The Lost Creek Guide September 20, 2023

Delivering

“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

Remembrance Fly-In & Air Expo at KFMM Airport at Bristol Field in Fort Morgan

On Saturday September 9th, 2023, the Remembrance Fly-In & Air Expo was presented by the Dahms-Talton Foundation and sponsored by the City of Fort Morgan, FMS Bank, Scott Aviation, Skydive Orange Skies, AVFuel, and Hi Plains Broad Band with the Fort Morgan Lion’s Club serving a pancake Breakfast. A perfect day with good attendance. Folks got to see the DC-3 and several other vintage war planes as well as watching an aerial display including drone demonstrations and smoke & sky diving jumps.

Colorado 2023 CMAS Results

MCC Annual Calendar Photo Contest: Showcasing the Beauty of Northeast Colorado

Morgan Community College (MCC) announces its annual calendar photo contest and invites photographers of all levels to participate. Interested individuals are encouraged to submit photographs that reflect the unique charm and essence of northeast Colorado. The submission deadline is Thursday, October 26, at 5:00 p.m.

Last year’s winning photograph, “Byers Skyscrapers,” featured a grain elevator and grain bins along Highway 40 West where the plains of northeast Colorado meet the Rocky Mountains. This stunning image was the creation of Carl Steitz of Strasburg, showcasing his artistic vision and connection to the community.

To ensure the highest quality print in the upcoming calendar, entries must be in landscape orientation and of high resolution. Cellphone images will not be accepted, as they do not meet the rigorous printing specifications necessary for the calendar’s production. Each entrant is allowed to submit up to ten photographs, all of which should authentically portray the character of northeast Colorado. For more information and to submit photos, visit www.MorganCC.edu/calendar-contest.

“We’re excited to see the region through the lenses of our talented community members,” stated MCC Director of Communications, Marketing, and Recruitment, Ariella Gonzales-Vondy. “This contest celebrates the photographer’s skills and the beauty of northeast Colorado.”

The winning entry will be featured on the 2024 MCC calendar and distributed by the college to the surrounding communities at no cost during the month of December; no monetary prize will be awarded.

For more information about the contest, contact Ariella Gonzales-Vondy at (970) 542-3108 or Ariella.Gonzales-Vondy@MorganCC.edu.

See page 16 for full article...

WHAT’S IN THIS ISSUE

Page 2: Way of the World

Page 3: Libertarian Pledge for GOP an Exercise in Buffoonery

Page 4,7,9 & 12: Morgan County 2023 Fair Results

Page 5: Wiggins School District Newsletter

Page 6: U & I Club 90th Anniversary

Page 8: Raw Milk Food Freedom

Page 10: New Raymer Car Show 2023

Page 16: Colorado CMAS 2023 Results

Page 16: Morgan County Planning Commission Re: Solar Farm

Way of the World

by Bob Grand

The world’s craziness continues. The United Auto Workers Union has struck the three big auto makers. The UAW is asking for over a 40% increase in wages, reduction of the work week to 32 hours and a host of other benefits. Reality check: people are not buying new cars and those that do are facing higher interest rates. Today almost one in five auto loans are in default. Is stopping production a smart decision? It is not, like there are not other options. Yellow Freight Trucking, an old and established trucking firm, went out of business resulting in 50,000 workers unemployed, 30,000 of which were union truck drivers. Shipping business is down so their traffic was easily and gleefully absorbed by the remaining trucking industry. What do you think will happen with the big three auto producers? Our President said the companies need to share more with their workers. The new president of the UAW, who made strong commitments to his membership to achieve historic wage and benefit growth, may find that his timing may not be what he expected. The impact on the economy will soon be felt. Somebody needs to be thinking about the impact on the general population and the taxpayers in particular. We are heading down a path dictated by headstrong union bosses, be they educational or industrial, a dominating administrative bureaucracy and weak elected officials most of which will not stand up to protect the regular citizen. All of these people have one thing in common. They live in a bubble that protects them from their bad financial decisions that affect the rest of us. They are effectively immune to the negative financial impacts they are causing. Who among our brave elected officials will stand up and say enough is enough? When will we, the voters, elect people who will represent us, not the special interest groups? Are you not getting tired of higher fuel and food costs?

Last I counted there were 91 felony charges against Donald Trump in his collection of lawsuits. I believe we may find that many of these will be thrown out, ultimately as prosecutorial overreaching. No one should be above the law, but this is America, and everyone should be assumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. In Colorado we have people trying to get Donald Trump kept off the ballot as he is in violation of the 14th Amendment. A little premature, as he has not been convicted of anything. Hunter Biden meanwhile has been indited on three felony counts regarding his gun issues. The Federal government is saying his original plea deal was not valid, which Hunter Biden’s lawyers are protesting. Kevin McCarthy is pressing for an impeachment inquiry into the actions of the President. This is not impeachment; it is an inquiry. The purpose of an inquiry is to determine the facts. With all the discussion about ballot counting in the 2020 election no one seems to be asking why the media and government officials did not follow up on the implications of Joe Biden’s involvement with his son Hunter in his foreign dealings which have a strong sense of pay to play implication at the multimillion-dollar level. I believe that lack of follow up, an absolute failure of investigative journalism by the national media and what appears to be complicity by the federal watch dog organizations would have cost Joe Biden his election win over Donald Trump. Government officials should be neutral. If they cannot be they should not be employed by the government, period.

The Ukrainian battles continue. Vladimir Putin’s plans seem to be thwarted at almost every turn. The loss of lives is mind boggling. The people of the Russian Federation are and will continue to pay a terrible price as are the people of Ukraine. They talk about taking control of villages and cities. These are not villages or cities; they are piles of rubble. But what is clear is that the style of war is changing. Unmanned instruments of war are becoming more dominant with results equally deadly effective. How long will Vladimir Putin remain in control?

The State of Colorado released its school student performance results from this past Spring testing cycle (see page 1 in this issue for schools in our area and a general article on page 16).

With the ever-increasing investment in our overall educational system, one has to ask are our young people receiving the best value for the money invested? Nobody wants to hurt anybody’s feelings, but are we investing where the rubber meets the road, the local level, or are we investing in federal and state bureaucracy?

We are facing way too many examples of bureaucracy at the federal, state, county, and local levels of government that worries more about supporting their individual kingdoms as opposed to what is good for the overall general public and taxpayer. Our citizens say they do not have the time and besides do not believe they can make a difference. I would offer that you do not have that option. If you do not participate you cannot affect change. If change does not happen the America, as we know it will continue changing for the worse. We need effective leadership, not glad-handing back slapping politicians. Ask the people of Ukraine and the University of Colorado football team. Leadership matters!

As always, your thoughts and comments are appreciated: publisher@lostcreekguide. com

Letter to the Editor Dear Sirs,

After reading your 9/6/23 issue’s front page article, “Taelor Solar Project Overview in Morgan & Weld County 2023”, I feel you need to know that there are a few inconsistencies in Matt Mooney’s story.

I’ll start with “Important Morgan County Dates:”

“June 16, 2023 - Taelor sends update letter to neighbors within 2 miles of the properties.” This is inaccurate. The letter my husband and I received from Balanced Rock Power was mailed on June 28, 2023. On July 21st, Morgan County Planning & Zoning sent out a letter informing us of Taelor Solar’s application and the meeting of the Planning Commission on August 14th.

“During 2022, the Taelor Solar Project team signed agreement for the Project site and began meeting with neighbors, County Planning and Zoning staff, as well as with Wiggins-area and Morgan County community members.” This is also inaccurate. Maybe they met with the persons who will be leasing the property to Taelor but, my husband and I heard nothing about this project until the June 28th letter from Balanced Rock. The Notice of Morgan County Planning Commission’s Review of One Land Use Application was published in the Fort Morgan Times on July 29th, 2023. No one contacted us directly until September 5th, when Taylor Henderson, representing Taelor, came to our home and talked to my husband in our driveway. Back on August 10th, I emailed Taelor via their website. I received an answer this morning, September 8th, followed immediately by a phone call from Mr. Henderson.

“Good faith engagement with neighbors and community members began in 2022 and continues to this day.” This is untrue. My husband and I were never contacted until after we placed two “No to Industrial Solar in our Yard” signs on our property. For example, quoted from the Fort Morgan Times regarding the August 14th meeting: “The announcement resulted in 69 people signing in to attend the three-hour meeting with the majority from Wiggins, who, as property owners, would be affected by the project. Of the 69, no one was in attendance to speak in favor of the project.”

To continue: also at the August 14th meeting, no mention was made regarding where the $30 million dollars over 30 years was going to be allocated. Also, Morgan County does not have 400 qualified workers for this project. That’s why the EPC contractor will be Primoris, located in Aurora, CO.

Until the article in LCG, we were told that all energy from this project would be sent to Xcel Energy on the Front Range. “...and the power CAN be used in nearby communities throughout the region WHICH ARE LIKELY to include Weldona, Brush, Hillrose, Merino, Atwood, Brush, Sterling and Greeley.” No mention of Wiggins, Roggen or Keenesburg. Sounds like half truths to me.

The north edge of this project will be located on Morgan County Road M 1/2, 500 yards from many residences. It is a dirt road accessed from MCR3 that is not rated for vehicles above 19 tons. They’re are also asking to use MCR 2, that has a bridge limited to 22 tons. Approximately 4,410 acres in Morgan County is roughly the same footprint as the City of Fort Morgan. Rock Creek and Kiowa Creek creek beds are located in the project, up stream from our home. Can you see our concern for the quality of life on our property? We’re concerned about property values, construction traffic, increased risks of flooding and fire, not mention simple aesthetics. We don’t want to look at an ocean of black for the rest of our lives.

Please take a look at this situation, as this project is supposed to extend into Weld County. The applications for Solar 1 and the BESS include hydrology reports, wildlife surveys and technical specifications for the BESS, all preliminary.

Thank you for your time!

Sandy Gomke

12851

MCR 2, Wiggins, CO

Letter to the Editor

To Bob Grand at Lost Creek Guide, I can’t figure if our Federal representative in the US House Ken Buck is a Republican in name only or is about to switch party’s. Mr. Buck who I have voted for even in his Senate race is now very questionable to be a staunch Republican. Just my view!

Jerry Feather

Letter to the Editor

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Nathan Troudt and I am running for Morgan County Commissioner, District One. I am a lifelong resident of Morgan County, and a fourth generation farmer here in Colorado. Morgan County is going through a lot of changes from urban development to solar farms and a dwindling agricultural water supply. These changes while challenging, can be managed effectively by working together to come up with the best solutions. When a developer from the front range comes into Morgan County, we need to make them do things on our terms. We need to support our small businesses that are currently here that have been paying taxes for several years.

Our roads and bridges need to be maintained to ensure a great quality of life. Our ambulance service needs to be fully funded to handle the increased volume of calls. We need to preserve our agricultural heritage and keep our family farms and ranches profitable for the next generation. This campaign is not about me, but about all of us and what kind of future do we want for Morgan County. Come join me and let’s create a Morgan County that works for EVERYONE. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me at nktroudt @gmail.com or call or text me at 1-970-768-5584. I look forward to working with you to make Morgan County better!

Best

Regards, Nathan

Troudt Morgan County Commissioner Candidate, District One

Armstrong: Libertarian Pledge for GOP an Exercise In Buffoonery

by Ari Armstrong

The main thing that the “alliance” between state Republicans and Libertarians proves is that both parties currently are run by a bunch of buffoons. The parties parading behind Dan Maes in a furry costume hardly could look more ridiculous.

When last we visited this matter, I noted, “The standards by which Libertarians will judge a Republican candidate sufficiently pro-liberty remain murky.” Since then, the Libertarians released “pledges” for Republican state and federal candidates. If a Republican candidate signs one of these pledges, Libertarians will think about not running a candidate in that race. (What we really need is approval voting.)

