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The I-70 Scout & Eastern Colorado News

Category: Colorado News

  • Click It or Ticket Enforcement Begins Tomorrow in Rural Colorado

    Click It or Ticket Enforcement Begins Tomorrow in Rural Colorado

    1,306 people cited during last year’s enforcement period

    STATEWIDE —According to a 2017 study by the Colorado Department of Transportation, the five counties with the lowest seat belt use in Colorado were all rural: La Plata (74 percent), Montezuma (74.4 percent), Cheyenne (75.2 percent) and Mesa (75.5 percent). To encourage drivers in rural regions to buckle up, CDOT, the Colorado State Patrol (CSP) and local law enforcement agencies will conduct Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement in rural counties from March 26 to April 1.

    Last year 1,306 seat belt citations were issued in rural communities across Colorado during the CIOT campaign. Seat belts are the most effective way to prevent serious injury and death in motor vehicle crashes.

    Unrestrained crash fatalities account for more than half of the motor vehicle occupant fatalities in Colorado. This Click It or Ticket rural enforcement is a reminder that buckling up saves lives. Our goal is to decrease fatalities this year and seat belt use will be a key factor to achieve this. — Darrell Lingk, Director of the Office of Transportation Safety at CDOT

    In 2017 Colorado’s seat belt use rate was 84 percent, ranking Colorado 36th in the nation in seat belt use. Last year, 211 unbuckled drivers and passengers were killed in crashes in Colorado — a 14 percent increase from 2016, according to preliminary data. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 58 lives could be saved every year if Colorado had 100 percent seat belt use. 

    Seat belt use is always important, especially in rural communities where the closest hospital may be miles away from the crash. Seat belts give you the best chance to survive a serious crash. We encourage people to buckle up every time they enter a vehicle. — Col. Matthew Packard, Chief of the CSP

    Fines for not buckling up start at $65, and parents or caregivers caught with an improperly restrained child can receive a minimum fine of $82.

    Colorado’s Seat Belt Laws

    • Adults — Colorado has a secondary enforcement law for adult drivers and front-seat passengers. Drivers can be ticketed for violating the seat belt law if they are stopped for another traffic violation.
    • Teens— Colorado’s Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) law requires all drivers under 18 and their passengers, no matter what their age, to wear seat belts. This is a primary enforcement, meaning teens can be pulled over simply for not wearing a seat belt or having passengers without seat belts.
    • Children— Colorado’s Child Passenger Safety law is a primary enforcement, meaning the driver can be stopped and ticketed if an officer sees an unrestrained or improperly restrained child under age 16 in the vehicle.

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  • Gardner-Backed Legislation to Combat Sex Trafficking Passes Senate

    Gardner-Backed Legislation to Combat Sex Trafficking Passes Senate

    Washington, D.C. – Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) helped pass H.R.1865, the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act. Gardner was a cosponsor of the companion legislation in the Senate, which would clarify existing law that was shielding certain websites and certain individuals that were knowingly facilitating sex trafficking.

    This bipartisan legislation gives the victims of these crimes the justice they deserve against the criminals that carry out these dreadful acts. We need to do everything we can to combat sex trafficking and this legislation that will soon be law is a sensible step in the right direction for the victims. — Gardner

    The legislation was prompted after Senate investigations of the classifieds/advertisement website backpage.com. Criminals were using the website to post advertisements that led to sex trafficking and prostitution and the website was aware that it was being permitted to happen and did not take appropriate action to stop it. Under current interpretation of existing law, the victims of sex trafficking could seek civil action against the individuals but not against the websites facilitating this action. This legislation would give the victims the opportunity to hold these website or third party facilitators accountable.

    Additional information about the legislation can be found here. It passed the House 388-25 on February 27th.

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  • CSU study: One-third of young adults have ridden with an impaired driver

    CSU study: One-third of young adults have ridden with an impaired driver

    A new study led by a Colorado State University researcher indicates that riding with an impaired driver is prevalent among emerging adults, with 33 percent of recent high school grads reporting the risky behavior at least once in the previous year.

    In addition, the study shows that young adults are more likely to ride with a driver impaired by marijuana than a driver who is drunk. The research, published in the March issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, is one of the first to ask about what specific substance was used by the driver and who the driver was.

    “Parents should be a role model by not driving while impaired, and real friends should stop their friends from driving after using substances — if using substances cannot be stopped,” said Kaigang Li, an assistant professor in CSU’s Department of Health and Exercise Science.

