‘Yes’ on Issue 1B for a healthier community
Vote “yes” on 1B to step toward healing and dignity for all of our neighbors, through mental health and substance use programs, including early intervention, navigation, crisis response, treatment and recovery. This funding will care for neighbors across every neighborhood, race and income.
I’m a parent who’s dealt with the broken system for my children in mental health crisis. I’d been in tears not knowing where to turn, I’d waited too many hours in ERs, and been heartbroken at severe police over-response to a young adult in a manic episode. Stories like mine are among the thousands of diverse families in crisis throughout Boulder County.
It was like a dream for the county to use federal COVID-19 recovery funds to support navigation, crisis services and programs for marginalized communities. But that funding ends soon. And many serious needs hadn’t yet been addressed. Service providers despair at how deep federal and state cuts will be, as so many programs risk being lost. We cannot miss a chance as a community to step up and shore up the continuum of care for all!
Thank you for joining me in supporting 1B — for a healthier, stronger and more compassionate community.
Kathy Partridge, Longmont
Appreciate the gifts Donovan Makha gives our community
We are fortunate to have many cultures and countries represented here in Colorado. One of our unique and entertaining cultural ambassadors is Donovan Makha of radio station KGNU. He founded the music show Reggae Bloodlines 45 years ago, and he is still gifting us his music, along with his wit and wisdom, a couple of times each month — first and last Saturday each month, 1-4 p.m.
But this is much more than a music show, and Makha is much more than a DJ. As his show lifts our Saturday afternoons, he provides a diverse soundtrack with music from Jamaica and the Caribbean, including kids’ songs, folk music, very old obscure early reggae and the latest reggae artists. The music flows spontaneously from Makha’s limitless archives — no pre-programmed playlist! Along with local Front Range traffic reports, international sports news, language lessons in Jamaican patois, news updates on local emergencies and wildfires, ski reports from Eldora, pointed and knowledgeable commentary on world events, deep history of Jamaican music and artists, and even child-rearing advice! And all delivered with modesty and self-deprecating humor in his unmistakable mellow voice and Jamaican accent.
Reggae master Bob Marley told us, “Lively up yourself and don’t be no drag!” Donovan Makha can help you with that!
It is time to celebrate this person who has given us so much! Some people think he should receive an honorary doctorate degree for his decades of cultural gifts to Colorado. At the very least, this community should thank the tireless Music Merchant for our Saturday afternoon musical sounds and rhythms!
Erik Johnson, Boulder