The idea is that some votes that otherwise would go to the Libertarian instead would go to the Republican, and this might change the outcome in some races. What the party leaders endorsing this nonsense apparently failed to take into account is that Democrats will use the pledge to destroy any Republican candidate foolish enough to sign it.

The federal pledge

The pledges start in disaster. The first item for the federal pledge states, “I will immediately work to pull funding for Ukrainian aid and push aggressively for peace negotiations with Russia.”

What “peace negotiations” mean in this context, precisely, is rewarding one of the most prolific mass-murderers of our age with territory seized through bloody conquest, something that will only encourage subsequent Russian aggression. The only useful thing about this pledge is that any Republican candidates who sign it thereby clearly signal their moral and intellectual degeneracy.

The second item is little better: “I will oppose a military draft, should the UkraineRussia conflict escalate.” Hello? The actual libertarian position (as opposed to the faux “libertarian” position of the people currently leading the party) is to end the draft and draft registration, period. To restrict the position specifically to Putin’s war of conquest, which no serious person thinks will lead to an American draft, is grotesque.

Another item calls on Republican candidates to “work towards . . . abolishing” U.S. intelligence agencies, such as the FBI and CIA. Conceding that both of those agencies have screwed up badly, obviously a modern nation needs robust and accountable intelligence agencies to thwart interstate crime rings and international terrorism.

Yet another item calls on candidates to abolish the 1934 National Firearms Act, which, among other things, heavily regulates fully automatic machine guns. I personally think that law should be amended, but I also think government properly regulates such guns. Regardless, any Republican who signs this pledge is begging to lose. Viable candidates have to be able at least to see some light through Overton’s Window.

Some of the items are okay; for example, foreign aid should be audited and reduced, as the pledge says. Libertarians want Republicans to “abolish the Department of Education,” a controversial position that some Republicans already endorse. But mostly education already is controlled at regional levels, and DOE does some popular things such as administer Pell Grants.

As telling as what makes the list is what does not. What about ending “qualified immunity” that legally protects rights-violating public officers? What about restoring jury trials by curbing threats of overpunishment? What about protecting women’s right to get an abortion? What about ending the drug war? What about expanding legal immigration?

A pledge that omits those last couple of items, at least, simply is not a libertarian document.

The state pledge

The pledge for state candidates is not obviously offensive from a libertarian point of view. Most of its provisions are merely ambiguous.

Take the first item: “I will vote against any new restrictions on our Right to Keep and Bear Arms and repeal existing restrictions.” Okay, does that mean someone should legally be able to sell a machine gun to a ten-year-old out of the trunk of a car with no background check? A sensible person recognizes that some restrictions are compatible with our right to bear arms. For example, I favor some version of the “red flag” laws.

Again, we have to peer through Overton’s Window. Is any Republican going to win a competitive race by running on the repeal of background checks and “red flag” laws? No. Hence, Republicans who sign this pledge (if any do, which I doubt) will fall into one of two categories: idiots who will lose, and people running in safe districts who will win regardless.

Democrats could sign several of the items. For example, there’s this one: “I will support an audit of the State Government and its use of tax money.” That’s pretty easy to sign given such auditing already exists. And this one: “I will support increasing government transparency, including the expansion of the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA).” That too is a multipartisan issue.

I very much favor this one (with a few nuances): “I will support ending Civil Asset Forfeiture to ensure that only individuals convicted of a crime should have their property confiscated.” That is, again, a multipartisan issue. Years ago, I worked with the Independence Institute’s Dave Kopel; Democrats Terrance Carroll, Peter Groff, Bill Thiebaut, and Jerry Kopel; Republican Shawn Mitchell; the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition; and others to promote some safeguards. The legislature should pass much stronger protections.

The state pledge again misses some important issues. Notably absent is any comment on zoning reform, one of Jared Polis’s signature efforts. It figures that today’s “libertarian” party is nowhere to be found when it comes to promoting some of the most important libertarian reforms of our era, recognizing the rights of property owners to develop their land as they want.

But, hey, the Libertarian Party endorses raw milk, which almost no one wants and which people already can get by buying “cow shares.” Let’s see how far Republicans get on the “raw milk and machine guns” platform.

Welcome to the laughing stocks

I don’t imagine that any Colorado Democrat can read Ernest Luning’s article on the matter without breaking out into hysterical laughter.

Consider this line: “It’s unclear whether the Libertarian party leadership will be able to prevent candidates who want to run under their banner from winning the party’s nomination.”

Or consider what Jordan Marinovich, the Libertarians communications director, told Luning: “If a candidate does decline to initial by one point, but agrees to all other points, this is an opportunity for the candidate to explain their position. Ultimately, it is up to our delegation whether to step aside for said candidate, and we wanted to give the delegation

more nuance vs a yes or no to the entire pledge.” In other words, not even the Libertarian Party takes its pledge seriously.

Luning begins a follow-up: “U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert doesn’t plan to sign a candidate pledge released by the Colorado Libertarian Party. . . . Neither does Boebert’s GOP primary challenger, Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd.”

What about the important CD8 race, where Democrat Yadira Caraveo narrowly beat Barb Kirkmeyer? Scott James, the only Republican now running for that seat, told Luning, “We received the pledge from Chairman Dave Williams and very much look forward to the dialogue as the campaign moves forward.” That sounds like a diplomatic way of telling the “Libertarians” to pound sand.

Meanwhile, Dan Ward, who earned more votes as a Libertarian in CD8 than the difference between the major candidates, has since left the party. 9News reports that Ward is “leaving the Libertarian party” and will “run again in the same House district as a Unity party candidate.”

Here is why Ward, the “most successful Libertarian candidate of 2022” (in 9News’ words), said he left the Libertarians: “A couple of us Libertarians spoke out on the welcoming nature of the LP towards white supremacy. The hateful nature towards the LGBTQ+ community. The day I left the party was the day that the national chair announced that she was starting a make-up line for CIS women only.”

To emphasize the point: Today’s Libertarian Party is too crazy for Dan Ward, the sound guy for the heavy metal band Driven By Turmoil, but a good fit for today’s Republican leadership. I’d rather party with Ward. “Driven by turmoil” is a great name for a band, but Colorado Republicans have adopted it as a strategy of self-defeat.

Ari Armstrong writes regularly for Complete Colorado and is the author of books about Ayn Rand, Harry Potter, and classical liberalism. He can be reached at ari at ariarmstrong dot com.

Letter to the Editor

I am all about doing what you want with your property but on the same hand I try to be a do unto your neighbor kind of person. I moved to Wiggins many years ago, it was about freedom, not having an HOA and being able to have what you wanted on your property neighbors would not complain about.

I did not want to force my lifestyle on people who like HOA rules, so we purchased some land in Wiggins and moved out of Denver. Was not easy!

The solar power project gave us a small window of warning about the project. The feedlot and another party have leased their land for combination just shy of 10,000 acres around our homes to install solar panels and 400+ lithium battery storage units. “Last we checked.”

So knowing the money behind the movement and the battle we were up against, I offered up a blue print that would protect the people’s property value within the two mile radius, Balanced Rock was pleading to negotiate with all who will be trapped in this hot glass sea because they just cared deeply and are very concerned about us, so this idea would fit perfectly. Beings are willing to use their money for influence by donating to key groups and taking out a front-page headline to display the tax benefits like a Christmas list surely, they would be willing to take care of the people this will harm the most.

The idea is to simply have the properties evaluated in the two-mile radius, if it does not sell within 5% of the appraisal, they make up the difference if it does not sell within two 180 cycles, they buy the property.

Balanced Rock and a few others from Morgan County seem to think our property value and lives will not be affected so it should be an easy way to show they care and move forward in good faith. A Billion-dollar project seems like a reasonable thing to ask. But so does asking them to move it where there are no homes. Shrug. Option.

Maybe Polis and Hickenlooper can come back out to Morgan and grease this side of the wheel too.

Mark Tapey Morgan County

Tonville School Pictures Circa 1921

Aims Community College Free-to-Students Initiative Has Saved Students $1.5M on Textbooks

GREELEY, CO – September 5, 2023 – Over the past five years, Aims Community College has adopted a Free-to-Student (F2S) initiative, saving students more than $1.5 million on textbooks. This is a growing effort that includes the use and development of Open Educational Resources (OERs) — teaching and learning resources that are freely available to educators and students.

Aims offers approximately 60 classes that utilize OERs each semester. Some courses do not require any outside textbooks, and others have low-cost options under $30. For courses that still require traditional textbooks, a selection is available for checkout at the Learning Commons on each of Aims’ four campus locations at no cost to students. The college expects this number of student options to grow as more faculty and departments adopt OERs.

Doug Strauss, Program Director of the Learning Commons, leads the college’s open educational resources implementation team. The group prioritizes using F2S and OER course materials, serving as a resource to faculty and drafting recommendations for the college. “I’m very proud of the work that our faculty and staff have done so that we can support students not just to save money but also to address equity challenges that students face,” Strauss said.

The F2S initiative at Aims grew out of early success with OER adoption by a few instructors and became part of Aims 2018-2023 strategic plan. The goal set by the strategic plan was to increase OER use by one percent year-over-year for five years. The college has successfully surpassed that measure. This effort was aided by the State of Colorado Open Educational Resources Grant Program, which has allowed Aims to provide faculty with funding to create materials, explore and curate teaching and learning resources, and redesign courses to use free resources.

A few OER textbooks have been published by Aims faculty, such as Responding to Emergencies: Skills Manual by Heather Brown and A Handbook of Classical Rhetoric for Advanced Composition by Ty Cronckhite.

County Archery Shoot Held on Sunday

In a very competitive archery shoot, 40 youth competed to capture their place on the Morgan County 4-H Archery Team who will compete at the State 4-H Shooting Sports Contests in August. It was held at the Morgan County Fairgrounds on Sunday, July 16, 2023. Youth have participated in practices held by certified 4-H archery instructors for the past three months in preparation for the County Fair shoot.

In the junior recurve traditional, Jacob Whitney placed 1st; Saxson Keller, 2nd; Hudson Blake, 3rd; Bentley Larrick, 4th; and Carter Cozad, 5th. Soul Keller placed 1st in senior recurve traditional; Elizabeth Whitney, 2nd; and Jasmine Brindisi, 3rd.

Lilyana Bridges was first in the junior archery compound traditional class. Kaine Eicher placed 2nd; Cora Paris, 3rd; Faith Dalrymple, 4th; Wesson Farnik, 5th; and Arisa Eicher, 6th. Other youth participating were Eddie Arndt, Evan Ferguson, and Wyatt Johnson. Max Curtis won the senior division in compound traditional. Cole Koch placed 2nd; Wyatt Gorrell, 3rd; Aiden Deiker, 4th; and Savannah Blake, 5th.

The junior archery compound limited competition was led by Axel Lorenzini, followed by Anna Werner, 2nd; Cason Tow, 3rd; Dillon Curtis, 4th; Brayden Sauer, 5th; and Greysen Reed, 6th. Also competing as a junior was Tucker Martens, Raylan Neal, Gunner Yocam, and Seth Whitney. For the senior age group in archery compound limited, Americo Lorenzini came in 1st; Wyatt Chacon, 2nd; Ceri Dixon, 3rd; Cole Curtis, 4th; Kirstin Powell, 5th; and Tenleigh Lorenzini, 6th. Katelynn Johnson and Mikaela Thiel also competed with the seniors.

Superintendents for the archery shoot were Dale Chacon, Levi Dixon, Stephanie Johnson, Chad and Katie Lorenzini, Justin Lowe, Paul Oliveira, Stefani Oliveira, and Janie Whitney.