    Kaigang Li
    Kaigang Li

    About the analysis

    In their investigation, researchers at Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Public Health, Yale University, and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health used data from Waves 4 and 5 of the NEXT Generation Health Study, collected in 2013 and 2014. Young adults at one and two years after graduating from high school were asked about a variety of health topics, including risky behaviors surrounding substance use.

    Questions included, “During the last 12 months, how many times did you ride in a vehicle driven by someone who had been drinking alcohol?” The question was repeated for marijuana use and illicit drug use (including ecstasy, amphetamines, opiates, cocaine/crack cocaine, glue or solvents, LSD, or anabolic steroids). The answer “at least once” was given by 23 percent of respondents for a marijuana-impaired driver, 20 percent for an alcohol-impaired driver, and 6 percent for a driver by other illicit drugs.

    “We’ve put a lot of emphasis on drinking and driving, but less effort on driving under the influence of marijuana,” Li said. “Maybe we need more of the latter.”

    Driver’s age, relation

    One factor that made the study unique was that participants were also asked who the impaired driver was: a friend or relative about the same age, an unknown or little-known person around the same age, an older relative, an older known adult, or an unknown older adult. The risk of riding with an impaired driver was much higher for peer drivers than for older adult drivers (21 percent vs. 2.4 percent for marijuana, 17 percent vs. 4 percent for alcohol, and 5.4 percent vs. less than 1 percent for illicit drugs).

    Crashed car

    Some study subjects showed an increased risk of driving with an impaired driver, including those who don’t attend a four-year college and those who attend technology school, as well as those who live on their own or on campus. The researchers also found that riding with an impaired driver in the past was associated with an increased risk of subsequent riding with an impaired driver — making it important to instill in young adults early on the dangers of riding with a driver who is under the influence, Li said.

    “It makes me think of my daughters,” he said. “My oldest is only 11, but they’ll be driving soon. If I drive after drinking, it sets an example, so they may think it’s not a bad thing. If they realize early on that driving under the influence is not good, we can reduce the chances that they will perceive it as OK in the future.”

    A gateway to risk

    Li also pointed to research showing that engaging in one risky behavior can increase the risk of others — specifically, that young adults who ride with impaired drivers often become drivers who get behind the wheel while impaired. Li said there is a need for programs tailored to this age group to prevent the perception that riding with an impaired driver is acceptable.

    “These behaviors are not isolated, especially in young people,” Li said. “When one risk behavior is present, it can definitely influence other behaviors. We want them to conclude that ‘friends don’t let friends engage in risky behaviors.’ If they know that their friends don’t do these risky things, they won’t do it themselves.”

    A table of Li’s findings. Click to enlarge.

    The takeaway from the research, Li said, is that early and frequent riding with an impaired driver leads to more of this behavior in the future. And when that impaired driver is a peer, it’s more likely that their passengers will eventually become impaired drivers themselves. Li believes that there is an opportunity to reduce motor vehicle crashes, starting by reducing the relatively passive behavior of riding with an impaired driver.

    Changing behavior early

    “Emerging adults are entering the transition period from being kids to being adults, so their behaviors, perceptions, knowledge, and beliefs can still be changed during this period of time,” says Li. “If they realize the problem associated with risky behavior now, they can reduce that behavior and reduce crash risk. But if they don’t, and they’re influenced by peers who are engaging in risky behavior, that behavior becomes a habit.”

    Funding for the NEXT Generation Health Study was provided by the National Institutes of Health and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration.

    The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs is published by the Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University. The Department of Health and Exercise Science is part of CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences.

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  • Emerald Ash Borer Detected in Lyons — invasive, highly destructive tree pest

    Emerald Ash Borer Detected in Lyons — invasive, highly destructive tree pest

    LYONS, CO – State officials have confirmed the presence of emerald ash borer (EAB) – an invasive, highly destructive tree pest – in the Town of Lyons in northern Boulder County. This new detection is still just within a quarantine area established to try and prevent the human-assisted spread of EAB. However, it represents the fourth community with confirmation of EAB in Colorado outside the City of Boulder, where the pest was first detected in 2013.

    An estimated 15 percent or more of all urban and community trees in Colorado are ash species susceptible to being killed by EAB – and a majority of these trees are on private land. EAB attacks and kills both stressed and healthy ash trees and is so aggressive that trees typically die within two to four years after becoming infested.

