FYI: move over or get a ticket. No, Polis isn't far off from other governors on executive agencies, but is he on lack of transparency? And, the first of the sugar pumpkins are in!
FYI: move over or get a ticket!
Colorado has for a while now had a law about moving over for emergency vehicles, tow trucks, etc.**
Due to a recent law change, this "move over" law has been expanded to include ANY stationary vehicle on the side of the road with its four way flashers on.
If you cannot move over or it would be unsafe to do so, you have to slow down to 20 MPH below the posted speed limit.
Stay alert out there and move over. You should be doing this (safely) anyway, but now you have more reason than ever to do it!
**I know this from secondhand experience having a friend who got a ticket on I 76 when they didn't move over for a state patrol officer who was stopped on the side of the road. Twice.
https://www.koaa.com/news/covering-colorado/colorados-revised-move-over-law-goes-into-effect-monday-more-protections-for-drivers
Polis is not out of bounds on the number of executive agencies he wrote into life (especially put next to Hickenlooper), but I do wonder if he is out of bounds on the LACK of transparency about them (and/or his merry band of Progressives in the Assembly running interference on his behalf could be).
The article linked first below gives a run down on all the new government entities Polis has penned into existence through executive order since he first took office. As I said above (see the attached screenshot from the article), he's really not out of bounds with his predecessors.
But, I gathered three other related stories. A quick perusal of the three links below the story about Polis' new government agencies makes me wonder where his office stacks up with others in terms of the transparency and accountability for his choices. I also wonder if the fact that Colorado has been under single-party rule (see esp the third link below) has helped Polis by keeping him from being forced to be more transparent and accountable (one of many consequences to one party rule that ends up hurting us all--even Democrats).
He is after all, spending our money to do the things he claims he's doing.
Are we getting our money's worth?
How much money are we spending?
Who else is funding things in his office?
And why, for God's sake, do some folks get more than one salary?
https://kiowacountypress.net/content/here-are-new-government-bodies-governor-polis-has-created
https://coloradosun.com/2020/08/10/jared-polis-colorado-private-donors-climate-change-immigration/
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/governor/senate-democrats-kills-republican-transparency-bills-on-hospital-fee-health-care-savings-office/article_f5beb562-83b7-11ec-ada0-7f46e52de4f4.html
https://pagetwo.completecolorado.com/2020/06/05/lieutenant-governors-double-dip-salary-untouched-in-house-budget-bill/
Sugar pumpkin time
I am not sure if you're aware, but not all pumpkins are created equal. There are "pie pumpkins" and "jack o' latern pumpkins".
Both are edible, but using the latter in a pie or other dishes will be disappointing. The meat is stringier and a hell of a lot more watery.
This year I planted acorn squash and pie pumpkins. Acorns were new, but the pie pumpkins I've done before.
I like to roast them at harvest time, then puree, and then package in "can" sizes for freezing (you cannot can pureed squash though it's okay to can chunks and puree later--something I've also done).
I was out and looking and saw some that were looking good: pretty close to harvest. The thing was the damned squash bugs had been at them and the grubs were starting to eat their way in.
So, I harvested now and roasted now (it's fine--they were ready anyway though, absent the damage, I might've left them on the vine longer).
I wanted to share the absolutely gargantuan size of one of the sugar pumpkins. Take a look at the photo prior to roasting. I put a more normal sized sugar pumpkin in there to compare.** This thing's a monster!
I am not sure at all what caused it to be this big. Likely the very wet year we've had. I've been watching it grow and had wondered if perhaps its big size would equate to it being watery. I played it safe and gave everybody a little more roasting time. That's one of the pictures attached. Roasted and ready!
You got any unusual fruits after this year? I'd be curious to see. Add to the comments if you'd like.
**Notice a faint bit of green in this one because it's on the edge of being not being 100% ripe.