The Lost Creek Guide December 02, 2020

Volume 13 • Edition 23

December 2, 2020

Serving rural Adams, Morgan, and Weld Counties

“Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains taken to bring it to light” George Washington “If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed” Thomas Jefferson

Colorado Coronavirus Live Updates: Closures, Case Counts and Other Major Pandemic News

Colorado Sun More than eight months into the coronavirus pandemic in Colorado, cases and hospitalizations are rising once again. State health officials have warned that if the trend doesn’t abate, Colorado’s hospital capacity could be overwhelmed in a matter of weeks.

To help you stay updated as the situation evolves, The Colorado Sun has launched this live blog with updates on closures, restrictions, and other COVID-19 developments.

You can also check out our map of Colorado coronavirus cases and deaths here, as well as charts showing the national and international COVID-19 situation.

That page is updated daily.

Colorado governor: Restaurants that don’t follow coronavirus rules An empty Potager restaurant in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborcould lose their licenses hood on Friday, May 22, 2020. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun) Gov. Jared Polis warned Tuesday that some Colorado restaurant owners who defy or ignore strict state health orders to stem spread of the coronavirus could lose their licenses to operate.

Colorado’s restaurant sector has been hit hard during the pandemic, with many forced to close and thousands of workers laid off.

In recent days, restaurants in counties designated “red” by the state in a color-coded scheme that gauges increasing COVID-19 infection cases have been forced to halt indoor dining.

“Every business in the state of Colorado needs to follow our laws and, whether you agree with it or not, in red counties, not having indoor dining is the law of Colorado,” Polis said.

“Any type of business that violates a health order, whether it’s hepatitis, salmonella or COVID … could lose their license to operate.”

The Democratic governor’s comments came after several Loveland businesses in Larimer County signed a letter stating that they will continue operating at full indoor capacity even though the county was placed in the “red” restriction category on Tuesday.

Polis said government financial aid for the restaurant sector is coming — possibly in the form of sales tax breaks — when the Legislature convenes in a special session next week to consider relief measures for small businesses, public school students and residents hurt financially by the pandemic.

“It’s really important that we keep consumer confidence in places being safe. And we don’t want a few bad actors undermining that for the restaurant industry,” Polis said. “Especially at a time when I have called our state legislature to step up to help the good actors in the restaurant industry.”

— Patty Nieberg, The Associated Press As Thanksgiving approaches and coronavirus rampages, Colorado’s ICU beds are growing scarce Thanksgiving holiday and the state’s coronavirus numbers continue to get worse, Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday delivered one of his strongest warnings to date about what the consequences of that travel could lead to.

If Colorado does nothing to change its current rate of transmission of the virus, the state’s model projects that 6,600 people will have died from COVID-19 by the end of the year. That’s more than double the current number of deaths in the state so far in the pandemic. Though deaths initially did not rise when cases did earlier in the fall, the number of deaths per day is now approaching levels seen during the worst of the spring pandemic surge.

On its current trajectory, the state will exceed its intensive-care hospital bed capacity in mid-January, according to the model. Already, ICU beds are growing scarce in the state. Polis said Tuesday there were only 25 ICU beds available in Denver, 14 in Colorado Springs, five in Pueblo and three in Weld County.

And the virus continues to spread rapidly throughout the state. The public health model estimates that one out of every 41 Coloradans is currently contagious with the virus, the highest level seen yet.

“It’s not a time to be fearful,” Polis said, “but a time to be very cautious.”

A let-up in social distancing over the Thanksgiving holiday would only make these numbers worse. If holiday gatherings result in an overall 5% decrease in transmission control, the state would have to activate its field hospitals, ICU bed capacity would be breached by mid-December and deaths could hit 7,400 by the end of the year, said Dr. Rachel Herlihy, the state epidemiologist.

Cont. on Page 2, See Coronavirus Live Updates

2nd Annual Adopt a Senior Program Every $25 Donation Adopts a Senior Resident

We could greatly use your help in providing holiday gift bags to our local Seniors this Holiday Season. Our goal is always to have all of the Senior residents (both Men and Women) within each location adopted so that no one is forgotten during the holiday season. I have found that the elderly in Senior Care homes can sometimes be alone and overlooked. Due to COVID-19 my team and I won’t be able to spend the one-on-one time with them that we normally do but we are trying to make up for that by making each and every one of their gift bags even more special. Every $25 donation Adopts one of our Senior residents and of course ANY amount you can donate helps greatly to reach our goal. We will be collecting donations right up until Thanksgiving Day and we will be delivering to all of our locations around Saturday, December 19th so that they have time to quarantine the gift bags before giving them all out on Christmas Day. If you would like to make a contribution to us this year we would greatly appreciate it! We can use all of the help we can get to adopt all 225 Senior Residents at our local Senior Care Homes in Keenesburg, Hudson, Brighton, and Fort Lupton. Any help and support you can provide is greatly appreciated. It is a tax deductible donation. Thank You in advance for making this a special holiday for so many!!

Please reach out to me at: Sheree Sloan mksheree@yahoo.com 303-359-3940 text/direct

WHAT’S IN THIS ISSUE:

Page 2: Way of the World Page 3: Protect American Political System by Toughening Fedral Penalties for Rioters Page 4: JBS Battles New Coronavirus Outbreak Page 5: Colo.’s Hwy. System Ranks in Bottom Half Page 6: CDC Predicts Coronavirus Deaths to Reach 321,000 Page 7: Colo. Researchers Gathering Data on Coronavirus Survivors Page 8: Reopening Colorado Classrooms Page 9: GOP Mulls its Future Page 10: Unlikely Bedfellow Unite on Ag Climate

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– Way of the World –

Lost Creek Guide

by Bob Grand The election is still not officially called. The President has the right to pursue what he believes are legitimate questions. That works until the electoral college is finalized. At that point it will be over. That is the way our system works. Not rioting in the streets but by the application of due process. Not clean and neat but effective for over 244 years. It will certainly be an interesting next two years and the two years after that. The Senate will be decided in early January with the Georgia runoffs. I would be surprised if the Republicans do not take at least one and probably two seats there. What people have not been talking about is the House of Representatives where the great blue wave never materialized, in fact the contrary. It appears that Americans are not happy with the job that the Democrats have been doing in their big cities and surrounding suburbs that they were so happy to win in the last election. BLM and Antifa have had an impact, just not the one they would have liked. The Democrats, whether they admit it yet or not, are facing an exceedingly difficult road in 2022 where the Republicans have a very good chance of picking up control of the United States House of Representatives. This would leave Joe Biden, and chances are good that he will maintain his lead over the President, with having both the Senate and the House of Representatives in the Republican hands in 2022. Not a pleasant thought for him and his staunch supporters on the left, who may find themselves out in the cold as Biden attempts to govern in a tough world. Welcome to Donald Trumps’ world Joe Biden.

You are already hearing cries of pain from the left on Biden’s cabinet considerations.

Colorado has a different issue. Although it was a solid blue wave, Colorado’s population is not overwhelmed by the extreme left, particularly on fiscal issues. Governor Pollis and his House and Senate leadership believe that have a mandate to make us California. Be careful. We need to attempt to work towards finding solutions that work for all Coloradan’s. Reading Ken Buck’s attributing a big part of the Republican loss, especially Cory Gardner’s, to the President’s campaign writing off Colorado in early July was hollow. Cory Gardner’s loss was a tragedy. He was probably the most bi partisan and hardest working United States Senator, based on tangible results for all the citizens of Colorado. He lost because he was labeled a Trump guy and was not effectively represented as a United States Senator who got things accomplished for Colorado, all of Colorado. We will watch and see what Senator elect John Hickenlooper will do. Some of us do not have high expectations. But back to Ken Buck. As head of then Colorado State GOP organization he issued a statement thanking all the volunteers who contacted so many people and worked so hard.

Well the ultimate measurement is doing your candidates win and the answer was no. The Republican party in Colorado must have a tough soul searching. Albert Einstein said that doing the same thing over and over and expecting things to change is truly the definition of insanity. If the Republican party in Colorado does not understand that purple is a better color than an ever decreasing proportion of red than they will fade away as a meaningful political group, as painful as they maybe for the diehards, especially in Weld County.

A comment about the Field of Honor weeklong event put on by the City of Fort Lupton’s Senior Advisory Committee celebrating Veterans Day and our emergency workers. The weeklong event was a great tribute to all our veteran’s and all our emergency service folks.

The work involved putting the event together was tremendous and getting the many community organizations from surrounding towns including several veteran organizations, police and fire departments, military and faith-based participation was exemplary. A good lesson perhaps for the Weld County Commissioners to focus on how working together can get things accomplished. Our newly elected County Commissioner At Large Perry Buck was there for the closing session. Unfortunately, I did not see our newly elected or our current Weld County Commissioner for District 3 or our serving Weld County At Large Commissioner. You can go to www.ourtowncolorado.com to see the story as well as over 60 pictures of the event. The site has free, unincumbered access. Enjoy viewing a job well done. Congratulations to Forty Lupton Mayor Zo Stieber, her team and all the many volunteer who worked so hard and effectively to put this event on!!

As usual, your comments and thoughts are always appreciated. publisher@lostcreekguide.com And thank you for the many comments I have received. Maybe there is a beginning.

The Lost Creek Guide, Llc Bob Grand - Publisher 303-732-4080 publisher@lostcreekguide.com Our deadline is 7 working days before publication

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105 Woodward - PO Box 581 Keenesburg, CO 80643

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December 2, 2020

Coronavirus Live Updates

Cont. from Page 1 (The state’s model uses a general “transmission control” parameter to account for the impact of social distancing, mask-wearing and other efforts to slow the virus’ spread.)

For those reasons, Polis urged Coloradans to cancel travel plans and not celebrate Thanksgiving with anyone outside their household. He said that’s what he will be doing, forgoing the normal large-family gatherings he, his partner and their children typically enjoy.

“We simply love them too much and they love us too much to put one another at risk,” Polis said of his parents and other family members. “… I think most people don’t want to gamble with the lives of their, particularly, elderly family members.”

Herlihy said there has been one positive sign in recent data. The number of new cases reported each day has leveled off over the past few days.

But Herlihy said it’s too soon to say if that is cause Gov. Jared Polis walks into a news conference on Tuesday, for relief.

Nov. 17, 2020, to announce new coronavirus restrictions in “We’d like to see several Colorado. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun) more days worth of data to see if this is going to be a lasting trend,” she said.

Polis also announced Tuesday that he is forming a task force to look for ways to reopen schools that have switched to remote learning and to keep open those that are currently teaching in-person. The task force’s first meeting is Wednesday.

“We are going to be more hands-on in working with school districts and teachers and schools and families to get kids back to in-person learning in January,” Polis said. “… We can’t let the future of our kids become another casualty of this pandemic.”

— John Ingold, Staff writer

Board Names Future Law Enforcement Training Center After Fallen Weld County Sheriff’s Deputy Sam Brownlee

WELD COUNTY, CO — A Sheriff’s Deputy’s legacy was solidified today after the Weld County Board of Commissioners proclaimed they would name a new training center after fallen Weld County Deputy Sam Brownlee. The training center is the first Weld County Government building to be named after a person.

“Thank you to Sheriff Reams and the deputies present for coming today,” said Commissioner Chair Mike Freeman. “It is truly an honor to Sam to have this training center be in his name.”

