REMEMBERING JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG |
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Governor Jared Polis released the following statement on the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg:
“Today Coloradans and our nation mourn the loss of a titan. We have lost a fearless advocate for women and families and someone who never stopped working toward greater equality for all in the eyes of the law. I am deeply saddened by the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She spent her incredible career giving a voice to the voiceless and standing up for what is right. Her words and her legacy will live on in all those she has inspired. We will forever be grateful for her contributions to making our country a better place.”
Legal and feminist icon, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died this evening surrounded by family at her home in Washington, D.C. She was 87 years old.
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Large-scale testing began in Boulder on Thursday, producing some concerning numbers. In partnership with Boulder County Public Health and the University of Colorado at Boulder, the administration has established two testing sites: a walk-up site at the Pleasant Street Parking Lot on the Hill, and a drive-up site at the Stazio Ball Fields. Starting tomorrow, both sites will be open for testing of up to 2,000 people per day.
As of yesterday, approximately 475 people were tested at the walk-up testing site, resulting in a positivity rate of over 16%.
While this number is alarmingly high, it is not surprising. Over the past few weeks, the news and social media feeds have been filled with images of large parties in Boulder. Unfortunately, these high numbers are the direct consequences of those actions. Simply put, the parties are not worth it.
The state has received feedback that students are hesitant to get tested because they fear that their information will be shared with their employers or the school. The administration has been very clear that these rumors are not true. On the contrary, when a student gets tested, they are part of the solution and personally identifiable information will remain confidential.
Most students may be following COVID guidelines, and the vast majority of Colorado students are young leaders who care about their community and its health.
The Governor asks students to please join the state in these efforts by continuing to get tested, continuing to wear a mask, and avoiding large crowds. The state is relying on students to be responsible, and Colorado cannot recover without their help.
The administration is thankful that CU Boulder has done the right thing by scaling up their testing and tracing, and using every tool at their disposal to contain the spread of COVID-19. This kind of early action and transparency is the difference between success and failure, and sets an example in our state about the kind of actions we all must take when faced with public health challenges.
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ADAMS, BOULDER, BROOMFIELD TOUR |
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Today, Governor Polis was joined by Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera, Betsy Markey, Executive Director of the Office of Economic Development and International Trade, and State Representative Shannon Bird at Front Range Community College to discuss Colorado’s COVID-19 response, and highlight the efforts of resilient businesses and nonprofit organizations visited by the Governor during a trip to Adams, Boulder, and Broomfield counties. Angie Paccione, Executive Director of Colorado's Department of Higher Education, also provided an update on the administration's plans to support students returning to college campuses.
The Governor is grateful for organizations that are providing support to some of our most vulnerable populations, and the state looks forward to continuing to bring awareness to Colorado’s COVID Relief Fund, the Energize Colorado Gap Fund, and other state-driven funding sources.
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COVID RELIEF FUND RECIPIENTS |
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Today, the Governor visited COVID Relief Fund recipients who are making an impact in their communities. The Governor first visited The Inn Between of Longmont, which provides supportive housing for housing-insecure individuals and families. In Lafayette, the Governor visited Sister Carmen Community Center Food Bank and Tru Community Care - Tele-Care Center, which provides innovative health care services through a telehealth network. The Tru Community Center also used COVID Relief Funds to supply their employees with personal protective equipment.
The Governor also toured the Safe Shelter of St. Vrain Valley. The organization received $20,000 in relief funds to help provide services for survivors of domestic violence. Tragically, levels of domestic violence have risen sharply since the pandemic began, a direct result of increasing levels of depression, stress, and substance abuse among other contributing factors. Nonprofits like the Safe Shelter are providing exactly that: a safe refuge for survivors who have nowhere else to turn.
The State of Colorado created the Colorado COVID Relief Fund shortly after the pandemic hit to help provide urgent funding to nonprofits that were seeing a surge in demand for their services, at the precise time that their own funding streams were drying up rapidly. To date, the fund has distributed more than $19 million to organizations in almost all counties in the state, and more than $6 million has been distributed to nonprofits serving Adams, Boulder, and Broomfield counties.
The resiliency of these community pillars are a testament to Coloradans’ spirit of generosity. So many Coloradans have stepped up in meaningful ways over these past six months to support each other -- nonprofits that are meeting increased demand, individuals who are giving what they can, and corporations and philanthropy that are providing generous donations.
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Employing 40% of Colorado's workforce, small businesses are the backbone of the state’s economy and are critical for recovery.
The Governor visited the following adaptive businesses on the Front Range urban corridor today:
Haystack Mountain Creamery: Back in 1988, founder Jim Schott and his wife bought five goats and cultivated a modest six-acre farmstead in Niwot, Colorado. Jim incorporated the company in 1989 and started selling his homemade chèvre cheese to restaurants and farmers markets in and around Boulder County. Haystack Mountain goat cheeses first appeared in Alfalfa’s markets in 1992, and Haystack won its first award the same year. Haystack Creamery is committed to handmade cheeses, free of additives or preservatives. They use traditional cheesemaking techniques with the highest quality ingredients, and their cheeses are free of preservatives and artificial flavors.
North Metro Denver SBDC: Since 1989, the North Metro Denver Small Business Development Committee has helped existing and new businesses grow and prosper by providing free and confidential consulting and no - or low-cost training programs. The committee operates from a main office at Front Range Community College and combines resources from federal, state, and local governments with those of the education system and private sector to meet the needs of the small business community. Over the last ten years, the North Metro SBDC has helped over 3,500 clients start over 200 businesses, created 900 jobs, and infused more than $46.5 million in capital. During the pandemic, they have served as a crucial lifeline for small businesses needing to adjust their business model, as well as up-and-coming entrepreneurs looking to start their own businesses.
AGC Biologics: AGC is a global pharmaceutical company currently working to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. AGC came to Colorado this past summer as a result of OEDIT’s Global Business Development work, with plans to bring over 250 good-paying jobs to the Boulder area. Their expansion to Colorado is an important example of foreign direct investment and its benefit to the state’s economy.
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Earlier today, the Governor visited Mountain View Elementary in Adams County, a school successfully implementing the learning pods model. While many parents are creating learning pods to help supervise remote learning, a primary concern is that these pods can often be inequitable, as parents may need to hire a tutor or other supervisor.
That’s why Adams 12 took things into their own hands and helped to create learning pods offered by the school district for those that could benefit most from in-person instruction -- including students with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, and low-income students.
Adams 12 plans to transition back to in-person learning on Monday, September 28. This transition is the result of their hard work in conjunction with the local public health agency to be able to provide in-person instruction for more students, while continuing to provide a remote option for those who request it.
As announced earlier this summer, the state is providing every school district with medical-grade masks for staff who work directly with students. The Governor is pleased to announce that so far, more than one million masks have been distributed to schools across the state.
For Adams, Boulder, and Broomfield counties, 185,150 masks have been supplied over the past 7 weeks:
- Adams County: 15,400 per week for a total of 92,400
- Boulder County: 10,900 per week for a total of 65,400
- Broomfield County: 150 per week for a total of 900
This is part of a broader effort to provide schools with the resources they need to reopen safely.
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