Governor John Hickenlooper signed Senate Bill 11-128 on Friday, “Child-Only Health Insurance Plans,” sponsored by Sen. Linda Newell and Reps. Beth McCann and Ken Summers. The legislation requires all insurance carriers selling individual health benefit plans in Colorado provide at least one-child-only health benefit plan for children.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Palin To Appear At Colorado Christian University
Sarah Palin will be in Lakewood, Colorado tonight for a military event and fundraiser. The former Alaska governor is the keynote speaker for the "Tribute for the Troops" rally at Colorado Christian University. She will be sharing the podium with retired Army Lieutenant General Jerry Boykin. He has been widely criticized for painting the War on Terror as a Christian holy war against Muslims.
Fewer Women In State Getting Mammograms Since Disputed Guideline
Since a controversial national guideline in 2009 reduced screening recommendations fewer Colorado women are getting mammograms. The disputed guideline discouraged women ages 40 to 49 from getting annual mammograms. A University of Colorado Hospital study shows in the nine months since that guideline came out the number of patients in that age group seeking mammograms at the hospital decreased 15-percent. Co-author of the hospital study Dr. Lara Hardesty tells the "Denver Post" if that pattern continues doctors may miss the chance to, quote, "diagnose breast cancer in its early stages."
Bin Laden's Death Not Likely To Impact Local Troops Much
The 40-thousand active-duty troops that are stationed in Colorado Springs are likely celebrating Osama bin Laden's death. But the al-Qaeda leader's death after President Obama authorized American operatives to attack a compound in Pakistan is not likely to affect local troops' lives short-term. The "Gazette" reports Fort Carson soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq now are facing insurgent leaders who have ties to bin Laden. Troops at Colorado Springs' U.S. Northern Command will have to stay alert as bin Laden's terrorist network has trained hundreds of potential attackers who can strike targets.
Colorado May Join ‘Cottage Foods’ Movement
Eastern Colorado poultry farmer Dallas Gilbert knows his fresh eggs would sell like hotcakes at a farmer’s market — but he doesn’t figure he’d sell enough to make it worth buying commercial food-handling equipment he needs to sell the eggs legally off his farm.
Out in Hotchkiss, organic fruit farmer Philip “Wink” Davis says he’d love to make jams in his kitchen for sale. He doesn’t have time to drive to a commercial kitchen to do the same job.
Farmers who want to prepare and sell foods at home hope the Colorado Legislature joins more than a dozen other states with a “cottage foods” designation. It’s a sort of in-between step between giving away homemade foods to neighbors and going commercial, which requires government oversight some farmers say isn’t worth navigating just to sell small batches of food.
“We want to find a way to support what’s been growing in Colorado,” said Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village, who sponsored a cottage foods bill this year.
The cottage food idea has big fans in local-food advocates, small farmers and rural development experts, who say the change could boost rural economies and help get people started in the food business.
“It’s another option for consumers to put money back in the local economy,” said Jim Brett, chapter leader of the group Slow Food Western Slope.
If approved, the cottage food designation would allow farmers to sell to the general public certain foods prepared at home, instead of a commercial kitchen. The farmers would first have to take a food-handling safety course, and not all foods would be covered — only those deemed a minimal safety risk, such as jellies, breads or roasted chilies. In addition, farmers would have to grow some of the ingredients on-site, and they could only make $5,000 a year per product before having to adopt commercial oversight.
Senators hearing the cottage food bill last week seemed to love the idea, and Schwartz even passed out a recipe for her favorite homemade peach chutney. But the proposal has opponents — some who think the bill is too narrow, and others who fear it’s too broad.
In the first camp are home cooks who aren’t farmers. More than a dozen states have cottage food designations, but many of those apply to anything cooked at home, not just food grown on the property.
Colorado’s farmers-only proposal angers Mande Gabelson of Grand Junction, a stay-at-home mom who started a baking business when her husband was laid off. Gabelson rents a commercial kitchen by the hour for custom cake orders, and she says the rental fees at a small business incubator’s kitchen often eat up any profit.
“I thought I’d make some money for my family, but it all goes to the incubator,” said Gabelson, who started a Facebook petition to lobby for a wider cottage food designation in Colorado.
Gabelson doesn’t understand why only farms should be covered.
“What does it matter if I grow strawberries myself and put them in a cake or I go to the store and buy strawberries? I’m just a housewife trying to make some money to support my family,” Gabelson said.
