Editor’s Pick: Stories of the Week

There was an embarrassment of riches this week at Colorado Confidential and tons of stories that passed quickly off the front page.

Follow along here for some interesting news and perspectives on the environment, campaigns, media criticism, immigraton, GLBT issues, and news from the Western Slope. Group Ponders Carbon Tax Initiative (+Poll)
In an effort to make a major reduction in the state’s contribution to global warming, a group of Colorado activists are considering an initiative to enact a “carbon tax.”

The proposal, tentatively titled the “Colorado Carbon Reduction Initiative” — though suggestions for a more euphonious name are being courted — would aim for a nearly 80 percent reduction in state carbon emissions by 2050.
Read more and take the poll

Rumor Mill Could Hurt Tancredo Campaign
The death of the immigration reform bill in the U.S. Senate Thursday has some people wondering if Tom Tancredo’s presidential campaign will now deflate. The Rocky Mountain News’ M.E. Sprengelmeyer asks: “Does Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado get to dance on the bill’s grave — only to find out that he has lost his biggest rallying point?”

Sprengelmeyer brings up an interesting question. Certainly, the high-profile fight over the immigration bill has given Tancredo access to the media spotlight. Now that the bill is dead, how does he continue fueling his campaign? But, others could argue, Tancredo’s cardinal rally cry was not to defeat the immigration reform measure (although he noisily decried it as amnesty), but to “secure the borders!” Tancredo can still sing that song, but will anybody be listening?
More on the flip

Manzanares Prosecutor No Stranger To Controversy
Larry Manzanares’ suicide has prompted fury and finger-pointing, with many of his friends, colleagues and even strangers weighing in with harsh criticism at prosecutors and the media for taking the porn angle and twisting it until the well-respected former judge and Denver City Attorney broke.

Ironically, the Jefferson County district attorney’s office, which released an 80-page affidavit at a news conference designed to highlight what they claimed were “massive” amounts of porn (the Rocky Mountain News dutifully repeated the description in its subsequent headline and news story) on Saturday had no comment – other than expressing “sadness.”
Continue reading…

Fractured Faith: An Ex-Ex-Gay Speaks Out, Part I
Christine Bakke prayed. She prayed for the strength to live the life she believed God wanted for her. She prayed she could be a good Christian. She prayed she wouldn’t be gay.

Bakke, 36, grew up in a world unfamiliar even to most devout Christians. Her schools were tiny cocoons revolving around the Bible. Her parents sheltered her to the point that when she saw her first movie in the theater, she was shocked when the main character asked for Cocoa Puffs cereal.  Bakke was about 11 years old, and until that point she had not realized that movies and television shows could be set in present time.

As Bakke tries to emphasize how insulated her childhood was, it’s obvious she’s given these examples many times before: She didn’t know John Lennon had died until she was in college. She didn’t know there was such a thing as a lesbian until she was 17. It’s an explanation she’s often had to give to people in the gay community when they demand to know why she tried for so long to become “ex-gay.”
Read Part I here and Part II here

Poll Shows Support For Citizenship
Americans aren’t as fearful as talk radio would have you believe. That’s according to a national poll conducted by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), which they say supports citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Dr. William L. Rosenberg, a professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia directed the study, which included random telephone interviews with more than 1,000 people across the nation.
Follow the rest of the story…

Western Slope Round-Up: It’s Nos-ville in the Mountains
Negativity and bad luck reigned on the Western Slope this past week. And we didn’t include the forest fires.
Read more below.