Welcome to the Kim Monson Show podcast. Kim Monson is your host. Power black-outs in Colorado? Laramie Energy CEO Bob Boswell discusses energy policy. Rachel Flick, wife of slain Colorado Springs Deputy Micah Flick, invites you to the gala for Angels of America’s Fallen. CUT Board Secretary Wendy Warner addresses legislation at the Colorado State House. And we’ll talk with show sponsors Karen Gordey, owner of Radiant Painting and Lighting, and RE/MAX Realtor Karen Levine. ————————————————————————————– The Kim Monson Show airs on KLZ 560 AM every Monday thru Friday, 6-8 AM MST. You can listen to the live stream
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It’s the Kim Monson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
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I find that it takes work to get your brain around these ideas, and it takes work to engage in these conversations.
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The latest in politics and world affairs.
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With what is happening down at the Statehouse, I used to think that it was above my pay grade to read the legislation, and it’s not.
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Today’s current opinions and ideas.
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I see big danger in as much as we will be giving an unelected bureaucrat the power to make rules about what we inject into our bodies.
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Is it freedom or is it force? Let’s have a conversation.
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indeed let’s have a conversation and welcome to the kim monson show thank you so much for joining us you eat your treasured your value you have purpose today strive for excellence take care of your heart your soul your mind and your body my friends we were made for this moment in history thank you to the team that’s producer joe luke rachel zach echo charlie amanda and all the people here at crawford broadcasting happy thursday producer joe happy thursday kim And we’ve got another great show planned for you today. So buckle up and we’re going to have a lot of great information and certainly a really inspiring story in the second hour. So be sure and try to make the whole thing work. Let’s get into it. The website is Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Make sure that you are signed up for our weekly email newsletter. However, we are actually going to be rolling something out this Sunday that is huge. And so right now the website is under construction. I’ll just say that. So you’ll have to wait a couple of days to sign up for that newsletter if you’ve not done that already. Thank you to all of you who support us. We’re an independent voice. on an independent station searching for truth and clarity. As we look at these issues through this lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom, if something’s a good idea, you should not have to use force to implement it. And it’s never compassionate or altruistic to take other people’s stuff, their rights, their property, their freedom, their livelihood, Their opportunity, their childhood, or their lives via force. Force can obviously be a weapon, but it is really now it’s policy and unpredictable and excessive taxation. Fees, using fear, coercion, this government-induced inflation, this agenda of the World Economic Forum and the globalist elites. and that is playing out at the United Nations, but the Colorado State Legislature, there’s several, California, Colorado, now it looks like Virginia, this governor’s, what is it, Spainsberger or whatever, she ran as a moderate. She is governing as a communist. And, of course, New York. These states, there’s others as well, but we are being governed by those that want to control our lives. And what has happened, the whole agenda of the World Economic Forum has been to get rid of the middle class in America. That is the middle class is probably the biggest threat to communism because it’s free people that are going after their hopes and dreams. And so what we are seeing play out at the Colorado State Legislature and also in local government, this taking a property, it’s a transfer of wealth from the American middle class to those at the top. that are taking a bigger share. You can take a look at the homelessness industrial complex. You can see those that are, there’s billions of dollars that have gone to that. So those in that top of that industry have increased, have made more money. And then, of course, there’s the distribution trying to increase those that are dependent upon subsidized housing, subsidizing their lives. And so what is under attack is the American middle class. And we’ve got to continue to shed light on all of these issues so that we can reclaim our great American idea for each and every person. This vision of the Declaration that all men are created equal with these rights from God of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, that is what we must reclaim for America. And many, many people are involved in this battle of ideas. We do focus on the issues. We’ll mention the people behind the issues, but stay out of the personality fighting. Our word of the day is licentious. And it is spelled L-I-C-E-N-T-I-O-U-S. And it could be lacking legal or moral restraints, especially disregarding sexual restraints. Getting back to the… The effect of the 60s upon our society. Number two, marked by disregard for strict rules of correctness. And I chose it because we have this quote from George Washington, who was born on February. Hold on now. I’m forgetting his year. I’ve been saying that every day. And hold on here. He was February 26th. I think it was 1732. But I’ll check that again for you. But this was his quote for the day. He said, liberty, when it degrades into licentiousness, begets confusion and frequently ends in tyranny or some woeful confusion. So as the founders, they talk about virtue and virtue. The virtue would be this regard for rules of correctness or to make sure that we have our legal and moral restraints. And so this word licentious is one where Washington said we’re going to basically devolve into or degrade it into confusion and ultimately tyranny. And so… i think that we’re having this big battle of ideas on that particular quote by george washington we’ve got a really jam-packed show planned for you today and we’ve got on the line with us karen gorday she is the owner she’s an entrepreneur radiant painting and lighting and she’s also working with a number of grassroots citizens regarding what’s happening in lakewood with this rewrite of of their zoning and so karen gorday welcome to the show Good morning, Kim. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. Karen, what you are seeing in Lakewood is, as we’re connecting the dots, this assault upon everyday people being able to have property, to be able to have single-family homes. That is really what is at stake here. And when we have the PBIs talking about affordable housing, we need more density housing, I was talking with Karen Levine and Lauren Levy last week on the air about it. Yvonne called after the show. She said, we don’t need more housing. We need more houses. And so what is under attack is single-family homes. And you’re seeing that with this rewrite of – I know I should know exactly what it is. Is it a rewrite of the master plan or the zoning or what is happening in Lakewood? Yeah.
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It’s a rewrite of the zoning. So you have a comprehensive plan for each city. That’s required under the Colorado Constitution. And then you have local zoning laws. And so they have rewritten the actual zoning laws. And essentially, it allows for more high density in the entire city. So what it is, it’s a… A blanket rewrite or a blanket up zoning of the entire city. And so everybody’s been up zoned and go up a zone in your zoning and it allows high density throughout the entire city, not just on the transit corridors like the state requires. Okay. Go ahead. The more I dig into it, when they say affordable, think subsidized housing. So the taxpayer is going to pay for the subsidies on housing.
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I think there are those that think that the developers are actually, so for example, if they’re required to, and each deal is done different. And we really need to shed light on what these deals look like. Because right now we have a 16-year high, vacancies in the metro area on apartments are at a 16-year high. So clearly there is housing out there. But the single family homes, we need more of those so that people can own their own home instead of renting. But with the subsidized housing, the developer many, many times. is made whole on that subsidized rent because it is the taxpayer that is making up that difference for that subsidized housing. And again, the deals are different, but generally that is what happens. And developers, because they are rewarded for building what PBIs want them to build, we now have all of these apartment buildings all over the metro area that to me look like Soviet Russia. And so what you guys are doing out there in Lakewood is really important to get this to a special election for the people to have their voices heard. And the city council and staff were trying to shut down voices. And that’s really concerning.
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Yes, 100% it is. And they… They rushed this through, in my mind. Now, their side of the story is that we worked on this for two years. Well, they worked on the comprehensive plan for two years. And zoning was not presented to them until February or March of 2025. And then they had the second reading of the ordinance August 25th through October 13th. So just a couple of months. on zoning and tried to push this through and in fact on the august 25th meeting they said we don’t want to uh pause we want to push this through because we don’t know what city council is going to look like after november and we need to get this done um and so they ignored the citizens who said can we slow down can we ask more questions can we have town halls And they did have planning, the planning director come to ward meetings, that’s W-A-R-D, ward meetings, to talk to citizens. And so those citizens that were paying attention or that go to the ward meetings knew about it, but they were kind of brushed off in these meetings. And there’s a lot of people in Lakewood that still do not know that the city has been upzoned and this is going to allow high density everywhere.
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Yeah, and as Mike Raleigh says, when the bulldozers show up, it’s too late. Karen Gorday, this is a bipartisan issue, isn’t it?
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100% is. When the petitions were being signed, it was everything from Democrats to Republicans, everything in between. It’s also all ages. It’s not, you know, young versus old. It’s across the board. There’s even some renters that signed. And that’s important because everybody had a different reason for signing the petitions. And it’s, Some don’t like the assault on property rights. Some said, don’t Denver my Lakewood because they don’t want Lakewood to look like Denver. Some it’s because of the environment. And so it’s trying to explain all the different reasons because everybody has a different reason for this. And most of the seniors are against this because You know, Kim, most people’s largest asset is their home, and this could affect the value of their home. And the other side is saying, well, the seniors need a place to live because they need to move out of their homes. Well, you know, if seniors have lived there all their lives, do they really want to move out of their home?