Ten years ago, on November 23, 2010, Deputy Sam Brownlee lost his life at the hands of a domestic violence suspect. According to the proclamation read by the board, Brownlee’s legacy has been one of change and improvement that continually betters the services provided by the Weld County Sheriff’s Office. One of these improvements is the future law enforcement training center where up-and-coming Sheriff’s Deputies will receive training.

The facility, which will be located at 58676 County Road 23 in Carr, will undergo construction in two phases. The first phase will include construction of a shooting range along with an 8,000 square foot support building consisting of classrooms, offices, a gun cleaning area, a garage and break areas. When fully built, the shooting areas will consist of 25-yard, 50-yard, 100-yard and 300-yard ranges. During the second phase, a K-9 training area, fitness training course and a second 8,000 square foot building allowing for various indoor tactics training will be constructed. In addition, a driving course will be created that can double as a CDL testing site for the Department of Public Works.

By the spring of 2022, the Sam Brownlee Training Center is anticipated to be fully operational.

For more information about the Sheriff’s Office, visit https://www.weldsheriff. com/.

December 2, 2020

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Lost Creek Guide

Ken Buck’s Big Idea: Protect American Political System by Toughening Federal Penalties Against Rioters Buck this week introduced the BRICKS Act

By Tyler Olson | Fox News Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., has been vocal this year against riots and politically-motivated violence and looting as the country has weathered unrest related to racism, police violence and the presidential election.

Beginning in Minneapolis in May after the death of George Floyd, riots have hit many of America’s major cities and even some smaller ones, like Kenosha, Wis. They often happened at night, following peaceful protests against police brutality and racism that happened during the day.

The riots were also a major issue in the presidential election, with President Trump accusing Democrats of supporting the politically-related violence from groups like Antifa and nowPresident-elect Biden accusing Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., votes no on the first article of the president of throwing fuel impeachment against President Donald Trump during on the fire with divisive rhetoric. a House Judiciary Committee meeting on Capitol Hill, They continued after the in Washington, U.S., December 13, 2019. Buck this week presidential election with some introduced legislation to hike federal penalties against violent clashes in the streets afrioters. (Patrick Semansky/Pool via REUTERS) ter the “Million MAGA March” last weekend. Police reported at least 20 arrests.

“This year, we’ve seen an unprecedented amount of violence from riots organized by ANTIFA and other radical leftist groups,” Buck said this week as he introduced the BRICKS Act, a bill aimed at discouraging rioting. “In order to truly restore unity in this country, Congress must support efforts like this to stop the violence perpetrated by the far left. We need to restore the livelihoods of our communities and hold these criminals accountable for their large-scale destruction once and for all.”

The BRICKS Act would increase the penalty for crossing state lines to incite or engage in rioting from five years to 10 years, increase penalties to 25 years if the rioting results in “serious bodily injury” and life in prison if a person rioting results in death of another.

Buck discussed his “Big Idea” in the following Q&A with Fox News. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

What is the law on rioting right now and how would your bill change it?

Buck: The law prohibits interstate organizations that engage in rioting, but it doesn›t have a severe penalty, and so this law would increase the penalties for those that are engaged in rioting cross across state lines.

It would help to discourage people from engaging in this kind of violent activity. I think it›s unbelievable in this day and age in this country, with all the different forms of communication that people feel they need to burn down buildings and commit assaults and other dangerous acts.

And so this bill would make sure that people understand it will be a severe penalty if they engage in that kind of activity.

Why do you feel these riots are so harmful to the country? What’s the cost?

Buck: I think it›s clear that it›s not just the cost to the physical property, but it›s the cost to our political system. These riots are intended to intimidate people and deny them the right to vote and the right to express their political opinions. And that is just un-American.

Why do you think these increased penalties would discourage this violence?

Buck: I›ve been a prosecutor for 25 years, and I know that criminals take into account the penalties when they make a decision to engage in certain conduct. And these penalties will be enhanced. And the result will be that criminals will think twice before they commit these crimes.

How often does the DOJ prosecute people based on this statute? Aren’t most rioters booked and charged by local authorities?

Buck: Most rioters are charged by local authorities because they look at the crime as something that is an arson in a local community or an assault in a local community.

But this is different when we have a group like Antifa or other organized groups that are operating across the country and their members are traveling across the country. This is a federal crime, federal jurisdiction and the federal government should be prosecuting these.

They’re actually moving from the West Coast to the East Coast to the middle of the country. It’s the same people that we are seeing crisscross the country that are engaged in these.

They’re getting money from somewhere. They’re getting direction from somewhere. And as a result, the federal government needs to step in.

What are your thoughts on some of the issues that protesters are speaking about in some of the peaceful demonstrations that happen before the riots? Police brutality? Systemic racism?

I think that’s absolutely appropriate for Americans to protest. I think it’s absolutely appropriate for Americans to express their opinion and to engage in positive change in this country. It’s what we are founded on. And it is a foundational constitutional principle. So I›m all in favor of organized protests. I›m all in favor of people feeling that they can redress their grievances with the government.

It›s when these activities turn violent. And it›s not all the people that engage in the protests that are engaging in the violent activity. When the activity turns violent, it should be met with a swift legal response.

Some on the left have accused those on the right of being at fault for the violence too -- do you think both sides are equally at fault? Would you want this statute used equally against both sides if they violate it?

I want to make sure the statute is used to prosecute anybody who violates the law. I don’t care if they’re from the right or the left.

But I think it’s absolute nonsense to suggest that somehow out of an anti-defund the police protest, that there are conservatives out there that then decide to burn down buildings and other things.

That is not my experience. That’s not what I hear from those who are on the streets. But it doesn’t really matter what your political beliefs are. If you’re committing a crime, you should be prosecuted.

Editorial Comment

So How Do We Stop COVID 19?

Maybe We Stop Breathing!

Editorial by Bob Grand Got your attention? There is no question the COVID 19 issue is here and people are getting infected and many are dying. The question is what to do about it. Unfortunately, the politics of this have been terrible. If you are Democrat the President did not do enough to control COVID 19, if you are a Republican you do not want your rights stomped on. The answer is that neither is right. I wear a mask. I have listened to how unmanly that is and should not I stand up for my rights. Yes, I am, I have a right not to get COVID 19 and I am doing my part to help protect myself. Our Weld County Commissioners beat the drum about individual rights and how terrible the Governor is for trying to tell us what to do, yet they clearly say you have to have personal responsibility. Well it is a little self-serving to try and have it both ways. The economic, personal mental issues, the lost school year for our children, the mental anguish of grand parents not to see family is disheartening. For some they will have lost almost a year on a clock that is grinding down for them in any case. A heart wrenching situation. There are way too many unknowns in all of this. It looks like we will have vaccines available starting in early December. Now the Democrats have to decide whether to recognize that the President’s efforts to drive vaccine production may not have been such a bad idea. Will they support the vaccine introductions?

People are getting tired. Visit a couple of the cafes that maybe open and listen to the morning discussions. These are our local people who have a good shot of common sense, something that many of our politicians, be they local, county, state or federal, seem to have leave at home when they to their jobs. The impact of this pandemic has had catastrophic effect on those who have died and their families but the hidden mental anguish of financial impact, jobs lost, business failures, the concern of how long will the recovery take have not been measured and in the long run may have a more detrimental effect on the population overall. The year lost for school children being home and not having the important interface with their peers is being talked about more and more. At some point you have to ask is the prevention effort worse than the event? We seemed to have picked winners and losers. You can go out and buy marijuana, but you should really think about going to church. Really?

Not easy being a politician these days. It is a no-win situation because there are no firm rules. It is a best-efforts game. Well that usually means not everybody is happy. The sad part is that our politicians should be working together to work towards solutions. The recent dust up with the Longmont Mayor and the Weld County Commissioners was stupid.

It would seem that we should be working towards regional solutions, not soap boxing. All of Weld County should be asking the Weld County Commissioners what is or was their COVID 19 plan outside of Greeley, which has two hospital facilities. Not everybody lives next to Larimer County, where there was an election for a state senate seat. Where was the rest of Weld County’s population to go? Greeley has about a third of the County population but what about the other two thirds? You have to wonder do our Weld County commissioners really understand they should represent all of Weld County.

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Lost Creek Guide

Gardner Announces Colorado Springs is a Finalist for U.S. Space Command Headquarters Co-founder of Senate Space Force Caucus successfully pushed for Colorado’s selection for U.S. Space Command provisional headquarters

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) applauded the announcement today that Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs has been selected as a finalist to be the permanent home to U.S. Space Command headquarters. Peterson Air Force Base is the current provisional location for U.S. Space Command headquarters, and Gardner has pushed the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to permanently reestablish U.S. Space Command in Colorado to harness the state’s existing military assets to coordinate space operations for the U.S. military and address emerging threats in space.

“In Colorado we are proud to play a pivotal role in our national defense and military space operations, and I am thrilled that Peterson Air Force Base will receive a site visit for consideration to be home to U.S. Space Command headquarters,” said Senator Gardner. “Colorado’s leadership in space is unmatched – with our existing military space infrastructure, Colorado is the perfect place for the permanent home to U.S. Space Command. Colorado is well prepared to make its final pitch during the upcoming site visits.”

Senator Gardner urged President Trump, Vice President Pence, former Secretary of Defense Esper, Secretary of the Air Force Barrett, and former Commander of U.S. Space Command General Jay Raymond to select Colorado as the permanent headquarters for U.S. Space Command. Gardner serves on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, a key committee with oversight of U.S. space and aerospace policies.

Colorado was the first home of the U.S. Space Command when it was previously established at Peterson Air Force Base in 1985. Today, Colorado continues to possess the trained military personnel and technical expertise necessary to assume the responsibilities of a Unified Combatant Command for space and the space-related responsibilities currently assigned to United States Strategic Command.

Timeline of Gardner’s push to bring Space Command to Colorado: September 2020: Senators Gardner, Sinema, Cramer, and Heinrich launched the U.S. Senate Space Force Caucus.

June 2020: Gardner applauded Colorado’s legislature for passing a bill to allow military spouse licensure reciprocity.

May 2020: Gardner applauded Colorado’s selection as provisional headquarters of U.S. Space Command.

December 2019: Gardner successfully authorized the U.S. Space Force as a military service branch in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020.

September 2019: Gardner applauded the announcement that U.S. Space Command was temporarily established at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs.

August 2019: Gardner, the entire Colorado Congressional Delegation, and Governor Jared Polis joined together to send a letter to the DOD reiterating their call for the headquarters to be reestablished in Colorado.

July 2019: Gardner authored a letter to the Secretary of Defense Mark Esper urging the U.S. Space Command headquarters to be established in Colorado.

June 2019: Gardner introduced General Jay Raymond, Commander of Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, as the nominee to lead the United States Space Command at his nomination hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee.

May 2019: Gardner continued to push for the U.S. Space Command headquarters to consider Colorado as a new relocation after official notification that the Secretary of the Air Force was considering four Air Force Bases in Colorado as potential locations.

March 2019: Gardner, the entire Colorado Congressional Delegation, and Governor Jared Polis joined together to urge the DOD to reestablish the U.S. Space Command in Colorado.

