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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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  • WATCH EVERY MARCH MADNESS GAME: Sweet 16 TV schedule & live streaming

    March Madness 2018

    — Sweet 16 —

    Live Streaming & TV Schedule

    Thursday, March 22

    TEAMS TIME (MST) WATCH
    (11) Loyola Chicago vs. (7) Nevada 5:07 p.m. CBS | Stream
    (7) Texas A&M vs. (3) Michigan  5:27 p.m. TBS | Stream
    (9) Kansas State vs. (5) Kentucky 7:37 p.m. CBS | Stream
    (9) Florida State vs. (4) Gonzaga 7:59 p.m. TBS | Stream

    Friday, March 23

    TEAMS TIME (MST) WATCH
    (5) Clemson vs. (1) Kansas 5:07 p.m. CBS | Stream
    (5) West Virgina vs. (1) Villanova 7:27 p.m. TBS | Stream
    (11) Syracuse vs. (2) Duke 7:37 p.m. CBS | Stream
    (3) Texas Tech vs. (2) Purdue 7:59 p.m. TBS | Stream

     

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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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  • National Agriculture Day Celebrates American Food and Fiber Production

    National Agriculture Day Celebrates American Food and Fiber Production

    Clarice Navarro

    State Executive Director

    Colorado Farm Service Agency

     

    It’s National Agriculture Day, a day designated each year by the Agriculture Council of America (ACA) to celebrate the accomplishments of agriculture. Colorado Farm Service Agency (FSA) joins the council in recognizing farmers, ranchers and foresters for their contributions to the nation’s outstanding quality of life.

    This year’s theme, Agriculture: Food for Life, spotlights the hard work of American producers who diligently work to provide food, fiber and more to the United States and countries around the world. To ensure a prosperous future for American agriculture, FSA provides continuous support to agriculturalists across the country.

    FSA is rural America’s engine for economic growth, job creation and development, offering local service to millions of rural producers. In fiscal year 2017, USDA Farm Loan programs provided $6 billion in support to producers across America, the second highest total in FSA history. FSA also distributed $1.6 billion in Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) payments to over 375,000 Americans to improve water quality, reduce soil erosion and increase wildlife habitat.

    For agricultural producers who suffered market downturns in 2016, USDA is issuing approximately $8 billion in payments under the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs. USDA also continues to provide extensive assistance in response to natural disasters throughout the country, including last year’s hurricanes in Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, drought in the northern high plains, wildfires in the west and central plains, floods, tornados, freezes and other catastrophic weather events.

    To support beginning farmers and ranchers, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue signed a Memorandum of Understanding with officials from SCORE, the nation’s largest volunteer network of expert business mentors, to support new and beginning farmers. The agreement provides new help and resources for beginning ranchers, veterans, women, socially disadvantaged Americans and others, providing new tools to help them both grow and thrive in agribusiness.

    I am honored to administer programs that enable our producers to manage their risks when the agriculture industry faces hardship. On behalf of the Colorado Farm Service Agency, I would like to thank our agricultural producers for continuing to feed our nation and the world.
  • It’s Finally Spring! Everything to Know About the Spring Equinox

    It’s Finally Spring! Everything to Know About the Spring Equinox

    Happy Spring Equinox and happy first day of spring! Today the length of night and day are nearly equal everywhere on Earth. The official start of the season, also known as the spring equinox or vernal equinox, is Tuesday, March 20, 2018, at 12:15 p.m (some years it occurs on March 21). The days will now become longer at the higher latitudes because it takes the sun longer to rise and set.

    • Earth’s rotation does not cause equinoxes.

    • Equinoxes occur when Earth’s tilted axis is perpendicular to the sun’s rays.

    • During an equinox at Earth’s equator, the sun appears almost directly overhead.

    How the Spring Equinox works

    The Earth orbits around the sun one time, every 365 days and 6 hours. Meanwhile, our planet is rotating itself one time in 24 hours, on a tilted axis. That tilt is about 23.5 degrees, which gives different parts of the world various intensities of light from the sun over the course of a year. The spring equinox occurs when the sun’s warming rays line up perpendicular to Earth’s axial tilt. The sun will set and rise roughly 12 hours apart during the equinox. If you stand directly on the equator at noon in the Eastern Time time zone at noon, the sun will appear more or less directly overhead. Your shadow will also be at its absolute minimum.  But this moment won’t last as the Earth makes its way around the sun at a speed of roughly 66,600 mph. 

    About the Equinoxes

    Our planet’s orbit is elliptical and its center of gravity slightly offset from the sun, so the time it takes to cycle through the seasons isn’t perfectly divvied up. About 92 days and 19 hours after the spring equinox, the Earth will reach its summer solstice, or when the most direct rays of the sun reach their northernmost latitude, called the Northern Tropic (or Tropic of Cancer). Another 93 days and six hours later, the fall or autumnal equinox will occur. Then it’s another 89 days and 19 hours to the winter solstice — when the most direct sunlight strikes the Southern Tropic (or Tropic of Capricorn) — and another 89 days to get back to the spring equinox.

    Around the World

    Groups around the world mark the date with celebrations. Easter and Passover both occur close to the equinox. In China, many people take part in a game of egg balancing to mark the time of new life. And in Iran, the date marks the Persian New Year and kicks off the festival of Nowruz, which is celebrated in several countries in the region. For practitioners of some ancient religions that worship nature, including pagans and druids, it’s an important day known as Ostara. Many people still gather at Stone Henge in the U.K. to watch the sun rise over the mysterious site. 

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  • Gardner Hosts South Korean Foreign Minister

    Gardner Hosts South Korean Foreign Minister

    Washington, DC – Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, met with the Republic of Korea’s Foreign Minister, H.E. Kyung-Wha Kang, during her U.S. trip to meet the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, pictured above.

    In his capacity as Subcommittee Chairman, Gardner welcomed the Foreign Minister to the United States and hosted a discussion with several other members of the Foreign Relations Committee.

    It was an honor to host a discussion with Minister Kang. We discussed ways to strengthen the U.S.-ROK alliance and the need to work closely together to achieve the complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. In our discussion today it became even more clear that the sanctions legislation I passed are having a significant impact that continues to put pressure on the regime. I thank Minister Kang for graciously accepting the invitation to meet today and look forward to working with her in the future. — Gardner

    Senator Gardner has been the leader in the Senate on efforts to bring a peaceful denuclearization to the Korean Peninsula. Gardner is the author of the Leverage to Enhance Effective Diplomacy Act (LEED). This bipartisan legislation requires the President to impose an economic embargo on North Korea and its enablers. Additionally, it requires the President to block any entity or financial institution implicated in any significant trade with North Korea from the U.S. financial system. Gardner is also the author of the North Korea Sanctions Policy and Enhancement Act, signed into law in February of 2016. The legislation marked the first time Congress imposed stand-alone mandatory sanctions on North Korea. 

     

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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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