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A lot of them don’t. And who should be making that choice? They should have that own choice for themselves, for sure. So when is the election and when do the ballots drop?
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Ballots drop on March 16th, so about two weeks, just over two weeks. And the election is on April 7th. I am hoping that it goes the same way that the Greeley special election just happened this week. And you’ve got to vote yes. To me, no. And that’s what happened in Greeley. And hopefully we prevail and we go back to the old zoning. And that will prevent them from bringing zoning up for six months. And hopefully we can come up with a better solution in those six months.
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Okay, and you’ve got a there’s so many people that are involved in this and I know you’re spending so much time on this but this is the other thing as the founders they were everyday people and merchants and farmers That were stepping up to create this this amazing American idea, but we have to keep the lights on in our businesses as well so radiant painting and lighting as spring is right around the corner and And people should be starting to think about getting permissions from HOA on color schemes, which you can help them with. But it is right around the corner, and people should start thinking about that.
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Absolutely, and I know we’re supposed to get snow next week, but we’re having warm weather, so we may get an early start to exterior season, and that’s okay. But we are also running a special on interior projects to get 20% off on interior projects over $2,500 through the end of March. So now’s a good time to spruce up the interiors as well.
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And how can people reach you? I guess your website’s probably best, yes? Yes.
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Yes, absolutely. It’s www.paintwithradiant.com.
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Okay, Karen Gorday, again, that’s www.paintwithradiant.com. We’ll talk with you next week, and good luck on this special election. This is really historical to get these kinds of things done, and I take just great pleasure. Just great comfort in people stepping forward. And so thank you to you and everybody that’s involved in this. And again, it is a bipartisan issue across the board. And people have different reasons for why they support this special election. But good for all of you to bringing people together, Karen Gorday.
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Absolutely. Thanks so much, Kim.
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To learn more, reach out to Kim at And welcome back to the Kim Monson Show.
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Be sure and check out our website. That is Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. And we’ve been highlighting George Washington and much of the things that happened in his life. And I’m going to, in the second hour, talk about the Maryland Revolution. Wendy Warner, welcome to the show. Good morning, Kim. And we have been very busy watching legislation down at the Statehouse, Wendy. And so what do you want to go over? We’ve been talking a little bit about these bills that we have. put up on cut engaged I would so highly recommend that people check out the website and you can very easily send an email to the prime sponsors of the bill pleasure as state senator and representative it’ll only take about this takes about less than a minute We put three up this last week. There’s others. I would really recommend people have their voices heard about House Bill 1001, which has to do with zoning as well. But which bill would you like to start off with, Wendy Warner? Well, I’d like to talk about a couple of the election bills.
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you know um uh colorado union of taxpayers evaluates legislation in view of of the taxpayers and the impact on them but elections really have impact on on the taxpayer who we elect um to the legislature and how how the elections are set up for initiatives and um etc., and for the vote for legislators. And this week, believe it or not, there were six bills that had to do with elections or the election process. I’m not quite sure why all of a sudden there’s Russia on them. It always makes me a little suspect. But there are two in particular I would like to talk about. And both of these are sponsored as cut engagement bills so that your listeners can come up on the coloradotaxpayer.org website and vote their or voice their opinions on these bills to their legislators. The first one I’d like to talk about is HB 26-1104 seems like a very simple bill, and you’re going, well, why do we even need this? It says credit agency voter address verification. That sounds a little odd, but… the reason is is having been working on elections in denver for over 50 years i can tell you that probably the thing i worry about most is who can vote who is on the voter registration list and is that a valid list and right now there is very little verification of it uh the People get on that list, they move the next year, and they stay on the list forever. A good example of that is my son moved to California 15 years ago, and he’s still getting ballots at my address from Denver. And that’s because we don’t do a good update of our voter registration list.
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Wendy, a couple of things. Let’s drill down a little bit more on that because I have the same experience. And so what this means is that there are all of these ballots that are going out. If it’s happening to you, if it’s happening to me, that means there’s a whole bunch of ballots that are going out throughout Colorado. And these people may not be voting, but it means that there are ballots out there that if somebody wanted to do something nefarious… There’s a ballot out there that they could do that with. The other thing is, is think about the expense to print and mail all these ballots out year after year. That is really irresponsible to the Colorado taxpayer in not cleaning these rolls up because it’s a tremendous expense to print these out and send them out. Exactly.
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Let me tell you, when I was working elections one year, I was working in Glendale, went into one of those big apartment houses, went into their mail room, and ballots were scattered across the floor. People would come in, get their own mail, see a ballot that wasn’t theirs, and just toss it on the floor. I mean, there were literally, the day I walked in, there were 12 ballots on the floor. Somebody could have picked them up. Tried to figure out how to sign for them and go and vote them. But anyway, what this particular piece of legislation, 1104, does is it mandates that the Secretary of State check the entire voter roll with a third-party credit bureau because they keep better track of people and where they are. And the county clerk down in Colorado Springs actually did this and found a tremendous number of people that were no longer at the addresses that were on the voter roll and was able to save money, et cetera. So this is a good one to support if you come up on CutEngage. Excellent. What’s the next one? The other bill is called Modifications to Elections. It’s 1113. And this is a whole laundry list of different changes to elections. And it’s disturbing. It’s got everything from letting 15-year-olds be election judges to to eliminating the ability of a registered elector, a registered voter, to challenge somebody else voting. Well, you say, well, why would they challenge? Well, think about your poll watchers. I can tell you times when I have been a poll watcher and have made up to 20 challenges in a single day. from people that I know should not be voting, that you could tell. And in the olden days, we used to have voting by precinct, and we’d have people who lived in the precinct sitting there being judges or poll watchers, and they’d challenge. And I remember one in my precinct that literally caught something and said, Hey, good to see you, Jerry. Didn’t you move two years ago? And the person was voting in the wrong precinct. But this would eliminate the ability for citizens to do that challenge. This bill lengthens the amount of time that those ballots are floating around out there. So they’re sent earlier. which allows those ballot harvesters that go door to door and collect people’s ballots supposedly for them. Let me help you fill that out and mail it for you. And this lengthens the amount of time they can be at work. This is one to vote against, 1113. It has got far too many things in it for voters to concentrate on and be able to research what’s good and what’s bad.
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And our team, Wendy, that we work with, it is an amazing group of all volunteers. And this is going to be our 50th birthday this year for CUT, the Colorado Union of Taxpayers. So there are many before us that have done this work, but it’s all volunteers. And I always like to give them a shout out. And that’s Steve Dorman, Greg Golianski, Russ Haas, Bill Hamill, Rob Knuth, John Nelson, you, Wendy Warner. Marty Nielsen, Ramey Johnson, Mary Jansen, Dave Evans, Corey Onozorg, Paula Beard, and Ray Beard. And we would encourage people to join us because there’s so much confusion with so many bills and resolutions that are being proposed down at the Statehouse. I think many times people go, how can I know? What’s going on down there? There’s a lot of confusion. And one of the things that we help with, Pam Long says that cut is a cut above. It helps you be… have the knowledge, a cut above everything that’s going on out there. And as of right now, there’s been 472 bills and resolutions that have been introduced down at the State House. There is no way legislators can read all these bills that they are putting into law. And they have a responsibility. If they have not read it, then they need to vote no on it. Because putting something into law when they don’t know what’s in it, then that means they haven’t even thought about the long-range consequences on it. For example, this modification of elections bill is 44 pages long. And that changes the fabric of our elections, which continues to change the fabric of Colorado elections. And if we don’t have free, fair, honest, and transparent elections, then we don’t really have representative government is the bottom line on that, Wendy.
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Exactly. Exactly. So I encourage your listeners to come up on the CUT website, coloradotexpayer.org, and use CUT Engage. I’ve had legislators tell me, oh, I never heard anybody oppose that law or have supported that law. And that’s because there’s too many of them for the average voter to go out there and show their support or their disapproval of a particular bill. So here’s a way for her to do it very, very easily.
