Author Archives: Chris Rodriguez

About Chris Rodriguez

Chris is the editor/publisher of LightningRod Blog - as well as founder/editor of Wrongmont, Longmont Advocate, Vote!Longmont, Longmont Politics, the LightningRod Radio Network, as well as being the original Longmont Examiner. Chris is a writer and talker - whether it be blogs, podcasts, music, or public speaking. When he's not heard on Air Traffic radio, he can be heard on his podcasts or seen in the local paper causing trouble.

Perjury by Kim Gibbs and plaintiffs?

  By Chris Rodriguez | April 27, 2015 - 3:36 pm | ,
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In Judge Judith LaBuda‘s chambers in Boulder County Court, there was a parade of plaintiffs and witnesses for Citizens for Quiet Skies who maintained that they weren’t anti-airport and didn’t want to shut down Longmont’s Vance Brand Airport.  It was obvious this was drilled into them by their attorneys as the question kept coming up and their responses were all the same.  In other words it was staged, and as I’ve written plenty of times I believe they are full of crap. Continue reading →

Harassment from Kim Gibbs and Citizens For Quiet Skies

  By Chris Rodriguez | April 18, 2015 - 1:24 pm | ,
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Here’s a subject I thought I’d never write about again, and notice I haven’t blogged for over a year.  But I’ve attended 2 of the 5 days in the court case of CFQS et al VS Mile-Hi Skydiving (and my wife’s attended all 5 with books of notes), and I’ve heard just about enough bullflop.  One thing in particular really got a chuckle out of me when my name kept coming up in court, and a particular blog entry was entered into evidence.  If you read that entry, and I assume the judge will now that it’s part of the case, you’ll see it’s the opposite of what Ms. Gibbs and her attorneys claims it is. Continue reading →

It was 20 years ago today…I nearly died

  By Chris Rodriguez | February 17, 2014 - 12:01 am |
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Recently on the internet there was reminiscing of the Northridge (California) Earthquake of 1994, including a faux play-by-play of it on Twitter.  We didn’t live too far from the epicenter, but far enough to not suffer any consequences of the quake.  I’d grown up in SoCal, earthquakes were nothing new, although now we were living with the San Andreas Fault within sight just a couple of miles away – so any quake made you wonder if it was the big one.  But what nearly killed me wasn’t this quake, it was something that happened exactly a month later. Continue reading →

The Longmont Years: 2012-2013 Airport Master Plan success, and plans to move

  By Chris Rodriguez | January 25, 2014 - 1:01 pm | , ,
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This is the final installation of the long and winding road of our activities while residing in Longmont, Colorado.  We pick up in early 2012 where we’d already talked about and even came close to moving 6 years prior, but I had one last piece of unfinished business before we left:  coming full circle back to the Vance Brand Airport, where it all began. Continue reading →

The Longmont Years: 2009-2011 Breaking the Bloc

  By Chris Rodriguez | January 23, 2014 - 5:25 pm | ,
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In this installment, we pick up in early 2009 after apparent local political burnout – or so I thought.  The previous two years were hectic, to say the least.  Output increased in quantity and quality, both in the written and spoken word.  By the end of ’08 I had gone back to one of my first loves: aviation.  But staying away from local politics was apparently not in the cards. Continue reading →

The Longmont Years: 2007-2008 YourHub, LifeBridge, The Bloc, Longmont Advocate, Vote!Longmont, and podcasting

  By Chris Rodriguez | January 5, 2014 - 8:19 pm | ,
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In the previous post, I talked about how we came to end up in Longmont and the beginnings of my (and our, including my wife) various activities there, specifically in the political arena.  This next section only covers 2 years, but insanely busy and active years they were, read on… Continue reading →

The Longmont Years: 2000-2006 Coming to Longmont, and Wrongmont

  By Chris Rodriguez | January 4, 2014 - 2:03 pm | , ,
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It’s not with a heavy heart, but actually a quite light and airy one, that we bid adieu to the city we’ve called home for the last 13+ years; Longmont, Colorado.  But fear not, I still have to work there for a few more years, live close enough to be affected by it, and may once in a while throw some tax dollars its way.  Happily I’ll be throwing less toward Boulder County. Continue reading →

2013 Longmont Election Post Mortem – Final Edition

  By Chris Rodriguez | December 10, 2013 - 3:09 pm |
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As loyal readers know, after nearly every election I write about what went down, occasionally with some behind-the-scenes info.  Since I’ve now moved out of Longmont, alas, this will be the last.  To the knuckleheads who think this or previous elections had anything to do with us moving, well, you’re a moron to think so.  But I’ll get to that in another post. Continue reading →

Christensen, aka “Polly Progressive”, off to worst start ever for Longmont councilmember

  By Chris Rodriguez | November 15, 2013 - 1:22 pm |
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You don’t have to take my word for it, but newly elected Polly Christensen – who’s now earned the moniker “Polly Progressive” (hat tip The Coyote) – easily has had the worst start of any Longmont city councilmember.  And that’s saying something considering Sean McCoy once sat on that council.  Here’s a recap of what’s gone on, with links and tweets galore.  But first, this awesome YouTube video: Continue reading →

Want it quick? Follow on Twitter

  By Chris Rodriguez | November 1, 2013 - 6:00 pm |
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Sometimes life moves too fast for blogs or blogging.  Want to find out what’s going on quicker?  Follow @clightningrod on Twitter.  Facebook’s okay, and we have a page there, but Twitter is quick and to the point.  If you can’t get your point across in 160 characters, or at least the relevant highlights, well, go read a book or the newspaper.  Here’s a typical tweet:

Continue reading →