Scientists, policymakers, industry and academic leaders will visit Colorado State University on Tuesday, Nov. 5, for a discussion on agro-defense with the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense.
It will be held at the C. Wayne McIlwraith Translational Medicine Institute on CSU’s South Campus. Lunch and refreshments will be provided.
Agro-defense refers to protecting the nation’s agriculture, farmers and people against the threat and potential impact of serious diseases.
The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense was established in 2014 to comprehensively assess the state of U.S. biodefense, and to issue recommendations to foster change. The Commission is co-chaired by former Senator Joe Lieberman and former Governor Tom Ridge, the first Secretary of Homeland Security.
Event participants
Participants at the event will include:
Thomas Daschle, former Senate majority leader and panel member
Kenneth Wainstein, former Homeland Security adviser to President George W. Bush and panel member
Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO, 1st District)
Tony Frank, chancellor, Colorado State University System
Alan Rudolph, vice president for research, Colorado State University
Amy Delgado, director of monitoring and modeling, Center for Epidemiology and Animal Health, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Capt. Casey Barton Behravesh, director, One Health Office, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Keith A. Roehr, state veterinarian, Colorado Department of Agriculture
“Colorado State University is among the nation’s leading institutions in protecting our agricultural industries from infectious diseases,” said Alan Rudolph, vice president for research. “We aim to advance our ongoing efforts in preparedness that focuses on research in surveillance and diagnosis for disease, vaccine and therapeutics treatments development and remediation to enable return to normal operations after outbreaks such as the current global crisis experienced with Africa Swine fever. The Commission’s meeting at CSU will focus on the role of land grant innovation ecosystems and public-private partnerships in addressing one of the major challenges of our day.”
This event will also be webcast; registration for the webcast is encouraged.
DENVER – The Colorado Supreme Court on Friday appointed Steven Vasconcellos as State Court Administrator. Vasconcellos had served as interim State Court Administrator since July.
“We have as a group become convinced that Steven is the best candidate to lead the State Court Administrator’s Office and move the Judicial Department forward,” Chief Justice Nathan B. Coats said. “Steven has dedicated his professional life to the department and has unparalleled institutional knowledge and experience. We have been greatly impressed not only by his management of the office as Interim State Court Administrator over the last three months but also by his ideas for better serving the needs of the state’s 22 judicial districts.”
Vasconcellos was among more than 50 applicants for the position. Four finalists appeared in a town hall-style meeting telecast to Judicial Department employees across the state, and the Supreme Court accepted department employees’ comments before concluding its three-month search.
Vasconcellos began his career with the Colorado Courts in 1995, serving in numerous positions ranging from court clerk in Colorado Springs to director of the Court Services Division of the State Court Administrator’s Office. He was serving as the SCAO Chief Operations Officer when he was appointed interim State Court Administrator in July.
The State Court Administrator works closely with the Chief Justice, Supreme Court, and Court Executives to set the strategic administrative direction for the Judicial Department. The position has oversight over the State Court Administrator’s Office, which provides central administrative services through many divisions including Information Technology, Financial Services, Human Resources, Court Services, Legal, Education and Probation Services. The office also assigns senior judges as needed. The State Court Administrator is a liaison to advisory working groups and committees of justices, judges and administrators that provide recommendations and advice for policymaking, business practice change, and service delivery. The State Court Administrator serves at the pleasure of the Supreme Court. The annual salary for this position is $184,836.
The Colorado Judicial Department is the state’s largest unified criminal justice agency and includes the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, as well as the state’s district and county trial courts. The Judicial Department is also home to the Division of Probation Services, which is responsible for supervising more than 80,000 adult and juvenile offenders.
The Judicial Branch employs approximately 4,600 employees, including 425 justices, judges and magistrates. Last fiscal year, 777,000 cases of all types were filed in the state court system.