Equipment and supplies for the 4-H shooting sports program have been provided through a NRA grant given in 2023, as well as through fundraising and sponsorships.

The creation and adoption of OER materials often lead to a change in the structure of courses. Aims provides resources for faculty to work with a learning experience designer who doesn’t just guide them in choosing books and materials and how to look at the instruction differently. The faculty also has an opportunity to work with a librarian to help collect materials and assist with publishing OER materials.

Jim Hutchinson, a Learning Experience Designer at Aims, works with faculty throughout the college to redevelop courses using an approach incorporating OERs. He sees one of the significant benefits is offering freedom for the instructors and more strategically structuring classes to meet learning objectives.

“When we become more purposeful about the materials we use, it’s a much more aligned and engaging course,” Hutchinson said. “Museums curate their collections, and instructors when they develop courses, curate materials. It’s a more involved process, but the outcome is so much better.”

Departments such as Early Childhood Education have worked towards using OER materials exclusively in most of their courses. The team worked to compile an extensive collection of credible videos, journal articles and blogs. “Textbooks go this broad on everything and now we can focus on what is relevant in the world out there,” said Laura Killen-Wing, instructor of Early Childhood Education. She also has students research to find more resources, many of which have been used in classes the following semesters. “We’re training them to find relevant information and they can continue their learning and research as they go along.”

Faculty are free to use, adapt, and redistribute OERs to fit their specific course needs, making the classes more current and focused on what students need to learn. Aims biology professor Emma Murray is passionate about developing her science courses with OER in mind. “I feel more in control of the resources I give students.” She finds the ability to tailor resources to course outcomes a major benefit. “Traditionally, you get a giant textbook and you’re teaching the textbook and you’re forced to go along with the way the textbook is.”

Murray recently developed, wrote and illustrated a workbook for biology courses and found it rewarding to create. “It takes time and energy and passion,” she said. With this experience under her belt, she is collaborating with other science department faculty to develop and provide illustrations for lab manuals in areas such as physics and geology.

OER Promotes Education Equity and Positive Outcomes at Aims and Beyond OER can reduce inequalities in education by providing access to high-quality materials to all students. A 2019 U.S. PIRG Education Fund survey found that 63 percent of students skipped buying textbooks. The same study found that 90 percent of students worried that not having the books would negatively impact their grades. Aside from the cost, there are other barriers for students getting materials on the first day of class, such as a publisher or bookstore running out of books.

Strauss applauds the inclusivity of these materials in a higher educational setting. “When the books are available on the first day of class, everybody is on an equal playing field. That is an equity issue when it comes to having students have the materials and anything else they need to succeed.”

Hutchinson sees frustrations in students when using traditional textbooks. “They often have to buy these $300 textbooks and are often not utilized heavily. Very few of us keep those books and you go and sell them back and sometimes you don’t even get your money back because they came out with the new version.”

Students have provided good feedback about the move to more OER textbooks and resources. “Students are interested in saving money, but they appreciate that they succinctly give them what they need for the class,” Murray said.

Professor and Chair of Early Child Education Christine Wiedeman has received positive feedback as well. “Students have been thrilled; they’ve been thankful. They’re grateful because it’s relevant material.”

Aims Community College values affordability, equity and student success, which will help propel the use of more OER materials moving forward. The college’s open educational resources implementation team is exploring ways to grow this movement at Aims and continue obtaining funding to ensure these initiatives will endure.

To learn more about the Aims Free-to-Student (F2S) initiative, please visit aims. co/free-textbooks.

Archery Members: Morgan County junior and Senior 4-H Archery shooting sports members and coaches prior to beginning the 2023 Morgan County Fair Archery Shoot.

Junior Members: Four Junior members competing during the 2023 Morgan County Fair Archery Shoot.

Senior Members: A Senior member competing during the 2023 Morgan County Fair Archery Shoot.

See story on page 13...

September & October Calendar

Varsity Football

WIGGINS SCHOOL DISTRICT 50J SEPTEMBER NEWS

GOOD PEOPLE OF TIGER NATION: September 2023

On August 14th the community held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Wiggins Elementary School. The new elementary school is a 45,000 sq ft state of the art building that currently houses grades 4-6 with 17 classrooms, three large breakout spaces, a dedicated STEAM lab, an up to date special education department and a 250 seat gymnasium. We couldn’t be more pleased with the process of building this school alongside our Owner’s Representative Anser Advisory, our architects at Hord Coplan and Macht, and our builder Adolphson and Peterson. The Wiggins School District thanks everyone for their support of education and their trust in the school system.

Congratulations to all of the students, teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators for all of your hard work in the classroom last school year. The Elementary School saw a 34 point increase in their CMAS scores. This major improvement moved the elementary school from Improvement to Performance. The Middle School is now officially off of the accountability clock as this is its second year in a row achieving the Performance rating. Teachers at the Middle School worked alongside representatives from Generation Schools Network in a Turnaround Leadership Program. The twoyear program proved to be worthwhile for the teachers and the students. Wiggins High School continues to be a high achieving school as it has received a Performance rating for over a decade straight.

The Wiggins community members should be proud of both the students and the teachers. Even as the district grows the tradition of academic excellence continues to resonate in our classrooms.

Wiggins school district receives funding from both the state and federal government for free and reduced meals, Title programs, and grants. Unlike most school districts in the state, Wiggins School District is able to fully fund payroll and utility bills by our share of local taxes. The majority of our taxes come from oil and gas, however, our local farmers, local businesses, and residents of the Wiggins School District all pay their fair share to the district.

The Board of Education is being proactive by reviewing district health policies and procedures. The BOE has directed the administration to develop procedures that ensure Wiggins students and staff are not subjected to impending COVID mandates that may possibly be set by Government officials. Wiggins Board of Education members are using their power of local control by having asked the administration to do what is right for our community based on the data from the Wiggins area, not from the coasts, or from the Front Range. Administrators and staff members will begin to bullet point safety measures that will keep our staff and students safely in school without infringing on their personal rights.

Monthly Expenditures for August

HS Volleyball

Middle School Volleyball XC

Middle School Football

*It's not too late to sign up for Universal Preschool. Contact Miss Lisa at 970-483-7783 to enroll. Some part day openings are still available.

*Wiggins Schools Band Supporters, if you or your parents or grandparents or anyone that you know has a band instrument that you are tired of having around the house, please donate it to the Wiggins Band program. We have a shortage of instruments, so anything you can do to help us out would be greatly appreciated. Drop them off at the school or call the office and Mr. Everett would be happy to come pick it up from you. Thanks in advance for helping us out.

MCC Foundation Receives $843,750 Donation to Support Skilled Trades Training

The Morgan Community College (MCC) Foundation is pleased to announce the receipt of a donation of $843,750, made possible through a trust gift from an anonymous donor. At the request of the donor, funds have been earmarked to support students pursuing a career in a trade and will be allocated towards scholarships for individuals enrolled in MCC Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs as well as help purchase equipment to support these programs.

The MCC Foundation Board approved $193,750 from this donation to be made available immediately to MCC for scholarships and program equipment needs; $500,000 to be invested in a permanent endowment dedicated to CTE Scholarships and Program support, with a portion of the earnings from this endowment becoming available annually to aid students and procure program equipment; and $150,000 to be matched by $150,000 from a Title V Federal Grant to create a MCC Title V Endowment, which will play a pivotal role in advancing the institution’s long term commitment to education and community development.

This Title V endowment, designed to help secure the future of education in northeast Colorado, will be invested for a minimum of 20 years. Following this period, at least fifty percent of the funds will provide support to students enrolled in Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, along with the purchase of essential equipment to enhance the quality of CTE education. The remaining funds will be used to fulfill the original objectives of the Title V Grant, which includes offering financial assistance to low-income and Hispanic students who are pursuing their education at MCC. Over the course of the 20-year investment period, the $300,000 endowment is projected to grow substantially, potentially reaching an estimated $1 million. This growth will not only help support the financial stability of MCC but also bolster its ability to provide quality education and support to its diverse student body.

“What a surprise to receive this gift!” stated Susan Clough, Director of Development for the MCC Foundation. “The donor obviously cared deeply for career and technical education. Working together, the MCC Foundation and the College were able to develop a comprehensive plan to meet the donor’s request. Dividing the funds in several ways allows immediate needs to be met, as well as create endowments to support CTE students and programs well into the future.”

This generous donation stands as one of the largest contributions ever received by the MCC Foundation, demonstrating the profound impact collaboration between educational institutions and philanthropic donors can have in making quality education accessible to all. MCC remains committed to enhancing educational opportunities for students and continuing to serve as a cornerstone of progress in northeast Colorado.

“This generous gift represents a significant boost toward fulfilling our mission of fostering educational opportunities in the region,” stated Dr. Curt Freed, President of Morgan Community College. “We are immensely grateful for this gift from the anonymous donor’s trust and the Title V Federal Grant, both of which provide resources for students to achieve training to meet the skilled workforce needs in our communities.”

About the MCC Foundation: The mission of the MCC Foundation is to secure financial resources for the growth and development of Morgan Community College (MCC) and to provide an exceptional learning environment for students.

For more information about the MCC Foundation, visit MorganCC.edu/giving or contact Susan Clough, Director of Development, at Susan.Clough@MorganCC. edu or 970-542-3133. Donations can be made to the MCC Foundation online at MorganCC.edu/giving or mailed to the MCC Foundation, 300 Main Street, Fort Morgan, CO 80701. All gifts made to the MCC Foundation are tax deductible.

To learn more about MCC Career and Technical Education programs, visit MorganCC.edu or call 970-542-3100.

The U and I Club Celebrates “90” Years

In the fall of 1933, a group of Sunnydale school area women decided that they needed to form a lady’s club. The school was located between Bennett and Prospect Valley, a mile east of highway 79 on Bromley Lane. The schoolhouse is currently still present but is now a residence. This club idea was to be able to gather together with the other rural neighboring ladies. In those days Bennett, Keenesburg and Brighton were too far to travel by automobile, many ladies did not even drive!

The lady’s club was named the “The U and I Club.”

Club Flower: Sunflower

Club Colors: Brown & Yellow

Club Motto: If you want a friend, be friendly.

Club Song: “O, Give Me a Home”

Each month the women would get together at a different home location by alphabetical order of last name on the 3rd Wednesday for a potluck luncheon. Each person would bring a covered dish or dessert while the hostess provided her home with drinks and the main dish. The sharing of recipes, new ones or family favorites became a big part of this club, often taking home new recipe ideas to cook for their families or other social events. To gather together allowed the women to get to socialize, sharing of family and friendship. They would get new ideas for the home, gardening, canning, or cleaning tips, they often would even find different ideas for their children’s school lunches.

Noon dinner was had all together at a decorated linen covered table(s). In the earlier years, mothers brought their young children not yet of school age, at times as many as 6-15 little darlings additionally were running around. Afterwards a meeting would be held that included a president, secretary/treasurer, a historian along with an orderly roll call by last name. A sunshine lady was in charge of sending various cards to neighbors, members and their families for birthdays, condolences, get well wishes or anniversaries. New & old business was followed by a parliamentary procedure to conduct the meeting. Rules had to be adhered to along with a yearly club dues collected from each member. January 1946 minutes show that, “from now on we are to call each other by first names”. Those same original minutes show that in 1946 and prior, dues were .45 cents per year, creeping up to $1.00 in the early 70’s and reaching $5.00 by the beginning of 1978. The dues of $10.00 have remained the same each year since 1985. Yes, 38 years later with no increase! Being committed and present

was expected to be a member. Lots of laughs and fun was always had, various games that were played on club days when the meeting was finished such as bunco, bingo, cootie, or history trivia.

