THE DENVER POST/ANDY CROSS

Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Jefferson County, jokes with VA Secretary Eric Shinseki at the groundbreaking of the VA hospital in 2009. After a 15-month delay, the construction should start in the next week

WASHINGTON — The Veterans Administration reached agreement with two Denver-based construction contractors Thursday to start construction on a new hospital after several members of the delegation angrily leaned on the White House.

VA Assistant Secretary Joan M. Mooney wrote a letter to the Colorado delegation Thursday saying agreement was reached late last night on the final contract with Kiewit/Turner.

The delay between August 2009, when VA Secretary Eric Shinseki came to Colorado and broke ground on the new hospital at Fitzsimons, and a deal finally getting inked last night pushed many veterans groups and Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Jefferson County, to an angry breaking point.

Perlmutter wrote a strongly worded letter Tuesday to the VA saying he was going to protest the would-be construction site, a mound of dirt, Nov. 21st with a shovel and veterans if an agreement wasn’t reached by then.

“It was frustrating that the DOD piece of this job was moving and with the VA portion, nothing was happening,” Perlmutter said. “It was frustrating to the vetearns. It was frustrating to me.”

Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat, also worked backchannels this week, calling White House senior adviser Pete Rouse last night to figure out what the hold up was.

“I’ll feel even better when the shovels hit the ground, but this is tremendous news for Colorado’s veterans who have been waiting far too long for a state-of-the-art Veterans Hospital to call their own,” Bennet said Thursday. “Our troops make up 1 percent of the nation’s population, but they shoulder 100 percent of the responsibility of fighting for our freedom. This hospital is one way we can help keep the promises we’ve made to support them as they return home.”

Sen. Mark Udall co-authored a letter Thursday to the Secretary urging agreement.

“I want to thank the VA for responding to the concerns of Colorado’s veterans who have waited so long for construction on the state-of-the-art VA Medical Center to begin,” Udall said, in a statement. “Now it’s time for the VA and Kiewit/Turner to sign the contract and start digging.”

Vietnam veteran Ralph Bozella, president United Veterans Committee of Colorado, said he has been “living for this moment.”

“When are they going to say we have a contract?” he said, before hearing the news of the agreement. “I’ve been personlly involved in this process since Feburary of 2001 in trying to get a hospital. Colorado veterans deserve better.”

Kiewit/Turner and the VA had apparently reached agreement on the excavation and foundation portion of the contract, but were unable to figure out a deal on the construction of the new hospital itself. The total project cost is $800 million, which has already been appropriated by Congress.

The new hospital, which will now probably open a year behind schedule in early 2015, will have 182 beds, including a spinal cord injury center and nursing home along with an inpatient hospital. Outpatient clinics will open sooner, perhaps as early as the end of next year, Perlmutter said.

Bozella, who has been a patient in the old VA facility on Colorado Boulevard in Denver, says a new facility is badly needed. He was admitted in July and shared a room with two other men. He said there was only one air-conditioning unit in the room and it was behind his bed.

“When they pulled my curtain for some privacy, all the air stayed in with me and the other guys were hot,” Bozella said. “It takes you back to the 1950s or something.”

Services for conservative activist Freda Poundstone, who died Monday after a battle with cancer, will be held Friday and are likely to draw some of the biggest Republican names in Colorado.

According to information released by Jen Raiffie, herself a conservative activist, former Congressman Tom Tancredo and former U.S. Sen. Hank Brown will speak at the service Friday.

Poundstone was preceded in death by her husband Melvin Poundstone; by a son, Patrick; by sisters Patricia and Virginia; and by her brother Bud.

Read more…

Editor’s note: A look at stories people are, will or should be talking about today.

COLORADO TALKERS
1. Bent County fights to keep prison open Denver Post
2. Justices scrutinize ‘competition’ rationale for redistricting maps’ Denver Post
3. Ft. Carson captains killed while working on peace summit Gazette
4. Breck hits pause on proposed lift ticket tax Summit Daily
5. Panelists note rise in teen pot use Glenwood P-I

NATIONAL TALKERS
1. Fired Philly Inquirer
2. Dems make secret offer to cut deficit by $2T AP
3. May as well call it ‘Black Thursday’ CNN
4. White, GOP spar over new Solyndra documents USA Today
5. Parks Chief blocked plan for Grand Canyon bottle ban NYT

“Oops”:

Romney rivals continue to implode Politico

‘Swing state’ poll without CO Maybe they should call it the ‘Big Three’ poll? Quinnipiac U’s poll of voters in Ohio, Fla., and Pa., shows Herman Cain continues to be the favorite among Republicans but that Mitt Romney has the best shot at knocking off Obama in the general. Read it

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Educators would have more discretion over expulsions and police referrals under legislation that may be introduced in the 2012 session.

Over the summer a state task force that included both victim’s advocates and state legislators developed recommendations hoping to end a trend some experts describe as the “school-to-prison pipeline.”

In the past decade, Colorado schools made 100,000 referrals to law enforcement.

On Tuesday the Colorado Legislative Council, a bipartisan panel of members from the state House and Senate, voted 11-7 in favor of green-lighting the introduction of the legislation.

If passed, the legislation would eliminate zero-tolerance policies and also afford parents more transparency in the disciplinary process.

“The object of discipline is correction, not criminalization,” said state Rep. B.J. Nikkel, R-Loveland, a member of legislative committee who voted yes. She also was on the task force.

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Denver Post file photo

Freda Poundstone

This is from the newsletter of former state Rep. Joel Judd, D-Denver, on the passing of conservative activist Freda Poundstone:

Freda Poundstone is dead.