DENVER (October 24, 2019) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a summary of enforcement actions to Denver-area contractors completed over the last year to address noncompliance with the lead-based paint Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule. The RRP Rule protects the public from toxic lead hazards created by renovation activities involving lead-based paint and requires the certification of individuals and firms involved in these activities. Contractors working on homes built prior to 1978 must test for lead in paint, or presume lead is present, and apply applicable lead-safe work practices to minimize the risk of toxic lead exposure.
This past year, EPA reached agreements with five Denver-area contractors to settle violations of the RRP Rule: Metro Construction, Inc., Colorado Western Construction, Pappas Painting & Repair, Inc., Kelly Custom Painting LLC, and Coggeshall Construction, Inc. These cases resulted in more than $17,000 in penalties. Violations included failure to obtain EPA lead-safe firm certification, failure to maintain records documenting compliance, and failure to employ lead-safe work practices when conducting renovations on pre-1978 homes. In cases where violations resulted in contamination at a jobsite, EPA staff worked with contractors, and state and local environmental agencies, to facilitate cleanup measures to protect the public from lead exposure.
“Infants and children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of lead, and the disturbance of lead-based paint in older homes and buildings is one of the most common exposure pathways,” said Suzanne Bohan, director of EPA’s regional enforcement program. “EPA is taking a close look at neighborhoods where lead-based paint is present by providing residents with information on managing risks and making sure contractors follow the requirements that reduce exposure in homes.”
Lead exposure, even at low levels, can cause lifelong impacts, including developmental impairment, learning disabilities, impaired hearing, reduced attention span, hyperactivity and behavioral problems. EPA estimates that lead-based paint is still present in more than 30 million homes across the nation.
Many Denver-area homes were built before lead was banned from use in paint products in 1978 and there is a high potential these homes contain lead paint. EPA conducts inspections and provides compliance assistance to contractors to ensure renovations of these homes are done in a lead-safe manner in accordance with the RRP Rule. Cases often result from referrals, tips and complaints from consumers, state and local authorities, as well as from random inspections of residential renovations.
In addition to the five cases settled this year, EPA also issued 27 Notices of Noncompliance to contractors and provided educational materials to many others to promote compliance with the RRP Rule in the Denver area. These notices identify specific actions that contractors must take to ensure future compliance. The agency will continue to assess compliance associated with recent inspections and pursue enforcement action when appropriate.
Greeley, CO – This past Wednesday, CLA members from the Yuma area hosted a tour of their wind turbines and facilities for Governor Jared Polis and Commissioner of Agriculture Kate Greenberg.
Erick Farmer, owner of Heritage Dairy, talked about his wind turbines and discussed the benefits and some of the obstacles to increasing the use of turbines throughout rural Colorado.
“Terri and I were honored to host a discussion on wind energy with Governor Polis in Yuma County. Renewables are an important part of our ag operations in both Colorado and Kansas. Our wind turbines provide approximately 60% of our power at Heritage Dairy, and even more at our feedyards. This allows us to not only be more efficient and cut costs, but also allows us to be part of a bigger picture of becoming more sustainable. We are proud to be part of this movement,” said Erick Farmer. “It was important for us to also inform the Governor not only of our success with these wind projects, but to also enlighten him with the hurdles associated with renewable energy implementation in our County and State. We hope that this discussion with the Governor will help lead the path to more renewables as part of the future of ag in Colorado.”
Following the tour at Heritage Dairy, the group visited Smithfield Hog Production where Bill Gill, Assistant VP for Sustainability and Environmental Affairs, Smithfield Foods; Dwain Weinrich, Colorado Operations Manager for Smithfield Hog Production and Julie McCaleb, Environmental Systems Manager, Smithfield Foods gave a bus tour of the hog farm and talked about the benefits of using renewable energy from wind turbines to power their facility and their future plans for wind turbine construction at the Yuma operation.
“It was good to have Governor Polis, Commissioner Greenberg and Michael Turner (State Energy Office) tour Yuma county ag operations. The tour highlighted livestock production along with crops that are grown in the area to feed the livestock in Yuma County. Renewable energy is a focal point for the Governor and as we concluded the visit, he stated how impressed he was with the current and proposed wind projects,” stated Dwain Weinrich, President-Elect of the Colorado Livestock Association.
