The Storm is Here! History Colorado Center's new exhibit "Living West" opens Saturday, Nov. 23

Posted by Rebecca Laurie on November 22, 2013 at 3:30pm

You may have seen ads and billboards around that say "The Storm is Coming." The "storm" refers to the History Colorado Center's newest 7,000-square-foot exhibit, Living West -- an experiential journey into the deep relationships between Colorado's people and the land through three stories: life in the Mesa Verde region 800 years ago, the 1930s Dust Bowl on the southeastern plains, and today’s Rocky Mountains.

And guess what, the storm is here. Living West opens on Saturday, November 23. Come for opening weekend, November 23-24, and not only do visitors get to be among the first to see this groundbreaking exhibit, but also enjoy a day filled with free live performances, crafts, and chats with the experts involved.

History Colorado’s exhibit developers worked with environmental and archaeological experts from around the state to weave environmental history into the human story. Living West also features plenty of hands-on interactives that appeal to both kids and adults.

With water as a consistent theme, Living West examines the impact of water on human and natural habitats and the implications of issues we face today, like pine beetles, wildfire, increasing wildlife interactions and alpine snowpack on the mountains Coloradans love.

While the Mesa Verde and Dust Bowl sections of the exhibit look at our history, the Our Mountains section tells a contemporary story. Experts from the University of Colorado helped exhibit developers to highlight why the pine beetle epidemic is taking place in the Rocky Mountains, and the Boulder Daily Camera and 9NEWS provided footage and information about the devastating 2010 Fourmile Canyon fire. 9NEWS also partnered with History Colorado to produce a video about the September 2013 floods.

In the Mesa Verde section, tribal representatives from the Santa Clara, Zia, Acoma and Zuni pueblos and the Hopi Tribe assisted with both exhibit content and the selection of nearly 200 artifacts from History Colorado’s renowned Mesa Verde collections that illuminate the lives of ancestral Pueblo people.

Visitors also experience the epic 1935 Black Sunday dust storm that rolled across the southeastern plains in a special "object theater."

Visitors can measure their water and carbon footprint, divert water to thirsty areas across the state and more via interactive components developed in partnership with the Science Museum of Minnesota, which also provided design and fabrication services for Living West.

In Living West, visitors explore how people have struggled, survived and thrived in Colorado’s fierce and fragile landscape, with each gallery designed to generate conversation about the environmental choices Coloradans have made and continue to make.

Living West is presented in partnership with Denver Water, with generous support from the Gates Family Foundation.

Living West launches History Colorado's second of three exhibition phases. The second phase also features new educational programs, live museum theater, demonstrations and performances, as well as two traveling exhibits coming in 2014: Food: Our Global Kitchen from the American Museum of Natural History and RACE: Are We So Different?, a project of the American Anthropological Association.

Admission to Living West is included in the cost of a general admission ticket, which includes all History Colorado Center exhibits. The cost is $12 adults, $10 students/seniors 65+, $8 children 6-12; children 5 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased online in advance.

Download the Living West Activity Book posted online for information on how your child can get free admission to the museum (hint: it's a fun craft).

For complete information, visit www.HistoryColoradoCenter.org.

History Colorado is a statewide organization that inspires generations to find wonder and meaning in our past and to engage in building a better Colorado. Find out more about History Colorado, a Smithsonian Affiliate, on Facebook, twitter @HistoryColorado, HistoryColorado.org, or call 303-HISTORY.

Let's eliminate pesticide use in Longmont Posted by Sarah Wadleigh on October 22, 2014 at 9:21am in Longmont, CO View Discussions A recent Times Call article not

Posted by Sarah Wadleigh on February 14, 2015 at 8:30am

Let's eliminate pesticide use in Longmont

A recent Times Call article noted an 80% decline in honey production in Colorado. At least 2 Longmont apiaries unaffected by floods lost 80% of their bees this past season.

Problem? Unacknowledged widespead use of a pesticide called Aqualeur. In Longmont's case, Aqualuer is being used throughout the city, all summer long. Mosquitoes are not being tested for West Nile, so the decision to spray repeatedly is based on numbers of mosquitoes, not any real threat.