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And we can select up to five or six bills each week, and we’ve put them on there in chronological order. And what we do with that is how we determine those is our CUT board members will vote on bills that they want to have put onto CUT Engaged. And so this week we had three that everybody thought was really important. So that’s why we published three for you to vote or to make your voices heard. But we invested significantly to make this happen. And it’s a great tool to help people have their voices heard. And so, yes, we’d really recommend that people go to coloradotaxpayer.org. Join us. It’s 25 bucks a year. But you don’t even have to be a member of CUT to make your voice heard. But we’d love to have you join us. Wendy Warner, your final thought.
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Just remember, don’t be silent. Don’t let these bills go through. Take a little bit of time to research them, or at least when you hear about it on the Kim Monson Show, to go up on Cut, Engage, and send your message for the minute or two it takes you to do it.
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Absolutely. Again, that’s coloradotaxpayer.org. Wendy, thank you to you and our team, but thank you for all the great work that you do. We greatly appreciate you. Well, thank you, Kim, very much, and thank you for letting us be on your show. Absolutely. And I did want to mention Little Richie’s, which is your local neighborhood spot where you can get authentic New York-style pizza and pasta. They are locally owned and have been serving Parker and Golden for over years now. for over 20 years. Monday night, it may be Little Richie’s Best Kept Secret. You buy one pizza, you get the second pizza, half off. And that is at Little Richie’s in Parker and Golden. And then we will talk with her in the next hour, and that is Karen Levine. She’s at the RE-MAX conference flying back today from Las Vegas, and I’m going to be interested to hear what she has to say and what they’re thinking about single-family housing here in America. So we’ll talk with her in the next hour.
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All Kim’s sponsors are an inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Monson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmonson.com. That’s Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 11 :
And welcome back to the Kim Monson Show. And Jody Henze with Mint Financial Strategies, they’re going to have a great event. It’s Women and Wealth event. One of the guys texted me yesterday. He said, I want to go. But it is Women and Wealth. And it is Friday, March 6th at 5 p.m. at the Lone Tree Hub in Lone Tree, Colorado. Food and drinks will be provided. They’re going to have some creative activity, a hands-on experience, designing a custom tea towel, and then connecting that with their educational spotlight, which is reading the tea leaves, making retirement more predictable through planning. And to RSVP, reach out to Jody. at mintfs.com. So that’s M-I-N-T-F-S, like financialstrategies.com. It should be a great event, and it is so important to get together with people, real people, instead of being on our devices all the time and having that be the way that we connect. So be sure and check that out. Again, that is Jody at mintfs.com. And a longtime great sponsor of the show is Laramie Energy. And I so thank them for that. And we are learning that reliable, efficient, affordable, and abundant power allows us to power our lives, go after our hopes and dreams. And I so appreciate Laramie Energy for their great sponsorship and then the great wisdom that we have when we talk with Bob Boswell. So Bob Boswell, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 12 :
Good morning, Kim. Thank you.
SPEAKER 11 :
And I wanted to talk with you about energy policy. In fact, I watched the State of the Union address the other evening and saw Chris Wright of Liberty Energy, now Secretary of Energy, as he came in with the other cabinet members. And what are you seeing with Chris Wright and things on the national level, Bob Boswell?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, I think we’re fortunate to have Chris Wright as a leader. Chris has been a he’s a brilliant engineer, understands energy exceptionally well, better than anyone I know down to the molecule. Chris has been a proponent of what he has written two different books that I’m aware of on bettering human lives. And the thesis behind these books is the importance of clean, reliable energy to human life and quality of life throughout the world. And there are some 8 billion people on this planet, and only about 2 billion, or 25% of that, have access to reliable energy. And Chris emphasizes the importance of reliable energy, what are the best sources of that energy. He advocates the use of natural gas, a very clean burning molecule, and nuclear. And he is the right person in the right job, and we’re fortunate to have him in such a significant leadership position.
SPEAKER 11 :
And what we’re seeing in Colorado, though, down at this state legislature, as we are watching all this legislation, all volunteer group cut, at this point, Bob, there has been 472 bills or resolutions that have been proposed for this legislative session. We had all thought from cut that since this is an election year, that the radical activists that are really trying to control our lives, and you can control people’s lives by controlling the power that they have to run their lives, we thought that they might take their foot off the pedal, but it doesn’t appear that that’s the case down there.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, you know, it’s unfortunate. We’re following the California pattern. Before the current administration was in, we ran a surplus at the government level. Now we’re running something like a $2 billion deficit, and they’re trying to figure out how to fund this. The Colorado Blueprint, which I’ve referenced in the past some 20 or so years ago, was written by Governor Polis, along with three other wealthy individuals who have you know, very left-leaning type of views of how the government should be run. And we’ve seen Colorado migrate that. And not only do we have 274 new proposals in this legislature, but 50 of those relate to energy. And this is after the grand bargain that Governor Polis cut with the three large companies predominantly oil-producing companies on the front range. So the grand bargain was only a bargain on one side, unfortunately. And we’ve seen these regulations, the latest of which, Kim, are three issues that they’re trying to implement to electrify the state and not use natural gas. One is the Clean Heat Plan, which is Senate Bill 21-264, which directs the Public Utilities Commission to cut greenhouse emissions from gas distribution and use. So they’re taking away a consumer choice. And the fallacy of it is it’s going to be exceptionally expensive to reach the goals they’re setting by 2030. They’re going to have to convert something like 600,000 different homes and commercial buildings to electricity. Well, these facilities are now all natural gas fires, and that conversion in itself is a tremendous cost. So it’s going to result in two things. One, an increased cost to the consumer, and the second is significant inefficiency, because this The primary source of renewable will be the sun. As we know, the sun doesn’t always shine. Storage batteries is limited to two days. So it puts us in line for brownouts or blackouts just due to weather mechanisms that can’t be met from simply solar or wind type of renewables. So it’s a it’s bad legislation. And on top of that, they’ve got two others. They’ve got the Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission Regulation 28 requiring owners of larger 50,000 square foot buildings and including condos, apartments, retail space to reduce emissions. by 20 percent by 2030 they’ve got another one um is uh the denver’s energized ordinance designed to force 25 000 square foot buildings to reduce emissions by 30 by 2030 to 2032 so you’ve got all this parade of new legislation uh that uh is being done in the name of um of lowering emissions from natural gas, and natural gas burns into water and CO2, and CO2 is nature’s fertilizer. As I’ve said in the past, photosynthesis, that’s how we create oxygen and grow plants. So it’s just ill-aimed. And I’m not sure, you know, other than having some type of a false target that why they’re doing this. Maybe it’s due to control. Maybe it has good intentions, but it’s going to have bad results. And I think people need to know about that. We need to have a ballot initiative to allow people to have consumer choice and use whatever power and whatever fuel source they believe is the most economic and appropriate for their own personal use.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, I think we are at the time now, Bob, where people are really starting to understand this. Karen Levine had called, or I guess we texted back and forth, and she said that she was talking to a plumber, and then I’ve talked to our sponsor, Ben Williams, with Ben’s Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling, and he’s mentioned this as well, that these new regulations are going to increase the cost of for a new water heater so approximately maybe you could do a water heater for twenty five hundred dollars it’s going to increase the cost to anywhere to seventy five hundred to ten thousand dollars for a new water heater and what this is is this is an assault upon the prosperity of the middle class that is really what this whole climate thing is working out to be. And I would really recommend people check out the documentary, A Climate Conversation, which is the project of Walt Johnson, which I had the great honor to moderate. But this is a wealth transfer. Just think about this. Somebody, instead of $2,500, $7,500, that’s an extra $5,000 out of their pocket. It is a wealth transfer away from their assets to… uh… well rules regulations and all that this is what is really the bottom line and i think that we are at the point and we’ve been having conversations about this for quite some time uh… and you know here at the show and because of our support of laramie energy of laramie energy and our other sponsors We’ve been talking about it, so we’ve been laying the groundwork for people to understand what’s going on. But it is a wealth transfer from middle-class America to somebody else, for sure, Bob.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, we’re also disadvantaging the state in terms of future development, particularly on the technical side. I don’t know, most people are familiar with artificial intelligence, these data centers. They consume a significant amount of power. They also create opportunities for jobs, economic improvement, and the state of Colorado is One of the few states that doesn’t offer some type of incentive for this. And then the restriction on the ability to develop the power from natural gas in the state of Colorado further inhibits that type of technological development and job creation in the state. And, you know, it’s amazing to me that the state of Colorado, which has the second largest resource of natural gas in the country. Development is being inhibited by a series of new fees, which are just taxes in the scribe. We have the Tabor Act that says that no new taxes without, you know, a vote. And yet they’re now calling these fees. They’ve implemented some 24 or 25 new fees, which are taxes in disguise, which make the The development of the state’s resources is more expensive than the ultimate expense goes to the consumer. So not in the best interest of the state and its people.