On the bus ride following the tours, Yuma County Commissioner Trent Bushner shared information about the county’s impressive agricultural production and discussed how the agriculture industry is the driver in Yuma county and is critical to the sustainability of rural communities throughout Colorado.
Livestock producers from the local area had the opportunity to visit with Governor Jared Polis and Commissioner of Agriculture Kate Greenberg following the tours during a meet and greet hosted by the Colorado Livestock Association. Representatives from Colorado Pork Producers Council and Colorado Cattlemen’s Association were also in attendance.
DURANGO, Colo. – Twenty years after Colorado reintroduced the Canada lynx to the state, wildlife managers are monitoring the big-footed felines in the San Juan mountains using remote cameras and wintertime snow tracking.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife believe the lynx population is stable in the core area of the San Juan Mountains at about 150-250. Biologists know, however, that lynx have also dispersed to other mountainous areas of the state.
CPW released 218 lynx from 1999 to 2006 and all the animals were fitted with telemetry collars so each could be tracked. Before CPW stopped monitoring the collars in 2011, biologists documented that the reintroduced lynx and some offspring were reproducing and expanding their range. In 2010, CPW declared the reintroduction program a success
No monitoring was done for a few years, but CPW biologists always understood the importance of long-term study. In 2014, CPW biologists launched a 10-year monitoring project that is both high-tech and old school. The project is now in its sixth year.
“Successfully reintroducing lynx was one of the most significant projects Colorado Parks and Wildlife has ever accomplished and it’s important that we continue to learn how the lynx are doing,” said Scott Wait, senior terrestrial biologist in CPW’s Southwest Region. He was on the initial reintroduction team and is one of three lead investigators on the current study.
Because they are elusive and live in remote, high-altitude spruce-fir forests, estimating a precise population of lynx would be prohibitively expensive. Instead, CPW biologists use occupancy monitoring techniques. Occupancy, basically, is a record of the presence of animals in appropriate habitat. The current monitoring is being conducted within a 20,000 square kilometer area (9,600 square miles) in southwest Colorado
Biologists randomly selected 50 units for study, each measuring about 29 square miles and divided into quadrants. One cameras is placed within each quadrant.
In addition, during winter, biologists and wildlife officers survey the plots on skis or snowmobiles looking for tracks and picking up lynx scat and hair ‒ if they can find it ‒ for genetic analysis. Wait explained that most evidence of lynx occupancy is found through snow tracking because surveyors can travel long distances in multiple directions. Tracking is difficult, however, because it must be done within two days of a snowfall and some areas can’t always be accessed safely
For the remote locations, CPW staffers hike or go in by horseback during the warm months to place the cameras. At the sites, scented lures are placed and feathers are hung from branches as attractants.
“Cats are very curious and very sight-oriented. So the odors and fluttering feathers, hopefully, bring them past the cameras,” Wait said.
The cameras take pictures when movement and heat are detected. Besides the photos, the cameras also record the time, date and temperature.
CPW crews go back to the areas as soon as possible in the spring to retrieve the cameras so that photos can be downloaded into a specialized database. More than 100,000 photos are taken each winter season and sorting through them is an exacting process. Besides lynx, the cameras capture hundreds of pictures of elk, deer, bears, mountain lions, coyotes, birds, etc. While animals in all the photos are identified, looking for photos of lynx is the highest priority. To assure correct identification, two people look at each photo.
Not surprisingly, few cameras get a glimpse of a lynx. On average, only 8-14 cameras capture a shot of a lynx throughout the winter. Biologists employ statistical techniques and use the snow-tracking results in combination with the images to estimate the occupancy rate of lynx in southwest Colorado, explained Eric Odell, species conservation program manager for CPW. He is based in Fort Collins and one of the principal investigators.
“We can’t feasibly make a precise population count, so we monitor for occupancy,” Odell said. “Through our monitoring, the photos and snow tracking, we can look at trends to determine where occupancy is going up or down. We assume that if more areas are occupied by lynx that means the population is doing well and expanding. Conversely, if occupancy is declining, we assume that fewer lynx exist on the landscape and reproduction is not keeping pace with mortality.”