February 2019: When the President Trump signed a directive establishing the Space Force, Gardner called for continued expansion of military space operations to Colorado, including the new U.S. Space Command headquarters.

December 2, 2020

Meatpacking Giant JBS Battles New Coronavirus Outbreaks At Greeley Plant And Corporate Offices

By Chuck Murphy, Colorado Public Radio The coronavirus respite at a Greeley meatpacking plant did not last long.

Just more than a month after one of the state’s most serious workplace outbreaks was declared resolved, the JBS plant is once again confronting a COVID-19 outbreak among its plant workers, according to a statewide outbreak report released Wednesday by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

The new outbreak, which began Nov. 17, first appeared on last week’s report with 20 confirmed infections. That grew over the past week to at least 32 workers at JBS, all of whom have lab-confirmed cases of the illness caused by the coronavirus.

The slow growth indicates that the virus may not be sweeping unchecked through the plant as it did in the spring. That outbreak, which began April 3 in the massive plant, eventually sickened 292 workers who had confirmed cases of the disease and another three who were suspected of having it, but not confirmed.

It took six and a The JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020. half months to reHart Van Denburg/CPR News solve. Six JBS workers in the plant died from COVID-19 and a seventh, in the corporate office, also died.

Kim Cordova, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, said she has been watching the third wave of COVID-19 infections in Colorado with concern, worried that the virus would once again reach her union members in Greeley.

“We›re really worried about things turning deadly again,» said Cordova, who is also an international vice president for the UFCW union. “These workers don›t have opportunity for social distancing ... They don›t have control over it.»

‘We Don’t Want Other People to Suffer’: JBS Families Wait, Fight And Hope For Accountability Cameron Bruett, head of corporate affairs and sustainability at JBS, said in an email, “We conduct random, routine surveillance testing at our facilities on a weekly basis to identify any potential virus introduction into our facilities.”

Cordova, whose union represents about 3,000 workers in the plant, credited JBS with taking some steps to protect workers recently. Among them, she said the company started to put older workers with pre-existing conditions on paid leave to keep them out of the plant once the virus was detected again.

“I do think JBS, once they got some new cases in the plant, the company did make moves quicker to at least move the at-risk employees,” Cordova said.

Bruett said the company first removed vulnerable employees in March, paying them salary and benefits, and that overall about 10 percent of the workforce in Greeley has been under that arrangement at some point. Some have returned after coronavirus cases subsided in the community, and the employees passed a physical.

The plant is one of several nationwide in the meatpacking industry to have had outbreaks, making the industry a symbol of COVID-19’s impact on frontline workers, many of whom are older immigrants to the U.S. The plants provide the nation’s meat, making widespread shutdown a national security issue. And workers on the line stand close together to efficiently process the cattle carcasses, making infection control a challenge.

At one point Vice President Mike Pence became involved, promising testing resources to the plant. But while all employees were eventually subjected to temperature screenings to check for fevers before entering the plant, there was not universal testing, and Cordova said that is still the case now.

JBS responded to the Greeley outbreak in the spring with a brief shutdown of operations to clean the plant, install shields, stagger schedules in the lunchroom and put more emphasis on infection control for the staff.

It wasn’t enough, according to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. That agency fined JBS nearly $16,000 for failing to protect workers, an amount the union considered paltry.

The initial outbreak on the main floor of the Greeley plant was finally declared over on Oct. 20. The corporate offices of JBS had their own second outbreak begin the day before that. So far, 38 people in the corporate offices have contracted COVID-19 as part of this new wave of infections, according to the latest CDPHE report.

CPR News Director Rachel Estabrook contributed to this report.

December 2, 2020

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Lost Creek Guide

How High Can Oil Prices Go In 2021?

By Tsvetana Paraskova Progress in vaccine development and expectations that OPEC+ will decide in less than two weeks to roll over the current cuts for three months instead of easing them from January 2021 give bulls hopes that the oil market will regain some semblance of a balance next year, pushing prices higher.

Currently, the general consensus among analysts and agencies is that oil prices will indeed see an upside in 2021 as above-average inventories will draw down with a global economic and oil demand recovery.

Several bullish signals in recent weeks have made oil market participants and analysts more optimistic about the oil market next year, despite the current second wave of COVID-19 infections sweeping across Europe and the world’s biggest petroleum consumer, the United States.

First, crude oil and petroleum inventories in the U.S. are still above five-year average levels, but they have dropped from their peaks earlier this year, according to estimates from Reuters market analyst John Kemp based on EIA data.

Next, oil demand in Asia has visibly strengthened in recent weeks, giving the oil market hope that at least in one region, demand is strong in the fourth quarter.

Then, hopes of an effective vaccine receiving FDA approval soon also instill hopes that life could return to some form of normality at some point in 2021.

Related: Something Highly Unusual Just Happened To Chinese Crude Stockpiles All these factors resulted this week in the shallowest contango in the front-month and sixmonth spread in the Brent Crude futures market since July, suggesting that market participants now expect vaccines and economic recovery next year to help market rebalancing, which would push oil prices higher.

Current expectations about oil prices point to gains, especially in the latter half of 2021.

The EIA expects in its November Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) that as global oil demand rises, inventory draws in 2021 will cause some upward oil price pressures, and Brent is expected to average $47 a barrel next year, up from $44 per barrel early on Friday.

The latest monthly Reuters poll of analysts, before the vaccine progress announcements, expected Brent prices to average $49.76 per barrel in 2021, down compared to $50.41 expected in the previous survey.

However, risks to oil prices are likely still skewed to the downside, as surging COVID cases in the U.S. and Europe are prompting renewed lockdowns, curfews, mask mandates, and restrictions, which would weigh on economic activity and transportation demand in the near term. The uncertainty about how bad oil demand will be hit and how fast developed economies and demand would recover from this second wave will continue to pressure prices to the downside, at least early next year. The vaccine impact on oil demand and spot oil prices is not expected to manifest in the first half of 2021, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said last week.

Moreover, in the coming week, fuel demand in the U.S. will not receive its usual Thanksgiving travel increase as only 35 percent of Americans will be traveling for the holiday, down from 65 percent in 2019, even if Thanksgiving gasoline prices will be the lowest since 2016, a GasBuddy survey showed.

“The survey results show continued anxiety from motorists even with the lowest Thanksgiving gas prices in years, highlighting the challenges we’re facing in this pandemic,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

Related: Climate Targets Could Slash Natural Gas Investment By $1 Trillion The muted holiday traveling will come after a build in U.S. gasoline inventories even if gasoline production dropped.

In the week to November 13, gasoline inventories rose by 2.6 million barrels, compared with a decline of 2.3 million barrels for the previous week, the EIA said in this week’s inventory report. Gasoline production averaged 9.1 million bpd last week, versus 9.3 million bpd a week earlier. Distillate inventories dropped, but they are still some 11 percent higher than the five-year average for this time of the year.

Another concern for U.S. inventories and prices is that stocks at Cushing—the designated delivery point for NYMEX crude oil futures contracts—have risen to 81 percent of capacity. EIA data showed that commercial crude oil stocks at Cushing rose by 1.2 percent in the week to November 13. At 61.6 million barrels, inventories are 39.3 percent higher than at this time last year.

The pace of recovery from the current challenges to oil and fuel demand and the rate of stock drawdowns next year will determine the trend in oil prices until safe and effective vaccines become available to a critical mass of people.

“Once rolled out, the vaccine should ensure a recovery in oil demand back towards trend. But first inventory levels and spare capacity held by OPEC+ need to be reduced and this may take us towards the second half of 2021 before a meaningful oil price recovery can occur,” Ole Hansen, Head of Commodity Strategy at Saxo Bank, said this week.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

Colorado’s Highway System Ranks in Bottom Half of Nation, Report Finds

by Robert Davis (The Center Square) - Colorado’s highway system ranks 38th in overall performance and cost-effectiveness in a nationwide report on highways.

Colorado’s ranking in the Reason Foundation’s Annual Highway Report represents a two-spot drop from last year’s ranking. The report, which uses 2018 data, said funding for state-owned roads across the country saw a 9% increase that year, up to $151.8 billion.

The libertarian think tank›s report found states like North Carolina and Texas did the best job of combining performance and cost-effectiveness while New York and California were two of the lowest-ranked.

To determine the overall rankings, Reason did a state-by-state comparison of highway spending per mile of responsibility and «system performance,» a measurement of pavement quality, congestion, and safety.

Colorado ranked in the middle of the pack in highway spending, but near the bottom in pavement quality and safety. The highest ranking Colorado received was No. 18, for its high count of structurally deficient bridges.

«To improve in the rankings, Colorado needs to improve its rural Interstate pavement condition. Colorado is in the bottom five of all states in rural Interstate pavement condition. Compared to neighboring states, the report finds Colorado›s overall highway performance is worse than New Mexico (ranks 16th), Utah (ranks 17th), and Wyoming (ranks 36th),» said Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the report and managing director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation.

«Colorado is better than some comparable states like Washington (ranks 45th), but worse than others such as Arizona (ranks 23rd),» he added.

State legislators have done their part by increasing the total funds budgeted for transportation projects. However, each time Colorado faces a financial squeeze, the transportation jar thins out.

For example, Colorado faced a $3.3 billion budgetary shortfall after the first round of COVID-19 lockdowns. Transportation took a 6% cut once lawmakers returned from recess in late May, adding up to over $127 million in losses.

However, even if state transportation agencies kept all of the apportioned funds, there is still a wide gap between disbursements and taxpayer needs.

The Colorado Department of Transportation›s most recent budgetary deficit report from 2017 estimates the department will need $2.5 billion over the next 10 years to meet its goal of an 80% drivability life for state roads.

Governor Jared Polis› 2021 budget proposal includes $220 million for public works and infrastructure. This represents a 14% increase from 2020, but still $30 million under what CDOT needs to maintain the 23,000 miles in state roads under its jurisdiction.

Similarly, the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates additional road repairs, traffic crashes and time lost in congestion costs taxpayers $7.1 billion annually, or as much as $2,306 per driver in the Denver metropolitan area.

8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

$15.50

$1.29 per gallon will call or route

$3,535.00 $2,183.00

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Lost Creek Guide

CDC Predicts Coronavirus Deaths May Reach Up to 321,000 by Mid-December

As of Friday, the U.S. had tallied 263,484 coronavirus-related deaths

By Alexandria Hein | Fox News Amid a surge in coronavirus cases nationwide and concern among leaders about postThanksgiving Day celebration spikes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said forecasting models are predicting that the virus’ death toll in the U.S. could reach up to 321,000 by mid-December.

According to the “COVID-19 Forecasts: Deaths,” which was posted by the agency earlier this week, models are predicting that the number of newly reported coronavirus deaths will likely increase over the next four weeks, with between 10,600 and 21,400 new fatalities likely to be reported in the week ending Dec. 19, 2020.

As such, the model predicts that between 294,000 and 321,000 total coronavirus deaths will have been reported by that time. As of Friday, the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus map reported 263,484 coronavirus deaths in the U.S. The country leads the world in the number of COVID-19-related fatalities, tallying nearly 100,000 more than Brazil, which has the second-highest number of deaths at 171,460.

The grim news comes amid a wave of new coronavirus-related restrictions that have been implemented in regions across the U.S., and as officials pleaded with Americans to rethink holiday travel plans.

