anything about it. Not so with the Weekly staff. Congratulations on your 20th anniversary, and here’s to many more decades of principled journalism.
Steve Moore, Native American Rights Fund/Boulder
The BW shows why traditional investigative local journalism is necessary and relevant. Their articles are well researched, quotes are provocative and even the letters to the editor add robust insight into the pulse of the activist community. Savvy residents know this is the paper to read.
Dan Powers, interim executive director, Boulder Tomorrow
The Boulder Weekly has never forgotten about giving a voice to the voiceless. With the Weekly’s advocacy on homelessness and disability issues, I am even more fired up to fight for the people without powerful lobbies at the Capitol.
Your “Penny wise” article [cover story, March 29, 2012] helped me better articulate the moral and economic imperative to do the right thing for our homeless residents with disabilities. Mr. Celias got his housing not long after the article was published, and the state wait list for serving people with disabilities is now rapidly shrinking. Keep reporting and I’ll keep fighting.
Happy anniversary!
Rep. Jonathan Singer/Longmont
I am grateful for the in-depth approach that the Boulder Weekly takes in presenting issues that are important to our community. They begin with a fresh set of questions, which can result in surprising conclusions. Independent media, like the Weekly, is important in expanding the often narrow breadth of opinion that is presented in conventional media. And the BW digital version is clear and easy to use. It’s like having the paper in your hands.
Boulder City Council member Macon Cowles/Boulder