The fact sheet for Aqualuer says, “...highly toxic to bees exposed to direct treatment on blooming crops or weeds. Do not apply this product or allow it to drift to blooming crops or weeds while bees are visiting the treatment area.”

Which part of “highly toxic to bees” do we not understand? Which part of “Do not allow it to drift to blooming crops or weeds” do we not comprehend? This neonicotinoid is being sprayed all over town during peak bloom season, when flowers in trees and gardens will be in full bloom, and will definitely be coated with fallout from each application. It doesn't stop being poisonous once it falls from the air. It remains in the soil and can be taken up by plants. It damages earthworms and other friendly soil organisms.

The 13 active spray sites shown on Colorado Mosquito Control's map come to a total of 4,513 acres. Per their site, CMC sprays 1 oz per acre (with no testing of mosquitoes at all). Spraying all 13 sites dumps 35 gallons of bee-killing pesticide into the environment. It remains in the air for 4-5 hours, drifting onto flowering gardens and crops. Remains active on plants and in gardens and yards for 50-70 days, longer in soil. This describes just one evening of spraying in Longmont. This summer our area was sprayed six weeks in a row. Last summer some areas were treated eight times.

Let's estimate that just 10 areas of Longmont are sprayed for six consecutive weeks. That's actually quite accurate, based on the email notifications we received from CMC over the summer.
Spray areas range in size from 165 acres to more than 800 acres. Averaging 350 acres per area x 10 totals 3,500 acres = 28 gallons per spray!
Multiply by 6 weeks, and we have a total of 168 gallons of Aqualuer, a neonicotinoid that is known to be deadly to bees, distributed throughout Longmont during peak bloom time.
How can this not hurt the bee population and other pollinators?

Solutions:

Follow in the footsteps of Seattle and Spokane, Washington and Eugene,Oregon to ban Neonicotinoids. Longmont could be a leader in the bee-saving effort.

Adopt the larvacide-only policy used very successfully by the City of Boulder since 2010. It's right here: https://www-static.bouldercolorado.gov/docs/west-nile-virus-mosquit...
Boulder's strategy actually tests the larvae for West Nile to carefully track and monitor which areas are the highest risk. They then use larvacide to prevent rapidly multiplying larvae from taking flight as adults.
Contrast that to the strategy employed by Colorado Mosquito Control - No testing being done on mosquitoes trapped in Longmont, and repeated sprays on designated areas if more than 100 mosquitoes are present in said area's trap. Adulticiding is highly ineffective, not to mention all the pollinators, water dwellers and soil organisms that are damaged. The residual toxicity is extremely damaging to our ecosystem.
One drop of larvacide, a naturally occurring bacteria, kills thousands of larvae. No harm to any pollinator, including bees.

Contrast to using 168 gallons of Aqualeur all over town. Aqualuer is known to be deadly to bees, according to their own fact sheet, not to mention all the pollinators, water dwellers and soil organisms that are damaged.

Longmont residents can purchase mosquito traps that are just like the ones CMC uses to trap and count mosquitoes. They are very effective and come in many shapes and sizes. DynaTrap makes a quiet device that attracts the insects with light and draws them into the trap with a fan.

I'm praying for a miracle – that we wake up before it's too late!

How to Unclog a Shower Drain

Posted by Mark Clark on September 26, 2012 at 2:00am

Before You Call The Plumber!

When you are working with a shower clog, you should first remove the strainer screen plate over the shower drain and use a bent piece of wire like from a coat hanger to fish out any kind of hair and soap scum you might see. A lot of times you find that this alone cures the problem.

If that did not help try the next step; make sure there is about an inch or so of water sitting over the drain opening. Place a plunger or plunger's cup over the drain opening, then move it up and down with firm quick motions at least a dozen times to dislodge the clog.

Most of the time that will work for minor type of clogs. If it's still not cleared move on to the next step; you will have to make sure the floor of the shower has no water in it by soaking or mopping it up somehow. Boil a pot of water and poor it in the drain, you can also try adding a mixture of water with baking soda or even pour about a quart of straight vinegar into the drain to dissolve the blockage.

For the tougher or deeper clogs, get a plumber's auger from a hardware store. An auger is the primary tool to use for more deep and stubborn type clogs. First try to feed about a foot of cable into the shower drain, by pushing forward while turning the hand crank. You should start to feel some kind of resistance almost immediately, but keep cranking on the auger until the cable passes all the way through the clog.