SPEAKER 11 :
And again, it’s a wealth transfer away from everyday hardworking people that are just trying to go after their hopes and dreams. We’re going to continue the discussion with Bob Boswell, with CEO of Laramie Energy, but did want to mention the USMC Memorial Foundation. They’ve got a couple of things coming up. The President’s Challenge is coming up in March, and Paula Sarles will be there. doing something special for her 77th birthday. And then also their golf tournament is in May, and there is early bird pricing at this particular point in time. So reach out to them. That is usmcmemorialfoundation.org. And these important discussions happen because of our sponsors, such as Laramie Energy, but also for everything mortgages you will want to call Lorne Levy.
SPEAKER 21 :
Many seniors are feeling squeezed because of inflation, higher property taxes, and increasing costs of living. If you’re 62 or older, a reverse mortgage may be the solution. Reverse mortgages can be complicated, so it’s important that you understand the process and work with a trusted professional. Mortgage expert Lorne Levy will help you craft solutions for your unique circumstances, whether a reverse mortgage, first mortgage, or a second mortgage. If you’d like to explore how a reverse mortgage might help you, call Lorne Levy at 303-880-8881. That’s 303-880-8881. Call now.
SPEAKER 19 :
That’s twice the distance of Paul Revere to sound the alarm. Quickly.
SPEAKER 01 :
Assemble at my father’s house.
SPEAKER 19 :
The Kim Monson Show is our modern day Sybil Luddington, bringing us the latest breaking news in the battle for truth and freedom. Ben’s Plumbing, Heating and Cooling is proud to stand with Kim. Will you stand with us? Get engaged with the issue that keeps you up at night so that you can influence your school and community with truth and justice. And for quality craftsmanship at a fair price, call or text Ben’s Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling at 303-995-1636. That number again is 303-995-1636.
SPEAKER 17 :
There’s so much noise coming at us. Sometimes it is difficult to make sense of it all. How can you sift through the clamor for your attention and get to the truth? The Kim Monson Show is here to help. Kim searches for truth and clarity by examining issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. Tune in to the Kim Monson Show each weekday, 6 to 8 a.m. with encores 1 to 2 p.m. and 10 to 11 p.m. on KLZ 560 AM, KLZ 100.7 FM. The KLZ website, the KLZ app, and Alexa. Play KLZ. Shows can also be found at KimMonson.com, Spotify, and iTunes.
SPEAKER 11 :
And welcome back to The Kim monson Show. Check out our website. That is KimMonson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Also check out the website for the Center for American Values located in Pueblo. They have several things going on, but all of it is based around these foundational principles of honor, integrity, and patriotism. through their Ports of Valor of Medal of Honor recipients and also their educational programs for K-12 students and educators. That website is AmericanValueCenter.org, AmericanValueCenter.org. We’re talking with Bob Boswell. He is the CEO of Laramie Energy, and I do appreciate their sponsorship of the show. Bob, you mentioned these AI data centers, and They’re the hot thing. They’re the hot thing on Wall Street. They’re the hot thing. And we see them being built throughout the country. And actually, they use a lot of energy. My understanding is they use a lot of water, although once they get that water in, it might be a closed-loop system. But as I’m learning more about it, I’m concerned about the surveillance of – everyday people. That is one of the things that I do have a big concern about these, in addition to the fact that they’re energy and water hogs. So I’m still learning a bit about them, Bob Boswell.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, like any text. Technology, Kim, it’s how it’s managed, how it’s regulated, and there is concern about how it’s used, and particularly at the international level. So there needs to be constraints on the use of this. It’s a powerful new technology that I know people can have fear with on a number of fronts. One of the issues that, you know, that right now is they do consume power and depending upon how the system’s constructed could consume a lot of water. um in colorado rural colorado western uh the peons basin western colorado is uh you know thinly populated a lot of areas 70 of it’s federal where there’s very little commercial or residential rather development so it’s a it’s a good place and the elevation the higher elevation is good from a you know a heating and cooling standpoint. So it’s ideal. And one of the concerns is, well, it’s going to consume a lot of power, and that’s going to cause power to go up. Well, that could be. And in some states, they are going off the utility system. But in Colorado, we can do these independent of the utilities, independently power these data centers. And, you know, really the output of them is data that is delivered through fiber optics, not through the electrical system. So it’s, you know, we’re in an ideal state for that development. As any new technology, there’s concerns, and it’s how it’s developed and the regulations, how we manage it is going to be important. But it’s an opportunity and it has elements of concern, but it’s like any new technology, you’re going to have some of those concerns in anything. When the computer was first developed, people were concerned about its use. Those are legitimate concerns, but it’s how it’s managed, the constraints put around the systems are important.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, and I think that’s why these conversations are so important, Bob, that we have these, so that we can think about this. And also, elections are really important. This representative government, who we have, that are making these laws regarding our lives. And so that’s all really important as well. And our quote for the end of the show, I’ve been highlighting George Washington on a regular basis, but I’ll just paraphrase it right now, is it is our responsibility. Each and every one of us needs to be involved in self-governance. And we’ve gotten away from that. And Colorado has been following California policy. as well and and and we’ve got to to make sure that we understand that we have a responsibility as citizens to be to understand what’s happening and to have our voices heard and I’m encouraged by I’m seeing more and more people that are getting involved for example we had quick and Karen Gorday on earlier in the show and the citizens in Lakewood they’ve said we want to have a voice on this complete rezoning of our community and so people are stepping forward so i’m i’m encouraged i’m concerned about things but we we need to be really engaged in what’s happening because if we’re not then the chaos that we are seeing down at the colorado state legislature is what happens bob
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, we have to have an informed public, and it has to be uniformly informed. It can’t have a bias that we’re seeing, say, in the Denver Post and some of the news networks that have more of these leftist biases. It needs to be simply good reporting. That’s one of the importance and freedom of speech is that we have that ability, but it needs to be legitimate and not targeted and not used to persuade people by putting out false information.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, and I’m going to say stay tuned. We’ve got something we’re going to roll out this weekend that I think that all of you are going to be really pleased about. I’m going to give you a call on this offline on that, Bob. But when I talked to Karen Gorday regarding it, and this segues into an informed conversation, electorate, is that they have not been able to get some of the major news outlets to cover their side of the story. And Karen yesterday, in fact, said that one of the news outlets, they’d reached out to them about this special election. They’ve been reporting the side that wants to change all of the zoning. And they said, well, we’d like you to show our side as well. And they said, well, we’ll do that after the election. And I’m thinking, well, that’s a little late. And so we’re working really hard on getting this information out. Kind of a final thought, I think, with Chris Wright, Donald Trump. I really think that they want to be focused on everyday Americans and thriving and prospering. And if everyday Americans thrive and prosper, it’s good for the rest of the world, Bob.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, I think President Trump has assembled one of the most impressive cabinets of any presidency in some time. And you’re seeing what they are advocating, the policies they’re advancing, or what’s good for America, what’s right for the common man. And they’re being attacked. ruthlessly with false information it’s almost amazing to listen after the state of the union and how positive it was the initiatives that have been taken to hear the coverage from some of the networks that just completely say things that weren’t even said in the in the state of the union and they’re just you know Totally false narratives and how we discern about that and how we restore faith in the public reporting is another issue that’s very important and needs to be addressed.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, and we are working diligently to address that here at the Kim Monson Show, because people need to be able to hear what the story really is, and so we really appreciate that. And also, the great work that Laramie Energy does, natural gas, these rules and regulations, that are trying to prevent people from having the benefit of natural gas, the example of the water heater, going from a price of $2,500 to $7,500 to $10,000. There’s no reason that this needs to occur. So we’re going to continue to try to reclaim just common sense, I would say, here in Colorado. And Bob Boswell Energy is a big part about that, with us helping us do that.