The monitoring, Odell said, is showing that the population in the San Juan Mountains is stable. But lynx have also expanded outside of the core area as CPW regularly gets reports of sightings in the central mountains. Considerations are in place to expand monitoring to other areas of Colorado.
Whether by camera or snow tracking, the monitoring work is challenging. Two years ago little winter tracking could be done due to sparse snowfall. At the camera sites, because they are placed at angles in anticipation of deep snow, the cameras were pointed too high in many locations to see animals on the ground. Last year the abundance of snow buried many cameras and also kept some tracking sites off limits because of avalanche danger.
“There are a lot of variables we have to deal with,” Odell said. “But that’s the nature of wildlife surveys. We made a huge commitment to reintroduce lynx to Colorado 20 years ago and we continue that commitment.”
CPW would like to know about sightings of lynx throughout the state. Go to this link to file a report: https://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/SOC-LynxSightingForm.aspx. Reports must be filed from a computer. Lynx live at 8,000 feet and above. Large feet are their distinguishing characteristic. Some people confuse bobcats and lynx as both have pointed ear tufts.
The Colorado Secretary of State’s Business Intelligence Center, in partnership with the Business Research Division of the University of Colorado, has launched a Data Tools eLearning course to teach Coloradans how to access, interpret, and analyze public data via a step-by-step tutorial. Knowing how to access and utilize public data can help businesses with strategic planning and decision-making.
The Secretary of State’s Business Intelligence Center (BIC) seeks to aggregate public data and make it available to the widest audience in the most useful format. BIC and the Business Research Division of the University of Colorado have developed this online course after hosting several in-person data workshops across the state. These workshops, that connect business decision makers, economic development leaders, and entrepreneurs with public data from government agencies have been successful.
“Government should help Coloradans achieve their own American Dream. We are excited to collaborate with the University of Colorado to bring new and innovative tools to the business community,” said Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold.
By the end of the new online course, participants will be able to access federal and state public data sources, and work with and analyze public data to make informed business decisions.
Colorado government agencies collect volumes of public business and economic data. This data could help businesses with strategic planning, but historically it has been in many different places and formats, making it difficult for most businesses to use. The Secretary of State’s office works with local, state and federal government agencies to aggregate and publish data publicly, and develops tools to make this data more useful to business decision-makers.
Friday, October 18, 2019 — The U.S. Census Bureau is recruiting workers for temporary jobs in advance of the 2020 Census and is hosting multiple recruiting and hiring events for Colorado jobs next week. The events will feature information on what jobs are currently available and the requirements and duties of each job.
The Census Bureau is looking for 500,000 census takers across the country to join a team that offers great pay and flexible hours. The National Recruitment Campaign week will kick off with a news conference on October 22 in Phoenix.
Check out the listings below to find a Colorado recruiting event near you. Media should RSVP to Laurie Cipriano at lau or text 720-891-2497.
Boulder
What: 2020 Census Jobs for Students Recruiting Event
DENVER — Dish Network will locate its new wireless headquarters with at least 2,000 full-time employees in Colorado and T-Mobile will significantly build out a statewide 5G network, particularly in rural areas, under agreements the Colorado Attorney General’s office announced today. The companies agree to pay up to a total of $100 million if they fail to meet these commitments.
Because of the substantial benefits that Coloradans will gain from these commitments, the Attorney General’s Office will end its participation in a multistate lawsuit it joined in June to halt the T-Mobile and Sprint merger. The U.S. Justice Department recently approved the $26.5 billion merger, in which Dish agreed to acquire the companies’ prepaid businesses and get access to T-Mobile’s network for $5 billion, making it the fourth largest nationwide wireless carrier.
