GJPD Settles Civil Rights Claim
The city of Grand Junction agreed to pay Abraham Ybarra $250,000 to settle a civil-rights lawsuit filed in response to a 2023 incident and arrest. After Ybarra was tased and on the ground, GJPD officer Cody Lopez can be heard telling Ybarra’s wife “He’s gonna get tased again if you don’t stop.”
Telluride Ski Patrol On Strike
Low snowpack is just one of the reasons Teleski the company that owns and operates the Telluride Ski Area is delaying the opening of the world renown ski resort. The other reason is that the ski patrollers are on strike for a living wage. All 75 members of the Communication Workers of America Local #7781 United Mountain Workers voted in favor of the strike. Negotiations continue, as the company recruits scabs at a higher rate of pay then they are currently offering their long-time profession ski patrollers.
War In Somalia Not Newsworthy
The regime has been banging the drums of war so loudly against Venezuela, few media outlets have reported on the escalating war in Somalia. Since Trump took office, the U.S. has launched over 100 airstrikes against alleged Islamic extremists in Somalia. In May, Admiral James Kilby described a recent airstrike launched by his 6th Naval Fleet, as the “largest airstrike in history.”
Hilltop Closing Asset House
Hilltop has announced the impending closure of the Asset House. The Asset House is a transitional housing program that has helped countless people get off the streets over the decades. Closures of essential social services in our community will continue largely because of DOGE and the Big Brutal Bill. First the North Avenue Emergency Shelter announced its impending closure, now the Asset House and surely more closures are on the horizon.
Mesa County Gets New School Board
For the past two years Jose Chavez has been the lone voice of reason and tolerance on the D51 school board. But after two anti-masker, MAGA adjacent board members lost their bids for reelection, Chavez was chosen to be the president of a 3-2 non-MAGA school board. This was a huge win, especially in Mesa County which went +22 points for Trump in 2024.
Local Racist Running for House District 54
Jason Bias, has announced his candidacy for State House District 54. Bias re-organized the TPUSA chapter at Colorado Mesa University and served as the group’s president. He is the current co-chair of the Mesa County Republican Party. The Rev reported on the neo-nazi adjacent racism TPUSA has unleashed on marginalized students at CMU, and we will never forget that Bias posted this meme last Valentines Day.
Socialists Win Big; 85 Democrats Cross the Aisle to Condemn
On election night, the biggest win in the biggest race was Zohran Mamdani being elected by a majority of New York City voters, but socialist and communist won elections across the nation. Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, Boston, Ithaca, Milwaukee, and the District of Columbia all elected DSA endorsed candidates, in the case of Ithica and Minneapolis voters elected two DSA councilmembers. Seattle elected Democratic Socialist Katie Wilson as mayor. Additionally, four candidates backed by the Communist Party USA won office. Recent polling indicates that a majority of rank-and-file Democrats and Gen Z support socialism, yet 85 house democrats voted with Republicans to condemn socialism. It begs the question: why not draw up a resolution condemning fascism, or genocide?
Flocking Losers
Flock Safety’s tide is turning. Judges keep ruling against them in court, and cities around the country are canceling their contracts and turning off the cameras. Everyday citizens are taking the lead pushing back against this surveillance state over-reach. More than a dozen cities have recently paused or cancelled their contracts with Flock Safety amid concerns for privacy, and authoritarian over reach, as Flock Cameras have been used for immigration enforcement, tracking women seeking reproductive health care in other states, and officers using the technology to stalk their ex-wives and girlfriends. Flock has also been losing in court. A Norfolk judge recently ruled that the locations of 600+ Flock Safety cameras were public records and not protected information. Another Judge in Washington State has ruled that all the pictures taken by Flock’s Automated License Plate Reading cameras are public records.
Uranium Mining Returning to Western Slope
On November 7 the United States Geological Survey added uranium to its Critical Minerals, a move that will streamline federal permitting and ultimately production. Later in November, Anfield Energy filed their Environmental Protect Plan with Colorado Division Reclamation, Mining, and Safety, for the JD-8 uranium mine in Paradox Valley.
Anfield Energy has become the new big player in the Uranium mining business. In 2015, they acquired the Shootering Canyon uranium mill near Ticaboo, Utah. The mill is the lynch-pin of Aefeilds plans to resume uranium mining in Colorado and Utah. The mill was built in 1980, and was only operational for six months in 1982, and has been sitting unused since then. To feed the mill, Anfield has acquired two large holdings in western Colorado. Anfield’s West Slope project comprises 6913 acres of Uranium producing mineral leases in Montrose and San Miguel counties. Anfield’s Slick Rock project comprises an additional 5,333 acres of uranium producing mineral leases, in San Miguel county.
Anfield is projecting that mining will resume at the JD-8 mine by the middle of 2026.
Mesa County Libraries Under Threat
Despite a packed house, including two overflow rooms, on Dec. 16 Mesa County Board of County Commissioners appointed two right-wing ideologues to the MCPL Board of Trustees. The Rev’s coverage of the pending appointment went viral and organizations as diverse as the League of Women Voters, Restore the Balance, Grand Junction Indivisible, and Mesa County Democratic Socialists organized speakers in defense of the current board members and to express concern over the appointment of inexperienced ideologues over qualified non-partisan professionals. Library board meets the last Thursday of each month at 5:30pm, at the Central Library’s Monument Room.
###
The Revolutionist is 100% volunteer run and subscriber funded. We do not sell our soul for advertising dollars, nor do we prostrate ourselves for grants from the non-profit industrial complex. We are community media. Join the community! Subscribe today at whatever rate you can, and get a hard copy of The Revolutionist in your mailbox. Subscribing subsidizes free distribution copies.
The Revolutionist 