The original membership criteria to join this ladies’ club was that you had to live in the Sunnydale surrounding areas. In the early 1970’s it was decided to allow community connected women to join, they had to be invited and voted in unanimously by the existing U and I Club members. Each member received a current book with club information, important dates, member addresses or keeping of notes that was handmade by a yearbook committee. Each summer a picnic used to be planned for the families of the Sunnydale School and The U and I Club joining together at a community park with a list of what each person was to bring.

Together as a club they supported the Sunnydale school, donating money or bringing baked goods to functions. They had various fundraisers where they would make flour sacks to sell or of making articles to auction. In the 1950’s the ladies made quilt squares; a quilt was then put together to be auctioned at a Sunnydale school event. Each year they made monetary donations to not only the school, but to Crippled Childrens Fund, Denver Area War Chest, Easter Seals, March of Dimes, Polio Drive and or the Red Cross to name a few.

The women even agreed to provide food and desserts for a club member’s farm auction. When the treasure account increased, it enabled the members to various new ideas, donations, restaurant luncheons, spring outings, and at times a play or musical was also voted to attend. Through the years, the ladies have assisted and continue to provide food or desserts for funerals of families. According to records there have been 102 members since The U and I Club began in 1933 to the present.

The founding members and many of the longtime members have since passed away or moved through the years. The memories and friendships formed continue to live on and will long be remembered. The ladies supported each other in good times and tougher times sharing community, neighborly or family events, and losses of loved ones. Families or adult children that grew up while attending with their mother or grandmothers are far and wide. The stories continue for what started out as a vision to gather to socialize with friends and neighbors.

The love and commitment for this generational club has continued to thrive and still exists today.

“90” years later The U and I Club is conducted as close as it was intended. 2023

Transfer degrees from MCC to a Colorado university means a higher chance of success and less debt.

Georgene Brnak, and Dorthy Gurtler, Linda Dalrymple, Marlene Kalcevic, and Vira Lewton

Gurtler, Georgene Brnak, Shirley Graybill, Jeanette Graybill, Helen Sirios, Jody Nighswonger, Clara Smith, Georgene Abbott, Sally Abbott, Judy Sirios, and Linda Dalrymple

Air Rifle and Air Pistol Results from County Fair Shoots

Twenty-six Morgan County 4-H shooters gathered for their County Fair air rifle and air pistol shoot on July 16, at the Morgan County Fairgrounds Multipurpose Building. Individual champions and place finishers were determined in all air rifle and air pistol shooting disciplines. The shoot also determined who the county representatives would be at the Colorado State 4-H Shooting Championships in August in Pueblo.

Shooters were grouped as juniors (ages 8-13) and seniors (ages 14-18). A total of four different air rifle shooting classes were available at both the junior and senior levels. A single contest was held in air pistol shooting. The top six shooters in each class will comprise the Morgan County team in that class at the state shoot. Should a shooter elect to not participate in the state event, the next highest scoring shooter will be asked to join the team in that discipline.

Top finishers in junior 3 Position were; 1) Saxson Keller, 2) Kaine Eicher, 3) Arisa Eicher, 4) Seth Whitney, 5) Fowler Farnam, and 6) Bentley Larrick. Gavyn Larrick also competed for the juniors. Senior 3 Position International finishers were; 1) Danielle Moon, 2) Ethan Bohl, 3) Sateen Keller, 4) Jasmine Brindisi, 5) Soul Keller, and 6) Chad Schilling.

Junior 4 Position Sporter winners were; 1) Saxson Keller, 2) Tate Oliver, 3) Kaine Eicher, 4) Shylynn Larrick, 5) Arisa Eicher, and 6) Cora Paris. Also competing for the juniors was Gabriel Higgins, Liam Higgins, Katelynn Jones, Bentley Larrick, Kash Meyer, Seth Whitney, and Jackson Zink. Senior 4 Position Sporter finishers were; 1) Danielle Moon, 2) Ethan Bohl, 3) Sateen Keller, 4) Kayla Garcia, 5) Soul Keller, and 6) Katelynn Johnson. Also competing for the seniors was Jasmine Brindisi, Chad Schilling, and Elizabeth Whitney.

Olympic Offhand junior champions were; 1) Saxson Keller, 2) Kaine Eicher, 3) Arisa Eicher, 4) Shylynn Larrick, and 5) Bentley Larrick. Olympic Offhand senior champions were; 1) Ethan Bohl, 2) Danielle Moon, 3) Sateen Keller, 4) Chad Schilling, 5) Soul Keller, and 6) Katelynn Johnson. Jasmine Brindisi, Wyatt Gorrell, Rylan Schreiner, and Elizabeth Whitney also competed in the Olympic offhand class.

Air Rifle Utility Class junior winners were; 1) Saxson Keller, 2) Kaine Eicher, 3) Shylynn Larrick, 4) Maddex Reynolds, 5) Arisa Eicher, and 6) Wyatt Johnson. Fowler Farnam, Gabriel Higgins, Liam Higgins, Katelynn Jones, Aubrey Kauffman, Bentley Larrick, Gavyn Larrick, Kash Meyer, Cora Paris, Cason Tow, Seth Whitney, and Jackson Zink also shot at the junior level. Senior Air Rifle Utility champions were; 1) Danielle Moon, 2) Chad Schilling, 3) Ethan Bohl, 4) Soul Keller, 5) Wyatt Gorrell, and 6) Jasmine Brindisi. Katelynn Johnson and Elizabeth Whitney also competed in utility for the seniors.

An air pistol shoot was also held in conjunction with the air rifle contest, junior winners were; 1) Kaine Eicher, 2) Wyatt Johnson, 3) Arisa Eicher, 4) Raylan Neal, 5) Brooklyn Eggleston, and 6) Shylynn Larrick. Fowler Farnam, Katelynn Jones, Bentley Larrick, Gavyn Larrick, and Seth Whitney also competed with the juniors. Senior air pistol champions were 1) Talan Hall, 2) Wiley Eicher, 3) Chad Schilling, 4) Rylan Schreiner, and 5) Shariyah Grotzky.

4-H Air Rifle coaches are David Bohl, Ryan Eggleston, DJ Eicher, Alison Gorrell, Justin Lowe, and Kortney Venzke. Owen and Danielle Eggleston, and Alison Gorrekk coach the air pistol shooters. Andy and Janet Larrick are the scoring superintendents. More information regarding involvement of youth in air rifle and air pistol may be obtained by contacting the Morgan County Extension Office at (970)542-3540. Equipment and supplies for the 4-H shooting sports program have been provided through a NRA grant given in 2023, through fundraising, and donations.

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT

Air Rifle and Air Pistol Members: Morgan County junior and Senior 4-H Air Rifle and Air Pistol shooting sports members and coaches prior to beginning the 2023 Morgan County Fair Shoot.

Colorado’s Long Battle Over Raw Milk is Reenergized by the “Food Freedom” Movement

The state in recent years has eased regulations on meat processing, selling chicken eggs and homemade baked goods, but still has the most restrictive raw milk rule in the region by Jennifer

Brown, The Colorado Sun BOONE

Ablonde cow named Punky munches on a clump of deep-green alfalfa and orchard grass, her bottomless brown eyes fixed on the spot where her newborn calf is hidden in the tall weeds.

Farmer Doug Wiley will load the hours-old calf and his jersey-Brown Swiss cow into a trailer later today headed from the pasture to the milking barn. Punky has too much milk for the baby bull to drink on his own, though the cow will nurse her calf for the next few months. They’ll spend their days moving from pasture to pasture, chasing the thickest and greenest grasses.

From the peaceful farm east of Pueblo, where yellow sulphur butterflies hover above the fields and the cows seem like they’re living their best lives, comes perhaps the most controversial food product in Colorado: raw milk.

Selling raw milk, which is not pasteurized, or cooked, to kill any harmful bacteria, is illegal in this state. The only way to get it legally is to become one of the owners of a herd of cows or goats, because farmers are allowed to consume their own products.

Wiley, who wears a red cap that says “Make Milk Raw Again,” has about 250 shareholders, each of whom has signed a bill of sale to become part owner of his herd of 40 milk cows. The shareholders sign contracts specifying that Wiley will care for and milk the cows, and that the shareholders will pay a boarding fee of $57 per month. There is a waiting list, and no one can sign a bill of sale before touring Larga Vista Ranch and meeting the cows.

Each share comes with one gallon of raw milk per week, which shareholders must pick up by driving dirt roads through the sorghum and cornfields of Pueblo County, or meeting at the drop-off spots in Colorado Springs. In other words, they really want it.

About one-third of Wiley’s shareholders say they cannot digest pasteurized milk. Some are putting it in bottles for their babies. All go through the trouble of buying part of a cow herd because they believe raw milk is healthier, providing enzymes that they say helps digestion, and has a richer, sweeter taste.

The Raw Milk Association of Colorado maintains that before milk is pasteurized, it’s a “living rich food” that contains colloidal minerals, vitamins A, C and B, and enzymes that aid in the digestion and absorption of the milk’s sugars and fats. “The alteration of foods and their nutrient content over the course of the last century has had longterm negative impact on the ability to maintain optimum human health and definitely worsens or initiates chemical and food sensitivities,” the association says.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the sale of unpasteurized milk across state lines in 1987, aiming to protect consumers from sickening and potentially deadly outbreaks caused by E. coli, salmonella and campylobacter. The FDA maintains there are no health benefits to drinking raw milk and that it’s unsafe, especially for children and older people. But states are free to make their own laws.

Lately, the debate over raw milk is taking on new energy as part of the “food freedom” movement. The push for more farm-to-table food and less government interference has led Colorado policymakers in recent years to loosen restrictions on local, custom meat processing and pass the Cottage Foods Act, which lets people sell goods made in their own kitchens, no license or inspection required.

Still, Colorado’s rules on raw milk are stricter than in any of its eight surrounding states and most of the West.

In Wyoming, Oregon, Montana, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, farmers are allowed to sell raw milk directly to consumers, such as straight from the farm or at farmers markets. Retail milk sales are legal in Utah, Idaho, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and California.

Colorado governor supports legalizing raw milk

A farmer who operated dairies in Loveland and Chaffee County is credited with developing the herd-share concept to sell raw milk in Colorado. State law bans its sale, but doesn’t prevent farmers from eating or drinking their own products straight from the farm.

The arrangement was nearly banned in 2004, though, when regulators at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment who knew about the herdshare option announced they were considering a rule change. Raw milk farmers and shareholders protested by the dozens, and public health officials backed off. Then in 2005, the legislature passed a law stating that a “consumer with an ownership interest in the cow, goat or herd” can obtain raw milk.

When a 2010 outbreak linked to raw goat milk from Longmont sickened 30 people and hospitalized two children, state health department warnings about raw milk resurged and there were renewed calls for stricter policies, such as creating consequences for people who get milk through a herd share and then give it to others. But the herd-share rule remained intact.

Then this summer, the Colorado Libertarian Party offered to make a deal to help Republicans get elected if they would, among other promises, pledge to support raw milk. The state Libertarian Party vowed it would not run in competitive legislative districts when the GOP candidate agrees to vote to cut taxes and “support food freedom, such as raw milk and local meat processing.”

State law requires raw goat and cow milk dairies that sell shares to register with the state health department, though they are not inspected. They also must include a warning about the potential risks, and shareholders are not allowed to share their milk with others, though it’s unclear whether there are consequences for violating that part of the rule.

The Raw Milk Association of Colorado lists more than 230 farms that sell raw milk, including options for milk from sheep, yaks and camels.

Colorado, with its independent spirit, is likely to eventually see a coalescence of freedom-loving libertarians, Republicans supporting farmers’ rights, and Democrats in favor of nonprocessed food choices to rally around raw milk, said Dan Waldvogle, director of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union.