“The State of Colorado joined a multistate lawsuit to block the T-Mobile-Sprint merger because of concerns about how the merger would affect Coloradans. The agreements we are announcing today address those concerns by guaranteeing jobs in Colorado, a statewide buildout of a fast 5G network that will especially benefit rural communities, and low-cost mobile plans,” said Chief Deputy Attorney General Natalie Hanlon Leh. “Our announcement today ensures Coloradans will benefit from Dish’s success as a nationwide wireless competitor.
Under an agreement with Dish, the company will locate and maintain its wireless headquarters at its Riverfront facility in Littleton for at least seven years. The company will also employ a minimum of 2,000 full-time employees working primarily on wireless at Dish facilities in Colorado including Riverfront, and their Inverness and Meridian facilities in Englewood. In addition, Colorado will be among the first ten states where Dish plans to deploy 5G broadband services by 2023. Dish faces up to $20 million in penalties if it does not meet its commitments to the state.
In a separate agreement with T-Mobile, Coloradans will benefit from improved 5G coverage in the state, especially in rural areas. The New T-Mobile has agreed to the following commitments:
Statewide Network Build Commitment:
Within three years of the closing date of the merger, New T-Mobile will deploy a 5G network in Colorado with at least 68 percent of the Colorado population having access to download speeds equal to or greater than 100 Mbps, and at least 76 percent of the Colorado population having access to download speeds equal to or greater than 50 Mbps.
Within six years of the closing date, New T-Mobile will deploy a 5G network in Colorado with at least 92 percent of the Colorado population having access to download speeds equal to or greater than 100 Mbps, and at least 93 percent of the Colorado population having access to download speeds equal to or greater than 50 Mbps.
Rural Network Build Commitment
Within three years of the closing date, New T-Mobile will deploy a 5G network in Colorado with at least 60 percent of the Colorado rural population having access to download speeds equal to or greater than 100 Mbps, and at least 63 percent of the Colorado rural population having access to download speeds equal to or greater than 50 Mbps.
Within six years of the closing date, New T-Mobile will deploy a 5G network in Colorado with at least 74 percent of the Colorado rural population having access to download speeds equal to or greater than 100 Mbps, and at least 84 percent of the Colorado rural population having access to download speeds equal to or greater than 50 Mbps.
Low-Price Mobile Plan Commitment
For at least five years following the closing date, New T-Mobile will offer new low-priced plans in the state that are available to all customers and provides:
Unlimited talk, text, and 2GB of data for $15 or less per month; and
Unlimited talk, text, and 5GB of data for $25 or less per month.
T-Mobile faces up to $80 million in penalties if it fails to meet its commitments to the state.
Hanlon Leh, Solicitor General Eric Olson, and attorneys from the Colorado Department of Law’s Consumer Protection Section negotiated the agreements with Dish and T-Mobile. Attorney General Phil Weiser recused himself from the matter.
The Colorado State University and Fort Collins community will have an extraordinary opportunity to hear from a Holocaust survivor what life was like under the Nazis when Eva Schloss, stepsister and childhood friend of Anne Frank, speaks on Monday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m., in the Lory Student Center Ballroom.
The event, part of CSU’s annual Holocaust Awareness Week, is free and open to the public, but tickets are required, available online at csutix.com. A ticket does not guarantee a seat; doors open at 5:30 p.m.
“We are incredibly fortunate to have Mrs. Schloss speak on our campus this year,” said Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelik, CSU philosophy instructor and faculty adviser to Students for Holocaust Awareness Week. “Traditionally, we hold the Awareness Week in February, but when we were able to get on Mrs. Schloss’s touring schedule, we rescheduled everything.”
Schloss, now 90 years old and living in London, is the author of three books and the subject of the play, And Then They Came for Me. She is a trustee of the Anne Frank Educational Trust, and since 1985 has dedicated herself to Holocaust education and global peace. She has recounted her wartime experiences in more than 1,000 speaking engagements around the world.
In 1999, Schloss signed the Anne Frank Peace Declaration, along with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and the niece of Raul Wallenberg, a legendary figure who rescued thousands of Jews in Budapest.