The CDC had urged Americans not to travel for Thanksgiving and to keep celebrations to within a household, or under 10. New Mexico, Arizona, Virginia, California, Pennsylvania and Nevada are among states experiencing the sharpest spike in cases over the last two weeks, according to Johns Hopkins University. Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Nebraska, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Washington are also all experiencing spikes.

Hope has been hinged on promising news from three coronavirus vaccines in development. While it’s not clear what role the vaccines may play in transmission, the hope is that they will prevent severe illness from formulating in new patients.

On Thursday, during a special Thanksgiving holiday message to troops serving overseas, President Trump said that coronavirus vaccine deliveries will begin as early as next week. He noted that front-line workers, medical personnel and senior citizens would be among the first to receive the vaccine.

December 2, 2020

Measles Deaths Soared Worldwide Last Year, as Vaccine Rates Stalled

The new data, from the W.H.O. and C.D.C., alarmed public health experts, who fear the effect of the coronavirus pandemic this year could bring more bad numbers.

: by Jan Hoffman 11/13/2020 New York Times Measles deaths worldwide swelled to their highest level in 23 years last year, according to a report released Thursday, a stunning rise for a vaccine-preventable disease and one that public health experts fear could grow as the coronavirus pandemic continues to disrupt immunization and detection efforts.

The global death tally for 2019 — 207,500 — was 50 percent higher than just three years earlier, according to the analysis, released jointly by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No measles deaths were reported in the United States, but measles cases in the country hit a record annual high of 1,282 across 31 states, the most since 1992, according to figures updated earlier this month. As recently as 2012, the U.S. case number was 55.

Public health experts said the soaring numbers are the consequence of years of insufficient vaccination coverage. They worry that the pandemic will exacerbate the spread of measles, a disease that is even more contagious than Covid-19.

“We are worried that there are new gaps in immunity opening because of Covid on top of those that were already there,” said Dr. Natasha Crowcroft, senior technical adviser for measles and rubella at the W.H.O. “We can’t carry on in the same way and expect a different result,” she added, calling for more resources and creative applications of them.

Although reported cases of measles so far have been lower this year, public health experts are holding those figures at arms’ length. They fear such numbers are a drastic undercounting, because of the pandemic’s global disruptions to health care, therefore reducing detection and medical care for measles — as well as prevention efforts.

Colorado Limits Gatherings to 10 People From no More than Two Households as Coronavirus Spike Continues Previously, Coloradans were allowed to gather in groups of up to 25 people with no limit on how many households those people could be from.

by Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun The order goes into effect immediately and lasts for at least 30 days Previously, Coloradans were allowed to gather in groups of up to 25 people with no limit on how many households those people could be from.

“We are asking all Coloradans to act with an abundance of caution to reverse these worrying trends,” Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said in a written statement. “Right now, the virus is spreading when people from multiple households attend gatherings. We need to keep gatherings smaller and with people from fewer households — we are asking everyone to ‘shrink their bubble’ to reduce the spread.”

Ryan asked Coloradans to “take every effort to reduce contact with members of other households.”

“If you can work remotely, please do so to reduce contact with other individuals,” she said. “Taking action now can prevent your loved ones from getting sick, and help us save lives and avoid stricter public health orders in the future.”

There is no limit on gatherings of members of the same household. But people can forget about gathering in parks, backyards or indoors with a few other couples to socialize — at least for the time being. Same thing goes for multiple families that want to get together, even though there are more than 10 people gathering Colorado’s daily case numbers are higher than they’ve ever been and the state’s seven-day test positivity rate, at 5.8%, is at its highest level since June. Hospitalizations, meanwhile, are at their highest level since May 21 Dr. Rachel Herlihy, Colorado’s top epidemiologist, has warned that if the trend is not reversed, the state’s intensive-care hospital bed capacity could be surpassed in the coming months.

Denver, as well as Adams and Arapahoe counties, last week enacted new restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19. The three counties have experienced among the highest spike in the disease.

Denver now requires mask-wearing outdoors, while Adams County ordered alcohol sales at restaurants and bars to end at 10 p.m. and Arapahoe County ordered restaurants and bars to stop selling alcohol at 11 p.m.

The new statewide order on gatherings didn’t provide specifics on what penalties violators could face, only that there could be sanctions.

“This order will be enforced by all appropriate legal means,” the order said. “Local authorities are encouraged to determine the best course of action to encourage maximum compliance. Failure to comply with this order could result in penalties, including jail time, and fines, and may also be subject to discipline on a professional license based upon the applicable practice act.”

Counties that are in Gov. Jared Polis’ “protect our neighbors” status are automatically exempt. Those include Gunnison, Gipin, Rio Blanco and Moffat counties. (Mesa County’s “protect-our-neighbors” status was downgraded this week because of its rising caseload.)

Colorado’s 60 other counties are in the “safer-at-home” phase and their residents must abide by the gathering limitations.

There are a host of exemptions for athletics, restaurants, retail, manufacturing, health care settings, offices, critical businesses and government entities, schools, universities and places of worship.

The new gatherings order essentially only applies to social gatherings outside of a business or office setting.

The order was issued days after Polis sidestepped questions about statewide action he may take to limit spread of COVID-19, instead calling for targeted restrictions.

“It’s acting to contain the virus where it is at a moment in time,” he said Tuesday in endorsing local approaches to stopping the disease’s spread. “… There’s different measures at different times in different places depending on the conditions.”

The new order from CDPHE was unveiled in a news release. Polis’ regular Friday coronavirus briefing was moved because of wildfires impacting the state.

December 2, 2020

Lost Creek Guide

Colorado Researchers are Gathering Data on Coronavirus Survivors.

Here’s What They’ve Found.

Page 7

Long-lasting symptoms include brain fog, muscle pain, blood clots and mental illness, say doctors studying COVID-19 survivors Michael Booth Special to The Colorado Sun Eight months into the coronavirus pandemic, Colorado doctors and scientists have a growing study sample: tens of thousands of people in the state who have survived COVID-19.

Their initial findings are beginning to trickle in, helping piece together the long-term effects of a virus that has killed more than 2,300 Coloradans and infected more than 200,000.

The first long-term study of COVID-19 Colorado survivors, from UCHealth, is finding that about one-third of highly symptomatic patients who survive reported that after six or seven weeks, they were still struggling.

Knowledge about COVID-19 survivors is emerging, too, from new hospital clinics set up specifically to help patients recover from the infection that attacks everything from the lungs to the brain.

National Jewish Hospital has a “respiratory recovery clinic” for COVID survivors, focused not only on physical healing, but also on emotional issues. And at a new post-COVID, out-patient clinic at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, a team of doctors is working with patients recovering from a stay in the ICU, as well as those who never were hospitalized but are “long-haulers,” with symptoms that have persisted for months.

The UCHealth study found that longterm symptoms include brain fog, muscle aches, impaired breathing and blood clots, said Dr. Robert Lam, an emergency medicine specialist at Lam is employing University of Colorado medical students, locked UCHealth Memorial out of clinical work because of virus precautions, to follow up in Colorado Springs with a running total of 150 patients who initially sought help for who is leading the COVID-19 at an ER, clinic or inpatient hospital. study. Lam’s team has A health care worker checks a monitor in a room in the COVID-19 ICU at UCHealth Memorial in Colorado Springs. also noted patients (Provided by UCHealth) have faintness after standing up, a condition called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome or POTS. When the pandemic first spread, providers assumed the course of the virus would follow that of pneumonia infections or various versions of the flu, with an acute illness followed by a quick recovery. They expected some COVID-19 patients might need oxygen once home, as pneumonia patients sometimes do, Lam said.

Instead, the ongoing aches and inability to exercise beyond a walk to the mailbox seem to dominate the lives of the long-haulers, Lam said. “This is unique, to see patients still struggling six to seven weeks beyond hospitalization.”

What has surprised providers and the medical students, Lam said, is the high percentage of long-term patients reporting mental health issues after their hospital stays.

Patients feel traumatized by the intense isolation required by COVID-19 protocols, by a fear of reinfection, by fear of infecting loved ones and by having to avoid family or work while they are recovering.

“We are hard-wired to connect with people,” Lam said. The results so far reflect other studies showing about 1 in 5 virus recoverers develop a significant mental health condition as a result of their illness.

While the UCHealth Memorial team has started presenting its results, and data from the study will appear in January’s edition of the peer-reviewed Journal of Investigative Medicine, the health system is already altering patient care. Particularly in regard to mental health, Lam said, patient responses to COVID-19 make it clear hospitals need to begin linking people to mental health resources and reconnecting them to community before they’ve left the hospital.

Patients are also shown videos about the need for taking blood thinners to combatstroke and heart attack-inducing blood clots once they are back home.

Interviewing COVID-19 patients, which is time consuming, has turned out to be a supplemental education for medical students, Lam said. They’re not likely to get a better example of communication as therapy, he said.

“The healing process just includes talking to your patients,” Lam said.

Clinics open for “long-haulers” and ICU survivors For months prior to the pandemic, Dr. Sarah Jolley, a pulmonary and critical care specialist at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, had been working to create an out-patient clinic for former ICU patients. Coronavirus sped up her timeline, and what was supposed to become a post-ICU clinic is now almost exclusively a postCOVID clinic.

The clinic has seen about 80 COVID-19 survivors so far, and another 5-10 who never had the virus.

Post-ICU clinics exist in a few hospitals around the nation to help patients regain their strength after spending weeks or months in a hospital bed. Patients who were in intensive care and intubated often need respiratory therapy and neuro-muscular rehab, and sometimes speech therapy, Jolley said. Dr. Sarah Jolley, a pulmonary and critical care specialist at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, started an out-patient clinic for COVID-19 survivors. (Handout) Other common lasting effects are psychological. Patients who have been sedated with psychotropic drugs often hallucinate, and their memories when they awake don’t mesh with reality. They sometimes believe, for example, that they were kidnapped and tied to a bed, she said. Doctors call it “ICU delirium.”

“Often we have to restrain patients to keep them from pulling out a breathing tube, and so patients can remember that in unusual ways. Feeling kidnapped, feeling attacked,” Jolley said.

And with COVID, there’s the added stress of waking up to see a nurse or doctor in

head-to-toe personal protective equipment staring down at the hospital bed. Having family at a patient’s bedside helps with ICU delirium, but during the pandemic, patients aren’t allowed in the room. “We are actually seeing more delirium than a typical ICU survivor population,” Jolley said. “This has all been exacerbated in the setting of COVID.” Besides the delusion, there is depression that can set in when patients realize they’ve missed a chunk of their life while they were unconscious, she said.

The out-patient campus at Anschutz Medical Campus is treating more COVID-19 patients than just those who were hospitalized in intensive care. Others are coming to the clinic because months after contracting the virus, they still feel numbness and weakness in their arms and legs, extreme fatigue, brain fog and confusion, and mental health struggles, Jolley said.

“We’ve seen a number of people who were very high functioning, very athletic, … who now are very limited — people who previously could climb mountains who have a hard time walking down the street because they get so short of breath or they get so winded,” she said.

The more doctors learn though, the more they realize how much they don’t yet know. “We’re still trying to understand what those symptoms mean and how much of that is really virus related versus we’re not sure what as a medical community,” Jolley said.