That doesn’t mean much to most. But in a way, it means an awful lot.

In the 1960s when I was going through the Denver Public Schools, we had de facto segregation. De facto meaning no law said black kids and white kids went to different schools, but that’s the way it was. At Park Hill Elementary, we had black kids and white kids from kindergarten through third grade. Then DPS opened a school in the black neighborhood – west of Colorado Boulevard. That’s the last time we saw a black kid at Park Hill.

The DPS Board understood. Most white middle class parents didn’t want their kids going to school with a bunch of low income black kids. When your goal is giving your kids a fast start in the rat race, social engineering is a low priority.

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The U.S. Department of Education this week formally refused an August 26, 2010, Freedom of Information Act request by The Denver Post to name the reviewers who judged specific states in the 2010 Phase 2 Race to the Top competition.

Colorado finished 17th out of 19 in the Race to the Top education grant contest, which on Aug. 24, 2010, awarded nearly $3.4 billion to nine states and the District of Columbia. Colorado had applied for $175 million intended to spark innovation in districts statewide.

It was Colorado’s second straight loss in the competition, in which winning states were chosen by the average scores from the unidentified reviewers.

Colorado finished with a score of 420 on a 500-point scale, which was an average of scores from five panelists who judged the state’s application.

Comments about Colorado’s application from reviewers ranged from glowing to critical. Colorado had the widest margin between high and low scores among the finalists. Two reviewers, in particular, gave the state low marks.

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WASHINGTON — President Obama feted a Colorado HUD employee and three other federal government workers around the country who had innovative ideas to cut federal government waste.

Eileen Hearty is a Housing and Urban Development employee from Denver. She suggested in a White House contest to cut federal government spending that it is unnecessary for Colorado HUD property inspectors to travel to superior-rated properties every year.

In a live call with Obama this morning, Hearty said she came up with the idea to save on travel and per diem costs of inspecting properties in the Denver Multifamily HUD office. Obama asked her how often, if not annually, the federal properties would go through an inspection, and Hearty said maybe once every other year.

“It would save everyone a lot of time and paperwork,” Obama said.

Hearty said, “it would let us focus on other priorities.”

Hearty and the three others with efficiency ideas chosen as finalists — including a Maryland NASA worker and a Treasury Department employee in D.C. — will now compete against each other for a chance to meet the president.

People can vote on the proposal they think is best on www.whitehouse.gov.

Editor’s note: A look at stories people are, will or should be talking about today.

COLORADO TALKERS
1. Hick, other gas-state guvs push for natural gas cars Denver Post
2. Old school: Broncos consider going option full-time Denver Post
3. Judge warns Gesslher that he went too far Denver Post
4. Sportswriters debate Jim Armstrong’s departure Westword
5. Call of stupidity. Man freaks over video game Aurora Sentinel

NATIONAL TALKERS
1. Cain Accuser filed complaint in next job Associated Press
2. Air Force mishandled remains of war dead Washington Post
3. Norquist’s grip on the House GOP Conference loosening The Hill
4. CBO figures throw water on cuts-only approach Politico
5. GOP poised to take over Virginia Senate Washington Post

But should he be at the stadium Saturday? Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has decided to retire at the end of the season, according to a person familiar with the decision.The person said Paterno will announce his retirement later today. denverpost.com

Colo. personhood backers fail, again: Mississippi voters Tuesday defeated a ballot initiative that would’ve declared life begins at fertilization, a proposal that supporters sought in the Bible Belt state as a way to prompt a legal challenge to abortion rights nationwide. Colorado-based Personhood USA is trying to put similar initiatives on 2012 ballots in Florida, Montana, Ohio and Oregon. Voters in Colorado rejected similar proposals in 2008 and 2010. CBS News

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RJ Sangosti, Denver Post file

President Barack Obama will do a second speech in Denver Wednesday on the American Jobs Act.

WASHINGTON — Crossroads GPS has dumped almost $300,000 in Colorado television commercials pitting former president Bill Clinton with current president Obama, using a clip of Clinton saying now is a bad time to raise taxes.

The ad is running in other crucial swings like Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

It intones “two presidents and two visions” and uses clips of Obama talking about the American Jobs Act and an interview with Clinton saying it is not the time to raise taxes. Under the Jobs Act, the White House says taxes do not increase on the vast majority of Americans or small businesses.

“President Obama has launched a tax attack on American jobs that hits Main Street businesses, home mortgages, school and road repair funds and even charities,” said Crossroads GPS president and CEO Steven Law, in a statement. “Former President Clinton and bipartisan majorities in Congress agree that Obama’s tax hikes won’t solve the problem.”

The Obama for America campaign would not respond to the ad. But a Clinton spokesman issued a statement from the former president that said the ad was incorrect.

“I believe that it’s only fair to ask those of us in high-income groups — who have received the primary benefits of the last decade’s economic growth and the majority of its tax cuts as well — to contribute to solving our long term debt problem,” Clinton said, referring to the billionaire financier Warren Buffett who is in the top 1 percent of the income bracket.

“What I did say was that the “Buffett Rule” cannot solve the problem alone,” Clinton said. “Reducing the debt requires three things: more economic growth, more spending cuts, and more revenue. Right now, the most important thing is to put America back to work. That’s why I support the American Jobs Act.”

Andy Cross/The Denver Post

Colorado State Capitol

The state Supreme Court is set to hear arguments tomorrow morning in a case that will determine how state legislative districts are drawn.

Fortunately for the politics-obsessed, the high court is holding the hearing in a room at the state Capitol that offers live streaming.

Read more on The Rap Sheet on how to eavesdrop on the proceedings, which start at 9 a.m.