This doesn’t seem far off. Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat with libertarian leanings, is already on board, telling The Sun this week that he hopes Colorado moves to “fully legalize the production and sale of raw milk, properly labeled, so that those who prefer

it are able to legally obtain it with greater ease.”

The governor said people should have the freedom to choose whether to drink raw milk, pasteurized milk or no milk. “Compared to many other choices that are fully legal, including fatty foods and excess alcohol, the risk of raw milk is low,” Polis said via email.

Waldvogle, with the farmers union, said he felt he was in a “back-alley drug deal type of situation” when he was part of a herd share and picked up his weekly raw milk in Salida, literally in an alley. “And God forbid if I was out of town that Friday,” he said, explaining why he dropped out. “We were paying a premium and we weren’t drinking all the milk.

“Food safety should be paramount,” he said. But “our policy absolutely supports informed consumers being able to assess risk … putting consumers in the driver’s seat.”

“That was enough of an uphill battle to create the raw milk allowances that we even have now,” he said. “You get one person in there that says the word ‘salmonella’ and gets everyone worked into a frenzy. But there has got to be a balance to make sure you are creating access.”

The food-freedom movement is even more evident in other states.

Iowa, where the legislature had waved off previous attempts to legalize raw milk, passed a law allowing direct sales from farmers to customers this year. Wyoming in 2015 passed the “Food Freedom Act,” allowing farmers to sell raw milk and other farm goods directly to customers and at farmers markets, though not in retail stores. The law was a step up from the herd-share model Wyoming raw dairy producers had been using.

This year, Wyoming lawmakers were debating mayonnaise, clarifying that “potentially hazardous” products, such as those that contain raw eggs, are included among the homemade goods that people can sell.

“Raw milk is a superfood and I really think people are realizing that again,” said Christine Hampshire, who has grown from one family milk cow at her Wyoming farm to milking 12 cows to meet demand. She sells the milk at a farmers market that’s open four days per week and includes goods from other producers.

Aron Lam, mayor of the Weld County town of Keenesburg and a libertarian, said it’s time that raw milk policies evolve, arguing that animals raised naturally on small farms are kept clean and treated like pets. Besides, he said, people should have the right to eat what they want.

“Raw milk is a superfood and I really think people are realizing that again.” — Christine Hampshire, who sells raw milk in Wyoming

He ran as leader of the small plains town northeast of Denver along Interstate 76 on a “food freedom” platform. One of his first acts as mayor was to get the town council to repeal its prohibition on residents selling chicken eggs to their neighbors.

“There is risk versus benefit to everything in life,” he said. “If some people think the small risk of illness outweighs the health benefits, I don’t think it should be the government stepping in to say, ‘You can’t do this.’”

Lam pointed to data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which advises against drinking raw milk, indicating about 3% of Americans regularly drink raw milk yet there are only a handful of outbreaks reported each year.

But the CDC says that as more states have allowed raw milk sales, outbreaks are increasing. Places where raw milk was legally sold had 3.2 times more outbreaks compared with areas where it was illegal, according to one study that spanned 1998-2018. In the six years from 2007-12, 26 states reported 81 outbreaks linked to raw milk, resulting in 979 illnesses.

Colorado has had 14 outbreaks linked to raw milk since 1989, according to data from the state Department of Public Health and Environment. Those outbreaks sickened 247 people, and included a 2016 outbreak at Wiley’s Larga Vista Ranch in Pueblo County that resulted in 17 people falling ill.

“Skim

milk is a disaster”

Wiley, his face shaded by a wide-brimmed straw hat as he walks through the cow pasture in rubber boots, says he knows what happened to cause the foodborne illness that health officials traced back to his farm nine years ago. He had been in the hen house just before milking his cows and must have carried some campylobacter bacteria on his hands.

Since then, there has been a strict policy on the ranch that no one milks a cow without first scrubbing up.

He lost a couple of shareholders because of the outbreak, but also got calls from people who wanted to sign up when they heard there was raw milk for sale in Pueblo County. People who get food poisoning from campylobacter typically have diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps.

In the milk barn, four cows line up at a time in an operation that looks about as far from a mass commercial dairy as exists. Each cow has their udder washed with an iodine solution before they’re attached to a milking machine. The milk is carried down a tube through the wall and into a room where cows aren’t allowed. There, it’s stored in a stainless steel tank at 37 degrees. Later, Wiley and his two workers transfer the milk to half-gallon glass or plastic jugs that line the shelves of a refrigerator until pickup or delivery day.

The milk has a yellowish tint, not white like the pasteurized, store-bought kind, and it’s sweeter, though Wiley says he can taste a difference in the flavor depending on what grasses his cows are eating. As the milk jugs sit, the cream rises, creating a thick layer at the top. It’s best to shake it before pouring, unless someone is trying to hog the creamiest part for themselves.

“Most of the little children that come and sign up and try the milk say it’s like drinking a milkshake,” he said. “The last time I tried to drink store-bought milk it was like, oh ugh, no wonder people are coming to me.”

Wiley, the youngest of five brothers who grew up on the dairy farm, drinks a halfgallon every day. After he eats in a restaurant, he drinks a tall glass of milk at home because he says it helps him digest. “Skim milk,” he said, “is a disaster that should never have been put on the population.”

Before Wiley began selling raw milk shares about two decades ago, customers were driving from Pueblo County to as far away as Loveland to get raw milk.

Wiley’s parents operated a commercial dairy for decades, but had to sell off their cows, equipment and part of their land in the farm bust of the early 1990s. He studied agronomy at Colorado State University and returned to the farm, where he began working the land that his family has farmed for 100 years. He grows vegetables organically, without pesticides, and typically plants onions, beets, sweet corn and melons. He raises grass-fed beef and pasture-raised pork. His animals don’t receive

antibiotics or vaccines. The cows eat only grass and a molasses supplement, no grain. The last time I tried to drink store-bought milk it was like, oh ugh, no wonder people are coming to me. — Doug Wiley, farmer at Larga Vista Ranch

“Nutrition isn’t necessarily a starting point in discussions of farming and agriculture and it needs to be,” Wiley said. “If we started there, then raw milk would be part of the conversation. It all starts with nutrition. You just don’t one day quit vaccinating. You have to have good minerals in the soil.”

Wiley’s goal is raising the most nutritious food possible while properly caring for the land.

He doesn’t till the fields with a tractor, but instead rotates his cows and pigs from plot to plot by using a pig-tailed post to lift the wire of an electric fence and move its borders. The cows eat the ryegrass, alfalfa and orchard grass, leaving behind the thistle. Then the pigs come along, rooting up the ground and eating the thistle roots.

The soil, Wiley says, is dense with nutrients and minerals from decades of proper management. This summer, when there was abundant rain, the grass grew lush and multiple varieties of crickets moved in to sing like a chorus. The grasshoppers are gigantic.

The dozen animals in the pasture with Punky and her new calf, including Essie and Scarlett, are almost all either nursing or pregnant. A few acres away, young heifers and bulls are in their own square of land, where they breed naturally.

“The trick to making that most nutritious food is covering up the soil,” he said. “We’ve had these 100-degree days and the soil is protected. The beauty of pasture is complex and diverse, and weeds are part of it.”

Her son was hospitalized because of raw milk

Mary McGonigle-Martin doesn’t care how idyllic the farm is or how pretty the cows are. “They lie in manure,” she said. “This movement makes it sound like if you just raise the cow as God intended, then your milk is safe.”

The California mom became a food safety advocate 17 years ago, after her then 7-yearold son ended up in the hospital for two months with hemolytic uremic syndrome that threatened to destroy his kidney function. The boy was sickened by E. coli after drinking raw cow’s milk that McGonigle-Martin had purchased at a grocery store near her home in Murrieta, Calif., hoping that maybe it would help with his attention deficit disorder.

Two and a half weeks after buying the milk, McGonigle-Martin’s son got severe diarrhea and was rushed to the hospital.

McGonigle-Martin, who is on the board of the Chicago-based organization Stop Food Illness, said public health officials are losing ground on protecting the public from raw milk. She has testified before policymakers across the country, including multiple times in Iowa, and watched as national raw milk advocacy groups, including the Weston A. Price Foundation, have built support in various states for food-freedom policies.

On top of that, TikTok and Instagram, where influencers are touting the health benefits of raw milk, are not helping, she said.

“On social media they make it sound so good that I think that is outweighing the public health message,” she said. “It’s just people saying, ‘I’m drinking raw milk. It’s great! It’s healing my body! You should drink raw milk.’”

Promoters have spread “propaganda” that pasteurized milk is a processed food, McGonigle-Martin said. “We’re in a time where you don’t want to eat processed food. I am all for eating healthy and a lot less processed foods, but people have to understand that milk is an entirely different medium.”

She puts milk in the same category as meat — it requires cooking to kill the pathogens.

“People could do it safely for five, six, seven years and not have a serious illness happen, and then one day, it happens,” she said. “I think that’s the hard part.”

In some areas, raw milk is entwined with homeschooling, among families who want to buy natural food from small farmers. That’s distressing to McGonigle-Martin, who found that most of those who’ve been hospitalized because of raw milk were children. “This really is a crime,” she said. “They market to pregnant women and children. This is the base they want buying the milk.”

Shareholders seek raw milk for its health benefits

Wiley has never gotten sick from raw milk. No one in his family, not even his 90-yearold mother, fell ill in the 2016 outbreak blamed on campylobacter bacteria.

They speculate it’s because they grew up on the land, with the cows and pigs and chickens. Kids who grow up on dairy farms drinking raw milk also have a lower incidence of asthma and allergies, according to one study.

For Kenneth Gardner, a shareholder in Wiley’s herd since 2007, raw milk is part of an organic food regimen that he says prevents him from having health problems or disease.

“Pasteurized milk is toxic,” he said while picking up his raw milk share at a Colorado Springs farmers market. “It’s not good for your body. I don’t ever drink (pasteurized) milk and I hardly ever go out to eat because the food sources of all the restaurants are basically the same — they’re all from the big food giants.”

Gardner and his brother go through about two gallons of milk per week, he said. They drink it, but also make kefir, which is fermented and the texture of yogurt or cottage cheese. He traces the origin of his pure and raw food diet back to the early 2000s, when he read “Fast Food Nation,” an expose about the U.S. fast-food industry and, specifically, McDonald’s.

“I just got more and more religious about what I put in my mouth,” he said.

Mariah Maza, another shareholder of Wiley’s herd, is pregnant and has two kids who are 2 and 3 years old. She switched to raw milk after hearing it had more nutrients, and talking about it via text with her deployed husband.

“I felt a lot better about giving my kids milk before bed or giving them milk as a snack, and I just felt better about what I was feeding them,” she said. “And I’m pregnant right now so I’m really glad to have raw milk to drink.”

Part of it, too, is knowing the guy who is handling the milk and how the cows live on the farm, Maza said. “I think they’re very specific about how they grow their crops and how they treat the cows, and everything’s organic,” she said. “So that was really important to us, too.”

Colorado Sun photographer Olivia Sun contributed to this report.

Muzzleloader Shoot Held, Pre-County Fair Events Continue

Chad Schilling and Ben Werner captured the first-place awards in the senior and junior divisions at the 2023 Morgan County Fair 4-H Muzzleloader Shoot. Ten youth competed in the contest that was held on Friday July 15. The contest requires 4-H members to shoot a total of 15 shots, five at targets shaped like bottles, five at bullseye targets, and five at a metal gong.

Placings in the senior division were 1) Chad Schilling, 2) Ethan Bohl, 3) Jasmine Brindisi, and 4) Rylan Schreiner.

Placings in the junior division were 1) Ben Werner, 2) Kaine Eicher, 3) Saxson Keller, 4) Arisa Eicher, 5) Bentley Larrick and 6) Danica Bledsoe.