A multidisciplinary team — everyone from the pulmonologist to the psychiatrist — meets every other week to discuss the clinic’s patients. Their treatment plans are specific to each patient, whether they were on a ventilator and now need help relearning to swallow, or have vocal cord damage, or need a step-by-step exercise plan to increase lung capacity. Because of the pandemic, some of the rehab happens via telehealth.

When the pandemic finally ends, Jolley plans to turn her out-patient clinic into the post-ICU recovery center she had initially planned. The hospital also has an in-patient rehab clinic for COVID-19 survivors who have recently left the intensive-care unit.

As coronavirus cases and hospitalizations skyrocket in Colorado this month, Jolley encouraged people to remember that dying from COVID isn’t the only thing that should scare them.

“Death isn’t the only endpoint,” she said. “It’s important that we think about what recovery looks like as well. Just because you survive COVID doesn’t mean that you may not have issues over the longer term.”

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Lost Creek Guide

When It Comes Time To Reopen Colorado Classrooms, This New State Working Group Hopes To Help It Go Smoothly

Colorado Public Radio by Vignesh Ramachandran 11/25/2020 Gov. Jared Polis announced Wednesday that a state working group will create plans for students’ return to classrooms in January.

As COVID-19 cases have risen this month across Colorado, some of the state’s largest districts, including Denver Public Schools, Jeffco Public Schools and the Douglas County School District, are sending all grades back home for remote learning after the Thanksgiving holiday.

While school officials are hopeful for an eventual return, the state says 1 in 41 Coloradans are currently contagious with the virus and the demand for hospital ICU beds could exceed capacity in January.

Remote learning creates its own set of challenges for some families grappling with balancing jobs, disengaged students and internet reliability. The governor’s task force — which includes teachers, superintendents, health officials School buses parked in Fruita, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020. and parents — is supposed Hart Van Denburg/CPR News to provide feedback to help the state and public health leaders develop ideas for safe school reopenings.

“We know that for many kids and frankly also for many teachers, the classroom is one of the safest places,” Polis said Wednesday. “And we want to make sure that we can do all we can do in that controlled environment to really make sure that we don’t have an additional semester as chaotic as this one is.”

In recent days, superintendents have pushed back on pressure to reopen schools, saying state rules push schools towards closures. Schools have faced chaos trying to maintain staffing levels and safe classrooms while complying with quarantine rules.

The task force, which will meet at least once a week, plans to talk about measures that both have and haven’t worked across the state in 2020 to decide on best practices.

“I think our school leaders will share that they have never worked more closely with their local health departments — and that is a positive thing,” said Amie Baca-Oehlert, president of the Colorado Education Association and a member of the task force. “So that is something that we would obviously want to continue going forward.”

More stories about Colorado schools during the pandemic: With Limited State Guidance, Colorado Schools Take Many Different Approaches To Learning In The Pandemic Denver Public School Parents Protest Return To Remote Learning Amid Rising COVID-19 Cases Even As Cases Spike, The Question Of Kids In School Has Different Answers In Denver, Adams Counties Polis also said there has been a “strong, collaborative relationship with teachers and with paraprofessionals” for districts that have successfully returned to in-person learning.

“We need, of course, the support of community members, parents, teachers, schools, districts and others, to really help make sure that we have ... the right protocols in the right place at the right time, to keep students and teachers safe, and make sure that our kids’ future is not yet another casualty of this awful pandemic,” he explained.

The Colorado Department of Education said last week it is allocating $15 million in grants to help cover the cost of school reopenings, including air ventilation improvements, personal protective equipment and plexiglass.

The state has also updated its tools to help school officials determine who needs to quarantine after COVID-19 exposure.

As of Tuesday evening, Colorado has more than 206,439 documented COVID-19 cases and the virus has killed at least 2,466 people in the state.

kinnearinsurance@outlook.com

December 2, 2020

Supreme Court Rules Against Cuomo’s Coronavirus limits -with Barrett Playing Key Role

Chief Justice Roberts sided with the court’s liberals in the dissenting opinion

By David Aaro | Fox News The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday night blocked New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo from reimposing strict attendance caps at worship services in areas hit hard by the novel coronavirus.

The court ruled 5-4 to bar Cuomo from enforcing his Oct. 6 “Cluster Initiative” against houses of worship that sued to challenge the restrictions.

The order was also the first in which Justice Amy Coney Barrett played a decisive role. Barrett, who was President Trump’s third Supreme Court nominee, joined the court Oct. 27, after winning Senate confirmation following the Sept.

18 death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Meanwhile, Then-Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett is seen Oct. 21, Chief Justice John 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Associated Press) Roberts joined the court’s liberal wing in the dissenting opinion, which stated the court had acted rashly.

Cuomo’s initiative had created color-coded limits on mass gatherings and business operations, in an effort to stem the outbreak in New York City areas that were experiencing a surge in cases, according to Bloomberg News.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during the daily media briefing at the Office of the Governor of the State of New York on July 23, 2020 in New York City. (Getty Images) It was aimed at worship services at some synagogues and Roman Catholic churches in parts of Brooklyn and Queens, Bloomberg reported.

In the hardest-hit areas, which were designated red zones, the state limited attendance in houses of worship to 25% of their capacity or 10 people, whichever is fewer. The majority said his limits violated the First Amendment’s protection of the free exercise of religion.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, in the concurring opinion, said Cuomo had treated religious activities less favorably than nonreligious ones, according to the New York Times.

“It is time — past time — to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues, and mosques,” wrote Gorsuch, who was also named to the court by Trump.

“So, at least according to the Governor, it may be unsafe to go to church, but it is always fine to pick up another bottle of wine, shop for a new bike, or spend the afternoon exploring your distal points and meridians,” he continued, according to a tweet from The Economist correspondent Steven Mazie. “Who knew public health would so perfectly align with secular convenience?”

The ruling was seen as a reversal from earlier actions taken during the pandemic this year by the high court in response to state restrictions on organized religion, reports said. The justices previously refused to lift restrictions on churches in California and Nevada.

In the dissenting opinion, Roberts explained why the court’s liberals opposed the decision.

“Numerical capacity limits of 10 and 25 people, depending on the applicable zone, do seem unduly restrictive,” Roberts wrote, according to the Times. “It is not necessary, however, for us to rule on that serious and difficult question at this time.”

“The governor might reinstate the restrictions,” he continued. “But he also might not.

And it is a significant matter to override determinations made by public health officials concerning what is necessary for public safety in the midst of a deadly pandemic. If the governor does reinstate the numerical restrictions the applicants can return to this court, and we could act quickly on their renewed applications.”

“HAPPY THANKSGIVING,” Trump wrote, sharing the Supreme Court’s ruling. Trump has repeatedly pushed back against shutdown measures to curb the spread of the virus.

The American Civil Liberties Union condemned the decision and warned it could “undermine New York’s efforts to curb the pandemic.”

“The freedom to worship is one of our most cherished fundamental rights, but it does not include a license to harm others or endanger public health,” said Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU Program of Freedom of Religion and Belief.

New York City, once the global epicenter of the virus, has reported a steady rise in COVID-19 infections in recent weeks, prompting Mayor Bill de Blasio to close public schools for the second time.

The city has reported more than 305,000 cases and 24,230 deaths related to COVID-19.

“New York’s temporary restrictions on indoor gatherings do not discriminate against houses of worship, and, in fact, treat them better than comparable non-religious gatherings,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

“The Supreme Court’s decision will unfortunately undermine New York’s efforts to curb the pandemic.”

David Aaro is a Reporter at Fox News Digital based in New York City.

December 2, 2020

-Obituaries-

Lost Creek Guide

GLEN ARDEN YOUNG Obituary for Glen Arden Correction Glen Arden Young, 91, of Hudson, Colorado, born in Burlington, Colorado on November 19th, 1928, passed away, peacefully, at home on October 17th, 2020

Tucker Carlson: Yes, the Election was Rigged for Joe Biden. Here’s How How Democrats, Big Tech and the mainstream media waged an unfair fight in 2020

By Tucker Carlson | Fox News You’ve heard a lot over the past few days about the security of our electronic voting machines. This is a real and serious issue, no matter who raises it or who tries to dismiss it out of hand as a conspiracy theory.

Electronic voting is not as secure as traditional hand counting. It never will be as secure.

Voters can see this, because it’s obvious, and it makes them nervous. And why wouldn’t it make them nervous? Our leaders have given us every reason not to trust technology. The people now telling us to stop asking questions about voting machines are the same ones who claimed that our phones weren’t listening to us. They lie. We all know that.

Other countries don’t use electronic voting because they know it undermines confidence in democracy. A system cannot function if no one trusts the vote. That’s true here, too, as we’re finding out. Going forward, we need to find out exactly what happened in this month’s presidential election, no matter how long it takes the investigation to unfold or how much it costs.

Once we get answers from that investigation, we ought to revert immediately to the traditional system of voting, the one that served our democracy for hundreds of years. What we’re doing now is not working. That’s an understatement. As of Monday night, the state of New York still hadn’t managed to count the votes in five House races thanks to mailin voting. That’s a disaster, and we should stop pretending that it’s not.

But we also shouldn’t let our focus on voting machines distract us from all that happened earlier this month. The 2020 presidential election was not fair, and no honest person would claim that it was. The system was rigged against one candidate and in favor of another, and not in ways that were hidden from view.

The media openly colluded with the Democratic nominees. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris refused to explain what they would do if they were elected. That’s never happened before in any presidential election in American history, but the media allowed them to do it.

At the same time, beginning in the spring, Democrats used our public health emergency for nakedly partisan ends. They punished Trump supporters for trying to gather, but they exempted their own activists -- rioters and vandals from Black Lives Matter and Antifa -- from the COVID lockdowns entirely. The restrictions they did enforce crushed America’s small businesses, the heart of the Republican Party, while making their own donors fantastically richer. Jeff Bezos alone saw his net worth jump by more than $70 billion during the pandemic.

Then, Democrats used the coronavirus to change the system of voting. They vastly increased the number of mail-in ballots because they knew their candidates would benefit from less secure voting. And they were right. They used the courts to neutralize the Republican Party’s single most effective get out the vote operation, which for generations had been the National Rifle Association. Not enough has been written about this, but anyone on the ground saw it. Thanks to legal harassment from the left, the NRA played a vastly reduced role in this election, and that made a huge difference in swing states like Pennsylvania and others.

But above all, Democrats harnessed the power of Big Tech to win this election. Virtually all news and all information in the English-speaking world travels through a single company, Google. A huge percentage of our political debates take place on Facebook and Twitter. If you use technology to censor the ideas that people are allowed to express online, ultimately, you control how the population votes. And that’s exactly what they did. They rigged the election in front of all of us and nobody did anything about it.

This article has been adapted from Tucker Carlson’s opening monologue on the Nov. 23, 2020 edition of “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

Page 9

The Memo: GOP Mulls its Future After Trump

BY NIALL STANAGE Republicans are mulling what direction their party will take from here, now that it is finally crystal clear President Trump will leave the White House in January.

Two big questions dominate. Firstly, what kind of role will Trump himself seek? Secondly, is the more populist and nationalist direction he has pursued the right one for the future?

“I think it is the biggest question in American politics right now. Does the party continue down the path of Trump’s worldview or does it recalibrate as a more traditional conservative party?” said GOP strategist Alex Conant, who worked for Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) 2016 presidential campaign.