Gabelson said that if the cottage food definition isn’t expanded, she may move to Wyoming or Utah, which have recently adopted wider cottage food standards than the one proposed in Colorado.
The Colorado proposal has also raised safety fears. The Colorado Farm Bureau, the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and the Colorado Egg Producers Association all oppose the bill and have argued that cottage food sales could hurt all farmers if a disease outbreak from an uninspected kitchen prompts a scare.
“This bill raises more questions than it answers,” said Don Shawcroft, president of the Colorado Farm Bureau. He called the cottage food designation “too big of a risk with agriculture’s collective reputation.”
Health officials are divided. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is neutral on the bill, after Schwartz agreed to remove some foods of concern to the department, namely “acidified foods” such as pickles and salsas.
The Colorado Association of Local Health Officials opposes the bill. The group of local food-safety authorities pointed out that the measure includes no money for local inspectors to investigate complaints and no explanation what to do when a home farmer doesn’t obey labeling requirements.
In a Senate committee, three Republicans voted against the idea, including the only full-time farmer in the Senate, Greg Brophy of Wray. Brophy said the cottage food designation simply gives home cooks watered-down regulation, when the Legislature should instead remove more barriers to cook-to-diner sales.
“It’s another bureau, more red tape,” Brophy said.
Gilbert, the poultry farmer from Bennett who wants to sell eggs, didn’t disagree with opponents saying the cottage food measure should be broader. But he urged lawmakers to go ahead and revisit the designation later if it causes problems.
“If I could bring these eggs to town to sell them, they’d be gone in five minutes,” Gilbert said. “This is a good first step to get things going.”
Out in Hotchkiss, organic fruit farmer Philip “Wink” Davis says he’d love to make jams in his kitchen for sale. He doesn’t have time to drive to a commercial kitchen to do the same job.
Farmers who want to prepare and sell foods at home hope the Colorado Legislature joins more than a dozen other states with a “cottage foods” designation. It’s a sort of in-between step between giving away homemade foods to neighbors and going commercial, which requires government oversight some farmers say isn’t worth navigating just to sell small batches of food.
“We want to find a way to support what’s been growing in Colorado,” said Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village, who sponsored a cottage foods bill this year.
The cottage food idea has big fans in local-food advocates, small farmers and rural development experts, who say the change could boost rural economies and help get people started in the food business.
“It’s another option for consumers to put money back in the local economy,” said Jim Brett, chapter leader of the group Slow Food Western Slope.
If approved, the cottage food designation would allow farmers to sell to the general public certain foods prepared at home, instead of a commercial kitchen. The farmers would first have to take a food-handling safety course, and not all foods would be covered — only those deemed a minimal safety risk, such as jellies, breads or roasted chilies. In addition, farmers would have to grow some of the ingredients on-site, and they could only make $5,000 a year per product before having to adopt commercial oversight.
Senators hearing the cottage food bill last week seemed to love the idea, and Schwartz even passed out a recipe for her favorite homemade peach chutney. But the proposal has opponents — some who think the bill is too narrow, and others who fear it’s too broad.
In the first camp are home cooks who aren’t farmers. More than a dozen states have cottage food designations, but many of those apply to anything cooked at home, not just food grown on the property.
Colorado’s farmers-only proposal angers Mande Gabelson of Grand Junction, a stay-at-home mom who started a baking business when her husband was laid off. Gabelson rents a commercial kitchen by the hour for custom cake orders, and she says the rental fees at a small business incubator’s kitchen often eat up any profit.
“I thought I’d make some money for my family, but it all goes to the incubator,” said Gabelson, who started a Facebook petition to lobby for a wider cottage food designation in Colorado.
Gabelson doesn’t understand why only farms should be covered.
“What does it matter if I grow strawberries myself and put them in a cake or I go to the store and buy strawberries? I’m just a housewife trying to make some money to support my family,” Gabelson said.
Gabelson said that if the cottage food definition isn’t expanded, she may move to Wyoming or Utah, which have recently adopted wider cottage food standards than the one proposed in Colorado.
The Colorado proposal has also raised safety fears. The Colorado Farm Bureau, the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and the Colorado Egg Producers Association all oppose the bill and have argued that cottage food sales could hurt all farmers if a disease outbreak from an uninspected kitchen prompts a scare.
“This bill raises more questions than it answers,” said Don Shawcroft, president of the Colorado Farm Bureau. He called the cottage food designation “too big of a risk with agriculture’s collective reputation.”