SPEAKER 12 :
Thank you, Kim. We appreciate your show and your ability to help us communicate different points of view.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, it is important for an informed electorate so that we can make good decisions at the ballot box and also to engage with our elected representatives. I don’t call them elected officials. I want to make sure that we remind them and ourselves that they are elected representatives of we the people. So Bob Oswell, we’ll talk with you next week. As always, I so greatly appreciate your wisdom and your perspective. And thank you. And we’ll actually not next week. We’ll talk next month. So have a great day.
SPEAKER 12 :
Great. Thanks, Kim.
SPEAKER 11 :
And our quote for the end of the show is from George Washington, and I love this. He said, it is incumbent upon every person of every description to contribute to his country’s welfare. And as I mentioned yesterday, each one of us needs to choose one thing and get involved with that one thing and make our voices heard. So my friends today, be grateful, read great books, think good thoughts, listen to beautiful music, communicate and listen well, live honestly and authentically, strive for high ideals, and like Superman, stand for truth, justice, and the American way. My friends, you are not alone. God bless you. God bless America. Stay tuned for hour number two.
SPEAKER 18 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
SPEAKER 14 :
It’s the Kim Monson Show. Analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 11 :
I find that it takes work to get your brain around these ideas, and it takes work to engage in these conversations.
SPEAKER 14 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 11 :
With what is happening down at the Statehouse, I used to think that it was above my pay grade to read the legislation, and it’s not.
SPEAKER 14 :
Today’s current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 11 :
I see big danger in as much as we will be giving an unelected bureaucrat the power to make rules about what we inject into our bodies.
SPEAKER 14 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let’s have a conversation.
SPEAKER 11 :
Indeed. Let’s have a conversation. And welcome to our number two of the Kim Monson Show. Thank you so much for joining us. You each are treasured, you’re valued, you have purpose. Today’s drive for excellence. Take care of your heart, your soul, your mind and your body. My friends, we were made for this moment in history. And thank you to the team. That’s producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, Mike, Amanda and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. Happy Thursday, producer Joe. Happy Thursday, Kim. And lots going on. The website is KimMonson.com. We’re going to be rolling something out this weekend, and so it’s currently under construction. But once we get that up and going, make sure that you are signed up for our weekly email newsletter that goes out on Sundays. And I thank all of you who support us. We’re an independent voice on an independent station. We search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something’s a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. And we focus on the issues, not the people or the… We’ll mention the people that are pushing issues, but we stay out of all the personality stuff that is happening. Our word of the day, I chose it because it was used in the quote of the day from George Washington, and it is licentious. It’s L-I-C-E-N-T-I-O-U-S. And it could be lacking legal or moral restraints, disregarding sexual restraints, or it could also be marked by disregard for strict rules of correctness. And liberty, as our friend Ben Martin has always reminded us, is the responsible exercise of freedom. And when we have disregard for… uh… correctness uh… disregard for you know these these standards then we get to where we are right now in our society and so the quote of the day is from george washington and he was born february twenty two seventeen thirty two died in seventeen ninety nine and he said this he said liberty when it degrades into licentiousness begets confusion and frequently ends in tyranny or some woeful confusion And we are at a time right now where we must reclaim liberty, the responsible exercise of freedom. And I think most of us can agree on these principles that Jefferson had, this vision in the Declaration that all men are created equal with these rights from God of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. And this is what we are working to reclaim because that vision is what ultimately created this amazing American middle class where everyday people could thrive, prosper, create wealth for themselves and their families. And under communism, Marxism, high taxation, progressive taxation. That means that the more that you make, the bigger the chunk that… is taken in taxes and fees. So instead of being rewarded for taking risk and working hard, maybe lots more hours to make more money for yourself and your family, you’re dinged for that. And then also one of the tenants of the Communist Manifesto is an estate tax. So you work hard, you put together assets that you want to pass on to your family or to someone else, And you’re dinged on that as well. And those are both tenets of communism. And, of course, they put lipstick on this effort by saying, oh, you’re helping affordable housing. Well, it’s subsidized housing. So taking money from one person to subsidize somebody else’s rent is But that also increases the rent for all the people that are not subsidized. And I’ve looked at all these apartment buildings, and I’m like, what is going on here? We now have a 16-year high in vacancy rates. Well, it’s because PBIs really have wanted – there’s an assault upon single-family home ownership here. And we have plenty of housing. We just don’t have enough houses that people can buy themselves. And I know that so many times PBIs say, well, the way that we need to do this is to get government involved and to subsidize housing that there needs to be. But subsidizing, my friends, is taking from one person to give to another. And that is not the way it is supposed to work. But we have these important discussions on a regular basis. I did want to mention Hooters restaurants. They’re your neighborhood wing joint, and they have those great wings that make game day legendary, whether you’re catching a basketball game, UFC, or just meeting with your crew. Wednesdays are wings day. You buy 20 wings. You get an additional 10 for free. Happy hour, Monday through Friday, 3 to 6 p.m. And on Saturdays, kids eat free with the purchase of an adult entree. So bring the family, catch the game, and they will handle the cleanup. And we have Karen Levine on the line. We talk regularly about people being able to own their own homes, which, as Karen reminds us, is a great way to create wealth. She’s finishing up at the RE-MAX conference out in Las Vegas. Karen Levine, welcome.
SPEAKER 07 :
Good morning, Kim.
SPEAKER 11 :
What’s your takeaway? What did you learn from the conference?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I learned that the economy is good. There are some interesting factors in the economy that are a little wonky, but overall, Elliot Eisenberg, the bow-tie economist, said, spoke to us and and said you know overall our economy is good and as you were mentioning housing affordability is still difficult because we don’t have enough inventory in the market homes on the market to help maybe push down prices a little bit more financing has become a little bit more affordable But that entry-level home is just a little bit out of reach for most first-time homebuyers, which is difficult. And as you were talking about, government involvement has caused housing prices to appreciate growth. kind of above the means of where we’re seeing income so challenging and yet we at REMAX have offices in 120 companies We are the largest brokerage in the world, selling the most houses in the world. And so we get the job done when people are wanting to buy and sell. And that’s exciting.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay. So you said 120 companies or 120 countries. Okay. I thought that was that. 120 countries. Okay. That is amazing. And we we have housing here in Colorado because there is a glut of apartments, but we don’t have single family housing. And you and Lauren and I were texting back and forth. That’s what we need to. to be focusing on is homes for people to create wealth, that you can help people buy and sell, that Lauren can help finance. We need to make sure that that’s where we’re focused, I think, on housing policy. And you and I have had this conversation for a lot of years, Karen Levine.
SPEAKER 07 :
We have. I think it becomes more and more apparent why housing isn’t affordable and it is policy. It is the red tape. It is hopefully we’ll have a discussion here in March regarding changes in requirements for water heaters and furnaces over the next decade and the cost of these units. to housing, that doesn’t make things affordable. And it makes it difficult for our elderly to move because they can’t move down. And so they stay where they are, which then they don’t free up that home for the growing family who’s looking for the next bigger home as their family is growing. And policy, government has created roadblocks. But I’m a problem solver, and I am helping people get their homes sold and get to their new destination. And so that’s exciting.
SPEAKER 11 :
And how can people reach you, Karen Levine, if they want to buy or sell their home?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, if they’re interested in starting a conversation about their real estate dreams, give me a call at 303-877-7516.
SPEAKER 11 :
And Karen, you and I and Lauren, we are all committed to continue to have these conversations about these policies that are making things unaffordable. When we have these PBIs that are talking about making things affordable and their idea is subsidizing, taking from one person to give to another, that’s not the answer that we need to get to. We need to start to reduce these rules and regulations. And we did mention it earlier in the show that you had texted me regarding that you’d had a conversation with a plumber. I’d also talked with Ben Williams with Ben’s Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling about the cost of these regulations of increasing, you said, a water heater from $2,500 to anywhere to $7,500 to $10,000. Well, that is not affordable. Although you’d mentioned one other, I think when we were maybe offline when you were in in studio that somebody said, well, there’s government programs to help with that increased cost. That’s not the answer to any of this, Karen Levine.
