Opening the mail for Colorado’s 20,000 state prison inmates can be a nasty business. Mail handlers are constantly on the lookout for contraband – under stamps or along the glue line of an envelope are popular hiding places. They have to watch for coded messages from gang members hidden among the words of an otherwise sweet letter from mom, and all sorts of photographs – pornographic, satanic and gang art.
Then there are the bodily fluids and biological agents that require mailroom staff to shut down the mailroom and use special gloves, goggles and cleaning agents. The theory behind the fluids is the sender feels “closer to whomever they’re sending their fluids to,” said Colorado Department of Corrections administrative director L.D. Hay.
Given the hazards, corrections officials are working on a new electronic messaging system that will eliminate traditional mail transfer. It will be a first-of-its kind in the nation for a state prison system, says DOC spokeswoman Alison Morgan. Handwritten mail will be put through a scanner, transferred to an electronic format and sent via computer. The message will then be printed and given to the inmate. The same for outgoing mail. Hay said that inmates will never touch a computer – they’ll write their letters in longhand using a special form. It will be scanned, printed and e-mailed. The new system will eliminate contraband and put an end to postage-stamp bartering as a dangerous enterprise behind the walls.
Happy trails
The man known as the best mountain weather forecaster around is getting set to retire. Knox Williams, founder of Colorado’s Avalanche Information Center and one of the foremost safety experts in the world, will be hiking off into the sunset this summer after nearly 35 years of forecasting avalanches and educating backcountry travelers.
In 1995, after years of lobbying, Williams succeeded in elevating the avalanche center to a state agency – a division of the Colorado geological survey – under the Department of Natural Resources. The mission of the center is to reduce accidents through a program of forecasting and education. Colorado averages some 2,300 avalanches a year and leads the nation in related fatalities.
Williams, 61, has alerted the public to avalanche danger and has taught classes emphasizing education over intimidation and fear.After a one-year stint with an avalanche office in the Pacific Northwest, Williams plans to return to Colorado to build a house along the Arkansas River, near Buena Vista. Safe from avalanche dangers. No word on a successor.
Tracking livestock
Mad cow disease has prompted new efforts to track sick animals and ensure that the diseases are contained. Colorado’s Department of Agriculture has started an animal identification program, inserting electronic tags in cattle, sheep and elk in an effort to prevent the spread of disease. Horses and pigs may be next. The electronic IDs will enable officials to trace an animal’s history and movement over its lifetime.
Last week, officials in Colorado became alarmed after two horses in New Mexico and one in Arizona were confirmed to be infected with a highly contagious, viral disease called vesicular stomatitis. The disease affects cattle, swine and occasionally sheep, goats and deer. It can also cause flu-like symptoms in people working with infected animals.
Symptoms on animals include blister-like lesions in the mouth, on the tongue, lips, nostrils, hooves and teats. The virus doesn’t usually kill the animals but causes weight loss and reduces milk production. It also mimics foot and mouth virus, a devastating livestock disease found outside the United States. Ag spokeswoman Linh Truong said other states and countries often impose movement restrictions on animals from disease-affected areas. Truong said cattle is the No. 1 commodity in Colorado. State officials want to ensure the industry’s fiscal health.
Signs of abuse?
In the past year, the state Department of Transportation has replaced 100,802 signs and signposts all across Colorado. Why? Spokeswoman Stacy Stegman says: “They get old or hit or damaged – or shot. People shoot holes in them.” Target practice, maybe?
Julia C. Martinez (jmartinez@denverpost.com) is a member of the Denver Post editorial board.
