WEDNESDAY ❖ MAY 5, 2010
MCHS BASEBALL PLAYS 2 AGAINST BATTLE MOUNTAIN, SEE PAGE 15
CRAIG DAILY PRESS S E RV I N G C R A I G A N D M O F FAT C O U N T Y
VOL. 109, NO. 89
WWW.CRAIGDAILYPRESS.COM
Finding their voice
Continued discussion
Student council gains political insight through legislative visit
Lodging tax committee meeting today BY BRIAN SMITH DAILY PRESS WRITER
BY NICOLE INGLIS DAILY PRESS WRITER
Four Moffat County High School students, all officers of the student council, witnessed a monumental moment in Colorado history last week. On Thursday, they stood about 10 feet away from Gov. Bill Ritter in his Denver office as he signed an $18.2 billion 2010-11 budget into law. MCHS junior Slade Gurr, the student council president, called the gravity of the moment “spine-tingling.” To be in the room at the time of the signing, one had to be a member of the legislature’s joint budget committee, or media, he said. But, under the wing of state Sen. Al White, R-Hayden, Gurr, junior April Rodgers, and sophomores Becca Pugh and Velvet Warne, were treated to a look deep inside the policy-making processes at the state capitol. On Thursday, the four students and advisors Delaine Brown and Heather Fross spent a full day at the senate chambers. Dave DeRose, owner of Masterworks Mechanical and The Industrial Company, sponsored the trip. “What I took from it was leadership more than anything,” Pugh said. “Watching them, I realized I can lead back (home).” Throughout the day, the students sat on the senate floor and attended meetings of the education and joint budget committees.
25 CENTS
DELAINE BROWN/COURTESY
THE MOFFAT COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT COUNCIL visited Denver last week for a tour of the state legislature with state Sen. Al White, R-Hayden. The students sat in on the state Senate, and the education and joint budget committees. Above, from left, are April Rogers, Slade Gurr, Becca Pugh and Velvet Warne.
They heard people testify on hot-button issues such as K-12 education funding and the education-reform related Senate Bill 191, a controver-
fyi
sial bill that passed the senate Friday. They learned that state senators can’t take their sport coats off until committee time, and
that lawmakers can argue for hours over changing a word from “shall” to “may” in a bill. See STUDENT on page 10
HEALTHY HABITS: Healthy Living 2010, a public seminar with professor Walli Carranza, is scheduled for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. today in the second-floor conference room at the Wyman Museum, 94350 E. U.S. Highway 40. The event is open to the public. A $15 donation is suggested.
Craig City Council member Terry Carwile said it’s important for local residents to have an interest in the future of their community. Residents will have such If you go an opportuThe Craig lodging nity during tax committee will the Craig meet at 6 p.m. today at Craig lodging tax City Hall, 300 W. committee Fourth St. The meeting at 6 committee will p.m. today work toward finalizing a lodging tax at Craig City ballot question to Hall, 300 W. put before voters Fourth St. in November. Carwile contends implementation of a city lodging tax would shape the future of Craig for the better. This will be the second meeting of the committee, which is in charge of developing the ballot question to present before Craig voters in November. During an April 21 meeting, committee members decided to the set the proposed tax at 6.9 percent and elect former Craig Mayor Dave DeRose as committee chairman. At today’s meeting, the committee will discuss how lodging tax money collected could be allocated, and attempt to finalize the language of the ballot question. The committee will also discuss the possibility of forming another committee to educate the public about the proposed measure, Carwile said. The idea behind the tax, which is collected from people staying in various forms of lodging in Craig, is to fund marketing, promotions and events to increase tourism in the area. Other ideas have surfaced regarding the possibility of using collected revenue to fund capitol See LODGING on page 11 INSIDE
ANNIE’S MAILBOX . . . 18 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . . 19 COMICS . . . . . . . . . 17 CROSSWORD . . . . . . 17 DATEBOOK . . . . . . . . 2
DEATHS . . . . . . . . . . 5 ENTERTAINMENT . . . . 18 OPINION . . . . . . . . . . 6 SPORTS . . . . . . . . . . 15 WEATHER . . . . . . . . . 2