Conant, like other Republican figures who spoke to The Hill, said it was too early to answer this fundamental question.

A number of factors are swirling as the GOP casts around for the best way forward.

Trump in the end lost by a much more decisive margin than appeared to be the case on election night. Presidentelect Joe Biden defeated him by about 4 percentage points and 6 million votes nationwide. Biden’s Electoral College win was clear, even if it was decided by somewhat tighter margins.

Trump is now the first incumbent president since George H.W. Bush in 1992 to lose a reelection battle.

On the other hand, Trump received around 74 million votes, the highest-ever total for a GOP president or nominee. He outperformed the predictions of opinion polls.

Trump may be the most divisive president of modern times with the nation at large but he is by far the most popular Republican in the country with the GOP base. In the most recent Economist-YouGov poll, conducted Nov. 15-17, 91 percent of Republican voters viewed him favorably and 88 percent approved of his performance in office.

Trump might seek another term in the White House in 2024. If he did so and won, he would be 78 years old at his second inauguration — the same age as Biden now.

Even if Trump ultimately decided against such a run, floating the possibility would be an obvious way to maintain relevance and stay in the national spotlight. It would also freeze much of the rest of the 2024 GOP field.

“I just can’t see him walking away,” said one Republican strategist with ties to the White House. “He loves being the focus of American life.”

Others suggested that the mere fact of his leaving office would significantly diminish Trump’s influence.

The immediate direction of the party is “going to be affected by how much influence he still has when he is no longer the most powerful person on earth,” said GOP pollster Whit Ayres. “The dynamics will be very different. We will see how much of a hold he can retain on his supporters when he no longer has the power of the presidency.”

Trump has changed the party in ways that will not be easily rolled back. His protectionism on trade, his hard line on immigration and his general skepticism about multilateral institutions — and American military adventuring overseas — all represent significant breaks with Republican orthodoxy.

There is little evidence these changes are unpopular with Republican voters. Trump won more electoral votes while losing the presidential race than GOP nominee Mitt Romney in 2012, and his loss was not the blowout the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) suffered to President Obama in 2008.

The Republican Party also performed better than expectations in Senate and House elections this year, greatly undermining the idea, pushed by Trump’s critics, that he was leading the GOP to electoral ruin.

“He absolutely has shifted the party, fundamentally, in a good way,” said Brad Blakeman, who served on the senior staff in former President George W. Bush’s White House.

Blakeman acknowledged, however, that Trump’s fiercely aggressive personal demeanor was ultimately a turn-off to many voters. The most likely next step for the party, he argued, would be a broadly Trump-like policy agenda tempered by more palatable presentation.

“The rhetoric is going to be toned way down, although the need to be aggressive in policy is not a bad thing,” Blakeman said. “Plain speaking is not a bad thing.”

Speculation is already swirling around possible 2024 GOP presidential contenders, if Trump does not run.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) is often mentioned as a possible inheritor of the Trump mantle, without the tempestuous personality traits. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R), who also served as U.S. ambassador to the United States under Trump, could appeal both to the Trump wing and more traditional elements in the party. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) also has his fans.

But among party strategists, there is concern about a Republican Party that has been remolded in Trump’s image. They worry about a weakening position in the electorallycrucial suburbs of America as much as anything else.

“I think the takeaway from this election is that whoever wins the suburbs is going to win the White House for the foreseeable future,” said Conant. “We have divided government because neither party has a consistently winning message in the suburbs — and that is the challenge for Republicans over the next few years.”

Ayres noted that Trump had accelerated a shift in which Republicans grow weaker in the suburbs but have an even firmer hold than before on rural areas and small-town America.

But, he cautioned, “clearly, trading fast-growing suburbs for slower-growing rural areas is not a good long-term bet.”

One thing is for sure. The Trump era will reverberate for a long time within the GOP. And there is no guarantee it will end when he leaves the White House.

The Memo: Biden faces tough road on pledge to heal nation Biden under pressure to remove Trump transgender military ban quickly “We will never go back to being the traditional Republican Party, because of the populism that has arisen in America,” said the GOP strategist with White House ties.

“They don’t want conventional politicians.”

The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage, primarily focused on Donald Trump’s presidency.

Page 10

Lost Creek Guide

Unlikely Bedfellows Unite on Ag Climate Policy

December 2, 2020

Food chain and environmental groups offer united voice on how to best mitigate climate impacts.

by Jacque Fatka Farmprogress.com While the world has been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, behind-the-scenes work by a small but diverse group of members of the food supply chain began to evaluate if there are enough shared goals and beliefs on climate policy to offer a unified voice for those in agriculture.

In the past, climate legislation has failed largely because the agriculture and forestry industries weren’t unified and didn’t have a seat at the table. In an effort to correct that, the Food & Agriculture Climate Alliance (FACA) was formed in February 2020 by four groups that now co-chair the alliance: American Farm Bureau Federation, Environmental Defense Fund, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives and National Farmers Union. The alliance has since expanded to include FMI – The Food Industry Assn., National Alliance of Forest Owners, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture and The Nature Conservancy.

The group developed more than 40 recommendations based on three principles: agricultural and forestry climate policies must be built upon voluntary, incentive-based programs and market-driven opportunities; they must promote resilience and adaptation in rural communities, and they must be science-based.

Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said he’s proud to have broken through historic barriers and be part of a stronger, collective voice in the increasing discussion on climate impacts. “It was important to me to reject punitive climate policy ideas of the past in favor of policies that respect farmers and support positive change. Our final recommendations do just that.”

The policy recommendations cover six areas of focus: soil health, livestock and dairy, forests and wood products, energy, research and food loss and waste.

Barb Glenn, president and CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, said all of the members understand that the climate is changing and that momentum has been growing for quite some time in Congress and within the private sector, with much of the discussion stimulated by consumers. “Our members wanted to be part of that conversation, and we are much more powerful together than anyone of us could accomplish alone,” Glenn said.

Chuck Conner, president of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives and FACA cochair, said the focus is on what unites those in the group, which is detailed in the 28 pages of recommendations they all could embrace.

Livestock policies A substantial share of blame for emissions falls on the livestock sector, yet the livestock industry has a great story to tell. Just look at the dairy sector and its net-zero carbon policy, Conner said. The group’s recommendations include incentive-based approaches focused on manure management, feed, nutrition and genetics and pasture/grazing management practices.

Specifically, the policy calls for coordination to deploy anerobic digestors and for the Natural Resources Conservation Service to provide technical assistance to update conservation practices.

Changes in feed composition can directly or indirectly reduce methane emissions resulting from enteric fermentation in ruminant livestock. Improved genetics that support digestive efficiency and productivity can also contribute to reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate resilience. Innovative technologies with the potential to reduce enteric emissions often face regulatory roadblocks preventing or delaying market approval.

Incentives are necessary to offset the risk a farmer faces by changing feed rations, testing new feed additives or making changes to their breeding/herd genetics.

On average, the Food & Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine takes

three to five years to review an animal food ingredient. According to a study by Informa Economics, companies lose $1.75 million per year in revenue while they wait for approval.

The policy calls for expedited FDA feed additive approvals and prioritizing additives that have climate and digestive efficiency benefits.

Improvement of animal genetics, including animal biotechnology, will also be a critical aspect to helping livestock producers around the world adapt to a changing climate. It is important to note that, while these technologies can improve animal genetics to develop resilience, they can also help reduce emissions.

Strong policy behind actions Rob Larew, FACA co-chair and president of the National Farmers Union, said, “Climate change is adding another enormous variable to the already unpredictable work of farming. Every year, farmers face more frequent and severe weather events, making it just that much harder to make a profit. There are concrete actions farmers can take to build resilience to weather extremes and pull carbon out of the atmosphere, but they need strong policy behind them. The recommendations we’ve compiled are a good place to start.”

Larew said U.S. farmers and ranchers are on the frontline and have an enormous opportunity to be part of the solution in increasing climate resilience and focus on carbon sequestration.

He said the policy will not be included in any single vehicle moving on Capitol Hill, but the beauty of the alliance is an ongoing effort by those involved to work the policy recommendations into specific proposals that do begin to move. The alliance is not only engaging with the House and Senate but also talking to President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team on a “number of priorities they have which align with these recommendations.”

Another FACA policy recommendation includes a U.S. Department of Agriculture-led Commodity Credit Corp. (CCC) carbon bank that would establish a price floor for carbon sequestration and GHG reductions. Larew said Biden has already listed the carbon bank as a priority, and it could be accomplished administratively.

Other components of the policy could find their way into some kind of economic recovery package or could also get included in the next farm bill.

When asked if the coalition would support Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s (D., Mich.) Growing Climate Solutions Act, Elizabeth Gore, senior vice president of political affairs at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), said the legislation is a great example of a pro-climate, pro-farmer bill and is the kind of policy the coalition is looking at and has supported to ensure that farmers and rural communities are part of the solution.

Gore is optimistic that a number of bills in the House and Senate can be used as building blocks that lay a path forward for Capitol Hill and the incoming administration that benefits both friends in agriculture, forestry, food as well as continue to make good progress on the environment.

Stabenow applauded the work of the alliance, saying, “It’s great to see agriculture, forestry and environmental leaders teaming up to advance commonsense climate solutions.

I look forward to reviewing their recommendations and working with them to enact many of these policies into law.”

Merry

Christmas!

December 2, 2020

Lost Creek Guide

8 Things to be Thankful for in 2020

by Emily Krempholtz in Coloradoinfo.com

Pardon our French, but it has been a hell of a year. Since March, we’ve been living in a state of heightened anxiety, fear, anf change that most Americans have never seen before in their lifetimes.

The COVID-19 global pandemic has changed the ways we live our lives in so many ways, and for some of us, that means losing jobs, social outlets, or even loved ones to this virus. As Thanksgiving approaches, and officials ask us to make still more changes to our traditions by staying at home and not interacting with extended family outside of our household, it’s easy to feel frustrated and hopeless. But with that in mind, it’s important to focus on the things we can still be thankful for this Thanksgiving—yes, even in 2020.

1. A Coronavirus Vaccine Is On the Way Three major pharmaceutical companies have reported promising results when it comes to their research into a COVID-19 vaccine. Studies are still ongoing, and nothing has yet been approved by the CDC or under and Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA, but we have reason to believe we could see the approval of a vaccine within the next several weeks or months.

This is great news! It means there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and it means if we follow protocols and continue staying at home until the vaccine is approved, there’s a real chance we could resume our normal lives in 2021.

2. Wildfire Season is Over COVID-19 wasn’t the only thing plaguing Colorado in 2020—we had not one, not two, but three record-breaking wildfires throughout the state this year. The Pine Gulch Fire, the East Troublesome Fire, and the Cameron Peak Fire ravaged hundreds of thousands of acres in Colorado, destroying homes and lives throughout the state and spreading faster than anyone could have imagined. But now, the smoke has cleared, the flames are mostly extinguished, and we can start to rebuild and offer support to our fellow Coloradans who have lost so much. And as we head into the colder, snowier months of the year, we can add “no more wildfires” to our list of things to be grateful for.