    An arborist recently identified an ash tree on private land in the vicinity of 4th Avenue and Broadway Street in Lyons as potentially infested with EAB. The property manager notified members of the interagency Colorado EAB Response Team, which is working to manage the spread and impacts of the pest in Colorado. An adult beetle specimen found in the tree was provided to the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) and then confirmed by Colorado State University experts as being EAB. The infested tree and surrounding trees also are being examined by experts from the CDA and Colorado State University Extension.

    So far only the one tree has been identified as having EAB in Lyons, but town officials are looking into nearby ash on public property. Most trees in the immediate vicinity are on private property so assessment of other nearby ash will require coordination with private property owners.

    It is unknown whether EAB arrived in Lyons by natural spread or via accidental human transport, such as in firewood or other raw ash material. Populations of the insect are capable of spreading a half-mile each year on their own, and the City of Boulder is less than 15 miles to the south.

    EAB was first confirmed in Colorado in September 2013, in the City of Boulder. That fall, the CDA established a quarantine zone around Boulder County in an effort to protect the state’s ash trees.

    EAB has also been confirmed in Gunbarrel, Longmont and Lafayette – all within Boulder County. At this time, EAB has not been detected in Colorado outside the county or the EAB Quarantine area. However, the pest is extremely difficult to detect when its numbers are low in an area.

    The EAB Response Team remains committed to EAB outreach and detection efforts in Boulder County and surrounding areas, in addition to enforcing the quarantine. Over the past four years the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS), partnering with Boulder County and the City of Boulder, has set hundreds of traps targeting EAB to try and detect its presence along roadways within Boulder County. The CSFS also is currently developing detection strategies with communities in Larimer County – the southern border of which is only a few miles north of Lyons.

    EAB tips for Boulder County and Front Range Residents:

    Determine now if you have any ash trees. Identifying features of ash trees include compound leaves with 5 to 9 leaflets; leaflets, buds and branches growing directly opposite from one another; and diamond-shaped bark ridges on mature trees. More information about a related app for mobile devices is available at www.csfs.colostate.edu/emerald-ash-borer.  If you have an ash tree, start planning. Decide if the overall health of the tree merits current or future treatment or if it would be best to remove and replace it with a different species. If you aren’t sure, contact a certified arborist. If pesticide treatment is the preferred option, the applicator must be licensed by the CDA as a Commercial Pesticide Applicator.  Recognize signs of EAB infestation. Property owners with ash trees should be on the lookout for thinning of leaves in the upper tree canopy, 1/8-inch D-shaped holes on the bark and vertical bark splitting with winding S-shaped tunnels underneath. Report suspect trees by calling the Colorado Department of Agriculture at 1-888-248-5535 or filling out their EAB Report Form at https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/agplants/eab-identification-and-reporting.  Be aware of EAB imposters. Other insects like lilac/ash borer, ash bark beetle and flat-headed apple tree borer may look like EAB or cause similar tree symptoms. For more information, visit www.eabcolorado.com.  Help prevent further spread of EAB. Do not transport ash or any hardwood firewood, or any other untreated ash wood products, to other locations. Boulder County and some surrounding areas are under a federal EAB quarantine, allowing for significant fines for those who move untreated wood from the area.
    For more information about ash tree identification, the symptoms of EAB and treatment options, go eabcolorado.com or csfs.colostate.edu/emerald-ash-borer.

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  • Eastern Colorado: Alert for Strong Winds Blowing Dust & Limited Visibility

    Eastern Colorado: Alert for Strong Winds Blowing Dust & Limited Visibility

    Advisory for Blowing Dust Issued for Eastern Colorado

    Issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

    Strong sustained and gusty winds are producing areas of blowing dust on Friday.  Areas of blowing dust will persist throughout the region during the afternoon and into the evening hours.  The threat for blowing dust will gradually diminish across the region during evening hours.

    Affected Area:  Eastern portions of Weld, Adams, Arapahoe, Denver, and Douglas counties, and the entirety of  Morgan, Logan, Sedgwick, Phillips, Washington, and Yuma counties. This includes, but is not limited to, the communities of Fort Morgan, Sterling, Julesburg, Akron, Wray, Holyoke, Limon, and  Deer Trail.*  Advisory continued for Eastern Huerfano, El Paso, and Las Animas counties, and the entirety of Elbert, Lincoln, Kit Carson, Cheyenne, Pueblo, Crowley, Kiowa, Otero, Bent, Prowers, and Baca counties, including, but not limited to  the communities of Pueblo, Kiowa, Hugo, Burlington, Cheyenne Wells, Eads, Ordway, La Junta, Lamar, Las Animas, Kim, and Springfield.