Wartime experiences
Schloss was born Eva Geiringer in Vienna to a Jewish family in 1929. Shortly after the annexation of Austria by Germany in 1938, her family emigrated to the Netherlands, where they lived in the same apartment block in Amsterdam as Anne Frank. In 1942, both families went into hiding to avoid the Nazis, but in May 1944, Eva’s family was captured after being betrayed by a double agent in the Dutch underground, and transported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps. Her father and brother did not survive, but she and her mother were freed in 1945 by Soviet troops.
They returned to Amsterdam, where Eva and her mother renewed their friendship with Otto Frank, who had lost his wife and children in the camps. In 1953, Eva’s mother married Otto Frank. After his death in 1980, Eva took up his work of keeping the memory of his daughter, Anne, and her diary alive.
Eva Schloss’s appearance is presented by Students for Holocaust Awareness Week at CSU, and co-sponsored by ASCSU, Chabad Jewish Student Organization, Hillel, CSU Residence Hall Association, AEPi, SAEPi, the Office of International Programs, and Lory Student Center.
“Holocaust Awareness Week is put on by a group of dedicated students who see the acts of hate occurring at CSU and want to do something about it,” said Denise Negrete, president of Students for Holocaust Awareness Week. “We believe ignorance is one of the main sources of hate, so education is how Students For Holocaust Awareness resists acts of hate.
“I think a lot of students do not understand how incredibly painful it is for a survivor to share their story with so many people,” she continued. “I hope that by presenting this opportunity to hear firsthand from a survivor it will allow a space for learning, understanding, and self-reflection. We all need to understand what hate is, what it can do, and join together to defeat it.”
Additional sponsorship opportunities are available, and include an invitation to a private VIP reception with Schloss and premium seating at her talk. Call (915) 202-4008 for more information about becoming a sponsor of this evening with a Holocaust survivor.
Other events
Holocaust Awareness Week will begin on Friday, Nov. 15, with the planting of the Field of Flags on the Lory Student Center. Each flag represents 5,000 people murdered during the Holocaust, with different colors representing different groups. The flags will remain on display the entire week.
A Litany of Martrys will be read each day, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Thursday on the Plaza (or in the Flea Market if the weather is bad), with volunteers reading the names of those who died during the Holocaust.
Other events will include a movie night and additional lectures and presentations, and the week will conclude with a memorial service and walk to remember the victims.
Colorado State University will host a panel discussion and community conversation, Beyond Partisan Politics: Bridging Divides by Overcoming Our Echo Chambers, from 4:30to 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 8, in the Lory Student Center Theater on campus. The event is free and open to the public; online registration required at csutix.com.
The three panelists represent a diverse set of perspectives. While Joan Blades, founder of MoveOn.org and MomsRising.org, takes a progressive view, she advocates dialogue across difference through LivingRoomConversations.org. Similarly, John Gable, who works in Silicon Valley and earlier worked for Sen. Mitch McConnell, takes a conservative view, yet urges us to engage a full range of perspectives on issues through his startup AllSides, designed specifically to address the biases caused by “filter bubbles.”
Pedro Silva is a U.S. Air Force veteran and trained linguist who currently serves as an associate minister at the First Congregational Church Boulder, UCC. He has a passion for using expansive conversational models such as LivingRoomConversations to engage on subjects such as race, ethnicity, and political discourse.
The speakers will engage each other, telling their stories of working to create connection across differences that diminish the filter bubbles we all so naturally inhabit. They’ll discuss the tools they have developed to support that important work. After the panel discussion, the audience will have an opportunity to participate in a Living Room Conversation.
The Provost’s Ethics Colloquium and CSU’s Center for Public Deliberation are jointly hosting this event. Trained student facilitators from the center will lead the audience conversations, which will introduce strategies for respectful yet substantive exploration of differences and for considering how to overcome our echo chambers.
The evening will close with a reflection on the process and a question-and-answer session with the panelists. The panel discussion and the question-and-answer session but not the roundtable audience discussions will be live-streamed, and a link to the recording will be posted to the Ethics Colloquium site after the event.
