Summer officially arrived June 21, and I think the temperatures are starting to reflect the season weíve patiently awaited. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we can enjoy a swim, a barbecue, an evening concert, and whatever else summer means to you for at least a couple of months.Last month, I received a call from Paul Guttenberg, a Falcon resident for two-and-a-half years. He found a very old copy of ìThe Falcon Heraldî from 1889 in his barn attic ó the newspaper for the then-flourishing town of Falcon. For those of you who donít know this, we named our paper after the original newspaper in Falcon; of course, we added ìnew.î We had researched the library for information about ìThe Falcon Heraldî but we couldnít find much, except for the name and a few references to it.Although the copy had been framed, with what looks like plexiglass, it is hard to read. But we were thrilled to see an actual copy, and we were able to decipher a few lines from ìThe Falcon Herald.î There was an ad for International Typewriter; they were selling typewriters for $100 each. The paper must have published an editorial or a column called ìOld Jones Philosophy.î Now that would be an interesting read today. A headline for an article was ìHobbies of Great Men.î What fun it would be to read a newspaper from the 1800s. Thank you to Paul for bringing a framed copy of ìThe Falcon Heraldî to us. You never know, in another 100 years, maybe someone will find a copy of ìThe New Falcon Herald,î or better yet, the NFH will still be in circulation!A few people have called and asked us about King Soopers and other developments in the area. On a regular basis, we call the contact we have regarding King Soopers, which is the developer for the site. I donít think there is a clear answer regarding King Soopers.We are also constantly watching the county website for information on developments, and we report what we have each month in the building and real estate column. The Falcon Fire Protection District is, at times, another source for information about potential building in the area. We attend school board meetings and town hall meetings. If we get lucky, developers and county personnel will get back to us. Often, however they donít get back to us ó which is something that needs to be addressed.For example, this month Lindsey Harrison wrote the second part of our feature on population growth and the Falcon and area infrastructure. We needed input from all of the metropolitan districts on water and electricity issues. After numerous calls, Lindsey did not receive a call back from Falcon Highlands and Meridian Ranch and received a one-sentence email from Woodmen Hills. I am beginning to think this refusal to call people back is about a bigger picture.In our political climate (from the top down), there is divisiveness, disrespect and distrust ó inarguably. Accountability is nonexistent. Rulings and regulations are ignored. People interpret the laws of the land in a way that feeds only their individual or ìpartyî needs. The ìfake newsî mantra has vilified the newspaper industry. People do exactly what they want to do, without considering what others might want or need.When organizations, especially government-related organizations, donít return calls or provide information to the newspaper; they are brushing aside the people they are supposedly serving. When we have readers calling and seeking answers to development and infrastructure issues, we feel obligated to provide answers. Maybe people donít care about obligations anymore, but we do. Somehow, we are going to fix this lack of concern for the people. Thus, I am not done with this topic, but I am running out of space.That said, I end with a quote:ìThe job of the media is the accountability of government.î – Jeff ZuckerHappy belated Fourth of July! See you in August.– MichelleCorrection: In the June issue of ìThe New Falcon Herald,î we incorrectly identified the salutatorian and valedictorian for Calhan High School. We had Edwin Glaser listed as the salutatorian, and he was actually the valedictorian. Matthew Heitmann was the salutatorian. We are sorry for the mix-up.