SPEAKER 07 :
no you you again you you take from one to give to the other and in doing so it causes harm across the board and we we find that local state and national policy has affected affordability and has harmed has harmed Incomes increasing because of the regulation in employment. And one additional law does not create affordability on any level. It just creates cost. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, Karen Levine, safe travels coming back. And we’re going to keep this discussion going. So thank you.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you. Have a great day.
SPEAKER 11 :
You have a great day as well. And we have all these different costs, but you might want to reach out to Roger Mangan and the Roger Mangan State Farm Insurance Team because State Farm lowered auto insurance rates for both existing clients and new clients here in Colorado. And so give them a call because you might be able to save some money. That number is 303-795-8855. Like a good neighbor, the Roger Mangan Team is there.
SPEAKER 10 :
When you bundle your insurance coverage with the Roger Mink and State Farm Insurance Team, you may save money on your insurance premiums. The only way to find out is to reach out to the Roger Mangan State Farm Insurance team for a complimentary appointment. Call the Roger Mangan team now at 303-795-8855. That number again is 303-795-8855. Like a good neighbor, the Roger Mangan team is there.
SPEAKER 20 :
John Bozen and the attorneys at Bozen Law believe that everyone deserves access to justice regardless of their financial situation. That’s why Bozen Law handles personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. You don’t pay anything upfront. And there are no hourly fees. Bozen Law covers the cost of building your case and they only get paid if they win for you. Every case is different and results vary depending on facts and circumstances. Contact Bozen Law today at 303-999-9999 to see how Bozen Law might help you. That number is 303-999-9999.
SPEAKER 17 :
We’ll see you next time. Kim at Kim Monson dot com. Kim would love to talk with you again. That’s Kim at Kim Monson dot com.
SPEAKER 11 :
And welcome back to the Kim Monson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. And Little Richie’s is your local neighborhood spot where you can get authentic New York style pizza and pasta. They’re locally owned and have been serving Parker and Golden for over 20 years. And it’s a place where teams celebrate and families meet up. And at Little Richie’s, Tuesdays are for the families. Kids eat free after 4 p.m. with purchase of an adult entree. So let them handle dinner and the dishes. And that is Little Richie’s in Parker and in Golden. And I love to hear stories of overcoming, of resiliency. And very pleased to have on the line with me Rachel Flick. Her husband was killed in the line of duty. He was a Colorado Springs citizen. And her story is a very important one. Rachel Flick, welcome to the show. Hi, Kim. Thank you so much for having me today. Well, and how we got connected is Joe and Shelley Lewis, who are the founders of Angels of America’s Fallen. said you really need to talk to Rachel. She’s going to be our keynote speaker at their gala, which will be on Saturday, April 18th. And so I’m very honored to have you with me right now, Rachel. So tell us your story. What happened? Okay.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, in 2018, my husband was on a task force called beat auto theft through law enforcement. And it was your every given Monday. They’ve done this for months. They were, um, A very great team. They had a good connection. They worked well together. They’d done this many times. And they had planned to follow a suspect to go and find a stolen car. And so they… tracked this man for about eight hours through the city that day and when they decided that it was the best time to make the arrest they had gone up to approach him there was 10 people on the team and my husband was on a team with his partner scott stone and scott goes up the two of them together to grab the suspect and the suspect had a gun in his hoodie And he slipped Scott’s grasp and immediately shot him in the hip. And then he went to execute Scott, and Micah grabbed the gun, wrestled him for the gun, and took a bullet in the neck. And in the midst of that became a firefight where… Zatina, the suspect, he sprayed bullets around the parking lot where they had been and hit two other officers, not fatally. And then he hit a civilian who was permanently paralyzed. And Scott maintains ongoing disability to this day. And Micah passed away at the scene with the suspect as well.
SPEAKER 11 :
You, being the wife of Micah involved in law enforcement, every day you realize there is a risk as they go out the door that something might happen, yes? Absolutely. How did you deal with that before this happened?
SPEAKER 09 :
Micah and I lived with this as a very real part of our day. We didn’t try to minimize it or ignore it. You do try to live through it, per se. Like, I didn’t want to live in a constant state of fear and anxiety. But, you know, when the shift goes long and you don’t hear from them and they’re not picking up their phone, obviously the anxiety climbs, you know, and you try to talk yourself out of, anything bad having happened in that moment but it’s always in the back of your mind and Micah and I had a deal that we would always say I love you always kiss each other goodbye whether we had garlic breath or you know we’re upset with each other or we’re in a hurry we always took that small beat of time and would give each other a kiss and kind of look each other in the eyes and We just wanted to be intentional that if that was the last time that we had made the opportunity to connect with the other one.
SPEAKER 11 :
So when did this happen? I remember the story, but when did this happen? This was on February 5th of 2018. Okay. And you had little ones at home as well, right? Mm-hmm. The twins were seven. They just turned seven a couple months before. And so you get the call that something’s happened. Mm-hmm. What happened with you next?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, a flurry of things was happening. I had actually been on the phone with a friend. I was consoling her through a miscarriage, and so she was crying on the phone with me. I’d just gotten home from picking the kids up from school, and we were headed to get ready for ballet. And as my friend is sharing her terrible day with me, I’m starting to miss phone calls. And I’m declining them, but then I’m missing five, six, seven, eight phone calls. And I was like, okay, that’s, you know, a very unusual friend. I’m so sorry. I need to… I need to take a minute and see what’s happening. And I switch over, and it’s Micah’s mom. And she said, Rachel, you need to come to the hospital. Micah’s been shot. And I said, where? And she said, the name of the hospital. And I was like, no, no, not the hospital. Like, on his body. Where has he been shot? And she said, in his chest. And I said, in my mind. Well, that’s good because Micah always wore his vest. And so hopefully the vest took the bullet and, you know, just go to the hospital and he’ll be, you know, in surgery or being cared for. And, you know, we’ll we’ll walk this through. About 30 minutes later, I finally get in contact with the undersheriff who went to the wrong address to give me the knock at the door. And he pulls up in the driveway, skids around the corner, tumbles out of the car, and with just great pain and heartache on his face, gives me the news that Micah has been killed. And he’s so sorry that they tried everything, but there was nothing they could do to save him.
SPEAKER 11 :
How old was Micah?
SPEAKER 1 :
34.
SPEAKER 11 :
So your world changed significantly. The grief had to be enormous. And probably first, what, unbelief and then grief?
SPEAKER 09 :
Oh, everything. I think you feel everything all at once. Tremendous amounts of shock, just begging God that this… isn’t real that um you know i just screamed and cried all the way to the the hospital in the under sheriffs cruiser just was thanking god that this wasn’t my story in my life um it was a it was a total demarcation line and and part of me died with Micah that day and I was never the same I’ve never been the same since it was an incredible amazing week, an overwhelming week. You know, you do these processionals. My kid’s funeral was attended by more than 8,000 people. It became a national news story. I’d gone from being, you know, a housewife in the kitchen with, you know, my little kids going to ballet and doing carpool to To now, you know, giving interviews and being a public person. And I gave a eulogy at my kid’s funeral that went viral and that created a lot of media attention in and of itself. And then there’s the dark nights that people don’t see where I laid on the floor in my closet and held his clothes because they smelled like him and didn’t sleep for a couple years. I pretty much didn’t eat anything for at least a year. I lived on one particular Starbucks order as I… walk through the business of grief where you have to deal with so many details of death and his death being a line of duty death came with an exceptional amount of details and decisions and I had to level up my entire life, right? I was I was 35 and now I’m making decisions about, you know, retirement funds. And I bought my funeral, my cemetery plot. And, you know, I wrote a will right away because I wanted to make sure the kids were cared for if anything were to happen to me. And it was it was a very dark, very painful time that that just transformed my soul.
SPEAKER 11 :
What about infrastructure? Did you have people around you that were walking through this with you?
SPEAKER 09 :
I did. So I had been a Mothers of Preschoolers group leader at our church, which is a small group for young moms. And ours wasn’t very small, though. We had about 200 ladies in it. And these were a primary group of women who surrounded our lives. They were helping clean our house. They were getting my kids to school, packing lunches. If I needed something, I needed mascara for the funeral. Someone ran out and bought me some mascara for the funeral. They just attended to all of the details around us, small and big. I was living with Micah’s parents at the time of his death. And so I had to buy a house and they helped us to move and to move into the home and just many many transitions and the community was astounding and the things that they did for us in hosting telethons in showing up for us with food and gift cards and fundraisers the sheriff’s office was just an incredible resource for us over and over again felt like we had an extended family in them that I really hadn’t known existed because Micah had been intentional to keep our home and his work life separate to protect us from, you know, the threat of possibly someone that he had arrested coming back and wanting to have And so I really didn’t know any of these people before he died. And when he died, they really came around me in such a beautiful way. And I absolutely wouldn’t have been as successful in surviving and being able to do the things that we did without all of the support.