Health officials are divided. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is neutral on the bill, after Schwartz agreed to remove some foods of concern to the department, namely “acidified foods” such as pickles and salsas.
The Colorado Association of Local Health Officials opposes the bill. The group of local food-safety authorities pointed out that the measure includes no money for local inspectors to investigate complaints and no explanation what to do when a home farmer doesn’t obey labeling requirements.
In a Senate committee, three Republicans voted against the idea, including the only full-time farmer in the Senate, Greg Brophy of Wray. Brophy said the cottage food designation simply gives home cooks watered-down regulation, when the Legislature should instead remove more barriers to cook-to-diner sales.
“It’s another bureau, more red tape,” Brophy said.
Gilbert, the poultry farmer from Bennett who wants to sell eggs, didn’t disagree with opponents saying the cottage food measure should be broader. But he urged lawmakers to go ahead and revisit the designation later if it causes problems.
“If I could bring these eggs to town to sell them, they’d be gone in five minutes,” Gilbert said. “This is a good first step to get things going.”
Hydrant Flushing Starts Tonight
The City of Fort Morgan will be flushing water mains starting today until May 16. The City will be performing this procedure at night between the hours of 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
The city says flushing the hydrants helps to improve the water quality.
Occasionally deposits will build up in the water system and may result in taste, odor and cloudy appearance problems. The water flushing cleans out the pipelines as well as removes impurities or sediments that may have accumulated in the water system over the year.
The City strongly requests that customers change timers and watering schedules on their irrigation systems and restrict other household water usage, if possible, during the flushing times.
The city says flushing the hydrants helps to improve the water quality.
Occasionally deposits will build up in the water system and may result in taste, odor and cloudy appearance problems. The water flushing cleans out the pipelines as well as removes impurities or sediments that may have accumulated in the water system over the year.
The City strongly requests that customers change timers and watering schedules on their irrigation systems and restrict other household water usage, if possible, during the flushing times.
Two More Water Smart Turf Management Sessions
Presentations will be made to the public this month on Water Smart Turf Management. Fort Morgan residents who attend five of the six presentations and conduct a sprinkler audit will be eligible for a drawing for $25 off their utility bill! There are two more presentations this month:
May 5 on Irrigation systems and on
May 12 on Sprinkler audits of home systems (the why and how).
Presentations will be made at the Morgan County Extension office at 914 East Railroad Avenue. To register for presentations and audits, contact the CSU Extension office in Morgan County at (970) 542-3540.
May 5 on Irrigation systems and on
May 12 on Sprinkler audits of home systems (the why and how).
Presentations will be made at the Morgan County Extension office at 914 East Railroad Avenue. To register for presentations and audits, contact the CSU Extension office in Morgan County at (970) 542-3540.
On Average, Morgan Co Property Values Down
Recent property assessments indicate that many property values in Morgan County have dropped since the '08 assessment. Assessor Bob Wooldridge said the total of all the assessed property in the county is just over 195 million dollars now, where as it was nearly 203 million dollars three years ago. That means on average, properties in Morgan County have lost about four percent of their value since the recession set in.
Osama bin Laden Dead; U.S. Has Body
Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States, is dead, and the U.S. is in possession of his body, a person familiar with the situation said late Sunday.
President Barack Obama was expected to address the nation on the developments Sunday night.
A senior U.S. counterterrorism official said bin Laden was killed in a ground operation in Pakistan, not by a Predator drone. The official said it happened last week.
Officials have long believed bin Laden, the most wanted man in the world, was hiding a mountainous region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak ahead of the president.
President Barack Obama was expected to address the nation on the developments Sunday night.
A senior U.S. counterterrorism official said bin Laden was killed in a ground operation in Pakistan, not by a Predator drone. The official said it happened last week.
Officials have long believed bin Laden, the most wanted man in the world, was hiding a mountainous region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak ahead of the president.
Colorado Lawmakers React To Osama Bin Laden's Death
Colorado lawmakers are reacting to the announcement that Osama bin Laden is dead. Republican Senator Mark Udall released a statement saying quote, "The death of bin Laden is a major milestone in U.S. efforts to eradicate terrorism and keep our homeland safe." U.S. Special Forces killed the al-Qaeda leader wanted for the September 11th attacks outside the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. Democratic Senator Michael Bennett said in a statement, quote, "The families affected by this tragedy, and all Americans, received the welcome news that the architect of this attack was killed thanks to the competent and courageous efforts of American forces."
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