Travel and Traffic Information

Heading out for the Labor Day weekend? The Colorado Department of Transportation has some great tools to help you stay on top of construction closures, and avoid accidents and traffic jams.  Visit www.cotrip.org for current road conditions, travel times and weather information. You can also sign up to receive text message or email travel alerts. If you have a smart phone, try out "CDOT Mobile" a free app that provides speeds and travel times; road conditions; road closures and other traffic-related incidents; and feeds from CDOT’s closed circuit television cameras.

Homeowners' Associations

In Colorado, homeowners' associations (or HOAs) are under the control of the law known as the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act.  The Act, passed in 1991, was recently updated with HB11-1124, which clarifies conflict of interest of an HOA's executive board.  Colorado's HOA laws can be complex, but two publications have recently been issued to help clarify these laws.  The Colorado Legislative Council's Homeowners' Associations Issue Brief from 2011 explains the laws in plain language.  Additionally, the Colorado Dept. of Regulatory Agencies has begun issuing an Annual Report of the HOA Information and Resource Center.  The Resource Center is an educational progam sponsored by the Division of Real Estate; for more information, see their HOA webpage.

The American Soldier

Be sure to visit the History Colorado Center to view their exhibit "The American Soldier" before it closes on September 2!  This poignant exhibit explores through photographs the lives and experiences of American soldiers from the Civil War to the present day.  Soldiers' experiences have also been preserved through letters and diaries.  On the History Colorado website you can find the WWI letters of 1st Lt. Charles Stewart, which were discovered in a Denver attic.  Another interesting look at military life is the diary of Romine H. Ostrander, kept from 1863-1865 during his service in the 1st Colorado Infantry.  The diary has been published in book form by the Colorado Historical Society and is available from our library.  

 

TCAP Results Now Available

The Colorado Dept. of Education has released the results of the TCAP tests for 2013.  A summary of the results can be found here, which also links to the full results on SchoolView.  The TCAP, or Transitional Colorado Asessment Program, has taken the place of the old CSAPs starting in 2012.  According to the Department, "TCAP supports the transition from Colorado Model Content Standards to the Colorado Academic Standards in grades 3 through 10 in the content areas of reading, writing and mathematics and in grades 5, 8, and 10 for science."  Results show slight growth in all content areas in 2013. 

Colorado State Fair Special Contests - Enter Today!

Are you a cupcake connoisseur?  A salsa specialist?  Pizza pro?  Green chili champion?  If you have a food or craft specialty, there just might be a contest for you to enter at the Colorado State Fair, brought to you by the Colorado Dept. of Agriculture.  Some of the contests include baking, homebrew and craft beers, quilting, amateur art, and more.  Some of the interesting contests this year include Pet Rock Olympics, gingerbread house decorating, baking with Girl Scout Cookies, and even a dress-your-doll contest.  For a list of contests and the entry deadlines, click here.  And if you'd rather judge those cupcake and beer contests, you can sign up here to volunteer. 

The State Fair starts August 23 -- visit their website for a complete schedule of events.

Travel and Tourism Statistics

At the State Publications Library we often receive questions regarding statistcal information on travel and tourism in Colorado.  The best place to find this information is in the annual Colorado Travel Year...  report, compiled by Longwoods International for the Colorado Tourism Office.  The report, issued each May, provides information not only on the number of visitors to Colorado, but also shows demographic information, number of overnight stays vs. day trips, and visitors' reasons for coming to Colorado. Statistics are further broken out by accommodations, food and beverage, recreation and sightseeing, transportation, and retail purchases.  The report also compares Colorado statistics with national trends.  The report is a valuable resource for businesses and anyone else looking to find out just how significant travel and tourism is to Colorado's economy.

State Recreational Lands

Colorado contains nearly 3 million acres of State Trust Lands, which are federal lands that were endowed to Colorado upon its statehood in 1876.  Under a Public Access Program, certain state trust lands are open to the public for recreation.  The Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife has just released a new booklet on these areas, entitled State Recreation Lands.  The booklet is available online and from our library.  You can also find more information on state trust lands by clicking here.

Wildfire Assistance Now Available

Disaster Unemployment Assistance is now available to those persons facing unemployment due to the Black Forest or Royal Gorge Wildfires.  Information is available from the Colorado Dept. of Labor & Employment (click here for specific Black Forest information and here for Royal Gorge information.)  To find out more about different types of unemployment assistance in the State of Colorado, see the Department's publication entitled Your Guide to Unemployment and Getting Paid Benefits.  

Colorado Art

Did you know that August is American Artist Appreciation Month?  This celebration highlights the contributions Americans have made to the fine arts.  Art is all around us, even in state government - the Colorado Dept. of Transportation and the Colorado Dept. of Education have produced publications that highlight art in schools and along transportation corridors.  The State Capitol includes many fine works of art both inside and out; check out Memorials and Art in and Around The State Capitol and Art of the House from our library to find out more.  Some other publications in our library that highlight American art and artists include:

• Masterpieces of Colorado:  A Rich Legacy of Landscape Painting
• The Architecture and Art of Early Hispanic Colorado
• Art in Public Places
• Irene Jerome Hood:  A Victorian Woman and Her Art

Also visit https://artistsregister.com/, partially sponsored by Colorado Creative Industries (formerly Colorado Council on the Arts) to find out about American artists of today.



The Gallery of Presidents is one of the many examples of art in the State Capitol.  All of the portraits were painted by Lawrence Williams except for the most recent portrait, that of President Obama, which was painted by Sarah Boardman of Colorado Springs.  Lawrence Williams died in 2003.  Photo courtesy Colorado State Archives.



August is Colorado Proud Month

Governor Hickenlooper has declarded August 2013 as "Colorado Proud Month," celebrating the state's agriculture.  Visit the Colorado Dept. of Agriculture's Colorado Proud webpage this month to read the Governor's Proclamation, find a calendar of agriculture tours and events, link to social media, and discover the 52 Reasons to Choose Colorado.  Finally, as always, you can find consumer information on the site, including recipes, a crop calendar, agritourism information, forest products, restaurants serving Colorado Proud foods, and directories of farmers' markets, wineries, and gifts.  The site also features information for producers including a newsletter, guidelines, and rules and regulations

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Happy Colorado Day!

Colorado was admitted to the Union as the 38th state on this day, August 1, 1876 -- 137 years ago.  Back in 1926, Leroy Hafen, the premier Colorado historian at the time, along with other historians celebrated Colorado's then 50th birthday with a series of articles on Colorado statehood in the August 1926 issue of Colorado Magazine, which you can check out from our library.  Also in our library you can find Hafen's excellent 5-volume History of Colorado, published in 1927 and just recently digitized.  Over the years, Colorado magazine has featured several other articles on Colorado's statehood.  Contact our library if you would like to check out Colorado Magazine, Hafen's History of Colorado, or any of our other publications.