SPEAKER 11 :
I think that’s important. With Rachel Flick. And she is… Her husband, Micah, was killed in the line of duty. He was the deputy in Colorado Springs. And we’re talking about her journey. She is going to be the keynote speaker at the gala for… Angels of America’s Fallen. And that is on April 18th, Saturday, April 18th, which is right around the corner. You can go to their website to buy tickets. And we’re going to go to break and we’ll come back and talk with Rachel Flick some more. And all these discussions happen because of our sponsors. And spring is right around the corner. And so you will want to reach out to Radiant Painting and Lighting to start to arrange to get that house painted sometime this spring.
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SPEAKER 01 :
All Kim’s sponsors are in inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Monson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, KimMonson.com. That’s Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com.
SPEAKER 11 :
And welcome back to the Kim Monson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMonson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. And we have these discussions because of our sponsors. And your financial freedom is shaped by more than numbers. It’s shaped by planning for the realities of your life. At Mint Financial Strategies, Jody Henze and her team help you assess your current reality while planning for your future. Additionally, Mint Financial Strategies helps you navigate through your emotions regarding the economy, your career, and the market, while encouraging you to evaluate family dynamics. That could influence your financial well-being. These insights help mint financial strategies to design a plan that fits your life. So take that step towards financial freedom. Give them a call. That number is 303-285-3080. 303-285-3080. And we are talking with Rachel Flick. Her husband, Micah Flick, Colorado Springs deputy, was killed in what ultimately became a shootout with the suspect. And this was back in 2018. Rachel’s and Micah’s children, seven-year-old twins, they were seven at that time, and And we’re talking about her journey. And Rachel’s going to be the keynote speaker at the gala on Saturday, April 18th for Angels of America’s Fallen. That website is aoafallen.org. And you can buy tickets now. I’m sure it’s going to be sold out. And so, Rachel, we’re walking through this journey. You said you had a year where basically you didn’t really eat or sleep. But your story is one of resiliency and hope. Take us through that journey then. Thanks so much for having me back, Kim.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, when I say that it was a year, I mean that that was… maybe the darkest of the dark of the grief. But they say it takes three to five years to rebuild your life after a loss. And I’ve even heard some people say if it’s a traumatic loss like mine was, a sudden surprise, And a murder, it can take 7 to 12 years. And so I’ve just come up on my 8-year anniversary. And I’ll say to you at this point that I’ve done a tremendous amount of growth and healing. And yet still my nervous system experiences so much dysregulation and despair that… The month of January and February for me are still very, very hard and my body shuts down. I struggle with clear thinking, energy. I feel a sense of heartache again at that time. I have anxiety over the anniversary. Just to give people a realistic expectation, grief isn’t something that you get over. You move through it. You move forward into a new life that you build with every choice. For me, that healing journey, the first year, I saw a different practitioner every day. That included massage and chiropractic, energy work. I saw two different kinds of therapy, one who specialized in the PTSD with the law enforcement aspect. The kids were in a variety of therapies, including equine therapy. I think one of the things that really helped us, and this is something that’s really beautiful about Angels of America’s Fallen, is I learned the power of play. And in that vein, what that does to help heal, to bring laughter back, to bring restoration. We went on a vacation together. And we were on a lake and I was driving the kids on a jet ski and they wanted me to dump them off. And so I would go really fast and spin it around and dump us all into the water. And we would just roar with laughter. And as I’m in the lake and we’re, you know, just… soaking up that sunshine and laughing about being tipped over, I was like, this is the first time I’ve authentically, legitimately laughed since Micah died. And that began to teach me the power of play and what it means to, um, allow fun to be a piece of that healing journey, that it’s not all intensive therapies or talk therapy or, you know, tears and crying that, that joy is a huge part of what comes next. And that’s what angels, um, pours into for kids is to allow them to make new memories and, um, do have activities that they like and that they get excited about and areas where they feel competent and and that could be sports that could be horseback riding that could be a cooking class that could be guitar or voice lessons i mean the sky’s the limit on on an activity that they’ll support the kids in but that really became an important part of our of our growth journey forward in resilience
SPEAKER 11 :
And Angels of America’s Fallen, Joe and Shelly Lewis, are really doing amazing work to support these children because these extracurricular activities can be very, very expensive. And so not being able to afford getting your kids into these activities can be, I think, an additional kind of a stress that people don’t even realize. So having the children get involved in something that they love to do is, is really a gift and angels of America’s fallen, uh, really does a beautiful thing with this Rachel.
SPEAKER 09 :
They absolutely do. You know, there is, um, in a line of duty death, there’s some compensation there. And I think, um, there, there is initial help and that’s amazing. Um, But as your needs go on, it doesn’t last forever. And that’s this combination of realizing that grief is not one or two years. Like when you look at a family that’s lost a family member of any family member. But in the line of duty, as we’re talking about, and in a tragedy, they’re still living through that loss in 5, 7, 9, 12 years. And those kids, so the difference in children’s grief is where adults often process things more upfront. We process a past that we live. We also grieve a future we won’t have with our spouse. But kids, kids grieve as they grow. So with every developmental stage, they grieve their mom or dad at a new level and they become aware of the loss at a new level. And it’s a whole new pain. It’s a whole new set of experiences or grief symptoms for them. And that just never really goes away because this was the parent that would have been a part of their life walking them through all of these different seasons. And now their dad can’t come to their game or he can’t walk her down the aisle at her wedding or he’s not there when the grandchild is born. What Angels does is it supports the kids as they’re growing up, like in this long-range commitment, and that’s uniquely beautiful.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, and that is important to note, is that when a child, when Angels of America’s Fallen commits to a child, they commit every year until they’re like 18 or something, don’t they? Yep, until they turn 19. And I talked to, we did an interview with Joe a few months ago, And he said that there’s a significant waiting list for kids to be selected. I know that they’d like to select all of them, but they want to make sure they take care of this commitment to follow each child to the age of 19. And that’s why this gala is so important is because it’s one of their big fundraisers. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yes, they’re very donor dependent and there are, I don’t want to misquote this number, Joe and Shelly have it, but for sure more than a thousand children on the wait list, probably many more than that. And those kids are growing up right now without their parents and living that reality of trying to move forward into resilience and post-traumatic growth, but not having the same access to resources as they would if they were partnered with angels.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay, and that website is aoafallen.org, aoafallen.org. And you can certainly contribute or you can scroll down and you can buy tickets to the gala there. Moving forward for you, Rachel Flick, you have the twins are now what, 14 years old or so? 15, yeah. Just started driving. Oh boy. Looking into the future, what does that look like for you?
SPEAKER 09 :
I would say, so I have a podcast based on post-traumatic growth and resilience, and I pour my story into those interviews and telling other people how to walk through this grief one day at a time. I’m writing a book called Return to Honor, and I’m sharing what it looks like to bridge the gap between the public and the police through my love story with Micah. And that brings me a lot of purpose to be able to cultivate my story into something that helps heal people coming behind me. And I just have a large heart for widows and those who are in grief, lost any kind of family member. My sister took her life. In October of this last year. And so we’re once again in a fresh level of grief, but I see the potential that I will be able to empathize and care for a wider range of people just really valuing what it looks like that you don’t have to be stuck. You don’t have to be walking in the intensity of fresh grief for the rest of your life, that there is a deep level of healing that is possible. You’ll never forget. You’ll never be over them. You are forever changed by a loss, but you can have… freedom and healing and a and a fresh view on life you can laugh again and have joy and um i am i’m eager to be a part of that and help people walk through the hardest parts of their story into into a new future and where can people find that podcast rachel So it’s called The Hopecast with Rachel Flick. And my website is rachelflick.com. And I’m on most social media platforms at Rachel Flick.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 11 :
And Rachel is spelled R-A-C-H-A-E-L, right? Mm-hmm. Right. Okay. Well, Rachel, your final thought that you’d like to leave with our listeners?
