Summit County Approved For Indoor Dining, Is Larimer Next?
We could soon be eating indoors again in Fort Collins.
This weekend, Summit County was approved for the 5 Star Certification Program in Colorado, a program that allows businesses to reopen at limited capacity despite operating in counties that have a level red restriction.
Summit County Commissioner Elisabeth Lawrence, according to 9News, submitted the county s application as early as possible so as to give their businesses a chance at garnering some holiday traffic. Within 72 hours of the application being approved, 134 restaurants were given the green light to reopen, and Larimer County could soon be next.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is in the process of rolling out its new 5 Star State Certification Program to augment the existing color-coded COVID health and safety dial. The program would allow restaurants to apply for certification in order to do business one level up from the current color level of their county.
The City and County of Denver is currently under Level Red restrictions, which prohibit any indoor dining but earning the 5 Star certification would allow a business to open at Level Orange rules, so a restaurant could seat diners indoors at 25 percent capacity (or a maximum of fifty people, whichever is lower).
Larimer County not yet Eligible for State COVID-19 5 Star Certification Program
Larimer County not yet Eligible for State COVID-19 5 Star Certification Program
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels
NoCo NOW! Episode 4: Old Town Recovery
Old Town Fort Collins is a well-preserved district that features over twenty historical buildings that are national and local designated historic districts. Join us for a live discussion with Jim Hewitt (Owner of the Cupboard) of a long-time old town retail business and Laura Levy (Pandemic Recovery Manager of the Larimer Recovery Collaborative) to learn more about how Old Town businesses are surviving in these trying times.
Audit in Michigan County Refutes Dominion Conspiracy Theory
Quick Take
A hand count of paper ballots in Antrim County, Michigan, has verified the election results there, refuting a “forensics report” promoted by President Donald Trump that baselessly claimed the election equipment in the county was “designed” to create “systemic fraud and influence election results.” Experts said the faulty report showed a misunderstanding of voting system technology.
Full Story
A Dec. 17 audit of ballots cast in Antrim County, Michigan, affirmed the outcome of the presidential election there refuting viral claims that the election software used by the county, and elsewhere, had facilitated massive fraud.
Latin American unions write to major retailers to express concern about Rainforest Alliance certification
The Coordinating Body of Latin American Banana and Agro-industrial Unions (COLSIBA) has written to seven of the biggest German and UK supermarkets raising concerns about the retailers’ continuing reliance upon Rainforest Alliance certification as a guarantee of ethical standards in their supply chains.
COLSIBA represents directly some 75,000 agroindustrial workers across countries of Latin America, most of them working on banana plantations from Peru to Guatemala, and believes that Rainforest certification is insufficient and ineffective at guaranteeing respect for labour rights on certified plantations.
Banana Link originally highlighted what they saw as shortcomings in Rainforest certification in their 2016 report Rainforest Alliance and the Discount Supermarkets: Low Prices and Easy Standards? which highlighted evidence of shortcomings in the implementation of respect