What to look for in 2008

POLITICS

The year 2008 could be one of the most bruising political years in recent memory.

The legislative session that starts Jan. 9 should bring about thunderous debate on how the state should handle health care, transportation funding and education for generations to come. Many believe the action will only heat up after the Blue-Ribbon Commission on Health Care Reform presents its findings Jan. 31 on how the General Assembly can act to get more people insured.

Colorado Springs will host more Democrats than many in the city can remember seeing, when the state Democratic Convention comes to town on May 16-17. State Republicans meet two weeks later in Broomfield.

Presidential politics begin on Feb. 5, when Republicans and Democrats can vote in party caucuses for their preferred presidential candidates. But they really hit the main stage from Aug. 25-28, when the Democratic National Convention comes to Denver to crown the party’s presidential nominee.

The Republican 5th Congressional District race also will capture local attention, beginning with the 5th Congressional District assembly in May. A primary — which could involve a 2006 rematch of U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, Jeff Crank and Bentley Rayburn — is scheduled for Aug. 12. Election Day is Nov. 4.

El Paso County property owners will be awaiting county commissioners’ decision whether to put a tax increase on the 2008 ballot. Between now and then, the public will continue to deal with county offices open only four days a week, as the county tries to save money on utilities.

No sooner than mid-February, the commission will have a new, and likely less contentious, member to replace newly appointed state Rep. Douglas Bruce, who currently represents the county’s 2nd District. Whoever earns the spot through appointment by committee will have to fight to keep it in November, when the seat is up for election.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Jan. 10: The World Arena will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a concert featuring Sawyer Brown, Phil Stacey, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Chris Young and Rissi Palmer.

Jan. 23: Christo and Jeanne-Claude will give a free lecture about their proposed “Over the River: Project for the Arkansas River, Colorado” at 3:30 p.m. at Colorado College’s Packard Hall.

Jan. 23-27: The blockbuster touring show “Walking with Dinosaurs” will play the World Arena.

Jan. 25-Feb. 17: The Fine Arts Center will present the musical “Sunday in the Park with George.”

Jan. 31-Feb. 17: TheatreWorks at UCCS will present “Blithe Spirit.”

Feb. 1-3: “My Little Pony” will gallop into the Pikes Peak Center.

March 4: Matchbox 20 and Alanis Morissette will play the World Arena.

March 7-23: Star Bar Players will present “Murder in Green Meadows.”

March 28: Etta James will play the Pikes Peak Center.

May 9-June 1: The Fine Arts Center will present “Beauty and the Beast.”

Oct. 10: Colorado College’s $33.4 million Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center at Cascade Avenue and Cache La Poudre Street will have its grand opening.

FORT CARSON

It will be a long year for thousands of Fort Carson soldiers already in Iraq or on their way soon. The 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division went to Iraq in late November and is scheduled to stay until early 2009. The 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division could go to Iraq as soon as this summer, putting as many as 8,000 Fort Carson troops in the war zone by year’s end.

This summer, new families will start arriving as Fort Carson grows. Commanders say the biggest growth won’t come until 2009, when the 4th Infantry Division returns from its 15-month deployment to Iraq and begins moving troops here from Fort Hood, Texas. The post is scheduled to house as many as 30,000 soldiers by 2013 and could have about 19,000 assigned there by the end of 2008.

BUSINESS

By March: City-owned Memorial Health System will open six remaining floors of a new, seven-story, 370,000-square-foot tower at its main hospital campus near downtown.

Late spring: Frontier Airlines will begin building a maintenance hangar at the Colorado Springs Airport and begin service to Denver.

Aug. 8: Penrose-St. Francis Health Services plans to open a 350,000-square-foot hospital, St. Francis Medical Center, in northeastern Colorado Springs. Many of the services at Penrose Community Hospital on North Academy Boulevard, including the emergency room, birthing center and pediatric inpatient unit, will move to the new hospital at the intersection of Powers Boulevard and Woodmen Road.

May: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo will open its Rocky Mountain Wild exhibit.

TRANSPORTATION

The new year should prove both a delight — and a challenge — to area motorists.

In the spring, the city plans to open two lanes of the new Cimarron Street bridge, with the remaining two lanes opening in August. The old bridge was closed to traffic in the fall of 2007 after months of limitedaccess traffic following the discovery of serious deterioration of the structure.

By November, motorists should be able to cruise through one of the busiest intersections in the city, at Austin Bluffs Parkway and Union Boulevard. That’s when crews expect to finish construction of a large interchange that will carry Austin Bluffs traffic over Union.

Another large interchange project, at Powers Boulevard and Woodmen Road, will be nearly complete by the end of 2008, with just finishing touches scheduled for the first half of 2009.

Completion of those projects will make navigating the city easier, but another massive interchange project getting under way in 2008 will surely frustrate motorists.

Crews will begin work to widen Woodmen Road and build an interchange at Woodmen Road and Academy Boulevard, one of the most problematic intersections in the city. Much of the work in 2008 is not expected to affect traffic much. But that will change in 2009, when the two- to three-year project really gets moving.

SPORTS

Jan. 7: Louisiana State University plays Ohio State for the BCS National Championship in New Orleans.

January: New football conference alignments for the area will be approved by the Colorado High School Activities Association. Lewis-Palmer and Sand Creek should be moving down to 4A in football while Rampart moves up to 5A. Florence moves down to 2A while Cañon City replaces it in the 3A ranks. There will be shifts in other sports to be decided in the spring, including Mitchell moving down to 4A.

Feb. 3: Super Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.

Feb. 12: Avalanche villain Todd Bertuzzi and the Anaheim Ducks visit Denver.

March 16: NCAA men’s basketball Selection Sunday. The final is April 7.