SPEAKER 09 :
I just want to encourage you guys to step in, to invest. I know a lot of people tell you we never forget investment. We always remember your fallen officer. And at the funeral, a lot of people tell you, we’ll be there for you. Let us know what we can do. And I want to challenge you, don’t ask people what you can do. Just find something and do it. And this is one of those things for Angels of America’s Fallen where you can take the initiative to step in and do something that you know is going to be practically, tangibly helpful in the years to come for people healing from a line of duty loss.
SPEAKER 11 :
And you can contribute by going to AOAFallen.org. And you can buy your tickets for the gala where Rachel Flick will be the keynote speaker. And that event is Saturday, April 18th. Rachel, thank you so much for sharing your story with us. I really appreciate it.
SPEAKER 09 :
Thank you, Kim. Thank you, Kim. Thank you for just listening and giving me the opportunity to share that hope and resilience with more people.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, and thank you. Keep it up. That is so important. And we have these important discussions because of our wonderful sponsors. And if you’ve been injured, you’ll want to talk with John Bozen and Bozen Law.
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SPEAKER 17 :
There’s so much noise coming at us. Sometimes it is difficult to make sense of it all. How can you sift through the clamor for your attention and get to the truth? The Kim Monson Show is here to help. Kim searches for truth and clarity by examining issues through the lens of freedom versus force. Force vs. Freedom. Tune in to the Kim Monson Show each weekday, 6 to 8 a.m. with encores 1 to 2 p.m. and 10 to 11 p.m. on KLZ 560 AM, KLZ 100.7 FM. The KLZ website, the KLZ app, and Alexa. Play KLZ. Shows can also be found at KimMonson.com, Spotify, and iTunes.
SPEAKER 11 :
And welcome back to the Kim Monson Show. February is just about over, but February is George Washington’s birthday month. And we’ve been talking about many of the stories regarding George Washington and wanted to share this, the fog that saved an army. This is from 1776history.com. It says, incredibly, yet again, circumstances, fate, luck, providence, the hand of God, as would be so often intervened. And that’s from historian David McCullough and his book in 1776. It says, most Americans are not aware of how precarious the situation was at times for the American Continental Army back then. during the Revolutionary War. One such time was the Battle of Trenton, which was in December of 1776. But before that, in August of 1776, four months before that battle, the Continental and British armies met in the Battle of Brooklyn, or what is also called the Battle of Long Island or the Battle of Brooklyn Heights. It’s one of the largest battles of the Revolutionary War. and the future of our planet was changed forever by what transpired. After the British abandoned Boston in March of 1776, their next campaign was in New York. They planned to isolate New York and New England from the rest of the colonies. A large British force of approximately 32,000 soldiers opposed about 19,000 soldiers of the Continental Army. After the British force landed on Stanton Island, General George Washington moved much of his army across the East River from lower Manhattan to defend Brooklyn. On August 27, 1776, the British attacked Brooklyn on three fronts. They attacked American forces directly on two fronts and sent a third force of about 10,000 men through a little-used pass to successfully outflank the Americans. with Washington’s army caught off guard and outnumbered only a series of fortunate events saved the American Revolution. We would say the divine hand of God on this. It says, first, a small group of 400 soldiers from Maryland were able to fight and save the army from a complete rout. This allowed a larger group of Americans to retreat to Brooklyn Heights and avoid capture. Rather than press their advantage, British General William Howe ordered his men to stop the attack and dig trenches around the Continental Army. He expected the Americans to surrender. He also expected British ships to sail around and cut off the Americans from their only line of retreat across the river to Manhattan. But the ships never came. Why? Because there was not enough wind to get them there. This gave George Washington the night to secretly get 9,000 men to safety and keep his army intact. He ordered every available boat to be taken and used to get his army across the East River. Working through rain and darkness, the oarsmen in the boats crossed the river multiple times to deliver soldiers across to the other side. The only problem was that a large part of the Continental Army remained in Brooklyn as the sun rose. These men likely would have been killed or captured if they did not cross the river, losses that the Americans could not afford. However, a final fortune smiled down on the Americans from above. A heavy fog settled over the area and the rest of the Continental Army was able to conceal their movements from the British. As the fog lifted, the British were left bewildered and they realized the Continental Army was gone. The British captured New York on September 15, 1776, but they did so without destroying the Continental Army. The Revolutionary War continued and with it came the ultimate American victory. With a few hundred tenacious soldiers, a lack of wind, and some heavy fog, there may have never been the United States of America.” And so I wanted to talk about the Maryland 400. And I think Mary Jansen said that the fog, one of the things it also does is it muffles things. And so this really was a divine fog that allowed them to retreat. But if it had not been for the Maryland 400, it would not have happened. And this is from CecilHistory.org, the Historical Society of Cecil County. And it says, in August 1776, a group of soldiers, the Maryland 400, helped hold back the British Army at the Battle of Brooklyn, also known as the Battle of Long Island, allowing the rest of the Americans to escape the battlefield. The Maryland 400 was formed in January of 1776. It was known as the 1st Maryland Regiment. It was commanded by Colonel William Smallwood with major contributions from Mordecai Gist. They were a very well-trained unit and were equipped with bayonets. And they were organized after the Continental Congress called them to active duty. The regiment left Frederick, Maryland in August of 1776 and marched 551 miles in 21 days to report to General Washington to support his efforts to drive the British out of Boston. Later, Maryland militia companies, including the 1st Maryland Regiment, were sent to support Washington in New York City. Shortly after the fighting began, the British cornered Washington and the 9,000 of his men in Brooklyn Heights. As the Continentals evacuated, the Maryland soldiers held the British back so that the evacuation could take place. As General Washington and the Americans retreated, some crossed the Galvanus Creek salt marsh. Some of the men who tried to cross the salt marsh while under fire from the British were bogged down in the mud under musket fire, and others who could not swim were captured. More than 100 men were captured and 256 soldiers were killed. Fewer than a dozen made it back to the American lines. General Washington observed this from a redoubt on Cobble Hill, and Washington was reported to have said, Good God, what brave fellows I must this day lose. General Washington is credited with calling the Maryland regiments the old line, referring to their status as seasoned, dependable troops. The Maryland line was dubbed the bayonets of the revolution after this brave sacrifice. The Marylanders lost a quarter of the men that day, but their stand saved the Continental Army, allowing it to live and fight another day. And I’ve shared these stories. We’ve got one more day in February. And I’m not quite sure which story I’m going to pick to share with all of you. And then I think that we will continue to talk about the stories of our founders since this is our 250th birthday. Because I think it’s important that we understand this history. Our kids are not being taught this history, and many of us don’t even know this history. Frankly, how I started to hear these stories is Ben Martin, a patriotic historian, which has been, over the years, he’s been a great guest on the show, had a class on America’s founding heritage. And I took the class and learned so much about our founding. And so as we are looking at all of these policies, particularly here in Colorado, that are more about power and control, over people than representing the people so that people can go after their hopes and dreams and that they can thrive and prosper. We are seeing this attack upon that. And there’s been this big wealth transfer from public policy from our middle class. And how did we get our middle class? It was because of this idea that all men are created equal. And the great equality is the equality of time. We each have 24 hours in each day to choose with it what we’re going to do. And so that’s why at the close of the show, with my clothes, make good choices with those moments. And think about… lofty things, beautiful things during the minutes that God has given us each and every day. Instead of the debased things that we see that are happening in our society and many of the debased pieces of legislation that we are seeing down at the State House as well. So get informed. Join us at coloradotaxpayer.org so that you’ll know what’s going on down at the State House. Make sure that you are subscribed to our newsletters. Listen to the show. Engage in these conversations with friends and family and colleagues about what is happening. And I know with the divine providence of God, if we follow his will, we will reclaim our state and our country. So our quote for the end of the show is so apropos from George Washington. He said, “…it is incumbent upon every person of every description to contribute to his country’s welfare.” So, my friends, today, be grateful, read great books, think good thoughts, listen to beautiful music, communicate and listen well, if honestly and authentically, strive for high ideals, and like Superman, stand for truth, justice, and the American way. My friends, you are not alone. God bless you, and God bless America.
SPEAKER 18 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
