New Year’s Resolution: Weight Loss

Are you, or someone you know, resolving to lose weight in 2008? The Physical Activity and Nutrition Program has information to perhaps further motivate you. Don’t let the following “government-sounding” titles turn you off. For anyone concerned about their health, these have excellent information on the consequences of being overweight and ways to make a lifestyle change.

Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition State Plan 2010
Early Childhood Resource Kit
Colorado Older Adult Resource Kit
Walk to School Resource Kit

There are links throughout this agency’s publications and web site that are worth checking out.

Looking Back to Y2K

Next week is New Year's, and what does that have to do with State Publications? Well, hop into your wayback machine to 1999. Remember Y2K? It was such a big deal that Governor Owens created a Y2K task force, and we have their documents, which included information on how different "sectors," such as transportation, telecommunications, and public safety, would deal with a potential crisis. For a little history lesson, or maybe to prepare for the future, you can find the State's Y2K publications in our library, as well as online:

• Governor's Task Force on Y2K Preparedness
• Year 2000: Legal Sector Status Report
• Year 2000: Colorado Banking and Finance Sector
• Year 2000: Telecommunications Sector Status Report
• Year 2000: Transportation Sector Status Report
• Year 2000: Governmental Coordination Sector Status Report
• Year 2000: Public Safety Sector Status Report

Happy New Year (and party like it's 1999!)

Voting machine certification

Today Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman announced the results of his evaluation of voting systems around the state. Voting machines in over 40 counties were decertified, leaving many county clerks concerned about counting ballots for the upcoming presidential elections. The Colorado Secretary of State is required by law to certify "electronic and electromechanical voting systems and approve the purchase, installation, and use of such systems by political subdivisions and establish standards for certification." (Colorado Revised Statutes - CRS 1-5-614) The laws regarding the authorization and use of voting machines and electronic voting systems are located in CRS 1-5-601+. There is a lot of material on the Voting System State Certification Program website, including the recent reports/evaluations of Premier, Sequoia, Hart, and ES&S machines.

Colorado Health Care Resources

For anyone seeking Colorado health care, trying to find out where to get help can be a daunting task. The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, one of several state agencies with a focus on health care, has put together a handy directory, Who Does What in Colorado’s Health Care, to put you in the right direction. Referrals are to local and federal government, and non-profit agencies as well as state agencies. In addition, more focused directories are available, such as:

· Medicaid Provider Lookup
· Colorado Indigent Care Program (CICP) Provider Directory
· Prenatal Plus Provider Agencies in Colorado by County

Though not really a directory, the Health Care Resource Book 2007 is a guide to major Colorado health care programs. Try a search in our catalog to turn up additional directories.

Colorado Archaeology

Colorado has a wide variety of archaeological sites, and our library offers many resources on our state's archaeology, including that of both ancient sites and more recent ones. For example, the Colorado Department of Transportation publishes their findings from archaeological excavations undertaken prior to construction of roads and highways. My favorite is the report on the Tremont House Hotel, one of Denver's very first hotel buildings in the early 1860s. The building is gone, of course, but excavations on the site found numerous artifacts including dishes, shoes, etc. Other publications in our library discuss archaeology of ancient Native American sites. Some you might not expect -- the Colorado Historical Society has put out a booklet on the archaeological sites surrounding Denver International Airport! Here are some other interesting information on Colorado archaeology that you can find in our library:

• Colorado Cultural Resource Survey Manual: Guidelines for Identification, History, and Archaeology (Colorado Historical Society: 2005)
• Report of the State Archaeologist to the Colorado Commission on Indian Affairs (Colorado Historical Society: 1999)
• Prehistory in Peril: The Best and Worst of Durango Archaeology (University Press of Colorado: 1997)
• Fort Lewis College Archaeological Investigations in Ridges Basin, Southwest Colorado, 1965-1982 (Fort Lewis College: 1985)
• Colorado Plains Prehistoric Context for Management of Prehistoric Resources of the Colorado Plains (Colorado Historical Society: 1984)
• Archaeological Studies of Disaster (University of Colorado at Boulder: 1980)
• Southwestern Pottery: An Annotated Bibliography and List of Types and Wares (University of Northern Colorado: 1976)
• Archaeology and Paleontology Publications (online resource from the Colorado Historical Society)

There's more, as well, so be sure to check our online catalog where you can use "archaeology" as a keyword search.

School Report Cards

The newspapers and tv reporters are all talking about the School Accountability Reports, which were released yesterday by the Department of Education. The reports can be accessed from the department's web site at http://reportcard.cde.state.co.us/reportcard/CommandHandler.jsp.
You can learn a lot from the reports, including a school's academic performance, CSAP results, safety and discipline incidents, the student/teacher ratio, and financial information. The reports are searchable by school name, school district, or geography. There is also a "custom" search feature that allows searching by school characteristics: type of school, school size, schools with after school programs, and much more.

Earthquakes in Colorado?

Although Colorado is not in the top 10 earthquake states as reported on page 2 of Prepared: Emergency Management News, Coloradans may have a false sense of security when it comes to earthquakes. Colorado has had more than 500 recorded earthquakes since 1867 with one of M 6.6 in 1882. More occurred but were not recorded due to sparse population and limited instrumental coverage. Even today there have been far fewer research efforts in Colorado than in many other states. Our library has cataloged publications from Colorado Geologic Survey and the Office of Emergency Management on this topic. A sampling –

Colorado Earthquake Hazards, 1999
We Don’t have Earthquakes in Colorado, Do We? 2002
Colorado Earthquake Map Server
Published Faults of the Colorado Front Range, 2003
State of Colorado Five-Year Earthquake and Related Hazards Plan, 1999
Colorado Earthquake Information 1867-1996

These and other titles on the subject can be borrowed from our library.