-
play_arrow
philip Philip Armour
Morning Mag Headlines – July 10, 2024 – Wednesday
Bird flu UPDATE: 1.8 million birds to be killed
Nearly 1.8 million chickens will be culled, or selectively slaughtered, as a result of an avian flu outbreak in Colorado.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis declared a state of emergency over the weekend, after an egg-laying farm in Weld County confirmed an outbreak of the bird flu at their facilities. The state of emergency, according to the Colorado Sun, will help the currently-unnamed farm – and others impacted – respond to the outbreak.
This is not the first time a Colorado bird flu outbreak resulted in mass culling, as a similar case of bird flu at another Weld County facility resulted in nearly 2 million birds slaughtered back in 2022. Standard procedure in most cases of wide-spread commercial avian influenza detection is killing off the flock and destroying their eggs to stop the spread of disease
According to the Sun, this same strain of bird flu has also been making its rounds to some of Colorado’s most prominent dairy farms. But, unlike its fatal impacts on birds, avian flu infections in cattle have rarely been fatal.
New species found in Boulder
A local family discovered a new cave-dwelling species in Boulder.
The tiny pseudoscorpion is the size of a sesame seed and prefers dry, dusty environments. The family discovered the tiny animal back in 2008, and now it is officially designated as a new species that’s only been found in Boulder so far.
David Steinmann, a research associate at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, made the discovery with his wife and son. The family was specifically looking for invertebrates. Named the “Larca boulderica” in honor of Boulder, the newly identified pseudoscorpion looks like tiny scorpions and has crab-like pincers but no stinger.
Kroger/Albertsons merger
The updated list from Kroger and Albertsons names 579 grocery stores across the nation.
The affected stores in Colorado include most of the state’s Safeway and Albertsons locations, as well as two distribution centers and one dairy farm. That’s according to Colorado Public Radio.
Both Kroger and Albertsons have said the sale of these stores will help them avoid closing locations or making any major layoffs.
The proposed merger is still facing a number of hurdles, and will see legal challenges next month. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued in February to try and block the merger, saying the lack of competition would be bad for both shoppers and workers.
Boulder Office of Disaster Management to launch new multilingual text message program
The Boulder Office of Disaster Management (ODM) will start sending text messages to community members during disasters.
The current messaging system used by the County relies on the Office of Disaster Management’s website and social media platforms. The new system will be used when the city’s Emergency Operations Center is activated in response to a large-scale disaster. Text messages will include incident updates, community resources, road closures, sheltering information, and information about other community impacts.
The text messages will not replace current alert and warning systems, which direct community members to take emergency measures like evacuating.
To start receiving ODM’s new push notification texts, which are free of charge, text BOCOinfo to the number 888777. The messages will also be available in more than 100 different languages.
Read more
New law addresses motorcycle traffic behavior
On August 7, Colorado motorcyclists will be allowed to drive between cars in stopped traffic. Known as lane filtering, the practice is different from lane splitting, which is when motorcycles drive between moving cars, and remains illegal.
Several studies have determined that lane filtering is safer for motorcyclists than stopping with other vehicles. The new Colorado law allows riders to navigate toward the front of the line of stopped traffic to avoid being sandwiched between two vehicles. It’s only legal for two-wheeled motorcycles and excludes larger vehicles, like three-wheeled trike motorcycles or motorcycles with sidecars.
Lane filtering is already legal in Arizona, Montana, California, Hawaii and Utah.
