Water usage questioned

So Buc-ee’s won their zoning appeal to be called a convenience store. What a joke! I guess this means that Costco, Sam’s Club, King Soopers, Safeway, Walmart, Target etc. can also be called a convenience store when that argument works for them. Buc-ee’s is clearly a travel center anyway you look at it.

No one wants Buc-ee’s at the Monument location and residents have made that very clear and yet the county commissioners with the exception of one sensible commissioner voted yes on the zoning issue. Palmer Lake is currently under a stage 1 water emergency. How much water will Buc-ee’s use every day, week, month?
Are the commissioners addressing that and how their water usage may affect Palmer Lake?
The four commissioners who voted yes on this issue should face a recall.
The developers and their money win again. Shameful!

Sharon Ferguson

Woodland Park

State and local subsidies

I read with interest Jon Caldera’s recent column on the Gaylord Hotel. (Gaylord, you never check in but still Pay, Sunday, August 30, 2026 )

Of interest is the total tab of $381 million in state and local subsidies. My understanding is that the state pays approximately $ 30-36,000 dollars per homeless bed per year x 10,000 persons, or approximately 298 million dollars. I would suggest the state house the homeless at the Gaylord and save the state $300 million. Unfortunately, revenue from the souvenir polo shirts might fall.

However, on the plus side this will open up low-income housing in the city and perhaps have a hand in revitalizing 16th Street mall.

Thank you for the fine article.

Steve Wegert

Colorado Springs

A lot of available rentals

I must take exception to Jill Gaeblers’ article in Sunday’s business section concerning affordable housing. Calculating 30%, 40%, and 50% of the $116,400 median income she cites for a family of four yields monthly incomes of $2,9100, $3,880, & $4,850, respectively. Using the Colorado State mandated 50% of income to qualify for a rental yields between 655 and 1,814 two bedroom apartments listed on Zillow in Colorado Springs the day her article was published.

That’s a lot of available rentals.

Perhaps more effort could be spent on understanding why thousands of available apartments go unfilled before we advocate building a bunch more. Why are people not moving into the available units? Are they not qualifying for reasons other than income? Bad credit, evictions, criminal records, the discipline to save up enough to pay the first month’s rent and deposit up front?

Sounds to me like we don’t have a lack of housing but a lack of qualified renters.

Dick Stewart

Colorado Springs

AI generated responses

At the beginning of this school year, I was excited to see that Manitou High School students were asked to sign a contract stating they would not use AI in their English classes. I wish our Superintendent Sean Dorsey had been required to do the same. After reading his letter in the district Fall 2026 Rooted and Rising magazine, my son noted it read like AI. So he ran it through the AI detector (zerogpt.com). Lo and behold, our superintendent scored a 100%.

I would say this is an issue for our Board of Education to address, but their letter was also largely written by AI. As was a response we received from our Vice Principal, Ms. Nunley, over a concern we had at the end of last year, scoring a 77% on the AI checker.

We chose our home because of the quaintness of Manitou’s school district. It was a place where our kids could be seen and where the community cared for one another. But something has happened since Dorsey took the helm. Our district has become depersonalized, families are leaving and the rampant AI slop from the top begs a larger question: where has Manitou’s emphasis on relationships gone?

Sean Dorsey, Manitou D14 Board of Education, MSHS Administration, if you don’t want your students to use AI, perhaps it’s time you start leading by example. Stop using AI. It looks sloppy, the kids recognize it, and as a parent, it screams of disinterest in being a voice for the community you were hired to represent.

Jamie Berry

Cascade

Financial strain on paper

I read with interest the Aug. 30 Gazette front page article entitled “Colorado hospitals financially strained.” My attention was particularly drawn to the claim that there is a $2 billion difference between Medicaid services and reimbursements. Recently,

I was in the ER of a UCHealth hospital for about 3 hours for chronic abdominal pain. During this time, the UCHealth staff were courteous and professional. I had some blood work done and a CT scan of my abdomen, and the diagnosis came back as a kidney stone.

They gave me some pills for pain, referred me to a urologist and sent me home. I just received the “explanation of benefits” from my Medigap provider and was shocked to see that UCHealth had billed Medicare $22,015.20 for this episode. Of that amount, Medicare approved $1,292.28 and paid $1,029.62. My Medigap policy covered the balance, and so, gratefully, the cost to me was zero dollars.

What I find deeply disturbing, however, is that the amount billed seems so exorbitantly incongruous with the actual services provided. I understand that Medicaid and Medicare are different, but if this experience of mine is any indication, could it be that at least part of this “financial strain” is more on paper than in reality?

Douglas C. Bozung

Colorado Springs