Bits and Pieces

If you want, or need, a good laugh - and can stand to read a lot of incomplete sentences that were uttered by the current President - please read (and guffaw, as I did) the following new article, or interview, from Time magazine:   http://time.com/4710456/donald-trump-time-interview-truth-falsehood/
     There were six late additions to the Triple Crown nominations list, so the current list of contenders now registered is 425.  A horse must have a certain number of qualifying points to run in the Kentucky Derby, which is capped at 20 entries.  Other horses that are nominated, but do not have the points, may race in the Preakness Stakes and/or the Belmont Stakes.  The newest nominees are: Thunder Snow, Hollywood Handsome, More Than Words, Parlor, Rapid Dial, and Stretch's Stone.
   The wind is picking up again, here in Boulder - it's from the west and is expected to bring a rain-snow mix overnight and into Friday morning.  We really need the rain, snow, sleet - whatever precipitation we can get.  I just hope there's no hail - gardens are blooming and trees are budding and putting out fresh delicate leaves right now.  I'll pull our potted plants back in from the balcony this afternoon.
   It has been judged that the Sunshine Canyon fire was started by an illegal campfire by people trespassing on private property.  The fire investigators state that the camp appeared to have been used by "transients."
    And Joe Pelle (our Sheriff) announced that a body has been found on one of the local hiking trails... currently, no further information is available.
    I am still grieving the loss of Rosie, the Irish Setter, whom I cared for over a period of more than ten years.  We lost Remy, her brother four years ago...   And I'm preparing to say good-bye to a beautiful cat who has bone cancer in her jaw. She seems to be in quite a bit of pain and is no longer eating - but she will drink... so I've suggested that her owner give her chicken bone broth for some nutritional value.
   My two kitties are doing well.  Lovey is curled up in her little nest beside my bed, and Nedi has burrowed under the afghan on my reading chair.  Lovey is napping - Nedi is keeping an eye on the birds visiting the feeder and water bowl on the balcony...
   I hope you have a great day, wherever you are - and whenever you read this!

Independence Day

On 2 July 1776, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia voted to declare the 13 colonies' independence from Great Britain.  A party of five, headed by Thomas Jefferson, was drafted to compose this declaration.  After many revisions, that Declaration of Independence was approved by a majority vote on 4 July.  The last signature was applied to the Declaration in August of that year.  But we citizens of the United States of America celebrate our "Independence Day" every July Fourth.  The size of our country has grown exponentially since the Founding Fathers decided to declare their independence from the government of another country across the sea, and yet, we are all "Proud Americans."  Happy Birthday, USA!
   The body of missing hiker Randy Udall was found yesterday in Wyoming.  The body was on its side, and still had his hands clasping walking poles.  An autopsy will be performed, but it is being assumed that the death was from natural causes.  The Udall family issued a statement saying that "...Randy died doing what he loved best, hiking in the Rocky Mountains."
   And the Colorado wildfires are still burning... the West Fork Complex fire has grown to 97,823 acres and is 7% contained......

Body Found, Not Yet ID'd; Is It Jessica Ridgeway?

Yesterday evening, police found a body in an open space area of Arvada, 10 miles from where the girl's backpack was found in Superior. The area has been identified as the Pattridge Park Open Space. Arvada police say that includes 82nd Avenue between SR Colorado 93 and Indiana Street. Federal and police investigators swarmed a grassy area north of West 82 Avenue and east of the BFI landfill on Wednesday. They were aided by lights and were using a fire truck's extended ladder to get a better view. Their work was focused near a building that appears to be a remnant of an old mining operation.

 Police say that the body has not been identified, and that it may take several weeks to do so. In the meantime, the search for Jessica Ridgeway goes on - she has now been missing for 170 hours.

The wildfire at Fern Lake Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park is still burning out of control. It is overcast here today, and one can still see pieces of ash in the air. .... Zoey Ripple, the CU co-ed who was shot in the bedroom of a stranger's house, while so intoxicated she could not verbally respond to the owners warnings, has made a plea deal. She pleaded guilty to felony breaking and entering and trespass; she received an 18 month suspended sentence. If she has no further run-ins with law enforcement, her felony conviction will be removed from her record. She still has the bullet she was shot with inside her body - it can't be removed at this time. She and her attorney are now saying that she must have been drugged with "the date rape drug" at one of the parties she attended that evening. I have a problem with that, as she was taken to the ER and had emergency surgery. When I worked in the hospital, each emergency surgery patient had an STD and drug test run upon admittance. I can't see that a dose of "rufy" would have gone undetected by the MDs during or after her surgery, along with the fact that her blood alcohol level was 4 times the legal amount. I think she was just completely sloshed. ....