If there's one thing I consider a weakness of my podcast, it's that since it's a regularly scheduled weekly show, it may lose out on the chance to be on the frontlines of breaking news. I also am aware that the shelf life of each show is not good as the news I covered 4 weeks ago may be old news, or obsolete. To fill in the gaps, I considered recording " quick shots" 3 to 4 times a week so I could deliver timely updates. Many other podcasts do a version of this, but they also have things like a staff, with writers and producers. I wear all of those hats here.

After a couple of weeks of hard thinking and conversations and consultation with listeners and friends (who I thank and consider all of your thoughtful input), I was pretty much advised to leave it alone. The best piece of advice I received was to use the written form (like what you're reading now) for the "quick shot" idea, which is what I did for years anyway. Like they say, sometimes the best ideas are the simplest and most obvious. I could do an entire blog series or podcast just on Podcasting.

But with that "quick shot" ( gun shot and ricochet sound effect) theory in mind, here's an update on something I covered in great detail in one of my more downloaded podcasts: Butterball Vs. Clyde Ioeger.

I'm writing about this because it's yet to break in the papers, even prior to Butterballs press release. Their request for vacation of Emery St was supposed to be on the June 24th Longmont City Council meeting agenda. I know you regular listeners always check the agenda (that comes out on the previous Friday), and if you did you'd see it's not on the agenda. Why?

They have suspended the application to vacate Emery Street.

They claim it is partially due to the increased cost of turkey feed (corn) and fuel, and the bombshell that they are about to layoff nearly 25% of the workforce at the Longmont plant. That's over 200 employees. Because of the timing of that news, they've decided against pursuing this street takeover at this time.

If you'll recall, they said if they didn't get Emery Street, they may have to curtail their operations. And they used the employee numbers to remind us how many people they employ, and how many could be lost. I called it a bluff, and this news doesn't much change that opinion. If this street issue was the cause of 200 lost jobs, it would be in their statement (as of this writing, it is not stated as a factor). That tactic would possibly payoff with some on City Council, maybe sway a couple of votes, regardless of how the Transportation Advisory Board or the Planning & Zoning Commission voted on this issue ( against and a split vote, respectively)

But I believe the reasons given by Butterball are the real reasons. Doesn't take a financial genius to see the ever spreading toll that higher corn prices and fuel prices are taking, whether you're a business or not. Yeah, I know, pointing out the obvious again.

While this is good news for Mr. Ioerger and all who seek protection of property rights (and Emery Street is OUR property, all of us citizens), it'll probably be overshadowed in the press by the very bad news indeed for those laid off employees. I'll leave it up to them to decide who's to blame, but it's neither Mr. Ioerger, Butterball, or City of Longmont policies.

©2008 Chris Rodriguez/Longmont Advocate LLC
(Chris Rodriguez is a Longmont resident, and the publisher and broadcaster of Longmont Advocate, a community website and podcast that raises local issues to increase public awareness and interest)