Volunteer Opportunities

Heritage Center

The Manitou Springs Heritage Center needs volunteers to greet visitors at the front desk and assist working in the collections of historic photos; training is provided. The museum has other volunteer opportunities that don’t require being on-site or scheduling regular hours, such as helping with the website, producing videos and creating audio tours. Anyone who is curious about Manitou’s history is encouraged to apply.

Information: manitouheritage@gmail.com, www.manitouspringsheritagecenter,org or call 685-1454.

Old Colorado City History Center

People with computer skills, history re-enactors (actors), bookstore help and general help at events are needed. Stop by 1S. 24th St. or call 719-636-1225 and leave a message for Director Barb Sweat.

Information: occhs.org.

Manitou Springs Carnegie Library

Interested in serving on a citizen’s group to collaborate(合作) with Manitou Springs City Council and the Pikes Peak Library District to help ensure the Manitou library stays a Carnegie library for next 100 years? If so, please send your name and contact the following information.

Information: preserveMScarnegie@gmail.com or call 367-378.

Trail Ambassador Program

The Trails and Open Space Coalition is managing this effort to offer experiences in local parks by providing environmental education, promoting safety and acting as the “eyes and ears” about what happens there. Training is provided.

Information: www. trailsandopenspaces.org or call 753-421.

For my 56th birthday, my daughter, Beth, bought me two beautifully carved wooden butterflies. I hung them in prominent (显眼的) places on my walls so that I can see them often during the day. Each time I do so, they give me a wonderful reminder of love.

My daughter and my love of butterflies goes back many years. After a long battle against cancer, my mom passed away when I was only 25 years old. Beth was only a baby at the time and never got to have any memories of her grandma. I tried to make up for it by telling her stories of my mom but each time I did, I could see that there was a little sadness in Beth’s eyes. One day when she was only seven or so we were outside at the playground. Beth suddenly said how much she saddened not having her grandma around. Well, sometimes I comforted her and this time I told her how much her grandma loved her and that Grandma still remained positive in the last weeks of her life. I said she was watching over her from Heaven and that maybe she was even hitching (搭乘) a ride on the back of a butterfly to come down and get a closer look. At that very moment, a butterfly appeared flying around Beth’s face and then flew away. We both laughed with our hearts full of love and joy.

Since that moment all of those years ago, both Beth and I seem to attract butterflies like flowers. Whenever we are outside, they seem to fly down, circle around us, take a good look, and then fly away. And every time, we are reminded of my mom’s love watching over us. The only time this doesn’t happen is during the coldest months of the year when there are no insects of any kind. But now during those times I can take a look at the two beautiful wooden butterflies my daughter bought me and still be reminded of that love.

“We’re getting brighter and brighter and brighter,” warns Paul Bogard, author of the upcoming book, End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light.

Bogard says the developed world’s desire to light up the night has gotten out of control. “Things like gas stations and parking lots are lit now 10 times as bright as they were just 20 years ago,” Bogard tells Celeste Headlee, host of weekends on All Things Considered. “It has everything to do with marketing, really. The gas station at the corner has figured out that if they turn up the lights, more people will be attracted to those lights.”

And, Bogard says, all that light is having some unintended consequences. For one, it affects our sleeping patterns, he says. Others say the effects of light pollution are worse, which involve the bird migration (迁徙), and humans’ extra weight problems.

Richard Stevens, an epidemiologist at the University of Connecticut Health Center, was one of the first to make the connection between bright, artificial light and breast cancer. Stevens’ research found that artificial light can interrupt our body clock — and affect our production of melatonin (褪黑激素). “We know for sure that the lighting in the modern world can interrupt our body clock, and that cannot be good,” Stevens tells Headlee.

Cities such as Santa Rosa, Calif., and Brainerd, Minn., are turning off a certain number of streetlights. Even Paris seems willing to cut down on its illumination (照明) to reduce light pollution.

The French Environment Ministry recently announced that starting this summer, office buildings and storefronts will have to turn off artificial lights between the hours of 1 a.m. and 7 a.m. Major landmarks like the Eiffel Tower will continue to be lit.

Yet Bogard says he hopes Paris will lead a lighting revolution. “The fact that Paris, the city of lights, is choosing to control their use of light at night is fantastic, and can serve as a model for cities all over the world,” he said.

Perhaps, someday soon, we’ll get off the subway, look up at the dark city sky, and see the stars of the Milky Way again.

Processed foods—cheap, convenient, and beloved by many Americans—have once again been proven harmful to our health. Higher consumption of ultra-processed foods was associated with an increased risk of heart disease and death, according to a study carried out this week in the Journal American College of Cardiology.

Past research has also linked these preservative-laden (含防腐剂的) foods to weight gain, cancer, and early death. Many studies, including the recent cardiology paper, have proven the health risks are higher for people who eat a greater quantity of processed foods.

Each daily serving of ultra-processed food—such as a single protein bar or a 12 oz can of soda—was associated with a 7% increase in the risk of dying of cardiovascular disease and a 9% increase in the risk of dying due to heart disease, based on data from more than 3,000 adults followed for nearly 20 years.

Still, processed foods are “ubiquitous” in our diets, lead author Filipa Juul said in a press release. Although we know they’re bad for our health, ultra-processed foods account for more than half of the daily calories in the average American diet. Even seemingly healthy options like protein bars, breakfast cereals, and most industrially produced breads are filled with preservatives and added sugar, salt, and fat.

“As a poor diet is a major risk factor for heart disease, it represents a critical target in prevention efforts,” Juul, a researcher at the New York University School of Public Health, said in the press release. The authors recommended taxing (征税) processed foods with added sugar as a possible incentive (刺激) to reduce consumption.

More importantly, they acknowledged the need to make more nutritious choices available and affordable, especially for populations that have historically lacked that access. “Ultimately, the goal should be to make the unhealthy choice the hard choice and the healthy choice the easy choice,” Robert J. Ostfeld, MD, MSc, and Kathleen E. Allen, MS, RD, wrote in an editorial accompanying the study.