Hopefully that should have worked for the clog, retrieve the cable back, then run several gallons of hot water down the drain. Finally, replace the strainer screen plate on the drain.

When you are having more serious type of drain clogs that will not unclog with those techniques used, you should call up a drain cleaning company that specializes in drain cleaning, they are much cheaper and do better jobs than most plumbing companies.

If living In the Colorado Springs area try this low priced drain cleaning service company.

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Photos of Boulder and surrounding areas

Posted by Gregory J Summers on January 16, 2010 at 6:41am

I love to shoot photos of the Flatirons, particularly when it snows and susnts and sunrises from Sawhill Ponds and around town - check out the albums - it's a different way to see Boulder - contact me at gregsum@coloradophotos.com if you have any questions

SixtyFortyProject.com Gives Denver a Giant Chance to be Famous and Charitable for $1

Posted by Erik Keith on March 26, 2010 at 10:47am

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On Sixtyfortyproject.com, one dollar can buy you 60 seconds of fame and a child 40 days of clean water. Launching today and live for only one month, the website offers individuals and businesses the opportunity to donate a dollar in return for the privilege of projecting a message for 60 seconds on the side of Dominion Towers, Denver Pavilions and a building in Larimer Square.

Sixtyfortyproject.com is part of the UNICEF Tap Project, a national grassroots fundraising initiative built around World Water Day, March 22, to help the nonprofit provide clean water to children around the world.

“Nearly 900 million people on our planet don’t have access to safe, clean water. In fact, water-related illness is the second biggest killer of children worldwide,” explains Maria Choi from the US Fund for UNICEF. “With one dollar, UNICEF can provide safe water to one child for 40 days, or 40 children safe water for one day.”

Donate safe water and speak your mind to the city of Denver in five simple steps.

1. Visit sixtyfortyproject.com between March 21 and April 21.

2. Donate a dollar to the UNICEF Tap Project.

3. Type your message. Sixtyfortyproject.com welcomes musings, marriage proposals, manifestos and more. Profanity and inappropriate content won’t make the cut.

4. Sixtyfortyproject.com tells you what time and where your message will appear.

5. Enjoy your 60 seconds of fame and the knowledge that you have provided a child with 40 days of clean water.

Through UNICEF, donations will go to improving access to safe water and sanitation facilities in schools and communities, and to promoting safe hygiene practices. UNICEF's goal is to reduce by half the number of people without sustainable access to safe water and basic sanitation by 2015.

The project was developed by Sukle Advertising & Design, with web development from Statera, public relations outreach by CSG|PR, and site coordination managed by Denver’s Larimer Square, the Denver Pavilions and Dominion Towers.

For more information, visit sixtyfortyproject.com.

Review of Understanding Water Rights and Conflicts, Second Edition by a Colorado Gubernatorial candidate

Posted by H. Court Young on December 10, 2009 at 11:00pm

I am honored to have a review of my book Understanding Water Rights and Conflicts, Second Edition by Colorado Gubernatorial candidate Daniel Maes. Dan states:"Very straight forward and helpful."Dan is one of a few of our political candidates who is willing to dig into the issues rather than follow the party line or just repeat the popular rhetoric of the moment.I encourage you to follow Dan in his quest for Colorado's highest office. If you are a resident of Colorado, please consider voting for Dan for governor in the next election. You can find out more about Dan at:Dan Maesdan@danmaes.comhttp://www.danmaes.com303-670-2010Sincerely,H. Court YoungAuthor, publisher, speaker & geologistPromoting awareness through the written wordWeb: http://www.hcourtyoung.comTwitter: http://twitter.com/hcourtyoungEmail: info@tmcco.com*Subscribe to my new ILLUME-Bringing timely issues to light newsletter.Receive my free 3 part Energy Crisis 101 course - email illume@aweber.comPS: Join your business to the social media revolution - Find out how -Purchase and download my $5 Secrets of Building a Profitable BusinessUsing Twitter and Ning eBook - Visit http://profitableworldofningandtwitter.ning.com

Let's eliminate pesticide use in Longmont

Before You Call The Plumber!

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