Looking for something to take my mind off last week’s upcoming debate, last Thursday I drove northwest of Fort Collins to see the “monolith” that had suddenly started making the news. Despite spending around four years (more or less) in Fort Collins during the early 90’s getting my masters degree from CSU, I had never driven up and around Horsetooth reservoir, much less some of the other very pretty areas like Masonville and Bellvue. This would be the day, and the fact that someone (and yes, I believe it was put there by a person rather than an alien) had put this close enough for me to take a morning roadtrip, well, it was meant to be.
The dairy has a coffee shop that was very busy. Many people were there for a stop while taking bicycle tours, but there were also several there because of the monolith. If I were truly a cynic, I would have thought the coffee shop owners put the monolith up to drive business to their shop, but I think they were just going with the flow. I chose a slice of lemon cake and an orange milkshake and set off for the allowed viewing area. There were a number of people who were stopping by the roadside with binoculars, cameras and I think I even saw a news videographer as I drove away. I paid attention to the barbed wire so I did not go up the hill. I left it to others to trespass.
The weather was mostly cloudy, so I’m going to include a couple of pictures from Kosack Forester Bob who was visiting me at the time and he stopped by the monolith while continuing his cross country journey the next morning.
The monolith, according to news accounts, is eight or nine feet tall. There wasn’t a place for people to park and ascend the mount when I went, but by the time Bob went a day later, there were some signs for where to park and people were allowed to go up, though it was discouraged because people were leaving trash and they had started wearing a path in the field.
This Reddit stream gives a hint about the possible origin and purpose of the monolith. Now the owners of the land are thinking about removing it because of the trash, the damage people are doing to get to the monolith, and they’re getting rather tired of the streams of people to what once was a sleepy little area.
In other news, there are 21 new laws going into effect in Colorado today, while a few more, passed in earlier years by the state legislature, are either going into effect or increasing in effectiveness. The link to the Denver Post has references to many of them, but it only goes into detail on six. The six are:
- Occupancy limits: One of the marquee housing and land-use reforms passed this year, House Bill 1007 prohibits local governments from limiting how many unrelated adults can live together in an apartment or housing unit. For college towns like Boulder or Fort Collins, that means cities generally can’t cap how many roommates can live together, except for health and safety reasons.
- Sexual Assault cases: Earlier this winter, lawmakers and advocates stood next to a rack of women’s clothing in the state Capitol building and described House Bill 1072. It blocks defendants and defense attorneys from using what a sexual assault victim was wearing as evidence of consent in court. The new law also tightly limits how the victim’s previous sexual history, including with the defendant, can be used in court.
- Gun limitations: One of several gun-reform bills passed this year, Senate Bill 131, prohibits the open or concealed carrying of firearms in public or private schools, on university and college campuses, and in child care centers. The new prohibition also covers certain government buildings and the state Capitol, in which several Republican lawmakers have attested to carrying firearms.
- Campaign ads must now be labeled if they use “deep fakes” to dramatize scenes
- False slates of electors for the Presidential election are now explicitly outlawed
- Sodium Nitrite, a food preservative, is now limited in availability because people used it to commit suicide.
Don’t forget July 20th, 4PM, for a Meetup at the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg. It isn’t strictly limited to people who are members of DKos; you’re welcome to bring any Kos-Kurious friends you might have.
Until the spaceship comes for you, we look forward to reading your thoughts about the monolith, the new laws or anything else that might be on your minds this evening. The floor is yours...