Thanks to Silt Fire Department

I want to thank the Silt Fire Department. After getting me back to my feet, which was a project in itself, the crew transported me to Valley View Hospital. The crew worked as a team and was prepared to deal with my size.

I spent eight days in a hospital in Denver. Then, Silt Fire came back and got me out of an extremely small car and back into my apartment.

Thank you again.

Tim Lombardo, Silt

Clarifying Medicaid payments

One of this country’s compassionate acts is that emergency departments in hospitals that receive Medicare must provide treatment to all people seeking care, regardless of citizenship, legal status or ability to pay. If a patient does not have insurance and is unable to pay, the hospital is reimbursed by Medicaid. These are the only federal payments that apply to undocumented people.

Some states, such as California, provide state Medicaid for some undocumented people, but it does not come out of federal dollars.

Speaker Mike Johnson is lying when he says Democrats are shutting down the government because they want to provide Medicaid to the undocumented. Actually, they want to restore the Medicaid cuts that Republicans made in the big budget bill passed earlier this year. They also want to keep the subsidies for Obamacare that were provided during COVID.

So now that you know the truth, let your members of Congress know.

Udelle Stuckey, Carbondale

School safety concerns and call to vote

This week, I had the pleasure of traveling to Carbondale to visit my now 7-year-old grandson to celebrate his birthday. On the night of his birthday, the Roaring Fork School District hosted a forum for this year’s school board candidates to share their views.

I was deeply shocked to hear candidates Elizabeth Cockrill Taylor and Jodi Barr share that, if elected, they would seek to allow concealed carry in my grandson’s school and arm teachers. Firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teenagers in the United States. There is no evidence to suggest that arming teachers makes schools safer. In fact, the National Association of School Resource Officers, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers all steadfastly oppose it.

The thought of my grandson attending a school full of guns terrifies me. I urge voters in the Roaring Fork Valley to turn out in force this election and elect leaders who will keep kids, teachers and staff safe. In this election, please vote for Tammy Nimmo and Kathryn Kuhlenberg.

With gratitude,
Susan Westervelt, Asheville, North Carolina

Keep schools strong with local leadership

The choices are clear. Four women are running for the Roaring Fork School Board, two of whom volunteer and work to make our schools stronger and more inclusive. The other two would like to bring in a right-wing controlling influence and don’t even have children in the public schools.

Off-year elections are when school boards can fall to those who want to ban books, impose religious values and limit cultural or other diversity. Pay attention and vote for Tammy Nimmo and Kathryn Kuhlenberg to keep our schools strong.

Peter Westcott, Carbondale

Concerns about anti-Trump protest

There is an anti-Trump protest planned to take place in Glenwood Springs on the 18th that is advertised as a chance for the community to come together and stand for “democracy.” It looks more like a rally point for those duped into violating our inalienable rights under the banner of the Democratic Party.

The Democratic Party is the same national party that used government offices to pressure big tech and media to censor speech, suppress truth, pump propaganda and gleefully put dissidents in cages. This is the same party that implemented an unfettered border policy and shoved tens of billions of tax dollars into NGOs, knowing the money would settle in cartel pockets as fuel for drug and sex trafficking. This is the same party whose reckless rhetoric led to the murder of an innocent man, celebrated his death, mocked his wife, destroyed memorials for him, lied about who killed him and somehow still made themselves out to be victims.

Someone commented in a letter here that the protest is a chance for Democrats, Republicans and independents to come together. Sorry, this independent isn’t buying it. That already happened in the last general election. Whatever the current administration may be, it includes two Democratic presidential candidates, a bunch of independents and all sorts of other people. You could say diversity is their strength, warts and all.

The suggestion is to keep national politics out of this paper and off our streets. We don’t need the noisy few moaning in Trump-hate in letters to the editor or physically gathering in anger against their neighbors. It’s better to find good things for folks to agree on — share more inspiring notes of gratitude, highlight volunteer opportunities to help others or anything else locally important to collaborate on. That’s how people come together.

The only thing that protest is going to do for Glenwood Springs is promote division. It’s an embarrassment for our city and sad to see.

Joe Claypool, Glenwood Springs

KDNK thanks the community for its support

To our beloved members, listeners, DJs, volunteers, underwriting partners, friends and neighbors — KDNK wants to say the most heartfelt thank you for making our Fall Membership Drive a success.

This summer, the passing of the Recessions Act resulted in an immediate loss of 27% of KDNK’s annual budget. KDNK provides emergency alerts critical for rural communities; up-to-date news on local politics, events, businesses and cultural happenings; and algorithm-free music, brought to you by KDNK volunteer DJs and the incredible Andy Zanca Youth Empowerment Program.

All of this is made possible by our members, who donate both dollars and countless hours of volunteerism that allow KDNK to host events like Bingo, Lip Sync Battle and the Labor of Love silent auction. Our staff braves the elements to air live broadcasts from the Basalt and Carbondale summer music series and Mountain Fair — and even climbed mountains to restore our service in Leadville in the middle of the membership drive.

This fall, we asked our community to dig deep and had the highest membership drive goal in KDNK’s history. And without fail, our community heard the call. After two weeks of fundraising, we officially made our goal of $120,000.

It’s been a hard year for community radio, and we cannot thank our community and members enough for showing support through these trying times. Together, we will continue to bring local news, music and events to our rural communities.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

KDNK Board of Directors, Carbondale