United States Highlights

Commercial red meat production for the United States totaled 4.24 billion pounds in July, up 6 percent from the 3.99

billion pounds produced in July 2017.

Beef production, at 2.23 billion pounds, was 6 percent above the previous year. Cattle slaughter totaled 2.77 million head,

up 6 percent from July 2017. The average live weight was down 3 pounds from the previous year, at 1,330 pounds.

Veal production totaled 6.1 million pounds, 8 percent above July a year ago. Calf slaughter totaled 47,800 head, up 22

Harvest of mature crops progressed last week between precipitation events, according to the Mountain Region Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA.

For about a year now, I’ve been hearing about the impending release of “Crazy Rich Asians.” I tried to get into an advance screening last week, but it was sold out on two screens. I was almost shut out of a Wednesday screening this week, but I was able to get one of about a dozen remaining seats with over 90 minutes until showtime. Clearly this was going to be an event movie, and since I knew it was based on a series of books, I likened it to “The Hunger Games” or “Twilight”.

This week at Lamar Theatre

An earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter Scale was recorded in western Colorado overnight. The quake was centered in Rio Blanco County just a few miles from the location of an underground nuclear test site in the 1970s, and was one of four to occur in or near Colorado over the past 24 hours.

The United States Geological Survey reports that the earthquake occurred shortly after 4:00 a.m. in a sparsely populated area about 50 miles north of Grand Junction at a depth of more than three miles.

Extreme and exceptional drought – the two worst categories – continue to impact nearly half of Colorado.

Some improvement was observed in central Colorado as moderate drought turned to just abnormally dry conditions for southern Douglas and northwest El Paso counties during the past week. Similar improvements were also seen in smaller portions of southwest Elbert, northeast Teller and the southern tip of Jefferson counties.

In south central Baca County, severe drought dropped to moderate conditions.

Breakfast

August 27:Hash browns, sausage, V8, milk, fruit

August 28:Muffins, yogurt, orange juice, V8, milk, fruit

August 29:French toast, ham, grape juice, V8, milk, fruit

August 30:Scrambled eggs, toast, apple juice, V8, milk, fruit

Lunch

August 27:Santa Fe wrap, apple-pumpkin bar, milk, fruit and veggie bar

August 28:Pigs in a blanket, baked beans, pineapple, milk, fruit and veggie bar

Dear Dietitian,

My four-year-old son, Alex, has suffered from epilepsy since shortly after birth. He is on medication, but still has as many as five seizures a week. I have been thinking about putting him on a ketogenic diet, as I have heard from other parents that it will reduce the number of seizures. Other parents have said the diet is very hard to stick to, and it didn’t work for their child. What do you think?

Sharon

Dear Sharon,

Dear EarthTalk: What are the environmental benefits of so-called “seasteading” as opposed to building more housing and communities on land?  -- Marge Weston, Camden, NJ

Our communities would like to offer their condolences to the family of Mike Benge who passed away last week. Mike ran the filling station and parts store for several years in Sheridan Lake before moving to Lamar. He always had a smile and enjoyed visiting when he ran into friends. He will be missed by his many friends.

We also offer our condolences to the Braden Lane family on the loss of their loved one this past week.