Superintendents for the muzzleloader shoot were DJ Eicher and Andy Larrick. All coaches for 4-H Shooting Sports are volunteers through Morgan County 4-H, are trained by individuals with Colorado 4-H using a nationally approved curriculum. The season runs from around April- August, and the coaches spend an average of four hours a month teaching the youth in this discipline.

The muzzleloader shoot was held at Muir Springs. Equipment and supplies for the 4-H shooting sports program have been provided through a NRA grant given in 2023 as well as through fundraising and sponsorships.

All members who participated in the Muzzleloader qualified for the Colorado State 4-H Muzzleloader shoot which will be held in Pueblo on August 19 and 20, 2023. Shooting sports awards were presented at an awards dinner on Tuesday, July 18 at the Mark Arndt Event Center at the Morgan County Fairgrounds.

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported news organization that covers Colorado people, places and issues. To sign up for free newsletters, subscribe or learn more, visit ColoradoSun.com

Muzzleloader Participants: Junior and Senior Muzzleloader competitors prior to the 2023 Morgan County Fair 4-H Muzzleloader Shoot.

Schilling– Senior Champion Chad Schilling during the 2023 Morgan County Fair 4-H Muzzleloader Shoot.

Werner – Junior Champion Ben Werner during the 2023 Morgan County Fair 4-H Muzzleloader Shoot.

The Friends of New Raymer

7th Annual Car Show 2023

by Talia Siens, Article and Pictures

The Friends of Raymer held their 7th Annual Car Show at the community center in New Raymer on September 9, 2023. This event benefits the restoration of the historic buildings along Centre Avenue in New Raymer. Major sponsors this year include Schmeeckle Brothers Construction, McEndaffer Feed yard, and the High Plains Library District as well as many other community businesses that will be featured on FriendsOfRaymer.com. Highlights of the day included live music played by band members Booker, Tyler, Steve, and Gigi O’Hare, Jim Heaton, and National Fiddle Champions, Cody Stadelmaier, and Julian Oliver. Bigg Buttz BBQ from Greeley came out and provided delicious BBQ to the participants. Breads and Treats were offered by Jamie’s Sweet Side. Items were donated for a silent auction by local community members and businesses throughout Fort Morgan and Sterling. Car show winners were selected by popular vote and were given awards designed, created, and donated by Toni Sprenger at Harsh International.

This year’s winners were:

Classic Vehicle

Steve Doerschlag from Eaton

1963 Studebaker Lark Custom R-2

Late Model Vehicle

Marvin Stanley from Sterling

2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt

Custom Car

Butch Lapp from Sterling

1935 Ford Sedan

Truck

Gary and Lee Ann Cramer from La Salle

1947 Grey Street Pro

Custom Contraption

Wayne Krager from New Raymer

1939 IHC H Tractor with a custom cart and umbrella

Tractor

Zac Breazeale from New Raymer

1941 John Deere H

FINANCIAL FOCUS

Own A Business? Consider These Retirement Plans

If you own a small business or are self-employed, you’ve always got plenty to do, but you can’t forget about the days when you’ll be less busy — that is, when you’re retired. How can you prepare for that time of your life?

One key step is establishing a retirement plan for your business or yourself. And thanks to the 2022 SECURE 2.0 Act, you can now receive tax credits for opening and administering a 401(k), SEP-IRA or SIMPLE IRA. These aren’t the only plans available for small businesses or sole proprietors, but they are among the most popular. Let’s look at each of them:

• 401(k) – A 401(k) offers several key benefits: First, any earnings growth is tax deferred, and your contributions can be tax deductible. (Taxes are due upon withdrawal, and withdrawals prior to age 59½ may be subject to a 10%

penalty.)

If you choose a Roth 401(k), your contributions aren’t deductible, but your earnings and withdrawals will be tax free, provided you meet certain conditions. And a 401(k) offers a variety of investment options. If you have workers, you’ll need to consider whether to offer matching contributions, which are tax deductible to you, up to the limit of 25% of compensation paid to eligible employees.

But even if you’re self-employed, with no employees other than your spouse, you can establish what’s known as a “solo” or “owner-only” 401(k). In 2023, you can put in up to $22,500 as an employee, plus a catch-up contribution of $7,500 if you’re 50 or older, for a total of $30,000. Plus, you can contribute an additional 25% of earned income as an employer, up to an overall employee

and employer maximum of $66,000 (or $73,500 if you’re 50 or older).

• SEP-IRA – An SEP-IRA may be attractive to you if you’re self-employed or if you own a business but have few or no employees. That’s because you must contribute an equal percentage of your own compensation to every eligible employee. In 2023, you can contribute up to $66,000 or 25% of your income, whichever is less.

• SIMPLE IRA – A SIMPLE IRA is easy to establish and administer. As with an SEP-IRA, earnings in a SIMPLE IRA can grow on a tax-deferred basis. If you have employees, they aren’t required to contribute to this plan — but you are. You must match up to 3% of employees’ contributions or provide 2% of their annual salaries, although you do have some flexibility. If your business goes through a rough patch,

you can temporarily decrease SIMPLE IRA contributions to 1% for up to two years out of the previous five. Your contributions to your employees’ accounts are tax deductible, but in terms of building resources for your own retirement, a SIMPLE IRA may be less appealing because of its contribution limits, which are relatively low compared to a 401(k) or SEP IRA. In 2023, you can put in up to $15,500, or $19,000 if you’re 50 or older.

You should consult with your tax advisor to determine which retirement plan is right for you. Your financial advisor can also help you explore your options. And the sooner you put a plan to work, the better.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor.

Edward Jones, Member SIPC

Unlocking Opportunities: Morgan Community College’s Trade Programs

CDOT Previews Upcoming Seat Belt Campaign

Statewide Safety News - Sneak peek offered in Pueblo where buckling up lags behind Statewide —Today the Colorado Department of Transportation was joined by local health, safety, and business leaders in Pueblo to offer a preview of CDOT’s upcoming statewide seat belt campaign. The campaign will mimic what it’s like for unbelted people during a rollover crash.

Pueblo was selected for the preview announcement as seat belt usage rates continue to lag in the area. The recently released 2023 Colorado Statewide Seat-Belt Study, which can be found by clicking here, found only 74 percent of vehicle occupants in Pueblo County were buckled up. This is an increase from 2022 when the same study found 67 percent of Pueblo vehicle occupants wore seat belts. However, these numbers are well below the statewide average of 88.6 percent. Seat belt usage in neighboring El Paso County was also notably low with just 79 percent of people buckling up. Pueblo, El Paso, and Jefferson counties were the only counties where seat belt usage was below 80 percent.

Statewide, last year 236 people killed in crashes were not buckled.

“The encouraging news is that more Coloradans are buckling up, including drivers and passengers in Pueblo,” said Darrell Lingk, Director of the Highway Safety Office at CDOT. “Keeping that positive momentum can make a huge difference in reducing fatal crashes as seat belts remain the most important safety feature for vehicle occupants.”

In today’s rapidly changing job market, Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs offer a practical pathway to accessing rewarding careers. For decades Morgan Community College (MCC) has been a cornerstone of vocational education in Colorado, providing a range of trade programs that empower students to succeed in various industries.

MCC has a longstanding commitment to providing quality education and workforce training. MCC trade programs are designed to prepare students for successful careers in industries such as healthcare, automotive technology, welding, agriculture, electromechanical technology, and more. MCC’s CTE programs help bridge the training gap and address the demand for skilled workers in various industries using a hands-on approach to education, emphasizing practical skills and real-world experience. These programs are especially appealing to individuals looking to enter the workforce quickly or switch careers without the time and financial commitment of a traditional four-year degree.

MCC’s Welding Program is well-known for its comprehensive curriculum and stateof-the-art facilities, which trains students in various welding techniques, providing valuable hands-on experience. Graduates of this program become highly sought-after professionals in industries such as construction, manufacturing, and energy.

In the ever-evolving automotive industry, skilled technicians are in high demand. MCC’s Automotive Service Technology program equips students with the knowledge and expertise needed to excel in this dynamic field, covering everything from diagnostics to collision repair and maintenance.

MCC’s healthcare programs are highly regarded for their rigorous training and commitment to producing competent healthcare professionals. Graduates are well-prepared to join the workforce as a Nurse Aide (NA), Medical Assistant (MA), Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) and Registered Nurse (RN), Emergency Medical Services (EMS) or Phlebotomist, filling critical roles in healthcare facilities. MCC also offers a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing.

Agriculture is a vital industry. MCC’s Precision Agriculture Program teaches students how to leverage cutting-edge technology to optimize farming practices. Graduates are equipped with the skills necessary to improve crop yields, reduce environmental impact, and address food security challenges.

With the booming manufacturing and construction industries, skilled workers are in high demand. MCC’s Electromechanical Technology Program and Industrial Controls and Telematics Program provide students with hands-on experience and comprehensive training to prepare them for successful careers.

MCC’s CTE programs offer several advantages to a diverse range of students. Affordability is a key feature, making these programs more cost-effective than traditional four-year degrees. The shorter duration of MCC’s CTE programs compared to bachelor’s degrees presents another compelling advantage. These programs are designed to be completed in a shorter timeframe, allowing students to accelerate their entry into the workforce. The emphasis on hands-on learning is a trademark of MCC’s approach to education. Practical, real-world experiences are integrated into the curriculum, ensuring students are prepared to be successful in challenges they may encounter in their chosen fields. This approach not only enhances the quality of education but equips students with valuable skills and expertise, setting them on a path toward successful careers.

Morgan Community College’s CTE programs are a testament to the institution’s dedication to providing high-quality education and workforce development opportunities. MCC’s graduates are wellprepared to excel in their chosen trades, contributing to the growth and sustainability of Colorado’s industries. For those looking to build a fulfilling career, MCC’s CTE programs provide a solid foundation and pathway to success. Visit www.morgancc.edu/programs more information.

CDOT’s 2024 seat belt safety media campaign will feature a rollover simulator that illustrates the severity of a violent crash. The simulator repeatedly rotates a full-size vehicle cabin with a test dummy inside. To take a look at the campaign, click here. CDOT offered news media a demonstration of the simulator, joined by members of Colorado State Patrol Troop 2D, Pueblo County Sheriff David J. Lucero, and representatives from St. Mary-Corwin Hospital and the Pueblo Latino Chamber of Commerce.

“There is no way of predicting exactly how a crash will play out,” said Captain Michael Tafoya, Colorado State Patrol Troop 2D. “Terrain, speed, and angles of impact are among many factors that can turn what might seem like a relatively minor collision into a serious or even deadly crash if seat belts aren’t being worn.”

The 2023 Colorado Statewide Seat-Belt Study found that drivers and passengers in pickup trucks were least likely to buckle up, with a seat belt usage rate of 82 percent. Commercial vehicles had the second lowest seat belt usage rate at 83 percent, while SUV and van drivers and passengers had the highest, 91 percent and 90 percent, respectively. The study also found that seat belt use was lowest on local roads, 85-percent statewide, likely as a result of lower speed limits than on primary roads such as highways and interstates.

“Bad crashes aren’t confined to busy highways. They happen everywhere from local streets to county roads,” said Pueblo County Sheriff David J. Lucero. “Wearing a seat belt needs to be a habit, something each of us does any time we get into a vehicle, even if we’re just driving on neighborhood streets to run a quick errand.”

In addition to increased chances of fatal injuries, unrestrained vehicle occupants often experience serious injuries as a result of not being buckled up. “Seat belts are often the difference between injuries that last weeks or months, and those that can last years and become life-altering,” said Nancy Bartkowiak, Trauma Program Manager at St. Mary-Corwin Hospital. The impacts of serious injury were also reflected by Noah Commerford, Pueblo Latino Chamber of Commerce President and CEO. “Whether on the job or not, seat belts have an impact on families, and our business community as a whole,” said Commerford.