    Public Health Recommendations:  If significant blowing dust is present and reducing visibility to less than 10 miles across a wide area- People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children in the affected area should reduce prolonged or heavy indoor and outdoor exertion.

    Advisory in Effect:  Friday, March 23, 2018, 9:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. 

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  • Confirmed Salmonella contamination: Natural Grocers recalls Coconut Smiles Organic

    Confirmed Salmonella contamination: Natural Grocers recalls Coconut Smiles Organic

    Company name: Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets, Inc., dba Natural Grocers

    Product:  Coconut Smiles Organic, 10-ounce containers, all pack date codes prior to 18-075, UPC 8034810

    Reason for recall: Confirmed contamination with Salmonella

    Thirteen illnesses have been reported in eight states in people who ate Coconut Smiles Organic purchased from Natural Grocers, including one in Colorado who recovered and was not hospitalized. If you purchased this product, do not eat it. Return it to the store for credit or refund, or throw it away. If you have eaten the product and are ill with Salmonella symptoms (diarrhea, abdominal cramps, vomiting, fever), contact your health care provider.

    Distribution: Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

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  • ‘Thank you’ to ag industry for $23.2 million in donations to local food banks among highlights of Thursday’s Agriculture Day at the Capitol

    ‘Thank you’ to ag industry for $23.2 million in donations to local food banks among highlights of Thursday’s Agriculture Day at the Capitol

    Recognition of the Colorado agriculture industry’s $23.2 million in donations to local food banks last year will serve as one of the highlights at the upcoming Agriculture Day at the Capitol.

    The organizations that make up the Colorado Ag Council will host Agriculture Day at the Capitol on Thursday, March 22, in Denver – an event that will feature the teaming up of 14 local chefs with lawmakers and ag representatives in a cook-off competition of Colorado-grown foods, as well as a big “thank you” delivered by representatives of Colorado’s Feeding America food banks.

    The local agriculture industry’s product and monetary contributions to Colorado’s five Feeding America food banks totaled up to $23,218,914 during 2017. 

    Agriculture Day at the Capitol, which takes place at the State Capitol Building (200 E. Colfax Ave.), has become one of the most popular events under the Golden Dome – attended by about 1,000 people each year, including the governor, state legislators, farmers, ranchers and many others.

    The public and media are all invited to attend the event, which is held in conjunction with National Agriculture Week.

    Agriculture Day at the Capitol begins at 10:30 a.m., and lunch – the final product of the on-site, 14-team cook-off competition – will be served around 11 a.m.

    Each year, the event showcases all that Colorado’s ag industry does for our state, highlighting its efforts in feeding Colorado’s 5 million-plus people, its stewardship of our resources, and its $40 billion economic impact – a top two or three contributor to the state’s economy each year.
     

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  • Compensation for Bison Loss Boosted in 2018

    Compensation for Bison Loss Boosted in 2018

    USDA Boosts Compensation for Bison Losses in Livestock Indemnity Program

    No Word Yet on Request for Adjustment on 2017 Rates

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency has responded to a request filed by the National Bison Association by implementing a revised compensation level for 2018 bison claims filed under the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), with some rates more than double the previous levels.

    The National Bison Association praised the FSA’s action to adjust the 2018 rates but repeated its request to have the rates adjusted for claims filed in 2017 as well.

    We are extremely pleased that the Farm Service Agency looked at the market information and promptly adjusted the rates for bison producers. More importantly, they have developed a model that will allow for market-based adjustments in the years ahead. Now, we hope that they make the adjustments needed to provide compensation for producers suffering losses in 2017. — Dave Carter, executive director of the National Bison Association

    USDA’s LIP provides benefits to livestock producers for livestock deaths in certain conditions, including eligible adverse weather, wildfires, eligible disease and eligible predator attacks. LIP payments are supposed to equal to 75 percent of the market value of the applicable livestock on the day before the date of death of the livestock. However, the LIP published compensation rates for bison in recent years have averaged less than 30 percent of the market value of the animals. FSA agreed to re-examine its bison compensation rates last fall after the National Bison Association provided the agency with detailed information regarding current market rates.

