KNOWN THINGS THAT STRIKE PRIUSES/PRII FROM ABOVE IN BOULDER

1. Trees.

Click here to view the embedded video.

2. Airplanes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Amazingly, there are zero injuries related to those stories.

If you know of other things that hit Priuses from above without injuring the cars’ owners, please submit them to me by email at dave at big green boulder. If you know of things that hit Priuses and do injure the cars’ owners, I may have to start a sub-list.

Did you know that a weekend at Bernie's would be a LEED-certified weekend?

Here are a few other interesting jail-related green items from around the country:

Con-Post

At the Cedar Creek Corrections Center in Washington, inmates of the minimum-security facility, raise bees, grow organic tomatoes and lettuce, compost 100 percent of food waste and even recycle shoe scraps that are made into playground turf. The program was facilitated by the Sustainable Prisons Project.

If it’s yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down, but not very often

Wasco State Prison in California replaced old lights with new energy efficient ones. The new bulbs also give off less heat and make the temperature of the dormitories about ten degrees cooler. In turn, this cuts down on the air conditioning usage. Also, the toilets are hooked up to a new water conservation system that limits inmates to two flushes in five minutes. A third flush automatically locks the toilet and prevents the inmate from flushing for 30 minutes.

Pickle barrel cisterns–on sale.

North Carolina’s Department of Corrections switched to chemical-free cleaners and vegetable-based inks. Because of a water shortage, inmates converted 50-gallon pickle barrels into small cisterns that capture rainwater. The cisterns are now available for purchase.

Weekend at Bernie’s?

Bernie Madoff, the man who made the word “ponzi” delightfully relevant last year, is serving an extended stay at a pretty impressive LEED-certified prison.

Enjoy your water-cooler fodder!

–James Collector and Dave Burdick

Fall foliage on Flagstaff Mountain | flickr user kallu

East Portal Trailhead: From Rollinsville, take Rollins Pass Road (gravel) east for just over 8 miles to a parking area near the Moffat Tunnel. Heart Lake, Fugere’s favorite hike, is a 4.2-mile jaunt from here, but trails branch off to other alpine lakes and passes. “The gorge the train goes through has a wide variety of aspen, and it’s an area that hasn’t been hit as bad by the beetle blight,” she says.

West Magnolia trails: Mountain bikers can access these trails from CR 130 (the road to Eldora) or the Peak to Peak Highway; then choose your own adventure. “It’s a lot of little loops,” says Barrow. “You could ride for 20 minutes or two hours.” Maps are available at bma-mtb.org.

Switzerland Trail: To follow this old railroad grade in the foothills between Left Hand and Boulder canyons, park at the trailhead off on Sugarloaf Mountain Road, or ride or run up from Boulder Canyon via Fourmile Canyon Drive, then Wall Street (gravel). Thompson thinks that if you ride Fourmile Canyon to Wall Street, it’s the best dirt ride in town (cyclocross or mountain bike). Castro likes it for running too, citing its quick access from town.

Bobolink/South Boulder trails: The Bobolink Trailhead is on Baseline Road, just west of Cherryvale Road. For the first stretch of the trail south from here, cyclists have a different but parallel trail, but you’ll still see the cottonwoods lining the creek. Open Space and Mountain Parks has trail maps on its Web site, ci.boulder.co.us.

Castro says the 2.9-mile stretch from South Boulder Road to Marshall Road is popular with runners because it gives you a number of options, like exiting onto Marshall for road pick-ups.

Mesa Trail: Deb Matlock, an interpretive naturalist for City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, says the south end of the Mesa Trail is beautiful in fall, thanks to the yellow cottonwoods and red sumac against the backdrop of rust-colored rock. It’s popular with hikers and trail runners alike. The trailhead is on north side of Eldorado Springs Drive.

Eldorado Canyon Trail: Another trail that’s known for both hiking and running, Fugere says the overlooks here are outstanding in the fall — the trees along the creek start to mimic the sandstone walls. “As you’re going up, it’s fairly steep at the beginning, but then it’s leisurely through meadows,” she says. The trail climbs 1,300 feet over 3.5 miles (one way).

Flagstaff Mountain: For an alternative to road riding the Peak to Peak, ride to the top of Flagstaff Mountain, says Thompson. But you have to do the “full Flag” — Flagstaff Road climbs about 2,000 feet to the summit from town. “Once you get near the top, you’re going to have a lot of color up there,” he says.

Horse named after Heath Ledger killed by lightning

LONGMONT, Colo. — A horse was struck and killed by lightning Thursday, August 6, 2009, at the Colorado Horse Rescue farm in Longmont.

The horse, named “Ledger” after actor Heath Ledger, was scheduled to be adopted next week. The animal was struck as students were taking a class on natural horsemanship at the farm, according to a Colorado Horse Rescue news release.

The students saw the lightning hit the horse, but by the time they reached Ledger, he was already dead. Veterinarian services were called.

Hildy Armour, executive director of Colorado Horse Rescue, said Ledger was a popular horse.

According to the release, horses are susceptible to lightning strikes because of their heavy muscles and large bones. Ledger was also standing next to an electric fence at the time of the strike.

–Jean Spencer

Cyclist hit by lightning still plans to compete in Ironman

BOULDER, Colo. — A 44-year-old bicyclist struck by lightning north of Boulder has been released from the hospital and hopes to compete in an Ironman triathlon at the end of the month.

Terri Menghini, who was traveling along North Foothills Highway, said she had completed 78 miles of a 100-mile training ride when a lightning bolt struck her Monday, August 3, 2009, causing her to lose consciousness and crash her bike.

Menghini suffered from temporary paralysis in her upper body, lost her vision for about three hours and experienced irregular heartbeats from the lightning. She also had road burn along her back and left side, bruised ribs and had cracked her helmet during the crash.

But Menghini said she is determined to get back on her bike and continue her triathlon training.

“This is not a setback,” said Menghini, who has run 51 marathons. “I still want to do the Ironman on Aug. 30.”

Menghini, who is from St. Louis, Mo., but stays in Estes Park every summer, was treated at Boulder Community Hospital and released Tuesday. She was disappointed when doctors said she couldn’t compete in a Boulder half-triathlon Sunday, and — though she still has a tingling sensation in her right arm — she says she will resume training Monday.

“I’m an athlete, and I always have been,” she said. “I don’t think this will stop me.”

–Jean Spencer