The Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) Board awarded the first round of implementation funding for six Inspire Initiative pilot communities, totaling $13.5 million in grants.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has  announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will offer farmers and ranchers more opportunities to participate in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The announcement includes new CRP practices to protect water quality and adds an additional 1.1 million acres targeted to benefit wildlife, pollinators and wetlands.

Melissa Marie Kirkpatrick, 43, was arrested on December 5, 2016, by the Walsenburg Police Department on suspicion of First Degree Murder of her ex-husband Timothy Kirkpatrick in September.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) and the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) are seeking applicants for agricultural energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. The total amount available for assistance in FY 2017 is $250,000. The funding is available to Colorado agricultural irrigators, dairies, greenhouses, nurseries, and cold storage facilities.

By Chris Sorensen

Another earthquake has been recorded south of Pueblo near the location of a quake that occurred in early November. Five earthquakes were recorded in or near Colorado during the first full week of November.

Tuesday’s quake measured 2.5 on the Richter Scale, and was located about 90 miles south of Pueblo along the Colorado-New Mexico border. It occurred around 9:40 a.m. and was between two and three miles beneath the surface.

Free public tours of the Governor’s Residence, decorated for the holidays by the American Society of Interior Designers Colorado Chapter (ASID,) will be offered Thursday through Sunday, December 8 through December 11 and December 15 through December 18 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. so that all may enjoy the history and beauty of Colorado’s Home.

The Prowers County Courthouse was built in 1928-1929 and the dedication on August 1, 1929, states “Probably the crowning achievement of the building is the court room on the third floor.”  After years of fading and water damage, the courtroom has now been restored to its original beauty.  The Prowers County Courts will be hosting an Open House on Friday, December 16, from 3:00 p.m.

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper has ordered flags lowered to half-staff on all public buildings statewide on Wednesday, December 7 in honor of National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 2016, and as proclaimed by President Barack Obama.

The full text of the president’s proclamation:

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release Dec. 6, 2016

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 2016

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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Marjorie May Davis, an 84-year resident of Lamar, Colorado, passed away on November 27, 2016. She was 90 years old. At the time of her death, she was a resident of her adoptive home town -- Eads, Colorado -- where she had lived and received care since January 2014.

Born in Greensburg, Kansas on June 08, 1926, Marjorie’s family soon thereafter moved to Holly, Colorado. When she was two years old, the family moved to Hartman where her father, E.A. Northrup, managed the Hartman Grain Elevator.