3. Local Businesses No one’s denying it’s been an unbelievably tough year for small businesses. Reduced capacity regulations, outright closures, and general trepidation amongst much of the population have ravaged small local businesses this year. But something to be grateful for is the creativity this has sparked among small businesses. Restaurants have gotten extremely creative in increasing their outdoor seating capacities in a safe, distanced, and well-ventilated way. Others, from boutiques to bookshops, are offering curbside pickup to customers, and many are even teaming up with other local businesses to provide their services this year to deliver their goods and make them available to the masses. We are thankful to local businesses for pushing through the challenges of this difficult year, and we can show that thanks by shopping from small, local retailers this holiday season!

4. Our Big Colorado Backyard Could you imagine riding out this year in a state that doesn’t have the natural wonders of Colorado? We’re not sure about you, but Colorado’s hiking and biking trails have been a lifesaver this year, allowing us to get outdoors when isolating in our homes and apartments have become too stifling, and going for a quick hike with a friend instead of having them over for dinner has been a fantastic compromise instead of not seeing them at all. Colorado’s mountains, rivers, valleys, and plains have provided the much-needed fresh air, ventilation, and beauty that we all needed this year, and though we’re thankful for Colorado’s natural landscape every year, it deserves a special thank you in 2020.

5. Our Fellow Coloradans We’ve stepped up our game for our neighbors this year. Everyone you see on the street or on the trail or at the grocery store who is wearing a mask is doing so to help keep you safe. Everyone you know who is skipping Thanksgiving with their family, or staying at home when they really want to be out with friends, is doing so because it’s for the greater good of our Colorado community and for humankind. That is no small feat, and it’s been a pretty thankless task. Take a moment to stop and thank the people in your life who are working hard and sacrificing so much to keep you and your loved ones safe and healthy this year. And next time you leave the house with a mask on, or choose not to leave the house at all, give yourself a pat on the back, because you’re making a difference, too.

6. Our Essential Workers and Healthcare Community Back when the pandemic started, cities and towns across the globe would do things to say thank you to essential workers while we sheltered in place—banging pots and pans, clapping, playing music, or singing at a certain hour every evening, donating food and hot meals for overworked hospital staff, and more. But as the pandemic has continued and the novelty has worn off, these acts have died down, even as cases have gone up. Essential workers are no less stressed than they were in March and April—in fact, many of them are dealing with far more than they ever were, and levels of burnout across the healthcare industry are at an all-time high. So if you have an essential worker in your life, whether they are a nurse or a grocery store cashier, make sure to tell them thank you, and treat them with the empathy, respect, and kindness they deserve.

7. Friends and Family They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and for those of us who have gone months without seeing our family and friends, that’s certainly true. This Thanksgiving, hug your kids a little closer, or make sure to say “I love you” over that virtual Thanksgiving Zoom chat, because we’re all feeling a little lonelier than usual this year, and it’s important to tell the people we love that we care about them. Remember, your actions are keeping them safe and healthy this year, and vice versa, and while that’s not easy or fun, it’s something to be thankful for.

8. 2020 is ALMOST OVER! Look, when it comes down to it, after Thanksgiving, we have a little over a month left in this nightmare of a year, and if that’s not something to be thankful for, we’re not sure what is!

Weldon Valley News

Page 11

Fourth Thursday in November He sits backwards on the bird bath As I scorning Such a thing as bathing This is near=winter morning.

A thin skim of ice Is on the water, he must know, For he turns about and test it With a cautious toe.

Startled, taking wing, To hear breeding ice clink, He flutters, alights again, Takes a brief drink, Before he dives in With beak and feather In this most excellent Bathing weather!

Shakes off the water, Glad he’s living, And bursts into a cardinal’s Carol of thanksgiving.

Kunigunde Duncan

Mother nature hasn’t sent us any moisture. There’s rumors that that may be snow later in the week. But, most are wishing for a pleasant day on Thursday.

Thanksgiving is a federal holiday in the United State celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. It is sometimes called American Thanksgiving (outside the United States) to distinguish it from the Canadian holiday of same name. It originated as a harvest festival.

Thanksgiving is regarded as being the beginning of the fall-winter holiday season along with Christmas and the New Year, in American culture. The event that Americans commonly call the “first thanksgiving” was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World in October 1621. The tradition of Thanksgiving has been celebrated on many different days. It was in 1942, by an act of congress, signed into law by President FDR, received a permanent observation date, the fourth Thursday in November.

Smile a little: Elephant Ears-Customer: your sign says, “$50 to anyone who orders something we can’t furnish” I would like to have an elephant ear sandwich. Waiter: Ohhh… we’re going to have to pay you’re the $50. Customer. No elephant ears, huh?

Waiter: Oh, we’ve got lots of them…but we’re all out of those big buns!

Church Chat: The St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church will celebrate Mass on Sunday morning at 7:00 a.m. Pastor Reverend Erik Vigil Reyes and Parochial Vicar Reverend Francis Saleth, HGN will share the services. Confession will be celebrated before mass.

Weldon Valley Presbyterian Church in Goodrich has Christian education and worship at 10 a.m. each Sunday.

Plans are being made for the Advent Season.

Contact information for Pastor Denise Shannon is 720-271-6733 or pastordeniseshannon@gmail.com.

The fall project is collecting socks and gloves for Rising Up. You can get them to the church and they will be delivered.

Sunday December 20 Christmas program and social time with a cookie exchange.

School Scoop: School is not in session due to several cased of COVID-19. Classes will return in December.

4-H News: 4-H members preparing for a new year.

What’s cookin’: Quick Dip-3 tablespoon (11 ½ ounce package) spaghetti sauce mix, 2 cups dairy sour cream. In a bowl gently blend spaghetti sauce into sour cream. Cover and chill. Serve with crackers and chip. An extra treat to a party.

First facts: 1889- The first jukebox made its debut in San Francisco, at the Palais Riyale Saloon.

Weldon Valley History: Jim and Julie “Granny” Gearhart-Jim Gearhart was born in Kansas in 1868 and Granny was born in Wisconsin in1869. Jim and Granny were a couple of most memorable people in the town of Orchard. The came around the turn of the century. They bought the large two-story wooden General Merchandise Store from Eli Etchison.

Granny helped in the store and ran a boarding house in the rooms above the store. They also had their living quarter up there.

Calendar of Events: Thursday, November 26, Give thanks!

Thought for the Day: “Fear is a felling, Love is a choice.”

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Page 12

Mental Health Support Available to Communities Statewide

Lost Creek Guide

December 2, 2020

Nicolais: Grand Trump Party Likely to Sabotage any Plans to Revitalize Colorado’s GOP

Broomfield, Colo. - In a year that has resulted in increased strain on mental health, and with Between the likely long-term presence of Donald Trump the arrival of the holiday season, the Colorado Departments of Agriculture, Human Services and Public Health and Environment remind Coloradans that support is available to people in every on the national stage and Lauren Boebert at a Colorado county through a number of different resources: congressional level, turning the page may be impossible Colorado Crisis Services provides confidential, free support through a statewide call line. Call Mario Nicolais@MarioNicolaiEsq, Special to The Colorado Sun 1-844-493-TALK (8255) or text “TALK” to 38255. Counselors are available to talk 24 hours a The bi-annual navel-gazing by the Colorado Republican Party began not long after elecday, seven days a week.

Community-based crisis counseling teams of the Colorado Spirit Crisis Counseling Program tion night ended. Talk about a post-Trump landscape and embracing a new message are (CCP) are providing free emotional support to people of all ages during the COVID-19 pandem- misplaced. Neither is likely to happen, and the state GOP will consequently to continue its ic. Local teams are active across the state, including in rural and frontier counties. Learn more precipitous drop into irrelevance. and find a provider list here. Counselors can help with support around feelings of worry, sadAs an avowed Never-Trump conservative, I heard plenty of Republican leaders grouse ness, hopelessness, or even anger that life during the pandemic brings up. CCP is funded by a grant about the president privately. Most were hesitant to speak out publicly because they wantfrom the Federal Emergency Management Agency with oversight by the Colorado Department of ed to remain in a position to help guide the party’s direction after the election.

Public Health and Environment.

While I understand the logic, I think it is based on a faulty premise. The Republican A statewide Healthcare Workforce, Teacher, and Educator Well-being Support Line has also Party is now and, for the foreseeable future, will be the Trump Party. been created by the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. The line provides counselMario Nicolais ing, stress and resilience support, and education tools. The support line is available from 8 a.m. to Even as Trump refuses to concede his overwhelming loss to Joe Biden on Nov. 3, both 8 p.m., seven days a week, by calling 303-724-2500. Learn more. in the popular vote and the Electoral College, he is already making plans to run again in All Coloradans, particularly those living in isolated areas, are encouraged to utilize these services. As case numbers of COVID-19 increase across the nation, many people are experiencing 2024. At the same time, his son appears to be laying groundwork to takeover the Repubthe stress of the pandemic in different ways and it’s important to bolster protective factors that can lican National Committee.

In the interim it is not hard to envision Trump firing up his own propaganda network. help support mental health.

Learn more about the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s rural mental health outreach initia- After his livid reaction to Fox News calling Arizona in favor of Biden before other major tive and toolkit here. Sign up for the department’s rural mental health quarterly newsletter here. networks, the opportunity exists to both enrich himself and keep his name front and cenThe Colorado Department of Agriculture exists to support the state’s agri- ter. And all without the pesky business of nominally running the country. culture industry and serve the people of Colorado through regulation, advoIt is the perfect post-election world for Trump. cacy and education. Our mission is to strengthen and advance Colorado agIt is also a combination that would be devastating not just to potential 2024 GOP candiriculture, promote a safe and high-quality food supply, protect consumers, dates like Ambassador Nikki Haley or Sens. Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio, but to every Repuband foster responsible stewardship of the environment and natural resources. lican swamped by Trump’s toxic tsunami over the past two election cycles. colorado.gov/ag Nowhere has that been more evident than Colorado.

READ: Colorado Sun opinion columnists.

Sen. Cory Gardner never had a chance in his re-election. As Republican operative Tyler Sandberg memorably stated, “Jesus Christ himself couldn’t overperform Trump by double digits.”

Consequently, when Trump lost the state by nearly 14 points, it spelled doom for Gardner. Every Republican contemplating a 2022 run for statewide office has to look at that and shudder about the prospect of an unleashed Trump continuing as the de facto head of the party.

Even if Trump himself doesn’t run, he would likely step aside only for his Kendall Royesque son or Patrick Bateman-obsessed daughter. But don’t count on it.

Things do not get better for those hoping to plan a path forward for the Colorado GOP at the state level. While most have circled the wagon around U.S. Rep.-Elect Lauren Boebert, it is instructive to remember that her talk-radio persona did not help to flip a seat from red to blue.

To the contrary, she won a previously held seat by a lower margin and fewer votes than the Republican she usurped in June. During the 2016 presidential election, Scott Tipton won the 3rd Congressional District by more than 14 points and nearly 55,000; Boebert did the same with only a six-point margin and less than 25,000 votes.

Furthermore, Boebert’s charismatic, bombastic style will both dominate state headlines and thrill a broad segment of the GOP base less interested in governing than having someone “speak” and “fight” for them. That is something Boebert will do plenty given her preternatural proclivity for finding friendly microphones and television cameras.