    Under the new table published for 2018, compensation rates for bison calves less than 400 lbs. are increased to $1,223.84, from the previous level of $447.67. Yearling bison compensation rates were moved to $1,975.46 from the previous level of $951.06. And, mature cows losses are now compensated at the rate of $1,790.61, compared to $914.34 last year.

      

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  • Colorado Rockies’ CARLOS GONZÁLEZ — behind the scenes at spring training

     

    Carlos González, 32, batted .262 (123-for-470) with 72 runs scored, 34 doubles, 14 home runs, 57 RBI, 56 walks, three stolen bases and 119 strikeouts in 2017, his ninth season with Colorado and his 10th in the Major Leagues.

      • Originally signed by Arizona as a non-drafted international free agent on August 3, 2002, González has a career batting average of .288 (1,275-for-4,425) with 729 runs scored, 267 doubles, 36 triples, 215 home runs, 711 RBI, 117 stolen bases, 393 walks and 1,075 strikeouts across parts of 10 Major League seasons with Oakland (2008) and Colorado (2009-17). As a member of the Rockies, he has batted .292 (1,202-for-4,123) with 698 runs, 245 doubles, 35 triples, 211 home runs, 685 RBI, 113 stolen bases, 380 walks and 994 strikeouts.

     

      • A three-time All-Star with the Rockies (2012-13, 2016), González ranks third in franchise history in games played (1,115), fourth in doubles and home runs, fifth in hits, triples, RBI and walks, sixth in slugging percentage (.521), eighth in batting average and ninth in on-base percentage (.351).

     

      • He has appeared in postseason play twice with Colorado; in the 2009 National League Division Series and in the 2017 National League Wild Card Game. In 2009, he went 10-for-17 across four NLDS games, and in 2017 he went 2-for-5 in the Wild Card Game for a career postseason batting average of .545 (12-for-22) with five runs, two doubles, one home run, two RBI, two stolen bases, two walks and two strikeouts.

     

    • In his career with Colorado, González has earned three Gold Gloves (2010, 2012-13) and two Silver Sluggers (2010, 2015). He earned his first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger in 2010, a season in which he led the National League in batting average (.336, 197-for-587), hits and total bases (351, tied for the Major League lead) and finished third in MVP voting. He signed a seven-year extension on Jan. 11, 2011. Carlos González stats

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  • Spring fishing is upon us… Jumbo Reservoir Opens to Boating & Annual Walleye Spawn prepares for stocked fish

    Spring fishing is upon us… Jumbo Reservoir Opens to Boating & Annual Walleye Spawn prepares for stocked fish

    Annual Walleye Spawn slated for March 19

    Colorado Parks and Wildlife will complete one of its hardest and most-rewarding tasks: the annual Walleye Spawn, on Monday, March 19th.  
    Walleye and Saugeye are Colorado’s most popular sportfish species, bringing in millions in economic growth and license sales. The Denver Walleye Spawn occurs each year at Chatfield and Cherry Creek state parks. This year it runs from March 14 through April 4.
     
    To ensure that there are enough fish to stock every year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife sets up spawn-collection sites at lakes and reservoirs across the state. Here, biologists net spawning fish and then collect roe (eggs) from the females and milt (sperm) from the males. The roe and milt are carefully combined by hand and then the fertilized eggs are transported to state fish hatcheries. CPW collects around 140 million eggs annually. Walleye, kokanee, brown trout and cutthroat trout are just a few of the species that provide eggs each year. 

     

    Jumbo Reservoir opens to boating March 16

    DENVER  —  With warm spring days upon us, Colorado Parks and Wildlife will begin offering boat inspections at Jumbo Reservoir starting on March 16. The boat inspection station will be operating from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset daily. Inspections are mandatory prior to entering the reservoir. Boating is only permitted during inspection hours and all boats must be off the water prior to the inspection station closing. 

    With Jumbo’s proximity to out-of-state waters, it is considered a high risk for introduction of aquatic invasive species such as zebra and quagga mussels. Through our mandatory inspection and decontamination program and with the continued support of the reservoirs users, we have successfully kept these invasive species out of Jumbo’s waters. —  Robert Walters, Invasive Species Specialist for Colorado Parks and Wildlife

    Based on 2017 fall sampling, anglers can expect a good walleye bite as soon as the boat ramp opens. For more information about the fishery at Jumbo Reservoir anglers can visit the Fish Survey Summary on the Colorado Parks and Wildlife website.

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