In case you missed it

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REMEMBER THE RACCOON

Surely when you heard about the man who reportedly beat a raccoon to death with a nail-studded board because he was still bitter about raccoons killing his cat a few years ago, you thought the same thing we did.

Where’s the outpouring of support for the ’coon? After all, what’s the difference between this and the Mapleton elk? We demand that a statue be erected in honor of this poor oversized rodent, or at least a bench. Complete with candlelight vigils. And why hasn’t someone recorded a song for the little rascal and posted it on YouTube yet? Rocky should also have his own Twitter feed, by gawd.

What about the raccoon meat? Has it been properly packaged and frozen for possible donation?

Come on, people, it’s almost like the bigger the animal, the more attention it gets when it is killed. Get your priorities straight.

And don’t you dare swat that fly.

CITY OF BOULDER STRIKES AGAIN

Did you hear about Boulder city officials’ latest ploy to “clean up” the municipal campus?

Apparently the camping ban and the night-time parks closures haven’t done enough to remove those unsightly homeless people from the area, so now City Manager Jane Brautigam wants to ban smoking in the area so the city can drive those undesirables out for good!

Out of sight, out of mind, right? We had to laugh out loud at the city’s press release announcing the proposal, saying it was intended to address “increasing dangers to the welfare and quality of life” in the area, as well as the health impacts of secondhand smoke.

Yeah, right. If the city is concerned with health issues, then it should start by offering a hand to the 66 percent of the homeless population that is suffering from mental illness and/or is in need of help for substance abuse. And let’s not forget that 40 percent of homeless men are veterans, many coping with the horror of PTSD while living on the street.

At least they will now be safe from the nightmarish consequences of secondhand smoke. Thank you City of Boulder. Your compassion is becoming legendary.

HEY BUDDY, CAN YOU SPARE SOME TIME?

Speaking of the homeless, it’s that time of year again. Time to count them.

Actually, the Point-in-Time initiative is about more than just counting, it’s about surveying the homeless and learning more about this often-overlooked population, its needs and its causes.

And the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, which runs the effort, needs more volunteers for Boulder County and other counties. It’s going down on Jan. 27.

So if you’re too uncomfortable handing out your spare change to the scruffy-looking individual on the corner, try donating your time. See http://mdhi.org for more information.

VOTE FOR ONE OR MORE

One of our very own Boulder County legislators, Rep. Jonathan Singer (D-Longmont), is co-sponsoring a bill that has made local election reform activist Paul Tiger happy.

Now the trick is getting it passed. Last year, a similar bill didn’t make it. Tiger, who was one of the first to blow the whistle on the county’s traceable ballots that Boulder Weekly covered in 2012, is a big fan of “approval voting.” It’s an election format in which citizens can cast votes for as many candidates as they’d like, and then the candidate with the most votes wins. Proponents say the system helps avoid the “spoiler effect,” or situations in which a majority of likeminded voters can be split between two similar candidates, allowing a third, who the majority oppose, to win. It also allows third parties to receive support without taking votes away from the Dems or the Republicans.

Check out the animated video explaining the whole thing using fruits and vegetables at http://bit.ly/1j44VLq.

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com