Boebert is destined to become a far-right media – maybe even Trump TV? – darling, and Democrats in Colorado couldn’t be more excited. While she is unlikely to notch any legislative wins, she will make their job in competitive legislative seats that much easier.

Republicans can take some solace in recent primary victories and the caucus selection of Hugh McKean as state House minority leader. Those are positive steps in the right direction.

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December 2, 2020

Lost Creek Guide

U.S. Records 100,000 Cases in a Day for the First Time

European countries imposed sweeping new limits as they try to halt a second wave. And with the pandemic looming over the U.S. election, voters who saw the virus as a top issue favored Biden.

New York Times 10/22/2020 Kate Taylor Here’s what you need to know: • 100,000 cases in a single day push the U.S. into new terrain.

• Italy will lock down six regions and prevent many people from crossing between them.

• The pandemic was both a top issue and a threat as Americans went to the polls.

• Voters who saw containing the virus as the most important issue favored Biden.

• North Dakota candidate, who died of Covid-19 last month, wins seat in state legislature.

• With their restaurants forced to close early, Italians are crossing into tiny San Marino for dinner.

• A mutation in the virus has prompted Denmark to kill millions of infected mink.

• China imposes even more stringent rules on those trying to enter the country.

• 100,000 casA bicyclist passing the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. es in a single day push Credit...Jeenah Moon for The New York Times the U.S. into new terrain.

The United States on Wednesday recorded over 100,000 new coronavirus cases in a single day for the first time since the pandemic began, bursting past a grim threshold even as the wave of infections engulfing the country shows no sign of receding.

The total count of new infections on Wednesday was more than 107,800, according to a New York Times database. Twenty-three states have recorded more cases in the past week than in any other seven-day stretch.

Five states — Maine, Minnesota, Indiana, Nebraska and Colorado — set single-day case records. Cases were also mounting in the Mountain West and even in the Northeast, which over the summer seemed to be getting the virus under control.

North and South Dakota and Wisconsin have led the country for weeks in the number of new cases relative to their population. But other states have seen steep recent increases in the last 14 days.

Daily case reports in Minnesota, on average, have increased 102 percent over that time, while those in Indiana have risen 73 percent. For months, Maine had among the lowest levels of transmission anywhere in the country, but new cases there have more than tripled.

In Wyoming, new cases are up 73 percent, while in Iowa they have more than doubled.

Deaths related to the coronavirus, which lag behind case reports, have increased 21 percent across the country in the last two weeks.

Hospitals in some areas are feeling the strain of surging caseloads. More than 50,000 people are currently hospitalized with Covid-19 across the country, according to the Covid Tracking Project, an increase of roughly 64 percent since the beginning of October.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, predicted in June, when new cases were averaging roughly 42,000 a day, that the rate would eventually reach 100,000 a day if the pandemic were not brought under control. His blunt assessments of the country’s failure to control the virus drew attacks from Trump administration officials, including the president, who called him alarmist.

In an interview on Friday, Dr. Fauci told The Washington Post that the country would most likely hit the 100,000 mark soon.

“We’re in for a whole lot of hurt,” he said.

Dr. Fauci said that the country “could not possibly be positioned more poorly” as winter approaches and colder temperatures lead people to gather indoors.

States report new cases unevenly from day to day, so seven-day averages are a more reliable gauge of trends than an individual day’s figures are. But Wednesday was bad by that measure as well, with the seven-day average exceeding 90,000, the highest since the pandemic began.

During the early days of the pandemic in March and April, testing in the United States was very limited, so it is not possible to say with certainty that the virus is spreading faster now than it did then.

But the pattern of infection has clearly changed.

Dr. Bill Hanage, an associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said this week that while the surges in the spring and summer were concentrated in specific regions — the Northeast in the spring and the Sun Belt in the summer — the current one reflects transmission increases in nearly all parts of the country.

Dr. Hanage called Wednesday’s milestone “the completely foreseeable consequence of not taking pandemic management seriously.” And he said the country would see “hospitalizations and deaths increase in due course.”

“This is desperately concerning,” Dr. Hanage said, “because uncontrolled transmission will end up compromising health care, and in order to preserve it, we will almost certainly end up needing to take stronger action to prevent the worst outcomes.”

“Look to Europe to see the consequences of leaving it too late,” he said. “The longer you leave it, the harder it will be to control.”

Page 13

8 Ways Restaurants Can Attract Young Customers EXPERIENCES WILL RETURN TO DINING OUT.

By Michael Gorman FSR Magazine October 2020 The most important factor that decides whether a business thrives or not is the number of young clients it welcomes. You might be a restaurant that provides the most delightful food in town but if your clients are not young, your business could fail in a couple of years. That is because the young audience drives trends and commerce, and therefore, actively increases a business’s revenue. The trick to becoming a successfully run restaurant is bringing in new customers. If you know how to accomplish this, your profits will quickly grow, and your business will soon expand.

But you already know this since you’re here. Enough talk—let’s explore what the most popular ways to attract young clients are, and why they work.

Host a cool fundraiser Fundraisers are always successful in raising awareness of your restaurant. It takes good organizing skills and dedication to get the best results out of it, but with the right mindset, this can be achieved. Find a non-profit organization that needs help or a local community program that must be supported. Tell them that you want to support them as much as you can and would like to host an event for them—as an assignment writer for an NGO, I can certainly tell you that they won’t refuse your offer.

The next step is the menu. Find a menu that young clients would really enjoy and make your event stand out. Promote is as much as you can, wherever you can (especially on social media). Market the charity cause and wait for clients to show up!

Food & wine does the trick Young or not, food and wine is a great mix of tasteful delights, and also, a great way to add new dishes to your menu. You could try out new, original recipes for the night and pair them with good-tasting wine. You could also offer Sangria if you want to give your restaurant a more Spanish vibe. Selling tickets online and at the door should be a priority. Clients will be encouraged to participate in such an event and also, determined to return to your restaurant if you take care of them properly. That’s why you should also ensure that your customer service is exquisite.

Host themed nights Young clients LOVE themed nights. That’s because they promote imagination and the art of crafting, usually (although not always). Young customers love to be transported to other worlds while having a blast on a nice Friday night. So, as you can tell, this is a great way to attract new audiences. You could hold cooking demonstrations while you’re at it.

For example, hosting a “Spanish Themed night” while playing Flamenco music and holding Spanish-dish cooking demonstrations is a great way to attract new customers.

You could have an extensive menu of Spanish dishes and cocktails at a reasonable price.

You could introduce them to “the drink of the night” to make them feel special for attending your event. You could change routines each week and have other surprises prepared for them. If you need help with writing your weekly menu, you could hire any best essay writing specialist to do the job for you while you focus on other tasks.

Offer live music events Music plays a crucial role in attracting new customers, especially young ones. Live music is the key. Any restaurant could use some relaxing live vibes while enjoying dinner. You could play soft rock ‘n’ roll, jazz, or even Latin music, depending on your demographics.

You could offer a combination of all of these options. Trust me, crowds of young people will rush the door.

Have birthday discounts Birthday discounts are simple to offer and can attract a wide range of clientele. You could start by collecting your clients’ e-mail addresses and birthday information. Add them to your restaurant’s calendar and shoot them an e-mail when the time comes. You could offer up to 50 percent discounts on everything on their birthday. You could also offer free cake if the table orders, for instance, up to a certain amount. Guests will remember your restaurant because of your welcoming vibes and any restaurant essay reviewer will rate your restaurant high up on the chain.

Update your menu constantly If you don’t have high-quality pictures on your website, chances are young clients won’t show up at your door. For those customers loyal to you, pictures won’t matter – but when your goal is to attract a new audience, pictures are everything. The first impression matters.

So, you better take high-quality photos for your website and for Google. Check the lighting, the plate arrangements, and the colors. Make sure they blend well together. As soon as they’re presentable, post them on your website. Also, remember to ask for reviews. This is crucial for marketing.

Offer gift cards and discounts Since you’re starting a birthday program, you might as well sell gift cards for extra money. This is a great way to attract a young audience. You could also offer discounts for certain items on your menu if clients buy a gift card from you – this only until you reach the number of new customers you need. You could also offer a small gift shop outside of your store, if the budget allows. These three elements go well together—birthday dinners, cool gift cards, and beautiful presents waiting outside the restaurant door.

Sign up for events Becoming an event vendor is a powerful way to promote your business. You’ll become quite influential if you participate in various events in unexpected places. More people will learn about your restaurant, first, and second, you’ll stay updated on the latest trends. You’ll know what young audiences are looking for food-wise. For example, offering CBD-infused cocktails is a great way to attract new clients. You could partner with a concert venue or music festival for that. You could also participate in conferences or trade shows.

Conclusion Next time your team meets up, brainstorm ideas on what the best marketing options would be. Your restaurant will be successful only if you can come up with authentic resources for young customers. Engaging with your clients is the best way to promote yourself. Offering them the respect they need through customer service is essential. Have some fun while helping them have a blast.

Michael Gorman is a highly skilled essay writer and proofreader who currently works at essay writing service UK. Being interested in everyday development, he writes various blog posts and discovers new aspects of human existence every day. When working for UK dissertation, Michael reads research articles and helps students succeed.

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SERVICE DIRECTORY Computer Support Repair, Service & Sales Reliable, Local, Professional

Roggen Telephone Company

303-849-5260

Open Mon. - Fri. 8am - 5pm Family Medical Care for All Ages

Keene Clinic

190 So. Main St., Keenesburg

303-732-4268

Thomas J Croghan DDS Family Dental Practice

Appointments: 303-377-8662 Appointments Available in Keenesburg and Denver

New Patients Welcome

Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry Assistance for Roggen, Keenesburg, Prospect Valley, & Hudson Call to Request Assistance

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DOHERTY’S PLUMBING AND DRAIN Plumbing, Drain Cleaning, Water Heater Replacement Video sewer inspection Sewer & drain locating

COMPLETE HVAC SERVICES NOW AVAILABLE

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SERVICES Longarm Quilter Edge to Edge Computer Automated Quilting Online Store aquiltersfriend.com Cheri Dobratz 303-532-9035

First Baptist Church, Keenesburg, Food Pantry

Open every third Saturday 9 am to 12 pm 100 North Market Street, Keenesburg For emergency needs, please contact 720-480-6428 or email us at: http:// www.fbca.church

Donations are welcome to help us defeat hunger in our community

Self Storage

1401 County Road 153 Strasburg, CO 80136

Phone: (303) 622-4142

Managers: Garold & Geraldine Middlemist

SERVICES

SERVICES

McCarthy Trucking Recycled asphalt, concrete Great for driveways & parking areas. Also sand & gravel.

Reasonable Prices Call Kevin for free quote 303-901-5034

Dave Haney Painting & Dry Wall Interior - Exterior Cabinets, Fence Staining Located in Platteville 720-217-2089

Local Colorado Information On Line

Go to: www.ourtowncolorado.com

Go to: your town/city Go to: news/events tab Free - No Pay Wall

Call or Text: 970-467-1512 Email: carissa@arrowheadtrash.com Or visit our website at www.arrowheadtrash.com

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Keene Craft Mercantile

A Special Place Where Talented People Bring Their Home-made Crafts to Sell Booths are $25 and Tables are $20 We are open Tuesday through Saturday from 1 pm to 6 pm 65 Main Street, Keenesburg, Colorado 303-910-0640