This is the Opinion section, click on the link to read the comments. The related articles are below. Greeley has had a 7.7% increase in population fro 2000 to last yearaccording to the census bureau, almost all are Hispanic. Con Agra meat processing is in Greely and closed for the May 1st demonstrations.

http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/2006 ... 1/TRIBEDIT

Who elected this guy? Try some compassion instead of immigration politics
Mike Peters, (Bio) mpeters@greeleytribune.com
October 8, 2006

Dear Mr. Schultheis:

It always puzzles me how some people can become elected leaders. What were the voters thinking? Do they REALLY know what kind of idiot they elected?

Let me tell you about a story this week:

Monday afternoon, what would become one of Weld County's worst accidents, a 17-year-old girl ran a stop sign on a country road and a large pickup truck demolished her car.

She's still trying to stay alive in the hospital. And today, they are burying her two little brothers and her 3-month-old baby.

The family donated their children's organs to other children so they can live.

They don't have much money, and through the Community Foundation here in Greeley, donations have been pouring in for this family.

Thursday, the family asked that all the financial donations go directly to Children's Hospital in Denver where two of the children died, or to North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley where the girl is still in intensive care.

The family doesn't want the money themselves but they know the hospitals need it.

They asked that the Tribune cover the funeral, so their daughter in the hospital will have something to keep for a memory.

Then, Mr. State Legislature, you sent an e-mail:


Schulthies email
Mike:

Just finished reading your article today "Greeley Family Copes ..." This is a horrible tragedy.

My questions to you are: Was the driver properly licensed? Was the vehicle properly registered and insured? Why aren't these facts part of your published article?

Was this person the child of parents in the U.S. illegally? Or was she here illegally?

I am extremely concerned with the dramatic rise in crime caused by those illegally in this country over the past 10-15 years or so. Why is it that the investigative reports we read in the papers and see on TV do not point out the fact that these accidents and the resulting cost to taxpayers (hospitalization, etc.) are a direct result of our lax immigration policies and enforcement?

Representative Dave Schultheis, HD 14
Schultheis for Senate District. 9
Colorado Springs, CO. 80919
(719) 532-0546
www.daveschultheis.com

Gee. Thanks Dave.

Thanks for being so compassionate.

We're all concerned about illegal immigrants. We're all concerned about people sneaking into our country, both from the South and North borders, and the coasts for that matter.

We know you decided to write your e-mail because the family's name is "Bustillos." You know. One of those foreign names. Certainly not an American name.

Mr. Representative, you remind me of that group of wackos from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., who pickets funerals of soldiers killed in action. To you, it apparently doesn't matter that three children died and a fourth may never recover. Your questions focus on whether they belong in our country.

By the way, the car was properly licensed, insured, titled. Two of the three kids who died were born in America, just like you. I don't know if the parents are "legal." The police don't know either, but the family has lived and worked here at least 12 years. Too bad you weren't here, Dave, to interrupt their grieving to ask for proof of citizenship.

But then, take a look at your name, Mr. Schultheis. Are we sure that's really an American name? Doesn't sound like it to me. Sounds foreign.

Maybe we should check your family background and see if your ancestors actually came to this country legally. Do you have a REAL driver's license? Do you have insurance?

That's the trouble with a lot of those Schultheises. They come into our country and use our hospitals and schools, and then they don't pay any taxes to support our country.

Where do you live, anyway?

Maybe we can put a big fence around your house just to keep you away from the rest of us real Americans.

The name Gnarly Trombone was taken from an 1871 Cincinnati newspaper that misread Horace Greeley's handwritten name of the Greeley Tribune. Mike Peters is a Tribune staff writer. He may be e-mailed at mpeters@greeleytribune.com.




Articles about the accident

http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/2006 ... /110030095

Doyle Murphy, (Bio) dmurphy@greeleytribune.com
October 3, 2006

A teenage boy died and a young woman, a 12-year-old boy and a baby were in critical condition after a crash Monday afternoon north of Greeley.

A witness said the woman blew past a stop sign at 60 mph and broadsided a Ford F-150. The pickup spun across the intersection, severed a power pole near the base and tore off a stop sign and road sign before it flipped onto its side in the bottom of a ditch. The burgundy Dodge Stratus the woman drove plowed past the pole into a field. When it was over, the four people in the Stratus were unconscious, and people from other cars were running into the field to help.

Amy Lee, 24, of Greeley said she was driving south on Weld County Road 37 about 3:30 p.m. when she saw the F-150 headed north on Weld 37 and the Stratus driving east on AA Street.

"I knew right away there was going to be a horrible wreck," Lee said.

