Happy New Year!
Volume 3 No. 1 January 2018
Delivering to over 11,000 homes and businesses in Dacono, Erie, Frederick, Firestone, Mead PO Box 676, Firestone, CO 80520 • PO Box 331, Erie, CO 80516
A Year in Review 2017 Edition
Please enjoy some highlighted articles from 2017!
Innovation and Agriculture
Innovation is at the heart of global agriculture, and transformative agricultural research and teaching are central to the mission of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Colorado State University. For generations, agricultural production practices have evolved to ensure that our food is safe, plentiful, and sustainable. It is ever more evident that that feeding a growing global population means that we must do more with the same, or even fewer, scarce resources such as land and water. The young minds that come to our college to study alongside leading experts and ground-breaking researchers will begin their careers within agriculture in a world unlike that of the previous generations. Technology drives decision-making in ways that allow producers to better anticipate changes in the environment, ecology, and market economics to yield higher profits and accommodate unforeseen downturns. In our college, innovations in laboratories have helped mitigate the effects of food-borne illnesses through the development of devices that can detect and treat for bacteria such as E.coli and listeria. SatDr. Ajay Menon, Dean of CSU ellites and computer modeling have allowed College of Agricultural Sciences our researchers to use precision technology to help farmers know what to prepare the soil with, where to plant, and how much water is needed in any given area of their farm. Not only have our faculty members transformed animal genetics, but their work has also led to the adoption of technologies that ensure that animals are treated safely and humanely. Research innovation is not just about the physical technology. We have faculty members whose work focuses on understanding the human gut microbiome, the ways in which our landscaped spaces make us healthier and happier, and how equine assisted activity and therapy can help those individuals with cognitive or emotional impairment. As Colorado’s land-grant university, our university is at the forefront of the conversation around agricultural innovation. In 2015, we hosted our inaugural Ag Innovation Summit and hosted a second Ag Innovation Summit in 2017 featuring speakers from industry, academia, and government including former secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, ADM President and CEO Juan Luciano, and Kroger Co. Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer Chris Hjelm. What these speakers represent is the broad range of innovation taking place across the agricultural value chain – from producers to consumers, along with the policy makers who must account for the needs, values, and desires of all stakeholders across the value chain. We are making plans to continue this conversation when we host our next Ag Innovation Summit September 20-21, 2018. The last 20, 10, or even 5 years have produced tremendous change across the agricultural space, which is why keeping this dialogue fresh and relevant is so important. I am proud that we have faculty, staff, and students who are committed to deploying agricultural technology to make production more efficient, food safer and healthier, and to improve the spaces where we live, work, and play without depleting our natural resources. By bringing industry innovators to campus and by sharing with them the entrepreneurial and dynamic spaces in which we produce knowledge, we will find our college, and by extension our university, connected to our partners in new ways. Through these exchange of ideas and new research collaborations, we intend to remain at the leading edge of innovation, making our impact on Colorado, the United States, and the world visible each and every day.
Firestone Ranked One of Colorado’s Top Safest Cities
SafeWise has once again ranked Firestone as one of the top twenty safest cities in Colorado based on its annual review of FBI crime report statistics and population data. Firestone was listed 13th out of twenty in 2016, and moved up in 2017 to a ranking of ninth. “We are very proud to once again be named. We commend not only our police force and first responders, but also our citizens, for their commitment to keeping Firestone a crime-free community and a great place to live” said Bruce Nickerson, town manager for Firestone, According to the SafeWise announcement, “Forward-thinking safety measures may be one reason the twenty safest cities in Colorado report an average of less than one violent crime per 1,000 people, according to the FBI’s most recent crime report. That’s one-third of the national rate. The impressively low crime rate of The Centennial State’s safest cities carried through to property crime, where they cited fewer than seven of these crimes per 1,000 people. Taking a closer look at the FBI report, we were pleased to find that nine cities reported zero motor vehicle thefts. Additionally, over half of the twenty safest cities in Colorado cited fewer than fifty burglaries—which is a good indication that citizens are looking out for one another and reporting suspicious activity to law enforcement.” For more on the SafeWise report, visit: https://www.safewise.com/blog/safest-citiescolorado/.
Weld County Commissioner At Large Sean Conway Statement
on being denied full participation in Weld County BOCC responsibilities by his fellow Commissioners for 2018 Term
“Unfortunately, Commissioner Kirkmeyer and the other Weld County Commissioners have decided to continue the drama they put us through in 2017. Their actions to deny the residents of Weld County a full working board, in violation of the County Charter, is evidence of their arrogance and disregard for the Weld County taxpayers. I am disappointed in their actions, but, just as last year, I will continue to work hard for the Weld County residents and continue to expose wrong doing and corruption by Commissioner Kirkmeyer and the other county commissioners regardless of their retaliation. As Abe Lincoln said,” you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all of the time.” Publisher Comment by Bob Grand: Commissioner Conway’s comments reflected on the actions taken by the Weld County Commissions at their BOCC meeting on January 3rd, 2017. We are fortunate to have a link to the meeting comments in which Commissioner Kirkmeyer acted as investigator, prosecutor, judge and jury on Commissioner Conway. The comments of Commissioner Cozad, Freeman and Moreno, supporting Kirkemeyer, were postured to give the appearance of fairness, were anything but that. You be the judge. The discussion is about 25 minutes but well worth listening to. Where is the fairness and due process that is our American way? This was no better than a lynch mob poorly disguised as prudent executive management. Listen and you be the judge. Link to hearing recording: https://youtu.be/lWE6b9DjUXk Bulletin: On January 17th, 2018 Commissioner Cozad announced the suspension of her campaign for reelection as a Weld County Commissioner.
What’s In This Issue:
Page 2: Way of the World Page 3: Letters to the Editor Page 4: Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity Page 6: Join Habitat for the Ground Blessing of New Development Page 7: Gallagher and Tabor, Hurting Local Government Funding Page 8: February 2018 Library Events Page 11: Frederick Announces Top 10 in ‘17 Page 13: Bright Futures Board Make Changes