On recommendation by the Larimer County Sheriff, the Board of Larimer County Commissioners Tuesday voted 3-0 to adopt fire restrictions in unincorporated Larimer County since the danger of wildfire, forest and grass fires are great due to above-normal temperatures, lightning strikes and windy, dry conditions.

As of noon, June 29, 2022, restrictions on open fires for the unincorporated portions of Larimer County go into effect. These restrictions stay in effect until noon, July 29, 2022.  Also in effect are restrictions on the use of fireworks, combustible devices, public firework displays and incendiary devices. This is not a fire ban.

Restricted today:

• Open fires, including camp or cooking fires
• Smoking in the open is not allowed, including on trails, parks, and open spaces.
• Fireworks or firework displays.
• Incendiary devices including sky lanterns, exploding ammunition, exploding targets, and tracer ammunition.
• Welding

Not Restricted:

• Contained open fires in permanently constructed stationary masonry or metal fireplaces specifically designed for the purpose of combustion.
• Gas or Liquid Fueled Fires fueled by bottled gas or pressurized liquid shall include but are not limited to portable heaters, cooking stoves, heating stoves, hiking/camping stoves, grills, fire pits, fireplaces, etc.
• Fireplaces or wood stoves located inside permanent structures.
• Fires in commercially operated wood and/or charcoal-fired grills designed for cooking.
• Charcoal-fired grills when used at a private residence and location on a non-combustible surface of at least ten feet in diameter.
• Fires in air curtain burners.
• Public firework display approved by the appropriate Fire Department or Fire District.

The Sheriff may give limited exemptions from these restrictions based on his pre-approval and inspection.

_{++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++}

The Supreme Court on Friday, June 24 overturned Roe v. Wade ending recognition of abortion as a constitutionally protected right, turning the power to decide to allow, limit or ban the practice to each state. The court’s overturning of the nearly 50-year-old landmark court ruling is likely to lead to abortion restrictions or bans in roughly half the states.

The ruling came in the court’s opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which centered on a Mississippi law that banned abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The state of Mississippi asked the Supreme Court to strike down a lower court ruling that stopped the 15-week abortion ban from taking place.

“We end this opinion where we began. Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the court’s opinion.

Both sides of the issue are predicting the fight over abortion will continue at the state and federal levels.

Colorado is one of seven states which currently have no restrictions on abortions until birth.

_{++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++}

U.S. consumers will pay $69.68 for their favorite Independence Day cookout foods, including cheeseburgers, pork chops, chicken breasts, homemade potato salad, strawberries, and ice cream, based on a new American Farm Bureau Federation market basket survey.

The average cost of a summer cookout for ten people is $69.68, or slightly less than $7 per person. The overall cost for the cookout is up 17% or about $10 from last year due to ongoing supply chain disruptions, inflation, and the war in Ukraine.

Like all consumers, farmers and ranchers are also feeling the pinch of price inflation, according to Colorado Farm Bureau (CFB) president and Molina rancher Carlyle Currier.

“Even with higher grocery checkout prices, farmers and ranchers won’t see an improvement to their bottom lines this July. Prices for fuel and fertilizer have shot up higher than overall inflation putting the pinch on our budgets. Just like grocery shoppers, we are price-takers, not price-makers,” Currier said. He added, “Essentially, the higher prices we’re getting for the commodities we sell won’t make up for the dramatic increase in costs for our inputs. The cost of fuel is up, and fertilizer prices have tripled.”

According to the CFB reasons for the higher prices include the cascading effects of the war in Ukraine. A significant breadbasket for the world, Ukraine’s contributions to global food security through robust exports are cut off. Russian and Belarusian fertilizer exports are also constrained, and some other countries have pulled back on exports to protect their domestic supplies.