She called 911 and went to check on the passengers. She said she looked inside the Stratus and saw the woman, two boys and an empty car seat. People who arrived shortly after helped. One pulled open the passenger door of the pickup. The driver, Gene Decker, 56, of Loveland, climbed out, a little banged up but otherwise unharmed.

Emergency workers arrived shortly after. They flew the baby to The Children's Hospital in Denver. Ambulances rushed the woman and two boys to North Colorado Medical Center. Helicopters then flew one of the boys to Denver Health and the other to Children's.

The Colorado State Patrol later identified the driver of Stratus as 17-year Tanya Bustillos of Greeley. Her passengers were 15-year-old Enrique Bustillos, 12-year-old Miguel Bustillos and Destiny Bustillos, born 3 months ago. Officials hadn't been able to speak to any of the four and hadn't confirmed how they were related.

Enrique had been sitting in the front passenger seat, where the Stratus collided with the Ford. Weld County coroner's investigator Tom Shimp confirmed Enrique died late Monday night.

Sgt. Chad Hunt said Tanya Bustillos and the two boys appeared to have been wearing seat belts. He said he didn't know whether the baby had been strapped into her car seat. Investigators don't suspect alcohol as a factor.

Decker, the driver of the truck, watched from the side of the road as tow truck drivers prepared to load the vehicles and Xcel Energy workers secured the power line pole.

"You can see right where I noticed her," he said, pointing to black skid marks about 20 feet from the intersection where he slammed on his brakes. He'd been driving home from his job in Greeley. He said he hoped the people in the Stratus were all right.



http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/2006 ... /110040115

Family copes with loss beyond measure

WEB EXTRAS

A Family's Loss- En Español
A Family's Loss

Mike Peters, (Bio) mpeters@greeleytribune.com
October 4, 2006

In the small white and brown house on 5th Street, it's quiet. The Bustillos family hasn't been here much in the past day, rushing from one hospital to another, preparing to bury two sons, making sure their other children will make it.

Monday afternoon, when 17-year-old Tania Bustillos was driving her two brothers and her daughter home from school, she ran a stop sign on a county road north of Greeley. The horrifying crash sent all of them to hospitals. Enrique Bustillos, 15, died at a Denver hospital late Monday. Twelve-year-old Miguel died Tuesday at Children's Hospital in Denver.

Tania is recovering at North Colorado Medical Center, but family members said they would probably disconnect her daughter, 3-month-old Destiny, from life support at Children's Hospital in Denver.

Inside the house on 5th Street, the father of the family, Valentin Bustillos, takes a short break to sit on the couch to talk. His eyes are red, likely a combination of sadness, fear and exhaustion.

In the living room, photos of the family are all over the walls. In one prominent space are three separate photos of tiny children in caps-and-gowns and smiles, graduating from kindergarten. There are photos of the new baby, of the boys and girls, of the family together.

On one wall is a large print of Madonna and child, and a clear glass candleholder on a table carries the image of a crucified Christ. A baby swing sits on the floor, decorated with Winnie the Pooh and Piglet.

"We first heard about the crash about 5 o'clock last night," Valentin said through his son, Valentin Jr., who interpreted for his father. "We went back and forth to all the hospitals during the night."

There were five children in the family, but two died in the hospitals and a granddaughter is lost. Eighteen-year-old Valentin Jr. is helping his parents in their trips from Greeley to Denver, and 10-year-old Marcella is with other family members.

Tuesday morning, the mother of the family, Gracelia Bustillos, stayed at Children's Hospital with her son and granddaughter. Valentin and their oldest son rushed back to Greeley to be with Tania.

"We've lived in Greeley about seven years," Valentin Jr. said. "The boys go to school in Ault and Tania drives them every day." The family wanted their sons in a smaller school and community to avoid gangs.

All of the children were wearing seat belts when the crash occurred at AA Street and Weld County Road 37. The baby was in a child seat, but was still thrown from the car.

At Highland Schools in Ault, where Enrique and Miguel both attended school, extra counselors were called in Tuesday to help the children cope with the tragedy.

Valentin, the father, works in housing construction and the mother stays home with the kids, Valentin Jr. said. He said he isn't sure how they'll handle the coming medical bills and funeral costs.

When Miguel died early Tuesday, his parents gave permission to doctors to harvest his organs for transplants, said Weld Coroner Tom Shimp.

The three bring the number of people who died on Weld County roads this year to 28. There were 41 traffic deaths at the this time last year.

TO HELP

The Tribune Community Crisis Fund is set up to help people in crisis, such as the Bustillos family. Donations may be sent to the Community Foundation, 711 8th Ave., Greeley, CO 80631. These gifts are tax-deductible and supervised by the fund's board. For more information, call the foundation at 304-9970.