The Network of Employers for Traffic Safety estimates that a lack of seat belt use costs U.S. businesses $5 billion annually in crashes involving employees both on and off the job. To see the report on seat belt usage and business costs, click here. Families are also likely to face much higher costs. Hospital bills for vehicle occupants not wearing a seat belt at the time of a crash can be up to 360 percent higher than those for vehicle occupants who were buckled up. For the report on seat belt usage and medical costs, click here.

4-H Shooting Sports Overall Champions Named

Junior and Senior Grand Champion 4-H Shooter Awards were presented on Tuesday, July 18 at the Morgan County Fairgrounds in Brush.

During the Awards Presentation the grand champion overall shooters were announced. Chad Schilling and Saxson Keller were named the Grand Champion Overall Shooters for senior and junior divisions, respectively. Chad Schilling’s senior plaque was sponsored by Engle Construction, Denny and Sandy Engle. Jon and Cheryl Flair, sponsored the junior award that was given to Saxson Keller. To qualify for awards, youth must shoot in a minimum of three divisions and complete a record book. Schilling competed in .22 Rifle, Air Rifle, Air Pistol, Shotgun, and muzzleloading. Keller competed in .22 Rifle, Air Rifle, Archery, Muzzleloading, and Shotgun.

Junior Reserve Grand Champion was Kaine Eicher, and Senior Reserve Grand Champion Shooter was Ethan Bohl.

During the awards presentation, Outstanding Participant awards were awarded to a youth within each of the disciplines. These youth were nominated by their peers for going above and beyond in the respective disciplines, being a leader for others, and showing good sportsmanship. The winners of these awards were .22 Rifle – Saxson Keller; .22 Pistol – Eli Williams; Air Pistol – Kaine Eicher; Air Rifle – Danielle Moon; Archery – Wyatt Chacon; Muzzleloading – Arisa Eicher; and Shotgun – Americo Lorenzini.

Friends of the NRA provided support for the Morgan County 4-H Shooting Sports Program during 2023, we are thankful for their support of the Morgan County 4-H Shooting Sports program.

Youth are now preparing for the state competition which will be held over two different weekends during the Colorado State Fair.

Saying Trump violated the 14th Amendment, no matter how often the news media repeats it, simply doesn’t make it true. You see, we have this nasty “presumption of innocence” thing, and that equally annoying “day in court” crap.

And, no matter how dishonorable Trump’s behavior was on Jan. 6, 2021, and it was, he didn’t lead a civil war, nor a rebellion, nor an insurrection.

Let’s remember in 2011 when members of the teachers union and their supporters took over the Wisconsin state capitol for days, not hours. No one demanded those rioters, and their leaders, could never run for office. In fact, no one in the media called it an insurrection, even though it prevented the “people’s work.” Funny, huh?

Donald Trump has never been charged, no less than convicted, with insurrection under the U.S. code. You’d think special prosecutor Jack Smith would have gleefully tried if he thought he had a shot at it in court. Conspiracy to overthrow an election, what he is charged with, is not insurrection.

Likely the plaintiffs don’t even have legal standing in this instance. But even if they did, and even if they won, their effort would be moot. Trump lost in Colorado by 16 percentage points last time. And that was before the Jan. 6 debacle. Since then, the state has turned more blue. He will lose Colorado by an even larger number in 2024 Colorado’s electoral votes will never go to Trump (or likely any Republican) in 2024. Maybe he is a danger to the nation. He might be guilty of stoking the fires of a riot on Jan. 6.

But there is no conceivable way he will be found guilty of the crime of insurrection in a court of law, especially without being charged with that crime.

It is much more possible he’ll be found guilty of mishandling classified documents in Mar-a-Lago, but I find it doubtful that will keep him off a nationwide ballot. The only court where he can be found guilty of “insurrection” is in the court of public opinion. And that takes a public vote.

The founders of our nation designed a robust system to protect from tyranny. So far it has worked. Let the people vote, and it will continue to work.

I see Trump as a crazed narcissist. Others see him as a power-mad tyrant in the making. If it’s the latter, the Founders’ system is strong enough to handle it. Jon Caldara is president of the Independence Institute, a free market think tank in Denver.

Fair Shoot for Sporting Clays and Skeet Held Near Akron

The 2023 Morgan County Fair 4-H Shooting Sports Contests kicked off with the 4-H Five Stand and Skeet shoot on Saturday morning south of Akron. Ten senior shooters and two junior shooter delivered several exciting rounds of competition on July 8th.

Outstanding Participants: Winners of the 2023 Outstanding Participant Awards

Five Stand results for the senior division, ages 14-18, were Odin Nilsen, 1st, with a score of 28 out of 50; Americo Lorenzini, 2nd; Grayson Johnson, 3rd; Chloie Cuckow, 4th; and Wyatt Chacon, 5th. Also competing in the Senior Division was Ceri Dixon, Talan Hall, Soul Keller, Chad Schilling, and Rylan Schreiner. Junior Saxson Keller placed first, scoring 15 out of 50 and Axel Lorenzini, 2nd. Youth competing in the Junior age division are ages 8-13.

Senior Odin Nilsen also took home first place in the Skeet contest with a score of 46 out of 50, Grayson Johnson came in 2nd; Americo Lorenzini, 3rd; Chloie Cuckow, 4th; Talan Hall 5th. Also competing in the Senior Division was Wyatt Chacon, Ceri Dixon, Soul Keller, Chad Schilling, and Rylan Schreiner. From the Juniors, Saxson Keller came in 1st with a score of 22 out of 50 and Axel Lorenzini, 2nd.

The top five in the Five Stand and Skeet Contests for both the junior and senior age division will represent Morgan County 4-H at the Colorado 4-H State Shoot in Colorado Springs over Labor Day Weekend.

Superintendents and coaches for five stand and skeet are Dale Chacon, Levi Dixon, Andy Larrick, Jay Marshall, and Paul Oliveira.

Youth received their awards at the 4-H Shooting Sports Banquet on Tuesday, July 18 at the Mark Arndt Event Center at the Morgan County Fairgrounds. Some equipment and supplies for the 4-H shooting sports program have been provided through a NRA grant given in 2023, as well as fundraising and donations.

Senior Champions: Senior Overall Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champions from the 2023 Morgan County Fair.

Caldara: Plaintiffs In Trump Ballot Access Lawsuit Get It Wrong

by Jon Caldara, Complete Colorado Page 2

I would love it if Donald Trump were not the Republican nominee for president in 2024.

The main reason is simple. I don’t want Joe Biden to be elected again. And just about any of the other Republicans running would easily beat him.

There’s a chance, well under 50%, Trump will be able to vanquish Biden in a rematch. For Democrats who believe their best strategy is to make sure Trump is on the ticket, be careful what you wish for.

For Republicans who believe Trump can topple a dazed and confused Biden with dementia, most polls say he won’t. And there’s still a good chance Biden won’t be the nominee, either by pressure from within the Democratic Party or due to his health reasons.

And just as any other Republican would easily beat Biden, any other Democrat would easily beat Trump.

One way to keep Trump off the ballot is by court order. Thus, a group of Coloradans is suing to kick him off the Colorado GOP primary ballot, saying it’s a violation of the 14th Amendment, of which Section 3, a remnant of the Civil War, says no one can serve in public office who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

I know many of the plaintiffs to this Colorado suit, and I respect them. They’re taking this action because they truly believe Donald Trump is guilty of insurrection and a danger to the nation.

Among the plaintiffs are Norma Anderson, former centrist Republican Colorado powerhouse legislator. Few people earn the status of one-name like “Cher” or “Bono.” “Norma” does, and for good reason. It would be a mistake to underestimate her intellect or love of Colorado.

But in this case, I think Norma and her pals are wrong. Not evil. Just wrong.

Junior Champions: Junior Overall Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champions from the 2023 Morgan County Fair.

Skeet and Five Stand Group: Morgan County 4-H Shooting Sports Five Stand and Skeet Shooters, and coaches.

Nilsen: Senior Odin Nilsen competing in the Morgan County 4-H Shotgun Skeet Contest

Keller: Junior Saxson Keller competing in the Morgan County 4-H Shotgun Skeet Contest

United Power and Xcel Energy Announce Strategic Relationship for Power Supply

Xcel Energy to provide United Power and its members with excess low-carbon, renewable electricity

Brighton, CO— United Power, Inc.

(United Power), an electric cooperative serving Colorado’s northern Front Range, and Xcel Energy, one of the nation’s largest investor-owned utilities, entered into a strategic relationship to explore opportunities for maximizing the value of their combined portfolios and advancing the State of Colorado’s progress toward a low-carbon energy footprint. The utilities are entering a power supply arrangement that would provide United Power access to Xcel Energy’s increasingly carbon neutral portfolio to the benefit of Xcel Energy customers and United Power members. The working agreement will allow both utilities to leverage cost savings through power purchases while continuing to invest in new, clean renewable resources.

“This is a win-win for both utilities,” stated Mark A. Gabriel, President and CEO of United Power. “The ability of two large utilities working toward a common goal will benefit everyone. Together we will plan our energy needs, negotiate lower pricing, and assure reliability for our members and customers. This is an important step as we enter the new future of electric procurement and delivery.”

The agreement aims to facilitate a shared strategic vision for electric power delivery. Xcel Energy seeks to leverage its renewable energy resources by making sales to United Power at times when excess energy is available, providing United Power with access to Xcel Energy’s significant portfolio at attractive prices. The two utilities hope to develop a long-term relationship in which both will work in tandem to drive down power costs, understand how best to serve the future load of the cooperative’s members and Xcel Energy’s customers, and work toward the mutual goal of integrating more renewable energy in support of the State of Colorado’s renewable resource goals.

“The electric industry is changing, and United Power is working with Xcel Energy to help lead this revolution,” stated Gabriel. “Meeting federal and state requirements, keeping costs economical, and making certain our load is predicable are planned outcomes of this strategic relationship.”

United Power is preparing for an exit from its current wholesale power contract with another power supplier on May 1, 2024. The electric cooperative has been securing a variety of power generation contracts to continue to supply its members following its exit from the contract.

“Today’s announcement solidifies our close working relationship with United Power, one of the largest and fastest- growing cooperative utilities in Colorado, by supplying increasingly carbon-free energy from Xcel Energy’s generation resources,” said Robert Kenney, President of Xcel Energy-Colorado. “Our strategic relationship will maximize the value of both companies’ combined generation towards achieving our goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2030, from 2005 levels, and providing 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050.”

United Power serves nearly 110,000 meters and maintains and operates over 6,500 miles of distribution line. The 900-square mile service territory wraps around the north and west borders of the Denver International Airport. It includes the north and northeast metropolitan development corridors along Interstate 25, Interstate 76, State Highway 85, and E-470 and the Golden Gate and Coal Creek canyons, two of Colorado’s most iconic and historic mountain canyons. As a result of its geographic location, United Power’s system is experiencing significant demand and energy growth, averaging approximately 6% annually.

To learn more about United Power’s power supply transition, visit www. unitedpower.com/powersupply.

The Old Tonville School May Be Going Away

by Bob Grand from various sources

Many of our new residents do not know the history of the old Tonville School. The Number 113 Tonville School operated from 1906 to 1960. It operated under Louisville/80 district later becoming Tonville/113. The Tonville name came from the sugar beet loading area as sugar beets were weighed in tons. The area was southwest of Hudson and east of Fort Lupton, on old Highway 6 which became I-76. On July 1st, 1960, the district was reorganized and became a part of the new RE-3J/Keenesburg District, a joint Weld County Adams School District.

The old schoolhouse, built in 1904, had 1th & 2nd grade in the basement, 3rd –5th grade in the West room upstairs and the 6th – 8th grade in the East room. The basement also served as living quarters for the teachers during the week. Back in the day a teacher’s salary was $75 per month for nine months with no vacation pay. The school officially closed on October 9th,1959.

Dick Krentz purchased the school building and with the assistance of Wayne Huppert, remodeled the school into a home for his wife and four children. The current owners purchased the property in 1986. The property will be selling, and it is understood that the old school, remodeled into a home in the 1971 will be demolished. The current owners are having a sale to clean out the remaining items, some of which are pictured below.

Dates/Time/Location of the sale are:

September 30th – October 1st, 2023 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

1568 Weld County Road 39 Lochbuie, Colorado 80603

Note items are selling and pictures are some of what may be/is still available.

TRIP TRIP TRIP

ROAD ROAD ROAD

While Fort Morgan, Colorado, is uniquely known for a lot of things - Bobstock Music Festival; the final resting place of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick; and one of the most vast & challenging disc golf courses in the state, it is also a popular destination on the eastern plains for a weekend get-away. Experience the vibes, quaint shops, and pioneering heritage an hour from Denver. Discover more at www.CityOfFortMorgan.com

Mark A. Gabriel, United Power President and CEO, and Robert Kenney, President of Xcel EnergyColorado.

Moving Sale at Old Tonville School Site

Joan Kaye Nussbaum Harwerth was born to Victor and Lucille Nussbaum on September 24, 1934 in Berne, Indiana. She grew up knowing about Jesus. “I heard a sermon in Winona Lake, Indiana that beautifully met my need. The preacher used a chair to demonstrate what faith is. He pointed out that each of us acts in faith many times every day.

Every time we rest in a chair, we place our faith in that chair.

Finally, I understood that faith in Jesus Christ meant resting in his death, burial and literal resurrection. At that moment I simply trusted in Jesus and his death in my place as my only hope for eternal life. My doubts and fears vanished. Since then, God’s peace continues to assure me that I am His child.”

Later she gave herself to God with no strings attached. This led her to Grace Bible Institute in Omaha where she met Fran Harwerth. They were married and after seminary they moved to Colby, Kansas where there was a small home Bible study. This would be the beginning of the Colby Berean Church. They served for 43 years in Colby to spread Jesus’ fame and glory.

In August Fran and Joan celebrated 65 Years together. Fran often said to her, “You have been such a great wife and mother!” Her favorite verse was Lamentations 3:22, 23, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness.”

Joan met her Savior face to face Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. Left to grieve is her husband, 2 sons, 9 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren. Visitation is Thursday, September 14th from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at Rowanoak Mortuary Fort Morgan, Colorado. Funeral Service is Friday, September 15th at 10:00 at the Berean Bible Church, 211 West Beaver Ave, Fort Morgan.

Save Money This Season With Energy Efficiency

By Morgan County Rural Electric Association

As seasons change, one thing remains the same; making energy-efficient changes to your home can save you money year-round. Better yet, many of these projects can be done yourself.

Here are some easy-to-do energy efficiency steps that can help save you money:

• Update your insulation. This helps keep cool air in your home during summer months and warm air in during the winter. There are several types of insulation and the R- or Resistance-value that you will need depends on several variables, including where you live and your climate. Energy.gov and Energystar.gov publish maps that outline recommended R-values.

• Consider installing an attic stair cover box to improve air leaks and comfort. You can build your own box, purchase a kit, or even buy a pre-built box. According to Energy.gov, the box should be durable enough to withstand repeated openings and closings, have an R-value similar to the rest of your attic insulation, and provide an air seal.

• Invest in a smart or programmable thermostat. With a programmable thermostat, you can set the temperatures to automatically adjust for when you are home and when you are away. A smart version learns your habits and implements them. Many models know when you are not home and heats or cools accordingly.

• Save money any season by closing off rooms that you do not need to heat or cool.

• Make use of ceiling fans, and make sure they are circulating air in the correct direction for the season. Ceiling fans should operate in a counter-clockwise direction during warm months and in a clockwise direction during cold months.

• Use curtains or window blinds to your advantage. Close curtains or blinds in the summer when the sun is out to keep the room cool, and leave them open in the winter to let the heat from the sun warm up the room.

• Seal cracks around the house to reduce heat loss in the winter and cool air loss in the summer by using caulking and weather-stripping around windows and doors.

• Replace incandescent or other older style bulbs with energy-efficient versions such as LED bulbs.

• Adjust your own habits to increase efficiency. Turn off lights when leaving a room, set computers to go into sleep mode when not in use, and make sure nothing in your home is covering vents. This allows for continued air flow and reduces the work for the furnace or air conditioning unit.

These are just a few ways to increase energy efficiency in your home and save money. For more information on energy efficiency and safety, visit EnergyEdCouncil.org.

ObituaryJoan Kaye Nussbaum Harwerth

Colorado 2023 CMAS Results Show Slow Academic Recovery, Red Flags For Some Students

by Erica Meltzer, Melanie Asmar and Yesenia Robles, Chalkbeat Colorado Data analysis and graphics by Kae Petrin

because girls are doing worse. The number of eighth grade girls meeting or exceeding expectations in language arts is down 7.7 percentage points since 2019, and down more than 3 points just since last year.

“When we look at the national level, there’s been significant research that suggests young women have struggled more during the pandemic with depression and anxiety,” Colorado Commissioner of Education Susana Córdova said.

“It’s hard to say if that’s the reason why we’re seeing lower performance with young women than we are with young men,” Córdova said. “But I think it’s going to be important for us to continue to monitor and look at and to focus supports on young women.”

Colorado continues to have major gaps in proficiency rates based on student race and economic status. The share of white and Asian students scoring at grade level is 24 to 30 points higher than for Black and Hispanic students. The gaps between students living in poverty — as measured by eligibility for free- or reduced-price lunch — and their more affluent peers is more than 30 points in most grades and subjects.

These are longstanding problems, but Colorado education officials said they demand urgent attention.

How state officials, schools, teachers, and families use CMAS results

Critics of standardized tests say they are a better measure of the effects of poverty than of academic performance, but state education officials point out that they are the only statewide measure of how well students meet the state’s academic standards.

The state uses the test results to rate schools and districts, and to direct help to schools with lower scores and issue state improvement orders.

Parents can use their children’s individual test results to discuss strengths and weaknesses with teachers, and they can use state data to see how their school and district perform compared with others.

Morgan County Planning Commission Meeting on September 11th, 2023, at 7:00 pm

by Bob Grand

State test scores released Thursday show signs that Colorado students are recovering from pandemic learning disruption, as 2023 scores approached 2019 levels in some grades and subjects.

But worrying signs remain that many students are still struggling.

The share of fourth and eighth graders who could read and write at or above grade level on CMAS tests taken this past spring remains more than 4 percentage points behind the share who could in 2019. Seventh and eighth graders are similarly behind in math. Each percentage point represents thousands of students who are not meeting expectations and who are less prepared for the next grade.

At the same time, fifth and sixth graders are posting similar scores in reading and writing to their peers four years ago, and in math, all elementary students are. At nearly every grade level, more students met or exceeded expectations in both language arts and math in 2023 than did in 2022, with fifth and seventh graders improving several percentage points in reading.

State education officials attribute the progress to a more normal school year, with fewer disruptions due to illness and safety protocols, as well as to school districts’ investments in new curriculum and tutoring to help students catch up. At the same time, staff shortages meant educators had less time to help struggling students, and many schools reported increases in students missing class.

The uneven recovery may be due to differences in where students were developmentally when COVID hit and school moved online — and how critical the material they missed during disrupted schooling was to the next grade level. Students who were in eighth grade in spring 2023 were in fifth grade when schools shut down in March 2020.

“There are some key learnings that typically occur in some grade levels that have impact down the road,” Joyce Zurkowski, chief assessment officer for the Colorado Department of Education, said on a call with reporters this week. She said education officials consider “what typically is covered (in) fifth grade, second semester — and how that could be impacting our students in seventh and eighth grade.”

All Colorado students in grades three through eight take reading, writing, and math tests every spring. The tests are known as the Colorado Measures of Academic Success, or CMAS. Some students also take tests in science and social studies. High schoolers take the PSAT and SAT.

Scores for English learners raise concerns

Test scores for English learners and students who took the reading and writing tests in Spanish raise major concerns about how well these children are faring in school.

Just 18.7% of third graders who took the test in Spanish met or exceeded expectations, down 8.8 percentage points from 2019 — by far the biggest lag in student recovery. And just 14.2% of fourth graders who took the Spanish test met or exceeded expectations, down almost 5 percentage points from 2019.

State education officials said the trend calls for more attention to these students. Some of that will have to come from state lawmakers, who have set aside money and crafted new rules to support reading and math instruction, but not bilingual learners.

Floyd Cobb, the associate commissioner of student learning, made that clear this week. Asked what the state education department will do to close the gap between bilingual learners and English-speaking students, he said, “that’ll need to be answered by the General Assembly.”

“Our job here at the department is to make sure that we go about implementing the laws that the General Assembly passes, and in the event that someone writes a bill, and that bill makes it through, we’ll engage in our work to be able to support,” Cobb said.

Colorado’s Latino communities suffered a heavy toll during the pandemic, experiencing more illness and death, more job losses, and more economic instability than white Coloradans. Hispanic families are also less likely to have reliable internet access, and have been affected by rising rents and home prices that have pushed many of them out of their neighborhoods.

Colorado education officials are also watching with concern the test scores of middle school girls. Girls typically do better than boys in language arts, while boys do better in math. That hasn’t changed, but in some cases, gender gaps have narrowed

The Morgan County Planning Commission met on September 11th, 2023, at the Morgan County Administrative Building in Fort Morgan. Two items on the agenda were a dairy expansion and the Taelor Solar Project. The Chair of the Planning Commission made a concentrated effort to give all parties the opportunity to speak. He was successful in this. The dairy project expansion went first, with no adverse opinions presented. Taelor Solar presentation included slides to assist in clarifying the project. This was excellent if you were seating where the Planning Commission, County staff, the presenter or in the first couple of rows of attendees were. Unfortunately, the bulk of the attendees could not see the slides. To the rear of the room, it was difficult to hear all the speakers. There were adequate seats for attendees, although there were very few empty seats.

The citizens against the solar project were homeowners with homes close to the proposed project. They expressed concerns about the possible adverse effect to their home values, traffic issues, water issues, grass fire concerns, not being contacted by the project, and impact on their children. There were twenty-one people who testified against the solar project, many with their red shirts with “Not in My Backyard on the back and “ No Industrial Solar” on the front. The group was comprised of local, concerned property owners. The only person speaking in favor of the project was Steve Gable, owner & operator of the Magnusson Feed Lot. The process of project approval supports the right of citizens to present their views. There were a couple of comments about the politics of renewables and how Governor Polis and Senator Hickenlooper should come up and discuss their ideas with the citizens. Unfortunately, the participation reflected at this meeting does not necessarily reflect the intensity of participation in the election process where so many of the ideas that these folks expressed concerns about were generated from. I heard somebody comment in the group about how many solar farms are there in Boulder country? Good question.

Folks never seem to have enough time to present their concerns, except when it directly affects them. I applaud the citizens who stand up for what they believe. The reality is elected officials must weigh the impacts on the greater good of the community overall. The Planning Commission voted to recommend denial of the project. It sounded like Taelor Solar Project will attempt to address the concerns of the community as best they can in terms of the economics of the project. Property rights are an important part of our system and balancing against competing opinions is always challenging. Our American system works when people participate.

Colorado has invested considerable effort in improving reading instruction. Some districts showed notable gains on 2023 CMAS tests, but statewide, young students still aren’t reading at the levels their peers did before the pandemic. Ann Schimke / Chalkbeat